UPSC Current Affairs 24 May 2026

• Nodal Ministry: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
• Timeframe: Operational over a six-year period from FY 2026-27 to FY 2031-32.
• Target: Establishing 100 future-ready industrial parks.

• Plug-and-Play Model: Advanced, ready-to-use infrastructure with pre-approved land and active utilities, allowing businesses to transition from "intent to production" without standard land acquisition or regulatory delays.
• Phased Rollout: The first phase will develop up to 50 parks through a competitive framework.
• Competitive Selection: States and UTs compete via a "Challenge Mode" evaluating proposals on site suitability, policy readiness, and long-term sustainability.
• Land Area Demarcation:
  • Minimum 100 acres for non-hilly states.
  • Minimum 25 acres for hilly states, Northeastern states, UTs, and smaller states.
  • Maximum capacity permitted up to 1,000 acres per park.
• Flexible Development: Supports both new greenfield projects and eligible brownfield expansions.

• Internal Infrastructure: Central assistance provides up to ₹1 crore per acre to fund core, value-added, and social structures.
• External Connectivity: The central government funds up to 25% of the total project cost for external logistics and transit networks.
• Private Developer Incentives: Parks advanced by private developers receive capped support of up to ₹50 lakh per acre or 50% of infrastructure costs, whichever is lower.
• Equity Linkage: Funding is dispensed as equity contributions tied directly to land transfers and project milestones achieved by state-level entities.

• Core Infrastructure: Internal transit roads, storm drainage, integrated underground utility corridors, and advanced ICT networks.
• Value-Added Infrastructure: Ready-built industrial factory sheds, testing laboratories, and custom built-to-suit manufacturing units.
• Social Infrastructure: On-site industrial worker housing and support amenities to aid localized employment.
• Sustainability focus: Unified underground utility grids creating a "no-dig" ecosystem powered by green energy options.

• Implementation Model: Managed at the ground level through project-specific Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) registered under the Companies Act, 2013.
• Project Management Agency: The National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) will anchor and monitor the overarching rollout.
• Digital Oversight: Project progression utilizes advanced GIS-based tracking system mechanisms to enforce high structural transparency.
• Policy Alignment: Strategically converged with PM GatiShakti National Master Plan parameters for seamless multimodal transit.

• Establishment: Formally raised in September 2004 following a critical assessment of airfield vulnerabilities to terrorist strikes.
• Motto: "Defend, Secure, Protect".
• Strength: Operating with an estimated personnel size of 1,000 to 1,500 active commandos.
• Equivalent Counterparts: Operates as the IAF equivalent to the Indian Army’s Para (SF) and the Indian Navy’s MARCOS.

• Airfield Defence: Guarding high-value IAF installations, airbases, and strategic military assets against cross-border incursions.
• Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR): Executing rescue sweeps deep within hostile, contested zones to recover downed military pilots.
• Counter-Terrorism & SEAD: Conducting Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD), hostage rescue, and deep radar destruction missions behind enemy borders.
• Disaster Response: Rendering advanced assistance during national calamities or civil crises.

• Gruelling Training Pipeline: Candidates undergo a rigorous 72-week base course at the Garud Regimental Training Centre, which is widely regarded as one of the longest and toughest special forces selections in India.
• Weaponry Ecosystem: Equipped with cutting-edge firearms, including the Sig Sauer assault rifles, Israeli Tavor TAR-21 variants, Negev Light Machine Guns (LMGs), and Galil sniper rifles.
• Airborne Skills: Personnel are cross-trained in extreme sub-zero mountain survival, advanced combat martial arts, and high-altitude military parachuting.

• Operation Raksh / Rakh Hajin (J&K): A highly successful counter-insurgency operation in Kashmir where Garud commandos eliminated top terrorist networks. This operation earned Corporal Jyoti Prakash Nirala the Ashok Chakra posthumously.
• Pathankot Air Base Attack (2016): Garud commandos served as the frontline line of defence to interdict terrorists and neutralize threat perimeters during the airbase strike.
• Frontline LAC Deployment: Since the geopolitical shifts along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in 2020, Garuds remain deployed on high-altitude peaks stretching from Eastern Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh to defend Indian airspace using Igla air defence systems.

