Rules on AI Literacy and Prohibited Systems Under the European Union AI Act became applicable.

• Under the new AI literacy obligations, providers and deployers will be required to ensure a sufficient level of AI literacy for their staff and other persons working with AI systems.

About European Union AI Act

• Genesis: The AI Act is the first-ever legal framework on AI, which entered into force in 2024 (will be fully implemented by 2026).
• Approach: The act takes a risk-based approach to regulation, applying different rules to AI according to the risk they pose.
• Prohibitions: The Act list AI prohibited practices (see image), emphasizing the importance of ethics, safety and transparency.  

Impact of the AI Act

• Global Impacts: 
  • Human-centric focus: The Act safeguards fundamental rights, prevents discrimination, and promotes ethical AI, fostering global trust and responsible AI adoption.
  • Global Benchmark for AI Regulation: Other countries may adopt similar frameworks, aligning their regulations with the EU's standards.
  • Increased Compliance Costs: Non-EU companies may face additional costs to adapt their AI systems to comply with the Act.
• Impact on India:
  • Risk-based regulation: India’s AI policy could benefit from a risk-based approach, categorising AI applications by their potential societal impact.
  • Global alignment: Aligning India’s AI regulations with international standards can enhance global cooperation and help Indian companies stay competitive internationally.

Union Budget 2025-26 announced setting up of second National Gene Bank, comprising a million germplasm lines for future food and nutritional security.

• A gene bank is a repository of genetic material, such as seeds, pollen or tissue samples to protect them from potential extinction.

About First National Gene Bank

• First National Gene Bank was set up in 1996 by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBPGR) in New Delhi.
• This bank comprises 12 regional stations across the country for collection and storage of vital crop germplasms. 
  • These germplasms are the genetic constituents of plants or animals that are used in research, conservation and crop breeding.

China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) created new record in Fusion reaction. 

• EAST, also known as China’s Artificial Sun, maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for 1000+ seconds reaching a temperature of 100 million °C.
• A tokamak is a machine that confines a plasma using magnetic fields in a donut shape to harness the energy of fusion.

Significance of this achievement: 

• Step towards fusion-based nuclear reactors which can act as alternatives to other sources of clean energy such as wind, solar etc.; 
• Can address world energy crisis & problem of climate change.

Advantage of nuclear fusion

• High Energy Output – It produces greater amounts of energy than any other source.
• Abundant & affordable fuel –It  uses cheap input materials, available in almost limitless supply. E.g., deuterium, tritium, hydrogen, Lithium
• Environmentally friendly – It has a zero-emission footprint and it does not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions or global warming
• Safe and Clean Process – Fusion reactors produce helium, an inert gas. They also generate and recycle tritium, a radioactive substance with a short half-life. As a result, fusion does not produce long-lived radioactive nuclear waste.

Challenges in nuclear fusion

• Extreme Temperature Requirement: Fusion requires temperatures of hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius, even higher than the Sun’s core.
• Plasma containment: At such high temperatures, matter exists only in the plasma state (atoms get split into positively and negatively charged particles). Keeping plasmas stable in order to extract energy is difficult.
• Magnetic Confinement: The plasma must be suspended within a confined space using strong magnetic fields to prevent contact with reactor walls.

The ISRO successfully placed the NVS-02 satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit using  GSLV-F15 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

• GSLV-F15 Vehicle is a three stage launch vehicle with a third-stage CUS 15 cryogenic engine.
• The NVS-02 is the second satellite in the NVS series, and part of India’s Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC).

What is NavIC?

• About: It is a regional navigation satellite system (erstwhile known as Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System) launched by ISRO.
• NavIC Network: NavIC is designed with a constellation of 7 satellites of which 3 satellites placed in geostationary orbit & 4 satellites are placed in inclined geosynchronous orbit.
• NavIC Services: Standard Position Service (SPS) for civilian users & Restricted Service for strategic users. 
• Coverage Area: India and a region up to 1500 km beyond Indian boundary. 
• Accuracy: NavIC’s SPS offer accuracy of better than 20 meters and a timing accuracy of better than 40 nanoseconds. 
• Other: NavIC SPS signals are interoperable with the other global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals i.e., GPS (of USA), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo (European Union) & BeiDou (China). 

