Current affairs — 2 September 2026

Prelims pointers

• The proposed Tummidihatti barrage is to be built across the Pranahita river by Telangana.
• The Central Water Commission convened the inter-State meeting between Telangana and Maharashtra in New Delhi.
• Telangana and Maharashtra had agreed in 2016 on a barrage height of 148 metres above mean sea level.
• Telangana submitted reasons for proposing a higher barrage level of 152 metres.
• The meeting ended without a decision, and another meeting was scheduled for three weeks later.

Prelims pointers

• Karnataka sought Central Water Commission clearance for the revised DPR of the Mekedatu balancing reservoir.
• The State linked Mekedatu to water security in Bengaluru, Mandya, Bengaluru South and Chamarajanagara.
• Karnataka sought notification of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II order concerning a 130 tmcft allocation.
• The Kalasa and Banduri diversion projects are planned in the Mahadayi basin for drinking water to Hubballi-Dharawad.
• Karnataka requested release of ₹5,300 crore announced in the Union Budget for the Upper Krishna Project.

Prelims pointers

• Lakkundi, in Gadag district, was a prominent urban centre between the 10th and 12th centuries CE.
• The August 27 MoU joins Karnataka’s archaeology department with the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru.
• The six-month project will use LiDAR, GIS mapping, remote sensing, GPR, drone documentation and photogrammetry.
• Lakkundi was called Lokki-Gundi in inscriptions, and its conserved monuments belong to the Kalyana-Chalukya period.
• Lakkundi’s Vesara temples blend Nagara, Dravida and Bhumija architectural styles.

Prelims pointers

• India’s real GDP grew 7.8% in the April–June 2026 quarter, against a perceived forecast range of 6%–7%.
• Manufacturing expanded by 9.2%, described as the sector’s highest growth rate in three quarters.
• The Reserve Bank of India had delivered cumulative interest-rate cuts of 125 basis points through 2025.
• India imports 85%–90% of its oil requirement, making prices above $80 a barrel a significant risk.
• The RBI expected inflation to reach 5.9% in the October–December 2026 quarter.

Prelims pointers

• TRAI's latest count placed India's mobile broadband connections above 93.9 crore, while India represented about 4% of global electronics consumption.
• The Union government announced a mineral recycling scheme in early September to support recovery of materials from waste.
• Extended producer responsibility requires original manufacturers to collect appliances and electronics for recovery of costly or geopolitically risky materials.
• An expert cited 4.17 million metric tonnes of e-waste generated in India in 2022, with only one-third processed through proper channels.
• The Central Pollution Control Board operates the recyclers' portal and had audited more than 50 recycling firms during the preceding five months.

Prelims pointers

• Discarded IT equipment can contain copper, aluminium, gold, silver, palladium and critical minerals.
• Urban mining recovers useful materials from products that have already completed their original service life.
• Safe e-waste recovery requires secure data destruction, compliant processing and traceable supply chains.
• Life-cycle costing and value-based procurement assess long-term public value rather than only the lowest immediate price.
• Extended Producer Responsibility markets can reward better traceability, recovery efficiency and technological capability.

Prelims pointers

• The discussion followed the 31st Southern Zonal Council meeting and focused on delimitation and federalism.
• D.K. Shivakumar sought continued use of 1971 Census data for delimitation for another 25 years.
• He also called for retaining the Lok Sabha's present 543 seats and implementing women's reservation.
• The Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State relations was appointed by Indira Gandhi in June 1983.
• The article credits E.M.S. Namboodiripad with helping secure NDC endorsement of the Gadgil Formula in 1968-69.

Prelims pointers

• The global striped-hyena population is estimated at roughly 5,000–14,000, including about 1,000–3,000 animals in India.
• India does not have an official census of striped hyenas, and scarce population data obstructs mapping of their distribution.
• Striped hyenas receive the highest level of legal protection under India's Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Tamil Nadu allocated ₹14 lakh for striped-hyena conservation within a broader package for less-known endangered wildlife.
• By consuming carrion, striped hyenas help keep landscapes and water sources clean and reduce exposure to pathogen-rich decaying meat.

