Cali Fund was launched at the COP16 to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

About Cali Fund

• Aim: To boost biodiversity finance for the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits from the use of Digital Sequence Information on Genetic Resources (DSI).
  • DSI is the data from DNA or RNA that can be stored digitally. 
• Hosted by: Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTFO) in a partnership between UNDP, UNEP, CBD Secretariat.
• Funding: It will receive contributions from private sector entities making commercial use of DSI.
• Aid implementation of the Kunming- Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).
  • Support delivery of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) by developing countries.
  • 50% of the resources to be allocated for self-identified needs of indigenous peoples and local communities, including women and youth.

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched the Aadhaar Good Governance portal.

About Aadhaar Good Governance Portal

• Objective: Streamline approval process for Aadhaar authentication requests. 
  • This is in sync with an effort to make Aadhaar more people-friendly. 
  • It will help in integrating Face Authentication in the customer facing apps of private entities, which will enable anytime anywhere, authentication.
• This platform comes into effect after Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance (Social Welfare, Innovation, Knowledge) Amendment Rules, 2025.
  • It enabled both government and non-government entities to avail Aadhaar authentication service.

DRDO and Indian Navy successfully flight-tested the first-of-its-kind Naval Anti-Ship missile (NASM-SR) from Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur.

 Key Features of NASM-SR

• Indigenous Imaging Infra-Red (IIR) Seeker: It facilitates high-precision strikes.
• Man-in-Loop Control: Allows real-time targeting adjustments.
• Propulsion System: It uses a solid propulsion system with an in-line ejectable booster and long-burn sustainer for extended range and efficiency.
• Other: Incorporates advanced indigenous technologies, including a Fiber Optic Gyroscope-based Inertial Navigation System (INS), etc. 
• Significance: Strengthens naval strike capability, promotes indigenous defense production, and enhances operational flexibility.

Amazon launched a quantum computing chip named Ocelot.

About Ocelot

• It is a prototype that has only a tiny fraction of the computing power needed to create a useful machine.
• Key features: 
  • It consists of two integrated silicon microchips.
  • Its high-quality oscillators are made from a thin film of superconducting material called Tantalum. 
• It uses cat qubits, named after the famous Schrödinger's cat thought experiment.
  • Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment where a cat inside a sealed box is both alive and dead simultaneously (superposition) until someone observes it.
• Key Benefit: It can reduce the costs of implementing quantum error correction by up to 90%, compared to current approaches.

The U.S. SEC has requested assistance from the Indian government under the Hague Service Convention to serve summons in a securities and wire fraud case.

About Hague Service Convention

• Genesis: 1965.
• Nature: It is an international treaty that streamlines the process of serving legal documents across international borders.
• Signatories: 84 countries.
  • India joined in 2006 with reservations.
  • It prohibits the service of judicial documents through diplomatic or consular channels, except when the recipient is a national of the requesting country.
• Central authority to handle service requests: The Ministry of Law and Justice.

A first-of-its-kind discovery of a petrified wood fossil has been made at Rajmahal hills in Pakur, Jharkhand.

About Petrification (or Petrifaction)

• It is a process of permineralization when the organic matter is completely replaced by minerals and the fossil is turned to stone. 
  • Permineralization is a type of fossil where pores of the plant materials, bones, and shells are impregnated by mineral matter from the ground, lakes, or ocean. 
• It reproduces the original tissue in every detail. 
• This kind of fossilization occurs in both hard and soft tissues. 

A Study shows Olive Ridley numbers are growing, but rising sand temperatures are skewing gender ratios.

About Olive Ridleys

• Among the smallest and most abundant sea turtle species globally.
• Arribada phenomenon (Spanish for "arrival"): A mass synchronized nesting event unique to Olive Ridleys.
• Habitat:  warm tropical waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.

• Major Nesting Sites in India: Gahirmatha, Rushikulya, and Devi River (Odissa).

• Conservation Status
  • IUCN Status: Vulnerable
  • CITES: Appendix I
  • Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I
• Protection Efforts: Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) and Operation Olivia by the Indian Coast Guard.

In a rare event, massive methane plumes emitted from volcano Mount Fentale (Ethiopia).

• Mount Fentale is a stratovolcano which last erupted in 1820.

About Stratovolcano

• A stratovolcano is a large, steep-sided volcano built up by alternating layers of lava flows and volcanic ash, often associated with explosive eruptions.
• E.g., Mount Fuji (Japan), Mount Vesuvius (Italy), Mount Etna (Italy), Mount Rainier (USA), Krakatoa (Indonesia), etc.

About Methane Plumes

• It’s the release of large quantities of methane from super-emitter sites like gas drilling sites.
• Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with 80 times the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.