UAE President’s Official Visit to India

• President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ), concluded an official visit to New Delhi.

Key Outcomes of the Visit

• Trade Target: The leaders agreed to double India-UAE bilateral trade to USD 200 billion by 2032.
• LNG Supply: HPCL signed a 10-year deal with ADNOC Gas to import 0.5 MMTPA of LNG from 2028.
• Industrial Investment: The UAE is committed to large-scale investments in the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) in Gujarat. DP World and First Abu Dhabi Bank to set up operations in GIFT City.
• Computing Collaboration: C-DAC and G42 will jointly set up a supercomputing cluster in India.
• Defence Framework: India and the UAE signed a Letter of Intent to establish a Strategic Defence Partnership for defence manufacturing and interoperability.
• Space Partnership: IN-SPACe and the UAE Space Agency plan to jointly develop launch infrastructure and satellite facilities.
• Culture and people-to-people ties: Establishment of the House of India in Abu Dhabi, showcasing Indian art, heritage, and archaeology.

Overview of India-UAE Bilateral Relations

• Strategic Upgrade: India-UAE ties were elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2017.
• Economic Frameworks: The countries operationalised the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2022 and signed a Bilateral Investment Treaty in 2024.
• Trade Position: The UAE is India’s third-largest trading partner and second-largest export destination, with bilateral trade exceeding $100 billion in FY 2024-25.
• Digital Payments: India’s UPI is integrated with the UAE’s AANI platform, and RuPay cards are linked to the JAYWAN network.
• Energy Supplies: The UAE is India’s fourth-largest crude oil supplier and the second-largest supplier of LNG and LPG.
• Strategic Reserves: The UAE is the first foreign partner to invest in India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves in Mangalore.
• Military Exercises: Regular joint exercises include Desert Cyclone (Army), Zayed Talwar (Navy), and Desert Flag (Air Force).
• Regional Connectivity: Both countries are founding partners of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) to strengthen inter-regional connectivity.
• Indian Diaspora: About 3.5 million Indians live in the UAE, forming its largest expatriate group and contributing nearly 20% of India’s remittances.
• Minilateral Grouping: India and the UAE are key members of the I2U2 Group, focusing on joint investments in water, energy, and food security.

Environmental Protection Fund

• The Union Government has notified detailed rules for the utilisation and administration of the Environmental (Protection) Fund, operationalising provisions introduced under the Jan Vishwas Act, 2023.

Environmental Protection Fund:

• The Environmental (Protection) Fund is a statutory fund of the Government of India created to utilise penalties imposed for violations of environmental laws for pollution control, environmental restoration, monitoring, research, and capacity building.

Established in:

• Provided for under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
• Operationalised through rules notified in January 2026
• Strengthened by the Jan Vishwas Act, 2023, which decriminalised several environmental offences while retaining monetary penalties

Nodal authority:

• Administered by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) or any body notified by the Central Government
• Aim: To ensure that pollution penalties are recycled for environmental protection, remediation, clean technology promotion, and strengthening regulatory institutions.

Key features

• Source of funds: Penalties under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, interest from investments, and other prescribed sources.
• Permitted uses (11 activities): Pollution prevention and mitigation, remediation of contaminated sites, environmental monitoring equipment, clean technology research, IT-enabled systems, laboratory infrastructure, and capacity building of regulatory bodies.
• Revenue sharing: 75% of penalty proceeds transferred to the Consolidated Fund of the State/UT, 25% retained by the Centre.
• Governance mechanism: Creation of dedicated Project Management Units at Central and State levels.

Oversight & transparency:

1. Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to audit the Fund
2. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to develop and maintain a centralised online portal for fund implementation

Significance:

• Strengthens the “polluter pays principle” by directly linking penalties to environmental remediation.
• Converts decriminalisation into deterrence with accountability, avoiding regulatory dilution.
• Enhances Centre–State cooperation in environmental governance through revenue sharing.

Indian Skimmer

• The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) have launched a new conservation project to protect the endangered Indian Skimmer and its breeding habitats across the Ganga Basin.

Indian Skimmer:

• The Indian Skimmer (Rynchops albicollis) is a riverine bird species known for its unique feeding behaviour of skimming the water surface with an elongated lower mandible to catch fish.

