Current Affairs – May 18, 2026

{GS1 – A&C} Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Complex *

Context (IE): Madhya Pradesh HC declared Bhojshala a Hindu temple based on ASI findings.

In 2024, the MP High Court ordered an ASI survey to determine the historical and architectural character of the disputed site.

About Bhojshala Complex

Bhojshala is a medieval ASI–protected monument located in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh.
The site is linked with Paramara King Raja Bhoj and historically functioned as a centre of Sanskrit learning.
- It was converted into a mosque in the 14th Century A.D by the Muslim rulers of Dhar.
Religious Claims: Hindus regard the complex as a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati (Vagdevi), while Muslims identify it as the Kamal Maula Mosque.
- Under a 2003 ASI arrangement, both communities were to permitted perform worship on separate days.
Architectural Features: The complex contains intricately carved stone pillars with floral, geometric, and mythological motifs. Structural remains indicate a mandapa-style hall, typical of Hindu temple architecture.
Inscriptions: Several inscriptions in Sanskrit and Pali have been discovered on pillars and walls, mentioning Paramara rulers such as Udayaditya, Naravarman, and Arjunavarma Deva. The site also references the Sanskrit drama Karpuramanjari by royal tutor Madana.

{GS1 – A&C} Anaimangalam Copper Plates

Context (WION): Netherlands formally returned the historic Chola-era Anaimangalam copper plates during Prime Minister’s official visit to The Hague.

Anaimangalam copper plates, also known as the Leiden Plates, are 11^th-century royal charters ordered by Rajaraja Chola I and later engraved during the reign of his son, Rajendra Chola I.
The plates record the land and revenue grant for Anaimangalam village (near Nagapattinam) to the Chulamanivarma-vihara Buddhist monastery.
- Chulamanivarma-vihara was built by King Sri Mara Vijayotunga Varman of the Srivijaya Kingdom (modern-day Indonesia).
Composition: The collection comprises two distinct sets: 21 large copper sheets and 3 smaller ones.
1. The larger sheets are bound by a bronze loop featuring the Chola dynastic emblem, a tiger, alongside symbols of defeated rivals: the Pandyas’ fish and the Cheras’ bow.
2. Smaller sheets belong to the later Chola ruler Kulottunga Chola I, who extended the revenue grant.
Languages: The inscriptions are in Tamil and Sanskrit. The Sanskrit portion records Chola genealogy and invocations, while Tamil forms the administrative record.
Acquisition: A Dutch missionary, Florentius Camper, acquired the plates around 1700 CE, when the Dutch East India Company controlled the Coromandel Coast.

Context (TH): India’s healthcare system is heavily skewed towards reactive treatments, with preventive health measures receiving only about 14% of funding.

Preventive healthcare comprises proactive medical measures, clinical screenings, and lifestyle modifications to prevent disease or detect physiological anomalies before symptoms manifest.
Adoption Gap: Only about 1 in 3 Indians undergo regular health check-ups. Nearly 75% avoid diagnostic testing until severe symptoms appear.

Strategic Significance of Preventive Healthcare in India

Economic Protection: Routine primary screenings detect physiological anomalies early to safeguard household savings against out-of-pocket expenditure that impoverishes 55 million Indians annually.
Epidemiological Control: Mass immunisation and screening protocols intercept high-risk metabolic conditions before clinical onset to prevent non-communicable disease, responsible for 65% of deaths.
Infrastructure Relief: Grassroots wellness protocols divert manageable clinical loads locally to decongest a tertiary government hospital network with only 0.79 beds per 1,000 citizens.
Spatial Equity: Pre-symptomatic screenings across decentralised health networks deliver immediate local diagnostics, eliminating the need to seek urban medical specialists.

Government Schemes for Preventive Healthcare

Primary Screening: Ayushman Arogya Mandirs conduct mass population-level screenings to identify silent non-communicable disease risks before they escalate into chronic conditions.
Disease Surveillance: Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) aggregates real-time grassroots epidemiological data to detect early warning signals and contain regional outbreaks.
Immunisation Coverage: U-WIN Portal digitises the maternal and child vaccination lifecycle to predict drop-out trends and secure the 90% full immunisation target.
Behavioural Modification: Eat Right India and Fit India institutionalise dietary and fitness standards to combat sedentary lifestyles and reduce mortality from non-communicable diseases.
Digital Integration: Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) unifies fragmented clinical records into single longitudinal health profiles to enable seamless nationwide health tracking.

Read More > India’s Primary Healthcare Sector

{GS3 – Agri} Jaggery Production in India *

Context (PIB): Jaggery exports have increased by 106.5% in value between 2015–16 and 2024–25.

Jaggery, commonly known as gur, is a traditional, unrefined, natural sweetener. Often called “medicinal sugar”. It is widely regarded as an indigenous Indian product.
A good-quality jaggery typically contains more than 70% sucrose, small amounts of glucose and fructose, and about 5% minerals, with low moisture content. It retains minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, iron, zinc, copper, and manganese that are lost in the intense refining for white sugar.

