Current Affairs — 24 August 2026

1. Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar Yojana (PM-SSY)

Core Context

Land is one of the biggest constraints on India's solar expansion, since utility-scale ground-mounted plants require large, contiguous tracts that often trigger acquisition disputes or forest clearances. The Union Cabinet's approval of the Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar Yojana tries to sidestep this bottleneck altogether by moving solar panels onto water, turning reservoirs, dams and inland water bodies into generation sites without touching an extra acre of land.

Latest Developments

• The scheme carries a total outlay of ₹5,070 crore to deploy 5,000 MW of Floating Solar Photovoltaic capacity integrated with 10,000 MWh of battery energy storage systems, to be rolled out between FY 2026-27 and FY 2030-31.
• Floating solar panels sit on buoyant platforms anchored to a water body's bed or banks, with power evacuated onshore through underwater cables; the water's evaporative cooling effect also raises panel efficiency by roughly 5 to 15 percent compared with ground-mounted systems.
• The National Institute of Solar Energy estimates India's floating solar potential at over 102 GWp using just 20 percent of available reservoir surface area, against a current operational base of only about 700 MW.
• Every project must include at least two hours of co-located battery storage, and the Centre will provide financial assistance of ₹1 crore per MW on commissioning, plus up to ₹50 lakh per project for feasibility studies.
• Operational examples already exist, including NTPC's Ramagundam project in Telangana and the Omkareshwar Floating Solar Park in Madhya Pradesh, but engineering challenges such as anchor stress from fluctuating water levels and higher capital costs remain to be resolved at scale.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• India's total installed solar capacity grew from about 3 GW in 2016 to over 160 GW by mid-2026, part of the country's non-fossil fuel capacity push, which already crossed the 300 GW mark in 2026.
• Floating solar co-located with hydropower reservoirs allows shared use of existing transmission lines and switchyards, an example of infrastructure convergence tested frequently in Prelims.
• Shading of water surfaces by floating panels also reduces evaporation losses and can suppress algal blooms by limiting sunlight and photosynthesis.
• The National Institute of Solar Energy, an autonomous institution under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, is India's nodal technical body for solar research and resource assessment.

2. AI-Driven Cyber Threats to India's Critical Infrastructure

Core Context

Cyberattacks on India have traditionally relied on human effort to identify targets, write malicious code and adapt to defences. A new wave of analysis shows this is changing fast, as attackers plug large language models and autonomous AI agents into every stage of the cyber kill chain, turning what used to be slow, manual intrusions into automated, machine-speed campaigns capable of striking at a scale defenders have not faced before.

Latest Developments

• Cyber intelligence firm CloudSEK ranked India the second most cyber-attacked nation globally in 2024 and sixth in 2025, with ransomware groups recently claiming breaches linked to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.
• During Operation Sindoor, Pakistan-backed groups such as APT36 targeted the Ministry of Defence, the Army, Navy, DRDO, the National Informatics Centre and BOSS Linux, illustrating how state-linked actors combine cyber operations with conventional hostilities.
• AI is being used for hyper-personalised phishing, polymorphic malware that mutates in real time to dodge antivirus signatures, and autonomous discovery of zero-day vulnerabilities in operating systems and industrial control software.
• India's structural vulnerabilities include heavy reliance on imported hardware, foreign proprietary operating systems and foreign-hosted cloud infrastructure, alongside a shortage of AI-cybersecurity talent.
• CERT-In has responded with AI-driven threat detection systems, sandbox vulnerability assessments and nationwide cyber drills, while the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is drafting governance frameworks for synthetic content and agentic AI.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• CERT-In, or the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, functions under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology as India's nodal agency for cybersecurity incident response.
• Critical Information Infrastructure, protected under the Information Technology Act, 2000, is overseen by the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre, housed under the National Technical Research Organisation.
• Operation Sindoor refers to India's response to cross-border terrorism, during which cyber operations accompanied conventional military action, underlining the concept of hybrid warfare.
• A zero-day vulnerability is a software flaw unknown to its developer at the time it is exploited, leaving no time for a patch before an attack occurs.

