Current Affairs – July 9, 2026

{GS1 – Geo} Upper Ionosphere Reconstruct *

• Context (PIB): Indian researchers developed the first integrated method to reconstruct the “topside” (upper) ionosphere over the Indian region.

• The method tracks electron density up to 1,000 km, replacing assumption-based global models.
• Significance: It will aid understanding of the complex ionospheric dynamics at India’s geomagnetic equator and improve space weather mapping, LEO satellite operations, and NavIC and GPS accuracy.

About Ionosphere

• The ionosphere extends from about 60 km to over 1,000 km, overlapping three upper atmospheric layers.
• Forms when Solar radiation (ultraviolet light and X-rays) strips electrons away from gas atoms. Charged particles in this layer produce auroras and airglow (faint daily atmospheric glow).
• It reflects radio waves back to Earth, enabling long-distance communication and houses LEO satellites and the International Space Station (ISS).
• The ionosphere expands during the day and shrinks at night. It is vulnerable to solar flares and geomagnetic storms that disrupt GNSS signals.

{GS2 – IR} India-UK CETA Rules of Origin

• Context (TH): The Ministry of Finance notified the Rules of Origin framework for the India-UK CETA.

• Rules of Origin define a product’s economic nationality, not its geographic origin, and determine eligibility for CETA benefits. Exporters need a Certificate of Origin to claim preferential tariffs.
• Objective: Prevent third-country routing to stop non-member countries (like China) from using the U.K. to route goods into India, bypassing tariffs.
• Criteria: A product qualifies if it is wholly obtained in partner countries or undergoes significant industrial transformation, meeting local value addition thresholds and product-specific conditions.
  • Minor operations like repackaging, washing, simple assembly, relabelling, sorting, or polishing do not confer originating status.
• Nodal Agencies: Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) enforces the rules on imports; Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) oversees issuance of origin certificates for Indian exporters.

{GS2 – IR} Israel-Palestine Two-State Solution **

• Context (TH): During his visit to Indonesia, PM Modi reaffirmed India’s support for a negotiated two-state solution, envisaging a sovereign, independent Palestine coexisting peacefully with Israel.

About Two-State Solution

• Two-state solution is a proposed diplomatic framework to establish two independent, sovereign states: Israel for the Jewish people and Palestine for the Palestinian people.
• Proposed Territory: The Palestinian state would encompass the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, based on the 1949 Armistice Lines (Green Line), with mutually agreed land swaps.
  • East Jerusalem, site of the Temple Mount (holiest in Judaism) and Haram al-Sharif (third holiest in Islam), is claimed by Palestine as its future capital.
• Palestinian Demands: Fully independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its sovereign capital and the Right of Return for refugees displaced in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
• Israeli Demands: Demilitarisation of any Palestinian state, Jerusalem as its undivided and permanent capital, rejection of the Right of Return, and land swaps to annex major settlement blocs in the West Bank.

Historical Background

• UN Partition Plan (1947): Recommended dividing British-mandated Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states, but the Arab side rejected the proposal.
• UNSC Resolution 242 (1967): Established the land-for-peace principle, calling for Israel’s withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six-Day War.
• Oslo Accords (1993): Established the Palestinian Authority as an interim self-governing body in the West Bank and Gaza, but left final-status issues unresolved.
• Arab Peace Initiative (2002): Offered Israel full normalisation with Arab states in exchange for a complete withdrawal from occupied territories and an independent Palestinian state.

International Standing

• Oslo II Accord (1995): West Bank is divided into three zones: Area A (18%, under Palestinian control), Area B (22%, under shared control), and Area C (60%, under Israeli control).
• UNSC Resolutions: Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are declared illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention by UNSC Resolutions 446 and 465.
• ICJ’s Advisory Opinion (2024): Declared Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967 unlawful, obligating full withdrawal and payment of reparations to the Palestinian people.
• UN General Assembly: Granted Palestine non-member observer State status in 2012 under Resolution 67/19, recognising Palestinian statehood without full UN membership.
• Global Support: ~156 of 193 UN member states recognise Palestinian statehood; notable exceptions: Israel, the United States, and most Pacific island states.

Read More> Israel-Palestine Conflict | Recognition of Palestine as a state

{GS2 – Polity} Right to be Forgotten **

• Context (TH): Delhi HC in Laksh Vir Singh Yadav v. UoI established a framework to de-index name-based search results for acquitted individuals, upholding the Right to be Forgotten (RTBF).

