Current Affairs

MoSPI released “Strategy for Environmental-Economic Accounts in India: 2026-2030”, building on the 2022-2026 strategy (MFAs, Ocean, Energy, thematic Biodiversity/Urban) and India’s environmental accounts work initiated in 2018. It aligns with UN Statistical Commission-endorsed SEEA, linked to the System of National Accounts, comprising SEEA-CF and SEEA-EA. Roadmap targets data gaps and expanded accounts covering resources, water, climate/carbon, biodiversity, statistics, oceans, energy, material flows and urban ecosystems.

WWF’s Living Planet Report 2026, with Zoological Society of London, uses the Living Planet Index (tracking relative abundance of monitored vertebrate populations) and finds a 73% global average decline in monitored wildlife populations (1970-2022). Asia-Pacific shows a 49% decline, based on 4,664 populations of 787 species. India records rises in tigers, Asiatic lions and greater one-horned rhinoceroses. Threats: habitat loss/degradation, overexploitation, climate change, pollution, invasive alien species, wildlife diseases; linked to food, energy and finance. River dolphin survey (2021-23) covered 8,507 km in 28 rivers; estimated 6,324 Ganges river dolphins.

The 57th GST Council meeting recommended procedural and administrative reforms to reduce compliance costs, simplify registration, speed refunds, reduce litigation and improve ease of doing business, effective from 1 April 2027. The GST Council is a constitutional body under Article 279A, inserted by the 101st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2016, established in September 2016, chaired by the Union Finance Minister, with Union and State finance/revenue ministers; it recommends GST rates/exemptions, model laws and place-of-supply principles.

US suspended Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini from PERM for alleged PERM/H‑1B misuse. PERM (Program Electronic Review Management): employer-filed labour certification (prevailing-wage/recruitment) before Green Card; suspension blocks filings, delaying priority-dates. Sept-2026 Visa Bulletin: EB‑2 India unavailable; EB‑3 final-action 1Jan2014; per-country-limits. H‑1B non-immigrant work visa; extensions past 6 years need labour-cert filed early. Since 2009: ~3m PR requests; 230k H‑1B approvals; 100k certifications.

UNEP officials highlighted behavioural shifts in the Slaty Egret (Egretta vinaceigula) as evidence of changes in natural ecosystems, noting it as an ecosystem indicator species. This small, shy water bird is mainly found in Botswana’s Okavango Delta and south-central Africa, with largest populations in Zambia and Botswana. It inhabits seasonal wetlands/floodplains, uses “foot-ruffling” to catch prey, is wetland-dependent, and is IUCN Vulnerable.

Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSEL) is conducting nationwide school screenings of a 30-minute Sensitization and Orientation Module on Inclusive Education for Children with Special Needs via the PRASHAST Portal. PRASHAST (Pre-Assessment Holistic Screening Tool) is a school-based disability screening tool to identify probable disabilities (21) under the RPwD Act, 2016, enabling screening, validation and referral. It has two parts and requires 1-2 months’ observation; aligned with NEP 2020.

National SC-ST Hub Scheme (launched October 2016) under Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, implemented by National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), builds capacity and promotes entrepreneurship among SC/STs. Support covers plant/machinery, training, market linkage, exhibitions, credit facilitation, Udyam registration and GeM onboarding. Major component SCLCSS provides 25% capital subsidy (cap ₹25 lakh) for institutional-credit-funded plant/equipment; promotes SC/ST units’ 4% public procurement share. As of 31 July 2026: 1,90,414 beneficiaries aided, 54,499 trained.

India’s first high-altitude snow leopard wildlife safari was launched in Ladakh’s cold desert. Snow leopard (“Ghost of the Mountains”), Panthera uncia (formerly Leo uncia; genus Panthera), is native to Central/South Asian high mountains; rocky shrub/grass habitats at 500-5,800 m; range Himalayas-Hindu Kush-Tibet Plateau to Altai and west of Lake Baikal (Russia). India hosts ~500-700; state animal: Himachal Pradesh. Adult ~2.1 m (tail 0.9 m), shoulder 0.6 m, 23-41 kg; pale grey rosettes; broad paws, small ears, large nasal cavities. IUCN: Vulnerable.