Prelims pointers

• India is home to around 600 Odonata species, the insect order containing dragonflies and damselflies.
• Odonata nymphs are aquatic while adults are terrestrial and aerial, connecting water and land habitats.
• A growing dragonfly nymph can consume about 100 mosquito larvae in one day, according to the article.
• Systemic pesticides such as fipronil are absorbed by plants and can contribute to declining dragonfly populations.
• Research cited in the article found at least 16 dragonfly genes coding for visual opsins, supporting ultraviolet vision.

Prelims pointers

• Lahore was designated the SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital for 2026–27.
• The title has rotated annually among SCO member states since 2022 to promote tourism and people-to-people contacts.
• Varanasi held the title in 2022–23, followed by Almaty in 2023–24, Qingdao in 2024–25 and Cholpon-Ata in 2025–26.
• The Beijing-headquartered Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was founded in 2001 and comprises 10 member states, including India.
• The Lahore designation was announced at the 26th SCO Council of Heads of State meeting in Bishkek, chaired by Kyrgyzstan.

Prelims pointers

• Congo's Health Ministry recorded 5,021 Ebola cases and 2,378 deaths as of August 16, 2026.
• The outbreak spread about three times faster from its first detected case than the 2014–16 West African outbreak.
• The 2014–16 West African Ebola outbreak was the deadliest on record, causing more than 11,000 deaths.
• WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk of further national and international spread remained high.
• Insecurity, displacement and intense population movements were identified as conditions fuelling the outbreak and obstructing response.

Prelims pointers

• Nirmala Sitharaman and Anton Siluanov met on August 31, 2026 on the sidelines of the G20 finance and central-bank governors meeting in Asheville.
• The ministers discussed cooperation in the New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
• They discussed the establishment of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Development Bank; the source does not report that it was established.
• Anton Siluanov had participated in a G20 meeting by video link in April 2022, when several Western finance ministers walked out.
• Russia was expelled from the G8 after annexing Crimea in 2014, but it remains a member of the G20.

Prelims pointers

• Streptococcus pneumoniae exists in at least a hundred serotypes and can cause pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis.
• Reverse vaccinology begins with a pathogen’s genome to identify proteins suitable for inclusion in a vaccine.
• Researchers combined three selected proteins with CpG and chitosan to create the formulation ZPY-CpG-Ch.
• Vaccinated mice showed 80-100% survival after lethal exposure to hypervirulent pneumococcal serotype 1.
• The formulation did not reduce upper-respiratory bacterial loads, meaning vaccinated mice could still spread infection.

Prelims pointers

• World War II lasted from Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 to Japan's surrender on September 2, 1945.
• India raised the largest volunteer army in history for World War II, with 2.5 million men serving.
• Soldiers from undivided India received 31 Victoria Crosses, about 15% of all such honours awarded during the conflict.
• The Japanese advance toward India was halted at the battles of Imphal and Kohima between March and July 1944.
• On April 6, 1942, Cocanada, now Kakinada, became the first Indian town attacked from the air; Visakhapatnam was bombed three times that day.

Prelims pointers

• The wars in Ukraine, Lebanon and West Asia are cited as showing the central role of drones in modern warfare.
• Ukraine adapted commercially available drones from the earliest stages of the Russian invasion.
• Cheap, mass-produced unmanned systems are changing how battlefield power is measured.
• Industrial scale and technological adaptation are identified as increasingly important components of military power.
• Smaller militaries and non-state actors historically relied on guerrilla warfare, ambushes and other asymmetric tactics.

Prelims pointers

• RBI hosted the Third Conference of Registrars of Cooperative Societies in New Delhi on September 1, 2026.
• Mission SAKSHAM was cited as a capacity-building initiative for the Urban Cooperative Bank sector.
• The conference called for safeguards against cyber-enabled fraud and money-mule accounts.
• Professional fit-and-proper boards, robust internal controls and technology adoption were identified as priorities for UCBs.
• Discussions included the expectations of both RBI and the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation.

