21 May2026 - "Daily Current Affairs" Updates

GS 1 Geography — Indian Geography (Lakes & Wetlands)

Loktak Lake

📰 Why in News

• Loktak Lake has recently attracted attention because of its distinctive floating

circular islands known as phumdis.

📍 Location

• Loktak Lake is situated in Manipur.

🌊 Size and Importance

• Spanning nearly 287 square kilometres, it is the largest freshwater lake in

Northeast India.

🌱 Unique Feature

Phumdis

• The lake is widely famous for its floating landforms called phumdis.

🪴 About Phumdis

📖 Composition

• Phumdis are floating heterogeneous masses made up of vegetation, soil, and

decomposed organic matter.

🏗 Structure

• Nearly 20% of a phumdi remains above the water surface, while around 80%

stays submerged underwater.

GS 2 Governance — Digital Governance & Health Administration

Ayush Anudan Portal

📰 Why in News

• The Union Minister of State

(Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Ayush recently launched the Ayush Anudan Portal.

💻 About the Portal

📖 Definition

• The Ayush Anudan Portal is a digital platform created by the Ministry of Ayush

under the Ayush Grid initiative.

🎯 Objective of the Portal

⚙ Purpose

• The portal aims to simplify the submission, processing, and monitoring of

funding proposals under the Central Sector Schemes of the Ministry of Ayush.

📋 Schemes Covered

🏛 Major Schemes

The portal supports proposals related to:

• Ayurgyan

• Ayurswasthya

• Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants

GS 3 Science & Technology — Space Science

Zwan-Wolf Effect

📰 Why in News

• NASA’s MAVEN Mission recently detected the Zwan-Wolf Effect on Mars for the first time.

📖 What is the Zwan-Wolf Effect?

• The Zwan-Wolf Effect refers to a process in which charged particles become

compressed along magnetic structures known as flux tubes.

🔬 Discovery of the Effect

📅 Historical Background

• The Zwan-Wolf Effect was first identified in 1976.

• Earlier, the phenomenon had only been observed in planetary magnetospheres

and not inside planetary atmospheres.

⚙ Mechanism of the Effect

☀ Solar Wind Interaction

• Solar wind consists of streams of charged particles continuously emitted by

the Sun.

🧲 Compression Near Magnetic Fields

• As solar wind approaches a planet’s magnetic field, it becomes compressed

near magnetic boundaries.