About Japan:

• Location: It is an island nation in East Asia, situated in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean.
• Maritime borders: It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean, Sea of Okhotsk, Sea of Japan and East China Sea.
• Capital City: Tokyo
• Geographical Features of Japan:
  • It comprises a chain of islands stretching in a northeast–southwest arc.
  • Terrain: Over 80% mountainous, with rugged terrain.
  • Main Islands (north to south): Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu.
  • Climate: It ranges from subarctic in the north to humid subtropical in the south.
  • Volcanic activity: It is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire – a major zone of earthquakes and active volcanoes.
  • Highest peak: Mount Fuji, which is a stratovolcano.
  • Major mountain ranges: Japanese Alps.
  • Major rivers: Shinano River (longest), Tone River, Kiso River.
  • Natural Resources: It mainly consists of Coal, iron ore, zinc, lead, copper, sulfur, gold, and silver.

About SHetA2 Therapy:

• SHetA2 is a small molecule therapy that is designed to stop an HPV infection from causing cancer.
  • Small molecule therapies are chemically manufactured, low-weight compounds that can easily be absorbed by the body.
• It is designed to treat HPV-induced cervical dysplasia and cervical cancer.
• It is developed through collaboration between scientists at ICMR's National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research (NICPR) and the University of Oklahoma's Stephenson Cancer Center in the US.
• Working :
  • This therapy targets three proteins in the human body called mortalin, heat shock cognate (hsc70), and glucose regulated protein 78 (Grp78).
  • These are essential for the proliferation of the cancer-causing oncoprotein of the virus.
  • It works by breaking the connection between the HPV-E7 protein and a host protein inside human cells.
  • Normally, this host protein protects E7 and allows it to keep damaging healthy cells. When SHetA2 breaks this connection, the harmful E7 protein is destroyed by the body’s normal immune defences
• The therapy is meant for those who have developed precancerous lesions of cervical cancer.
• The therapy has, at present, been evaluated in an oral, capsule form.

Key Facts about Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

• HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI), and there are more than 100 types of HPV.
• However, some types of HPV infection cause skin growths called warts, and some types of HPV infection can cause cancer.
• Transmission:
  • The virus that causes HPV infection is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact.
  • Most people get a genital HPV infection through direct sexual contact, including vaginal, anal, and oral sex.
  • About 80% of people – both men and women – will get an HPV infection at some point in their lives. 
• Symptoms may include warts on the genitals or anus or cancerous growths in the mouth or throat. 
• Treatment: There’s no cure for HPV. HPV vaccination is the most effective way to prevent HPV-related cancers.

About Soliga Tribe:

• The term “Soliga” literally translates to “children of bamboo”, which reflects the tribe’s relationship with nature and their belief that they too have emerged from it.
• Distribution: They are a group of indigenous, forest-dwelling people found mostly in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
• They reside in the peripheral forest areas near Biligiri Rangana Hills and Male Mahadeshwara Hills.
• Soligas was the first tribal community living inside a tiger reserve and getting their forest rights recognised by a court in a judgment in 2011.
• Language: The Dravidian language sholaga is spoken by the Soliga. They also speak Kannada and Tamil.
• The Soligas live in single-room huts, built of bamboo and mud.
• They believe in coexisting with the environment and have indigenous ways of using nature to make unique utility products, such as the ‘jottai’, which is a cup made out of leaves.
• Religion of Soliga Tribes : Along with adhering to Hindu customs, the Soliga people practice naturism and animism.
• Economy: The traditional economy of the Soliga is mostly based on shifting cultivation and collection of minor forest produce.

