Prime Minister Narendra Modi surpassed Jawaharlal Nehru to become India's longest-serving continuously elected Prime Minister.

Prime Minister:

• Appointment & Role (Article 75): Appointed by the President, the PM serves as the real (de facto) executive and head of the government.
• Advisory Duties (Article 74): Heads of the Council of Ministers (CoM) to aid and advise the President on various matters.
• Link: Acts as the principal communication channel between the President and CoM, advising on crucial appointments, Parliament sessions, and Lok Sabha dissolution.
• Chairmanships: Serves as chairman of NITI Aayog, National Integration Council, Interstate Council, etc.

Environment (Protection) Second Amendment Rules, 2025 require caustic soda plants using MCT to pass a fish-survival test for wastewater toxicity during laboratory-based bioassay testing.

• A bioassay test is intended to measure the combined toxicity of wastewater. 

About Membrane Cell Technology (MCT)

• MCT uses a special membrane to control the chemical process and is considered less polluting than older mercury-based processes.

About Caustic Soda

• Caustic soda, also known as sodium hydroxide, is one of India’s most widely used industrial chemicals. 
• It is used in industries such as soap, detergents, paper, textiles, aluminium, petrochemicals and water purification.

The Defence Ministry has approved its first-ever 250 MW Solar Power Project with BESS on vacant defence land in Uttar Pradesh.

About BESS

• It is an electrochemical setup that captures excess electrical energy and stores it for later use.
• Types of BESS:
  • Solid rechargeable batteries: Store energy in solid electrodes (e.g., lithium-ion, lead-acid, zinc-air).
  • Flow batteries: Store energy in liquid electrolytes circulated through tanks (e.g., vanadium redox, zinc-iron, zinc-bromine).
• It is considered as one of Distributed Energy Resources(DER).
  • DERs are small, modular, decentralized power-generating systems located near the point of energy use.
  • Other DERs: Biomass generators Fixed, Fuel cells, Rooftop solar photovoltaic units.

Reports find Indian online buyers losing huge amounts of money annually to dark patterns. 

About Dark Patterns

• Meaning: Practices or deceptive design pattern using user interface or user experience on any platform designed to mislead or trick users to do something they originally did not intend or want to do. 
• Key Dark Patterns:
  • Basket Sneaking: Automatic addition of a donation during checkout.
  • Confirm Shaming: Emotional messaging discouraging users from removing donation.
  • Forced Action: Requiring users to share personal information for subscription. 
• Regulation: Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023 under Consumer Protection Act, 2019 issued by Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA). 

Supreme Court held that in case of conflict between the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) and the Supreme Court Rules (SCR), the provisions of the IBC will prevail.

About the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC)

• It was enacted to consolidate laws relating to reorganisation and insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals in a time-bound manner.
• Four Pillars of IBC Code: Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (regulator), Insolvency Professionals (manage resolution process), Information Utilities (store and authenticate financial data), and Adjudicating Authorities - NCLT (companies/LLPs) and DRT (individuals/partnerships).

Recently massive dust storms hit Delhi.

About Dust storms

• A dust storm is a wall of dust and debris that is often blown into an area by strong winds from thunderstorms. 
• The wall of dust can be miles long and several thousand feet high.
• Dust storms often begin in dry, desert areas but their effects can reach far beyond the source. 
• Northwest India experiences convective dust storms, locally called "Aandhi", mainly during the pre-monsoon season (March–May), with peak frequency in May.
• Most affected areas: Rajasthan, followed by Haryana, Punjab, and Western Uttar Pradesh.
• Dust Storm and Atmosphere 
  • Dust is a major component of atmospheric aerosols.
  • Dust particles also significantly impact weather due to feedback processes related to atmospheric dynamics, cloud formation, and precipitation.

Land Port Management System (LPMS) part of Smart Borders initiative, launched to create a digital, integrated and real-time management system for India's land ports.

• Land Port is adesignated area on India’s international borders (road or rail) notified as a customs/immigration checkpoint.

Land Port Management System (Vinimay)

• LPMS is a centralized digital platform developed by the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) to streamline and integrate operations for cargo processing and passenger movement.
  • LPAI is a Statutory body under Ministry of Home Affairs, established through Land Ports Authority of India Act, 2010, to develop, manage, and modernise Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) and border infrastructure along India's land borders.
• Key Features
  • Single Electronic Window and Real-Time Data Sharing (Integration with CBIC, BSF, and other agencies)
  • Equipped with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) for automated gate operations. 

Ministry of Coal notified Coal Exchange Rules, 2026, aimed at introducing Coal Exchanges to improve transparency and effective price discovery. 

• Recently enacted Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2025 introduced the concept of a Mineral Exchange. 

About Coal Exchange

• Meaning: A mineral exchange, where buyers and sellers of coal, transact, trade and enter into contracts on an online platform. 
• Eligibility for Coal Exchange
  • Company under Companies Act, 2013. 
  • applicant is demutualised (ownership and management of applicant are segregated from the trading rights). 
  • Net worth of not less than fifty crore rupees. 
• Significance: Mark a paradigm shift in coal marketing by enabling multiple sales channels, from ‘one-to-many’ to ‘many-to-many’.

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has for the first time set norms for tea bags prohibiting harmful chemicals like epichlorohydrin.

About Epichlorohydrin

• Meaning: An epoxide in which one of methyl hydrogens is substituted by chlorine.
• Applications: Manufacture of epoxy resins, synthetic glycerine, elastomers, etc.
• Physical Characteristics: Volatile and flammable, clear, colourless, liquid, chlorinated cyclic ether, chloroform-like odor that emits toxic fumes of hydrochloric acid and other chlorinated compounds
• Health Risks: Classified as probable human carcinogen; can cause eye, skin, and respiratory, blood and reproductive issues.