Current affairs — 29 August 2026

Prelims pointers

• The revised defence export SOP removes stakeholder consultation for non-lethal items to most destinations, while retaining sensitive-country safeguards.
• OGEL allows eligible exporters to self-generate authorisations for multiple consignments without separate approval for every shipment.
• Three OGEL SOPs covering platforms, parts and components, and intra-company technology transfer were consolidated into one framework.
• OGEL validity increased from two years to three years, and country coverage expanded beyond the earlier 41 countries.
• Defence production reached ₹1.78 lakh crore in 2025-26, while defence exports reached ₹38,424 crore.

Prelims pointers

• Two months after VB-G RAM G’s launch, e-KYC covered 71% of registered workers and 94.88% of active workers.
• The report defines active workers as those who worked at least once during the preceding three years.
• Despite 94.88% active-worker verification, 57 lakh active workers remained unverified.
• VB-G RAM G generated 7.67 crore person-days in July 2026, 49.94% fewer than MGNREGS generated in July 2025.
• A person-day is a unit equal to the work performed by one person during one working day.

Prelims pointers

• The public-examination reform task force is headed by former UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani.
• The Nilekani task force followed the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, while the K. Radhakrishnan committee followed the 2024 leak.
• The Supreme Court warned against ‘committee hopping’ and stressed permanent institutional memory for NTA reform.
• Consultation themes include secure computer-based testing, malpractice redress, examination infrastructure, inclusion and student well-being.
• Stakeholder suggestions are due September 13 and may be submitted in English, Hindi or regional languages.

Prelims pointers

• Darbhanga had more than 350 ponds until 1969 according to the district gazetteer, but fewer than 100 remain today.
• BUIDCO’s ₹70.34-crore plan covers the interconnected Harahi, Dighi and Gangasagar ponds over 1.8 km.
• Talab Bachao Abhiyan filed a Supreme Court writ petition on March 14 seeking restoration and reclamation.
• On July 28, Bihar gave an oral undertaking that no more soil would be dumped in the three ponds and beautification work would halt.
• TBA alleges the plan violates the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 and NGT directions.

Prelims pointers

• FSSAI proposed a red hexagonal front-of-pack warning for foods high in specified nutrients of concern.
• The proposed nutrient thresholds are based on the Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024.
• Phase I covers products high in two or more specified nutrients and specified sweetened beverages; Phase II covers products high in any one nutrient.
• Proposed warning text includes ‘High Fat’, ‘High Sugar’, ‘High Salt’ and ‘Highly Sweetened Beverage’.
• Single-ingredient foods and inherently rich products such as ghee, edible oil, jaggery and honey are proposed for exemption.

Prelims pointers

• The Sixteenth Finance Commission is chaired by Arvind Panagariya and covers the period 2026-31.
• It retained the States’ share in the divisible pool at 41%, while 18 States had demanded 50%.
• Recommended grants-in-aid are ₹9.47 lakh crore, compared with ₹10.1 lakh crore under the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
• The Commission eliminated Revenue Deficit Grants, sector-specific grants and State-specific grants.
• Income distance now carries 42.5% weight, down from 45%, while contribution to GDP receives a 10% weight.

Prelims pointers

• CISF signed the counter-drone MoU with the non-governmental Drone Federation of India.
• The agreement supports structured engagement with Indian startups and technology firms for capacity building, applied research and preparedness.
• CISF guards 370 units, including installations in aviation, nuclear power, space and oil-refinery sectors.
• CISF is the designated nodal agency for handling aerial threats at the installations under its security cover.
• The force has trained 3,000 personnel in drone and anti-drone protocols, while 80 units use drones for monitoring, detection and training.

Prelims pointers

• Artemis II carried Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen around the Moon.
• The Orion capsule came within 4,067 miles, or 6,545 km, of the Moon and the crew set a new human distance record.
• Artemis III is planned as an Earth-orbit docking rehearsal, while Artemis IV could land two astronauts near the lunar south pole by 2028.
• Only 30 astronauts had received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor before the Artemis II crew; Neil Armstrong was the first.
• NASA plans a sustainable base near the lunar south pole, where frozen water could be converted into fuel and drinking water.

