About Bandipur Tiger Reserve:

• It is situated in the Mysore and Chamarajanagar revenue districts of southern Karnataka.
• It is located at the tri-junction area of the States of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.
• Geographically, it is an “ecological confluence” of the Western and Eastern Ghats.
• It was once a hunting ground for the rulers of the neighbouring kingdom of Mysore.
• It is part of the larger Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, which is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• BTR is surrounded by:
  • Nagarahole Tiger Reserve (Tamil Nadu) in the North West (Kabini Reservoir separates the two).
  • Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (Tamil Nadu) in the South.
  • Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (Kerala) in the South West.
• Rivers:
  • It is surrounded by River Kabini in its north and River Moyar in its south.
  • The Nugu River runs through the reserve.
  • Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta Hill is the highest point in the park.
  • Climate: It has a typical tropical climate with distinct wet and dry seasons.
  • Vegetation: The park has various biomes, including dry deciduous forests, moist deciduous forests, and shrublands.
• Flora:
  • It supports a wide range of timber trees, including teak wood, rosewood, sandalwood, and a variety of bamboo.
  • There are also several notable flowering and fruiting trees and shrubs including Indian gooseberry, kadam tree, golden shower tree.
• Fauna:
  • It is home to mammals such as the Bengal tiger, gaur, sloth bear, golden jackal, dhole, four-horned antelope, etc.
  • It is a shelter for the largest population of wild Asian elephants in South Asia.
  • It is home to over 200 species of birds, among which the Indian peafowl is the most commonly spotted
  • Other species of birds include honey buzzards, redheaded vultures, Indian vultures , etc.

About Sirsa Kinnow:

• It is a variety of Kinnow grown in the Sirsa district of Haryana.
• It is Haryana's first fruit to receive a Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

What is Kinnow?

• Kinnow is a hybrid citrus fruit.
• It is a hybrid between two citrus cultivars, namely ‘King’ (Citrus nobilis) and ‘Willow Leaf’ mandarin (Citrus deliciosa).
• The hybrid was developed in 1915 by HB Frost at the University of California Citrus Experimentation Station.
• It is round, large, and has golden-orange skin similar to an orange.
• It has a sweet and sour taste.
• It comprises a high amount of juice content, making it ideal for extracting juice and pulp.
• It is a rich source of Vitamin C and minerals like calcium and potassium, which are beneficial for health.
• It contains 0.2 to 0.3% pectin, which is anti-cancerous and also helps in lowering cholesterol.
• The peel of the Kinnow fruit contains oil which is used in cosmetics.
• It is a largely cultivated fruit of North India, and Punjab holds the major share of the Kinnow-producing area of the country, with other states including Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, and Kashmir.
• It is popularly known as the “king of fruits” in Punjab.
• It has the ability to withstand soaring temperatures as high as 40°C during summer and 0°C during winter.

About Doctrine of Per Incuriam:

• The term "per incuriam," meaning 'through lack of care,' refers to judgements passed without reference to, or in ignorance of, a statute or an earlier judgement/precedent which would have beenrelevant and therefore affected the result of the case.
• As per legal principles, these judgements, which are decided based on incorrect interpretations of the law, may cause legal and practical issues.
• Therefore, they are not treated as binding precedent, and the courts often take steps to correct them.
• Since per incuriam decisions involve precedent, the doctrine bears a direct relation to the doctrine of “stare decisis” which translates to, ‘‘let the decision stand’’ or ‘‘to stand by that which is decided’’, and gives binding force to decisions of the courts.
• The doctrine is an exception to Article 141 of the Constitution of India, which embodies the precedents as a matter of law. However, this principle is applied only in exceptional cases.
• The present doctrine is strictly and rightly applicable to the maxim ratio decidendi, which is the point that determines the judgement and is binding in nature, and not to the obiter dicta i.e., a remark made during the course of the discussion having persuasive value.
• Case Laws:
  • In the State of Assam v. Ripa Sarma, it was held that when a judgement is pronounced in such a manner that is ignorant of earlier judgments of the court by either similar or larger benches, it would be per incuriam.
  • Recent Observations by the Supreme Court:
    • The Court held that a judgement may be treated as per incuriam when its ratio is irreconcilable with an earlier decision rendered by a bench of equal or larger strength or when a relevant statutory provision, rule, or regulation was not brought to the Court's attention.
    • It is not the numerical strength of judges taking a particular view that is relevant, but it is instead the strength of the bench, which is the determinative factor of the binding nature of a particular view.
    • The doctrine applies only to the binding reasoning (ratio decidendi) of a judgement and not to its observations (obiter dicta).
    • The judicial discipline requires a bench of co-equal strength that disagrees with an earlier decision to refer the matter to a larger bench rather than take a contrary view.
    • It also reiterated that a decision of a larger bench is binding on subsequent benches of equal or lesser strength.
    • The Court clarified that a judgement cannot be declared per incuriam merely because it reached an incorrect conclusion after considering an earlier precedent or because an alternative interpretation may suggest a conflict with prior decisions.

About Arrow-3 Missile Defence System:

• It is an exo-atmospheric anti-ballistic missile defence system for long-range threat engagement.
• It is designed with the ability to neutralise ballistic missiles before they re-enter the atmosphere.
• Arrow 3 is the latest interceptor for the Arrow Weapon System (AWS) jointly developed by Israel and the United States.
  •  AWS is the world’s first national, operational, and stand-alone Anti Tactical Ballistic Missiles (ATBM) defense system.
• Features:
  • It uses two-stage solid-fueled interceptors to engage short- and medium-range ballistic missiles and consists of a launcher, radar, and battle management system.
  • The missile fits in a 21-inch vertical launch tube and has an estimated flyout range of up to 2,400 km.
  • It can be launched earlier after threat detection and engage threats at higher altitudes outside the Earth’s atmosphere than previous interceptors.
  • It can intercept threats at an altitude of 100 km.
  • t is hypersonic, travelling five times the speed of sound.
  • It has early warning and fire control radar. It provides extended-range acquisition as well as multi-target acquisition and tracking capabilities.
• How does it work?
  • It uses hit-to-kill technology to destroy incoming missiles.
  • The missile is launched vertically, and then the direction is changed towards the estimated interception point.
  • The high-resolution electro-optical sensor acquires the target for the kill vehicle to hit the target and destroy the warhead.