• Nodal Agency: Implemented and funded globally by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).
• Launch Year: Introduced globally by Japan in 2014; India has actively participated since April 2016.
• Indian Track Record: With the induction of the 2026 batch, over 730 Indian students and 100 supervisors have benefited from this exchange.
• Policy Alignment: The initiative directly supports India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which mandates experiential, holistic, and cross-disciplinary international learning.

• Target Demographic: Outstanding high school students (Classes X, XI, and XII) who are 15 years of age or older.
• Gender Breakdown: The 2026 Indian contingent consists of 32 girls and 24 boys selected from government schools.
• Merit-Based Linkage: All 56 selected school students are awardees of the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship (NMMS) Scheme.
• Geographic Spread: The participants represent government institutions across 15 States and Union Territories including Odisha, Haryana, Assam, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and West Bengal.

• Cutting-Edge Exposure: Students visit Japan's premier universities, state-of-the-art corporate R&D centers, and leading scientific research institutes.
• Nobel Laureate Interactions: The curriculum includes attending specialized seminars and lectures delivered directly by Japanese Nobel laureates and top-tier global scientists.
• Hands-on Innovation: Participants engage in high-level stem experiments, scientific workshops, and bilateral peer networking to spark early interest in innovation.
• Brain Circulation: The strategic intent is to encourage "international brain circulation," fostering future diplomatic, academic, and industrial ties between Japan and participating nations.

• Geographical Distribution: The community is heavily concentrated in the Chandel, Chakpikarong, and Moreh sub-divisions of the Chandel district in southeastern Manipur, with a smaller population residing in parts of Myanmar.
• Status: Officially recognized as a Scheduled Tribe (ST) in India.
• Population: According to the 2011 Census of India, the tribe has a recorded population of approximately 24,301 individuals.
• Language: They speak the Anāl language, a Trans-Himalayan / Tibeto-Burman language. Grammatically complex, it utilizes vowel length and tone to mark specific syntactic categories.

• Uju (Community-Managed Forests): These are highly protected, village-adjacent reserve forests. They are collectively supervised by village authorities and elders who carefully regulate resource extraction through decisions passed during annual assemblies.
• Rangkang (Untouched Forest Zones): These represent dense, undisturbed patches of forest situated deep within the jhum (shifting) cultivation terrains. The tribe intentionally leaves these zones completely untouched across generations to allow local ecosystems and wildlife habitats to regenerate naturally.

• Ancient Inhabitants: Historical royal chronicles of Manipur (such as the Puya) document the existence and subjugation of Anal villages by Meitei kings as early as the 16th century (dating back to 1557 AD), confirming them as one of the oldest settled tribes in the region.
• The "Old Kuki" Dispute: During the British colonial era, anthropologists like J. Shakespear misclassified the Anal people as an "Old Kuki" clan. The community has consistently contested this, pointing out that their oral histories record continuous historical friction and warfare with Kuki groups.
• Folklore Integration: The tribe shares deep historical lore with neighbouring communities; an ancient legend at Anal Khullen details a stone-throwing challenge between Anal warriors and the revered Meitei deity Eputhou Wangbarel, who sought the hand of an Anal woman.

• Primary Economy: The tribe's core survival is driven by subsistence farming (agrarian practices) and domestic animal husbandry.
• Religious Paradigm: While the community originally practiced indigenous animism (worshiping ancestral spirits and nature), the overwhelming majority of the modern population has transitioned to Christianity over the last century.

• Scientific Name: Melanochelys tricarinata.
• Family: Belongs to the Geoemydidae family of turtles.
• Sizing: A small to medium-sized turtle, with a maximum straight carapace length of up to 174 mm.
• Behaviour: Entirely terrestrial and secretive; it spends its life foraging on forest floors rather than swimming in deep water bodies.

• Three-Keeled Shell: Its name is derived from three distinct longitudinal yellow ridges (keels) running along its highly domed black or dark brown carapace.
• Camouflage Mechanics: The three ridges break up the turtle’s outline, making it resemble forest debris or dry leaves to hide from predators.
• Body Structure: Features a small, olive-to-dark head with a narrow snout and robust, scaly limbs adapted specifically for land transit.

