Current Affairs – May 09, 2026

{GS2 – MSME} Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme *

Context (PIB): Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) achieved 100% utilisation of the approved budget, exceeding the target of 4.02 lakh new micro-enterprises.
- 80% of established enterprises are in rural areas, and 40% of beneficiaries are women.

PMEGP is a central-sector credit-linked subsidy scheme administered by the Ministry of MSME and implemented by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).
It was launched in 2008, merging the Prime Minister’s Rojgar Yojana (PMRY) and the Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP).
Objective: PMEGP aims to generate self-employment through new micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector across both rural and urban areas.
It offers a Margin Money subsidy of 15-35% on bank loans, with project costs capped at ₹50 lakh for manufacturing and at ₹20 lakh for services.
Eligibility: Any individual aged 18 or over is eligible to apply. Passing standard VIII is required for projects above ₹10 lakh in manufacturing and ₹5 lakh in services.

{GS2 – Polity} Doctrine of Essential Religious Practices (ERP) *

Context (IE): During the Sabarimala reference hearing, the Supreme Court examined the interplay between individual and denominational religious rights under the Essential Religious Practices doctrine.

ERP Doctrine is a judicial innovation of the Supreme Court that determines which religious practices are protected under Articles 25 and 26 against state interference.
- Although the term “religious practice” appears in Article 25(2)(a), the prefix ‘essential’ is not there. The Constitution neither employs nor defines the word essential.
Evolved in the Shirur Mutt Case (1954), the Supreme Court held that ‘religion’ includes all rituals and practices integral to it.
- Secular, economic, commercial, or political activities associated with religion are not protected as essential practices can be regulated by the State.
Essentiality Test: A practice is deemed essential only if it is a binding duty mandated by foundational texts and its removal would fundamentally alter the religion’s basic character.
Applications: The Court has applied the doctrine to declare practices like triple talaq, cow sacrifice on Bakrid, and the public performance of the Tandava dance as non-essential.

Sri Adi Visheshwara Case (1997): Court distinguished between religious and secular functions of the Temple.
Acharya Jagadisharananda Avadhuta (2004): Supreme Court clarified that absence of a practice must fundamentally alter the religion for it to qualify as essential.
Shayara Bano case (2017): SC held that triple talaq would not form part of any essential religious practice as its absence would not change the fundamental nature of Islam.

{GS3 – IE} Uniform Guideline for Compiling GSVA

Context (PIB): Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released a standardised framework for compiling GSVA estimates, with the revised base year 2022-23.

Gross State Value Added (GSVA) measures the total value of goods and services produced within a state’s geographical boundaries. It is calculated as total output minus intermediate consumption.

Data Integration: States must integrate administrative records, sector-specific databases, and survey-based inputs to improve coverage and reliability of estimates.
Sectoral Modernisation: The framework refines estimation techniques to capture emerging sectors, particularly services and the unincorporated segment of the economy.
Macro-Consistency: Methodological consistency between National Accounts and Regional Accounts is required to ensure comparability with national aggregates.

{GS3 – IE} UNCTAD Report on Impact of Non-Tariff Measures

Context (DTE): UNCTAD published its latest Global Trade Update titled ‘Invisible Barriers: The Costs of Non-Tariff Measures’.

Non-tariff measures (NTMs) are policy measures other than ordinary customs tariffs that can affect international trade in terms of quantity, price, or both.
NTMs impose higher export costs than tariffs in 88% of countries. Least Developed Countries (LDCs) lose 10% of their exports to G20 markets due to complex NTM requirements.
- The agricultural sector is the most affected, followed by manufacturing and natural resources.
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) are the most common NTM, followed by Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and export-related measures.
Improving regulatory transparency could reduce NTM costs by nearly 20%. Failure to notify the WTO of regulations creates hidden costs equivalent to a 28% tariff.
Key Recommendations: Unified digital transparency framework, harmonisation of non-tariff standards, and technical assistance to developing nations.

UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), headquartered in Geneva, is the principal UN body dealing with trade, investment, and development issues.

{GS3 – S&T} India Risks Becoming a Tenant Of AI **

Context (IE): Experts warn that India risks becoming a tenant of AI, hosting foreign models on Indian soil rather than building its own AI capability.

