🔆 CURRENT AFFAIRS – 10 AUGUST 2026

🔆 GEOGRAPHY

📍 Mising Community – Assam
✅ Mising is Assam’s second-largest plains tribe
✅ Known for adapting to the seasonal floods of the Brahmaputra River
✅ Chang Ghar: Bamboo-and-wood houses built on raised platforms; can be rebuilt after severe floods
✅ Agricultural cycles are aligned with the river’s natural ebb and flow
✅ Sustainable fishing practices are used during the monsoon
✅ Ali-Aye-Ligang festival, animist traditions and handloom practices reflect their cultural ecology
✅ Boro/Bodo is Assam’s largest plains tribe

🔆 POLITY & GOVERNANCE

📍 13th BRICS Education Ministers’ Meeting
✅ Held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha
✅ Hosted by the Ministry of Education under India’s BRICS Chairship 2026
✅ Theme: “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability”
✅ Focus: ECCE, skill development, research & innovation, mutual recognition of qualifications and academic leadership
✅ Members adopted the 13th BRICS Education Ministers’ Declaration
✅ BRICS Network University to incorporate traditional and indigenous knowledge as a new International Thematic Group

📍 E-Samudra Platform
✅ Launched by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW)
✅ Developed with technology partner CMS Computers India Ltd.
✅ Aim: shift maritime administration towards Digital First and Faceless Governance
✅ Provides a single digital window for ports, shipping companies and seafarers
✅ Enables paperless transactions, online payments and real-time request tracking
✅ Generates tamper-proof digital certificates
✅ e-NAVIK: 24×7 seafarer grievance-redressal portal
✅ d-SEA: Digital Seafarers Employment Agreement
✅ Includes vessel and seafarer-related digital modules

📍 Caste Enumeration in Census 2027
✅ Ladakh is set to lead Independent India’s first comprehensive caste enumeration
✅ First comprehensive caste-wise enumeration since the 1931 Census
✅ Census 2027 will be India’s first digital census
✅ Ladakh will primarily use paper schedules due to security concerns near sensitive border areas
✅ 2011 SECC was an independent survey and did not have statutory backing under the Census Act, 1948
✅ Its caste data was not publicly released due to data-quality concerns
✅ Census 2027 will have an open-ended caste column

🔆 ECONOMY

📍 India Crosses 300 GW Non-Fossil Fuel Capacity
✅ India crossed 300 GW of installed non-fossil fuel electricity capacity
✅ Capacity reached 300.50 GW in 2026
✅ Accounts for over 54% of total installed electricity capacity
✅ Total electricity capacity: around 552 GW
✅ Solar: 164.59 GW
✅ Wind: 58.14 GW
✅ Hydropower: 57.24 GW
✅ Bio-power: 11.75 GW
✅ Nuclear: 8.78 GW

🔆 AGRICULTURE

📍 Mithila Makhana Exported to Australia
✅ First-ever export of GI-tagged Mithila Makhana from Bihar to Australia
✅ Received GI tag in 2022
✅ Originates from the Mithila region of Bihar
✅ Mithila accounts for nearly 85% of India’s Makhana cultivation
✅ Also known as fox nut/gorgon nut
✅ Rich in plant-based protein, calcium, magnesium and antioxidants
✅ Low in cholesterol and fat

🔆 ENVIRONMENT

📍 Fishermen-led Invasive Species Removal – Ujani Reservoir
✅ India’s first fishermen-driven removal initiative launched at Ujani Reservoir, Maharashtra
✅ Launched by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS)
✅ Reservoir lies on the Bhima River
✅ Targets invasive suckermouth catfish
✅ Local fishers are incentivised to capture and remove the invasive fish
✅ Combines biodiversity conservation with livelihood support

📍 Striped Hyena
✅ A 2026 study highlighted limited public understanding of the striped hyena’s secretive lifestyle
✅ Study conducted by HEAL and NCBS
✅ Scientific name: Hyaena hyaena
✅ Solitary and primarily nocturnal scavenger
✅ Found across parts of Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent
✅ Only living species in the genus Hyaena
✅ IUCN status: Near Threatened
✅ Global population: fewer than 10,000 mature individuals, according to the provided source

