Kerala has reported several deaths due to amoebic meningoencephalitis, a rare but fatal brain infection. The disease is caused by free-living amoebae such as Naegleria fowleri, Acanthamoeba, and Balamuthia mandrillaris, which are typically found in contaminated water sources and soil. Naegleria fowleri often enters the body through the nose during swimming or diving in warm freshwater. The recent spike in cases in districts like Wayanad and Kozhikode is attributed to high bacterial contamination in the state's water bodies, which promotes the growth of these organisms. Health authorities are monitoring the situation as the fatality rate remains high.
Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) is primarily caused by Naegleria fowleri, which feeds on bacteria in contaminated water.
Other pathogenic species like Acanthamoeba and Balamuthia mandrillaris have also been detected in Kerala's water and soil.
The infection is highly fatal, with 12 deaths reported out of 48 cases in Kerala as of early September 2025.
Exam Points
Naegleria fowleri is commonly known as the 'brain-eating amoeba'.
The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) is the nodal agency monitoring the outbreak.
The infection typically occurs when contaminated water enters the nasal cavity and travels to the brain.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will skip the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. Instead, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will address the General Debate on September 27. The session's theme is 'Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development, human rights.' While the PM is not attending the UNGA, he recently held a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the Ukraine conflict and India-France strategic ties. The UNGA session occurs amidst ongoing global conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas war and the Russia-Ukraine crisis, requiring high-level diplomatic engagement.
The 80th UNGA session opens on September 9, with the General Debate scheduled for September 23-29.
Brazil traditionally serves as the first speaker of the session, followed by the United States.
The theme for the 80th session focuses on peace, development, and human rights over the last eight decades.
Exam Points
The 80th session marks the 80th anniversary of the United Nations, founded in 1945.
S. Jaishankar is scheduled to address the UNGA on September 27, 2024.
The theme is 'Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development, human rights'.
A youth-led initiative in Assam's Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) has successfully secured Geographical Indication (GI) registration for 21 traditional items. These include local textiles like Dokhona, traditional alcoholic beverages like Jou Bidwi, and agricultural products. The initiative aims to protect indigenous heritage, prevent unauthorized imitation, and enhance the market value of local crafts. The BTR government has launched a special drive to secure GI tags for items from all 26 communities in the region. This movement is also being used to create 'GI villages' to support artisans with training, infrastructure, and direct market linkages.
A total of 21 items from the BTR have received GI registration, including textiles, beverages, and musical instruments.
GI tags provide legal protection against imitation and help in preserving the cultural identity of indigenous communities.
The initiative fosters rural development by increasing the export potential and market value of traditional products.
Exam Points
Registered items include 'Aronai' (textile), 'Jou Bidwi' (alcoholic beverage), and 'Siphung' (musical instrument).
The Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) governs the BTR, which consists of 40 constituencies.
Registration for 21 items was secured between November 2023 and May 2024.
The CoWIN portal, India's digital platform for COVID-19 vaccination management, has been facing a significant outage since early August. This has prevented citizens from accessing and downloading their vaccination certificates, which are still required for international travel visas and certain job applications. Owned and operated by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, CoWIN serves functions including registration, appointment scheduling, identity verification, and certification. Despite official assurances that the issue would be resolved, the outage has persisted for weeks, highlighting dependencies on digital public goods for essential documentation and the need for robust maintenance of such infrastructure.
CoWIN was developed as a digital public good to manage over two billion vaccination doses in India.
The platform consists of five modules: orchestration, vaccination cold chain, citizen registration, vaccinator, and certificate/feedback.
Vaccination certificates remain essential for international travel and visa processing for many countries.
Exam Points
CoWIN stands for Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network.
It is managed by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Eight vaccines, including Covishield and Covaxin, are incorporated into the platform.
Activists have raised concerns over the declining Central budget allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). They argue that reduced funding is leading to a shortage of available work, effectively pushing the scheme back to its pre-2006 status. This trend particularly affects rural women, who constitute over 50% of the MGNREGS workforce. In the current financial year, women completed 56% of the total person-days. The scheme has historically been a tool for gender pay parity in rural areas, where women previously earned significantly less than men for similar work, making its funding crucial for social equity.
Women represent more than 50% of the workforce in MGNREGS projects across India.
