CSIR-CRRI and BPCL, received recognition from India Book of Records and Asia Book of Records for constructing first roadblock section using Technical Textile geocell made from end-of-life plastic waste.

About Geocells

• Structure: Geocells are three-dimensional, honeycomb-like cellular structures consisting of a regular open network of synthetic strips, cells filled with soil, gravel, sand, concrete, or recycled materials for ground stabilization.
• Applications: Widely used in embankments, river channels, retaining walls, airport runways, and urban green infrastructure.
• Significances: They improve slope stability, prevent erosion and landslides, reduce construction cost and material use, and enhance road durability.

India and EU launched €15.2 million (~₹169 crore) joint initiative to strengthen EV battery recycling under the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC)-working group-2.

• The initiative will be funded through the EU’s Horizon Europe programme and India’s Ministry of Heavy Industries.

About India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC)

• Launch: February 2023.
• Objective: It aims to push both regions toward strategic autonomy by actively reducing the EU's dependence on China and India's reliance on Russia.
• Three Core Working Groups (WGs):
  • WG 1: Strategic Technologies, Digital Governance and Connectivity.
  • WG 2: Green and Clean Energy Technologies.
  • WG 3: Resilient Value Chains, Trade and Investment.

Swasth Bharat Portal was launched recently by the Health and Family Welfare Ministry. 

Swasth Bharat Portal

• Nature: Functions as a unified digital layer that integrates existing standalone programme systems via an API-based federated architecture.
• ABDM-Compliant: Portal seamlessly integrates with Ayushman Bharat Health Account, Healthcare Professionals Registry and Health Facility Registry enabling secure exchange of interoperable patient health records.
• Empowering Frontline Workers: Provides a single interface for ASHAs, ANMs, CHOs, and Medical Officers (MOs), eliminating the need for multiple logins and repetitive data entry.

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)

• Objective: To develop a robust digital backbone to support the integrated digital health infrastructure and bridging gaps among stakeholders in India's healthcare ecosystem.
• Type: Central Sector Scheme
• Tenure: 5 years
• Implementing Agency: National Health Authority (NHA)

As per a study of IIT Delhi, India could prevent an estimated 1,24,564 deaths every year by fully mitigating sulphur dioxide (SO₂) emissions through systems like Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD).

About SO2

• It is a colorless, toxic gas with a pungent, choking odor.
• Role in secondary pollutants: SO₂ reacts in the atmosphere to form secondary inorganic aerosols, including sulphate, nitrate and ammonium. 
  • These pollutants add to PM2.5, the fine particulate matter linked to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
• It is a pollutant monitored under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) notified by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
  • NAAQS includes NO2, PM10, PM2.5, Ozone, Lead, CO, Ammonia, Benzene, Benzo(a)pyrene, Arsenic, and Nickel.
• Major sources: coal-fired power plants (largest), smelting metallic ores, petroleum refining, volcanic eruptions, and emissions from transportation (ships/locomotives). 

Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) established a state-of-the-art Urban Testbed and Aerosol Observatory at the SRM Institute of Science and Technology in Chennai under 'Mission Mausam'.

About Mission Mausam

• Launched:  In 2024.
• Ministry: Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
• Implementing Agency: India Meteorological Department (IMD), the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), and IITM.
• Budget: ₹2,000 crores over 2 years. 
• Aim:
  • To make the nation ‘Weather Ready’ and ‘Climate Smart’.
  • To improve weather and climate services, ensuring timely and precise observation, modeling, and forecasting information for multiple sectors, including agriculture, disaster management, and rural development.

Atomic Energy Regulatory Board(AERB) allows major equipment installation at unit 5 and 6 of the Kundakulam Nuclear Plant

• Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (Tamil Nadu) is India’s largest nuclear power plant, developed with Russian collaboration and operated by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited. 

About Atomic Energy Regulatory Board

• Established: by President in 1983 as per the provision of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962.
  • SHANTI Act, 2025 granted  statutory status, defined regulatory powers, enforcement authority and greater institutional autonomy to AERB
• Mission: To ensure the use of ionizing radiation and nuclear energy in India does not cause undue risk to the health of people and the environment.

Scientists discovered that the composition of plasma can lead to the strikingly different appearances of extragalactic jets emerging from the regions surrounding black holes.

About Extragalactic Jets  

• They are highly energetic, narrow streams of plasma and radiation  ejected from regions surrounding supermassive black holes at galactic centres.
• Speed & Extent: Travel at nearly the speed of light and extend thousands of light-years into space.
• Radiation Spectrum: across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays.
• Source of Energy: Powered by accretion of matter onto supermassive black holes and guided by strong magnetic fields.

Union Cabinet raises sugarcane FRP by ₹10 per quintal. 

About FRP

• FRP is the minimum price declared by the Central Government at which sugar mills are legally bound to procure sugarcane from farmers.
• Objective: Ensures assured and remunerative prices to sugarcane farmers.
• Legal Basis: Introduced under the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966.
• Institutional Mechanism: Recommended by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
• Criteria: FRP is fixed considering factors such as production cost, sugar recovery rate, alternative crop returns, by-product value, consumer interest, etc. 

State Advised Price (SAP): Some States such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand announce SAP, which is generally higher than FRP.