NITI Aayog released a report titled "Enhancing Circular Economy of End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs) in India"

• ELVs are vehicles that are no longer validly registered, declared unfit by an authority, or are voluntarily declared as waste by their registered owner.
• ELV load is expected to double from 23 million in 2025 to 50 million by 2030.

Key Highlights of the Report

• Key Challenges in developing ELV circular economy
  • limited rollout of Automated Testing Stations (ATS) and Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSFs) infrastructure across states; 
  • weak financial viability of RVSFs (dominance of informal sector); 
  • procedural bottlenecks in scrapping and deregistration; and 
  • insufficient consumer awareness.
• Recommendations:
  • Infrastructure: ‘One ATS per district’ goal, exploring PSU-led RVSF models.
  • Others: Mandatory vehicle de-registration, Formalising the spare parts ecosystem, strengthening Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), integration of informal sector etc.

Two Bactrian camels featured in the 2026 Republic Day Parade.

About the Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus) 

• Named after Bactria, an ancient Central Asian region, it is large, even-toed ungulate adapted to cold deserts.
• Habitat: Native to the steppes and arid regions of Central Asia (Gobi and Taklamakan deserts). 
  • About 300-400 exist in India as well, all in the Nubra Valley region of Ladakh.
• Physical Features: Characterized by two humps on its back which store fat.
• Climate Adaptation: Exhibits thick winter fur and tolerance to extreme temperatures ranging from −30°C to 40°C.
• Conservation Status: Critically Endangered by the IUCN.

DRDO displayed the Long Range Anti-Ship Hypersonic Missile (LR-AShM) during the 77th Republic Day parade.

About LR-AShM

• It is India’s first Long Range Hypersonic Glide Missile designed to meet the coastal battery requirements of the Indian Navy.
• Range of approximately 1,500 km; can engage static and moving targets.
• First-of-its-kind with indigenous avionics systems and high accuracy sensors. 
• Speed: Follows a quasi-ballistic trajectory, achieving peak speeds of Mach 10 and maintaining an average of Mach 5 via skipping manoeuvres.
• Propulsion: Powered by a two-stage solid propulsion system; performs an unpowered glide with required manoeuvres after the second stage burns out.
• Stealth: Flies at low altitudes and high speed to evade radar detection.

The United States (WHO’s largest donor) has officially completed its withdrawal from the WHO.

About WHO (HQ: Geneva, Switzerland)

• Established: in 1948 as a specialized agency of the United Nations.
• Mandate: Directs global health responses, sets international norms, and declares Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEIC).
• Governance: 
  • Membership: Comprises 194 Member States (open to all UN members).
  • World Health Assembly (supreme decision-making body), 
  • Executive Board (policy implementation), and 

• Secretariat (technical/administrative work, led by the Director-General, supported by regional offices).
  • India is a founding member.

Certain States have seen issues with respect to the address by the Governor to the State legislature at the commencement of the first session of the year.

About Relevant Articles:

• Article 175: Right of the Governor to address or send messages to the House(s) at any time.
• Article 176: Mandatory (unlike Article 175)special address by the Governor at the commencement of the first session after each general election and at the first session of each year.
• Address under Article 175 or 176 is to be performed by the Governor on the aid and advice of Council of Ministers. (Nabam Rebia vs Deputy Speaker (2016))

BRO Successfully conducted High-Altitude rescue and road restoration operation at Chatergala Pass in J&K.

• Chatergala Pass is a high-altitude mountain pass (~10,500 ft) connecting Bhaderwah (Doda district) with Basohli (Kathua district) in Jammu Kashmir.
• Other Passes in J&K: Khardung La, Umling La, Zoji La,etc.

About BRO

• Established: in 1960 by the Government of India.
• Ministry: functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence since 2015.
• Objective: To strengthen connectivity and bolster strategic infrastructure (roads, tunnels, etc.) in border regions with amalgamation of civilian and military personnel.

A study found that Lonar lake is threatened by an unprecedented influx of fresh water.

• Potential reasons: Rainfall, proliferation of borewells breaching impermeable basaltic rock layers.

About Lonar Lake

• Location: lake of lagoon in Buldhana district of Maharashtra.
• Uniqueness: It is the only known hyper velocity impact crater in basaltic rock anywhere on Earth, has saline and alkaline water.
• Formation: formed by the impact of a meteorite about 52,000 years ago.
• Conservation: Ramsar Site (2020), notified National Geo-heritage Monument.

NASA’s New Star-Hopper ‘ExoMiner++’ has revolutionized Exoplanet Discovery.

About ExoMiner++

• Overview: It is NASA’s deep learning software designed to find exoplanets.
• Data Sources: Analyzes data from both the Kepler and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) missions.
• Mechanism: Scans "light curves" for signature brightness dips (transits) caused by a planet passing in front of its star.
• Key Advantage: Unlike standard "black-box" models, it is explainable AI, thus, providing astronomers with probability scores and specific reasoning to ensure scientific trust.