Current Affairs – February 19, 2026

{GS1 – MH} Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti *

• Context (DDN): Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti, or Shiv Jayanti, is observed on 19 February to honour the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji.

• Mahatma Jyotirao Phule initiated the first public celebration in 1870 at Raigad, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak later popularised it to mobilise anti-colonial unity.

About Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

• Shivaji was born in 1630 at Shivneri Fort to Shahaji Bhonsle (Maratha general) and Jijabai.
• He established an independent Maratha kingdom and advanced “Hindavi Swarajya” by confronting the Mughal Empire and the Bijapur and Golconda Sultanates.
• He was formally crowned Chhatrapati (Supreme Sovereign) in 1674 at Raigad Fort.

Governance and Administration

• Ashta Pradhan: Shivaji constituted an eight-member council to oversee finance, defence, diplomacy, and internal administration.
• Cultural Revival: He promoted the use of Marathi and Sanskrit in administration, reducing Persian dominance in governance.
• Progressive Policies: His administration enforced religious tolerance, merit-based appointments, and strict protection for civilians and women.

Military and Naval Strategy

• Guerrilla Warfare: Shivaji pioneered Ganimi Kava (guerrilla tactics), enabling smaller forces to defeat numerically superior armies.
• Standing Army: He established a standing army paid directly in cash, avoiding jagir grants to ensure direct loyalty to the state.
• Naval Foundation: He developed naval bases at Sindhudurg and Vijaydurg, securing the Konkan coast against European powers and maritime threats. He is regarded as the Father of the Indian Navy
• Major Conquests: Shivaji captured Torna Fort (1646) at the age of 16; he killed Adilshahi commander Afzal Khan with a concealed Wagh Nakh (tiger claw).

Economic and Revenue Policies

• Revenue Reform: He abolished the Jagirdari system in favour of the Ryotwari system, to establish direct state-peasant revenue relations.
• Chauth System: The administration levied one-fourth of land revenue from neighbouring non-Maratha territories as strategic tribute.
• Sardeshmukhi Levy: An additional 10% tax asserted his overlordship over external territories and consolidated fiscal authority.

Also Read About > Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj

{GS2 – Governance} Supreme Court to Revisit Sabarimala Temple Entry Case

• Context (IE): The Supreme Court has scheduled review petitions in the Sabarimala Temple Entry Case for April.

• The review will examine broader constitutional questions about judicial limits in religious matters.

About Sabarimala Temple Entry Case

• The case arose from a centuries-old custom at the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala, which restricted the entry of women of “menstruating age” (10 to 50 years).
• In 2006, the Indian Young Lawyers Association (IYLA) filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the ban on women’s entry into the temple.
• Supreme Court Verdict: A five-judge Bench delivered a 4:1 majority verdict in 2018, striking down the practice as unconstitutional.
• Rule Invalidated: The Court struck down Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship Rules, 1965, which had legally sanctioned gender-based exclusion.
• Rights Violation: The majority held that the prohibition violated Fundamental Rights under Articles 14, Article 15, and Article 21 and infringed Article 25(1) (freedom of religion for all).
• Denomination Status: The judiciary ruled that Lord Ayyappa devotees do not constitute a separate “religious denomination” under Article 26.
• Applied Doctrine: The Court applied the “Essential Religious Practices” doctrine to conclude that excluding women is not a fundamental tenet of the Hindu religion.
• Untouchability Debate: One of the Judges cited Article 17, noting that the exclusion based on notions of purity and pollution resembled untouchability.
• Judicial Dissent: The dissenting judge cautioned against judicial intervention in religious matters unless practices constitute oppressive social evils.

Read More > Temple Entry Discrimination

{GS2 – IR} U.S.A. Launched ‘Project Vault’ to Stockpile Critical Minerals **

• Context (TH): The U.S. Government launched Project Vault to establish a strategic national stockpile of critical minerals for American industrial and civilian sectors.

• Objective: The program aims to reduce strategic dependence on China and protect American manufacturers from global supply chain disruptions.
• Strategic Model: It is modelled after the Strategic Petroleum Reserve but operates as a demand-led consortium for critical minerals.
• Funding Architecture: The $12 billion initiative is a public-private partnership (PPP), combining a $10 billion EXIM Bank loan with $2 billion of private-sector capital.
• Resource Scope: Project Vault targets 60 critical minerals from the U.S. Geological Survey’s 2025 list, including lithium, cobalt, and rare-earth elements.
• Management Entities: Commodity trading firms manage the physical procurement and storage of the mineral inventory on behalf of participating manufacturers
• Pricing Model: Participating companies pay a commitment fee to reserve a 60-day supply, with a binding agreement to repurchase the inventory at fixed original prices.
• Inventory Rotation: Companies may withdraw minerals for use, but must replenish equivalent quantities to maintain the 60-day buffer.
  • Crisis Access: In a major supply disruption, firms can immediately withdraw their entire 60-day allocation to sustain manufacturing.

