• Inception: Launched in 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Primary Objective: To reduce exam-related stress and foster a celebratory approach ("Utsav") toward learning.
• Nodal Ministry: Organized by the Ministry of Education.
• Target Audience: Students (Classes 6–12), teachers, and parents from India and abroad.

Approved by the Union Cabinet on September 2, 2024

Three Pillars of the Mission

1.AgriStack: A farmer-centric DPI comprising three foundational registries created and maintained by States/UTs:

• Farmers’ Registry: Assigns a unique Farmer ID (similar to Aadhaar) to each farmer.
• Geo-referenced Village Maps: Links geographic information with land records to map land parcel boundaries.
• Crop Sown Registry: Records real-time details of crops planted through mobile-based Digital Crop Surveys.

2. Krishi Decision Support System (Krishi-DSS): A geospatial system integrating satellite, weather, soil, and water data to help in crop mapping, disaster monitoring (droughts/floods), and yield estimation.

3. Soil Profile Maps: Envisages detailed mapping of 142 million hectares of agricultural land at a 1:10,000 scale to promote precision agriculture.

• Capital: Moscow
• Time Zones: 11
• President: Vladimir Putin
• Prime Minister: Mikhail Mishustin
• Currency: Russian Ruble (RUB
• Government Type: Federal Semi-Presidential Republic
• Parliament: Comprises State Duma (Lower House) & Federation Council (Upper House)
• Major Rivers: Volga (longest in Europe), Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Amur (forms Russia-China border)
• Major Lakes: Baikal (world’s deepest and oldest freshwater lake), Ladoga, Onega
• Major Mountains: Ural, Caucasus (Mt. Elbrus, highest peak in Europe)
• Major Grasslands: Russian Steppes
• Major Deserts: Caspian Depression (semi-arid)
• Major Seas: Black, Caspian, Baltic, Barents, Okhotsk
• Bordering Nations: 14 countries Including China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Norway, North Korea, Poland (via exclave)
• Space Agency: Roscosmos
• Trans-Siberian Railway: Moscow to Vladivostok (~9,300 km)
• Major Ports: Murmansk (ice-free Arctic port), Vladivostok, St. Petersburg

• It is the only country that covers an entire continent.
• Australia, often called the "Island Continent," is the world’s smallest and flattest continent but ranks as the sixth-largest country by area.
• Key Landforms: Great Dividing Range, Mount Kosciuszko, Lake Eyre (Kati Thanda), Uluru (Ayers Rock)
• Rivers: Murray and Darling Rivers constitute the main river system
• Deserts: Great Victoria, Great Sandy, Tanami, and Simpson Deserts.
• Government Type: Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy.
• Head of State: King Charles III (represented by the Governor-General).
• Head of Government: Prime Minister (currently Anthony Albanese).
• Currency: Australian Dollar (AUD).

India-Australia Relations

• Strategic Ties: Members of QUAD (along with US/Japan), Five Eyes, AUKUS, and IORA.
• Trade Deal: India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), signed in 2022, removed tariffs on 96.4% of Indian exports.
• Education: Major destination for Indian students; Australian universities are expanding into India (e.g., GIFT City).
• Resources: Key supplier of critical minerals (lithium, cobalt) for India's EV industry.
• Defense: Joint exercises include AUSINDEX and AUSTRAHIND.

• Establishment: 1958
• Motto: "Balasya Mulam Vigyanam" (Strength's Origin is in Science).
• Administrative Control: Functioning under the Department of Defence Research and Development within the Ministry of Defence.
• Current Leadership: Headed by Dr. Samir V. Kamat (Secretary DDR&D and Chairman DRDO).
• IGMDP (1983-2008): Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (Brainchild of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam). Developed Agni, Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Nag.
• Key Products: Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun, Pinaka Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher, AEW&C (Netra).

Recent Products (2025-26):

• • IADWS: Integrated Air Defence Weapon System (maiden flight 2025).
  • MP-AUV: Man-portable Autonomous Underwater Vehicles.
  • Ugram: 7.62x51mm assault rifle.
  • Gaurav: Long-Range Glide Bomb (tested 2025).
  • Agni-P (Prime): New generation nuclear-capable ballistic missile.

• Member States: 27 countries.
• Headquarters: Brussels (Belgium)
• European Council President: António Costa
• European Commission President: Ursula von der Leyen
• The Eurozone: As of 1 January 2026, Bulgaria became the 21st member to adopt the Euro.
• Schengen Area: Includes 29 countries (25 EU members + 4 non-EU: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland). Bulgaria and Romania joined in March 2024. Cyprus and Ireland are the only EU members currently outside Schengen.
• Brexit: The United Kingdom (UK) remains the only country to have left the EU (formally on 31 January 2020).

