A conference was held in New Delhi to commemorate the 60th anniversary of United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). 

About UNCITRAL 

• Established: 1966 by the UN General Assembly.
• Objective: To harmonize and modernize international trade law by reducing legal barriers to cross-border trade.
• Membership: 70 member States, elected by the UN General Assembly for 6-year terms.
• India is a founding and continuous member since 1966, among only eight countries to hold uninterrupted membership.

NABARD has released the bi-monthly Rural Economic Conditions & Sentiments Survey. 

Key Findings of the Survey

• Income Stagnation: 52.6% of rural households reported no income growth; only 27.7% saw an increase (lowest ever).
• Cost-of-Living Stress: 66.5% of monthly income is spent on consumption, leaving little room for savings.
• Weak Financial Resilience: Financial savings (17.8%) fell to the lowest level since the survey began.
• Credit Pattern: 51% relied on formal credit, while 23.6% depended solely on informal credit. 

The U.S. imposed a 10% tariff on imports from India and other countries under a Section 301 investigation to prevent the import of goods produced using forced labour.

• It may impact multiple sectors, esp. textiles & apparel for which US is the largest market ( $11 billion of imports annually). 

Section 301

• It is a provision under the US trade act of 1974.
• It is designed to address unfair foreign practices affecting U.S. commerce.  
• It allows to investigate foreign trade practices, it considers harmful, discriminatory or harmful to US commerce. 
• If violations are found US can impose, higher tariffs, trade restriction, or other retaliatory measures 

Bihar and Jharkhand are set to sign an agreement to resolve the Sone River water-sharing dispute pending since Jharkhand's creation in 2000.

About Son River

• The Son River is a perennial, right-bank tributary of the Ganga.
• Origin: Amarkantak Hills of the Maikal Range, Madhya Pradesh.
• Flows through: MP, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar 
• Key Tributaries: Banas, Gopad, Rihand, Kanhar, and North Koel 
• Salient Features
• Known as "Hiranyavaha" (Stream of Gold) because of its golden-coloured sand, (believed to carry gold dust).
• Ecological Importance: The Son Gharial Sanctuary, under Project Crocodile, protects the critically endangered gharial and mugger.
• Important Dam: Bansagar Dam (MP)

47 NTA officials have been terminated amid nationwide student protest.

About NTA (National Testing Agency)

• Established: 2017
• Ministry: Ministry of Education
• Nature: Autonomous, self-sustained testing organization
• Legal Status: Registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860
• Objective: 
  • Conduct fair, transparent, and standardized entrance examinations.
  • Improve education and assessment systems through research.
  • Develop high-quality question papers by engaging experts and institutions.
• Functions: Conduct examinations, develop question banks, strengthen R&D, and build testing expertise. 
• Major Exams Conducted by NTA: JEE Main, NEET-UG, CUET (UG/PG), UGC-NET, CMAT.

he bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha to accord the same statutory protection to the National Song as National Anthem.

About the Bill 

• Seeks to amend the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 to criminalise insults to Vande Mataram, with up to 5 years' imprisonment, fine, or both.

About Vande Mataram

• Origin: Composed in Sanskrit by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and first published in Anandamath (1882).
• Recited by Rabindranath Tagore in 1896 at the annual session of the Indian National Congress.
• On 24th January 1950, it was declared that Vande Mataram would have equal status with the National Anthem.

The Department of Telecom has barred communication infrastructure providers, including entities involved in cloud-based telecom networks, mobile towers and satellite gateways, from sharing any telecommunication data outside India.

• This is done through the Telecommunications (Authorisation for Telecommunication Network) Rules, 2026 under the Telecommunications Act, 2023.
• The move is part of the government's broader strategy to transition from a licensing regime to a regulatory framework.

About Data Localisation:

• It refers to the practice of storing and processing data within the borders of a specific country or geographic region, in compliance with that region’s laws and regulations. 
• It involves restrictions on transferring data across international borders.

Scientists from SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur, have developed a nanofluid electrolyte that significantly improves the performance and safety of Zinc-air batteries (ZABs). 

About Zinc-air batteries

• A metal-air battery using zinc as the anode and oxygen from ambient air as the cathode reactant. 
• Electrolyte: Uses an aqueous alkaline electrolyte (commonly potassium hydroxide).
• Electrically Rechargeable: Recharged repeatedly by reversing electrochemical reactions 
• Advantages: High energy density, low cost, abundant zinc, safe, recyclable, and environmentally friendly.
• Applications: Suitable for grid-scale energy storage, electric mobility, and portable electronics.
• Key Challenges: Zinc corrosion, hydrogen evolution, and sluggish oxygen reduction

Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre of Ministry of Home Affairs asked the code repository platform GitHub to remove access to code for BitChat.

About BitChat

• It is a peer-to-peer messaging platform that works without an internet connection using Bluetooth mesh technology within a 30-100 metre range.
• Bluetooth Mesh network: (also known as “multi-hop network):It relies on Bluetooth clusters created by devices in a range
  • In it, data can travel from any device to all others, achieving many-to-many communication. 
  • Even if one device fails, the network keeps working. 
  • Messages are broadcast and relayed by nodes until they reach the intended destination
• Anonymity: allows end-to-end encrypted, anonymous communication without mandatory user registration, number verification, or centralised logging of communications