In the Auroville Foundation v. Navroz Kersap Mody case, the Supreme Court emphasized balancing industrial development and environmental protection.

The Debate:

• Golden Balance: Industrial growth should not harm the environment; both goals should be pursued together.
• Environmental Rights: The right to a clean environment is fundamental under Articles 14 and 21.
• Right to Development: Including industrialization, is protected under Articles 14, 19, 21.
• Sustainable Growth: Economic progress must not undermine environmental concerns, advocating for sustainable development.

The RBI and Bank of Mauritius signed an MoU to promote local currencies in cross-border transactions, supporting the internationalization of the Indian Rupee.

About Internationalisation of Rupee (IoR)

• Concept: It refers to increasing the global acceptance of the Indian Rupee (INR) in trade, investment, and forex reserves, reducing dependency on foreign currencies like the US Dollar.
• Significance: It reduces forex risk, boosts trade, strengthens India’s financial influence, and increases global demand for INR.
• Steps Taken to Promote IoR: Bilateral Currency Swap agreements with countries like Japan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan etc; Issuance of rupee-denominated bonds i.e. Masala bonds.

A new global survey by The Future of Free Speech ranks India 24th out of 33 countries for free speech support.

About Future of free speech index 2025

Other Key-findings

• Scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark, and Sweden) and two democratic backsliders (Hungary and Venezuela) show the highest levels of support for free speech.
• Declining Support in Some Countries: Countries like Japan, Israel, and the U.S. have experienced significant drops in support for free speech since 2021.
• Traditional media, social media, and AI content generators play pivotal roles in shaping public discourse and raising concerns about free speech.

Ministry of Culture to Revive the ‘Kamba Ramayana’

About Kamba Ramayana (The Ramavataram)

• Composer: The Kamba Ramayana was composed by the great poet Kamban in Tamil.
• Time Period: This version of the Ramayana was written in the 12th-13th century CE.
• Cultural Significance: It’s a culturally rich adaptation of the Valmiki Ramayana.

About Kamban

• Birthplace: Kamban was born in Thanjavur, in the Chola kingdom.
• Cultural Influence: He belonged to the third great wave of Tamil literature, following the Sangam period and the Bhakti literature of the Alwars and Nayanmars.

The 23rd edition of the bilateral naval exercise VARUNA between India and France has started.

• The exercise has been an important part of India-France maritime cooperation since 2001.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in collaboration with the Drone Federation India (DFI), launched the NIDAR under the SwaYaan initiative.

• NIDAR aims to inspire and engage India’s student and research communities to develop collaborative autonomous drones, addressing real-world challenges in the field of Disaster Management and Precision Agriculture.

About SwaYaan

• Approved by MeitY in 2022.
• Focuses on capacity building for human resource development in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), including drones and related technologies.

The FireSat project’s first satellite successfully placed into Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

About FireSat

• It is being developed by Google Research, Earth Fire Alliance, the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation and Muon Space.
• It will have an LEO constellation comprising 50 satellites.
• It will provide high-resolution imagery to detect wildfires that are roughly the size of a classroom, and provide updates every 20 minutes, using AI, including the fire intensity.

Betwa river is struggling to maintain its natural flow due to human led developments.

About Betwa River

• Also known as Vetravati in Sanskrit.
• Geographical Features       
  • Tributary of the Yamuna.
  • It originates at Jhirri Village (District Sehore) near Bhopal and joins Yamuna River near Hamirpur.
  • Passes through Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
• Cultural & Historical Significance 
  • The capital of the Chedi Kingdom (Suktamati) was on its banks.
  • Also mentioned in the epic Mahabharata.
• Other information: Betwa River Board (BRB) was constituted under the Betwa River Board Act, 1976; Ken-Betwa River Link Project approved in 2021.