Prelims Focus 12th June 2026

Angkor Thom

In News: Archaeologists from the APSARA National Authority unearthed a late 12th-century hydraulic and drainage network within the Royal Palace complex at Angkor Thom, Cambodia. Dating to the reign of King Jayavarman VII, the discovery sheds new light on the architectural layout and water-management engineering of the Khmer Empire. 

Key Details: 

• Structural Design: Excavations near the northern palace wall and Pool No. 11 revealed a sophisticated moat structure featuring $9$ to $11$ steps made of laterite, descending to a depth of up to $3$ meters. 
• Drainage Network: Researchers identified three ancient drainage systems at the base of the palace walls that housed a total of six water outlets. These were used to channel water into the surrounding moat. 
• Artistic Features: The western side of the ancient pond features intricate bas-relief carvings depicting people paddling boats alongside aquatic life. 

Sjögren’s disease

In News: Researchers from Japan’s Keio University School of Medicine and JSR Corporation discovered a self-reinforcing, pathogenic loop between immune cells that sustains Sjögren’s disease. This “vicious cycle” continuously drives inflammation and autoantibody production, which paves the way for highly targeted, safer therapies.

About Sjögren’s disease

• Sjögren’s disease (also called Sjögren’s syndrome) is a chronic, systemic autoimmune disorder. 
• Your immune system mistakenly attacks its own moisture-producing glands—primarily those that create tears and saliva. 
• It predominantly affects women over 40, and while there is no cure, it can be effectively managed.

Key Facts & Symptoms

• Primary Symptoms: Severe dry mouth and extremely dry, gritty-feeling eyes.
• Other Signs: Dry skin, vaginal dryness, dry cough, and swollen salivary glands (near the jaw).
• Systemic Effects: Crushing fatigue, joint and muscle pain, and “brain fog”.
• Complications: Increased risk of dental cavities, oral thrush, and nerve issues (peripheral neuropathy).
• Associated Conditions: About 50% of people have it alongside other autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus.

Coal Exchange Rules, 2026

In News: The Ministry of Coal has issued the notification of Coal Exchange Rules, 2026 to facilitate the establishment of Coal Exchanges in the country for facilitating the transparent and market-driven coal trading.

• Coal Exchange is an electronic trading platform where coal producers, consumers, traders and other interested parties can trade coal in a transparent manner.
• It allows for the effective identification of the price through condition of demand and supply in the market.
• This is to notify you that the Coal Exchange Rules 2026 have been introduced with the following key features:
  • Market Based Trading: The concept of market based trading changes the traditional one-to-many approach in coal marketing (from producer to multiple consumers) to a many-to-many approach.
  • Price Discovery: Coal prices will be market-determined, not administrative.
  • Regulatory Oversight: Coal Controller Organisation (CCO) is the nodal body for registration and regulation of these exchanges. 
    • Entities running an exchange must be incorporated as a company in India with a minimum net worth of ₹50 crore. Registration is for 25 years.
    • The existing electronic coal trading platforms will need to transition and register as a Coal Exchange within 6 months of the first registered exchange’s commencement.
  • Demutualization: The exchange has no trading rights and the ownership and management do not bear any of the rights.

Dark Patterns

In News: Dark patterns can result in an estimated loss of ₹25,000 crore to ₹28,000 crore to Indian consumers on online platforms annually, reports claim.

• Dark patterns are user interface or user experience designs that coerce, induce or mislead the user into making a decision that the user might not otherwise make.
• Dark Patterns’ is a term coined by Harry Brignull in 2010.
• It includes various manipulative tactics like drip pricing, disguised advertising, bait and click, choice manipulation, false urgency and privacy concerns. 
• Dark patterns can:
  • Undermine informed consent.
  • Reduce user autonomy.
  • To influence purchases or sharing of information.
  • Damage trust of products and companies.

Digital Arrest

In News: Over the last six years, Indians have been losing approximately ₹52,976 crore to cyber-enabled frauds, of which nearly 8% is due to “digital arrest” fraud, according to a report by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

• A digital arrest is a cyber fraud in which criminals pretend to be an official organization or person and pretend to be accusing the person of committing an offense and forcing them to pay money to them.
• In the future, such frauds may become even more convincing and hard to identify, thanks to emerging technologies like deepfakes and synthetic identities, as well as artificial intelligence.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) have issued public advisories.

Fish Survival Test for Caustic Soda Industry Wastewater

In News: Under the new environment standards notified by the Union government, wastewater from caustic soda plants based on membrane cell will now have to undergo a fish survival test in the laboratory. 

• The new standards are applicable to standalone caustic soda plants using the membrane cell technology.
• This special membrane allows control of the chemical process and is thought to be less polluting than previous mercury-based processes.
• Laboratory-based bioassays are required under the rules to allow at least 90% of the fish to survive for 96 hours in 100% wastewater.
• Limits for pH, chloride, suspended solids and dissolved solids, water use and wastewater generation were also established for the standards.
• Enforcement is crucial, experts say, since bioassay testing must be performed in special laboratories, with trained personnel and an independent monitoring program in place regularly.

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