25 November 2025

• ASER 2024 found that only 30.7 percent of Class 5 students can solve basic division, and over half of Class 8 students cannot perform the same operation, revealing India's systemic numeracy gap.
• BEL and France's Safran Electronics and Defence announced a joint venture to produce the HAMMER air-to-ground precision weapon system with 60 percent localisation.
• The 19th edition of Exercise Suryakiran began at Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand, focusing on jungle warfare and counter-terrorism operations between Indian and Nepali armies.
• The Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia's Afar Region erupted for the first time in approximately 10,000 to 12,000 years, sending an ash plume to 45,000 feet.
• Ningaloo Reef off Western Australia recorded up to 70 percent coral mortality from a sustained marine heatwave, threatening a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

GS area: GS-2 (education, government schemes, social indicators)

ASER (Annual Status of Education Report) 2024 revealed a stark divergence in India's learning outcomes: reading proficiency is improving in some states, but mathematical ability remains critically low across all grades.

• Report published by: Pratham, an independent education non-governmental organisation.
• Key finding on reading: 48.7 percent of Class 5 students can read a Class 2-level text fluently.
• Key finding on numeracy: only 30.7 percent of Class 5 students can solve basic two-digit division problems. Over 50 percent of Class 8 students cannot perform the same operation.
• State variation: states like Kerala and Himachal Pradesh show high reading proficiency but weak mathematics outcomes, disproving the assumption that literacy automatically leads to numeracy.
• National benchmark comparison: national mathematical proficiency is below 45 percent (NCERT National Achievement Survey).
• Structural barriers identified: the hierarchical, cumulative nature of mathematics (each concept depends on prior learning), pace-based classroom teaching that skips remediation, and insufficient targeted support for students who fall behind.
• COVID-19 impact: school closures between 2020 and 2022 disproportionately affected rural and low-income students, widening the learning deficit especially in foundational numeracy.
• Policy response: the NIPUN Bharat Mission targets universal foundational literacy and numeracy for Classes 1 to 3 by 2026-27.

GS area: GS-3 (defence, internal security, indigenisation, science and technology)

Bharat Electronics Limited and France's Safran Electronics and Defence established a joint venture to manufacture the HAMMER air-to-ground precision weapon system in India, with a 60 percent localisation target.

• Full name of HAMMER: Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range.
• Type: air-to-ground precision-guided munition, classified as a stand-off weapon.
• Range: up to 70 km, enabling aircraft to release weapons without entering the range of enemy air defences.
• Guidance options: GPS/INS (inertial), infrared imaging, and laser-guided seeker heads, allowing use in diverse weather and tactical conditions.
• Compatible aircraft: Rafale (IAF) and Light Combat Aircraft Tejas.
• Localisation target: 60 percent indigenous manufacturing within the joint venture.
• Operational relevance: optimised for mountainous warfare and high-altitude environments, directly relevant to India's deployment scenarios along the Line of Actual Control.
• BEL background: Bharat Electronics Limited is a Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Defence, specialising in electronic defence systems.
• Policy context: the joint venture aligns with the iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) framework and the Positive Indigenisation Lists that mandate domestic sourcing of specified defence items.

GS area: GS-3 (environment, pollution control, technology)

Delhi's network of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations tracks eight pollutants using standardised technology. Understanding this framework is increasingly tested in Prelims.

• Number of stations in Delhi: 40 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS).
• Pollutants monitored: PM2.5, PM10, NO2 (nitrogen dioxide), SO2 (sulphur dioxide), CO (carbon monoxide), O3 (ozone), NH3 (ammonia), and Pb (lead). A total of eight parameters.
• Measurement technology for particulates: Beta Attenuation Monitors (BAM), which measure the attenuation of beta radiation passing through particles deposited on a filter tape.
• CPCB data validity standard: the Central Pollution Control Board mandates a minimum of 16 valid hours of data per day for a station reading to be used in AQI computation.
• Humidity interference: at relative humidity above 60 percent, particulate monitors tend to overestimate concentrations because hygroscopic particles absorb moisture and appear larger.
• AQI categories: AQI in India uses six categories: Good (0-50), Satisfactory (51-100), Moderate (101-200), Poor (201-300), Very Poor (301-400), and Severe (401-500).
• Prelims hook: PM2.5 refers to particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less. PM10 refers to particles of 10 micrometres or less. PM2.5 is more dangerous as it penetrates deep into the lungs and enters the bloodstream.

GS area: GS-1 (physical geography, meteorology, tropical cyclones)

The Fujiwhara effect describes the mutual interaction of two proximate cyclonic systems and is relevant to understanding unusual cyclone behaviour in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.

• Definition: when two cyclonic vortices come within approximately 1,400 km of each other, they begin to rotate around a common centre of circulation rather than tracking independently.
• Identified by: Japanese meteorologist Sakuhei Fujiwhara, who first described the phenomenon in 1921.
• Triggering conditions: both systems must rotate in the same direction, sea surface temperature must exceed 26 degrees Celsius to sustain convection, and wind shear must be low.
• Possible outcomes: the two systems may merge into a single stronger cyclone, deflect each other onto altered tracks, or in some cases weaken each other.
• Rainfall impact: prolonged precipitation over coastal regions results from the extended interaction period, increasing flood risk.
• Indian Ocean relevance: during active monsoon or post-monsoon periods, simultaneous cyclonic systems in the Bay of Bengal can exhibit Fujiwhara-type interactions, complicating track forecasting.

