State PCS - Haryana (HCS)

• 25 Nov 2025

Digital Geofencing in Sultanpur National Park

Why in News?

Authorities in Haryana are planning to introduce digital geofencing around the Sultanpur National Park buffer zone to monitor land-use changes in real time and curb violations.

Key Points

• About Digital Geofencing:
  • The Haryana Forest Department and district administration will create a digital geospatial boundary around the buffer zone of Sultanpur National Park, enabling automatic alerts whenever land-use changes occur in the mapped area.
  • The initiative aims to prevent activities such as unauthorized construction, land fragmentation, soil excavation, and commercial land conversion, which have increasingly threatened the ecological sensitivity of the region.
    • Satellite imagery, drone surveys, and GIS-based digital mapping will be integrated, allowing real-time tracking of any physical alterations around the sanctuary.
• About Sultanpur National Park:
  
  • Sultanpur National Park, located in Gurugram district, Haryana, is one of India’s prominent bird sanctuaries and an important wintering site for migratory birds from Central Asia, Europe, and Siberia.
    • Sultanpur lies along the Central Asian Flyway (CAF), which makes stringent monitoring of land-use change essential to protect migratory species' pathways
  • It was declared a Ramsar Site in 2021, highlighting its ecological significance.

Hayli Gubbi Volcano

Why in News?

The Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia has erupted explosively, sending high-altitude ash plumes thousands of metres up, some of which have drifted into Indian airspace, triggering aviation advisories. 

Key Points

• Hayli Gubbi volcano is located in Afar, northeastern Ethiopia, within the Danakil Depression - one of the hottest and lowest places on Earth.
• The current eruption is significant because the volcano is believed to have erupted after nearly 12,000 years, based on geological evidence from the Afar Rift.
• The Hayli Gubbi eruption highlights the geological volatility of the East African Rift System (EARS) where active volcanism, fissure eruptions, and spreading ridges are common.
  • It is one of the world’s most tectonically active rift systems where the Arabian, Nubian, and Somali plates are diverging.
• The region is characterised by basaltic lava, fissure systems, and frequent seismic activity linked to the continental rifting process.

Volcanic Ash & Aviation Risks

• Volcanic ash is made of tiny, abrasive particles of rock and glass that can melt inside jet engines and cause serious damage.
• Jet engines can stall when ash melts and re-solidifies on turbine blades.