Supreme Court upheld the retrospective benefit of section 479 of BNSS for first-time offenders. 

• BNSS replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) from July 1, 2024. 

About Section 479 

• Under Section 479, undertrials who have spent at least half of the maximum sentence prescribed for their offense in detention (during investigation, inquiry, or trial) are entitled to bail.
  • For first-time offenders, the requirement is reduced to one-third of the maximum sentence.
• Exclusions: The provision does not apply to offenses where the punishment is life imprisonment or death.

Bandicoot Mini has been launched by Start-up Genrobotic Innovations. 

• It is more compact and affordable version of the Bandicoot robot. 

About Bandicoot Robot

• It's a manhole-cleaning robot that does all the tasks that are manually done inside the manhole. 
  • It can be controlled and monitored by the control panel placed outside the manhole. 
• With its specially designed human-comparable robotic arm it unblocks the sewer line system. 
• It will help in eradicating manual scavenging. 

Ministry of Agriculture allows blueberry import from Poland exclusively from orchards registered with NPPO. 

• India imports blueberries from countries like the US, Canada, Poland, and Peru. 

About NPPO

• NPPO is a country-level institution that acts as official competent authority for plant protection under the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) 1951.
  • IPPC is an intergovernmental treaty to protect the world's plants, agricultural products, & natural resources from plant pests. 
    • India is a signatory.
• Directorate of Plant Protection Quarantine and Storage, under Ministry of Agriculture, is the NPPO of India.
  • It is responsible for implementation of phytosanitary certification program as per IPPC. 

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has formed a task force to address challenges and drive the growth of surety bond insurance.

About Surety Bond

• A surety bond is a risk transfer mechanism wherein an insurer provides a guarantee to a beneficiary or obligee that the principal or contractor will meet his contractual obligations.
• Three parties involved in a surety guarantee:
  • Principal: Could be the owner or contractor
  • Obligee:  Government entity or person requiring principal to be bonded.
  • Surety: Provides financial guarantee to obligee on behalf of principal.
• Significance: Unlike traditional bank guarantees, surety bonds provide a more comprehensive and efficient solution for different sectors, particularly in construction, etc. 

Under the Sagarmala programme, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is developing the National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC), at Lothal, Gujarat.

About Lothal

• Name "Lothal" comes from Gujarati words which mean "mound of the dead".
• Location: Situated beside a tributary of Sabarmati River in Gujarat, close to Gulf of Khambat.
• Notable features:
  • World's oldest known artificial dock.
  • Fire altars in houses and public places.
  • Advanced drainage system made of burnt bricks.
  • Storehouse containing many seals and sealings.
  • Mud brick Houses. 
• Lothal was near sources of carnelian, steatite and metal. 
• Lothal was a thriving trade centre, with its trade of beads, gems and ornaments reaching West Asia and Africa. 

SEBI releases consultation paper to seek suggestions for enabling faster Rights Issue.

• It aims to make Rights Issues a preferred mode vis a vis other modes of fund raising such as Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) and Preferential Allotments.

Rights Issue

• It is a method of raising additional capital through issuance of additional shares to the existing shareholders in a company.
• Benefits: 
  • For company: Raise additional capital at lower cost, pay down debt.
  • For Shareholders: Enable purchasing of more shares at a discount, and tradability of rights entitlement.

Recently, Tanager-1 satellite has been launched.

About Tanager-1

• It is a Carbon Mapper’s Coalition first Satellite and has been developed by Planet Labs PBC. 
  • Carbon Mapper is a nonprofit organization focused on facilitating timely action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. 
• Aim:  Detecting and Mapping high priority areas for methane and carbon dioxide with high resolution. 
  • Methane is over 80 times more powerful at retaining heat in the atmosphere than CO2, contributing to about 30% of global temperature rise to date.
• Instruments: uses  imaging spectrometer technology developed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA

Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) launched the All India Initiative on Creative Economy (AIICE). 

• It conceptualizes a forum where India’s creative industries could come together and collaborate on various matters related to the creative economy.

About Creative Economy (or orange economy)

• It is an evolving concept which builds on the interplay between human creativity and ideas and intellectual property, knowledge and technology.
  • It includes advertising, architecture, arts and crafts, design, fashion, performing arts, electronic publishing etc.
• Status: India’s creative economy is worth $30 billion and employs  8% of working population