Current Affairs

Indian Air Force launched AS-HAPS to develop unmanned High-Altitude Pseudo Satellites operating in the stratosphere (20–30 km) for long-duration, lower-cost persistent ISR and data relay. Authorised through Directorate of Operations (Remote), it follows Make-I with up to 70% Centre funding for prototypes. A steerable repositionable airship will carry optical, ELINT and communications payloads; domestic sensors/radars planned; fixed-wing HAPS also envisaged. Global context: EUROHAPS/Stratobus, US tests, China balloons.

The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare accepted the Registration Committee’s recommendation (under the Insecticides Act, 1968) to ban paraquat dichloride in India. Paraquat is a chemical herbicide used against broadleaf weeds and grasses and as a harvest-aid desiccant (e.g., cotton); it destroys plant tissue on contact with no residual soil activity. The ban covers manufacture, import, transport, distribution, sale and use, citing adverse health effects, poisoning incidents, high fatalities and no specific antidote; it is already banned/restricted in 70+ countries.

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant notified four special division benches in the Supreme Court to exclusively hear and dispose the oldest pending cases, segregating them from fresh miscellaneous filings. Two civil benches are headed by Justices P K Mishra and S V N Bhatti, and two criminal benches by Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan. Old matters will be heard uninterrupted on Tuesdays–Thursdays; miscellaneous matters on Mondays and Fridays. Pendency has crossed 90,000; 75,402 fresh filings occurred in 2025, aided by e-filings and virtual hearings.

Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, using primary Southwest monsoon measurements over the northern Western Ghats and Pune, found ~25% of monsoon rain mass evaporates below-cloud before reaching ground, with day-to-day loss ranging 4–61%, driven by ambient temperature, heat and dry air. It used isotopic enrichment, freezing/trapping vapour and rain, laser spectrometry, and a below-cloud interaction model; larger monsoon drops and higher humidity limit losses.

NABARD facilitated GI registration for 28 new products, including handicrafts, handloom textiles and bamboo crafts from multiple states. Established in 1982, headquartered in Mumbai, NABARD is the Government of India-owned apex development finance institution regulating and promoting sustainable agriculture and rural development. It has supported 176 GI products, strengthens value chains via GI Facilitation Centres, and runs a GI store at Aihole, Karnataka.

NABARD launched Gramodyam, an entrepreneurship development programme to unlock rural India’s entrepreneurial potential. Implemented by NSDC under the Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and delivered through the Institute for Industrial Development, it targets about 4,000 entrepreneurs in three years across all States/UTs. It uses a digital-first hybrid model, provides counselling, training, mentoring, credit/market linkages, e-KYC verification, digital loan support, and real-time tracking via NSDC’s platform.

In Auckland, the Prime Ministers of India and New Zealand announced the India–New Zealand Strategic Partnership Roadmap to 2030 covering trade, defence, tourism, culture and Indo-Pacific priorities. Outcomes included Indo-Pacific maritime dialogue/security dialogue; hydrography/nautical cartography arrangement; mutual naval logistics support; counter-terrorism JWG; NDMA–NEMA disaster risk cooperation (earthquakes, tsunamis, coastal hazards, resilience); animal husbandry/dairying; tourism MoA (India Tourism–NZ MBIE); sports action plan; NMHC Lothal (Gujarat) museum collaboration; cultural exchanges; trade target NZD 7 billion by 2030 under an FTA; NZ joining IPOI (Maritime Security Pillar) on IUU fishing and Global Biofuels Alliance; kiwifruit centres in Nagaland and Uttarakhand; MoUs: NCPOR Goa–University of Canterbury and NIFTEM-K Kundli–Massey University.

The 28th CITES Plants Committee meeting (PC28) is underway in Geneva, the first plant-focused session since CoP20 (Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Nov–Dec 2025), starting a 3-year cycle to CoP21 (Panama City, Nov 2028). A permanent CITES scientific body, it advises on trade-regulated species; nomenclature standardises permits across 185 parties; fungi features separately first time. CoP20 retained protections for red doussié, African padauk and Parlatore’s podocarp; added Chilean palm to Appendix I; listed guggul (Commiphora wightii) in Appendix II with retail-product exemptions; India sought stronger scientific basis. India kept Aquilaria malaccensis out of Review of Significant Trade, citing cultivation in Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura; secured higher agarwood export quota and joined guidance working group.

