About Ingerana occidens:

• Ingerana occidens, or the western trickle frog, is a new species of frog.
• It was discovered in the Garo and Khasi Hills of Meghalaya south of the Brahmaputra
• When comparing the DNA of the newly found southern frogs to the topotypic Ingerana borealis frogs living north of the Brahmaputra River, there is an 18% difference in their genetic code.
• This confirms that the southern frogs belong to a distinct and previously undocumented species.
• The species name ‘occidens’ is derived from the Latin word for 'west'. This name was chosen because the frog's habitat marks the westernmost known range of any species in its genus.

About Paraquat:

• Paraquat, or paraquat dichloride, is a toxic chemical that is used worldwide as an herbicide (plant killer), usually for weed and grass control.
• Paraquat’s origins date back to the 1880s, when it was first developed as a chemical dye. Its herbicidal properties were discovered in the 1950s.
• It is a synthetic (human-made) herbicide.
• It is also used as a desiccant, which dries out the crop before harvest. Paraquat is sometimes used as a plant growth regulator.
• It may induce or delay flowering. It has no residual activity in soil.
• Major Concerns:
  • It causes many health issues and human fatalities each year from accidental exposure and suicide.
  • It is known for its extreme toxicity and lack of a specific antidote.
  • When paraquat is ingested, it damages the lining of the mouth, stomach, and intestines upon contact.
  • It then spreads throughout the body, damaging organs, but primarily the lungs, liver, and kidneys.
  • More than 70% of paraquat self-poisonings result in death.
• Paraquat is banned in many countries.
• It is not yet banned nationwide in India. In India, Kerala became the first State to ban it in 2011.
• Other states which banned paraquat are Odisha, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.

About INS Baaz:

• It is an Indian naval air station located near Campbell Bay, on Great Nicobar Island in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• It was commissioned in 2012. It is the first air station in the Nicobar Islands.
• It is the southernmost air station of the Indian Armed Forces.
• It is under the joint-services Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) of the Indian Armed Forces.
• It significantly enhances India’s capacity for intelligence gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance across vast areas of the Indian Ocean.
• It overlooks the Strait of Malacca as well as the Six Degree Channel between Great Nicobar and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
• It is used as a base for the Indian Navy's Dornier Do 228 reconnaissance aircraft.
• It can also operate the Indian Air Force's C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft.

About Estonia:

• It is a country in northeastern Europe, the northernmost of the three Baltic states.
• It is bordered by Russia in the east and Latvia in the south.
• It is also bounded by the Gulf of Finland in the north, the Baltic Sea in the west, and Lake Peipus in the east.
• Estonia shares its maritime borders with Finland and Sweden.
• Estonia’s area includes many islands and islets; the two largest of these islands, Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, are off mainland Estonia’s west coast.
• Capital: Tallinn
• Official Language: Estonian 
• Currency: euro (€)

_{Political System:  It is a parliamentary republic.}

• History:
  • Ruled at various times during the Middle Ages by Denmark, the German knights of the Livonian Order, and Sweden, Estonia ended up part of the Russian Empire in the 18th century.
  • It experienced its first period of independence in 1918, following the end of World War One and the collapse of the Russian Empire.
  • In 1940 it was forcibly incorporated into the U.S.S.R. as one of its constituent republics.
  • Estonia remained a Soviet republic until 1991, when, along with the other Baltic states, it declared its independence.
  • The Soviet Union recognized independence for Estonia and the other Baltic states in 1991, and United Nations membership followed shortly thereafter.
  • Estonia set about transforming its government into a parliamentary democracy and reorienting its economy toward market capitalism.
  • In 2004 joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU). 

About Chonala albistricta:

• Chonala albistricta, or Narrow-banded Wall, is a new species of butterfly.
• It was discovered at Mayodia Pass in the Lower Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh.
• It belongs to the genus Chonala, a small group of mountain butterflies found in high-elevation regions of the Himalayas and neighbouring parts of Asia.
• It is the tenth known species in the genus Chonala worldwide and only the second species from the genus recorded in India.
• The species has been named after the distinctly narrow, unevenly bent white band on its forewing.
• This high-altitude butterfly species is notoriously difficult to study as they occur in small populations, fly for only a brief period each year (June to August), and inhabit remote mountain passes that are often challenging to access.
• The species breeds only once a year.

