Daily Current Affairs

The Government of India constituted the AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). AIGEG is a high-level inter-ministerial body designated as the apex body within India’s AI governance framework, bringing together expertise from technology, economics, public policy, and national security.

• Approach: Whole-of-Government — ensures alignment among ministries, regulators, and institutions for a coherent national AI governance framework.
• Objective: Ensure AI development is not concentrated in a handful of firms; aligned with Viksit Bharat 2047 and ‘AI for All’ vision.
• India AI Governance Guidelines: Released during the AI Impact Summit 2026 (held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, 19–20 February 2026); anchored in seven Sutras including Trust, Innovation, Accountability, and Sustainability.
• TPEC: Technology and Policy Expert Committee — provides inputs on global AI trends, risks, and regulatory needs.

India’s patent filings touched a record high of 1,43,729 in FY 2025-26, marking a rise of 30.2% compared to 1,10,375 in FY 2024-25, as announced by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. India has now emerged as the world’s 6th largest patent filer.

• Legal basis: Patents Act, 1970; a patent is granted for 20 years from the date of filing; governed under Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• Domestic contribution: Over 69% of patent applications filed domestically — indicating rising indigenous innovation.
• State leaders: Tamil Nadu recorded the highest filings, followed by Karnataka and Maharashtra.
• Drivers: Growth driven by Startup India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.
• Significance: Reflects India’s transition from ‘Made in India’ to ‘Invented in India’.

The National Cadet Corps (NCC) launched a nationwide Cyber Security Capacity Building Programme in collaboration with the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT). The initiative aims to build ‘Cyber Cadets’ equipped to counter modern digital threats, supporting Digital India and the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).

• NCC established: Under NCC Act, 1948, on the recommendation of the H.N. Kunzru Committee.
• NCC structure: Tri-Services organisation — Army, Navy, and Air Force; under Ministry of Defence; headed by Director General; world’s largest uniformed youth organisation.
• NIELIT: Under Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY); focuses on IT and electronics training and certification.
• Significance: Builds cyber awareness among youth; aligns with India’s National Cybersecurity Policy; supports Digital India and NSQF.

China has escalated maritime tensions by deploying floating barriers and naval vessels to blockade the disputed Scarborough Shoal — called Huangyan Island by Beijing and Panatag Shoal / Bajo de Masinloc by Manila — in the South China Sea, deepening the ongoing Philippines-China territorial dispute.

• Scarborough Shoal: Triangular coral atoll and strategically significant fishing ground in the South China Sea; ~120 nautical miles west of Luzon, Philippines; ~470 nautical miles from China’s coast.
• Philippines’ claim: Asserts the shoal lies within its 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea).
• China’s claim: Asserts sovereignty through the Nine-Dash Line — a sweeping maritime boundary covering most of the South China Sea.
• 2016 PCA ruling: The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) rejected China’s maritime claims and ruled its blockade unlawful under international law; China does not recognise the ruling.
• Significance: Remains a key flashpoint for sovereignty and fishing access in the South China Sea.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) officially uplisted both the Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) and the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) to the Endangered category on its Red List of Threatened Species on 9 April 2026. Climate change is the primary driver of both downgrades. A third species — the southern elephant seal — was moved from Least Concern to Vulnerable.

• Emperor penguin: Moved from ‘Near Threatened’ to ‘Endangered’; population projected to halve by the 2080s due to sea-ice decline; lost ~10% of population (over 20,000 adult birds) between 2009 and 2018; world’s largest penguin species.
• Antarctic fur seal: Moved from ‘Least Concern’ directly to ‘Endangered’ — a two-category jump; population shrank from ~2.187 million (1999) to ~944,000 (2025) — a decline of over 50%; driven by krill depletion due to warming oceans.
• IUCN: HQ — Gland, Switzerland; manages the Red List of Threatened Species — world’s most comprehensive conservation status database; total species assessed: 172,600+; threatened with extinction: 48,600+.
• Key threat: Climate change causing early sea-ice breakup, food scarcity for krill (seals’ primary food source), and pup survival failure.
• India link: Antarctica monitoring is relevant to India’s polar research programmes under NCPOR (National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research).

