Three initiatives- National AI Skilling Initiative; MyWAVES and rollout of Advanced Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) and in-built satellite tuners in television sets were launched aimed at promoting India’s ‘Orange Economy’.

• 'Orange Economy, also called 'creative economy,' refers to sectors driven by ideas, technology, culture, and intellectual property rather than traditional manufacturing.

About National AI Skilling Initiative

• Launched by: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in partnership with Google and YouTube.
• Aim: Train 15,000 participants from creative and media sectors.
• Implemented through: Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT)

About MyWAVES

•  It is a structured platform for user-generated content (UGC) that enables citizens to create, upload and share content on WAVES OTT platform of Prasar Bharati.

India hosted the 12th Steering Committee Meeting of Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network).

About GlobE Network

• Genesis: Established in 2021, based on Riyadh Initiative launched during Saudi Arabia’s G20 Presidency (2020).
•  About: A global platform of specialised anti-corruption law enforcement authorities.
•  Aim: Transnational cooperation world-wide to detect, investigate and prosecute corruption cases.
•  Membership: Open to anti-corruption law enforcement authorities of all UN Member States and States parties to UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). India’s Central Bureau of Investigation and Directorate of Enforcement are its members.
• Supported by: UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which provides its secretariat.
•   GlobE Secure Communications Platform (SCP): Provides practical support to investigators and prosecutors for swift, secure exchange of information etc.

The IAEA urged “maximum restraint” after a reported Iranian missile strike near Dimona, Israel's nuclear facility.

•  Dimona is a southern town hosting Israel's nuclear facility, in the Negev desert.

Other Conflict areas in News

• Natanz nuclear enrichment facility: It is an Iranian facility.
•  South Pars gas field: Part of the world's largest natural gas field shared between Iran and Qatar.
•   Litani River: Crossing was destroyed on the Litani river by Israel in southern Lebanon that was reportedly being used by Hezbollah.
• Tyre city: Coastal city in southern Lebanon, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
•   Ras Laffan Industrial City: Qatar's main gas facility came under attack recently.

Scientists have used a new technique called pressure quenching to raise the temperature by 18 °C, under room pressure to attain superconductivity at a relatively higher temperature.

Superconductivity

•  Discovery: Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes.
• Superconductivity is the property of certain materials to conduct direct current (DC) electricity without energy loss when they are cooled below a critical temperature (referred to as Tc).
• Tc can be defined as the temperature at which a material exhibits superconductivity.
• Two basic properties:

○      No resistance to the passage of electrical current.

○      External magnetic fields will not penetrate but remain at its surface. This field expulsion phenomenon is known as the Meissner effect.

•  Applications: MRI machines, particle accelerators (LHC), maglev trains, high-efficiency power transmission, and quantum computing etc.

India’s largest pregnancy cohort study of 12,000 women under the GARBH-INi initiative is aimed at developing indigenous, AI-driven solutions to address preterm births informed the Union Minister of Science & Technology.

About GARBH-INi

•  It is a flagship programme supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
• Aim: To reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes.
• The initiative has also established a national biorepository and GARBH-INi-DRISHTI data-sharing platform, enabling wider access for the research community.
• GARBH-INi pregnancy cohort is one of the largest pregnancy cohorts in South Asia established from 2015 onwards at Gurugram Civil Hospital.

The Home Ministry said that nominations for the Subhash Chandra Bose Disaster Management Award are open throughout the year and can be made until September 30.

About Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar

•  Announced: Every year on 23rd January, the birth anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose.
•  Instituted by: Government of India.
• Award Categories: Individual and Institution.
•  Field: To recognise and acknowledge the invaluable contributions of individuals and institutions in the field of disaster management.
• Eligibility: Both Indian citizens and institutions are eligible

The Government of India has decided to restore the rates and value caps under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) Scheme for all eligible export products.

About (RoDTEP) Scheme

• Launched in 2021 by amending the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20.
          The scheme replaced Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) after the WTO declared that MEIS was not in line with international trade practice.
• Objective: It provides refunds of taxes, duties and levies incurred during the manufacturing and distribution of exported goods that are not reimbursed under any other central, state or local mechanism.
• Administered by the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance.

Centre commissioned research project to evaluate technologies to remove fluoride from water amid concerns that existing standards, based on Nalgonda technique, have not kept up with technological advancements or field realities.

About Nalgonda technique

• In this three chemicals, namely aluminium salts, lime and bleaching powder are used and added to raw or fluoridated water followed by rapid mixing, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection processes.
• Simple and cost effective developed by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).
• Recommended by Government of India for its application to remove excess fluorine from drinking water.

World Economic Forum’s (WEF) AI4AI Initiative is driving transformation in agriculture.

About AI4AI

• Launched In: 2021.
• Aim:  Brings together public and private sector partners to scale impactful agri-tech solutions and accelerate transformation of global food systems.
• Key Focus Areas: Inclusivity (towards small holder famers, etc.); Sustainability (reducing environmental footprint); Efficiency (minimising losses and wastage).
• Used by four Indian states, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh from 2021 to 2024.