Current Affairs

Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), with the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), launched the nationwide Campus Biodiversity Registers (CBRs) initiative to document campus biodiversity across India. Modelled on the People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) framework, it mobilises students, faculty and staff through surveys, campus walks and observations, using citizen-science tools like iNaturalist, eBird and SeasonWatch. NBA is a statutory body for conservation, sustainable use and benefit-sharing.

Indian Navy commissioned INS Malvan at Karwar, Karnataka, on 22 July 2026. It is the second Mahe-class Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Shallow Water Craft, built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, Kochi, and the sixth of 16 such vessels planned, with over 80% indigenous content. Roles include underwater surveillance, ASW, LIMO and mine warfare. Named after Malvan (Maharashtra); predecessor served as inshore minesweeper till 2003. Crest: ‘Bagh Nakha’; motto: ‘Silent Claws’.

Scientists at IASST, Guwahati (Assam)—an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology—demonstrated borophene (2D single-atomic-layer boron) as a green lubricant additive in castor oil. At 0.1 wt.% concentration, lubrication improved without chemical modification of the oil, aided by a protective tribofilm of iron oxides, carbonaceous and boron-based compounds, reducing frictional energy losses, wear and petroleum-lubricant reliance for machinery and renewable energy, marine and automotive applications.

Chennai-based ePlane Company unveiled PT-01, India’s first full-scale electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft prototype. It combines helicopter-like VTOL with fixed-wing forward flight, using a carbon-fibre composite body, six independent lift rotors and four forward propellers with thrust redistribution on motor failure. Battery-electric propulsion (no turbines) and fly-by-wire enable safe unmanned tests first, then piloted certification trials. Range: 110 km. Target commercial operations: 2028; initial use case: air ambulance, besides airport transfers and urban transport, with quieter, lower-emission, lower-cost operations.

A Union Minister launched Mission Golden Spice (Integrated Lakadong Turmeric Value Chain Enhancement Project) in Meghalaya, offering a 5-year roadmap (2025–2030) for GI-tagged Lakadong turmeric. It targets quality positioning via 7–10% curcumin (nearly four times world average); curcumin is the principal yellow compound in turmeric rhizomes. It notes curcumin falls outside Meghalaya due to local soil, mandates women as custodians, follows two phases, is governed by MDoNER and NEC, and includes Northeast’s largest integrated organic processing and curcumin extraction facility.

Persistent extreme heatwave has depleted major European rivers—Danube, Rhine, Elbe and Loire—disrupting transport and exposing riverbeds. Europe’s 2nd-longest river, the Danube, hit a 30-year low in Romania; at Baziaș flow fell to ~1,700 m³/s versus July average 4,700, exposing sandbanks, suspending ferries and idling grain barges. Rhine (Kaub gauge 80–90 cm) forces partial loads, raising costs. Loire near Montjean-sur-Loire and France’s Doubs ran dry.

Researchers from MACS Agharkar Research Institute, Pune (DST) discovered five new lichen-forming fungi (script lichens) of genus Allographa (family Graphidaceae) in the Western Ghats: A. keralensis, A. nayakae, A. paraconsanguinea, A. persistinspersa, A. semicarbonisata. Using taxonomy plus molecular phylogenetics (morphological/chemical analyses; multi-locus DNA markers mtSSU, nrLSU, RPB2), it is the first comprehensive regional phylogenetic study, showing similar morphologies may not imply close relatedness; lichens indicate pollution and habitat change. New molecular data were generated for A. calcea, A. macella, A. aquilonia, A. rimulosa, A. effusosoredica.

Union Home Minister will introduce the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026 in the Rajya Sabha to extend statutory protection to the national song Vande Mataram (Bankim Chandra Chatterjee), placing it on par with Jana Gana Mana under the 1971 Act. Section 3 penalises preventing anthem singing/disturbing assemblies (up to 3 years’ imprisonment/fine/both). Courts note standing suffices; Bijoe Emmanuel (1986) held expulsion violated Articles 19(1)(a) and 25(1).

