Kerala Botanist’s Innovation in Tackling Invasive Species | Shahtoosh Wool | Operation Numkhor | Indian Space Situational Awareness Report 2025 (ISSAR-2025)

Kerala Botanist’s Innovation in Tackling Invasive Species

Environment

Context

• Alim Yusuf, a botanist from Malabar Botanical Garden and Institute for Plant Sciences, has received the World Wide Fund for Nature National Award for developing an application to detect invasive plant species in Kerala.

About the Innovation

• The application, Neophyte ID, is an AI-powered mobile tool that enables users to identify invasive plant species by capturing images.
• The app can identify nearly 100 invasive plant species found in Kerala.
• It integrates geospatial tracking to map the spread of invasive species, aiding scientific research and policy intervention.

Connect with the basics – Definition:

• Definition – Invasive species are non-native organisms (animals, plants, fungi, microbes) that establish self-sustaining populations and cause harm to the environment, economy, or human health.
• Impacts – They contribute to biodiversity loss, ecological disruption, and can lead to significant economic losses in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries.
• Causes – Globalization (increased trade and travel), human activities, and climate change facilitate their spread and establishment.
• Indian Context – India has several widespread invasive species, including plants like Lantana camara and Water Hyacinth, and animals such as the African Catfish and Nile Tilapia.

Shahtoosh Wool

Environment

Context

• A Delhi court has convicted a Jaipur-based art gallery owner for attempting to illegally export Shahtoosh shawls.

Shahtoosh Wool

• It is derived from the hair of the Tibetan Antelope, also known as Chiru.
• The animal is killed to obtain the wool.
• Trade in Shahtoosh is strictly prohibited in India and has also been banned globally.

Tibetan Antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii)

• The Chiru is a medium-sized bovid endemic to the high-altitude alpine steppes of the Tibetan Plateau (3,250–5,500m).
• Habitat: They inhabit the arid, cold grasslands of Tibet, Qinghai, and Xinjiang in China, with a small population in Ladakh (Changthang belt), India.
• Appearance: They have a pale fawn to a reddish-brown coat with a white belly.
• Males have black markings on their faces and legs, which are absent in females.

Conservation Status:

• IUCN Red List – Near Threatened (NT)
• Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 – Schedule I
• CITES convention – Appendix I

Operation Numkhor

Miscellaneous

Context

• Operation Numkhor, a nationwide crackdown on vehicle smuggling and forged registration rackets, is likely to be discussed in the upcoming Indo–Bhutan Joint Customs Group meeting.

Operation Numkhor

• Launched by – Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Kochi in September 2025.
• Mandate – to uncover a widespread racket involving the smuggling of high-end luxury vehicles from Bhutan.
• The operation revealed over 15,000 illegally registered vehicles across India, bypassing heavy customs duties and involving the use of forged documents

Indian Space Situational Awareness Report 2025 (ISSAR-2025)

Science & Technology

Context

• Recently, the Indian Space Situational Awareness Report for 2025 (ISSAR-2025) was released by ISRO during the inaugural session of the 2nd international conference on Spacecraft Mission Operations (SMOPS-2026) at Bengaluru.

Key Global and Indian Statistics for 2025

• Global Activity – 2025 saw a record 315 successful launches deploying 4,198 satellites.
• Indian Scenario: India recorded 5 launches, including the 100th mission (GSLV-F15/NVS-02). Notable achievements included the NISAR joint mission, the SpaDeX autonomous docking test, and continued operations of Aditya-L1.
• Safety & Exploration: ISRO launched NISAR, and is advancing its Debris Free Space Mission (DFSM) 2030.
• Human spaceflight progress was marked by Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s command of the Axiom-4 mission.