Habitat:

• Large, slow-flowing rivers with exposed sandbars and islands.
• Breeds mainly along river systems such as the Ganga, Chambal, Yamuna, and their tributaries.
• Uses coastal areas during the non-breeding season.

IUCN status:

• Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List
• Global population estimated at 3,700–4,400 individuals, with India hosting nearly 90% of the world population

Key characteristics:

• Distinctive bill: bright orange, with the lower mandible longer than the upper.
• Plumage: black upperparts and white underparts.
• Colonial nester, often sharing sandbars with terns.
• Indicator species of healthy riverine ecosystems.

Significance:

• Acts as a flagship and indicator species for river health and sediment dynamics.
• Sharp decline signals degradation of riverine habitats due to dams, altered flows, sand mining, and human disturbance.

Greenhouse Gases Emission Intensity (GEI) Target (Amendment) Rules, 2025

• The Union Government has notified the second round of legally binding emission reduction targets for carbon-intensive industries under the Greenhouse Gases Emission Intensity (GEI) Target (Amendment) Rules, 2025.

Greenhouse Gases Emission Intensity (GEI) Target (Amendment) Rules, 2025:

• The GEI Target (Amendment) Rules, 2025 are statutory rules notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to set mandatory, sector-specific greenhouse gas (GHG) emission-intensity reduction targets for industrial entities, operationalising India’s Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS).

Came into force:

• Came into force on October 9, 2025, becoming India’s first legally binding industrial emission intensity rules
• Builds on the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), 2023.

Nodal ministry / agencies:

• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) – rule notification
• Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) – issuance and calculation of carbon credits
• Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) – compliance enforcement and penalties

Sectors covered (second round):

• Petroleum refineries, Petrochemical units, Textile sector (spinning, processing, fibre, composite units), and Secondary aluminium.
• 208 industrial units added, including PSUs like Indian Oil, BPCL, HPCL, ONGC, Numaligarh Refinery and private players such as Reliance Industries.
• Earlier round – Oct 2025: aluminium, cement, chlor-alkali, pulp & paper were added.

Key features

• Emission intensity metric: Targets expressed as tCO₂e per unit of output, covering all greenhouse gases by global warming potential.
• Baseline year: 2023–24; compliance targets set for 2025–26 and 2026–27.
• Carbon market linkage: Covered entities are brought under India’s domestic carbon market via the CCTS.

Incentive mechanism:

• Entities exceeding targets earn carbon credit certificates.
• Credits can be traded or banked for future compliance years.

Penalty for non-compliance:

• Environmental compensation = twice the average carbon credit price of that compliance year.
• Payable within 90 days, enforced by CPCB.
• Overall reduction ambition: ~3–7% reduction in emission intensity by 2026–27 compared to baseline.

Significance:

• Marks India’s shift from voluntary efficiency measures to legally binding climate compliance.
• Strengthens the Indian Carbon Market (ICM) and price discovery for carbon.
• Supports India’s NDC commitment of 45% reduction in GDP emission intensity by 2030 (vs 2005).

Export Promotion Mission (EPM)

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued operational guidelines for extending interest subvention on export credit under Niryat Protsahan, bringing exporters under the Export Promotion Mission (EPM).

Export Promotion Mission (EPM):

• The Export Promotion Mission (EPM) is a mission-mode, unified national framework to strengthen India’s export competitiveness by integrating financial support, market access, compliance readiness, and digital governance for exporters.
• Established in: Union Budget 2025–26
• Mission period: FY 2025–26 to FY 2030–31
• Implemented by: Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) as the nodal implementing agency

Aim:

• To boost India’s export competitiveness, especially for MSMEs, first-time exporters, labour-intensive sectors, and non-traditional districts, by ensuring affordable trade finance and global market readiness.

Key features:

• Unified mission architecture: Merges multiple fragmented export-support schemes into a single, outcome-linked and digitally driven framework.

Two integrated sub-schemes:

1. Niryat Protsahan (Financial enablers): Interest subvention on pre/post-shipment credit, export factoring, deep-tier financing, collateral support, e-commerce exporter credit cards.
2. Niryat Disha (Non-financial enablers): Quality certification, branding, trade fairs, logistics & warehousing support, inland transport reimbursement, cluster and district capacity building.

