Current Affairs – April 14, 2026

{GS1 – Geo} El Niño and Monsoon Deficit in India **

• Context (IE | DTE | TH): India Meteorological Department has forecast ‘below-normal’ monsoon rainfall at 92% of Long Period Average (LPA).

• LPA Benchmark: LPA for India’s southwest monsoon (June–September) is 87 cm, based on the 1971–2020 average.
• El Niño Influence: A developing El Niño, marked by warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean, is likely to suppress monsoon rainfall.
• Trend Shift: The forecast signals a likely end to two consecutive years (2024–25) of above-normal rainfall.
• Offsetting Factors: A positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and lower northern hemisphere snow cover may partially offset El Niño’s negative impact.
• Drought: IMD classifies rainfall below 90% of LPA as “deficient,” often associated with drought conditions.

Impacts of Below-Normal Monsoon

• Agricultural Stress: ~60% farmers dependent on the monsoon face risk to Kharif crop productivity.
• Income Shock: Poor rainfall can reduce rural incomes and weaken consumption demand.
• Water Scarcity: Deficient rainfall can reduce groundwater recharge and drinking water availability.
• Energy Impact: Lower reservoir levels may affect hydropower generation.
• Food Inflation: Reduced crop output can push up food prices and inflation.

Climatic Drivers of Monsoon in India

• ENSO Effect: The El Niño phase of ENSO generally weakens the Indian monsoon by disrupting atmospheric circulation.
• La Niña: La Niña conditions usually strengthen monsoon rainfall due to enhanced convection over the Indian region.
• Indian Ocean Dipole: Positive IOD supports stronger monsoon rainfall; negative IOD suppresses it.
• Snow Cover Impact: Lower Eurasian snow cover is associated with a stronger monsoon, whereas higher snow cover weakens it.
• Walker Circulation: Changes in east–west atmospheric circulation influence moisture transport and monsoon intensity.
• Jet Streams: Position and strength of subtropical jet streams affect the onset, distribution, and withdrawal of the monsoon.
• Global Warming: Climate change alters moisture availability and increases variability, causing extreme rainfall events.

About El Niño

• El Niño is a climate phenomenon characterised by abnormal warming of surface waters in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean.
• Part of ENSO: It is one phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a global climate system affecting weather patterns.
• Mechanism:
  • El Niño occurs when weakened trade winds allow warm Pacific waters to move eastward, disrupting normal ocean circulation.
  • This alters pressure systems (e.g., the Walker Circulation), leading to changes in global rainfall and temperature patterns.
• Global Impact: It disrupts weather patterns worldwide, causing floods in South America, droughts in Australia and Asia, weaker Indian monsoons, and rising global temperatures.
• Impact on India: It is generally associated with a weaker southwest monsoon & reduced rainfall in India.

{GS2 – Governance} Workers’ Protest in Noida

• Context (TH | IE | TH): Large-scale workers’ protests in Noida over wage hikes turned violent, involving arson, stone-pelting, and clashes with police.

• Industrial Spread: Protests were reported across Noida and Greater Noida industrial hubs, affecting traffic and factory operations.

Workers’ Grievances & Issues

• Wage Insecurity: Workers face low and stagnant wages (₹11–₹13,000/month) that fail to keep pace with inflation and rising living costs.
• High informalisation: Over 90% of India’s workforce is informal (ILO), lacking contracts & protections.
• Poor Working Conditions: Long working hours, unsafe workplaces, and a lack of occupational safety measures remain widespread.
• Weak Social Security: Limited access to benefits like provident fund, insurance, and healthcare exposes workers to vulnerabilities.
• Implementation Gaps: Labour laws & codes are poorly enforced, leading to denial of statutory rights.
• Lack of Representation: Declining unionisation and limited collective bargaining reduce workers’ ability to negotiate fair conditions.

Government Response

• High-Level Committee: The UP government constituted a multi-stakeholder committee to investigate the unrest and facilitate dialogue between workers and employers.
• Wage Revision: The state government announced an increase in minimum wages to address workers’ core demands.
• Stakeholder Consultation: Authorities engaged with labour unions and industrial associations.

Measures to Strengthen Labour Welfare

• Wage Framework: Ensure timely revision and strict enforcement of minimum wages under the Code on Wages, 2019, to address income insecurity.
• Formalisation: Promote formal employment through incentives, digital registration (e-Shram), and compliance mechanisms for MSMEs.
• Social Security: Expand coverage of schemes like ESI, EPF, & pensions to include informal & gig workers.
• Improve Law Enforcement: Strengthen inspection systems using technology and data-driven monitoring to curb violations.
• Collective Bargaining: Encourage institutional dialogue platforms between workers, employers, and government.
• Grievance Redressal: Set up fast-track labour dispute resolution systems and revive tripartite dialogue (govt–employer–workers).
• Skill Development: Invest in skilling, reskilling, and upskilling to improve wages, employability, and industrial competitiveness.

