10^th Raisina dialogue 2025

Context: 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 10th edition of the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi which will be held from 17-19th March.

More on the News

The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon is the Chief Guest and delivers the keynote address.

Over 3,500 participants from 125 countries are expected to attend.

The theme for this year's Raisina Dialogue is “Kalachakra – People, Peace and Planet.” 

Focuses on global issues like sustainable development, peace, and the interconnectedness of people worldwide.

Six thematic pillars of this year’s discussion: 

(i) Politics Interrupted: Shifting Sands and Rising Tides

(ii) Resolving the Green Trilemma: Who, Where, & How

(iii) Digital Planet: Agents, Agencies and Absences

(iv) Militant Mercantilism: Trade, Supply Chains & the Exchange Rate Addiction

(v) The Tiger’s Tale: Rewriting Development with a New Plan

(vi) Investing in Peace: Drivers, Institutions, & Leadership.

The Raisina Dialogue is India’s premier conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics. 

It is a crucial platform for addressing global challenges and promoting international cooperation on pressing issues.

Exercise Bongosagar 25 

Context: 

India and Bangladesh conducted the joint naval exercise Bongosagar 2025 along with the India-Bangladesh Navy Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) in the Bay of Bengal earlier this week.

More on the News

• The exercise aimed at enhancing interoperability between the two navies, fostering tactical coordination, and strengthening maritime security cooperation in the region. 
• The Indian Navy was represented by INS Ranvir, a guided missile destroyer, while the Bangladesh Navy deployed BNS Abu Ubaidah.
• Additionally, the exercise saw coordinated helicopter operations, where naval aviation assets from both sides practised search and rescue (SAR) missions, aerial reconnaissance, and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) drills.
• Other Joint exercises with Bangladesh: Sampriti (Army) 

India Web3 Landscape Report

Context: 

“India Web3 Landscape” report by Hashed Emergent reveals India to become the world's largest Web3 developer hub by 2028.

Key Highlights of the Report

• India recorded the highest 28 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in developer participation in 2024, adding more than 4.7 million developers to GitHub.
• The country accounted for 17 per cent of all new Web3 developers worldwide, making India the second-largest crypto developer base in the world.
• India's expanding Web3 startup with over 1,200 startups now operating in the sector. Web3 startups raised USD 564 million in 2024 (total 3 billion), marking a 109 per cent increase over 2023.
• The report states that 45.3 per cent of Indian Web3 developers contribute to coding. 29.7 per cent focus on fixing bugs, and 22.4 per cent work on documentation.
• As per the report Artificial Intelligence, Real-World Assets (RWAs), and staking solutions are key areas attracting significant investment.

What is Web3? 

• It refers to the next evolution of the internet, leveraging blockchain technology for a more decentralized, user-centric, and interactive web experience, with India potentially becoming a global leader in Web3 adoption.

Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma-MedTech Sector (PRIP) Scheme

Context: 

The Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers organised an Industry dialogue on the Promotion of Research and Innovation in the Pharma-MedTech Sector (PRIP) Scheme.

More on the News 

• It was organized in Mumbai to serve as a platform for industry leaders, associations and research institutes from the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs).
• The dialogue aims to strengthen industry-academia linkages, fostering collaboration and leveraging government initiatives to accelerate R&D and commercialise innovative solutions in the pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors.

Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma-MedTech Sector (PRIP) Scheme

The objective of the scheme is to transform the Indian Pharma MedTech sector from cost-based to innovation-based growth by strengthening the research infrastructure in the country.

The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers notified the scheme in 2023.

The scheme is proposed to have two components as follows:

• Component A: Strengthening the research Infrastructure – Setting up of Centres of Excellence at the NIPERs.
• Component B: Promotion of Research in the Pharma MedTech sector

The pharmaceutical and medical devices sectors in India

• In 2024, India's Pharma-MedTech sector, valued at $50 billion, is poised for significant growth, with projections estimating a 28% annual growth rate, potentially reaching $50 billion by 2030, and a global market share of 10-12%. 
• India’s pharma industry is considered to be the world's third largest by volume and 14th in terms of value of production.

SPHEREx 

Context: 

NASA launched the astrophysics observatory SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer.

About SPHEREx

• SPHEREx will study the origins of our universe and the history of galaxies, and search for the ingredients of life in our galaxy.
• It is a two-year planned mission, to collect data on more than 450 million galaxies along with more than 100 million stars in the Milky Way in order to explore the origins of the universe.
• SPHEREx will survey the sky in optical as well as near-infrared light. 
• Along with SPHEREx NASA also launched PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Priority Sector Lending

Context: 

Overall Credit disbursement to Priority Sectors increased by 85% from ₹23 Lakh Crores in 2019 to ₹42.7 Lakh Crores in 2024.

Priority Sector Lending

It is an initiative regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that mandates banks to allocate a portion of their lending to specific sectors of the economy.

Categories/sectors under the priority sector lending: - 

• Agriculture 
• Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME)
• Export Credit 
• Education 
• Housing 
• Social Infrastructure 
• Renewable Energy and Others

In 2019, the total disbursement to the agriculture sector was ₹8,86,791 crore, and by 2024, it has significantly increased to ₹18,27,666 crore.

The overall credit disbursement to the MSME sector has also increased steadily from ₹10,99,055 crore in 2019 to ₹21,73,679 crore in 2024.