Top 20 UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | August 31 to September 6, 2026

— The 1.5°C target was a key outcome of the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015 by 193 countries and the European Union. Under Article 2 of the Paris Agreement, nations must commit to keep global average temperatures well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and ideally capped at 1.5°C.

— The lower threshold matters because climate risks increase with every additional fraction of a degree of warming. The 1.5°C limit was never considered a completely “safe” level of warming, but staying closer to it reduces the severity of risks to people and ecosystems.

— For years, 2°C was the threshold widely used to assess dangerous climate change. It was only with the Cancun Agreements, signed at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 16), that both 2°C and 1.5°C were formally written into an international climate accord. The 2015 Paris Agreement then established 2°C as the upper limit while identifying 1.5°C as the more desirable goal.

— UNEP acknowledges that even in an optimistic scenario where governments fully implement current climate plans and net-zero pledges, warming is expected to peak at about 1.8°C.

International Cooperation

•  Bishkek Declaration

— The 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State summit took place from August 31 to September 1, 2026, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

— It marked the 25th anniversary of the founding of the SCO, with the theme “25 Years of the SCO: Together for Sustainable Peace, Development and Prosperity”. Leaders signed the joint Bishkek Declaration, addressing regional security, economic cooperation, and global issues.

— Stressing that “double standards” in the fight against terror are unacceptable, leaders at the SCO summit on September 1 called on the international community to combat terrorism, including the cross-border movement of terrorists.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, in Bishkek on August 1. (Reuters/ANI Video Grab)

— This is part of the ‘Bishkek Declaration’ adopted by India, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, China, Belarus and the Central Asian countries in the SCO grouping. The declaration is important since India has always maintained that Pakistan is responsible for cross-border terrorism in the country.

— On the war between US-Israel and Iran, which has been continuing for more than six months now, the Bishkek Declaration said: “Member states express deep concern over developments in the Middle East and around Iran.

— The leaders also welcomed the holding of the SCO Civilization Dialogue Forum in the autumn of 2026 in India. Also, keeping in view India being included in the grouping, the SCO amended the Charter to include English as an official and working language of the SCO.

— The Bishkek Declaration also said that the “SCO presidency will pass to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, where the next meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO will be convened in 2027”. This will be closely watched by the world as to how India navigates its participation in the grouping.

• India and Belgium give ties a major boost

— India and Belgium agreed to strengthen defence and Intelligence-sharing, establish an investment fast-track mechanism, double bilateral trade, boost partnership on semiconductors and enter a pact on renewable energy, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the visiting Prime Minister of Belgium, Bart De Wever, on September 4.

PM Narendra Modi during a meeting with his Belgian counterpart Bart De Wever in Delhi, Thursday. (PTI)

— The two sides signed a Letter of Intent, which provides a clear framework for structural cooperation between the two countries’ armed forces.

— Defence delegations from the two sides met and agreed to strengthen cooperation in defence industries, which includes drones, anti-mine systems, rockets, tanks, munitions. Representatives from about 15 Belgian defence companies accompanied the Belgian Prime Minister and interacted with the Indian defence industry players as well.

— The two countries also intend to develop an industrial roadmap. The Belgian Defence College also plans to organise its World Study Trip in India in 2027.

— Belgium is an important economic partner for India in Europe. Bilateral trade reached $13.01 billion in 2025-26. Diamond trade, with Antwerp as a major global hub, remains a significant component of bilateral commerce. Belgium is also an important source of investment in India. FDI inflows from Belgium amounted to approximately $4.2 billion between April 2000 and December 2025.

• India rejects international court’s order on Indus Waters Treaty

— The Permanent Court of Arbitration, adjudicating on a dispute raised by Pakistan on the Indus Waters Treaty, has passed two more orders against India. It has ruled that India’s decision to put the Treaty in ‘abeyance’ was “not permissible under the Treaty or other applicable rules of international law”, and therefore the Treaty — which governs the sharing of six transboundary river waters between the two countries — remained “fully in force” and India continued to be bound by it.

— India rejected the Court of Arbitration’s decision on the “abeyance” of the Indus Waters Treaty and said that the court has “no jurisdiction whatsoever to pronounce on India’s sovereign decisions”. 

