Current Context : Union Minister of Women and Child Development launches new She-Box Portal to make Workplaces safer for Women.

• It is a centralized platform for registering and monitoring complaints of sexual harassment of women at the workplace.
• It offers a common platform to file complaints, track their status and ensure a time-bound processing of complaint by ICs.
• It provides assured redressal of complaints and streamlined process for all stakeholders.
• It will enable real-time monitoring of complaints through a designated nodal officer.

Current Context : Central government granted permission to the UK-based University of Southampton to establish a campus in Gurugram, Delhi-NCR.

• University of Southampton will become the first international university to set up a campus in India under the UGC (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023.
• The University of Southampton is among the top 100 universities in the QS World University Rankings (a portfolio of college and university rankings).
• The first academic session is likely to begin in July 2025, and the campus will hire faculty from both India and abroad.
• The regulations, which allow top 500 foreign universities to set up campuses in India, were prepared in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which envisioned that “top universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India”.

Celebrated every year on 2 September

• Objective : to create awareness among people about the countless benefits of coconuts across the globe.
• The day is dedicated to promoting sustainable coconut farming and its significant benefits.
• Established by the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC), which is an intergovernmental organisation of coconut producing countries to recognize the importance of coconut.
• It was first observed on 02 September 2009.

Current Context : Three-day Chintpurni festival will be held at Mata Chintpurni shrine in Una district from September 14 to 16.

ABOUT  MATA CHINTPURNI DEVI

• Mata Chintpurni Devi is one of the many manifestations of the Supreme Goddess Durga.
• She is also called Maa Chinnamasta or Maa Chinnamastika – the one with detached head.
• It is believed that the forehead (Chinta) of Sati fell at the site where the Chintpurni temple is located, giving the goddess the name “Chintpurni,” meaning “the one who removes worries.”
• The temple dedicated to Mata Chintpurni is one of the major Shakti Peethas.
• Temple is located in the Una district of Himachal Pradesh and attracts millions of devotees every year.

Current Context : Defence minister Rajnath Singh commissioned India’s second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), INS Arighat or S-3 at Visakhapatnam.

• India will now have two SSBNs – INS Arihant (S-2) and INS Arighat S-3

ABOUT INS ARIGHAT

• It is similar to INS Arihant, but has more refined capabilities.
• It is about 112-metre long and weighs around 6,000 tonnes.
• Constructed by the Shipbuilding Centre (SBC),
• Speed of up to 24 knots (44 km/h) when submerged and 12–15 knots (22–28 km/h) when surfaced.
• Capacity : can carry 12 K-15 SLBMs with a range of about 750 km or up to four nuclear-armed K-4 SLBMs with a range of over 3,500 km.

Current Context : Pakistan has officially invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of government meeting scheduled for October 15-16 in Islamabad.

ABOUT SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION (SCO)

• It is a regional intergovernmental organization founded with the aim of promoting political, economic, and security cooperation among its member states.
• It is one of the world’s largest regional organizations, both in terms of geographic coverage and population.
• Founded on June 15, 2001, in China’s Shanghai.
• Established by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• It focuses on strengthening mutual trust and neighborliness among the Member States, promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, economy, research, technology, and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection
• Members : 9 member states including India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia , Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
• Headquarters: Beijing, China

Current Context : The Uttar Pradesh government introduced a new social media policy encouraging influencers to promote the State government’s initiatives, schemes, and achievements with prize payments.

• Under the policy, digital media platforms and influencers can earn up to Rs 8 lakh a month for video content that propagates the “achievements”, other development work and schemes of the government.

IT CATEGORISED INFLUENCERS IN FOUR CATEGORIES :

• For X, Facebook, and Instagram, the maximum monthly payment limits are set at ₹ 5 lakh, ₹4lakh, ₹3lakh and ₹2 lakh respectively
• On YouTube, the payment limits for videos, shorts, and podcasts are ₹8 lakh, ₹7 lakh, ₹6 lakh, and ₹4 lakh, per month under the A category, B, C and D categories. 
• The new policy also mandates legal action against digital platforms or influencers who upload “objectionable content” on sites such as Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Current Context : Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved 12 new project proposals under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP).

• Spanning across 10 states and strategically planned along 6 major corridors

It covers :

• Khurpia in Uttrakhand
• Rajpura-Patiala in Punjab
• Dighi in, Maharashtra
• Palakkad in Kerela
• Agra and Prayagraj in UP
• Gaya in Bihar
• Zaheerabad in Telangana,
• Orvakal and Kopparthy in AP
• Jodhpur-Pali in Rajasthan

The projects are closely aligned with the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan, which focuses on integrated and seamless multi-modal connectivity.

These projects is a step forward in realizing the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ – a developed India.

About National Industrial Corridor Development Programme

• It is India’s most ambitious infrastructure programme aiming to develop new industrial cities as “Smart Cities” and converging next generation technologies across infrastructure sectors.
• Implementing agency: National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT).

Current Context : The government has appointed Rajwinder Singh Bhatti, IPS, as the new Director General of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

ABOUT CENTRAL INDUSTRIAL SECURITY FORCE

• It is a Central Armed Police Force in India.
• Established under an Act of the Parliament of India on 15 March 1969.
• Objective : to provide security to large institutions, be it Governmental or private including airports, seaports, and industrial sectors.
• Ministry : Ministry of Home Affairs.

Current Context : The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) plans to implement a new policy for repairing existing national highway sections using “White topping Technology”.

WHAT IS WHITETOPPING TECHNOLOGY?

• It refers to the process of resurfacing existing asphalt pavements with a layer of concrete, effectively extending the lifespan and improving the performance of the roadway.
• This technology widely adopted under
• It is an effective long-term solution for addressing ongoing maintenance issues in roads with poor drainage.
• It involves applying a Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) overlay on top of existing bituminous roads.
• Benefits : Whitetopping provides long life, low maintenance, low life-cycle costs, and environmental benefits compared to bituminous overlays.

India’s road network is the second-largest in the world, covering over 6.2 million kilometers.

National Highways (NHs):

• These are the primary roads that connect major cities, ports, state capitals, and industrial hubs across the country.
• Managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)
• They account for about 2% of the total road network but carry around 40% of the total road traffic.
• India has presently about 46 lakh km length of National Highways (NH) network.