7th July 2026

Explanation – Pandavani is one of India's most distinctive oral storytelling traditions, originating in Chhattisgarh, not Odisha. The name literally means "the story of the Pandavas" and refers to a musical narration of episodes from the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata.

Features:

• Unlike classical theatre, Pandavani relies primarily on a single lead performer, who narrates the story while singing verses and acting out different characters.
• The performance is accompanied by musicians playing traditional instruments such as the harmonium, tabla, manjira, and dholak.
• The storyteller often carries a tambura or ektara, using it not just as a musical instrument but also as a prop that transforms into a weapon, chariot, mace, or bow depending on the scene being enacted.

There are two styles of narration in Pandavani:

• Vedamati: The lead artist narrates the story in a simple manner, sitting on the floor throughout the performance.
• Kapalik: The narrator enacts the incidents and characters, moving around the stage, adopting different voices, enacting battle scenes, and using dramatic gestures to bring the Mahabharata's characters to life.

Famous artists of Pandavani: Teejan Bai and Ritu Verma are renowned singers of Pandavani.

Explanation – India-Southeast Asia (I-2SEA) is a 3,600-kilometer optical fibre subsea cable system that will connect India’s east coast directly to Singapore and Malaysia. A consortium comprising Lightstorm, Microsoft, Singtel, and Tata Communications has commissioned the project. It is projected to be Ready-for-Service (RFS) by the fourth quarter of 2029.

• It has been specifically engineered to support the rapidly growing demand for AI infrastructure, built for hyperscalers, GPU infrastructure providers, and enterprises that need high-capacity links for AI training and inference workloads between India and Southeast Asia.
• It will connect Singapore and Kuala Lumpur directly to India's east coast (via Machilipatnam and Chennai) to serve major tech hubs like Hyderabad.
• The landing stations, to be operated by Lightstorm, will be located in Machilipatnam, providing the shortest subsea access to Hyderabad, and the other at a new landing location in South Chennai.
• I-2SEA will use a deep cable burial strategy, targeting a depth of three metres across buried sections. The approach is meant to improve protection and uptime, a critical factor for cables that carry internet traffic, cloud services, and financial data across regions.

Explanation – Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) captures detailed data on India’s vast unincorporated non-agricultural sector, covering manufacturing, trade, and services enterprises, including households, micro, and small units. This survey provides insights into the economic and operational characteristics of establishments that often remain outside the formal sector’s purview. Earlier released annually, ASUSE now provides quarterly data for enhanced frequency and granularity. It serves as a critical input for understanding local enterprise activity, investment, and value addition patterns.

Explanation – Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is an initiative aimed at generating estimates of various labour force indicators. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation conducts the survey.

• Quarterly survey (for urban areas only) captures only the current weekly status (CWS) data.
• Annual survey (for both rural and urban areas) measures both the usual status and CWS.
• The survey was launched in 2017 and the first annual report was released (July 2017–June 2018), covering both rural and urban areas, in May 2019.

Explanation – Under the new scheme, around 45,000 to 50,000 soldiers will be recruited annually, and most will leave the service in just four years. Of the total annual recruits, only 25 per cent will be allowed to continue for another 15 years under permanent commission. The new system is only for personnel below officer ranks (those who do not join the forces as commissioned officers).

• Under the Agnipath scheme, aspirants between the ages of 17.5 years and 21 years will be eligible to apply.
• The recruitment standards will remain the same, and recruitment will be done twice a year through rallies.
• After four years, only 25 per cent of the batch will be recruited back into their respective services, for a period of 15 years.
• For those who are re-selected, the initial four-year period will not be considered for retirement benefits.