In India, sugarcane is processed into jaggery, khandsari, and sugar through distinct production methods. Jaggery is the most naturally processed of the three.

Key Facts About Jaggery Production in India

World’s Largest Jaggery Producer: India accounts for over 70% of global jaggery production.
- Uttar Pradesh contributed 48.5% of total production, followed by Maharashtra (24.1 %) and Karnataka (10.5 %) in 2024.
Livelihood: Jaggery sector supports around 2.5 million rural livelihoods.
Exports: USD 406.8 million (2024)
Major Export Destinations: Indonesia, the USA, the UAE, Nigeria, and Nepal.
GI Tagged Jaggery Varieties in India: Kolhapur jaggery (Maharashtra), Muzaffarnagar gur (Uttar Pradesh), Marayoor and Central Travancore jaggery (Keralam)

{GS3 – Infra} Dam Safety in India **

Context (PIB): Experts highlights the issue of dam rehabilitation, safety and long-term resilience in India.

Status of Dams in India

India stands 3^rd in terms of large dams worldwide, with 6628 specified dams and the gross water storage capacity of these dams is about 330 billion cubic metres.
Around 98.5% of these dams are owned by State Governments. Maharashtra has the highest number of specified dams, followed by Madhya Pradesh & Gujarat.
India’s dams play a critical role in irrigation, hydropower generation, flood moderation, drinking water supply and overall water security.

Safety Challenges and Initiatives Undertaken

Safety Challenges

Initiatives Undertaken

Ageing Infrastructure: Over 68% of India’s specified dams are more than 25 years old. India’s oldest, the Kallanai in Tamil Nadu, has functioned for ~2,000 years.
Siltation: With an average 19% storage loss already recorded, the operational lifespan of many dams is under threat.
Poor Monitoring: Many dams lack modern safety instrumentation such as piezometers, seismographs & automated gauges, making real-time early warning difficult.
Inadequate Emergency Action Plans: Without functional EAPs and downstream inundation maps, communities below dams remain highly vulnerable in the event of a failure.
Climate Change: Increasing frequency & intensity of extreme rainfall events places unprecedented hydrological stress on dams, often exceeding their designed flood discharge capacities.

Dam Safety Act, 2021: It provides a comprehensive framework for surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of specified dams across the country.
Dam Health and Rehabilitation Monitoring Application (DHARMA): It is a web-based platform and mobile application that serves as the digital backbone of India’s dam safety ecosystem.
Dam Rehabilitation & Improvement Project (DRIP): Focuses on rehabilitation and modernisation of dam structures; dam safety inspections and evaluations; development of EAPs & capacity building etc.
National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS): Responsible for formulating policies and recommending regulations to ensure uniform dam safety standards across the country.

{Prelims – Envi} Himalayan Brown Bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus)

Context (IE): A female Himalayan brown bear was photographed in the Rakchham Chitkul Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) for the first time in seven years.

The Himalayan brown bear is the largest land carnivore native to the northwestern and central Himalayan highlands. They are omnivorous and hibernate from late October or November to April or May.
Distribution: Fragmented across Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Ladakh, northern Pakistan, Nepal, and Tibet.
Ecological Role: Maintains Himalayan biodiversity by dispersing seeds across high-altitude ecosystems.
WPA: Sch I; CITES: Appendix I.

Chitkul WLS is in Sangla Valley, Himachal Pradesh, in a dry rain-shadow zone. Baspa River (tributary of Sutlej) flows through it. It has dense sub-alpine forests and supports snow leopards, Himalayan black bears, musk deer, and blue sheep.
The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is found in North America, Europe, and northern Asia. IUCN: Least Concern.

{Prelims – Governance} National Compliance Reduction & Deregulation Initiative

Context (DDN): Tripura becomes 1^st state in India to complete all deregulation priority areas under national Compliance Reduction and Deregulation initiative.

It is a nationwide reform programme aimed at reducing regulatory burdens in government procedures and improving administrative efficiency.
It is being led by the Cabinet Secretariat and focuses on simplifying regulations, digitising approvals, and reducing unnecessary procedural requirements across various sectors.

{Prelims – In News} Neanderthals

Context (IE): Researchers believe Neanderthals may have carried out a dental procedure in Chagyrskaya Cave in Siberia, Russia.

Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) were an extinct group of archaic humans closely related to modern humans. They lived roughly between 400,000 and 40,000 years ago during Middle & Late Pleistocene period.
They are named after the Neander Valley in Germany where major fossils were first discovered in 1856.
Physical Features: Strong muscular bodies, broad chests, large noses and thick bones adapted to cold climates.
Advanced Behaviour: Used stone tools, controlled fire, hunted large animals and possibly practiced symbolic behaviour and rituals.
Interaction with Humans: Modern humans (Homo sapiens) and Neanderthals interbred, and many people today carry small amounts of Neanderthal DNA.

