About International Tiger Day:

• It is observed on July 29 each year.
• It serves as a platform to raise awareness about tiger conservation.
• It is celebrated worldwide to promote comprehensive efforts in safeguarding tigers and their natural habitats, fostering harmonious coexistence between humans and tigers.
• Theme of International Tiger Day 2025: “Securing the future of Tigers with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities at the heart”.
• History of International Tiger Day:
  • Global Tiger Day, commonly referred to as International Tiger Day, was established during the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia in 2010.
  • The summit brought together 13 tiger-range countries, including India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, and Russia, following alarming reports that only around 3,000 tigers remained in the wild.
  • The participating nations adopted the “Tx2” goal at the summit, which aimed to double the global tiger population by 2022 through joint conservation efforts and stronger protection laws.
  • The 29th of July was chosen as International Tiger Day because it represents the halfway point between the first and last days of the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit and the ongoing international campaign to rescue tigers.

Tiger Population in India:

• India now supports the world’s largest tiger population.
• While holding only 18% of the world’s tiger habitat, and facing the highest human density among tiger-range countries, India accounts for 75% of the world’s wild tigers.
• More than 3,600 tigers now roam the country’s forests, double the number recorded just over a decade ago.
• These tigers live across 138,200 sq.km. of forest, roughly half the size of the UK, often sharing the land with 60 million people.
• This success comes from decades of conservation efforts, particularly under a national initiative known as Project Tiger.

About Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE):

• It is a degenerative brain condition that happens after repeated head injuries.
• It causes the death of nerve cells in the brain, known as degeneration.
• CTE has been most commonly observed in athletes involved in contact sports such as American football, boxing, and hockey, as well as military veterans exposed to blast injuries.
• The condition typically develops years after repeated head trauma and worsens over time.
• Symptoms:
  • Early symptoms may be mild or go unnoticed, often including depression or suicidal thoughts, aggression, mood swings, and personality changes.
  • As the disease progresses, people may experience confusion, memory loss, and difficulty with planning or decision-making.
  • In advanced cases, movement problems can also develop.
• Treatment: CTE cannot be cured, but medicines and other treatments can help your symptoms.

About Mansa Devi Temple:

• It is a Hindu temple dedicated to the goddess Mansa Devi, a form of Shakti (Goddess Durga).
• It is located in the city of Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
• The temple is located atop the Bilwa Parvat on the Sivalik Hills, the southernmost mountain chain of the Himalayas.
• The temple, also known as Bilwa Tirth, is one of the Panch Tirth (Five Pilgrimages) within Haridwar.
• It is an epitome of the age-old tradition of ‘Shakti’ worship in Northern India.
• Maharaja Gopal Singh of Manimajra constructed the present main temple during the period 1811-1815.
• The temple complex is spread over an area of 100 acres.
• Built in a traditional North Indian style shape, the temple includes two important deities, Mansa Devi and her sister Chandi Devi.

About Bigha:

• Bigha is a traditional unit of land measurement commonly used in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
• Popular in states where farming is common, it helps measure large agricultural land tracts as well as residential land.
• The states which use Bigha for land measurement are Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand.
• Historical Context:
  • The origins of Bigha trace back to ancient South Asian practices.
  • Before the introduction of modern units like the acre or hectare, landowners and farmers relied on Bigha to calculate land for cultivation, taxation, and trade.
  • Over time, it became deeply rooted in the cultural and economic fabric of these regions.
• The exact measurement of bigha differs from state to state. For instance, in West Bengal and Assam, one bigha equals about 14,400 sq.ft., while in Punjab, it measures approximately 9,070 sq.ft.
• There is no national standard for the size of a bigha, and it is typically smaller than an acre, which is 43,560 sq.ft. or 4,047 sq.m.
• Bigha is common among farmers when measuring plots and negotiating land prices.
• A bigha is often divided into smaller subunits, such as ‘biswa’ , ‘katha’ and Nalli.
• Bigha in Bangladesh and Nepal:
  • Bangladesh: Standardized under British rule at 14,400 square feet (1,340 square meters).
  • Nepal: A bigha equals about 6,772.63 square meters, with local variations.

