18th July 2025

Explanation - The Union Cabinet has approved the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PMDDKY) to develop 100 agricultural districts by integrating 36 schemes across 11 ministries. The scheme has a yearly budget of ₹24,000 crore and will run for six years starting from 2025–26. It draws inspiration from NITI Aayog's Aspirational District Programme and is first of its kind focusing exclusively on agriculture and allied sectors. Main Goals of PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana - PMDDKY was announced in the Union Budget 2025. It focuses on improving farming in 100 districts that currently have low agricultural productivity, moderate crop intensity, and below average credit access. The scheme has five main goals — Increase agricultural productivity. Promote crop diversification and sustainable farming practices. Expand post-harvest storage facilities at panchayat and block levels. Improve irrigation systems. Ensure easy access to both long-term and short-term credit for farmers. By focusing on these areas, the government aims to boost productivity, support local livelihoods, and make the country more self-reliant in agriculture. As these 100 districts show improvement, India's overall farming performance is expected to rise as well. How PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana Districts Will Be Selected - Under PMDDKY, 100 districts will be chosen based on three main factors — Low agricultural productivity Moderate crop intensity Below-average credit availability for farmers Cropping intensity measures how many crops are grown on the same land in a year. At the national level, it was 155% in 2021–22, but this varies from state to state. The number of districts selected from each state or Union Territory will depend on its share of net cropped area and the number of farming households. However, every state will have at least one district included in the scheme. 

Explanation - It is India's lightest active wheelchair and the country's first indigenously developed precision-built mono-tube rigid-frame wheelchair. It was developed by IIT Madras' TTK Center for Rehabilitation Research and Device Development (R2D2) in collaboration with the startup Thryv Mobility. It is fully customised for each user's body, posture, and daily mobility needs. It is built with aerospace-grade materials weighing just nine kilograms, its ultra-lightweight and precision engineered design delivers maximum strength and energy efficiency. It can support up to 120 kg. The compact frame allows the wheelchair to be easily lifted and accommodated in vehicles such as cars, auto-rickshaws, and public transport, addressing longstanding concerns around portability and access. YD One aims to provide high-performance mobility at a fraction of the cost of expensive imports, enabling greater independence and dignity for users. 

Explanation - It is an infection caused by Aspergillus — a genus of mold that includes hundreds of species. Transmission — The most common culprit in infections is Aspergillus fumigatus, a fungus that produces tiny airborne spores. These spores, when inhaled in large quantities, can cause respiratory illness, especially in individuals with weakened immune systems, preexisting lung conditions, or prolonged exposure to dusty, moldy environments. Aspergillus is ubiquitous and found in soil, decaying vegetation, compost, dust, old building materials, air-conditioning systems, bird droppings, and even in grain and spices. It thrives in damp and poorly ventilated areas. It is not contagious it will not spread from person to person. Symptoms — It causes different types of infections with some differences in symptoms. Cough and shortness of breath are common symptoms among all types of aspergillosis. Some types of infections cause nasal congestion, headache, fatigue, and coughing up blood. Treatment — Treatment depends on the type of infection and includes antifungal medications like voriconazole or itraconazole. 

Explanation - Antimatter is the same as ordinary matter except that it has the opposite electric charge. The antimatter particles corresponding to electrons, protons, and neutrons are called positrons (e+), antiprotons (p), and antineutrons (n); collectively they are referred to as antiparticles. The electrical properties of antimatter being opposite to those of ordinary matter, the positron has a positive charge and the antiproton a negative charge; the antineutron, though electrically neutral, has a magnetic moment opposite in sign to that of the neutron. Matter and antimatter cannot coexist at close range for more than a small fraction of a second because they collide with and annihilate each other, releasing large quantities of energy in the form of gamma rays or elementary particles. Antimatter was created along with matter after the Big Bang. But antimatter is rare in today's universe. Humans have created antimatter particles using ultra-high speed collisions at huge particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider, which is located outside Geneva and operated by CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research). 

Explanation - These are massive ejections of magnetised plasma from the Sun's corona. How are they formed? They form similarly to solar flares—a result of the twisting and realignment of the sun's magnetic field, known as magnetic reconnection. When magnetic field lines "tangle" they produce strong localised magnetic fields which can break through the surface of the sun at active regions, subsequently generating CMEs. CMEs usually take place around sunspot groups and are often accompanied by a solar flare, though the two don't always occur in tandem. CMEs travel outward from the sun at speeds ranging from slower than 250 kilometers per second (km/s) to as fast as 3000 km/s. The fastest Earth-directed CMEs can reach our planet in as little as 15-18 hours. They expand in size as they propagate away from the Sun, and larger CMEs can reach a size comprising nearly a quarter of the space between Earth and the Sun by the time they reach our planet. CMEs, like solar flares, are most common during the solar maximum, a period in the sun's 11-year cycle of activity when the star is at its most active. Impact on Earth — When such