Sagarmanthan: The Great Oceans Dialogue (3rd edition) began in New Delhi under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, in partnership with ORF, with participation from nearly 75 countries. It covers maritime cooperation, ocean governance, green shipping, ports, shipbuilding, supply-chain resilience and blue economy across five thematic pillars, aligned with Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047. It proposed an India-EU Green Shipping Corridor involving V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority (Tuticorin); pre-feasibility in 2025, industry coalition in 2026.

French chemist Henri Kagan and Japanese chemist Kenso Soai won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis, demonstrating amplification of minor molecular asymmetries. Their work helps explain production of specific enantiomers and predominance of single chirality in biological systems. Chirality denotes two non-superimposable mirror forms; enantiomers show similar physical properties in achiral settings but differ in interactions with chiral biomolecules.

In 2026, Uttarakhand was declared India’s sixth fully literate state, attributed to ULLAS-Nav Bharat Saaksharta Programme and NEP 2020. ULLAS (Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society) is a centrally supported adult literacy initiative for non-literate adults, using community / volunteers and assessment-certification. FLNAT, via NIOS, tests reading-writing-numeracy; full literacy equals 95% literacy. State steps: Nanda Gaura, CM Balashray, virtual classrooms linking 500 schools, 189 Atal Utkrisht schools, labs in 100 high and 100 intermediate schools.

RBI authorised interoperability among NBFC-Account Aggregators (AAs), allowing financial information to be aggregated across different AAs for a consolidated asset view. AAs are NBFCs under RBI’s framework enabling secure, consent-based data sharing without owning customer assets; about 17 NBFC-AAs are registered. RBI also enabled SEBI-regulated depositories to include deposit account information in Consolidated Account Statements (deposits/securities; not loans), to be implemented by 31 December 2026.

Delhi Police detained Opposition leaders during New Delhi protests over ECI’s Special Intensive Revision and demands for CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, highlighting detention vs arrest under BNSS (replacing CrPC). Detention is undefined; Sections 170 (preventive arrest) and 172 (detain/remove for disobeying lawful directions; produce before magistrate/release within 24 hours) apply; Section 163 was imposed from October 2. Disobedience may attract Section 223, BNS, escalating to arrest with FIR. Article 22 safeguards and Supreme Court rulings mandate written grounds; Section 38 permits meeting an advocate; free legal aid applies; Section 43(5) restricts women’s arrest at night; DK Basu (1997) safeguards and penalties apply.

A tigress undergoing treatment for suspected Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) died in Kanha Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh. CDV causes a contagious, serious disease with high mortality, affecting respiratory, gastrointestinal and nervous systems. It can infect dogs, ferrets and many mammals, especially carnivores, spreading via respiratory secretions or contaminated objects. Virus persists briefly; infected animals may shed for weeks. No cure/approved antivirals; vaccination is key prevention.

The Meghalaya Cabinet authorised a second six-month extension of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) term, deferring GHADC elections to no earlier than early next year. The Garo are a Tibeto-Burman group, mainly in Meghalaya’s Garo Hills, also in Assam, Tripura, Nagaland and West Bengal; Meghalaya’s second-largest tribe. They speak Garo (Bodo branch, Sino-Tibetan), practise jhum and wet rice, follow matriliny, observe Wangala, and follow Songsarek and Christianity.

President Droupadi Murmu visited Hidimba (Hadimba/Dhungari) Temple, Manali, during her Himachal Pradesh tour. Dedicated to Hidimbi Devi, Bhima’s wife (Mahabharata), it stands amid Dhungiri Van Vihar cedar forest at the Himalayan foothills. Built in 1553 under Kullu ruler Bahadur Singh (1546-1569), it has Nepal-Tibet pagoda architecture: deodar-wood, four-tier roof on 24 pillars, intricate carvings; sanctum has a large rock and a 7.5 cm brass idol.

Madhya Pradesh moved cheetahs Tholo and CCB-3 from Kuno National Park to Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve (VDTR), its third cheetah habitat after Kuno and Gandhi Sagar. VDTR (~2,339 sq km) supports chital, sambar and nilgai; open-grassland cheetahs are being tested for coexistence with forest-using tigers. Project Cheetah began 17 Sep 2022; African (not Asiatic) cheetahs came from Namibia, South Africa and Botswana; India has 60, including 41 India-born.