Recent studies published in Science Advances (Portmann et al., 2026) have warned that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is declining and may be approaching an irreversible tipping point. The research projects a ~50% weakening of AMOC by 2100 — 60% more severe than previous model-only estimates — after correcting for model biases in South Atlantic salinity.

• What is AMOC: A large-scale ocean circulation system in the Atlantic Ocean; moves warm surface water northward and cold deep water southward; functions as a global ocean conveyor belt redistributing heat between the equator and poles.
• Type: Thermohaline circulation — driven by differences in temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline).
• Evidence of weakening: Consistent weakening over the past two decades; western boundary measurements show up to 90% of weakening linked to western boundary circulation changes.
• Possible impacts of collapse: Release of 47–83 gigatonnes of CO₂; extra −0.2°C global warming; Arctic cooling up to 7°C; Antarctic warming up to 6°C; sea level rise on US East Coast; droughts across Africa.
• Monitoring tools: Mooring arrays (fixed ocean instruments); Ocean Bottom Pressure (OBP) data; ESA’s Swarm mission.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to manufacture and market generic oral Semaglutide Tablets in 3 mg, 7 mg, and 14 mg strengths for the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Additionally, Dr. Reddy’s had earlier launched injectable semaglutide under the brand name ‘Obeda’ — India’s first DCGI-approved generic semaglutide injection, priced at Rs 4,200 per month.

• Semaglutide: Anti-diabetic and anti-obesity medication for Type 2 diabetes, weight management, and cardiovascular risk reduction; belongs to GLP-1 (Glucagon-Like Peptide-1) receptor agonist class; mimics the GLP-1 hormone to enhance insulin secretion, delay gastric emptying, and suppress appetite.
• CDSCO: Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation; established under Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940; under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
• Patent context: Novo Nordisk’s core semaglutide patent expired in March 2026, enabling generic production.
• Significance: Generic availability aids India’s battle against rising Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), making treatment accessible at far lower cost.

The South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) — a weak spot in Earth’s magnetic field located above the South Atlantic Ocean, stretching between South America and southern Africa — is actively splitting into two distinct zones, adding a new layer of complexity for satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).

• What is the SAA: A region where Earth’s inner Van Allen radiation belt dips closest to Earth’s surface; caused by a tilt and offset in Earth’s magnetic field relative to its rotational axis.
• Magnetic weakness: Reduced magnetic intensity in this region allows high-energy charged particles from space to penetrate closer to Earth.
• Radiation exposure: Satellites passing through the SAA experience increased radiation — higher risk of system glitches and hardware damage.
• Nickname: Called the ‘Bermuda Triangle of Space’ due to its reputation for causing satellite anomalies and electronic upsets.
• New development: SAA is splitting into two distinct lobes, making radiation exposure patterns more complex for space missions.
• Scientific monitoring: ESA’s Swarm mission continuously tracks changes in Earth’s magnetic field and the SAA’s evolution.

Cambridge researchers developed a stable hafnium-oxide memristor that may significantly reduce AI energy consumption. Memristors are electronic devices that regulate current flow while remembering past charge flow — described as the fourth fundamental circuit element alongside the resistor, capacitor, and inductor.

• Key feature: Non-volatile — retains data when power is removed; ideal for instant-on storage systems.
• Biological mimicry: Hafnium-oxide memristors mimic biological synapses — storing and processing in the same unit — reducing the Von Neumann bottleneck (separation of memory and processing in conventional computers).
• Energy impact: Can reduce AI energy use by up to 70%.
• Applications: Brain-like (neuromorphic) computing, compact memory, smart IoT devices, aerospace electronics, health wearables, and secure hardware systems.
• Von Neumann bottleneck: The performance limitation caused by the need to shuttle data back and forth between a processor and separate memory — memristors overcome this by co-locating memory and computation.