News In Short-16-06-2025

Cash Plus Model Pushes Up Early Breastfeeding Rate in Rajasthan

Syllabus: GS1/ Issues Related to Women and Children, GS2/ Governance

Context

• Rajasthan’s Cash Plus Model, the first in India to combine Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) with Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC), has led to a 49% rise in early breastfeeding.

About the Cash Plus Model

• Complementary to PMMVY: The model builds on the existing Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, which provides financial assistance to women during their first pregnancy.
  • The Cash Plus model extends these benefits to second-time mothers, filling a major policy gap.
• Integrated Behavioural Change Strategy: It combines cash transfers with home-based counselling, nutrition education, community engagements, and digital outreach to promote healthy practices.
• Phased Implementation: Launched in 2020 as a pilot in five tribal districts, the scheme was scaled up state-wide in 2022.
• Financial Commitment: The annual budget for the scaled-up version is ₹210 crore, targeting around 3.5 lakh second-time pregnant women every year.

Source: TH

Vietnam officially Joins BRICS As ‘Partner Country’

Syllabus: GS2/IR

Context

• Vietnam has officially joined BRICS as a partner country.

About

• Vietnam has now become the 10th BRICS partner. 
• The partner country category was created at the 2024 BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia. 
• The current list of partners includes Vietnam, Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan.

About BRICS

• BRICS is an acronym that refers to a group of five major emergingnational economies:Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. 
  • Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have joined BRICS as new full members .
• The term ‘BRIC’ was originally coined by economist Jim O’Neill in 2001.
• Origin: As a formal grouping, BRIC started after the meeting of the Leaders of Russia, India and China in St. Petersburg on the margins of the G8 Outreach Summit in 2006. 
  • The grouping was formalized during the 1st meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers on the margins of UNGA in New York in 2006. 
  • Initially, the grouping was termed BRIC as South Africa was inducted in 2010 and from there on it has been referred to as BRICS.
• Summits: The governments of the BRICS states have met annually at formal summits since 2009.
• BRICS countries have come together to deliberate on important issues under the three pillars of:
  • political and security, 
  • economic and financial and 
  • cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
• New Development Bank: Formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states.
  • The Bank shall support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments.

Source: AIR

Step-and-shoot spot-scanning proton arc therapy (SPArc)

Syllabus :GS3/Science and Tech

In News

• A team at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in the U.S. for the first time successfully used step-and-shoot spot-scanning proton arc therapy (SPArc) to treat Adenoid cystic carcinoma.

About the Threapy 

• Step-and-shoot spot-scanning proton arc therapy (SPArc) reduced radiation exposure to vital organs like the brainstem, optical chiasm, and spinal canal significantly compared to standard SFO-IMPT therapy.
• It uses proton beams with varying energy layers to precisely ‘paint’ the tumour while machine learning tools ensure accurate dose delivery despite changes like weight loss. 

Relevance 

• SPArc holds great potential for treating tumours in complex anatomical areas, though concerns remain about its high cost and the risk of under-treating due to tumour movement or shrinkage during therapy.
  • Although fully dynamic SPArc showed slightly better results, it is still in development. 

Source: TH

Rubber Board

Syllabus :GS3/Economy

In News

• The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry approved the appointment of staff members to the Rubber Board  to several long-pending vacancies. 

Rubber Board 

• It is a statutory organization constituted under Section (4) of the Rubber Act, 1947 and functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 
• It is headed by a Chairman appointed by the Central Government and has 28 members representing various interests of the natural rubber industry. 
• The Board’s headquarters is located at Kottayam in Kerala. 

Functions

• The Board is responsible for the development of the rubber industry in the country by assisting and encouraging research, development, extension and training activities related to rubber. 
• It also maintains statistical data of rubber, takes steps to promote marketing of rubber and undertake labour welfare activities. 

Source :TH

Flue Gas Desulphurisation

Syllabus: GS3/Environment

Context

• A committee chaired by Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) Ajay Sood, has recommended that India do away with mandating Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) units in all coal-fired thermal power plants (TPPs).

