Recent US airstrikes, following Israeli strikes, targeted major Iranian nuclear enrichment sites: Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz. (GS Paper II – International relations)
These facilities are crucial for producing Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU), potentially usable in nuclear weapons. (GS Paper III – Science and Technology)
Strikes raised fears of a nuclear explosion or radiation disaster.
A nuclear explosion did not occur because nuclear weapons require specific conditions (weapons-ready material, precise triggering) not present in enrichment facilities under attack.
Nuclear bombs detonate via fission/fusion reactions with precise mechanisms, unlike chemical explosives or facilities holding raw/partially enriched material. (GS Paper III – Science and Technology)
The actual risk is from nuclear radiation release if storage or processing infrastructure is damaged.
Nuclear facilities store radioactive substances like Uranium, UF6, and radioactive waste.
Radiation (e.g., gamma rays) is harmful, causing DNA damage, cancer, and long-term environmental contamination (soil, water, food chains). (GS Paper III – Science and Technology)
Facilities are designed to contain radiation, but strikes pose a risk of breaching containment.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed no off-site radiation increase after the strikes and is monitoring the situation. (GS Paper II – International relations)
US reportedly used GBU-57 MOP “Bunker Buster” bombs, designed for fortified targets, delivered by B-2 bombers. (Value addition) (GS Paper III – Science and Technology)
Commissioning on July 1, 2025: Marks its official entry into service, adding a modern warship to the Indian Navy.
Final Foreign-Built Warship: Significant as it represents the conclusion of India’s reliance on foreign warship construction, aligning with the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ focus on indigenous shipbuilding.
Upgraded Tushil-class Frigate: Belongs to the latest evolution of the Krivak-class, designed for multi-role operations including escort, anti-submarine, anti-air, and surface combat.
Size and Range: With 3,900 tonnes displacement and blue-water endurance, it is capable of long-range deployments crucial for projecting power in the Indian Ocean Region.
Powerful Weaponry: Armed with BrahMos missiles, Shtil SAMs, a 100mm gun, CIWS, torpedoes, and ASW rockets, providing robust offensive and defensive capabilities.
Advanced Systems: Equipped with modern radar, electronic warfare (EW), electro-optical systems, and network-centric warfare capability, enhancing its effectiveness and integration in naval operations.
Indigenous Contribution: Features 26% Indian-made components, reflecting growing domestic involvement in defense manufacturing even in foreign collaborations.
Strategic Role: As a frigate, it serves as a vital part of the Navy’s surface combat fleet, essential for protecting sea lines of communication and acting as a deterrent.
Alcohol Law India
India is facing a growing alcohol crisis with high consumption (14.6% of adults) and significant health, social, and financial harms, contributing to 2.6 million DALYs and costing ₹6.24 trillion in 2021. This escalating problem drives calls for a unified national strategy.
Consumption is driven by psychosocial factors (stress, peer pressure, media), commercial determinants (product innovation, easy access, advertising loopholes, affordability), and regulatory gaps like states’ dependence on excise revenue.
Alcohol regulation falls under State jurisdiction, resulting in fragmented policies across India, including varying legal ages (18-25), limited pricing controls, and inconsistent approaches from prohibition in some states to enabling online delivery in others.
Despite national-level policies addressing related issues (mental health, NCDs), a comprehensive, unified National Alcohol Control Policy is absent.
Key challenges include policy inconsistency, state revenue dependency on alcohol taxes, exploitation of advertising loopholes (surrogate ads, influencers), political nexus aiding illicit trade, and low public awareness of alcohol’s harms.
Addressing the crisis requires a coordinated approach focusing on Affordability (higher taxes), Allocation (earmarking revenue for health), curbing Accessibility (physical/digital), banning Advertisements, reducing Attractiveness (packaging), raising Awareness, and utilizing AI for monitoring.
A National Alcohol Control Policy and Programme is urgently needed to prioritize public health, prevention, and long-term well-being over fragmented state policies and revenue generation.
