Prelims Focus 1st August 2026
Sooty Bark Disease
In News: Sooty bark disease has been confirmed in Canada’s native Bigleaf Maple, caused by the fungus Cryptostroma corticale, which triggers rapid tree death during hot, dry weather. Nearly 100 native trees have died in British Columbia since the initial local spread.
Key Facts
- Cause: The fungus Cryptostroma corticale activates under severe heat and drought stress.
- Symptoms: Branch dieback, leaf wilting, peeling bark, and black, soot-like spore masses.
- Impact: Can remain dormant for years before killing trees within three years, posing health risks if spores are inhaled.
Pellet Guns
In News: The Supreme Court of India ruled that pellet guns cannot face a blanket ban while active advisories permit their use for crowd control during exceptional situations. A complete legal prohibition requires formally challenging the governing rules as unconstitutional under Article 21.
Court Observations
- Advisory Rules: Permitted under Bureau of Police Research and Development guidelines for extreme crowd-control scenarios.
- Case-by-Case Review: The court evaluates individual instances of alleged misuse rather than enforcing a total ban.
- Legal Challenge: Petitions seeking elimination must target the underlying regulatory provisions as violations of the right to life.
PM CARES Fund
In News: The PM CARES Fund has not made any audited financial statements available since the previous disclosure made for Financial Year 2022-23.
- The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund is a public charitable trust.
- Founded in March 2020 to aid relief missions in situations of public health emergencies and other disasters.
- It is supported by voluntary funds raised and reviewed by an independent auditor.
- The Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairman of the PM CARES Fund while the Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance, Government of India are ex-officio Trustees of the Fund.
Lavender Cultivation
In News: The cultivation of Lavender is rapidly gaining momentum in Jammu and Kashmir, where the farmers are seeking crops that can withstand warmer winters, unpredictable rainfall and dwindling irrigation facilities.
- Scientist Akhtar Hussain brought lavender from Bulgaria to J&K in 1970.
- Lavender is a perennial shrub that grows well on sloping land, needing only one or two irrigations during the growing season.
- It also set up essential oil extraction units (distillation) in various areas of J&K.
- Because of the success of Lavender cultivation in J&K, it got the nickname ‘Purple Revolution’.
- Significance: The crop is generating additional income streams in essential oil, dried flowers and lavender honey.
- Lavender has also provided opportunities to women of rural Jammu and Kashmir.
- The crop has also established a seasonal tourism economy – every summer, the lavender fields are open to the public; tourists, photographers and researchers come to Bhaderwah.
AI Palletizing Technology
In News: AI-driven palletising is becoming more popular as warehouses automate mundane lifting and sorting tasks. According to Future Market Insights, the market will grow to $9 billion by 2036.
- AI Palletising & depalletising is the automation of goods stacking onto pallets and unloading of goods from pallets by the use of AI, computer vision, machine learning and robotic arms.
- Traditional Robotic Palletisers have been utilized in manufacturing for many years. But these systems typically operate in a programmed way and are most effective with products of constant size and form. They find it difficult to handle mixed cartons, irregular packing and damaged boxes in the warehouse.
- AI-powered palletising systems are built to overcome the challenges associated with these limitations. They utilize robotic arms equipped with computer vision, AI software and machine learning algorithms to identify various products, compute gripping points
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