Recently, Volatility Index (India VIX) registered its highest single-day spike ever.

About India VIX

• It is a measure of market volatility derived by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) using data from NIFTY options.
  • Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility in relation to the overall market.
• A higher VIX value indicates increased predicted volatility and uncertainty, while a lower VIX value reflects a calmer market.

INS Varsha, under Project Varsha to be operational by 2026.

About Project Varsha

• It is a classified naval project aimed at strengthening India’s underwater nuclear capabilities.
• Objective: To develop a secure underground base to house a fleet of over 12 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs).
• Location: Coastal village Rambilli in Andhra Pradesh.
• Similar to Project Varsha from the east, Karwar base in Karnataka under Project Seabird safeguards the west coast.

According to Ministry of Home Affairs anyone registered under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) needs to obtain prior permission for accepting any foreign contribution.

• The validity period for receiving foreign contributions shall be 3 years and for utilizing  the said contributions will be 4 years.

About FCRA, 2010

• Purpose: To consolidate the law to regulate acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality & to prohibit  foreign contributions for any activities detrimental to national interest.
• Enacted by repealing the FCRA, 1976. 
• The 2020 Amendment: Prohibited domestic transfer of foreign funds, limited administrative expense of organizations receiving foreign funds to 20%, etc.
• Prohibited from receiving foreign contributions:  Election candidate, MLA, Political Party; Public servants, Judges etc.

China is constructing the world’s first permanent undersea research station to study gas hydrates, a potential energy source larger than the Persian Gulf’s oil reserves.

About Gas Hydrates

• Gas hydrates are crystalline solids composed of water and gas, containing large amounts of methane.
• They are classified as unconventional hydrocarbons because extracting them requires advanced and non-traditional technologies.
• It exists in huge quantities in marine sediments in a layer several hundred meters thick directly below the sea floor and in association with permafrost in the Arctic.
• In India: Huge quantities around the Andaman Islands and in Krishna-Godavari  offshore. 

Alien or non-native beetle, Small Hive Beetle (Aethinatumida), was recorded for the first time in India in West Bengal. 

About SHB

• Native: Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • It seldom causes harm to Africa but creates havoc across other regions. 
• Characteristics: Oval-shaped, reddish-brown, and 5-7 mm long, its life cycle goes through different stages: eggs, larva, pupa and adult. 
• Damage: Females of SHB enter the beehives through cracks and crevices to lay eggs, which on hatching feed voraciously on the stored pollen, honey, and honeybee eggs and defecate in the honeycombs making it unfit for human consumption.  

IIT Kharagpur has developed an energy-efficient graphene-based technology for effective oil-water separation revolutionizing oil spill management. 

About Graphene

• It is a single atomic layer of graphite, which is an allotrope of carbon that is made up of very tightly bonded carbon atoms organized into a hexagonal lattice.
• Properties: Graphene is approximately 200 times stronger than steel, lightweight and transparent. 
  • Exhibits high elasticity, high thermal conductivity, flexibility, etc.
• Application: In electronics  (e.g. manufacture of microchips), energy storage (e.g., batteries), biomedical fields. etc.

Researchers from Indian Institute of Science (IISC) Bengaluru have developed a made-in-India Organ-on-Chip (OoC) [currently imported by India] allowing them the study of fluid and drug interactions.

About Organ-on-Chip

• It is a small, bioengineered device made of flexible polymers, mimicking the structure and function of a human organ on a micro-scale.
  • Several models using different organs like lungs on a chip, liver on a chip, etc., have been developed.
• They contain tiny channels where living human cells grow and interact, simulating real tissue environments. 
• Fluids, like blood or drugs, can be passed through them to study their effects on the cells.

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj presented the Report on ‘Impact of NSAP on the Poor and Destitute in the Villages’ recommending enhanced budget allocation and better implementation. 

About NSAP

• Genesis: 1995
• Type: 100% centrally funded Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS).
• Objective: Financial assistance to old aged, widow and disabled persons and to bereaved households after death of the breadwinner belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL).
• Comprises of five schemes:
  • Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme 
  • Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme 
  • Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme 
  • National Family Benefit Scheme 
  • Annapurna Scheme