UPSC Current Affairs 04 October 2026

1. Classical Assamese: To be established at Tezpur University, Assam.
2. Classical Bengali: To be established at Visva-Bharati University, West Bengal.
3. Classical Marathi: To be established at Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute (Deemed to be University) in Pune, Maharashtra.
4. Classical Pali: To be established at the Central University of Odisha, Odisha.
5. Classical Prakrit: To be established at the Central University of Gujarat, Gujarat.

• Advanced Academic Research: Providing dedicated institutional platforms for high-level scholarly work, publications, and deep academic engagement in the respective languages.
• Preservation and Digitisation: Documenting and archiving ancient texts and manuscripts. This ensures long-term conservation of India's rich textual heritage while making materials accessible to modern global researchers.
• Wider Knowledge Dissemination: Facilitating open access to the unique literary traditions, cultural knowledge systems, and historical evolution associated with these languages.
• Boosting Employment & Academics: Strengthening regional educational setups, thereby creating new avenues for careers in academia, archiving, translation, and digital humanities.

• Distance & Transmission: The link spanned a 5.56 km distance using QNu Labs’ precise Pointing, Acquisition, and Tracking (PAT) system to align optical signals through open air.
• Key Generation Rate: The setup generated secure cryptographic keys at a steady rate of 230 to 260 bits per second (bps).
• Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER): The trial maintained an exceptionally stable and low error margin below 5%, which safely satisfies global security standards.
• Night Trial Execution: The field trial was executed at night to eliminate ambient interference from direct sunlight, ensuring maximum accuracy for the sensitive light particles (photons).

1. Hardware-Based Security (QKD): Generated via QNu Labs' Armos QKD device, which distributes secret keys using the laws of quantum physics. Any attempt by a hacker to intercept or measure the photons instantly alters their quantum state, exposing the eavesdropper immediately.
2. Software-Based Security (PQC): Integrated directly into BISAG-N’s post-quantum cryptography-enabled Vedic Kavach platform. This platform relies on advanced mathematics designed to be completely secure against hacking attempts from both current supercomputers and future quantum computers.

• Network Resilience: By combining both layers, the communication remains fully encrypted and secure even if weather conditions or physical barriers temporarily disrupt the open-air quantum channel.

• Gateway to Satellite Communication: Free-space QKD is mandatory for communicating with space. This experiment paves the way for establishing secure quantum data links between orbiting satellites and Indian ground stations.
• Strategic & Defense Security: Unhackable communication channels are vital for military operations, national security agencies, critical government pipelines, and protecting digital financial transactions against future decryption threats.
• Self-Reliance (Atmanirbhar Bharat): Using domestically developed hardware and software protocols cements India's position alongside global leaders (like China) that are aggressively deploying satellite-based secure quantum grids.

• Governing Body: It functions under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
• Headquarters: Located in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
• Leadership: The bureau is headed by the Narcotics Commissioner of India.
• Regional Control: Operations across the three legal opium-growing states—Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh—are individually supervised by a Deputy Narcotics Commissioner.

• Licensing & Regulation: The CBN is the sole authority responsible for licensing farmers to cultivate opium poppy for medicinal and scientific use.
• Cultivation Tracking: Bureau officials manually measure and test-check individual farms to ensure no farmer exceeds their allocated land limit.
• Procurement & Processing: CBN procures the entirety of the raw opium gum produced by farmers at state-set rates and transfers it directly to Government Opium Factories located in Ghazipur (UP) and Neemuch (MP).
• International Compliance: The agency regulates the international trade of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and precursor chemicals under the framework of United Nations Conventions and the NDPS Act, 1985.

• Trafficking Prevention: Beyond state cultivation checkups, the CBN acts as a frontline intelligence agency to investigate, intercept, and prosecute drug syndicates engaged in illegal trafficking.
• Major Operations: A notable recent enforcement action includes Operation Vajra, where the CBN dismantled a sprawling inter-state counterfeit pharmaceutical and illicit manufacturing facility in Bihar.

• The Issuing Entity: The bond was issued by NABKISAN Finance Limited, a non-banking financial subsidiary of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
• Capital Mobilised: The issuance successfully raised ₹180 crore from capital markets.
• Strong Market Demand: Indicating robust investor appetite for social-impact debt, the public issue was oversubscribed 1.8 times.
• Key Financial Terms:
  • Tenure: The instrument is structured as a 5-year long-term bond.
  • Coupon Rate: It carries an annual interest (coupon) rate of 8.10%.
  • Maturity: The bond is scheduled to mature in September 2031.
• Highest Credit Ratings: It secured the highest domestic credit safety ratings of CRISIL AAA (Stable) and CARE AAA (Stable).
• Strategic Partnerships: The international non-profit organization Water.org acted as the Technical Advisor and Knowledge Partner for the transaction.
• Target Audience & Core Objective:
  • The entire ₹180 crore proceeds are strictly earmarked to expand access to safe drinking water, personal hygiene setups, and sanitation solutions.
  • The funds will be deployed exclusively in rural and underserved communities across India.
  • The endgame is to elevate daily health outcomes, strengthen rural livelihoods, and enhance the overall quality of life.
• Broader Economic Impact: According to the Ministry of Finance and NABARD officials, this initiative transitions the WASH sector away from its traditional reliance on public grants and institutional budgets, demonstrating how capital market instruments can be bankable mechanisms for driving scalable social development.

