Current Affairs

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) constituted the Artificial Intelligence Governance and Ethics Group (AIGEG) to institutionalise AI governance, operationalising AI Governance Guidelines and Economic Survey recommendations. It is a high-level inter-ministerial, 10-member body for policy coordination, chaired by MeitY Minister with MoS as vice-chair; members include Principal Scientific Advisor, Chief Economic Advisor and NITI Aayog CEO. It adopts whole-of-government approach, aligns AI with labour market and social stability, supported by a Technology and Policy Expert Committee; guided by trust, people-centricity, responsible innovation, equity, accountability, understandability, and safety/resilience/sustainability, integrating with Digital Public Infrastructure and NITI Aayog’s 2018 “AI for All” strategy.

Tata Semiconductor Manufacturing Private Limited is developing an AI-enabled semiconductor fabrication facility, involving front-end etching of integrated circuits on silicon wafers, to strengthen India’s semiconductor ecosystem. It aims to reduce import dependence and secure supply chains for defence, telecommunications and automotive sectors, generating ~21,000 jobs, and enabling end-to-end chip making beyond ATMP; earlier ATMP/OSAT units were set up at Sanand, Gujarat. SEZs operate under distinct fiscal-regulatory norms; SEZ Amendments 2025 cut land need from 50 to 10 hectares and allow domestic tariff area sales on duty payment.

India’s first bat assessment by the Nature Conservation Foundation and Bat Conservation International flags major threats and data gaps in bat conservation. It records about 135 bat species in India, including 16 endemic species; 7 are IUCN-listed as threatened. Key pressures include urbanisation, deforestation, climate change and post-COVID-19 stigma. Bats are warm-blooded mammals, the only mammals with true powered flight, using echolocation, and provide pollination, pest control and seed dispersal.

Karnataka Cabinet approved the Rohith Vemula Bill, 2026 (nodal: Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department) to curb caste/identity-based discrimination in higher-education institutions, safeguarding education and dignity of SCs, STs, faculty and non-teaching staff. It mandates disclosure of cases and climate risks, sets grievance/equity panels, imposes fines up to ₹10 lakh and grant withdrawal, applies polluter-pays compensation, complements SC/ST (PoA) Act, cites Concurrent List and Article 15(4), and is proposed for Monsoon Session 2026; Telangana is drafting a similar law.

Parliament is considering constitutional changes to expand Lok Sabha seats and expedite delimitation to implement one-third women’s reservation. Delimitation readjusts constituencies for “one vote, one value” under Articles 82 (post-Census readjustment) and 81 (uniform population-seat ratio). Delimitation has been frozen since 1976, extended to 2026. Proposals include raising seats from 543 to up to 850 (815 states, 35 UTs) and delinking delimitation from Census, including possible use of 2011 data, amid concerns over inter-state representation disparities.

Researchers described a new bent-toed gecko species from Tripura, highlighting restricted-range biodiversity in Northeast India’s lowland forests. The species, Cyrtodactylus jayadityai, is named after herpetologist Jayaditya Purkayastha and belongs to the genus Cyrtodactylus. Mitochondrial DNA indicates closest affinity to C. tripuraensis. It occurs in lowland forest patches of North Tripura, within ~8–12 sq km; nocturnal, sheltering in burrows/crevices by day; categorised data deficient, threatened by rising human activity and environmental degradation.

Astronomers made a highly precise direct estimate of the Universe’s expansion rate, sharpening the “Hubble tension”: ~9% mismatch between late- and early-Universe Hubble constant values at 5-sigma significance. Local distance-ladder measurements using Cepheids and Type Ia supernovae with Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope give 73.5 km/s/Mpc, while CMB-based Planck results (snapshot ~380,000 years after Big Bang) give 67.4 km/s/Mpc, challenging the ΛCDM model.

IMF World Economic Outlook 2025 places India as the 6th largest economy, with estimated nominal GDP of $3.92 trillion (local-currency GDP converted using exchange rates). Despite ~9% nominal GDP growth in rupee terms and real growth above 6%, India’s dollar ranking fell due to a downward GDP revision (₹357 trillion to ₹345 trillion) and rupee depreciation (84.6/$ in 2024 to 88.5/$ in 2025) amid a stronger US dollar. IMF projects India to overtake the UK in 2027 ($4.58 trillion), surpass Japan in 2028 ($5.06 trillion), and become the 3rd largest economy by 2031 ($6.79 trillion).

