Top 20 UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | August 24 to 30, 2026

Events

• 17th COP of UNCCD

— The 17th Conference of Parties (CoP) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) took place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from 17 to 28 August 2026, under the theme “Restoring Land. Restoring Hope.”

— The UNCCD is the only legally binding framework for addressing desertification and the effects of drought. There are 197 Parties to the Convention, including 196 country Parties and the European Union.

— The Conference of the Parties was established by the Convention as its main decision-making body. It consists of governments and organizations like the EU and guides the Convention to address global challenges and national needs. The COP has been meeting biennially since 2001. Notably, UNCCD COP16 took place from 2-13 December 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Key Highlights of CoP 17 of UNCCD

— Community-Led Restoration of Rangelands: India emphasised on the critical role of rangelands in sustaining pastoralist communities, conserving biodiversity and regulating water and carbon cycles.

— Shift from Drought Response to Drought Resilience: India called for a fundamental shift in the global approach to drought – from reactive relief to proactive, technology-enabled resilience. He also highlighted India’s coordinated, multi-institutional approach integrating early warning, mitigation, relief and community resilience.

— India’s first guide to grasslands: India launched its first-ever Guide to Grasslands and Other Open Natural Ecosystems (ONEs) of India at the COP 17 to the UNCCD. India’s Guide to Grasslands and ONEs marks an important step in the direction of strengthening their conservation, restoration, and sustainable management.

Click here to read more on UNCCD CoP 17.

 

Art & Culture

• Rajghat archaeological site

— After 70 years, 22 boxes containing material excavated from Rajghat in 1957, documented, and handed over to the museum of Banaras Hindu University’s Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology (AIHC), were opened recently.

— In it are more than 10,000 artefacts—including painted black pottery believed to be nearly 3,000 years old—along with thousands of photographs documenting archaeological sites and sculptures across India.

— Rajghat, located on the north-eastern edge of Varanasi near the confluence of the Ganga and Varuna rivers, is one of the most important archaeological sites in the middle Ganga Valley.

A storage jar from the Gupta period (left) excavated from the Rajghat site. (BHU)

— The first archaeological remains at the site were discovered in 1939 during the expansion of the Kashi railway station and were subsequently sent to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for examination.

— The excavations unearthed remains of ancient settlements, including structures believed to be houses, terracotta objects, seals and several other artefacts. These findings helped researchers trace the development of human settlement at Rajghat over several centuries.

— Notably, archaeologists have divided the history of the site into six cultural periods, beginning around 800 BC and continuing up to the medieval period.

Click here to read more on Rajghat Excavation.

 

International Cooperation

• PM Modi’s visit to Uzbekistan

— Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Uzbekistan from August 29 to 30 on a bilateral visit and is on a visit to the Kyrgyz Republic for the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit from August 31 to September 1.

— Elevating their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, India and Uzbekistan on August 30 discussed establishing a framework for long-term supply of uranium to India and set a bilateral trade target of USD 5 billion by 2030. India is among the top 10 trading partners of Uzbekistan. Bilateral trade in 2025-26 stood close to USD 1 billion.

— These were the key takeaways after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent for bilateral talks.

— Modi was conferred Uzbekistan’s highest award for foreign leaders, Oliy Darajali Do’stlik Order, which he dedicated to the “enduring bond” between India and Uzbekistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives Uzbekistan’s highest state honour from Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. (PIB via PTI Photo)

— A total of 11 pacts were signed during the visit. Announcement of a grant of USD 1 million for afforestation in the Aral Sea region, 100 Lal Bahadur Shastri Scholarship for Hindi Language Scholarships and a ICCR Sanskrit Chair at Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies were also made.

• Farakka Water Treaty

— A fresh diplomatic and political confrontation is brewing in Bihar over the 1996 India-Bangladesh Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, or known colloquially as the Farakka treaty. As the treaty’s lapse approaches, Bihar’s ruling National Democratic Alliance is pushing against its renewal.

— The Farakka Water Treaty (officially called the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty) is a bilateral agreement signed on December 12, 1996, between India and Bangladesh that regulates the sharing of the Ganga waters at the Farakka Barrage in West Bengal, India, primarily during the dry season from January 1 to May 31. The treaty expires in December.

— The barrage was built in 1975 to divert water from the Ganga into the Hooghly River to flush out silt and to keep Kolkata Port navigable. However, this reduced downstream river flow into Bangladesh, causing severe water shortages, increased soil salinity, and ecological stress in southern Bangladesh.

— The 1996 treaty established a 30-year binding framework (1996–2026) to replace earlier short-term stopgap arrangements and ensure predictable water distribution.

