Exercise Desert Hunt
Exercise Desert Hunt 2025 was conducted by Indian Air Force
- An integrated Tri-Service Special Forces exercise.
- Involved elite units from all 3 services –
- Para (Special Forces) of Indian Army
- Marine Commandos (MARCOS) of Indian Navy
- Garud Special Forces of Indian Air Force.
Lake Tanganyika
UN Environment Programme led initiative focuses on enhanced water security in Lake Tanganyika Basin.
- Basin shared by 4 countries – Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zambia.
- One of Africa’s Great Lakes
- World’s 2nd-largest freshwater lake by volume.
- Internationally recognised as a global biodiversity hotspot.
Selenium
ICMR report links high levels of selenium in wheat to hair loss.
- A trace mineral needed in small amounts for health.
- Human body can’t produce Selenium on its own; gets it through diet
- Found in the soil and naturally appears in water and some foods.
- However, it’s harmful if consumed in excess amounts
Planetary Period
A rare celestial event was captured from some parts of the world on Friday evening when all seven planets in our solar system were visible in a line.
- Astronomical event where multiple planets appear to align in the night sky as seen from Earth.
- Although parades of 3 or 4 planets happen every few years, alignments involving seven or eight planets are much rarer.
- Reason – Planets orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane (ecliptic plane) and as they move in their orbits, they occasionally appear lined up from Earth’s perspective.
- If planets had widely different orbital inclinations, such alignments wouldn’t be possible.
Blue Ghost Mission
In a historic achievement, a U.S. company successfully landed its spacecraft on the moon.
- A private lunar mission that successfully landed on the moon
- Led by USA based Firefly Aerospace.
- Only the 2nd private mission to achieve a lunar landing and the first to land upright.
- Intuitive Machines was the 1st private company to achieve a soft lunar landing.
- Part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which aims to reduce costs and support the Artemis program’s goal of returning humans to the moon.