About United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

• It is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees.

UNRWA Establishment

• UNRWA was established by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 302 (IV) of 8 December 1949.
• Objective: To provide relief, health, and education services for Palestinians who lost both their homes and their means of livelihood during the Arab-Israeli wars following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
• The agency began operations on 1 May 1950.
• In the absence of a solution to the Palestine refugee problem, the General Assembly has repeatedly renewed UNRWA's mandate, most recently extending it until 30 June 2026.
• UNRWA Headquarters: 
  • It was originally headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon, but was moved to Vienna, Austria, in 1978. 
• In 1996 the General Assembly moved the agency to the Gaza Strip to demonstrate the Assembly’s commitment to the Arab-Israeli peace process.
• UNRWA is unique among UN agencies in that it delivers services directly. 
• UNRWA’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance, including in times of armed conflict.
• It supports more than five million registered Palestinian refugees, and their patrilineal descendants, who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 Palestine war, as well as those who fled or were expelled during and following the 1967 Six Day war.
• Fields of operations: It provides services in its five fields of operations: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, including the East of Jerusalem.
• Funding: 
  • UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states.
  • UNRWA also receives some funding from the regular budget of the UN.
  • UNRWA reports only to the UN General Assembly.

UNRWA FAQs

Q1. Where is the UNRWA located?

Ans. UNRWA Headquarters are located in Amman and in Gaza.

Q2. Which currency does Palestine use?

Ans. Palestine has no currency, and it mainly uses three currencies: Israeli shekels (ILS), United States dollars (USD), and Jordanian dinars (JOD).

Q3. What language is spoken in Palestine?

Ans. Palestinian Arabic is the official and primary language spoken by Palestinians and has a unique dialect.

Q4. Who controls Gaza?

Ans. Gaza is primarily controlled by Hamas, a Palestinian militant and political group that took power in the territory in 2007 after a violent conflict with Fatah, the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Source: TOI 

Indian squid Latest News

Researchers at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, claimed to have decoded the gene expression pattern of Indian squid (Uroteuthis duvaucelii).

About Indian Squid

• It is also known as the Indian calamari, is a cephalopod species that is commonly found in the waters off the coasts of India.
• Squids are known for their advanced nervous system, exceptional problem-solving skills, and complex behaviours like camouflage and jet propulsion.

Indian squid Features

• They are typically around 20-30 cm in length, although larger specimens can reach up to 50 cm.
• It has a distinctive coloration, with a light pinkish-gray body and two large fins on either side. They have eight arms and two longer tentacles that they use to capture prey.
• It is a fast swimmer and capable of propelling themselves through the water using a jet propulsion system.
• Squids tend to prefer areas with high levels of dissolved oxygen, as this is crucial for their respiration.
• Indian Squid Habitat: These are found in a variety of habitats in the Indian Ocean, ranging from coastal waters to the open sea. They are commonly found in depths of 100 to 500 meters, although some species can be found as deep as 1,500 meters.
• Indian Squid Distribution: It is known to occur in the Indo-West Pacific in the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea, eastwards from Mozambique to the South China Sea and the Philippine Sea, northward to Taiwan.
• Conservation status
  • IUCN: Least Concern

Indian squid FAQs

Q1: What is squid called in India?

Ans: Uroteuthis duvaucelii

Q2: What are cephalopods?

Ans: It is the most morphologically and behaviorally complex class in phylum Mollusca

Q3: What is loligo duvauceli?

Ans: It is the most abundant and important commercial squid species.

Source: TH

Asian Waterbird Census Latest News

As per the Asian Waterbird Census-2025, a record number of 39,725 birds belonging to 106 species have been sighted in the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary and adjoining wetlands.

About Asian Waterbird Census

• It is a citizen-science programme that supports the conservation and management of wetlands and waterbirds worldwide.
• It is conducted annually and is part of the global International Waterbird Census (IWC).
• It was initiated in 1987 in the Indian subcontinent and since has grown rapidly to cover major region of Asia, from Afghanistan eastwards to Japan, Southeast Asia and Australasia.
• The census thus covers the entire East Asian – Australasian Flyway and a large part of the Central Asian Flyway.
• In India it is conducted under the aegis of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in early January.

What is Bombay Natural History Society?

• It is a Non-Governmental Organisation in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research.
• BNHS has been designated as a 'Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation' by the Department of Science and Technology. BNHS is the partner of Bird Life International in India.

Asian waterbird census FAQs

Q1: Who conducts the Asian waterbird census?

Ans: The AWC is an integral part of the global waterbird monitoring programme, the International Waterbird Census (IWC), coordinated by Wetlands International.

Q2: What is the Wildlife Institute of India?

Ans: It is an autonomous institution established in 1982 under the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, Government of India.

