Current Affairs

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed dedicated rare earth corridors in coastal Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to promote mining, processing, R&D and manufacturing from beach sand deposits (BSM; principal RE ore) with monazite (phosphate mineral with Uranium and Thorium) yielding neodymium/praseodymium. Plan supports 6,000 MTPA integrated REPM capacity via 5 competitively bid beneficiaries (up to 1,200 MTPA each), with Rs 6,450 crore sales-linked incentives over 5 years plus Rs 750 crore capital subsidy; builds on National Critical Minerals Mission and Magnet Manufacturing Scheme. REPMs aid EVs, renewables, electronics, aerospace, defence; India imported >53,000 MT magnets in FY ending March 2025; consumption may double by 2030.

Union Budget proposed Biopharma SHAKTI (Strategy for Healthcare Advancement through Knowledge, Technology and Innovation) with Rs 10,000 crore outlay for 5 years to make India a global biopharma hub by enabling domestic biologics and biosimilar production (living-organism-derived complex medicines for cancers, autoimmune and genetic disorders). Support: 3 new NIPERs, upgrade 7 institutes, 1,000+ accredited clinical-trial sites, and strengthened CDSCO via scientific review cadre. NCDs cause 63% deaths; FY25 pharma turnover Rs 4.72 lakh crore, exports CAGR 7% (FY15–FY25); medical devices exported to 187 countries (MRI/CT, stents, ventilators).

The 16th Finance Commission, constituted in 2023 under Chair Dr Arvind Panagariya (former NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman), is a constitutional body under Article 280, appointed by the President every 5 years (chairman + 4 members). Under Article 281, its report and Action Taken Memorandum are laid before Parliament. For 2026-27 to 2030-31: states’ vertical devolution stays 41%; divisible pool excludes collection cost, cesses and surcharges; horizontal sharing changes include GDP contribution, benefiting southern states; states’ fiscal deficit cap 3% of GSDP, excluding SASCI loans.

Prime Minister visited Dera Sachkhand Ballan during Guru Ravidass’s 649th birth anniversary, sought blessings of Sant Niranjan Dass and congratulated him on Padma Shri. Niranjan Dass, Gaddi Nashin of the Ravidassia institution in Jalandhar, Punjab, was born 6 January 1942 at Ramdass Pur; joined Swami Sarwan Dass at 8 and assumed gaddi on 25 July 1994. In 2010, he declared the Ravidassia religion and introduced Amritbani Satguru Ravidass Maharaj Ji; he survived a Vienna attack in which Sant Ramanand Ji died, and oversaw a model school and charitable eye hospital.

In Russia–Ukraine peace negotiations, control over the remaining Ukrainian-held areas of Donetsk is a key unresolved issue. Donetsk lies in eastern Ukraine and is one of the two core regions of Donbas, alongside Luhansk. It borders the Sea of Azov to the south and Russia to the east. Sea of Azov links to the Black Sea via the Kerch Strait. Resources include coal, shale gas (Yuzivska gas field) and salt reserves.

Saudi Arabia’s Al-Jawf region reported snowfall in its interior deserts for the first time. Al-Jawf is one of the country’s 13 administrative regions, located in northern Saudi Arabia at the northern edge of the Al-Nafūd desert. Historically, it lay on an ancient trade and pilgrimage route linking the Arabian Peninsula with the Levant and Egypt. Dawmat al-Jandal Lake, Saudi Arabia’s largest, lies north of the region.

Doctors have demonstrated a treatment breakthrough for Celphos (aluminium phosphide) poisoning using intravenous lipid emulsion therapy. Celphos is aluminium phosphide, used as a grain fumigant. On ingestion, it releases deadly phosphine gas. Fumigants are highly toxic volatile compounds applied in gaseous form to kill pests (insects, nematodes, rodents) in enclosed spaces, soil or stored products. The poisoning remains a major public-health challenge, especially in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

India and the UAE co-chaired the 2nd India–Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi on January 31, 2026, after a 10-year gap. It is a high-level dialogue mechanism with the League of Arab States for political dialogue, strategic coordination and multi-sector cooperation. Participants included Arab League Foreign Ministers and its Secretary General; ministers from Somalia, Palestine, Comoros and Sudan attended. The first meeting was in Bahrain (2016), identifying economy, energy, education, media and culture; current agenda covers trade, investment, supply chains, oil-gas-renewables-green hydrogen, people-to-people ties and countering misinformation.