Pandavani exponent and folk singer Teejan Bai (Pardhi Scheduled Tribe) died in Raipur on 5 July 2026, aged 70. She performed the physical Kapalik style (traditionally male). Honours: Padma Shri (1988), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1995), Padma Bhushan (2003), Padma Vibhushan (2019). Pandavani—ancient Mahabharata narration from Chhattisgarh; “Pandava”+“Vani”; themes heroism, dharma, justice, devotion; Bhima-centred; Chhattisgarhi dialect; solo-lead with chorus, tabla, harmonium, manjira, kartal.

June 2026 fourth rhino census in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (Indo-Nepal border, Lakhimpur-Kheri, Uttar Pradesh) counted 53 Indian/greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis): net +5 since last count despite 3 mortalities. Uttar Pradesh is among only three wild-range states (Assam, UP, West Bengal). DTR manages RR1 (6) and RR2 (36) enclosures; 11 released free-ranging. Reintroduction began 1984–85 with 7 founders from Assam and Nepal. Habitat: Terai grassland-swamp; fauna includes Bengal tiger, barasingha, Asian elephant. Status: IUCN Vulnerable; CITES Appendix I; WPA 1972 Schedule I.

A study reported filtering tritium (radioactive hydrogen) from nuclear wastewater using a stainless-steel mesh coated with MOF NH₂-MIL-101(Cr). It targets tritiated water (HTO), chemically identical to normal water and hard to separate in conventional gravity-based towers. The MOF raises contact surface area 32-fold; chromium-oxygen clusters bind tritium and swap it with hydrogen, achieving 42.5 theoretical plates/m, reducing ocean releases (Fukushima context). Tritium is readily absorbed by organisms. Nobel-recognised MOF developers cited: Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, Omar M. Yaghi.

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is preparing India’s first national standard for mangrove ecosystem restoration. Proposed voluntary guidelines include eco-friendly planting materials (biodegradable/cloth bags replacing polythene), livelihood-linked plantations (fruit trees on landward side), scientific zoning to place suitable species at tidal spots to restore micro-ecosystems and native fauna, and community benefit frameworks for carbon credits. BIS is urging MoEFCC and state mangrove cells to adopt it as mandatory protocols, factoring regional salinity, tidal, geographic and settlement variations.

In the WDMMA 2026 Global Air Power Rankings, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is ranked 3rd among independent air forces (after the US and Russian Air Forces) and 6th overall among all military air branches. WDMMA uses the True Value Rating (TVR) assessing capability over numbers across fighting strength, fleet quality and support. IAF: 1,716 aircraft, TVR 69.4.

India hosted the 13th ASEAN‑India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) Joint Committee meeting in New Delhi with delegations from all 10 ASEAN members—Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. AITIGA (India‑ASEAN FTA) was signed in 2009, effective from 2010, covering tariff removal/reduction on over 75% of traded goods. The committee guided sub‑committees to finalise outstanding chapters with time‑bound deliverables on National Treatment/Market Access, Rules of Origin and Customs Procedures/Trade Facilitation.

Japan’s space agency JAXA conducted the first lift-off and landing test of its prototype reusable rocket; China achieved its first successful reusable rocket landing, while SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is operational in reusable rocket technology. A rocket (launch vehicle) carries spacecraft to space. Reusable rockets recover and reuse components, mainly first-stage boosters, reducing costs, increasing mission frequency and sustainability. ISRO’s RLV programme targets low-cost reusable transportation; RLV-LEX demonstrated autonomous runway landing.

The Ministry of Rural Development launched eSaras, its official digital commerce platform under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), to support rural entrepreneurship. It connects rural women-led Self-Help Group (SHG) enterprises with customers across India. The platform markets authentic SHG products such as handcrafted items, handlooms, natural foods and home décor.