About Exercise Divya Drishti:

• It is a high-altitude technology demonstration exercise conducted by the Indian Army in East Sikkim.
• It was designed to test new technologies that are designed to improve battlefield awareness, real-time surveillance, and quick decision-making.
• Troops from the Trishakti Corps, which is headquartered in Sukna on the outskirts of Siliguri, used a mix of ground-based systems and aerial platforms, including UAVs and drones, to create realistic battle scenes.
• A key highlight was the use of AI-enabled sensors linked with advanced communication systems.
  • This setup ensures smooth and secure data flow among command centres, improves situational awareness, and enables faster and better decisions by creating a strong sensor-to-shooter link.
• The exercise was taken up to check out the army’s preparedness in using AI and some other modern technologies in a realistic battle situation.

About SOFI Report 2025:

• It is an annual report prepared by five UN agencies: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), UNICEF (UN Children’s Fund), WFP (World Food Programme),and WHO (World Health Organization).
• It presents the latest data and analysis on hunger, food security and nutrition worldwide.

Key Highlights of SOFI Report 2025:

• Despite some recent progress, global hunger in 2024 remained well above pre-pandemic levels and even higher than in 2015.
• An estimated 96 million more people were suffering from chronic hunger today compared to 2015.
• It is now estimated that about 2.3 billion people in the world were moderately or severely food insecure in 2024.
• Asia accounted for the highest number of undernourished people at 323 million, followed by Africa (307 million) and Latin America and the Caribbean (34 million).
• Although hunger levels declined in Southeast Asia, Southern Asia, and South America, the report noted persistent or rising food insecurity in several other regions like Africa.

About SOFI Report 2025:

• It is an annual report prepared by five UN agencies: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), UNICEF (UN Children’s Fund), WFP (World Food Programme), and WHO (World Health Organization).
• It presents the latest data and analysis on hunger, food security and nutrition worldwide.

Key Highlights of SOFI Report 2025:

• Despite some recent progress, global hunger in 2024 remained well above pre-pandemic levels and even higher than in 2015.
• An estimated 96 million more people were suffering from chronic hunger today compared to 2015.
• It is now estimated that about 2.3 billion people in the world were moderately or severely food insecure in 2024.
• Asia accounted for the highest number of undernourished people at 323 million, followed by Africa (307 million) and Latin America and the Caribbean (34 million).
• Although hunger levels declined in Southeast Asia, Southern Asia, and South America, the report noted persistent or rising food insecurity in several other regions like Africa.

About Setubandha Scholar Scheme:

• It is the first national-level programme to formally integrate traditional scholars into the research ecosystem of IITs, without insisting on conventional degrees.
• It aims to bridge India's age-old gurukul tradition with modern scientific and academic inquiry.
• It is backed by the Ministry of Education and implemented by the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) division of the Central Sanskrit University (CSU),
• The scheme offers fellowships of up to Rs 65,000 per month across 18 interdisciplinary fields - from ayurveda to cognitive science, and architecture to political theory, grammar to strategic studies, performing arts to mathematics, physics, and health sciences.
• Eligibility: It is based on a minimum of five years of rigorous study in a recognised gurukul and demonstrable excellence in Shastras or traditional knowledge.
• The maximum age to apply is 32 years.
• Scholars selected under Category 1 (equivalent to postgraduate level) will receive a monthly fellowship of Rs 40,000 and an annual research grant of Rs 1 lakh.
• Those under Category 2 (equivalent to PhD level) will be awarded Rs 65,000 monthly and an annual grant of Rs 2 lakh.
• It is a major shift in India's education policy, opening up elite research pathways for scholars from non-formal backgrounds rooted in classical learning.

About Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar Initiative:

• It is a pan-India initiative of Ministry of Culture under National Mission on Cultural Mapping and was launched on 27th July 2023. 
• It was launched as part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
• The main objective of the project is to culturally map India's 6.5 lakh villages, spanning across all States and Union Territories, on a comprehensive virtual platform.
• The core idea behind this project is to encourage appreciation for India's culture and traditions, paving the way for economic growth, social harmony, and artistic development in rural communities.
• It is aimed at mapping India’s intangible cultural assets.
• The programme is being implemented by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) under the National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM).
• Under the MGMD, information is collected under seven broad categories as given below:
  • Arts and Crafts Village
  • Ecologically Oriented Village
  • Scholastic Village linked with Textual and Scriptural Traditions of India
  • Epic Village linked with Ramayana, Mahabharata and/or Puranic legends and oral epics
  • Historical Village linked with Local and National History
  • Architectural Heritage Village
  • Any other characteristic that may need highlighting such as fishing village, horticulture village, shepherding village etc.