2 Minute Series_21st August 2025

21^st August 2025

1. Agni-5: Recently, India successfully test-fired its intermediate-range ballistic missile Agni-5 from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Odisha.

• About Agni-5: Indigenously developed Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).
• Strike range: ~5,000 km.
• Designed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• Powered by a three-stage solid-fuel engine.
• Designed to carry nuclear warheads.
• Primarily intended to counter strategic challenges from China.
• The latest variant is equipped with MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle) technology.
• Integral to India’s long-term strategic security planning and credible minimum deterrence.
• MIRV Breakthrough: Enables a single missile to carry and deploy multiple warheads against different targets.

2. Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025: Recently, the Lok Sabha passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 by voice vote, marking a major step towards banning real-money online gaming platforms such as fantasy sports and card games.

• Key Provisions of the Online Gaming Bill, 2025: Categorisation of Gaming:
• E-Sports: Recognised as a creative and recreational industry with significant growth potential; promoted as a mainstream sector.
• Online Social Games: Encouraged as safe entertainment, provided they do not involve monetary risks or addictive gambling features.
• Online Money Games: Completely banned, covering activities like fantasy sports, poker, rummy, and other real-money platforms where players invest funds for financial returns.
• Penalties for Violations: First-time offence: Imprisonment up to 3 years and fines up to ₹1 crore.
• Repeat offence: Imprisonment between 3–5 years and fines up to ₹2 crore.

3. Global Capability Centre: Recently, the International Solar Alliance (ISA) announced plans to set up a Global Capability Centre in India, envisioned as a “Silicon Valley for solar”, to boost innovation and capacity building in renewable energy.

• Key Highlights: 17 Centres of Excellence: To be set up in 17 countries (names not disclosed) by end of 2025, providing testing, lab training, and startup ecosystem support; could expand to 50 centres.
• Collaboration Model: Centres to be linked with “IIT-like” universities, with India as the connecting hub.
• Proposal includes 2,000 km undersea cable between India & UAE, to leverage different peak solar hours for cross-border electricity trade.
• About ISA: Founded: 2015, during Paris COP, by India and France.
• Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana.
• Membership: ~100 countries.
• Mission: Unlock $1 trillion in solar investments by 2030, reduce technology & financing costs.
• India’s Solar Progress: Installed solar capacity: ~119 GW as of July 2025.
• Energy mix milestone: 50% of total installed power capacity (484 GW) now from non-fossil sources.
• Solar’s share: ~48% of India’s non-fossil capacity.
• Gap: Despite installed capacity, actual clean energy supply is below 30%; coal still supplies ~75% of electricity.
• India advancing the One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG)

4. SAKSHAM-3000: Recently, the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), the R&D arm of the Department of Telecommunications, developed SAKSHAM-3000, a state-of-the-art switch-cum-router designed to cater to the growing demands of modern digital infrastructure.

• About SAKSHAM-3000: Indigenously designed high-performance switch-cum-router by C-DOT (Centre for Development of Telematics), R&D arm of the Department of Telecommunications.
• Switching capacity: 25.6 terabits per second.
• Supports: Multiple types of network connections.
• Rack-compatible: Built to fit standard equipment racks
• Features: Backup (redundant) power supplies for uninterrupted operation.
• Hot-swappable cooling fans (replaceable without system shutdown).
• Flexible configuration to support a wide range of network functions and communication methods.
• Application Areas: Data Centres: Functions as a Leaf Switch, Spine Switch, or Super-Spine Switch.
• Telecom & IP Networks: Can serve as an Edge Router or Core Router.

5. Pamba River: Recently, the Central Government initiated steps to bring the Pamba River under the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP), a key programme aimed at protecting India’s major rivers.

• About Pamba River: Third longest river in Kerala, after Periyar and Bharathappuzha.
• Origin: Pulachimalai Hill (1,650 m altitude) in the Peerumedu plateau, Western Ghats.
• Length: Travels 176 km before joining the Arabian Sea, branching into multiple channels.
• Basin Area: 2,235 sq. km, entirely within Kerala.
• Boundaries: East – Western Ghats; West – Arabian Sea.
• Cultural Significance: Known as ‘Dakshina Bhageerathi’ or the Ganga of Kerala.
  • Closely linked with Sabarimala Temple; pilgrims traditionally take a holy dip in its waters before and after the trek.

  • Also called Thriveni Sangam, where it meets Achankovil and Manimala

  • Tributaries: Major tributaries: Kakki Ar, Azhuta Ar, Kakkad Ar, Kallar, Manimala, and Achenkovil.

