Current Affairs – July 18, 2026

{GS2 – IR} 3^rd India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) Meeting

• Context (DDN): The third India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) meeting was held in Brussels to deepen the strategic partnership for trade, economic security, and trusted technologies.

• India and the EU confirmed readiness to launch formal negotiations for India’s association with the €93.5 billion Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.
• A pilot programme is under consideration to link the EU Digital Identity Wallet with India’s DigiLocker for seamless cross-border document verification. Both regions are advancing mutual recognition and interoperability of cross-border electronic signatures to streamline digital trade.
• The newly established India-EU Innovation Hub will initially focus on co-developing, testing, and standardising electric vehicle charging infrastructure technologies.

Read More> India-EU Free Trade Agreement | India-EU Relations

{GS2 – MoHUA} PARIVARTAN Scheme *

• Context (PIB): Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has approved the operational guidelines for the PARIVARTAN scheme for its ground-level implementation.

• Objective: Replace older polluting commercial vehicles (trucks and buses) with cleaner BS-VI-compliant or fully electric vehicles (EVs) within the National Capital Region (NCR).
• Participating States: NCT of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas implement the programme, while the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) provides the funding.
• Financial Incentives: Vehicle owners receive registration fee waivers, 10-year motor vehicle tax concessions, 5% loan interest subvention, and a minimum of 8% OEM discounts.
  • The scheme provides monthly fuel vouchers for diesel and CNG replacements, alongside one-time financial assistance for electric vehicles.
• An integrated platform connects the VAHAN database, scrappage portals (V-Scrap and DigiELV), and the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) to process claims.

Read More> Scheme for Support to NCRPB for Replacement of Old Trucks and Buses

{GS2 – Polity} Digitising Criminal Justice System

• Context (TH): Centre has announced that India aims for full digital rollout of its criminal justice system from July 1, 2027, through Interoperable Criminal Justice System.

About Criminal Justice System (CJS)

• Meaning: It comprises the police, courts, prisons, forensics, and prosecution services, and aims at ensuring that victims present their cases and seek justice.
• Fundamental Principle of a CJS: Balancing the rights of accused and interests of the victim and society.
  • Based on tenets of natural justice, that is, rule of fair hearing (Audi alteram partem) ensuring procedural fairness.
• Shift in Approach of India’s CJS: Introduction of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) have brought about transformation.
  • While the erstwhile penal code was implemented with an idea to punish the accused, the BNS believes in the delivery of justice through retribution providing a democratic approach.
  • Similarly, BNSS considers an accused as a citizen whose rights should be balanced with the interests of the victims without any prejudice.

Role of Digitisation in Promoting Efficiency of Criminal Justice System

• Forensics: New criminal laws have made forensic examination of crime scenes mandatory for offences punishable with imprisonment of seven years or more leading to better investigations.
• Evidence Sharing: Use of technology in different formats like scanned papers, database information, CCTV footage, and audio recordings enable sharing of information.
• Predative Policing: Drawing on advanced algorithms capable of forecasting criminal activity, predictive policing uses historical crime details to reveal when individuals are more likely to commit crimes.

Existing Challenges

• Inefficient Digital Chain: According to National Crime Records Bureau, only 46% of FIRs were digitally transmitted to courts accounting for less than half of all registered cases.
• Abridging Rights of Individuals: The fundamental rights of an individual, including right to privacy and the right against self-incrimination can be threatened by advancements in DNA technology.
• Inadequate Infrastructure: The Indian legal system has insufficient IT infrastructure, including computers, fax machines, and dicto-phones preventing efficient use of new technologies.
• Algorithm Bias: AI-driven choices could unintentionally reinforce prejudices and produce unfair results, particularly if algorithms are not properly thought out and routinely examined.

{GS3 – IE} Rural Credit for Inclusive Growth in India **

• Context (PIB): India’s Rural Credit system has evolved over time from informal lending to a diversified institutional framework.