• Interest subvention under Niryat Protsahan: RBI-guided interest support on export credit, strictly for eligible exporters, routed through banks and financial institutions.
• Credit guarantee support: ₹20,000 crore Credit Guarantee Scheme for Exporters (CGSE) via NCGTC, providing 100% government-backed collateral-free credit.
• Digital implementation: End-to-end DGFT digital platform aligned with customs and trade systems for transparent, paperless processing.
• RBI regulatory support: Extended export credit tenure, moratoriums, asset-classification forbearance, FEMA relaxations on export realisation.
• Sectoral & regional focus: Priority to textiles, leather, gems & jewellery, engineering goods, marine products, and interior/low-export districts.

Parbati Giri

• Prime Minister of India paid tribute to Parbati Giri on her birth centenary, highlighting her role in the freedom struggle and her lifelong dedication to social service.

Parbati Giri:

• Parbati Giri (1926–1995) was an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer from Odisha, widely known as the “Mother Teresa of Western Odisha” for her humanitarian work among the poor, tribals, and marginalised communities.

Early days:

• Born on 19 January 1926 at Samlaipadar village, Bargarh district (Odisha).
• Inspired by nationalist activities led by Congress leaders, including her uncle Ramachandra Giri.
• Left formal education at a young age and joined Congress organisational work by 1938, adopting Gandhian principles as a way of life.

Contributions to the freedom movement:

• Actively participated in Individual Satyagraha (1940) and mobilised villagers for the Khadi and Charkha movement.
• Joined the Quit India Movement (1942) at the age of 16, leading rallies and openly defying British authority.
• Known for bold acts of resistance, including urging Indians to boycott British institutions; arrested and imprisoned for two years.
• Earned the epithet “Banhi Kanya” for her fearless nationalism and mass mobilisation.

Literary and social work:

• While not primarily known for literary writings, her legacy lies in grassroots activism, institution-building, and community service.
• After Independence, devoted herself to relief work during the 1951 Odisha famine, prison reforms, eradication of leprosy, and welfare of tribal communities.

End days and recognition:

• Awarded by the Department of Social Welfare, Government of India (1984) for exemplary service.
• Conferred an Honorary Doctorate by Sambalpur University (1988).
• Passed away on 17 August 1995, leaving behind a legacy of service-driven nationalism and ethical public life.

Student Suicide Safeguards

• In Amit Kumar v Union of India, the SC flagged a rising pattern of student suicides in Higher Education Institutions & has issued interim directions based on a National Task Force report.

Key Observations by the National Task Force

• NCRB Burden: Student suicides were about 13,000 (2022), showing a persistent and large campus-linked distress load cutting across institutions and States.
• Youth Risk: In the 15–29 age group, suicides are among the top causes of death.
• Low Engagement: Only 3.5% of 60,383 HEIs responded to the Task Force survey.

Drivers of Rising Student Suicides

• System Expansion: Rapid “massification” and NEP targets 50% GER by 2035, increased enrolment faster than support systems, raising pressure on counselling and grievance systems.
• Service Deficit: Around 65% surveyed institutes reported no Mental Health Service Providers, and 73% reported no full-time providers, indicating weak on-campus support capacity.
• Inequality Stressors: Marginalised groups face layered stress from discrimination, disability access gaps, and language barriers, making entry into HEIs insufficient without real on-campus support.
• Academic Pressure: Rigid attendance, heavy workload, faculty shortages, non-transparent placements, and research-supervisor frictions create chronic stress and weaken peer bonding.
• Ragging Harm: Ragging persists in some campuses as “normalised bonding”.

Key Directives by the Supreme Court

• Mandatory FIR: Any suicide incident triggering a cognisable offence must lead to an FIR, reinforcing the institution’s legal duty beyond “internal committees” and optics.
• Annual Reporting: HEIs must submit annual suicide/unnatural death reports to regulators, including the University Grants Commission and professional councils where applicable.
• Vacancy Timelines: Teaching/non-teaching vacancies must be filled within 4 months, with priority to reserved posts for marginalised groups and persons with disabilities.
• Admin Continuity: Vice-Chancellors/Registrars and key posts must be filled within 4 months, and ideally within 1 month of vacancy to prevent governance drift.
• Scholarship Protection: Scholarship backlogs must clear within 4 months by governments, and students cannot be barred from classes/exams due to disbursal delays.
• Compliance Notice: HEIs were put on strict notice for compliance with binding regulations, including anti-ragging, equity, sexual harassment, and grievance redress systems.