— Unlike the earlier 1977 temporary agreement, the 1996 treaty lacks a “minimum flow guarantee clause”. If total flow falls drastically below 50,000 cusecs, the treaty only calls for immediate emergency consultations between both governments. Siltation, reduced groundwater discharge, upstream water withdrawal, and erratic rainfall patterns have altered the river’s actual availability in Bihar compared to 1996 baseline levels.

• UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

— India on August 26 rejected a report by a UN panel that alleged discrimination against various ethnic and religious groups in the country.

— The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD) flagged concerns on August 25 over human rights violations against people belonging to scheduled tribes, scheduled castes and Rohingya refugees.

— The UNCERD is the body of independent experts that monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by its States parties.

• H-1B visas

— Barely two months after a US federal court struck down the Donald Trump administration’s $100,000 charge on new H-1B visa petitions, the administration is trying again. This time, through a formal rulemaking process and under a different provision of immigration law.

— The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed an additional $103,265 fee on every H-1B petition subject to the annual visa cap.

— The H-1B visa is a temporary (non-immigrant) visa category that allows US employers to hire highly educated foreign professionals to work in ‘specialty occupations’. It was introduced in 1990 to help American employers address skill shortages when qualified domestic workers are unavailable. It primarily covers roles in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and Information Technology.

— Notably, India remains the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas, accounting for 71 percent of approved applications in 2024, while China was a distant second at 11.7 percent.

Polity

• First state to formulate pedestrian safety policy

— After the Supreme Court’s order recognising the right to walk on footpaths as a fundamental right, Andhra Pradesh has become the country’s first state to formulate a pedestrian safety policy.

— Since roads and footpaths are a state subject, it is incumbent upon state governments to ensure citizens’ fundamental right to safe footpaths.

— The Andhra Pradesh Pedestrian Safety & Universal Accessibility Policy 2026, notified on August 7, mandates a three-step system to address the issue — road safety audits, fixing footpath infrastructure (including removal of encroachments) and behavioural change.

— The policy also invokes section 198A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, under which officials, contractors, and consultants can be fined Rs 1 lakh if infrastructural or design failures cause pedestrian death or disability.

• Gorkha state demand

— The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has constituted a high-level committee following a key meeting of Gorkha leaders with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and West Bengal government representatives in Siliguri.

— Tasked with preparing a framework for a “permanent political solution” to the Gorkha issue, the committee will address a contentious demand whose origins can be traced back over 100 years.

— The Gorkhas’ movement for a separate administrative identity is among the oldest of its kind in India. Darjeeling and its adjacent areas — including Kalimpong, Kurseong, the Terai, and the Dooars — are culturally, ethnically, and linguistically distinct from the rest of West Bengal. Because the region’s population primarily speaks Nepali and possesses distinct physical features, residents frequently face racial profiling and are wrongly labelled as citizens of Nepal or China.

— This persistent alienation has fueled a deep-seated identity crisis, driving the demand for a separate state to affirm their identity as Indian citizens.

— But its origins go further back. The movement began in 1907, when the Darjeeling Hillmen’s Association, led by Sonam Wangel Laden La, submitted a formal petition to the Minto-Morley Reforms Committee seeking to separate Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri from Bengal.

 

Defence

• Javelin anti-tank guided missile

— India has signed an agreement with the US to buy its Javelin anti-tank guided missile system, the US Embassy ‌in India said on August 28.

— The Javelin first entered service with the US military in 1996. It is an anti-tank guided munition with a standard effective range of 2.5 km.

— A single person can carry this missile system and fire it from their shoulder. Alternatively, it can also be fired from a remote launcher mounted on an unmanned ground vehicle.

Javelin is a single man-portable fire-and-forget medium-range antitank weapon system designed to defeat all known and projected threat armor. (Credits: Lockheed Martin)

— According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the missile was designed to tackle heavily armored vehicles such as main battle tanks and lighter-skinned military vehicles. It is also effective against fortifications, bunkers and helicopters.

— The Javelin is a “fire-and-forget” missile — its infrared guidance system allows it to travel towards a target on its own. This means that operators can fire and quickly move for cover, relocate to another fighting position, or reload to fire again, says a CSIS article.

• Transfer of missile technology to defence industry

— In a significant step towards building India’s conventional missile force, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on August 25 approved the transfer of technology for all conventional missile systems developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to the Indian defence industry. The decision paves the way for domestic production of these missile systems by private players.

— Officials familiar with the development told The Indian Express that the initiative could start with the DRDO-developed beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) ASTRA, surface-to-air anti-radiation missiles RUDRAM, VSHORADS, anti-tank guided missile NAG as well as short-range missile systems like the Naval Anti-Ship Missile (NASM).

— The broader goal, however, is to allow the Indian defence industry to produce all conventional missile systems, they said. That said, Agni and the K-series missiles will not be included in the technology transfer as they are strategic missiles, the officials highlighted.

