19^th November 2025

1. QS World University Rankings: Recently, India secured a major presence in the newly released QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026, with 103 universities making it to the global list.

• Key Highlights: India has, 4th-highest universities after U.S., China, and U.K.

• Rankings assess environmental & social sustainability, including environmental research, sustainability education, equality, employability, knowledge exchange, health & wellbeing.

• Top 15 globally dominated by the U.K., Canada, Sweden, Australia, and the U.S.; Lund University (Sweden) ranked 1st.

• IIT Delhi is India’s best performer at rank 205; India has 12 universities in the top 500, equal to China and the Netherlands.

• Across all 103 Indian institutions: 30 declined, 32 improved, 15 unchanged.

• Top global ranks for indicators: IIT Delhi (93rd) and IIT Kharagpur (96th) in Employability & Outcomes

• University of Delhi at 94th for Knowledge Exchange

• IIT Bombay 100th for Environmental Impact

• Environmental Education is India’s strongest area; nearly half of Indian universities improved.

2. Ginkgo-Toothed Beaked Whale: Recently, researchers achieved a landmark scientific breakthrough by confirming, for the first time, sightings of the extremely elusive ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens) in the wild.

• Key Findings: Researchers confirmed the species by collecting a tiny skin sample using a modified crossbow. Beaked whales are extremely elusive — deepest-diving mammals on Earth, surfacing only briefly and far from coasts.

• Ginkgo-Toothed Beaked Whale: One of 24 beaked whale species, the second most diverse cetacean group after dolphins.

• Known mostly from rare stranding records.

• Both sexes grow up to 3 feet, weighing 1.5–3.6 tonnes.

• Appearance: Robust body, fewer scars, small pointed flippers.

• Males: Dark blue-black with white spots; Females: Mid-grey with paler belly.

• Helps fill knowledge gaps about one of the least-known large animals on Earth.

• Beaked whales are highly sensitive to military sonar, which can disrupt feeding and cause fatal rapid ascents.

3. Project Gaja-Lok: Recently, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) launched Project Gaja-Lok: Elephant Lands and their Cultural Symbolism in Asia.

• About Project Gaja-Lok: Project aims to document culture–nature connections, highlighting elephants as symbols of wisdom, power, spirituality, and climate resilience across Asia.

• Organised by INTACH’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Division with participation from scholars, cultural experts, and conservationists.

• What Gaja-Lok showcases: Exhibits trace elephants’ journey through Asian civilizations:

• Indus Valley seals, Bharhut railings, Konark temple sculptures

• Statues of Ganesha (India, Cambodia)

• Thai, Sri Lankan, Southeast Asian elephant art

• Mughal-era depictions, Panchatantra manuscripts, royal processions, temple festivals

• Explores elephants in Arthaśāstra, Buddhist and Jain traditions, royal courts, and temple iconography.

• About INTACH: A leading national organisation working for the conservation of natural, cultural, tangible, intangible, and living heritage in India.

4. Antimicrobial Resistance (NAP-AMR) 2.0: Recently, the Union government unveiled the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (NAP-AMR) 2.0.

• About AMR: A major public health threat, especially affecting surgeries, cancer care, and critical treatments.

• Overuse and misuse of antibiotics is widespread; NAP-AMR 2.0 aims to correct gaps from the first plan.

• Key focus areas: Greater ownership of AMR-related initiatives

• Stronger inter-sectoral coordination

• Increased private sector engagement

• Enhanced laboratory capacity

• Improved infection-control systems in healthcare facilities

• AMR has serious health, political, and economic implications, leading to delayed treatment, increased spread of resistant microbes, and higher healthcare costs for families and society.

5. Digital Personal Data Protection: Recently, the government notified the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules, 2025, with a separate section for persons with disabilities (PwDs).

• Key Highlights: Earlier draft rules had clubbed PwDs with children for guardian-based consent; activists called this “infantilisation.”

• DPDP Act, 2023 still uses clubbed language, grouping children and PwDs together.

• New rules remove child-specific restrictions (behavioural monitoring, tracking, targeted ads) from applying to PwDs.

• However, PwD Section in rules lacks illustrations or scenarios, unlike the children’s section.

• Surveys cited by Saksham show low awareness among PwDs about which law governs their guardianship.

