05^th January 2026 

1. Recirculatory Aquaculture System (RAS): Recently, the Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, along with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, is set to inaugurate the Smart Green Aquaculture Farm and Research Institute along with a state-of-the-art Recirculatory Aquaculture System (RAS) facility in Hyderabad.

• About RAS: An advanced fish-farming technology in which water is continuously treated, recycled, and reused through mechanical and biological filtration processes that remove suspended solids and metabolic wastes. This system supports high-density fish culture while using very little land and water.
• Key Features of RAS: It supports intensive, high-stocking-density aquaculture, unlike conventional open-water farming systems.
• RAS functions as a closed-loop, tank-based system, where water is reused after effective filtration.
• Integrated filtration units clean and purify water, removing fish waste and maintaining safe living conditions.
• The system includes automated culture tanks with both mechanical and biological filters, minimizing external contamination.
• By restricting outside water entry, it reduces pathogen exposure and enhances biosecurity.
• Requires minimal manual intervention for water quality, health, and disease monitoring.
• Can be established indoors or in water-scarce regions, enabling fish production close to urban markets with high demand.

2. Impact India’s Energy Security: Recently, trade and import data analysis suggests that U.S. military strikes on Venezuela are unlikely to impact India’s energy security.

• Key Highlights: India imported $255.3 million worth of oil from Venezuela in FY 2025–26 (up to November), accounting for only about 0.3% of India’s total oil imports.
• In contrast, India’s oil imports from Venezuela were as high as $13 billion in 2013, indicating a sharp long-term decline.
• Since 2019, India has steadily reduced oil imports and commercial ties with Venezuela due to S. sanctions and threats of secondary sanctions.
• Experts note that low trade volumes, existing sanctions, and geographical distance limit any spillover impact on India’s economy.
• Venezuela, though a member of OPEC, currently contributes only 5% of OPEC’s oil exports and about 1% of global oil supply.
• Venezuela’s reduced output is attributed to S. sanctions and the heavy crude quality, which requires specialized refineries.
• China is the primary destination for most of Venezuela’s oil exports.
• Following the strikes, former U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans for the U.S. to take control of Venezuela’s oil supply.

3. AI in Education: Recently, India announced Artificial Intelligence (AI)–based teacher tools and open schooling reforms, aligning education with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.

• Role of AI in Education: AI-powered platforms will support teachers in lesson design, personalised assessments, and classroom engagement.
• NCERT and the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) will jointly develop adaptive digital teaching resources that customise content based on individual learning patterns.
• AI training modules for educators will be rolled out in partnership with AICTE and Intel India under the AI for All programme.
• The objective is to provide teachers with data-driven insights to monitor learning outcomes and address knowledge gaps more efficiently.
• The government plans to integrate AI into the Open Schooling Framework to simplify processes such as admissions, academic monitoring, and certification.
• A pilot initiative titled ‘Open AI Schools’ has been announced to introduce flexible, AI-supported curricula for distance and open learners.
• AI platforms will be multilingual, supporting all 22 Scheduled Languages, reflecting India’s linguistic diversity.
• The initiative aligns with the Bhashini Project, which focuses on AI-based language translation to promote inclusive digital education.

4. Cetacean Morbillivirus: Recently, scientists have for the first time identified cetacean morbillivirus in Arctic waters using drones to collect whale exhaled breath samples, a non-invasive method that avoids disturbing the animals.

• About Cetacean Morbillivirus: A highly contagious viral infection that affects marine mammals such as whales, dolphins, porpoises, and pilot whales. It belongs to the morbillivirus group, which also includes measles in humans and canine distemper in dogs.
• The virus has been extensively documented in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, and Pacific Ocean. Recent findings confirm its active circulation in Arctic waters, particularly among humpback and sperm whales.
• First reported in 1987, the virus is believed to have originated from land-based morbilliviruses before adapting to marine hosts. It spreads primarily through close physical interaction and respiratory emissions.
• Key characteristics: Affects the respiratory, immune, and nervous systems
• Transmitted via direct contact and aerosolised whale blow
• Capable of cross-species transmission among cetaceans
• Commonly identified after death, limiting early detection and response
• Implications: Indicates emerging disease threats in the Arctic, potentially intensified by climate change and altered migration patterns

5. Notifiable Disease: Recently, the Delhi government has planned to notify rabies as a notifiable disease to strengthen systematic disease monitoring and enable early detection.