• Geographical Range: Historically found along a narrow sub-Himalayan belt encompassing Northeastern India, Southern Nepal, Bhutan, and Northern Bangladesh.
• Ecosystem Preferences: Prefers riverine grasslands, moist deciduous tracts, and wet evergreen forests, generally at altitudes below 300 to 500 metres.

• IUCN Red List: Categorised as Endangered (status updated in 2020).
• Wildlife Protection Act (India): Placed under Schedule I, granting it the highest level of legal protection against hunting and trade.
• CITES: Listed under Appendix I, strictly banning international commercial trade.
• Primary Threats: Severe habitat loss due to agricultural expansion, illegal collection for the pet trade, and local exploitation for food.

• Water Temperature: Cultivated strictly in high-altitude, snow-fed ecosystems where the water range stays between 5°C and 25°C.
• Chemical Profile: Demands highly pristine water qualities, with dissolved oxygen levels strictly above 6 mg/L and a pH value between 6.5 and 8.0.
• Primary Fish Species:
  • Rainbow Trout & Brown Trout: Raised as the premier commercial species at altitudes above 1,500 metres.
  • Golden Mahseer & Snow Trout: Indigenous species cultivated at relatively lower hill elevations to support regional biodiversity.
• Species Wealth: India has mapped out more than 278 unique cold-water fish species across its mountain belts.

• Spatial Range: Spans over 5.33 lakh square kilometres of mountainous terrain across the Himalayas, Northeast, and select peninsular hills.
• Jammu & Kashmir: The undisputed national leader in trout production, generating 3,010 MT via the famous Kokernag hatchery and 2,000 private farming units.
• Himachal Pradesh: Ranks second with 1,673 MT of trout, driven by 909 registered trout farmers.
• Uttarakhand: Logged 710 MT of trout production, backed by 2,500 micro-raceways.
• Peninsular Adaptations: States like Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu have successfully set up pilot systems in hill regions like Wayanad and the Nilgiris.

• PMMSY Allocations: Flagship infrastructure projects executed under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) include 5,663 modern raceways, 54 large trout hatcheries, and over 4,600 specialized ponds.
• Advanced Tech Farming: The government is transitioning farmers to space-efficient Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) and microbial-rich Biofloc systems.
• Financial Safety Net: The Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) has approved infrastructure credit lines, alongside extending Kisan Credit Card (KCC) facilities to hill fishers.
• Socio-Economic Impact: The sector currently provides direct livelihood assistance to 23.51 lakh mountain families and covers over 33 lakh fishers under national insurance schemes.

• Startup Solutions: Agritech startups are actively deploying drone-enabled logistics to deliver fresh catch from remote mountain terrains, alongside smart automated feeding mechanisms.
• International Collaborations: India has formalized bilateral agreements with Norway and Iceland to exchange global best practices regarding trout selective breeding, genetic health, and deep-freeze export strategies.

• Nodal Ministry: Established under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• Approval & Dedication: The scheme was approved in October 2018 and dedicated to the nation on January 10, 2020.
• Headquarters: Located in New Delhi.
• Mandate: To provide an ecosystem for Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to combat cybercrimes in a highly cohesive manner.

• National Toll-Free Helpline: Operates the "1930" national helpline number, giving citizens a direct channel to report online financial fraud immediately.
• National Cybercrime Reporting Portal: Manages the Official Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in), allowing users to file centralized complaints.
• CyberDost Handle: Maintains an active public awareness handle on social media platforms to push out real-time digital safety tips.
• Cyber Crime Volunteers Program: Integrates civil society and patriotic tech professionals to report anti-national or illegal digital contents.

• Financial Savings: Saved over ₹8,690 crore of defrauded citizen money across 24.65 lakh registered cases.
• Telecom Interdiction: Successfully blocked more than 12.94 lakh fraudulent SIM cards and 3.03 lakh clone IMEI numbers.
• Suspect Registry Blockades: Flagged over 23.05 lakh criminal bank identifiers and blocked 27.37 lakh first-layer mule accounts, causing the rejection of over ₹9,518 crore in transactions.