• Notified rules still reference both laws; activists highlight contradiction.

• Rules define “designated authority” under RPWD Act, yet include physical disabilities where guardianship is not provided under RPWD — creating ambiguity.

6. Dugongs: Recently, a new global report released at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi raised alarms about the rapidly declining population of dugongs, also known as sea cows, in Indian waters.

• About Dugongs: Found mainly in the Gulf of Kutch, Gulf of Mannar–Palk Bay, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

• Marine mammals resembling manatees, believed to have inspired mermaid legends.
• Herbivorous—depend entirely on seagrass meadows; adults grow up to 10 ft and 420 kg.
• Need 30–40 kg of seagrass daily; live in shallow, calm coastal waters.
• Global IUCN Red List: Vulnerable; In India: Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act—highest protection.
• Their grazing maintains healthy seagrass meadows, preventing overgrowth.
• Support carbon storage in sediments — crucial for climate regulation.
• Enhance nutrient cycling, boosting fish and shellfish productivity.

7. YUVA AI for ALL: Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), under the IndiaAI Mission, launched ‘YUVA AI for ALL’.

• About YUVA AI for ALL: Initiative under MeitY and the IndiaAI Mission; goal is to empower 1 crore (10 million) Indians with foundational AI knowledge.

• Course duration: 5 hours, self-paced, simple, practical, and filled with Indian real-life examples.
• Available free on FutureSkills Prime, iGOT Karmayogi, and major ed-tech platforms; includes an official Government certificate.
• What learners get (6 modules): Understand what AI is and how it works
• Learn how AI is transforming education, creativity, and work
• Guidance on safe, ethical, and responsible AI use
• Explore real-world AI applications from India
• Insights into future AI opportunities
• Implementation & Partnerships: Schools, colleges, and organisations can partner with IndiaAI to expand coverage.

8. Public Distribution System (PDS): Recently, the Union Ministry of Food and Public Distribution launched a series of digital initiatives aimed at modernising warehousing systems, strengthening the Public Distribution System (PDS), and enhancing transparency for crores of beneficiaries.

• Key Initiatives: Launched ASHA (Anna Sahayata Holistic AI Solution) — an AI-driven platform for real-time beneficiary feedback on ration distribution.

• Through AI-enabled multilingual calls, beneficiaries can report entitlement received, grain quality, and issues at Fair Price Shops.
• System powered by multilingual translation, sentiment analysis, automated grievance sorting, and real-time dashboards for administrators.
• Reaches 20 lakh beneficiaries per month; developed with Wadhwani Foundation and supported by IndiaAI (Bhashini).
• Supports the government’s focus on reducing logistics costs, faster movement of goods, and integrated planning under PM Gati Shakti.
• Central Warehousing Corporation launched Bhandaran 360, an ERP integrating 41 operational modules (HR, finance, marketing, warehouse management, contracts, projects, etc.).
• Two more digital systems launched:

• Smart EXIM Warehouse System for container freight stations and general warehouses

• ANNA DARPAN, a microservices-based platform replacing the Depot Online System

• ANNA DARPAN integrates procurement, storage, movement, sales, quality checks, labour management, and contract monitoring — forming a single unified data backbone for FCI and DFPD.

9. New Kind of Magnetism: Recently, scientists discovered a new kind of magnetism in a rare-earth compound that could revolutionise quantum and spintronic technologies.

• Key Highlights: Breakthrough achieved in neodymium nitride (NdN) thin films grown as single-crystalline structures.

• Unlike conventional magnets where magnetism comes from electron spin, NdN shows ferromagnetism driven by orbital angular momentum — a major paradigm shift.
• This opens the field of “orbitronics”, which uses orbital motion of electrons for faster, energy-efficient magnetic and quantum devices.
• Discovery reveals how crystal symmetry, electronic hybridization, and rare-earth orbital states stabilize this unique orbital-based magnetism.
• NdN thin films show: Ferromagnetic hysteresis

• Could lead to next-generation quantum information, memory devices, ultra-low energy electronics.
• Breakthrough is significant amid global race for rare-earth materials; neodymium magnets are strategic in clean-energy systems, EVs, wind turbines, and defence tech.
• India holds ~8% of global rare-earth reserves, positioning it strongly for future materials innovation.