About Tomahawk Missile:

• It is an American-made long-range subsonic cruise missile used for deep land attack warfare.
• It is launched from ships or submarines through a Vertical Launch System.
• The Tomahawk was first conceptualised in the early 1970s as a Cold War-era weapon.
• Features:
  • It can carry a 1,000-pound conventional warhead or cluster munitions.
  • It is powered by a solid propellant during its launch phase. Thereafter, it is powered by a turbofan engine that does not emit much heat, which makes infrared detection difficult.
  • They cruise at subsonic speeds of 880 kmph and fly as low as 30-50 metres to avoid radar detection.
  • Tomahawks are guided by advanced GPS, inertial navigation, and terrain contour mapping. This makes them highly accurate-with a margin of error of just 10 meters.
  • They are built to follow a non-linear path, reducing the chance of interception.
  • It has a range of up to approximately 2,400 km.

About India Meteorological Department (IMD):

• Established in 1875, IMD is the National Meteorological Service of the country and the principal government agency in all matters relating to meteorology and allied subjects.
• It functions under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
• It is headquartered in Delhi and operates hundreds of observation stations across India and Antarctica.
• There are 6 Regional Meteorological Centres, each under a Deputy Director General, with headquarters at Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Calcutta, Nagpur, and Guwahati.
• IMD Mandate:
  • To take meteorological observations and to provide current and forecast meteorological information for weather-sensitive activities like agriculture, shipping, aviation, offshore oil explorations, etc.
  • To warn against severe weather phenomena like tropical cyclones, norwesters, duststorms, heavy rains and snow, cold and heat waves.
  • To provide meteorological statistics required for agriculture, water resource management, industries, oil exploration, and other nation-building activities.
  • To conduct and promote research in meteorology and allied disciplines.
• IMD is also one of the six Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
• It is responsible for forecasting, naming, and distributing warnings for tropical cyclones in the Northern Indian Ocean region, including the Straits of Malacca, the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the Persian Gulf.

About Persian Gulf:

• It is a marginal sea of the Indian Ocean, located in Western Asia.
• It is an extension of the Gulf of Oman and connects to the Indian Ocean via the Strait of Hormuz in the east.
• It is also referred to as the Arabian Gulf or Gulf of Iran.
• It lies between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran to the southwest and northeast, respectively.
• Iran borders it from the north, east and northeast, while Oman and UAE surround it from the south and southeast.
• It is surrounded by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain from the southwest and west and Iraq and Kuwait from the northwest.
• To the west, it connects to a large river delta called Shatt al-Arab. Here, the waters from two major rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris, flow into the Gulf.
• It has a coastline length of about 5,117 km, with Iran having the longest coastline (1,536 km).
• Islands:
  • There are several islands in the Persian Gulf, including Bahrain, the Persian Gulf state. Bahrain comprises over 50 islands centered on Bahrain Island.
  • Qeshm Island is the largest island in the Persian Gulf, almost 2.5 times the size of Bahrain.
  • The area in and around the Persian Gulf holds the world's largest amounts of crude oil.
  • Al-Safaniya, the world's largest offshore oilfield, is located in the Persian Gulf.

About Kosi River:

• It is a transboundary river which flows through China, Nepal, and India.
• It is a prominent tributary of the Ganges, also known as "Sorrow of Bihar" because of the big floods it can cause, especially in the Indian state of Bihar.
• Course:
  • The river Kosi is formed by the confluence of three streams, namely the Sun Kosi, the Arun Kosi, and the Tamur Kosi, all of which have their origin in the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet.
  • About 48 km north of the Indian-Nepalese frontier, the Kosi is joined by several major tributaries and breaks southward through the Siwalik Hills at the narrow Chatra Gorge.
  • The river then emerges on the great plain of northern India in Bihar state on its way to the Ganges River, which enters south of Purnea after a course of about 724 km.
• Over the last 250 years, the Kosi has shifted its course over 100 kilometres from East to West and the unstable nature of the river is attributed to the heavy silt it carries during the monsoon season.
• Corn (maize) is extensively cultivated on the sandy soils of the Kosi’s basin.
• Tributaries: It has seven major tributaries: Sun Koshi, Tama Koshi or Tamba Koshi, Dudh Koshi, Indravati, Likhu, Arun, and Tamore or Tamar.

About Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary:

• It is situated in the Bargarh district of Odisha.
• It is located near Hirakud Dam (the longest dam in India and the longest earthen dam in the world) on the Mahanadi River.
• It is historically significant as the 19th-century guerrilla base for freedom fighter Veer Surendra Sai. Specifically, the Barapathara area within the sanctuary served as his stronghold against British colonial rule.
• Vegetation: Most of the plant sanctuary is covered with mixed and dry deciduous forest.
• Flora: Major trees found here are Sal, Asana, Bija, Aanla, Dhaura, etc.
• Fauna:
  • Indian leopards, sloth bears, chousingha (four-horned antelope), sambar deer, gaurs (Indian bison), wild boars, and Indian wild dogs (dholes) are among the notable animal residents.
  • It is one of the most flocked wintering grounds of migratory birds that visit the sanctuary from far-off places.
  • Some of the most prominent among them are the crested serpent eagle, Flower Peckers, red-vented bulbul, tree pie, drongo, and white eye oriental.