• About Notifiable Disease: One that must be compulsorily reported to government authorities under law. Such reporting enables timely surveillance, helps track disease trends, and acts as an early warning system for potential outbreaks.
• In India, the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 provides the legal basis for declaring and reporting notifiable diseases.
• Criteria for Declaring a Disease Notifiable may include: Relevance to national or international disease control regulations or programs
• High incidence at national, state, or district levels
• Severe nature or potential for rapid mortality
• High transmissibility or outbreak potential
• Risk of cross-border or international spread
• Once a disease is notified, medical practitioners and diagnostic laboratories are legally obligated to report confirmed or suspected cases to local health authorities.
• Common examples of notifiable diseases in India include cholera, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, dengue, hepatitis, leprosy, meningitis, plague, and measles.

6. Microlensing: Recently, a study has successfully used microlensing to determine the mass of a rogue planet that does not orbit any star.

• About Microlensing: A phenomenon in which the gravity of a foreground object bends and focuses the light from a distant background star, causing a temporary increase in the star’s apparent brightness as the lensing object passes along the line of sight.
• The effect arises from gravitational lensing, as predicted by Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity.
• The intervening body acts as a natural gravitational lens, deflecting background starlight toward the observer.
• Crucially, the foreground object itself does not need to emit or reflect light, allowing scientists to infer its mass and distance purely from the lensing effect.
• This makes microlensing especially valuable for detecting very distant or faint objects, such as far-off planets, brown dwarfs, neutron stars, and even isolated black holes.
• Microlensing events are short-lived and unpredictable, ranging from a single day to several months or even years.
• These events often produce sudden and significant brightness variations.

7. Adult Skill Assessment Survey: Recently, India has planned to undertake its first-ever nationwide evaluation of adult skill competencies in 2026 to generate reliable data, address workforce gaps, and fully leverage its demographic dividend.

• About Adult Skill Assessment Survey: The survey will be conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) under the Comprehensive Modular Survey (CMS) framework, following a request from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
• CMS facilitates focused, short-duration household surveys on specific policy-relevant themes, allowing ministries to respond quickly to emerging data needs.
• The survey will assess individuals aged 18 years and above over a three-month period, classifying their competencies into basic, intermediate, and advanced skill levels.
• With India’s working-age population (15–59 years) expected to rise to 9% by 2030, the absence of comprehensive data on adult skill levels poses a major policy challenge.
• Current surveys such as the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) only indicate whether a person has undergone vocational or technical training, without evaluating the quality or proficiency of skills, restricting accurate workforce assessment.
• Nearly 75% of employed individuals have only basic education, while graduate employability stands at just 54.8%, underscoring a mismatch between educational attainment and labour market requirements.
• Participation in vocational or technical training among those aged 15–59 years increased from 4% in 2022–23 to 34.7% in 2023–24.
• Key concern: Despite higher training uptake, employability gains remain limited, highlighting the need to assess not just training access but actual skill quality and outcomes.

8. Transgender People: Recently, despite legal recognition and welfare measures, transgender men and gender-diverse persons assigned female at birth (AFAB) in India continue to face systemic exclusion and limited access to inclusive healthcare services.

• Key Healthcare Challenges: Routine misgendering, stigma, and moral judgement within public healthcare facilities often lead to denial or delay of treatment.
• Access to healthcare is frequently tied to gender recognition certificates under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, creating bureaucratic hurdles.
• A binary medical understanding of gender marginalises transmasculine and non-binary identities.
• There is a scarcity of India-specific research on gender-affirming healthcare for trans men and AFAB individuals.
• Medical education and clinical practices are predominantly shaped by trans women’s health experiences, resulting in uneven attention to trans men’s needs.
• The absence of ICMR-endorsed, India-contextual ethical and affirmative clinical guidelines for Gender Identity, Expression, and Sex Characteristics (GIESC) further compounds the problem.
• Medically necessary procedures, such as hysterectomies, are sometimes denied due to patriarchal norms and reproductive expectations.
• Instances of unwarranted invasive examinations have been reported, undermining bodily autonomy and professional ethics.
  • Barriers in Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT): Inadequate counselling on testosterone dosage, associated risks, and long-term health impacts.
• Lack of standardised dosing protocols tailored to individual health profiles.