RBI Monetary Policy
In the June 2025 meeting, the RBI MPC discussed shifting the stance from Accommodative to Neutral. This is because, despite 100 bps rate cuts since February 2025, there is limited space for monetary policy to further support growth, given the fragile global economy, slow pace of inflation reduction, and external uncertainties. A neutral stance offers flexibility based on incoming data.
There was a discussion on cutting policy rates to support growth while maintaining price stability. The rationale included the sharp fall in inflation from 6.2% (Oct 2024) to 3.2% (April 2025) and a lower projected annual average inflation.
Different views existed within the MPC on the magnitude of the rate cut (50 bps proposed vs. 25 bps proposed). The argument for a smaller cut (25 bps) highlighted economic resilience, existing large liquidity injections by RBI aiding transmission, and the need for a cautious approach due to uncertainties.
The global economic situation remains fragile, with slow growth and inflation receding slowly. This global uncertainty underscores the need for growth-supportive policies but also a flexible monetary stance.
SMA
First instance in India of a newborn diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) gene mutation through prenatal screening receiving presymptomatic treatment.
The infant is being treated with Risdiplam, a rare disease-modifying drug.
The treatment aims to prevent or minimise potential motor neuron damage before symptoms develop, leveraging the crucial therapeutic time window.
SMA is a genetic disorder caused by a mutation in the SMN1 gene, leading to motor neuron loss and progressive muscle weakness.
It is typically inherited from parents who are carriers.
SMA affects about 1 in 10,000 births and is a major genetic cause of infant mortality.
Early diagnosis, often challenging, allows for earlier intervention which is known to improve motor function and outcomes.
Risdiplam is an expensive drug; the state government supports patients through its KARE initiative.
While treatments can improve life and muscle function, SMA is currently not curable, and early treatment aims to manage the disease progression.
Subarnarekha River
Flooding in Balasore, Odisha: Caused by the alleged release of water from Chandil Dam on the Subarnarekha River in Jharkhand without prior intimation to Odisha.
Significant area inundated: Four blocks (Baliapal, Bhograi, Basta, Jaleswar) and over 50 villages in Balasore district were flooded, affecting more than 50,000 people.
Missing person reported: One person went missing after being swept away by floodwater in the Baliapal block area.
River level receding: The water level of the Subarnarekha at Rajghat dropped below the danger mark on Sunday, indicating a potential improvement in the flood situation.
Rescue and relief efforts underway: Teams from Fire Service, ODRAF, and NDRF have been deployed for operations, and health teams are distributing essentials in affected villages.
Chandil Dam’s role questioned: Balasore MP alleged “criminal misconduct” by Chandil Dam authorities for releasing excess water without informing Odisha.
Subarnarekha River’s geography: It originates in Jharkhand and flows through Odisha (where the flooding occurred) before emptying into the Bay of Bengal, with Chandil Dam located on its course.
Stimulus & Slowdown
RBI cuts repo rate to 5.5%: Why: To lower borrowing costs and stimulate private investment and growth during an economic slowdown, facilitated by falling inflation.
Government cuts income tax: Why: To increase disposable income and consumer spending, aiming for an expansionary fiscal stance to boost demand.
Policy coordination challenge: Why: Effective macroeconomic stability requires fiscal and monetary policies to work together; opposing stances can cancel out effects.
Household spending caution: Why: Households may delay spending tax cut gains due to uncertainty, limiting the immediate stimulus impact.
Weak growth signals persist: Why: Despite policy support, indicators like GDP forecast (6.5%), credit growth (9%), and unemployment (5.6%) show growth remains muted.
Risk of fiscal deficit increase: Why: Tax cuts reduce government revenue, potentially increasing the deficit unless spending is cut, which could undermine long-term fiscal health.
Expansionary tools include spending, tax cuts, rate cuts: Why: These are standard measures governments and central banks use during slowdowns to boost aggregate demand, investment, and employment.
Quantum Comms
India is rapidly advancing towards satellite-based quantum communication targeting operational capability by 2030. Why: To achieve ultra-secure, unhackable communication across long distances, crucial for national security and joining an elite group of nations.
