About ‘BRICS’ Grouping:

• BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, a bloc of countries that formed a partnership following the creation of the term in 2001 by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill (but it didn't include South Africa at the time).

• South Africa joined in 2010, making it "BRICS".

• The group was designed to bring together the world's most important developing countries to challenge the political and economic power of the wealthier nations of North America and Western Europe.

• The BRICS countries operate as an organisation that seeks to further economic cooperation among member nations and increase their economic and political standing in the world.

• Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt joined BRICS in 2024.

• The expanded group has a combined population of about 3.5 billion, or 45% of the world's inhabitants.

• Combined, members' economies are worth more than $28.5tn - about 28% of the global economy.

• With Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE as members, Brics countries produce about 44% of the world's crude oil.

Recently, the Union Minister of Textiles unveiled the Commemoratory coin, celebrating the Platinum Jubilee of the Central Silk Board (CSB) at Mysuru.

It is a Statutory Body established during 1948, by an act of Parliament.
• It functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.

Silk Production in India
• India has the unique distinction of being the only country producing all the five known commercial silks, namely, mulberry, tropical tasar, oak tasar, eri and muga.
• India is the second largest producer of silk in the world.

Recently, India was elected to the GlobE Network’s Steering Committee during the plenary session held in Beijing. 

• The Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GloBE Network) was an initiative of G-20.

It now has 121 member countries (India is also a member of this Network)

India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) are part of the network, with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) acting as the central authority for India.

Recently, the Prime Minister of India virtually launched three Param Rudra Super Computing Systems and a High-Performance Computing (HPC) system for weather and climate research.

• Three Param Rudra supercomputers have been developed at Rs 130 crores, indigenously under the National Supercomputing Mission.

• They have been deployed at three key locations: Delhi, Pune and Kolkata.

• In Pune, the Giant Metre Radio Telescope (GMRT) will leverage the supercomputer to explore Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) and other astronomical phenomena.

• In Delhi, Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC) will enhance research in fields like material science and atomic physics. 

• In Kolkata, S N Bose Centre will use supercomputing technology to drive advanced research in areas such as physics, cosmology and earth sciences.

Key facts about the National Supercomputing Mission
• It was launched in 2015 to provide the country with supercomputing infrastructure to meet the increasing computational demands of academia, researchers, MSMEs, and startups.

• It aims to create a network of advanced computing systems across India.

• It is collaboration between the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

• It is implemented by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.