{GS2 – IR} US Begins Blockade on Iranian Ports

• Context (IE): The United States initiated a blockade on Iran’s ports following diplomatic failure, raising risks to global energy and shipping routes.

About Blockade

• Meaning: It is a military operation by a belligerent state to prevent all vessels or aircraft from entering or leaving an enemy’s ports or coasts.
• Types of Blockades:
  • Close Blockade: Ships deployed near the enemy coast.
  • Distant Blockade: Ships deployed farther due to the threat of enemy weapons.
• US Blockade Protocols:
  • Impartial Enforcement: US Central Command (CENTCOM) enforces the blockade impartially on all vessels entering or leaving Iran’s ports, including the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
  • Navigation Freedom: It will not restrict navigation through the Strait of Hormuz for vessels travelling to and from non-Iranian ports.

Legal Compliance of Blockade

• Formal Declaration: Must be officially declared & notified to all states, including the start & termination.
• Continuous Enforcement: Must be maintained continuously and applied impartially to all vessels.
• Lawful Objective: Must serve a legitimate military aim, not target civilian survival.
• Effective Control: Must be enforceable with sufficient force, avoiding symbolic or unenforceable “paper blockades.

Implications of Blockade on India’s Trade

• Trade Hit: India–Iran trade (~$1.1–1.2 billion) may face disruptions, affecting export continuity.
• Export Risk: Key exports like rice and pharmaceuticals could face delays and market uncertainty.
• Cost Surge: Shipping and insurance costs may rise due to risks in the Strait of Hormuz.
• Import Disruption: Supplies of bitumen and methanol may be affected, impacting construction and energy sectors.

{GS2 – IR} 9^th Indian Ocean Conference Concluded in Mauritius *

• Context (ET): The 9^th Indian Ocean Conference (IOC 2026) was held in Mauritius under the theme “Collective Stewardship for Indian Ocean Governance.”

• Organisers: It was jointly organised by the India Foundation, the Government of Mauritius, and India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
• Key Outcome: Over 30 nations committed to the ‘Collective Stewardship’ vision for securing maritime chokepoints and building economic resilience.
• Format: The conference is an annual flagship Track 1.5 diplomatic forum, engaging both government officials and non-government experts.
• SAGAR Vision: It promotes India’s SAGAR vision, which aims for a stable, secure, and sustainable maritime order in the Indian Ocean Region.

Read More> Indian Ocean Region & India’s Path to Maritime Leadership

{GS3 – IE} Consequences of Persistent Rupee Depreciation **

• Context (IE): For a developing economy like India, currency depreciation rarely triggers an export boom but more often erodes purchasing power and undermines investor confidence.

Advantages of Rupee Depreciation

• Export Competitiveness: A falling rupee lowers the dollar price of Indian exports, giving domestic goods a price advantage in global markets.
• Remittance Incentive: The rising rupee value of foreign earnings incentivises NRIs to increase remittances. Inflows grew by 14% to reach a record $135.46 billion in FY25.
• Import Substitution: Rising cost of imported goods channels consumer demand toward local manufacturers, reinforcing the Make in India push.
• Export Margin: Every 1% depreciation in the rupee raises the operating margins of IT exporters by approximately 20-30 basis points.
• FDI Attractiveness: A weaker rupee lowers the dollar cost of acquiring Indian assets. FDI inflows rose by 14% to $81.04 billion in FY25.

Disadvantages of Rupee Depreciation

• Imported Inflation: Every ₹1 of depreciation adds roughly 0.2-0.3% to retail inflation, directly increasing the cost of essential imports like crude oil.
• Debt Burden: Indian companies with dollar-denominated loans face higher repayment expenses as the rupee depreciates.
• Trade Deficit: Higher import bills for energy and electronics widened the trade deficit to a record $41.7 billion in October 2025.
• Reserve Depletion: RBI dollar sales to stabilise the rupee caused forex reserves to fall by nearly $30 billion in early 2026.
• Capital Outflow: Persistent currency weakness prompted FIIs to withdraw a record $18 billion from Indian equities by mid-2026.
• Margin Squeeze: Companies reliant on imported raw materials experienced an 8-11% contraction in earnings per share.

