24 July 2026 - "Daily Current Affairs" Updates

Kharchi Puja

WHY IN NEWS  

The Chief Minister of Tripura recently inaugurated the week-long Kharchi Puja, one of the state’s largest and most important religious and cultural festivals.

What is Kharchi Puja?

• A week-long annual festival celebrated at Old Agartala in Tripura.

• Popularly known as the “Festival of 14 Gods”.

• The word “Kharchi” comes from two Tripuri words: Khar or Kharta, meaning sin, and Chi or Si, meaning cleaning.

• Thus, Kharchi literally means “cleansing of sins”.

When is it celebrated:

Every year on Shukla Ashtami, the eighth day after the new moon, during July or August.

Deities Worshipped

• The festival is dedicated to the Chaturdasa Devata, or Fourteen Deities, regarded as the ancestral deities of the Tripuri people.

• They include Shiva, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Kartik, along with other revered deities of the Tripuri tradition.

Religious Significance

• According to belief, Tripura Sundari, the presiding deity of Tripura, undergoes menstruation during the Ambubachi festival observed in June.

• The Earth is considered ritually impure during this period.

• Kharchi Puja is therefore performed after Ambubachi to purify the Earth, cleanse humanity of sins and restore ritual purity.

Major Rituals

• Chaturdasha Mandapa: A special structure representing the royal palace of the Tripuri kings is built by traditional artisans using bamboo and a thatched roof.

• Holy procession: On the main day, the royal priest, known as the Chantai, carries the idols of the 14 deities from the temple premises at Agartala to the Saidra River.

• Sacred bath: The idols are ceremonially bathed in the river and brought back to the temple.

• Worship: The idols are decorated with flowers, traditional attire, ornaments and vermilion or sindoor.

• Prasad: Traditional sweets are distributed among devotees.

Cultural Importance

• The festival highlights Tripura’s cultural heritage through folk dances, traditional music and performances by local artists.

• A grand cultural fair is organised with cultural programmes, traditional performances, local crafts and festivities.

Quick Recall

• Kharchi Puja = Tripura + Old Agartala + Festival of 14 Gods.

• Kharchi means cleansing of sins and is held after Ambubachi.

• The Chantai carries the deities to the Saidra River for a ceremonial bath.

Moldova

WHY IN NEWS  

The President of India recently visited Moldova, marking the first-ever visit by an Indian President to the country.

Location and Geography

• Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe.

• It lies east of the Carpathian Mountains, between the Prut and Dniester rivers.

• It shares its western border with Romania and is surrounded by Ukraine to the north, east and south.

Historical Background

1. The region was historically known as Bessarabia and originally formed part of the Principality of Moldavia.

2. In 1812, the Ottoman Empire ceded it to the Russian Empire.

3. After World War I, it became part of Greater Romania.

4. It returned to Soviet control in 1940-41.

5. After World War II, it was combined with part of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to form the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, or Moldavian SSR.

6. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moldova declared independence in August 1991.

Country Profile

Form of government: Republic

Head of State: President

Head of Government: Prime Minister

Capital: Chișinău

Currency: Moldovan Leu (MDL)

Language: Romanian

Economy: Predominantly agriculture-based; internationally known for vineyards and wine production

Quick Recall

• Moldova is a landlocked Eastern European country between the Prut and Dniester rivers.

• Romania lies to its west; Ukraine surrounds it on the north, east and south.

• Capital: Chișinău | Currency: Moldovan Leu | Independence: August 1991.

QDENGA (TAK-003): India’s First Approved Dengue Vaccine

WHY IN NEWS  

The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) granted market authorisation to Takeda Biopharmaceuticals India’s QDENGA (TAK-003), making it the first dengue vaccine approved in India.

What is QDENGA?

• QDENGA, also called TAK-003, is a dengue vaccine developed by the Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda.

• It is approved for preventing dengue in individuals aged 4 to 60 years.

How does it work?

• It is a live-attenuated vaccine, which means it uses weakened forms of the virus.

• It is tetravalent and provides protection against all four dengue virus serotypes: DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4.

Dosage and Use

• It is administered in a two-dose regimen.

• The two doses are given three months apart.

• It can be administered irrespective of whether a person has previously had dengue.

• No pre-vaccination screening is required, which can simplify its use in public-health settings.

Global Approval

• QDENGA has already been approved in more than 40 countries, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Indonesia and Argentina.

White Rabbit Technology-based IST Dissemination Network

WHY IN NEWS

 A White Rabbit Technology-based Indian Standard Time dissemination demonstration network was commissioned at the Regional Reference Standard Laboratory (RRSL), Bengaluru.

What has been developed?

• The network disseminates Indian Standard Time (IST) using White Rabbit Technology based on the Precision Time Protocol (PTP).

• The disseminated time is traceable to UTC (NPLI), the national time-keeping authority.

• The system was jointly developed by the Department of Consumer Affairs, CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Main Objectives

• Disseminate IST with very high accuracy.

• Create a secure and indigenous time-synchronisation infrastructure.

• Reduce dependence on foreign satellite-based timing systems.

• Improve the resilience of critical digital infrastructure.

Successful Demonstration

• The system successfully verified the secure transmission of IST between RRSL, Bengaluru, and the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Chennai.

Where can it be used?

• Banking and financial markets.

• Telecommunications and power systems.

• Transportation and digital governance.

• Defence and other strategic infrastructure.

Understanding White Rabbit Technology

• White Rabbit is an advanced networking protocol that synchronises the clocks of devices connected through optical fibre.

• It can achieve an accuracy of less than one nanosecond, or 10⁻⁹ second.

• It was originally developed at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research.

• It is a high-precision enhancement of a standard Ethernet network.

• It uses the Precision Time Protocol for accurate time transfer.

• It continuously measures and compensates for signal delays over long distances, reducing the time drift seen in conventional networks.

• Its optical-fibre base enables reliable and highly accurate time distribution.

Why is it Important for India?

• Many Indian digital systems currently depend on foreign satellite-based timing services, particularly the Global Positioning System (GPS).

• This creates vulnerability to external disruptions, cybersecurity risks and strategic dependence on foreign infrastructure.

• An indigenous network can improve national security, strengthen technological self-reliance and increase the reliability of digital infrastructure.

• It can provide precise and secure timing support to critical infrastructure.

Quick Recall

• White Rabbit distributes precise time through optical fibre with sub-nanosecond accuracy.

• Developed jointly by the Department of Consumer Affairs, CSIR-NPL and ISRO.

• Demonstrated between RRSL Bengaluru and NSE Chennai; reduces dependence on GPS-based timing.