CURRENT AFFAIRS

2026
Important Topics in News Prelims 2026

DAILY DOSE
[Sources: The Hindu, Indian Express, PIB/AIR/DD News]

Date: 22 July 2025

 ICA 2026 Current Affairs | Daily Dose
The Hindu
 International Chess Federation (FIDE) = Founded in Paris (France) in 1924 + Acts as governing
body of international chess competitions + FIDE or World Chess Federation is an international
organization that connects the various national chess federations + International Olympic Committee
(IOC) considers chess a sport and recognizes FIDE as an official federation + However, Chess is not
yet an Olympic sport + Chess is already a part of the Olympic Esports, which is a Global virtual or
simulated sports competition created by IOC + There are 201 member federations of FIDE (India is a
member) + Headquarter: Lausanne, Switzerland + The 2024 FIDE World Chess Championship was
won by Gukesh Dommaraju (Defeated to the Ding Liren, China) who became the youngest Chess
World Champion in history at age 18 + The FIDE World Championship 2024 match was the first in
138 years to feature two contestants from Asia + India will host the Chess World Cup 2025 from 30
October 2025 to 27 November 2025 + Note: Host city announcement to be made later by the FIDE.
 Methamphetamine = Methamphetamine (meth) is an addictive stimulant drug + It is used to treat
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy, a sleep disorder +
Methamphetamine on its own might not cause the heart attack but it can result in a cardiac arrest if
consumed in an excess quantity + Operation Sagar-Manthan was launched in 2024 by Narcotics Control
Bureau (NCB) to target drug trafficking through maritime routes to Counter the threat to national
security and realize vision of a Nasha Mukt Bharat by 2047.
 Barak River = Major river in northeastern India that originates from Manipur + Forms part of the larger
Surma-Meghna River System + Acts as a natural boundary between Assam and Manipur before flowing
through the Barak Valley region of southern Assam + After entering Bangladesh, the river splits into
Surma and Kushiyara branches, which later reunite as the Meghna River and eventually join the
combined flow of the Ganga and Brahmaputra + Barak basin extends across India, Bangladesh, and
Myanmar + In India, a stretch of 121 km between Lakhipur and Bhanga is declared as National
Waterway 6 + Tributaries include Jiri, Dhaleswari, Singla, Longai, Sonai, and Katakhal + Major
infrastructure projects include the Tipaimukh Dam Project, Tista-Champamati, and Dhansiri Barrages
+ Assam’s Barak Bhuban Wildlife Sanctuary is named after Barak River, which flows through it.
 Pay Commission = Established by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Government
of India + Objective is to review and recommend changes to the salary, allowances, and pension
structures of central government employees and pensioners + It aims to ensure fair compensation for
government employees + It recommend formulas for revising Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness
Relief (DR) to offset inflation impacts + It is an advisory body with NO mandatory authority for the
government to accept its recommendations + Pay Commissions are generally formed every 10 years;
first one was established in 1946 + The 7th Pay Commission was established in 2014 + Recently, the
Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the establishment of the 8th Pay
Commission.
 Vice-President (VP) of India = The post of Vice-President has been borrowed from the USA
Constitution + VP is deputy to the President and ranks second in order of precedence and first in line
to become President + He also serves as ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha + VP is a member of
Parliament + Qualifications: Must be a citizen of India, Minimum age of 35 years, Should not hold any
office of profit, and Must qualify for election to Rajya Sabha (unlike President, who must qualify for
Lok Sabha) + Article 66 mandates the indirect election of the Vice President by both Houses through
proportional representation with a single transferable vote and a secret ballot + Elected and nominated
MPs of both Houses form the electoral college (Note: state legislatures are excluded) + Election
Commission conducts the process under the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952 +
Article 71 vests the Supreme Court with jurisdiction over all Vice-Presidential election disputes +
Article 69 mandates that the President administer the oath to the Vice President upon election + Under
Article 68(2), the VP’s 5-year constitutional term begins from the oath-taking date + Article 67 states
that resignation, removal, or term expiry may vacate the Vice President’s office + Article 67(c) permits
the outgoing Vice President to remain until the successor takes charge + VP may resign by submitting

