Current Affairs – July 10, 2026

{GS1 – IS} India’s Ageing Population **

• Context (BS): Kerala has become the 1^st Indian state to establish a dedicated Department of Senior Citizens’ Welfare, a Senior Citizens’ Commission, and an Elderly Budget, which reflects the structural demographic changes that India is likely to witness over the coming decades.

• Population ageing refers to the process in which the proportion of elderly persons in the total population increases over time. It is primarily caused by a decline in birth rates and an increase in life expectancy.

Structural Shift in India

• India is undergoing a rapid demographic transition, with the elderly population (60 years and above) projected to more than double from 100 million in 2011 to 230 million by 2036.
• By 2036, nearly one in seven Indians will be aged 60 years or older, representing a fundamental restructuring of the country’s population composition.
• Kerala’s population aged 60 years and above is projected to rise from 16.5% (2021) to 22.8% (2036), while its working-age population will fall below 60%, marking the end of its demographic dividend. By 2036, more than half of Indian states are expected to become ageing societies.

Challenges of Population Ageing

• Shrinking Labour Force: As the elderly population increases, the working-age population declines, reducing labour supply, constraining productivity and slowing long-term economic growth.
  • The IMF estimates that ageing could reduce India’s annual growth in gross domestic product by 70 basis points between 2025 and 2050.
• Growing Fiscal Burden: Governments are likely to face higher expenditure on pensions, healthcare, long-term care and social welfare programmes.
• Pressure On Healthcare Infrastructure: Older populations have a higher prevalence of chronic illnesses which increases the demand for specialised geriatric healthcare, rehabilitation services and care facilities.
• Social Challenges: Rapid urbanisation & decline of joint family systems have weakened traditional support, leaving many elderly people vulnerable to loneliness, neglect, social isolation & financial insecurity.
• Regional Disparities: Southern states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu are ageing much faster than northern states, creating diverse policy and fiscal challenges across the country.

Initiatives Undertaken

• Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY): Pension scheme offering assured returns for senior citizens (60+), administered by LIC.
• Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007: Makes it a legal obligation for children and heirs to maintain their parents and provides for old-age homes and maintenance tribunals.
• National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly: Strengthens geriatric healthcare services through dedicated OPDs, specialised wards and community-based care at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
• Atal Vayo Abhyuday Yojana (AVYAY): Promotes the welfare and empowerment of senior citizens by supporting integrated care centres, helplines, awareness programmes and assistive devices.
• Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY): Provides free physical aids and assisted-living devices to senior citizens belonging to economically weaker sections who suffer from age-related disabilities.

Read More> Healthy Ageing I Silver Economy I Feminisation of Ageing in India

{GS2 – IR} India-Australia Relations **

• Context (PIB): Indian Prime Minister participated in the 3^rd India-Australia Annual Summit in Melbourne.

Key Outcomes of the Visit

• Joint Declaration on Defence and Security Cooperation (JDDSC): Renews existing Joint Declaration on Security (2009); welcomes the establishment of an Annual Defence Ministers’ Dialogue.
  • Announced the deployment of an Indian military instructor in Australian Defence College in 2028-29.
• Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap (MSCR): Promoting information sharing, capability development, and operational coordination.
• Joint Statement on Energy Security: Commitment to energy amid geopolitical tensions.
• Finalisation of India-Australia Civil Nuclear Agreement: Operationalises Civil Nuclear Agreement signed in 2014, enabling supply of uranium from Australia for peaceful purposes under IAEA safeguards.
• Australia-India Partnership for Cyber, Critical Technologies, Supply Chains (PACTS): Builds on 2020 Framework Arrangement on Cyber and Cyber Enabled Critical Technology Cooperation.
• Operationalised a Rooftop Solar Training Academy: At Pandit Deendayal Energy University, Gandhinagar, to train 2,000 women and youth through a collaboration between DCEEW, SSCGJ, and ReNew.
• Other Key Outcomes:
  • Setting up Centre of Excellence in Mining Equipment, Technology and Services at National Skill Training Institute (NSTI), Bhubaneswar.
  • Letter of Intent (LoI) to Flinders’ University for setting up its campus in India (Bengaluru).
  • Repatriation of Indian artifacts:
    • Sacred bull Nandi (a granite sculpture from Tamil Nadu dating to the 11th –12th CE).
    • Trident with Auspicious Kali: Bhadrakali (11th century bronze sculpture from Tamil Nadu).
    • Six-headed Skanda: Karttikeya (12th-century basalt sculpture from Tamil Nadu).
  • Traditional Knowledge Digital Library access agreement between Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and IP Australia.
  • Letter of Approval to permits Victoria University to set up and operate its campus in Gurugram.

