Data Embassies
India is in advanced talks to set up UAE’s first data embassy in India
- Enable nations to store a copy of their sovereign data while retaining control over it.
- Operate like consular divisions, with the embassy managing privacy, access, and data handling, while India hosts the infrastructure.
- Estonia was the 1st country to store a digitized copy of its citizens’ data in Luxembourg, after a cyberattack in 2007.
- Countries can use these embassies to localize data without adhering to foreign data regulations.
Mission Mausam
PM launched the Mission Mausam initiative and released the IMD Vision-2047 document.
- Objective – Enhancing the capabilities of India’s weather department in weather forecasting, modelling, and dissemination.
- Budget – Rs 2,000 crore for its first 2 years of implementation.
- Features –
- Upgrade Weather Forecasting improving the accuracy of short to medium range weather forecasts by 5-10%,
- Investing in technologies like AI, machine learning, and high-performance computing to improve weather models and observational systems
- A cloud chamber will be set up at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, to study cloud dynamics and improve weather management through cloud seeding experiments
Kampala Declaration
African Union (AU) Extraordinary Summit adopted Kampala Declaration
- Deals with – Building Resilient and Sustainable Agrifood Systems in Africa.
- Successor to the Malabo Declaration, adopted in 2014.
- Implementation period – 2026-2035.
Shikari Devi Wildlife Sanctuary
Government of India has designated areas around Shikari Devi Wildlife Sanctuary as Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs).
- Location – Himachal Pradesh.
- Named after the goddess Shikari Devi, to whom a temple is dedicated in the sanctuary.
- Streams – Juni Khud, a tributary of Beas River.
- Recognised as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International
Blue Ghost Mission
SpaceX Falcon9 launched U.S.-based Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1
- Willdeliver 10 S&T instruments to the lunar surface
- Part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.
- Will conduct several first-of-its-kind demonstrations, including testing regolith sample collection, Global Navigation Satellite System abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation.