About Murchison Widefield Array (MWA):

• It is a low-frequency radio telescope located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) in Western Australia, where the future low-frequency Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be built.
• It is a collaboration between 20 research institutions in five countries (Australia, Canada, China, Japan, and the United States) and is led by Curtin University, Australia.
• It is made of spider-like antennas tuned to receive signals from the sky between 70 and 300 MHz.
• It is special for its very wide field of view, high angular resolution, nanosecond time resolution, and digital pointing agility.
• This makes the instrument invaluable for quickly mapping the sky and studying rare and faint events as they happen.
• The MWA is used to study:
  • he early Universe, particularly the Epoch of Reionization, when the first stars and galaxies formed.
  • The structure and evolution of galaxies and galaxy clusters.
  • The Sun and space weather, including solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
  • Transient radio sources, such as pulsars and fast radio bursts.
  • The interstellar medium and cosmic magnetism.

Key Facts about Southern-sky MWA Rapid Two-metre (SMART):

• SMART pulsar survey is an ongoing project to discover new pulsars (neutron stars) in the southern sky using the MWA.
• This is currently the only pulsar survey capable of looking for pulsars in the Southern Hemisphere at low frequencies (140-170 MHz).
• Once complete, it is expected to discover hundreds of new pulsars.
• Apart from its inherent scientific value, it also serves as a valuable reference for future pulsar searches planned with the low-frequency SKA.

Key Facts about Square Kilometre Array (SKA):

• It is an international effort to build the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope to help better understand the history of the universe.
• It is co-located in Australia (SKA-Low) and South Africa (SKA-Mid) with operational headquarters in the UK, and is expected to revolutionize radio astronomy.
• The construction of the project officially started on 5 December 2022.
• The telescope will consist of hundreds of antennas that will generate unprecedented data volumes.
• It is meant to observe the universe in a new way and probe questions related to the origins of the universe, the formation and evolution of galaxies, and seeking the origins of life.
• India became a member of SKA in 2022.
• Other countries involved in this project are Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

What are Pulsars?

• Pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars that blast out pulses of radiation at regular intervals ranging from seconds to milliseconds.
  • Neutron stars are highly dense remnants of massive stars that have collapsed, composed mainly of neutrons and other elementary particles.
• Pulsars have very strong magnetic fields, which funnel jets of particles out along the two magnetic poles. These accelerated particles produce very powerful beams of light.
• Often, the magnetic field is not aligned with the spin axis, so those beams of particles and light are swept around as the star rotates.
• The periodicity of pulsars is caused by these beams of light crossing the line of sight on Earth, with the pulsar appearing to ‘switch off’ at points when the light is facing away from us. The time between these pulses is the ‘period’ of the pulsar.
• Pulsars have been primarily observed at radio wavelengths.

About Nagori Ashwagandha:

• It is a premium variety of Ashwagandha,  sourced from the Nagaur region in Rajasthan.
• Nagaur’s dry climate and sandy soil are ideally suited for Ashwagandha cultivation.
• It has longer, thicker roots rich in medicinal compounds, particularly alkaloids.
• Its berries are known for their dark, bright red colour, which is considered a clear indicator of superior quality.
• It has brittle and starchy roots.
• It received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2026.

Key Facts about Ashwagandha:

• Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is an important medicinal plant cultivated in regions of South Asia, Africa, and Central Asia.
• Other names: Indian ginseng or Indian winter cherry
• It is a small perennial shrub growing up to 35–75 cm in height.
• It has been in use as a medicinal plant for thousands of years, especially in traditional Ayurvedic medicine.
• It was first mentioned by the learned Punarvasu Atreya.
• Subsequently, the medicinal properties of this plant were mentioned in Ayurvedic treatises such as Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Astanga Hridaya, Bhava Prakasha Nighantu, etc.
• Benefits:
  • It is often called an adaptogen, meaning it helps the body adapt to stressors and restore balance.
  • Its other benefits are reducing inflammation, increasing energy, alleviating anxiety, ease pain, and improving sleep.
  • Different parts of the ashwagandha plant, such as the root, leaves, and berries, may have different concentrations of bioactive compounds.
• Required Climatic Condition:
  • It grows in dry and subtropical regions.
  • Soil: It grows well in sandy loam or light red soil having pH 7.5 to 8.0 with good drainage.
  • Climate: It is grown as a late rainy season (kharif) crop.
  • Rain: The semi-tropical areas receiving 500 to 750 mm rainfall are suitable for its cultivation as a rainfed crop.
  • Temperature: It can tolerate a temperature range of 20 to 38 degree Celsius.
  • Major Ashwagandha-Producing States in India: Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra.