• Full Form: Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs.
• Launch Date: It was officially launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 4, 2025.
• Nodal Ministry: Managed entirely under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
• Primary Target: To transform 1,000 Government ITIs into modern, high-tech, and industry-aligned training hubs over a span of 5 years.
• Financial Outlay: A massive budget of ₹60,000 crore, structured as a centrally sponsored scheme with shared funding from the central government, state governments, and industry partners.

• Component I (Hub-and-Spoke Model for ITIs): Upgrades 1,000 Government ITIs. It sets up 200 Hub ITIs, where each hub acts as a mentor and resource share center for an average of four Spoke ITIs (totalling 800 Spokes). Hubs feature advanced labs, incubation centers, and placement cells.
• Component II (Capacity Augmentation for NSTIs): Upgrades five National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) into sector-specific National Centres of Excellence. These are located in Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kanpur, and Ludhiana.

• Shift to Industry-Led Training: Moves vocational education away from pure government-driven policy to active corporate management. Upgraded ITIs are governed through Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) where corporate entities hold a 51% majority ownership.
• Curriculum Modernization: Introduces 31 new-age courses mapping to emerging sectors like advanced manufacturing, green mobility, electronics, Artificial Intelligence, and logistics.
• Training of Trainers (ToT): Prioritizes the advanced skill refinement of instructors at the NSTI level to match modern economic demands.

• NSTI Chennai: Partnered with Singapore.
• NSTI Kanpur: Partnered with France.
• NSTI Bhubaneswar: Partnered with Australia.
• NSTI Hyderabad: Bound to a joint intent declaration with Germany.

• Institutional Mapping: Out of the 1,000-target ITIs, 850 ITIs have been identified for redevelopment.
• Financial Approvals: Strategic Investment Plans worth ₹1,237.58 crore have been approved for physical clusters in states like Odisha, Gujarat, and Telangana.
• State Cooperation: 32 States and Union Territories have successfully established active State Steering Committees to coordinate with local industries.

• What is it? TAPAS-1 (Thermal Access Platform for Analytics & Solutions) is India’s first commercial private thermal-imaging nanosatellite payload, built as a modular, 1.5-kg CubeSat.
• Developed By: Created by SatLeo Labs, an Ahmedabad-based startup co-founded in 2023.
• Core Technology: Uses Long-Wave Infrared (LWIR) and Thermal Infrared (TIR) sensing to act as an "orbital thermometer," capturing heat emissions and surface temperature variations day and night.
• Orbit & Lifespan: Deployed into a 500-km Sun-Synchronous LEO with a baseline lifespan of 3 years.
• Primary Objective: Validates SatLeo Labs' proprietary thermal sensing hardware and data pipelines in orbit.

• Urban & Disaster Management: Maps Urban Heat Islands (UHI) for climate-resilient planning and detects early signs of forest fires or landfill methane build-ups.
• Agriculture & Environment: Monitors agricultural stress, droughts, and glacier melt.
• Commercial Value: Secured over $52 million in Letters of Intent from weather firms and city corporations.

• Constellation Plans: Serves as the foundation for TAPAS-2 and the flagship PYRO Constellation (10–15 microsatellites by 2028–2029).

• Location: Situated in the northern part of Bengaluru, Karnataka, at the junction of Bellary Road (NH-7) and the Outer Ring Road (ORR).
• Area: Spans a vast area of approximately 150 to 192 acres.
• Drainage Ecosystem: It forms an integral part of the Hebbal Valley drainage system, handling runoff from a 31.59 sq. km catchment area and forming a cascading network with the Mathikere and Nagawara lakes.
• Nature: It is a seasonal urban waterbody that typically recedes during summer months and fills up entirely during the monsoon season.

• Founding: Historically attributed to Kempe Gowda, the founder of Bangalore, who created it in 1537 alongside two other lakes by damming natural valley systems using bunds.
• Older Roots: Epigraphic evidence indicates the area is much older than 1537. The discovery of the Bhoopasandra inscription (dated to the 8th century CE) proves that human settlements and religious activities existed near the lake bund roughly 1,300 years ago.

• Avian Habitat: The lake is a premier bird-watching spot in Bengaluru, hosting numerous local and migratory birds.
• Key Bird Species: Notable species spotted here include the Spot-billed pelican, Eurasian spoonbill, Crested Serpent Eagle, Baillon's Crake, River Tern, Shoveller, Pintail, and the Indian Spot-billed duck.
• Artificial Ecosystems: Two artificial islands were constructed during late-20th-century restoration phases to serve as safe nesting sites for birds and support a sustainable island ecosystem.

• Degradation: Over recent decades, the lake's condition suffered significantly due to severe water pollution, raw sewage inflows, plastic dumping, and unauthorized encroachments.
• Restoration Measures: The current restoration focuses on scientific desilting (partially backed by World Bank funding for city lakes) to enhance water storage, constructing improved inlet silt traps, and reinforcing peripheral bunds to reduce surrounding urban flood risks.

Download Pdf