About DigiDukaan:

• It is an Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC's) initiative.
• It is aimed at digitising kirana stores for B2B procurement.
• It is designed to improve efficiency across the value chain.
• Key Features of DigiDukaan:
  • For Kirana Stores: It enables kirana stores to improve margins through direct procurement by offering better visibility of schemes, improved fill rates and enhanced working capital management.
  • For distributors: The initiative facilitates wider market reach without additional field costs through order and collection digitisation, while improving retailer coverage.
  • For brands: It provides direct access to retailer demand signals, retail counters, and more effective deployment and tracking of schemes.

Key Facts about Open Network for Digital Commerce:

• It was launched in 2022.
• It is a network based on open protocol and will enable local commerce across segments, such as mobility, grocery, food order and delivery, hotel booking and travel, among others, to be discovered and engaged by any network-enabled application.
• It aims to create new opportunities, curb digital monopolies and by supporting micro, small and medium enterprises and small traders and help them get on online platforms.
• It is an initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• It envisions creating a level playing field for sellers, buyers, and service providers across India, particularly small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
• It will enable local commerce across segments, such as mobility, grocery, food order and delivery, hotel booking and travel, among others, to be discovered and engaged by any network-enabled application.

About Slovakia:

• It is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Europe.
• Bordering Countries: It is bordered by 5 Nations: by Poland in the north; Hungary in the south; Ukraine in the east; Austria in the southwest and Czech Republic in the west. 
• It is a member of the European Union and NATO.
• Capital City: Bratislava
• Geographical Features of Slovakia:
  • Topography: Slovakia's geography is largely mountainous in the northern and central parts of the country, while the southern part is covered by lowlands.
  • Climate: It experiences a continental climate common to central Europe, characterised by warm, dry summers and cold winters.
  • Mountain Ranges: Ore Mountains, Tatra Mountains and Carpathian Mountains 
  • Highest Peak: The highest point is Gerlach Peak
  • Major Rivers: Danube, Morava, Hron, Hornad and Vah
  • Natural Resources: It mainly consists of iron ore, copper, manganese, magnesite, lead, and zinc.

About Supernova:

• A supernova is the name given to the cataclysmic explosion of a massive star.
• Supernovae (SNe) are one of the most violent explosions in the universe.
• It can emit more energy in a few seconds than our sun will radiate in its lifetime of billions of years.
• These spectacular events can be so bright that they outshine their entire galaxies for a few days or even months. 
• They’re also the primary source of heavy elements in the universe.
• A star can go supernova in one of two ways:
  • Core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe):
    • These are one of these cosmic fireworks occurring when a massive star exhausts its nuclear fuel and can no longer support itself against the gravitational pull. 
    • The most common type of core-collapse supernova is Type IIP, which happens when a massive red supergiant star (about 8–17 times the mass of the Sun) reaches the end of its life.
    • Process: When the star’s core collapses into a proto-neutron star, the outer material falls inward, then bounces back from the surface, creating a powerful shock wave.
    • When the shock reaches the surface, the star’s outer layers break away and expand into space.
  • Thermal runaway supernova:
    • It can occur when two stars orbit each other, and one or both of those stars is a white dwarf.
    • If the stars in one of these binary systems collide, or if one of the white dwarfs absorbs enough matter from the other star, the white dwarf can become a supernova.

About Global Peace Index:

• It is produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank
• The GPI is the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness.
• It ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness, covering 99.7 percent of the world’s population.
• Parameters used: It uses 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure the state of peace across three domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security; the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict; and the degree of Militarisation.
• This year it is the 20th edition of the GPI.
• Top Performing Countries: Iceland ranked first for the 19th consecutive year, followed by New Zealand, Switzerland, Slovenia, and Ireland.
• Bottom Countries: Russia is the least peaceful country, with Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine, and Israel completing the bottom five.