1) North Eastern Council (NEC): 71st Plenary Session of NEC held in Shillong, Meghalaya.
- NEC (HQ: Shillong) is nodal agency for the economic and social development of North Eastern Region (NER).
- It is a statutory body created by Parliament through NEC Act, 1971.
- It works under administrative control of Ministry of Development of NER.
- Union Home Minister is ex-officio Chairman of NEC.
- It consists of eight States i.e. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
2) Laser Communication with Vikram Lander: NASA successfully tested laser communication between its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander for the first time.
- NASA’s LRO detected signals reflected by the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) accommodated on the Vikram lander under international collaboration.
- This LRA of NASA comprises eight corner-cube retroreflectors and will serve as a long-term geodetic station and a location marker on the lunar surface.
- This breakthrough enables precise location targeting on the lunar surface, marking a new era
3) Alliance for Global Good- Gender Equity and Equality: India announced a new alliance for Global Good, Gender Equity and Equality at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
- It aims to bring together global best practices, foster knowledge sharing, and attract investments in key areas such as women’s health, education, and enterprise.
- It builds on commitments of G20 Leaders’ Declaration and India’s dedication to women-led development.
- Supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and anchored by Confederation of Indian Industry Centre for Women Leadership.
- WEF will be a ‘Network Partner’ and Invest India an ‘Institutional Partner’.
4) Hague Apostille Convention, 1961: Allahabad High Court mandates that India, a member of the Apostille Convention, must accept foreign apostille-authenticated documents.
- It simplified the global circulation of public documents.
- These public documents include certificates of birth, marriage, and death, and educational documents among others.
- Contracting parties issue an Apostille certificate to authenticate a document’s origin, allowing it to be presented abroad to another Contracting Party.
- Non-member countries require extra certification from the State of origin for document acceptance.
Places in News:
1) Senegal (Capital: Dakar):
- Lake Retba or Lac Rose or the Pink Lake of Senegal is on the verge of disappearing due to sudden increase in nitrate levels.
- Senegal is located in the westernmost point of Africa.
- Political Boundaries:
- Territorial Boundaries: Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia.
- Maritime boundaries: Sénégal River (North) and Atlantic Ocean (West).
- Geographical features:
- The country lies in a depression known as the Senegal-Mauritanian Basin.
- Major rivers: Sénégal, Saloum, Gambia rivers.
- Major mountain: Galeakouto.
- Vegetation: Semiarid grassland and tropical rainforest converge.
