Current Affairs Quiz 11 April 2026

The Satyashodhak Samaj challenged both the priestly class’s monopoly on religious rituals and the caste hierarchy’s lock on education and economic mobility. Phule promoted marriages without Brahmin priests, a radical economic and social act.

The organisation spread across Maharashtra and influenced later Dalit and OBC movements. Phule’s key work Gulamgiri (1873, same year) directly compared caste oppression to American slavery, dedicating the book to freed Black Americans.

He was conferred the title ‘Mahatma’ in 1888 by Vithalrao Krishnaji Vandekar. B.R. Ambedkar acknowledged Phule as one of his three principal intellectual mentors (alongside Kabir and the Buddha).

Constitutional provisions most traceable to Phule’s legacy include Article 17 (abolition of untouchability) and Article 46 (promotion of educational interests of SCs and STs).

India added a record 55.3 GW in FY 2025–26 and renewables now meet 51.5% of peak electricity demand. India’s 2030 NDC target is 500 GW non-fossil capacity and 50% electricity from non-fossil sources.

The key policy instruments driving this growth include the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO), ISTS waiver for inter-state renewable power transmission, PM-KUSUM for agricultural solar, and PLI for solar PV manufacturing (to reduce China import dependence for modules). India’s net-zero commitment is 2070 (announced COP26, Glasgow).

The Green Energy Corridor addresses transmission constraints between renewable-rich western states (Rajasthan, Gujarat) and consumption centres in the north and east.

The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhisthan (VBSA) Bill, 2025 is the legislative implementation of the NEP 2020 recommendation to create a single Higher Education Commission of India (HECI). Key features: separates funding from regulation (addressing UGC’s structural conflict of interest), creates three operational councils (Regulatory, Accreditation, Standards), and sets penalties of ₹10 lakh to ₹2 crore for violations.

UGC was established under the UGC Act, 1956; AICTE became statutory in 1987; NCTE under NCTE Act, 1993. Education is a Concurrent List subject (List III, Seventh Schedule), both Centre and States can legislate.

Critics raise federalism concerns: Centre-appointed regulatory body may not adequately represent regional educational diversity.

Key data from the report 'From Borrowers to Builders: Women and India’s Evolving Credit Market': credit-active women doubled from 19% (2017) to 36% (2025); 16 crore credit-active women; business loan CAGR of 59% in Bihar and 42% in Uttar Pradesh. The growth is largely driven by PMJDY (banking access), MUDRA Yojana (₹32 lakh crore disbursed, ~68% women borrowers), and the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme.

Despite the progress, only 4.3% of women-owned enterprises access complex commercial products like cash credit or overdraft, indicating that formal credit access remains shallow for business-scale needs. The account aggregator framework and digital credit underwriting have improved same-day loan approval from 34% (2022) to 45% (2025).

NALCO = National Aluminium Company Limited; HCL = Hindustan Copper Limited; MECL = Mineral Exploration and Consultancy Limited. KABIL’s mandate is to identify, acquire, develop, and process strategic mineral assets overseas, targeting lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, and rare earth elements.

Operations span Argentina’s Catamarca province (Lithium Triangle, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile hold ~60% of global lithium), Australia (hard rock lithium spodumene), and the DRC (~70% of world cobalt). India’s 2023 Critical Minerals List identifies 30 strategic minerals.

The 2023 MMDR Amendment opened lithium blocks for private sector auction. KABIL is modelled on China’s overseas mineral acquisition strategy, which began in the early 2000s, India is approximately 15–20 years behind that curve.

FIU-IND was established in 2004 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. It receives Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and Cash Transaction Reports (CTRs) from banks and financial institutions.

I4C (Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre) is an attached office of the Ministry of Home Affairs, it runs the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in), the National Cyber Forensic Laboratory, and maintains a Suspect Registry. The April 2026 FIU-IND–I4C MoU enables real-time intelligence sharing between Finance Ministry and Home Ministry to combat cyber-enabled financial fraud.

This is an example of ‘Whole of Government’ approach where two ministries coordinate on overlapping threats.

The Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory, BIOT) was excised from Mauritius in 1965, three years before Mauritius’s independence in 1968, to create space for the US-UK military base at Diego Garcia. The approximately 2,000 Chagossian people were forcibly displaced between 1968 and 1973.

