Current Affairs – June 01, 2026

{GS1 – A&C} Sanchi Stupa

• Context (NOA | NOA): Ministry of Culture transported relics of Lord Buddha’s chief disciples, Arahant Sariputta and Arahant Mahamoggallana, from Sanchi Stupa to Mongolia.

• Sanchi Stupa is located in Raisen district, Madhya Pradesh. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (designated in 1989).
• Its structure features a hemispherical dome called the anda, symbolising the cosmos, crowned by a harmika and chhatri.
• Mauryan Emperor Ashoka built the Great Stupa in the 3^rd century BCE as a brick mound over Buddha’s relics. During the Shunga period, the brick core was encased in sandstone and nearly doubled in size.
• The Satavahanas contributed four stone gateways, ‘Toranas’, which narrate Jataka tales and the Buddha’s life through aniconic symbols, like the Bodhi tree, lotus, and dharma wheel.
• Modern Discovery: British officer General Taylor rediscovered Sanchi Stupa in 1818, and Sir John Marshall later spearheaded major restoration works.

Read More > Mauryan Art and Architecture

{GS1 – Geo} Wet-Bulb Temperature *

• Context (IE): Amid rising heatwaves across India and the world, the concept of “wet-bulb temperature” has gained importance.

• Wet-bulb temperature is the lowest temperature to which air can be cooled through the process of evaporation. It is measured using a thermometer covered with a wet cloth and letting the water evaporate.
• Unlike normal air temperature, it combines both heat and humidity levels to indicate how hot conditions actually feel to the human body.
• Difference between Dry bulb and Wet bulb temperatures depends on the humidity of the air.
• At 100% relative humidity, the wet-bulb temperature is equal to the dry-bulb temperature; at lower humidity, the wet-bulb temperature is lower than the dry-bulb temperature.

{GS1 – IS} 6^th Round of National Family Health Survey (NHFS-6) **

• Context (PIB): Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) released the sixth edition of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6) for 2023-24.

• NFHS is a large-scale, multi-round household survey designed to gather reliable, district-level data on population, health, nutrition, and family welfare.
• Scope: It tracks a broad spectrum of clinical and demographic indicators, ranging from maternal health, biomarkers, and nutrition to digital inclusion and women’s empowerment.
• The survey is fully funded and directed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, serving as the primary nodal agency.
• Historical Baseline: The inaugural round (NFHS-1), conducted in 1992–1993, established India’s first standardised national-level demographic and family welfare database.
• NFHS-6 Scale: Conducted throughout 2023-24, the latest iteration surveyed nearly 6.79 lakh households across 715 districts.

Key Findings of NHFS-6

• Maternal Care: Institutional deliveries increased to 90.6%, and mothers completing four or more antenatal care visits grew to 65.2%. Pregnant women consuming iron-folic acid (IFA) supplements for over 180 days reached 37.8%.
  • Total caesarean deliveries increased to 27.2%, with private medical facilities recording a 54.1% surgical intervention rate.
• Child Immunity: Full vaccination coverage among children aged 12-23 months reached 87.1%, while rotavirus vaccine coverage increased from 36.4% to 85.4%. Childhood stunting dropped to 29.3%, severe acute wasting declined to 5.2%, and underweight prevalence fell marginally to 31.8%.
• Child Nutrition: Overall breastfeeding for infants under six months increased to 95.6%, but exclusive breastfeeding rates dropped to 55.8%. Only 15.3% of young children aged 6 to 23 months receive an adequately diverse and frequent diet.
• Family Planning: Women aged 20-24 who married before 18 decreased to 20.1%. The overall Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) improved to 69.1%. Physical or sexual spousal violence against married women decreased to 22.3%.
• Socio-Digital Inclusion: Women who have ever used the internet nearly doubled to 64.3%, while their personal mobile phone ownership rose to 63.6%. Women independently operating active personal bank accounts reached 89.0%. Women aged 15-24 using hygienic menstrual protection methods rose to 79.2%.
• Health Profile: Active health insurance reached 60.2% of households. Female obesity escalated to 30.7% (urban: 42.8%), while male tobacco use decreased to 36.3%. Hypertension affected 22.1% of men and 19.4% of women.

{GS3 – IE} Taiwan Stock Market Races Ahead of India **

• Context (TOI): Taiwan has overtaken India in terms of total stock market valuation and emerged as the world’s 5^th largest equity market.

• Taiwan now ranks behind only the U.S., mainland China, Japan, and Hong Kong, while India has slipped to the 6^th position.

Key Driver Behind Taiwan’s Rise

• Dominance of TSMC: Taiwan’s surge has been driven primarily by the exceptional growth of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer.
• Impact of AI Boom: The rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI), data centres, and advanced computing technologies significantly increased global demand for semiconductors, boosting Taiwan’s market valuation.

