09^th December 2025

1. Gallbladder Cancer (GBC): Recently, findings reveal that gallbladder cancer (GBC), a highly aggressive malignancy, is disproportionately affecting women from poor households.

• Key Highlights: India is witnessing a silent but deadly cancer epidemic along the Gangetic plains, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam.

• Despite India contributing nearly 10% of the global gallbladder cancer burden, the disease remains largely absent from policy priority and preventive health frameworks.
• Most patients report late-stage diagnosis, drastically reducing survival chances.
• The disease remains underreported due to weak cancer surveillance systems.
• Reports by Central Ground Water Board and Central Pollution Control Board confirm:
  - High levels of arsenic, cadmium and lead in drinking water
  - Industrial effluents directly discharged into rivers
  - Pesticide residues and adulterated edible oils
• Nearly 70% of gallbladder cancer patients are women.
• Over 80% of women patients reach hospitals at Stage III or IV, when surgery is ineffective.
• Absence of mandatory cancer reporting keeps disease clusters invisible and delays prevention.

2. Neurotechnology: Recently, with rapid advances in Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) and global initiatives like the BRAIN Initiative of the United States, neurotechnology is emerging as a transformative scientific frontier.

• Key Highlights: India faces a rising burden of neurological disorders alongside growing strengths in AI, biotechnology, and engineering, experts argue that neurotechnology could become both a public health solution and a strategic economic opportunity.

• About Neurotechnology: Direct interaction between machines and the human brain. Recording, decoding, and stimulating neural activity
  - It integrates: Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence, Engineering and Advanced computing
• About Brain-Computer Interface (BCI): Reads brain signals, decodes them digitally and converts them into machine commands
  - Applications include: Operating computers, controlling wheelchairs, moving robotic arms etc.
• India carries a high neurological disease burden: Stroke, spinal injuries, neurodegenerative diseases and Mental health disorders
  - Between 1990–2019: Non-communicable and injury-related neurological disorders increased sharply, stroke emerged as the largest contributor
• Neurotechnology aligns with India’s growth in: AI, Robotics and Biotechnology

3. Shingles: Recently, an international medical study revealed that vaccination against shingles significantly reduces the risk of death from dementia, highlighting a new long-term neurological benefit.

• About Shingles Disease: A painful viral infection that mainly affects: Nerve tissues and skin along specific nerve pathways

• It occurs due to the reactivation of the Varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox.
• After recovery from chickenpox, the virus: Remains dormant in nerve cells and can reactivate later in life when immunity weakens
• Reactivation is triggered by: Ageing, Chronic illness and Long-term use of immunosuppressive drugs
• Most common symptom: Painful blistering rash in a stripe-like pattern
• Affected areas: One side of the torso, face, or neck
• Treatment and Prevention: Antiviral medicines: Reduce severity and shorten recovery period
  - Vaccine Available: Shingrix

4. UDBHAV 2025: Recently, the 6th National EMRS Cultural & Literary Fest and Kala Utsav – UDBHAV 2025, organised by the National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, concluded successfully at KL University, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.

• Key Highlights: 1,558 tribal students from 22 States and Union Territories

• The massive turnout reflected the pan-India reach of EMRS (Eklavya Model Residential School) institutions.
• Tribal handicrafts, visual arts, folk dances, music, and indigenous storytelling were key highlights.
• Telangana emerged as the overall champion in the medal tally. Other top-performing states: Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh & Madhya Pradesh
• Winners from 12 identified categories will represent EMRSs at the National Kala Utsav.
• This ensures continued national exposure and recognition of tribal talent.
• UDBHAV 2025 reinforced the vision of: Sabka Saath (inclusive participation), Sabka Vikas (shared development), Sabka Vishwas (collective trust) and Sabka Prayas (joint effort)

5. Unified Payments Interface (UPI): Recently, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) was recognized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the world’s largest real-time payment system by transaction volume in its June 2025 report.

• Key Highlights: As per ACI Worldwide (2024 report), UPI accounts for 49% of global real-time payment transactions.