6. Ideonella Sakaiensis: Recently, scientists have been exploring the use of microbes (bacteria and fungi) to break down plastics, offering an eco-friendly solution to combat plastic pollution. One such microbe is Ideonella sakaiensis, which has the unique ability to degrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a widely used plastic.

• About Ideonella sakaiensis: Taxonomy: Genus: Ideonella
• Family: Comamonadaceae / Sphaerotilaceae
• Discovery: Identified by Japanese researchers Kohei Oda and Kenji Miyamoto (Kyoto Institute of Technology & Keio University).
• Habitat: Found in PET-contaminated soil, oxygen-rich moist soil, and sewage sludge.
• Characteristics: Gram-negative, rod-shaped, and motile.
• Non-sporing, non-pigmented, monotrichous bacterium.
• Advantages: Can completely degrade PET into harmless building blocks.
• These breakdown products serve as food for sakaiensis and other organisms.
• ·Other Plastic-Degrading Microbes & Organisms
• Microbes for Natural Polymers: Cellulose → degraded by cellulolytic microbes.
  • Chitin (fungi, insects) → degraded by chitin-degrading microbes.
  • Cutin (leaf surfaces) → degraded by cutinases.
• Plastic-Degrading Bacteria: Gordonia → degrades polypropylene (~23%).
• Arthrobacter → degrades polystyrene (~19.5%).
• Waxworms (Galleria mellonella): Can chew and digest plastic bags.
• Normally pests in beehives, feeding on honeycomb (structurally similar to polyethylene, the main component of plastic bags).

 

7. Snow Leopards: Recently, a three-year camera-trapping study confirmed the year-round presence and breeding activity of snow leopards in Jammu & Kashmir, underscoring the ecological significance of the Kishtwar Himalayas.
   
   
   

• About Snow Leopard: A medium-sized big cat inhabiting the rugged terrains of Central and South Asia.
• Nicknamed the “ghost of the mountains” due to its elusive nature.
• Distribution: Prefers steep, rocky terrains and ravines, typically at 3,000–5,000 metres or higher in the Himalayas.
• Global presence in 12 countries, including China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Russia, and Mongolia.
• In India, mainly found in high-altitude, cold, and arid landscapes of: Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh
• Key Features: Fur: Pale grey coat with dark rosettes, providing camouflage in rocky habitats.
• Size: About 7 feet long, with the tail making up nearly half the length.
• Tail Function: Aids in balance while climbing and serves as a wrap for warmth during rest.
• Behaviour: Solitary, except during mating and rearing cubs.
• Conservation Status: IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
• CITES: Appendix I
• Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I

     8. Soaps and Detergents: Recently, soaps and detergents have come back into discussion owing to the increasing focus on eco-friendly cleaning products and concerns regarding the environmental impact of synthetic surfactants.

• About Soap: Sodium (Na) or Potassium (K) salts of fatty acids.
• Derived from vegetable oils or animal fats.
• General formula: RCOONa / RCOOK.
• Base materials: Coconut, palm, olive, and soybean oils/fats.
• Alkalis: Caustic soda (NaOH) or caustic potash (KOH).
• Additives: Perfumes (sandalwood, synthetic scents), colours, fillers (talc, sodium silicate), surfactants (SLS), antibacterial/antifungal agents (neem oil, triclosan).
• About Detergents: Synthetic cleaning agents, mainly from petrochemicals.
• Contain surfactants, bleaches, and fragrances.
• Surfactants: Linear alkyl benzene sulphonate (LABS), sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS).
• Builders: Sodium carbonate, phosphates.
• Others: Enzymes, bleaches, dyes, perfumes.

9. MY Bharat & SOUL: Recently, the Government of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the School of Ultimate Leadership Foundation (SOUL) to promote youth leadership and capacity building.

• About the Institutions:
  
• My Bharat: An autonomous body under the Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. Works to empower Indian youth through leadership, innovation, and service.
• SOUL (School of Ultimate Leadership Foundation): A privately funded leadership institution founded by like-minded individuals. Promotes value-based leadership, experience-sharing, fellowship, and curiosity to advance public good.
• Objectives of the Partnership: Support 1,00,000 youth leaders (18–29 years) across India.
• Enhance skills in governance, public policy, and social entrepreneurship, digital and financial literacy.
• Key Features of the MoU: Validity: 3 years (extendable by mutual consent).
• Pan-India inclusive approach: Representation from rural & urban areas, aspirational districts, tribal regions, women, and marginalised communities.

 

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