FIDE Rating

Context: India’s Sarwagya Singh Kushwaha, aged three years and seven months, has become the youngest chess player ever to obtain an official FIDE rating.

About FIDE (International Chess Federation)

• The International Chess Federation (FIDE) is the global governing authority for competitive chess and oversees all international chess regulations, tournaments, and standards.
• Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland.
• Role: FIDE administers world chess rankings, conducts major championships, awards international titles, and formulates rules governing over-the-board, online, and rapid chess formats.

FIDE Rating System

• A FIDE rating is a numerical measure of a player’s competitive strength, updated monthly based on performance in FIDE-rated tournaments
• How Ratings Are Earned: Players must participate in federation-approved, FIDE-rated events and play at least five games against rated opponents to obtain an initial rating.
  • A base rating starts at 1400, but one can be rated lower or higher.
• Rating Levels
  • FIDE Master (FM): Usually awarded upon reaching a rating of 2300, though some events may use a lower threshold in specific categories.
  • Grandmaster (GM): Requires achieving a rating of 2500 along with securing three GM norms from strong international tournaments.

Exercise Garuda Shakti

Context: Recently the 10th edition of exercise Garuda Shakti was conducted at the Special Forces Training School, Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh.

About Exercise Garuda Shakti

• Garuda Shakti is a bilateral Special Forces exercise between India and Indonesia aimed at enhancing interoperability, coordination, and professional military cooperation.
• First Edition: The inaugural edition of Garuda Shakti was held in 2012 in India, marking the beginning of structured Special Forces collaboration between both nations.
• 2025 Participants: Indian Special Forces from The Parachute Regiment (SF) and personnel from the Indonesian Special Forces.
• Focus Areas: Training covers counter-terrorism tactics, unarmed combat, sniping, heliborne operations, combat shooting, and planning for drone, counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), and loiter-munition strikes in semi-mountainous terrain.
  • It also includes equipment familiarisation and sharing of operational best practices.

Significance

• Strengthens tactical interoperability and mutual trust between the Special Forces of both nations.
• Enhances joint preparedness for high-intensity counter-terror and special operations.
• Deepens strategic defence cooperation and reinforces India–Indonesia bilateral relations.

Gulf Cooperation Council: Sakhir Declaration

Context: The 46th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Manama, Bahrain, issued the Sakhir Declaration.

About the GCC Summit

• The GCC Summit is an annual meeting of the heads of member states of GCC  to review cooperation and define joint policies.
• 2025 Summit in Bahrain: The 46th summit, hosted at Sakhir Palace, Manama, gathered leaders amid heightened regional tensions.
• Sakhir Declaration: It is the joint statement adopted at the conclusion of the 2025 summit.

Key Objectives of the Sakhir Declaration

• Economic Integration: The Declaration strengthens regional economic convergence by advancing the GCC Common Market, completing the Customs Union, and expanding joint water and energy connectivity projects.
• Digital Transformation & Sustainability: It promotes digital infrastructure expansion, collaboration in AI and cybersecurity, and commits to climate action, clean energy development, and protection of marine ecosystems.
• Security & Defence Cooperation: The Declaration boosts collective security through intensified counter-terrorism efforts, enhanced joint naval operations, and reaffirmed commitment to a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East.
• Regional Stability & Governance: It reinforces regional diplomatic engagement by supporting Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, deepening global partnerships, and prioritising youth empowerment and preservation of Gulf identity.

About the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

• The Gulf Cooperation Council is a regional political and economic alliance established in 1981 to promote cooperation and collective security among Gulf states.
• Member Countries (6): Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
• Headquarters: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• Objective: The GCC works to strengthen economic integration, coordinate defence and security policies, enhance cultural and social collaboration, and respond collectively to regional challenges.

RELOS Agreement

Context: Russia has formally ratified the Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Support (RELOS) Agreement with India ahead of President Vladimir Putin’s 2025 India visit.

About the RELOS Agreement

• The Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Support (RELOS) Agreement is a bilateral military logistics pact that enables India and Russia to access each other’s military facilities for refuelling, repairs, supplies, berthing, and maintenance.

Key Components

• Mutual Base Access: The agreement provides reciprocal access to military bases, ports, and airfields for logistical support during missions and deployments.
• Operational Support: It enables refuelling, replenishment, maintenance, and repairs for aircraft, warships, and military units of both nations.
• Enhanced Interoperability: RELOS facilitates smoother coordination during joint military exercises, including tri-service drills like INDRA.
• HADR Cooperation: It supports quicker and coordinated humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations in regional crises.

Significance of India-Russia RELOS

• Expands Strategic Reach: India gains access to more than 40 Russian naval and air bases, including key Arctic and Pacific facilities such as Vladivostok and Murmansk, extending India’s operational footprint beyond the Indian Ocean.
• Boosts Naval and Air Operations: The agreement strengthens India’s ability to conduct long-range maritime patrols, Arctic missions, and monitoring of crucial sea lanes that handle most of India’s trade flows.
• Strengthens Defence Supply Chain: RELOS improves logistics for joint platforms such as Su-30MKI, T-90 tanks, MiG and Sukhoi aircraft, and S-400 systems, reducing delays and improving mission readiness.
• Enhances Strategic Partnership: The pact reinforces long-standing India–Russia defence cooperation and complements major joint projects like BrahMos and submarine programmes, deepening mutual trust.

Glucose on Asteroid Bennu

Context: Scientists analysing NASA’s 2023 OSIRIS-REx samples have detected glucose and ribose in asteroid Bennu, reinforcing evidence that life-forming molecules existed across the early solar system.

• OSIRIS-REx (2016–2023) mission collected and returned Bennu samples to study early solar-system chemistry and organic molecules, achieving the first U.S. asteroid sample return.

Key Findings from Asteroid Bennu  samples

• Detection of Life-Related Sugars: Researchers identified glucose (primary energy source for Earth life) and ribose (key RNA component) in powdered Bennu samples.
• Presence of Organic Molecules: Amino acids, nucleobases, and carboxylic acids were also found, indicating that building blocks of life were widespread in space before life emerged on Earth.
• No DNA Sugar Detected: Scientists did not find deoxyribose, the sugar used in DNA, confirming that these molecules do not indicate life on Bennu but early chemical complexity.

About Asteroid Bennu

• Bennu is a B-type Near-Earth asteroid, known for high carbon content and low reflectivity of about 4% as compared to Earth’s 30%.
  • B-type asteroids are uncommon, primitive, carbon-rich asteroids found mostly in the outer asteroid belt and hold ancient materials from the early solar system.
  • They are often linked to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites.
• Impact Possibility: There is a small probability of Earth impact between 2175–2199, making Bennu one of the most closely monitored asteroids.

The findings strengthen evidence that life’s essential molecules formed in space, offering clues to Earth’s prebiotic chemistry and solar system evolution.

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