IMPORTANT DAYS
Armed Forces Flag Day
• Armed Forces Flag Day is commemorated every year on 7 December to honour the bravery and service of India’s Army, Navy and Air Force personnel.
• The 2025 observance marks the 77th year, continuing a tradition that began on 7 December 1949.
• The initiative traces back to 28 August 1949, when Defence Minister Baldev Singh set up a committee to institutionalise the observance.
• To support soldiers, veterans and families of martyrs, the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund (AFFDF) was created by the Ministry of Defence in 1949.
• In 1993, the government merged multiple welfare-related funds into a single AFFDF for streamlined assistance to ex-servicemen and dependents.
• On this day, miniature red, navy blue, and light blue flags representing the three services are distributed, encouraging citizens to donate for welfare activities.
• The Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB) centrally manages welfare programmes and administers the AFFDF through state-level RSBs and district-level ZSBs.
• The observance is overseen by the Ministry of Defence, headed by Rajnath Singh (Lucknow) with Sanjay Seth (Ranchi) serving as Minister of State.
STATE NEWS
Inter-State Tiger Translocation
• Rajasthan will soon receive a tigress airlifted from Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, marking the state’s first and India’s second inter-state tiger relocation.
• The destination, Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve (RVTR) in Bundi, spans 1,501.89 sq. km, divided into a core zone and a larger buffer area.
• RVTR acts as a linking corridor between Ranthambore in the northeast and Mukundara Hills in the south, strengthening tiger movement networks.
• Established as a tiger reserve on 16 May 2022, the area is shaped by rugged Aravalli–Vindhyan landscapes, with valleys, plateaus, and dry deciduous forests.
• The reserve hosts the Mez River, a tributary of the Chambal, supporting its rich forest ecosystem dominated by Dhok trees and other dry-forest species.
• Wildlife in RVTR includes leopards, sloth bears, jungle cats, jackals, hyenas, and several small mammals and primates.
• Pench Tiger Reserve, the tigress’s origin point, lies across Seoni and Chhindwara districts and is named after the Pench River that flows north–south.
• Pench includes Indira Priyadarshini National Park and Mowgli Sanctuary, forming the iconic landscape that inspired Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book.”
DEFENCE
Harimau Shakti 2025
• The 5th edition of the India–Malaysia military exercise Harimau Shakti 2025 began on 5 December 2025 at the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan.
• Scheduled till 18 December 2025, the drill is designed to strengthen joint capability in sub-conventional operations under UN Chapter VII mandates.
• This bilateral exercise, held regularly since 2012, reinforces defence cooperation between the Indian Army and the Royal Malaysian Army.
• India is represented by troops from the DOGRA Regiment, while Malaysia has deployed soldiers from the 25th Battalion Royal Malaysian Army.
• Training activities include tactical manoeuvres like cordon-and-search, destroy missions, heliborne insertions, and securing operational zones.
• Additional components such as AMAR routines, combat reflex shooting, and Yoga sessions are integrated to boost fitness, coordination and combat readiness.
• Both sides will also practise helipad security and evacuation drills essential during counter-terror and peacekeeping missions.
• The exercise aims to advance interoperability and minimise operational risks, continuing from the previous edition held at Bentong Camp, Malaysia; Malaysia’s PM is Anwar Ibrahim, with Kuala Lumpur as capital and MYR as currency.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Finland–India Circular Economy Collaboration
• Finland plans to organise circular economy roadshows across major Indian cities ahead of India hosting the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) in October 2026.
• A circular economy promotes systems that eliminate waste, keep materials in use longer and prioritise reuse, repair, repurposing and recycling.
• This transition is powered by innovative product design, new recovery technologies and stronger producer-responsibility mechanisms that enable closed material loops.
• According to UNDP, shifting to circular models could generate $4.5 trillion in global economic gains by 2030 while easing environmental stress.
• For India, the circular shift carries an estimated value of $2 trillion and the capacity to create 10 million jobs by 2050, with current efforts centred on upgrading recycling and waste systems.
• Key focus areas for India’s circular transition include textiles, electronics, construction, mobility, packaging, and emerging clean-energy sectors like battery material recovery.
• The WCEF, established in 2017 by Finland’s innovation agency SITRA, is a leading global platform that promotes policies, technologies and business models for circular growth.
• The forum gathers governments, industries and experts to exchange best practices, explore partnerships and push forward scalable circular-economy solutions worldwide.
