The Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA), launched Phase II of its flagship financial literacy initiative – Niveshak Didi.

• The initiative is aimed at deepening financial awareness and empowering rural communities, particularly women.

About IEPFA

• It was established by the Government of India under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs under the Companies Act, 2013.
• It aims to promote investor education, awareness, and protection.
• Its functions are Administration of IEPF, make refunds of shares, unclaimed dividends, matured deposits/debentures etc.

PRATUSH is being developed by a team from Raman Research Institute (RRI).

• RRI is an autonomous institute funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

About PRATUSH

• PRATUSH stands for Probing Reionization of the Universe using Signal from Hydrogen.
• It is a future radiometer in lunar orbit.
• Purpose: It will reveal, for the first time, the history of our Universe as it transformed after the Big Bang.
  • This can help detect a faint radio signal emitted from hydrogen atoms, which carries imprints of several events of the Cosmic Dawn.

The Beta version of Adi Vaani launched by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

About Adi Vaani

• It is India’s first AI-powered translation platform for tribal languages.
• It is developed under Janjatiya Gaurav Varsh to bridge communication gaps between tribal and non-tribal communities.
• At the Beta launch stage, it supports Santali (Odisha), Bhili (Madhya Pradesh), Mundari (Jharkhand), and Gondi (Chhattisgarh), with Kui and Garo under development.
• The initiative will support digitization of endangered languages, improve access to education, healthcare and governance in native languages, facilitate tribal entrepreneurship, and serve as a knowledge resource for researchers.

Kerala carried out India’s first science-based, community-driven eradication of Senna Spectabilis in Wayanad.

About Senna Spectabilis

• It is an invasive species and forms dense, sterile thickets, choking out native plants, altering soil chemistry and depriving herbivores of food.
• It is a tree with a very dense, spreading crown and can grow 7 - 18 metres tall.
• It resembles Kerala’s state flower Cassia fistula, known locally as kanikkonna.
• It is native to American tropicals.

Recently, Solar Orbiter (SO) space probe, a joint project by NASA and European Space Agency has traced the origin of Solar Energetic Electrons (SEE).

About SEE

• These are electrons created in the Sun before being thrown into space at nearly the speed of light.
• There are two kinds of SEE –
  • one connected to intense solar flares (explosions from smaller patches of Sun’s surface), and
  • one to Coronal Mass Ejections - CMEs (larger eruptions of hot gas from the Sun’s atmosphere).
• It helps in understanding space weather, which has Implications such as disrupting satellite communication and GPS navigation, and interrupting power supply.

Indian Army contingent is participating in the 21^st edition of military exercise India-US Joint Military Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2025.

• Since 2004, this joint Military Exercise has been held annually between India and USA militaries.
• It will focus on UN peacekeeping operations and enhancing readiness for multi-domain challenges.

Researchers dated Jarosite discovered in Matanomadh in Kutch, Gujarat, to be around 55 million years old.

• Jarosite is a yellow-coloured iron-rich sulphate mineral, similar to those discovered on Mars in 2004, during NASA's Opportunity mission to Mars.
• On Earth, it is formed when some minerals containing oxygen, iron, sulphur, and potassium interact in the right quantities in the presence of water.
  •  Jarosite formation is typically associated with volcanic activity. 
• Presence of jarosite on Earth offers clues on evolution of chemicals and minerals on Mars.