12 January 2025

• Culture: National Youth Day (Swami Vivekananda's 162nd birth anniversary) was observed across India.
• Astronomy: Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars aligned in a visible arc in the January 2025 night sky.
• Economy: WPI base year revision was under active examination by the Ramesh Chand Committee.
• Environment: Maha Kumbh Mela preparations at Prayagraj intensified ahead of the January 13 commencement date.
• Defence: DRDO's Nag Mk-2 anti-tank missile completed field trials with advanced imaging infrared seekers.

GS area: Modern Indian History, Culture

National Youth Day is observed on 12 January each year, the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902).

• Birth: 12 January 1863, Calcutta, West Bengal. Born Narendranath Datta.
• Guru: Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the mystic saint of Dakshineswar, Kolkata.
• Chicago address (1893): Addressed the Parliament of the World's Religions on 11 September 1893. His opening words, "Sisters and brothers of America," received a prolonged standing ovation.
• Ramakrishna Mission (1897): Founded to synthesise spiritual development with social service, including education and healthcare for the poor.
• Belur Math: Headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, near Kolkata.
• Core philosophy: Vedanta: the unity of all existence and the divinity of the human soul. He emphasised the compatibility of science and spirituality.
• National Youth Day: Declared in 1984. The theme for 2025 was "Youth for Viksit Bharat."

Static linkage: Modern India's social reformers, cultural history (GS Paper 1).

GS area: Culture, Geography

Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 was set to begin at Prayagraj on 13 January 2025. It occurs every 12 years.

• Four Kumbh locations: Prayagraj (Sangam of Ganga, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati), Haridwar (Ganga), Nashik-Trimbakeshwar (Godavari), and Ujjain (Kshipra).
• Astronomical basis: The timing is determined by the positions of the Sun, Moon, and Jupiter. At Prayagraj, Kumbh occurs when Jupiter is in Taurus and the Sun and Moon are in Capricorn.
• Mythological origin: Rooted in the Samudra Manthan (churning of the ocean) episode from the Puranas. Drops of Amrit (nectar of immortality) fell at the four Kumbh locations.
• Historical reference: Chinese traveller Xuanzang (7th century CE) described the festival. The Skanda Purana also mentions it.
• Kumbh types: Maha Kumbh (once in 144 years), Purna Kumbh (once in 12 years), Ardha Kumbh (every 6 years), and Kumbh Mela (every 3 years, rotating across the four cities).

Static linkage: Indian culture, religious geography (GS Paper 1).

GS area: Defence, Science and Technology

DRDO's Nag Mk-2 anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) completed its field trials.

• Classification: Third-generation fire-and-forget ATGM. Fire-and-forget means the operator does not need to guide the missile after launch; the seeker homes in autonomously.
• Seeker: Advanced imaging infrared (IIR) seeker, which identifies and tracks targets using their heat signature and shape.
• Development programme: Part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), which also developed Agni, Prithvi, Akash, and Trishul.
• Carrier platform: NAMICA (Nag Missile Carrier).
• Capability: Can defeat modern tanks with Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) through top-attack trajectory.

Static linkage: Defence technology (Science and Technology, GS Paper 3).

GS area: Science and Technology (Astronomy)

The January 2025 night sky featured a notable planetary alignment.

• Visible planets: Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and also Uranus and Neptune (the last two requiring binoculars), spread in a curved arc.
• Why they align: All planets orbit the Sun on roughly the same plane (the ecliptic). When viewed from Earth, they therefore appear along a narrow band across the sky.
• Significance for UPSC: Planetary alignments test knowledge of the solar system's structure. Planets visible to the naked eye are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The order from the Sun is: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

Static linkage: Solar system (Geography, GS Paper 1).

GS area: Modern Indian History

The anniversary of the Kuka Rebellion in January 1872 was recalled in Punjab.

• Who: Namdhari (Kuka) Sikhs, followers of Satguru Ram Singh.
• When: Peaked in January 1872 with attacks on Malerkotla (13 January) and Malaudh Fort (15 January).
• British response: 49 Kuka rebels were executed by cannon on 17 January 1872; 17 more on 18 January. Their leader Ram Singh was exiled to Rangoon (Burma).
• Causes: Opposition to cow slaughter (the British allowed it), colonial economic policies, and a desire for social reform.
• Significance: The Namdhari movement combined religious identity with political resistance to colonial rule, decades before the formal nationalist movement.

Static linkage: Indian freedom struggle, social reform movements (Modern History, GS Paper 1).

• Hoollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary: Located in Jorhat district, Assam. India's only ape species, the Hoolock Gibbon, lives here. The sanctuary is the only one in India named after a primate species. It also hosts the Bengal Slow Loris, northeast India's only nocturnal primate. Bordered by the Bhogdoi River.
• Community Notes on social media: Crowdsourced fact-checking adopted by Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads) modelled on X's Community Notes (originally "Birdwatch," piloted in 2021). Notes appear only when a sufficient number of users agree that the note is helpful.