Current Affairs

Exercise PRAGATI 2026, a multilateral military exercise under the Indian Ocean Region partnership framework, is being conducted at Umroi Military Station, Meghalaya, led by the Indian Army. PRAGATI stands for Partnership of Regional Armies for Growth and Transformation in the Indian Ocean Region. Twelve participating countries are Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

The 1,100 MW Velimalai Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Project at Vellimalai, Kanniyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, received Terms of Reference clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Implemented via PPP on BOOT basis under Section 63 of the Electricity Act, it is a closed-loop off-river system with an underground powerhouse (4×275 MW) and two new off-river reservoirs (gross storage: upper 4.39 MCM; lower 4.91 MCM, upstream of Mambazhathuraiyar dam). It will pump 3.94 MCM in 6.94 hours (off-peak) and generate for 6 hours/day; peak annual generation is 2,080.55 million kWh.

Palamu Tiger Reserve (Chhotanagpur Plateau, Jharkhand) will set up India’s first AI-powered human-elephant conflict research centre to shift from reactive to proactive management via vocalisation decoding, corridor/behaviour prediction, and automated village early warnings; it will use a data matrix including captive elephants. Palamu: scientific forestry since 1864 (Dr Anderson), protected forest (1947), original 9 Project Tiger reserves (1974); area 1,129.93 sq km (core/CTH 414.08 incl. Betla NP 226.32; buffer 715.85); drained by North Koel–Burha, Auranga, Satnadi, Sukri; Taru spring; rain-shadow; fauna include tiger, leopard, elephant, sloth bear, gaur, Indian wolf.

The Netherlands returned the Chola-era Anaimangalam (Leiden) Copper Plates to India. They record Raja Raja Chola I’s land grant of Anaimangalam village near Nagapattinam, including 8,943 kalam paddy, to Chulamanivarma Vihara/Raja Raja Cholan Perumpalli, built by Sailendra Srivijaya’s Sri Mara Vijayotunga Varman for Sri Chudamani Varman; Rajendra Chola I wrote the decree. Plates are ringed with Chola seal (tiger, Pandya fish, Chera bow). Larger set: 21 plates (5 Sanskrit, 16 Tamil). Kulottunga Chola I issued 3 smaller plates, confirming extra land and 4,500 kalam to the Sangha. Experts also back repatriating Pandya Velvikkudi Plates (Parantaka Nedunchadaiyan) from the British Museum.

WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) under International Health Regulations, 2005, due to cross-border transmission. Epicentre is Ituri Province (DRC), bordering Uganda and South Sudan. The 2026 outbreak involves Bundibugyo ebolavirus; no licensed vaccine/therapeutic exists (Ervebo targets Zaire strain). Ebola (Orthoebolavirus) has fruit bats (Pteropodidae) as hosts; incubation 2–21 days; transmission via infected body fluids; PHEIC is below Pandemic Emergency.

The Defence Minister laid the foundation stone for an AMCA programme facility in Andhra Pradesh for India’s indigenous 5th-generation medium-weight stealth multirole fighter. Developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency and DRDO, AMCA has Mk1 with GE-F414 engines and Mk2 planned with indigenous engines; prototype expected by 2028–29 and induction targeted by 2034–35. Features include stealth, supercruise, integrated avionics, AI-enabled secure networking; it supports IAF modernisation, Atmanirbhar Bharat and technological sovereignty.

A study reports that the rapid rise in satellite launches since 2019 is increasing black carbon (soot) pollution in the upper atmosphere, raising climate and ozone-layer concerns. Black carbon is a component of PM2.5, formed via incomplete combustion of wood, waste and fossil fuels. Upper-atmosphere soot deposition reduces sunlight reaching Earth; it persists longer and has ~500-fold higher climate impact than earthbound soot. Launches may also release chlorine that directly degrades ozone.

Iranian state media proposed charges on undersea cable operators in the Strait of Hormuz, highlighting vulnerabilities in global digital connectivity. Undersea fibre-optic cables carry 95–99% of international data; UNGA (2010) termed them critical communication infrastructure. More efficient than satellites, they converge at “digital chokepoints” (Red Sea, Hormuz). IRGC reportedly sought licensing fees and annual protection payments from firms like Meta, Amazon and Microsoft; threats include gray-zone weaponisation, wiretapping and cyberattacks, risking disruptions to India’s finance, IT-BPM and security communications.