Q3: What is the international waterbird census?

Ans: It is a monitoring programme operating in 143 countries to collect information on the numbers of waterbirds at wetland sites.

Source: TH 

When-listed Platform Latest News

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is looking to launch a “when-listed” platform.

About When-listed Platform

• It is for trading of shares of companies that have finished their initial public offering (IPO) and are yet to be listed on stock exchanges.
• This is aimed at reducing the activity in the grey market, which is largely unregulated and has a significant influence on listings.
• Present timeline of listing shares in India
  • At present, once the IPO is closed, shares have to be listed on trading platforms in trading plus three working days (T+3), with T being the closing day of the offer. The allotment of shares is done on T+1 day.
  • In the period between the allotment of shares and listing day, investors trade in the grey market.

What is the Grey Market?

• It refers to an unofficial trading of securities even before they are listed on a stock exchange. This is an unregulated market and works on demand and supply.
• Many investors look at the premium offered in the grey market for stock of a company which has launched an IPO, before considering investing in the offer.
• To curb grey market activity, SEBI is working on launching ‘when-listed’ platform

When-listed Platform FAQs

Q1: What is the grey market for stocks?

Ans: It is an unofficial financial securities market

Q2: When can a company launch an IPO?

Ans: To launch an IPO, the company must submit its annual financial reports for the last three years to the NSE.

Q3: What is the difference between listed and unlisted companies in UPSC?

Ans: The listed companies in India- are regulated by the Security and Exchange Board of India(SEBI). Unlisted companies are not controlled by any governing body and follow less stringent laws than listed companies.

Source: IE

Asteroids Latest News

A 14-year-old boy from Noida has earned recognition from NASA for his provisional discovery of an asteroid, currently labelled as ‘2023 OG40.’ 

About Asteroids

• Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are the rocky remnants of material leftover from the formation of the solar system and its planets approximately 4.6 billion years ago.
• They are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun in highly flattened, or "elliptical" circles, often rotating erratically, tumbling, and falling through space. 
• The majority of asteroids originate from the main asteroid belt, a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
• Asteroids are found in other places, too. For example, some asteroids are found in the orbital path of planets.
• This means that the asteroid and the planet follow the same path around the sun. 
• Earth and a few other planets have asteroids like this.
• Although asteroids orbit the Sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets.
• Most asteroids are irregularly shaped, though a few are nearly spherical, and they are often pitted or cratered. 
• Some asteroids are hundreds of miles in diameter, but many more are as small as pebbles.
• More than 150 asteroids are known to have a small companion moon (some have two moons). 
• There are also binary (double) asteroids, in which two rocky bodies of roughly equal size orbit each other, as well as triple asteroid systems.

What is the International Asteroid Discovery Project (IADP)?

• It is a program affiliated with NASA’s International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC).
• It is a citizen science program which lets participants discover asteroids by using software and datasets. 
• The citizen scientists can make original astronomical discoveries and participate in hands-on astronomy.
• The participants are provided with datasets from IASC, which they have to download. 
• Calibrating them on Astronomica software, they then have to look for asteroids.

Asteroids FAQs

Q1. What is the largest asteroid in the universe?

Ans. The largest asteroid is called Ceres. It is about one-quarter the size of the moon.

Q2. How big is a comet?

Ans. Comets are frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system composed of dust, rock, and ices. They range from a few miles to tens of miles wide.

Q3. Do asteroids hit planets?

Ans. Stray asteroids and asteroid fragments have slammed into Earth and the other planets in the past, playing a major role in altering the geological history of the planets and in the evolution of life on Earth.

Source: IE

Annual Status of Education Report Latest News

After a prolonged decline due to learning losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has now been a modest recovery in foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) among school students, according to the ASER 2024, released recently.

About Annual Status of Education Report

• It is an annual citizen-led survey that provides reliable estimates of children’s schooling and learning levels in rural India.
• ASER is published by the NGO Pratham, and the survey has been conducted every year since 2005.
• In 2016, ASER switched to an alternate-year model where the ‘basic’ ASER is conducted in all rural districts of the country every other year rather than annually.
• In the gap years, a smaller survey (typically 1-2 districts per state) focuses on other age groups and domains.
• The ‘basic’ ASER survey tracks enrollment for children aged 3-16 and assesses basic reading and arithmetic of children aged 5-16. 
• ASER is a household-based rather than school-based survey. 
• This design enables all children to be included those who have never been to school or have dropped out; those who are in government schools, private schools, religious, or other types of schools; as well as those who are absent from school on the day of the assessment.