• India processed 3 billion real-time transactions, the highest globally.
• Other major global shares: Brazil (14%), Thailand (8%), China (6%) & South Korea (3%)
• Government support for digital payments includes: BHIM-UPI low-value transaction incentives
  - Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) for POS terminals and QR codes
• Nationwide expansion of RuPay-UPI across: Public services, Transport systems & E-commerce platforms
• Digital payments rollout led jointly by: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

6. Big Cat Conservation: Recently, India convened a high-level international interaction on Big Cat Conservation under the framework of the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) in New Delhi.

• Key Highlights: Strengthen collaborative global action for big cat conservation

• Promote partnership-driven conservation diplomacy
• Build consensus for shared ecological responsibility
• Species covered under IBCA: Tigers, Lions, Snow leopards, Cheetahs, Leopards, Pumas and Jaguars
• They function as: Apex predators, Controllers of prey populations and Indicators of ecosystem health
• Current IBCA status: 18 countries have formally joined, 3 countries have Observer Status and several international organizations are also partners

7. WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine: Recently, India officially launched the global countdown to the 2nd WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

• Key Highlights: The summit is being jointly hosted by the Ministry of Ayush and the World Health Organization (WHO).

• Theme of the Summit: “Restoring balance: The science and practice of health and well-being”
• Focus areas include: Scientific validation of traditional medicine
  - Digital health integration
  - Biodiversity protection
  - Global regulatory collaboration
• India is globally recognized as a leader in: Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy
• The WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre at Jamnagar reflects growing global trust in India’s traditional knowledge systems.

8. National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID): Recently, India’s counter-terror and law-enforcement intelligence framework has undergone a major transformation, with the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) now handling around 45,000 data requests every month.

• About NATGRID: A real-time integrated intelligence-sharing platform.

• It functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• It securely links multiple government and selected private databases.
• It allows authorised law-enforcement and security agencies to access information instantly for: Counter-terrorism, Organised crime control, Financial and cyber investigations
• Objectives: To enable seamless, real-time intelligence access across India.
• To eliminate delays caused by: Multiple manual data requisitions and Inter-departmental bottlenecks
• To accelerate: Investigations, Threat detection and Predictive policing
• Key Functions: The system combines data from Aadhaar, driving licenses, bank transactions, telecom records, airline PNRs, immigration data, and limited social media inputs.
  - It gives secure, encrypted, role-based access to sensitive data, now also available to SP-rank State police officers.
  - It ensures strong data protection through confidentiality controls, restricted user access, and full audit trails.
  - It strengthens predictive intelligence, behaviour analysis, and early threat detection.
  - It brings together major agencies like IB, RAW, NIA, ED, FIU, DRI, NCB, and State Police on one shared platform.
  - It uses advanced cybersecurity systems, encrypted data flows, and strict access controls to protect against cyberattacks and data breaches.

9. Mosquitoes: Recently, a study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by University of Hong Kong researchers proposed that mosquitoes originated about 106 million years ago, much later than the earlier 200-million-year estimate.

• Key Findings: The study also proposes that mosquitoes evolved in parallel with Plasmodium, the malaria parasite.

• Fossil evidence conflict: Oldest known mosquito fossil is ~100 million years old
  - Modern-like mosquitoes appeared only ~56 million years ago
  - Lack of older fossils weakens the ancient-origin theory
• The new study used whole-genome analysis with: Benchmarking universal single-copy orthologs and ultra-conserved genetic elements
• A key issue identified: branch attraction bias, which earlier distorted mosquito evolutionary trees.
• Genetic shift in Anopheles from G–C rich to A–T rich DNA misled earlier classifications.
• Two different mosquito evolution models exist: the old two-subfamily model and the new Anophelinae–Culex close-relation model.
• The new study is criticised for focusing too much on Anopheles and ignoring many other mosquito groups. Scientists also question the new study’s ability to correctly identify the root of the mosquito evolutionary tree.
• Recent fossil finds include an Anopheles-like mosquito and the first known mosquito larva fossil.
• These new fossils are older than the timeline proposed by the recent genetic study.
• The new study claims some fossils may be wrongly identified or belong to extinct mosquito groups.
• The study suggests mosquitoes and the malaria parasite Plasmodium evolved together.
• Their common ancestor is estimated to have lived 43–46 million years ago.
• Culex mosquitoes transmit Plasmodium to birds and reptiles, while Anopheles transmit it to mammals.
• Critics argue Plasmodium could not have influenced early mosquito evolution because mosquitoes likely existed before the parasite.