30 July 2025

• Science: An 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, triggering tsunami warnings across the Pacific including Japan, Hawaii and New Zealand.
• Economy: IMF revised India's growth forecast upward to 6.4% for FY2026 and FY2027, driven by lower food inflation, a benign global environment and continued reform momentum.
• Defence: DRDO's Pralay quasi-ballistic missile, with a range of 500 km and a 1,000 kg payload, supports India's Integrated Rocket Force initiative.
• Science: A new blood group system named CRIB (Cromer India Bengaluru) was identified and officially recognised by the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory (UK), the first new antigen found in India.
• Conservation: Kaziranga National Park has the third-highest tiger density globally at 18.65 tigers per 100 square km, behind Bandipur and Corbett.

GS area: Geography (geomorphology, disaster management)

An 8.8 magnitude earthquake on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula generated tsunami warnings for Japan, Hawaii and New Zealand.

• Kamchatka's seismicity: Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Kamchatka is one of the world's most seismically active zones. The 1952 Kamchatka earthquake (magnitude 9.0) remains among the largest ever recorded.
• Tsunami mechanism:
  • Sudden vertical displacement of the seafloor displaces an enormous volume of water.
  • Long-wavelength waves travel outward at 800 to 900 km/h in deep ocean.
  • In deep water, wave height is only 30 to 50 cm and ships may not notice the wave.
  • As the wave enters shallow coastal water, friction slows it but compresses its energy vertically. Waves can reach 10-plus metres on shore.
  • The "drawback effect" pulls coastal water back before the main surge, giving a visible warning.
• Global warning architecture:
  • Seismic stations detect earthquakes within 10 minutes.
  • DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) buoys measure deep-sea pressure changes.
  • Tide gauges verify actual coastal wave arrival.
  • In India: INCOIS (Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services) disseminates alerts via SMS, sirens and satellite to coastal populations.
• India's vulnerability: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tamil Nadu and Kerala coastlines face tsunami risk from Sunda Trench and Makran subduction zone sources.

Static linkage: Geography (geomorphology, tectonic plates, disaster management, Ring of Fire).

GS area: Economy (labour market, industrial policy)

Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) data covering 1999 to 2019 shows that contract labour in India's formal manufacturing sector rose from 20% to 40.7%.

• Wage penalty: Contract workers earn on average 14.47% less than regular workers. In large enterprises, the wage gap widens to 31%.
• Productivity cost: Firms with higher contract labour intensity show 31% lower productivity than firms that rely predominantly on regular workers.
• Training disincentive: Short-term contracts reduce the incentive for firms to invest in worker training, depressing skill accumulation across the sector.
• Labour cost motive: Contracting reduces direct labour costs by approximately 24% per worker but at the expense of long-term productivity.
• Policy evasion: The primary driver is avoidance of Industrial Disputes Act 1947 protections, which require government permission before retrenching workers above a threshold.
• Industrial Relations Code 2020: The consolidated labour code framework awaits state-level rules implementation. It attempts to address fixed-term employment with basic benefit portability.
• Informalisation trap: This form of informalisation within the formal sector creates a precariat that is technically employed in registered firms but without the protections that formal employment is supposed to confer.

Static linkage: Economy (labour market, industrial policy, informal economy, GS-3).

GS area: Economy (macroeconomics, international institutions)

The IMF revised India's growth forecast upward to 6.4% for both FY2026 and FY2027, citing favourable domestic and global conditions.

• Calendar year equivalents: India grows at 6.7% in calendar year 2025 and 6.4% in 2026.
• Global context: Global growth is projected at 3.0% in 2025 and 3.1% in 2026. India's 6.4% is more than double the global average.
• IMF's stated reasons: Lower food price inflation, a benign external environment, benefits from tariff suspensions on certain trade corridors, and continued public investment and reform momentum.
• IMF's role: The International Monetary Fund monitors global economic developments and publishes the World Economic Outlook (WEO) twice a year, with updates between editions. IMF forecasts influence sovereign credit ratings and investor decisions.
• India's trajectory: India has been the fastest-growing major economy for consecutive years. The IMF projects India will overtake Japan and Germany in nominal GDP by 2027.

Static linkage: Economy (macroeconomics, IMF, WEO, growth drivers, GS-3).

GS area: Defence, Science and Technology

DRDO's Pralay is a road-mobile quasi-ballistic missile designed for conventional precision strike.

• Developer: Research Centre Imarat (RCI) Hyderabad in collaboration with DRDL (Defence Research and Development Laboratory) and ASL (Advanced Systems Laboratory).
• Range: Up to 500 km.
• Payload: 1,000 kg with options for unitary warhead or submunitions cluster.
• Navigation: Inertial Navigation System combined with satellite guidance for terminal precision.
• Mobility: Road-mobile launcher allows rapid deployment and survivability against pre-emptive strikes.
• Trajectory: Quasi-ballistic, meaning it follows a low, depressed trajectory with in-flight maneuverability. This makes it harder to intercept than a purely ballistic missile.
• Strategic role: Pralay fills the gap between short-range artillery and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. It supports the Integrated Rocket Force (IRF) initiative, which groups rocket artillery and ballistic missiles under a unified command.
• Export: India has exported Pralay to an unspecified friendly country as part of its defence exports drive.

Static linkage: Defence (missile systems, DRDO, Aatmanirbhar Bharat, conventional deterrence, GS-3).

GS area: Science and Technology (medical science)

The Rotary Bangalore TTK Blood Centre identified a new blood group antigen, officially recognised by the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory (IBGRL) in the UK as the CRIB system.

• Name: CRIB stands for Cromer India Bengaluru. The nomenclature recognises the Cromer blood group system to which the new antigen belongs and its Indian-Bengaluru origin.
• Discovery: The patient was a 38-year-old South Indian woman with a panreactive blood type, meaning her blood was incompatible with virtually all available donor blood.
• Rarity: The CRIB antigen makes compatible blood extremely difficult to find, requiring a national rare donor registry.
• Significance: India's contribution to international blood group science was previously minimal. This is the first globally recognised blood group antigen identified in India.
• Cromer system: The Cromer blood group system is one of the 45 blood group systems recognised by the ISBT (International Society of Blood Transfusion).

Static linkage: Science and technology (medical science, transfusion medicine, rare blood groups).

GS area: Governance (education policy, internationalisation)

Several foreign universities have received Letters of Intent (LoIs) to establish campuses in India under the NEP 2020 framework for international higher education.

• Universities and locations:
  • Western Sydney University: Greater Noida
  • Victoria University: Noida
  • La Trobe University: Bengaluru
  • University of Bristol: Mumbai (from 2026)
• Programmes offered: Business management, AI, logistics, cybersecurity, health sciences, public policy and joint PhD academies.
• NEP 2020 framework: The policy explicitly invited top 100 globally ranked universities to set up campuses in India. UGC (Institutions of Foreign Universities) Regulations 2023 govern the process.
• Strategic rationale: Over 13 lakh Indian students study abroad annually. Foreign campuses reduce foreign exchange outflow and allow students to access global curricula without leaving India.

Static linkage: Governance (education policy, NEP 2020, UGC, higher education reform, GS-2).

GS area: Internal Security

Indian Army's White Knight Corps, working with J&K Police, neutralised two infiltrators in the Degwar sector of Poonch district near the Line of Control.

• Operation name: ShivShakti.
• Location: Maldivalan area, Degwar sector, Poonch, J&K.
• Outcome: Two infiltrators neutralised. Three weapons recovered.
• Method: Multi-agency intelligence coordination followed by rapid firepower response. This is the established model for small-unit counter-infiltration operations post-Operation Sindoor.
• White Knight Corps: Headquartered at Udhampur, responsible for J&K operations.
• Context: Infiltration attempts along the LoC have continued following Operation Sindoor in May 2025. Operations like ShivShakti reflect the pattern of tactical responses to individual infiltration events.

Static linkage: Internal security (J&K, LoC, counter-infiltration, Indian Army, GS-3).

• Mount Cilo glacier retreat: Mount Cilo in Hakkari Province, Turkey (4,135 metres, Turkey's second-highest peak), has lost approximately 50% of its ice cover over 40 years. The nearby city of Silopi recorded 50.5 degrees Celsius, Turkey's highest-ever temperature. UN climate projections indicate 30% less rainfall and a 5-6 degree rise by 2100 for the region.
• Contractualisation data note: The ASI (Annual Survey of Industries) is conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. It covers all factories registered under the Factories Act 1948 and is the primary data source for India's organised manufacturing sector.