Current Affairs 11 January 2026
Hypersonic Weapons
- Hypersonic Weapons are capable of speeds exceeding Mach 5 (>6,100 km/hr), offering rapid global reach and high evasion capabilities against air defence systems.
- Fly at lower altitudes than ballistic missiles, making them harder to track.
- Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGV): Launched from a rocket, similar to regular ballistic missiles, before gliding to a target.
- Hypersonic Cruise Missiles (HCM): Cruise missiles are self-propelled and precision-guided weapons.
- It maintains sustained and controlled flight to strike targets accurately.
Param Shakti
- It is an indigenously developed and manufactured 3.1 Petaflop supercomputing system.
- It is now among the most powerful computational systems available in Indian academic institutions.
- It is built using Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)’s RUDRA series of servers and runs on an open-source software stack, including AlmaLinux.
- Significance: Its performance is expected to support complex research in aerospace engineering, materials science, climate modelling, drug discovery, and advanced manufacturing.
Indian Diaspora
- It is a term for addressing people who have migrated from the territories that are currently within the borders of India.
- Includes: Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI).
- PIO and OCI card holders were merged under one category of OCI in 2015.
- Status of Indian Diaspora: 34.35 million (including 17.17 million NRIs) (January 2025).
Graphene (aka wonder material or miracle material)
- Structure: A single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice.
- Key Properties:
- Flexibility: Possesses high elasticity, capable of being stretched by up to 20-25% of its original length.
- Conductivity: Conducts electricity better than copper and heat better than any other material.
- Strength: Mechanical tensile strength estimated to be roughly 200 times stronger than steel by weight.
- Major Applications: Boosts processing speeds in electronics, enhances battery density (EVs), strengthens filters water for desalination, etc.
NESL
- Apex national facility for testing, calibration and certification of air pollution monitoring instruments.
- Considered as world’s second NESL.
- At present, only the UK has such a laboratory.
- Benefits: Develop India-specific standards, ensured credible data for the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), industrial emission audits, etc.
NCORD
- Established: 2016 (restructured in 2019) under Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Mandate: Coordinating Central and State drug law enforcement in controlling drug trafficking and abuse in India.
- Structure: Four-tier framework (Apex, Executive, State, and District Committees)
- Helps enforce the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985
- Initiatives linked to NCORD:NCORD Portal by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) provides information related to drug law enforcement; MANAS 24×7 toll-free helpline (1933); NIDAAN offender database, etc.
Zehanpora Site (Baramulla, North Kashmir)
- Stupa structures belong to the Kushan period (1st–3rd century CE).
- Located along the ancient Silk Route to Kandahar.
- Other Findings: Evidence of wooden superstructures, an urban settlement complex (potentially chaityas and viharas), Kushan-era pottery, copper artefacts etc.
Shaksgam Valley
- Strategically located territory in Ladakh, north of the Karakoram watershed and an integral part of India.
- Illegal cession: Pakistan occupied since 1947, unlawfully ceded to China under the 1963 China–Pakistan Boundary Agreement.
- Also known as the Trans-Karakoram Tract, lying along both sides of the Shaksgam River.
- Geography: Bounded by the Kun Lun Mountains and Karakoram range; it lies adjacent to the Siachen Glacier.
FSO Communication
- It is a wireless data transmission technology that uses modulated laser/light beams to transmit data through free space without optical fibre or cables.
- Advantages: High bandwidth, high data rates, enhanced security, and unlicensed spectrum.
- Applications: Inter-satellite links, satellite-to-ground communication, HAPS, last-mile connectivity, and disaster/emergency communication.
- Key requirement: Requires clear line-of-sight between transmitter and receiver.
- Limitations: Affected by atmospheric conditions such as fog, rain, dust, and turbulence.