Current affairs — 11 August 2026

Prelims pointers

• As of 15 July 2026, Odisha had 8,667 cooperative societies, of which 8,063 were functional.
• NCDC is a statutory corporation under the Ministry of Cooperation and finances cooperatives, including women and tribal cooperatives.
• The PACS computerisation project launched in 2022 to bring functional PACS onto common ERP-based national software.
• The project expanded from 63,000 PACS and ₹2,516 crore to 79,630 PACS and a revised outlay of ₹2,925.39 crore.
• The individual housing-loan limit for Rural Cooperative Banks was enhanced to ₹75 lakh, and AePS was promoted for doorstep banking.

Prelims pointers

• Agriculture is a State subject, while the Union government supplements State and Union Territory efforts through schemes and programmes.
• Per Drop More Crop has brought 114.60 lakh hectares under micro-irrigation and benefited about 100 lakh farmers.
• PKVY and MOVCDNER provide farmers ₹15,000 per hectare through Direct Benefit Transfer for organic farming.
• The Union Cabinet approved the National Mission on Natural Farming on 25 November 2024; it covers 11.81 lakh hectares in 24,031 clusters.
• NITI Aayog’s evaluation reported that 90.1% of farmers under the natural-farming mission had lower input costs than with chemical fertilizers.

Prelims pointers

• SMAM is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under RKVY, implemented through state governments by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• SMAM provides farmers assistance equal to 40–50% of the cost of agricultural machinery and equipment.
• Custom Hiring Centre projects up to ₹250 lakh receive 40% support; Farm Machinery Bank projects up to ₹30 lakh receive 80%.
• Farm Machinery Banks in North-Eastern states can receive assistance equal to 95% of project cost.
• Since 2023–24, the Crop Residue Management Scheme has been integrated with SMAM under RKVY on a 60:40 Centre-State pattern.

Prelims pointers

• FASAL uses multispectral and Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite data for pre-harvest forecasts covering 11 major crops across 20 states.
• Under PMFBY, YES-TECH uses satellite yield models for Gram Panchayat-level estimates and claims for paddy, wheat and soybean across 12 states.
• WINDS proposes Automatic Weather Stations at block, tehsil or taluk level and Automatic Rain Gauges at Gram Panchayat level.
• The National Pest Surveillance System uses AI and machine learning and currently covers 73 crops and 436 pests.
• More than 2.97 crore farmers are registered on Kisan Sarthi, an ICAR-developed ICT platform used by Krishi Vigyan Kendras.

Prelims pointers

• The fourth India-Namibia Joint Trade Committee session was held in New Delhi on 10 and 11 August 2026.
• Bilateral merchandise trade rose to USD 592.94 million in 2025–26 from USD 568.40 million in 2024–25.
• Invest India and the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board were designated as JTC investment focal points.
• WayaMe, Namibia’s instant payment system built on India’s Unified Payments Interface, was unveiled on 15 June 2026.
• The India-SACU PTA terms of reference were scheduled for signature on 12 August 2026, with negotiations to begin within one month.

Prelims pointers

• As of 30 July 2026, GeM had 11,75,001 registered MSMEs and 2,17,155 registered women entrepreneurs across India.
• GeM recorded ₹5,02,776 crore in total order value and ₹2,37,235 crore in MSME order value in FY 2025–26.
• GeM uses AI/ML analytics to flag order splitting, potential buyer-seller collusion, abnormal prices and repeated participation patterns.
• GeM tries to leverage the Competition Commission of India toolkit to identify suspected cartels from indicators such as IP addresses, bid prices and submission timings.
• Proven anti-competitive behaviour or cartel formation is a Severe/Grave deviation and can attract suspension of up to 365 days.

Prelims pointers

• The four monitoring levels are the IMC, NLCC, SCDC and DCDC, chaired respectively by the Union Minister, Cooperation Secretary, Chief Secretary and District Collector.
• The Cooperative Ranking Framework uses audit compliance, financial performance and operational activities as standard assessment parameters.
• Tamil Nadu had 4,561 PACS sanctioned for computerisation, with ₹55.73 crore disbursed and 4,481 PACS onboarded to common ERP software.
• Model bye-laws adopted by Tamil Nadu enable PACS to undertake more than 25 diversified business activities.
• Vellore district had 345 cooperative societies, of which 314 were functional, according to the NCD portal on 15 July 2026.