Policy Rates & Stance

• Repo Rate: Remained at 5.25%.
• Policy Stance: Maintained as "Neutral".
• Supporting Rates: The SDF (Standing Deposit Facility) rate remains at 5.00%, while the MSF (Marginal Standing Facility) and Bank Rate stayed at 5.50%.

Economic Outlook

• GDP Growth: The real GDP growth projection for FY26 was revised slightly upward to 7.4% (from 7.3%). Projections for Q1 and Q2 FY27 are 6.9% and 7%, respectively.
• Inflation (CPI): Projected at 2.1% for the current fiscal year (FY26). Near-term projections for Q1 and Q2 FY27 were revised slightly upward to 4.0% and 4.2%, primarily due to rising gold and silver prices.

New Initiatives & Measures

• Fraud Compensation: Proposed a framework to compensate customers up to ₹25,000 for losses in small-value fraudulent transactions.
• MSME Support: The limit for collateral-free loans to MSMEs was doubled to ₹20 lakh.
• REITs: Banks are now allowed to lend directly to Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) to facilitate capital raising in the sector.
• Customer Protection: Plans to issue draft guidelines regarding loan recovery agents and mis-selling by lenders.

About Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)

• A statutory, empowered body constituted by the Central Government under Section 45ZB of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934.
• Establishment: June 27, 2016, following amendments to the RBI Act by the Finance Act, 2016.
• Recommendation: Based on the Urjit Patel Committee recommendations.
• Primary Objective: To maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth. It determines the policy repo rate required to achieve the inflation target.
• Binding Nature: The decisions of the MPC are binding on the RBI.
• The MPC is required to meet at least four times in a year. It typically meets bi-monthly.
• Members: A 6-member body.
  • Chairperson (Ex-officio): Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (Current as of Feb 2026: Sanjay Malhotra).
  • Member (Ex-officio): Deputy Governor of the RBI in charge of Monetary Policy (Current as of Feb 2026: Poonam Gupta).
  • Member (Ex-officio): One officer of the RBI nominated by the Central Board.
  • External Members (3): Appointed by the Central Government. They must be experts in economics/banking/finance.

About Reserve Bank of India

• Establishment: April 1, 1935, in accordance with the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
• Recommendation: Based on the Hilton Young Commission (Royal Commission on Indian Currency and Finance, 1926).
• Nationalization: Nationalized on January 1, 1949, post-independence, and is now fully owned by the Government of India (Union Ministry of Finance).
• Headquarters: Originally established in Calcutta, moved permanently to Mumbai in 1937.
• First Governor: Sir Osborne Smith.
• First Indian Governor: C.D. Deshmukh.
• Symbol: Tiger and Palm Tree (originally it was the Lion and Tree from the East India Company Mohur).
• Key Rates manager:
  • Repo Rate: Rate at which RBI lends to banks.
  • Reverse Repo Rate: Rate at which RBI borrows from banks.
  • CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio): Percentage of deposits banks must keep with RBI.
  • SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio): Percentage of deposits banks must keep with themselves in liquid assets (cash, gold, securities).

• Establishment: ANRF was established through the ANRF Act, 2023, with its provisions coming into force on 5 February 2024.
• Objective: It serves as the apex body to provide high-level strategic direction for research, innovation, and entrepreneurship across natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences.
• Leadership: The foundation is currently led by Dr. Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, who serves as the CEO.

• Established: 1st December 1965, following the Indo-Pak War of 1965.
• Motto: "Jeevan Paryant Kartavya" (Duty Unto Death).
• Ministry: Administrative control lies with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• Status: One of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and known as India's "First Line of Defence".
• Founder: K.F. Rustamji, IPS, was the first Director General.
• Director General (DG): Praveen Kumar
• Headquarters: New Delhi.
• Primary Borders: Guards the Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh borders.
• It is currently the world's largest border-guarding force.
• The only CAPF with its own Air Wing, Marine Wing, and Artillery Regiment.

• Player of the Match: Captain Smriti Mandhana (87 Runs)
• Orange Cap: Smriti Mandhana (RCB) with 377 runs.
• Purple Cap: Sophie Devine (Gujarat Giants) with 17 wickets.
• Most Valuable Player (MVP): Sophie Devine (Gujarat Giants).
• Emerging Player of the Season: Nandini Sharma (Delhi Capitals).
• Super Striker of the Season: Grace Harris (RCB) – Strike rate of 178.19.
• Most Sixes in the Tournament: Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai Indians)