1. Bihar and Jharkhand signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the sharing of Sone River water to resolve a long-standing inter-state water dispute.

2. Cooperative federalism and the "Team Bharat" vision.


3. Related Inter-State Water Agreements (2026 Context)
​Marks the 4th inter-state water agreement resolved in the year.

--> ​July 7, 2026: Settlement of outstanding payments among Narmada Award beneficiary states (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh).

--> ​June 29, 2026: Agreement between Rajasthan and Haryana on the implementation of the Yamuna Water Project.

#BIHARspecial

Tata Advanced Systems to co-produce US Javelin missile System in India.

Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Javelin Joint Venture (JJV)—formed by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon—to co-produce the Javelin anti-tank guided missile system in India.

https://t.me/bpscweb/45886

#CA2026

INS NIPUN

--> INS Nipun is an indigenously built Diving Support Vessel (DSV) commissioned into the Indian Navy at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.

--> Second vessel of the indigenous Nistar Class DSVs,

--> ​Builder: Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam.
​Indigenisation: Features over 75% indigenous content under the Make in India / Aatmanirbharta initiative.

--> ​Deployment: Based under the Western Naval Command in Mumbai, complementing its sister ship INS Nistar on the eastern seaboard to establish a two-coast deep-sea rescue capability.

#CA2026
#DEFENCE

​Western Sydney University (WSU), Australia, has officially announced the establishment of its first campus in Greater Noida, named 'Jalsetu'.

#CA2026

Importance of Central Asia for India

--> The five Central Asian nations (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) are resource-rich—offering critical reserves of uranium, natural gas, gold, coal, and electricity.

--> ​In 2012, India launched its "Connect Central Asia" policy to deepen these historic cultural and commercial ties.

--> ​Key Strategic Drivers:

- ​Countering China: India seeks to prevent total Chinese dominance in the post-Soviet space under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

- ​Regional Security & Connectivity: Engagement is vital for post-Taliban Afghan security dynamics and establishing trade routes via the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and Iran's Chabahar Port to bypass land-access restrictions through Pakistan.

- ​The BRICS & Iran Dilemma: With new US economic sanctions targeting Iran (a BRICS member), India faces trade challenges in exports like rice, tea, and pharmaceuticals

#CA2026

Key Growth Numbers (April–June / Q1)
​Real GDP Growth: Recorded at 7.8%, outperforming the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) projection of 7.0%.

Downside Risks and Forward Outlook
--> ​Geopolitical Uncertainties & Crude Volatility: Flare-ups in West Asia pose supply shock risks, keeping crude oil prices elevated above $80 per barrel, which threatens import bills and global demand for Indian exports.

--> ​Climate & Food Inflation: An intensifying El Niño phenomenon poses potential risks to rainfall patterns, agricultural yields, and food inflation, requiring continuous macroeconomic and fiscal monitoring.

V-dem Democracy Index

#CA2026

--> Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2026, establishing Indian Standard Time (IST) as the sole, mandatory time standard across the country.
​IST will serve as the single reference for all legal, administrative, commercial, and official operations.
​

--> ​Nodal Authority: Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

#CA2026

--> Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

--> ​Agency & Launch: Developed by NASA as a flagship observatory (approx. $4 billion project), launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

--> ​Target Orbit: Lagrange Point 2 (L2),

--> Key Scientific Objectives :
> Dark Matter
> Cosmic Cartography: Create the most comprehensive 3D map of the cosmos to date.
> ​Exoplanet Discovery: Search for and characterize planets outside our solar system.
> ​Fundamental Physics: Test the laws of gravity across vast cosmic scales.

--> Roman vs. Hubble & James Webb

> Panoramic Field of View: Functions like a cosmic wide-angle lens (capturing broad, large-scale panoramic views), whereas the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) acts like a high-powered zoom lens (peering deeply into specific, narrow points)

> ​A full Milky Way survey that would require nearly a century for Hubble can be completed by Roman in just one month.

#CA2026
#SPACE

AI & Cybersecurity: Implications for India

Context
AI is transforming both cyberattacks and cyber-defence, increasing the speed, scale, sophistication and autonomy of cyber operations

#GS2mains

How AI is changing cyber warfare:
-Reconnaissance: AI automates target intelligence; LLMs can mine social media and generate personalised phishing.
-Deepfakes & deception: Real-time deepfakes increase misinformation and social-engineering attacks.
-Autonomous cyber agents: AI can identify, plan, adapt and execute offensive operations with limited human intervention.
-Polymorphic malware: LLMs can continuously modify malware, defeating traditional signature-based antivirus.
-Zero-day discovery: Frontier AI can find unknown vulnerabilities at scale; Claude Opus 4 -Preview reportedly identified thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities across major operating systems and browsers.
-Critical infrastructure: AI-discovered vulnerabilities in OT/Industrial Control Systems (ICS) can threaten nuclear plants, energy grids, pharma, manufacturing, oil refineries and communication networks.

