Pakistan faces judicial crisis as third judge quits

Pakistan’s judicial crisis deepened as a third judge resigned in protest.

• Lahore High Court judge Shams Mehmood Mirza quit after the 27th Constitutional Amendment became law.

• Earlier, Supreme Court judges Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah had also resigned.

Why the 27th Amendment is Questionable :-

• The amendment creates a Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) to handle constitutional matters.

• The existing Supreme Court is left with only civil and criminal cases, reducing its authority.

• The amendment also allows Army Chief Gen.

Asim Munir to remain in office till 2030.

• Justice Shah called the amendment a “grave assault” on the Constitution and judicial independence.

• The judges believe the FCC has effectively dethroned the Supreme Court as the top judicial body.

• The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) termed the amendment a “flagrant attack” on judicial independence.

Rare dolphin-fisher kinship in Ashtamudi lake to be studied

In Kerala’s Ashtamudi lake, fishermen and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins work together to catch fish.

• Dolphins drive fish toward shallow waters and then signal fishermen with a tail-slap or roll.

• Fishermen immediately cast their nets, getting a good catch, while dolphins feed on the scattered fish — a mutual benefit system.

• This rare inter-species cooperation will now be studied under an international research project running till 2028.

• The project involves experts from Oregon State University, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Australian National University, and University of Kerala.

About the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin (Sousa plumbea)

• A coastal dolphin species found in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific, including India’s west and southwest coasts.

• Known for its distinctive hump just below the dorsal fin and a light grey to pinkish body coloration.

• Prefers shallow, near-shore waters, estuaries, creeks, and bays — making Ashtamudi an ideal habitat.

• Highly social, intelligent, and skilled hunters, capable of coordinated group behaviour.

• Globally considered Near Threatened due to habitat loss, fishing net entanglement, boat traffic, and pollution.

Return of the Vrindavani Vastra — Key Points

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has travelled to London to start the process of bringing back the historic Vrindavani Vastra from the British Museum.

• He is expected to sign an agreement with museum officials for the textile’s “homecoming.”

• The Vrindavani Vastra is a motif-rich silk cloth woven under the guidance of Srimanta Sankaradeva, the 15th–16th century neo-Vaishnav saint and reformer.

• Portions of the Vastra are believed to have reached Tibet in the 17th–18th centuries and were later collected by British explorers.

• The Chief Minister said the artifact is an invaluable part of Assam’s cultural and civilisational heritage.

• Assam plans to exhibit it in Delhi and Mumbai once it arrives.

• The British Museum has agreed to lend it for 18 months, provided Assam builds a museum that meets its standards.

Saving West Bengal’s Endangered Tribal Languages

• Members of the Lodha and Toto tribal communities will be in Kolkata for a six-day event aimed at preserving their endangered languages.

• The programme, led by the University of Calcutta, includes a rare translation workshop focusing on Lodha and Toto — the only two languages from West Bengal to receive recent Central funding.

• Around 40 participants from both communities will attend, supported by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) and its Eastern Regional Centre.

• Nearly 50 Bengali-language participants will also join, since many Lodha and Toto texts are written using the Bengali script.

Lodha and Toto communities fall under Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). India has 75 PVTGs, three of which are in West Bengal. One other is Birhor community.

GNSS Spoofing Incidents Over Delhi — Key Points

• In early November, several aircraft flying over Delhi encountered GNSS spoofing, receiving fake satellite signals.

• Pilots reported wrong aircraft positions, false terrain warnings, and disrupted navigation within 60 nautical miles of Delhi.

• An Air India pilot said he faced spoofing on all six days he flew in and out of Delhi that week.

• Usually, such interference happens only in border regions or conflict zones — not major inland cities.

• No NOTAM (notice to airmen) was issued, which caught crews completely off guard.

• The government has ordered a probe under the National Security Council Secretariat, headed by Ajit Doval.

• Officials clarified that this was not related to VIP movement, which uses jamming, not spoofing.

What is GNSS/GPS Spoofing?

• It involves transmitting fake satellite signals to mislead aircraft navigation systems.

• It can affect terrain alerts, runway warnings, braking systems, and communication links.

• Aircraft remain safe due to multiple backup systems, including the Inertial Reference System, but pilot workload increases sharply.

