PM Jan Vikas Karyakram

• The Ministry of Minority Affairs held a nationwide review of PM Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) to improve last-mile outcomes in minority-concentrated areas.

PM Jan Vikas Karyakram

• A Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs to bridge development deficits in Minority Concentration Areas (MCAs) across India.
• Covers both urban and rural minority clusters across 700+ MCAs and targets MCAS where the minority population exceeds 25% and socio-economic indicators lag behind national averages.
• Funding Pattern is 90:10 for NE/Hill States, 60:40 for others, 100% for UTs (as per CSS norms).

Objectives of PMJVK

1. Reduce regional development deficits through education, health, civic amenities, skill infrastructure.
2. Ensure equitable access to public infrastructure for minority communities.
3. Strengthen social inclusion, area development, women-focused facilities, and youth-skill infrastructure.

Achievements of PMJVK Implementation

• Asset Creation: Over 12,000+ social infrastructure projects sanctioned since inception.
• Education Boost: Over 800 facilities, including smart classrooms, have been developed.
• Health Infrastructure: 500+ PHCs and maternal-health facilities established or upgraded.
• Gender Inclusion: Women’s hostels and skill centres constitute 15–20% of total project approvals.
• Digital Transparency: 100% fund releases routed through the PMJVK Portal and SNA-SPARSH in 2025.
• Community Facilities: 2,000+ community assets like Sadbhav Mandaps and skill centres for public use.

Issues in PMJVK Implementation

• Utilisation Delays: Only 62–65% of annual allocations utilised on schedule.
• Capacity Shortage: Nearly 40% MCAs have inadequate project-preparation capacity.
• Land Constraints: 25–30% PMJVK works are stuck due to land/permission bottlenecks.
• State Variation: Huge differences in fund utilisation and asset completion. E.g., Some States show above 90% utilisation, others remain below 50%.

Way Forward

• Digital Strengthening: Scale PMJVK Portal with automated alerts and public dashboards for accountable delivery. E.g., Adopt monitoring templates similar to Geo-MGNREGA for real-time verification.
• Community Ownership: Institutionalise social audits and community consultations to ensure transparency and inclusion. E.g. Follow participatory frameworks of the Aspirational Districts Programme.
• Quality Assurance: Enforce third-party audits, digital photo-evidence, and QR-tagging of assets to strengthen accountability and reduce leakages. E.g. QA models seen in the National Health Mission.
• Convergence Models: Integrate PMJVK projects with PM-SHRI schools, PM-KVK skill hubs, NHM health facilities, and Smart Cities infrastructure for greater developmental impact.

IMF Assigns Second-Lowest ‘C’ Rating to India’s National Accounts Statistics (NAS) and Inflation Data

IMF Grading is divided into four grades:

1. A: The data provided are adequate for surveillance.
2. B: Data have some shortcomings but is broadly adequate for surveillance.
3. C: Data have some shortcomings that somewhat hamper surveillance.
4. D: Data have serious shortcomings that significantly hamper surveillance.

Key Issues highlighted by IMF

• Outdated Base Year (2011-12) for GDP calculation: fails to reflect current production technology and user preferences, which can lead to over or underestimating economic activity.
• Need to use updated data sources: E.g. Household consumption and expenditure survey (HCES), Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), etc. to better capture the structural changes in the economy.
• Lack of Seasonally Adjusted Data: National accounts are not seasonally adjusted, making it difficult to interpret short-term quarterly movements.
• Outdated statistical techniques in the quarterly national accounts data.
• Lack of Producer Prices Indices (PPI): Excessive use of single deflation i.e. Wholesale Price Index (WPI), may introduce cyclical biases.
• Outdated CPI Components: The IMF highlights that the current CPI base year, items basket, and weights are outdated (2011/12).

IMF’s Recommendation:

• Going forward, regular benchmark revisions of national account, price, and other key statistics should be conducted according to international best practices.

Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Used in Red Fort Car Blast

• Investigators suspect that the recent car blast near the Red Fort in New Delhi may have been caused by an improvised explosive device (IED).

Improvised Explosive Device (IED)

• An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) is a homemade or non-standard explosive weapon assembled from commercial or military components to cause damage.
• Wide Range: IEDs can be built using pressure cookers, metal pipes, chemical fertilisers, cell phones, vehicle parts and other readily available items.
• Size Variation: Their size ranges from small improvised devices to large vehicle-concealed bombs known as Vehicle-Borne IEDs (VBIEDs).
• Core Components: A typical IED contains five elements: Switch (Trigger), Initiator (Detonator), Main Charge (Explosive Material), Power Source (Battery), and Container (Casing).
• Lethal Enhancements: Many IEDs include nails, ball bearings, or hazardous chemicals to maximise casualties during detonation.
• Trigger Methods: Common triggering systems include command-operated remote methods, timer-based systems, and victim-operated mechanisms (i.e., pressure plates).

