India Expands 3D Printing

• On 7 October 2026, India highlighted its progress in Additive Manufacturing (AM) under the National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing (NSAM) 2.0.
• NSAM has trained 1.54 lakh+ people and supported 56 start-ups.
• ESTIC-2026, organised by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), will be held on 27–29 October 2026 in New Delhi, with AM as a key focus.

AM Applications Across Sectors

IMC 2026 Showcases Telecom Innovation

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 10th India Mobile Congress on 8 October 2026 at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi.
• Held from 7–10 October with the theme “Scale Without Boundaries”, the event focuses on smart mobility, stadium experiences, industrial robotics and transport technology.

IMC’s Structure and 6G Focus

• It is organised jointly by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which works under the Ministry of Communications, and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), an industry body and not a regulator.
• Yashobhoomi is the India International Convention and Expo Centre (IICC) in Dwarka, Delhi.
• The four pillars are Srishti (Building the Future), Samvardhan (Fueling Growth), Sashakt (Expanding Opportunities) and Suraksha (Strengthening Trust).
• 6G falls under the ITU’s IMT-2030 framework and 5G under IMT-2020.

India–Ghana Deepen Agri Cooperation

• India and Ghana signed a five-year MoU between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI) of Ghana.
• The MoU strengthens South-South cooperation and India–Africa collaboration.

Key Areas of Agricultural Partnership

• The MoU covers joint research, scientific exchange, capacity building and commercialisation of agricultural technologies.
• The first phase focuses on vegetable crops, especially tomato. ICAR will support high-yielding tomato varieties and the scaling up of proven technologies.
• It also covers value addition of cassava, yam and other tuber crops.
• Post-harvest management is a key area, including cold storage, refrigerated transport, sorting, grading and processing.
• The two sides will exchange scientists, germplasm and breeding material, and build institutional linkages.
• A Joint Working Group of ICAR and CSIR-CRI will review progress. It will meet alternately in New Delhi and Accra.

Background Facts

• ICAR is an autonomous body under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Its headquarters are in New Delhi.
• ICAR was founded in 1929 as the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research and is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• NBPGR is the ICAR institute that handles the exchange and conservation of plant germplasm in India.
• Ghana is in West Africa, on the Gulf of Guinea, with Accra as its capital. It was the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence, in 1957.
• Ghana is the second-largest cocoa producer in the world. It is a member of ECOWAS and the African Union. Lake Volta, a major artificial lake, is in Ghana.
• Cassava and yam are tuber crops important to West African food security. Tomato belongs to the Solanaceae family.

Dhokra Craft Gains National Spotlight

• The 8th PM Mementos e-auction features 16 mementos from Chhattisgarh, led by Dhokra metal craft and tribal heritage.
• The proceeds will support the Namami Gange Project.

Dhokra Craft & Tribal Heritage

Key Cultural Facts

• Dhokra is a lost-wax metal casting craft. It is not a painting or textile craft.
• Bastar Dhokra belongs to Chhattisgarh, while Adilabad Dokra belongs to Telangana.
• The Madia are a tribal community of Bastar.