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a written letter to the President under Article 67(a) + It must be noted that, resignation is effective
immediately upon submission and requires no formal acceptance + After resignation, the Deputy
Chairman presides over Rajya Sabha without becoming Vice President + Article 68(1) requires
immediate re-election if the Vice President vacates office before term expiry + Unlike Article 62 for
the President (six-month rule), Article 68 sets no deadline for re-election + Article 68(2) grants the
newly elected Vice President a full five-year term from the date of assumption + Article 67(b) provides
for removal of the VP by Rajya Sabha resolution. It prescribes no mandatory grounds for removing the
VP from office. The resolution for the removal can be introduced with 14 days’ advance notice. The
notice must state the intent to move the resolution and outline its reasons. The resolution must be passed
by an effective majority of the Rajya Sabha’s total membership. The Lok Sabha is informed after the
resolution but holds no voting power in the removal process. Unlike Article 61 for President, Vice
President’s removal involves no bicameral impeachment procedure + It must be noted that, no VP has
been removed so far + Recently, Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from the post of Vice-President of India
+ IMPORTANT: This is the third mid-term vacancy (First: V.V. Giri’s 1969; and Second: Krishan
Kant’s death in 2002).
 GIFT (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) City = Gandhinagar, Gujarat + Consists of a multi-
service SEZ, which houses India’s first IFSC and an exclusive Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) + GIFT
City is envisaged as an integrated hub for financial and technology services not just for India but for
the world.
 International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) = Statutory authority established under
the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019 + Headquarters: GIFT City, Gujarat +
IFSCA is a unified authority for the development and regulation of financial products, financial services
and financial institutions in the IFSC in India + At present, the GIFT IFSC is the maiden international
financial services centre in India + Prior to the establishment of IFSCA, the domestic financial
regulators, namely, RBI, SEBI, PFRDA and IRDAI regulated the business in IFSC.
 NISAR Mission = NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) is a joint mission between NASA
and ISRO + Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) refers to a technique for producing high-resolution images
+ NISAR has been built by space agencies of the US and India under a partnership agreement signed
in 2014 + NISAR is an Earth observation satellites optimised for studying hazards and global
environmental change + It can help manage natural resources better and provide information to
scientists to better understand the effects and pace of climate change + It will scan globe every 12 days
over course of its 3-year mission to give an unprecedented view of the Earth + It will detect movements
of planet’s surface as small as 0.4 inches over areas about half the size of a tennis court + NISAR
mission carries two primary payloads: L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (L-SAR) developed by NASA;
and S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (S-SAR) developed by the ISRO + NISAR will be equipped with
the largest reflector antenna ever launched by NASA and its primary goals include tracking subtle
changes in Earth’s surface, spotting warning signs of imminent volcanic eruptions, helping to monitor
groundwater supplies and tracking the rate at which ice sheets are melting + As per recent development,
NISAR Mission is scheduled to be launched in July 2025.
 Green Hydrogen = It is Hydrogen produced by splitting water by electrolysis + This produces only
Hydrogen and Oxygen + We can use Hydrogen and vent the Oxygen to the atmosphere with no negative
impact + It is called green because there is no CO2 emission during the production process + In January
2025, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of India’s first Green Hydrogen Hub under NGHM
in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh + National Green Hydrogen Mission was launched in 2023 by
Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) with a target to achieve a production capacity of 5
million tonnes per annum of Green Hydrogen in the India by the year 2030.
 Prime Minister Internship Scheme (PMIS) = Flagship initiative of Ministry of Corporate Affairs
announced in Budget 2024-25 + Aimed at enhancing youth employability through real-world hands-on
job experience & focuses on skill development across multiple sectors + Objective is to provide 1 crore
youth with internships over 5 years in top 500 companies + Inclusion: Youth aged 21-24 years who are
not in full-time education or full-time employment + Exclusions: Candidates from IITs, IIMs, and those
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holding advanced degrees (MBA, CA) are ineligible; Candidates whose family member (self/ spouse/
parent) either earning 8 lakh/annum or having a govt job + Internship duration is of 12-month + Stipend