Why IEDs Are Often Preferred Weapons of Choice?

• Cheap Components: The materials used for IEDs (e.g., fertiliser, hydrogen peroxide, and gunpowder) are inexpensive, dual-use and commercially available.
• Easy Fabrication: IEDs can be assembled with minimal training and permit wide variation in size, form, and concealment techniques.
• Low Detectability: Their improvised design and use of non-military components make them difficult for conventional screening technologies to identify.
• Remote Detonation: Many IEDs can be triggered remotely, allowing perpetrators to maintain distance and evade immediate capture.

Factors Contributing to the Decline of IED Use in India

• Ammonium Nitrate Rules: Designating ammonium nitrate as a deemed explosive has imposed tighter licensing controls and curtailed pilferage from mining sites.
• Border Controls: Enhanced border surveillance and interdiction measures have disrupted smuggling routes carrying military-grade explosives from Pakistan.
• Rule Amendments: Recent amendments to the Explosives Rules tightened transport tracking and closed logistics loopholes used to siphon legally sourced materials.
• Fertiliser Safeguards: Mandatory neem-coating and added chemical inhibitors in fertilisers have made separating ammonium compounds for explosive use technically unviable.

Way Forward for a Holistic National Counter-IED Policy

• Nodal Agency: Empower the National Bomb Data Centre (NBDC) as the central authority to integrate intelligence and remove information silos across state police and central security forces.
• Uniform RSP: Mandate a standard national Render Safe Procedure (RSP) to prevent casualties caused by inconsistent IED handling and disposal practices.
• Signature Bank: Create a digital National Bomb Signature Bank to link forensic signatures across incidents and identify recurring bomb-maker networks.
• Component Law: Enact specific legal provisions criminalising the possession of unauthorised IED sub-components such as detonator circuits and triggering switches.

Centre Gets CEC Push for Tiger Reserve in Goa

• A Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) recommended notifying a tiger reserve in Goa through a two-phase implementation plan.
• First Phase: Around 300 sq km of Cotigao and Netravali Wildlife Sanctuaries (WLS), adjoining Karnataka’s Kali Tiger Reserve, will be notified as the core area.
• Second Phase: The inhabited parts of Mhadei WLS and the southern part of Bhagwan Mahavir WLS will subsequently be notified as buffer zones.
• Legal Requirement: The state must issue the notification within three months and prepare a Tiger Conservation Plan under Section 38V of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• State Objection: Goa argued that (a) nearly 1,00,000 residents oppose relocation and (b) the state currently has no resident tigers.

Tiger Landscape in Goa

• Reserve Status: Goa has no formally notified tiger reserve, yet its Western Ghat belt remains a crucial tiger landscape.
• Tiger Corridor: Mhadei and Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuaries (WLS) create a continuous tiger corridor linking Karnataka’s Bhimgad WLS and Kali Tiger Reserve.
• Recognised Habitat: The Western Ghats stretch from Sattari to Netravali was officially recorded as tiger habitat in the 2018 National Tiger Census.
• Mortality Concern: NTCA recommended a tiger reserve after four tigers were deliberately poisoned in Mhadei WLS in 2020.
• Legal Mandate: A 2023 Bombay High Court order directed Goa to notify Mhadei and adjoining areas as a Tiger Reserve under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Tex-RAMPS Scheme

Government has approved the Textiles Focused Research, Assessment, Monitoring, Planning and Start-up (Tex-RAMPS) Scheme.

‘Tex-RAMPS’ Scheme

• Ministry: Ministry of Textiles
• Funding: ₹305 crore from 2025-26 to 2030-31.
• Aim: To future-proof India’s textiles and apparel (T&A) ecosystem by strengthening Research, Innovation and Competitiveness in Textiles Sector.

Key Components

• Research & Innovation:  in smart textiles, sustainability etc.
• Data, Analytics & Diagnostics: including employment assessments, supply chain mapping, etc.
• Real-time Integrated Textiles Statistical System (ITSS): to support structured monitoring and strategic decision-making.
• Capacity Development & Knowledge Ecosystem: Strengthening of State-level planning, dissemination of best practices.
• Start-up & Innovation Support: Support for incubators, hackathons, and academia-industry collaborations.

New Fruit Fly Species Euphranta undulata

• A new fruit fly species, Euphranta undulata, was recently discovered in the Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya.
• Etymology: The name, undulata, derives from the Latin word for “wavy,” referring to the wavy margin of the female aculeus tip (the pointed part of the egg-laying ovipositor).
• Physical Traits: It is a slender-bodied insect with a brown or grey abdomen and patterned hyaline (transparent) wings.
• Ecological Niche: Native to the bamboo ecosystem of Northeast India, it is frugivorous (fruit-eating) and monophagous (feeding on a single type of food).