— India has not been participating in this arbitration process, underway for four years, having maintained that the Court was constituted in violation of the provisions of the Treaty. A neutral expert had already been appointed to adjudicate on the same issue, and the Treaty does not allow parallel resolution processes on the same dispute.

The Indus Basin

— As such, India said the Court lacked legitimacy and refused to recognise its existence or proceedings. It did not appoint its two arbitrators on the Court.

— More than a year ago, after the Pahalgam terrorist attack in April, India decided to put the Indus Waters Treaty “in abeyance”. The decision flows directly from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) decision of 23 April 2025, which states that “the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 will be held in abeyance with immediate effect, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism”.

Click here to read more on Indus Waters Treaty.

Polity 

• New Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2026

— India has followed Indian Standard Time (IST) for decades. The new Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2026, make it the legally enforceable reference for official and commercial use, requiring systems across sectors to synchronise to time traceable to IST. This can also improve cybersecurity, reduce crime and make critical infrastructure more resilient.

— The larger objective is a common national time reference. “‘One Nation, One Time’ means having one time reference. At present, different organisations may refer to different sources. It is like each person establishing their own starting point; you then cannot properly compare events or measurements.

— Under an Act of Parliament, CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL) is the National Metrology Institute mandated to maintain the country’s scientific standards.

— Maintaining and disseminating IST has been part of CSIR-NPL’s mandate. In fact, IST® (Indian Standard Time) is a registered trademark of CSIR-NPL. It has been a team effort over the years, involving scientists and technical staff at NPL, with the guidance and support of successive Directors.

— Notably, NPL is the standards body, while enforcement comes under the Department of Legal Metrology. They already enforce measurements such as mass and volume: inspectors can check measurements at a petrol pump or verify the weights used by an establishment. The new rules seek to give time a legal status and make it comparable to these physical measurements.

• MoU for sharing of Sone river water

— The 25-year-old dispute between Bihar and Jharkhand over the sharing of Sone River water was resolved on August 31 with the signing of an inter-state Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Delhi, under which Bihar will receive 5.75 million acre-feet (MAF) and Jharkhand 2 MAF of water.

— The agreement is expected to pave the way for long-delayed irrigation, reservoir and river-linking projects in the drought-prone regions of both states.

The agreement was signed by Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. (Image source: @samrat4bjp/X)

— The dispute dates back to November 2000, when Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar. It inherited major upper catchment areas and tributaries of the Sone River, while lower riparian agricultural hubs remained in Bihar.

• Distinguished jurist

— Decades after the Constitution came into force, one route to becoming a Supreme Court judge has never been taken. Delivering the 13th convocation address for the LL.M programmes at National Law University Delhi on August 30, Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan pointed to Article 124(3), which allows the appointment of a “distinguished jurist” as a Supreme Court judge, and called it an “unused mandate” of the Constitution that “needs our serious attention.”

— Article 124 sets out how the Supreme Court is constituted. Article 124(3) lists who can be appointed as a judge, ie., a citizen of India who has either served as a High Court judge for five years, practised as an advocate for ten years, or “is, in the opinion of the President, a distinguished jurist.”

— The first two routes are how the court has always been staffed. Most judges have been elevated from the High Courts, while a smaller number of lawyers have been appointed directly from the Bar. The third category, the appointment of distinguished jurists, has simply never been used.

— Article 217 lays down the conditions for the appointment of a High Court judge. The 42nd Amendment, enacted during the Emergency, added a provision allowing the appointment of a “distinguished jurist” as a judge of the High Court. However, the provision was eventually repealed by the 44th Constitutional Amendment.

Supreme Court’s much debated powers under article 142  — This week, the Supreme Court used its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to quash FIRs filed against those who took part in the nationwide exam protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant closed the cases after the Centre said that it had “consciously decided“ not to pursue them, and ordered compensation, within three months, for families of students who died by suicide over the leak of the NEET-UG 2026 exam. — This order, giving legal force to the government’s assurance, puts fresh focus on Article 142, a provision legal scholars have argued over since the Constitution came into force. The open-ended nature of Article 142 has made it one of the court’s most used tools. (Infographic: AI- generated) — Article 142 lets the Supreme Court pass such “decree or order as it is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it”. Unlike most Constitutional provisions, it does not define “complete justice” or specify when it may be used.

