UPSC Current Affairs 26 May 2026

• Establishment: It was incorporated as a non-profit Section 8 company on January 4, 2022.
• Official Launch: Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially unveiled the Council during the Global AYUSH Investment and Innovation Summit in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• Nodal Status: The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) formally notified it as the nodal Export Promotion Council for the sector on July 31, 2023.
• Administrative Anchors: The body operates directly under the Ministry of Ayush and receives structural support from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

• Mandated Sectors: It is tasked with scaling and overseeing the exports of India's indigenous healthcare streams: Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa, and Homeopathy.
• Exporters Capacity Building: It assists small-to-large businesses with global product registrations, foreign compliance regulations, and trade dispute resolutions.
• Quality Assurance: The Council actively anchors the Ayush Quality Mark programme to standardise, authenticate, and improve global confidence in Indian products.
• MSME Facilitation: Collaborates with the Ministry of MSME to offer first-time micro and small enterprise exporters a 75% reimbursement fee waiver on registration.

• "Shrinkflation" Tactics: Manufacturers sell random sizes like 880 ml and 910 ml in identical-looking pouches. Buyers assume they are getting a standard 1-litre or 1-kg pack but actually pay a higher per-litre cost for a lesser quantity.
• Ineffective Unit Pricing: Even though "unit sale price" (price per ml or gram) is mandatory, average retail consumers rarely calculate decimals or fractions at the grocery aisle.
• Compromised Competition: Compliant companies are forced to adopt irregular sizes just to stay financially competitive against shifty packaging tactics.

• Small to Medium: 200 ml, 500 ml, 1 litre, 2 litres, 3 litres, 4 litres, and 5 litres.
• Bulk Commercial: 15 litres (or 15 kg) and 20 litres (or 20 kg).
• Exemptions: Tiny sachet packs below 200 ml may remain free from standardisation to ensure poor or daily-wage consumers can buy affordable quantities.

• Mustard / Rapeseed oil
• Soybean oil & Sunflower oil
• Palm oil / Palm olein
• Groundnut, Rice bran, Corn, Cottonseed, and Sesame oils []

• Universal Application: The rule applies equally to domestically produced and imported edible oils to keep the trade field fair.
• Transition Time: Companies will likely get around three months to update their logistics, recalibrate automated machinery, and clear their old inventories.

• Massive Technology Transfer: ICMR officially licensed out 41 groundbreaking public health innovations to the private sector for commercial manufacturing and widespread deployment.
• National Conclave Launch: The event established India's first structured, national-level platform explicitly dedicated to showcasing biomedical tech and fast-tracking intellectual property licensing.
• High-Value Vaccine Transfers: The event featured the transfer of critical, indigenously developed medical breakthroughs, including a Recombinant Malaria Vaccine, a Salmonella Vaccine, and a Shigella Vaccine.
• Strategic Roadmap Releases: The Union Ministry officially unveiled two pivotal ecosystem documents: the 'Indian Biomedical Patent Landscape Report' and the comprehensive ‘Technology Compendium’.
• High-Level Governance Backing: The initiative was inaugurated by Union Minister of State Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav alongside Prof. Gobardhan Das, an official member of NITI Aayog.

• Nodal Agency: The platform is entirely run by the Innovation and Translational Research (ITR) Unit of ICMR, under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• Inter-Ministerial Alliance: Developed under the direct guidance of NITI Aayog, in active partnership with the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
• Ultimate Goal: Designed to securely shift India’s pharmaceutical and MedTech sector away from a cost-driven generic model into an innovation-led global powerhouse ahead of the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.

• Zero-Cost Support: Operating as a 100% free digital service providing full lifecycle assistance for researchers who cannot afford heavy legal fees.
• End-to-End Intellectual Property Care: Offers expert assistance with initial patentability assessments, patent drafting, domestic filing, prosecution, and maintenance.
• Paperless Facilitation: Utilises an entirely automated online portal to process Expressions of Interest (EoI) and seamlessly link research institutions to commercial entities.
• Target Beneficiaries: Provides complete operational backing to ICMR Intramural Institutes, Extramural Grantees, independent Medical Colleges, and DPIIT-registered startups.
• Special Infrastructure Access: Connects qualified commercial partners directly with world-class, government-managed ICMR biomaterial repositories for advanced trial validations.

