Current affairs — 13 August 2026

Prelims pointers

• The national AMB workshop was held in New Delhi on 12 and 13 August 2026.
• More than 160 representatives participated from all States and Union Territories and multiple Union ministries.
• Revised AMB operational guidelines were launched on 29 June 2026 during the CCHFW conference.
• The strengthened programme moves from the earlier 6×6×6 framework to a 7×7×7 strategy.
• ICMR's Director General recommended repeat testing after three months as part of evidence-based anaemia management.

Prelims pointers

• INCOIS prepared a Coastal Vulnerability Index at 1:100,000 scale for the entire Indian coastline.
• Coastal Multi-Hazard Vulnerability Mapping has been carried out at the finer scale of 1:25,000.
• NCCR's Mumbai rainfall and flood-inundation mapping covers approximately 400 square kilometres of the municipal corporation area.
• Panchayat Mausam Seva integrates forecasts with e-GramSwaraj and e-Manchitra and sends advisories through WhatsApp.
• Mission Mausam targets a 10–15 percent improvement in forecast accuracy and 5 km by 5 km hazard forecasts by 2030.

Prelims pointers

• IMD's upgraded Long Range Forecast system uses a Multi-Model Ensemble of coupled dynamical climate models.
• The first-stage forecast's average absolute error during 2021–2025 was 3.1 percent of the Long Period Average.
• The second-stage forecast's average absolute error during 2021–2025 was 2.2 percent, compared with 7.8 percent in 2016–2020.
• IMD issues the first southwest-monsoon forecast in April and an updated second-stage forecast in May.
• A late-July update covers the second half of the monsoon season, namely August and September.

Prelims pointers

• India's NDC contains three quantitative targets covering emissions intensity, non-fossil installed power capacity and an additional carbon sink.
• India's GDP emissions intensity in 2022 was 37.38 percent lower than its 2005 level.
• Non-fossil sources crossed 50 percent of cumulative installed electricity capacity in June 2025, five years before the target year.
• Non-fossil resources accounted for 54.18 percent of installed electric power capacity on 30 June 2026.
• India reported an additional carbon sink of 2.44 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent during 2005–2022.

Prelims pointers

• India has 33 Elephant Reserves and 150 scientifically identified elephant corridors, according to the ministry release.
• India supports nearly 60 percent of the world's wild Asian elephant population.
• Project Elephant was launched in 1992 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for elephant conservation and management.
• The southern regional human-elephant-conflict action plan has Rs 500 crore of support from the Government of India.
• The nationwide awareness campaign involved more than 20 lakh students from 21,450 schools.

Prelims pointers

• NBA released Rs 15.52 crore in ABS proceeds arising from ten commercial Brassica juncea hybrid varieties.
• The proceeds will flow to 26 State Biodiversity Boards and three Union Territory Biodiversity Councils.
• Cultivation-area data from ICAR-IIRMR, Bharatpur, were used to calculate each jurisdiction's share.
• Rajasthan accounts for nearly 42 percent of India's mustard cultivation and receives the highest share of Rs 6.43 crore.
• NBA has released Rs 182.5 crore in total ABS proceeds, including Rs 116.22 crore during the last twelve months.

Prelims pointers

• Om Birla met Kenyan National Assembly Speaker Moses M. Wetang'ula at India's Parliament House Complex.
• Kenya's recognition of Persons of Indian Origin as an indigenous community was welcomed as a step deepening bilateral ties.
• India and Kenya have constituted Parliamentary Friendship Groups, while PRIDE conducts tailored training for Kenyan parliamentary personnel.
• India offered to share experience in applying artificial intelligence to improve transparency, efficiency, inclusivity and participation in Parliament.
• Moses Wetang'ula called for UN Security Council reform and supported India's inclusion as a permanent member.

