Current Affairs

The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (2026) issued an advisory to restrict unproven stem cell interventions, including for Autism Spectrum Disorder, clarifying it is not approved as routine care and permitted only in approved clinical trials under National Guidelines for Stem Cell Research, 2017 (ICMR-DBT). Pursuant to Supreme Court judgment in Yash Charitable Trust v Union of India, violations may invite IMC Regulations, 2002 (Reg. 7.22) action and penalties under Clinical Establishments Act, 2010 (Sections 32, 40); State Medical Councils to investigate and discipline.

RBI’s special USD-INR forex swap facility has attracted over $143.5 billion of forex inflows till September 18, 2026. It covers FCNR(B) deposits, External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) and Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCBs) to boost dollar inflows, support the rupee and strengthen the external sector. Inflows comprise $132.98 billion FCNR(B), $5.32 billion OFCBs and $5.29 billion ECBs, providing banks stable medium-term foreign currency funding amid elevated credit-deposit ratios.

The External Affairs Minister said the Global South remains marginalised in global decision-making despite facing major crises. The Global South broadly includes developing, emerging and underdeveloped nations across Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania, sharing histories of colonisation, exploitation and structural marginalisation. Coined by Carl Oglesby (late 1960s) and popularised by the Brandt Line, concerns include food-energy insecurity, climate finance/technology gaps and trade barriers. India engages via VOGSS and ISA, seeking UN-IMF-World Bank reforms and South-South cooperation.

RBI, with NPCI, launched UPI ‘tap and pay’ for RuPay credit cards, enabling faster payments without OTPs or QR codes. Using PoS terminal internet connectivity, transactions can occur even if the customer’s phone lacks internet. Currently available up to ₹5,000; above this, PIN is required. UPI forms ~85% of India’s electronic transactions. Move aligns with fraud reduction and data security amid rising AI-based attacks; Visa/Mastercard use passkeys, and Mastercard’s CDCVM enables biometric authentication. Amazon Pay (<1% UPI share) introduced tap-and-pay for partner merchants.

WHO urged stronger, coordinated ethical oversight of AI-related health research, citing concerns on pace, privacy, bias, fairness/equity, transparency, accountability, transferability and rapid deployment. RECs protect participants but need technical expertise, training and resources; some anonymised/no-direct-interaction AI studies may escape review. WHO recommends training/certification, early risk identification, transparency, data-worker safeguards, public communication/engagement, and capacity-building in developing countries with equitable local participation. India has an AI-healthcare ethical framework; ICMR (2023) issued AI ethics guidelines stressing autonomy, safety, data privacy, accountability, fairness, equity and informed consent.

Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar’ (23 September 1908, Bihar–24 April 1974), a Hindi literary figure linked to the freedom struggle, is remembered on his birth anniversary. Known as Rashtrakavi and Yuga-Chāraṇa, his collection Hunkar (1938) stirred nationalist fervour. He received the Padma Bhushan and Sahitya Akademi Award (1959). Rashmirathi critiqued caste hierarchies; Sanskriti Ke Chaar Adhyay criticised communalism. Major works include Kurukshetra, Urvashi and Renuka.

Exercise Veer Guardian 2026, a bilateral air exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF), concluded at Air Force Station Jodhpur on 22 September 2026 after 14 days. IAF deployed Su-30 MKI, Rafale and indigenous LCA Tejas; JASDF fielded F-2A. Training included within-visual-range combat, coordinated multi-aircraft missions, and SME exchanges, maintenance practice and aerospace safety briefings. On Distinguished Visitor’s Day, Gen Takehiro Morita and Air Chief Marshal AP Singh flew Tejas.

A report tabled at the UN General Assembly flags risks from agentic AI—systems accomplishing specific goals with limited supervision—unlike traditional rule-based software. It notes advantages (autonomy, specialisation, proactivity, adaptability) and applications (live stock trading, autonomous vehicle GPS navigation, adaptive treatment from patient data). Key issues include misalignment (e.g., hacking), loss of human control, and self-reinforcing over-censorship. Way forward: cross-jurisdiction accountability, incident reporting/whistleblowing, and independent AI monitoring.

UN has designated 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmers to highlight women’s role in agriculture and rural economies. Rural FLPR rose from 41.5% (2022-23) to 47.6% (2023-24). Rural women in agriculture: 33% labourers, 48–50% self-employed; hold 12.8–14% operational land. Women are 23–25% of PM-KISAN beneficiaries and get <20% extension services; databases rely on land titles. Best practices: Maharashtra Women Farmers’ Empowerment Bill (Woman Farmer Certificate), Kerala’s Kudumbashree collective farming, Odisha’s KALIA support to landless/marginal women.