Institutional Architecture of Rural Credit

• Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCB): It is a bank included in Second Schedule of RBI Act, 1934; are eligible for loans at the bank rate from the RBI and are members of the clearing house.
  • In rural areas, SCB branches increased by over 35% from 41,464 in 2014 to 56,193 by July 2025.
• Regional Rural Banks (RRBs): Currently, 28 RRBs operate across States and Union Territories, having a branch network of over 22,000 in 700 districts.
• Co-operative Banks: Rural cooperative credit institutions follow a multi-tier structure comprising Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACSs), etc.
• Small Finance Banks (SFB): At present, 11 SFBs are operational.

Policy Framework Promoting for Rural Credit

• Priority Sector Lending (PSL): Applicable to Commercial Banks, including RRBs, SFBs, Local Area Banks, and Primary (Urban) Cooperative Banks (excluding Salary Earners’ Banks) and mandates credit allocation to agriculture.
  • Within this, a sub-target of 14% is prescribed for non-corporate farmers and 10% for small and marginal farmers.
• Ground Level Credit (GLC): Government sets annual GLC targets for agriculture and allied sectors, which banks must achieve each financial year.
• Self Help Group (SHG): 10.05 crore rural women mobilised into more than 90.90 lakh SHGs till July 2025.
• Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS): Refers to grassroots-level institutions of short-term cooperative credit structure.
  • 32,836 new societies registered, and 15,793 dairy and fishery cooperatives strengthened (Jan 2026).
• Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS): It is a central sector scheme for availability of short-term credit to farmers at affordable interest rates through KCC.
  • Under this, farmers receive short-term loans at a subsidised interest of 7%, with 1.5% subvention provided to lending institutions.
• PM Dhan Dhanya Krishi Yojana (PM-DDKY): To catalyse growth in 100 low performing agri-districts by aiming to enhance access to short-term and long-term agricultural credit for farmers.
• Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM): Improved access to bank credit through deployment of Bank Sakhis.
  • Around 50,548 Bank Sakhis have been deployed, supporting SHGs in accessing bank credit of over ₹12.18 lakh crore since 2013-14 (February 2026).
• Jan Dhan Darshak App: As of March 2025, 99.92% of villages had banking outlet within 5 km radius. Additionally, villages in Dadra and Nagar Haveli have achieved full coverage

Read More> Agricultural Credit in India

{GS3 – IE} Draft CAFE-III Norms

• Context (TH): Ministry of Power released the draft Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE-III) norms to lower crude oil import dependence and accelerate clean technology adoption.

• CAFE norms are notified by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency under the Energy Conservation Act to achieve a fleet-wide reduction in carbon emissions and to push the transport sector towards higher fuel efficiency.
• CAFE III applies from FY28 to FY32, replacing the current CAFE-II norms. Norms apply to M1 passenger cars (up to eight seats excluding driver) manufactured or imported for sale in India. Automakers selling fewer than 1,000 vehicles annually stay exempt.
• Each automaker’s fleet-average fuel consumption must decline from 3.996 l/100 km (94.76 g CO₂/km) in FY28 to 3.3273 l/100 km (78.90 g CO₂/km) by FY32. The draft eases overall fleet targets by 21% compared with initial proposals, providing a realistic compliance pathway for manufacturers.
• The sales-weighted fleet average will be assessed over an initial three-year block (FY28 to FY30), followed by a final two-year block (FY31 to FY32).
• Fuel Deduction: Automakers may deduct 8% from the declared tailpipe CO₂ emissions of E20 cars and 22.3% from flex-fuel ethanol and flex-fuel strong hybrid models before compliance checks.
• Clean vehicles count as several units, pulling the fleet average down: 3.0 for BEVs and Range-Extended EVs, 2.5 for plug-in or flex-fuel strong hybrids, 1.6 for strong hybrids, and 1.1 for flex-fuel ethanol.
• Automakers track compliance via an annual passbook and offset shortfalls through carried-forward credits, pooling with up to three manufacturers, or buying credits from the BEE.

Read More> Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE)

{GS3 – IE} India as a Leading BioEconomy Powerhouse **

• Context (TH): NITI Aayog launched the “Roadmap for Building India as a Leading Bioeconomy Powerhouse by 2035,” with the aim of scaling the country’s bioeconomy to $2.6 trillion by 2047.

