In News:

India launched its first-ever Guide to Grasslands and Other Open Natural Ecosystems (ONEs) of India at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The guide seeks to improve recognition and conservation of India’s open natural ecosystems, which include grasslands, savannas, deserts, scrublands, ravines, rocky plateaus and other naturally open landscapes. It documents their geographical settings, ecological characteristics, biodiversity and associated communities.

Key Ecosystems Covered

The guide covers diverse landscapes such as:

• Himalayan and Terai grasslands
• Thar and Banni landscapes
• Deccan savannas
• Aravalli scrublands
• Yamuna–Chambal ravines
• Western Ghats rocky plateaus
• Central Nicobar grasslands
• Tamil Nadu’s Theri Kaadu

Why are ONEs Important?

A major focus of the guide is to challenge the perception that areas with little or no tree cover are “wastelands.” Grasslands, scrublands, savannas and ravines are distinct naturally occurring ecosystems, not degraded forests. They support biodiversity, regulate soil and water processes, contribute to carbon sequestration and climate resilience, and sustain pastoral and livestock-based livelihoods.

They provide habitat to species such as the Great Indian Bustard, Lesser Florican, Bengal Florican, Indian Wolf and Blackbuck. Traditional community-managed landscapes such as Orans and Gauchars also demonstrate their socio-economic importance.

Conservation & Restoration

The guide advocates science-based restoration, improved assessment of land degradation and landscape-level planning rather than indiscriminate tree plantation. This is particularly relevant to India’s Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) commitments under the UNCCD.

The initiative was developed under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in collaboration with organisations including ATREE and IUCN.

In News:

The Indian Army contingent has departed for Surat Thani, Thailand, to participate in the 15th edition of Exercise MAITREE-XV, the bilateral military exercise between the Indian Army and the Royal Thai Army.

About the Exercise:

• Exercise MAITREE aims to strengthen military cooperation, interoperability, mutual trust and camaraderie between India and Thailand.
• It was launched in 2006 as the Thai-Indian Cooperation Field Exercise (TICAFE) and was renamed MAITREE (“Friendship”) in 2013. The exercise is hosted alternately by the two countries. After a five-year gap following 2019, it resumed in 2024.
• The 2026 edition marks 20 years since the exercise was launched. Both countries are deploying 85 personnel each. The Indian contingent is represented mainly by 9 Gorkha Rifles, while Thailand is represented by the 3rd Battalion, 25th Infantry Brigade, 5th Division.
• The company-level exercise focuses on joint counter-insurgency (CI) and counter-terrorism (CT) operations in jungle and semi-urban/suburban terrain, conducted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. Training will include field exercises, combat discussions, lectures, demonstrations, joint planning and tactical drills, culminating in a validation exercise.

In News:

India is witnessing prolonged stagnation in the Corporate Investment-to-GDP ratio, despite policy measures such as the RBI’s accommodative monetary stance and the 2019 corporate tax cut from 30% to 22%.

What is Corporate Investment?

• Corporate investment refers to private-sector capital expenditure on long-term productive assets such as factories, machinery and technological infrastructure.
• It includes greenfield projects (new facilities) and brownfield expansion (expansion/upgradation of existing facilities).
• It forms an important component of Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF), measured by MoSPI.
• India’s corporate investment rose from 4.9% of GDP in 2000–01 to 17.3% in 2007–08, before falling after the Global Financial Crisis. It remained around 13–14% during 2010–11 to 2015–16, but subsequently declined to around 10% in 2020–21. By 2024–25, it was around 10.3% of GDP.

Major Reasons for Stagnation

• Low capacityutilisation: RBI’s OBICUS survey shows manufacturing capacity utilisation generally around 74–76%. With significant spare capacity, firms have limited incentives to undertake large fresh investments; sustained utilisation closer to ~80% is considered more conducive to new capex.
• Demand uncertainty: Subdued mass-market consumption, uneven demand recovery and uncertain global demand encourage firms to postpone large greenfield investments. Companies instead prefer brownfield expansion and cash accumulation.
• Structural bottlenecks: High land costs, difficult land acquisition, skilled-labour shortages and a high Incremental Capital Output Ratio (ICOR) increase the cost and reduce the efficiency of new investment.
• MSME credit constraints: Smaller firms have limited internal capital and face higher risk premiums from lenders. Thus, even when policy rates fall, effective credit costs may remain high relative to expected profitability. The “dwarfism” of Indian firms, highlighted by the Economic Survey 2019–20, also limits economies of scale, productivity and investment capacity.
• Risk aversion and global uncertainty: Trade tensions, protectionism, geopolitical risks and supply-chain disruptions discourage long-term commitments. IBC-related delays and asset-value haircuts have also contributed to greater lender caution.

