Government of India launches Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)-based Digital Food Currency pilot for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).

About PMGKAY

• Launch Year: 2020
• Core Objective: To provide free food grains to poor, migrant and vulnerable households to ensure food security during crisis periods.
• Eligible Beneficiaries: Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households and Priority Household (PHH) families under National Food Security Act, 2013
• Benefit:  Free of cost 35 kg of food grains per month per AAY household, 5 kg of food grains per person per month for PHH
• Distribution Channel: Public Distribution System (PDS)

The Supreme Court observed that NCERT's textbook with references to "corruption in judiciary" can come within the purview of criminal contempt of court.

About Contempt of Court

• Constitutional Provisions: Article 129 grants Supreme Court power to punish for contempt of itself; Article 215 for High Court. 
• Legislative Framework: Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 classifies it into two types
  • Civil Contempt: Wilful disobedience of court orders or undertakings.
  • Criminal Contempt: Publishing or doing anything (spoken, written, signs, etc.) that scandalises/lowers court’s authority; prejudices/interferes judicial proceedings; interferes/obstructs in administration of justice, etc

Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to fast-track Drug Testing Clearances

About CDSCO

• Functions Under: Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
• Nature:  National Regulatory Authority (NRA) for drugs and cosmetics.
• Function: Under Drugs & Cosmetics Act,1940, CDSCO is responsible for approval of Drugs; Conduct of Clinical Trials; laying down the standards for Drugs; control over the quality of imported Drugs.
• Headed by: Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI)  

• It releases a Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) list monthly for assessing the quality and safety of drugs.

India’s President will witness IAF’s ‘Vayu Shakti’ Exercise.

About Vayu Shakti

• Indian Air Force’s flagship firepower demonstration exercise.
• Location: Pokhran Field Firing Range, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan (near India–Pakistan border).
• Indigenous Highlight (2026): Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) ‘Prachand’.

The Indian Navy is set to commission INS Anjadip at the Chennai port.

• It is the third of 8 Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft.
• It derives its name from Anjadip Island located off the coast of Karwar, Karnataka.

About INS Anjadip

• It is a state-of-the-art vessel specifically designed to address the challenges of the littoral combat environment.
• Built by: Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.
• Key Features:
  • Engineered to act as a 'Dolphin Hunter', focused on detection, tracking, and neutralisation of enemy submarines.
  • Has indigenous Anti-Submarine Warfare weapons and sensor package, including Hull Mounted Sonar Abhay.
  • Features a high-speed Water-Jet Propulsion system.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) launches the first State Innovation Mission (SIM) in Tripura.

About State Innovation Mission (SIM) 

• It is part of approved AIM 2.0, under NITI Aayog’s State Support Mission (SSM) framework.
  • AIM launched in 2016 under NITI Aayog, aims to promote innovation and entrepreneurship across India.
  • Key Initiatives: Atal Tinkering Labs, Atal Incubation Centres, Atal Community Innovation Centres, etc.
• It is designed as a long-term institutional mechanism to support /UTs in building robust, inclusive, and context-specific innovation ecosystems aligned with national priorities and local strengths.

United Nations announced the approval of first carbon credits under global market involving a project in Myanmar coordinated with Republic of Korea.  

About Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (Article 6.4)

• It is a carbon crediting mechanism under Article 6 of Paris Agreement.
• It encourages verifiable emission reductions; attracts funding and allows cooperation among countries. 
• E.g., company in one country can reduce emission in that country and have those reductions credited to sell them to another company in another country. 
• Apart from article 6.4, other two components of Article 6 are:
  • Article 6.2: Provides accounting and reporting guidance for Parties 
  • Article 6.8: Provides opportunities for non-market-based cooperation. 

Massive bloom of GASB across Atlantic, has raised concerns.

About GASB

• Floating brown alga (Sargassum) stretching thousands of kilometres across Atlantic with significant human and environmental impact. 
  • Sargassum provides food, refuge, and breeding ground for many marine animals and like other algae relies on sunlight and produces oxygen during photosynthesis. 
  • During Decomposition, it consumes oxygen from water column, creating  “brown tides” associated with low (hypoxic) or no oxygen (anoxic) conditions.
• Sargassum Inundation Event: First occurred in 2011 in Tropical Atlantic Ocean, outside Sargasso Sea. 
• Key Drivers: Nutrients Enrichment, Temperature (18-30°C) , Salinity, Wind and Ocean Circulation. 

Increasing incidents/hazards with powerful AI systems has called for its rigorous testing, known as red teaming. 

About Red Teaming

• Meaning: It involves testing AI models to protect against harmful behaviour, including leaks of sensitive data and generated content that is toxic, biased, or factually inaccurate.
• Origin: Initially popularised by US military during Cold War, the concept has expanded into cybersecurity and now encompasses AI safety. 
• It involves provoking the model to say/do things it was not trained to and once problems are exposed, new instruction data is created to re-align the model and enhance its security.