Daily Current Affairs

President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated Granth Kutir at Rashtrapati Bhavan, a scripture library aimed at preserving India’s literary heritage across its 11 classical languages. It houses about 2,300 books and 50 rare manuscripts written on palm leaf, bark, cloth, and paper.

The collection covers subjects such as epics, philosophy, linguistics, history, governance, science, and devotional literature. It explicitly replaces colonial-era texts with curated works rooted in indigenous knowledge systems.

The initiative supports the vision of Gyan Bharatam Mission under the Ministry of Culture, dedicated to the systematic survey, documentation, conservation, and digitisation of India’s vast manuscript heritage.

The Government launched a digital climate atlas, the Atlas of Climate Adaptation in Indian Agriculture (ACASA-India), marking 15 years of the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) programme.

Developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Borlaug Institute for South Asia, ACASA-India is designed to support location-specific, data-driven adaptation planning to safeguard agri-food systems from climate stress. It synthesises 15 years of NICRA research outputs to guide future climate-risk investments.

Key achievements include development of over 2,660 climate-tolerant crop varieties and contingency plans for 650 districts.

The Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region laid the foundation stone for the Rs 80 crore Agarwood Value Chain Development Scheme.

In India, it grows wild in the Northeast, especially in Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur.

The resin is produced as a defence mechanism when trees are infected by a type of mold (Phaeoacremonium species). The resinous wood is used as incense, for medicinal purposes, and the pure resin in distilled form is used as an essential oil and perfume component.

The Government notified rules for utilisation of Environmental (Protection) Fund (EPF) to ensure penalties collected under environmental laws are used for pollution control.

The EPF is enabled through the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, which decriminalised minor environmental offences but retained monetary penalties.

The fund is built from penalties/compensation imposed under the Air Act, Water Act, and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

MoEFCC will administer the fund with dedicated Project Management Units at Centre and States. CPCB online portal enables tracking of allocation, utilisation, and project outputs, with CAG audit for accountability.

Permitted uses include pollution control, site remediation, monitoring systems, lab strengthening, institutional capacity building, and clean-tech adoption.

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) released a synthesis report on air pollution sources in the National Capital Region, mandated by the Supreme Court to resolve conflicting datasets and policy paralysis.

• Agricultural fertilisers and livestock excreta – account for 77-80% of ammonia emissions that drive secondary particle formation
• Seasonal variation – combustion sources drive winter pollution; crustal dust dominates summer months
• Winter PM2.5 concentrations – average nearly 35 times the WHO’s annual safe exposure limit of 5 µg/m³

Scientific consensus validates a regional ‘airshed approach’ over ineffective city-specific bans.

NITI Aayog released three landmark reports outlining decarbonisation roadmaps for India’s cement, aluminium, and MSME sectors.

Cement Roadmap: Production projected to rise sevenfold to 2,100 million tonnes by 2070. Target to reduce carbon intensity from 0.63 tCO2 to 0.09-0.13 tCO2 per tonne by 2070.

Aluminium Recommendations: Shift to Renewable Energy Round-the-Clock (RE-RTC) short-term, adopt small modular reactors medium-term, and integrate CCUS long-term.

India’s urban noise levels are rising sharply, but monitoring systems still treat noise as a nuisance rather than a measurable public health threat.

• Routine urban sound levels – around 65-75 dB(A) in monitored areas
• Road traffic – primary driver exceeding 70 dB(A)
• Honking-driven peaks – can reach approximately 80 dB(A) in dense corridors
• National monitoring network – covers only approximately 82 fixed stations (including 26 in Delhi)

Reports indicate a substantial gap between the intended and actual outcomes of the Advanced Chemistry Cell Production Linked Incentive (ACC-PLI) scheme.

Key Targets:

• Setting up 50 GWh of battery cell manufacturing capacity by 2026
• Building a local battery supply chain (cathode, anode, electrolyte) to reduce import dependence
• Generating over one million jobs

Scheme Requirements:

• Maximum subsidy – approximately Rs 2,000 per kilowatt-hour linked to actual battery sales
• Minimum investment – Rs 1,100 crore required
• Domestic value-addition targets – 25% within two years; 60% within five years

Indonesia’s main island of Java has been hit by a massive landslide in which at least 8 people have been reported killed.

Geography:

• North – Java Sea lies to the north with Borneo across it
• South – Part of the Indian Ocean
• Northwest – Sumatra lies across the Sunda Strait

Formation: Java was created by volcanoes when the Australian Plate slid under the Sunda Plate.