About Malvi Camel:

• It is one of the nine recognised camel breeds in India.
• Distribution: It is primarily found in Madhya Pradesh’s Malwa region and parts of Rajasthan such as Kota, Bundi, Jhalawar and Baran.
• It is also valued for milk production, with a female capable of yielding around 4-5 kg of milk per cycle.
• Physical Appearance:
  • It is known for its distinct white colour and is considered the smallest among India’s camel breeds.
  • Malvi camels are generally medium-sized with a robust build.
  • They often have a light brown to reddish-brown coat and a well-developed hump.
• Adaptability: These camels are well-adapted to both semi-arid and slightly more humid conditions, as the Malwa region experiences a range of climatic conditions compared to the harsher desert environments of other camel breeds.
• Endurance and Strength: These are known for their endurance and strength, making them suitable for carrying loads and performing work, including transportation and agricultural tasks.

About Andromeda Galaxy:

• It is also known as M31, comparable in size to our Milky Way galaxy.
• It is a large spiral galaxy located approximately 2.5 million light years from Earth.
• It is named for its celestial location in the constellation of Andromeda.
• It is the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way and is visible to the naked eye.
• It is currently transitioning to its ‘middle age’, away from being a vibrant, active galaxy and towards a quiescent state 
• It is a barred spiral galaxy, so-called for the bar-like structure formed by the stars in its center.
• It is observed that this galaxy is moving towards the Milky Way at approximately 110 km/s.

Key Facts about Hubble Space Telescope

• It is named in honour of the trailblazing astronomer Edwin Hubble which was launched by the NASA.
• It is a large, space-based observatory, which has revolutionized astronomy since its launch and deployment by the space shuttle Discovery in 1990.
• Hubble’s domain extends from the ultraviolet through the visible (which our eyes see) and into the near infrared.
• It is one of NASA’s Great Observatories Programs.

Why in news?

Recent episodes involving Ebola, hantavirus, and Nipah virus show that dangerous zoonotic infections are no longer rare, isolated events.

They are appearing with increasing regularity at the interface of humans, animals, forests, farms, hospitals, and global travel — exposing weaknesses in surveillance, public trust, vaccine access, and international preparedness.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Understanding the Three Viruses
• The Vaccine Gap
• Building Preparedness: From Research to Vaccine
• Why Vaccine Development Lags for These Viruses?
• The Way Forward
• Conclusion

Understanding the Three Viruses

• Ebola Virus Disease
  • Causes severe illness and death, with an average case-fatality rate of around 50%.
  • Recent cases in central Africa illustrate how conflict, displacement, unsafe burials, distrust of health workers, and weak surveillance make outbreak control extremely difficult.
  • Transmits human-to-human through infected body fluids.
• Hantavirus
  • Named after the Hantaan River region in South Korea; mainly rodent-borne.
  • Causes kidney disease or hantavirus pulmonary syndrome — a severe lung illness that can rapidly progress to respiratory failure and shock.
  • A cluster linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship revived public attention, showing how a locally confined virus can acquire international significance through travel, enclosed spaces, and multi-country contact tracing.
  • Unlike most hantaviruses, the Andes hantavirus strain shows limited person-to-person spread.
• Nipah Virus
  • Carried mainly by fruit bats; causes respiratory illness and encephalitis.
  • Case-fatality rates estimated at 40–75%.
  • Recurring concerns in India and Bangladesh confirm it remains a persistent regional threat.
  • Spreads through close household or healthcare contact.

The Vaccine Gap

• A licensed vaccine exists for only one major Ebola virus species.
• No licensed human vaccines currently exist for Bundibugyo Ebola, Nipah virus, or hantavirus infections.
• No reliable curative treatment exists once outbreaks begin, making early detection, isolation, and infection control critical.

Building Preparedness: From Research to Vaccine

• Step 1 — Basic research: Understanding pathogen biology — how it enters cells, causes disease, and which proteins trigger immunity — largely happens in publicly funded universities and national laboratories.
• Step 2 — Industrial translation: Converting research into usable vaccines requires industrial-scale capacity: process development, formulation, quality control, regulatory documentation, clinical trials, manufacturing, and cold-chain planning.
• Role of new technology: AI tools can now help identify vaccine targets, predict immune responses, compare candidates, and improve manufacturing — though conventional biological validation, safety testing, and regulatory review remain essential.
• Platform technologies like mRNA vaccines, viral vector vaccines, and recombinant protein systems can accelerate design once a pathogen's genetic sequence or protective antigen is identified.

