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.
- IPPC is an intergovernmental treaty to protect the world's plants, agricultural products, & natural resources from plant pests.
- 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.
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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.
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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
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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