Prelims pointers

• UNEP's Limiting Overshoot report says global warming will cross 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels within the next few years.
• Current policies point to about 2.6°C warming by 2100, with a reported range of 1.9–3.6°C.
• Every five years of continued high emissions adds roughly 0.1°C to peak warming, according to the report.
• Reversing 0.1°C of warming would require removing about 220 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide beyond whatever is still emitted.
• The Global Methane Pledge has over 155 members and targets at least a 30% cut in anthropogenic methane below 2020 levels by 2030.

Prelims pointers

• The 1996 India-Bangladesh Ganga Water Treaty is due to expire on December 31, 2026.
• Sanjay Jha asked India not to renew the treaty, arguing that it had negatively affected Bihar.
• The Jal Shakti Ministry led inter-ministerial consultations on the treaty's future with relevant stakeholders.
• An authorised Bihar representative attended consultations on August 22 and October 30, 2023, and March 15 and May 31, 2024.
• Sanjay Jha served as Bihar's Water Resources Minister from 2021 to 2024.

Prelims pointers

• The four-year human-wildlife coexistence plan has a total financial outlay of ₹1,040 crore.
• Keralam is divided into 14 landscapes, each proposed to have a command-and-control centre and drone squad.
• Conflict zoning lists eight local bodies as very high, 14 as high and 51 as medium-conflict units.
• From 2016-17 to 2025-26, reported data recorded 1,001 deaths and 10,976 injury-compensation claims linked to HWC.
• Of 4,170 incidents analysed for June-August 2026, 70.9% occurred between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Prelims pointers

• The United States and Iran signed an Islamabad MoU in June, with Pakistan signing as a guarantor.
• Negotiations under the MoU collapsed in early July after military strikes and accusations of violations.
• Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement on August 7.
• The pact treats an attack against one of the three member countries as an attack against all three.
• The agreement’s secretariat will be in Saudi Arabia and initially led for three years by a Pakistani secretary-general.

Prelims pointers

• The Strait of Hormuz is described in the article as carrying one-fifth of the world’s oil.
• Donald Trump proposed renaming the Strait of Hormuz as the Trump Strait on September 2, 2026.
• Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America on his first day back in office in January 2025.
• Neither Mexico nor Canada had accepted the geographical name changes described in the report.
• U.S. forces launched fresh strikes near the Strait of Hormuz on September 1, 2026.

Prelims pointers

• Manohar Lal met German Federal Minister Carsten Schneider in New Delhi to review energy-sector cooperation.
• The talks covered energy security, electrification, low-carbon development, carbon markets and supply-chain diversification.
• India and Germany had recently marked 75 years of diplomatic relations.
• The bilateral relationship had also marked 25 years of Strategic Partnership.
• Both ministers committed to advancing a secure, affordable and sustainable energy future.

Prelims pointers

• UGC notified 33 new and 21 restructured or updated allied and healthcare UG and PG degrees.
• The Fifth Amendment was issued under Section 22(3) of the UGC Act, 1956 on 27 August 2026.
• The Gazette notification was published on 31 August 2026 under the NCAHP regulatory framework.
• NCAHP has released 18 competency-based curricula covering 28 allied and healthcare professions.
• Released curricula are to be mandatorily implemented from the 2026–27 academic year.

Prelims pointers

• The 18th BRICS IP office-heads meeting was held in New Delhi from 1 to 3 September 2026.
• The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks under DPIIT hosted the meeting.
• The meeting adopted Updated Operational Guidelines for result-oriented intellectual-property cooperation.
• Russia, Iran and Ethiopia joined online, while the remaining participating member offices attended physically.
• Reinforced Patent Examination Cooperation seeks to streamline processes, reduce backlogs and exchange search results.

Prelims pointers

• Hyperscalers accounted for more than 80% of India's data-centre absorption in the first half of 2026.
• The government expects data-centre investment to reach around USD 200 billion, according to the release.
• The National Building Code 2026 specifically recognises data centres under Group E.
• Power proposals included cluster-based planning, day-one sanctioned load, dual feeders and renewable-energy procurement.
• Representatives from around 46 data-centre companies participated in the CEO roundtable.

Prelims pointers

• The two-day National Departmental Summit on Water was organised by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• The summit was the first in a proposed series intended to deepen cooperative federalism through closer Centre-State collaboration.
• Urban Local Bodies were asked to account for urbanisation, population growth and future water requirements.
• The release proposed managing water-sector data in a uniform format and using AI for its collection and analysis.
• The four stated outcomes included sustainable drinking-water sources and institutionalised operation and maintenance of rural drinking-water schemes.

