Padma Awards Historical Background

• The Padma Awards were established in 1954 alongside the Bharat Ratna.
• Initially, Padma Awards had three classes: Pahela Varg, Dusra Varg, and Tisra Varg.
• These were renamed in 1955 via Presidential Notification as: Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri

Padma Awards Categories

• Padma Vibhushan: Awarded for exceptional and distinguished service.
• Padma Bhushan: Conferred for distinguished service of a high order.
• Padma Shri: Recognises distinguished service in any field.

Eligibility Criteria

• All persons, regardless of race, occupation, position or gender, are eligible for the award.
• Government servants, including employees of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), are not eligible, except doctors and scientists.
• Awards are normally not conferred posthumously, but in highly deserving cases, exceptions are allowed.
• A minimum 5-year gap is required for conferring a higher category Padma award upon a previously awarded individual. However, this can be relaxed by the Awards Committee in exceptional cases.
• Nominations are open to the public, and self-nomination is also allowed.

 Selection Process

• All nominations are evaluated by the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted annually by the Prime Minister.
• The Committee is headed by the Cabinet Secretary.
• Its recommendations are submitted to the Prime Minister and President for final approval.
• The awards are presented by the President, usually in March or April.
• Awardees receive a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion.

Other Key Features

• The total number of Padma awards per year is capped at 120, excluding:
  • Posthumous awards
  • Awards to NRIs, foreign nationals, and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs)
• The award does not constitute a title and cannot be used as a prefix or suffix to the awardee’s name.
• Disciplines covered: Awards span across art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, among others.

Key Facts about Bhutan

• Bhutan is a landlocked Himalayan country, bordered by India to the south, east, and west, and China (Tibet Autonomous Region) to the north.
  • Indian states bordering Bhutan: Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Thimphu is the capital and largest city of Bhutan.
  • Phuntsholing is Bhutan’s key financial and trade hub, located along the India-Bhutan border.
• Political System: Bhutan is a parliamentary monarchy.
  • It transitioned to democracy in 2008 with the first democratic elections.
  • The King of Bhutan remains the Head of State.
• Official name: Kingdom of Bhutan.
  • Local name: Druk Gyal Khap, meaning "Land of the Thunder Dragon".
• Longest River: The Manas River (376 km), a transboundary river flowing through southern Bhutan into India, forms an important ecological and trade corridor.

Significance of India–Bhutan Customs Cooperation

• India is Bhutan’s largest trading partner, accounting for about 80% of Bhutan’s total trade, making border customs cooperation vital for both countries.
• Bhutan, being a landlocked country, relies heavily on Land Customs Stations (LCSs) for trade. There are 10 India-Bhutan LCSs—6 in West Bengal and 4 in Assam.
• The JGC is an annual bilateral mechanism aimed at strengthening Customs cooperation, facilitating cross-border trade, and reforming customs procedures in line with global best practices.

About National Supercomputing Mission (NSM)

• The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) is a flagship initiative launched in 2015 by the Government of India to strengthen the nation’s High-Performance Computing (HPC)
• It aims to enhance India’s computational capacity in sectors like science, technology, academia, research, and industry, making the country self-reliant in supercomputing technologies.
• The mission is jointly steered by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), and is implemented by C-DAC, Pune and IISc, Bengaluru.
• The key goal is to position India globally among top nations in supercomputing by enabling research, reducing technological import dependence, and creating a robust indigenous HPC ecosystem.

Key Achievements

• 34 supercomputers have been deployed with a total computational capacity of 35 Petaflops across top institutes like IITs, IISc, and C-DAC, including institutions in Tier II and Tier III cities.
• Supercomputers have recorded 85–95% utilisation, supporting over 10,000 researchers and 1,700+ PhD scholars from 200+ institutions.
• More than 1 crore computing jobs have been completed and over 1,500 research papers published, reflecting substantial research productivity.
• NSM has trained over 22,000 individuals in HPC and AI skills through five dedicated centres in Pune, Kharagpur, Chennai, Palakkad, and Goa.

Indigenisation Milestones

• "Rudra" HPC servers, developed indigenously, are the first HPC-class servers built in India, matching global standards.
• Supercomputers like PARAM Rudra (Pune, Delhi, Kolkata) have been dedicated for advanced research in physics, cosmology, and earth sciences.
• The Trinetra high-speed network (developed under NSM) boosts data transfer rates up to 200 Gbps and is being rolled out in phases – PoC, Trinetra-A (100 Gbps), and Trinetra-B (200 Gbps).

AI Supercomputing: AIRAWAT

• The AIRAWAT project is India’s AI-focused supercomputing initiative under NSM, offering a common AI computing platform for start-ups, researchers, and innovation hubs.
• The Proof of Concept (PoC) system of AIRAWAT features 200 petaflops of AI processing power, scalable to 790 AI petaflops.
• AIRAWAT secured 75th rank in the Top 500 Global Supercomputing List (ISC 2023, Germany), placing India among the top AI supercomputing nations.

