UPSC Current Affairs 26 July 2026

• Location: Situated near Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities.
• Nodal Agency: Managed and preserved under the strict custodianship of the Archaeological Survey of India.
• Ancient Names: Referred to in various sacred historical texts as Rishipatana, Isipatana, and Mrigadava (the Deer Park).

• The First Sermon: It is one of the four most sacred pilgrimage sites in Buddhism. It marks the exact location where Gautama Buddha delivered his first sermon to his first five disciples.
• Turning the Wheel: This historic teaching is spiritually known as the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta or the "Turning of the Wheel of Dharma," which effectively established the global Buddhist Sangha.
• Multi-Religious Ties: Beyond its foundational Buddhist roots, the site also holds profound historical links to Jainism and Hinduism.
• Acreage of Excavation: Artifacts span 16 centuries of history, reflecting unbroken patronage from the pre-Mauryan era (5th–4th century BCE) up through the 12th century CE.

• Dhamek Stupa: A massive, intricately carved structure built in the 5th century CE that marks the exact spot of the Buddha's first sermon.
• Chaukhandi Stupa: A terraced brick structure built to commemorate where the Buddha first reunited with his five companions after achieving enlightenment.
• The Ashokan Pillar: Erected by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE. Its legendary Lion Capital is the direct inspiration for the National Emblem of India, while its Dharma Chakra is featured on the Indian National Flag.
• Mulagandha Kuti Vihara: A Buddhist temple housing a stunning golden Buddha statue, sitting near a Bodhi Vriksha grown from a branch of the primary Mahabodhi tree in Sri Lanka.
• Sarnath Archaeological Museum: Established in 1904, it functions as India's oldest site-specific museum and safely exhibits the original Ashokan Lion Capital.

• Identity: A highly revered 19th-20th-century saint from Maharashtra, India, considered by followers to be an incarnation of Lord Ganesha and Dattatreya.
• First Appearance: He first appeared as a young man in Shegaon (Buldhana district, Maharashtra) on 23 February 1878 (Magha Vadya Saptami), which is celebrated annually as Prakat Din.
• Discovery: A resident named Bankatlal Agrawal first spotted him eating leftover rice grains from a discarded leaf platter, resting in a state of supreme spiritual absorption.
• Mahasamadhi: After spending 32 years blessing devotees in Shegaon, he took Samadhi on 8 September 1910. A magnificent temple stands over his shrine today.

• The Mahamantra: He continuously chanted "Gana Gana Ganat Bote," which signifies that God dwells identically within every particle of creation and the human soul.
• Path of Action & Devotion: He emphasized a simple life, practicing what one preaches, performing selfless duty (Karma), and surrendering the fruits of actions to the divine.
• Equality: He strongly advocated that divinity resides within every human being rather than in material wealth or social stratification.

• Igniting the Chillum: He famously lit a clay smoking pipe (chillum) without fire, using only his spiritual energy.
• Reviving the Dead: The canonical biography credits him with saving Janrao Deshmukh from the brink of death.
• Water & Nature Control: He miraculously filled a dry well with water and withstood thousands of aggressive honeybee stings completely unaffected.
• Healing Powers: He is said to have cured leprosy and other physical illnesses through his simple blessings.

• Sacred Text: His life, interactions, and philosophies are meticulously recorded in the holy book Shri Gajanan Vijay Granth, authored by the saint-poet Das Ganu Maharaj.
• The Wari Tradition: Every year, the Shegaon Palkhi (palanquin procession) travels hundreds of kilometers across Maharashtra to join the grand Ashadhi Wari pilgrimage at Pandharpur, drawing millions of marching devotees.
• Social Reforms: The Shri Sant Gajanan Maharaj Sansthan trust actively handles massive humanitarian services today, supporting healthcare, education, and rural welfare.

• Full Form: Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice.
• Core Aim: To advance the constitutional mandate of equal access to justice under Articles 14, 21, and 39A of the Indian Constitution, while supporting UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions).
• Nodal Ministry: Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice.
• Financial Outlay: ₹255 crore funded entirely via 100% Gross Budgetary Support from the Central Government.
• Implementation Timeline: Co-terminus with the XVI Finance Commission cycle from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2031.
• Nyaya Setu AI Chatbot: A generative AI-powered, voice-first chatbot operating seamlessly in 22 official Indian languages to simplify legal processes.
• RAG Architecture: Employs a Hybrid Retrieval-Augmented Generation layout to guarantee information is safely extracted from statutory legal textbooks, minimizing AI misinformation or hallucination.

1. Tele-Law (Reaching the Unreached): Connects marginalized citizens to panel lawyers via the Toll-Free number 14454 or the mobile app. It relies heavily on local Common Service Centres (CSCs) and deploys Nyaya Sahayaks (legal facilitators) in Aspirational Blocks.
2. Nyaya Bandhu Programme: Encourages pro-bono legal service where registered advocates voluntarily offer free assistance to eligible marginalized groups. It also establishes Pro-Bono Clubs across law schools to foster a social service mindset in students.
3. Legal Literacy & Legal Awareness Programme (LLLAP): Builds grassroot partnerships and utilizes Prasar Bharati, workshops, and webinars to educate citizens on fundamental legal rights.
4. VIDHI-Sanjeevani (New Feature): A newly integrated centralized real-time dashboard meant to systematically track delivery metrics and progress. It sets out to reach 50 lakh beneficiaries across five years.

