03 Nov 2026 - "Daily Current Affairs" Updates

1. Oromia and Ethiopia

WHY IN NEWS  At least 60 Orthodox Christians were killed in two attacks in the Arsi Zone of Oromia, Ethiopia. The event puts the country’s regional geography and ethnic conflicts in focus.

Locate the five regions

Region

Remember for Prelims

Oromia

Largest by area and population; Oromo are Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group; surrounds Addis Ababa; OLA insurgency.

Amhara

North-west; Lake Tana (Blue Nile source); Fano militia; Gondar and Lalibela rock churches.

Tigray

Northern region bordering Eritrea; 2020–22 conflict; Pretoria agreement (Nov 2022); Aksum.

Afar

North-east, bordering Eritrea and Djibouti; Danakil Depression—extreme heat and below-sea-level areas.

Somali

Eastern region; Ogaden; borders Somalia.

Ethiopia in six quick facts

• Capital  Addis Ababa is also headquarters of the African Union.

• Landlocked  Ethiopia lost its Red Sea access when Eritrea became independent in 1993.

• Major dam  The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam stands on the Blue Nile; inaugurated in September 2025.

• Groupings  Joined BRICS in 2024.

• History  Ethiopia is described as never colonised, apart from Italy’s occupation (1936–41).

• Recall  Battle of Adwa: 1896.

MEMORY LOCK  Oromia = Oromo + Addis Ababa + OLA • Lake Tana = Amhara • Danakil = Afar

Prelims trap: Do not confuse Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, with the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is on the Blue Nile.

2. Brazil: Election and Map Facts

WHY IN NEWS  Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil’s presidential runoff with about 51.8% against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro; his fourth term is to begin on 5 January 2027.

• Size & borders  Brazil is South America’s largest country and the world’s fifth-largest by area. It borders every South American country except Chile and Ecuador.

• Capital & language  Brasília is a planned capital (1960). Portuguese is Brazil’s official language; it is the only Portuguese-speaking sovereign country in the Americas. Remember the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494).

• Landforms  Amazon Basin (largest rainforest); Pantanal (largest tropical wetland); Cerrado (savanna); Brazilian Highlands.

• Global platforms  Founding BRICS member; also G20, IBSA, Mercosur and BASIC. Belém hosted COP30 in November 2025.

• India link  Strategic partnership since 2006; supplier of sugar, soybean oil and crude; India–Mercosur PTA (2009).

MEMORY LOCK  Capital = Brasília • Neighbours excluded = Chile + Ecuador • Amazon / Pantanal / Cerrado

Prelims trap: Brazil is not a Spanish-speaking country; Portuguese is the key language association.

Map Recall  |  Africa and South America

ENVIRONMENT & CONSERVATION

3. Coral Reefs: Global Ecosystem Risk Assessment

WHY IN NEWS  At CBD COP17 in Yerevan, the first global IUCN Red List of Ecosystems assessment of coral reefs reported that 96% of assessed shallow-water reef ecosystems were Critically Endangered under a future-warming scenario.

Start with the numbers

• Coverage  127 ecoregions, about 188,000 km² of reefs, in more than 80 countries.

• Projected risk  Nearly all assessed reefs are at very high risk of collapse by 2075 under the IPCC “middle-of-the-road” pathway (approximately 2.7°C warming by 2100).

• Why projections matter  Using only the past 50 years and omitting future projections, 24% would be classified Critically Endangered, rather than 96%.

Which reefs are at risk?

• Critically Endangered examples: Great Barrier Reef, Coral Triangle, Mesoamerican Barrier Reef and Red Sea reefs.

• Northern Red Sea reefs are more heat-tolerant; they are classified as Vulnerable on past trends.

• Western Galápagos reefs have already been classified as Collapsed following the 1982–83 El Niño.

What drives the decline?

• Main pressure  Marine heatwaves trigger mass coral bleaching.

• Other pressures  Overfishing of parrotfish and grouper (reported across 63% of reefs), pollution and crown-of-thorns starfish.