Planetary Health Check 2026, released by the Planetary Boundaries Science Lab at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Germany, warns of rising security risks from human pressure on the 9 planetary-boundary processes regulating Earth’s stability and resilience. It finds 7 of 9 boundaries beyond safe limits with worsening trends: climate change, biosphere integrity, biogeochemical flows, novel entities, land-system change, freshwater change, ocean acidification. The other two are stratospheric ozone depletion and atmospheric aerosol loading.

World Rhino Day highlights key facts on rhino conservation. Rhinos comprise five species: African (White, Black) and Asian (Indian, Sumatran, Javan). Only Indian and Javan are single-horned; Indian (greater one-horned) is the largest Asian rhino. Assam holds nearly 80% of global rhinos. IUCN: CR—Sumatran, Javan, Black; VU—Indian; NT—White (largest). African rhinos are less armoured, more aggressive, and poorer swimmers than Asian rhinos.

Researchers demonstrated a low-temperature (<200°C) process converting polyethylene into gasoline- and diesel-range liquid hydrocarbons with ~60% yield, using commercially available inorganic molten salts containing aluminum chloride. It needs no external hydrogen, noble-metal catalysts, or organic solvents. Soft X-ray spectroscopy and NMR indicate hyper-acidic Al sites generating carbocations to cleave chains. Conventional pyrolysis needs 450-500°C and Pt/Pd or H2. Scaling requires corrosion-resistant confinement and salt recovery/reuse.

Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology found a broken West Asian torpedo jar fragment off Poompuhar (Kaveripoompattinam), with submerged structures, four intact terracotta ring wells (60-65 cm), and 250+ ceramics. Survey used side-scan sonar, sub-bottom profilers, multibeam scanners and ROVs amid low visibility. The jar (Parthian/Sasanian/early Islamic Persian Gulf) evidences Early Historic Indian Ocean trade; Poompuhar was Sangam-era Early Chola port, cited in Pattinappaalai, Silappadikaram, Manimekalai, Ptolemy and Periplus.

WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 reports 42% of global land with below-normal water storage in 2025, declining since 2014-16. All major glaciated regions lost ice; 2025 loss ~408 Gt (~1.1 mm sea-level rise). Rivers: normal flows in only 36% basin area. Nearly two-thirds of wells were outside norms; 34% stations below-normal (25% in 2024). India: below-normal terrestrial storage (north), above-normal reservoir inflows/soil moisture, higher Ganga-Godavari-Krishna-Indus discharge, but persistent groundwater deficits (2022-25), especially northwest.

The Supreme Court (Bench: Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Atul S. Chandurkar), in a 69-page ruling, held that non-supply of written grounds of arrest (in an understood language) or denial of lawyer access violates Article 22(1), making arrest unconstitutional and mandating immediate release, irrespective of offence gravity, prejudice, or later chargesheet/cognisance. It applies across BNS and special laws. Re-arrest needs magistrate permission within 1 week, senior endorsement, fresh grounds first, new investigator, departmental inquiry, and High Court compensation. Origin: POCSO case, Punjab.

US President Donald Trump posted “The Moon Is Ours” on Truth Social, but the 1967 UN-adopted Outer Space Treaty bars national appropriation of the Moon. Formally, it is the “Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States…” First signatories were the US, UK and Soviet Union; 115 parties and 22 signatories (including India, China). It mandates peaceful use, bans WMDs in orbit, assigns liability, information-sharing, and reciprocal access to lunar facilities.

The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare launched the 7th edition of the National Formulary of India (NFI) and announced Government of India approval of the Biovigilance Programme of India. NFI, published periodically by the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) since 2009 (first edition 1960), guides rational, safe prescribing and supports national drug policy. NFI 2026 has 34 chapters, 20 appendices, 653 drugs (42 FDCs, 30 immunologicals), aligned with NLEM and National Health Programmes. The Biovigilance Programme expands patient safety; IPC will monitor and prevent adverse events linked to medicines and biologicals used in organ and tissue transplantation, complementing pharmacovigilance and materiovigilance.