Highlights of ASER 2024

• During the pandemic years, there was a big jump in government school enrolment, with the proportion of 6–14-year-old children enrolled in government schools rising from 65.6 percent in 2018 to 72.9 percent in 2022. This number is back to 66.8 percent in 2024.
• Private school enrolment has been steadily rising since 2006 in rural India. 
• The proportion of6-14-year-olds enrolled in private schoolsrose from 18.7 percent in 2006 to 30.8 percent in 2014 and stayed at that level in 2018.
• The report also noted that not only has there been a full recovery from the pandemic-induced learning loss, the learning levels in the primary grades are higher than past levels in some cases.
• The percentage of Class 3 children who can perform at least subtraction at the basic arithmetic level was 33.7% in 2024, up from 25.9% in 2022 and higher than the pre-pandemic rate of 28.2% in 2018. 
• While private schools saw a rise of about four percent, government schools saw a sharper seven percent surge in this field.
• The percentage of Class 5 children who can now read a text at the Class 2 level was 44.8% in 2024, up from 38.5% in 2022 and nearly matching the 2018 rate of 44.2%. 
• However, this percentagehas not yet reached pre-pandemic levels at private schools; in 2024, it was 59.3%, up from 56.8% in 2022, but still less than 65.1% in 2018.
• More than 82 percent of children in the 14-16 age group know how to use a smartphone, but only 57 percent of them use it for educational purposes.
• The data in the report shows that both teacher and student attendance in government elementary schools has increased.
• From 72.4% in 2018 to 73% in 2022 to 75.9% in 2024, the average student attendance rose. 
• Meanwhile, from 85.1% in 2018, the average teacher attendance rose to 86.8% in 2022 and 87.5% in 2024.
• In pre-primary schools for children aged five, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, and Nagaland are among the states with enrollment rates above 90%.

Annual Status of Education Report FAQs

Q1. What is India's annual education budget?

Ans. The Budget Allocation for the FY 2024-25 of ₹ 73,498 cr is the highest ever for the Department of School Education & Literacy

Q2. What is the new education policy 2024?

Ans. The National Education Policy 2024 places a strong emphasis on integrating vocational training and internship from an early age, offering a significant opportunity to blend skills-based learning with the mainstream school curriculum.

Q3. What is NGO Pratham famous for?

Ans. Established in 1994, Pratham is known for its Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), a nationwide survey that assesses children's learning levels in rural India.

Source: TH 

Organophosphate Latest News

Recently, doctors treating patients from J&K’s Baddal village said that organophosphate could be behind the 17 deaths that had spread panic in the village. 

About Organophosphate

• It is a chemical that is used in pesticides and insecticides.
• Organophosphates are efficiently absorbed by inhalation and ingestion.
• These are chemical compounds formed through the esterification process involving phosphoric acid and alcohol.
• These are generally used to protect crops from pests and even to control the spread of disease by insects and have extensive application in manufacturing plastics and solvents.

Impact of Organophosphate on Human Health

• They work by disrupting the transmission of nerve signals in exposed organisms with fatal. Certain organophosphates have caused a different kind of neurotoxicity consisting of damage to the afferent fibers of peripheral and central nerves and associated with inhibition of “neuropathy target esterase”.

What is Esterification?

• It is a chemical reaction in which two reactants such as alcohol and acid combine to create an ester as the reaction product.

Organophosphate FAQs

Q1: What is organophosphate used for?

Ans: Primary components in herbicides, pesticides, and insecticides 

Q2: What are examples of organophosphate drugs?

Ans: Malathion, Sarin and VX 

Q3: What is the antidote for organophosphate?

Ans: Atropine and pralidoxime

Q4: What is the advantage of using organophosphate insecticides?

Ans: It is safe for use on crops and animals due to their relatively fast degradation rates.

Source: IE

Sharavathy Lion-Tailed Macaque Sanctuary Latest News

The State Board of Wildlife recently gave conditional approval for the Sharavathy Pumped Storage Project in the Sharavathy Lion-Tailed Macaque Sanctuary.

About Sharavathy Lion-Tailed Macaque Sanctuary

• It is located in the Sharavathi River Valley of Sagar taluk in Shivamogga District, Karnataka.
• It lies in the Western Ghats, mainly covered with evergreen and semi-evergreen forests in the valleys and grassy patches on hilltops.
• It was formed by combining the existing Sharavathi Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, Aghanashini Lion-Tailed Macaque Conservation Reserve, and the adjoining reserve forest blocks. 
• The sanctuary shares its southwestern boundary with the Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Sharavathy Lion-Tailed Macaque Sanctuary Flora: The sanctuary is immensely rich in species like Dhoopa, Gulmavu, Surahonne, Mavu, Nandi, etc.
• Sharavathy Lion-Tailed Macaque Sanctuary Fauna:
  • It is considered as a key habitat for protecting the endangered Lion-Tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus), considered as endemic to Western Ghats.
  • Other mammals include tiger, leopard, wild dog, jackal, sloth bear, spotted deer,sambar,barking deer, mouse deer, wild pig, common langur,bonnet macaque,Malabar giant squirrel, etc.