Why India Fell Behind?

Read More> Stock Exchange

{GS3 – IE} Zero Coupon Zero Principal Instrument *

• Context (PIB): Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has amended the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules to integrate India’s Social Stock Exchange (SSE) into the corporate funding ecosystem via Zero-Coupon Zero-Principal (ZCZP) instruments.

• Eligibility: The amendment added subscriptions to ZCZP instruments as an eligible CSR activity under Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013.
• CSR Cap: Companies can channel up to 10% of their total annual CSR expenditure into these instruments.
• Exemption: Corporate funding via ZCZP is 100% exempt from project-level impact assessment, as SSE-listed projects already comply with SEBI-mandated disclosures.
• Timeline: Not-for-Profit Organisations (NPOs) must deploy raised funds into the project within three succeeding financial years from the date of issue.
• Termination: If the listing is terminated, the issuing NPO must transfer all unspent balances to a fund specified in Schedule VII of the Companies Act and file a compliance report with SEBI.

About Zero Coupon Zero Principal (ZCZP) instrument

• Financial instrument issued by Not-for-Profit Organisations to raise capital for social development projects.
• It is exclusively listed on Social Stock Exchange segments of recognised stock exchanges such as BSE & NSE.
• Unlike conventional bonds, the instrument pays no interest (Zero Coupon) and returns no principal at maturity (Zero Principal).
• ZCZP functions as a transparent, regulated, and tax-deductible donation rather than a traditional financial investment. Returns are measured solely in social impact.
• Legal Status: They are classified as ‘securities’ under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, bringing them under the full regulatory jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
• Holding & Transferability: ZCZPs must be issued exclusively in dematerialised (demat) form and remain strictly non-transferable from the original subscriber until the project’s tenure expires.

Read More> Corporate Social Responsibility | Social Stock Exchange

{GS3 – Infra} Logistics Port Performance Index (LPPI)

• Context (PIB): Logistics Port Performance Index 2024–25 was launched by Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.

• Developed under the Sagar Aankalan framework, LPPI is a national benchmarking mechanism that assesses and improves port performance
• Objective: To enhance port efficiency, transparency, ease of doing business and global competitiveness of Indian ports.
• Assessment Criteria: It evaluates ports using indicators such as cargo handled, vessel turnaround time, berth idle time, pre-berthing waiting time, container dwell time and ship berth-day output.
• Coverage: Ports are assessed across three cargo segments, Dry Bulk, Liquid Bulk and Container Cargo.
• Top Performers: Paradip Port Authority topped Dry Bulk Cargo, Sikka Port and Terminals led Liquid Bulk Cargo, and Mundra Port ranked first in Container Cargo.

{GS3 – S&T} NITI Aayog’s Semiconductor Roadmap **

• Context (PIB): NITI Aayog launched the “Future of India’s Semiconductor Industry,” a 10-year roadmap to develop a USD 120–150 billion domestic semiconductor value chain by 2035.

• It focuses on deepening the ecosystem, aligning with India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0.
• Key Targets: Capture 10–13% of the global semiconductor market; increase chip self-sufficiency to 15–25% by 2030 and to 35–50% by 2035.
• Five Pillars:
  1. Pioneering: Creating a National Frontier Semiconductor Research Programme, over 100 advanced semiconductor design IPs by 2035, and a National Design Hub.
  2. Policy & Investment: Forming an autonomous National Semiconductor Nodal Agency and mandating strategic domestic procurement in defence, smart grids, telecom, and railways.
  3. Production: Focusing on areas of structural advantage like advanced packaging, mature-node fabrication and compound semiconductors.
  4. People: Establishing specialised institutions like the National Fab Academy to develop a skilled workforce across the entire semiconductor value chain.
  5. Partnership: Building alliances with global leaders (US, Japan, South Korea, EU) to secure critical minerals and integrate India into the semiconductor network.

Read More > India’s Semiconductor Ecosystem

{Prelims – DM} SkyCast System

• Context (PIB): Inaugurated at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, SkyCast is India’s first integrated aviation weather monitoring and forecasting system launched under Mission Mausam.

• Objective: To provide real-time weather intelligence for safer take-offs and landings and reduce delays, diversions and cancellations caused by fog and turbulence.
• Integrates advanced instruments such as Radar Wind Profiler, Ground-Based Fog Aerosol Spectrometer (GFAS), Lidar Ceilometer, SODAR and Microwave Radiometer.
• Continuously monitors wind, fog, turbulence, visibility, aerosols & atmospheric conditions upto 3 km altitude.
• Scientific Basis: Developed using insights from the Winter Fog Experiment (WiFEX) conducted by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and the IMD.
• India became the 19^th country to deploy an integrated aviation weather monitoring system.

