The Prime Minister’s Office informed that questions related to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) are inadmissible in Lok Sabha.

About PM CARES Fund

• It has been registered as a Public Charitable Trust under the Registration Act, 1908 in 2020.
• Objective: Dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected.
• Composition: Prime Minister (ex-officio Chairman) and Minister of Defence, Home Affairs and Finance are ex-officio Trustees of the Fund.
• It consists entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals/organizations and does not get any budgetary support.
• Any contribution made to the PM CARES Fund by any Company or a PSU shall qualify as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure as provided under the Companies Act, 2013.

• Donations qualify for 80G benefits for 100% tax exemption under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) will launch mobile-based applications to help improve fish catch. It includes 

• Jellyfish Aggregation Information Interactive Portal (JellyAIIP),
• SIVAS (Swell-Surge Inundation Vulnerability Advisory System) to predict coastal flooding
• Upgraded SAMUDRA app. to provide fishing zones information.

About INCOIS (HQ: Hyderabad) 

• Origin: Established as autonomous body (1999) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
  • It is a unit of the Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO).
• Objective: Provide Ocean information and advisory to various stakeholders
• It is the permanent member of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. 
• Other INCOIS Services: Tsunami Early Warning System, Ocean State Forecast (OSF), etc.

NRI 2025 was recently released by Portulans Institute, a US based, non-profit research institute. 

About NRI 

• It maps the network-based readiness landscape of 127 economies based on their performance in four pillars covering 53 indicators. Four pillars include Technology, People, Governance and Impact. 
• The four pillars are Technology, People, Governance , India’s rank: Improved by four spots to rank 45.
  • Score improved from 53.63 out of 100 in 2024 to 54.43 in 2025.
  • India shows higher-than-expected network readiness and ranks 2nd among lower-middle-income countries.
• United states has been Ranked 1^st followed by Finland and Singapore 

Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for 85 projects have been signed with 55 companies under the 3rd round of Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme 1.2.

About PLI Scheme for Specialty Steel

• Genesis: The scheme was launched by the Ministry of Steel in 2021.
• Objective: To promote manufacturing of special steel grades within the country and help the Indian steel industry mature in terms of technology as well as move up the value chain.
• PLI 1.2 aims to attract new investments in emerging and advanced steel products, such as super alloys, Cold-Rolled Grain-Oriented steel CRGO), stainless steel long and flat products, titanium alloys, and coated steels.

According to Tea board of India, India witnessed highest-ever tea exports (280.40 million kg) in 2025. 

• Tea is a perennial evergreen crop. 
• It requires well drained soil with high amount of organic matter, pH 4.5 to 5.5 and Optimum temperature of 20 – 27 degree C.

About Tea Board of India  (HQ: Kolkata)

• Statutory body: Constituted in 1954 under the Tea Act 1953. 
• Ministry: Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 
• Board: Comprises of 31 members (including Chairman) from Members of Parliament, tea producers, traders, brokers, consumers, etc. 
  • Board is reconstituted every three years.
• Key Functions: Financial and technical assistance for cultivation, manufacture and marketing of tea, export promotion, etc. 

Japan restarted the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. 

• It was shut down after massive tsunami of 2011 triggered a severe accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, on Pacific side of Japan. 
• The accident was rated level 7 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, due to high radioactive releases. 

About KNPS

• Location: Niigata Prefecture on western side of Japan's mainland Honshu. 
• Key Features: covers approximately 4.2 square kilometres and is one of the largest nuclear power facilities in the world; Contains seven reactor units capable of generating 8.212 million kilowatts of electricity. 

Chandrayaan-4 Mission identified Mons Mouton, a location on the Moon to land its lander.

• Chandrayaan-4  will be India’s fourth mission to Moon that will demonstrate taking off from the lunar surface after collecting surface samples, and bringing back the same to the Earth. 
• The planned timeline for Chandrayaan-4 mission is 2027.

About Mons Mouton

• Mountain near Moon's south pole, known informally as Leibnitz Beta, named after NASA mathematician and computer programmer Melba Roy Mouton. 
• Key Features: Flat-topped spanning almost 100 kilometres and rises roughly 6000 meters above the surrounding terrain.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) initiated human clinical trials towards developing an improved vaccine against KFD. 

About KFD

• Viral Disease caused by KFD virus. First reported in 1957 in Shimoga District, Karnataka. 
  • KFD virus is a member of the genus flavivirus and family Flaviviridae.
• Found in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa, and Maharashtra states of India.
• Spread to people: Primarily occurs through tick bites [Hard ticks (Hemaphysalis spinigera)] who spread the virus to people and animals like rodents and monkeys.
• Other Features: prevalent mainly in the dry season of November to June. 

IPBES published the “Business and Biodiversity report”. 

• As per this, world spends $33 on destroying nature for every $1 spent saving it.

About IPBES

• Genesis: Established in Panama City, in 2012. 
• Independent intergovernmental body: To strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• Not a United Nations body: However, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) provides secretariat services to IPBES.
  • Headquarters of the secretariat is hosted in Bonn, Germany.
• Plenary: Governing body of IPBES –comprising representatives of IPBES member States – usually meets once per year.
• Members: All States Members of UN are eligible. (India is a member).