Notes:
India along with 10 ASEAN Member States (AMS) were represented by 200 participants, at the 4th edition of the annual ASEAN India Grassroots Innovation Forum (AIGIF) that was launched in Langkawi, Malaysia.
The AIGIF is an annual programme focused on fostering a strengthened relationship between India and AMS on the premise of cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). Department of Science & Technology (DST) and National Innovation Foundation (NIF) of India and the Science and Technology Ministry of the host nation, Malaysia collaborated for the event.

Notes:
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has constituted a taskforce to examine the impact of Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 on the insurance sector.
The Ministry of Law and Justice notified the Act in 2023. The insurance regulator formed a task force headed by Randip Singh Japal, Executive Director (Non-Life), IRDAI.

Notes:
Union Cabinet approved a special development mission for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) with a total outlay of over ₹24,104 crore over a three-year period.
The scheme will focus on 11 critical interventions through 9 Ministries including Ministry of Tribal Affairs.An amount of Rs.15,000 crore will be made available to implement the Mission in the next three years under the Development Action Plan for the Scheduled Tribes (DAPST).

Notes:
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Terms of Reference for the Sixteenth Finance Commission.
The 16th Finance Commission’s recommendations, upon the acceptance by the government, would cover the period of five years commencing April 1, 2026. Article 280(1) of the Constitutions lays down that the modalities for setting up of a Finance Commission. The Fifteenth Finance Commission was constituted in 2017, whose recommendations are valid up to the financial year 2025-26.

Notes:
Tushar Shelke and Sangeeta claimed the recurve men and women titles in the National archery championships.
Prathamesh Jawkar and World champion Aditi Swami took the men and women top titles in the compound division.

Notes:
Angadvir Singh Bajwa and Ganemat Sekhon won the mixed skeet gold for Punjab in the 66th National shooting championship.
In the women’s 50-metre rifle 3-position event, Asian Games champion Sift Kaur Samra beat Olympian Anjum Moudgil by 1.9 point for the gold.

Notes:
Virgin Atlantic operated Flight100 from London to New York, the first ever transatlantic passenger flight fully powered by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The Boeing 787, with Rolls-Royce engines, aims to demonstrate SAF’s viability as a safe, low-carbon substitute for conventional jet fuel. As the aviation industry faces pressure to reduce emissions and climate impact, SAF has potential as a compatible drop-in replacement requiring no new infrastructure. Flight100 represents an important first step in testing and scaling up commercial use of 100% SAF on long flights. Its completion will help make the case for ramping up SAF production and adoption across more routes. The flight proves such ambition is technologically possible with today’s planes and engines while we continue striving to make SAF affordable and available at scale.

Notes:
The concept of Special Category States (SCS) emerged in 1969 when the Indian government recognized that certain states faced more developmental challenges than others. The criteria for SCS classification includes hilly terrain, low population density, sizable tribal population, strategic border locations, and economic backwardness.

Initially in 1969, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and Nagaland were granted SCS status. Currently, 11 states hold this status – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Telangana and Uttarakhand.

The preferential categorization aims to channel additional funds and incentives to remote, underdeveloped regions facing geographic handicaps. SCS states receive central assistance for programs tailor-made to their unique needs. The classification also enables access to separate Center-State funding mechanisms and industrial promotions to spur growth.

Notes:
Hundreds of people displaced from Manipur due to ethnic clashes have taken refuge in Mizoram’s capital Aizawl since May 2022. They were given shelter, education for children, and healthcare by the previous MNF government. However, with Mizoram elections bringing a possible change in power, the Manipuri refugees housed in Aizawl’s Falkland camp grow uncertain about their future.
The 62 families appeal to the new government for continued support and being allowed to stay until stability returns back home. They do not want a change in government to alter the empathetic policy towards them. Their appeals come amid calls for a separate Kuki administrative division in Manipur following prolonged tensions between tribes and armed groups.

Notes:
On December 5, Cyclone Michaung made landfall over Nellore in Andhra Pradesh as a super-cyclonic storm. A day earlier, the weather system had produced 150-200 mm of rain in north Tamil Nadu.
In 2000, a panel of the World Meteorological Organisation with members of the UN Economic and Social Commission prepared the list of names of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, to be given from the September 2004 season. The name of each cyclone is picked from this list and cycles through each country’s suggestion. After Michaung (by Myanmar), the next five cyclones will be called ‘Remal’ (Oman), ‘Asna’ (Pakistan), ‘Dana’ (Qatar), ‘Fengal’ (Saudi Arabia), and ‘Shakhti’ (Sri Lanka).