Historical significance: It was the center of powerful Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, later ruled by Islamic sultanates, and became the main part of colonial Dutch East Indies. Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital city, is on Java’s northwest coast.

For the first time, the Tamil Nadu forest department has begun a study on the rare mammal species Madras Hedgehog (Paraechinus nudiventris) at the Theri forests in the district.

• Behaviour – Nocturnal species that curls into a ball to protect itself from danger
• Predators – Foxes, jackals, and mongooses
• Habitat – Dry scrublands, thorn forests, grasslands, and edges of farmlands
• Distribution – Found only in peninsular India across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and parts of Karnataka
• Diet – Insects such as beetles, ants, earthworms, and termites, apart from plants

Of the 17 hedgehog species worldwide, India is home to three: Indian Long-eared hedgehog, Indian hedgehog, and Bare-bellied (Madras) hedgehog.

A new flowering plant species named Strobilanthes riteshii has been formally recorded from Arunachal Pradesh. It belongs to the family Acanthaceae and was discovered during recent floristic surveys at Chayangtajo in the East Kameng district.

• Habitat – Grows along roadsides on open hill slopes, often near small waterfalls and streams within evergreen forest patches
• Flowering period – August to October
• Fruiting period – September to December

The species has been named in honour of Dr. Ritesh Kumar Choudhary, an Indian plant taxonomist at the Agharkar Research Institute, recognising his contributions to plant taxonomy and molecular systematics.

When scientists tested human blood samples collected from 2003 to 2021, they found that levels of older PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances), also known as ‘Forever chemicals’, dropped by 86% because manufacturers stopped producing them.

Common Uses: PFAS are favoured for durability and properties such as non-stick, water repellence, and anti-grease. They are used in cosmetics, food packaging, frying pans, outdoor clothing, and firefighting foam.

Health Risks:

• Compromised immune systems
• Liver damage
• Thyroid diseases
• Increased cholesterol levels
• Hypertension
• Developmental delays in infants
• Increased certain cancers such as kidney and testicular

The Stockholm Convention has listed some PFAS, such as PFOS and PFOA, as persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

Researchers have used seismometers to detect the sonic booms created by debris from orbit falling back to Earth.

Factors Determining Intensity:

• Distance – between craft and ground
• Size and shape – of the aircraft
• Maneuvers made – during flight
• Atmospheric conditions – pressure, temperature, winds

Key Facts:

• Larger and heavier aircraft create stronger sonic booms as they displace more air
• Higher altitude reduces intensity as shock waves travel longer distance
• Double sonic booms may be detected from especially long aircraft – one from the leading edge and one from the trailing edge
• The visible cone-shaped cloud sometimes seen is water vapor cooling due to pressure changes, not the sound itself

Researchers analysing data from more than half a million people find that compared to the general population, people with schizophrenia are more likely to have weaker bones and to suffer fractures.

Symptoms include:

• Psychotic symptoms – hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorder
• Negative symptoms – reduced expression of emotions, reduced motivation
• Other effects – difficulty in social relationships, motor impairment, cognitive impairment

Suicidal thoughts and attempts are much higher than average in people with schizophrenia. There is no cure for schizophrenia; people need lifelong treatment including medicine, talk therapy, and help in managing daily life activities.

India has nearly 130 million people aged 65+, but vaccine coverage for older adults is less than 5%, compared to 75-90% childhood coverage under the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).

Key Health Risks:

• Herpes Zoster (shingles) – Lifetime risk approximately 30%, rising to approximately 50% by age 85+, with complications like neuralgia, vision loss, and stroke risk
• Pneumococcal infection – Case fatality rate is 20-25% in people aged 65+, versus 5-10% in younger adults

Key Barriers: Cost burden (most adult vaccines are out-of-pocket), weak surveillance systems, absence of adult registries, limited provider training, hesitancy myths, and absence of reminder systems.

Recommendations: Launch a structured adult immunisation schedule, subsidise high-impact vaccines through Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres, and implement CoWIN-like reminder architecture.

The 16th National Voters’ Day (NVD-2026) is being observed on 25th January 2026 to commemorate the foundation day of the Election Commission of India (ECI), which was established on 25th January 1950.

President Droupadi Murmu presided over the national-level function in New Delhi as the Chief Guest.

Key Facts:

• The Government of India first instituted this day in 2011 to address low youth voter enrolment
• The day includes the conferment of National Awards for Best Electoral Practices
• Promotes SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation), the ECI’s voter awareness programme
• Celebration takes place at national, state, district, constituency, and polling booth levels