Sharavathy Lion-Tailed Macaque Sanctuary FAQs

Q1. Which national park in South India has the largest population of lion-tailed macaques?

Ans. The Silent Valley National Park in Kerala, South India, is home to the largest population of lion-tailed macaques.

Q2. Which dam is built on Sharavathi river?

Ans. The Sharavathi River is home to the Linganamakki Dam, which is located in the Shimoga district of Karnataka.

Q3. What is the waterfall of Sharavati River?

Ans. The Jog Falls, also known as Joga Falls, is the most famous waterfall on the Sharavathi River.

Q4. Where is Sharavathi river born?

Ans. Rising in the Western Ghats, it flows in a northwesterly direction to the Arabian Sea at Honavar in Uttara Kannada District. 

Source: TH 

Harmful Algal Blooms Latest News

India’s coastline, rich in biodiversity, is grappling with a growing phenomenon of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs).

About Harmful Algal Blooms

• Certain environmental conditions in water bodies can intensify algae growth, causing algal blooms. 
• The excessive algal growth becomes visible to the naked eye and can be green, blue-green, red, or brown, depending on the type of algae.
• Algal blooms can happen in fresh, marine (salt), and brackish (a mixture of fresh and salt) water. 
• Not all algal blooms are harmful. Most blooms are beneficial because the tiny plants are food for animals in the ocean.
• Blooms with the potential to harm human health or aquatic ecosystems are referred to as HABs. 

Why do HABs Occur?

• Certain environmental conditions, such as warmer water temperatures in the summer and excessive nutrients from fertilizers or sewage waste brought by runoff, trigger HABs.
• Many different types of algae can cause HABs. However, three types—cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates, and diatoms—cause most blooms that make people and animals sick.

What are the Impacts from HABs?

• HABs can produce toxins which can result in acute or chronic disease in most vertebrates, depending on the type of toxin and amount of toxin absorbed.
• HABs can damage the environment by depleting the oxygen in the water, which can kill fish and other living creatures. 
• HABs that bloom near the water surface can also block sunlight from reaching organisms deeper in the water.

Harmful Algal Blooms FAQs

Q1. What are red tides?

Ans. Red tides are a type of harmful algal bloom (HAB) caused by the rapid growth of certain algae in marine or coastal waters. 

Q2. Which algae is responsible for red tide?

Ans. Dinoflagellates, particularly species from the genus Karenia, are primarily responsible for red tides.

Q3. What are the harmful effects of algae?

Ans. Exposure to high levels of blue-green algae and their toxins can cause diarrhea, nausea or vomiting; skin, eye or throat irritation; and allergic reactions or breathing difficulties.

Source: TH

Lezim Dance Latest news

Recently, a scene of Lezim dancing in the upcoming Bollywood film Chhava, based on the life of Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, has led to controversy in Maharashtra.

About Lezim Dance

• It is a folk dance from the state of Maharashtra.
• It gets its name after a musical instrument- a unique wooden stick, with jingling cymbals attached to it that the dancers carry while performing the dance.
• Lezim is as much a rigorous physical exercise, a drill, as a dance: the formations are in twos and fours and sometimes even a circle.
• The dance is accompanied by a dhol or dhalgi (small dhol).
• There are no winds or string instruments accompanying it, often there is no song accompaniment either, but of late, sometimes, a song is sung.”
• Musical Instruments:
  • Lizem is a kind of musical instrument which was earlier traditionally used as an instrument in all folk dances but today it is primarily used in Ganesha procession.
  • The dancers carry a wooden stick fixed with jingling cymbals. These jingling cymbals are called Lezim. Dholki, a drum instrument, is used as the main percussion music in the performance.

Who was Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj?

• He was the eldest son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
• He came to power following a bloody succession battle with his half-brother Rajaram in 1681.
• The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (1618-1707) was a contemporary and his plan to extend his empire towards the Deccan often resulted in clashes with the Marathas.

Lezim Dance FAQs

Q1: Which state dance is Lezim?

Ans: Maharashtra

Q2: What are the benefits of the Lezim exercise?

Ans: The health benefits of Lezim folk dance are numerous and include Improved cardiovascular health:

Q3: How many types of Lezim are there?

Ans: There are three main types of Lezim - military lezim (popular in Baroda and mostly used as a martial art for defense), talathekya and samanyajananna

Q4:What is Lezim in sports?

Ans: Lezim is much a dynamic physical exercise and drill as a sports dance

Source: IE