Privileges Committee of Rajya Sabha (RS) held 12 opposition MPs, guilty of misconduct for disrupting House proceedings. 

About Committee of Privileges of RS

• Responsible for investigating and addressing breaches of parliamentary privileges.
  • Parliamentary privileges are special rights and immunities granted to both Houses of Parliament and their members to perform their functions efficiently.
• It consists of 10 members nominated by RS Chairman.
  • In case of Lok Sabha, Privileges Committee consists of 15 members nominated by Speaker.
• Chairman of Committee shall be appointed by RS Chairman from amongst the members of Committee.

President addressed the joint sitting of Parliament after the formation of the 18^th Lok Sabha.

About President’s Address

• Article 86 allows the President to address either House of Parliament or both Houses together.
  • President has not so far addressed under this provision.
• Article 87 of Constitution provides two instances when the President specially addresses both Houses of Parliament assembled together.
  • At the beginning of first Session after each general election to Lok Sabha.
  • At the beginning of first session of each year.
• Originally, Article 87(1) required the President to address both Houses of Parliament at the commencement of every session. 
  • Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951 amended this provision. 

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology to launch two Geoportals - Bhuvan Panchayat 4.0 and National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM 5.0).

• National level geospatial databases for these two portals are created by ISRO.

About Bhuvan Panchayat 4.0

• It is an online geospatial data and services dissemination platform. 
• Objective: Integrate and use space-based information in governance and research initiatives for spatial planning at Gram Panchayat level. 

About NDEM 5.0

• It provides a comprehensive geospatial database for entire country for situational assessment and effective decision-making during disasters/ emergency situations.

India participated at CLGF Annual Board meeting in Sri Lanka, with theme “Reinforcing Social Resilience through Women’s Political Representation.”

About CLGF (HQ: London, UK)

• Established in 1995.
• Unites Local Government, Ministries of Local Government, national associations of local government, and individual councils from 56 Commonwealth countries (including India).
• Dedicated to support women’s full and active participation in public life, especially in achieving equal representation in local governance, aligning with SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. 

South Korea, US and Japan began their first trilateral multi-domain exercise, Freedom Edge.

About Freedom Edge Exercise

• It took place in South Korea’s southern island of Jeju.
• Exercise comes amid North Korea and Russia’s signing a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty to deepen security cooperation.
• It will focus on ballistic missile defence, air defence, antisubmarine warfare, search and rescue, maritime interdiction and defensive cyber training.

DRDO has successfully completed 10 developmental trials of ‘ABHYAS’.

About ABHYAS

• Abhyas is a High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT).
• It has been designed by DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment, Bengaluru.
• It offers a realistic threat scenario for practice of weapon systems.
• It is designed for autonomous flying with the help of an auto pilot, a laptop-based Ground Control System for aircraft integration, pre-flight checks, and autonomous flight. 
• It has a feature to record data during flight for post-flight analysis.

Recently, a report raised concerns over intensive animal agriculture (factory farming).

• Factory Farming refers to a system of raising livestock and poultry in high-density facilities under controlled conditions to maximize production efficiency and output of dairy products at lower cost.

Impacts of Factory Farming

• Antibiotic-resistant: Over 53% of egg samples exhibited resistance to multiple antibiotics in India (WHO Study, 2017).
• Zoonotic Diseases: Approximately 60% of known and 75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in origin (UN).
• Environmental Degradation: Responsible for 14.5% to 16.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions (FAO).
• Health: Diets high in animal products can increase risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, etc. 

Advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) system for early detection of forest fires has been launched at Pench Tiger Reserve.

About Pench Tiger Reserve

• Location: Spread across states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh in lower southern reaches of Satpura hills.
• Background: Status of National Park in 1975, and Tiger Reserve in 1992.  
• Forest Types: South Indian Tropical Moist Deciduous, Southern Tropical Dry Deciduous Teak, and Southern Dry Mixed Deciduous. 
• Pench River divides it into two halves. 
• Flora: Mahua, White Kulu, Salai, Saja, Bijiyasal, Dhaora, Amaltas, etc.
• Fauna: Tiger, leopard, sloth bear, Indian gaur, wild dog, wolf, etc.
• It also finds mention in Ain-i-Akbari and it is the original setting of Rudyard Kipling’s most famous work, The Jungle Book.

UN-backed network Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) has launched “Spring”, a new initiative to halt or reverse nature loss by 2030.

About Spring Initiative

• Supported by a coalition of 200 investors managing a combined $15trn in assets.
• Objective: To address systemic risk of nature loss to societies and long-term portfolio value creation by enhancing corporate practices on forest loss and land degradation.
• It focuses on responsible political engagement, a vital aspect of corporate governance.

Scientists recorded a lone Mainland Serow (Capricornis Sumatraensis Thar) in western Assam’s Raimona National Park. 

About Mainland Serow

• Habitat: Areas in altitude of 200-3,000 meters in the Himalayas in Indian subcontinent, southern China, mainland Southeastern Asia, and Sumatra. 
• Characteristics: It is a Mammal which is territorial and lives alone or in small groups.
• 3 other species of Serow: Japanese Serow, Red Serow, and Taiwan or Formosan Serow.
• Conservation Status
  • IUCN: Vulnerable.
  • CITES: Appendix I.
  • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I.