Data released in Lok Sabha revealed that less than half of the students trained under PM-DAKSH scheme between 2021 and 2024 were placed.

• Institutes must provide employment to 70% of trainees from Short Term Training Courses, or forfeit 30% of the training cost per candidate.

About PM DAKSH (2020-21)

• Type: Central Sector Scheme 
• Aim:  To provide free of cost skills through quality institutions so that candidates from its target group can find employment.
• Target group: SC, OBC, Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), and De-notified Tribes Safai Karamcharis including waste pickers, Transgenders.
• Eligibility
  • Age Criterion: 18-45 years
  • OBC and EWS: Annual income family below Rs.3 lakh.

Note: It has been merged with the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Recently APEDA observed its 40th establishment day. 

About APEDA (New Delhi)

• Type: statutory body under the APEDA Act 1985
• Ministry: Apex body for agricultural export promotion under Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• Chairman: Appointed by government.
• Functions: Secretariat to National Accreditation Board  for implementation of accreditation of Certification Bodies.
  • Other functions: Boost agri exports , inspection of meat products etc.
• Important initiatives: 
  • National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP):  Involves, standards for organic production, promotion of organic farming and marketing etc.
  • BHARATI (2025): To empower agri-food and agri-tech startups and boost agri-food exports.
  • Farmers connect Portal: 24X7 Online digital platform  to bridge the gap between Farmer Producer Org./Cooperatives and exporters.

Recently ADR released an analysis of electoral trusts FY 2024-25

• It revealed that 82.5% of the donations by them went to the ruling party.
• Maharashtra emerged as the largest contributor state.

About Electoral trust 

• Origin: Based on the Electoral Trusts Scheme, 2013 and Income Tax Rules, 1962  these are non-profit companies.
• Objective: To receive contributions from donors and distribute them to registered political parties facilitating transparent political funding.
• Transparency: Donations above ₹20,000 must be disclosed to Election Commission of India, but the amount given to each political party remains confidential.
• Registration: By Central board of Direct Taxes.
• They need to distribute at least 95% of the contributions received during the year to eligible political parties. 

The government lifted the wheat export ban after four years to ensure remunerative prices for farmers.

About Wheat 

• Type: Rabi Crop
• Regions: Tropical sub-tropical zones, temperate zone
• Climatic requirement: Cool and moist weather during the vegetative growth period followed by dry, warm weather for the grain to mature and ripening
  • Optimum temperature: 20-25 Degrees Celsius
  • Ideal Rainfall: 50-75 cm 
• Status of India: World’s 2nd-largest producer ( ~14% of global output), world’s largest area.
• Top 3 Producers: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab.

A ₹1 lakh-crore Urban Challenge Fund (UCF) was approved by the Union Cabinet

About Urban Challenge Fund

• Announced in the Union Budget 2025–26
• Focus Areas: 
  • Cities as Growth Hubs
  • Creative Redevelopment of Cities 
  • Water and Sanitation
• Funding Mechanism:
  • UCF will finance up to 25% of project costs.
  • At least 50% of funding must come from market sources like:
    • Municipal bonds 
    • Bank loans 
    • Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs)

Research suggests that desert winds from the west and northwest of India can be used to predict monsoon break periods.

About Monsoon Breaks

• Meaning: During the south-west monsoon, after having rains for a few days, if rain fails to occur for one or more weeks, it is known as break in the monsoon. 
  • These dry spells are quite common during the rainy season. 
• Reasons for Monsoon Break:
  • In northern India, rains are likely to fail if the rain-bearing storms are not very frequent along the monsoon trough or the ITCZ over this region.
    • Movement of monsoon trough towards Himalayas creates dry spells in plains.
  • Over the west coast the dry spells are associated with days when winds blow parallel to the coast.

Scientists have captured the clearest view of a star collapsing directly into a black hole without exploding as a supernova.

About Life Cycle of Star

Birth

• Molecular Clouds: Stars form deep within massive, cold clouds of gas and dust.
• Protostar Formation: Gravity causes high-density pockets within these clouds to clump and collapse creating a "protostar".

Life

• Main Sequence: Nuclear fusion ignites in the core and releases huge amounts of energy. This stable period is the longest phase of a star's life.

Death

• Low-Mass Stars:  Sun-like stars expand into giants, shed their outer layers as a planetary nebula, and leave behind a cooling white dwarf core.
• High-Mass Stars: These stars fuse elements up to iron, after which the core collapses, triggering a supernova that leaves behind a neutron star or a black hole.

The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity allowed the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to proceed with framing regulations on power market coupling.

• Market coupling is a model where buy bids and sell bids from all power exchanges in the country will be aggregated and matched to discover a uniform MCP (Market clearing prices).
• India has three power exchanges-Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL) and Hindustan Power Exchange Limited (HPX).

About CERC:

• Overview: Statutory body functioning under Section 76 of the Electricity Act 2003.
• Objective: 
  • To promote competition, efficiency and economy in bulk power markets 
  • Improve the quality of supply
  • Advise the government on the removal of institutional barriers to bridge the demand supply gap.