Researchers from India and Sri Lanka reported three new rare jumping spider species under genus Onomastus: O. brahmagiri (Brahmagiri Hills, Western Ghats), O. silentvalley (shola forests, Silent Valley National Park, Kerala), and O. wijesinghei (montane forests, Sri Lanka). Onomastus, an old lineage restricted to the Oriental region, shows limited dispersal and isolated montane populations, supporting the “sky island” concept of long-term isolation, speciation and endemism.

A rare Australian (Eastern) grass owl (Tyto longimembris; family Tytonidae) was sighted at Maguri Motapung Beel, a 9.6 sq km freshwater wetland near Motapung village in Tinsukia, Assam. The owl ranges across eastern/southern/southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia (mainly Queensland) and the western Pacific; prefers grasslands (savanna, floodplains, fields), nests on ground; IUCN: Least Concern. The Beel lies on Dibru River (Brahmaputra channel), linked by channels; IBA since 1996, with ~110 bird species and a key winter migratory stopover (Greater Adjutant, Spot-billed Pelican).

India is participating in the inaugural UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva, Switzerland. Established under UN General Assembly Resolution 79/325, it is the first universal, multi-stakeholder UN forum on AI governance. It addresses four clusters: AI’s social-economic implications, bridging the global AI divide, promoting safe and trustworthy AI, and safeguarding human rights. A second session is due in New York in May 2027. The Dialogue follows the Global Digital Compact (Pact of the Future, September 2024) and receives annual reports from the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI (IISPA), which provides independent scientific assessments of AI capabilities, opportunities and risks.

An ecological study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), using sampling from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG), estimates that over 90% of global insect biodiversity is unknown. Using 15 Malaise traps (core and peripheral zones) and caterpillar-breeding, 1.63 million insects yielded 53,945 species; Microgastrinae parasitoid wasps totalled 1,414 species. DNA barcoding (mitochondrial fragment) suggests 20.3 million insect species globally (14.2–20.3 million). Declines are linked to human activity, habitat fragmentation and climate change; the study flags taxonomist shortages and need for rapid molecular tools.

FAO–WMO joint report (2026) identifies extreme heat as a primary threat to global food security. Major crops suffer beyond 30°C; per 1°C warming yields fall (maize -7.5% baseline, up to -10%/°C; soybean -6.8%; wheat -6.0%). Global agricultural TFP has declined 21% since 1961. India is high-risk: rice heatwave impacts, limited adaptation; 2024 labour loss 648 hours; Ganga–Indus wet-bulb risks. Livestock stress rises >24–25°C; cattle losses may reach $40 bn/yr by 2100; marine heatwaves and orchard heat raise mortality, migration, fruit drop and wildfires.

Scientists used AI to decode sperm whale communication, identifying phonetic building blocks in click bursts (“codas”) and linking vocal patterns with observed physical behaviours under Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative). Models show structural adjustments: “rubato” (tempo/rhythm manipulation) and “ornamentation” (extra end click). A 3+1 coda differs regionally: western Mediterranean (near Spain’s Balearic Islands) keeps the pattern; eastern Mediterranean (Hellenic Trench off Crete) uses a sped-up dialect. Meaning of 156 Caribbean codas and dialect purpose remain unknown; threats include hunting, ship strikes, entanglement, ocean noise and climate-change impacts.

The Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Human–Wildlife Conflict was inaugurated on 10 July 2026 at Coimbatore, established by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON). It will serve as the national nodal institution for research, policy, capacity building and best practices. A National Human–Wildlife Conflict Portal was launched for real-time data, coordination and decision support, prioritising elephant, tiger and leopard conflicts using AI, GIS, remote sensing, drones and telemetry.

Italy now has the highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites: 61 (55 cultural and 6 natural). UNESCO confers World Heritage status on sites of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) for their cultural or natural importance, ensuring preservation for future generations. Listed Italian examples include Rome, Florence, Venice, Pisa, Pompeii, the Dolomites and Mount Etna. Latest addition: “Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sardinia (Domus de Janas)”.