23 May 2025 Current Affairs

International Booker Prize

Overview

• Established: 2005 (originally as the Man Booker International Prize)
• Purpose: To honor the finest works of fiction translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland.
• Prize Money: £50,000, equally divided between the author and the translator.
• Additional Awards: Each shortlisted author and translator receives £2,500.
• Eligibility: Books must be translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland.
• Selection Process:

1. Longlist: 12 or 13 books announced in March.

2. Shortlist: 6 books announced in April.

3. Winner: Announced in May

International Booker Prize 2025 Winner

• Winning Work: Heart Lamp
• Author: Banu Mushtaq
• Translator: Deepa Bhasthi
• Original Language: Kannada
• Publisher: And Other Stories (UK)
• Award Ceremony: Held at London's Tate Modern on May 20, 2025

Significance and Highlights

1. Firsts

• First Kannada-language work to win the International Booker Prize.
• First short story collection to receive this honor.
• Deepa Bhasthi becomes the first Indian translator to win the prize.

2. Themes

• Explores the lives of Muslim and Dalit women in southern India.
• Addresses issues of religion, politics, caste, and gender oppression.

Asiatic Lions (Panthera leo persica)

Introduction and Taxonomy

• The Asiatic lion, also called the Persian or Indian lion, is a subspecies scientifically named Panthera leo persica.
• It is endemic to India, meaning it is found nowhere else in the wild today.

Geographic Distribution

• Historically, Asiatic lions were found widely across West Asia and the Middle East, but due to habitat loss and hunting, they have become extinct in all these areas.
• India is the last natural refuge, with the entire wild population confined to Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat.
• The 2020 lion census by the Gujarat Forest Department reports 674 lions spread over 30,000 sq km across nine districts and 53 talukas in the Saurashtra region, showing successful population recovery.

Conservation Status

• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the Asiatic lion as Endangered until 2008.
• Due to effective conservation measures, the status has improved, and as of 2025, it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
• This improvement underscores the positive impact of sustained protection but also highlights ongoing risks.
• The Asiatic lion is legally protected under Schedule I of India’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which provides the highest degree of protection.

Habitat - Gir and Girnar

1. Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary:

• Established in 1965, covering 1,412 sq km with an additional
• 470 sq km buffer zone (total 1,882 sq km).
• It is a dry deciduous forest ecosystem, the only natural habitat of Asiatic lions.

2. Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary:

• Established in 2008 in Junagadh district.
• Located in the Girnar hills in Saurashtra.
• Acts as an extension habitat for Asiatic lions, supporting their population expansion beyond Gir.
• The sanctuary features forests of teak, dhak, and acacia and is home to diverse fauna such as leopards, chinkara, chousingha (four-horned antelope), and over 300 species of birds.

Major Conservation Challenges:

• Inbreeding: Small isolated population leads to genetic bottlenecks.
• Disease outbreaks: Risk of epidemics due to limited range.
• Habitat loss: Encroachment and land use changes threaten lion habitat.
• Human-lion conflict: Increasing interface with human settlements leading to retaliatory killings.

Credit Rating

Definition

1. A credit rating is a quantitative assessment of the creditworthiness of a borrower.

2. It reflects the ability and willingness of the borrower to repay principal and interest on their debt obligations.

3. It can be applied to various borrowers, such as:

• Individuals
• Corporations
• State or provincial authorities
• Sovereign governments

Purpose of Credit Rating

• Helps lenders and investors evaluate the risk of lending or investing in debt instruments issued by the entity.
• Facilitates the efficient functioning of credit markets by providing a standardized risk measure.
• Influences the interest rates at which borrowers can raise funds — better credit ratings generally mean lower borrowing costs.

Credit Rating Agencies

• These are specialized companies that evaluate and assign credit ratings.
• They analyze the financial strength and debt servicing capacity of entities to provide an independent assessment of credit risk.

