Knowledge Nugget Sarnath joins UNESCO World Heritage List: How it was rediscovered and other facts

New DelhiJul 19, 2026 10:59 AM IST Argentina's Giovani Lo Celso holds a banner with the words "The Malvinas are Argentine", referring to the Falkland Islands, while teammate Argentina's Nicolas Otamendi gestures to him, at the end of the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo) Take a look at the essential events, concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here’s your UPSC Current Affairs knowledge nugget for today on the Falkland Islands dispute. Knowledge Nugget: Falkland Islands dispute Subject: International relations Why in the news? After Argentina overhauled a 1-0 deficit against England into a statement 2-1 victory in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals, some of their players made a statement of another kind. Giovani Lo Celso and Nicolas Otamendi brought a banner onto the pitch of the Mercedes Benz Arena that said ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’ (The Falkland Islands are Argentine). The banner was a reference to the Falkland Islands (as known in England while in Argentina the island is called Islas Malvinas) which had led to a 74-day conflict between the two countries 44 years ago. The conflict had led to over 900 people — 649 Argentinians and 255 Britons — losing their lives. In this context, let’s know what the Falkland Islands are and what the related dispute is. Key Takeaways:

1. Since the 18th century, the Falkland Islands (also known as the Malvinas Islands) located off the coast of Argentina in the south Atlantic Ocean, have always been subjected to colonisation and conquests by Britain, France, Spain and Argentina. 2. Prior to the 1700s, the islands were uninhabited, with France first establishing a colony there in 1764. The next year, when the British arrived to claim the islands for themselves, it marked the start of a dispute that has been ongoing ever since.
2. By 1811, colonial powers had left, with the islands largely being used and visited by sealing and whaling ships. But in November 1820, an American privateer David Jewett once again kick-started a fresh dispute that till then had significantly subsided, by claiming possession of the islands on behalf of Argentina. There are varying opinions by academics on whether this possession was undertaken specifically on instructions from Argentina or whether Jewett unilaterally made such a decision.Story continues below this ad Distances from British airbases to the Falklands. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)4. Over a period of two decades, minor conflicts followed between Argentina and Britain, with both asserting dominance over the other, alternatively finding victory in the conflict. That ended in 1840, when the Falklands became a Crown colony and Britain sent Scottish settlers to officially establish a community, one that was largely pastoral. Do you Know? The showing banner could land the Argentine football team in trouble with FIFA’s rules on political messaging. FIFA’s code of conduct also says fans cannot “curse or chant in a political, offensive and/or discriminatory manner.” 5. Strategically, the Falkland Islands were important to Britain and that was evident in how they were used by London as a military base in the South Atlantic Ocean, both during the First and Second World War. However, following the end of the Second World War, the islands once again became a cause of dispute between the United Kingdom and Argentina, with both asserting sovereignty over the islands.
3. The dispute continued in the post WWII global scenario. Argentina’s assertion of sovereignty over the Falkland Islands during the presidency of Juan Perón briefly soured relations with the United Kingdom. 7. In December, 1965, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 2065, a non-binding resolution that recognized the existence of a sovereignty dispute between the United Kingdom and Argentina over these islands, that urged both countries to find a peaceful solu

Take a look at the essential concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here’s your UPSC knowledge nugget on the polio virus and why is the detection of vaccine-derived polio virus (VDPV) in Ghaziabad important for your Prelims and Mains. 1. India was declared free of wild poliovirus in 2014 after decades of mass immunisation, making it one of the 11 countries in South East Asia which have been certified free of wild poliovirus. But environmental surveillance – testing sewage for traces of the virus – continues as an early warning system. 2. After the detection in Ghaziabad, officials traced the sewage network, identified 12 neighbourhoods home to about 150,000 people as high-risk areas, and intensified vaccination efforts under the watch of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). 3. Officials said that the detected strain is largely non-virulent and has so far remained contained. “Similar instances have been reported earlier in Varanasi and Meghalaya. Routine sample collection and tests are conducted every fortnight,” an official said. 4. The WHO defines polio or poliomyelitis as “a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person, spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis. 5. Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent. There is no cure for polio; it can only be prevented by immunization.” These cases do not affect India’s polio-free status — only the detection of the wild poliovirus will change that.Story continues below this ad 6. There are three types of wild polio virus. Type 2 wild polio virus was eradicated in September 2015, while Type 3 wild polio virus has not been found since November 2012 and was certified eradicated on 24 October, 2019. As of 2022, endemic wild poliovirus type 1 remains in two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan. What is a vaccine-derived polio infection?

1. A vaccine-derived poliovirus is a strain related to the weakened version of the live poliovirus contained in the oral polio vaccine (OPV). ‘Polio drops’ are by and large safe — they have led to the successful eradication of the infection in most countries — but on rare occasions can trigger the disease in children with weak immune systems.
2. According to the WHO, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative uses two types of vaccine to stop polio transmission – inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and oral polio vaccine (OPV). Unlike OPV, Inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), developed in 1955 by Dr Jonas Salk, consists of inactivated (killed) poliovirus strains of all three poliovirus types. It carries no such risk of VDPV.
3. Dr T Jacob John, former professor of virology at the Christian Medical College Vellore said that the OPV can lead to vaccine-derived infections in one of two ways.Story continues below this ad (i) In some cases, the weakened virus can continue circulating from child to child, regain its ability to transmit quickly, and then cause severe infection every time it spreads. (ii) The virus in the vaccine can also cause chronic infection in children with weakened immune systems, replicating in their gut for years and slowly gaining its ability to cause severe infection. Infographics by NotebookLM4. According to the WHO, VDPVs are extremely rare. In addition to being reported among immunocompromised individuals, VDPVs may also develop in areas with low population immunity. How did India manage to eradicate polio?
4. October 24 is observed as World Polio Day. The Day was established by Rotary International to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the first