Why Vaccine Development Lags for These Viruses?

• COVID-19 proved vaccine design, testing, and scale-up can move far faster than previously believed — but these platforms aren't freely available to all researchers, as many depend on patents, proprietary know-how, and specialised manufacturing controls.
• Testing challenges: Outbreaks of Ebola, hantavirus, and Nipah are often unpredictable, making conventional large clinical trials difficult. This may require emergency trial designs, ring-vaccination studies, adaptive protocols, and regional trial networks.
• Economic disincentive: International vaccine companies may find limited financial attraction in developing vaccines for diseases with small, uncertain outbreaks in poorer regions — despite enormous public-health value.

The Way Forward

• Academia-industry partnerships: Academic institutions provide immunology expertise, animal models, and early vaccine concepts; industry provides scale-up, formulation, quality assurance, and distribution.
• Shared-risk financing model: Since standard profit models fail to reward epidemic vaccine development, the solution may lie in public funding, advance purchase commitments, technology transfer, regional manufacturing capacity, and fair global stockpiles.
• Addressing vaccine hesitancy: Fear, misinformation, and distrust during outbreaks can prevent people from accepting vaccines or cooperating with contact tracing and isolation measures. Trust must be built before emergencies arise, through honest communication, local leadership, and transparent risk communication.

Conclusion

Ebola, hantavirus, and Nipah illustrate that pathogens do not respect borders — a disease originating in a forest village or aboard a ship can become an international concern within days.

Genuine preparedness demands overcoming a scientific challenge and building public-private, academic-industrial, and international systems that can develop vaccines in time, distribute them fairly, and earn the community trust needed to use them.

Why in news?

The Indian rupee's sharp depreciation over the past one-and-a-half years has transformed it from an overvalued currency into one that is now more undervalued than even the Chinese yuan — potentially boosting India's trade competitiveness.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Recent Rupee Movement
• Understanding Effective Exchange Rates
• From Overvaluation to Undervaluation: The Data
• More Competitive Than the Yuan
• Conclusion

Recent Rupee Movement

• Hardening global oil prices, following renewed US-Iran hostilities, pushed the rupee past 96-to-the-dollar on July 14, where it stayed until July 24.
• A pause in daily strikes since has strengthened the rupee to around 95.9, as Brent crude eased below $85 per barrel after surging past $95 on July 23.
• The rupee hit an all-time low of 96.96-to-the-dollar on May 20, while Brent crude had crossed $126.4 per barrel on April 30.
• RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra noted the rupee has become undervalued and could appreciate once the West Asia situation stabilises, as seen in past episodes of external shock-driven volatility.

Understanding Effective Exchange Rates

• NEER (Nominal Effective Exchange Rate) and REER (Real Effective Exchange Rate) are the key indices used to measure whether a currency is over- or under-valued.
• These indices track the rupee's movement against a basket of 40 currencies of countries accounting for about 88% of India's trade flows, with 2015-16 as the base year (value = 100).
• Currency weights are derived from each country's share in India's total foreign trade — similar to how the Consumer Price Index (CPI) weighs commodities by consumption share.
• NEER captures the rupee's external value against this basket without factoring in inflation.
• REER adjusts NEER for inflation differentials between India and its trading partners — making it the true measure of a currency's value.
• If Indian prices rise faster than trading partners' even with a stable exchange rate, REER rises, making Indian products less competitive globally.