Read More> Critical Minerals | Critical Minerals Strategy of India

{GS3 – IE} RBI Notifies Amended External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) Framework

• Context (BS): The RBI notified the Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing and Lending) (First Amendment) Regulations, 2026, to liberalise the external commercial borrowing (ECB) framework.

About ECB Framework

• ECBs are commercial loans raised by eligible resident entities from recognised non-resident entities.
• Objective: To provide Indian industries with access to cheaper foreign capital for capacity expansion and infrastructure development.
• Legal Basis: ECBs are governed by the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, and regulated by the Reserve Bank of India.
• Currency Options: Borrowers can raise funds in any freely convertible Foreign Currency (FCY) or in Indian Rupees (INR).
• Entry Routes: It provides two access channels: the Automatic Route (no RBI approval required) and the Approval Route (RBI approval mandatory).

Key Changes in the ECB Framework

• Borrowing Limits: The annual automatic borrowing limit was increased from USD 750 million to USD 1 billion, or 300% of net worth, to meet larger industrial capital needs.
• Interest Rates: The RBI replaced the prescriptive ‘All-in-Cost Ceiling’ with market-determined interest rates to ensure access to capital.
• Maturity Period: The tiered maturity structure was replaced with a Unified Minimum Average Maturity Period (MAMP) of three years to simplify compliance.
  • Exception: Manufacturing firms can now raise up to USD 150 million, with a maturity of one to three years, to support working capital.
• Eligible Borrowers: The list was expanded to include any entity registered under a Central or State Act to democratize access to foreign capital.
• On-Lending: RBI-regulated entities are now authorised to on-lend ECB proceeds to individuals, excluding real estate business, to boost credit flow.
• Acquisition Usage: Proceeds can now be used to acquire management control of other entities to enable inorganic growth.
• Operational Ease: The requirement to maintain a specific current account with the designated Authorised Dealer (AD) bank has been removed.

{GS3 – DM} Kerala Declares Tidal Flooding as State-Specific Disaster *

• Context (TH): The Kerala government declared tidal flooding a state-specific disaster, becoming the first Indian state to formally recognise it as a disaster.

• Statutory Decision: The declaration is based on Section 2(d) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, which defines a disaster as a natural or man-made calamity causing loss of life, property, or livelihood.
• Financial Eligibility: Affected persons now qualify for assistance from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).

About Tidal Flooding

• Tidal flooding refers to the temporary inundation of low-lying coastal areas during exceptionally high tides. It is commonly known as sunny day flooding because it occurs without rainfall or storms.
• Primary Causes: Gravitational pull of the sun and moon, sea-level rise due to climate change, and coastal land subsidence cause tidal flooding.
• Occurrence Pattern: The phenomenon is linked to the semi-diurnal tidal cycle; inundation may occur twice daily during high-tide periods in vulnerable low-lying coastal areas
• Peak Conditions: Flooding intensifies during Spring Tides, when the Sun, Moon, and Earth align, and during King Tides, when the Moon is closest to Earth.

About State-Specific Disaster

• A state-specific disaster is a hazard not included in the Union Government’s notified national disaster list but posing significant local risks within a state’s territory.
• Funding Limit: States may utilise up to 10% of their annual SDRF allocation for relief related to such notified disasters.
• Relief Norms: Financial assistance must follow the same transparent norms applicable to nationally notified disasters.

Read More > Coastal Flooding in India

{GS3 – S&T} Rebalancing Copyright in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

• Context (TH): India’s hosting of the AI Impact Summit 2026 reignited debate on rigid copyright laws affecting access, innovation and digital technologies.

India’s Current Copyright Framework

• Statutory Framework: The Copyright Act, 1957, defines, regulates and enforces copyright in original literary, artistic, musical and dramatic works, as well as cinematograph films and sound recordings.
• Protection Tenure: The Act grants exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, communicate and adapt the work for the lifetime of the author plus 60 years thereafter.
• Fair Dealing: Section 52 enumerates specific and limited uses of copyrighted material without permission, e.g., research, criticism, review, reporting of current events, etc.
• Digital Integration: The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012, exempted temporary digital reproductions created during browsing, caching or hyperlinking from being treated as infringement.
• Global Compliance: India adheres to the Berne Convention, which mandates automatic copyright protection upon creation, without formal registration.

