Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under PMLA

Context: The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has been included under Section 66 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

About Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)

• Established: The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) was launched on 10th January 2020
• Aim: Centre aims to deal with all the issues related to Cybercrime in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.
• Nodal Ministry: The I4C functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India
• Functions:
• • To act as a nodal point to curb Cybercrime in the country.
  • To build the capacity of Officers in the area of cyber forensic, investigation, cyber hygiene, cyber-criminology, etc.

About Section 66 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act

• The section mainly addresses the disclosure and sharing of information by the Director to other government agencies.
• It enables the sharing of information with relevant authorities to assist them in performing their functions under other laws, such as tax laws or foreign exchange regulations.

Significance: The move will enable I4C to share and receive information and other law enforcement agencies to detect money trail and combating cyber frauds.

Raja Ravi Varma

Context: A musical tribute will be paid by the Kilimanoor Palace to honor his 177th birth anniversary. 

About Raja Ravi Varma

• He is a famous Indian painter who combined Western painting techniques with Indian mythology.
• Known for:  bringing academic realism to the visual interpretation of Indian epics.
• Background and Early Life
  • Patronized by: Ayilyam Thirunal, ruler of Travancore, at age 14.
  • Raja Title: The title “Raja” was awarded to him by Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India.
  • Training: Learned oil painting under British painter Theodore Jensen.
    • Considered among the first Indian artists to use oil paints for portraits and landscapes.
• His Work and Style
  • Known as:  The ‘Father of Modern Indian Art’.
  • Famous for: His artworks especially depicted Hindu gods and goddesses, and scenes from Indian epics (Mahabharata and Ramayana)and Puranas.
  • His paintings helped Dalits (who were barred from temples) to visualize gods and goddesses.
  • Colour used: oil paints instead of traditional watercolors.
  • His art reflects the status of Indian men and women during his time.
• Awards and Honours
  • Governor’s Gold Medal for Nair Lady Adorning Her Hair in Madras Presidency (1873).
  • First prize at the Vienna Art Exhibition (1873).
  • Three gold medals at the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago (1893).
  • Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Medal awarded by the British in 1904.
  • A crater on Mercury named after him in 2013.
  • Guinness World Record: Vivah Patu, an 8-kg saree priced at ₹40 lakh, created as a tribute to his paintings.

River Cities Alliance

Context: The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has approved the  Action Plan 2025 to Strengthen Urban River Rejuvenation under River Cities Alliance

The Action Plan 2025

• Focus: The plan aims to focus on integrating and institutionalising river-sensitive urban planning within India’s growing cities. 
• The Plan: 
• • River considerations will be promoted within city master plans through the organisation of River-Sensitive Master Planning (RSMP) training programs across states.
  • The NMCG will conduct training sessions including onboarding programs to support the formulation of Urban River Management Plans (URMPs).

About The River Cities Alliance

• Launch: The Alliance was launched in the year 2021
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. 
• Participants: The initiative has a current membership of 145 cities
• Objective: To promote a comprehensive approach to urban river management.
  • It strengthens institutional capacity, fosters inter-city collaboration within river basins, and supports the creation of Urban River Management Plans (URMPs).

About The Urban River Management Plans (URMPs)

• Launch: The initiative was launched in 2020 by National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and NMCG
• Approach: The URMP approach ensures that environmental, economic, and social dimensions are considered in the urban management of rivers.
• Supported By: The initiative is supported by World Bank
• Achievements: The cities of Kanpur, Ayodhya, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Moradabad, and Bareilly have already developed their URMPs, setting the benchmark for other urban centres.

3D Microscope

Context: Army Hospital (Research and Referral), New Delhi, has performed minimally invasive glaucoma surgery using a 3D microscope for the first time.

About 3D microscope

• A 3D microscope is an advanced imaging system that allows surgeons to view the surgical field in three dimensions (depth, width, and height).
• The surgical field  is shown on a high-definition display, instead of looking directly through traditional optical eyepieces.