Economy

• GDP growth in Q1

— Offering a sliver of hope amid the uncertain global environment marred by the prolonged West Asia war, the Indian economy exhibited continued resilience by posting a real GDP growth rate of 7.8% in the April-June quarter.

— While agricultural growth remained subdued, manufacturing and services surged to bolster growth beyond even the 7% estimate by the Reserve Bank of India.

— A sharp surge of nearly 12% in gross fixed capital formation — the proxy for investments in the economy — also provided the required push to the overall growth along with a firm growth in private consumption.

— A strong manufacturing and services growth along with a sharp rise in investments helped propel the growth rate to 7.8% in Q1. While the manufacturing sector grew by 9.2% in April-June, up from 8.3% in the same quarter last year, the tertiary sector – or services – expanded 10%, higher than 8% a year ago.

• Operational framework for Semicon 2.0

— The Centre on August 31 notified the operational framework for its Rs 1.27 lakh crore Semicon 2.0 programme, putting the design of Indian chips and intellectual property at the front of an expanded semiconductor strategy that will also subsidise manufacturing equipment, raw materials, fabrication plants and advanced chip packaging.

— The new mission, approved by the Union Cabinet in July, divides government support into six pillars, with at least three being entirely devoted to chip design. Incentives are being offered for designing chips needed for strategic purposes, the commercial market and domestically developed chips deployed at scale.

— For chips meant for areas of national importance and critical infrastructure, the government will identify technologies and building blocks, including intellectual property (IP) for compute, memory, radio frequency, power, networking and sensors, that it wants developed in India. Indian-owned and controlled companies can participate independently or with global companies, research organisations and academic institutions.

— The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), under the IT Ministry, will issue requests for proposals and select developers through competitive bidding. The IP created under these projects will be jointly owned by the company and C-DAC.

— A second design track is aimed at building commercially viable Indian fabless chip companies. The scheme will provide eligible firms access to electronic design automation (EDA) tools, multi-project wafer fabrication, IP cores, compute sub-systems and post-silicon validation.

• AI and Copyright 

— Can AI companies use copyrighted material to build their systems? And can something an AI creates be copyrighted in turn? The Copyright Office answered the second question on August 31, rejecting an application filed by American computer scientist Stephen Thaler seeking copyright registration for an artwork generated by his AI system, DABUS.

The artwork — ‘A Recent Entrance to Paradise’ — generated by AI system DABUS. (Special Arrangement)

— The Office found the artwork original because nothing on record showed it was copied from any specific existing work, not because AI-made works are inherently original. And the human-authorship requirement doesn’t disappear either. Even if a work is original, someone still has to be identifiable as the person who “caused” it to be created.

— It said that the person who creates something “refers to the person who brings about, or is responsible for, the coming into existence of the work. The emphasis is upon responsibility for the work’s origination, rather than upon the instrument, mechanism or tool through which its final expression is generated.”

Science and Technology

• Cold allodynia

— A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and Kolkata-based institute TCG-CREST have identified the “brain circuit” that involves the sensations associated with a certain side effect of chemotherapy known as “cold allodynia”.

— Cold allodynia is a condition in which the sufferer may feel pain or distress from even a regular level of cold temperatures. It is one of the side effects that are part of “chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy”, which includes many chemotherapy-induced neural side effects such as temperature sensitivity, a feeling of pins and needles, or pain etc.

— Cold allodynia specifically is known to be one of the side effects of oxaliplatin, a commonly used chemotherapy drug that contains platinum.

• Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

— NASA on August 30 launched a powerful, next-generation space telescope that can search for clues for some of the universe’s deepest mysteries, including mysterious phenomena such as dark matter and dark energy.

— The telescope, launched on a SpaceX rocket, is named after the late Nancy Grace Roman — known as the “mother of Hubble” owing to her role in the creation of the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been operating since 1990.

— The Roman Space Telescope, weighing about 8,000 kgs and about the size of a tour bus, will operate from the Lagrange Point 2 — a vantage point between Earth and Sun located approximately 1.2 million kilometres from Earth.

— Roman’s field of view is more than 100 times wider than that of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, still churning out celestial glamour shots after 36 years in orbit.