Prelims pointers

• The Decentralized Grain Storage Plan is demand-driven, phased and based on proposals from States and Union Territories, with no state-wise targets.
• AMI guidelines provide 18 months to complete godowns, with a justified extension of up to six additional months.
• Under AIF, the loan repayment period for the plan was enhanced from 2+5 years to 2+8 years.
• AMI capital subsidy was raised from 25 per cent to 33.33 per cent, while the margin-money requirement fell from 20 per cent to 10 per cent.
• Combined with 3 per cent AIF interest subvention, the effective loan interest rate for PACS is stated as 1 per cent.

Prelims pointers

• The National Cooperative Database reports 8.53 lakh societies: 6.63 lakh functional, 1.41 lakh non-functional and 49,177 under liquidation.
• Of 6.63 lakh functional cooperative societies, 5.95 lakh are audited and 0.68 lakh are not audited.
• Under the MSCS Act, winding up is initiated under Section 86, a liquidator is appointed under Section 89, and payments are addressed under Section 90.
• The Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 was amended in 2023 to strengthen governance, transparency, accountability and electoral processes.
• The Cooperative Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Development Fund was established under Section 63A to assist sick multi-state societies.

Prelims pointers

• PM GatiShakti National Master Plan was launched in October 2021 as a whole-of-government infrastructure-planning approach.
• The platform uses geospatial data, satellite imagery and API integration for data-driven infrastructure planning and monitoring.
• The Network Planning Group has evaluated 396 projects estimated at about ₹18.66 lakh crore; 256 were sanctioned and 198 under implementation.
• Fifty-eight central ministries or departments and all 36 States and Union Territories have been onboarded on the plan.
• The PM GatiShakti public platform launched in September 2025 provides query-based data-analytics access to private entities and the public.

Prelims pointers

• The 392nd Report was adopted on 6 August 2026 and presented on 11 August 2026 under Sanjay Kumar Jha’s chairmanship.
• It recommends replacing the All India Tourist Permit within one year with an All India Passenger Permit issued by the State of first registration.
• The proposed National Bus Terminals Authority would follow the Airports Authority model, alongside a National Code framed within one year.
• The National Bus Digital Grid proposal includes live tracking, unified booking, permit-linked ratings, geo-tagged reporting and a GIS network atlas.
• The Fleet Transition Compact calls for operator-level electric-bus targets and an end-of-life framework for electric buses and batteries.

Prelims pointers

• Ayush Grid is the Ministry’s IT backbone spanning healthcare, research, education, drug administration, capacity building and medicinal plants.
• Twenty-four e-governance platforms have been developed under Ayush Grid and made accessible across the country.
• The Ayush Hospital Management Information System is compliant with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
• The My Ayush Integrated Services Portal is the Ministry’s master portal and includes a beta AI-enabled chatbot.
• The AI-enabled Ayush Research Portal contains over 43,000 curated Ayush research publications.

Prelims pointers

• The Ministry implements the Information, Education and Communication scheme for awareness and outreach on Ayush systems.
• International Day of Yoga is celebrated annually on 21 June, while Naturopathy Day is celebrated on 18 November.
• The scheme supports national- and State-level Arogya Fairs, Yoga Fests or Utsavs and Ayush observances.
• International Day of Yoga expenditure rose from Rs 16.45 crore in 2024-25 to Rs 57.38 crore in 2025-26.
• Beneficiary outreach includes physical participation and digital engagement through social-media platforms.

Prelims pointers

• Public health is identified as a State subject, making States and Union Territories primarily responsible for establishing Ayush educational institutions.
• National Ayush Mission is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme that can finance colleges where government-sector Ayush teaching institutions are inadequate.
• States and Union Territories may seek NAM assistance through State Annual Action Plans within mission guidelines.
• Government Ayurvedic Medical College, Mayurbhanj, was approved under NAM during 2025-26 on Odisha’s proposal.
• The annexure lists supported institutions across 17 States and Union Territories from 2014-15 to 2026-27.

Prelims pointers

• Budget 2026-27 identified three new All India Institutes of Ayurveda as an Ayush-sector focus area.
• The Budget focus includes upgrading the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre at Jamnagar for evidence-based research, training and awareness.
• The Ministry’s 2026-27 allocation totals Rs 4,408.93 crore, including Rs 2,588.47 crore for statutory and autonomous bodies.
• National Ayush Mission is the Ministry’s Centrally Sponsored Scheme and was allocated Rs 1,300 crore for 2026-27.
• DPIIT is nodal for regional medical hubs; no formal implementation-framework proposals had been received.