Japan disclosed (first time) that a Chinese navy destroyer with Russian vessels held live-fire drills near Okinotori (Parece Vela). Okinotori is Japan’s tiny uninhabited atoll in the Philippine Sea (Pacific); at high tide only two rocky outcrops remain above sea level. It lies on the Palau-Kyushu Ridge, administered under the Ogasawara Islands; Japan’s southernmost island (~1,700 km south of Tokyo), its only territory south of the Tropic of Cancer. Japan claims an EEZ here, disputed by China; strategically midway between Taiwan and Guam.

Odonatologists discovered a new spreadwing damselfly, Lestes paloti (genus Lestes), from the Western Ghats in Kerala, recorded in Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram, Palakkad and Ernakulam. Named to honour Muhamed Jafer Palot (Zoological Survey of India), it is the first new Lestes from the Western Ghats since 1929 and from India since 1987. It shows distinct male anal appendages/secondary genitalia, resembles L. nodalis and L. garoensis, changes from brown (dry) to bluish (monsoon), and inhabits scrub near homesteads and laterite hillocks, often away from open water.

Drug Controller General of India granted market authorisation to Takeda Biopharmaceuticals India’s QDENGA (TAK‑003), India’s first approved dengue vaccine. It is a live-attenuated tetravalent vaccine covering all four dengue serotypes, given as two 0.5 ml subcutaneous doses three months apart for ages 4–60 years, without pre-vaccination screening. WHO recommends it for high-transmission endemic areas; WHO prequalification enables UNICEF/PAHO procurement. Licensed in 43 countries.

President Droupadi Murmu became the first Indian head of state to visit Moldova since India–Moldova diplomatic relations were established in 1992. Moldova’s capital is Chișinău. It is a landlocked country in the north-eastern corner of the Balkan region of Europe, bordering Ukraine and Romania. Highest point: Mount Bălănești. Major rivers: Dniester and Prut. Resources: lignite, phosphorites, gypsum, limestone.

India deposited its Instrument of Acceptance for the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS), becoming the 123rd WTO member. AFS is the first multilateral WTO pact with an explicit environmental sustainability objective, promoting conservation and sustainable use of marine resources. It covers marine wild-capture fishing at sea, excluding aquaculture and inland fisheries, and bans subsidies linked to IUU fishing and overfished stocks, safeguarding small-scale fishers and supporting sustainable seafood exports.

“Scaling Urban Climate Resilience: The CapaCITIES Legacy and Way Forward” was held in New Delhi, highlighting CapaCITIES (launched 2016), funded by the Embassy of Switzerland to India and Bhutan. Implemented by ICLEI South Asia, South Pole, econcept and NIUA, it builds ULB capacity to align with India’s 2070 Net-Zero target. Outputs include CRCAPs in 8 cities (4 states), Net-Zero/Climate Action Cells in 6 cities, toolkits/guidebook/financing white paper, pilots (floating solar, e-mobility, flood warning), and regional scale-up to Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia.

Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1, developed under Mission Aagaman, is a fully India-designed/manufactured launcher for on-demand small-satellite deployment: 350 kg to LEO and 260 kg to SSO. It uses an all-carbon composite structure, a 4-stage configuration (3 solid, 1 liquid), a 3D-printed liquid engine, and autonomous GNC via the Ramanujan mission computer. Payloads include SCOPE, Drishti, SOLARAS S3 and Embrace; symbolic payloads include Cosmic Bloom and a gold micro-rocket. India is the 3rd country (after US, China) with private launch capability; it has ~2% of the global space economy. Space startups rose from 1 (2014) to nearly 400 (2026); space economy valued ~USD 8.4 bn, projected USD 40–45 bn in a decade and USD 100 bn by 2040.

In the men’s 23rd FIFA World Cup 2026, co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 in the final at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey (USA), winning its second title (first in 2010). The expanded tournament had 48 nations in 12 groups of four. Awards: Golden Ball Rodri; Golden Boot Kylian Mbappe (10); Golden Glove Unai Simon; Best Young Player Pau Cubarsi. India qualified only once (1950, Brazil) but did not participate.