CSIR mapped a massive palaeochannel (inactive river channel) beneath the Prayagraj–Kanpur stretch, Uttar Pradesh. CSIR (established 1942; under Ministry of Science and Technology; 37 laboratories) found it extends ~200 km at ~10–15 m depth; ~4–5 km wide; groundwater capacity ~3500–4000 million m³. Airborne electromagnetic helicopter surveys, validated by deep drilling at Sarai Akil, Sirathu and Fatehpur, confirmed fluvial sandy deposits. Palaeochannels form via tectonics/floods, aid groundwater exploration/recharge/storage and locating uraniferous ores, gold, silver and placer deposits.

Latvia’s Prime Minister announced resignation following the government’s handling of multiple stray drone incidents suspected from Ukraine, raising political and regional security concerns. Latvia’s capital is Riga. It lies in northeastern Europe and is the middle of the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). It borders Estonia, Russia, Belarus and Lithuania, and is bounded by the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Riga.

Panzath Nag festival, observed in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, is a community-led spring-cleaning and traditional fish-catching practice linked to wetland restoration and water conservation. It involves weed removal and desiltation to restore the spring ecosystem and maintain flow. The spring supplies drinking water and irrigation to nearly 45 downstream villages. Traditional wicker baskets and organic nets are used, while collective churning removes algal blooms, silt and polythene waste, aiding groundwater recharge and inter-village cooperation.

Tripura became India’s first state to complete all priority areas under Deregulation Phase-II of the national Compliance Reduction and Deregulation Initiative (CRDI), nodal authority: Union Cabinet Secretariat; Phase-II launched January 2026. Tripura was joint No.1 in Phase-I with Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. It executed 51 reforms (23+28) across sectors, enabling land-use self-certification, upgraded Single Window, NOC rationalisation, automated low-risk approvals, and 3-year inspection exemptions. Since 2022, 394 MoUs (₹35,140 crore) were signed; ₹5,352 crore projects grounded; target ~₹40,000 crore before July 2026 Mega Business Conclave.

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change inaugurated the Lion Species Spotlight Event at Sasan Gir, Gujarat, as a precursor to the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) Summit. IBCA (launched 9 April 2023; in force early 2025) has HQ in India; tagline “Save Big Cats, Save Humanity, Save Ecosystem”; covers tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, cheetah, jaguar, puma. Barda WLS is a dispersal site; National Wildlife Referral Centre, Junagadh supports diagnostics. 16th Lion Estimation 2025: 891 Asiatic lions (+32% vs 2020); range +60% in Saurashtra; Amreli highest. Status: IUCN Endangered; WPA 1972 Schedule I; CITES Appendix I. Project Lion (2020, 74th Independence Day): long-term landscape approach—habitat restoration, human-wildlife management, resilience, community eco-development.

Ministry of Ayush signed an MoU with Digital India BHASHINI Division (under IT Ministry) to integrate AI-powered translation, transcription and speech technologies across Ayush Grid portals/apps, including MAISP, for accessibility in all 22 Eighth Schedule languages. Executed under BHASHINI Rajyam (BHASHINI Sahayogi Program), it covers multilingual terminology, Ayush datasets, contextual AI healthcare models and NAMASTE glossary-building. BHASHINI, MeitY-nodal National Language DPI, uses AI/ML/NLP, including Shrutlekh and voice-enabled doctor–patient translation.

Etor Gidi is an agro-based traditional festival of the Adi community in Arunachal Pradesh, celebrated in mid-May to mark the start of the farming season. It seeks blessings for prosperity, abundant harvests, health and village well-being. Core ritual involves community repair of field fences; Delong dance is performed at the Dere/Musup (village hall/youth dormitory). Adi (“hill/mountain top”) sub-tribes include Padam, Minyong, Pasi, Shimong and Bori; they follow Kebang village councils. Other festivals: Solung (September) and Aran (March).

NDMA proposed a joint Centre–State heatwave mitigation financing mechanism and supported notifying heatwaves as a national disaster. The 16th Finance Commission recommended notifying heatwaves and lightning and proposed a ₹2 lakh crore corpus for state-level funds (2026–2031), pooling National/State Disaster Mitigation and Response Funds. It is district-led with population-based minima, focusing on long-term cooling (cool roofs, shaded footpaths, water stations). Heat Action Plans cover 23 States, 270 districts and 64 cities (304 incl. under preparation), but NDMA flags uneven, copy-pasted quality and procurement-driven risks.

