PM-YASASVI Scheme

Government Scheme

News –

The Government of India reaffirmed its commitment to expanding educational opportunities for disadvantaged students through the PM-YASASVI scheme.

About –

Full form – Prime Minister Young Achievers Scholarship Award Scheme for Vibrant India (PM-YASASVI)

Implementation – Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Objective: Provide financial assistance and residential infrastructure to students from disadvantaged communities, removing geographic and financial barriers to quality education.
Beneficiaries: OBC, Economically Backward Classes (EBC), and Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (DNT) students with an annual family income below ₹2.50 lakh.
Scholarship: Funds students at different stages of their academic lifecycle:

Pre-Matric Scholarship: ₹4,000 per annum for Class 9 and 10 students enrolled full-time in Government Schools.
Post-Matric Scholarship: ₹5,000 to ₹20,000 annual allowance for post-matriculation courses, varying by course group tier.
Top Class School Education: Up to ₹75,000 per annum for Class 9-10 and up to ₹1,25,000 for Class 11–12, covering tuition, hostel, and institutional charges.
Top Class College Education: Full tuition reimbursement up to ₹2 lakh per annum in private institutions, along with ₹3,000 monthly living expenses, ₹5,000 book allowance, and a one-time ₹45,000 laptop grant.
Hostel Construction: ₹3.00 lakh to ₹3.50 lakh per seat for residential hostels, prioritising rural pockets and areas with low literacy rates.
A minimum of 30% of total slots is reserved for girl students and 5% for Persons with Disabilities (PwD).

SMILE Scheme

Government Scheme

News –

The SMILE scheme rehabilitated over 10,200 individuals engaged in begging across 216 cities.

About –

Full form – Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise
It is a Central Sector Scheme by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Objective – providing comprehensive rehabilitation and economic reintegration for transgenders and persons engaged in begging.

Key Sub-Schemes:

- Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons: Provides scholarships from Class IX to post-graduation, Garima Grehs, PM-JAY-linked gender-reaffirmation healthcare, PM-DAKSH training and Transgender Protection Cells.
- Comprehensive Rehabilitation of Persons Engaged in Begging: Advances “Bhiksha Vritti Mukt Bharat” through identification and rescue, shelter with medical care and counselling along with PM-DAKSH training and documentation assistance.
- SMILE-Beggary National Portal registers beneficiaries and tracks rehabilitation centres and their outcomes.

Note – Indore (Madhya Pradesh) became India’s first officially declared beggar-free city in 2025.

Additional Information – PM-DAKSH

Full form – Pradhan Mantri Dakshta Aur Kushalta Sampann Hitgrahi Yojana
Financing – Central Sector Scheme
Launched in – 2020-21
Launched by – Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Objective – It aims to enhance the competency levels of marginalized communities to secure self-employment or wage employment, boosting their socio-economic status

Fast-Track Courts (FTCs) in India

Polity

News –

PM announced the operationalisation of fast-track courts to address NEET examination paper leaks under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.

Constitutional Safeguards and Statutory Framework

Article 14 & 21: Supreme Court affirms the right to a speedy, fair trial as part of the right to life and liberty (Article 21) and requires special courts to be based on objective classification (Article 14).
Article 247: Empowers Parliament to establish additional courts for better administration of Union laws.
Criminal Law Amendment, 2018: Establishes the legal basis for FTSCs and sets a two-month timeline for completing rape investigations and trials.
POCSO Act, 2012: Sections 28 and 35 require State Governments to establish Special Courts and complete trials within one year.
Public Examinations Act, 2024: Provides the legal basis for prosecuting organised examination fraud and for prosecuting syndicates involved in paper leaks.

Panama

International

News –

India and Panama held bilateral talks to deepen maritime cooperation.

Panama

It is a country of Central America located on the Isthmus of Panama, the narrow bridge of land that connects North and South America.
Capital: Panama City
Bordered by Costa Rica (west), and Colombia (east), Caribbean Sea (North) and Pacific Ocean (South).
One of the few countries in the world that does not maintain a permanent standing army.
Panama Canal: A 82-km artificial waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean (Caribbean Sea) and the Pacific Ocean, making it one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes.

Romania

International

News-

President, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, visited Romania, marking the first State Visit by an Indian President to Romania in nearly three decades.
India and Romania are set to celebrate the 80th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2028, which will be commemorated as the “India–Romania Year of Innovation.”

Romania

- Location: Southeastern Europe, in the Balkan region, along the western coast of the Black Sea.
- Capital: Bucharest.
- Bordered by: Ukraine (north), Moldova (east), Hungary (west), Serbia (southwest), and Bulgaria (south).
- Mountains: Carpathian Mountains (Eastern, Southern, and Western Carpathians). The highest peak in Romania is Moldoveanu Peak.
- Major Rivers: Danube River (forms much of Romania’s southern border); Prut River (border with Moldova).

Danube Delta, shared with Ukraine, is one of Europe’s largest wetlands and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Member of the European Union (EU) since 2007 and member of NATO since 2004.

Batukeshwar Dutt

History

News-

The nation paid tributes to Batukeshwar Dutt on his death anniversary (July 20).

About-

He was born in 1910 in West Bengal and raised in Kanpur

He was a socialist revolutionary and a core member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).

He and Bhagat Singh threw smoke bombs inside the Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929, distributed leaflets and raised “Inquilab Zindabad”.
During the 1929 Lahore Jail hunger strike, Dutt demanded better conditions for political prisoners.
Released because of tuberculosis, he joined the Quit India Movement (1942) and was imprisoned again.
He died in 1965 and was cremated at Hussainiwala, Punjab, beside Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru.

INS Malvan

Defense

News –

The Indian Navy inducted INS Malvan, the second Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC) of the Mahe-class.

About

It is designed for anti-submarine warfare, sub-surface surveillance, search and rescue, and low-intensity maritime operations in coastal waters.
It was built by Cochin Shipyard under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat mission.
It features over 80% indigenous equipment and technology.
Armed with RBU 6000 rockets and DRDO torpedoes and a German-Indian sonar suite, it can play a dominant role in guarding our undersea defence.
The first Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC) of the Mahe-class is the INS Mahe (P80)