Prelims pointers

• Ayurgyan is a Central Sector Scheme implemented by the Ministry of Ayush from 2021-22.
• ABIHR was added in 2023-24 to integrate basic sciences with conventional medicine in high-end Ayurveda research.
• From 2023-24 to 2025-26, ABIHR supported 11 projects with Rs 58.28 crore, while another component supported 73 projects worth Rs 11.82 crore.
• WHO launched ICD-11 Traditional Medicine Module-2 in New Delhi on 10 January 2024 for coding Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani morbidity.
• The WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre at Jamnagar is described as a knowledge hub for evidence, research, innovation and integration.

Prelims pointers

• PRAYATNA is a CCRAS flagship initiative for strengthening scientific-writing skills among Ayurveda postgraduate and Ph.D. scholars.
• Its sequence includes an Expression of Interest, two online orientations, individual manuscript support and a three-day physical workshop.
• The CCRAS Digital Initiatives Dashboard is available at dashboard.ccras.org.in and consolidates the Council’s digital resources.
• The release provides accreditation details under NABH and NABL for CCRAS institutes and laboratories.
• CCRAS’s research-methodology textbook has 21 chapters across six modules and is aligned with the NCISM postgraduate Ayurveda curriculum.

Prelims pointers

• ICAR-NePPA is a programme of national importance involving 16 ICAR research institutes from different domains.
• ICAR’s tank-based super-intensive precision shrimp system yields 120–150 tonnes per hectare per year over three annual cycles.
• ICAR-NIVEDI models forecast outbreaks of 15 economically important livestock diseases up to two months in advance.
• KVKs, ICAR institutes and agricultural universities conducted 38,402 agri-drone demonstrations over 41,280 hectares, involving 4,54,083 farmers.
• The release reports that hydroponics reduced water use by up to 90%, while Goa trials reduced irrigation-water use by 92.9%.

Prelims pointers

• Kalanamak rice production in Siddharthnagar increased more than fivefold between 2018 and 2025.
• Its sale price rose from ₹40 per kilogram in 2018 to ₹150 per kilogram in 2026, while cultivators increased to 23,000 by 2024.
• PMFME and the state-funded ODOP Margin Money Scheme offer eligible processing units credit-linked capital subsidy up to 35%, capped at ₹10 lakh.
• Pusa Narendra Kalanamak 1 and Pusa CRD Kalanamak 2 average 4.5 tonnes per hectare, against 2.5 tonnes for traditional varieties.
• APEDA links regional FPOs to international buyers and has facilitated Kalanamak exports to markets such as Singapore and Nepal.

Prelims pointers

• DGCES began as a Kharif 2023–24 pilot in selected districts of 10 states.
• The programme expanded during Rabi 2023–24 to 22 States and Union Territories and is now implemented across 23.
• DGCES provides a fully digital, paperless workflow for Crop Cutting Experiments through a mobile application.
• Its evidence controls include geo-tagging, time-stamping and authenticated photographs.
• Web dashboards support online monitoring, supervision and faster compilation of crop-yield estimates.

Prelims pointers

• SMAM is implemented as a component of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.
• AgriStack’s Farmer Registry had generated more than 10.33 crore Farmer IDs by 6 August 2026.
• The Digital Crop Survey covered more than 28.5 crore plots in 604 districts during Kharif 2025.
• BharatVistaar is a multilingual AI-powered Digital Public Infrastructure for agriculture providing real-time, location-specific advisories.
• BharatVistaar had served over 5.9 lakh farmers and addressed more than 93 lakh farmer queries.

Prelims pointers

• Total kharif area sown as of 7 August 2026 was 967.92 lakh hectares, compared with 985.89 lakh hectares at the corresponding point in 2025.
• Rice coverage stood at 344.78 lakh hectares in 2026, 15.90 lakh hectares below the comparable 2025 figure of 360.67 lakh hectares.
• Pulses covered 103.78 lakh hectares, while urdbean alone recorded an increase of 2.57 lakh hectares over the comparable 2025 area.
• Shri Anna and coarse cereals covered 168.50 lakh hectares, including 87.15 lakh hectares under maize.
• Oilseed area increased by 5.19 lakh hectares to 180.20 lakh hectares; groundnut accounted for a 3.71 lakh-hectare increase.