#CurrentAffairs

🔆 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

📍 EVEREST Rocket Engine
✅ Developed by Astrobase Space Technologies
✅ Claimed as India’s first privately built 800 kN Full-Flow Staged Combustion (FFSC) engine
✅ Propellants: Liquid Oxygen (LOX) + Liquid Methane
✅ Thrust: 800 kN
✅ Specific impulse: 340 seconds
✅ Throttle range: 50–110%
✅ Designed for reusable medium-lift launch vehicles
✅ FFSC capability places India alongside Russia, USA and China, according to the source

🔆 IMPORTANT DAYS

📍 International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
✅ Observed annually on 9 August
✅ Established by the UN General Assembly in 1994
✅ Commemorates the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1982
✅ Aim: promote and protect the rights of Indigenous peoples
✅ 2026 Theme: “Honouring Indigenous Midwives: Safeguarding Life and Well-being”

#CurrentAffairs

10th August UPSC current affairs

#currentaffairs #prelims

Join https://t.me/upsc_prelims_2027_28

Fundamental Rights 1 page's Short Notes
10 page just 30 sec


https://www.instagram.com/reel/Db4jsWsIXKW/

10th August pib summary
#pib

Join https://t.me/PIB_UPSC
       https://t.me/CSE_EXAM

🔆 Suo Motu Cognisance and the Limits of Judicial Intervention

📍 Why in Focus?
✅ The increasing use of suo motu cognisance by the Supreme Court of India has sparked debate over judicial activism, separation of powers, and the role of lower courts.

📍 What is Suo Motu Cognisance?
✅ Suo motu means “on its own motion”.
✅ Empowers the Supreme Court and High Courts to initiate proceedings without a formal petition.
✅ Derived from the broad constitutional powers under Article 32 and Article 142.
✅ Evolved through the expansion of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) jurisprudence.

📍 Purpose
✅ Protect fundamental rights when affected persons cannot approach courts.
✅ Address grave injustices and constitutional violations.
✅ Respond to state inaction or systemic failures.
✅ Act as a constitutional safeguard in exceptional situations.

📍 Rise in Suo Motu Cases
✅ Increasingly used as an active judicial tool rather than a rare residual power.
✅ The Supreme Court registered more suo motu cases during 2020–24 than in the preceding fifteen years.
✅ Indicates growing judicial intervention in matters of public concern.

📍 Benefits of Suo Motu Jurisdiction
✅ Provides quick judicial response during emergencies.
✅ Protects vulnerable and marginalized groups.
✅ Ensures accountability of public authorities.
✅ Addresses issues involving human rights, governance failures, and environmental concerns.
✅ Strengthens public confidence in constitutional institutions.

📍 Concerns and Challenges
✅ Judicial Overreach: May blur the boundaries between judiciary, executive, and legislature.
✅ Media-Driven Intervention: High-profile cases receiving extensive media coverage often attract judicial attention.
✅ Bypassing Lower Courts: Frequent intervention may undermine confidence in subordinate courts.
✅ Selective Attention: Thousands of serious cases remain unheard while a few receive extraordinary monitoring.
✅ Institutional Burden: Diverts judicial resources from broader structural reforms.

📍 Need for Institutional Balance
✅ Respect the principle of Separation of Powers.
✅ Follow the principle of Subsidiarity, allowing lower courts and High Courts to address local matters first.
✅ Use suo motu powers primarily for systemic failures and constitutional crises.
✅ Strengthen trial courts through better infrastructure, staffing, and training.
✅ Establish objective guidelines for initiating suo motu proceedings.

📍 Way Forward
✅ Formulate transparent criteria for exercising suo motu jurisdiction.
✅ Focus on long-term judicial reforms rather than case-specific monitoring.
✅ Fill judicial vacancies and modernize court administration.
✅ Enhance coordination between the Supreme Court, High Courts, and subordinate judiciary.
✅ Preserve the exceptional nature of suo motu intervention.