India and the World Bank signed a New Country Partnership Framework (NCPF) for 2026–2031 with a provision of $8–10 billion. It prioritises private sector-led job creation via skill development, easing SME constraints, and expanding opportunities for youth and women. Four outcomes: rural prosperity/resilience (diversifying incomes beyond agriculture), urban transformation (urban population projected to double to 800 million by 2050), investing in people (health, education, skills), and energy/infrastructure/climate resilience (renewables, e-mobility, green hydrogen).

A recent study indicates that even subtle solar Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) can trigger intense geomagnetic storms, showing smaller CMEs may cause major disturbances in Earth’s magnetosphere. A CME is a large expulsion of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s corona. CMEs travel at high speeds, often linked to solar flares and active sunspot regions, and can disrupt satellites, power grids, navigation systems and radio communications.

A court directed pan-India implementation of the Union’s “Menstrual Hygiene (MH) Policy for School-going Girls” for adolescent girls in Classes 6–12. It linked menstrual health to Articles 21 (life), 14 (equality), and 21A and the RTE Act (education), emphasising dignity. Schools must ensure sensitisation of male staff/students, gender-segregated toilets, free napkins (vending machines), and MHM corners; related support includes Swachh Bharat guidelines, Janaushadhi “Suvidha” at Rs. 1/pad, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, and Samagra Shiksha vending/incinerators.

Central Electricity Authority (CEA) report highlights Hydro Pumped-Storage Projects (PSPs) for India’s clean energy transition, grid stability and long-duration energy storage. PSPs are hydroelectric storage systems using two reservoirs at different elevations: surplus renewable power pumps water upward; during peak demand, water is released through turbines, acting like a large-scale battery. India has ~7 GW installed capacity and ~267 GW potential (58 GW on-stream, 209 GW off-stream); types include open-loop and closed-loop.

Union Budget 2026–27, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, sets growth/spending, tax and non-tax revenues, and borrowing to bridge the fiscal deficit (income–expenditure gap). Budget changes are constrained by continuity in salaries, pensions, subsidies and tax rates; exports face US-tariff stress. First Advance Estimates peg nominal GDP growth at 8% (10.1% assumed last year). Tax buoyancy assumed 1.1 but near 0.6; collections lag targets. “Minimum Government” measures since 2019 include corporate tax cuts, higher public capex, PLI, income-tax exemptions and GST cuts, yet private corporate investment remains below 2019; foreign investors reduced exposure, pressuring the rupee.

Exercise Agni Pariksha, a first-of-its-kind joint training initiative, was conducted by the Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police in Arunachal Pradesh to enhance inter-force combat synergy and operational integration. It involved Spear Corps spearhead gunners, an artillery regiment, infantry battalions and ITBP personnel. Collaborative firepower training was validated through live artillery firing, familiarising non-artillery personnel with artillery procedures, coordination and firing missions via supervised drills.

Elena Rybakina won the Australian Open 2026 women’s singles title at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, defeating World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in a three-set match. Rybakina recovered from 0-3 down in the third set. It was her first Australian Open title and second Grand Slam after Wimbledon 2022; Sabalenka suffered a second consecutive Australian Open final loss.

The World Nuclear Association’s World Nuclear Outlook Report projects global nuclear power capacity at 1,446 gigawatt electric (GWe) by 2050, exceeding the 1,200 GWe target under the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy launched at COP28 (Dubai, 2023). It estimates China, France, India, Russia and the United States could contribute 980 GWe, urging integration into long-term decarbonisation and energy-security planning and electricity-market reforms.

Coking coal has been added to Part D of the First Schedule of the MMDR Act, 1957 (Critical and Strategic Minerals), citing mineral security and steel needs; ~95% of steel-sector demand is import-dependent. It enables faster approvals and accelerated exploration/mining of deep-seated deposits. Reserves are ~37.37 billion tonnes, mainly in Jharkhand, and in Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh. MMDR also provides DMF, NMET; 2023 amendments enable Central auctioning and exploration licences.

