UPSC Current Affairs 26 October 2026

• Establishment: The award was instituted in 1988 to honour the legacy of the prominent Swedish theoretical physicist Oskar Klein.
• Organisers: It is awarded annually by Stockholm University alongside the Nobel Committee for Physics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
• Purpose: It recognises individuals who have made distinguished and foundational contributions to the field of physics.
• Prestige: It is considered one of the highest global honours in theoretical physics. Past recipients include legendary scientists like Stephen Hawking, Peter Higgs, Steven Weinberg, and Chen-Ning Yang.

• Current Role: He serves as the ICTS-Infosys Madhava Chair Professor at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS-TIFR) in Bengaluru.
• Academic Background: He is an alumnus of the prestigious Presidency College in Kolkata, the University of Calcutta, and IIT Kanpur.
• Core Research: He is globally celebrated as a primary architect of modern string theory, a framework attempting to unify quantum mechanics and general relativity into a single theory of quantum gravity.
• Award-Winning Contributions: The medal specifically honours his groundbreaking work on S-duality (showing that separate string theories are different descriptions of the same underlying framework), the precise counting of black hole entropy, and string field theory.
• Other Major Honours: Beyond the Oskar Klein Medal, Professor Sen has won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics and the Dirac Medal, and has been decorated by the Government of India with the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.

• The Family: Both plants belong to the Rubiaceae family, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family.
• The Genus: The genus Ophiorrhiza is economically important as many species contain camptothecin (CPT), an alkaloid widely used in modern anti-cancer drugs.
• The Researchers: The plants were found during field surveys by Krishna Chowlu, Renthlei Lalnunfeli, and Dr. Vinay Kumar Sahani, representing the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) Arunachal Pradesh Regional Centre and Madras Christian College.

• Etymology: Named after "Shidi", the traditional name for Gandhigram village used by the local Lisu (Yobin) indigenous community where the specimens were gathered.
• Physical Traits: It is an erect, perennial herb reaching up to one metre in height.
• Flowers & Foliage: Features pale green leaf undersides and tubular flowers that transition from a white base to a pale pink middle and rose-pink mouth.
• Distinction: Visually similar to Ophiorrhiza wallichii but stands out due to its larger habit, presence of both axillary and terminal inflorescences, longer peduncles, and a vesicular stigma.
• Habitat: Found thriving in damp, shaded forest environments near streams and slopes at elevations ranging between 1,100 and 2,000 metres.
• Conservation: Currently known from only three locations spanning a small area of occupancy (around 12 sq. km); it has been provisionally assessed as Endangered due to habitat degradation from shifting cultivation.

• Etymology: Formally named after the current Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu.
• Physical Traits: It is closely related to Ophiorrhiza himadrica but differs significantly through its taller stature and larger leaves.
• Flowers & Foliage: Features distinct leaf margins and displays beautiful light pink to purplish flowers.

• Biodiversity Landmark: This dual discovery highlights the Eastern Himalayas—and particularly Arunachal Pradesh—as a critical global biodiversity hotspot that requires ongoing conservation.
• Medicinal Scope: While many plants in this genus are used traditionally to treat snake bites, ulcers, and wounds, researchers note that the specific medicinal values of these two newly found species are yet to be fully evaluated.

• Active Driver Assistance: AEBS is a core component of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).
• Autonomous Intervention: It uses a network of forward-facing cameras, radar, or LiDAR to track the path ahead.
• Accident Mitigation: If a driver fails to react to an imminent crash with a vehicle, pedestrian, or cyclist, the system takes over to apply the brakes autonomously.

1. Warning Phase: When sensors calculate an oncoming Time-to-Collision (TTC) risk, the car triggers visual, audio, or haptic alerts (like dashboard lights or steering vibrations).
2. Pre-Braking Phase: If the driver does nothing, the car pre-charges the brakes, increases hydraulic assistance, or gives a quick, sharp brake tap to prompt driver intervention.
3. Emergency Braking Phase: If a collision becomes unavoidable, the system automatically triggers heavy deceleration (at least 5 m/s² under UN ECE standards) to bring the car to a full stop or significantly reduce the impact speed.

• European Union: Made AEBS mandatory for new commercial trucks in 2015 and extended it to all new passenger cars by May 2024.
• Japan: Enforced strict legal mandates for all new passenger cars starting in 2021.
• United States: Standardised basic AEB in more than 95% of new cars via a voluntary automaker agreement running up to 2022.
• China & UK: The UK requires it as standard, while over 60% of new passenger vehicles sold in China already carry the technology.

• Target Specificity: Designed mostly to spot moving objects like other vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists.
• Inanimate Obstacles: AEBS deliberately ignores general inanimate structures like walls or crash barriers in complex conditions to avoid sudden, false emergency braking.
• Driver Override: The system yields if it detects the driver is actively steering, accelerating, or braking defensively.

