About Lactifluus khasianus:

• It is a new species of edible mushroom.
• It was discovered in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills.
• It is long known to Khasi tribal communities as “Tit iongnah.”
• Belonging to the Lactifluus sect. Gerardii, the new species, stands out for its chocolate-brown cap, distinctive microscopic features, and genetic markers.
• It grows in association with Khasi pine (Pinus kesiya) at altitudes of around 1,600 metres.
• It is now the fifth confirmed species of this section in India—and notably, the first to be reported as edible.

About Yuan Wang 5:

• Launched in 2007, Yuan Wang 5 is part of a series of specialized tracking ships built by China for strategic space and missile monitoring.
• It is operated by China’s People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force.
• It can provide near-real-time situational awareness to the PLA Rocket Force and Navy.
• It also plays a role in validating the performance of China’s new generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles and hypersonic weapons, providing telemetry data critical for weapons development and operational readiness.
• Features:
  • It displaces about 25,000 tons, has a length of over 222 metres, a beam of over 25 metres, and can accommodate 400 people.
  • The ship is driven by diesel engines and can generate sufficient electricity to light up a small town of over 300,000 inhabitants.
  • With endurance measured in weeks, the ship can remain on station during key test windows or naval exercises.
  • Its suite of high-power phased-array radar systems is capable of detecting ballistic missile launches at distances exceeding 3,000 kilometers.
  • These radars track the trajectory of missiles through various flight stages, from boost to reentry, while simultaneously collecting telemetry signals that reveal propulsion performance, warhead separation, and guidance accuracy.
  • In addition to ballistic missile monitoring, Yuan Wang 5 is equipped with satellite-tracking antennas that can lock onto spacecraft in low-earth orbit, geostationary orbit, and deep-space trajectories.
  • These antennas are estimated to operate in multiple frequency bands, giving the ship flexibility to track both civilian and military launches.
  • The vessel’s electronic support measures (ESM) suite further enables it to intercept radar emissions and communications from foreign warships and aircraft operating in the vicinity.

About Bagram Air Base:

• It is the largest air base in Afghanistan, located north of the capital, Kabul.
• It has a strategic position at the crossroads of Iran, Pakistan, China's Xinjiang province, and Central Asia.
• It was built during the Cold War by the Soviet Union.
• The airbase served Soviet operations in the country for decades until they withdrew in the late 1980s.
• The US revamped the facility following its own occupation of Afghanistan decades later.
• It had served as a crucial hub in the US war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda since 2001.
• Features:
  • It has runways longer than many international airports, and hardened shelters, hospitals, and fuel depots.
  • The base also housed fast-food restaurants to cater to the US troops, along with shops selling everything from electronics to Afghan rugs.
  • Bagram also had a massive prison complex.

About Baltic Sea:

• It is a semi-enclosed inland sea of the Atlantic Ocean, situated in Northern Europe.
• It extends northward from southern Denmark to within a few degrees latitude of the Arctic Circle, separating the Scandinavian Peninsula from continental Europe.
• It comprises several branches and basins, which include, from northeast to southwest, the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, and the Gulf of Riga; the central-southern area known as the Baltic Proper; and the Danish straits of Kattegat and Skagerrak, which connect to the North Sea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean.
• To the east, the White Sea-Baltic Canal, opened by Russia in 1993, allows traffic from the Baltic—via the Gulf of Finland and a chain of rivers and major lakes—to the White Sea, itself an arm of the Arctic Ocean.
• To the southwest, the Kiel Canal, opened in 1895, cuts through the Jutland peninsula to connect the Baltic with the North Sea.
• Surrounding Countries: It has a coastline of approximately 8,000 km, shared by several countries, including Sweden, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Estonia, Germany, Denmark, and Russia.
• It is often cited as the world’s largest brackish inland water body.
• Islands: It is home to over 20 islands and archipelagos. Gotland, located off the coast of Sweden, is the largest island in the Baltic Sea.
• Algal Harmful Blooms are also one of the issues that affect the Baltic Sea.