Current affairs — 14 June 2026

Prelims pointers

• Centurion battle tanks served in the Indian Army from induction in 1953 until their phase-out in the 1980s.
• India acquired Centurion tanks from the United Kingdom to modernise its Armoured Corps.
• Centurions earned the nickname ‘Patton Killer’ during the 1965 Battle of Asal Uttar against Pakistan’s M47 and M48 Patton tanks.
• In the 1971 Battle of Basantar, Centurions from The Poona Horse regiment played a pivotal role.
• The tanks were upgraded with 105 mm L7 rifled guns and later replaced by indigenous Vijayanta and Soviet-built T-72 ‘Ajeya’ tanks.

Prelims pointers

• Drone surveys have covered over 400 km of the Ganga, Yamuna, Gomti, Varuna and Pandu rivers in Uttar Pradesh.
• The initiative will feed a live GIS-based Drain Dashboard with 2D and 3D visualisation capabilities for basin-level pollution monitoring.
• The article says LiDAR-based scientific data is being coupled with visual data generated through drone surveys.
• Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi and Kanpur are among the major cities where river-condition surveys were conducted.
• District Ganga Committees are expected to support field-level validation for targeted interventions and drain-based pollution management.

Prelims pointers

• The greater hog badger’s scientific name is Arctonyx collaris, and it is locally called ‘mati gahori’ in Assamese.
• Kaziranga’s first scientific assessment estimated at least 55 greater hog badgers across approximately 1,100 sq. km of the park landscape.
• The study used camera-trap images available from past tiger estimation data to assess density and habitat occupancy.
• The greater hog badger is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and is globally Vulnerable.
• Three extant hog badger species are mentioned: greater hog badger, northern hog badger and Sumatran hog badger; the first two occur in India.

Prelims pointers

• The Zojila Tunnel is 13.14 km long and is designed to bypass the 30-km Zojila Pass in the Drass sector.
• The tunnel will connect Baltal in Kashmir’s Ganderbal district with Minamarg in Ladakh’s Drass on National Highway-1.
• Construction work was carried out between altitudes of about 2,900 metres on the Kashmir side and 3,310 metres on the Ladakh side.
• The article states that the project cost is ₹6,800 crore and that workers recorded 10 million safe working hours.
• The tunnel witnessed a construction breakthrough on June 9, 2026, and is expected to be operational by 2028.

Prelims pointers

• The Supreme Court fixed ₹30,000 per month as a minimum benchmark for homemakers’ unpaid domestic labour in motor accident death compensation.
• The new compensation head is called ‘loss of domestic care’ and is distinct from proven income where a homemaker also works outside the home.
• The ₹30,000 monthly figure must be enhanced by 10% on a cumulative basis every three years, according to the Court’s direction.
• The case began after Reshma’s death in a November 2001 road accident; MACT awarded ₹2.42 lakh in December 2003 and the High Court later raised it to ₹8.43 lakh.
• The Supreme Court directed that motor accident compensation appeals should not remain pending in High Courts for more than four years.

Prelims pointers

• Protoreaster nodosus has cone-shaped structures at each arm tip that transmit 70% of incident light like optic fibres.
• The sea-star array captures light from a 120-degree field of view and brightens it eightfold inside the arm.
• Scientists led by Omar Yaghi designed HBC-LA12, a nanographene molecule with 12 prism-arranged connection points.
• Linking HBC-LA12 with other molecules produced two new 3D structures, one with a surface area of 5,000 sq. m per gram.
• JUNO's first results used 59 days of late-2025 data to study how reactor neutrinos change flavour as they travel.

Prelims pointers

• The study used machine learning and data from more than 16,000 soil cores.
• Topsoils worldwide were estimated to contain about 110 quadrillion km of fungal hyphae.
• Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks were estimated to weigh around 300 million tonnes of carbon.
• AM fungi form symbiotic relationships with about 70% of plant species by trading nutrients for carbon.
• Grassland ecosystems, including India’s Banni grasslands, house 40% of the world’s AM fungal networks.

Prelims pointers

• Tamil Nadu's Heat Action Plan 2026 includes local heat vulnerability mapping, early warning systems and targeted interventions for vulnerable communities.
• Vellore recorded the season's hottest temperature of 42.5 degrees Celsius on May 22, according to RMC observations cited in the article.
• Meteorologists said humidity can make 37 degrees Celsius more stressful to the human body than 40 degrees Celsius in dry conditions.
• A Chennai study of 50 households found indoor temperatures frequently exceeded 32 degrees Celsius between October 2025 and April 2026.
• Tamil Nadu notified heatwaves as a State-specific disaster in 2024, enabling use of State Disaster Response funds for preparedness and relief.