Prelims pointers

• Roughly 265,000 eligible voters were asked whether Iceland should resume accession negotiations with the European Union.
• A yes vote would begin talks with the European Commission across 35 areas but would not itself make Iceland an EU member.
• Iceland formally ended its previous EU accession effort in 2015, largely over concerns about fish resources.
• Joining the 27-member EU would normally involve its common fisheries policy, though Iceland’s government sought a special arrangement.
• Iceland already participates in the EU single market and the Schengen free-travel zone.

Prelims pointers

• Iran’s President said exports and imports had fallen nearly 35% because of U.S. sanctions and a naval blockade.
• Annual inflation in Iran reached 66% in the month before the article was published.
• The U.S. warned of secondary sanctions but had not penalised major Iranian trade partners such as China and India.
• Iran sold about 90 million barrels of oil during a short June memorandum of understanding permitting oil sales.
• Only seven commodity vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, versus 17 a day earlier and a ten-day average of 15.

Prelims pointers

• INTerpath-001 was a Phase III trial involving roughly 1,100 patients with surgically removed high-risk melanoma.
• The personalised vaccine intismeran autogene is also identified as mRNA-4157/V940 and was combined with pembrolizumab.
• Tumour sequencing and algorithms identify patient-specific mutations called neoantigens for encoding in customised mRNA constructs.
• Injected mRNA constructs train T cells to recognise and destroy cancer cells carrying the selected tumour mutations.
• Earlier studies reported roughly 49% lower recurrence-or-death risk and 59% lower distant-metastasis-or-death risk with the strategy.

Prelims pointers

• The Sudhauwala study covered 34 surveys between May 2011 and February 2014 and recorded 743 vultures from five species.
• Researchers documented 46 vulture carcasses attributable to electrocution near high-tension power-transmission structures.
• Mortality relative to sightings was highest for Himalayan griffons, followed by Eurasian griffons and cinereous vultures.
• Local authorities relocated the livestock-carcass dump about 2.4 km from high-risk electricity infrastructure in April 2015.
• Limited monitoring after relocation found continued use by vultures and no mortality events, although no studies were conducted after 2015.

Prelims pointers

• The Oriental or Indian darter is Anhinga melanogaster and is also known as the snakebird.
• Its long, sharp, spear-like beak is adapted to impale fish but can become entangled in dumped waste.
• Plastic, onion-packing net, discarded fishing nets, bags and colourful puja cloth were identified as hazards.
• Distressed darters were reported from at least 10 Bengaluru lakes, including Doddanekundi, Jakkur and Yelahanka.
• ARRC had earlier seen a couple of cases yearly but reported at least one case each week during 2026.

Prelims pointers

• The lake on the Purepu Tsangpo River covered 99,000 square metres early on August 29, 2026.
• Satellite imagery indicated that the lake had shrunk by 21,000 square metres since August 27, 2026.
• China Anneng deployed radar and drones around the lake to provide continuous 24-hour surveillance.
• Experts said abnormal lake behaviour could allow rescue workers to receive evacuation warnings more than 30 minutes in advance.
• A second water body exceeded 120,000 square metres, but its depth was unknown and risk remained until both lakes drained.

Prelims pointers

• A glacial collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border sent debris into the Bhotekoshi River and downstream along the Trishuli River.
• The glacier was located at roughly 17,000 feet, and major flooding reached Kolpurtar about 73 km away.
• Bodies were recovered from eight districts; at least 626 people died and more than 2,400 remained missing.
• The Nepal Army reported 2,465 evacuations, including 163 foreigners, of whom 113 were Indians.
• Nepal’s Finance Minister estimated that post-flood rebuilding would require between $4 billion and $5 billion.

Prelims pointers

• The visit covers Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic over four days and is linked to SCO, BRICS, UNSC and Central Asian engagement.
• India’s goods trade with Central Asia rose from $500 million in 2010 to more than $2 billion in 2025.
• India and Tajikistan are competing for the Asian bloc’s vote in the June 2027 election for a 2028–2029 UNSC seat.
• The first India-Central Asia Summit was held virtually in January 2022 with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
• The Kyrgyz President is due to hand the SCO presidency to Pakistan’s Prime Minister for 2027.

Prelims pointers

• ICMR awarded ₹5,50,08,874 for four years to an epidermolysis bullosa project at SMSIMSR in Muddenahalli.
• ADAPT-EB expands to Developing Accessible Diagnostics and Affordable Precision Therapies for Epidermolysis Bullosa.
• Epidermolysis bullosa comprises inherited disorders in which minor friction or trauma can cause skin blistering and wounds.
• Targeted genomic assays are intended to lower diagnostic costs by more than 60% compared with whole-exome sequencing.
• The project will study revertant mosaicism, a natural genetic self-correction in some cells, for patient-specific regenerative therapies.

Prelims pointers

• The 2027 Godavari Pushkarams prompted new ghat construction at Bhadrachalam and two other sites along the river.
• The State allocated ₹46.65 crore for phase one of a three-phase programme estimated at ₹49 crore.
• Phase two is estimated at ₹1.75 crore and phase three at ₹60 lakh, with completion scheduled by March next year.
• The three sites are Bhadrachalam, Parnashala in Dummugudem mandal and Mothepattinagar in Burgampadu mandal.
• Godavari Pushkarams are held once every 12 years; the report also cited ₹351 crore for redevelopment of the Bhadrachalam temple.

Prelims pointers

• Voice of Kolleru expands to Kolleru Volunteers Organisation for Inclusive Conservation and Empowerment.
• The society represents villagers, aquaculture farmers and agriculture farmers living around Kolleru Lake.
• Residents cited Kolleru's extent as about 100 square miles, or 64,000 acres, while opposing regulation of the wider surrounding area.
• The Supreme Court directed the State government to identify and complete wetland-boundary demarcation within two months.
• Society members opposed treating the entire 1,61,000-acre area around Kolleru as wetlands because of livelihood and development effects.

Prelims pointers

• Nepal requested that Indian approvals for electricity imports begin in September 2026 rather than around the usual October winter start.
• Nepal generally exports surplus hydropower to India in summer and imports Indian electricity during the low-generation winter period.
• In fiscal 2025-26, India imported 3,299 million units from Nepal and exported 1,451 million units to Nepal.
• Cross-border electricity transmission requires mandatory clearance from the Central Electricity Authority, among other authorities.
• Flood damage cut Nepal's generation capacity by about 550 MW and reduced flow to India by about 400 MW from peaks of 950-1,000 MW.

Prelims pointers

• The previous CBG producer price was linked to 85% of the CNG retail selling price and worked out to about ₹1,478 per MMBtu.
• The revised CBG procurement price under the GOBARdhan Scheme is ₹2,110 per MMBtu, about 43% above ₹1,478.
• Government affordability support is ₹10 per kg of CBG, about ₹215 per MMBtu for CBG with 95% methane content.
• After affordability support, the effective CBG cost to be recovered through gas consumers is about ₹1,895 per MMBtu.
• The revised framework spreads net CBG cost across a domestic gas base about 2.5 to three times larger than before.

Prelims pointers

• PMFBY was launched on 18 February 2016, and the backgrounder tracks its implementation from Kharif 2016.
• Farmers pay maximum premiums of 2% for Kharif, 1.5% for Rabi foodgrain and oilseeds, and 5% for commercial or horticultural crops.
• Prevented-sowing claims can reach 25% of the sum insured, while specified post-harvest cover extends up to 14 days.
• Since inception, over 92.46 crore farmer applications were insured and claims exceeding ₹2.06 lakh crore were paid on over 26.33 crore applications.
• WINDS uses Automatic Weather Stations and Automatic Rain Gauges to collect hyperlocal data at block and gram-panchayat levels.

Prelims pointers

• PDMC provides support for up to five hectares per beneficiary: 55% for small and marginal farmers and 45% for other farmers.
• Since 2022–23, Per Drop More Crop has been implemented under the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.
• By July 2026, PDMC had brought 115 lakh hectares under micro-irrigation, about 8.11% of India’s net sown area.
• In 2025–26, 12.30 lakh farmers benefited from PDMC, and around 20% of the beneficiaries were women.
• PDMC’s state-level structure includes the State Level Sanctioning Committee and the Inter-Departmental Working Group.