From Overvaluation to Undervaluation: The Data

• In November 2024, the REER of 108.03 meant the rupee was over 8% overvalued in real terms.
• By June 2026, the REER of 91.26 represents an 8.7% "real" weakening — confirming the rupee has moved from overvaluation to undervaluation.
• Notably, the REER stayed above 100 until July 2025, marking a clear and relatively recent shift.
• Future appreciation toward "fair value" (REER of 100) depends on sustainable easing of West Asia tensions, reopening of commercial shipping lanes, and absence of new geopolitical energy shocks or US trade actions.

More Competitive Than the Yuan

• An independent measure — the Real Broad Effective Exchange Rate (RBEER), compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis — corroborates this trend.
• RBEER compares a country's currency value against 64 trade partners, using 2020 as the base year.
  • The rupee's RBEER fell from an all-time high of 106.1 (November 2024) to 90.15 (June 2026).
  • In November 2024, the yuan's RBEER (92.16) made it more undervalued and competitive than the rupee.
  • By June 2026, the yuan's RBEER (92.24) was higher than the rupee's 90.15 — meaning the rupee is now a more competitive currency than the yuan.

Why This Matters?

• A more undervalued currency can theoretically:
  • Boost the price competitiveness of Indian exports in global markets.
  • Make domestic manufacturing more competitive against imports.
• However, whether these theoretical benefits materialise in practice remains to be seen, as several other factors — global demand conditions, supply chains, and trade policy — will also shape outcomes.

Conclusion

The rupee's transition from an overvalued to an undervalued currency — now more competitive than even the yuan — marks a significant shift with potential trade advantages for India.

Yet, translating this currency competitiveness into tangible export growth and stronger domestic manufacturing will depend on global geopolitical stability and India's ability to capitalise on the opportunity.

Why in the News?

• The Union Environment Ministry has reissued, for the seventh time in over a decade, its draft notification proposing an ecologically sensitive area (ESA) across the Western Ghats, after the previous draft lapsed without being finalised due to continuing differences with the six states.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• About Western Ghats (Background, Gadgil Committee, Kasturirangan Committee, etc.)
• News Summary (7^th Draft, Key Proposals, Core Controversy, etc.)

About the Western Ghats

• The Western Ghats is a mountain range running parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula, spread over approximately 1,500 km across six states: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala & Tamil Nadu.
• Ecological Significance

• A UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised for its outstanding universal value.
• It is older than the Himalayas in geological age.
• Home to thousands of species of flora and fauna, many of which are endemic and found nowhere else.
• Influences the monsoon pattern of peninsular India.
• Acts as a critical water source, giving rise to major rivers such as the Godavari, Krishna, and Cauvery.
• Hosts 39 components of protected areas, including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and reserved forests.

About the Gadgil Committee (2011)

• Background
  • The dispute over protecting the Western Ghats dates back to 2011, when the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), chaired by ecologist Madhav Gadgil, submitted its report recommending stringent conservation measures.
• Key Recommendations

• The entire mountain chain of the Western Ghats should be treated as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).
• The region should be divided into Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZ) 1, 2, and 3, based on the level of ecological sensitivity.
• Strict regulation of developmental activities, including a ban on mining, quarrying, and highly polluting industries in ESZ-1.
• Phased decommissioning of chemical and polluting industries operating in sensitive zones.
• Promotion of sustainable agriculture and organic farming practices.
• A bottom-up, decentralised governance model involving local communities and Gram Sabhas in conservation decisions.

• Reaction
  • The Gadgil report faced strong opposition from states, particularly Kerala and Karnataka.

• Strict restrictions would adversely affect agriculture, plantations, and infrastructure development.
• It would displace local populations and impact livelihoods dependent on natural resources.
• The recommendations were seen as anti-development by state governments.
• States argued that the report did not adequately consider the socio-economic realities of the region.
• Despite the ecological merit of the report, its political unacceptability led the Centre to seek a more balanced approach.

