News in Shorts: 12 January 2026

Operation Hawkeye Strike

Context: The United States has launched extensive airstrikes across Syria as part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, aiming at multiple Islamic State (ISIS) targets.

Operation Hawkeye Strike

• Background: Operation Hawkeye Strike is a U.S.-led military campaign launched after an ISIS-linked attack in Palmyra, Syria, which killed two U.S. soldiers.
• Name: The operation is named after US State Iowa’s nickname, “Hawkeye State”, honoring the fallen soldiers.

Recent U.S. Military Operations

• Operation Southern Spear:
  • Location: Red Sea–Gulf of Aden region
  • Parties: United States, UK, allied naval forces vs Houthi rebels (Yemen)
  • Purpose: Precision air & naval strikes to deter Houthi attacks on commercial shipping and ensure freedom of navigation.
• Operation Absolute Resolve:
  • Location: Syria & Iraq border regions
  • Parties: United States and coalition forces vs ISIS
  • Purpose: Targeted airstrikes and special-forces actions to dismantle ISIS leadership, logistics, and sleeper cells.
• Operation Midnight Hunter: 
  • Location: Syria
  • Parties: United States Special Operations Forces vs ISIS leadership
  • Purpose: Night-time precision raid aimed at eliminating high-value ISIS operatives and disrupting command structures.
• Operation Prosperity Guardian:
  • Location: Red Sea
  • Parties: United States-led multinational naval coalition
  • Purpose: Protect international maritime trade routes from missile and drone threats.

Weimar Triangle

Context: India has participated for the first time in the Weimar Triangle format which is a significant milestone in its deepening ties with Europe.

• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar joined an extended meeting in Paris with the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and Poland.

About the Weimar Triangle

• The Weimar Triangle is a trilateral political and diplomatic regional alliance and forum for coordination between Germany, France, and Poland. 
• Establishment: Founded on 28 August 1991 in Weimar, Germany, through a joint declaration by the three countries. 
• Primary Goal: To support Poland’s (and later, other Central European states’) integration into NATO and the European Union after the fall of communism. 
• It aimed to overcome historical divisions and build a “European core.”
• Recent Revival and Significance (post-2022): Largely dormant during the 2010s (especially under Poland’s previous government), but revived strongly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.  
• • Has become a key format for coordinating support to Ukraine, sanctions against Russia, European defense strengthening, and deterrence on NATO’s eastern flank.

Catastrophe Bonds

Context: Kerala has urged the Union Government to introduce catastrophe bonds (CAT bonds) as a financial safeguard against losses from natural disasters. 

• Kerala has faced frequent and severe natural calamities in recent years, especially during monsoons, including devastating floods and landslides.

What Are Catastrophe Bonds (CAT Bonds)?

• CAT bonds are insurance-linked securities that transfer disaster-related financial risks from the issuer (e.g., government or insurer) to investors in the capital markets.
• Features of CAT Bonds: 
• • Investors buy the bonds and provide funds (principal).
  • If no major disaster occurs during the bond term, investors receive their principal back plus high interest.
  • If a qualifying catastrophe triggers the bond (based on predefined criteria like loss thresholds), part or all of the principal is used for relief — investors bear the loss.
• Significance: This innovative structure provides quick, collateralized funding without relying solely on government budgets.
• Global Examples: Countries like Mexico and the Philippines already use CAT bonds successfully to protect against earthquakes, hurricanes, and other perils.

Key Benefits of Catastrophe Bonds

• Enables rapid access to funds post-disaster without immediate fiscal strain.
• Shifts risk to global capital markets, reducing pressure on state/central finances.
• Offers multi-year protection, unlike traditional insurance which can be expensive or limited.

Other Types of Bonds Prevalent in Capital Market

• Green Bonds: Debt instruments used to finance climate-friendly projects like renewable energy, energy efficiency, and pollution control.
  • In India, issued by entities like SBI, IREDA; aligned with India’s climate commitments (NDCs).
• Blue Bonds: Bonds raised to support sustainable ocean and water-related projects such as fisheries, marine conservation, and wastewater management.
  • Promote the blue economy and conservation of coastal and marine ecosystems.
• Masala Bonds: Rupee-denominated bonds issued overseas by Indian entities to raise foreign capital.
  • Reduce currency exchange risk for Indian issuers; first issued in 2014.
• Agri Bonds: Issued to finance agricultural infrastructure, irrigation, storage, and rural development.
  • Support farm credit flow and long-term investment in the agri-sector.
• Municipal Bonds: Issued by Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to fund urban infrastructure like water supply and transport.
• Sustainability Bonds: Combine objectives of green and social bonds (environmental protection and social welfare).
  • Used for projects like clean energy and affordable housing.
• Social Bonds: Funds raised for social projects such as health, education, housing, and employment generation.
  • Gained importance during COVID-19 recovery financing.
• Infrastructure Bonds: Long-term bonds issued to finance roads, railways, power, and ports.
  • Offer stable returns and support India’s National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP).

Param Shakti Supercomputing Facility

Context: India has inaugurated its first fully domestically developed supercomputing system, named ‘Param Shakti’, at IIT Madras. 

About Param Shakti

• Param Shakti is a 3.1-petaflop supercomputer, meaning it can perform over 3.1 quadrillion calculations per second. 
• Developed by: The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).
• Key Components: Built using C-DAC’s indigenously developed RUDRA server series and runs on an open-source software stack (including AlmaLinux).
• Funding: Part of the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
• Purpose: The supercomputer is designed to empower India’s research community by enabling complex, large-scale simulations and computations.
• Key Research Areas: Aerospace engineering, materials science, climate modelling, drug discovery, and advanced manufacturing.

National Supercomputing Mission (NSM)

• A flagship initiative of the Government of India launched to strengthen the country’s High-Performance Computing (HPC) capabilities.
• Aims: To build a robust supercomputing ecosystem, promote research, innovation, and self-reliance in HPC technologies.
• Launch: Launched in 2015.
• Nodal Ministry: Jointly by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
• Implemented By: Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune, and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

Indigenous Technologies and Key Systems Developed in NSM

• PARAM series supercomputers (e.g., PARAM Shivay – first indigenously assembled, PARAM Pravega at IISc, PARAM Rudra series).
  • PARAM 8000 was the first supercomputer developed in India, built by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and released in 1991.
  • PARAM stands for “PARAllel Machine” and also means “supreme” in Sanskrit.
• Rudra servers: Indigenously designed HPC servers manufactured in India, at par with global standards.
• Trinetra: Indigenous high-speed interconnect network (deployed in phases up to 100–200 Gbps).
• PARAM Shavak: Supercomputing-in-a-box for educational institutions.
• Flagship systems like AIRAWAT (AI-focused, ranked globally).

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