Prelims pointers

• British forces intercepted the sanctioned oil tanker SMYRTOS, described by the Defence Ministry as part of Russia's shadow fleet.
• The six-hour operation was supported by aircraft including Chinook helicopters and naval vessels including HMS Sutherland.
• Royal Marine Commandos and National Crime Agency officers boarded the vessel in what the statement called the first U.K.-led operation of its kind.
• The U.K. has sanctioned hundreds of vessels suspected of helping Russia bypass Western embargoes since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
• The article says London suspects such ships of damaging undersea cables in the Baltic Sea on several occasions.

Prelims pointers

• The 7.8-magnitude earthquake in southern Mindanao killed at least 61 people and left at least 40 people missing.
• Authorities said the quake raised the seabed by as much as two metres, or 6.6 feet, in affected coastal areas.
• Local residents reported coastal uplift two days after the quake, with shorelines extending by as much as 200 metres in places.
• The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology linked the uplift to shifting of the Cotabato Trench.
• Environment officials found exposed coral reefs and seagrass beds, with resident organisms such as reef fishes, eels, clams and shells dying.

Prelims pointers

• The study analysed 322 community-managed tropical forests in 15 countries using data from 1993 to 2017.
• The data came from the International Forestry Resources and Institutions network.
• Forests with more poor households and higher dependence on fuelwood were found to have less diverse tree species.
• Forests where communities had access to alternative livelihoods, such as farming, had more diverse trees.
• The article states that around 275 million people depend on India's human-dominated forests to varying degrees.

Prelims pointers

• The Padma is the name of the Ganga in Bangladesh, according to the article.
• Bangladesh’s approved Padma barrage is planned as a 2.1-km-long structure.
• The barrage is intended to store 2,900 million cubic metres of water.
• The project is expected to serve 6.5 crore people across southwestern and northern Bangladesh.
• The Padma barrage will lie about 180 km downstream of the Farakka barrage in West Bengal.

Prelims pointers

• A senior Iranian official said the draft memorandum covered Tehran's nuclear work, Strait of Hormuz reopening and U.S. oil-sanctions waivers.
• The draft says Iran would immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all commercial vessels.
• The U.S. would lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports, beginning immediately after signing and completing it within 30 days.
• The draft includes a U.S. waiver of oil sanctions for a specified period so Iran can sell oil and receive revenue.
• Iran would maintain its current nuclear programme status pending a final agreement and refrain from further enrichment and facility expansion.

Prelims pointers

• Gaza's Health Ministry said the total number of deaths since the start of the war had reached 73,001.
• The Ministry said five deaths were reported on June 14: two in Khan Younis, one in central Gaza and two from earlier wounds.
• The article states that more than 1,73,200 people have been wounded since the start of the war.
• The war was ignited by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack into Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
• The U.S.-brokered ceasefire reached in October ended full-scale military operations and led to the return of all remaining hostages.

Prelims pointers

• Sitharaman said rupee-dollar movements are shaped by global and domestic factors rather than a single cause.
• She listed geopolitical uncertainties, foreign capital movements and import dependence on crude oil, fertilizer and gold.
• U.S. Federal Reserve policy decisions and movements in major global currencies were cited as international factors.
• She said RBI intervenes in the foreign exchange market to curb excessive volatility, not to maintain a fixed rate.
• The remarks were made at Devanahalli near Bengaluru during a programme marking 12 years of the NDA government.

Prelims pointers

• Nirmala Sitharaman said rupee-dollar fluctuations are influenced by a range of global and domestic factors.
• She cited geopolitical uncertainties, foreign capital movements and India's import dependence on crude oil, fertilizer and gold.
• She said U.S. Federal Reserve policy decisions and movements in major global currencies also affect the rupee.
• The Finance Minister stated that RBI intervenes only to curb excessive volatility, not to maintain a fixed exchange rate.
• She explained that the central bank acts sparingly when there are sharp fluctuations in the currency market.

Prelims pointers

• The CIC directed CBSE to provide point-wise categorical information permissible under the RTI Act on answer-book procurement and exam expenditure.
• The RTI application covered Class 10 and 12 board examinations during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 sessions.
• CBSE disclosed that answer-book paper ranged from 60 GSM to 120 GSM and that answer books had 8, 20, 32, 40 or 48 pages.
• CBSE denied purchase cost, quantity purchased and total procurement expenditure by invoking Section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act.
• The CIC said exempt information could be redacted under Section 10, but any Section 8(1)(d) denial required proper justification.

