1 . Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026
Syllabus Mapping: GS III: Mineral Resources • Mining Sector • Critical Minerals • Infrastructure & Industrial Development • Resource Security
- The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act) is the principal framework for regulation of mines and development of minerals in India. The 2026 Amendment seeks to create a stable and predictable fiscal regime, encourage investment and strengthen domestic mineral production.
- Mineral-bearing lands: The Amendment expands the Union-controlled framework under Section 2 to include regulation of mineral-bearing lands, besides regulation of mines and development of minerals.
- New Section 9D – key provision: States are restricted from imposing any tax, cess or other levy on mineral rights or mineral-bearing lands, whether based on quantity/value of minerals, royalty or otherwise. Such levies can be imposed only subject to conditions/restrictions prescribed by the Central Government.
- Past levies: Any such levy that was not deposited or recovered before commencement of the Amendment is treated as invalid. However, amounts already deposited or recovered will not be refunded.
- Central Government’s role: Amendment to Section 13 empowers the Central Government to prescribe conditions and restrictions governing such State levies.
- State revenue: The Amendment does not eliminate States’ existing major revenue streams from mining such as royalty, auction premium, DMF contributions and GST share. The stated objective is to provide fiscal certainty rather than reduce States’ overall mining revenue.
- Minor minerals –The Amendment does not alter the regulatory and fiscal powers of States over minor minerals. These include minerals such as sand, gravel, clay, granite, marble, gypsum and laterite
2. SMART CANCER DRUG — RK-251
Syllabus Mapping: GS III: Science & Technology • Biotechnology • Health • New & Emerging Technologies
- RK-251 is a novel “smart”/prodrug-based anticancer candidate developed by IASST and IIT-Guwahati. Its basic idea is selective activation inside cancer cells, thereby reducing damage to healthy cells associated with conventional chemotherapy.
- Conventional chemotherapy often lacks complete selectivity and can damage rapidly dividing healthy cells, causing significant adverse effects. Targeted therapies therefore aim to improve the therapeutic index by differentiating tumour cells from normal tissues.
- Cancer cells generally exhibit elevated levels of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). RK-251 exploits this biochemical difference as an intracellular trigger. High ROS in cancer cell → RK-251 activation → release of NBDHEX → anticancer action
- NBDHEX is the active anticancer moiety released after activation. It acts on target proteins involved in cancer-cell survival and resistance to treatment, thereby promoting cancer-cell death.
- Target disease: In preclinical studies, RK-251 showed promising activity against aggressive Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) cells, while producing considerably less effect on healthy cells.
- Zebrafish model: Studies using Danio rerio embryos showed no obvious signs of toxicity. The fluorescence response in the presence of ROS also provided evidence of the intended ROS-responsive activation mechanism.
- RK-251 represents an approach based on the tumour microenvironment/biochemical characteristics of cancer cells, rather than simply delivering a cytotoxic drug throughout the body. Such stimulus-responsive drug activation can potentially improve selectivity and reduce systemic toxicity.
- The research involves IASST, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology (DST), and IIT-Guwahati, highlighting India’s growing capacity in medicinal chemistry, drug discovery and targeted cancer therapeutics.
- Research status: Preclinical. The results are promising but cannot yet establish safety or efficacy in humans. Further laboratory, animal and eventually clinical studies are required before any therapeutic use.
3. National Report on Deep-Sea
Syllabus Mapping: GS III: Blue Economy • Fisheries • Marine Resources • Biodiversity Conservation • Sustainable Development
- The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) released the National Report on Deep-Sea and Distant-Water Fishery Resources of the Indian EEZ, prepared by the Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (CMLRE).
- The report consolidates nearly four decades of oceanographic research and three decades of systematic surveys across India’s 37 million sq. km EEZ, based on 400+ oceanographic cruises since the early 1990s under the Marine Living Resources Programme (MLRP).
- FORV Sagar Sampada, India’s Fishery and Oceanographic Research Vessel, has been central to these surveys across the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Lakshadweep waters, Andaman Sea and Southern Ocean.
