The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) blacklists 178 training partners of PMKVY.

About Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)

• It is a flagship scheme for skill certification, being launched to help Indian youth take up industry-relevant skill training to get better livelihoods.
• Ministry: Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 
• Launched: 2015
• Presently, PMKVY is in its fourth phase, PMKVY 4.0.
• Components: It includes Short Term Training(National Skill Qualification Framework aligned Courses), Special Projects and Recognition of Prior Learning.
• Geographical coverage : Special attention to aspirational, backward, border, tribal and Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts

The State of the Climate Update for COP30 report has been released by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

Key Findings

• 2025 is likely to become the 2nd or 3rd warmest year ever recorded.
  • The last 11 years  including 2025 —are the warmest 11 years in history.
• This shows we are not on track to meet the Paris Agreement’s climate goals.
• 2015–2025 will be the warmest 11-year period in 176 years.
• Atmospheric concentrations of CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O reached record observed levels in 2024 and continue to rise in 2025.
• Renewable energy is expanding and climate action plans are increasingly informed by science-based climate services.

Union Environment Ministry’s Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), recommended rationalisation and uniformity in penal provisions over violation of Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980. 

Key Recommendations

• Penal Compensatory Afforestation (CA): Charged on an equal extent of the forest land involved in violation.
  • Penal CA are efforts in addition to legally mandated CA for non-forestry use of forest for infrastructure projects. 
• Rationalise the applicability of Penal CA with penal NPV measures under the Van Adhiniyam.
  • NPV is the quantification of environmental services provided for the forest area diverted for non-forestry purposes.

Supreme Court (SC) held that an Arbitral award could be scrapped if delay taints its decision-making. 

• As per SC, even though delay alone is not an independent ground to strike down an award yet such delays can vitiate the award if it undermines its quality, reasoning or fairness.

About Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996

• It seeks to consolidate and amend the law relating to domestic arbitration, international commercial arbitration and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. 
• Based on United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law adopted in 1985. 

Airlines have reported a surge in GPS spoofing over Delhi, triggering government investigations into the unusual navigation disruptions.

About GPS Spoofing

• It is a type of cyberattack that transmits false GPS (Global Positioning System) signals to mislead navigation systems.
• Function: It exploits the weak signals of GPS satellites by overpowering them with fake signals, making receivers show false locations.
• Threats: It can disrupt aviation, logistics, telecom, energy, and defense sectors.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has granted in-principle approval for the creation of two new specialised cadres; Central Revenue Audit (CRA) Cadre and Central Expenditure Audit (CEA)) for more centralisation.

About Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)

• Nature: Constitutional Body established under Article 148 of the Constitution
• Appointment: by the President through a warrant under the President’s hand and seal.
• Term:  six years or until he/she reaches age of 65 (whichever comes first).
• Removal: by President following the same procedure and on the same grounds as those applicable to a Supreme Court judge.
• Conditions of Service: The CAG’s salary and service conditions are decided by Parliament and cannot be altered to his disadvantage after appointment.
• Expenses: Administrative costs, salaries, allowances, and pensions charged to the Consolidated Fund of India.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has issued new guidelines to address conflicts between Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), to expedition resolution for distressed companies.

Key Highlights

• Insolvency professionals can now approach special PMLA courts and to seek unfreezing of assets attached by Enforcement Directorate rather than National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) dealing with bankruptcy cases. 

IBC and PMLA

• While IBC deals with maximizing asset value and ensuring time-bound resolution, PMLA aims to deprive offenders of criminal proceeds.
• PMLA and IBC have non-obstante clauses (Section 71 under PMLA and Section 238 under IBC), i.e., conferring certain provisions with an overriding effect over conflicting statute. 

Recently USA President confirmed that Kazakhstan would  be a part of Abraham Accords. 

About Abraham Accords

• Purpose: Defuse tensions in the Middle East by normalizing relations between Israel and several so-called moderate Arab states, to ensure formal diplomatic, trade and security ties between these states with Israel. 
  • Named after the biblical Abraham, considered by both Jews and Arabs as their common ancestor and a symbol of brotherhood.
• Genesis: Initially signed in 2020,  between Israel with the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco.