14^th August 2025

1. Mud Waves: Recently, a groundbreaking 2025 study in Global and Planetary Change revealed enormous mud waves buried almost a kilometer beneath the Atlantic seabed near Guinea-Bissau. These ancient sedimentary formations, around 117 million years old, provide a rare insight into the early dynamics of the Atlantic Ocean during the Cretaceous period.

• About Mud Waves: Are large, rhythmic sediment formations on the ocean floor, sculpted over time by persistent deep-sea currents. In this case, the newly discovered mud waves were shaped by dense, salty flows from the young North Atlantic moving southward through the Equatorial Atlantic Gateway.
• Key Features: Size: Over 1 km long and several hundred meters high
• Age: Approximately 117 million years old
• Location: Nearly 1 km below the seabed west of Guinea-Bissau
• Composition: Layered sequences of mud and organic material, preserving evidence of historic ocean currents
• Associated Currents: Formed by deep-water density flows across the Equatorial Atlantic Gateway
• Formation of Mud Waves: Early Atlantic Spill: During the Cretaceous, salty waters from the nascent North Atlantic flowed into southern basins via the Equatorial Atlantic Gateway.
• Sediment Avalanches: Dense northern waters collided with calmer southern waters, triggering massive underwater sediment flows.
• Mud Wave Formation: Repeated sediment movement over millions of years shaped wave-like structures, now preserved beneath the seabed.

2. SPREE 2025: Recently, the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) launched SPREE 2025 (Scheme for Promoting Registration of Employers and Employees), a special initiative designed to broaden social security coverage under the ESI Act.

• About SPREE: Objective: To expand social security coverage under the ESI Act by allowing unregistered employers and employees (including contractual and temporary workers) to register without inspection or past dues demand.
• Awareness Initiative: ESIC Sub-Regional Office Gurugram organized a seminar and a Nukkad Natak at Gurugram Industrial Association premises.
• Nukkad Natak Performance: To spread awareness about ESIC registration, medical facilities, and social security benefits.
• Benefits Highlighted: Sickness, medical, disability, maternity, and dependent benefits.
• Medical facilities available at ESIC and panel hospitals.

3. India Semiconductor Mission (ISM): Recently, the Government of India approved four new semiconductor manufacturing projects in Odisha, Punjab, and Andhra Pradesh under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), aiming to bolster India’s role as a global hub for electronics manufacturing and semiconductor design.

• About India Semiconductor Mission (ISM): A specialized and independent institution operating under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Functioning as an independent Business Division within the Digital India Corporation, ISM is tasked with building a vibrant semiconductor and display ecosystem in India.
• Key Roles and Responsibilities: Catalyzing India’s semiconductor ecosystem across manufacturing, packaging, and design
• Exercising administrative and financial powers for program implementation
• Serving as the nodal agency for schemes under the Semicon India Programme
• Guided by an advisory board of global semiconductor experts
• Ensuring efficient, coherent, and smooth implementation of policies and schemes

4. SabhaSaar: Recently, the Centre announced plans to launch an AI-powered tool called ‘SabhaSaar,’ which will automatically generate structured minutes of gram sabha meetings.

• About Sabha Saar: AI-powered tool to automatically generate structured minutes of gram sabha meetings, will be rolled out in Tripura on 15 August 2025 and later made available to other states.
• Functionality: Converts videos and audio recordings of gram sabha meetings into structured, uniform minutes.
• Uniformity & Accessibility: Ensures standardized minutes across all gram sabhas in India. Panchayat officials can upload recordings via e-GramSwaraj login.
• Technology: Built on Bhashini, a government AI platform, enabling transcription, translation, and summarization in major Indian languages (Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and Gujarati) and English.
• Benefits: Streamlines documentation for panchayats, administrative bodies, and rural development projects.
• Provides instant access to meeting insights for stakeholders.
• Enhances transparency, accountability, and public participation in gram sabha decision-making.

5. Global Plastics Treaty: Recently, a new draft of the global plastics treaty, released on the penultimate day of negotiations in Geneva, drew widespread criticism for leaving out measures on plastic production cuts, chemicals of concern, and a clear definition of plastics.

• The draft risks undermining consensus as nearly 190 countries meet to negotiate the first-ever treaty aimed at ending plastic pollution.
• Key Highlights of the Draft: No Production Limits: The draft does not include binding targets to reduce plastic production.

• Chemicals of Concern Ignored: Toxic chemicals in plastics are not addressed.
• Vague Language: On “plastic products,” countries are only asked to take measures “as appropriate” and “in accordance with national circumstances,” seen as a major dilution of responsibilities.
• Life-Cycle Oversight: Full life-cycle management—including limiting manufacturing of polluting plastics and phasing out hazardous products is missing.

6. PixxelSpace India Consortium: Recently, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) selected the PixxelSpace India-led consortium to design, build, and operate India’s first fully indigenous commercial Earth Observation (EO) satellite constellation under a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

• This marks a historic moment for the Indian space sector, as it is the first time a private consortium will invest over ₹1,200 crore over five years to launch a constellation of 12 state-of-the-art EO satellites.
• About the PixxelSpace India Consortium: The Bengaluru-based consortium includes:

• PixxelSpace India (lead)
• Piersight Space
• Satsure Analytics India
• Dhruva Space
• The selection followed a competitive bidding process involving two other consortia.
• Features of the EO Satellite Constellation: Number of Satellites: 12
• Sensors: Panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral, and microwave Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
• Applications: Climate change monitoring and disaster management
  • Agriculture and infrastructure planning
  • Marine surveillance and national security
  • Urban planning
• Services Provided: Analysis Ready Data (ARD)
  • Value-Added Services (VAS)
  • High-quality geospatial intelligence for global markets

7. AI-Powered Early Warning System: Recently, the Tamil Nadu Forest Department’s AI-powered early warning system in Madukkarai, Coimbatore, has enabled 6,592 safe elephant crossings on railway tracks since its launch in November 2023, significantly reducing the risk of train-elephant collisions in the area.

• About the AI-Powered Early Warning System: The system is an artificial intelligence–based monitoring and alert mechanism designed to detect elephant movement near railway tracks and alert authorities to prevent collisions.

o  Objectives: Prevent Elephant Fatalities: Reduce deaths caused by train collisions.

• Safe Wildlife Movement: Ensure uninterrupted movement of elephants across railway corridors.
• Key Features: Infrastructure: 12 surveillance towers and 24 high-resolution thermal cameras

• Real-Time Monitoring: Operates 24×7 and managed by 25 trained forest staff
• Early Warning Alerts: AI detects elephant presence in real time and immediate alerts sent to railway control rooms and loco pilots
• Community & Officer Involvement: Collaboration among forest rangers, track watchers, guards, loco pilots, and administrative officers ensures efficient operation

8. Export Promotion Mission: Recently, the Government of India announced plans to launch a ₹2,250 crore Export Promotion Mission to protect Indian industries from global trade shocks, including recent US tariff increases, aiming to boost the export resilience of MSMEs and e-commerce exporters.

• About the Export Promotion Mission: The mission is a comprehensive government initiative designed to provide:
• Financial support for exporters
• Opportunities for market diversification
• Platforms for global branding of Indian products
• Background: Announced in the Union Budget 2025 with an outlay of ₹2,250 crore

• Presented by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to export councils
• Developed in response to high US tariffs (50%) on Indian goods affecting textiles, chemicals, leather, and footwear
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India
• Objectives: Protect Indian exports from global market volatility and protectionist measures

• Expand India’s footprint in new international markets
• Strengthen supply chains and competitiveness for MSMEs and e-commerce exporters
• Key Features: Two Broad Components:

• NIRYAT PROTSAHAN: Provides trade finance support for exporters
• NIRYAT DISHA: Drives holistic international market access

9. Bibifathima Swa Sahaya Sangha SHG: Recently, a women-led farmers’ collective from Karnataka, Bibifathima Swa Sahaya Sangha Self-Help Group (SHG), was named a global winner of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Equator Prize 2025. This prestigious award recognizes community-led efforts to protect nature and combat climate change.

• About Bibifathima Swa Sahaya Sangha SHG: Operating across 30 villages in Karnataka, the SHG supports over 5,000 farmers in growing millets, conserving traditional seeds, and processing crops using solar-powered machines.
• The group uniquely blends traditional farming wisdom with modern sustainable practices, helping to: Restore biodiversity
• Strengthen food security
• Create jobs, particularly for women and youth
• Its leader, Bibifathima, was earlier recognized as a ‘Change Maker’ by Deccan Herald in 2023.
• The group began with support from the Sahaja Samruddha seed conservation network, highlighting grassroots initiatives that are now celebrated globally.
• About Equator Prize: Launched in 2002, to honours Indigenous peoples and local communities using nature-based solutions to enhance livelihoods and protect the environment.