India’s Current Bioeconomy Landscape

• Valuation: India’s bioeconomy expanded 16-fold over a decade, reaching $195.3 billion in 2025 and accounting for 4.8% of national GDP.
  • The bio-industrial segment is the largest contributor at 47%, followed by biopharmaceuticals, bio-services, and bio-agriculture.
• Manufacturing Base: India operates over 700 USFDA-approved manufacturing plants, the most outside the USA, and remains the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer.
• Global Standing: India ranks 12^th globally in biotechnology, 3^rd in Asia-Pacific, and climbed to 10^th in the 2025 Cytiva Global Biopharma Index.
• Growth Targets: The government aims to scale the bioeconomy to $392 billion by 2030. NITI Aayog forecasts that it will reach $691 billion by 2035, positioning India as one of the top three biotech nations.

Challenges with Bioeconomy in India

• Approval Delay: Overlapping central approvals and state-level environmental clearances prolong regulatory timelines to an average of 900 days, compared with 500 days in peer nations.
• Funding Gap: A severe funding gap across Series A and Series B creates a commercialisation “valley of death” that traps deep-tech ventures at the proof-of-concept stage.
• Talent Deficit: A low density of 259 biotech researchers per million, coupled with only 25.6% STEM higher-education enrolment, restricts the advanced human capital the sector requires.
• Import Reliance: Deep reliance on imported technologies (notably Chinese biocatalytic enzymes, CRISPR kits, and bioprocessing reagents) undermines supply-chain autonomy and increases production costs.
• Data Isolation: Fragmented genomic, clinical, and hospital registries hinder the training of predictive AI diagnostic engines and the development of localised precision therapies.
• Patent Obstruction: Ambiguity in the Patents Act regarding imported and genetically modified microbes discourages venture capital investment and technology translation.

Key Recommendations by NITI Aayog

1. Financial Catalysation: Establish a ₹50,000 crore BioEconomy Growth Fund under the ANRF or the RDI framework to deploy blended finance and viability gap funding for mid-to-late-stage ventures.
2. Regulatory Sandbox: Launch a time-bound, differentiated approval pathway with predefined milestone timelines for frontier modalities such as cell therapies, synthetic biology, and AI-designed drugs.
3. Robotic Biofoundries: Scale the national network of automated Design-Build-Test-Learn (DBTL) innovation hubs to accelerate prototyping in metabolic engineering without IP restrictions.
4. National BioMissions: Consolidate fragmented departmental programmes into six mission-mode flagship platforms, including GeneIndia and AgriBio 2.0, underpinned by ten-year execution roadmaps.
5. Cross-Sectoral Governance: Create inter-ministerial bodies, such as the National BioData Council and the Empowered Committee, to harmonise data standards and coordinate national asset tracking.
6. Talent Restructuring: Expand internationally benchmarked research fellowships and dedicated postdoctoral entrepreneurship pipelines to widen the expert human capital base.

{GS3 – IE} CapaCITIES Programme *

• Context (PIB): CapaCITIES programme marked 10 years by releasing toolkits and a roadmap to align municipal action with India’s 2070 net-zero target.

• Capacity Building Project on Low Carbon and Climate Resilient City Development in India (CapaCITIES) builds institutional capacities of cities to plan, finance, and implement integrated climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.
• Launched in 2016, the project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation through Embassy of Switzerland to India and Bhutan.
• Implementing Agencies: ICLEI South Asia, South Pole, and econcept execute it with National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) as the knowledge partner.
• Coverage: 8 cities across 4 states: Gujarat (Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Vadodara), Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli and Tirunelveli), Rajasthan (Udaipur) and West Bengal (Siliguri).
• Key Features:
  • Action Planning: Pioneered the development of Climate Resilient City Action Plans (CRCAPs), offering a simplified, scientific method for cities to integrate climate into their master plans.
  • Institutional Governance: Created permanent Net-Zero and Climate Action Cells in municipal corporations for long-term climate budgeting and project monitoring.

{Prelims – Envi} Colobus Congoensis *

• Context (IE): Scientists have identified a new monkey species, Colobus congoensis, commonly known as the Likweli monkey, in the Lomami National Park of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

• It marks only the 5^th new monkey species identified in Africa in the last 75 years.
• The monkey has a glossy black coat, long fur, a sweeping tail and striking orange-cream facial markings. The monkeys also have a distinctive “roaring” call.
• Its closest known relative is Colobus satanas, found more than 1,200 kilometers away in west-central Africa. The two species diverged roughly 4 to 5 million years ago.