Key Examples from the News:
-September 2025: Anthropic alleged Chinese state-sponsored GTG-1002 used Claude Code as an autonomous cyber agent —> described as the first reported AI-orchestrated cyber-espionage campaign.
-AI reportedly discovered a 27-year-old OpenBSD vulnerability, illustrating its ability to uncover long-hidden flaws.
-Operation Sindoor: Pakistan-backed APT36 targeted India’s MoD, Army, Navy and DRDO and, reportedly for the first time, BOSS Linux.
-Kudankulam Nuclear Plant: Ransomware group World Leaks claimed theft/publication of facility and supplier-related data.
-CloudSEK ranked India 2nd-most cyber-attacked country in 2024 (after US) and 6th in 2025.

Why India is particularly vulnerable
-Capability asymmetry: Advanced AI capabilities remain concentrated in a few countries, while India’s indigenous AI ecosystem is still developing.
-Foreign technological dependence: Dependence on foreign foundation models, GPUs, chip design and large-scale data-centre infrastructure creates strategic vulnerability.
-Critical-sector targeting: Defence establishments and other strategic sectors have increasingly become targets of sophisticated cyber campaigns.
-AI-integrated infrastructure expands the attack surface of Operational Technology (OT) and Industrial Control Systems (ICS).

AI as a Cyber-Defence Tool:-
AI can strengthen security through real-time threat detection, automated incident response, behavioural/anomaly detection and large-scale data analysis, allowing risks to be identified faster than traditional methods.

Steps taken by India:-
CERT-In: AI-driven threat detection, cyber-resilience measures and malware mitigation.
Organisations have been advised to remove unnecessary internet-facing services and rapidly address newly discovered vulnerabilities.
MeitY is exploring governance measures for synthetic content and clearer accountability/liability frameworks for AI systems.

#GS2mains

Air Marshal Shakti Sharma became the first non-medical woman officer of the Indian Armed Forces to attain the rank of Air Vice Marshal (AVM).

#CA2026
#PERSON

—> India’s non-fossil fuel power capacity crossed 300 GW as of 31 July 2026, accounting for over 54% of total installed electricity generation capacity.

—> Break-up: Solar 164.59 GW > Wind 58.14 GW > Hydro 57.24 GW > Bio-power 11.75 GW > Nuclear 8.78 GW.

#CA2026
#DATA

Chaiti Durga Temple : Bhagalpur

Geomorphology

1. Avulsion & Course Shifting: The Ganga shifted its course in the stretch due to heavy silt accumulation and intensified hydrodynamic pressure.

2. ​Heavy Siltation: Himalayan rivers carry exceptionally high sediment loads. The reduction in channel cross-sectional area and bed carrying capacity forces lateral erosion and channel shifting.

3. ​Transboundary River Dynamics: Heavy upstream precipitation in Nepal directly impacts the downstream plains of the Middle and Lower Ganga basin.

#BIHARspecial

SCO importance

#CA2026

𝐀 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩.

President Mirziyoyev presented Uzbekistan’s highest state award, the ‘Oliy Darajali Do‘stlik’ Order, to PM Modi.

Interlink: https://t.me/bpscweb/45118

#CA2026

Ebola Cases

-->Unlike major historical outbreaks driven by the Zaire ebolavirus, this current crisis is fueled by the rare Bundibugyo virus species (Bundibugyo ebolavirus).

--> Global Status: In mid-May 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared this particular outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) due to its rapid expansion and high cross-border transmission risk between the DRC and neighboring Uganda.

#CA2026

Rakhi Bisht v. HashiCorp (a private software firm). The petitioner was reassigned to a lower-level clerical role in the treasury department after returning from maternity leave, leading to her resignation.

“Under no circumstance, can maternity be allowed to become a source of ignominy at the work place,”

Constitutional Articles:

- Articles 14 : Equality before law)
- Article 15 : Prohibition of discrimination
- Article 21 (Right to life and dignity)
- Article 42 (Just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief)

Statutory Compliance: Reaffirmed that the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 and the Code on Social Security, 2020 mandate substantive reintegration of women into the workplace, ruling out mere "cosmetic compliance"

#GS2mains
#POLITY