UPSC Current Affairs 28 July 2026

• Democratising Knowledge: It replaces expensive individual institutional journal fees with a single, centrally negotiated national subscription.
• Bridging the Urban-Rural Divide: It provides premier global academic materials to institutions in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities that previously could not afford steep access fees.
• National Policy Alignment: The scheme closely executes the mandates of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the "Jai Anusandhan" vision to foster high-impact native research.

• Total Budget Allocation: The central government has allocated ₹6,000 crore for its phase-1 operation spanning three calendar years (2025, 2026, and 2027).
• Open Access Push: It reserves a dedicated ₹150 crore annually specifically to fund Article Processing Charges (APCs), allowing Indian researchers to publish in reputed open-access platforms for free or at discounted rates.

• Vast Resource Pool: Offers digital access to more than 13,000 high-impact journals across 27 broad subject fields, including STEM, medicine, humanities, and social sciences.
• Global Publisher Network: It consolidates packages from 32 major international publishers including apex names like Elsevier, Wiley, Springer-Nature, and Taylor & Francis.
• Massive Beneficiary Base: Targets over 6,400 government-managed institutes (Central/State Universities, IITs, NITs, IIMs, and all medical colleges), reaching 1.8 crore students, faculty, and scientists.

• Nodal Agency: Coordinated entirely by the INFLIBNET Centre (Information and Library Network), an autonomous inter-university wing under the University Grants Commission (UGC).
• Technological Tools: Features an integrated ONOS web portal equipped with "Knowledge Finder" (an open-source search framework) and provides off-campus access via the INFED management federation.
• Seamless Access Mode: Institutes with static IP ranges get direct campus-wide network access without requiring individual student registrations.

• Phase 1 (Recent): Government-funded Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) and central R&D labs.
• Phase 2: Extension of the system to private academic institutions via public-private partnerships.
• Phase 3: Ultimate expansion providing universal gateway access points across public libraries for all citizens.

• Core Aim: To ensure no meritorious student is denied higher education due to financial constraints.
• No Guarantor Needed: It provides completely collateral-free and guarantor-free education loans.
• Coverage Scope: It targets students admitted to the top 860 Quality Higher Education Institutions (QHEIs) based on annual NIRF rankings.
• Budgetary Outlay: The government has allocated ₹3,600 crore (spanning 2024-25 to 2030-31) to support 7 lakh fresh students.
• Massive Adoption: Since its launch, the unified digital portal has successfully processed over 1.12 lakh loans worth more than ₹15,634.78 crore.
• Banking Onboarding: A total of 64 banks (including 12 Public Sector, 20 Private, 25 Regional Rural, and 7 Cooperative banks) have been fully integrated into the portal to maximize rural and tribal outreach.

• Academic Merit: Students must secure admission to eligible QHEIs via merit or open competitive exams.
• Institution Types: Covers top 100 NIRF-ranked institutions, top 101–200 state institutions, and all central government entities.
• Nationality: Open to Indian Nationals, NRIs, and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI).

• Interest Subvention: Provides a 3% interest subsidy during the moratorium period for families with an annual income up to ₹8 lakh (applicable for loans up to ₹10 lakh).
• Credit Guarantee: The Central Government provides a 75% credit guarantee for loans up to ₹7.5 lakh to reduce lending risks for banks.
• Flexible Repayment: Offers a moratorium covering the course period plus 1 year, with a maximum repayment tenure of 15 years.

• Single Window Application: Students use a single Common Education Loan Application Form (CELAF) to apply to up to three banks simultaneously.
• Aadhaar Verification: Uses Aadhaar-based de-duplication to strictly track eligibility and prevent fraud.
• Digital Rupee Payout: Subsidies are disbursed safely into the student's PM-Vidyalaxmi Digital Rupee App (a CBDC digital wallet) and directly credited to the loan account via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

• Launch: Implemented on a pilot basis by the ESIC starting July 1, 2018.
• Core Objective: Acts as an unemployment welfare safety net by offering cash compensation to workers who face involuntary job loss.
• Implementing Body: Managed directly under the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India through the ESIC.

