1 . CBDC-based Direct Benefit Transfer under PMGKAY
Syllabus Mapping: GS II: • Digital Governance • Welfare Schemes • Transparency + GS III: Digital Economy • FinTech
- The Government will launch CBDC-based Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) in Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli on 14 August 2026.
- Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli will become the first Union Territories to operationalise food-subsidy transfers to all eligible PMGKAY beneficiaries through programmable CBDC (Digital Rupee
- ) tokens.
- The subsidy will be transferred directly into beneficiaries’ CBDC wallets, replacing conventional bank-account transfers under this model.
- Beneficiaries can use the subsidy to purchase foodgrains from empanelled merchants through a secure, traceable and real-time digital payment mechanism.
- The initiative builds on earlier CBDC-based DBT pilots in Puducherry and Gujarat.
- CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) is the digital form of sovereign currency issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). India’s CBDC is known as the Digital Rupee (e₹).
- Unlike privately issued cryptocurrencies, CBDC is sovereign money issued by the central bank and is a liability of the RBI.
- Programmability enables the use of CBDC for specified purposes/conditions, making it potentially useful for targeted welfare transfers.
- The model aims to improve end-to-end traceability, reduce leakages and diversion, minimise cash handling, enable real-time monitoring and strengthen accountability in subsidy delivery.
2. PRAHAAR – National Counter Terrorism Policy & Strategy
Syllabus Mapping: GS III: Internal Security • Terrorism • Counter-Terrorism • Intelligence & Security Agencies • Cyber Security
- PRAHAAR was unveiled by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on 23 February 2026 as India’s first comprehensive National Counter Terrorism Policy & Strategy.
- It provides a national framework for prevention of and response to terrorism and radicalisation through a “Whole of Government” and “Whole of Society”
- The strategy is built around 7 pillars:
- Prevention of terrorist attacks
- Swift and proportionate response to threats
- Aggregation of internal capacities through a Whole-of-Government approach
- Human rights and Rule of Law in counter-terrorism processes
- Attenuating conditions conducive to terrorism, including radicalisation
- International cooperation against terrorism
- Recovery and resilience through a Whole-of-Society approach
- PRAHAAR adopts an intelligence-led and proactive framework, moving beyond a purely reactive approach to counter-terrorism.
- It emphasises real-time intelligence sharing through the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) and coordinated action between State Police/agencies and specialised Central Forces such as the National Security Guard (NSG).
- It also focuses on critical infrastructure protection, technology-enabled counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation through community participation.
3. Elephant Conservation in India
Syllabus Mapping: GS III: Environment & Ecology • Wildlife Conservation • Human-Wildlife Conflict
- World Elephant Day is observed annually on 12 August to highlight elephant conservation and human-elephant coexistence.
- India is home to nearly 60% of the world’s wild Asian elephant population. The SAIEE 2021–25 estimates India’s wild elephant population at 22,446.
- Elephants are a keystone species and play an important role in seed dispersal, nutrient cycling, forest regeneration and maintaining ecological connectivity.
- Behaviour: Elephants are highly social and migratory; females generally live in family herds, while adult males are often more solitary. Their large home ranges and seasonal movements make habitat connectivity and corridors
- India currently has 33 Elephant Reserves covering about 80,777 sq. km across 14 major elephant-range states.
- West Bengal has the highest number of identified corridors (26). The network also includes 19 inter-state and 6 transboundary corridors connecting India and Nepal.
- SAIEE 2021–25 used India’s first DNA-based synchronised elephant population estimation, combining DNA profiling, block counts and line-transect surveys to improve population assessment.
- Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) for Elephant Reserves was launched in 2023, initially tested in Shivalik, Kaziranga–Karbi Anglong, Mayurbhanj and Nilgiri
- Railway safety: Joint surveys identified 127 sensitive railway stretches covering 3,452.4 km. Technologies such as Distributed Acoustic Sensing, seismic sensors and thermal cameras are being deployed to detect elephant movement.
- Gajah Suchana is a mobile application containing a national genetic database of registered captive elephants, including DNA profiles, morphological characteristics and ownership details.
- The Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules, 2024 regulate the transfer and transport of captive elephants; an expert/high-powered mechanism examines inter-State transfers.
- Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) is the species found in India; India hosts the largest remaining population of Asian elephants.
- Conservation Status: Endangered – IUCN Red List + CITES: Appendix I + Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I.
- Project Elephant was launched in 1992 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the conservation of elephants and their habitats.
4. AI-based Detection of Cancer Stem-like Cells
Syllabus Mapping: GS III: Science & Technology • Biotechnology • AI • Health & Emerging Technologies
- Researchers from N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology (DST), in collaboration with Ashoka University, have developed ACSCeND — AI-based Cancer Stem-like Cell Profiler and Neoplasm Deconvoluter.
- Cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) are a small population of tumour cells believed to contribute to tumour recurrence, metastasis and treatment resistance.
- A major challenge is that these cells are rare and can change their cellular identity, making conventional detection difficult.
- ACSCeND uses deep learning + single-cell sequencing-derived knowledge to identify hidden cancer stem-like cell states from conventional bulk tumour RNA-sequencing data.
- Unlike approaches that assign a single “stemness” score, ACSCeND identifies three developmental states: Pluripotent-like + Multipotent-like + Unipotent-like
- Tumours enriched with highly potent pluripotent-like cancer stem cells were associated with poorer survival, higher recurrence and reduced response to modern immunotherapies.
- ACSCeND also identified molecular programmes associated with survival, adaptation and immune evasion of these cells, potentially helping identify drug targets and patients at higher risk of relapse.
- The team’s earlier OncoMark AI platform was developed to identify biological hallmarks associated with cancer progression from large genomic datasets.
5. Atmanirbhar Panchayat Programme
Syllabus Mapping: GS II: Panchayati Raj • Local Governance • Decentralisation • Fiscal Empowerment of Rural Local Bodies
- Atmanirbhar Panchayat Programme is a four-year initiative aimed at making Panchayats financially self-reliant by increasing their Own Source Revenue (OSR) through projects based on unexplored local assets.
- Projects are selected through a State- and National-level open challenge system: 50 projects in the first year & 100 projects annually in the following three years
- Eligibility: Elected Gram and Block Panchayats with at least 3 years of tenure and minimum OSR of: ₹50 lakh – Gram Panchayats & ₹1 crore – Block Panchayats
- Relaxed norms apply to North-Eastern and Hill States.
- The programme provides technical assistance rather than direct financial assistance, helping Panchayats convert initial ideas into sustainable, bankable projects.
- Assistance includes preparation of project documents, RFPs and model contracts, identification of funding sources and support for financial closure.
- Gram Sabha approval is mandatory, ensuring participatory planning and local accountability.
- The entire submission and selection process is conducted through a dedicated digital portal.
- States may include financial institutions such as NABARD and HUDCO in State-level evaluation committees for technical and financial inputs.