Prelims pointers

• More than 1,000 Booth Level Officers from different parts of Goa participated in the interaction with the CEC.
• The Chief Election Commissioner described BLOs as the Election Commission of India's first interface with citizens.
• Recognised political parties appoint Booth Level Agents, according to the release.
• Polling and Counting Agents of candidates also concurrently audit the election process, the release states.
• Short videos on BLOs in Konkani and BLAs in English were released during the Goa event.

Prelims pointers

• The first High-Level Committee meeting on Aircraft Leasing and Financing was chaired by Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu.
• The release reports 422 assets leased through IFSC, including 250 aircraft and 87 engines.
• A total of 474 aircraft-leasing agreements had been signed, according to the release.
• More than 85% of the fleet of Indian carriers is leased, making aircraft availability a major sector issue.
• The committee discussed rupee-denominated financing, GAAR clarity and the DTAA framework with Ireland.

Prelims pointers

• The India–Afghanistan Joint Working Group meeting was held virtually on 1 September 2026.
• Officials from commerce, industry, customs, regulatory authorities and diplomatic missions participated.
• The agenda included visas for Afghan traders, banking, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, energy and tariff concessions.
• Cargo connectivity and port-related issues formed part of the bilateral trade discussion.
• Both sides agreed on customs and data-sharing cooperation and continued institutional engagement.

Prelims pointers

• CCPA imposed a ₹10 lakh penalty on Dial4Trade Technologies Private Limited over Ammonium Nitrate listings.
• The final order invoked Sections 10, 20 and 21 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
• Required safeguards included PESO licence disclosure, buyer verification and transaction traceability.
• CCPA treated an online marketplace product listing as an advertisement under Section 2(1) of the 2019 Act.
• The Authority said Section 79 IT Act safe harbour is conditional on compliance with due-diligence requirements.

Prelims pointers

• BHASHINI operates under Digital India Corporation within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• The collaboration discussion named Nepali, Newari, Tamang and Gurung as languages of interest.
• Prachalit Lipi and Ranjana Lipi were the traditional scripts specifically identified in the engagement.
• BHASHINI reports support for 36 Indian text languages, 23 Indian voice languages and 35 international languages.
• The platform reports more than 9 billion cumulative AI inferences and over 24 million inferences daily.

Prelims pointers

• IBCA, ADB and NTCA jointly organised the tiger-landscapes workshop in New Delhi on 2–3 September 2026.
• Tiger landscapes were described as supporting water security, carbon sequestration and climate regulation.
• IBCA and ADB signed an MoU covering conservation, sustainable development, capacity, knowledge and nature-positive finance.
• The International Big Cat Alliance is described as a cooperation platform for conservation of seven big-cat species.
• International participants included representatives from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Nepal and Vietnam.

Prelims pointers

• As of 31 August 2026, 20 IBUs had sanctioned USD 54.02 billion under RBI's FCNR(B) swap facility.
• Approximately USD 52.82 billion had been disbursed under the special FCNR(B) swap facility by that date.
• GIFT IFSC banking units disbursed USD 11.62 billion in ECBs during April–August 2026.
• Indian banks raised USD 11.12 billion through IFSC exchange bond listings during April–August 2026.
• IFSCA is the unified regulatory authority established under the IFSCA Act, 2019 for India's IFSCs.

Prelims pointers

• JCR upgraded India's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer ratings from BBB+ to A- with a stable outlook.
• Japan Credit Rating Agency also raised India's country ceiling by one notch to A.
• Real GDP growth was reported at 7.8% in FY26 and again at 7.8% in the first quarter of FY27.
• The central government's fiscal deficit declined from 4.7% in FY25 to 4.4% in FY26.
• JCR noted that foreign-exchange reserves significantly exceeded India's short-term external debt.