• Compensation Quantum: Beneficiaries receive a financial relief equal to 50% of their average daily wages.
• Maximum Duration: Paid for a maximum period of 90 days.
• Frequency: This is a once-in-a-lifetime relief option.
• Waiting Period: The benefit becomes claimable and due just 30 days from the date of clear unemployment.
• Disbursal Mode: Transferred seamlessly via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) directly into the bank account of the insured person.

• Sector & Cap: Applicable to private-sector employees covered under the ESI Act, 1948 earning a monthly wage of ₹21,000 or less.
• Employment Tenure: The individual must have been in insurable employment for a minimum period of 12 months immediately preceding their layoff.
• Contribution Rule: Must have contributed to the scheme for not less than 78 days within a completed contribution period in those 12 months.
• Nature of Job Loss: The unemployment must be involuntary. It must not stem from personal misconduct, superannuation (retirement), voluntary retirement, or legal lockouts.

• Direct Submission: Workers can submit claims directly via the online portal to the ESIC Branch Office using an affidavit form.
• No Employer Dependency: Claims do not require routing or forwarding through the last employer, ensuring hassle-free distribution.

• Definition: Hepatitis is the medical term for inflammation of the liver tissue, disrupting vital bodily tasks like filtering toxins and storing vitamins.
• Acute vs. Chronic: It is labelled acute if the infection resolves within six months and chronic if it triggers long-term, permanent liver scarring.
• Non-Viral Causes: Beyond infections, the condition can be sparked by heavy alcohol use, toxic drugs, industrial chemicals, or autoimmune disorders where the body attacks its own liver cells.

Type	Main Transmission Route	Severity & Nature	Prevention / Treatment
Hepatitis A (HAV)	Contaminated food and water	Generally acute and mild	Safe preventative vaccine available
Hepatitis B (HBV)	Blood, semen, bodily fluids	Can become a chronic lifelong illness	Highly effective vaccine
Hepatitis C (HCV)	Direct blood-to-blood contact	Highly prone to cause chronic disease	No vaccine; cured by oral antivirals
Hepatitis D (HDV)	Blood (Only occurs alongside HBV)	Severe acceleration of liver cancer	Prevented indirectly via HBV vaccine
Hepatitis E (HEV)	Contaminated drinking water	Mostly acute; high risk for pregnant women	Hygiene focus; limited vaccine availability

• Jaundice: Yellow discoloration affecting the skin and whites of the eyes.
• Excretion Changes: Production of dark-coloured urine and unusually pale or clay-coloured stools.
• Systemic Fatigue: Persistent, overwhelming tiredness and low bodily energy.
• Digestive Distress: Intense nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting.
• Silent Progress: Many individuals display no visible symptoms for years, leaving them unaware of damage until liver failure manifests.

• Cirrhosis: Extensive permanent scarring that gradually stops the liver from functioning.
• Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Chronic strains heavily increase individual risk for aggressive liver cancer.
• Acute Liver Failure: Rapid degradation of liver function requiring immediate intensive therapy or a transplant.

• Definition: It is the most advanced stage (Stage IV) of skin cancer, originating in melanin-producing cells (melanocytes) and actively spreading to other regions of the body.
• Aggressive Nature: Melanoma is uniquely dangerous because it can metastasize relatively early compared to other solid tumours.
• Primary Causes: Severe cellular DNA damage predominantly driven by overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight or tanning beds.
• Common Sites of Spread: Typically targets the lymph nodes, distant skin tissues, lungs, liver, bones, and the brain.

• Physical Signs: Hardened skin lumps, swollen or painful lymph nodes, unexplained weight loss, and chronic fatigue.
• Organ-Specific Symptoms: Shortness of breath (lungs), persistent headaches or seizures (brain), and localized bone pain.
• Primary Risk Factors: A family history of melanoma, fair skin that burns easily, light-coloured eyes, and multiple blistering sunburns during childhood.

