UPSC Current Affairs 04 September 2026

• Purpose: To encourage healthy plantation practices, reward best landscaping management, and lower the carbon footprint of highway development.
• Origin: The award was instituted in 2025 by NHAI, aligning with the mandates of the Green Highways Policy, 2015.
• Who could participate: Entries were open to NHAI field offices, contractors, concessionaires, government bodies, NGOs, and private plantation agencies.

• The Turnout: NHAI received 86 nominations from across India via its online portal (27 for Avenue, 36 for Median, and 23 for Land Parcels).
• Screening: 15 total nominations (5 per category) were shortlisted for the final round.
• Criteria: Evaluation relied on a 100-mark assessment framework where the survival rate of plantations held the highest weightage. Other factors included species diversity, use of native species, pit sizes, and quality of planting material.

• First Prize: Six-Laning of Chilakaluripet Bypass on NH-16 in Andhra Pradesh (RO-Vijayawada).
• Second Prize: Eight-Lane Vadodara–Kim Expressway (Padra-Vadodara section) in Gujarat.
• Third Prize: Gagariya–Bakhasar section (NH-925) and Satta–Gandhav section (NH-925A) in Rajasthan.
• Consolation Prize: Trichy–Karaikudi section of NH-210 (including Trichy Bypass) in Tamil Nadu.

• First Prize: Hyderabad–Yadgiri section of NH-163 (Annojiguda to Raigiri) in Telangana, managed by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA).
• Second Prize: Sanpa–Padra section of the Vadodara–Kim Expressway in Gujarat.
• Third Prize: Varanasi Ring Road Package-I, Phase-I on NH-31 in Uttar Pradesh.

• (This includes specialized greening spaces like clover leaves, interchanges, toll plazas, highway service areas, Loop areas and oxygen parks, etc.).

• Biological Definition: Peptides are short chains of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds. Amino acids act as the fundamental building blocks of life.
• The Size Difference: While proteins consist of several hundred amino acids, a chain is generally classified as a peptide if it contains fewer than 50 amino acids. Extremely small chains (4 to 8 amino acids) are called bio-regulators.
• Biological Text Messages: Unlike vitamins that fuel chemical reactions, peptides function as signalling molecules. They travel through the body to deliver highly targeted "instructions" telling cells exactly how to behave, repair, or grow.

• Metabolism & Weight Loss: Peptides like GLP-1 signal the brain to trigger fullness, slow digestion, and manage blood sugar levels.
• Tissue Repair & Muscle Growth: Fitness enthusiasts use specific peptides to boost growth hormone release, speed up wound healing, and accelerate muscle recovery after strenuous workouts.
• Dermatology & Anti-Ageing: Topical and oral collagen peptides are widely used to stimulate the body's natural collagen production, reduce wrinkles, and improve skin elasticity.
• Approved Medical Drugs: Over 100 peptide-based medications are strictly regulated and prescribed globally. These treat critical conditions like osteoporosis (Teriparatide), severe chronic pain (Ziconotide), and various hormone-sensitive cancers.

• Administration Barriers: Because the human digestive system quickly breaks down peptides, many wellness and medical peptides cannot be taken as simple pills. They must be administered via intravenous/subcutaneous injections, nasal sprays, or targeted skin creams.
• Contamination & Quality Control: Sourcing peptides from unverified online vendors bypasses legal medical scrutiny. Buyers run severe risks of using degraded, poorly stored, or chemically compromised substances.
• Masking Underlying Conditions: Experts worry that individuals self-prescribing unregulated peptides to treat fatigue or joint pain may delay diagnosing serious underlying health issues.

• The Mechanism: It is an open-water fishing method where a huge vertical wall of netting is laid out in a circle to completely encircle a dense school of fish.
• The "Pursing" Process: Once the fish are surrounded, the bottom of the net is drawn tight by hauling a purse line (much like tightening the drawstrings of a laundry bag or purse), trapping the fish inside.
• Scale of Operation: These nets can be massive, often measuring more than 2,000 meters in length and reaching up to 200 meters in depth.
• Target Species: It primarily targets pelagic (midwater) fish that swim in dense schools close to the surface, such as tuna, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies.

• High Efficiency: It is an incredibly effective method for harvesting massive volumes of schooling fish in a single operation.
• No Seabed Contact: Unlike destructive bottom trawling, open-water purse seining does not scrape or damage the seafloor or benthic habitats.
• Low Benthic Bycatch: When executed correctly in the open ocean on single-species schools, it can yield relatively low levels of unintended bottom-dwelling marine bycatch.

• Threat to Traditional Livelihoods: Because mechanised purse seiners scoop up entire shoals of fish rapidly, they leave dwindling stocks for traditional, small-scale fishermen who operate close to the coast.
• Decline of Small Pelagic Fish: The practice is blamed for the severe drop in populations of local favourites, such as oil sardines and mackerel, along India's western and southern coasts.
• Bycatch Risks: When operators use Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs)—floating objects used to attract fish—the nets indiscriminately trap juvenile fish and endangered non-target species like sea turtles, dolphins, and sharks.

