Data released in Lok Sabha revealed that less than half of the students trained under PM-DAKSH scheme between 2021 and 2024 were placed.

• Institutes must provide employment to 70% of trainees from Short Term Training Courses, or forfeit 30% of the training cost per candidate.

About PM DAKSH (2020-21)

• Type: Central Sector Scheme 
• Aim:  To provide free of cost skills through quality institutions so that candidates from its target group can find employment.
• Target group: SC, OBC, Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), and De-notified Tribes Safai Karamcharis including waste pickers, Transgenders.
• Eligibility
  • Age Criterion: 18-45 years
  • OBC and EWS: Annual income family below Rs.3 lakh.

Note: It has been merged with the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Recently APEDA observed its 40th establishment day. 

About APEDA (New Delhi)

• Type: statutory body under the APEDA Act 1985
• Ministry: Apex body for agricultural export promotion under Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• Chairman: Appointed by government.
• Functions: Secretariat to National Accreditation Board  for implementation of accreditation of Certification Bodies.
  • Other functions: Boost agri exports , inspection of meat products etc.
• Important initiatives: 
  • National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP):  Involves, standards for organic production, promotion of organic farming and marketing etc.
  • BHARATI (2025): To empower agri-food and agri-tech startups and boost agri-food exports.
  • Farmers connect Portal: 24X7 Online digital platform  to bridge the gap between Farmer Producer Org./Cooperatives and exporters.

Recently ADR released an analysis of electoral trusts FY 2024-25

• It revealed that 82.5% of the donations by them went to the ruling party.
• Maharashtra emerged as the largest contributor state.

About Electoral trust 

• Origin: Based on the Electoral Trusts Scheme, 2013 and Income Tax Rules, 1962  these are non-profit companies.
• Objective: To receive contributions from donors and distribute them to registered political parties facilitating transparent political funding.
• Transparency: Donations above ₹20,000 must be disclosed to Election Commission of India, but the amount given to each political party remains confidential.
• Registration: By Central board of Direct Taxes.
• They need to distribute at least 95% of the contributions received during the year to eligible political parties. 

The government lifted the wheat export ban after four years to ensure remunerative prices for farmers and due to 

About Wheat 

• Type: Rabi Crop
• Regions: Tropical sub-tropical zones, temperate zone
• Climatic requirement: Cool and moist weather during the vegetative growth period followed by dry, warm weather for the grain to mature and ripening
  • Optimum temperature: 20-25 Degrees Celsius
  • Ideal Rainfall: 50-75 cm 
• Status of India: World’s 2nd-largest producer ( ~14% of global output), world’s largest area.
• Top 3 Producers: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab.

A ₹1 lakh-crore Urban Challenge Fund (UCF) was approved by the Union Cabinet

About Urban Challenge Fund

• Announced in the Union Budget 2025–26
• Focus Areas: 
  • Cities as Growth Hubs
  • Creative Redevelopment of Cities 
  • Water and Sanitation
• Funding Mechanism:
  • UCF will finance up to 25% of project costs.
  • At least 50% of funding must come from market sources like:
    • Municipal bonds 
    • Bank loans 
    • Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs)

Research suggests that desert winds from the west and northwest of India can be used to predict monsoon break periods.

About Monsoon Breaks

• Meaning: During the south-west monsoon, after having rains for a few days, if rain fails to occur for one or more weeks, it is known as break in the monsoon. 
  • These dry spells are quite common during the rainy season. 
• Reasons for Monsoon Break:
  • In northern India, rains are likely to fail if the rain-bearing storms are not very frequent along the monsoon trough or the ITCZ over this region.
    • Movement of monsoon trough towards Himalayas creates dry spells in plains.
  • Over the west coast the dry spells are associated with days when winds blow parallel to the coast.

Scientists have captured the clearest view of a star collapsing directly into a black hole without exploding as a supernova.

About Life Cycle of Star

Birth

• Molecular Clouds: Stars form deep within massive, cold clouds of gas and dust.
• Protostar Formation: Gravity causes high-density pockets within these clouds to clump and collapse creating a "protostar".

Life

• Main Sequence: Nuclear fusion ignites in the core and releases huge amounts of energy. This stable period is the longest phase of a star's life.

Death

• Low-Mass Stars:  Sun-like stars expand into giants, shed their outer layers as a planetary nebula, and leave behind a cooling white dwarf core.
• High-Mass Stars: These stars fuse elements up to iron, after which the core collapses, triggering a supernova that leaves behind a neutron star or a black hole.

The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity allowed the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to proceed with framing regulations on power market coupling.

• Market coupling is a model where buy bids and sell bids from all power exchanges in the country will be aggregated and matched to discover a uniform MCP (Market clearing prices).
• India has three power exchanges-Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL) and Hindustan Power Exchange Limited (HPX).

About CERC:

• Overview: Statutory body functioning under Section 76 of the Electricity Act 2003.
• Objective: 
  • To promote competition, efficiency and economy in bulk power markets 
  • Improve the quality of supply
  • Advise the government on the removal of institutional barriers to bridge the demand supply gap.