Reduced budget allocations are causing a 'starving' of the welfare program, leading to work unavailability.
MGNREGS provided rural women with equal pay for the first time, bridging the gap in agricultural wages.
Exam Points
MGNREGA was enacted in 2005 and implemented in 2006.
A 'person-day' is defined as the total number of workdays by a person registered under the scheme in a financial year.
Women's participation in MGNREGS is currently at 56% of total person-days.
Indian Railways has announced the development of a hydrogen-powered train at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai. This initiative aligns with the National Green Hydrogen Mission, which targets the production of five million metric tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030. The train will operate on an 89-km route between Jind and Sonipat in Haryana, powered by a 1-MW polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyser. Green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy sources like solar or wind to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, offering a zero-emission alternative to fossil fuels and supporting India's 2070 net-zero goal.
The hydrogen-powered train is a significant step toward India's goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.
Green hydrogen production involves electrolysis of water using renewable energy, resulting in no carbon footprint.
The National Green Hydrogen Mission aims for 5 million metric tonnes of annual production by 2030.
Exam Points
The train was developed at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai.
The target for the National Green Hydrogen Mission is 5 million metric tonnes per year by 2030.
India's nationwide net-zero emission target year is 2070.
The GST Council is considering a new paradigm of indirect tax regimes involving fewer rates and rationalized structures. A Group of Ministers (GoM) was constituted to look into these changes, aiming to simplify the existing multiple-rate structure (0%, 5%, 12%, 18%, 28%). Key proposals include reducing GST on health and life insurance, cancer drugs, and certain consumer goods to boost demand. While some sectors like healthcare and renewable energy welcome these moves, others like the textile and insurance industries have expressed concerns regarding input tax credits and increased costs. The removal of the compensation cess is also a major point of discussion.
The rationalization process aims to reduce the complexity of the current GST structure and nudge economic growth.
Proposed cuts include reducing GST on cancer drugs and potentially exempting certain insurance premiums.
The compensation cess, currently levied on luxury and 'sin' goods, is slated to expire or be restructured.
Exam Points
The GST Council is a constitutional body under Article 279A.
The current main GST rates are 0%, 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%.
The GoM on rate rationalization was first constituted in September 2021.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin highlights India's strategic balancing act. The summit saw high-level meetings between India, China, and Russia, signaling a potential normalization of ties between New Delhi and Beijing following the Galwan clashes. However, India's engagement with the 'troika' (Russia, China, India) has drawn scrutiny from the U.S., especially regarding tariffs and sanctions. India continues to maintain its policy of strategic autonomy, engaging with both the East (SCO, BRICS) and the West to safeguard its national interests and economic stability in a multipolar world.
The SCO summit in Tianjin provided a platform for the first bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi Jinping since 2018.
India and China agreed to normalize ties and resolve border issues through Special Representatives.
U.S. tariffs (up to 50%) on Indian goods and sanctions on Russian oil remain major friction points in India-U.S. relations.
Exam Points
The SCO is a 10-nation intergovernmental organization.
The 'troika' refers to the leadership of Russia, China, and India.
The Galwan Valley clashes occurred in June 2020, severely impacting India-China relations.
The uninhabited island of Katchatheevu remains a sensitive issue in India-Sri Lanka relations. Recently, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake visited the island, the first such visit by a head of state, reigniting political debates in India. India ceded the island to Sri Lanka through maritime boundary agreements in 1974 and 1976. However, Tamil Nadu politicians frequently demand its retrieval to protect the fishing rights of Indian fishermen, who are often arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). The issue is complicated by the practice of bottom-trawling, which is banned in Sri Lanka.
Katchatheevu was recognized as part of Sri Lanka's territory under the 1974 and 1976 maritime boundary agreements.
The island is home to St. Anthony's Shrine, where Indian pilgrims are allowed access without visas for an annual festival.
The dispute centers on the traditional fishing rights of Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait.
Exam Points
The Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Boundary Agreements were signed in 1974 and 1976.
Katchatheevu is located about 33 nautical miles off the Jaffna peninsula.
The island covers an area of approximately 1.15 sq. km.
Read more
Read it. Retain it. Recall it.
Get spaced-repetition flashcards, daily quizzes and offline access — free on Android.