The World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognised four countries(Austria, Norway, Oman and Singapore) for their outstanding leadership in eliminating industrially produced trans fats.

About Transfats

• Trans fats, also known as trans-fatty acids (TFA), are unsaturated fats present in both industrial and natural sources. 
• Industrially produced trans fats are commonly found in baked goods like biscuits, fried foods, margarine, and Vanaspati ghee, etc. 
• Trans fat clogs arteries, increasing the risk of heart attacks and deaths.
• India enforced limiting trans fats in oils to no more than 2 per cent through the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Second Amendment Regulations, 2021.

At the recent BRICS Energy Ministers’ Meeting held in Brazil, India played a leading role in advocating for inclusive, balanced, and sustainable energy governance.

Key Outcomes of Meeting

• Reaffirmed support for SDG 7, focusing on universal energy access, clean cooking, and ending energy poverty. 
• Emphasized equitable climate action, guided by technological neutrality and the CBDR-RC principle(Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities)
• Stronger global energy partnerships, fair markets, and use of local currencies in energy trade
• Upheld each nation's right to choose its own energy transition path, promoted efficient energy use, and urged concessional financing from developed to developing countries.

The Shirui Lily festival returns to Manipur after a two-year pause because of the long-drawn conflict in the state.

About Shirui Lily festival

• Organized by Manipur’s Department of Tourism.
• It is named after the Shirui Lily, Manipur’s state flower, and held annually in Ukhrul district, home to the Tangkhul Naga community.
• It honours the delicate and endangered Shirui Lily, which blooms only in the Shirui Hills.

Banu Mushtaq wins International Booker Prize for Kannada short story collection ‘Heart Lamp’.

About International Booker Prize

• Launched as Man Booker International Prize in 2005.
• An annual literary prize awarded for a single book that is Translated into English and Published in the UK or Ireland.
• Objective: To encourage more reading of quality fiction from non-English languages.
  • Promotes global fiction among English-speaking readers.
• Genres: Novels and short story collections.

India awarded the Certificate of Elimination of Trachoma as a Public Health Problem by the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

• India was declared the 3^rd (after Nepal and Myanmar) Southeast Asian region country to have eliminated Trachoma in 2024. 

About Trachoma

• Cause: Eye disease caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, termed as Neglected Tropical Disease by the WHO. 
• Impact: Irreversible blindness. 
  • Repeated episodes may cause the eyelashes to be drawn in, rubbing the eye surface causing permanent corneal damage. 
• Spread: Personal contact or through flies. 
• Indian Initiative: Trachoma control program integrated under the National Program for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment (NPCBVI) in 1976.

The Department of Consumer Affairs commemorated World Metrology Day 2025, marking the 150th anniversary of the Metre Convention. 

About Metre Convention

• Genesis: Signed on 20 May 1875, and amended in 1921.
• Purpose: Includes convention and its annexed regulation (commonly known as the “Metre Convention”) to assure the international unification and improvement of the metric system. 
  • Created an International Organization, International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) to develop and maintain a universal measurement system. 
• Significance:  International collaboration in metrology, global uniformity of measurements for research, trade, etc. 
• Members: 64 Member States and 37 Associate States (India is a member). 

Recently, Indonesia, Egypt and Bahrain stalled Pakistan's strong reference against India on the Kashmir issue at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Parliamentary Union meeting in Jakarta.

About Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) 

• Genesis: 1969 after the Summit in Rabat, Morocco. 
• Membership: 57 states (India not a member). 
• Headquarters: Jeddah (Saudi Arabia).
• Islamic Summit: Highest-level decision-making body of the Organisation, consisting of the head of the Member States. 
• Aim: Acts as the collective voice of the Muslim world to protect and safeguard their interests. 

Researchers from the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IASST), under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), have discovered the potential of Peptidomimetic Drugs in treating Neurodegenerative Diseases (NDs). 

• NDs are complex diseases characterized by neuronal loss and progressive degeneration of different areas of the nervous system, e.g., Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc. 

About Peptidomimetic Drugs

• Meaning: Synthetic molecules that mimic the structure and function of natural proteins, particularly neurotrophins, which support the growth and survival of neurons.
• Significance: Improved stability and bioavailability compared to endogenous neurotrophins; target specific cells, reduced side effects, etc.