• Class & Weight: It belongs to the 300-kg-class airborne stand-off precision-guided munitions.
• Warhead: Equipped with a Mk 81 general-purpose blast-fragmentation warhead containing 125 kg of explosive fill.
• Range: It achieves a distance of 144 km to 180 km when released from an altitude of 12,000 metres at Mach 0.8.
• Design Features: It features a cylindrical body, five aft control surfaces, and mid-body wings that swivel out upon release to provide aerodynamic lift.

• Private-Sector Collaboration: Unusually for an Indian precision weapon, it was not developed by the DRDO. It is jointly developed by the private firm JSR Dynamics (Nagpur) and the state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
• System Split: JSR Dynamics provides the structural body and control systems, while BEL handles the electronics and guidance subsystems.
• Strategic Standoff: Unlike standard free-fall bombs, glide bombs use speed and altitude to travel long distances. This allows fighter jets to strike deeply without entering heavily defended enemy airspace.

• Launch Platforms: The primary testbed is the IAF’s Su-30MKI fighter jet. Future expansion plans include integrating the bomb onto the MiG-29K and Mirage 2000.
• Resilience: It features jamming-resistant satellite navigation to function efficiently in GPS-denied environments.
• Weather Adaptability: It can operate in extreme temperatures ranging from -40°C to +70°C, making it deployable from the icy Himalayas to the Thar Desert.
• Future Arsenal: The Khagantak-243 is part of a larger planned family of glide weapons, which includes the heavier Khagantak-450, 720, and the massive K-1,260 payload bomb.

• Launch Vehicle: GSLV-F17 (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk II).
• Orbit Type: Placed in a high-altitude Geosynchronous Orbit approximately 36,000 km above Earth.
• Payload Fairing: For the first time, a 4-metre diameter ogive-shaped (bullet-shaped) composite payload fairing was used to accommodate the large satellite.

• Weight: 2,367 kg, making it a state-of-the-art heavy imaging spacecraft.
• Nickname: Dubbed India's "Eye in the Sky" or "Hawk Eye" due to its powerful imaging capabilities.
• Core Technology: Equipped with multispectral and hyperspectral cameras capable of continuous imaging across visible, infrared, and thermal bands.
• Resolution: Capable of observing the Indian subcontinent with a spatial resolution of 40 metres.

• Real-Time Monitoring: Unlike Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites that have days of delay before revisits, its geosynchronous position allows persistent, near-real-time imaging.
• Disaster Management: Designed to instantly track natural events like floods, cyclones, and forest fires to enable rapid emergency responses.
• Geopolitical & Border Security: Enhances continuous surveillance over the Indian landmass, oceans, and particularly sensitive border zones.
• Resource Mapping: Tracks structural and environmental changes in agriculture, water bodies, forestry, and glacier configurations.

• What it is: It is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN). It acts as the ultimate global voice on the state of the Earth's atmosphere, oceans, climate, and water resources.
• Origin: It grew out of the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded after the 1873 Vienna International Meteorological Congress.
• Establishment: It was officially established via the WMO Convention on 23 March 1950. This specific day is celebrated globally every year as World Meteorological Day.
• Headquarters: Located in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Membership: It has 193 Member States and Territories (including India).
• Current Leadership: Led by Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

• World Meteorological Congress: This is the supreme body of the organization. It comprises representatives of all member states who meet every four years to decide on general policies, elect leadership, and adopt regulatory frameworks.
• Executive Council (EC): Composed of 36 members, this council meets annually to implement the policies and decisions made by the Congress.
• Secretariat: The administrative hub of the organization, consisting of a dedicated staff managing technical, scientific, and regional coordination.
• Regional Associations & Technical Commissions: Six regional bodies address specific regional concerns, while eight technical commissions govern specialized fields like agricultural meteorology, hydrology, and marine services.

• Data Standardization & Exchange: The WMO ensures that meteorological data is systematically collected, formatted, and exchanged in real-time across national borders.
• Disaster Mitigation: It sets up and improves systems to track and warn nations about extreme hazards like cyclones, droughts, tornadoes, and severe floods.
• Sector Support: It translates climate data into actionable insights for critical global sectors, including agriculture, water management, aviation, and shipping.
• Environmental Monitoring: Beyond daily weather, the WMO tracks atmospheric composition, ozone depletion, greenhouse gas concentrations, and handles early warning models for sudden hazards like volcanic ash and toxic nuclear plumes.

• Core Objective: To provide high-quality coaching and educational resources locally, eliminating the need for rural students to migrate to expensive coaching hubs like Kota.
• Target Areas: Set up across 12 identified senior secondary schools spanning all 8 blocks of the remote Baran district.
• Central Control Room: Operates from a government girls' school in Baran, where expert faculty deliver live, interactive academic lectures broadcasted across the interconnected school network.
• NTPC Collaboration: Supported through corporate social responsibility (CSR), with NTPC installing high-speed internet, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units, and advanced video conferencing systems.
• Solving Faculty Shortages: Seamlessly streams single-source instruction to multiple locations, filling critical vacancies in subjects like mathematics and science.
• Curriculum Focus: Includes regular academic syllabus, general studies, English grammar, speaking skills, and career counselling sessions.
• Empowering Female Students: Directs specialized focus toward girls in classes 10 to 12 to guarantee equal access to competitive exam preparation.

• Parent Scheme: Operates as one of the two main pillars of Mission Shakti (the other being Sambal, which focuses on safety and security).
• Core Focus: Dedicated entirely to the social and economic empowerment of women.
• Key Components & Sub-Schemes:
  • Shakti Sadan: A unified relief and rehabilitation home merging the older Swadhar Greh and Ujjawala schemes for women in distress and trafficking survivors.
  • Sakhi Niwas: Safe, affordable working women’s hostels.
  • Palna: A nationwide network of crèches to support children of working mothers.
  • Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY): Direct benefit cash transfers for pregnant women and lactating mothers.
  • SANKALP (Hub for Empowerment of Women): Dedicated support hubs established at national, state, and district levels to improve digital governance and resource accessibility.

• Establishment: Founded in 1971 as the South Pacific Forum, it was later renamed the Pacific Islands Forum in 2000.
• Status: It serves as the region’s premier political and economic intergovernmental organisation.
• Headquarters: Located in Suva, Fiji.
• The "Pacific Way": Decision-making traditionally operates on a principle of consensus and unanimity to ensure smaller island nations have an equal voice alongside larger neighbours.

1. Australia
2. Cook Islands
3. Federated States of Micronesia
4. Fiji
5. French Polynesia
6. Kiribati
7. Marshall Islands
8. Nauru (Naoero)
9. New Caledonia
10. New Zealand
11. Niue
12. Palau
13. Papua New Guinea
14. Samoa
15. Solomon Islands
16. Tonga
17. Tuvalu
18. Vanuatu

• Core Vision: To foster a resilient Pacific region of peace, harmony, security, social inclusion, and prosperity.
• Climate Change: Acting as a unified global voice to demand stricter international climate action, as these low-lying island states are on the frontlines of rising sea levels.
• Economic Governance: Enhancing regional trade, ocean governance, and sustainable development.
• Strategic Roadmap: The organisation functions under the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, a long-term plan designed to strengthen regional security and collective block-wide autonomy.
• Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF): The PIF established the region's first native financial institution, aiming to raise $1.5 billion to self-fund climate-related disaster recovery and reduce heavy dependency on foreign aid.

• Full Form: Positron Emission Tomography–Computed Tomography.
• How it Works: Uses positron-emitting radioisotopes (like Fluorine-18) attached to a tracer (like glucose/FDG). When positrons collide with electrons in the body, they annihilate and release two gamma rays traveling in opposite directions, which are captured by a ring of hundreds of detectors.
• Anatomical Fusion: The functional PET data is perfectly overlaid with a simultaneous CT scan to map the exact location of abnormal cell metabolism.

• Full Form: Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography–Computed Tomography.
• How it Works: Uses gamma-emitting radioisotopes (like Technetium-99m). The tracer emits a single photon (gamma ray) of radiation, which is picked up by large rectangular detectors that physically rotate around the patient.
• Anatomical Fusion: Combines the single-photon physiological details with a CT scan to clarify and correct for any tissue absorption issues.

Feature	PET-CT	SPECT-CT
Radiation Type	Emits pairs of gamma rays (from positron annihilation).	Emits a single gamma ray photon.
Common Tracer	Fluorine-18 FDG (glucose tracking).	Technetium-99m.
Image Resolution	Significantly higher spatial resolution and contrast.	Poorer contrast and lower spatial resolution.
Scan Speed	Fast (typically 20 to 45 minutes).	Slower (often taking 1 to 2 hours).
Main Clinical Focus	Cancer staging, tumor detection, and microscopic brain lesions.	Bone scans, organ blood flow, and specific cardiac function.
Cost & Availability	Highly expensive with short-lived isotopes.	More affordable and widely accessible.

• Early Detection: They reveal chemical, functional, and biochemical changes in tissues before an anatomical defect or structural change physically appears on standard X-rays or MRIs.
• Pinpoint Localization: The CT component removes the guesswork by showing exactly where a metabolically active disease or tumour is sitting inside the body.
• Better Biopsy and Surgery Planning: Knowing the exact functional borders of a tumour helps surgeons safely target abnormal tissue without harming healthy surrounding areas.

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