Major Benefits of 3D microscope

• Better depth perception: Helps in highly delicate procedures.
• Significantly lesser surgical time/complication rate compared to conventional microscope.
• Lower risk of tissue damage (due to lower light intensity and photo-toxicity).

Use in Medical Fields

• Eye surgeries (like cataract, glaucoma, retina, corneal, and squint corrections).
• Neurosurgery, ENT, and other microsurgeries are increasingly adopting 3D microscopes.

Crimea

Context: Recently, Trump pressed Ukraine to accept a peace deal under which the US would reportedly recognise Crimea (which Russia seized in 2014) as Russian territory.

About Crimea

• Geographical Location: Crimea is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, located on the northern coast of the Black Sea.
  • It is linked to mainland Ukraine (Kherson Oblast) by the narrow Perekop Isthmus. 
• Link Between Crimea to Russia: The Crimean Bridge (opened in 2018) links Crimea to Krasnodar Krai in Russia across the Strait of Kerch.
• Major City: Sevastopol is the largest city.
  • Warm-water ports like Sevastopol do not freeze in winter, allowing uninterrupted naval and commercial operations. 
  • Such ports are rare for northern Eurasian powers, increasing their value for trade, logistics, and defense.
• Strategic Importance;
  • Crimea holds strategic importance because it sits at a vital crossroads in the Black Sea region. 
  • Its position offers control over key maritime routes and provides naval access to the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Southern Europe, making it essential for any power aiming to exert influence across Eurasia.
• Lagoon System: Sivash (also called the “Putrid Sea”) is a system of shallow lagoons lying between Crimea and mainland Ukraine, creating a natural defensive boundary.
• Seas and Straits Around Crimea:
  • Black Sea: Lies to the west and south of Crimea, offering crucial naval routes toward the Mediterranean via the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits.
  • Sea of Azov: Located to the northeast of Crimea, connected to the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait.
    • Kerch Strait also separates Crimea from Russia’s Taman Peninsula.

Two New Freshwater Fish Species Discovered in the Western Ghats

Context: Researchers at the Centre for Peninsular Aquatic Genetic Resources, Kochi have discovered two new species of freshwater fish from the Western Ghats.

• The study also confirmed the true identity of Labeo nigrescens, separating it from other similar species.

The New Species

• Labeo uru:
  • Habitat: Found in the Chandragiri river.
  • Features: Named after the traditional wooden dhow (‘uru’) because of its sail-like elongated fins.
• Labeo chekida
  • Habitat: Inhabits the Chalakudy river.
  • Local name: Known as ‘kaka chekida’.
  • Features: A small, dark-bodied fish with distinct characteristics suited to its river environment.

Shahid Rajaei Port

Context : A massive explosion and fire occurred on April 26, 2025, at Shahid Rajaei Port near Bandar Abbas, southern Iran.

About Shahid Rajaei Port

• Named After: Mohammad-Ali Rajai, former Prime Minister and President of Iran.
• Location: Hormozgan province, Iran.
  • Situated on the north shores of the Strait of Hormuz.
• Proximity:
  • Approximately 14.5 km (7.8 nautical miles) west-southwest of Port of Bandar Abbas.
• Strategic Significance:
  • ~20% of global oil trade passes through the Strait.

“.bank.in” Exclusive Internet Domain

Context: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to operationalise the exclusive internet domain ‘.bank.in’ for banks to combat the increasing instances of fraud in digital payments.

• RBI mandates all banks must migrate their websites to the exclusive ‘.bank.in’ domain by October 31, 2025.
• Objective: This initiative is aimed at strengthening the cybersecurity framework and enhancing public confidence in digital banking and payment systems. 
• The domain will be operationalised through the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) is authorised by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) to serve as the exclusive registrar for this domain.

About Internet domain

• It is a human-readable address used to identify a location on the internet.
• It represents a specific area of the Internet under the administrative control of an organization or individual.

Example: In www.rbi.org.in:

• www = subdomain
• rbi = second-level domain
• org.in = top-level domain (TLD for India, organizational type)

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