In News:

Seaweed farming has emerged as a potential Blue Carbon strategy, yet empirical estimates of carbon burial from such farms remain lacking in the literature.

What is Blue Carbon?

• Blue Carbon refers to organic carbon captured and stored by ocean-based vegetated ecosystems such as mangroves, saltmarshes, and seagrass meadows.
• The term “blue” highlights its association with aquatic ecosystems.
• Most blue carbon comes from carbon dioxide dissolved directly into the ocean. Smaller amounts are stored in:
  • Underwater sediments and soils
  • Coastal vegetation
  • Organic molecules (DNA, proteins, etc.)
  • Marine organisms (phytoplankton, whales, etc.)
• Despite covering just 2% of the ocean surface, these ecosystems account for 50% of total oceanic carbon absorption, making them vital in global climate mitigation efforts.

Seaweed Farming as a Blue Carbon Strategy

• Emerging Role: Seaweed cultivation has been identified as a potential Blue Carbon pathway, though empirical evidence of its carbon burial capacity has been limited until recently.
• Global Study: An analysis of 20 seaweed farms worldwide, aged between 2 and 300 years and ranging from 1 to 15,000 hectares, provides new insights.
• Findings:
  • Sediment organic carbon stocks increased with farm age, reaching 140 tC ha?¹ in the oldest farm.
  • Average burial rates: 1.87 ± 0.73 tCO?e ha?¹ yr?¹ in farm sediments, nearly double that of nearby reference sediments.
  • Excess CO?e burial attributable to seaweed farming: 1.06 ± 0.74 tCO?e ha?¹ yr?¹.
• Conclusion: Seaweed farms in depositional environments act as effective carbon sinks, with burial rates at the lower end of traditional Blue Carbon habitats but increasing significantly with farm maturity.

Significance

• Reinforces the role of marine ecosystems in carbon sequestration.
• Highlights seaweed farming as a scalable, nature-based climate solution alongside mangroves, saltmarshes, and seagrasses.
• Provides a scientific basis for integrating seaweed aquaculture into Blue Carbon policies and climate strategies.

In News:

A Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) is an innovative electronic component that transformed imaging technology and left a lasting impact across multiple disciplines.

What is a CCD?

• A CCD is a technology that converts light into electrical signals using an arrangement of capacitors, which transfer stored charges sequentially.
• It is built as an integrated circuit containing a grid of tiny picture elements, or pixels.
• Each pixel functions as a miniature light sensor that captures incoming photons and converts them into electrical charges.
• These charges are then shifted across the device pixel by pixel until they reach a readout register, where they are processed into a digital image.

Working Principle

• Based on the photoelectric effect, where incident light generates electron-hole pairs in a semiconductor.
• When photons hit a pixel, they dislodge electrons, creating an electric charge proportional to the light intensity at that point.
• Each pixel acts like a capacitor, storing the accumulated electrons.
• By applying a controlled voltage to electrodes over the pixels, the stored charges are moved step by step across the array—similar to passing buckets of water along a line.
• Once charges reach the output stage, they are converted into voltage signals, amplified, and digitized to form a high-resolution digital image.
• This sequential transfer mechanism is what gives the device its name—charge-coupled.

Applications

• Everyday Use:
  • Revolutionized digital photography by replacing traditional film.
  • Widely used in CCTV cameras, offering high-quality surveillance in banks, malls, hospitals, and other sensitive locations.
• Medical Field:
  • Integral to diagnostic imaging such as X-rays, CT scans, and endoscopy.
  • Also employed in microscopes, spectrometers, and particle detectors, enabling detailed scientific analysis.
• Astronomy:CCD-equipped telescopes capture faint and distant celestial objects with greater sensitivity and accuracy than old photographic plates, driving advances in space observation.

CCDs remain one of the most influential inventions in modern imaging, bridging science, medicine, security, and astronomy.