Prelims pointers

• The fourth India–Argentina Joint Trade Committee met at Palacio San Martín in Buenos Aires on 24 August 2026.
• India–Argentina bilateral trade crossed USD 6.5 billion in 2025, and India became Argentina’s fifth-largest trading partner.
• KABIL completed Phase II drilling in Catamarca in what the release calls the first Indian-company lithium mining initiative in Argentina.
• SPS discussions were advancing for Indian onions, milk products, grapes, potatoes, bananas and pulses seeking Argentine market access.
• The 25 August 2026 business forum included more than 25 leaders in the first and largest-ever Indian business delegation to Argentina.

Prelims pointers

• The PMGSY-IV Batch-I package for 2026–27 contains 110 roads spanning a combined 598.455 km.
• The road package has a sanctioned cost of ₹1,503.53 crore and is expected to benefit 46,972 people.
• Udhampur accounts for 44 projects covering 235.040 km, with a sanctioned cost of about ₹554.90 crore.
• The projects are distributed across Kathua, Udhampur, Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar districts.
• The project statement records the use of waste plastics in road construction across several road packages.

Prelims pointers

• The second TRA Coordination Committee meeting was held at Vigyan Bhawan under Textiles Secretary Neelam Shami Rao.
• The i-TRAMS portal was discussed for inventories, monitoring, information sharing and mapping research capabilities.
• The meeting proposed a structured Technology Readiness Assessment Framework and global benchmarking of Centres of Excellence.
• Projects under the National Technical Textiles Mission were among the implementation areas reviewed by participants.
• The Ministry sought KPI-based performance evaluation supported by reliable data and periodic review.

Prelims pointers

• The Central Asia visit was scheduled from 29 August to 1 September 2026 and covered Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic.
• The State Visit to Tashkent on 29–30 August was undertaken at the invitation of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
• The Prime Minister was to attend the 26th SCO Summit in Bishkek, which the statement says marked 25 years of the organisation.
• India has been an active and constructive member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation since 2017.
• India’s vision for the region was presented through the three themes of Security, Connectivity and Opportunity.

Prelims pointers

• The Monitoring and Evaluation Board created four working groups on legal issues, disarmament, monitoring and social reintegration.
• The August 10 law was approved by 468 of the 592 Turkish lawmakers who voted.
• Covered prison sentences, investigations and trials may be suspended for five to ten years, subject to no new terrorism-related offence.
• The law excludes intentional killings and life-without-parole sentences for offences committed before 2005, leaving Abdullah Ocalan outside its scope.
• The PKK began its armed insurgency in 1984 and is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union.

Prelims pointers

• The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency conditionally approved World Liberty Financial to establish a federally chartered U.S. trust bank.
• The proposed bank would issue, redeem and safeguard USD1, a stablecoin backed by the U.S. dollar.
• A stablecoin seeks to reduce volatility by pegging its value to a currency, commodity or other asset that may be held in reserve.
• Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan and co-investors reportedly own 49% of WLTC Holdings, while a Trump-affiliated entity owns 38%.
• Donald Trump created a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in March 2025 and signed the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act in July 2025.

Prelims pointers

• The Bhotekoshi flood struck at about 8.40 a.m. on August 26, 2026, leaving more than 600 dead and close to 2,500 missing.
• The Lhende Khola originates in Gyirong County in Tibet, flows into Nepal and feeds the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river systems.
• Satellite evidence indicated a combination of an ice avalanche, permafrost movement and a rockslide near the Nepal-China border.
• A sturzstrom is a massive rock avalanche in which a large volume of rock collapses and travels at extremely high speed over a long distance.
• Scientists did not directly attribute the flood to climate change, though they noted that rising temperatures are warming the Himalayas and accelerating glacier melt.

Prelims pointers

• BNSS Section 173(2) gives an FIR copy forthwith and free to the informant or victim but does not expressly mention the accused.
• BNSS Section 230 requires specified prosecution documents, including the FIR and chargesheet, within 14 days of the accused's appearance or production.
• Youth Bar Association of India v. Union of India (2016) directed FIRs to be uploaded online ordinarily within 24 hours.
• The upload period may extend to 48 hours for unavoidable difficulty and to 72 hours for geographical-connectivity problems.
• A sensitive FIR may be withheld online by an officer of at least DSP rank, but the accused may seek a magistrate's copy within three days.