NITI Aayog Initiative on MSME Scheme Convergence

• NITI Aayog released a roadmap on converging MSME schemes to reduce duplication, improve outreach, and strengthen delivery of credit, innovation and infrastructure support.

Convergence Framework by NITI Aayog

• Information Convergence: Integrate government-generated MSME data across Centre–States to improve governance, targeting and monitoring.
• Process Convergence: Align scheme design and implementation to merge overlaps, unify common components and reduce redundancies.

Why Convergence is Needed?

• Scheme Fragmentation: The Ministry of MSME runs 18 schemes across credit, skill, marketing, innovation and infrastructure, but overlaps across ministries create duplicated benefits.
• Low Awareness Reach: Even with large public spending, multiple schemes with different entry points reduce discoverability, so eligible MSMEs fail to access support.
• High Compliance Load: Separate documentation, verification and reporting for similar benefits raises transaction costs for small firms and creates time-loss.
• Data Silos: Without shared beneficiary databases, scheme monitoring becomes fragmented and outcome tracking weak, causing leakages and mis-targeting in delivery

Key Recommendations by Niti Aayog

1. Centralised MSME Portal

• Unified Platform: Build an AI-enabled portal integrating schemes in one digital window.
• Smart Support: Use AI chatbots, dashboards and mobile access to give real-time guidance.

2. Cluster Scheme Integration

• SFURTI Merger: Integrate Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) with Micro and Small Enterprises –Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP) for scale efficiency.
• Traditional Sub-Scheme: Create a dedicated traditional industries sub-window with earmarked support.

3. Skill Programme Rationalisation

• Three-Tier Model: Restructure skills into (i) entrepreneurship/business skills, (ii) MSME technical skills and (iii) rural/women artisan training.
• Overlap Removal: Merge similar training schemes while retaining targeted elements for inclusion.

4. Marketing Assistance Wing

• Domestic Component: Support MSMEs through exhibitions and structured market linkage platforms.
• Global Component: Enable export access through curated international buyer connections.

5. Innovation Scheme Integration

• ASPIRE Linkage: Integrate A Scheme for Promoting Innovation, Rural Industry & Entrepreneurship (ASPIRE) into MSME Innovative as a special agro-rural category.
• Budget Ring-Fencing: Continue existing ASPIRE funds while earmarking future innovation budgets.

6. Safeguards Suggested

• Targeted Schemes Protected: Preserve dedicated programmes like National SC/ST Hub and Promotion of MSMEs in North Eastern Region (NER).
• Flagships Standalone: Keep large scale schemes like Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and PM Vishwakarma independent due to size and strategic role.

Bagurumba Dwhou 2026

• PM Modi attended Bagurumba Dwhou 2026 and laid the foundation stone for the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Project in Assam.

About Bagurumba Dwhou

• Bagurumba Dwhou was a historic mass cultural event showcasing the traditional Bagurumba dance of the Bodo community. The word Dwhou means “wave” in Bodo.
• Bagurumba is also known as the “Butterfly Dance” for its graceful, flowing movements that mimic butterflies, birds, and swaying trees.
• Inspired by nature, the dance symbolises peace, fertility, joy, and collective harmony between humans and the natural world.
• Traditionally, Bodo women perform it while men provide musical accompaniment at festivals like Bwisagu (Bodo New Year) and Domasi.
• Attire: Handwoven Bodo garments like the Dokhona, Jwmgra or Fasra scarf, and Aronai stole.
• Musical Instruments: Sifung (flute), Kham (drum), Serja (violin-like), and Tharkha (bamboo clapper).

Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Project

• It is a major environmentally conscious highway project in Assam, aimed at ensuring the safe movement of wildlife and improving regional connectivity.
• The project is part of National Highway 715 (formerly NH-37), connecting Kaliabor and Numaligarh.
• Key Feature: A 35 km elevated stretch that will pass through Kaziranga National Park, allowing animals to move freely beneath.

Protest Against Vadhavan Port

• Thousands of people held a major protest march against the construction of the Vadhavan Port project in Maharashtra.
• Key Concerns: Livelihood loss of fisherfolk, farmers, and Adivasi communities, and ecological damage to the Dahanu Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ).