Researchers at IIT Delhi and DRDO recently demonstrated secure quantum communication over a 1-kilometer free-space link using entangled photons. Why: Proves capability for quantum communication in environments without fiber cables, like battlefields, aircraft, and ultimately, space.
Key metrics from the free-space demo include a secure key rate of ~240 bits/sec and a quantum bit error rate below 7%. Why: Shows practical performance and viability of the free-space technology.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a core feature, enabling two parties to share an encryption key securely using quantum particles. Why: Any attempt to intercept the quantum state alerts users, making the communication virtually unhackable.
India is building on earlier milestones, including the first intercity fiber link (2022) and 100km QKD over fiber (2024). Why: Shows systematic progress across different types of quantum communication.
Free-space and satellite systems are vital for secure communication where fiber is impractical or for global reach. Why: Overcomes the distance limitations of fiber, enabling applications like satellite-based secure networks.
This technology is strategically important for military, government, and financial security. Why: Protects classified data and critical transactions from potential future quantum computing attacks.
India’s progress helps close the gap with global leaders like China, which already has a quantum satellite (Micius). Why: Ensures India’s technological readiness and security independence in this critical area.
Lead to Gold
Scientists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) briefly transformed lead nuclei into gold nuclei. Why: This demonstrates the feasibility of nuclear transmutation using extreme physics, echoing ancient alchemists’ dreams in a modern scientific context.
The transformation happened not through direct collisions but “ultra-peripheral” near-miss interactions. Why: This shows that powerful electromagnetic fields generated by fast-moving particles can trigger nuclear changes, specifically electromagnetic dissociation, leading to proton ejection.
Lead (82 protons) became gold (79 protons) by losing exactly three protons from its nucleus. Why: This confirms the principle that an element’s identity is determined by its number of protons and that altering this number can change one element into another at the nuclear level.
The amount of gold created was minuscule (picograms) and existed for only a nanosecond before fragmenting. Why: This highlights that the experiment is a fundamental physics demonstration, not a practical method for producing gold, and illustrates the fleeting nature of the transformation under these conditions.
The study provides insights into ultra-peripheral collisions, tests theoretical models of electromagnetic dissociation, and helps improve understanding crucial for particle accelerator performance. Why: Beyond the ‘gold’ fascination, the experiment yields valuable data for advancing particle physics, understanding matter under extreme conditions, and optimizing future collider technologies.
AMR
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when microbes like bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to medicines, making infections hard to treat and increasing severe illness and death risk.
A major cause of AMR is the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, particularly in livestock and human healthcare.
AMR is a growing global threat, projected to cause 10 million deaths annually by 2050 if left unchecked.
Traditional livestock farming contributes to AMR due to heavy antibiotic use and also causes high greenhouse gas emissions, land, and water use.
Insect-based livestock feed (e.g., black soldier fly larvae, crickets) is being explored as a sustainable alternative.
Insect feed can convert organic waste, reduce emissions, use less land and water, and is cost-effective.
Critically, promoting alternatives like insect-based feed in agriculture helps reduce the reliance on antibiotics in animal farming, addressing a key driver of AMR.
Scientific evidence suggests insects offer good digestibility and nutrition, potentially replacing traditional feeds like soy or fish meal efficiently.
Reducing AMR requires rational use of antibiotics, responsible use in agriculture (like promoting alternatives), improved hygiene, stronger surveillance, R&D, and public awareness.
India has implemented measures like a National Action Plan on AMR, the Red Line Campaign, and FSSAI regulations to curb antibiotic misuse.
Indian initiatives by CIBA and ICAR are exploring and scaling up insect feed for aquaculture to help reduce antibiotic use in shrimp and fish farming.
Midnight Hammer
Operation Midnight Hammer Launched: The US military conducted strikes targeting Iran’s critical nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. This is major news because it represents a direct, large-scale military action against Iran’s perceived nuclear weapons program infrastructure.
Targeted Key Facilities: The operation specifically hit Fordow (deep underground enrichment), Natanz (enrichment), and Isfahan. Targeting these sites is significant because they are considered central to Iran’s nuclear capabilities, aiming to severely degrade or halt their progress.
