- Biannual Transparency Report (BTR): As part of its commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change India will submit BTR. Under Enhanced Transparency Framework, Parties to Paris Agreement are required to submit biennial Transparency Reports (BTR) every two years, with the first submission due by 31 December 2024. It will subject to technical review by independent, non-Indian, UNFCCC-accredited experts. Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) may submit the information required for the BTR at their discretion.
- Digital Brand Identity Manual: By Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) as part of its efforts to bring uniformity across government websites and digital platforms. As part of the Gov.In: Harmonisation of Government of India’s Digital Footprint initiative, DBIM seeks to establish a standardized and seamless digital presence across government ministries, departments, and agencies. Primary objective of DBIM is to create a unified and consistent digital brand for Government of India. Guidelines extend beyond websites to cover mobile applications and social media platforms.
- Earthquake swarm: It occurs when multiple seismic events of comparable intensity strike a small area in relatively quick succession. Emergency has been declared on Greece’s Santorini and nearby islands after a swarm of undersea earthquake.
- Inland Waterways Terminal on the Brahmaputra at Jogighopa in Assam inaugurated. It will be an international port of call for Bhutan and Bangladesh while enhancing logistics and cargo movement in Assam and the Northeast India. It is located at a distance of 91 km from Gelephu in Bhutan, 108 km from Bangladesh border.
- ‘Cruise Bharat Mission’ to boost cruise tourism in India over the next five years, aiming to establish 10 sea cruise terminals, 100 river cruise terminals, and five marinas.
- Coronal holes: Discovered in the 1970s by X-ray satellites, “coronal holes” in the sun’s atmosphere are dark in the X-ray and EUV (extreme ultraviolet) wavelengths and are low-density regions that have open magnetic field structures in the interplanetary space. These solar activity phenomena are intense sources of fast solar wind—streams of charged particles that escape from the sun, more easily into space. A recent physics-based study concluded that, in addition to influence of sunspots, parameterized study of radiative effects of coronal holes explains satisfactorily the variability of Indian Monsoon rainfall. They are also associated with disturbances in the Earth’s ionosphere, the layer of the atmosphere that reflects and modifies the radio waves, leading to further communication issues.
- Road to Game Jam: Organized by the Game Developer Association of India (GDAI) in collaboration with KGeN (Kratos Gamer Network),this initiative is a significant part of the Create in India Challenge Season 1 and falls under Pillar 2 of WAVES, which focuses on AVGC-XR (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics, along with Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality and the Metaverse). This event gives game developers a platform to shape the future of gaming by presenting cutting-edge designs and creative concepts in a rapidly evolving industry.
- Bharat Tex 2025, India’s largest global textile event, was successfully organized from February 14 to 17, 2025,at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. It served as a platform to accelerate the government’s “Farm to Fibre, Fabric, Fashion, and Foreign Markets” The office of the Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India organized a fashion event titled “Breathing Threads” to feel the pulse of craftsmanship, honour a living legacy, and witness the timeless elegance of Indian handlooms in modern silhouettes. India is the sixth-largest exporter of textiles globally, contributing 8.21% to the country’s total exports in 2023-24. The sector holds a 4.5% share in global trade, with the United States and European Union accounting for 47% of India’s textile and apparel exports. Textile industry provides direct employment to over 45 million people and supports the livelihoods of over 100 million individuals indirectly, including a large proportion of women and rural workers.
- Blackwater Coal Mine: It is an open-cut mine in Queensland, Australia, which has been operating since 1967. In India, the BW Coal Mine supplies coking coal by way of imports.
AI Initiatives
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- Bhashini: BHASHINI, or the BHASHa INterface for India, is India’s Artificial Intelligence (AI)-led language translation platform, breaking down language barriers and enabling conversations between speakers of different Indian languages. Launched in July 2022 under the National Language Translation Mission (NLTM), it aims to provide technology translation services in 22 scheduled Indian languages. It is implemented by the Digital India BHASHINI Division, a division under the Digital India Corporation, a Section 8 Company of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
- BharatGen: World’s first government funded multimodal large language model (LLM) initiative launched in 2024 by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology. It is implemented by IIT Bombay under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).
- Sarvam-1: It is open-source and supports up to ten Indian languages. Launched by Bengaluru based company Sarvam AI.
- Chitralekha: It is an open-source platform for video subtitling across various Indic languages, using ML model support. It offers support for multiple input sources (Ex: YouTube), transcription generation process (Ex: Models, Source captions, Custom subtitle files etc) and voice over (Ex: mp3 for audio only, mp4 for audio-video combination, etc).
- Everest 1.0: India’s first Multilingual and multi-modal foundational LLM AI system which caters to various Indian languages. Launched by Hanooman AI company.
Soil Health Card Scheme
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- Launched by PM in 2015 to assist State Governments to issue soil health cards to all farmers in the country.
- It provides information to farmers on nutrient status of their soil along with recommendation on appropriate dosage of nutrients to be applied for improving soil health and its fertility.
- Contains status of the soil with respect to 12 parameters, namely N,P,K, S (Macro-nutrients); Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Bo (Micro – nutrients) ; and pH (Acidity or Basicity), EC (Electrical Conductivity) and OC (Organic Carbon).
- Soil Samples are taken generally two times in a year, after harvesting of Rabi and Kharif Crop respectively or when there is no standing crop in the field.
- Village Level Soil Testing Labs (VLSTLs) can be set up by individual entrepreneurs i.e. rural youth and community based entrepreneurs, including Self Help Groups (SHGs), Schools, Agriculture Universities etc.
- Soil Health Card portal was revamped and integrated with a Geographic Information System (GIS) system so that all the test results are captured and seen on a map.
Note: Soil Health Card scheme has been merged in Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) scheme as one of its components under the name ‘Soil Health & Fertility’ from the year 2022-23.
PRACTICE MCQs
Q1. Consider the following statements about Soil Health Card Scheme:
1. Soil Health Card contains the status of the soil with respect to 12 parameters.
2. It has been merged with Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) scheme from the year 2022-23.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: C
Q2. Consider the following statements about textile exports from India:
1. India is the second-largest exporter of textiles globally.
2. United States and European Union accounting for about 45% of India’s textile and apparel exports.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: B
Q3. Consider the following statements about Digital Brand Identity Manual:
1. It is launched by Ministry of Science and Technology.
2. It is launched as part of the Gov.In: Harmonisation of Government of India’s Digital Footprint initiative.
3. Its primary objective is to create a unified and consistent digital brand for Government of India.
How many statements given above are correct?
a) Only one
b) Only two
c) All three
d) None
Answer: B
Q4. Santorini and nearby islands of Greece were recently in news due to –
a) Earthquake swarm
b) Volcanic eruption
c) Conflict with Turkey
d) Terrorist attack
Answer: A
Q5. Consider the following statements:
1. Under Enhanced Transparency Framework, Parties to Paris Agreement are required to submit biennial Transparency Reports (BTR) every two years.
2. Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) may submit the information required for the BTR at their discretion.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: C
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