First detailed geological papping of Moon’s south pole area made from Chandrayaan Data. 

• Researchers from ISRO (among others) created the first detailed lunar map using data from the Pragyan rover, which was deployed by Vikram (lander of India's Chandrayaan-3) on its nine-day mission.
• South Pole-Aitken Basin: Vikram landed near this ancient, massive impact crater (one of the largest in the Solar System).

Key Findings from Chandrayaan-3’s Lunar South Pole Exploration

• Terrain Types: Undulating landscape of highlands and low, flat plains.
• Confirmation of Subsurface Magma Ocean: Findings confirms ancient ocean of molten lava that extends across the entire moon.
• Age of the Lunar South Polar region: Calculated to be around 3.7 billion years, around the time the first signs of microbial life emerged on the earth.
• A Common Origin with Earth: The Moon’s geochemical similarities with Earth supports the theory that both bodies originated from the same molten material.
  • Possibly due to a massive collision between Earth and a Mars-sized body about 4.5 billion years ago.

Significance of Lunar Craters

• The Moon’s craters have been preserved for billions of years due to no atmospheric erosion.
• They offer vital insights into the solar system’s early history and help date geological features on other planets.
• Lunar craters act as time capsules, preserving records of space-rock impacts shaping the entire solar system.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer orbiter as a secondary payload. The primary payload was Intuitive Machines' lunar lander mission (IM-2).

• IM-2’s Objective: To settle on to the moon where it will drill beneath the surface in a bid to find water there.

About Lunar Trailblazer Mission

• Objective: It will orbit at an altitude of roughly 100 km and collect high-resolution images of targeted areas to determine:
  • The form, distribution and abundance of water and to better understand the lunar water cycle.
• Significance: Guide future human missions to locate and extract water resources.
• Components: Two Lunar Trailblazer instruments will take measurements from lunar Orbit:
  • Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM): will map and measure the lunar surface temperature.
  • High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM3): It will search for light patterns indicating water on Moon.

Importance of Lunar Water

• Drinking Supply: Processed into drinkable water
• Breathable Oxygen: Converted into oxygen for breathing
• Rocket Fuel: Hydrogen fuel for rockets.
• Exploration of the Solar System: Lunar water enables deeper space exploration, including Mars.

A study published in Nature Communications challenges the long-held belief about Mars' red color.

Findings of the New study about Red Color of Mars (The Red Planet)

• Previous studies attributed Mars’ red color to anhydrous hematite formed through recent weathering.
• New study finds poorly crystalline ferrihydrite (Fe5O8H · nH2O) is the main iron oxide in Martian dust.
  • It is formed during a cold, wet period on early Mars under oxidative conditions. It suggests Mars underwent aqueous alteration before becoming the dry desert seen today.

The Department of Nutrition and Food Safety (NFS) of the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched its new guideline on the use of lower-sodium salt substitutes.

About the LSSS

• Composition: They contain less sodium than regular salt and often include potassium chloride, with or without other agents, to achieve a flavour similar to regular salt.
• Advantages: Help in limiting sodium intake to below 2 g/day to reduce noncommunicable diseases such as blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
• Concerns: LSSS with potassium can be harmful as too high a level of blood potassium (hyperkalaemia), can affect individuals with impaired kidney function. 

The Ministry of AYUSH has launched a campaign titled “Shatavari –For Better Health" to increase awareness about Shatavari’s health benefits.

About Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus)

• Shatavari, meaning “curer of a hundred diseases” 
• It is a medicinal woody climber growing to 1-2 m in height.
• Uses: Dried roots, leaves are used as a drug in Ayurvedic medicine
• Habitat: Low altitudes in shade and in tropical climates.
  • It is spread across Asia, Australia and Africa. 
• Health Benefits: Improves female reproductive health, hormonal balance, ulcer healing effect, promotes vitality and longevity, imparts immunity, treating nervous disorders etc.

Bharat Tech Triumph Program has been launched to support digital and online gaming in India. 

About Bharat Tech Triumph Program

• Launched by:  Interactive Entertainment and Innovation Council (IEIC), in partnership with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), 
• Objective: To identify and showcase India’s gaming talent on the international stage.
• It will provide Indian innovators with a global platform to highlight their expertise and expand India’s presence in the international gaming industry.