The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has approved the Biovigilance Programme of India.

• It aims to strengthen reporting, assessment, monitoring and prevention of adverse events linked to medicines and biological products used in organ and tissue transplantation.
  • It covers products administered to both donors and recipients.
• Led by the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC).
• Complements the existing Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) and Materiovigilance Programme of India (MvPI).
• Significance: Expands India’s patient-safety net across medicines, medical devices and transplant procedures.

About AVYAY

• Umbrella scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to improve quality of life of senior citizens.
• Aims to provide shelter, food, medical care, entertainment and promote active, productive ageing.
• Assistance under the scheme will be given to the Implementing Agencies such as State/ UT Governments /Panchayati Raj Institutions / local bodies and eligible Non-Governmental/Voluntary Organizations  etc.
• Key components include Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (IPSrC), Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (assistive devices), Elderline (14567), State Action Plans, and caregiver training.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has indicated that the ongoing El Niño event is among the strongest recorded since systematic observations began in 1950.

About El Niño

• El Niño (Spanish for 'the Christ Child') refers to a warming of the ocean surface, or above-average sea surface temperatures, in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. 
• The low-level surface winds, which normally blow from east to west along the equator (“easterly winds”), instead weaken or, in some cases, start blowing the other direction (from west to east or “westerly winds”). 
• El Niño recurs irregularly, from two years to a decade, and no two events are exactly alike. El Niño events can disrupt normal weather patterns in the United States and globally.

RBI Governor unveiled two new UPI capabilities at Global Fintech Fest 2026, UPI Tap & Pay and MyUPI.

About UPI Tap and Pay

• It is a contactless payment feature that leverages NFC technology to enable instant UPI transactions.
  • NFC, or Near Field Communication, is a short-range wireless technology that enables secure communication between devices located just a few centimeters apart
• Unlike traditional UPI payments, which require scanning a QR code or entering a UPI PIN, Tap and Pay uses NFC-enabled smartphone or card at a compatible point-of-sale (POS) terminal to complete the transaction.

About MyUPI

• It is a smart, AI-powered UPI customer support platform. 
• It is powered by National Payments Corporation of India’s own finance domain model (FiMI).
• It provides services like- Transaction Mandate Management, Transaction Grievance Redressal, User Controls- Safety Switch,Transaction Replay, etc.

As per Amnesty International, Rwanda-backed March 23 Movement (M23) fighters have committed horrific human rights abuses against artisanal miners in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

About M23

• M23 or the Mouvement du 23 Mars in French, is an armed group that operates in eastern DRC, where it has become the most active non-state armed group and often fights alongside the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF). 
• Its origins date back to the period following the end of the Second Congo War in 2006.

European Union’s Data Protection Commission fined Google 403 million euros ($462 million) for infringing the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

About EU’s GDPR

• It is as EU law that governs how organizations within and outside the EU handle the personal data of EU residents.
• It was adopted by the European Parliament and Council of the EU in 2016 and took effect in 2018.
• Key provisions: 
  • Defines legally approved ways to transfer and process personal data;
  • Details how organizations must protect personal data at rest and in transit; and
  • Establishes EU residents’ rights over personal data collection, use and possession.

India has joined other G20 nations in adopting four consensus outcomes covering household energy access, infrastructure approvals, water reuse and secure critical-mineral supply chains. 

About G20

• It is an international forum that brings together the world’s major advanced and emerging economies to discuss and coordinate economic policy. 
• It was established in 1999 in response to financial crises in the late 1990s, with the goal of promoting international financial stability
• Members: 19 countries (including India), the European Union, and the African Union.
• Its participants represent about 85% of global GDP and two-thirds of the world’s population.