About

• In 2015, the Union Environment Ministry issued a policy that mandated all 537 coal-fired TPPs in India to install FGD units to reduce SO2 emissions.
• In 2025, a study commissioned by the PSA’s office concluded that the Environment Ministry should roll back its 2015 policy mandating all of India’s TPPs to install FGD units.
  • Installing FGD units is a costly affair. According to the Central Electricity Authority, FGD costs approximately ₹1.2 crore per MW to install.

Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD)

• Flue gas is emitted as a byproduct of combustion of fossil fuels. It mainly contains pollutants such as carbon dioxide (CO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, etc. 
• FGD units specifically target the SO2 emissions in flue gas.
  • SO2 is an acidic gas, and is usually treated with a basic compound in the FGD unit to neutralise the pollutant. 
  • It is one of the major greenhouse gases that cause global warming, and can cause respiratory problems in humans.
• There are three common types of FGD systems around the world — dry sorbent injection, wet limestone treatment, and using sea water to remove SO2. 
  • The dry sorbent injection method involves adding a powdered sorbent like limestone to the flue gas, where it reacts with SO2. 
  • The wet limestone treatment method also uses limestone to remove SO2, but instead of using it in a powdered form, it uses a limestone slurry. 
    • Passing SO2 through this slurry results in the formation of gypsum, which is a stable compound and has wide applications in industries like construction. 
    • This is the commonly used technology, and has very high efficiency.
  • Sea water treatment is used in plants located near coastal areas.
    • Sea water first absorbs SO2 from flue gas, and then the water is treated to make it suitable to be discharged back into the sea.

Source: TH

UN’s ICAO Rated India Above Global Average

Syllabus: GS3/Disaster Management

Context

• India was rated well above the global average in terms of its operations and airworthiness by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

About

• The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was last audited in November 2022.
• The overall Effective Implementation score rose to 85.65% from 69.95% in 2018, indicating an improvement in the country’s aviation safety ranking.
  • India scored higher than the global average in all eight categories under ICAO’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP).
• In the operations category, India scored 94.02%, significantly higher than the global average of 72.28%, and even surpassed countries like the United States (86.51%) and China (90%).
• In terms of airworthiness, India achieved a score of 97.06%, again outperforming the US (89.13%) and China (94.83%).
• Although India was audited in 2022, while the US and China were audited in 2024.

About ICAO and Safety Audits

• ICAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for establishing global standards and regulations for civil aviation safety and operations.
• ICAO conducts the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) to assess the ability of member states to ensure effective safety oversight in civil aviation.
• The USOAP evaluates eight critical areas: legislation, organisation, licensing, operations, airworthiness, accident investigation, air navigation services, and aerodromes.

FAA’s Safety Assessment of India

• The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States conducts the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) to determine if a country’s civil aviation authority complies with ICAO standards.
• In 2021, the DGCA of India was audited by the FAA, based on the positive findings, in 2023, the FAA reaffirmed India’s status as Category 1 under the IASA programme, indicating full compliance with ICAO safety oversight standards.
  • A Category 1 rating allows Indian airlines to operate and expand flights to the United States and to code-share with US carriers.

Source: IE

New Species of Jumping Spider Discovered

Syllabus :GS3/Environment 

In News

• Researchers in southern India have discovered a new species of jumping spider, Spartaeus karigiri, marking the first time the genera Spartaeus and Sonoita.

Jumping spiders

• They  belong to the Salticidae family which is the largest spider family with over 5,000 species.
• They are small to medium-sized spiders known for their dense iridescent scales and large front median eyes. 
• They inhabit diverse environments, from vegetation and rocky areas to buildings, and are active daytime hunters relying on their keen eyesight to catch prey like ants and fruit flies.
  • They occur worldwide, except for Greenland and Antarctica.
• Unlike many spiders, they don’t spin webs for trapping prey but use silk as an anchor line and create silken retreats for molting or resting.

New species  : Spartaeus karigiri

• The study found male spiders hiding in rocky crevices in Karnataka’s Karigiri region and females guarding eggs, with additional specimens spotted in Tamil Nadu.
• It marks the first time that the genera Spartaeus and Sonoita (specific groups within a subfamily)have been found in India.
  • It was  previously known only from Southeast Asia and Africa. 
• These findings increase India’s Spartaeinae spider count to 15 species across 10 genera, highlighting the country’s rich but still largely unexplored spider biodiversity.

Source :TH