Prelims Pinpointer 29-01-2026

Index of Industrial Production (IIP)

Context: IIP growth reached 26-month high of 7.8% in December 2025, driven by manufacturing and electricity sectors.

More in news:

• Manufacturing sector grew 8.1%, faster than 3.7% in December 2024.
• Capital goods sector expanded 8.1% following 10.1% growth in November 2025.
• Growth aided by low base effect and post-GST rationalization buoyancy.
• Infrastructure and construction goods showed healthy growth with sustained government capex.

What is IIP?

• Index of Industrial Production (IIP) measures short-term changes in industrial output volume.
• Acts as a key indicator of industrial growth or contraction in the economy.
• Reflects performance trends across core productive sectors.
• Publishing Authority
  • Compiled and released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
  • CSO functions under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

• Base Year of IIP
  • Current base year is 2011–12, ensuring relevance to modern industrial structure.
  • Base year revised periodically to capture structural economic changes.
  • Earlier base years included 1937, 1946, 1951, 1956, and subsequent revisions.
• Sectoral Composition of IIP (Weight-wise)

• Manufacturing: 77.63% weight, covering 809 industrial items.
• Mining: 14.37% weight, represented by 29 items.
• Electricity: 7.99% weight, represented by 1 composite item.
• Eight Core Industries

• Constitute 40.27% weight within the overall IIP index.
• Represent foundational infrastructure and industrial inputs.
• Core Industries (Descending Weight Order)

• Refinery Products
• Electricity
• Steel
• Coal
• Crude Oil
• Natural Gas
• Cement
• Fertilisers
  

Buddhist Diamond Triangle – UNESCO Tentative List

What is Buddhist Diamond Triangle?

• Serial cultural nomination of three Buddhist monastic complexes
• Located in Jajpur and Cuttack districts
• Represents 1,500 years of continuous Buddhist history
• Shows evolution of Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana schools.
• Three Component Sites
  • Lalitgiri
  • Udayagiri
  • Ratnagiri
• Lalitgiri
  • Located in Cuttack district
  • Oldest site, dated to 2nd–3rd Century BCE
  • Massive stupa with gold, silver, stone relic caskets
  • Contains east-facing apsidal chaityagriha
  • Inscriptions mention “Sri Chandraditya Vihara”
• Udayagiri
  • Largest complex in the triangle
  • Flourished during 1st–13th Century CE
  • Features double-storeyed monastery
  • Houses Madhavapura Mahavihara
  • Known for Avalokiteswara and Pancha Dhyani Buddhas images
• Ratnagiri 
  • Major center of Vajrayana Buddhism
  • Compared with Nalanda for learning significance
  • Sculptures of Tara, Vajrapani, Jambhala
  • Evidence of female patronage by Queen Karpurashri
  • Stupas show Buddhist–Brahmanical architectural blend

Hoya Nagaensis

What is Hoya Nagaensis?

• New flowering plant species under Hoya genus
• Known for ornamental, waxy flowers
• Described through taxonomic research
• Location
  • Kavünhou Community Reserved Forest in Phek district, Nagaland
  • It is part of Eastern Himalayan biodiversity region

Key Features

• Distinctive leaf morphology and unique floral traits
• Found in high-altitude temperate forest
• Extremely restricted distribution, single recorded location
• Provisionally assessed as Critically Endangered

Significance

• Confirms Eastern Himalaya as global biodiversity hotspot
• Highlights community-led forest management model
• Adds to global plant taxonomy records
• Research published in Kew Bulletin

Rojava Region

Context: Renewed clashes between Syrian forces and Kurdish-led SDF threaten DAANES autonomy after Assad’s fall in 2024

What is Rojava?

• Official name: Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES)
• De facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria
• Lacks international recognition

Location in Syria

• Covers parts of Hasakah, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Aleppo (Kobane)
• Lies along Euphrates River basin
• Includes oil- and gas-rich eastern Syria

Neighbouring Regions / Countries

• Türkiye to the north
• Iraq (Kurdistan Region) to the east
• Syrian government-controlled areas to west and south

Important Places

• Kobane – border town near Türkiye
• Qamishli – major Kurdish urban center
  

PANCHAM – Panchayat Assistance and Messaging Chatbot 

Context: PANCHAM was recently launched by Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj as national digital governance initiative

What is PANCHAM?

• Digital chatbot platform for Panchayat governance support
• Developed in collaboration with UNICEF
• Aimed at Panchayat Elected Representatives and Functionaries

Objective / Aim

• Provides timely guidance for day-to-day Panchayat governance
• Enables simplified workflows and service delivery support
• Acts as digital companion for grassroots administration

Key Features

• Direct digital connect between Government of India and Panchayats
• Integrated with BHASHINI language platform
• Supports 22 Indian languages
• Enables QR-code-based citizen access
• Facilitates two-way communication with Ministry officials
• Allows feedback, queries, and local issue reporting
• Supports faster decision-making and field-level resolution
• Enables direct dissemination of circulars and advisories

Achanakmar Tiger Reserve

Context: Young male tiger found dead due to territorial infighting inside the Achanakmar tiger reserve

About the Reserve

• Location
  • Situated in Chhattisgarh
  • Part of Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve
• Status and Importance
  • One of three tiger reserves in Chhattisgarh
  • Forms key tiger corridor network in Central India
  • Connects Kanha and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserves
  • Supports tiger dispersal and genetic connectivity
• River System
  • Maniyari River flows through the core area
  • Acts as major ecological lifeline
• Tribal Communities
  • Inhabited by Baiga (PVTG) community
  • Also home to Gond and Yadav groups

• Vegetation Type: Dominated by tropical moist deciduous forests
• Flora
  • Trees: Sal, teak, bamboo, haldu, bija, saja
  • Contains 600+ medicinal plant species
• Fauna
  • Mammals: Tiger, leopard, bison, chinkara, wild dog, hyena
  • Deer: Sambar, chital
  • Avifauna: 150+ bird species

Doomsday Clock

Context: Doomsday clock set to 85 seconds to midnight by Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, January 2026.

What is the Doomsday Clock?

• Symbolic indicator of proximity to global catastrophe
• Midnight denotes human annihilation or “doomsday”
• Time reflects perceived global risk levels

Threat Parameters Considered

• Nuclear weapons risk
• Climate change threats
• Disruptive technological developments

Origin and Evolution

• Created in 1947
• Developed by Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS)
• Initially set at 7 minutes to midnight
• Reset 27 times since inception
• Latest Record: 85 seconds to midnight is closest ever recorded

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS)

• Nonprofit organization focused on nuclear risk awareness
• Founded in September 1945
• Established by Atomic Scientists of Chicago
• Based at University of Chicago
• Founding Personalities
  • Albert Einstein
  • J. Robert Oppenheimer
  • Eugene Rabinowitch