of 5,000 per month (DBT) of ₹4,500 from the government and ₹500 from the company’s Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) Fund will be provided + One-time grant of ₹6,000 will be given to cover
incidental expenses + Interns are covered under PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana & PM Suraksha Bima
Yojana + It is managed through an online portal by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
 World Food Programme (WFP) = Founded in 1961 by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
and General Assembly + WFP is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations (UN) + It is the
world's largest humanitarian organization, the largest one focused on hunger and food security + WFP
aims to end hunger by protecting access to food, improving nutrition and achieving food security,
supporting SDG implementation and partnering for its results + It is a member of the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and an executive member of the United Nations Sustainable
Development Group + It has been functioning in India since 1963 + It is entirely funded by voluntary
donations from governments, corporations, individuals, and not-for-profit entities + WFP has been
awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace 2020 for its efforts to combat hunger + WFP and International Fund
for Agricultural Development (IFAD) are sister institutions of FAO + Headquarter: Rome, Italy + WFP
publishes the Global Report on Food Crisis + The UN FAO declared 16 October as World Food Day
in 1979.
 International Seabed Authority (ISA) = Established in 1994, ISA is an autonomous international
organization mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to manage
mineral resources of the seabed beyond national jurisdiction for shared benefit of humankind + It is an
intergovernmental body of 168 member states (including India) and the European Union established
under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and its Agreement on Implementation (1994) +
All nations that ratify UNCLOS automatically become members of ISA + ISA is the only example of
an international organization established to manage a global commons + The international seabed is
the area that lies beyond the limits of national jurisdiction + Area under ISA’s jurisdiction covers around
54% of total area of world’s oceans + Headquarters: Kingston, Jamaica + ISA has allocated 10,000
sq.km to India in 2016 for exclusive exploration of polymetallic nodules in Central Indian Ocean Basin
(CIOB).
 Bima Sakhi Yojana = Launched by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) + Women-centric
initiative aims to promote financial empowerment and insurance literacy among rural women + Scheme
targets women aged 18 to 70 years who have passed Class 10, with a special preference for those
residing in rural areas + It is a performance-based stipendiary scheme, under which selected women
called Bima Sakhis receive specialized training and a monthly stipend for the first 3 years — ₹7,000 in
year one, ₹6,000 in year two, and ₹5,000 in year three + After training, they become LIC agents, and
graduates among them are eligible for consideration as Development Officers in LIC + Ineligible
candidates include women related to existing LIC agents/employees, retired LIC staff, ex-agents, or
current LIC agents + Recently, LIC recently entered into an MoU with the Union Ministry of Rural
Development to promote its Bima Sakhi Yojana in rural areas.
The Hindu (Other than Delhi Edition)
 Lyriothemis Abrahami = New species of dragonfly discovered in Kerala + It exhibits strong
dimorphism + Its distribution spanned from lowland rainforests to mid-elevation evergreen and
deciduous forests + Dragonfly is an indicator of forest health + Dragonflies are among the apex
predators of the insect world and help to regulate mosquito and pest populations.
Indian Express
 National Flag Day = July 22 is celebrated as National Flag Day (or Tiranga Adoption Day), marking
its official adoption by the constituent assembly in 1947 + Indian National Flag was inspired by the
original design of Pingali Venkayya (conceptualised it in Vijayawada) + The flag has a rectangular
shape with a length-to-width ratio of 3:2 + The saffron colour signifies strength and courage; white
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represents peace and truth; green symbolises fertility and growth + Ashoka Chakra, the navy-blue wheel
with 24 spokes symbolises the eternal nature of law and order + Flag Code of India (January 26, 2002)
(PYQ-2023) governs the provisions related to Indian Flag + Article 51 (A) states that, “every Indian
citizen has a Fundamental Duty to uphold the Constitution's values and institutions, as well as the
National Flag and the National Anthem”.
PIB/AIR/DD News
 Kamchatka Peninsula = Located in far eastern Russia + Bordered by the Sea of Okhotsk to the west
and the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea to the east + It forms part of the Kamchatka Krai + It is one of
the largest peninsulas in the world + Kamchatka is known as the “land of fire and ice” as it lies on the
Pacific Ring of Fire and has over 150 volcanoes + Its highest point is Klyuchevskaya Sopka + Regional