Institutional Milestones

• PARAM Shivay (2019) at IIT-BHU was the first indigenous supercomputer under NSM.
• PARAM Pravega (2022) at IISc Bengaluru is among the largest academic supercomputers in India, with 3 petaflops processing power.

About Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA)

• The Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) was established in 2016 under the Companies Act, 2013.
• It manages the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) and promotes investor awareness and financial protection.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Corporate Affairs
• The IEPF consists of amounts that remained unclaimed for 7 years, including:
  • Unpaid dividends,
  • Application money is due for refund,
  • Matured deposits and debentures,
  • Interest on investments from the fund,
  • Grants or donations received from the government or other entities.

IEPFA’s ‘Niveshak Shivir’ Initiative

• ‘Niveshak Shivir’ is a joint initiative of IEPFA and SEBI launched to simplify the process of reclaiming unclaimed dividends and shares.
• The camps will feature one-stop kiosks set up by companies and RTAs in cities with large numbers of unclaimed dividend holders, starting with Mumbai and Ahmedabad in May 2025.
• Investors can update KYC and nominations, verify claim status, and get real-time grievance redressal at these camps.
• The initiative aims to reduce investor dependence on intermediaries, thereby minimising fraud and misinformation risks.

A QR-code-based Google Form will be used for pre-registration, supported by the regional offices of ICAI and SEBI.

Significance of Action

• The move is aimed at protecting consumer rights and preventing undue pressure on consumers to pay additional charges during service availing.
• As per law, no hotel or restaurant can force consumers to pay a service charge, nor can a service charge be collected under any alternative name.

About Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)

• The CCPA was established under Section 10 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
• The Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which replaced the 1986 Act, was notified on August 9, 2019, and came into force on July 20, 2020.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.

Functions and Powers of CCPA

• The CCPA protects, promotes, and enforces the rights of consumers as a class under the Act.
• It prevents unfair trade practices and curbs false or misleading advertisements.
• The CCPA ensures that no one publishes or disseminates false or misleading advertisements.
• The CCPA can initiate class-action suits, including recalls, refunds, and cancellation of licenses, when necessary.
• The CCPA can conduct inquiries and investigations through its Investigation Wing, headed by a Director-General.
• It can order the discontinuation of unfair practices, impose penalties on errant businesses, and enforce consumer welfare measures.
• Composition of CCPA: A Chief Commissioner heads the CCPA and has two other commissioners:
  • One commissioner deals with goods-related issues.
  • The other commissioner handles service-related complaints.

About GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance:

• It is an independent public-private partnership that was created in 2000 to improve access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries.
• Based in Geneva, Switzerland, Gavi brings together public and private sectors with the shared goal of creating equal access to vaccines for children, wherever they live.
• It brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, research and technical agencies, civil society organizations, and private philanthropists.
• Gavi’s main activities include supporting low- and middle-income countries’ access to new and underused vaccines for vulnerable children through financial support, technical expertise, and market-shaping efforts, such as negotiating with manufacturers, to help lower the cost of procuring vaccines.
• By bringing the key stakeholders in global immunisation together around one mission, Gavi combines the technical expertise of the development community with the business know-how of the private sector.
• Since its beginnings, Gavi has vaccinated more than 1.1 billion children and saved an estimated 18.8 million lives (2023 figures).
• Gavi was one of the organizations leading COVAX, a multilateral effort that supported the equitable development, procurement, and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines globally that began in 2020 and ended in 2023.

About Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary:

• It is located in the Balasore District of Odisha within the Eastern Ghats.
• It is spread across 272 sq.km. in the Chota Nagpur Plateau region.
• It is part of the larger Similipal-Kuldiha-Hadgarh Elephant Reserve, making it a crucial habitat for the conservation of elephants in the region.
• It is connected with Simlipal Tiger Reserve via Nato and Sukhupada Hill ranges.
• It features a network of streams, including the Kuldiha stream and its tributaries.
• Vegetation: Kuldiha sanctuary area, adjoining Nilgiri forest in the North and Mayurbhanj Forest in the West, is a typical representative of a mixture of peninsular (coastal) Sal forest and moist mixed deciduous forest.
• Flora: The sanctuary boasts a rich diversity of flora, including dense forests of sal (Shorea robusta), jamun (Syzygium cumini), piyasal (Pterocarpus marsupium), bahera (Terminalia bellirica), mango (Mangifera indica), and simul (Bombax ceiba).
• Fauna:
  • It is home to a number of endangered and threatened wild animal species like Asiatic Elephant, Leopard, Gaur, Mouse deer, Pangolin, Ratel, Giant squirrel, etc.
  • Besides that, some endangered bird species like Hill myna, Woodpecker, Hornbill and Eagles are also found in the Sanctuary.