• Flower of India: Ways of Seeing the Lotus is a book written and illustrated by Devdutt Pattanaik and published by Aleph.

• Kathasaritsagara: is a famous Sanskrit collection of legends and folktales compiled by Somadeva in the 11th century.

#CA2026
#BOOK

• Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority launched a new Retirement Income Scheme (RIS) under NPS to give retirees flexible pension withdrawals after retirement.

• Under the new system, retirees can choose pension payout on monthly, quarterly or yearly basis till the age of 85 years.

• NPS subscribers can now withdraw pension money in phases (drawdown option) instead of taking the entire amount at once.

• In NPS, minimum 40% of retirement corpus must generally be used to buy annuity (regular pension income plan).

• PFRDA relaxed annuity surrender rules in cases of critical illness of the pension holder or a family member.

• Earlier, annuity once purchased was almost irreversible except during the “free-look period”.

• NPS is regulated by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority under the PFRDA Act, 2013.

#CA2026

• The Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation examines whether powers delegated by Parliament to the executive for making rules, regulations, schemes, or statutory instruments are exercised properly and in conformity with the parent Act and constitutional provisions.

• Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have separate Committees on Subordinate Legislation.

• Subordinate/Delegated legislation means rules, regulations, bye-laws, orders, or schemes framed by the executive under powers delegated by Parliament.

• The Committee on Subordinate Legislation- asked in 67th BPSC Prelims (2022).

• The Rajya Sabha Committee on Subordinate Legislation is currently examining settlement regulations and monetary penalty guidelines framed under the amended Competition Act, 2002.

#CA2026
👇👇

#PYQ trend

• Ghatak is India’s indigenous stealth Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) programme being developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The programme was earlier known as Autonomous Unmanned Research Aircraft (AURA).

• Ghatak will function as a “loyal wingman” - autonomous drones flying alongside manned fighter aircraft.

• Loyal Wingman concept is part of “Manned–Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T)” warfare doctrine.

• Under MUM-T, fighter pilots can control drones through cockpit/helmet-mounted systems during combat missions.

• The engine proposed for Ghatak is the indigenous dry variant of the Kaveri engine (Kaveri Derivative Engine).

• Countries actively developing loyal wingman systems include the United States, Australia, Russia and China.

• Australia’s “MQ-28 Ghost Bat” is among the world’s leading loyal wingman combat drone projects.

• India’s indigenous loyal wingman programme under HAL is called CATS Warrior (Combat Air Teaming System).

#CA2026
#DEFENCE

• AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft) is India’s indigenously developed fifth-generation stealth multirole fighter aircraft project led by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) under DRDO.

• India recently laid the foundation stone for AMCA infrastructure and flight-testing facilities at Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, to support development of indigenous next-generation combat aircraft and aerospace manufacturing ecosystem.

Interlink: https://t.me/bpscweb/43461

#CA2026
#DEFENCE

• Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) was set up in 2010 by the Government of India as an apex-level non-statutory body for financial stability.

• Chairperson of FSDC: Union Finance Minister.

• Recent news: FSDC Sub-Committee, chaired by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, reviewed global/domestic macroeconomic risks, geopolitical frictions, KYC simplification and regulatory impact assessment.

• Main objectives of FSDC: maintaining financial stability, financial inclusion, financial literacy and coordination among regulators.

• Financial Stability Reports (FSR) assessing systemic risks in India are released by the RBI, not by FSDC.

• FSDC was recommended by the Raghuram Rajan Committee (2008) on financial sector reforms.

#CA2026
👇👇

UPSC 2016

#PYQ trend

Top 10 countries with largest gold reserves

Top gold importers : Switzerland ($105B) > China ($103B) > UK ($77B) > Hong Kong ($65B) > India ($52B).

Switzerland remains the largest source for India’s gold (accounting for ~40%), followed by the UAE (~16%) and South Africa (~10%).

Top gold producing countries
China >Russia >Australia >Canada

#CA2026
#rank

Population Policy : Andhra Pradesh CM announced incentive of ₹30,000 for 3rd child birth and ₹40,000 for 4th child birth.

🇸🇪 Sweden Confers the "Royal Order of Polar Star Commander Grand Cross" on PM Modi. 31st Global Honour for PM Modi.

#CA2026