The European Union added Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to its terrorist list following Iran’s deadly crackdown on protesters. The IRGC is Iran’s most powerful armed force, established soon after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to defend the Islamic system. It has land, air and sea capabilities, oversees strategic weapons, controls the Basij Resistance Force, operates independently of the regular military, and reports directly to Iran’s Supreme Leader.

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) produced a detailed dark matter map by analysing gravitational effects on ordinary matter, as dark matter is invisible. Dark matter neither emits, absorbs nor reflects light and barely interacts with normal matter. Universe composition: visible matter 5%, dark matter 27%, dark energy 68%. JWST (launched 2021) orbits the Sun at L2 and studies cosmic history from first luminous objects to galaxy and planetary evolution.

During the three-day Acro Festival & SIV Championship Tehri 2026 in Uttarakhand, SDRF rescued two paraglider pilots who fell into Tehri Lake (Tehri Dam reservoir). The artificial reservoir near Tehri Garhwal town formed by diverting Bhagirathi (a Ganga source stream); elevation 1,700 m, depth ~262 m, length 42 km. Tehri Dam: 260 m earth-rockfill multipurpose dam (completed 2006), 1,000 MW + 1,000 MW pumped storage, managed by THDC India (NTPC subsidiary).

Bengaluru-based Alpha Design Technologies Ltd upgraded the Indian Air Force’s Pechora SAM, supporting indigenous modernisation of ageing hardware. Officially S-125 Neva/Pechora, it is a Soviet-origin medium-range, radar-guided system (launcher plus fire-control unit) typically using V-600 missiles and 4R90 Yatagan radar (five parabolic antennas). It intercepts low/medium-altitude targets, including drones/cruise missiles, under jamming; detects up to 100 km; fires 30–35.4 km; engages 20 m–20–25 km; ~92% kill probability; two targets up to 900 m/s.

Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary, Nuapada district, Odisha, recently declared ‘Maoist-free’, is reported by forest officials as emerging as a promising leopard habitat, with an estimated population of over 70. Declared a sanctuary in 1983, it adjoins Chhattisgarh’s Sitanadi and Udanti sanctuaries. It features a plateau, canyons and 11 waterfalls; forms the Jonk (Mahanadi tributary) catchment, with a dam for irrigation. Vegetation is dry deciduous tropical forest; flora includes Bija, Teak, Sisoo, Asan, Dharua, Mahul, Char, Sandalwood, Sidha. Fauna includes Barasingha, tiger, leopard, hyena, deer, gaur, sambar, sloth bear and hill myna.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare notified 2026 amendments to the New Drugs and Clinical Trials (NDCT) Rules, 2019 to simplify regulation, reduce approval timelines and promote ease of doing business while ensuring public health and safety. Implemented via CDSCO using NSWS and SUGAM Portal modules, non-commercial manufacture shifts from licences to online prior intimation; high-risk drugs still need test licences. Timelines reduce by 90+ days; test-licence processing halves to 45 days; low-risk BA/BE studies get waiver with online intimation.

MoEFCC notified Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026 (effective 1 April 2026), amending SWM Rules, 2016 under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, to strengthen sustainable management, Polluter Pays, circular economy and EPR. Mandatory source segregation: wet (compost/bio-methanate), dry (MRF), sanitary (separate), special-care (authorised). Bulk generators (≥100 kg/day, 40,000 L/day, or 20,000 sq m) must manage waste/on-site wet processing or obtain EBWGR certificate; user fees allowed. Buffer zones mandatory for facilities >5 t/day; CPCB to guide; portal to monitor. RDF use to raise fuel substitution 5% to 15% in six years; landfilling limited to inert/non-recoverable; tourist fees and local wet-waste processing in hotels; implementation committees set up.

A new plant species, Hoya nagaensis, has been recorded from Nagaland and reported in the international journal Kew Bulletin. It belongs to the milkweed group (genus Hoya, waxflowers) with milky sap, typically climbing/hanging vines. Found in high-altitude temperate, community-protected forests at a single location, it is provisionally IUCN Critically Endangered due to shifting cultivation and forest disturbance, showing affinity with H. thomsonii and H. coronaria.