3. IN-SPACe Guidelines on Planned Re-entry of Space Objects

Core Context

As India's private space sector matures, with milestones such as Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 becoming the first privately built Indian rocket to reach orbit, the country needed a formal rulebook for what happens when a satellite or rocket stage comes back down. The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre has now issued India's first-ever guidelines for the controlled, planned re-entry of space objects, filling that regulatory gap just as India also advances its own space station ambitions.

Latest Developments

• Any Indian entity planning a controlled re-entry, whether within or outside Indian territory, must now obtain prior authorisation from IN-SPACe; non-Indian entities can undertake planned re-entry within Indian territory only through an Indian-incorporated entity.
• The guidelines cap the expected casualty risk from a planned re-entry at below 1 in 10,000 and require at least 45 days' advance notice before re-entry begins.
• Operators must submit rigorous trajectory predictions, survival and fragmentation assessments, and carry robust third-party liability insurance.
• The guidelines were released days after Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 launch and around India's third National Space Day, observed on 23 August.
• Separately, the government approved the first module of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, India's proposed indigenous space station, which is targeted for completion by 2035.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• IN-SPACe is the single-window nodal agency under the Department of Space that authorises and promotes private participation in India's space activities.
• National Space Day is observed on 23 August each year, commemorating the Chandrayaan-3 landing near the Moon's south pole on 23 August 2023.
• The Bharatiya Antariksh Station is envisaged as India's own space station, distinct from the International Space Station, with the first module targeted well before the 2035 completion deadline.
• Skyroot Aerospace is a Hyderabad-based private space start-up; Vikram-1 is named after Dr Vikram Sarabhai, regarded as the father of the Indian space programme.

4. 25th Round of India-China Special Representatives' Talks

Core Context

India and China have used a Special Representatives mechanism since 2003 to negotiate a political framework for resolving their long-pending boundary question, running parallel to routine military and diplomatic engagement. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval's visit to Beijing for the 25th round of these talks comes at a sensitive moment, with both sides cautiously rebuilding ties after the 2020 Galwan standoff and ahead of a possible visit by China's President to India for the BRICS summit.

Latest Developments

• NSA Ajit Doval, India's Special Representative, met China's Special Representative and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing for the 25th round of talks on the boundary question.
• Doval also called on China's Vice President during the visit, signalling the political weight both sides are attaching to the engagement.
• The talks are seen as significant groundwork ahead of a potential visit by China's President to New Delhi for the BRICS summit scheduled for 12-13 September.
• The Special Representatives' mechanism covers not just the boundary question but also confidence-building measures and the broader bilateral relationship, including trade and border trade points.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The India-China Special Representatives mechanism was established in 2003; NSA Ajit Doval has represented India in this dialogue for several years.
• The India-China boundary comprises three sectors: the Western Sector (Ladakh, adjoining Aksai Chin), the Middle Sector, and the Eastern Sector (Arunachal Pradesh), with no mutually agreed Line of Actual Control in several stretches.
• BRICS, an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has since expanded to include additional members and functions as a grouping of major emerging economies.
• Wang Yi holds a dual role in China as Foreign Minister and the country's Special Representative for the boundary talks with India.

5. Exercise Udara Shakti 2026

Core Context

India's defence diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific increasingly relies on a chain of joint exercises that let the Indian Air Force test interoperability with partner air forces flying very different aircraft. Exercise Udara Shakti, held biennially with Malaysia, is one link in that chain, and this year's edition was notable for following directly after the IAF's participation in Exercise Pitch Black in Australia, without the aircraft returning to base in between.

Latest Developments

• The Indian Air Force concluded Exercise Udara Shakti 2026, a bilateral tactical air combat exercise with the Royal Malaysian Air Force hosted in Malaysia.
• The exercise featured Dissimilar Aircraft Combat Training pitting French-origin IAF Rafale fighters against Malaysia's Russian-origin Su-30MKM Flankers and American-built F/A-18D Hornets.
• It included Subject Matter Expert Exchanges on operational planning, flight safety and electronic warfare, along with strategic airlift cooperation using the IAF's C-17 Globemaster III and Malaysia's A400M Atlas.
• The IAF's fighter squadrons flew directly from northern Australia, where they had taken part in Exercise Pitch Black, straight into the Udara Shakti deployment in Southeast Asia, demonstrating extended operational reach.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Exercise Udara Shakti is a bilateral IAF-Royal Malaysian Air Force exercise conducted biennially; 'Udara' means 'air' in Malay.
• Exercise Pitch Black is a large multinational air combat exercise hosted by Australia, in which the IAF has participated in recent editions.
• Dissimilar Aircraft Combat Training refers to air-to-air combat training between different types of aircraft, useful for preparing pilots to face varied adversary platforms.
• The Su-30 family of fighters, used by both India and Malaysia, allows the two air forces to share maintenance and operational expertise despite belonging to different air forces.