• Pratibimb Platform: A sophisticated geospatial mapping system that plots the precise locations of cybercriminals and their active infrastructure grids on a live map for police tracking.
• Samanvaya Platform: Functions as an advanced Management Information System (MIS) data repository to share analytics on interstate criminal linkages.
• Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre (CFMC): A central room housing representatives from major commercial banks, telecom providers, and LEAs under one roof for immediate coordination.

• Establishment: Decreed in 1979 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini following the Islamic Revolution to serve as a loyal ideological counterweight to the traditional regular military.
• Command Structure: Answers directly and exclusively to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, entirely bypassing the regular civilian government.
• Estimated Strength: Comprises roughly 125,000 to 200,000 active personnel.
• Independent Capabilities: Possesses its own distinct ground forces, navy, air force, and an independent intelligence network that operates separately from Iran's official intelligence ministries.

• The Quds Force: The elite external operations arm responsible for unconventional warfare, foreign intelligence, and providing financial and military backing to regional proxies (including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis).
• The Basij Militia: A volunteer paramilitary wing claiming up to 600,000 volunteers, used heavily by the regime to enforce strict religious codes and violently suppress anti-government protests.

• Missile & Nuclear Program: The IRGC acts as the primary custodian of Iran's vast ballistic missile and drone arsenals. It also heavily oversees the security and scientific teams managing the country's nuclear program.
• Asymmetric Warfare: Specializes in fast-attack naval tactics in the Persian Gulf, drone strikes, cyber warfare, and cross-border maritime interdictions.

• Oil Subjugation: It controls substantial portions of the national economy, manipulating nearly 50% to 100% of the revenue flowing from domestic oil markets.
• Corporate Dominance: Owns and operates major firms in multi-billion-dollar fields, including commercial construction, engineering, telecommunications, real estate, and cross-border logistics networks.

• Ischemic Stroke (Most Common): Accounts for roughly 85% of cases. It occurs when a blood clot or fatty plaque blocks an artery supplying blood to the brain.
• Hemorrhagic Stroke: Occurs when a weakened blood vessel in the brain ruptures and bleeds into the surrounding tissue, usually triggered by severe high blood pressure or aneurysms.
• Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA): Frequently referred to as a "mini-stroke." It is a temporary blockage that resolves quickly without causing permanent damage, but serves as a critical warning sign for a major stroke.

• B - Balance: Sudden loss of balance, dizziness, or coordination.
• E - Eyes: Sudden blurred, double, or total loss of vision.
• F - Face: One side of the face droops or goes numb when attempting to smile.
• A - Arms: One arm drift downward or feels completely weak when both are raised.
• S - Speech: Slurred speech or difficulty understanding simple voice commands.
• T - Time: If any of these signs are present, call emergency services immediately—every second counts to save brain cells.

• Global Numbers: Globally, stroke has become the third leading cause of death and disability, with 1 in 4 adults projected to suffer a stroke in their lifetime.
• The "Golden Hour" Crisis: In India, approximately 1.8 million stroke cases occur annually, yet less than 15% of patients reach a specialized hospital within the critical 4.5-hour "golden hour" medical window.
• Fatality Scale: Within developing nations, the one-month case fatality rate for a severe stroke remains high, ranging between 18% and 42%.

• Hypertension: Chronic high blood pressure remains the single largest trigger for both stroke types.
• Metabolic Shifts: High fasting blood glucose, diabetes, and elevated LDL cholesterol.
• Lifestyle Choices: Physical inactivity, high-sodium diets, smoking, and heavy alcohol use.
• Environmental Triggers: Rising exposure to severe ambient air pollution is now recognized as an active cardiovascular threat.

• Thrombolysis Expansion: The 2026 medical guidelines formally endorse Tenecteplase over older drugs as the preferred clot-busting drug due to its faster delivery and better outcomes outside traditional early windows.
• Mechanical Thrombectomy: Advanced, minimally invasive catheter systems are utilized to physically extract large clots directly out of cerebral arteries.
• Mobile Stroke Units (MSUs): Emergency ambulances outfitted with built-in CT scanners and lab arrays are being integrated into transit networks to cut treatment delays by 30 minutes.
• Vagal Nerve Stimulation (VNS): In rehab settings, implanted devices like Vivistim are paired with physical therapy to electrical stimulate neural pathways, helping stroke survivors re-gain upper limb movement.

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