capital is Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky + Kuril Islands chain extends from the southern tip of Kamchatka
toward Japan’s Hokkaido Island, forming a tectonically active island arc + Climate is severe, with long,
cold, snowy winters and cool, wet summers + It has tundra and boreal forest biomes.
 Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) = International food safety and quality standard- setting
body + It was created by the World Health Organisation(WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) of the United Nations in May 1963 + It consists of 189 member countries (including India) +
Codex Alimentarius, or "Food Code" is a collection of standards, guidelines and codes of practice
adopted by the CAC + Codex standards are Voluntary + Membership of the Commission is open to all
Member Nations and Associate Members of FAO and WHO which are interested in international food
standards + The Commission meets in regular sessions once a year, alternating between Geneva and
Rome + The programme of work of the Commission is funded through the regular budgets of WHO
and FAO, with all work subject to the approval of the two governing bodies of the parent organisations
+ The Commission works in the 6 official languages of the UN + Recently, India’s leadership in
standards development for Millets gained recognition at the 88th Session of the Executive Committee
of the CAC at FAO (FAO) Headquarters in Rome, Italy.
Other Sources
 Pale-Capped Pigeon = Recently sighted in Dehing Patkai National Park in Assam + Also known as
the Purple Wood Pigeon + IUCN Status: Vulnerable + Found in parts of the Indian Subcontinent and
Southeast Asia + It is very locally distributed across northern and northeastern India, Bangladesh,
Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
 Dehing Patkai National Park = Located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of Assam + Situated
at the foothills of the Patkai Hill Ranges, on the banks of the River Dehing (a tributary of Brahmaputra),
and adjacent to the Namdapha Wildlife Sanctuary + Also known as the ‘Amazon of the East’ + It
harbours the longest stretch of tropical lowland rainforests in India + Climate of the region is mostly
tropical, with an annual rainfall of more than 4,000 mm + Park has a deciduous rainforest with semi-
evergreen flora + Ethnic groups living in the area include Tai Phake, Khamyang, Khampti, Singpho,
Nocte, Ahom, Kaibarta, Moran, and Motok, Burmese, and non-indigenous Nepali people.
 INVICTUS Programme = Recently, commenced by the European Space Agency (ESA) and UK-
based Frazer-Nash + It is a research programme with the goal of developing hypersonic technologies
applicable to future reusable vehicles capable of horizontal launch + It is a fully reusable experimental
aerospace vehicle capable of flying at Mach 5 (5 times the speed of sound) + Funded through ESA’s
General Support Technology Programme (GSTP) and Technology Development Element (TDE) + It
will prove the suitability of a hydrogen-fuelled precooled air-breathing propulsion system for horizontal
take-off and hypersonic flight.
 Tuvalu = Small island nation in the west-central Pacific Ocean + Located roughly midway between
Hawaii and Australia + Formerly known as the Ellice Islands + Capital: Funafuti + Its neighboring
countries include Kiribati and Fiji, and it consists of 9 islands (four reef islands and five coral atolls) +
Highest point is only 4.5 meters above sea level, making Tuvalu highly vulnerable to sea level rise and
climate change + The islands have no rivers + Tuvalu became independent from the United Kingdom
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in 1978 + It is part of the Commonwealth Realm + There are no political parties, and the Prime Minister
is selected by and from the legislature + With the exception of Vatican City, Tuvalu is the least
populated independent country in the world.
 Chikungunya = It is a mosquito-borne viral disease (RNA virus) caused by the Chikungunya virus
(CHIKV) + Term “Chikungunya” is derived from the Makonde language of Africa, meaning “bent over
in pain” + First identified in Tanzania in 1952, the disease has now spread to over 110 countries across
Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe + It is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected female
mosquitoes, primarily Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, which also spread dengue and Zika viruses
+ Chikungunya virus targets the hepatocytes — the functional cells of the liver + It can be passed from
a pregnant mother to an unborn child + Chikungunya is not contagious and does not spread directly
from person to person + CDC Trioplex RT PCR test (along with dengue Zika) is used for detection +
Currently, there is no specific vaccine or antiviral treatment + Ixchiq is the world's first US Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) approved vaccine for chikungunya. It contains a live, weakened version of
the chikungunya virus.
 Shettihalli Wildlife Sanctuary = Karnataka + Tunga Anicut Dam is situated within the sanctuary +
Mandagadde Natural Bird Sanctuary on a small island in the River Tunga is also a part of this sanctuary
+ It has dry, moist deciduous and semi-evergreen Forests.

Student’s Note

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