6. INS Mangrol — Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft

Core Context

Large warships struggle to operate effectively in shallow coastal waters, where submarines and underwater mines can hide close to shore. To close this gap, the Indian Navy has been inducting a new class of compact, highly indigenous vessels purpose-built for littoral anti-submarine operations, and Mangrol is the latest addition to this growing fleet.

Latest Developments

• The Indian Navy received Mangrol, the third Mahe-class Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft, built by Cochin Shipyard Limited under an eight-ship contract with over 80 percent indigenous content.
• The vessel is 78 metres long, displaces between 896 and 1,100 tonnes, reaches speeds up to 25 knots, and uses waterjet propulsion for high manoeuvrability and reduced underwater acoustic noise.
• It is armed with an RBU-6000 anti-submarine rocket launcher, 324 mm torpedo tubes for Advanced Light-Weight Torpedoes, a 30 mm naval gun and two stabilised remote-controlled guns.
• Its sensor suite includes indigenous DRDO-developed hull-mounted sonar and Low-Frequency Variable Depth Sonar, tuned for detecting quiet conventional submarines in noisy shallow-water conditions.
• Mangrol is named after a coastal town in Gujarat's Junagadh district and revives the legacy of an earlier INS Mangrol, a naval minesweeper decommissioned in 2004.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The Mahe-class Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft is built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, headquartered in Kochi, Kerala.
• Low-Intensity Maritime Operations refer to coastal surveillance and constabulary functions distinct from full-scale naval warfare, an area these shallow water craft are designed to support.
• India's Exclusive Economic Zone extends up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline, within which the Navy and Coast Guard share surveillance responsibilities.
• DRDO's Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory is the key agency behind indigenous sonar systems used on Indian naval vessels.

7. Regenerative Agriculture

Core Context

Decades of intensive chemical-input farming have left large parts of Indian agriculture with degraded soils, falling water tables and rising vulnerability to climate extremes. Regenerative agriculture is gaining policy attention as a response that goes beyond simply sustaining current conditions, aiming instead to actively rebuild soil health and farm ecosystems over time.

Latest Developments

• Regenerative agriculture replaces synthetic fertilisers and pesticides with farm-derived bio-inputs such as Beejamrut, Jeevamrut, GhanJeevamrut, Neemastra and Dashparni to restore soil microbial activity.
• It relies on mulching, green manuring and minimal tillage to protect topsoil, retain moisture and build organic matter, along with crop-livestock integration and agroforestry to diversify farm income.
• Micro-irrigation methods such as drip and sprinkler systems are promoted to improve water-use efficiency and prevent nutrient runoff.
• Proponents argue the approach enhances climate resilience against droughts and heatwaves while lowering input costs for farmers over the medium term.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Regenerative agriculture differs from organic farming in its explicit focus on actively rebuilding soil health and biodiversity, not merely avoiding synthetic inputs.
• Jeevamrut and Beejamrut are fermented microbial inputs used in Zero Budget Natural Farming, a model closely related to regenerative agriculture and promoted under several state schemes.
• Green manuring involves growing crops such as dhaincha or sunhemp and ploughing them back into the soil to add organic nitrogen.
• Agroforestry, the integration of trees with crops or livestock on the same land, is recognised in India's National Agroforestry Policy, 2014.

8. Biochar from Invasive Alien Plants — Khalingduar Reserve Forest

Core Context

Invasive alien plants such as Lantana camara have quietly choked out native vegetation across many Indian forests, degrading the forage available to wildlife, including elephants. In Assam's Khalingduar Reserve Forest, bordering Bhutan, a community-driven restoration project is turning this problem into an opportunity by converting the invasive biomass into biochar, a carbon-rich soil amendment, while helping native vegetation recover.