India-Australia Relations

• Strategic: Upgraded bilateral relationship from ‘Strategic Partnership’ in 2009 to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in 2020.
  • Bilateral mechanisms include high level visits, 2+2 Defence and Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue, Joint Trade & Commerce Ministerial Commission, Energy Dialogue, etc.
• Civil Nuclear Cooperation: Australian Parliament passed Civil Nuclear Transfer to India Bill 2016 allowing Uranium mining companies to supply Australian uranium to India for civil use.
• Economic Cooperation: India–Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA) was signed in 2022, Negotiations are underway for Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).
  • Bilateral Trade: Stood at USD 24.1 billion in 2024-25.
  • Exports From India: More than doubled from USD 4 billion (2020–21) to USD 8.5 billion (2024–25).
  • India is Australia’s fifth largest trading partner; 4^th largest source of refined petroleum.
• Multilateral Cooperation: Quad partnership; cooperation under Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), etc.
• Military Exercises: AUSINDEX, AUSTRAHIND, MALABAR exercises, etc.

Read More> India-Australia Defence Ties

{Prelims – Envi} India’s First Smart Algal Liquid Tree (SALT) *

• Context (BS): CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR) deployed India’s first mobile Smart Algal Liquid Tree (SALT) in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, and Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh.

• SALT is a compact, mobile bio-purification device containing microscopic algae suspended in water that use photosynthesis to absorb atmospheric CO₂ and release oxygen. It operates continuously using natural or artificial light. It aims to combat air pollution in congested urban areas.
• Beyond carbon sequestration, it also traps dust and particulates in the liquid medium as polluted urban air passes through the enclosed system.
• Its energy-efficient design combines solar panels with conventional electricity and needs minimal maintenance. Built-in sensors show real-time data on air quality, CO₂, temperature, humidity, PM2.5 and PM10.

{Prelims – Geo} Super Typhoon Bavi

• Context (LM): Super Typhoon Bavi affected the U.S. territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, as well as Ryukyu Islands of Japan and China, in the western North Pacific Ocean.

• Bavi was the 3^rd tropical cyclone in 2026 to reach category 5 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.

• Terms typhoon and hurricane are regional names for phenomena of tropical cyclone.
• Super typhoon: Occurs when typhoon’s sustained surface-wind strength reaches 240 km (150 miles) per hour, the equivalent of a strong category 4 or category 5 hurricane.

{Prelims – IE} World Intangible Investment Report 2026

• Context (AIR): The World Intangible Investment Report 2026, published by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Luiss Business School.

Key Findings

• The investment in intangible assets crossed the USD 10 trillion mark for the first time in 2025, growing more than three times faster than tangible investment.
• Software and databases remain the largest category of intangible investment, followed by R&D, branding and advertising, design, and organizational capital.
• The United States is the world’s largest investor in intangible assets, accounting for nearly half of global intangible investment.

India Specific Findings

• India recorded the fastest growth in intangible investment among the world’s 15 largest economies, reaching 78.2 billion dollars in 2023, with 7.9 percent growth, ahead of tangible investment.

• The report underscores India’s transition towards a knowledge-driven economy, supported by rising investments in innovation-led sectors and digital capabilities.

{Prelims – IR} Global Passport Index 2026

• Context (BS): The sixth annual Global Passport Index released by Global Citizen Solutions (GCS).

• It assesses passports of 197 countries across three weighted pillars – Enhanced Mobility (50%), Investment (25%), and Quality of Living (25%), using 14 different indicators.