Used GBU-57 Bunker Busters on Fordow: 12 GBU-57 bombs were dropped by B-2 bombers on Fordow, a heavily fortified underground site, causing significant damage. This is newsworthy because the GBU-57 is the most powerful non-nuclear penetrator bomb, and its use against a deeply buried target like Fordow demonstrates a unique US capability and a clear intent to destroy hardened facilities regardless of depth. It also marks the GBU-57’s first combat use.
Tactics Involved Stealth and Deception: The operation used stealth aircraft (B-2) and deception to bypass Iranian air defenses. This is significant because it highlights the US ability to project power deep into hostile territory with minimal detection risk, ensuring the strikes could be carried out successfully against well-defended targets.
Demonstrated B-2 + GBU-57 Capability: The B-2, being the only aircraft capable of carrying the GBU-57, was crucial. This combination is key news as it shows the US can strike and destroy deeply buried strategic targets (like nuclear bunkers) effectively and stealthily, a capability few other nations possess.
A980 Unique Chemistry
Star A980 is a rare cool Extreme Helium (EHe) star, located about 25,800 light years away in the Ophiuchus constellation.
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) discovered singly-ionized germanium (Ge II) in A980’s spectrum, marking the first time this element has been detected in an EHe star.
The level of germanium in A980 is unusually high, eight times more abundant than in the Sun.
Why this is news: Existing stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis models predict that heavy elements like germanium are primarily formed in supernovae or Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, not in rare EHe stars which are thought to form from white dwarf mergers.
Star A980’s unique chemistry challenges these established models, suggesting element formation processes may occur during white dwarf mergers or pointing to specific s-process enhancements not well-covered in current theories, indicating a need to revise how we understand stellar evolution and element creation in such objects.
Rice Yellow Mottle Virus
Major Threat in Africa: Rice Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV) is a highly contagious disease ravaging rice crops across Africa, leading to severe yield losses (10-100%) and threatening food security, especially as rice is a staple food replacing maize in many regions.
Widespread Outbreak Confirmed: A recent genomic study (June 17, 2025) revealed the extensive outbreak of RYMV across African rice ecosystems, highlighting the urgency of the situation.
Origin and Spread: The virus originated in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania from wild grasses in the 1800s. It has spread across Sub-Saharan Africa and even reported in Turkey, facilitated by insect and animal vectors (beetles, grasshoppers, cows, rats, donkeys), mechanical means, and crucially, human activity like seed movement, trade routes, and transport, exacerbated by weak biosecurity and unstable conditions.
Highly Adaptive Virus: RYMV is a Sobemovirus known for its high genetic variability, allowing it to evolve rapidly and overcome potential resistance measures.
Severe Symptoms: Infection causes visible damage like yellow streaks and mottling on leaves, stunted growth, poor grain formation, sterility, and potential plant death, directly impacting yield.
Urgent Call to Action: The study and experts emphasize the critical need to strengthen biosecurity, invest in regional genomic surveillance to track the virus, and accelerate the development of disease-resistant rice varieties to combat the spread and protect future crops.
Context: US airstrikes targeted Iran’s underground nuclear facilities (Fordo, Natanz, Isfahan) using bunker busters.
IAEA’s Immediate Response: Issued a statement confirming no off-site radiation leak post-attacks.
Ongoing Monitoring: Continues to monitor the sites remotely.
Planned Action: Plans verification inspections once safety permits.
IAEA’s Core Role: Acts as a nuclear watchdog to prevent the military use of nuclear materials and verify facilities for peaceful use under the NPT.
Relevance in Conflict: Its verification and safeguards function is crucial during tensions to ensure nuclear material is not diverted, especially in states like Iran subject to safeguards agreements.
Limitations Highlighted: The situation potentially exposes the IAEA’s limitations, such as limited enforcement power (it can only report violations, not impose sanctions) and vulnerability to geopolitical pressures.
Need for Improvement: The text suggests a need for stronger enforcement powers and improved crisis response mechanisms for the IAEA in conflict zones.