• RTBF allows removal or masking of publicly available personal data when it’s outdated, irrelevant, incorrect or no longer serves a legitimate public interest.
• The concept, originating in the EU from the Google Spain SL v. AEPD (2014) case, is formalised as the ‘Right to Erasure’ under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

RTBF in India

• It is recognised as part of the Right to Privacy under Article 21, as per the Supreme Court’s 2017 K.S. Puttaswamy judgment. It is not an absolute right and can be denied for reasons like free expression, statutory duties, public interest, or research.
• Legal Gap: India lacks a standalone RTBF law. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, provides a “Right to Erasure” (Section 12), but its application to public records is legally unsettled.
  • Section 43A of the IT Act, 2000 supports data protection but does not authorise intermediaries to adjudicate on complex claims of historical truth.

Key Challenges and Areas of Conflict

• Judicial Transparency: Masking records may undermine open justice, as court judgments are public documents under Section 74 of the Indian Evidence Act.
• Constitutional & Statutory Friction: RTBF conflicts with the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) and creates tension with the RTI Act, 2005.
• Journalistic Integrity: Forced deletions by Data Fiduciaries may distort public memory, weaken journalism, and sanitise historical records.
• Technological Constraints: Complete data erasure remains difficult because the internet is decentralised and AI models can scrape archived content.

Read More > Application of the Right to be Forgotten (RTBF) in Online News

{GS2 – Social Sector} All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE)

• Context (PIB): Union Ministry of Education released AISHE reports for 2022-23 and 2023-24.

• Both the survey years saw above 90% participation by higher education institutions corresponding to 56,180 institutions (2022-23) and 59,533 (2023-24).

Key Highlights of the Survey

{GS2 – Social Sector} PGI 2.0 Report 2025-26

• Context (PIB): Union Ministry of Education released the Performance Grading Index 2.0 for States/UTs (PGI-S) and Districts (PGI-D) for 2025-26.

Key Findings

• All States and UTs scored over 50% in their assessments, but none achieved the top ‘Utkarsh’ grade.
• Top Performers: Chandigarh became the first territory to reach the ‘Uttam-3’ performance band. Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu secured 2^nd spot within the Prachesta-1 band.
• Lowest Performer: Meghalaya remained the lowest performer but made progress over the past year.
• Inter-State Gap: Performance gap between highest and lowest scoring states decreased from 51% in 2017-18 to 31.4% in 2025-26.
• Key Bottleneck: Learning Outcomes remain stagnant across India, despite improvements in state-level scores driven by governance and infrastructure gains.

{GS3 – IE} India’s Toy Industry

• Context (DD): India’s toy industry has evolved from a sector rooted in centuries-old craftsmanship into a globally competitive manufacturing ecosystem.

Status of India’s Toy Industry

• Overall Toy Exports: Increased from US$152.7 million in 2017-18 to US$384.7 million in 2025-26 (151.9% growth).
  • Imports of traditional and educational toys declined by 66% boosting domestic manufacturing.
  • India recorded a trade surplus of US$152 million in 2025-26 across major toy categories.
• Employment in Games & Toys Sector: More than doubled from 8,685 workers (2018-19) to 17,693 (2023-24).
• Key Initiatives: National Action Plan for Toys (NAPT), Districts as Export Hubs (DEH) identified more than ten districts with toy and doll export potential, reduction of GST on toys from 12% to 5%.
  • Geographical Indication (GI) status accorded to various toys including Channapatna toys and dolls (Karnataka), Leather Toys (Indore) and Thanjavur Doll (Tamil Nadu).

{Prelims – IE} Index of Services Production (ISP)

• Context (PIB): Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the Report of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on the Compilation of the Index of Services Production (ISP).
• TAC-ISP was tasked with developing a counterpart to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for the services sector, which accounts for ~53% of India’s Gross Value Added (GVA).
• Index of Services Production (ISP), to be released by MoSPI, is a monthly high-frequency indicator measuring short-term real output in India’s formal services sector.
• It is a fixed-weight Laspeyres Volume Index with 2024-25 as the base year, weighted by each sub-sector’s share in Gross Value Added (GVA). ISP will be released monthly within 60 days of the reference month.
• Data Source: Aggregated GST data for market-based services, administrative records for sectors like railways, aviation, banking, and insurance, and upcoming ASISSE data for health and education.
• Due to data unavailability, informal structures, or non-market nature, ~33% of services GVA is excluded, including Public Administration, Defence, and Central Bank Services.

{Prelims – IE} World Investment Report 2026

• Context (ToI): The UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released the World Investment Report (WIR) 2026, titled “International Investment in a Turbulent Era.”

