9 May 2025

• Security: Mission Sankalp, the largest inter-state anti-Naxal operation, entered its third week in the Karregutta hills with 24,000 personnel.
• Defence: India's multi-layered air defence intercepted Pakistani drone and missile attacks. S-400, Barak-8 and Akash systems were used.
• Child rights: A Lancet study found that 30.8 per cent of Indian girls experience sexual abuse before age 18.
• Economy: UK's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (from January 2027) threatens Indian steel, aluminium and cement exports.
• Ecology: The Saola (Asian unicorn) genome was sequenced for the first time from 26 individuals.

GS area: Internal Security, Left Wing Extremism

Mission Sankalp, India's largest inter-state anti-Naxal operation, entered its third week in the Karregutta hills on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border.

• Forces deployed: Over 24,000 personnel including DRG, STF, Bastar Fighters, CRPF, CoBRA and Indian Air Force elements.
• Target: Battalion 1 of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (the armed wing of CPI-Maoist).
• Location: Karregutta hills, Bijapur (Chhattisgarh) and Mulugu (Telangana) border.
• Recoveries: Over 1,000 kg of explosives, ration stockpiles, detonators, medical kits and electronic equipment.
• Strategic significance: The operation aims to decapitate Maoist leadership and restore civilian confidence in the region.

Static linkage: Left Wing Extremism, CRPF, tribal security, internal security forces.

GS area: Defence Technology, National Security, Science and Technology

India's integrated air defence successfully intercepted Pakistani drone and missile attacks during the escalation following Operation Sindoor.

• HAROP drones: Israel Aerospace Industries loitering munitions used in Operation Sindoor. They function as a combined UAV and missile, loitering over target areas for up to 9 hours before striking. Operate in GNSS-denied environments. Endurance gives them flexibility that conventional precision missiles lack.
• Counter-UAS grid: An integrated layer of jamming, spoofing and kinetic systems to neutralise drone swarms.

Static linkage: Air defence systems, India-Israel and India-Russia defence ties, missile technology.

GS area: Social Justice, Governance, Child Protection

A Lancet meta-analysis covering over 200 countries (1990-2023) revealed severe levels of child sexual abuse globally and in India.

• India figures: 30.8 per cent of girls and 13 per cent of boys experienced sexual abuse before age 18.
• Global average: 18.9 per cent of females and 14.8 per cent of males were abused before 18. Seventy per cent of abusers are known to the child.
• Impacts: Depression, anxiety, PTSD, educational disruption and intergenerational trauma.
• Indian legal framework: Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 provides specific protections. It established Special Courts for POCSO cases and mandated child-friendly procedures.

Static linkage: POCSO Act, child rights, social justice, health outcomes.

GS area: International Relations, Trade, Environment

The UK announced its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) set to take effect from 1 January 2027.

• What it is: A carbon tax on imports based on the carbon intensity of production in the country of origin.
• Initial sectors: Steel, aluminium, cement and energy-intensive goods.
• India's concern: The mechanism disproportionately affects developing countries with lower per capita emissions. It violates the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC) from the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement.
• Double taxation risk: Indian exporters may face both the UK border tax and domestic environmental levies.
• MSMEs left out: India requested exemptions for textiles, leather and ceramics but did not get them.
• Response: India threatened retaliatory trade measures.

Static linkage: Paris Agreement, UNFCCC, CBDR principle, trade and environment.

GS area: Environment, Biodiversity, Conservation

Scientists sequenced the genome of the Saola, the world's rarest large land mammal, for the first time.

• Scientific name: Pseudoryx nghetinhensis.
• First described: 1993 after a skull was found in Vietnam in 1992.
• Habitat: Annamite Mountains on the Laos-Vietnam border.
• IUCN status: Critically Endangered.
• Estimated population (2015): 50 to 300 individuals.
• Physical features: About 33 inches tall with straight horns of approximately 20 inches. White facial markings. Muzzle scent glands. Both sexes have horns.
• Genome achievement: 26 individual genomes sequenced from hunter household remains. The population split into two groups 5,000 to 20,000 years ago. The complementary genetic diversity between groups suggests potential for a stronger combined gene pool through managed captive breeding.

Static linkage: Wildlife conservation, IUCN categories, biodiversity.

GS area: Governance, Intellectual Property

Reliance withdrew its trademark application for "Operation Sindoor" under the Nice Classification system.

• Nice Classification: An international system for classifying goods and services for trademark registration under the Nice Agreement of 1957.
• Administered by: World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
• Total classes: 45 (Classes 1-34 for goods; Classes 35-45 for services).
• Class 41: Covers education, training, film production, OTT content and media.
• India's regime: The Trade Marks Act, 1999 follows the Nice Classification. Sections 9(2) and 11 empower the Registrar to reject applications that are deceptive or misrepresent government association.
• Why the application was rejected: "Operation Sindoor" as a military operation name falls under government domain and cannot be commercially trademarked.

Static linkage: Intellectual property, WIPO, trademark law, Trade Marks Act 1999.