Disaster: Cyclone Dana made landfall on the Odisha coast. The National Disaster Response Force had pre-positioned teams across coastal Odisha and West Bengal.
Economy: Government announced a campaign to reduce price spread between farm-gate and retail costs of horticulture produce.
International: Venezuela's bid for BRICS membership was reportedly rejected, as all existing members must unanimously approve new applicants.
Environment: Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan, India's largest inland saltwater lake and a Ramsar site, reported the death of 164 migratory birds, suspected avian botulism.
1. Cyclone Dana: disaster response in Odisha
GS area: Disaster Management, Geography
Cyclone Dana made landfall on the Odisha coast in the early hours of 25 October 2024 and residual impacts continued through the weekend.
Classification: Severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds up to 120 km/h. Named by Qatar under the WMO/ESCAP naming convention.
Landfall location: Between Bhitarkanika and Dhamara in Odisha, approximately 50 km from Bhubaneswar.
Response: The National Disaster Response Force deployed 50 teams across Odisha and West Bengal. Over 5 lakh people were evacuated from coastal areas ahead of landfall.
Odisha's preparedness model: Odisha has consistently achieved near-zero casualties from comparable cyclones since 1999. The state's preparedness includes a 24-hour crisis management team, pre-positioned rescue teams, community cyclone shelters, and early warning systems linked to IMD forecasts.
Comparison with 1999: A super cyclone in 1999 killed approximately 10,000 people in Odisha. Since then, the state has systematically invested in cyclone shelters and early warning.
GS area: International Relations (BRICS Governance)
Venezuela's BRICS membership application was reportedly blocked in late October 2024, illustrating the unanimous consent requirement.
BRICS decision-making: BRICS operates by consensus. There is no weighted voting or majority threshold. All existing members must agree for a new country to be admitted.
Venezuela's situation: Venezuela under Nicolas Maduro is under US and EU sanctions related to electoral fraud allegations. Brazil, under a left-leaning government, was reported to have concerns about admitting Maduro's government into a multilateral forum that is trying to project itself as a reform-minded alternative to Western-dominated institutions.
Other aspiring members: Turkey, Indonesia, Nigeria, Mexico, and Malaysia have expressed varying degrees of interest in BRICS membership.
New Development Bank: Headquartered in Shanghai. Initial authorised capital: 100 billion dollars. Open to all UN members, not just BRICS. Bangladesh, UAE, Uruguay, and Egypt have joined as members or are in the process.
Static linkage: BRICS governance, New Development Bank, multilateral institutions (International Relations).
3. Sambhar Lake: avian mortality
GS area: Environment (Wetlands, Biodiversity)
Sambhar Lake, India's largest inland saltwater lake, reported the death of 164 migratory birds. Avian botulism was the suspected cause.
Location: Nagaur and Jaipur districts, Rajasthan.
Ramsar Site: Designated in 1990. Ramsar Convention sites are internationally important wetlands. The Ramsar Convention (Convention on Wetlands of International Importance) was signed in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran.
Lake characteristics: A hypersaline lake. Annual salt production capacity of approximately 210,000 tonnes. The lake seasonally dries to salt flats and refills with monsoon runoff.
Migratory importance: Attracts flamingos, migratory birds from Central Asia and Siberia on the Central Asian Flyway.
Previous mass mortality (2019): About 18,000 migratory birds died at Sambhar in November 2019. Avian botulism (caused by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum in low-oxygen conditions) was the confirmed cause.
Ecological stress: The lake is under pressure from salt extraction industries, agricultural runoff, and reduced monsoon inflow.
The government announced a committee to study and reduce the price spread in horticulture produce between farm-gate prices and retail prices.
The problem: A farmer selling tomatoes at 5 rupees per kg while the consumer pays 80 rupees is not an anomaly in India's vegetable markets. A large proportion of the price difference is absorbed by intermediaries, not by logistics costs.
APMC Acts: The Agricultural Produce Market Committee Acts (state-level) regulate wholesale markets. Critics argue they create monopolistic intermediation that widens the price spread.
APMC reforms: The Centre's model APMC Act and the three farm laws (later repealed in 2021) both sought to allow direct farmer-to-consumer selling and create alternative markets. After the farm laws were repealed, APMC reform reverted to individual states.
FPOs: Farmer Producer Organisations are cooperatives that can aggregate produce and sell directly to retailers or processors, potentially reducing intermediary margins.
Static linkage: Agricultural marketing, APMC, food inflation (Economy and Governance).
5. Khelo India scheme: MAKA Trophy
GS area: Governance, Sports (Soft Power)
The Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy was to be awarded to the top-performing university at the Khelo India University Games.
Khelo India scheme: The Khelo India programme was launched in 2017 to identify and nurture sporting talent at the grassroots level. Components include Khelo India Youth Games, Khelo India University Games, Khelo India Winter Games, and Khelo India Para Games.
MAKA Trophy: India's oldest national sports trophy for universities. Named after Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, independent India's first Minister of Education. The Khelo India University Games now uses the trophy to honour the best-performing university.
Funding: Government sports schemes for identification, training, and stipends to identified Khelo India athletes.
Static linkage: Sports policy, Khelo India, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (Governance).
Members of the Kondh tribe staged a Doli Yatra (palanquin procession) demanding road connectivity to their hilltop villages in Odisha.
What happened: Kondh tribal communities in a remote area used palanquins to carry a pregnant woman and a sick patient, highlighting that the lack of an accessible road meant this was the only transport available in a medical emergency.
Kondh tribe: An Adivasi community concentrated in Odisha's Kandhamal, Koraput, and Kalahandi districts. Classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in some sub-groups.
Governance challenge: India's aspirational districts programme and PVTG sub-scheme have allocated funds for tribal area connectivity but implementation is slow in forest-covered hilly terrain.