📍 Significance
✅ Suo motu cognisance remains a powerful constitutional tool for protecting justice.
✅ However, excessive reliance may create perceptions of judicial paternalism and institutional overreach.
✅ A balance between judicial activism and judicial restraint is essential for maintaining constitutional governance.

📍 UPSC Relevance
✅ Prelims: Article 32, Article 142, PIL, Suo Motu Cognisance.
✅ Mains (GS2): Judiciary, Judicial Activism, Separation of Powers, Constitutional Governance, Judicial Reforms.
✅ Essay: Judicial Activism vs Judicial Restraint; Role of Judiciary in Democracy.

#GS2 #Polity #mains

Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar Yojana (PM-SSY)

https://www.instagram.com/p/Db49m56jQuW/

🔆 Paramutation

📍 Why in News?
✅ New research suggests that genes inherited from one parent can sometimes silence corresponding genes inherited from the other parent
✅ The effect may persist across generations, challenging conventional understanding of genetic inheritance

🔆 What is Paramutation?
✅ Paramutation is an epigenetic phenomenon in which one allele of a gene can induce a heritable change in the expression of another allele
✅ The affected gene may be silenced or altered in its activity without changing its underlying DNA sequence
✅ The phenomenon involves epigenetic modifications, including the addition of methyl groups to DNA

🔆 How Does it Work?
✅ Genes inherited from both parents normally contribute to genetic traits through their DNA sequences
✅ In paramutation, one gene copy can influence the expression of another corresponding copy
✅ DNA methylation can modify gene activity by affecting whether a gene is switched on or off
✅ The altered expression pattern can potentially be transmitted to subsequent generations

🔆 Why is it Important?
✅ Challenges the conventional Mendelian view of inheritance, where inherited traits are primarily explained through DNA sequence transmission
✅ Demonstrates that gene expression can be influenced by epigenetic mechanisms
✅ Highlights how environmental and cellular mechanisms can influence the functioning of inherited genes
✅ Has important implications for understanding hereditary diseases, development, and evolution

🔆 Paramutation & Epigenetics

📍 Epigenetics
✅ Refers to changes in gene activity or expression without altering the underlying DNA sequence
✅ Major mechanisms include DNA methylation and modifications of proteins associated with DNA
✅ Such changes can sometimes be heritable

📍 Key Distinction
✅ Mutation → Changes the DNA sequence
✅ Epigenetic change → Changes gene expression without necessarily changing the DNA sequence
✅ Paramutation → One allele induces a heritable epigenetic change in another allele

🔆 Prelims Facts

✅ Paramutation → Heritable interaction between alleles causing altered gene expression
✅ Mechanism → Associated with epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation
✅ DNA sequence → Not necessarily altered
✅ Significance → Challenges the conventional understanding of inheritance and gene expression

#GS3
#prelims
#science_technology
#science_and_technology

Join https://t.me/PIB_UPSC
https://t.me/upsc_science_and_technology

Important Conferences Related to Environment

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Db58UpUNqVw/

🔆 CURRENT AFFAIRS – 11 AUGUST 2026

🔆 GEOGRAPHY

📍 Global Oceans Outside Polar Regions Record Highest July SST
✅ Global sea surface temperatures outside polar regions were the highest on record for July 2026
✅ Data: Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S)
✅ SST reached 20.96°C across 60°N–60°S
✅ Major drivers: rapidly intensifying El Niño 2026 and greenhouse-gas-induced warming
✅ Impacts: marine heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and declining soil moisture
✅ Atlantic and Mediterranean regions witnessed significant marine heatwaves

🔆 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS & ISSUES

📍 BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting
✅ Held in Bhopal under India’s BRICS Chairship
✅ Participation: 14 countries — 10 BRICS members + 4 partner countries
✅ Adopted the Bhopal Declaration
✅ Aim: strengthen the institutional framework for BRICS cultural cooperation
✅ Focus areas: cultural & creative industries, heritage, provenance research and restitution of cultural property
✅ Emphasis on AI-enabled tracing tools for cultural heritage
✅ Called for transparency and fair remuneration for copyright use in AI
✅ Focused on safeguarding traditional knowledge and cultural expressions
✅ Cooperation envisaged in museums, archives and UNESCO nominations
✅ India announced a Voluntary Artist Registry for exchanges and professional networks