Gujarat government announced a scheme for voluntary relocation of maldharis from Barda Sanctuary, being developed in Porbandar and Devbhumi Dwarka districts as a “second home” for Asiatic lions. Maldharis are semi-nomadic pastoralists (“keepers of livestock”) from Banni grasslands, Gir Forest and parts of Rajasthan; they herd cattle, sheep, goats, camels; produce milk, ghee, wool, crafts; speak Kachchhi (Sindhi dialect); ~90% Muslim, ~10% Hindu.

Press Council of India (PCI) has reportedly operated at half sanctioned strength for nearly a year, without any working journalist/newspaper editor, highlighting its statutory framework under the Press Council Act, 1978 (re-established 1979). PCI is a statutory, quasi-judicial, autonomous body to preserve press freedom and improve standards. It has a chairperson (usually retired SC judge) and 28 members: 13 journalists, 6 owners, 1 news agency, 5 MPs, 3 nominees (UGC, BCI, Sahitya Akademi); it frames ethics code, reviews constraints/foreign assistance, and adjudicates complaints.

A 7-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court headed by CJI Surya Kant disposed of the Tamil Nadu Assembly privilege reference as infructuous after noting the Assembly withdrew its 2003 resolution in 2004. The Court left larger issues open, including interplay of Article 194(3) with Article 19(1)(a), limits of privilege, linkage with Article 21, and precedents: Searchlight case (1959) and Presidential Reference (1964).

An international team reported a candidate “second-generation/phoenix” planet orbiting young white dwarf HS 0209+0832 (cooling age ~5 million years; ~270 light-years away). Hubble spectroscopy showed extreme photospheric contamination with trans-iron elements (zinc, copper, niobium) >1,000× solar, indicating s-process material from the star’s own ejected layers. TESS photometry found a 4.4-day periodic light fluctuation consistent with a close-in gas-giant-sized exoplanet undergoing photo-evaporation and mass transfer.

In Gujarat, golden jackal (Canis aureus), earlier linked to Banni grasslands and Rann of Kachchh mudflats, is recorded using Kachchh mangroves (Avicennia marina), navigating thickets and tidal creeks. Scat shows diet shift from rodents, Salvadora persica berries and offal to mudskippers, crabs, fish, aquatic birds and turtle eggs; foraging aligns with low tides. Mesocarnivore linking land-wetland nutrient flows; IUCN Least Concern; Schedule I, Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (amended 2022). Threats: ports/industry, mangrove loss, hypersalinization, dog-borne pathogens; restoration should include such carnivores.

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics honours Belgian-American scientist Francis Halzen for designing the IceCube neutrino observatory under Antarctic (South Pole) ice. Neutrinos are abundant, electrically neutral, weakly interacting particles from stellar nuclear reactions. IceCube (1 km³ ice, 5,000+ light sensors) detects Cherenkov glow from neutrino interactions, reconstructing energy/direction. Fully operational in 2011, it reported high-energy neutrino evidence in 2013, including extra-galactic neutrinos beyond the Milky Way, aiding multi-messenger astronomy. India’s INO, planned in Kerala then shifted to Tamil Nadu, faces land and environmental opposition; site remains undecided.

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister approved setting up an SPV, the Integrated Transport and Logistics Authority (ITLA), as a national apex institution for integrated transport and logistics planning, research, project appraisal/monitoring, policy support and data analytics. ITLA will prepare a 10+ year National Transport Master Plan across modes, appraise/monitor GoI projects ≥₹500 crore, run the NTDR using GSTN e-way bills, FASTag, Vahan, GPS and urban traffic data, and support National Logistics Policy 2022 updates.

Adani Power and Bhutan’s Druk Green Power Corporation Ltd (DGPC) signed a Shareholders Agreement for the 770 MW Chamkharchhu-I run-of-river hydropower project on the Chamkharchhu River, Zhemgang district (central Bhutan). It will be developed in a 49:51 equity partnership (Adani:DGPC) under the BOOT model with a 30-year concession from COD, featuring a 108-m concrete gravity dam, 19.2-km headrace tunnel and underground powerhouse, to meet Bhutan’s winter peak demand and export summer surplus to India.