Government Measures to Stabilise the Rupee

• Forex Intervention: The RBI sells dollars from its reserves to provide immediate liquidity and prevent a disorderly depreciation.
• Monetary Tightening: Higher interest rates draw foreign capital into Indian bonds, reducing dollar demand pressure on the rupee.
• Rupee Settlement: Settling trade in INR via Special Vostro Rupee Accounts bypasses dollar demand.
• Speculation Curbs: RBI restrictions on banks’ participation in the offshore Non-Deliverable Forward (NDF) market prevent speculative attacks on the rupee.
• Deposit Incentive: Eased rules on FCNR(B) deposits and External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) attract high-value foreign currency.
• Import Duties: Tariff hikes on non-essential imports, such as gold, reduce foreign exchange outflows and narrow the trade deficit.

Read More> Rupee Depreciation

{GS3 – Agri} Haryana Introduces Biometric Verification at Agri-Mandis

• Context (IE): The Haryana government introduced an Aadhaar-based biometric verification system for crop procurement at mandis.

• Biometric Mandate: Farmers or their nominated representatives must provide fingerprint or iris scans at mandis to authenticate identity before selling produce.
• Portal Integration: Each crop arrival is matched against the farmer’s registration on the ‘Meri Fasal-Mera Byora’ portal to cross-verify land data.
• Vehicle Tracking: Gate passes are issued only after recording the vehicle’s registration number and capturing a photograph of the load via the e-Kharid app.
• Fraud Prevention: The system aims to stop the illegal sale of crops from other states under the names of local Haryana farmers.
• Operational Concerns: Bureaucratic hurdles and digital glitches often cause long queues and technical barriers that disproportionately affect small-scale or elderly farmers.

Mandi System in India

• Mandi system is a regulated marketplace framework governed by state governments through Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs).
• Function: These are centralised market yards where farmers bring produce for weighing, grading, and auctioning to licensed traders.
• Price Discovery: Sales are conducted through open auction or electronic bidding to ensure competitive price discovery for farmers.
• Legal Basis: States establish mandis under the APMC Acts, requiring all agricultural trade in that notified area to take place only within these yards.
• e-NAM: The e-NAM (National Agriculture Market) portal connects physical mandis across India into a single electronic network, enabling pan-India bidding.

Read More> India’s Farm Sector & Associated Challenges | Smart Farming and Digitisation in Agriculture

{Prelims – MIH} Jallianwala Bagh Massacre *

• Context (TP): President Droupadi Murmu paid tribute to the martyrs of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

• The massacre occurred on April 13, 1919, when troops under General Reginald Dyer opened fire on an unarmed gathering in Amritsar.
• Background: The crowd gathered to celebrate Baisakhi and protest the arrests of Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr Satyapal under the Rowlatt Act (1919).
  • Rowlatt Act (1919) allowed detention without trial for up to two years on suspicion of terrorism.
• Casualties: Official British records reported 379 deaths, while the Indian National Congress estimates exceeded 1,000 fatalities.
• Protest: Rabindranath Tagore renounced Knighthood, while Mahatma Gandhi later returned the Kaiser-i-Hind medal, protesting the massacre and the Khilafat issue.
• Inquiry Body: British government appointed the Hunter Commission (1919), which criticised Dyer’s actions but imposed no significant punishment.
• Key Impact: The event completely eroded trust in British rule and catalysed the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920) under Gandhi’s leadership.
• Retribution: Udham Singh assassinated Michael O’Dwyer in London in 1940 for endorsing General Dyer’s actions.

{Prelims – Species} Morchella Mushrooms

• Context (IE): Scientists at Sheri Kashmir University of Agriculture and Sciences (SKUAST) in Srinagar have cultivated Morchella mushrooms for the first time under controlled conditions.
• Morchella mushrooms, commonly called morels and Kangaech, are edible sac fungi with a distinctive honeycomb appearance.
• Cultivation: They are difficult to cultivate commercially and are mostly harvested from the wild.
• Morphology: The entire fruiting body is hollow with conical or oval caps covered in pits and ridges.
• Habitat Preference: These fungi often form symbiotic or saprobic relationships with trees such as ash, elm, and sycamore.
• Soil Preference: They thrive in well-drained, alkaline to neutral soils, rich in organic matter and calcium, in limestone-rich areas.
• Distribution: Morels are widely distributed across temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, spanning North America, Europe, Asia, and the Mediterranean.
• Indian Range: They grow in high-altitude Himalayan forests across Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
• Climate Requirement: Morels fruit in a spring window when daytime temperatures reach 15-20°C and nights remain cool.

