• Prime Minister replied to the ‘Motion of Thanks’ on the President's address. 
  • Article 87 of the Constitution requires President’s Address after each general election.
  • Also, after the first session of every fiscal year addresses both Houses of Parliament. 

• Motion of Thanks
  • It is moved in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha after the President’s address by Member of Parliament of the ruling party. 
  • The Motion of Thanks must be passed in the House. Its defeat amounts to the defeat of the government. 
  • It can be adopted with amendments.

• Supreme Court invoked Article 142 to remit the 20-year sentence of a person convicted under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012. 
  •  Judgement was delivered in response to curative petition.
    • A curative petition is the last recourse open to a petitioner after the review petition is dismissed.

• About Article 142 
  • Article exclusively enables the Supreme Court to issue or pass any order that it feels is necessary to provide ‘complete justice’ in a case before it. 
  • Any decree so passed or order so made shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India.

• Rules by Centre are expected to be applicable for grading and marketing of five premium non-Basmati rice varieties of West Bengal. 
  • These are Gobindabhog, Tulaipanji, Kalonunia (all 3 have GI Tag), Kataribhog, and Radhunipagal. 
• Under this, the authorised packers have to either set up their own laboratory or use an approved laboratory for testing the quality of rice. 
• For domestic trade, packers have to follow FSSAI standards and for export, they need to comply with the residual limits fixed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission or importing countries.

• Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) said that just 38% of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles II (FAME II) subsidy has been used in FY24.

• About FAME II
  • Expanded version of the 'FAME I (2015).
  • FAME II was launched in 2019 for a period of 3 years. 
  • Aims to encourage Faster adoption of Electric and hybrid vehicle. 
  • Only advanced battery and registered vehicles will be incentivized under the scheme. 
  • Privately owned registered e-2Ws are covered.
  • Also, supports creation of charging Infrastructure for electric vehicles.

• The report was released by the International Energy Agency. 

• Key highlights
  • Electricity consumption from data centres, artificial intelligence (AI) and the cryptocurrency sector could double by 2026.
  • Clean electricity supply is forecast to meet all of the world’s demand growth through 2026. 
  • Renewables are set to provide more than one-third of total electricity generation globally by early 2025, overtaking coal. 
  • India’s electricity consumption surpassed that of Japan and Korea combined at the end of 2023.
  • Also, India posts the fastest growth rate out to 2026 among major economies.

• The Healthy Indian Project (THIP) has joined the WHO-led project VSN. 
  • THIP (a private company) is a dedicated health information and fact-checking platform with a particular focus on verified vaccine safety information. 
• VSN initiated by the WHO in 2003 aims to help internet users find reliable information on vaccine safety. 
  • Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS), established in 1999, supports the VSN by providing advice and criteria for website quality and content. 

• GRAPES-3 discovered a new feature in the cosmic-ray proton spectrum at about 166 tera-electron-volt (TeV) energy. 
• GRAPES-3 in Ooty (Tamil Nadu) is a collaboration of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai) and other Indian Institution with Japan. 
• It is designed to study cosmic rays with an array of air shower detectors and a large area muon detector. 
  • Cosmic rays considered to be the most energetic particles in the universe.
• They enter into Earth's atmosphere from outer space and induce a shower of particles that constitute electrons, photons, muons, protons, neutrons etc.

• Flight trials of ABHYAS-HEAT were successfully carried out by the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).

• About ABHYAS
  • Designed for autonomous flying with the help of an auto-pilot.
  • Indigenously developed by the DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE). 
  • It has Radar Cross Section, Visual and Infrared augmentation system required for weapon practice. 
    • It has also a laptop-based Ground Control System. 
  • ABHYAS requires minimum logistics and is cost-effective compared to imported equivalents.

Rajkumari Amrit kaur  (1889- 1964)

• She was remembered on her Death Anniversary.
• She played key role in both pre and post-Independence period. 

• Key Contributions: 
  • Participated in the 'Salt March' and 'Quit India Movement'
  • Fought battle against the various evil practices such as - Slavery, Purdah system, Child marriage and Devdasi.
  • She played an important role as a member of the Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly.
  • First Health Minister of Independent India. 
    • She also laid the foundation of AIIMS, Delhi.
  • Major literary work: Woman in India, Challenge to Women, To women  etc. 
  • Values: Passionate, Courageous, Perseverance, and Determination.