INCOIS, an autonomous MoES body (est. 1999; HQ Hyderabad), launched India’s first integrated marine-litter tracking framework under Swachh Sagar Surakshit Sagar 5.0 and NIRMaL Sagar. Pilot off Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) with Andhra University and Vijnana Bharati, supported by Indian Navy, Coast Guard and fishers. It uses ocean modelling, satellite remote sensing, AI/ML to map plastic movement, entry pathways (e.g., storm drains) and forecast hotspots for targeted clean-up and circular-economy recycling; INCOIS also runs PFZ, OSF, ITEWC and multi-hazard advisories.

NSE enabled tokenised corporate bond issuances totalling ₹1,000 crore under SEBI’s Regulatory Sandbox Framework, with RBI guidance, signalling early regulated tokenisation in India’s corporate bond market. Using Distributed Ledger Technology, securities are digitally represented with distributed record-keeping, enabling atomic settlement, transparency and operational efficiency, while leveraging existing digital settlement infrastructure. Participants included banks, financial institutions, mutual funds and depositories; SEBI regulates listed corporate bonds/NCDs.

Researchers identified epithelial DARE cells that activate initiator caspase Dronc (fruit-fly ortholog of mammalian Caspase-9) but stall apoptosis, survive, proliferate and restore ~50% tissue within 48 hours; removing DARE cells halts repair as NARE cells (death-resistant, no initiator activation) cannot regenerate alone. Myo1D tethers active Dronc to the membrane, blocking executioner caspases. Paracrine DARE–NARE feedback limits overgrowth. DARE descendants show ~7× ionizing-radiation resistance, informing recurrent therapy-resistant tumors and controlled regeneration.

A checklist by a Keralam research team records 3,261 flowering plant species (plus 26 sub-species, 28 varieties) in Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve (ABR), covering 1,139 genera and 190 families. It notes 1,018 endemic taxa (31.2%), including 245 steno-endemics, and affinity with Sri Lanka (347 shared taxa) and tropical America (102). ABR (Kerala-Tamil Nadu) was established in 2001, listed by UNESCO in 2016, hosts Kani tribe, and includes Shendurney, Peppara, Neyyar WLS and Kalakkad Mundanthurai TR.

The President notified the Inter-State Council (Amendment) Order, 2026, amending the Inter-State Council Order, 1990 (Gazette of India, May 28, 1990), under Article 263; MHA issued the notification. It replaces provisions to invite concerned Governors/Lieutenant Governors to meetings when Article 356, Article 239AB (Delhi), Government of UTs Act, 1963 (Puducherry), or J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 orders are in force.

RBI issued final directions on minimum capital requirements for market risk for commercial banks, to be implemented by April 1, 2027, aligned with revised Basel III. It removes separate trading-book instructions (HFT identifies trading book), revises Net Open Position/forex risk charges per Capital Adequacy Tenth Amendment Directions, 2026, updates interest-rate risk tables per BCBS, and revises trading-book capital for debt mutual funds/ETFs, using risk-driver-based calculations with safeguards. Basel III (BCBS; post-2007-08) requires higher-quality capital, CET1 ≥4.5% RWA and global CAR 8%.

An India-born cheetah in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park delivered four cubs, taking India’s cheetah population to 56 (36 India-born, 20 from African nations). Currently, 53 are in Kuno and three adults (two males, one female) in Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, ~300 km away. Nine were translocated from Botswana in February; earlier transfers were from Namibia (September 2022) and South Africa (February 2023). A third site is being developed at Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary under the Rani Durgawati Tiger Reserve (Sagar, Damoh, Narsinghpur).

IRDAI issued a consultation paper proposing a Public Insurance Registry (PIR) as a Digital Public Infrastructure-style framework to exchange insurance information. It envisages interoperability, minimalist building blocks and a federated, source-system-first architecture (no centralised data), enabling consistent discovery, verification and exchange. Anchors cited: Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha Act, Digital Personal Data Protection Act and Bima Sugam. IIB to be restructured as an IRDAI-owned not-for-profit; governance includes neutrality, independent execution, rotating industry board; phased rollout, with benefits for policyholders, insurers, reinsurers/IRDAI and banks/government.

Lok Sabha Speaker paid respects to Amrita Devi Bishnoi and other 18th-century martyrs who died protecting Khejri trees at Khejadli village, Rajasthan. Khejri (Prosopis cineraria (L.) Marbride) is Rajasthan’s sacred state tree; locally called jant/janti (Alwar, Sikar, Jhunjhunu). It grows in arid/semi-arid Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and parts of southern India, tolerating 40-45°C, <10°C and 100-600 mm rainfall; deciduous, feathery leaves, yellow flowers; nitrogen-fixing. Uses: sangri, medicinal bark, fodder and nutritious pods; supports Thar ecosystem.