In News:

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is NASA’s next major space observatory and is designed to investigate some of the most important questions concerning the Universe, dark energy, dark matter and exoplanets.

About the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman) is a next-generation infrared space telescope named after Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first Chief Astronomer and a key figure in developing the Hubble Space Telescope programme.

Roman will operate from the second Sun–Earth Lagrange point (L2), about 1.5 million km from Earth in the direction opposite the Sun. The L2 location provides a relatively stable environment and allows the telescope to maintain a suitable observing geometry for deep-space observations.

Its major scientific focus is on three interconnected areas: dark energy, dark matter and exoplanets. It will also provide exceptionally deep views of the Milky Way, particularly its crowded central region.

Major Scientific Objectives

Roman will conduct a wide range of observations. It will:

• Study dark energy and help understand why the expansion of the Universe is accelerating.
• Investigate the distribution and effects of dark matter through observations of galaxies and gravitational lensing.
• Search for exoplanets, particularly through gravitational microlensing.
• Survey hundreds of millions of stars for temporary changes in brightness that can reveal planets and other objects.
• Search for isolated black holes and other compact objects.
• Study distant galaxies and the large-scale structure of the Universe.
• Examine small icy bodies in the outer Solar System.

Key Instruments

1. Wide Field Instrument (WFI): The WFI is a 300-megapixel infrared camera and will be Roman’s principal survey instrument. Its field of view is about 100 times larger than Hubble’s infrared instrument, allowing it to survey much larger areas of the sky in comparatively less observing time.

Over its mission, it is expected to measure light from around one billion galaxies. Its microlensing survey of the inner Milky Way is expected to discover approximately 2,600 exoplanets.

2. Coronagraph Instrument (CGI): The Coronagraph Instrument is primarily a technology demonstration for high-contrast astronomical imaging. It will test techniques for directly imaging and obtaining spectra of individual nearby exoplanets, helping develop technologies for future missions capable of characterising potentially habitable worlds.

What is Special about L2?

The Lagrange points are positions in space where the gravitational forces of two large bodies, such as the Sun and Earth, combine with the orbital motion of a spacecraft to create relatively stable locations.

There arefive Sun–Earth Lagrange points (L1–L5). Roman will be positioned at L2, enabling it to remain in a stable configuration relative to Earth and the Sun while observing the distant Universe.

In News:

Maharashtra has recently experienced a series of small earthquakes occurring in close succession. Seismologists describe this pattern as an “earthquake swarm”, a phenomenon that has occurred in Maharashtra on several occasions in the past.

What is an Earthquake Swarm?

An earthquake swarm refers to a sequence of multiple earthquakes occurring in a relatively small area over a short period, generally without one clearly identifiable main shock. The events are often of comparable magnitude and can range from dozens to, in some cases, thousands of relatively low-intensity earthquakes.

Such swarms occur when seismic energy accumulated within the Earth's crust is released through repeated small movements along faults or fractures. They are particularly common in volcanic and geothermal regions, although they can also occur in tectonically active areas without active volcanism.

What Causes Earthquake Swarms?

1. Fluid movement:The movement of fluids through cracks and faults can trigger earthquakes. In volcanic or geothermal regions, fluids may originate from deeper magma or circulate through geothermal systems. Increased fluid pressure can weaken faults and cause them to slip.

2. Active volcanism and magma movement:Magma moving through the Earth's crust can exert pressure on surrounding rocks and create or reactivate fractures. Earthquakes may occur near the advancing tip of a magma-filled crack or along its sides. Such swarms are therefore an important indicator of subsurface volcanic activity.

3. Slow-slip events:A slow-slip event can be described as an earthquake occurring in “slow motion”. Instead of releasing energy suddenly, a fault may move by centimetres to tens of centimetres over weeks, months or even years. The resulting stress redistribution can trigger clusters of smaller earthquakes. Such events are frequently observed at the Hikurangi Subduction Zone, where around one or two slow-slip episodes occur annually.