{Prelims – Geo} Ghepan Lake

• Context (DTE): A study by ISRO and Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority warned that expanding Ghepan Lake may trigger a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF).

• Ghepan Lake is a moraine-dammed glacier lake formed behind unstable barriers of loose rock, sand, and glacial till left by the retreating Ghepan Glacier.
• It lies above 4,000 metres in the Lahaul and Spiti district, near Sissu village in Himachal Pradesh.
  • Sissu village is designated a “Red Zone” due to the highest flood risk in GLOF scenarios.
• The Lake feeds the Chandra River, which merges with the Bhaga River at Tandi to form the Chenab River.
• It is classified as “highly vulnerable” by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) because it nearly tripled in size from 1989 to 2022.

{Prelims – IE} Polymer Banknotes

• Context (LM): RBI is reconsidering the introduction of polymer banknotes to reduce rising currency printing costs and improve the durability of notes in circulation.

• Polymer banknotes are currency notes printed on a thin, flexible plastic substrate rather than the cotton-based paper used in conventional currency.
• Polymer banknotes are lightweight, water-resistant, tear-resistant, and possess a longer circulation life compared to paper notes.
• They also support advanced security features such as transparent windows, holograms, and specialised inks, making counterfeiting more difficult.
• India had earlier attempted pilot testing of ₹10 polymer notes in 2012 across select cities, but the initiative was discontinued due to operational and technological challenges.

{Prelims – Infra} South Coast Railway Zone

• Context (TH): South Coast Railway (SCoR) has become fully operational as India’s 18^th railway zone, with headquarters at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

• Mandated by the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, it was formed from South Central Railway (SCR) and East Coast Railway (ECoR) covering Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana & Tamil Nadu.
• SCoR has four divisions — Visakhapatnam from the Waltair Division of ECoR; Vijayawada, Guntakal, and Guntur from SCR.
• It will serve as a multimodal logistics hub to improve industrial freight movement and port connectivity.

{Prelims – S&T} Weather Cycle on WASP-94A b Exoplanet

• Context (TH): NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) detected a daily weather cycle on WASP-94A b, a gas-giant exoplanet about 700 light-years away in the Microscopium constellation.

• WASP-94A b, a “Hot Jupiter“, has about half Jupiter’s mass but 1.72 times its radius. It orbits its host star so closely that a year lasts roughly four Earth days. The planet is tidally locked, so one side is permanently in daylight.
• Morning Clouds: JWST observed that the planet’s cooler “morning” terminator (the night-day boundary) is shrouded in thick clouds of magnesium silicate, a common rock-forming mineral.
• Atmospheric Vaporisation: Atmospheric winds drag these morning clouds towards the day side, where temperatures exceed 1,000°C. The heat vaporises these mineral clouds, leaving the “evening” sky clear.
• Technology Breakthrough: Historically, general cloud cover obscured the true chemical composition of exoplanets. Astronomers used NIRISS (Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph) to isolate the planet’s morning and evening edges during transit, analysing each terminator separately.

{Prelims – S&T} Substrate Manufacturing

• Context (AIR): Government of Odisha, Intel Corporation and 3D Glass Solutions have signed an MoU to establish an Advanced Packaging Glass Core Substrate Manufacturing Facility in Odisha.

• Substrate manufacturing involves producing the base layer (substrate) that connects semiconductor chips to printed circuit boards (PCBs) and electronic systems.
• Role in Semiconductors: The substrate acts as an intermediate platform, enabling power supply, signal transmission and communication between the chip and external devices.
• Advanced Packaging: Modern substrates, including glass core substrates, support high-performance computing, AI chips, data centres & electronics by allowing greater chip density & faster data transfer.

{Prelims – Misc} One Liners

• Agri – Khet Bachao Abhiyan (PIB): Launched by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on 1^st June 2026. It is a nationwide awareness campaign to promote balanced fertiliser use, soil health management and sustainable farming practices and reduce excessive use of chemical fertilisers and promote alternatives such as nano-urea, organic inputs and integrated nutrient management.
• Governance – NeSDA 2025 Portal (PIB): The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) launched the National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) 2025 portal to assess the maturity, accessibility, and citizen-centric effectiveness of online government services.
  • It is modelled on the UN e-Government Survey’s Online Service Index (OSI) and covers Government-to-Citizen (G2C) and Government-to-Business (G2B) digital sectors.
• In News – World No Tobacco Day (AIR): Celebrated every year on 31^st May under the leadership of WHO since 1988. Theme 2026: “Unmasking the Appeal – Countering Nicotine and Tobacco Addiction”.
  • Objective: To highlight the health, social, economic and environmental impacts of tobacco consumption and encourage tobacco cessation.