- Mesopelagic / Twilight Zone: Extends from 200–1,000 m depth and contains lanternfishes (myctophids), deep-sea shrimps and cephalopods. Their vertical migration contributes to the ocean’s biological carbon pump, transferring carbon from surface waters to the deep ocean.
- Deep-sea demersal resources: Beyond 200 m depth, the continental slope supports resources such as deep-sea shrimps, perches, scombroids, flatfishes and eels, with several resources currently underexploited.
- Distant-water resources: Include tunas, billfishes, sharks, oceanic squids and Antarctic krill.
- The report identifies ecologically important marine biodiversity and nursery areas, including Kollam Bank, Angria Bank, Mangalore Deep-Sea Slope, Terrace off Trivandrum, Lakshadweep and Andaman-Nicobar Islands.
- Modern technologies such as fisheries acoustics, environmental DNA (eDNA), autonomous observing platforms, satellite observations, AI and ecosystem modelling are being integrated with historical data for marine resource assessment and marine spatial planning.
- The report seeks to balance sustainable utilisation of marine fishery resources with biodiversity conservation, strengthening India’s Blue Economy and supporting SDG 14 – Life Below Water.
4. TDB-DST Supports Indigenous Agentic AI Technology
Syllabus Mapping: GS III: Science & Technology • Artificial Intelligence • Emerging Technologies • Indigenisation of Technology
- Technology Development Board (TDB) under the Department of Science & Technology (DST) has partnered with One2X Tech Pvt. Ltd. to support the commercialisation of “Fixit”, an indigenous Agentic AI
- Agentic AI differs from conventional AI by enabling systems to understand objectives, decide actions, interact with connected systems and execute multi-step tasks rather than merely generating information or assisting users.
- Fixit integrates:
- Multi-agent orchestration
- Contextual memory & AI reasoning
- Reinforcement learning
- Real-time decision-making
- Secure tool execution
- Guardrails, observability & human oversight
- The platform enables AI agents to retrieve context → decide → execute → observe outcomes → learn/retry/escalate, creating an autonomous workflow while retaining human oversight.
- Initial application: Revenue operations, including market intelligence, customer engagement, lead qualification/nurturing, follow-ups, appointment scheduling, sales handover and revenue attribution.
- Initial sectoral focus: Real estate, with potential applications across sectors requiring complex, multi-step workflow automation.
- “AI Workforce” concept: Specialised AI agents can undertake repetitive execution, monitoring, analysis and coordination, while humans focus on creativity, judgement, relationships, strategy and entrepreneurship.
- Supports India’s shift from AI adoption to indigenous AI development and commercialisation, strengthening AI self-reliance, startup innovation and sovereign AI capabilities.
5 . Global Digital Capacity Building Alliance (GDCBA)
Syllabus Mapping: GS II: Governance • E-Governance • Capacity Building • Institutional Reforms • International Cooperation
- GDCBA is an initiative of the Capacity Building Commission (CBC), Government of India, launched on 20 February 2026 at the India AI Impact Summit, New Delhi.
- It builds on Mission Karmayogi, India’s National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building, and seeks to take India’s experience of competency-based learning, digital infrastructure and whole-of-government capacity building to the global level.
- Capacity building is not limited to training individuals; it involves creating institutional, learning and digital ecosystems that enable public officials and institutions to continuously learn, adapt and perform.
- Four goals of GDCBA:
- Strengthen institutional capability of public-sector systems.
- Promote evidence-informed capacity-building
- Create a global community of practice for governance.
- Build a repository of implementation knowledge, case studies and practical guidance.
- Six-month progress:
- Engagement across 10 countries, including Brazil, Sri Lanka and Mauritius.
- 250+ public officials
- Partnerships with institutions including World Bank, UNICEF, ADBI, Commonwealth, Gates Foundation, NCGG, RIS and Nalanda University.
- Promotes adaptive, capable and ethical public institutions, while enabling countries to share governance practices and use technology and digital ecosystems for citizen-centric service delivery.
