15 January 2025

• Defence: Armed Forces Veterans Day observed on 14 January. Pixxel launched six hyperspectral imaging satellites.
• Environment: 2024 confirmed as the warmest year on record globally at 1.28°C above the NASA 1951-1980 baseline.
• Commerce: National Turmeric Board set up with headquarters in Nizamabad, Telangana. India exports 67% of global turmeric.
• Space: Pixxel (Bengaluru) launched its first commercial hyperspectral constellation via SpaceX from California.
• Governance: India-Bangladesh border dispute flared up over fencing work in Malda, West Bengal.

GS area: Governance, Defence

Armed Forces Veterans Day is observed on 14 January each year.

• Instituted: 2017 by the Ministry of Defence.
• Significance: Commemorates the retirement of Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa on 14 January 1953 as the last Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army before the post was redesignated. He was India's first Indian Commander-in-Chief and later became a Field Marshal.
• Field Marshal: The highest military rank in the Indian Army. Only two officers have held the rank: K.M. Cariappa (1986) and S.H.F.J. Manekshaw (1973).
• Directorate General Resettlement (DGR): Assists ex-servicemen in finding employment in civilian sectors.

Static linkage: Indian Armed Forces, military history (GS Paper 3).

GS area: Environment (Climate Change)

NASA confirmed 2024 as the warmest year in recorded global history.

• Temperature anomaly: 1.28°C above the NASA baseline of 1951-1980.
• Land warming: Exceeded 1.6°C. Ocean warming approximately 0.9°C.
• Decade context: The past decade (2015-2024) was the warmest on record.
• Contributing factors:
  • Record greenhouse gas emissions.
  • A strong El Niño event in 2023-24.
  • 2022 Hunga Tonga volcanic eruption injected water vapour into the stratosphere.
  • Reduced ship fuel sulphur regulations removed aerosol cooling.
  • Arctic sea ice loss reducing the polar albedo effect.
• India's warming: India experienced slightly less warming than the global average, but the frequency of extreme heat events increased.

Static linkage: Climate change, global warming, El Niño (Environment, GS Paper 3).

GS area: Agriculture, Commerce

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry launched the National Turmeric Board.

• Headquarters: Nizamabad, Telangana. Nizamabad is the largest turmeric trading hub in India.
• First Chairperson: Shri Palle Ganga Reddy.
• India's global position: Exports 67% of the world's turmeric. Largest exporter globally.
• Largest importer of Indian turmeric: USA (18.98% share in 2023).
• Top producing states: Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Meghalaya.
• Purpose: Promote turmeric cultivation, research, quality standards, and export promotion.

Static linkage: Spice industry, agricultural exports (Economy, GS Paper 3).

GS area: Science and Technology (Space)

Bengaluru-based Pixxel launched six hyperspectral imaging satellites via SpaceX from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

• Company: Pixxel, a Google-backed Indian space startup.
• Payload type: Hyperspectral imaging. Captures light across hundreds of narrow wavelength bands (unlike conventional multispectral cameras that use a few broad bands).
• Applications: Crop health monitoring for the agriculture ministry, oil spill detection for BP, environmental pollution tracking, and mineral mapping.
• Clients: 65 clients secured including British Petroleum and India's Ministry of Agriculture.
• Future plan: 18 additional satellites by 2029 to complete the constellation.

Pixxel's launch is significant as one of the first Indian private satellite constellations in orbit, demonstrating the maturing of India's private space sector under IN-SPACe.

Static linkage: Space technology, private space sector (Science and Technology, GS Paper 3).

GS area: International Relations

Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) had a confrontation in Malda, West Bengal over fencing construction.

• Border length: 4,096 km shared between India and Bangladesh across five states: West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, and Mizoram.
• Fenced length: 3,141 km completed as of 2023.
• Riverine border: Approximately 180 km of the border follows rivers, where fencing is not possible.
• 2015 Land Boundary Agreement: Resolved a long-standing dispute over enclaves (India had 111 enclaves in Bangladesh, Bangladesh had 51 in India). These were exchanged and their populations given a choice of citizenship.
• Key challenges: Illegal migration, cattle and drug smuggling across unfenced stretches, and BGB-BSF coordination on riverine boundaries.

Static linkage: India-Bangladesh relations, border management (International Relations, GS Paper 2).

• Kumani Bank Mud Volcano (Azerbaijan): A 2023 eruption created a temporary island 400 metres across in the Caspian Sea. It mostly eroded by late 2024. Azerbaijan hosts over 300 mud volcanoes, the highest concentration in the world. Mud volcanoes emit methane, making them relevant to climate monitoring.
• Atomic Energy Commission (AEC): Initially established in August 1948; reconstituted in its current form on 1 March 1958. Headquarters: Mumbai. The Department of Atomic Energy is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister.