5 October 2025

• Defence: The Indian Coast Guard commissioned ICGS Akshar, the second Adamya-class Fast Patrol Vessel, at Karaikal.
• Science: The NATPOLREX-X national oil spill response exercise was conducted off Chennai with observers from 32 countries.
• Geography: Baratang Island in the Andamans recorded a mud volcano eruption, the first since 2005.
• Astronomy: New research on dark stars, hypothetical early-universe objects powered by dark matter annihilation, entered the science news cycle.
• Technology: The MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa, South Africa's contribution to the Square Kilometre Array, made new findings about cosmic magnetic fields.

GS area: Defence (Indian Coast Guard)

The Indian Coast Guard commissioned ICGS Akshar at Karaikal, Puducherry. It is the second vessel in the Adamya-class Fast Patrol Vessel programme.

• Name meaning: Akshar means "imperishable" in Sanskrit.
• Builder: Goa Shipyard Limited. Indigenous content exceeds 60 per cent.
• Class programme: eight Adamya-class Fast Patrol Vessels are on order. The series supports India's maritime surveillance mandate.
• Displacement: approximately 320 tonnes.
• Propulsion: two 3,000-kilowatt diesel engines driving Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPP).
• Speed: 27 knots; endurance: 1,500 nautical miles.
• Integrated systems: Integrated Bridge System (IBS), Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) and Automated Power Management System (APMS). These automate machinery and navigation functions.
• Role: patrolling India's Exclusive Economic Zone, anti-smuggling operations, search and rescue, and enforcement of maritime law.

Static linkage: Indian Coast Guard, indigenous shipbuilding, maritime security.

GS area: Environment, Disaster Management

The Indian Coast Guard conducted NATPOLREX-X (the 10th edition of the National Pollution Response Exercise) off Chennai.

• Organiser: Indian Coast Guard, which is the lead agency for India's National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOSDCP).
• Observers: more than 40 foreign observers from 32 countries.
• Purpose: test the NOSDCP's activation procedures, inter-agency coordination and equipment deployment for a major oil spill in Indian waters.
• Date: 5 to 6 October 2025.
• Context: India's western and eastern coasts both carry heavy tanker traffic. An oil spill in the Exclusive Economic Zone or near a coastal ecosystem would trigger the NOSDCP.

Static linkage: Maritime environment, disaster management, coast guard.

GS area: Geography (Physical Geography, Islands)

A mud volcano on Baratang Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands erupted in October 2025. The previous recorded eruption was in 2005.

• Location: Baratang Island is in the North and Middle Andaman district, approximately 150 kilometres north of Port Blair.
• Uniqueness: India's only known mud volcanoes are on Baratang. They are also among the very few in the entire Indian subcontinent.
• Mechanism: mud volcanoes emit mud slurries, water and gases, primarily methane. They are not lava-producing features. They result from subsurface pressure from deep sedimentary gas and fluid deposits, often associated with faulting.
• Size range: mud volcanoes range from one or two metres to 700 metres in height.
• Other notable features: Baratang is home to the Jarawa tribe, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) with restricted contact status under the Andaman and Nicobar (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation 1956.
• Limestone caves: Baratang also hosts extensive limestone cave formations, drawing eco-tourism.

Static linkage: Physical geography of Indian islands, Andaman and Nicobar.

GS area: History (Colonial history), Geography

Willingdon Island in Kochi, Kerala is one of India's largest man-made islands.

• Named after: Lord Willingdon, the 22nd Viceroy of India (1931-1936). His tenure covered the Government of India Act 1935, the Communal Award of 1932 and the Poona Pact of the same year (the Gandhi-Ambedkar agreement on reserved constituencies for depressed classes).
• Key facilities: Kochi Naval Base (INS Venduruthy), the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology and Port of Kochi terminals.
• Second Round Table Conference (1931): Willingdon's tenure saw Gandhi attend the Second Round Table Conference in London. Gandhi returned to India after it failed to produce consensus on communal representation.
• Third Round Table Conference (1932): held under Willingdon's watch. Congress boycotted it.

Static linkage: Colonial history, geography of Kerala ports.

GS area: Science and Technology (Astronomy)

Research on dark stars entered the science discussion. Dark stars are hypothetical astronomical objects thought to have existed in the very early universe.

• Energy source: powered by dark matter annihilation, not by nuclear fusion like ordinary stars. Dark matter particles and antiparticles annihilate each other inside the protostar, releasing energy that prevents collapse.
• Size: estimated 400 to 2,00,000 times wider than the Sun.
• Mass: 500 to 1,000 times the mass of the Sun.
• Radiation: dark stars do not emit visible light. They emit gamma rays, neutrinos and antimatter instead.
• Observational challenge: a single dark star would have been as bright as an early galaxy, making it difficult to distinguish from galactic sources in the James Webb Space Telescope's data.

Static linkage: Space science, cosmology.

GS area: Science and Technology (Space Technology)

New findings from the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa were published on cosmic magnetic fields.

• Location: Karoo, Northern Cape Province, South Africa.
• Original name: Karoo Array Telescope.
• Structure: 64 dish antennas, each 13.5 metres in diameter. Maximum baseline of 8 kilometres.
• Part of SKA: MeerKAT is South Africa's contribution to the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project. It functions as the mid-frequency precursor to the SKA mid-frequency component.
• SKA: a global radio telescope array to be spread across South Africa and Australia. When complete, it will be the world's largest radio telescope.
• MeerKAT's distinction: it is currently the most powerful radio interferometer operating at centimetre wavelengths.

Static linkage: Space technology, international science collaborations.

• NATO Pipeline System: built during the Cold War for NATO fuel logistics. Spans about 10,000 kilometres across 12 NATO countries. Storage capacity: 4.1 million cubic metres. Managed by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency through the Central Europe Pipeline System Programme Office. Poland was integrating into the system.
• Leyte Island, Philippines: the 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck Leyte on 5 October 2025. Leyte is the eighth-largest Philippine island. The San Juanico Bridge (2.16 kilometres) connects Leyte and Samar. The island was the site of US forces' return in October 1944 during World War II and the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
• Mono Ethylene Glycol (MEG): the textile industry opposed an anti-dumping duty on MEG imports. MEG is used to make polyester fibre and PET plastic. Formula: C₂H₆O₂.