Latest Developments

• The conservation organisation Aaranyak, with support from the International Elephant Foundation, is running a science-based habitat restoration programme at a 2-hectare demonstration site at Samrang in Khalingduar Reserve Forest, under the Dhansiri Forest Division in Udalguri district.
• The project specifically targets dense stands of invasive alien plants, including Lantana camara, Chromolaena odorata and Mikania micrantha, removing them and converting the biomass into biochar rather than treating it as waste.
• Beyond biochar, the team along with students and local community members has prepared and deployed more than 15,000 seed balls to accelerate native vegetation recovery across degraded forest patches.
• The initiative aims to improve forage quality for elephants in the Bodoland Territorial Region, addressing one driver of human-elephant conflict linked to habitat degradation.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Invasive Alien Species are non-native organisms introduced deliberately or accidentally into an ecosystem, where the absence of natural predators allows unchecked spread; Lantana camara is among India's most widespread invasive plants.
• Biochar is a charcoal-like carbon-rich material produced by heating biomass in a low-oxygen environment (pyrolysis); it improves soil fertility and water retention while sequestering carbon.
• The Bodoland Territorial Region is an autonomous region in Assam administered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
• Khalingduar Reserve Forest lies along the India-Bhutan border in Udalguri district, part of the larger elephant corridor network in the Eastern Himalayan foothills.

9. 'Kanda Express' and the Onion Price Surge

Core Context

Onion prices are notoriously volatile in India and have historically shaped both kitchen budgets and election-season politics. With retail prices spiking sharply in August 2026, the Centre reached for a familiar but rail-based tool this time, running special freight trains to rush onions from surplus-producing Nashik to cities where prices had climbed well above the national average.

Latest Developments

• The Centre launched 'Kanda Express' special freight rakes on 24 August 2026 to transport onions from Nashik in Maharashtra to Delhi, Chennai, Kochi and Guwahati, where retail prices had risen the most.
• The all-India average retail price of onion rose about 59 percent year-on-year to ₹43.53 per kg, with prices touching ₹60 per kg in Chennai, ₹55 in Delhi and ₹53 in Kolkata.
• Onions from the buffer stock are being sold at ₹35 per kg through the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India.
• The stocks loaded onto the rakes were expected to reach the identified consumption centres within about two days of dispatch.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) and NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India) are the two central agencies that procure and release onion buffer stock to stabilise prices.
• Nashik district in Maharashtra is India's largest onion-producing region and a key price-setting market (Lasalgaon) for the national onion trade.
• Price stabilisation through buffer stock operations falls under the Price Stabilisation Fund, administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs.
• Onion is not covered under the Essential Commodities Act's minimum support price mechanism in the same way as cereals, making buffer stock release the primary tool for price control.

10. Nationwide Cloud and AI Skilling Initiative

Core Context

India's technology job market remains heavily concentrated in a handful of metro cities, leaving talented youth in smaller towns without a clear pathway into cloud computing or AI careers. A new nationwide skilling initiative, backed by a global technology partner, seeks to close this gap by building a structured, outcome-linked training pipeline for underserved learners.

Latest Developments

• The National Skill Development Corporation, working with Cultus Education and technology partner Amazon Web Services, launched a nationwide Cloud and AI skilling initiative aimed at Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns.
• The programme runs on a two-tier model: a foundational layer offering self-paced digital literacy in cloud and AI concepts to 150,000 learners, and an intensive layer selecting 10,000 participants for the free, instructor-led AWS re/Start programme.
• The curriculum covers Linux systems, cloud architecture, networking, cybersecurity basics, Python programming, databases and AI fundamentals, combined with hands-on labs and capstone projects.
• Successful trainees are supported to earn globally recognised AWS certifications, and the programme concludes with a National Hackathon offering direct interview access to hiring employers.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The National Skill Development Corporation operates under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship as India's key public-private skilling agency.
• Skill India Mission, launched in 2015, is the umbrella programme under which various sector-specific skilling initiatives, including public-private partnerships like this one, are aligned.
• Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns are classified based on population under Census criteria and are a recurring policy focus for decentralising India's digital economy.
• Public-private skilling partnerships of this kind are often cited in Mains answers on bridging India's digital divide and demographic dividend utilisation.