India won 1 Gold and 3 Silver medals at the 37th International Biology Olympiad (IBO) 2026 held in Vilnius, Lithuania. The annual Olympiad, described as the world’s leading biology competition for high school students, began in 1989 and saw 307 participants from 78 countries. Indian medallists: Bhavyaa Gunwal (Gold), Soumil Maity, Nishit Kalani and Anmol Kumar (Silver). Also noted: 58th IChO 2026 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where India won four golds.

Non-animal testing methods/New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) assess drug safety, efficacy and quality using biological (in vitro/ex vivo) and computational (in silico) tools. Examples include organ-on-chip, stem cell organoids (used to link Zika to microcephaly), human blood cell assays replacing rabbit pyrogen tests, and AI models predicting toxicity/arrhythmias. New Drugs and Clinical Trials (Amendment) Rules, 2023 permit human-relevant NAMs. Traditional animal testing approves only 10–14% Phase I candidates; a report cites >50% time reduction and ~70–90% cost cuts in India; NAM centres exist in US/EU/Japan. Ethical issues cite animal suffering, Kant’s imperative, Singer’s “speciesism” and utilitarian limits.

Prime Minister flagged off India’s first hydrogen-powered train between Jind and Sonipat (Haryana), using hydrogen fuel-cell technology. Its power system has two hydrogen driving cars (1,200 kW each) with lithium iron phosphate batteries and hydrogen cylinders. An integrated hydrogen railway ecosystem at Jind includes electrolysis-based production, storage, compression and refuelling at one plant. Ten coaches carry 2,600 passengers; runs at 75 kmph (designed 110); longest and ~3,200 HP. Key issues: high costs, safety and infrastructure needs.

Abathsahayeswarar Temple, Thukkachi (near Kumbakonam), Thanjavur district, won the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award of Distinction for Heritage Conservation 2024. Restoration was led by Tamil Nadu HR&CE with IIT Madras’ NCSHS, blending Sthapatya Veda with scientific methods. Linked to Kulottunga I (Thevaram recitation endowment) and Vikrama Chola (only major temple built entirely in his reign). Inscriptions call it Thenthirukalathi/Vikramacholeeswaram. Kara Kovil (chariot-shaped) shrine houses Lord Sarabeshwarar; conservation used drone/3D mapping, numbered granite resetting, and invasive-plant removal to restore two prakarams.

Researchers from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru, discovered two new rare solitary bee species in Siang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh: Elaphropoda triangulata (named for triangular abdominal markings) and Habropoda adi (honouring the Adi indigenous community). Both are presently known only from male specimens. Solitary bees are key pollinators, nesting alone and not living in colonies like honeybees.

CDSCO approved Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (semaglutide), a GLP-1 receptor agonist, for adults with noncirrhotic Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH) with moderate–advanced fibrosis (F2–F3), alongside low-calorie diet and exercise; it is a once-weekly subcutaneous injection. Approval is based on Part 1 of the international ESSENCE trial: 63% steatohepatitis resolution and 37% fibrosis reduction without worsening inflammation; benefits not solely from weight loss. India estimates suggest ~2/3 have fatty liver disease.

The Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh commissioned India’s first and deepest 1,000 m geothermal wells (2 wells) executed by ONGC at Puga Valley. These wells support the 1 MW Puga geothermal power project, India’s first demonstration-scale geothermal project. Geothermal energy is heat in Earth’s crust. India has 381 GSI-identified hot springs (35°C–89°C) and 10 geothermal provinces; governed by MNRE’s National Policy on Geothermal Energy 2025.

Madhya Pradesh’s near-complete Sleemanabad Tunnel is a key component of the Bargi Diversion Project and part of the 197 km Right Bank Main Canal; it is described as India’s longest underground water-conveyance tunnel, carrying Narmada waters from Bargi reservoir to the drought-prone Vindhya region and Son basin by gravity flow. Narmada (India’s 5th largest) rises at Amarkantak (Maikal Hills), flows west in a rift valley; basin spans MP, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh; bounded by Vindhyas, Maikala, Satpuras, Arabian Sea; tributaries: Tawa, Banjar, Dudhi, Hiran, Kolar.