• The government will implement strict local sourcing rules under the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) List-II to eliminate dependence on Chinese imports and force upstream domestic manufacturing.

• The Core Function: A solar photovoltaic (PV) cell is a specialized semiconductor device that converts photons from light directly into electrical current using the photovoltaic effect.
• Material Composition: Over 95% of globally deployed solar cells are made of crystalline silicon. However, active commercial R&D is shifting focus to next-generation Perovskite thin-film structures to increase efficiency thresholds.
• Cell to Module Pipeline: A single solar cell produces a small amount of voltage. Manufacturers link roughly 60 to 72 cells together to form a standard commercial or residential solar module (panel).

Parameter	Recent Status & Rules
The Massive Supply Mismatch	India has built a robust panel assembly capacity surpassing 193 GW for modules (ALMM List-I), but its raw cell manufacturing capacity sits at just ~7 GW, creating a near-term domestic supply crunch.
ALMM List-II Rules	Starting June 1, 2026, all government-supported, open-access, and net-metering solar deployments must mandatorily buy solar cells from the MNRE approved domestic list.
Tariff Barriers Against Imports	To insulate local factories from cheaper alternatives, the government keeps a strict 25% Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on solar cell imports alongside a 30% anti-dumping duty specifically targeting Chinese cells.
The Ingot & Wafer Roadmap	The government's localization push will move even deeper upstream; MNRE has already mandated that locally made solar ingots and wafers must be used starting June 1, 2028.
Conglomerate Capital Infusion	Major industrial companies are racing to bridge the capacity gap. Tata Power has commissioned a 4.3 GW cell plant, while Reliance Industries is constructing a massive 20 GW fully integrated facility in Gujarat.

• Palynofacies Analysis: Scientists studied tiny, structurally preserved organic particles trapped in ancient sedimentary rocks to categorize the exact types of debris.
• Spectroscopic Verification: The team utilized advanced Raman Spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy to spot Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), which act as definitive chemical "fingerprints" left behind exclusively by high-heat combustion.
• Fire Intensity Distinction: The new protocol enables geologists to successfully differentiate between High-Intensity (h-PAL-CH) and Low-Intensity (l-PAL-CH) palaeofire-derived microcharcoal particles for the first time.

• Shaping the Past: These ancient fires were not isolated incidents; they actively shaped Earth's prehistoric vegetation distribution, carbon cycles, and coal-forming environments during the Permian period.
• Atmospheric Drivers: Research indicates that ancient fires were heavily intensified by drastically high atmospheric oxygen levels during that geological era, which made prehistoric forests hyper-flammable.
• Sea Level Dynamics: The stratigraphy (rock layering) proved that well-preserved fire signatures occurred when sea levels dropped (regressive phases), whereas rising sea levels (transgressive phases) degraded and oxidized the charcoal fragments.

• Long-Term Carbon Storage: Understanding how organic plant matter chemically transformed during ancient fires provides critical data on how the Earth's crust stores carbon over millions of years.
• Refining Climate Predictions: Because modern human-recorded climate data is short, these Permian coal basinal archives serve as a natural baseline to test and refine predictive climate models.
• Ecosystem Forecasting: It allows modern ecologists to project how today's vulnerable ecosystems, like tropical peatlands, will react to the unprecedented spike in modern mega-fires.

• The Organism: Rumen flukes are parasitic digenean trematodes (flatworms) that primarily target domestic and wild ruminants like cattle, buffaloes, sheep, and goats.
• Dual-Stage Habitats: Inside the animal, the adult parasites live in the rumen (stomach), while the highly destructive immature larval forms colonise the small intestine.
• The Snail Vector: The parasite cannot spread directly between cattle; it mandatorily requires an intermediate aquatic or mud snail host to mature its larvae.
• Mode of Transmission: Livestock accidentally ingest the infectious larval stage (metacercariae) while drinking contaminated water or grazing on wet vegetation near water bodies.

• The Root Cause: While adult worms in the stomach are relatively harmless, massive numbers of immature larvae in the small intestine cause severe, life-threatening duodenitis (tissue erosion).
• "Plug Feeding" Damage: Larvae physically bury into the intestinal walls to extract nutrients, a process known as plug feeding, which severely alters the intestinal mucosa.
• Key Warning Signs: Infected animals display severe watery diarrhoea, rapid weight loss, dullness, and submandibular oedema—a distinct fluid swelling under the jaw popularly called "bottle jaw".
• Economic Impact: Even in non-fatal cases, the infection drastically causes poor feed conversion, reduces milk yields, and impacts meat mass.