Prelims pointers

• INS Sharda departed Colombo on June 13 after completing a port call focused on India-Sri Lanka maritime cooperation.
• Sri Lankan Navy personnel were trained aboard the ship in small arms handling, basic firefighting, first aid and rescue procedures.
• The engagements were described as efforts to enhance operational preparedness and interoperability between the two maritime forces.
• Rear Admiral Jagath Kumara, Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy's Western Naval Area, visited INS Sharda and interacted with the crew.
• The visit was linked to MAHASAGAR, expanded in the article as Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions.

Prelims pointers

• The report says nearly two lakh trees may be felled if nine Bidadi villages are acquired for the AI township project.
• The RTI-based data listed 83,536 arecanut trees and 87,903 coconut trees in the affected area.
• The data also listed 12,550 mango trees, 2,344 chikoo trees and about 2,500 rose plants.
• Ragi cultivation is described as facing the biggest impact, spread across 231 acres.
• GBDA documents fix compensation for coconut trees at ₹25,000 to ₹40,000 and mango trees at ₹45,000 to ₹65,000 per tree.

Prelims pointers

• Four Malappuram residents were identified on the contact list of a Kozhikode man who tested positive for Nipah virus.
• Officials said all four Nipah contacts in Malappuram were in the low-risk category.
• Fourteen teams conducted a fever survey in two wards of Vazhayur panchayat on June 13, 2026.
• Health workers said no Nipah-related symptoms were detected during the fever survey.
• Shigella bacteria were detected in drinking water at a tender coconut parlour in Tirurangadi.

Prelims pointers

• Early federal results showed nearly 53% of Swiss voters rejecting the population-cap proposal, with turnout exceeding 57%.
• The Swiss People's Party championed an initiative to cap Switzerland's population at 10 million.
• Opponents included the federal government, Parliament and EconomieSuisse, a major business association.
• A yes vote would have required government action to cap the population by 2050.
• Government data cited in the article said Switzerland's population grew by 23% since 2002 to 9.1 million.

Prelims pointers

• Prime Minister Modi and President Emmanuel Macron jointly inaugurated Bharat Innovates 2026 in Nice.
• The event was held at the Palais des Expositions and was described as a three-day event.
• Bharat Innovates showcased 120 pathbreaking startups and over 20 Institutes of Excellence.
• The exhibition covered 13 critical technology pillars of global importance.
• More than 350 top investors and venture capitalists from across the world were participating.

Prelims pointers

• The Integrated Aqua Park at Bhojpur has been approved at a total cost of ₹31.21 crore under PMMSY.
• Bihar has 1.22 lakh hectares of tanks and ponds and 0.64 lakh hectares of reservoirs.
• The State also has 9.5 lakh hectares of floodplain lakes and derelict waters and over 21,354 km of rivers and canals.
• Projects worth ₹902.84 crore have been approved for Bihar over 11 years, including ₹579.72 crore under PMMSY.
• Bihar now supplies around 89,600 metric tonnes of fish annually to neighbouring States.

Prelims pointers

• Bharatmala Pariyojana was approved in October 2017 for 34,800 km of National Highway corridors.
• The estimated outlay of Bharatmala Pariyojana is ₹5.35 lakh crore.
• As of March 2026, Bharatmala projects covering 26,425 km had been awarded and 22,590 km constructed.
• India's National Highway network grew from about 91,287 km in 2014 to over 1,46,572 km in FY 2025-26.
• The National Highway construction pace increased from about 11.6 km per day in 2013-14 to nearly 34 km per day in 2025.

Prelims pointers

• The Prime Minister said India worked over 12 years to make quality healthcare more affordable and accessible.
• The source describes Ayushman Bharat as the world's largest healthcare programme.
• Ayushman Bharat is described in the source as providing top-quality healthcare to the most vulnerable.
• PM Bharatiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana is cited as an effort that made medicines affordable.
• The source says more institutions and seats have made medical education more accessible.

Prelims pointers

• India and France adopted an Innovation Roadmap 2030 in the area of technology, innovation, research and education.
• A Joint India-France AI Working Group was announced with a focus on artificial intelligence governance.
• The outcomes included a National Centre of Excellence for Skilling in Aeronautics and Allied Sectors at NSTI, Kanpur.
• The list referred to expanded possibilities for using India's Unified Payments Interface in France.
• ISRO and CNES issued a letter of intent concerning microgravity research and human space exploration cooperation.

Prelims pointers

• The Department of Rural Development strategy aims to facilitate creation of six crore Lakhpati Didis.
• The department proposed establishing 700 SHE-MARTs for market access to SHG products.
• The department also proposed 1,000 District Fulfilment Centres and Centres of Excellence.
• The redesigned e-Saras portal is being transformed into a multi-vendor, omni-channel marketplace.
• The review called for revised SARAS Mela Guidelines and more SARAS Melas at national and State levels.