 

Economy

• IT Resilience Index 

— Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on August 24 introduced an IT Resilience Index (ITRI) for market infrastructure institutions — entities such as clearing corporations and exchanges that enable trading in financial markets.

— SEBI’s ITRI for market infrastructure institutions (MIIs) quantifies cyber readiness and turns it into something tangible.

— The index has nine parameters — availability and security have a weightage of 20%, integrity, governance, reliability and monitoring, modularity and flexibility, and business continuity have a weightage of 10% each, while scalability and an “others” parameter with miscellaneous requirements have a weightage of 5% each.

— The framework, which will come into effect from early 2027, will also include an “early warning system” and continuous monitoring to flag risks early. “MIIs shall compute ITRI on a half-yearly basis within a period of 60 days from the end of each half-year and submit the comparative analysis of two consecutive half-years (on a rolling basis) and corrective action,” SEBI’s circular said.

• Government appoints members to RBI Central Board

— The government has appointed former senior finance ministry official Annie George Mathew, economist and management consultant Janmejaya Kumar Sinha and former diplomat Syed Akbaruddin as part-time, non-official directors on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a four-year term.

— The current strength of the board is 11, including the governor and deputy governors. After new appointments, it will become 14.

— The appointments were approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet under Section 8(1)(c) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

— The government had appointed former ISRO Chairman Somnath S and Mahindra group Chairman Anand Mahindra on the central board of the RBI last week.

• Chipflation

— The global artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom has created an acute shortage of the memory chips used in the manufacture of everyday consumer electronics. This has led to manufacturers raising rates they charge to such an extent that years of price hikes that occurred in the past for products such as smartphones and TVs have taken place in just six months in 2026.

— According to Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), prices of a variety of consumer electronics goods in July were up 3-5% compared to January.

— Back in June, analysts at American investment bank Morgan Stanley had coined the term ‘chipflation’ to describe how “AI’s appetite for memory chips is boosting the cost of everything from data centers to smartphones, with consequences that may reach far beyond the tech industry.”

— The global AI boom has led to key chipmakers making the more in-demand and advanced chips used in data centres sprouting up all over the world.

— What is being sacrificed are DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and other chips used in everyday electronics goods such as refrigerators, washing machines, ACs, smartphones, laptops, TVs, and earphones. The result of the supply shortage of the chips essential to consumer electronics is a massive rise in their prices.

• State of the Economy

— The Indian economy is showing resilience amid a fragile global environment marked by geopolitical tensions, renewed US tariffs and persistent trade uncertainties, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) ‘State of the Economy’ article.

— While these external headwinds continue to pose risks to global trade and the growth-inflation outlook, buoyant domestic demand, a recovery in manufacturing and services activity, improving monsoon conditions and a rebound in capital inflows are providing support to India’s growth momentum, the RBI article said.

— The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee kept the key repo rate unchanged at 5.25% in its meeting on August 5. The panel marginally raised its growth forecast for FY27 to 6.7% from 6.6% and lowered its inflation projection to 5% from 5.1%.

— However, members of the MPC indicated that as headline inflation is projected to peak to a level as high as 5.9% in Q3 2026-27, a “case for a hike may emerge” during the course of the year, according to the minutes of the MPC meeting released last week.

 

Health

• Intismeran 

— A new personalised cancer vaccine, administered along with a popular immunotherapy drug Keytruda, has been shown to reduce the risk of death owing to recurrence and spread of skin cancer.

— Developed by pharmaceutical giant Merck and the mRNA vaccine company Moderna, intismeran is the first such therapy to show meaningful clinical benefits.

— The therapy is designed by identifying the mutations in a patient’s tumour sample: together, these identifying proteins — called neoantigens — act like the fingerprint of their cancer.

— Neoantigens are essentially proteins that are found only on the cancerous cells, which the body’s immune system can be trained to recognise. These neoantigens vary from person to person, meaning they become an identifier for their cancer but also necessitating personalised vaccines.

— The vaccine consists of synthetically developed mRNA that encodes for these proteins. mRNA, or messenger RNA, is a single-stranded molecule that carries genetic instructions from DNA in the cell nucleus. By telling the cell which proteins to make, it acts as a molecular blueprint. Each treatment consists of mRNA coding for 34 such neoantigens. Once administered, the body generates these proteins and presents them to the immune system.

— The idea behind the therapy is the same as any other vaccine: teach the immune system to recognise the cancer’s fingerprint so that it can mount an effective response whenever it spots these mutated cells.

Environment

• Nepal flash floods

— On August 26, floods struck the border of Nepal and Tibet. The flash flood in the Lhende Khola and Bhotekoshi river system swallowed roads, bridges and houses. It also triggered a mudslide that crippled Gyirong Port — a major crossing point between Tibet and Nepal — while severing power and communications due to the destruction of critical infrastructure.