Challenges with India’s Copyright Governance

• Knowledge Barriers: Long posthumous protection keeps works out of the public domain for decades, limiting affordable access and reuse.
• Technological Rigidity: Section 52 follows a closed-list exception model that limits judicial flexibility in emerging digital and machine-learning contexts.
• Social Exclusion: Strong injunctive relief and high litigation costs deter the development and distribution of assistive technologies, including formats such as DAISY, for persons with disabilities.
• Regulatory Lag: The Copyright Act, 1957, does not clearly address algorithmic data processing, leaving artificial intelligence training in legal uncertainty.
• Economic Burden: Strict enforcement of reproduction and distribution rights leads to high licensing costs for educational institutions.

Way Forward

• Statutory Modernisation: Introduce a Text and Data Mining (TDM) exception to permit AI training and data mining without constituting infringement.
• Safe Harbour: Establish statutory protection for public and government-curated datasets to shield open-access developers from infringement claims.
• Progressive Flexibility: Adopt an open-ended fair use doctrine to allow courts to address new digital and artificial intelligence uses.
• Dispute Reform: Create specialised tribunals or fast-track mechanisms to resolve copyright disputes involving AI technologies.
• Global Leadership: Leverage international platforms like AI Impact Summit to advocate balanced global copyright standards that protect innovation and the public domain.

Read More > Copyright, Trademark, Geographical Indication (GI), Differences

{Prelims – Exercise} Exercise MILAN 2026

• Context (TOI | ANI): The Indian Navy is conducting the International Fleet Review (IFR) 2026 alongside Exercise MILAN 2026.

• These events operationalise the MAHASAGAR vision, reinforcing India’s status as a ‘Preferred Security Partner‘ in the Indian Ocean Region.

Exercise MILAN 2026

• Exercise MILAN 2026 marks the 13^th edition of the Indian Navy’s multilateral naval exercise.
• The event comprises a Harbour Phase for professional exchanges and a Sea Phase for operational drills.
• It marks the maiden participation of naval assets from Germany, the Philippines, and the UAE.
• Key Activities: Include the International City Parade, the International Maritime Seminar, and a cultural exchange at the newly inaugurated ‘MILAN’ Village.

{Prelims – Species} Alpheus madhusoodanai Shrimp *

• Context (TOI): Scientists discovered a new shrimp species, Alpheus madhusoodanai, in the Kochi backwaters of Kerala.
• Alpheus madhusoodanai is a snapping shrimp (also known as a pistol shrimp) of the Alpheidae family, known for producing high-velocity acoustic pressure to stun prey.
• Appearance: It has a translucent body with reddish-brown bands and an asymmetrical, large claw used for hunting and defence.
• Habitat Preference: This shrimp primarily inhabits brackish water estuaries and muddy substrates near mangrove roots.
• Distribution: A. madhusoodanai is endemic to the Kochi backwaters in Kerala.
• Dietary Habits: It is an opportunistic carnivore, feeding on small fish, crustaceans, and organic detritus in the estuary’s benthic zone.
• Ecological Role: The burrowing aerates swampy soil and releases toxic gases trapped in the sediment.

{Prelims – Species} Hornbill Restaurants in Chhattisgarh *

• Context (IE): The Chhattisgarh Forest Department is establishing six “hornbill restaurants” in the Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve (USTR).

• Target Species: This project aims to provide a secure habitat for the rare Malabar Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus)
• Resource Availability: These “restaurants” are clusters of fruit-bearing trees that offer birds a year-round supply of ripe fruit.

About Malabar Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus)

• Malabar Pied Hornbill is a medium-sized bird of the Bucerotidae family endemic to the Indian subcontinent.
• Appearance: They have predominantly black plumage with a white belly and white-tipped tail/wings; the large yellow bill is topped by a prominent creamy-yellow and black casque.
  • Sexual Dimorphism: Males possess deep red irises, while females are distinguished by a white ring of skin around the eyes.
• Habitat Preference: The bird inhabits evergreen and moist deciduous forests, with a strong preference for tall riverine trees.
• Distribution: The range is restricted to the Western Ghats, Central and Eastern India, and Sri Lanka.
• Diets: Primarily frugivorous, it occasionally hunts small vertebrates and insects, especially during the breeding season.
• Dust Bathing: The species frequently descends to the ground to dust-bathe to rid itself of ticks and excess oil.
• Ecological Role: It acts as “Farmers of the Forest” by dispersing the seeds of large tropical tree species.
• Conservation Status: IUCN: Near Threatened; CITES: Appendix II; WPA: Schedule I

{Prelims – S&T} Inside-Out Planetary System Discovered Around LHS 1903 *

• Context (SC): The European Space Agency’s CHEOPS mission identified a four-planet system with an anomalous rocky outermost planet.