{Prelims – Infra – Initiatives} Afsluitdijk Dam

Context (PIB): PM visited the iconic Afsluitdijk Dam to strengthen India–Netherlands cooperation in water management, climate resilience and sustainable infrastructure.

Afsluitdijk is a 32-km-long barrier dam and causeway in the Netherlands built for flood control, inland navigation, transport connectivity, freshwater storage and renewable energy generation.
The dam protects large low-lying parts of the Netherlands from flooding caused by the North Sea.
It converted the saline Zuiderzee inlet into the freshwater IJsselmeer lake, improving freshwater security.
India is studying Dutch expertise for the Kalpasar Project aimed at freshwater storage, flood control and climate resilience.

Kalpasar is a proposed mega water-management and freshwater-storage project in Gujarat to construct a massive dam across the Gulf of Khambhat.

{Prelims – IS – Misc} Triacetone Triperoxide *

Context (ET): National Investigation Agency has found that Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP) was used in the vehicle-borne IED involved in the 2025 Red Fort blast.

TATP, “Mother of Satan”, is a powerful and highly unstable organic peroxide explosive commonly used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
It is generally made using chemicals such as acetone, hydrogen peroxide and acid catalysts.
It is extremely sensitive to heat, friction, shock and pressure, making it highly dangerous to handle.
TATP contains very little nitrogen, making it difficult for conventional explosive detection systems to identify.

{Prelims – IR – Groupings} Common Criteria Development Board

Context (PIB): India, for the first time, assumed the Chairmanship of the Common Criteria Development Board (CCDB) for 2026–2028.

CCDB is the technical core of the Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement (CCRA). It manages the Common Criteria (CC) for product evaluation and the Common Methodology for IT Security Evaluation (CEM) for standardising testing protocols.
CCRA is an international treaty that enables the recognition of security certificates for IT products among member countries, removing the need for repeated testing.
Members: CCRA has 20 certificate-authorising nations and 18 certificate-consuming nations. India has been a certificate-authorising nation since 2013.
- The Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), serves as India’s Nodal agency.

{Prelims – S&T – BioTech} Dual-Targeting CAR T-Cell Therapy for Multiple Myeloma

Context (PIB): Technology Development Board is co-developing dual-targeting CAR T-cell therapy to treat Multiple Myeloma.

Multiple myeloma is a rare, incurable blood cancer of plasma cells that secretes monoclonal (M) protein, which accumulates and damages vital organs.
Dual-targeting CAR-T cell therapy aims to reduce the risk of relapse in multiple myeloma by engineering T cells to attack two distinct protein markers simultaneously:
1. B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA): Found abundantly on mature multiple myeloma (MM) cells.
2. Cluster of Differentiation 19 (CD19): Found on the myeloma stem cells that drive relapse.
It is designed to overcome antigen escape, where myeloma cells mutate, lose, or hide BCMA to evade detection by single-target immunotherapies.

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a ‘living drug’ immunotherapy that genetically engineers a patient’s own white blood cells to destroy cancer cells.

Context (TH): WHO has declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo a public health emergency of international concern.

The current strain of Ebola is caused by the Bundibugyo virus in Ituri province of DR Congo.

Ebola Disease

Ebola Virus Disease is a severe and often fatal viral disease affecting humans and non-human primates. It was first identified in 1976 near the Ebola River in present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Causative Agent: Caused by viruses that belong to the Orthoebolavirus genus of the filoviridae family. Six species of Orthoebolaviruses have been identified till date.
- 6 Species of Orthoebolaviruses: Bombali virus, Bundibugyo virus, Ebola virus/Zaire (Deadliest), Reston virus, Sudan virus, and Taï Forest virus.
Transmission: Ebola outbreaks usually begin through zoonotic spillover (animal-to-human transmission), followed by human-to-human transmission through direct contact with infected bodily fluids. Fruit bats are considered the natural reservoir hosts of the virus.
Symptoms: Fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and sore throat etc.
Treatment: No universally approved cure, but supportive care, hydration, and early treatment improve survival rates. Vaccines such as Ervebo, Zabdeno and Mvabea have been developed to control outbreaks.

{Prelims – Misc} One Liners

Envi – Deregulation of Kiwi Climate Law (DTE): New Zealand is amending the Climate Change Response Act 2002 to shield major corporations from private climate lawsuits, reshape Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) operations, and revise emission targets.
- Objective: To prioritise economic growth, attract overseas investment, reduce administrative costs, and minimise regulatory burdens on businesses.
Envi – Turtle Conservation (TH): India’s first satellite-tagged Ganges soft-shell turtle was released into the Brahmaputra River at Kaziranga NP and TR, Assam. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), under MoEFCC, led the effort, supported by the Assam Forest Department and funded by the National Geographic Society.
- Kaziranga hosts five of India’s eight soft-shell turtles. Located in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.