🔆 Asiatic Lion Crisis

📍 Why in News?
✅ Death of 8 Asiatic lion cubs due to heat-induced dehydration in Gir Forest, Gujarat has renewed concerns over habitat overcrowding, disease risks, and the need for lion translocation.

📍 About the Asiatic Lion
✅ Scientific Name: Panthera leo persica
✅ IUCN Status: Endangered
✅ Natural Habitat: Gir Landscape, Gujarat – the only wild habitat of Asiatic lions.

📍 Current Status
✅ Population increased from 674 (2020) to 891 (2025).
✅ Overcrowding has forced many lions to move outside protected areas.
✅ Supreme Court (2013) directed translocation of lions to Kuno National Park (Madhya Pradesh), but implementation remains pending.

📍 Major Challenges
✅ Habitat Saturation: Exceeded carrying capacity leads to territorial conflicts and stress.
✅ Genetic Bottleneck: Low genetic diversity increases vulnerability to diseases.
✅ Disease Risk: A single epidemic can threaten the entire population.
Eg: Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) killed 23 lions in 2018.
✅ Human–Wildlife Conflict: Increasing encounters due to movement into villages.
✅ Infrastructure Hazards: Deaths from roads, railways, open wells, and electric fences.

📍 Why is Translocation Needed?
✅ Creates a second free-ranging population as biological insurance.
✅ Reduces extinction risk from epidemics, forest fires, or natural disasters.
✅ Aligns with IUCN conservation guidelines.
✅ Kuno National Park was developed as an alternative habitat for Asiatic lions.

📍 Concerns Over Translocation
✅ Symbol of Gujarat’s identity and regional pride.
✅ Gujarat favours expansion to Barda Wildlife Sanctuary.
✅ Presence of Project Cheetah in Kuno National Park may complicate ecosystem management.

📍 Way Forward
✅ Implement the Supreme Court’s 2013 order through scientific and phased translocation.
✅ Develop satellite habitats like Barda Wildlife Sanctuary.
✅ Adopt a One Health approach through vaccination of domestic animals.
✅ Build wildlife crossings, cover open wells, and improve railway safety.

📍 UPSC Prelims Facts
✅ Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica) is found only in the Gir Landscape of Gujarat.
✅ Kuno National Park (Madhya Pradesh) was identified as the second home for Asiatic lions.
✅ Barda Wildlife Sanctuary has been proposed as an additional habitat within Gujarat.

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🔆 CURRENT AFFAIRS – 13 JULY 2026

🔆 HISTORY, ART & CULTURE

📍 Vice-President Unveils Statue of Mannathu Padmanabhan
✅ Renowned social reformer, freedom fighter and community leader from Kerala
✅ Founder of the Nair Service Society (NSS)
✅ Participated in the Vaikom Satyagraha
✅ Honoured with Bharata Kesari (1959) and Padma Bhushan (1966)

🔆 POLITY & GOVERNANCE

📍 Centre Directs Playing of Vande Mataram Before National Anthem
✅ States and Central Ministries directed to play Vande Mataram before Jana Gana Mana at official events
✅ Vande Mataram written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
✅ Published in the novel Anandamath
✅ Government proposes amendment to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 to make insults to the singing of Vande Mataram a punishable offence

📍 NSE Launches Nifty500 Ahimsa Index
✅ Launched by the National Stock Exchange (NSE)
✅ Developed with Ahimsagain Foundation
✅ Tracks companies following Ahimsa (non-violence) principles
✅ Excludes businesses involved in animal harm
✅ Only Green-category companies qualify for inclusion

📍 PM SVANidhi ‘Street Food Hub’ Plan
✅ Lakhanpur among the first selected towns
✅ Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs to establish 50 Street Food Hubs
✅ Each project receives ₹4 crore assistance
✅ Urban Local Bodies receive ₹25 lakh incentive
✅ Implemented with MoHUA, Ministry of Tourism and FSSAI

🔆 INDIA & THE WORLD

📍 PM Receives Traditional Māori Powhiri Welcome in New Zealand
✅ Traditional welcome by the Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand
✅ Includes Karanga, Whaikōrero, Hongi and Kai
✅ Symbolises transition from Tapu (sacred) to Noa (ordinary/safe)
✅ Reflects cultural respect and bilateral friendship

🔆 ECONOMY

📍 PMFME Scheme Crosses 2 Lakh Credit-Linked Beneficiaries
✅ Implemented by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries
✅ Supports unorganised micro food processing enterprises
✅ 90% beneficiaries are first-generation entrepreneurs
✅ 44% beneficiaries are women
✅ Over 4.18 lakh SHG members received seed capital
✅ More than 75,000 enterprises formalised through Udyam, FSSAI and GST registrations

🔆 ENVIRONMENT

📍 Aastha Van Sanrakshan Yojana Launched
✅ Aims to conserve 15,000 Sacred Groves (Aastha Van)
✅ Duration: 2026–27 to 2030–31
✅ Funded through CAMPA
✅ Promotes biodiversity conservation and traditional ecological knowledge