Prelims pointers

• The Kenyan delegation was led by Moses M. Wetang'ula, Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya.
• India expressed readiness to share digital solutions, including technology that can help create a paperless Parliament.
• India offers around 400 scholarships and training opportunities, while annual long-term ICCR scholarships were raised from 80 to 100.
• An agreement on a Digi-Locker pilot in Kenya was signed during the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.
• Kenya supported India's non-permanent UNSC candidature for 2028-29, and India sought Kenyan support for permanent membership.

Prelims pointers

• Large satellite-internet constellations can contain several thousand spacecraft and raise collision risk around populated orbital shells.
• Small untrackable debris cannot be avoided through collision-avoidance manoeuvres or adequately addressed through shielding.
• ISRO has been a member of the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee since 1996.
• IN-SPACe's 2024 norms encourage post-mission disposal or very limited orbital life followed by natural orbital decay.
• The response identifies Space Situational Awareness and Active Debris Removal as important elements of long-term space sustainability.

Prelims pointers

• Around 440 space-technology startups are registered in India according to the DPIIT Start-up India Portal.
• IN-SPACe has issued 113 authorisations to 52 Non-Government Entities for various space activities.
• Eighteen startups are among the Non-Government Entities that have received IN-SPACe authorisations.
• Requests to use ISRO infrastructure are submitted through IN-SPACe's Digital Platform and reviewed for readiness by an Expert Committee.
• Two private commercial rocket launches are proposed for FY 2026-27, while more than six are expected in FY 2027-28 subject to manifest approval.

Prelims pointers

• SPADEX demonstrated autonomous docking and undocking, power transfer and circumnavigation, making India the fourth nation to demonstrate space docking.
• NISAR is a jointly developed NASA-ISRO Earth-observation satellite using dual-frequency L- and S-band radar.
• More than 890 flood products and alerts concerning over 11 major landslide events were disseminated for disaster response.
• About 6.93 crore MGNREGA activities and 6.89 lakh watershed activities have been geotagged using geospatial technologies.
• Chandrayaan-5, also called LUPEX, is an ISRO-JAXA mission for in-situ study of lunar surface and subsurface resources.

Prelims pointers

• RAPP-7 is a 700 MW indigenous pressurised heavy water reactor that began commercial operation on 15 April 2026.
• The 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam was listed with a revised commissioning target of March 2027.
• Kudankulam units 3, 4, 5 and 6 are each 1,000 MW light water reactors developed with foreign cooperation.
• The government cited Fukushima-related design changes, supply disruptions, Covid-19 and contractor constraints among causes of delay.
• Progressive commissioning of projects presently under construction is expected to add a cumulative 8,000 MW to the grid.

Prelims pointers

• Rajasthan was allocated ₹340.59 crore, comprising ₹216.12 crore under RKVY and ₹124.47 crore under Krishonnati Yojana.
• Rajasthan had spent ₹164.39 crore, equal to 76.06% of its first Mother Sanction of ₹216.13 crore.
• Telangana was allocated ₹265.12 crore, including ₹157.66 crore under RKVY and ₹107.46 crore under Krishonnati Yojana.
• Telangana had spent ₹96.05 crore, or 60.93%, against its first Mother Sanction of ₹157.65 crore.
• The review praised Telangana’s Farmer ID and fertiliser model and called for greater attention to Kisan Credit Cards in Rajasthan.

Prelims pointers

• Combined merchandise and services exports in April-July 2026-27 were estimated at US$316.42 billion, growing 13.16% year on year.
• Combined imports during April-July 2026-27 were estimated at US$365.85 billion, producing a US$49.43 billion deficit.
• Merchandise exports reached US$173.78 billion, while merchandise imports reached US$292.38 billion during the four-month period.
• The services trade surplus for April-July 2026-27 was estimated at US$69.17 billion.
• July 2026 services figures were estimates because the latest RBI services-sector data available were for June 2026.

Prelims pointers

• India has 3,688 ancient monuments, archaeological sites and remains declared to be of national importance.
• Encroachments have been reported at 414 nationally important protected monuments and sites.
• Protection under the AMASR Act, 1958 does not mandatorily require acquisition or ownership of the underlying land.
• ASI conducts joint surveys with local revenue officials to fix and safeguard protected monument boundaries.
• ASI has uploaded geo-referenced and digitised boundaries of protected monuments and sites on the Bhuvan Portal.

