1) Electoral Trusts (ETs): ETs scheme was notified in 2013 to facilitate donations to political parties by corporates and individuals.
- Any Indian citizen or India registered company can donate to an ET.
- ETs must donate 95% of contributions received in a financial year to political parties registered under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
- ETs are required to submit to the Election Commission of India a report on contributions from individuals and companies, and their donations to parties every year.
- However, the Electoral Bond scheme seeks to ensure anonymity for the donor.
2) India – U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X): Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) under Ministry of Defence and US Department of Defence, organised the first INDUS-X Investors meet at New Delhi.
- Also launched INDUS-X Educational Series (Gurukul) initiative which aims to help the innovators /startups to navigate in the defence eco-system of the US and India.
- Launched in June 2023.
- Aims to expand strategic technology partnership and defense industrial cooperation between governments, businesses, and academic institutions of India and the US
3) Aurora: The Hanle and Merak observatories in Ladakh spotted an intense red aurora.
- Hanle is India’s only dark sky reserve. It is an area where measures are taken to reduce artificial light pollution to observe sky at night.
- Auroras are patterns of bright lights in the sky that are seen when particles ejected by the Sun interact with the magnetic field around the Earth.
- The phenomenon is usually visible closer to the poles.
- Northern lights (aurora borealis) and southern lights (aurora australis) are main auroras. They are seen in Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere, respectively.
4) Cervavac Vaccine: A study in Lancet Oncology reveals that the Cervavac vaccine by the Serum Institute of India elicits a comparable immune response to Merck’s Gardasil vaccine.
- Cervavac is India’s first indigenous quadrivalent HPV vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer and other HPV-associated cancers.
- HPV is a major cause of cervical cancer.
- Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women in India, accounting for about a fifth of the global burden of cervical cancer
Places in News:
1) Ethiopia (Capital: Addis Ababa):
- 6th Session of India-Ethiopia Joint Trade Committee held successfully in Addis Ababa.
- Political Boundaries
- Landlocked country in the Horn of Africa.
- Other country which lies in the Horn of Africa includes Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia.
- Neighbouring Countries: Eritrea (north), Djibouti (northeast), Somalia (east), Kenya (south), and South Sudan and Sudan (west).
- Geographical Features
- Major Rivers: Blue Nile and Awash River.
- Major Lakes: Lake Tana
- Highest peak: Ras Dashen
