Indian Army hosts first UN Training Program on Small Arms Control for Asia-Pacific region in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.

• Program is being organised by United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and is being held under the aegis of India’s Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Defence.

About UNODA 

• Origin: Established in 1998 as the Department for Disarmament Affairs by UN Secretary General.
• HQ: New York, USA. 
• Goal: Complete elimination of weapons of mass destruction especially nuclear weapons and the strict control of conventional weapons.

Chhattisgarh Forest Department is establishing hornbill restaurants in Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve (in Gariband District) to protect rare Malabar Pied Hornbill.

• Hornbill Restaurants are natural clusters of fruit-bearing trees (eaten by Hornbills).

About Malabar Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus)

• Distribution:  Endemic to the Indian subcontinent - Western Ghats moist forests, North-eastern Himalayan foothills (India & Nepal), Satpuda Hills and Sri Lanka.
• Features: Black body with white underparts; Keystone seed disperser in tropical forests.
• Diet: Primarily frugivorous.
• IUCN Status: Near Threatened.

Defense minister flaged-off Akash 3rd and 4th Regiment Combat systems and inaugurated Mountain Fire Control Radar at Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in Bengaluru.

• Mountain Fire Control Radar is part of air‑defence fire control radars, specialising in high‑altitude operations (thin air and complex topography).

About Akash 

• Type: Medium range, surface-to-air missile system which provides air defence.
• Developed by: DRDOin collaboration with BEL and Bharat Dynamics Limited.
• Features: Can simultaneously engage multiple aerial targets e.g. aircraft, missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles.
  • Covers upto 18 km in altitude.
  • Multi-function fire control radar named Rajendra, which has a coverage of 80 km.
  • 3D Central Acquisition Radar scans the airspace upto 120 km.

President of India inaugurated the centenary celebrations of the ol chiki script.

About Ol Chiki Script

• Developed in 1925 by Raghunath Murmu, specifically for the Santhali language.
• Transitioned Santhali from oral to written tradition.
  • Before Ol Chiki, Santhali was written using Roman, Bengali, Odia, Devanagari script.

About Santhali Language

• Belongs to Austroasiatic language family.
• Spoken in: Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and parts of Nepal & Bangladesh
• Included in the Eighth Schedule via 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003.

Minister for Defence reviewed projects of indigenous military gas turbine engine (Kaveri Programme) development at DRDO’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) in Bengaluru.

About Gas Turbine Engine

• It is a type of internal combustion engine that converts chemical energy from fuel into thermal energy.
• How It Works: The process follows four main steps: intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust.
  • Compression: A compressor draws in air and compresses it.
  • Combustion:  The fuel burns in presence of air and produces high temperature gas.
  • Power Generation: Turbine extracts power from the hot gas flow.
  • Exhaust: Remaining gas is removed through nozzle.

Exercise Milan is taking place in Visakhapatnam with more than 70 nations participating in the 2026 edition.

About Exercise MILAN

• It is a biennial multilateral naval exercise hosted by the Indian Navy.
• It promotes cooperation, interoperability and maritime partnership among friendly navies across the world.
• History: Launched in 1995 with four navies at Port Blair, it has evolved into a premier Multilateral Exercise with partner navies across the globe.

CAQM has issued comprehensive Statutory Direction regarding implementation of Action Plans for Elimination of Wheat Stubble Burning in 2026.

About CAQM

• Origin and Statutory Backing: It was established under the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021.
• Objective: Management of air quality in the National Capital Region (NCR) and its adjoining areas.
• Key Powers and Functions:
  • Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) implementation
  • Stubble Burning Control
  • Polluter Penalties
  • Industrial Regulation
  • Vehicular Standards

Indian telecom operators are urging the TRAI to update 2016 Net Neutrality Regulations to permit 5G network slicing for premium services.

• Network Slicing creates several virtual networks on a single physical infrastructure.
• Each slice works like its own separate network and can have different performance levels regarding speed, latency etc.

About Net Neutrality

• The Principle of Net Neutrality states that internet users should be able to access all content on the internet without being discriminated by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs)
• Key Components: 
  • All websites or applications should be treated equally by TSPs.
  • All applications should be allowed to be accessed at the same internet speed.
  • All applications should be accessible for the same cost.

Single genome-editing strategy based on PERT could potentially treat multiple genetic disorders.

About PERT

• Many genetic diseases happen because of a specific error in DNA called a "nonsense mutation" that forces the cell to stop building a protein too early. 
• PERT uses prime editing - a precise CRISPR/Cas9 DNA editing system with the power to search and replace genetic sequences at their exact location in the genome, all without making double-strand breaks in DNA.
• PERT does not edit nonsense mutations but instead makes another edit that equips cells with a tool to produce the normal, functional version of the protein, regardless of which gene is impacted.