Key Facts about Indian Bison:

• The Indian Bison, also known as Gaur, is the largest species among the wild cattle and the Bovidae.
• They have strong and mightily built, with a high grey ridge on their forehead between their horns, which curve upwards from the sides of the head.
• Distribution: Gaurs are indigenous to the South and Southeast parts of Asia.
• Habitat:
  • Gaurs are primarily found in evergreen and semi-evergreen forests along with moist deciduous forests with open grasslands.
  • They prefer hilly terrains below an altitude of 1,500-1,800 m with large and undisturbed forest tracts and abundant water.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN Red List: Vulnerable.

About Eligible Manufacturer Importers (EMIs) Scheme:

• It is designed as a trust-based facilitation measure, encouraging compliant manufacturers to benefit from simplified procedures.
• Under this initiative, Eligible Manufacturer Importers (EMI) will be able to clear imported goods without paying Customs duty at the time of clearance.
  • Instead, the applicable duty can be paid on a monthly basis as prescribed under the Deferred Payment of Import Duty Rules, 2016.
• Duration: EMI facility will be available from 1st April, 2026 and will remain in force till 31st March,
• Eligible Manufacturer Importers: Existing Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs) AEO-T1 entities, including MSMEs that fulfill the eligibility conditions are also eligible to participate.
  • Under this, approved Eligible Manufacturer Importers are expected to progressively obtain AEO-T2 or AEO-T3 status, enabling access to enhanced facilitation, faster clearances and priority treatment under the AEO Programme.
• It is expected to improve ease of doing business, strengthening compliance culture, and boosting domestic manufacturing.

About Sulphur Dioxide:

• It is a gaseous air pollutant composed of sulfur and oxygen. It forms when sulfur-containing fuel such as coal, petroleum oil, or diesel is burned.
• Properties of Sulphur Dioxide:
  • It is a liquid when under pressure, and it dissolves in water very easily.
  • It has a pungent, irritating odor, familiar as the smell of a just-struck match.
• Sources of Sulphur Dioxide Emissions:
  • Sulfur dioxide in the air comes mainly from activities such as the burning of coal and oil at power plants or from copper smelting.
  • It is usually prepared industrially by the burning in air or oxygen of sulfur or such compounds of sulfur as iron pyrite or copper pyrite.
  • In nature, sulfur dioxide can be released to the air from volcanic eruptions.
  • The largest source of SO2 in the atmosphere is the burning of fossil fuels by power plants and other industrial facilities.
• Applications: It is used to manufacture chemicals, in paper pulping, in metal and food processing.
• Impacts of Sulphur Dioxide: It is harmful for human health, environment and climate.

About Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Telescope:

• It is a state-of-the-art radio-telescope, located in the Atacama Desert in Chile that studies celestial objects at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths.
• It has been fully functional since 2013.
• It was designed, planned and constructed by the US’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
• Properties of ALMA Telescope:
  • It also has extraordinary sensitivity, which allows it to detect even extremely faint radio signals.
  • It consists of 66 high-precision antennas, spread over a distance of up to 16 km in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile.
  • These antennas can be moved closer together or farther apart for different perspectives – like the zoom lens of a camera.
• Major Discoveries of ALMA Telescope:
  • In 2013 it discovered starburst galaxies earlier in the universe’s history than they were previously thought to have existed.
  • It provided detailed images of the protoplanetary disc surrounding HL Tauri — a very young T Tauri star in the constellation Taurus, approximately 450 light years from Earth.
  • It helped scientists observe a phenomenon known as the Einstein ring.
    • Einstein ring occurs when light from a galaxy or star passes by a massive object en route to the Earth, in extraordinary detail.

About Pilibhit Tiger Reserve:

• Location: It is located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, forming part of the Terai Arc Landscape, in the upper Gangetic Plain Biogeographic Province. 
  • It lies along the India-Nepal border in the foothills of the Himalayas.
• Rivers: The River Gomti originates from the PTR, which is also the catchment of several others like Sharda, Chuka, and Mala Khannot.
  • The Sharda Sagar Dam, is on the boundary of the reserve.
• Climate: It has a dry and hot climate, which brings a combination of dry teak forest and Vindhya Mountain soils.
• Vegetation: It consists of Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests, Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests, Seasonal Swamp Forests and Tropical Semi-evergreen Forests.
• Flora: The Sal woodland is very dense with good natural regeneration, amounting to almost 76% of the reserve area.
  • The forest patches are interspersed with grass meadows with several species like Sacchrum, Sclerostachya, Imperata, Themeda, Bothriochloa, Vetiveria, Apluda, Dichanthium, Digitaria and Cyperus.
• Fauna:  It is home to a myriad of wild animals, including the endangered tiger, swamp deer, Bengal florican, hog deer, leopard, etc.

About Bureau of Energy Efficiency:

• It is a statutory body, established in 2002 under the provisions of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001.
• Primary objective: To reduce energy intensity in the Indian economy.
• Function and Duties of Bureau of Energy Efficiency:
  • It coordinates with designated consumers, designated agencies and other organizations; recognizes, identifies and utilizes the existing resources and infrastructure, in performing the functions assigned to it under the Energy Conservation Act.
  • The EC Act provides for regulatory and pro­motional functions which are assigned to the organisation.
• Regulatory functions
  • Develop minimum energy performance standards for Commercial Buildings, equipment and appliances under Standards and Labelling
  • Develop Energy Consumption Norms for Designated Consumers
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Power.
• Schemes of Bureau of Energy Efficiency
  • National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE), Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), Standards and Labeling Scheme, Municipal Demand Side Management (MuDSM) Scheme, Agricultural Demand Side Management (AgDSM) Scheme.