Feature	India as an AI Tenant	India as an AI Producer
Control	Hosts foreign models on Indian soil.	Trains and owns indigenous models.
Role	Provides land, raw data, and power.	Builds sovereign compute and R&D labs.
Economy	Pays recurring “rent” (licensing fees).	Generates and exports proprietary IP.
Benchmarking	Dependence on Silicon Valley.	Strategic parity with TSMC or Samsung.

Risk of India Being AI Tenant

Training Deficit: Only 2% of the world’s AI training-data startups are based in India, compared to 40% in the US (Economic Survey 2025-26).
Stagnant R&D: Investment remains stalled below 1% of GDP for decades.
The Cost Barrier: Frontier models require hundreds of millions of dollars in compute power.

Why India Must Build Its Own AI Capability?

Cultural & Linguistic Nuance: Western models lack the depth to handle India’s 22 official languages and thousands of dialects accurately.
Strategic Autonomy: Indigenous models prevent foreign “kill switches” in critical sectors like Defense, Finance, and Nuclear Energy.
Economic Value: Capturing the high-value segment of the AI value chain could boost India’s annual growth rate by 1.3% by 2035.
Inclusive Leapfrogging: AI allows “last-mile” delivery of banking and healthcare without waiting for physical infrastructure to reach every village.
Preventing “Pax Silica” Dependence: Without local control over the physical substrate of AI, India risks “technological colonization” by foreign hardware monopolies.

Initiatives Undertaken

IndiaAI Mission (2024): Rs 10,372 crore mission to build sovereign compute (10,000+ GPUs), foster AI startups, and develop Indian datasets and foundation models.
National Supercomputing Mission (NSM): Aims to build supercomputing infrastructure across IITs and IISc to support AI research and high-performance computing.
BharatGen: India’s first multimodal LLM project focused on building AI models in Indian languages.
Centres of Excellence for AI (CoEs): Encourage research-driven innovation. Govt has set up 3 CoEs in key sectors such as Healthcare, Agriculture, and Sustainable Cities.
Bhashini: AI-powered platform that breaks language barriers by offering translation and speech tools in multiple Indian languages.

Read More > Artificial Intelligence

{Prelims – A&C} Kasab Zari Craft

Context (TH): The traditional Kasab Zari craft has gained prominence on the global stage.

Kasab, also known as Kasav, is a traditional metallic thread embroidery using gold or silver threads on luxurious fabrics. Originating in Persia, it flourished under Mughal patronage in the 16^th century.
Unique Feature: A hooked Aari needle couches metallic threads, and the madkan knotting technique interlocks them without fabric base.

Zardozi is a detailed 3D metal embroidery in which artisans work on a large wooden frame called an Adda or Karchob. Lucknow, Banaras and Bareilly Zardozi are major GI-tagged crafts from UP.

{Prelims – Envi} Sulphur Dioxide (SO₂)

Context (IE): According to an IIT Delhi study, reducing sulphur dioxide (SO₂) emissions from coal-fired power plants could prevent ~1.24 lakh deaths annually in India.

SO₂ is a toxic, colourless, pungent gas mainly produced by burning fossil fuels like coal and oil.
Sources: Burning fossil fuels, volcanic eruptions, vehicles and industrial smelting of metal ores.
It is a pollutant monitored under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
Cooling Effect: High-altitude SO₂ forms reflective aerosols that can lower Earth’s surface temperature (volcanic winter effect).
Impacts: Causes respiratory problems, cardiovascular diseases, acid rain, formation of secondary PM2.5 and damages crops, soil, and aquatic ecosystems.
Scrubbing Technology: Flue-gas desulphurisation systems in power plants remove SO₂ before it is released into the atmosphere.

{Prelims – Envi} Ayeyarwady Pit Viper

Context (IE): New snake species identified in central Myanmar.

It is a cryptic species with variable appearance. Some are dark green with blotches like the mangrove pit viper, while others are bright green and spotless like the redtail pit viper.
Habitat: Trees and shrubs of Ayeyarwady delta in Myanmar, between the Pathein and Yangon rivers.
Diet: It is an ambush predator that feeds on small vertebrates like frogs, lizards, and mammals.

Cryptic species are groups of organisms that are genetically distinct yet look similar to one another, leading to misidentification as a single species.

{Prelims – Initiatives} JANANI Platform

Context (PIB): Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched the JANANI (Journey of Antenatal, Natal and Neonatal Integrated Care) platform.