About Panchganga River:

• It is a major tributary of the Krishna River, flowing through Maharashtra.
• Course:
  • It originates in the Sahyadri mountain ranges and is formed by the confluence of five rivers—Kasari, Kumbhi, Tulsi, Bhogawati, and Saraswati—at Prayag Sangam near Kolhapur.
  • The confluence point is considered sacred, and it attracts a large number of devotees during the winter.
  • From there, the river flows approximately 80 km before eventually joining the Krishna River at Kurundvad, Maharashtra.
• The Panchganga River holds immense spiritual significance. The banks of the river are adorned with numerous temples and shrines.
• The valley of the Panchganga River is very fertile, and its sloping banks yield rich crops during the winter season.
• The waters of all the streams which join to form the Panchaganga are much used for growing sugarcane.
• Dams:
  • Radhanagari Dam
  • Kalammawadi Dam
  • Kode Budruk Dam
  • Tulashi Dam
• Since the last decade, its pollution level has been increasing fast. The pollution of the Panchaganga River is due to the disposal of untreated municipal sewage from the Kolhapur town.

About I-2SEA Submarine Cable System:

• India-Southeast Asia (I-2SEA) is a 3,600-kilometer optical fibre subsea cable system that will connect India’s east coast directly to Singapore and Malaysia.
• A consortium comprising Lightstorm, Microsoft, Singtel, and Tata Communications has commissioned the project.
• It is projected to be Ready-for-Service (RFS) by the fourth quarter of 2029.
• It has been specifically engineered to support the rapidly growing demand for AI infrastructure.
• It is being built for hyperscalers, GPU infrastructure providers, and enterprises that need high-capacity links for AI training and inference workloads between India and Southeast Asia.
• It will connect Singapore and Kuala Lumpur directly to India's east coast (via Machilipatnam and Chennai) to serve major tech hubs like Hyderabad.
• The landing stations, to be operated by Lightstorm, will be located in Machilipatnam, providing the shortest subsea access to Hyderabad, and the other at a new landing location in South Chennai.
• I-2SEA will use a deep cable burial strategy, targeting a depth of three metres across buried sections.
• The approach is meant to improve protection and uptime, a critical factor for cables that carry internet traffic, cloud services, and financial data across regions.

About Qatar:

• Location: It is located on the west coast of the Persian Gulf.
• Bordering Countries: It shares a sole land border with Saudi Arabia to the south and is surrounded by the Persian Gulf on all other sides.
• Capital City: Doha
• Geographical Features of Qatar:
  • It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
  • Terrain: The landscape of Qatar is primarily flat and barren desert. Sand dunes dominate the southern part of the country.
  • Highest Point: The highest point in the country is Qurain Abu al-Bawl.
  • Salt Flats: One of the most distinct geographical features of Qatar is its salt flats or sabkhas.
  • Water Bodies: Qatar has wadis, which are valleys that remain dry except during the rainy season when they can briefly turn into rivers.
  • Natural Resources: It has large reserves of oil and natural gas.

About Pandavani:

• Pandavani is one of India's most distinctive oral storytelling traditions, originating in Chhattisgarh.
• The name literally means "the story of the Pandavas" and refers to a musical narration of episodes from the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata.
• Features:
  • Unlike classical theatre, Pandavani relies primarily on a single lead performer, who narrates the story while singing verses and acting out different characters.
  • The performance is accompanied by musicians playing traditional instruments such as the harmonium, tabla, manjira, and dholak.
  • The storyteller often carries a tambura or ektara, using it not just as a musical instrument but also as a prop that transforms into a weapon, chariot, mace, or bow depending on the scene being enacted.
• There are two styles of narration in Pandavani:
  • Vedamati: In the Vedamati style, the lead artist narrates the story in a simple manner, sitting on the floor throughout the performance.
  • Kapalik: In this narrator enacts the incidents and characters. Performers move around the stage, adopt different voices, enact battle scenes, and use dramatic gestures to bring the Mahabharata's characters to life.
• Famous artists of Pandavani: Teejan Bai and Ritu Verma are renowned singers of Pandvani.

About Sub-Orbital Launch Vehicle for Experiment:

• It is a test platform to carry out Integrated Parachute Tests for validation of deceleration system of Gaganyaan Crew Module under various test conditions.
• During these test missions, the Crew Module will be carried to an altitude of 10 - 17 km and separated from the vehicle.
• A series of 10 parachutes will be deployed to reduce the velocity of the Crew Module before splashdown in the sea.
• The solid stage of SOLVE is derived from the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Strap-on Motor with few modifications to meet the Gaganyaan test requirements.
  • It includes development of slow burn rate propellant and straight nozzle with secondary injection thrust vector control.

What is the Gaganyaan mission?

• It is India’s ongoing project to send a 3-day manned mission to the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) of 400 km with a crew of 3 members and bring them safely back to Earth.
• Objectives
  • To undertake human space flights: Its immediate aim is to demonstrate indigenous capability to undertake human space flights.
  • Space exploration: In the long run, it will lay the foundation for a sustained Indian human space exploration programme.
  • Conduct Experiments: As part of the mission, Gaganyaan also encourages and supports micro-gravity experiments.