The deadly path of the Nepal flash flood

— The flash flood which started in the northeastern district of Rasua in Nepal, is currently understood to have been triggered by a rock and ice avalanche, a result of a large block of glacier in the upper reaches of the Bhotekoshi river (the lower side is also called the Trishuli) falling off. What caused this break-off is not very clear as of now. There was no heavy rainfall incident recorded in the area, so that factor is largely ruled out.

— A flash flood is a sudden (and often violent) surge of water that inundates low-lying areas in very small periods of time. In mountainous terrains, such floods carry greater energy, obliterating all the structures in its path. The sheer velocity of the flood leaves communities that live downstream with little to no warning or window for evacuation.

Rescuers use an earthmover to carry a victim of flash flooding to safety along the Trishuli River in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo)

• Elephant corridors

— Recently, Supreme Court bench presided by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant directed the Union government to conduct a fresh survey of elephant corridors. It said these corridors cannot be blocked fearing crop damage as elephant herds, by nature, travel long distances.

— Elephant corridors, or movement pathways connecting two natural habitats, have been well defined and identified by the Environment Ministry. They are crucial to facilitating elephant movement, and disrupting them can not only spark human-elephant conflict but pose a threat to the animals themselves.

— Notably, India has four principal elephant population landscapes — the Western Ghats; North-Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra floodplains; Shivalik Hills and Gangetic plains; and Central India and Eastern Ghats. More than 50% of India’s 22,446 elephants are distributed in the Western Ghats across Karnataka (6,013), Tamil Nadu (3,136) and Kerala (2,785).

• Black-necked storks

— The bird known in Western folklore for ‘delivering babies’ has brought good news in Gujarat as well. In the Khijadia wetland of Jamnagar district, black-necked storks have shown signs of breeding and raising families with committed parental care.

— According to a recent study carried out by researchers at the Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation, an autonomous body under the state forest department, four pairs of black-necked storks were found raising two fledglings each in 2024-25.

— The black-necked stork is known for its scattered breeding populations. In Gujarat, Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary and its surrounding landscape have long been recognised as important habitats for the species. However, detailed information on its breeding ecology has remained limited.

Black-necked storks are known for their scattered breeding populations. (Photo Credit: Special Arrangement)

— The sanctuary, which lies along the Central Asian Flyway, covers 510 hectares with 233 species of birds in it. Black-necked storks are also found in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Assam besides Gujarat.

— It is diurnal and feeds in shallow wetlands rather than specifically deep waters.

 

Places in News

(Just FYI: The location of the place is important, considering that UPSC has asked several questions about places that were in the news, such as Aleppo and Kirkuk, in the 2018 UPSC Prelims. The best way to remember them is to plot them on a world map.)

• Lake Ontario

— US President Donald Trump on August 27 signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario, situated on the US-Canada border, as “Lake America”. The order said the lake was a “tremendous asset to the United States and part of our Nation’s heritage.”

— In response, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote in a post on X that the name Ontario (also the name of a Canadian province) comes from the indigenous Wendat people.

— Lake Ontario is part of the Great Lakes system, along with Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie, spanning the US-Canada border. According to the US National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the lakes system holds about 90% of the freshwater in the US and approximately 20% of the world’s freshwater supply. Forty million people across the two countries depend on it for clean drinking water.

Lake Ontario. (Google Maps)

— Notably, the name change will apply to how the US officially refers to the lake, but it will not affect how Canada or the rest of the world choose to call it. No single global organisation is tasked with ensuring uniformity among names of water bodies, and the decision to use a certain name is often based on historical precedent.

• Paracels archipelago

— New installations have been sighted on an islet near Antelope Reef in the Paracels archipelago of the ‌disputed South China Sea where analysts believe China is building its largest military base, according to satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters.

— Reuters reported last week that China had completed the first phase of construction at Antelope Reef, highlighting the South China Sea as an increasingly militarised arena between China and the United States and its allies — and one that could prove critical in any future conflict over ​Taiwan.

— China has occupied the Paracels since 1974 when it seized them from the navy of the former ​South Vietnam. Vietnam, which claims the ​entire grouping as its ⁠own, has moved in recent years to expand its own network of bases in the Spratlys, which lie further south.

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 states has become the first in India to formulate a dedicated pedestrian safety policy?

(a) Punjab

(b) Tamil Nadu

(c) Uttar Pradesh

(d) Andhra Pradesh

(2) With reference to the IT Resilience Index (ITRI), consider the following statements:

1. It has been introduced by the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

2. The index tracks the resilience of technology systems used by market infrastructure institutions.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer Key

1. (d)   2. (c)

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

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