Prelims pointers

• The EPF Scheme 2026 amnesty was notified on 29 June 2026 as a one-time transitional measure.
• Operational guidelines for amnesty applications were issued through an EPFO circular dated 11 July 2026.
• The six-month amnesty remains valid through 28 December 2026, according to the release.
• Eligible trusts are income-tax-recognised PF trusts lacking a formal exemption order under the specified provident-fund laws.
• Waivers cover selected minimum-headcount, corpus-size and three-year-compliance requirements under the Code on Social Security, 2020.

Prelims pointers

• DAY-NRLM has mobilised more than 10 crore rural women into over 93 lakh SHGs and their federations.
• Cumulative credit disbursement by the banking sector to SHGs has exceeded ₹13.67 lakh crore.
• Institutional credit-supported livelihood activity has contributed to 3.46 crore women emerging as Lakhpati Didis.
• The high-level meeting on SHG-bank linkages and individual enterprise financing was scheduled in Mumbai on September 3, 2026.
• The agenda included strengthening cooperative credit through District Central Cooperative Banks and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies.

Prelims pointers

• The field trial used 60% Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement in the Dense Bituminous Macadam layer on NH-716.
• The demonstration site was NH-716's Chennai-Tirupati Package-I.
• REJUBIT is an indigenous RAP rejuvenator jointly developed by CSIR-CRRI and Ooms India.
• RAP supplies recoverable aggregate and aged bitumen from existing pavement for reuse in new asphalt mixes.
• The trial covered recovery, characterisation, rejuvenation, mix design, hot-mix production, laying and field compaction.

Prelims pointers

• The research was conducted at the Raman Research Institute, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology.
• The microgel particles used in the experiment can absorb 300-500 times their own weight in water.
• The prepared suspension was stirred for 24 hours, sonicated for 15 minutes and refrigerated at 4°C.
• A sudden increase in temperature ramp rate temporarily liquefied the jammed system and erased path memory.
• Drug-loaded microgels collapse above 34°C and squeeze medicine out at a targeted site such as a tumour.

Prelims pointers

• The nuclear-energy mission cited in the address targets 100 GW of capacity by 2047.
• The address also cited a target of five Small Modular Reactors by 2033.
• The ₹1 lakh crore RDI Fund was presented as a means to accelerate private participation in research and development.
• Around 50-60% of Anusandhan National Research Foundation resources are expected from non-government sources.
• India's start-up ecosystem was stated to have grown from around 350 start-ups to almost 2.4 lakh, ranking third globally.

Prelims pointers

• The NOC reform review involved the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India.
• NOCAS currently covers areas within 20 km for Visual Flight Rules operations.
• For Instrument Flight Rules operations, the present NOCAS geographical coverage is 56 km.
• The meeting considered issuing NOCs at the Urban Local Body level wherever feasible.
• Officials were directed to develop modalities and take necessary implementation action within 15 days.

Prelims pointers

• IDPIC was established as the nation's central digital-payment fraud-intelligence platform.
• The amendment modifies Chapter VIII on non-SLR investments in the UCB Investment Portfolio Directions, 2025.
• RBI issued the amendment under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 read with Section 56.
• Revised paragraph 101(5) covers equity shares of the UCB Umbrella Organization and IDPIC for acquiring membership.
• Revised paragraph 107(1) also names Market Infrastructure Companies, CCBs and StCBs where investment is needed for membership.

Prelims pointers

• Nepal Police reported 1,222 deaths and 4,875 missing people one week after the flash floods.
• The joint security forces had rescued 11,993 people using helicopters and land routes.
• Around 21,314 security personnel were mobilised for search and rescue operations.
• Experts attributed the Bhotekoshi flash flood in Rasuwa district to a Himalayan ice-rock avalanche.
• Nepal Police uploaded details of 911 unidentified bodies online to assist identification by families.

Prelims pointers

• The RBI introduced the special USD-INR forex swap facility on June 8, 2026.
• The facility covers FCNR(B) deposit, ECB and OFCB inflows.
• The FCNR(B) window remained open until August 31, 2026, while ECB and OFCB windows run through December 31, 2026.
• Reported provisional inflows through August 31 totalled $136,377 million.
• The instrument-wise inflows were $127,226 million in FCNR(B), $5,260 million in OFCBs and $3,891 million in ECBs.