16 November 2025

• India and France opened the 8th edition of Exercise Garuda at Mont-de-Marsan with IAF Su-30MKIs flying alongside French Rafales.
• India classified tungsten as a critical mineral; Hindustan Zinc Ltd received a licence to explore it in Andhra Pradesh.
• Ethiopia reported its first-ever Marburg Virus Disease outbreak with nine confirmed cases.
• India's National TB Elimination Programme missed its 2025 target; incidence fell modestly from 195 to 187 per 100,000 between 2023 and 2024.
• The 400-year-old Vrindavani Vastra from Assam, woven under Srimanta Sankardeva's guidance, continues to rest at the British Museum.

GS area: GS-2 (India's bilateral relations, defence cooperation)

The 8th edition of Exercise Garuda opened on 16 November at Mont-de-Marsan Air Base in France and runs through 27 November 2025.

• Participating forces: Indian Air Force and the French Air and Space Force.
• IAF aircraft deployed: Su-30MKI multirole fighters, C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlifters, IL-78 aerial refuelling tankers.
• Training focus: air-to-air combat, integrated air defence, and joint strike operations against contested targets.
• Exercise series context: Garuda is the air component of India-France defence cooperation. The naval equivalent is Exercise Varuna and the army equivalent is Exercise Shakti.
• Significance: France is one of India's strategic defence partners and a supplier of Rafale aircraft. Garuda allows IAF crews to practice interoperability with one of NATO's most capable air forces.

Revises topic: India's bilateral defence exercises, France-India strategic partnership.

GS area: GS-2 (international security, nuclear doctrines)

The ASMPA-R is France's current airborne nuclear delivery weapon and is directly relevant to understanding the country's nuclear posture during joint exercises.

• Full name: Air-Sol Moyenne Portee Ameliore Renovee (improved medium-range air-to-ground missile, upgraded).
• Speed: Mach 3 (supersonic).
• Range: approximately 600 km.
• Warhead: Tete Nucleaire Aeroportee (TNA) design with yield settings between 100 and 300 kilotons.
• Delivery platform: Rafale combat aircraft.
• Role in French nuclear triad: France maintains two legs. The air-based leg uses ASMPA-R. The submarine-based leg uses the M51 submarine-launched ballistic missile. Unlike the United States or Russia, France does not maintain a land-based ICBM leg.
• Prelims hook: France is one of five NPT-recognised nuclear weapon states (P5). Its doctrine of "strict sufficiency" keeps the arsenal small and focused on deterrence.

Revises topic: Nuclear doctrines of major powers, non-proliferation regimes.

GS area: GS-3 (resources, mining policy, strategic industries)

The Indian government added tungsten to its list of critical minerals. Hindustan Zinc Ltd subsequently received a licence to explore and mine tungsten deposits in Andhra Pradesh.

• Chemical symbol: W (from Wolfram, its German name).
• Atomic number: 74.
• Category: transition metal.
• Melting point: 3,410 degrees Celsius, the highest of all metals. No other element used in engineering melts at a higher temperature.
• Tensile strength: highest of all metals above 1,650 degrees Celsius, making it irreplaceable in high-heat applications.
• Natural ore minerals: wolframite and scheelite.
• Global production leaders: China dominates global supply, followed by Vietnam, Russia, and North Korea. China's control over processing creates strategic vulnerability for importers.
• Key applications: X-ray tube filaments, incandescent bulb filaments, welding electrodes, and tungsten carbide cutting tools used in defence and aerospace manufacturing.
• Policy context: India's Critical Minerals List was first published in 2023 and includes 30 minerals. Tungsten's addition reflects its growing importance for defence manufacturing under the Make in India programme.

Revises topic: Critical minerals policy, mining sector, Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence.

GS area: GS-2 (health policy, government schemes)

India officially missed its 2025 deadline to eliminate tuberculosis, though the Global TB Report 2025 recorded a modest decline in incidence.

• Programme name: National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP). India renamed the earlier Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) to NTEP in 2020 to signal the shift from control to elimination.
• India's target: eliminate TB by 2025, which is five years ahead of the global Sustainable Development Goal target of 2030.
• Outcome: the 2025 elimination target was missed.
• Incidence change: TB incidence fell from 195 to 187 per 100,000 population between 2023 and 2024 per the Global TB Report 2025.
• Ni-kshay portal: the programme's case-based web surveillance system that tracks every notified TB patient.
• Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana: provides Rs 500 per month as nutritional support directly to TB patients, because malnutrition is both a risk factor and a barrier to recovery.
• Prelims distinction: NTEP is under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The programme operates through the National Health Mission's infrastructure.

Revises topic: National health programmes, disease elimination targets.

GS area: GS-3 (defence, national security organisations)

The Indian Army announced plans to induct women soldiers into the Territorial Army, bringing renewed attention to this reserve force.