The Prime Minister inaugurated the Sri Guru Bhairavaikya Mandira at Sri Adichunchanagiri Mahasamsthana Math, Mandya district, Karnataka, a memorial to Sri Sri Dr. Balagangadharanatha Maha Swamiji (71st pontiff; Padma Bhushan 2013). Built in traditional Dravidian style, it includes Jwala Peetha and Sri Kalabhairaveshwara Temple. The Math, a 1500–2000-year socio-spiritual Nath-Shaiva centre, follows nine principles and continues leadership to Jagadguru Nirmalanandanatha; the Swamiji founded 500+ educational institutions, hospitals, rural health centres, social reform and conservation initiatives.

Gujarat plans an Athlete Genome Database ahead of the 2030 Commonwealth Games, integrating genetic (genotype), physiological and performance data to use sports genomics for talent identification (traits linked to speed, endurance, strength). A 2023 study suggests genetic factors may contribute up to 66% of performance. Expected gains include injury prevention, personalised training, rehabilitation and optimisation, but raise concerns on fairness, genetic discrimination, privacy, athlete welfare and overemphasis on “designer athletes”, necessitating a regulatory-ethical framework.

Parliament passed the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026, expanding the Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 (which amended 183 provisions across 42 laws). It amends 784 provisions across 79 Central laws, rationalising 1,018 offences: decriminalises 805 (civil penalties/warnings), removes 125 obsolete offences, makes 35 compoundable, and revises penalties for 53. It shifts enforcement from courts to adjudicating authorities amid 7,305 offences in 370 laws.

A Delhi court convicted an individual for illegal export of Shahtoosh shawls, highlighting enforcement against wildlife trade. Shahtoosh is the under-fleece of the Tibetan antelope (chiru), Pantholops hodgsonii, obtained by killing the animal; illegal spinning/weaving occurs mainly in Jammu and Kashmir. Trade is banned under CITES since 1975. Chiru inhabits cold deserts of the Tibetan plateau (Xinjiang, Qinghai); it is IUCN Near Threatened, CITES Appendix I, and protected under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (Schedules I and IV). Enforcement involves CBI, WCCB, Customs and Wildlife Institute of India.

A painting by Raja Ravi Varma sold for ₹167 crore, underlining Indian art’s cultural and economic value. Varma (1848–1906), from Kilimanoor, Travancore (present-day Kerala), belonged to Travancore’s royal family and is regarded as the father of modern Indian art. He blended Western oil techniques with realism, depicted Ramayana-Mahabharata themes, founded the Ravi Varma Fine Art Lithographic Press (1894), and received the Kaisar-i-Hind Gold Medal (1904) from Lord Curzon.

Iran threatened to block trade through the Red Sea amid tensions with the United States, underscoring the route’s strategic importance for global trade. The Red Sea is a fiord-type marginal sea (long, deep, narrow inlet), linked to the Gulf of Aden via Bab el Mandeb Strait and to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal. It borders Egypt–Sudan–Eritrea (west) and Saudi Arabia–Yemen (east), with a northeastern extension to Israel and Jordan via the Gulf of Aqaba; it has very low precipitation and no river inflow.

Japan’s Sakurajima stratovolcano (Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu) erupted at the Minamidake summit crater, producing a 3.4 km ash plume, its first major eruption since Dec 2025. Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire due to Philippine Sea Plate subduction beneath the Eurasian Plate, it lies ~4 km from Kagoshima city and has been active since 1955. The 1914 eruption linked it to the mainland; JMA monitors ash, gas and aviation risks.

A new fossorial snake, Meghalaya Burrowing Reed Snake (Calamaria garoensis; genus Calamaria, family Colubridae), was described from Oragitok, West Garo Hills, Meghalaya, resolving confusion with Calamaria pavimentata. It inhabits moist forest soils and is restricted to West Garo Hills. Key traits: smooth dorsal scales (13 rows), short tail, faint nuchal ring, longitudinal stripes; insectivorous/vermivorous. It shows 6.3% genetic divergence, closest to C. mizoramensis. Not IUCN-assessed; highlights Garo Hills micro-endemism in Indo-Burma hotspot.