— In terms of scientific capabilities, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope lies between the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Telescope. It will be able to scan vast swathes of the cosmos and may provide new insights about dark matter, dark energy and exoplanets.

— It has two major science instruments on board:

— Wide field instrument: This is a 300-megapixel infrared camera that can capture a patch of the sky about 1.5 times bigger than the apparent size of a full Moon. The telescope can also process images 1,000 times faster than the Hubble telescope.

— Coronagraph: Just like humans cannot look directly into the sun but can see its rounded rim with the help of eye goggles/protective shields, astronomers use coronagraphs to mask the extreme bright light emitted by celestial bodies in order to study its immediate space surroundings. The Roman Space Telescope will deploy one of the most advanced coronagraphs.

• Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication system 

— The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will soon mandate its new road-safety intervention, the Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication system, through which cars will essentially talk with each other wirelessly to warn drivers about upcoming accident risks on the road. 

— The Ministry had published the draft Central Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Rules, 2026, on July 22 seeking objections and suggestions from the public on the V2V system within 30 days; now, they will be taken into consideration.

— The draft Rules propose mandating the minimum technical and safety features for V2V-fitted vehicles before they are rolled out on roads, while also setting a deadline for manufacturers to install the V2V system.

— V2V or vehicle-to-vehicle communication is a wireless technology that will enable the vehicles to communicate or talk with one another to share real-time information like speed, location, acceleration, braking, etc. It is the sub-category of Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) and comes under the umbrella of the Intelligent Transport System.

(Image: Google NotebookLM generated)

— Usually, V2V systems have a range of 300 metres and can detect vehicles in this range. For instance, if a car applies brakes suddenly, the nearby vehicles will get an alert to slow down before seeing it. This will help in reducing crashes.

— The US is the leader in V2V communication system research and its implementation with  strong regulation. Apart from this, some of the European countries like Germany, France, the United Kingdom, etc., are incorporating V2V into new vehicles and smart city projects.

• India launched EOS-05

— In its first launch since January, the Indian Space Research Organisation sent an earth observation satellite, EOS-05, to space early morning on September 4, using a GSLV rocket. The launch breaks a slump after three failed missions in 2025 and 2026 with the satellites unable to reach their intended orbits.

— The EOS-05 is India’s first dedicated imaging satellite to be placed in the geosynchronous orbit, about 36,000 km from Earth, from where it can keep constant watch over the country and provide real-time imaging service.

— With a 10-year mission life, the satellite is designed to image large areas of interest at frequent intervals for purposes such as monitoring natural disasters or keeping track of agriculture or forestry. It will also have defence uses.

— India has several other active earth observation satellites in the lower-earth orbits which circle Earth and periodically capture imagery over India. In the geosynchronous orbit, the satellite remains stationary relative to Earth, and is able to watch the same region continuously, without gaps.

— The GSLV-F17 rocket deposited the EOS-05 satellite in a transfer orbit, at an altitude of more than 190 km from Earth, about 18 minutes after the launch.

The GSLV-F-17 is the 19th flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. (X/@isro)

— From there, the satellite will perform a series of orbit-raising manoeuvres over the next few days to travel to the geosynchronous orbit, its final destination. Weighing more than 2,360-kg, the EOS-05 was the heaviest satellite to be carried by the GSLV rocket until now.

Defence

• INS Nipun

— The Indian Navy on August 31 commissioned INS Nipun, the second diving support vessel (DSV) of the Nistar-class, at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.

— INS Nipun is capable of supporting saturation, air and heliox diving and is equipped with remotely operated underwater systems for inspection and intervention. Its specialised diving complex, dynamic positioning capability and associated life-support and medical facilities enable the conduct of sustained and complex operations at sea. 

Navy Chief Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan along with other officers during the commissioning ceremony of INS Nipun in Mumbai on Monday. (ANI)

— INS Nipun draws her name from Sanskrit, signifying “one who is adept, capable, and well versed in a particular discipline”. True to the name, the ship is highly specialised and is capable of undertaking deep-sea dive operations and rescue operations at sea, the Navy said.

— According to the Navy, the crest has a whale symbolising sustained deep-sea endurance and a modern diving helmet representing the diver at the core of the mission.

