📝 Mission Innovation Annual Gathering 2025[1]
🚀 A multilateral platform accelerating clean energy innovation ⇒ Held in Seoul, South Korea (April 9-11, 2025).
👉🏽 Focus: To advance the biorefinery approach for fuels, chemicals, and materials.
🚀 India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) presented the Bioe3 Policy and demonstrated its pivotal role in addressing climate challenges ⇒ India’s efforts in integrating Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Bioenergy (CCUB) were also highlighted.
💡Biorefinery approach: A sustainable method of converting biomass into various valuable products and energy, mimicking how petroleum refineries work.
💡 DBT co-leads the Mission Integrated Biorefinery jointly with the Netherlands as part of Mission Innovation (MI) 2.0 ⇒ During COP21, PM Modi, in collaboration with the former French President, coined the term “Mission Innovation.”
Mission Innovation: A global initiative of 24 countries and the EU ⇒ Launched during the Paris Agreement at COP21 in 2015 ⇒ Aims to accelerate clean energy innovations.
📝 Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Argentina[2][3]
🚀 A $20 billion, 48-month EFF deal with the IMF.
💡Extended Fund Facility (EFF): Provides financial assistance to countries facing serious medium-term balance of payments problems because of structural weaknesses that require time to address ⇒ Offers a longer repayment period.
📝 MGNREGA[4]
🚀 Provides at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
👉🏽 Every Scheduled Tribe household in a forest area is entitled to get 150 days’ work, provided that such families have no other private property except for the land rights granted under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
👉🏽 An additional 50 days of wage employment can be provided in a financial year in drought/natural calamity-affected notified rural areas.
📝 Article 201[5]
🚀 Pertains to the State Bills reserved by the Governor for the President’s consideration.
👉🏽 Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that the President must decide on State Bills reserved by Governors for Presidential assent within 3 months ⇒ If no action is taken within 3 months, states may pursue a writ of mandamus in court.
💡 The Sarkaria Commission recommended adopting definite timelines for efficiently disposing of references under Article 201. The Punchhi Commission also suggested reading a timeline in Article 201.
👉🏽 The Sarkaria and Punchhi Commissions were established in 1983 and 2007, respectively, to examine Centre-State relations and suggest measures for improvement.
📝 Global Tariff and Trade Helpdesk[6]
🚀 Launched by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
👉🏽 To deal with issues relating to Import, Export, Logistics or Supply Chain Challenges, Financial or Banking issues and Regulatory or Compliance Issues, among others.
📝 Miscellaneous[7][8][9]
🚀 Colorado River: Flows in the U.S. and Mexico; Forms the border between the U.S. and Mexico; Mouth – Gulf of California.
🚀 Rio Grande River: Flows in the U.S. and Mexico; Forms the border between the U.S. and Mexico; Mouth – Gulf of Mexico.
🚀 Morag Corridor/Route/Axis: Separates Rafah and Khan Younis in Gaza.
🚀 Global Justice, Love & Peace Summit: Dubai ⇒ 12 Nobel Peace Prize laureates shared a single stage, joined by global leaders, policymakers, activists, and cultural figures in a show of unity aimed at fostering dialogue and cooperation.