• The danger rises because affected zones are not always pre-announced, leaving pilots unprepared.

Global Trends

• GPS spoofing increased sharply since September 2023.

• By January 2024, around 300 flights/day were affected; by August 2024, this rose to 1,500 flights/day.

• Between July 15–August 15, 2024, around 41,000 flights experienced spoofing.

• Delhi was listed among the top 10 spoofing hotspots globally.

• India recorded 465 incidents along the Punjab–Jammu border between Nov 2023–Feb 2025 — about one per day.

• Spoofing is often carried out by military units targeting drones or GPS-guided weapons, but there are also allegations of attempts targeting civilian aircraft.

Proposed Solutions (IATA & ICAO)

• Create a standardised global reporting system for spoofing events.

• Strengthen cross-border cooperation and information-sharing.

• Enforce stricter laws on jamming/spoofing device sales and use.

• Improve national and international spectrum management.

• Deploy advanced detection systems at airports and key regions.

• Encourage manufacturers to build stronger GNSS receivers with anti-jamming and anti-spoofing tech.

WHO Global TB Report 2025 — Key Points

• TB remains one of the deadliest infectious diseases, killing over 12 lakh people and affecting 1.07 crore globally in 2024.

• 30 countries account for 87% of TB cases. Highest burden:

–India (25%)

– Indonesia (10%)

– Philippines (6.8%)

– China (6.5%)

– Pakistan (6.3%)

– Nigeria, DR Congo, Bangladesh

India-Specific Findings

• India’s TB incidence has fallen by 21% — from 237 per lakh (2015) to 187 per lakh (2024).

• Treatment coverage: 92%, placing India ahead of other high-burden countries.

State-wise burden (2025):

– Highest cases:Uttar Pradesh, followed byMaharashtra, Bihar, MP.

–Delhihas the highest TB prevalence rate.

Challenges in India

• India missed its goal of eliminating TB by 2025.

Key problems:

–Drug-resistant TB

– Rural healthcare gaps

–Socio-economic barriersto diagnosis and treatment

– Stockouts and supply-chain issues (officially denied but widely reported)

– Shortage of trained staff

–Stigma leading to delayed care

What India Is Doing

• Built the world’s largest TB lab network:

–9,391 rapid molecular testing labs

–107 culture & drug susceptibility labs

• Strengthened screening using 500 AI-enabled chest X-ray units (1,500 more being deployed).

• Decentralised TB care through 1.78 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs.

• Boosted nutrition support: Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana increased from ₹500 to ₹1,000 per month.

• ASHA workers trained to identify early TB symptoms and guide patients.

Global Trends

• From 2023–24:

– TB incidence dropped by2%

– TB deaths fell by 3%

• Global funding remains inadequate:

– Only$5.9 billionavailable in 2024 (target: $22 billion by 2027).

– TB research got $1.2 billion (only 24% of the target).

How Animal Coat Patterns Form — New Findings

• For decades, scientists have tried to understand how animals develop sharp, striking coat patterns like zebra stripes or leopard spots.

• Alan Turing (1950s) proposed that cells release chemicals that spread (diffuse) and interact, creating pigmented and non-pigmented regions — now known as Turing patterns.

• But computer simulations based on Turing’s model always produced blurry, soft-edged patterns, unlike the sharp outlines found in nature.

What the New Research Found

• A team at the University of Colorado Boulder discovered that a physical process called diffusiophoresis plays a major role.

• Diffusiophoresis: tiny particles in a fluid attract or repel each other, causing them to clump, like magnetic particles pulling together.

• When they added this to the Turing model, the patterns became much sharper than before.

• But these patterns were too perfect, symmetrical and neat — unlike the natural irregularities seen on real animals.

Adding Cell Size Makes Patterns Realistic

• In their new study, scientists gave cells different sizes and simulated how they moved and packed together.

• Result: they finally got realistic, imperfect patterns similar to those seen on actual animal coats.

Why cell size matters:

• Small cells fit neatly and produce smooth, organised patterns.

• Medium-sized cells cause imperfections — bumps, uneven spacing — just like in nature.

• Very large cells can’t fit well and produce coarse, irregular patches, also seen in real tissues.