NITI Aayog released the second edition of “Trade Watch Quarterly”.

• The report offers a comprehensive analysis of India’s trade position on a quarterly basis.

Key Highlights of Report

• USA, UAE, and the Netherlands continue to be India’s leading export markets, accounting for 33% of total export.
• China, UAE, and Russia continue to lead imports. 
• India ranks among the top 10 global exporters (6^th largest textile exporter in 2023), holding a modest 4% share in global trade.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notifies amendments in Income-Tax Rules, 1962 to expand the scope of safe harbour rules.

• Scope of safe harbour rules has been expanded by:
  • Increasing threshold for availing safe harbour from Rs. 200 Crore to Rs. 300 Crore.
  • Including Lithium-Ion Batteries for use in electric or hybrid electric vehicles in definition of core auto components.

Safe Harbour

• Safe harbour is generally defined as circumstances in which the tax authority shall accept the transfer price declared by the taxpayer to be at arm's length.
• Income-tax Act, 1961 empowers CBDT to make safe harbour rules.

Gennova Biopharmaceuticals is developing a pioneering self-amplifying mRNA (saRNA) vaccine candidate against the Nipah virus, as part of expanded funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

• Nipah virus, a zoonotic virus, belongs to the Paramyxovirus family. Fruit bats are natural hosts of the virus.

About saRNA vaccines 

• mRNA vaccines use the body's own machinery to make antigenic protein rather than injecting the antigen directly into the body.
• saRNA vaccines work by giving the body instructions to replicate mRNA needed to create the desired antigen, potentially enhancing the immune response with lower doses compared to existing mRNA vaccines.

The Fourth edition of Exercise Tiger Triumph has commenced at Vishakhapatnam coast.

• It is the Bilateral Tri-Service India-US Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise.
• It aims at developing interoperability for conducting HADR operations and for the formulation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to establish a Combined Coordination Center (CCC).

U.S. physicists demonstrated a novel method to detect radioactive materials from a distance using carbon-dioxide lasers.

• At the core of the new technique is a phenomenon called avalanche breakdown. 

About Avalanche Breakdown

• When radioactive materials decay, they release charged particles that ionize the surrounding air, i.e. separate its positive and negative charges and create a state of matter called plasma.
• Negative charges, or electrons, then can be accelerated to collide with other atoms and release even more electrons. This is avalanche breakdown.
• Potential application: Security applications such as in scanning shipping containers at ports and emergency response etc. 

Second WHO Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health was held in Catragen, Columbia.

About the Conference

• It was co-organized by WHO and Columbia and other UN Agencies like UNEP, WMO etc.
• Objectives: Accelerating action for clean air, clean energy access and climate change mitigation.

Key Highlights 

• Over 50 countries, have committed to the shared goal of reducing the health impacts of air pollution by 50% by 2040.
• India reaffirmed its commitment to reducing air pollution's health impacts by 2040 through actions aligned with the National Clean Air Programme.

Buddhist monks are protesting at the Mahabodhi Mahavihara or Bodh Gaya Temple in Bihar to repeal the Bodh Gaya Temple Act (BTA), 1949.

About Bodh Gaya Temple

• It is one of the four holy sites related to the life of the Lord Buddha, and particularly to the attainment of Enlightenment.
  • It has been listed in UNESCO World Heritage List since 2002.
• It is one out of the 84000 shrines erected by King Asoka in the 3rd century B.C.
  • The present temple structure, built in the 5th or 6th century A.D., belongs to the Gupta period. 
  • It is one of the earliest Buddhist temples built entirely in bricks. 
• A comprehensive description of the temple is left by Huen Tsang, a Chinese pilgrim.

Japan warned of potential “megaquake” in the Nankai Trough.

• Megaquake (megathrust earthquake) is an earthquake of exceptional destructive power usually with a magnitude of 8 or greater.

About Nankai Trough

• It is a subduction zone between 2 tectonic plates- the Philippine Sea Plate subducting under the Eurasian  Plate in the Pacific Ocean.
  • A subduction zone is a spot where 2 of the planet's tectonic plates collide and one dives, or subducts, beneath the other.
• It is situated off Japan’s southwest Pacific coast and runs for approximately 900 km. 

About 500 Primary Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) under the RBI's supervisory action framework will shift to the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework from April 1, 2025.

About PCA Framework

• RBI had introduced a PCA Framework for Scheduled Commercial Banks in 2002 & for UCB in July, 2024.
  • PCA framework for UCBs replaced the existing Supervisory Action Framework (SAF).
• Objective: To enable supervisory intervention at an appropriate time and require the UCBs to initiate and implement remedial measures in a timely manner, to restore their financial health. 
• Application: All UCBs in tier 2, tier 3, and tier 4 categories
• Capital, Asset Quality and Profitability of UCBs are the key areas for monitoring.