• Nature: a part-time voluntary military force. It is the second line of defence after the regular Indian Army.
• Historical origin: established in 1920 by the British colonial government through the Indian Territorial Act.
• Post-independence inauguration: formally launched on 9 October 1949 by the then Governor-General C. Rajagopalachari.
• Motto: "Savdhani Va Shoorta" (Vigilance and Valour).
• Eligibility criteria: candidates must be between 18 and 42 years of age, hold a graduate degree from a recognised university, and be gainfully employed in civilian life at the time of application.
• Structure: includes departmental and non-departmental battalions. Departmental units (railways, oil sector, electricity boards) maintain their civilian jobs while serving. Non-departmental units are raised by the Army and can be mobilised for operations.
• Development: the Army is planning to induct women soldiers into Territorial Army units for the first time.

Revises topic: Indian Army structure, paramilitary and auxiliary forces.

GS area: GS-1 (geography, environment, Ramsar sites)

Ashtamudi Lake in Kerala surfaced in discussion around wetland conservation priorities.

• Location: Kollam district, Kerala.
• Size rank: the second largest lake in Kerala. Vembanad Lake is the largest.
• Area: 61.4 square kilometres.
• Primary feeder river: Kallada River.
• Outlet: drains into the Arabian Sea.
• Ramsar designation: declared a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention in 2002.
• Biodiversity: supports 57 bird species (of which 6 are migratory) and 97 fish species.
• Economic activity: coir production is the traditional industry supported by the lake's ecosystem.
• Historical note: the 14th-century Arab traveller Ibn Battuta documented the port of Quilon (modern Kollam) as one of the principal trading centres of the Indian Ocean world. The lake's connectivity to the sea made Quilon a hub for pepper trade.

Revises topic: Ramsar sites in India, Kerala geography, coastal wetlands.

GS area: GS-2 (international health, zoonotic diseases)

Ethiopia reported its first-ever Marburg Virus Disease outbreak with nine confirmed cases, triggering WHO alert protocols.

• Disease classification: severe viral hemorrhagic fever with high fatality rates.
• Causative agents: Marburg virus (MARV) and Ravn virus (RAVV). Both belong to the Filoviridae family alongside Ebola virus.
• Discovery: first identified in 1967 in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany and Belgrade in Yugoslavia. Laboratory workers handling imported Ugandan green monkeys were infected.
• Natural reservoir: Rousettus aegyptiacus (Egyptian fruit bat). The bat is a natural host that carries the virus without becoming ill.
• Geographic range: primarily sub-Saharan Africa.
• Clinical course: death typically occurs within 8 to 9 days of symptom onset in severe cases. Fatality rates in past outbreaks reached 88%.
• Treatment: no specific antiviral treatment is approved. Only supportive care (fluid management, electrolyte balance) is available.
• Vaccine: no approved vaccine exists as of 2025, though candidates are in clinical trials.
• Transmission: direct contact with bodily fluids of infected persons or animals. Not airborne.

Revises topic: Zoonotic and hemorrhagic fever diseases, global health emergencies.

GS area: GS-1 (art and culture, Assam, medieval textiles)

The Vrindavani Vastra is a 400-year-old silk textile from Assam that depicts Krishna's exploits in Vrindavan. It is currently held at the British Museum.

• Age: approximately 400 years old.
• Origin: Assam.
• Theme: scenes from Krishna's life in Vrindavan, drawn from Vaishnava tradition.
• Weaving technique: complex lampas weave, which requires two weavers working simultaneously at a single loom to create the intricate multi-layered pattern.
• Materials: woven silk with varied coloured threads integrated into the ground weave.
• Patron: commissioned by Koch King Nara Narayan of the Koch dynasty.
• Spiritual authority: created under the guidance of Srimanta Sankardeva, the 15th to 16th century Vaishnavite saint-scholar of Assam who founded the Ekasarana Naam Dharma tradition.
• Dimensions: 9.5 metres in length.
• Current custody: British Museum, London. Acquired in 1904.

Revises topic: Art and culture of northeastern India, Vaishnavism, Koch Kingdom.

• Exercise Varuna is the India-France naval equivalent of Garuda. Exercise Shakti is the bilateral army exercise between the two countries.
• Wolframite and scheelite are the two principal ore minerals from which tungsten is extracted commercially.
• France's M51 is a submarine-launched ballistic missile forming the sea-based leg of France's nuclear deterrent. France has no land-based missile leg.
• Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana was designed partly to address the link between undernutrition and TB susceptibility. India carries the world's highest TB burden by absolute case count.
• Koch King Nara Narayan (reigned c. 1540 to 1587) was a major patron of Vaishnavite culture in northeastern India. His court supported Srimanta Sankardeva's literary and artistic works.