• Dual Immunotherapy: Uses immune checkpoint inhibitors (like anti-PD-1 and anti-LAG-3 pairs) to unmask cancer cells so the body's immune system can kill them.
• Targeted Kinase Therapy: Oral drugs targeting specific genetic mutations—such as BRAF or MEK inhibitors—which work effectively in roughly 40-50% of patients carrying these mutations.
• Cellular TIL Therapy: A one-time personalized process where a patient's own T-cells are harvested from the tumour, multiplied by the billions in a lab, and re-infused to attack the cancer.
• Local Intervention: Surgery and targeted radiation therapy remain crucial for relieving local tumour pressure or palliation.

• Full Form: PRAXIS stands for Planetary Rings Autonomous EXploration with In-situ Sampling.
• Agency: Conceptualized and developed by scientists at NASA, spearheaded by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

• Ring Science: It aims to answer fundamental questions about how planetary rings form, how they evolve over time, and what their individual particles are made of.
• Target Reach: While primarily targeting Saturn’s dense rings, the technology can expand to explore the fainter rings of Uranus and Neptune, as well as centaurs like Chariklo and Chiron.

• AI-Powered Brain: Due to the time delay in sending signals from Earth to the outer solar system, the spacecraft uses built-in Artificial Intelligence to make instant, autonomous choices.
• Bio-Inspired Robotics: The system is built with collision avoidance mechanics and bio-inspired features modelled after angling and predatory movements (like a chameleon catching a fly) to seize moving space matter.
• In-Situ Analysis: The spacecraft will not return samples to Earth. Instead, it uses miniaturised onboard instruments to immediately test particle size, porosity, and composition in space.

• "Grazing" the Planes: To avoid getting destroyed by millions of fast-moving chunks of ice and rock, the spacecraft will not fly directly into a ring. It will cruise just above or graze the ring plane.
• Touch-and-Go Manoeuvres: It uses a long, deployable boom to reach down, tap a target millimetre-to-centimetre-sized particle, and scoop a sample from a safe distance before moving to another gap in the rings.

• Identity: The CRPF is India's largest Central Armed Police Force (CAPF).
• Ministry: It functions directly under the authority of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• Headquarters: It is headquartered in New Delhi.
• Motto: Its guiding motto is "Service and Loyalty".

• Origin: It was initially raised by British India as the Crown Representative's Police at Neemuch (Madhya Pradesh) on July 27, 1939, to help princely states maintain public order.
• Rename: Following India's independence, it was renamed the Central Reserve Police Force on December 28, 1949, under the parliamentary CRPF Act.
• Visionary: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Home Minister of India, conceptualised its multifaceted role to suit the internal security needs of a democratic nation.

• Crowd & Riot Control: Assists state administrations in managing severe public disturbances and riots.
• Counter-Insurgency: Deployed extensively to combat militancy in Jammu & Kashmir and tribal insurgencies in Northeast India.
• Anti-Naxal Operations: Acts as the primary security force tackling Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) across affected states.
• Democratic Security: Serves as the designated nodal agency ensuring safe, free, and fair conducting of Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections.
• VIP & Installation Protection: Secures selected high-profile dignitaries, parliament, and critical infrastructure.
• Disaster & Peacekeeping: Actively assists in rescue/relief operations during natural calamities and participates in UN Peacekeeping Missions.

• Rapid Action Force (RAF): Raised in 1992, this zero-response wing specialises in anti-riot operations and handling communal unrest.
• Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA): Established between 2008–2011, this elite unit specializes in jungle warfare to combat Naxalites.
• Mahila Battalions: The CRPF holds the historic distinction of raising the world's first all-women paramilitary battalion in 1986.
• Signal Battalions: Highly trained technical branches providing secure and integrated communication infrastructure across harsh operation terrains.

• Hot Springs Ambush (1959): Ten CRPF personnel laid down their lives fighting Chinese troops in Ladakh on October 21, which is now commemorated nationwide as Police Commemoration Day.
• Sardar Post Defence (1965): A small contingent successfully repulsed a heavily armed Pakistani brigade attack in Kutch on April 9, celebrated annually as Valour Day (Shaurya Diwas).
• Parliament Attack (2001): Played a decisive role in neutralizing terrorists who attempted to storm the Indian Parliament building.

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