Dahanu ESZ

• It is a legally protected area in Palghar district, designated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in 1991.
• The Dahanu–Vadhavan intertidal zone is known as the “Golden Belt” for housing rare corals, live conches, and highly productive fish breeding grounds.

About Vadhavan Port

• It is an all-weather, deep-draft, major greenfield port under construction in Palghar district, around 150 km north of Mumbai.
• It is India’s first offshore port, planned on an artificial island created through land reclamation.
• It is being developed by Vadhavan Port Project Limited (VPPL), a joint venture between the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (74%) and the Maharashtra Maritime Board (26%).
• Operational Model: The port follows the Landlord Model, where the port authority owns land and core infrastructure, while private players manage terminals and operations.
• Key Feature: The port has a natural draft of 20 metres, allowing it to accommodate large container ships without extensive capital dredging.
• Connectivity: The port will connect to the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Mumbai–Vadodara Expressway.
• Strategic Role: It serves as a vital gateway for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

New Solid–Liquid Hybrid State of Matter Discovered

• Researchers from Germany and the UK recently reported the discovery of a hybrid solid–liquid state of matter.
• This state occurs at the nanoscale, where matter exhibits both solid and liquid properties.
• Applications: It could lead to more efficient, sustainable catalysts, especially platinum-on-carbon catalysts used in fuel cells, hydrogen vehicles, pharmaceuticals, and petrochemicals.

Key Features of the New State

• Atomic Coexistence: Within a single nanoparticle, some atoms remain stationary while others flow freely like a liquid.
• Atomic Corralling: Stationary atoms form a rigid atomic ‘fence’ or ‘corral’ that confines and controls the motion of mobile atoms.
• Extreme Supercooling: Atomic confinement allows metals like platinum to remain liquid at around 350°C, far below normal freezing points.
• Unstable Solidification: The liquid solidifies into a highly unstable amorphous glass-like solid that reverts to a crystal when the atomic “corral” is broken.

NASA’s Artemis II Mission

• NASA will soon launch the Artemis II mission, which will fly four astronauts around the Moon and return them to Earth.
• Artemis II is the first crewed Artemis mission, returning humans to the lunar vicinity since Apollo 17.
• It will conduct a lunar flyby without landing, carrying the first woman and the first person of colour.
• International Partners: NASA has partnered with the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
• Launch Vehicle: The mission will launch aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV).
• Trajectory: Orion will use a free-return trajectory, looping around the Moon’s far side and returning to Earth under natural gravity.
• Distance & Altitude: Astronauts will fly 7,400 km above the Moon and almost 400,000 km from Earth—the farthest humans have ever travelled.
• Significance: The mission will test the Orion spacecraft’s deep-space exploration systems under realistic conditions for the Artemis III lunar landing.
• NASA’s Artemis mission is a multinational programme to establish a long-term lunar presence and prepare for future crewed Mars missions.
• The Orion MPCV is NASA’s next-generation partially reusable spacecraft.
• The SLS rocket is NASA’s super-heavy-lift vehicle and the world’s most powerful launch vehicle.

INS Sudarshini

• INS Sudarshini has embarked on Lokayan 26, a 10-month transoceanic expedition.
• It will participate in international tall-ship events, Escale à Sète in France and SAIL 250 in New York City.
• INS Sudarshini is an indigenous three-masted sail training ship of the Indian Navy.
• It is a sister ship of INS Tarangini, commissioned in 2012.
• It was built by Goa Shipyard Limited and is based at the Southern Naval Command in Kochi.
• Strategic Role: INS Sudarshini provides sail training and serves as a ‘floating ambassador’, advancing the MAHASAGAR vision for regional security and growth.

Parakaempferia alba

• Scientists have discovered Parakaempferia alba, a new ginger species, in the Siang Valley region of Arunachal Pradesh.
• Taxonomic Family: It is a herbaceous plant species belonging to the ginger family Zingiberaceae.
• Habitat Preference: The species thrives in the moist, shaded undergrowth of tropical semi-evergreen forests with limited direct sunlight.
• Environment: It typically grows at elevations of 150-400 metres, preferring humid, sandy soils along shaded streambanks.
• Ecological Role: The plant acts as a ground-level stabiliser in riparian zones, reducing soil erosion through its root system.