17 July 2025 - Daily Current Affairs Updates
- Avijeet Kumar
- Jul 17, 2025
- 2 min read
Maratha Military Landscapes Subtopic: UNESCO World Heritage Recognition of Indian Fort Systems
Value Addition:
Recognised as India's 44th World Heritage Site at the 47th UNESCO session.
Comprises 12 forts from the 17th–19th centuries reflecting Maratha military architecture and terrain adaptability.
Includes hill, island, forest, plateau, and coastal forts across Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Subject Analysis:
GS 1: Art & Culture – Indigenous military architecture, heritage conservation.
GS 1: History – Maratha Empire's strategic prowess and decentralised defence planning.
Prelims: Fort names, terrain classification, UNESCO count (India: 44 sites, 6th globally).
Lake Turkana, Kenya Subtopic: Paleoenvironmental Importance and Livelihood Challenges
Value Addition:
Proteins retrieved from 5 species dating back up to 18 million years for evolutionary studies.
World's largest permanent desert lake and Africa's 4th largest by area; fed primarily by the Omo River (90% of inflow).
Subject to extreme water-level fluctuations (up to 8m/decade); climate-sensitive ecology.
Subject Analysis:
GS 1: Geography – Rift Valley system, inland drainage, saline lakes.
GS 3: Environment – Biodiversity vs. development trade-offs, fisheries sustainability.
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First-Ever e-Truck Incentive Scheme under PM E-DRIVE Subtopic: Electrifying Heavy-Duty Transport
Value Addition:
Focuses on electric trucks (N2: 3.5–12T & N3: 12–55T) previously excluded from FAME.
Offers ₹9.6 lakh incentive per vehicle to reduce cost disparity with diesel trucks.
Diesel trucks form just 3% of fleet but account for 42% of transport sector emissions.
Subject Analysis:
GS 2: Government schemes – Clean transport, industry push.
GS 3: Economy – Decarbonising logistics, EV supply chain growth.
Essay: “Freight without fumes – rethinking green logistics.”
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Uttarakhand Geothermal Energy Policy 2025 Subtopic: Renewable Energy Innovation from Earth's Interior
Value Addition:
Aims to develop both hydrothermal and next-gen geothermal (EGS, CLGS) technologies.
India's potential: 10,600 MW – key hotspots in Puga & Chumathang (Ladakh).
Geothermal offers 24×7 baseload clean energy with over 75% utilization rates.
Subject Analysis:
GS 3: Energy – Renewable diversification, base-load clean power.
Science & Tech – Subsurface energy harnessing techniques.
Species Recovery Programme – Gharial & Sloth Bear Subtopic: Wildlife Conservation of Threatened Keystone Species
Value Addition:
Gharials (Critically Endangered) now restricted to a few rivers like Chambal, Gandak.
Sloth bears (Vulnerable) face habitat loss and conflict with humans across central India.
Both now included in NBWL’s focused recovery strategy under Schedule I (WPA 1972) and CITES Appendix I.
Subject Analysis:
GS 3: Environment – Conservation, species recovery, wildlife corridors.
Prelims: Habitat range, IUCN status, WPA schedules.
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