In News:

The Indian Army, in collaboration with the state governments of Assam and Manipur, inaugurated Exercise Samanvay Shakti 2025 at Laipuli in Tinsukia district, Assam. The initiative is a Military–Civil Integration Exercise designed to build cooperation, cohesion, and mutual understanding among various stakeholder

Aim & Objectives

• Enhance synergy between the armed forces, government departments, and civil institutions.
• Develop a unified and coordinated approach to address the region’s complex challenges.
• Improve preparedness through refined SOPs, effective communication channels, and practical rehearsals.
• Strengthen the bond of trust between local communities and institutions.
• Promote nation-building, development, and national integration.

Participation

The inaugural session saw participation from:

• Indian Army and Indian Air Force.
• State administration, Police, and Intelligence Agencies.
• NDRF, SDRF, BRO, GREF, Medical officials, and Railways.
• Educational institutions and security teams from OIL India, IOCL, Coal India, along with local media representatives.

Key Features

• Location & Duration: Conducted in Assam and a parallel 10-day exercise in Manipur (20–30 August 2025).
• Thematic Focus in Manipur: Disaster management, healthcare, education, public works, forest initiatives, narcotics control, irrigation, road safety, employment in armed forces, sports promotion, police–Army–paramilitary coordination, and infrastructure development under Operation Sadbhavna.

Significance

• Provides a platform for collaboration between civil authorities and the military.
• Enhances regional security preparedness while addressing developmental needs.
• Encourages community participation in governance and security-related initiatives.
• Contributes towards integrated development and inclusive nation-building in the Northeast.

In News:

The Delhi High Court has ordered a ban on Sci-Hub and its mirror websites after global publishing houses filed a copyright infringement case. This decision has reignited the debate on access to academic literature in India and highlighted the relevance of the government’s One Nation, One Subscription (ONOS) initiative

About Sci-Hub

• Founded: 2011 by Alexandra Elbakyan.
• Nature: A free digital repository providing millions of research articles.
• Function: Circumvents paywalls of academic journals, allowing unrestricted access without subscriptions.
• Popularity: Widely used by students, independent researchers, and scholars, particularly in developing nations.

The Sci-Hub Case

• Litigation: Publishing giants Elsevier, Wiley, and the American Chemical Society (ACS) filed a copyright case against Sci-Hub.
• Court Ruling: The Delhi High Court found Alexandra Elbakyan guilty of contempt for violating earlier commitments.
• Directive: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were instructed to block Sci-Hub and related mirror portals.
• Implication: While the ruling reinforced intellectual property rights, it left unanswered the critical issue of affordable access to scholarly resources in India.

One Nation, One Subscription (ONOS) Scheme

• Launch: 2024.
• Funding: ?6,000 crore allocated for the first phase (2023–26).
• Approach: Centralized negotiations with 30 publishing houses to provide access to nearly 13,000 journals.
• Coverage:
  • Phase I: Public universities and research institutions.
  • Phase II: Private colleges and institutes.
• Objective: To provide equitable, legal, and affordable access to global research material, reducing dependence on piracy platforms like Sci-Hub.

In News:

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), in collaboration with Vertis Infrastructure Trust, has launched Project Aarohan, a nationwide scholarship and mentorship program aimed at supporting the educational aspirations of the children of toll plaza employees, particularly those from economically weaker sections (EWS) and disadvantaged communities.

Key Objectives

• Remove financial barriers to education.
• Ensure equal access to quality education for children of toll plaza staff.
• Bridge socio-economic divides while nurturing talent among first-generation learners, girls, and students from EWS, SC, ST, OBC, and minority groups.
• Prepare students for higher education, employment, and entrepreneurship through holistic guidance.

Features of Project Aarohan

• Coverage: 500 students from Class 11 to the final year of graduation.
• Scholarships: Each selected student will receive ?12,000 annually (FY 2025–26).
• Higher Studies Support: 50 bright students aspiring for postgraduate and higher studies will get ?50,000 each.
• Beyond Finance: Mentorship, skill-building workshops, career guidance, and structured progress tracking to foster holistic growth.
• Fund Allocation: ?1 crore for the first phase (July 2025–March 2026).
• Application Process: Through an online portal, requiring academic records, income proof, caste certificate, ID proof, etc., with a transparent selection and renewal mechanism.