• Identity: KVM is a non-profit civil society action group and registered charitable trust.
• Establishment: Founded in March 2005 by environmental activist Umendra Dutt.
• Headquarters: Based out of Jaitu in the Faridkot district of Punjab, India.
• The Backstory: The movement originally formed in the late 1990s as a response to the devastating environmental and health crises (such as skyrocketing cancer rates) caused by the Green Revolution's excessive chemical farming.

• Ecological Restructuring: Moving Punjab away from its rigid, water-intensive wheat-paddy monoculture toward diversified, chemical-free agriculture.
• The "Triangle of Life": Grounding their work in the interconnectedness of sustainable farming, pure food, and public health.
• Resource Preservation: Protecting the state's fast-depleting groundwater, restoring soil organic carbon, and preserving indigenous biodiversity.

• Mass Farmer Training: KVM has trained over 30,000 farmers in natural farming techniques, permaculture, and biological pest management.
• Farmer Field Schools: Set up more than 1,000 localized training hubs and 100 Model Farm Schools for hands-on, peer-to-peer learning.
• Seed Sovereignty: Conserves over 100 varieties of traditional crops, native plants, and vegetables across a network of roughly 300 family/farmer seed banks.
• Millet Revival: Actively promotes the cultivation and consumption of heritage millets (like Bajra, Jowar, Raagi, and Kodra) to restore dietary diversity.
• Direct-to-Consumer Markets: Created Kudrati Kisan Haats (Natural Farmer Markets) across various towns in Punjab to let organic farmers sell directly to urban consumers, cutting out exploitative middlemen.

• Kitchen Gardens: Motivated over 6,000 rural women (including many Dalit women) to cultivate organic kitchen gardens.
• Entrepreneurship: Transformed thousands of housewives into self-reliant entrepreneurs producing and selling organic food products like home-made pickles, juices, and preserves.
• Quality Assurance: Operates under the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS)—a locally focused organic certification process that covers hundreds of farmers and over 1,000 acres of land.

• The Adi Kavi: He is revered as the Adi Kavi (the first poet of the Sanskrit language) for composing the very first Sanskrit stanza (shloka).
• Author of the Ramayana: He is the original author of the foundational Hindu epic, the Valmiki Ramayana, which consists of 24,000 verses divided into seven cantos (Kandas).

• Early Life: According to popular Hindu mythology, his birth name was Ratnakar, and he initially lived as a feared highway robber to support his family.
• Meeting Sage Narada: His life transformed drastically after an encounter with the celestial sage Narada Muni, who made him realise the severe karmic sins of his actions.
• Origin of the Name 'Valmiki': Narada initiated him into chanting the name of Lord Rama (initially starting with "Mara" to reverse into "Rama"). Ratnakar meditated so intensely for years without moving that a massive anthill (Valmika in Sanskrit) grew over his body. Emerging from it spiritually reborn, he was named Valmiki.

• The Catalyst: While bathing in the Ganges River, he witnessed a hunter ruthlessly kill a male crane (Krauncha) while it was mating with its partner.
• The Verse: Overwhelmed by deep grief and anger, Valmiki spontaneously cursed the hunter in a perfectly metered rhythm. This grief-induced utterance became the world's first formal Sanskrit Shloka.
• Divine Instruction: Lord Brahma then appeared to Valmiki, blessing him with complete cosmic vision and directing him to use this new poetic format to write the life story of Lord Rama.

• A Contemporary Character: Valmiki was not just a narrator; he is an active character within the epic.
• Guardian of Sita: When Lord Rama banished Goddess Sita, she took refuge at Maharishi Valmiki’s ashram.
• Guru to Lava and Kusha: Under his care, Sita gave birth to her twin sons, Lava and Kusha. Valmiki raised them, taught them archery, and tutored them to sing the 24,000 verses of the Ramayana.

• Social Harmony: His life and writings are highly celebrated as a testament to reform, proving that any individual can completely transform their life through devotion and right action.
• Promoting Dharma: His depiction of Lord Rama established the ideal framework for human virtues, familial duties, and righteous governance (Ramrajya).

• Full Name: SAMHiTA stands for South Asian Manuscript Histories and Textual Archive.
• Literal Meaning: In Sanskrit, the word 'Samhita' translates to "collection" or "compilation".
• Primary Objective: It focuses on creating a comprehensive relational database and digital archive of ancient Indian and South Asian manuscripts kept in libraries and repositories located outside of India.

• Implementing Body: The project is being executed by the India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi.
• Financial Support: The initiative operates with direct grant assistance from the Government of India and is backed by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
• Platform Integration: Data collected under this framework is integrated into PANDiT (Prosopographical Database of Indic Texts and Records), a public digital archive detailing South Asian intellectual history.