📍 Cyttopsis indica Discovered
✅ Commonly known as the Indian Dory
✅ Deep-sea fish discovered by ICAR-CMFRI
✅ Found in the Arabian Sea off Kerala at 350–500 m depth
✅ Belongs to Parazenidae family
✅ Stores waxy compounds to withstand extreme ocean pressure

📍 Bodoland Forests Showcase Rich Butterfly Diversity
✅ 346 butterfly species recorded in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR)
✅ Located at the junction of Indo-Malayan and Indo-Gangetic biogeographic zones
✅ Rare species include Yellow-crested Spangle, Swinhoe’s Flat and Great Windmill
✅ Bagurumba Dance inspired by butterfly diversity

🔆 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

📍 Vepdegestrant Receives US FDA Approval
✅ First oral PROTAC-based cancer therapy
✅ Jointly developed by Arvinas and Pfizer
✅ Approved for ER-positive, HER2-negative, ESR1-mutated advanced/metastatic breast cancer
✅ Represents a new generation of targeted cancer treatment

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🔆 CURRENT AFFAIRS – 14 JULY 2026

🔆 POLITY & GOVERNANCE

📍 ‘Catch the Rain 2026’ Campaign
✅ Nationwide initiative for water conservation and rainwater harvesting
✅ Theme: “Peoples’ Action for Water Conservation – Towards Intensified Community Connect”
✅ Tagline: “Catch the Rain, Where it Falls, When it Falls”
✅ Implemented under AMRUT 2.0
✅ Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Jal Shakti in convergence with MoHUA

📍 National Innovation Challenge for Drone Application and Research (NIDAR 2.0)
✅ Launched by MeitY and Drone Federation India (DFI)
✅ Duration: 2026–27
✅ Implemented under the SwaYaan Initiative
✅ Focus on autonomous swarm drones for disaster response
✅ Promotes indigenous VEGA processor-based drone electronics and flight controllers

📍 SwaYaan Initiative
✅ National capacity-building programme for the UAS/Drone Sector
✅ Launched in 2022
✅ Initiative of MeitY
✅ Five-year programme to train 40,000+ personnel
✅ Supports India’s goal of becoming a Global Drone Hub by 2030

🔆 ECONOMY

📍 Jodhpuri Mojari Receives GI Tag
✅ Traditional handcrafted leather footwear from Jodhpur, Rajasthan
✅ Around 200 years old
✅ Crafted by the Jinagar (Jingar) community
✅ Recognised for its unique craftsmanship and cultural heritage

🔆 ENVIRONMENT

📍 Heatwaves Threaten Tropical Forest Photosynthesis
✅ Rising temperatures reducing forests’ ability to absorb CO₂
✅ Plants normally have a 15°C safety margin for photosynthesis
✅ Heat damages proteins responsible for photosynthesis
✅ High-temperature forest area increased from 43 million ha to 57 million ha over the last 20 years
✅ May intensify climate change by reducing carbon sequestration

📍 Rising CO₂ Weakens Large Bee Populations
✅ Elevated CO₂ reduces protein content in pollen and alters nectar quality
✅ Large-bodied bees declining in high-CO₂ regions
✅ Big bees are among the most efficient pollinators
✅ Decline may adversely affect pollination, biodiversity and crop productivity

🔆 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

📍 ISRO Successfully Conducts IMAT-05
✅ Integrated Main Parachute Airdrop Test (IMAT-05) completed under Gaganyaan Programme
✅ Conducted at ADRDE Drop Zone, Sheopur (Madhya Pradesh)
✅ Dummy payload dropped from 2.5 km altitude using IAF IL-76 aircraft
✅ Validates the main parachute under maximum load conditions
✅ Critical for safe landing of astronauts during Gaganyaan Mission

🔆 RANKS & REPORTS

📍 UN Women Releases ‘Beyond the Breaking Point’ Report
✅ Highlights severe impact of global aid cuts on women’s organisations
✅ 95.7% funding decline from 5 major donors
✅ Around 1 million women left unsupported
✅ 40% organisations may shut down within a year
✅ Reports 86% rise in Gender-Based Violence (GBV)
✅ Released by UN Women

🔆 SPORTS

📍 Wimbledon Championships 2026
✅ Oldest Grand Slam tennis tournament (Founded: 1877)
✅ Venue: All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, London

✅ Men’s Singles: Jannik Sinner (Italy)
✅ Women’s Singles: Linda Noskova (Czech Republic)
✅ Men’s Doubles: Henry Patten (Great Britain)
✅ Women’s Doubles: Guo Hanyu (China)
✅ Mixed Doubles: Marcelo Arevalo (El Salvador) & Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia)

📍 Wheelchair Wimbledon Champions 2026
✅ Men’s Singles: Tokito Oda (Japan)
✅ Women’s Singles: Yui Kamiji (Japan)
✅ Quad Singles: Niels Vink (Netherlands)
✅ Men’s Doubles: Alfie Hewett & Gordon Reid (Great Britain)
✅ Women’s Doubles: Yui Kamiji (Japan) & Zhu Zhenzhen (China)
✅ Quad Doubles: Guy Sasson (Israel) & Niels Vink (Netherlands)

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