Government recently extended Samarth Scheme for two years (FY 2024-25 and 2025-26) with a budget of Rs. 495 Crore to train 3 lakh persons in textile-related skills.

About Samarth

• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Textiles
• Objective: aims to encourage and support the industry in creating jobs in the organized textile and related sectors, covering the entire value chain of textiles, excluding Spinning and Weaving. 
  • It is a demand-driven and placement-oriented umbrella skilling program
• Achievement: Trained 3.27 lakh candidates, of which 2.6 lakh (79.5%) have been employed.
  • There is a strong emphasis on women's employment, and 2.89 lakh (88.3%) women have been trained so far.

International Energy Agency released its flagship World Energy Outlook 2024.

Key Observations

• Geopolitical tensions and fragmentation are major risks for energy security.
  • Around 20% of today’s global oil and LNG supplies flow through the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime chokepoint in the Middle East.
• Clean energy is entering the energy system at an unprecedented rate, with more than 560 gigawatts (GW) of new renewables capacity added in 2023.
• More than half of the world's electricity will be generated by low-emission sources before 2030.

United Kingdom, a Five Eye Alliance, recently extended support to Canada in recent diplomatic crisis with India. 

About Five Eye (FVEY) Alliance

• A multilateral intelligence-sharing network shared by over 20 different agencies of five English-speaking countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States). 
• It is both surveillance-based and signals intelligence (SIGINT).

Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has cleared key road stretches passing through the Karakoram Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS).

About KWS

• Location: Easternmost parts of the Karakoram range (part of Northwestern Himalayas), in the Leh district, Ladakh.
  • Bounded on North and West by international boundary with China and Pakistan respectively. 
• Geography: Most part is semi-arid, characterized by a cold desert and heavy glaciation. 
• Rivers: Nubra and Shyok. 
• Fauna: Snow leopard, Eurasian lynx, Himalayan wolf, Tibetan antelope etc.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) opened the 2024 Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum.

About HIH

• Launched in 2019 by FAO
• It supports the implementation of nationally led, ambitious programmes to accelerate agrifood systems transformations by eradicating poverty (SDG1), ending hunger and malnutrition (SDG2), and reducing inequalities (SDG10).
  • It uses advanced geospatial modeling and analytics, as well as a robust partnership-building approach. 
• Areas of intervention: Developing value chains for priority commodities, building agro-industries, etc.
• Members:72 countries (India is not a member)

India has signed a deal with the US to acquire 170 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles.

AGM-114R Hellfire Missiles

• It is a short-range Air to Ground Missile (AGM) with a range of around 7-11 km. 
• Precision strike, Semi-Active Laser (SAL) guided missile.
• Can neutralize a broad range of targets including air defence, patrol boats, armour, enemy combatants etc. with its multi-purpose warhead. 
• Can launch from various platforms, including aircraft, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles etc.  

First ASEAN-India Track 1 Cyber Policy Dialogue was held in Singapore.

About Track 1 Diplomacy

• Track 1 Diplomacy refers to official diplomacy, where communication is directly between or among governments. 
• These formal discussions are conducted by diplomats, heads of state, and other official authorities. 

Other Tracks of Diplomacy

• Track 1.5 Diplomacy: It occurs when government representatives and non-governmental experts engage in dialogue or meetings together in less formal ways than Track 1 diplomacy.
• Track 2 Diplomacy: It denotes a purely unofficial channel for dialogue between non-governmental experts, without direct governmental involvement. 
  • 1993 Oslo Accords grew out of unofficial Track 2 discussions before transitioning into Track 1 negotiations.

National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, Kundli (NIFTEM-K) has unveiled - Solar Assisted Reefer Transportation with Hybrid Controls and Intelligence (SARTHI) System.  

About SARTHI

• Objective: It will help in reducing post-harvest losses in perishable food transportation.
• SARTHI containers offer dual compartments for optimal storage of fruits and vegetables, which have varying temperature and humidity requirements.
• It is an integration of Internet of Things (IoT) and real-time monitoring. 
  • Sensors measure temperature, humidity, ethylene, and CO2 levels, sending data to a mobile app for quality assessment.
  • These features enable transporters to make informed decisions, potentially rerouting produce to closer markets if spoilage is detected.