About Salmonella:

• Salmonella are a group of bacteria that can cause gastrointestinal illness and fever called salmonellosis.
• Sources and Transmission:
  • Salmonella bacteria are widely distributed in domestic and wild animals.
  • They are prevalent in food animals such as poultry, pigs, and cattle; and in pets, including cats, dogs, birds, and reptiles such as turtles.
  • Salmonellosis in humans is generally contracted primarily through the consumption of contaminated food of animal origin, although other foods, including green vegetables contaminated by manure, have been implicated in its transmission.
  • Person-to-person transmission can also occur through the faecal-oral route.
  • Human cases also occur where individuals have contact with infected animals, including pets.
• Treatment:
  • The illness usually lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment.
  • Treatment in severe cases is electrolyte replacement (to provide electrolytes, such as sodium, potassium, and chloride ions, lost through vomiting and diarrhoea) and rehydration.

About Exercise RIMPAC:

• Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) is the world’s largest international maritime exercise.
• Hosted by the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet, it is held biennially (every two years) in and around the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean .
• It first began in 1971.
• It provides a unique training opportunity for allies and partners to strengthen their collective capabilities and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.
• 2026 Edition:
  • It is the 30th edition of the exercise. The Indian Navy is also participating in the exercise.
  • The theme of RIMPAC 2026 is “Partners: Integrated and Prepared.”
  • It will reinforce collective security through a range of exercises in anti-submarine warfare, air defence, missile proficiency, mine clearance, amphibious assaults, disaster response, and gunnery training.

About Sariska Tiger Reserve:

• It is located in the Alwar district, Rajasthan.
• It is a part of the Aravali Range and the Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests ecoregion.
• It was once a hunting ground of the Maharaja of Alwar before being proclaimed a natural reserve in 1955 and a national park in 1979.
• It became a Tiger Reserve under Project Tiger in 1979.
• It lost all its tigers to poaching in 2005.
• However, it holds the distinction of being one of the world’s earliest successful tiger reintroduction efforts.
• It is also famous for old temples, palaces, and lakes such as Pandu Pol, Bhangarh Fort, Ajabgarh, Pratapgarh, Siliserh Lake, and Jai Samand Lake.
• Topography: It possesses a rocky landscape, scrub thorn arid forests, grasses, hilly cliffs, and semi-deciduous wood.
• Vegetation: The vegetation corresponds to Northern Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests and Northern Tropical Thorn Forest.
• Flora:
  • The area of this reserve is covered with dhok trees.
  • Other species found include salar, kadaya, gol, ber, Banyan, gugal, bamboo, kair, adusta, etc.
• Fauna:
  • A variety of other wild animals, like the leopard, sambhar, chital, nilgai, four-horned antelope, wild boar etc are found in the reserve apart from the tiger.
  • Peafowl, grey partridge, sand grouse and crested serpent eagle are some of the birds found near the river bodies and the protected areas of the park.
  • The largest population of peafowl in India resides in Sariska National Park.

About GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation:

• It is a Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) implemented jointly with Airports Authority of India (AAI) and ISRO.
• The main objectives of GAGAN are:
  • To provide Satellite-based Navigation services with accuracy and integrity required for civil aviation applications.
  • To provide better Air Traffic Management over Indian Airspace.
• It is interoperable with other international SBAS systems and provides seamless navigation across regional boundaries.
• Functioning of the GAGAN:
  • It operates through a combination of ground-based and space-based segments to enhance the accuracy and reliability of the GPS signals.
• Ground/Control Segment:
  • Reference Stations (INRES): A network of 15 precisely surveyed ground reference stations (INdian Reference Stations) is strategically placed across India. These stations collect GPS satellite data.
  • Through this, errors caused by ionospheric disturbances, satellite orbit errors and inaccurate clocks are corrected.
  • Master Control Centre (INMCC): The collected data is sent to the Indian Master Control Centre, where correction messages are generated to rectify any signal errors.
  • Land Uplink Station (INLUS): The correction messages are then uplinked through the Indian Land Uplink Station.
    • Through this, the corrected messages are sent to the geostationary satellites which then broadcast them to the aircraft.
  • Space Segment:
    • This segment includes the communication satellites which were flown as GSAT-8 in 2011, GSAT-10 in 2012 and GSAT-15 in 2015.
    • These geostationary communication satellites carry the GAGAN payloads.
    • The correction messages are broadcast through these satellites to GPS receivers on aircraft.