• The WIR is UNCTAD’s annual flagship publication, published since 1991, providing a comprehensive assessment of global FDI trends, investment policies, multinational enterprises, and emerging investment issues.

Key Findings

• Global FDI Showed Resilience In 2025: Flows rose by 6% to $1.6 trillion. Europe attracted most of the increase in global foreign investment.
• FDI Inlfow: The U.S. retained its position as the largest recipient of FDI. Other major recipients included Singapore, Hong Kong (China) and China.
• FDI Outflow: The US was the largest source of FDI, followed by Japan and China. The top five source economies accounted for almost half of global outflows.
• More Concentrated Investment: The top 20 host economies accounted for more than 80% of global inflows in 2025. Developing economies represent half of the top 20 recipients of FDI.
• The Regional Divide: Inflows to developed economies rose by 11% ($723 billion), whereas developing economies saw a meagre 2% growth ($901 billion).
• FDI In Developing Economies: FDI remains the largest source of external finance for developing economies. In 2025, it accounted for about half of their total external financing, ahead of remittances, official development assistance and portfolio flows.

India Specific Findings

• FDI Inflow Jump: FDI inflows to India increased by 44% to $39 billion, driving a strong regional recovery across South Asia.
• Global Ranking: India moved up to become the 11^th largest recipient of FDI globally.
• India’s Overseas Investment: India was the 18^th largest overseas investor, again moving up two ranks, as outflows rose 50% to $36 billion in 2025.

{Prelims – IR} Guwahati Declaration *

• Context (TH I PIB): The BRICS nations adopted the Guwahati Declaration, at the conclusion of the BRICS Heads of Anti-Drug Agencies meeting held in Guwahati, Assam.

• The meeting was hosted by India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) under India’s 2026 BRICS Chairship, guided by the theme, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability“.

Key Highlights of Declaration

• It reaffirms the commitment of BRICS nations to strengthen cooperation in preventing and combating illicit drug trafficking and related transnational organised crime.
• It calls for timely exchange of information, intelligence, and best practices among member countries, consistent with national laws and international obligations.
• Technology: It emphasises the use of innovative technologies, digital tools, AI, and data-driven approaches to strengthen law enforcement and regulatory mechanisms against drug trafficking.
• Emerging Threats: It also highlights the need to tackle emerging challenges such as synthetic drugs, new psychoactive substances (NPS), diversion of precursor chemicals, and the misuse of digital platforms and virtual assets by drug trafficking networks.

Read More> Narcotics Threat in India

{Prelims – Misc} One Liners

• Envi – XP100 (LM): XP100 is Indian Oil’s premium petrol that is 100% ethanol-free and has a 100-octane rating. Launched in 2020, XP100 is primarily designed for high-performance vehicles, including supercars, luxury sedans and superbikes.
• S&T – Mission Drishti (ET): GalaxEye lost contact with Mission Drishti after a solar storm disrupted onboard systems. Developed by the Bengaluru-based startup, it was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in May 2026 as India’s largest privately developed Earth observation satellite and the world’s first OptoSAR satellite. It integrated Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and a multispectral optical imager.
• Initiatives – TribeX (PIB): A first-of-its-kind digital learning platform launched by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to transform tribal education, preserve indigenous heritage, and promote skill development. It connects global learners, researchers, and educators with tribal experts and master artisans. The platform offers free certificate courses and UGC-recognised postgraduate diplomas in tribal languages, arts, crafts, and traditional knowledge (in collaboration with Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi).
• A&C – Bhubaneswar Declaration (PIB): A national roadmap adopted by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to transform Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs) from traditional academic bodies into grassroots policy think tanks and centres of excellence. TRIs are state-level research bodies and specialised think tanks for tribal development, coordinated by the National Tribal Research Institute (NTRI) in New Delhi.
  • Key Pillars: (1) National TRI Research Agenda (2027-2032) to prioritise high-impact research; (2) Model TRI Framework 2030 for standardised governance norms; (3) Nodal TRI System to mentor newer or struggling TRIs; (4) Financial and institutional autonomy; (5) AI & GIS integration along with tribal data repository; (6) Digital archiving of indigenous languages, oral histories and tribal heritages.
• S&T – Placenta-On-A-Chip (IE): A bioengineered microfluidic platform that replicates the structure, transport functions, and dynamic fluid environments of the human placental barrier. The platform allows researchers to model how the placenta exchanges nutrients, oxygen, and waste while filtering out harmful substances and pathogens.
  • Fabricated from an optically clear, flexible polymer, the device features two microfluidic channels separated by a porous membrane, simulating the maternal intervillous space (blood pool) and the fetal circulatory system.