GS area: GS-1 (physical geography, volcanology, geomorphology)

The Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia's Afar Region produced a sudden and powerful eruption on 23 November 2025 after approximately 10,000 to 12,000 years of dormancy.

• Location: Afar Region, northeastern Ethiopia; southern end of the Erta Ale volcanic range.
• Volcano type: shield volcano, characterised by broad, gently sloping flanks built from low-viscosity basaltic lava flows.
• Prior dormancy: no confirmed eruption for approximately 10,000 to 12,000 years before November 2025.
• Eruption type: sub-Plinian eruption, generating an ash column reaching 45,000 feet (approximately 13.7 km) into the atmosphere.
• Ash dispersal: ash cloud spread across the Red Sea toward Yemen, Oman, and potentially the western coast of India.
• Tectonic context: the Afar Triangle sits at the junction of three tectonic plates (African, Arabian, and Somali) and is one of the world's most active rift zones, part of the East African Rift System.
• Erta Ale context: the Erta Ale range includes Erta Ale volcano, which hosts one of the world's few persistent lava lakes and is a major geothermal research site.
• Contrast with Mount Semeru: unlike Semeru (a stratovolcano with explosive silicic eruptions), Hayli Gubbi is a shield volcano; its sub-Plinian character in this event was unusual for a shield structure.

GS area: GS-3 (environment, climate change, biodiversity, UNESCO sites)

Ningaloo Reef on Australia's northwest coast recorded up to 70 percent coral mortality from a marine heatwave in 2024 to 2025, threatening a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• Location: northwest coast of Western Australia, approximately 1,200 km north of Perth.
• Reef type: fringing reef (extends directly from the shoreline), contrasting with the barrier reef type of the Great Barrier Reef.
• Length: approximately 260 km.
• UNESCO designation: World Heritage Site inscribed in 2011.
• 2024-2025 mortality event: marine heatwave raised sea surface temperatures above thermal tolerance thresholds for corals, causing bleaching followed by mortality. Up to 70 percent coral mortality recorded in some sections.
• 2022 oxygen depletion event: a separate 2022 deoxygenation event reduced coral cover from 70 percent to 1 percent in certain localised areas, demonstrating cumulative stressor impact.
• Tourism: approximately 200,000 visitors annually. The reef is particularly known for whale shark aggregations (the world's largest fish).
• Indigenous connection: the Baiyungu and Jinigudira peoples have maintained a cultural connection to the Ningaloo coast for over 32,000 years, as documented by archaeological evidence.

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

The 19th edition of Exercise Suryakiran commenced at Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand on 25 November 2025 and runs through 8 December 2025.

• Exercise number: 19th edition.
• Duration: 25 November to 8 December 2025.
• Location: Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand. The exercise alternates between India and Nepal for successive editions.
• Previous edition: held at Saljhandi, Nepal.
• Participating forces: Indian Army and Nepal Army, with over 300 troops per side.
• Training focus: jungle warfare, counter-terrorism operations, and mountain combat, reflecting the terrain shared along the India-Nepal border.
• Significance: Nepal and India share an open border and a unique bilateral relationship under the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship. Suryakiran is the primary military cooperation format between the two armies.
• Prelims hook: bilateral exercises between India and Nepal include Suryakiran (army) and Surya Kiran (air force, same name but separate series). India-Nepal relations are also shaped by the Gurkha Tripartite Agreement allowing Nepal nationals to serve in the Indian Army.

GS area: GS-2 (education, government schemes, NEP 2020 implementation)

NIPUN Bharat Mission provides the national framework for achieving foundational literacy and numeracy across primary schools, with ASER 2024 findings providing evidence on implementation gaps.

• Full name: National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat).
• Launched by: Ministry of Education, June 2021.
• Target: all children in Classes 1 to 3 achieve basic literacy and numeracy competencies by the end of 2026-27.
• Pedagogical model: adopts the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) model, which groups students by learning level rather than age or grade and provides targeted instruction.
• Progress tracking mechanism: PARAKH Rashtriya Survekshan (National Achievement Survey under PARAKH) measures state-level progress against NIPUN competency benchmarks.
• State-level implementations: Karnataka's Kalika Chetarike programme and Uttar Pradesh's Mission Prerna are state variants of the foundational learning approach.
• ASER-NIPUN linkage: ASER 2024 data showing 30.7 percent Class 5 numeracy proficiency indicates that the foundational gap persists beyond Class 3, prompting recommendations to extend remedial support through Class 8.
• NEP 2020 basis: NEP 2020 declared foundational literacy and numeracy the "highest priority" goal of the education system, and NIPUN Bharat is its principal implementation instrument.

• Beta Attenuation Monitors (BAM): the BAM technique measures the mass of particles by comparing the intensity of beta radiation (electrons) before and after passing through a particle-loaded filter. It is the international standard for regulatory PM monitoring.
• Fujiwhara effect and India: the phenomenon was observed in the Bay of Bengal in October 2018 when Cyclone Titli and a low-pressure system interacted. It complicated the landfall forecast for Titli.
• Ningaloo whale sharks: Ningaloo Reef hosts the world's largest known aggregation of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) between March and July each year, making it a global marine biodiversity hotspot.
• ASER methodology: ASER surveys a nationally representative sample of rural children. It is a household survey, not a school-based assessment, which gives it a broader and more honest picture of learning outcomes than government school data.
• Exercise Suryakiran terrain context: Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand is close to the Nepal and China borders, giving the exercise realistic high-altitude and mountain terrain for training.