• First Partner: Colombo's Gangaramaya Temple is the very first institution in Sri Lanka to partner with the project.
• The Blueprint: An initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in July 2026, leading up to the project's ground execution in October.
• Scope of Work: A dedicated team of local experts is currently digitising 100 ancient palm-leaf manuscripts preserved at the temple.
• Target Timeline: The first phase of digitisation is scheduled for completion by the end of November 2026.

• Preserving Wisdom: The target manuscripts contain foundational knowledge concerning regional philosophy, religious traditions, ancestral languages, and cultural practices.
• Shared History: The archive underlines the deep, centuries-old civilisational and Buddhist connections between India and Sri Lanka.
• Future Scaling: Beyond Gangaramaya Temple, the project aims to expand and encourage other historical and religious repositories across Sri Lanka to secure their textual archives digitally.

• Manufacturer: Developed by JSC NPO Molniya, a subsidiary of Russia's Tactical Missiles Corporation.
• Design Philosophy: Built specifically as a high-quantity, budget-friendly weapon to complement Russia's more advanced and highly expensive ("exquisite") systems like the Kh-101 and Kalibr cruise missiles.

• Dimensions: Measures approximately 3.5 meters (11 feet) in length with a wingspan of roughly 3 meters.
• Fuselage & Materials: Built using lightweight carbon fiber and glass fiber reinforced composite materials. Notably, several of its structural parts are manufactured using 3D printing technology to keep costs low and production fast.
• Propulsion: Powered by a Russian-made R500 turbojet engine (produced by Reynolds LLC). It is launched from a mobile ground-based platform using a solid-propellant booster before the main jet engine takes over.
• Payload: Carries a relatively small but destructive warhead configuration of either 50 kg or 100 kg.

• Speed: Reaches high subsonic top speeds of 800 km/h (approx. 500 mph). This makes it significantly faster than Russia’s primary jet-powered drones, such as the Geran-5.
• Range: Capable of striking targets deep inside enemy territory with a maximum operational range of 1,200 kilometers (745 miles).
• Flight Profile: Highly adaptable flight paths. It can fly at ultra-low altitudes to evade enemy radar detection or climb to a maximum altitude of 6 kilometers (3.7 miles).

• Navigation: Driven by a Chinese-made inertial navigation system paired with a 16-channel Kometa satellite navigation module.
• Foreign Components: Its internal architecture relies heavily on commercially available foreign tech, prominently featuring 35 distinct US-manufactured electronic microcomponents.

• Air Defence Exhaustion: Because they are cheap to mass-produce, Russia plans to procure them in large numbers (with reports indicating targets of over 1,000 units). Firing them in swarms can easily overwhelm and deplete Ukraine's highly expensive Western air defence interceptors, like the Patriot system.
• Easy Deployment: Unlike heavy military infrastructure, these compact missiles do not require drone ports or specialized runways and can be launched flexibly from basic ground setups, or potentially adapted for helicopters and heavy UAVs.

• Position: As of October 26, 2026, the storm lay centered over the east-central and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal.
• Coordinates: It is located roughly 650 km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and 610 km southeast of Gopalpur (Odisha).
• Movement: The system is moving west-northwestwards at a speed of approximately 15 km/h.

• Rapid Intensification: The IMD forecasts that the storm will turn into a severe cyclonic storm by midnight on October 26, and further escalate into a very severe cyclonic storm on October 27.
• Landfall Schedule: The cyclone is expected to make landfall along the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam during the forenoon of Wednesday, October 28, 2026.
• Wind Speeds: At the time of landfall, sustained wind speeds are predicted to range between 115–125 km/h, with aggressive gusts reaching up to 140 km/h.

• Heavy Rainfall: Extremely heavy rain is forecast for coastal districts of north and central Andhra Pradesh, as well as southern Odisha, raising severe localized flooding and crop damage risks.
• Marine Warning: The seas are extremely rough; fishermen have been strictly advised to suspend operations and avoid venturing into the Bay of Bengal.
• Electoral Disruption: The Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission is monitoring the storm closely, as its aftermath may disrupt the scheduled municipal elections on November 1.

• Evacuations: State governments have started moving thousands of vulnerable families from low-lying coastal areas to safer shelters.
• School Closures: Districts in the projected high-impact zones have declared safety-related school closures.
• Response Teams: Odisha has preemptively mobilised over 300 disaster response teams to manage rescue and relief tasks.

• Proposed by Bangladesh: The name 'Arnab' (pronounced Ornab) was contributed by Bangladesh.
• Meaning: In Bengali, the name translates to "ocean" or "sea".
• Naming Framework: It belongs to the pre-designated sequential list managed by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the UN ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones. (Note: A weaker weather system in September 2026 was briefly anticipated to take this name, but it failed to reach official cyclonic intensity, leaving the name 'Arnab' to be formally assigned to this current October storm).

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