About the Kasturirangan Committee (2012)

• Background
  • Following the widespread opposition to the Gadgil report, the Centre constituted a High Level Working Group (HLWG) in 2012, chaired by K. Kasturirangan, to review the earlier recommendations and propose a more balanced framework.
• Key Recommendations
  • Only 37% of the Western Ghats should be designated as an ESA, significantly lower than the 64% suggested by the Gadgil report.
  • A complete ban on mining, quarrying, sand mining, and thermal power plants in the ESA.
  • Strict regulation of highly polluting industries within the eco-sensitive zone.
  • Exclusion of inhabited regions and agricultural plantations from the purview of the ESA, making the report more pro-farmer in its approach.
  • Regulation of hydel power projects and large construction activities.
  • Promotion of sustainable development alongside conservation.
• Criticism
  • States argued that the report used an "erroneous method" that included many villages under ESA despite having only rubber plantations and no forest land.
  • The report was accused of including ecologically non-sensitive areas under ESA while leaving out some ecologically sensitive ones.
  • Kerala appointed its own state-level committee under Oommen V. Oommen, which recommended further exclusions of inhabited regions and plantations.
  • States continued to object to the restrictions on infrastructure and developmental activities.

News Summary: The 7th Draft Notification

• The ESA issue has been pending since August 2011, when the Gadgil Committee first recommended notifying a no-go zone to save the fragile terrain.
• The first draft notification was issued in March 2014, but the proposal has remained on paper since then.
• The ministry subsequently issued five more drafts in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2024 before coming out with the latest seventh one in July 2026.

Key Features of the 7th Draft

• The Union Environment Ministry notified the seventh draft on July 27, 2026, after the previous draft lapsed on July 27, 2026, without being finalised. The draft will remain open for public objections for 60 days before the Centre considers issuing a final notification.
• The latest notification retains the proposed ESA at 56,825.7 sq. km, spread across the six states.
• Prohibited Activities
  • Mining, quarrying, and sand mining within the ESA.
  • New thermal power plants.
  • Certain highly polluting industries.
  • Large construction projects.
• Regulated Activities
  • Hydel power generation would be regulated.
  • Agriculture and plantation activity will not be affected due to the provisions in the draft notification.
  • The actual area will be finalised based on the recommendations of the states, the views of stakeholders, and the expert committee.

No Substantive Changes

• A comparison of the latest draft with the previous notification issued in July 2024 shows no substantive changes in the notified area, state-wise extent, or regulatory provisions.
• The list of villages proposed for inclusion also remains unchanged.
• New Provision for Phased Implementation
  • Like the sixth draft, the seventh one proposes a provision where the final ESA notification can be taken up "in a phased manner either state-wise or through a combined single notification." This move may help speed up the process without waiting for all six states to be on board simultaneously.

The Core Controversy

• Conservation vs. Development
  • The central tension in the Western Ghats debate is between ecological conservation and developmental aspirations:
  • Conservationists argue that the fragile ecosystem needs strict protection to prevent disasters like landslides, biodiversity loss, and water scarcity.
  • States and local communities fear that stringent regulations would stifle economic growth, restrict agriculture, and displace populations.
• Scientific Demarcation vs. Political Acceptability
  • The Gadgil report was scientifically rigorous but politically unacceptable due to its strictness.
  • The Kasturirangan report was a politically diluted compromise but was criticised for scientific inaccuracies in demarcation.
  • Neither approach has succeeded in finding a balance acceptable to all stakeholders.
• Federal Dynamics
  • The Centre wants a uniform framework for ecological protection across the Western Ghats.
  • States demand flexibility to determine the extent of regulation based on local conditions.
  • The lack of consensus has left the entire issue in limbo for over a decade.
• Recurring Natural Disasters
  • The repeated landslides in Wayanad and other parts of the Western Ghats have reinforced the urgency of ecological protection:
  • Experts have linked the disasters to deforestation, unplanned construction, and climate change.
  • The failure to notify the ESA has allowed environmentally hazardous activities to continue unchecked.
  • Each disaster revives the debate but has not yet led to a final decision.