• Targeted Medication: The disease is combated using specialized anthelmintic medicines (dewormers) formulated to flush out parasitic worms.
• Pasture Management: Preventing outbreaks requires fencing off wet, swampy grazing zones and controlling local snail populations near drinking troughs.

• The Classification: The Oreshnik (meaning "hazel tree" or "hazelnut tree" in Russian) is an experimental hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).
• Lineage & Origin: Military experts believe the weapon is structurally derived from Russia's RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), likely configured by modifying a booster stage to suit medium ranges.
• Striking Range: It is designed with an operational range between 3,000 km and 5,500 km, effectively placing every capital in continental Europe within its crosshairs.
• Dual-Capable Payload: The system is fully nuclear-capable but can also be deployed with conventional or inert kinetic warheads.

• Hypersonic Speed: The missile travels at a blistering speed of Mach 10 (approx. 12,000–13,000 km/h).
• Reaction Window: Due to its extreme speed, the missile can bridge the distance from launch facilities in southern Russia or Belarus to Ukrainian cities in under 15 minutes, leaving almost no reaction time for local forces.
• Anti-Air Defeat: Russian President Vladimir Putin claims the weapon is completely immune to modern Western-supplied air defence networks. Analysts agree that intercepting a maneuvering Mach 10 system is mathematically improbable with current systems.

• Separating Blocks: The Oreshnik's most lethal feature is its Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) capability.
• Impact Multiplier: A single missile carries up to six independent re-entry blocks, and each block can release sub-warheads (yielding up to 36 total impact points). This lets it rain destruction across multiple distinct targets or widen its footprint.
• Kinetic Bunker Buster: Even when fired without explosive or nuclear payloads, the sheer kinetic energy generated by the blocks slamming into the earth allows it to split open and destroy deeply buried underground bunkers. Putin has noted that grouped conventional Oreshnik strikes can rival the destruction of a tactical nuclear weapon.

• Historical Genesis: Established in 1921 under the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms (Government of India Act, 1919), making it India's oldest parliamentary committee.
• Membership Size: Consists of exactly 22 members—15 elected from the Lok Sabha (Lower House) and 7 from the Rajya Sabha (Upper House).
• Election Method: Members are elected annually from amongst MPs through the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.
• The Minister Ban: To protect the panel's integrity and independence, no sitting Government Minister can be elected as a member.
• Opposition Chair Convention: Since 1967, a strict parliamentary convention mandates that the Speaker of the Lok Sabha must appoint an Opposition party member as the PAC Chairman.

• The Financial Watchdog: Serves as the primary parliamentary monitoring body checking that public funds are spent legally, prudently, and efficiently.
• Auditing CAG Reports: Its central task is to dissect the technical audit reports submitted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Appropriation Accounts, Finance Accounts, and revenue receipts.
• Beyond Legality: It does not just verify receipt tallies; it scrutinizes government spending from the lenses of wisdom, economy, and propriety to expose corruption, structural wastage, or administrative inefficiency.
• Sanctioning Excesses: If a ministry spends money beyond its approved budget, the PAC assesses the rationale and advises Parliament on whether to legalize the excess expenditure under Article 115 of the Constitution.

• Post-Facto Nature: The PAC acts as a post-mortem body—it can only audit funds that have already been spent and deployed by executive agencies.
• Non-Binding Recommendations: The corrective measures and structural reforms it suggests in its final tabled reports hold advisory value and are not legally binding on the government.
• No Policy Interference: The committee lacks any authority to change or vote against broader, high-level political or state policies directly; it can only point out structural implementation flaws.

• Definition: A series of joint, U.S.-brokered treaties aimed at normalizing diplomatic, economic, and security relations between Israel and Arab/Muslim-majority nations.
• Timeline: The foundational declaration and initial bilateral pacts were signed at the White House on September 15, 2020, during Donald Trump's first presidential term.
• The Name: Named after the biblical patriarch Abraham, revered as a common ancestor in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, symbolizing regional brotherhood.