{Prelims – Envi} Kewra (Screw Pine)

• Context (PIB): Scientists found 24-million-year-old Kewra (Screw Pine) fossil leaves in Assam’s Tikak Parbat Formation, indicating it thrived in the Indian subcontinent before the Himalayas formed.

• Kewra, known as Kevda in Hindi, Screw Pine in English, and Kia in Odia, is a small, monocotyledonous tree or shrub with stilt roots and spiny leaves. Adapted to tropical coasts, brackish waters, sand dunes, mangrove edges, and riverbanks, it thrives in warm, humid conditions.
• Distribution: Tropical Asia, Australasia, & Africa. Odisha’s Ganjam district dominates India’s commercial production.
• Ecological Importance: Acts as a keystone species, stabilising shorelines and preventing soil erosion.
• Uses: Male flowers produce essential oils (attar) and Kewra water for perfumes, cosmetics, and cooking, while fibrous leaves support mat, hat, and basket-making industries.
• Ganjam Kewda Flower and Ganjam Kewda Rooh (essential oil) received a GI tag in 2012.

{Prelims – IS} UN Women Report on Global Aid Cuts

• Context (DTE): UN Women released a report highlighting the impact of the sharpest annual decline in foreign aid on women-led humanitarian organisations.

Key Highlights

• At least 1 million women and girls have lost access to critical humanitarian support since January 2025.
• Around 84% of surveyed organisations reported increased demand for their services, while nearly 90% are unable to meet the growing demand.
• Nearly 40% of surveyed organisations face temporary or permanent closure risk within the next year.
• Societal Reversals: ~86% of groups reported increased gender-based violence as cuts weakened protection; 92% reported worsening poverty, and 82% noticed more school dropout among young girls.

{Prelims – S&T} INS Mahendragiri

• Context (DDN): Indian Navy commissioned the indigenously built advanced stealth frigate INS Mahendragiri into its Eastern Fleet at Visakhapatnam.

• It is the 7th warship under Project 17A (Nilgiri-class) and the 6th to be commissioned, built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai.
• Operational Role: A multi-role frontline warship designed for the full spectrum of naval warfare, including fleet air defence, anti-surface warfare, and anti-submarine warfare.
• Features: With over 75% indigenous content, it can reach up to 28 knots and carries BrahMos cruise missiles, Barak-8 surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and MF-STAR AESA radar. Radar-absorbing coatings and flush-mounted weapons lower its radar cross-section (RCS) to evade detection.

{Prelims – S&T} White Rabbit (WR) Technology *

• Context (PIB): White Rabbit (WR) technology-based ‘Indian Standard Time (IST) Distribution Demonstration Network’ was inaugurated at the Regional Reference Standards Laboratory in Jakkur, Bengaluru.

• Objective: Establish an indigenous, secure national time standard, independent of foreign time sources such as GPS, under the “One Nation, One Time” vision.
• Nodal Ministry: Legal Metrology Division under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
• WR is an open-source, Ethernet-based network protocol that provides sub-nanosecond time synchronisation and picosecond precision alongside gigabit-rate data transfer across large distributed systems.
• Ground-based fibre-optic routing of the national time standard isolates critical financial infrastructure from foreign satellite signal manipulation and GPS spoofing.
• CERN originally developed the protocol to coordinate particle collision timing within the Large Hadron Collider. It has since expanded into high-frequency trading, telecommunication networks, etc.

Read More> One Nation, One Time

{Prelims – Misc} One-Liner

• IR – India-Belgium Strategic Dialogue (NOA): India and Belgium held their first Strategic Dialogue in Brussels, broadening cooperation in geopolitics and technology within the India-EU Strategic Partnership. Both countries agreed to deepen cooperation in key sectors like semiconductors, green energy transition, defence, supply chain security, and innovation.
  • Belgium (capital: Brussels), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France, and the North Sea. It is one of the 6 founding EU members and part of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD, and WTO. The Port of Antwerp-Bruges is a key European entry for Indian goods.