Research on mosquito attraction highlights carbon dioxide (long-range), heat (close-range) and skin odour cues. Only female mosquitoes bite to obtain blood protein for egg production. Skin microbiota break down skin oils; Aedes aegypti attraction is linked to sebum-breakdown compounds. No scientific basis exists for blood-type preference. Beer consumption within 24 hours makes volunteers 1.35 times more attractive to Anopheles. Aedes spreads dengue, chikungunya, Zika, yellow fever; Anopheles malaria; Culex Japanese encephalitis, lymphatic filariasis.

Coal Gasification Scheme supports National Coal Gasification Mission, 2021 (gasify 100 MT by 2030) by targeting ~75 MT coal/lignite gasification for energy security and import reduction. Coal gasification converts coal to syngas (CO+H2) for urea, methanol, SNG, ammonia. Outlay ₹37,500 crore; incentive up to 20% plant/machinery in 4 milestone-linked instalments; caps: ₹5,000/₹9,000/₹12,000 crore. Coal linkage tenure extended to 30 years (Non-Regulated Sector linkage auction). India has 401 bt coal, 47 bt lignite; benefits include SO2/NOx control, ₹6,300 crore annual revenue, ~50,000 jobs, Atmanirbhar Bharat/Make in India.

An IBM–IndiaAI report says sovereign cloud and sovereign AI are central to India’s AI strategy; AI may add over $500 billion to India’s economy by 2030. Sovereign AI is national capability to design, develop and regulate AI using domestic infrastructure, national data and indigenous workforce; 83% Indian AI startups mainly apply existing models. IndiaAI Mission (2024) provides shared compute, IndiaAI Innovation Centre, indigenous foundational/LLMs and AIKosh (datasets); models include Sarvam AI, Gnani.ai’s Vachana and BharatGen’s Param2 17B, aiding data residency/privacy/consent, cyber resilience, strategic autonomy and localisation.

MeitY launched the IP Catalyst initiative with the Collaborative IP and Innovation Ecosystem (CIPIE) platform to shift India’s electronics and IT IP ecosystem from patent filing to market deployment. Implemented by C-DAC, Pune, it supports research-to-market, technology transfer, licensing, and prototype-to-product; offers IP filing support (including international for startups/MSMEs) and advisory (prior-art, valuation, TRL). CIPIE is a national repository and one-stop portal. India recorded 1,10,375 patent applications in FY2024–25 (44% electronics/IT) and 1,43,729 filings in FY2025–26 (52% electronics/IT growth), aligning with Viksit Bharat 2047 in semiconductors, AI and electronics manufacturing.

National e-Governance Division (NeGD) felicitated Gujarat, Karnataka, Keralam, Nagaland and Rajasthan at the National Consultative Workshop on Strengthening Cybersecurity Frameworks for State Data for large-scale DigiLocker integration. Gujarat onboarded 65% services (1.92 crore citizens); Karnataka 73% e-services, 3 crore electricity records, 2.7 crore accounts; Keralam 117+ services in <7 days, 1.15 crore users; Nagaland (Digital Rising State) 32 services in 1 month via issuer/requestor models; Rajasthan integrated Jan Aadhaar, covering 7.5+ crore citizens. DigiLocker is a secure cloud platform under Digital India, nodal ministry MeitY, implemented by NeGD.

The Global Forest Goals Report, prepared by UN DESA and the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) Secretariat, assesses progress on six Global Forest Goals for 2030 under the UN Strategic Plan for Forests (2017–2030). UNFF (established 2000) promotes management, conservation and sustainable development of all forests. Forest area fell >40 million ha (2015–2025); drivers include agricultural expansion and fuelwood/charcoal demand. Finance was US$84 billion (2023) vs ~US$300 billion needed annually by 2030; it urges stronger coordination, deforestation-free supply chains and cleaner energy access.

The 10th Indian Ocean Dialogue was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs with the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Secretariat, focusing on regional cooperation, maritime security and the blue economy. IORA, established in 1997 (formerly Indian Ocean Rim Initiative/IORA for Regional Cooperation), is an intergovernmental body with 23 members and 12 dialogue partners for sustainable growth and freer flow of goods, services and investment. Priority areas include trade, maritime safety and security, fisheries, disaster risk management and blue economy. The Council of Foreign Ministers is the apex annual body; the Secretariat is in Ebène, Mauritius, led by a secretary-general (three-year term).