• Host Star: The planetary system orbits LHS 1903, a red dwarf star located 117 light-years away in the Lynx constellation.
• Conventional Models: Standard planetary theories predict rocky planets near stars and gas giants in more distant, cooler regions.
  • Thermal Cause: Intense stellar radiation typically strips volatile gases from inner planets, while cooler outer zones allow gas accumulation.
• System Layout: The LHS 1903 system deviates from norms, as both the innermost and outermost planets are rocky in composition. The system’s two intermediate planets are gaseous.
• Leading Theory: The planets formed sequentially over several million years. The protoplanetary disc likely exhausted its gas by the time the outermost planet formed.

About CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite)

• CHEOPS is the first European Space Agency (ESA) mission dedicated to the detailed characterisation of exoplanets.
• Launch Details: The Small-class (S-class) mission was launched in 2019 to study exoplanets that have been previously discovered.
• Objective: It measures the precise radii of exoplanets within the Super-Earth to Neptune size range.
• Density Analysis: By combining radius measurements with mass data, scientists can calculate bulk density to determine whether a planet is rocky, gaseous, or oceanic.
• Orbital Configuration: CHEOPS operates in a Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 km. Its dusk–dawn trajectory keeps the Sun behind a fixed sunshield, reducing interference from stray light.
• Scientific Instrument: The spacecraft carries a single high-precision photometer that detects minute variations in stellar brightness.

{Prelims – S&T – AI} Sarvam AI Launched India’s First Large-Scale Foundational LLMs

• Context (TT): Bangalore-based startup Sarvam AI unveiled its flagship sovereign models, Sarvam 30B and Sarvam 105B, at the IndiaAI Impact Summit 2026.

• National Milestone: These are India’s first large-scale foundational LLMs; both are open-source and optimised for 22 Indian languages across 11 primary scripts.
• Model Differentiation: Sarvam 30B is designed for conversational use on low-compute devices like feature phones, while Sarvam 105B handles complex reasoning and large-scale analytics.
• Hardware Release: Sarvam also unveiled Kaze AI-powered smart glasses that capture visual and audio inputs to understand and respond to real-time surroundings.
• Policy Support: Sarvam AI is one of the first startups to receive direct support under the IndiaAI Mission to build an indigenous foundational model.

Read More > India-AI Mission

{Prelims – S&T – AI} ‘MANAV’ Vision for Artificial Intelligence

• Context (IE): PM Modi unveiled the ‘MANAV’ vision at the India AI Impact Summit 2026.

• It is a human-centric governance framework for transparent, inclusive, and responsible development of artificial intelligence.
• The vision outlines five core pillars to ensure AI serves as a tool for human empowerment rather than a disruptive force.

Core Pillars of the MANAV Vision

1. Moral Systems: AI technologies must adhere to ethical guidance and integrate human-centric values.
2. Accountable Governance: Transparent rules and oversight to ensure responsible AI deployment.
3. National Sovereignty: Data ownership principles must affirm “whose data, his right” and sovereign control over digital infrastructure.
4. Accessible & Inclusive: AI should act as a development multiplier rather than a technological monopoly to benefit the Global South.
5. Valid & Legitimate: AI applications must remain lawful, verifiable, and trustworthy for the public.

{Prelims – Disease} Lymphoedema

• Context (NM): Researchers at the University of Auckland have discovered a cellular mechanism with potential for treating painful lymphoedema.

• They have identified insulin-like growth factor (IGF), a growth-promoting molecule that stimulates lymphatic vessel growth.

About Lymphoedema

• Lymphoedema is a chronic condition characterised by painful, localised swelling of body parts.
• This swelling occurs when the lymphatic system is damaged or unable to drain protein-rich lymph fluid.
• Types:
  • Primary Lymphoedema: It is a rare inherited condition caused by genetic anomalies affecting lymphatic vessel development.
  • Secondary Lymphoedema: It is the most common variant that occurs after surgery, radiation, or severe systemic infections.
• Cancer Link: Breast cancer-related lymph node removal often results in permanent lymphedema.
• Symptoms: Includes persistent swelling along with heaviness, restricted mobility, and secondary skin infections like cellulitis.
• Treatments: Current therapies manage swelling with drainage, exercise, and compression garments.