NGT directs CPCB to trace hundreds of missing Endosulfan barrels

• The NGT has directed the CPCB, Kerala SPCB and Plantation Corporation of Kerala to trace hundreds of missing barrels of banned pesticide Endosulfan.

National Green Tribunal (NGT):

• A specialised judicial body for speedy disposal of environmental disputes, functioning with expertise in environmental science and law.
• Established in: Set up on 18 October 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 to provide dedicated and time-bound environmental justice.
• Aim: To ensure effective environmental protection, conservation of natural resources, and provide relief and compensation for environmental damage.

Jurisdiction:

• Handles civil cases involving substantial environmental questions linked to laws listed in Schedule I (e.g., Water Act, Air Act, EPA, Forest Conservation Act, Biodiversity Act).

The following important Acts are NOT within NGT’s jurisdiction:

• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Wildlife crimes, poaching, sanctuary matters fall outside NGT’s powers and go to regular courts.
• Indian Forest Act, 1927: Issues of forest offences, transit rules, and forest land rights are not heard by the NGT.
• Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA): Claims, titles, individual/community forest rights are outside NGT jurisdiction.
• Has appellate jurisdiction over decisions relating to environmental clearances, pollution control orders, and biodiversity benefit-sharing disputes.

Governance Structure

• Chairperson: Head of the Tribunal – must be a retired Supreme Court Judge or Chief Justice of a High Court and appointed by the Central Government in consultation with the CJI.
• Judicial Members: Retired Judges of SC/HC and handle adjudication of environmental disputes based on legal principles.
• Expert Members: Specialists in environmental science, forestry, pollution control, or related fields; ensure interdisciplinary decision-making.

Powers & Functions

• Can provide relief, compensation, and restitution for victims of pollution, environmental damage, and hazardous substance accidents.
• Applies the polluter pays, precautionary, and no-fault liability principles while awarding compensation.
• Not bound by the Civil Procedure Code; guided instead by principles of natural justice for faster adjudication.
• Aims to decide cases within six months, reducing burden on High Courts and the Supreme Court.
• Can enforce environmental rights, impose penalties, direct restoration work, and monitor compliance with its orders.

ICMR Report Warns of Rising Antibiotic Resistance in India

• ICMR’s AMRSN Report 2024 warns that common infections in India—UTIs, pneumonia, sepsis, diarrhoea are becoming harder to treat as routine antibiotics fail.
• Superbugs like coli, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas now show high resistance to fluoroquinolones, cephalosporins and even last-line carbapenems.

Superbugs

• A superbug is a bacteria or fungus that becomes resistant to multiple antibiotics or antifungals, making routine infections extremely difficult to treat.

How Superbugs Form?

• They evolve resistance due to misuse/overuse of antibiotics, incomplete dosing, hospital overexposure to high-end drugs, and gene transfer between microbes.

Types of Common Superbugs:

• Bacterial: coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, MRSA, CRE.
• Fungal: Candida auris, Aspergillus fumigatus with rising antifungal resistance.

Symptoms of Superbug Infections:

• Symptoms vary by organ but include persistent fever, chills, septic shock, painful skin lesions, breathing difficulty, extreme fatigue, rapid heart rate or low blood pressure.

Implications:

• Treatment Failure: Even strong antibiotics stop working, forcing toxic or expensive drug combinations.
• Higher Mortality: ICU infections like ventilator-associated pneumonia become life-threatening.
• Longer Hospital Stays: Patients require prolonged isolation, raising healthcare burden.
• Economic Loss: Increased cost of treatment, lost productivity, and higher burden on public hospitals.
• Threat of Untreatable Infections: Everyday illnesses could become fatal like in the pre-antibiotic era.

Significance

• Highlights urgent need for India-wide antibiotic stewardship and infection-control protocols.
• Signals rising global AMR threat, jeopardising SDG targets on health and well-being.
• Calls for surveillance strengthening, new drug discovery, and regulated antibiotic sales.

G.V. Mavalankar (1888 - 1956)

• Lok Sabha Speaker paid floral tributes to Shri Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, the first Speaker of Lok Sabha.
• Popularly known as Dadasaheb, he was conferred the title ‘Father of the Lok Sabha’ by Jawaharlal Nehru.

Key Contributions:

• He was active in Gujarat Education Society, Gujarat Sabha, and joined Swaraj Party.
• He played active role in Non-Cooperation movement and ‘Khaira No-Rent’ campaign.
• Remained Speaker of Bombay Legislative Assembly (1937-1946), elected to preside over Central Legislative Assembly (1946) and became speaker of Provisional Parliament in 1949.
• He was the founder Chairman of the National Rifle Association as also of the Institute for Afro-Asian Relations.
• Books: Manavatana Jharna, Sansmarano, A great Experiment.
• Values: Nonpartisanship, leadership, integrity, patriotism etc.