Global Major Rating Agencies

1. The international credit rating market is dominated by three major agencies, often called the “Big Three”:

• Fitch Ratings
• Moody’s Investors Service
• Standard & Poor’s (S&P)

2. Together, they control approximately 95% of the global ratings business, highlighting their market dominance and influence on global capital markets.

Credit Rating Agencies in India:

1. In India, the credit rating business is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

2. There are six credit rating agencies registered under SEBI:

• CRISIL (Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited)
• ICRA (Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency)
• CARE (Credit Analysis and Research Limited)
• SMERA (SME Rating Agency)
• Fitch India (Indian arm of Fitch Ratings)
• Brickwork Ratings

Cholera

Context and Recent Trends

• According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Weekly Epidemiological Record, global cholera cases in 2022 more than doubled compared to 2021.
• This surge poses a serious challenge to the WHO’s ambitious goal (set in 2017) to reduce global cholera deaths by 90% by 2030.
• The increase highlights on going challenges in managing waterborne diseases, especially in vulnerable regions.

About Cholera

1. Disease type: Cholera is a waterborne acute diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine.

2. Causative agent: The disease is primarily caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, especially strains O1 and O139.

• Strain O1 is responsible for most outbreaks globally.
• Strain O139 is rare and mainly restricted to parts of Asia.

3. Symptoms:

• Profuse watery diarrhea (sometimes described as “rice-water stools”)
• Vomiting
• Leg cramps

4. Severity: Infections may range from mild or asymptomatic to severe and life-threatening due to rapid dehydration.

Transmission

• Cholera spreads mainly through ingestion of water or food contaminated with Vibrio cholerae.
• It is especially prevalent in areas with poor sanitation, inadequate sewage treatment, and unsafe drinking water.
• Outbreaks can spread rapidly under such conditions, making cholera a major concern in many developing countries.

Vaccine Availability

1. Currently, there are three WHO pre-qualified Oral Cholera Vaccines (OCVs):

• Dukoral
• Shanchol
• Euvichol-Plus

2. All three require two doses for complete protection.

3. Vaccination is part of broader cholera control strategies, especially during outbreaks.

Geographical Distribution and Trends

• The majority of cholera cases are reported from Africa and Asia.
• Europe only reports sporadic imported cases.
• In Africa (2022), cholera cases were more dispersed, with no single country reporting over 25% of all cases, unlike 2021 when Nigeria accounted for a large outbreak.
• However, the overall number of cases and deaths doubled in many African countries except Nigeria.
• Similar upward trends were observed in Asia, with countries like Lebanon, Syria, and Afghanistan facing increased outbreaks.

Initiatives to Curb Cholera

1. WHO launched the global strategy “Ending Cholera: A global roadmap to 2030” in 2017 with a goal to reduce cholera deaths by 90% by 2030.

2. The Global Task Force for Cholera Control (GTFCC) was revitalized by WHO to:

• Support implementation of evidence-based interventions.
• Strengthen efforts to eradicate cholera globally.
• Facilitate coordination among governments, NGOs, and international agencies.

BrahMos Popularity Soars After Operation Sindoor

Context

After the Pahalgam terror attack, India used BrahMos missiles in Operation Sindoor, showcasing its advanced, precision-strike capability. This event significantly increased global interest in the BrahMos system, a joint venture between India and Russia.

Value-Added Notes

• BrahMos = Brahmaputra + Moskva (naming)
• BrahMos Aerospace is a 50.5%–49.5% JV between India’s DRDO and Russia’s NPOM
• India is planning a hypersonic variant (BrahMos-II) in development phase
• An Indo-Russian joint venture, the BrahMos missile has a range of 290 km and is the world's fastest cruise missile with a top speed of Mach 2.8 (about three times the speed of sound). 
• It is named after the Brahmaputra River of India and the Moskva River of Russia. 
• It is a two-stage (solid propellant engine in the first stage and liquid ramjet in the second) missile. 
• It is a multiplatform missile which can be launched with great accuracy from land, air and sea having multi-capability capabilities and can operate during day and night despite bad weather. 
• It operates on the "fire and forget" principle i.e. it does not require guidance after launch.