Key Findings

• Nine of the world’s top 10 strongest passports belong to European countries. Sweden ranks first, followed by Switzerland and Finland.
• India ranks 125^th, slipping one place from 124th in the previous edition.
• Indian passport holders currently enjoy visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 26 destinations.

{Prelims – PIN World} Sabang Port *

• Context (BS): India and Indonesia signed an agreement during Prime Minister Modi’s state visit to Jakarta in July 2026 to jointly develop Sabang Port.

• Sabang is a natural deep-water port on Weh Island in Indonesia’s Aceh province, at the northernmost tip of Sumatra. It overlooks the Strait of Malacca and lies just 160 km from Great Nicobar Island.
• The port serves as a node in India’s “Necklace of Diamonds” maritime strategy, countering China’s “String of Pearls” network in the Indian Ocean.
• Working in tandem with India’s $9 billion Great Nicobar Project, Sabang Port enables both nations to secure and monitor both flanks of the northern entrance to the Malacca Strait.
• It will anchor short-sea shipping networks linking Southeast Asia to Eastern Indian ports (Kolkata, Haldia, Chennai), targeting $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2030.

{Prelims – S&T} Astra Mk 1 Missiles

• Context (IE): India and Indonesia signed a deal for the export of Astra Mk 1, marking India’s first-ever export of the Astra missile family.

Key Features

• Developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Astra is a family of indigenous BVRAAMs that will be integrated with the Air Force and the Navy.
  • Beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles are those capable of engaging beyond the range of 20 nautical miles, or 37 km.
• Astra Variants:
  1. Astra Mk 1: It has a range of 80 to 110 km, an altitude capability of up to 20 km, and a speed of Mach 4.5. It is integrated with the Su-30 MKI and planned for the Tejas Mk 1A and Rafale jets.
  2. Astra Mk 2: Advanced variant with enhanced range of 200 km, powered by dual-pulse solid rocket motor that conserves energy and allows reignition during the terminal phase, making it harder for targets to evade.
  3. Astra Mk 3 (Gandiva): Still under development, this will be India’s most advanced BVRAAM, likely powered by a Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) engine for continuous mid-flight thrust, with a potential range exceeding 350 km.

• Viewed as India’s indigenous counter to China’s long-range PL-15 missile, used by both Pakistan and China.

{Prelims – Social Sector} Uttarakhand Declared “Fully Literate” State

• Context (LM): Uttarakhand became India’s sixth fully literate state under the ULLAS initiative, crossing a literacy rate of 98%.

• Ladakh (2024) was the first UT to achieve full functional literacy; Mizoram (2025) was the first fully literate state, followed by Goa, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, and Sikkim.
• A state or UT is declared fully literate on reaching at least 95% literacy among those aged 15 and above.

Read More > Mizoram Achieves Full Literacy | Himachal Pradesh Declared “Fully Literate” State

{Prelims – Social Sector} Global Status Report on Cancer 2026

• Context (TH): WHO and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) jointly released the Global Status Report on Cancer 2026, alongside the first-ever global survey of people affected by cancer.

Key Findings of the Report

• Cancer ranks as the second-leading cause of death globally after cardiovascular disease, claiming over 26,000 lives daily, with 20.6 million new cases and ~10 million deaths recorded in 2024.
• Lung cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed and deadliest global malignancy, followed by breast and colorectal cancers.
• Nearly 40% of global cancer cases are linked to modifiable risk factors, with tobacco the largest single driver.
• Fewer than one in three countries include comprehensive cancer care in their universal health coverage packages. Asia accounted for 50.7% of global cases and 56.5% of deaths in 2024.

Cancer in India

• India registered a 36% jump in annual cancer cases between 2012 and 2022, accompanied by a 30% mortality rise. ICMR projects ~1.5 million cases by 2025.
• Breast and cervical malignancies dominate cancer incidence among Indian women; lung and oral cavity cancers dominate among Indian men.

Read More> Cancer as Notifiable Disease | Cancer