— INS Nipun has a self-propelled hyperbaric lifeboat, which is a pressurised lifeboat that can independently evacuate divers and diving compression chambers. It can undertake diving and salvage operations: recovery of damaged, sunken, or stranded ships and equipment.

— “The ship incorporates modern systems for navigation, platform management and precise station keeping, complemented by specialised facilities for diving, underwater intervention and medical support. These capabilities enable Nipun to function as an integrated platform for complex operations beneath the surface,” the Navy said.

Environment

• Sharp-tailed sandpiper

— Sharp-tailed sandpiper  (Calidris acuminata) was spotted in Najafgarh Lake on August 30– a rare sighting that added to the very limited records of the species in Delhi-NCR and the country as a whole. Sighting of Calidris acuminata is significant because it was only the fifth recorded sighting of the species in India over a period of almost a century and a half.

A sharp-tailed sandpiper at Najafgarh Lake, Sunday. Akshit Dua

— The sharp-tailed sandpiper breeds in northern Siberia, in an area that extends from the Lena river delta on the eastern Arctic Ocean southeastward to the Kolyma region, and migrates south over East Asia to its main non-breeding grounds in Australia and New Zealand.

— Smaller numbers fly to Melanasia, a cluster of islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean between New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east. The species is, therefore, an exceptionally uncommon visitor to India.

— The sharp-tailed sandpiper forages in both coastal and inland wetlands, in freshwater and hypersaline habitats. It feeds on seeds, worms, molluscs, crustaceans, and insects after rainfall, and often forages in agricultural pastures and in the shallow-water edges of wetlands.

— Sharp-tailed sandpiper populations are in decline. A conservation assessment by the Australian government has estimated that population has declined by about 45 per cent over three generations, or roughly 15 years, and listed habitat loss and degradation among the major threats to the species, which is classified as ‘Vulnerable’ in the IUCN Red List.

•  Himalayan ‘hanging glaciers’

— As rising temperatures and shifting regional precipitation patterns reduce the stability of the Himalayan glaciers, some of them could evolve into “hanging glaciers” — ice masses perched on steep slopes that can detach and trigger massive avalanches.

— An April 2026 study published in Nature magazine has found that there are as many as 219 hanging glaciers in the Alaknanda basin of the Garhwal Himalayas. Nearly a third of this unstable ice, according to the study, is concentrated in the Upper Alaknanda basin.

Distribution of glaciers in the Alaknanda basin. Credit: ‘Basin-scale inventory and exposure assessment of hanging glaciers, Central Himalaya’

— Unstable glaciers are essentially those whose velocity may change by an order of magnitude and more during a comparatively short period of time. The result is redistribution of ice, accompanied by geometric and structural-and-tectonic shifts.

— This instability then leads to the development of hanging glaciers on steep slopes. While these glaciers have been extensively studied in the Alps, basin-scale assessments in the Himalayas remain limited.

— Hanging glaciers pose a significant risk of break-offs. The study’s simulations indicated that the resultant avalanche flows could exceed 50 metres in height in Uttarakhand’s Badrinath-Mana sector. Such a severe event would swallow major settlements and infrastructure.

— The break-offs from hanging glaciers can also trigger secondary hazards such as glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs).

Awards

• Magsaysay awards

— A Singaporean lawyer and diplomat who led an international conference that adopted the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a Myanmar activist whose group documents human rights atrocities and a former Bangladeshi teacher who has helped provide aid to her country’s poorest were named on August 31 as the winners of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awards.

— Regarded as Asia’s version of the Nobel Prize and named after a popular Philippine president, who died in a 1957 plane crash, the awards honor “greatness of spirit” through selfless service to people across Asia.

— The winners of the award, first given in 1958, will be recognized at the Metropolitan Theatre in Manila on Nov. 15 with a medallion, inscribed certificate and an undisclosed cash prize.

— Singaporean lawyer and diplomat Tommy Koh, 88, was recognized for promoting international dialogue and the rule of law. He is best known for presiding over a U.N. conference of more than 150 countries, which adopted the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982.

— Bo Kyi, the 61-year-old winner from Myanmar, has twice been arrested in the past and spent seven years in prison for a life spent in defense of democracy and resistance against widespread human rights violations by Myanmar’s military.

— Runa Khan, 67, of Bangladesh won the award for “her profound empathy for the poorest of the poor in her country.”