{Prelims – Infra} Delhi–Dehradun Expressway

• Context (IE): PM Modi inaugurated the Delhi–Dehradun Expressway to enhance regional connectivity.

• The 213 km corridor was built by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI),
• It reduces travel time between Delhi and Dehradun from 6.5 hours to about 2.5 hours.
• It features Asia’s longest elevated wildlife corridor (12 km) through the Shivalik forests and Rajaji National Park, for safe animal movement.
• Ecological Measures: It integrates eight animal passes, two elephant underpasses, and eco-friendly stretches across protected forest zones.
• Significance: It supports logistics efficiency, regional economic growth, and religious tourism by improving access to the Char Dham pilgrimage circuit.

{Prelims – Envi} Project Him Sarovar

• Context (ET): Project Him Sarovar was launched by Ladakh’s Lieutenant Governor to address worsening water scarcity in the UT.

• Objective: It aims to ensure year-round water security in Ladakh through scientific snow harvesting and water conservation.
• Implementation: Implemented by the Ladakh administration with support from the armed forces.
• Interventions: It involves the construction of small water bodies to capture snowmelt and glacial runoff that otherwise goes unused.
• Water Utility: Stored water will support irrigation, rural water supply, and agricultural sustainability.

{Prelims – S&T} India’s First Quantum Computing Testing Beds in Amaravati *

• Context (TH): India’s first indigenous Quantum Computing Test and Reference Facilities are being inaugurated in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh.

• These facilities are part of the Amaravati Quantum Valley (AQV) initiative, designed to offer sovereign infrastructure for testing, certifying, and manufacturing quantum hardware.
• Hardware Evaluation: The project features two test beds to evaluate quantum devices like cables, amplifiers, and control systems under extreme conditions
• Thermal Parameter: They operate at temperatures near absolute zero (-273°C) to activate qubits and ensure reliable quantum operations.
• White Box: Researchers will have full hardware transparency to prevent foreign backdoors and ensure sovereign security.
• Ecosystem Catalyst: It aims to catalyse a domestic ecosystem for quantum-grade components like cryo-electronics and chips.

Read More> Quantum Computing

{Prelims – Festivals} India’s Spring Harvest Festivals

• Context (PIB): President Droupadi Murmu extended greetings to citizens celebrating Baisakhi, Vishu, Vishuv, Bohag Bihu, Poila Boishakh, Meshadi, Vaishakhadi, and Puthandu.

• These spring festivals mark the beginning of harvest season, reflecting India’s cultural diversity, agrarian traditions, and ethos of unity in diversity.
• Baisakhi marks the Rabi harvest in Punjab and commemorates the founding of the Khalsa Panth (1699) by Guru Gobind Singh.
• Bohag Bihu (Rongali Bihu) marks the Assamese New Year through folk dances, community feasts, and agricultural renewal rituals.
• Poila Boishakh marks the Bengali New Year with processions, Haal Khata ledger opening, and community celebrations in West Bengal.
• Puthandu marks Tamil New Year, while Vishu marks Malayalam New Year, featuring ritual Vishukkani viewing in Kerala.
• Meshadi Vaishakhadi (Pana Sankranti) and Vaishakhadi align with the Sun’s transition into Aries (Mesha Sankranti) across regions.

Read More > Major Agriculture Festivals in India

{Prelims – In News} Birth Anniversary of Dr B. R. Ambedkar *

• Context (NOA): The nation honoured Dr B. R. Ambedkar on his 136^th birth anniversary, April 14, 2026.

• Born in 1891 in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, into a Mahar (Dalit) family, he was India’s first Law Minister.
• He received the Bharat Ratna in 1990 posthumously for his contributions to social justice & democracy.

Major Contributions

• Social Organisations: Founded the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha (1924) to promote education and the socio-economic upliftment of the depressed classes.
• Civic Rights: Led Mahad Satyagraha (1927) to secure untouchables’ right to access public water sources.
• Temple Entry: Launched the Kalaram Temple Satyagraha (1930) in Nashik to challenge caste-based religious exclusion.
• Political Organisations: Founded the Independent Labour Party (1936) and the Scheduled Castes Federation (1942) to represent Dalit and labour interests.
• Constitutional Role: He chaired the Drafting Committee, earning the title “Father of the Constitution”.
• Religious Conversion: Embraced Buddhism in 1956, to seek a dignified Dalit identity, initiating a mass Dalit Buddhist movement.
• Literary Works: Authored Annihilation of Caste, The Untouchables, Who Were the Shudras?, Buddha and His Dhamma; edited journals Mooknayak and Bahishkrit Bharat.

Read More > Dr. B.R. Ambedkar