🔆 AGRICULTURE

📍 First Export of Mustard Honey
✅ First-ever export of mustard honey from India
✅ Facilitated by APEDA
✅ Exported by Dergang Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO)
✅ Route: Tripura → Dubai
✅ Mustard honey is a raw, monofloral honey produced by bees foraging on flowering mustard fields

🔆 SECURITY

📍 Indian Navy–US Navy EOD Exercise 2026
✅ 8th edition of the bilateral EOD exercise since 2005
✅ Venue: Southern Naval Command, Kochi
✅ Focus: interoperability and professional cooperation between diving and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams
✅ Activities include expert exchanges, cross-training, equipment demonstrations and scenario-based drills
✅ Strengthens bilateral cooperation in specialised salvage and ordnance disposal operations

🔆 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

📍 Quantum Network Blueprint – General Concurrence Percolation
✅ Scientists from Bose Institute proposed General Concurrence Percolation (GCP)
✅ Addresses the challenge of maintaining quantum entanglement in noisy real-world networks
✅ Uses geometric routing to strengthen weak links without disconnecting stations
✅ Helps lower the entanglement threshold and build denser quantum networks
✅ Potential application: secure quantum communication
✅ Computer simulations validated the proposed approach

📍 Sharks as Hurricane Data Collectors
✅ Researchers from the University of Delaware are testing sharks as mobile ocean-data observers
✅ Sharks are equipped with CTD sensors measuring conductivity, temperature and depth
✅ Data helps assess the heat content of the ocean’s mixed layer
✅ Warmer mixed-layer waters can provide greater energy to intensify hurricanes
✅ Species involved include shortfin mako, blue sharks, smooth hammerheads and juvenile great whites

🔆 IMPORTANT DAYS

📍 National Handloom Day – 2026
✅ 12th National Handloom Day observed on 7 August
✅ Theme: “Celebrating Weavers, Renewing Traditions, Expanding Horizons”
✅ Commemorates the Swadeshi Movement of 1905
✅ Support through National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP) and Raw Material Supply Scheme
✅ Other measures: e-Pehchan cards, awards, concessional credit and welfare schemes
✅ Innovation through digital platforms, GI tags, India Handloom Brand and design showcases
✅ Major export markets: UAE, USA, France, UK and Spain

📍 International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples – 2026
✅ Observed on 9 August
✅ Commemorates the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1982
✅ 2026 Theme: “Honouring Indigenous Midwives: Safeguarding Life and Well-being”
✅ Around 476 million Indigenous Peoples live across 90 countries
✅ Indigenous Peoples are guardians of around 28% of Earth’s surface and 11% of forests

✅ Focus: indigenous knowledge systems, midwifery, languages and rights protection

📍 Quit India Movement Day – 2026
✅ Observed on 8 August
✅ Movement launched in 1942 at the Bombay Session held at Gowalia Tank Maidan
✅ Led by Mahatma Gandhi
✅ Historic call: “Do or Die”
✅ Objective: compel the British to leave India and achieve complete independence
✅ Cripps Mission failure and wartime dissatisfaction contributed to the movement
✅ British authorities arrested Gandhi and other Congress leaders on 9 August 1942
✅ Students, workers, farmers and women participated through protests, strikes and underground activities
✅ Considered a major turning point in India’s freedom struggle

📍 World Lion Day – 2026
✅ Observed annually on 10 August
✅ Aim: raise awareness about declining wild lion populations and conservation needs
✅ Fewer than 25,000 lions are estimated to remain
✅ Lions occupy only around 6% of their historic range
✅ Major threats: habitat loss, livestock conflict and retaliatory killings
✅ Conservation approaches include community guardians, GPS-based alert systems and women-led conservation group

#CurrentAffairs

11 August UPSC current affairs

#currentaffairs #prelims

Join https://t.me/upsc_prelims_2027_28

Solar system & Sun

Join https://t.me/CSE_EXAM