• Sardar Patel National Unity Award

— Seven years after it was instituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the first Sardar Patel National Unity Award is set to be announced on October 31 this year, The Indian Express has learnt. While the award was instituted in September 2019, no award winners have been announced until now.

—However, a series of deliberations have been held to announce the first tranche of awards this year, coinciding with the conclusion of the two-year celebrations to mark Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s 150th birth anniversary which began on October 31, 2024.

— Sources said the award will be given by the President alongside the Padma Awards next year. According to those aware of the developments, it will be considered equivalent to the Padma Vibhushan, and there may be two or three recipients this time.

The medal will be in the form of a lotus leaf, made of gold and silver, with Patel’s portrait embossed on one side and the national emblem on the other.(Source: PIB)

— According to the 2019 notification announcing the award, the candidate “should have made outstanding efforts and notable contribution to promote and further the cause of national unity and integrity in a manner that may serve as an inspiration to others, and reinforce the value of a strong and united India”.

— The notification said that “the award committee would be constituted by the Prime Minister, and would include the Cabinet Secretary, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Secretary to the President, Home Secretary, as members, and three-four eminent persons selected by the Prime Minister”.

— The award is set to comprise a medal and a citation, but no monetary grant or cash award would be attached to it. According to sources, it would not be conferred posthumously, except in very rare and highly deserving cases.

Persons in News

(Just FYI: Noting historical personalities’ anniversaries aids UPSC prep. UPSC often includes such personalities in questions, so revisiting their lives refreshes your static syllabus.)

• Air Vice Marshal Shakti Sharma

— Air Vice-Marshal Shakti Sharma has made history as the first woman officer (non-medical) in the Indian defence forces to achieve the rank of Air Vice Marshal (or its equivalent).

— She is the first woman officer in the Indian Armed Forces to break this glass ceiling and reach such a milestone. In the Army and Navy, women officers so far have reached the rank of Colonel and equivalent.

— On August 1, AVM Sharma assumed charge as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Education) at Air Headquarters, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement, adding that this landmark achievemenț marks a new chapter in the journey of women officers in the defence forces.

Air Vice Marshal Shakti Sharma with Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit in New Delhi on Tuesday. (PTI)

— Commissioned into the Education Branch of the IAF on June 18, 1994, the senior officer has served across various training establishments, field stations, command headquarters and Air Headquarters in her over three decades of distinguished service.

• Gloria Steinem

— Gloria Steinem, considered among the most well-known feminist activists of the 20th century, passed away on September 3 at 92.

— Steinem was a pioneering figure of the Second Wave of the Feminist Movement of the 1960s and ’70s, which saw women fight for rights in the workplace and in making reproductive choices.

Women’s rights leader Gloria Steinem at a rally of welfare demonstrators on the Washington Monument grounds in 1972. (AP Photo/Charles Harrity, File)

— It followed First Wave feminists of the late 19th century who waged the struggle for voting rights — a key step towards being considered full citizens. The second wave broadened the fight to areas seen as strictly part of private life until then, such as reproduction.

— Coming from humble beginnings, Steinem went on to work as a journalist and even went undercover as a Playboy employee to reveal the exploitative inner workings of clubs run by the men’s entertainment enterprise. She also visited India in 1957 in her early 20s as part of a fellowship at Miranda House, the women’s college in Delhi University.

Test Your Knowledge

(Note: The best way to remember facts for UPSC and other competitive exams is to recall them through MCQs. Try to solve the following questions on your own.)

(1) Which of the following statements is/are correct with respect to Time Zone in India? (UPSC CDS-II, 2021)

1. There is one standard time for the whole country.

2. Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands have different Time Zones.

3. Indian Standard Time (IST) is five and half hours behind GMT.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

(a) Only 1

(b) Only 2

(c) 1 and 2

(d) 1 and 3

(2) With reference to the Indus river system, of the following four rivers, three of them pour into one of them which joins the Indus directly. Among the following, which one is such a river that joins the Indus direct? (UPSC CSE 2021)

(a) Chenab

(b) Jhelum

(c) Ravi

(d) Sutlej

Answer Key

1. (a)    2. (d)

For your suggestions and feedback, write to Roshni.Yadav@indianexpress.com

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