JANANI is a service-oriented digital platform designed to comprehensively monitor and maintain digital health records of women during their reproductive age.
It is an upgraded version of the existing RCH (Reproductive and Child Health) portal.
Coverage: Antenatal care, delivery preparedness, postnatal care, newborn care, home-based child care, and family planning.
Key Features: Digital mother and child health (MCH) cards; automated alerts for high-risk pregnancies, real-time dashboards for supervisory review; and integrated with U-WIN and POSHAN platforms etc.

{Prelims – S&T} DRDO CBRN Training Centre

Context (PIB): DRDO set up CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear) Field Training Centre in Delhi.

Developed under the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), it will train personnel from the MoD, MHA, NDMA, and other agencies to improve coordinated disaster response.
Facilities: The centre includes radiological & nuclear test beds, a heavy ion research facility, emergency medical response, and real-time field response units.

{Prelims – S&T} Shadow Fleet Ships

Context (IE): Bombay High Court ordered the release of 50 Indian sailors linked to shadow fleet practices.

Shadow fleet refers to vessels that use deceptive practices to transport sanctioned goods (especially oil).
Commonly used to bypass economic sanctions imposed on countries like Iran, Russia, and Venezuela.
Concealment Tactics:
- AIS Manipulation: Ships switch off the Automatic Identification System to avoid real-time tracking.
- GPS Spoofing: Broadcast false coordinates to mislead authorities about their actual location.
- Ship-to-Ship Transfers: Conduct cargo transfers in high seas to hide origin & mix sanctioned goods.
- Identity Masking: Frequently change ship names, flags, & ownership using shell companies.
Risks: Pose threats to maritime security, environmental safety (oil spills), and global trade transparency.

{Prelims – S&T} Tactical Advanced Range Augmentation (TARA)

Context (PIB): DRDO and IAF successfully conducted the maiden flight-trial of TARA weapon.

TARA is a modular range extension kit, a system that can be attached to an existing unguided warhead and transform it into a precision-guided weapon. Designed and developed by DRDO.
It is the 1^st indigenous glide weapon system that converts unguided warheads into precision-guided weapons.

Context (TH): Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) patients have appealed for the urgent inclusion of generic Risdiplam under National Policy for Rare Diseases (NPRD).

Risdiplam: It is an oral drug that slows or halts progression of SMA by targeting the underlying genetic mechanism.

SMA is a rare, genetic, progressive, and life-limiting neuromuscular disorder that results in loss of motor neurons and progressive muscle wasting.
Caused by mutation or deletion in the Survival Motor Neuron 1 (SMN1) gene, leading to deficient SMN protein production, which is crucial for the survival of motor neurons.
5 subtypes: 0, I, II, III, IV. Type I (Werdnig-Hoffmann disease) is the most common and severe form.
It leads to muscle weakness, respiratory failure, and loss of mobility. No cure available.

Context (TH): FDA allowed pancreatic cancer patients to receive daraxonrasib drug before formal approval.

Daraxonrasib is a novel oral therapy that targets common RAS mutations to treat pancreatic cancer.
RAS (Rat Sarcoma) is a family of genes that encode proteins regulating cell growth and division. Mutations in these genes keep growth signals active, causing uncontrolled cell proliferation.
Daraxonrasib is a multi-selective inhibitor blocking active RAS signalling in both mutant and non-mutant RAS proteins (KRAS, HRAS, and NRAS).

{Prelims – In News} Kamikaze Dolphins

Context (HT): Reports of Iran using “kamikaze dolphins” emerged during US–Iran tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.

It is a hypothetical idea of dolphins being used to carry explosives for suicide-style attacks on ships.
During the Cold War, the USSR and the US trained marine animals for mine detection and surveillance.

Kamikaze: A Japanese term used to describe suicide attacks carried out deliberately to destroy enemy targets, especially by pilots in World War II (e.g. Kamikaze Drone).

{Prelims – Misc} One Liners

Governance – Grievance Redressal Assessment and Index (GRAI) (PIB): Insurance Division of Department of Financial Services secured top rank in GRAI’s Group A category (departments with 500 or more grievances).
- Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) launched GRAI to evaluate and rank central ministries and departments on their effectiveness in handling public grievances. It uses data exclusively from CPGRAMS.