A juvenile hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata; family Cheloniidae) stranded on the Tamil Nadu coast was rehabilitated and released in the Gulf of Mannar. It inhabits tropical coral reefs, seagrass beds and shallow coastal waters; in India occurs in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Gulf of Mannar. Spongivorous; IUCN Critically Endangered, CITES Appendix I, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 Schedule I; threats include fishing-gear entanglement, illegal tortoiseshell trade, reef degradation and climate change.

PM inaugurated Delhi–Dehradun Economic Corridor, a 210–213 km, 6-lane, access-controlled expressway implemented by NHAI (MoRTH), from Akshardham (Delhi) via Ghaziabad–Baghpat–Shamli–Saharanpur, linked to Eastern Peripheral Expressway at Mandola. Travel time cuts >6 hrs to ~2.5 hrs at 100 kmph. Includes 10.97 km elevated wildlife corridor in Rajaji Tiger Reserve with 340 m Daat Kali tunnel; afforestation 165.5 ha, 1.95 lakh trees, sound/light barriers; camera traps: 18 species. ATMS enables response within 10 minutes; CO2 reduced 240 million tonnes/20 years; WII validated underpass use; landslide mitigation per IRC.

Report “Military Escalation In The Middle East: Human Development Impacts Across Asia And The Pacific” finds South Asia faces highest economic losses; India may see ~2.5 million pushed into poverty. Vulnerabilities include dependence on West Asia for >40% oil and 90% LPG imports; US$48 billion non-oil exports at risk; >45% fertiliser imports from West Asia and 85% urea reliant on imported LNG; 9.37 million Indians in Gulf generate 38–40% remittances. Priorities: targeted cash transfers, MSME concessional credit/guarantees, renewables, input diversification, domestic food systems, and regional energy-food security cooperation.

Clashes occurred in Rayagada district, Odisha over an approach road to the Sijimali bauxite mine. Bauxite, a reddish-brown soft sedimentary rock of hydrated aluminium oxides/hydroxides with iron hydroxides and silica, is refined via the Bayer process; >90% becomes alumina/aluminium; also used in refractories, chemicals, cement, abrasives. Sijimali (Rayagada-Kalahandi, Eastern Ghats), operated by Vedanta, has 220–311 mt reserves; planned 6–9 mtpa for 50 years; Stage-1 forest clearance granted, Stage-2 pending. Odisha holds 41% of India’s bauxite resources and 73% output; also has major iron ore, coal, nickel, gemstones, graphite, ~17% of national mineral reserves.

In the Sabarimala case, the Solicitor General urged the Supreme Court to disregard the doctrine of constitutional morality. Constitutional morality denotes adherence to justice, liberty, equality and fraternity; it is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. The term was coined by George Grote and invoked by B R Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly (1948). Courts use it to interpret provisions, protect rights and minorities; applied in Kesavananda Bharati (1973), Navtej Singh Johar, Joseph Shine and Sabarimala (2018).

Keytruda (pembrolizumab), an immunotherapy drug by Merck & Co., is a checkpoint inhibitor monoclonal antibody. It binds PD-1 receptors on T cells, blocking interaction with PD-L1 on cancer cells, thereby reactivating T cells to destroy tumours. Approved by the US FDA in 2014 for advanced skin cancer, it is used across multiple cancers, given as 30-minute IV infusion every 3/6 weeks, with a subcutaneous formulation.

Government expanded the Fund of Funds for Startups through FoF 2.0, building on the 2016 Startup India Action Plan, to improve venture capital access across sectors and growth stages. With a ₹10,000 crore corpus, it is governed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It contributes to SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Funds (privately pooled vehicles) for equity/equity-linked startup investments; eligible AIFs span the 16th and 17th Finance Commission cycles, screened by a Venture Capital Investment Committee, monitored by an Empowered Committee chaired by Secretary, DPIIT, and implemented by SIDBI with additional domestic agencies, including support for deep tech, micro VC, manufacturing and sector-agnostic startups.

National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), launched in April 2016, is a pan-India electronic trading platform to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities by digitally integrating mandis and enabling inter-state access beyond APMC limits. Implemented by Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, it uses web/app and AI-enabled quality assessment, integrates e-NWR (Warehousing Development and Regulation Act, 2007; WDRA warehouses), expanded mandis from 1389 (2024) to 1656 (March 2026), and enabled 13.25 crore MT trade worth ₹4.84 lakh crore (2016–March 2026), with 1.80 crore farmers, 2.73 lakh traders and 4724 FPOs.