• Nodal Ministry: Conceived and monitored by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India.
• Nodal Agency: Implemented and maintained nationally by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
• Timeline: Approved in 2009 under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) with an initial corpus of ₹2,000 crore.
• Nature: Classified as a Mission Mode Project (MMP) to digitise manual police procedures.

• Interconnectivity: Linking police stations horizontally and vertically with higher supervision offices, state data centers, and the National Data Center.
• Efficiency: Eliminating manual and redundant record-keeping to save active police hours.
• Citizen-Centric Services: Facilitating transparent public applications like filing online complaints, checking case progress, and background verifications.

• National Database: Centralises real-time data on crimes, criminals, habitual offenders, missing persons, and stolen vehicles.
• Police Computerisation: Digitises critical processes like Complaints, FIRs, Investigations, Case Diaries, Chargesheets, and Court Appeals.
• Analytical Tools: Provides data-driven crime-mapping, profiling, and trend analysis based on criminal modus operandi.

• The CCTNS framework directly acts as the first pillar of the data-sharing Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) initiative.
• Seamlessly exchanges data with the remaining pillars: e-Courts, e-Prisons, e-Forensics, and e-Prosecution.

• Missing persons search registry.
• Instant generation of Vehicle No Objection Certificates (NOCs).
• Verification tracking for domestic help, tenants, or passports.
• Access to specialized portals like the Online Cyber-Crime Reporting Portal.

• Location: Situated at the foot of the sacred Arunachala Hill in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu.
• Deity: Dedicated to Lord Shiva, worshipped here as Arunachaleswarar (or Annamalaiyar), along with his consort Unnamulai Amman (Parvati).
• Agni Lingam: It represents Fire, standing as one of the highly revered Pancha Bhoota Stalam (five temples signifying the primordial elements of nature).

• Massive Complex: Spans over 25 acres, ranking among the largest functional Hindu temple complexes in India.
• Towering Gopurams: Features 9 massive gateway towers (gopurams). The eastern Raja Gopuram stands exceptionally tall at 66 metres (217 feet) across 11 storeys.
• Historical Origins: Initially constructed by the Chola dynasty in the 9th century, it was heavily expanded by the Hoysala kings and the Vijayanagara Empire. It includes a famous 1,000-pillared hall built during the Vijayanagara era.

• Girivalam Pilgrimage: Millions of pilgrims perform a 14-km barefoot circumambulation around the Arunachala Hill, an act believed to cleanse past karma. This draws maximum crowds during full moon (Pournami) nights.
• Karthigai Deepam: The premier annual festival where an enormous holy beacon is lit at the apex of the 2,688-foot Arunachala Hill, representing Shiva's infinite pillar of fire.

• Establishment: Founded in 2005, hosting its inaugural summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• ASEAN Centrality: It is an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led initiative where ASEAN holds the driving seat and core leadership.
• No Permanent Headquarters: As a collaborative annual forum, it operates without a static headquarters, rotating events across host countries.

• 18 Member Nations: Comprises the 10 ASEAN member states alongside 8 dialogue partners: India, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the United States.
• Economic Magnitude: Represents approximately 53% of the world's population and generates nearly 60% of global GDP.

• Environment and Energy
• Education
• Finance
• Global Health & Pandemic Diseases
• Natural Disaster Management
• ASEAN Connectivity

• Founding Member: India has actively participated since the forum's inception in 2005.
• Act East Policy: India perceives the EAS as an essential institutional pillar of its Act East Policy and its overarching vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.
• Maritime Ties: Mirroring its summit agenda, India designated 2026 as the ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation to scale up blue economy and regional disaster response initiatives.

• Nature of Scheme: It is a Central Sector Scheme spanning four years (2023–2027).
• Financial Outlay: The total sanctioned financial budget stands at ₹7,210 crore.
• Implementing Agencies: Jointly executed by the Department of Justice (Ministry of Law & Justice) and the e-Committee of the Supreme Court of India.
• Primary Objective: Transitioning Indian judiciary into an entirely paperless, digital, and online court ecosystem.

• Legacy Record Digitisation: Complete electronic storage of past, pending, and live case portfolios.
• Advanced Infrastructure: Expansion of smart video-conferencing units across 9,000 courts, 500 jails, and 700 district hospitals.
• Emerging Technology Use: Embedding Artificial Intelligence (AI), Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and data analytics to predict litigation trends and assist judges in prioritising cases.
• Citizen and Lawyer Access: Saturating court premises with e-Sewa Kendras to assist underprivileged and digitally excluded citizens.
• Accessibility Focused: Implementing the accessible S3WaaS web framework to ensure visually and physically challenged individuals navigate legal assets seamlessly.

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