Supreme Court (SC) ruled that High Court (HC) Chief Justice cannot Individually reconsider Judges' Appointment, and it must be collectively done by collegium. 

• SC also clarified that although ‘content of consultation’ is beyond Judicial review ‘effective consultation’ falls within its ambit. 

About Collegium 

• It is a system for making recommendations for appointment of judges of SC and HC. 
  • Judges are appointed by President under Article 124 and 217 (respectively for SC and HC) of Constitution. 
• For appointment in SC: Collegium consists of CJI and four other senior-most judges of the SC.
• For appointment in HC
  • Collegium at HC consists of Chief Justice of HC and two senior judges of the concerned HC.
  • Collegium at SC consists of CJI and two seniormost Judges of the SC.

Agni-4, an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile, was successfully launched from Integrated Test Range in Chandipur, Odisha.

About Agni Missiles

• Conceived under Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) which was started DRDO in 1980s 
• They are surface-to-surface ballistic missile. 
• They have medium- to intercontinental-range. 
• Fuelled by Solid propellant and mainstay of India's nuclear launch capability.
• Agni Prime is the latest missile to be developed in the series. 

Other missiles developed under IGDMP are 

• Short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile Prithvi
• Short-range low-level surface-to-air missile Trishul
• Medium-range surface-to-air missile Akash
• Third generation anti-tank missile Nag

Union Minister for Civil Aviation inaugurated the Digi Yatra facility for nine airports, bringing the total number of Digi Yatra-enabled airports to 24.

About Digi- Yatra

• Launched in 2022 by Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• Digital initiative to enhance the passenger experience with seamless, contactless, and paperless boarding at airports based on Facial Recognition Technology. 
• Pillars: Connected Passengers, Connected Airports, Connected Flying and Connected Systems.
• Benefit: Lower cost operations by removing redundancies at checkpoints and enhancing resource utilization.
• No central storage of passengers' Personally Identifiable Information. 
  • All passenger data is encrypted and stored securely in their smartphones, shared only temporarily with origin airport, and destroyed within 24 hours of departure.

8 new NIDHI i-TBIs inaugurated across India.

About NIDHI

• Umbrella programme developed by Department of Science & Technology (DST) in 2016.
• Objective: To nurture ideas and innovations (knowledge-based and technology-driven) into successful startups.
• Implementation: National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) under DST is funding agency.
  • All NIDHI-Startup funds and offerings are disbursed to eligible startups only through eligible NSTEDB associated incubators across India.
  • NIDHI Programmes are implemented through Technology Business Incubators (TBIs).
• NIDHI - iTBI (Inclusive- TBI) for converting Innovations to start-ups is one of the key components of NIDHI.

Indian Immunologicals Limited launched pediatric (for children) dose of India’s first indigenous Hepatitis A vaccine, Havisure.

About Hepatitis 

• An inflammation of liver. 
• Caused infectious viruses as well as non-infectious agents.
• Five main strains: Types A, B, C, D and E.
  • Types B and C together are most common cause of liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and viral hepatitis-related deaths. 
  • Vaccine not available for type C. 
• National Viral Hepatitis Control Program 2019 seeks to eliminate Hepatitis C in India by 2030, achieve significant reduction in infected population with Hepatitis B and C, and reduce risk due to Hepatitis A and E.
• Mission Indradhanush provides vaccination against Hepatitis B along with 7 other infections.

Night time light pollution is linked to increased Alzheimer’s risk.

• Light pollution is excessive or inappropriate use of outdoor artificial light. 
  • It adversely affects our ability to observe stars and other celestial objects, human health and wildlife behavior.
• The study noted that night time light pollution disrupts natural circadian rhythms and hampers sleep, making individuals more susceptible to Alzheimer's disease (AD).

About AD

• AD (a common type of dementia) causes a progressive decline in memory, thinking, learning and organizing skills.
• Factors responsible: Genetics and medical conditions, environmental stresses.

Minister of External Affairs, while addressing CII India Mediterranean Business Conclave, said that IMEC will be a cornerstone of global connectivity.

About IMEC

• Announced on the sidelines of the G20 summit, for integration of Asia, Europe and the Middle East. 
  • It will consist of railroad, ship-to-rail networks and road transport routes.
• Comprises of
  • East Corridor: connecting India to Gulf and 
  • Northern Corridor: connecting the Gulf to Europe.
• Members: India, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, UAE and US. 

Recently, the benchmark for world food commodity prices declined marginally in August 2024.

About FFPI

• Introduced in 1996 as a public good to help in monitoring developments in global agricultural commodity markets.
• It is a measure of monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities. 
• It consists of average of five commodity group price indices weighted by average export shares of each of groups over 2014-2016.
  • 5 commodities are Meat, Dairy products, Cereals, Vegetables oil, and Sugar.