Prelims pointers

• Six new mega urea plants have been established since 2014, adding 76.2 LMT of annual capacity.
• India's domestic urea production rose from 225 LMT in 2014-15 to 314.07 LMT in 2023-24.
• P&K fertilizer manufacturing reached 211.22 LMT in 2024-25, up from 159.54 LMT in 2014-15.
• For Kharif 2026, stock was cited at about 195.79 LMT against a projected requirement of 383.9 LMT.
• Green manuring was introduced across 1.84 lakh hectares under technical guidance of Krishi Vigyan Kendras.

Prelims pointers

• Global Wind Day is celebrated annually on June 15 to promote wind energy and its climate role.
• India's estimated gross wind power potential is 695.5 GW at 120 metres and 1,163.9 GW at 150 metres.
• India ranks fourth globally in installed wind power capacity according to the backgrounder.
• Installed wind capacity increased from 21.04 GW in March 2014 to 56.09 GW in March 2026.
• Viability Gap Funding of ₹6,853 crore has been approved for 1,000 MW of offshore wind projects.

Prelims pointers

• India's space economy is described as currently worth USD 8-9 billion.
• The Minister said the space economy is poised to reach nearly USD 40-45 billion over the next decade.
• India now has more than 400 space startups contributing to the space ecosystem.
• The article cites Chandrayaan-3 and the upcoming Gaganyaan programme as examples of India's space capabilities.
• More than 125 startups and technology innovators participated in the RISE Conclave 2026.

Prelims pointers

• Bharat Innovates 2026 was inaugurated at the Palais des Expositions de Nice in France.
• The event was organized by the Government of India as an initiative of the Union Ministry of Education.
• The Innovation Pavilion showcased 120 cutting-edge technologies and breakthrough innovations.
• The programme was scheduled over three days from 14 to 16 June 2026.
• The event includes 11 high-level panel discussions and investor pitch sessions involving over 50 startups.

Prelims pointers

• The talks were held at Villa Kerylos in Nice on 14 June 2026 between Prime Minister Modi and President Macron.
• The leaders agreed to intensify defence collaboration with focus on co-design, co-development and co-production.
• They discussed space cooperation in human spaceflight, space situational awareness and private-sector collaboration.
• A high-level mechanism was agreed to double India-France bilateral trade within five years.
• The leaders welcomed a Centre of Excellence for Skilling in Aeronautics in Kanpur.

Prelims pointers

• Project Great Indian Bustard added three chicks to its conservation breeding programme in the reported update.
• The three new chicks came from one wild-collected egg and two captive-laid eggs.
• The captive stock under Project GIB has grown to 94 birds, with more chicks expected during the season.
• In the fourth year of captive breeding, 26 chicks had hatched so far under Project GIB.
• Of the 26 fourth-year hatchings, 18 were through artificial insemination, four through natural breeding and four from wild-collected eggs.

Prelims pointers

• The India-France ATL Bridge was established by Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, and La Fondation Dassault Systèmes.
• The initiative establishes the first School Innovation Lab in France inspired by India's Atal Tinkering Lab framework.
• The Letter of Intent was exchanged in France on the sidelines of Bharat Innovates 2026.
• The initiative is being undertaken during the India-France Year of Innovation 2026.
• Since 2016, more than 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs have enabled over 11 million students to engage with emerging technologies.

Prelims pointers

• The Lowy Institute report assessed China's capability to strike Australia, not Beijing's intentions.
• The DF-27 intermediate-range ballistic missile is cited as having a range of 5,000 to 8,000 km.
• The report says Dong Feng-26 missiles could reach northern Australia if deployed from South China Sea artificial islands.
• Primary risks for Australia also include undersea cable disruption, cyberattacks and maritime trade interdiction.
• Australia reshaped its military strategy three years ago in response to China's naval build-up and Beijing-Washington friction.

Prelims pointers

• Trump urged no further attacks after Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut threatened U.S.-Iran negotiations.
• Qatari mediators travelled to Tehran on June 14, 2026, to finalise the agreement, according to the report.
• The proposed deal offered a 60-day framework for technical discussions on Iran's nuclear programme and frozen funds.
• The article cites an IAEA figure of 440.9 kg of uranium enriched up to 60% purity in Iran.
• The deal did not settle the thorniest issues, including Iran's nuclear programme, missile programme and support for armed proxies.

Prelims pointers

• Some outlets imposed a diesel cap of 195 litres for owners who were not regular customers.
• Dealers said a written Central government order and warnings from oil marketing companies prompted stricter limits.
• The report mentions educational institutions, apartment complexes and hospitals as buyers dependent on diesel for generators.
• Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization licences are mentioned in relation to large fuel storage arrangements.
• Dealers linked the restrictions to government and OMC efforts to prevent diversion of fuel.