About Kisan Sarathi Platform:

• It is India’s largest integrated digital agro-advisory platform launched in 2021.
• It provides timely, authentic, and multilingual advisories to farmers. Farmers also get access to schemes, weather updates, and expert consultations.
• It is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• The Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute and the Digital India Corporation implement the platform.
• The platform uses the Interactive Information Dissemination System (IIDS).
  • IIDS enables two-way communication between farmers and experts. It supports lab-to-land transfer of agricultural knowledge.
• It connects farmers with: Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), ICAR institutes and agricultural universities.
• Features of Kisan Sarathi Platform:
  • It provides personalized advisory based on farm and farmer profile.
  • It offers live interaction in 13 regional languages with domain experts.
  • It provides access to the farmer’s knowledge database.
  • It connects farmers directly with agricultural experts.
  • Farmers can get region-specific, real-time advisories on weather updates, market prices, and more.
  • It helps farmers discover government schemes suitable to their specific needs.
  • It provides advisories for all major cereals, pulses, oilseeds, horticulture crops, plantation crops, and fodder crops and also for the livestock, poultry, fisheries, and allied sectors.
  • Farmers can raise queries to KVK experts and receive advice in their local languages.
  • Farmers can easily access the mandi prices and district-wise market rates for major crops. They can also view the market trends for selected crops.

About Hargila Bird:

• It is a large and distinctive member of the stork family.
• It is also known as Greater Adjutant Stork.
• Habitat: It inhabits wetlands, shallow lakes, drying lake beds, and freshwater flooded forests.
• Distribution: In India, it is mainly found in Assam and Bihar; globally it also occurs in parts of Cambodia.
  • These are usually seen singly or in small groups as they stalk about in shallow water.
  • These breed during winter in colonies that may include other large waterbirds.
• Diet: These are omnivorous birds. Although they are mainly scavengers, they also prey on frogs and large insects and will also take birds, reptiles, and rodents.
• Threats: It includes the loss of nesting and feeding habitat through the draining of wetlands, pollution.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN: Near Threatened
  • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule IV

About Rural Internal Audit Portal:

• It is a unified digital platform for end-to-end management of internal audits covering both risk-based and compliance audits.
• It is conceived by the Office of the Chief Controller of Accounts (CCA), Ministry of Rural Development, and developed in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
• Objectives of the Portal:
  • Digitize and simplify the entire internal audit process to improve efficiency, transparency and accountability.
  • Create a centralized repository of audit units, audit observations, Action Taken Reports and audit records.
  • Enable risk-based audit planning through systematic identification and prioritization of audit units.
  • Automate the generation of audit reports and standardize audit documentation.
  • Facilitate real-time monitoring of audit progress, compliance status and approval workflows. Evaluate outputs and outcomes of internal audit interventions.
• Tech architecture:
  • It uses Git-based version control systems and Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) workflows.
  • It also includes role-based access control, centralized monitoring systems, secure API-based integrations, automated exception handling.
  • Disaster recovery protocols have also been incorporated.

• Key Features of Rural Internal Audit Portal:
  • End-to-End Digital Audit Management: It facilitates complete online management of audit activities, including user registration, audit planning, audit engagement preparation etc.
  • Centralized Audit Repository: It maintains a comprehensive digital repository of audit records, observations, reports and compliance responses.
  • Role-Based Governance Framework: Dedicated access is provided to auditors, auditees, approving authorities, programme divisions, State Governments, district-level users and certified internal auditors.
  • Real-Time Monitoring and Analytics: Interactive dashboards provide real-time information on audit coverage, pending observations etc.
  • Geospatial Monitoring through Map View Module: It provides a geospatial visualization of audit activities across India.
  • Multilingual and User-Friendly Interface: It has been designed to ensure ease of use and wider accessibility through intuitive workflows, structured navigation and user-friendly interfaces.
  • Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics: It has been designed as a future-ready platform capable of integrating Artificial Intelligence, advanced analytics and machine learning tools for risk assessment, audit prioritization and decision support.