Prelims pointers

• Indian Culture Portal Version 2.0 was launched in March 2026 with a modern, scalable and secure architecture.
• The portal offers content in 22 Indian languages through integration with the BHASHINI platform.
• Its AI-powered chatbot, Bharti, supports intelligent search, content discovery and multilingual interaction.
• The portal uses a decoupled architecture based on React and Drupal 10.
• Cultural institutions can integrate their resources through standard metadata exchange, APIs and institutional onboarding.

Prelims pointers

• India had retrieved 662 antiquities from four listed countries through June 2026.
• The United States accounted for 589 of the antiquities listed as retrieved by India.
• Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands accounted for 51, 21 and one retrieved antiquity respectively.
• Retrieval is initiated case by case with reference to applicable national and international laws and conventions.
• The concerned Indian Embassy or Mission initiates action when an illegally exported Indian-origin antiquity is reported abroad.

Prelims pointers

• Mission Mausam is a Central Sector umbrella scheme of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• The Union Cabinet approved ₹2,000 crore for 2024-25 and 2025-26, and the mission launched on 14 January 2025.
• Six proposed 2026-31 verticals are OBSERVE_ALL, DEVELOP, Weather_MOD, ATCOMP, FRONTIER and NEAT.
• The 2026-27 Budget Estimate is ₹1,342.29 crore, including ₹855.29 crore revenue and ₹487 crore capital expenditure.
• The mission applies observations, numerical models, high-performance computing and AI/ML to forecasting and early warning.

Prelims pointers

• The National Seismological Network currently comprises 174 observatories distributed across India for continuous earthquake monitoring.
• Earthquake early warning detects non-damaging P-waves and may provide a few seconds before stronger shaking arrives.
• IMD's observing network includes 50 Doppler Weather Radars, 1,008 Automatic Weather Stations and 6,885 Rain Gauge Stations.
• NDMA launched the Mitigation Project of Lightning Safety as a pilot, with IMD serving as its technical partner.
• IITM's DAMINI mobile application supports 17 regional languages and provides location-specific lightning alerts and safety advisories.

Prelims pointers

• MoES institutes have operationalised three Artificial Intelligence-based global weather models to support operational weather forecasters.
• IMD developed MHEW-DSS as a publicly accessible Web-GIS platform for monitoring and forecasting severe weather across India.
• MHEW-DSS integrates geospatial technologies, meteorological observations, numerical prediction models and impact-based forecasting in one platform.
• The platform provides sector-specific advisories to governments, disaster agencies, communities and industries for extreme-weather preparedness.
• Mission Mausam is a Central Sector umbrella scheme aiming to make India a weather-ready and climate-smart nation.

Prelims pointers

• During its 271st Session, the Rajya Sabha functioned for 37 hours and 49 minutes with productivity of 39.17 per cent.
• The House considered and passed or returned 12 Bills despite persistent disorder and frequent disruptions.
• Only 16 of 285 Starred Questions, 52 of 380 Zero Hour Submissions and 93 of 380 Special Mentions were taken up.
• A two-day orientation programme for newly elected and nominated Members was attended by 35 Members.
• Vani Setu provided AI-based language translation, while Sadasya Setu enabled attendance and other parliamentary transactions.

Prelims pointers

• President Droupadi Murmu presented the Akademi's Fellowships and Awards for the years 2024 and 2025 in New Delhi.
• The President said the honoured artists collectively present a cultural map woven from India's stories, songs, dances and festivals.
• She identified the Guru-Shishya tradition as vital to India's diverse art forms and urged senior artists to groom younger practitioners.
• The Sangeet Natak Akademi is organising the Kala-Diksha programme to help document and keep threatened folk art forms alive.
• The President described folk and tribal arts as expressions of community memory and called the Akademi a centre of Indian soft power.