Original 2020 Signatories	Subsequent Adoptions	2025–2026 Entrants & Targets
United Arab Emirates (UAE): First Gulf nation to open full embassies and direct flights to Israel.	Morocco: Joined in Dec 2020 in exchange for U.S. recognition of its sovereignty over Western Sahara.	Kazakhstan: Formally acceded to the Accords in November 2025.
Bahrain: Normalized ties alongside the UAE, focusing heavily on maritime defence and economic cooperation.	Sudan: Signed the general declaration, but its local bilateral ratification remains delayed by internal instability.	Active Targets: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt (whom Trump wants to re-affirm commitments).

• Strategic Shift: Marked the first peace pacts between Israel and Arab nations since Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994). It bypassed the historical "inside-out" approach that required solving the Palestinian issue before Arab-Israeli normalization.
• Security Alliance against Iran: A core underlying driver is creating a unified regional shield against Iran's geopolitical influence, boosting shared military intelligence and defence tech exports.
• Economic Integration: Broadens cross-border tourism, technological exchanges, financial investments, and direct trade pipelines across the Middle East.

• The Blended Corridor: The Accords provided the exact geopolitical bridge for India to strengthen ties with both Arab nations and Israel simultaneously.
• The I2U2 Grouping: This diplomatic framework directly birthed the I2U2 Grouping (India, Israel, the UAE, and the United States), establishing massive joint initiatives in food security, clean energy, and space exploration.

• 20 Essential Services Covered: The automated WhatsApp chatbot will immediately process 20 critical, citizen-centric workflows spanning five key government departments.
• Targeted High-Demand Documents: The interface allows citizens to directly request and track income, caste, EWS certificates, ration card updates, revenue records, and official affidavits.
• Bilingual Accessibility: To drive maximum inclusion across rural and urban centers, the chatbot is fully localized to operate in both Gujarati and English.
• End-to-End Processing: The platform is built not just for tracking or informational updates, but to support the entire lifecycle from initial application to formal digital certificate issuance.
• Integrated Grievance Redressal: Aside from certificate generation, citizens can file administrative complaints and track real-time resolution status right inside the chat window.

• Dismantling Administrative Bottlenecks: High application volumes frequently clog local government offices; mobile automation removes physical file backlogs and streamlines processing.
• Bypassing Digital Divide Barriers: While many rural citizens find standard internet browser portals difficult to navigate, most possess basic smartphone literacy to manage a WhatsApp chat.
• Time and Cost Optimization: It frees common citizens from standing in long queues at Jan Seva Kendras (public service kiosks), saving travel expenses and cutting out unauthorized middlemen.
• Robust Last-Mile Delivery: Leveraging Meta’s high-availability messaging infrastructure enables secure, instant document verification links to reach remote village communities seamlessly.

• Est. 1913: Founded during the construction of New Delhi, it was originally known as the Imperial Delhi Gymkhana Club.
• Premium Real Estate: Sprawls across 27.3 acres at 2, Safdarjung Road, placing it in the heart of Delhi's highest-security administrative zone.
• Elite Membership Base: Houses a massive registry of roughly 14,500 members, consisting primarily of high-ranking civil servants, military officers, politicians, and corporate elites.
• Past Administration Battles: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs took over operational control of the club's board via NCLT orders in April 2022 following prolonged internal legal disputes over membership fraud.

• Invoking Lease Clauses: The government activated Clause 4 of the original lease agreement, which grants the President of India the legal authority to reclaim leased land at any point if it is required for a "public purpose."
• Targeting Institutional Privilege: The push aligns with a broader political effort to dismantle colonial-era privilege, with government representatives arguing that public-owned lands should not serve to subsidise restricted, elitist aristocracies.
• History of Mismanagement: Government agencies have long accused the club of financial irregularities, opaque membership rules, and drifting away from its core mandate of promoting sports.

• Lack of Due Process: Representatives argue that 13 days is an unfeasibly brief window to shut down a century-old heritage institution supporting over 14,000 members.
• Livelihood Crisis: A sudden shutdown directly threatens the immediate livelihoods of over 600 in-house staff members and employees.
• Recent Financial Turnaround: The club notes that since a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) intervention in 2022, it has been operating under a government-appointed administrator panel and successfully turned its previous ₹12 crore deficit into a ₹9.25 crore profit.

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