The UK High Court in 2000 found their removal unlawful, but the government issued Orders in Council in 2004 blocking their return. Diego Garcia is a critical strategic asset: it was used for Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq operations.

The UK-Mauritius deal agreed in 2024 would have transferred sovereignty to Mauritius with a 99-year Diego Garcia base lease, but this was suspended in 2026 under US (Trump administration) pressure. China’s potential influence over Mauritius was cited as a security concern.

Jyotirao Phule’s life spanned 1827–1890. He opened India’s first girls' school on January 1, 1848 at Bhide Wada, Pune, an act that invited social ostracism and physical threats.

Savitribai faced stone-throwing on her way to school and carried extra saris. The Satyashodhak Samaj (September 24, 1873) had a broader institutional mandate: advocating for widow remarriage, opposing priestly monopoly on rituals, running the first Satyashodhak-style marriages without Brahmin priests, and founding orphanages.

Phule’s Gulamgiri (1873) was dedicated to the freed Black Americans of the US Civil War, drawing an explicit moral parallel between American slavery and India’s caste system. B.R. Ambedkar acknowledged Phule as one of his three principal intellectual mentors.

India surpassed Brazil to reach the 3rd position. The key 2030 NDC targets are: 500 GW non-fossil capacity and 50% electricity from non-fossil sources.

India’s long-term net-zero commitment is 2070. The Green Energy Corridor connects RE-rich states (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu) to consumption centres.

Major challenges: grid storage (battery/pumped hydro needed for intermittency), transmission constraints, land acquisition for solar parks, and reducing China import dependence for solar modules. PLI scheme for solar PV and production-linked incentives aim to make India a solar manufacturing hub by 2030.

Anand Math by Bankim Chandra contains the national song 'Vande Mataram', set during the fictional Sannyasi Revolt of the 1770s. Gita Rahasya was Tilak’s commentary on the Bhagavad Gita arguing for 'karmayoga' (action) as the path, written during his 6-year imprisonment in Mandalay (1908–14).

The Discovery of India by Nehru was written during his 1942–46 imprisonment at Ahmadnagar Fort, it traces India’s civilisational history. Gulamgiri was Phule’s anti-caste manifesto comparing caste oppression to slavery.

All four authors were imprisoned by British authorities at some point, a connecting thread across these texts.

FIU-IND (Financial Intelligence Unit-India) was established in 2004 under PMLA, 2002, it processes Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) from banks. I4C (Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre) runs cybercrime.gov.in and is under MHA.

KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Limited) is a JV of NALCO (40%) + HCL (30%) + MECL (30%), incorporated August 8, 2019, under Ministry of Mines. NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) was established under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, it functions independently but is administratively linked to the Ministry of Law and Justice.

NHRC issued a notice to MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and IT) regarding app safety in April 2026.

India’s Geological Survey identified lithium reserves of ~5.9 million tonnes in Salal-Haimana, Reasi district, Jammu & Kashmir in February 2023 — a significant discovery but exploration and commercial production are still years away. KABIL was incorporated in 2019, before this discovery.

Even with the J&K reserves, India would still need overseas supply for cobalt, nickel, and graphite. The Critical Minerals Mission (2024) and the 2023 MMDR Amendment (opening lithium blocks for private sector auction) work alongside KABIL for a dual domestic-overseas strategy.

China’s dominance in DRC cobalt mines and Lithium Triangle assets (via SOEs) is the strategic competitive context for KABIL’s work.

GeM (Government e-Marketplace) was launched in 2016 under Ministry of Commerce and Industry as India’s online procurement platform for government departments. Womaniya was added in 2019.

Key data: 2.1 lakh women MSEs registered; ₹28,000 crore in contracts; 13.7 lakh orders in FY26; 27.6% YoY growth; 5.6% share of total GeM orders (target was 3%). GeM’s total procurement exceeded ₹4 lakh crore in FY26.

GeM features include fully digital processes, direct market access without middlemen, and a GeM Sahay programme for working capital financing to sellers. Womaniya benefits from GeM’s mandatory 25% MSE procurement clause in government purchasing, DPIIT’s Public Procurement Policy for MSEs (2012) mandates central government entities to procure 25% from MSMEs, of which 3% is reserved for SC/ST enterprises.

The Chagos Archipelago was excised from Mauritius in 1965 (3 years before its independence in 1968) through the Lancaster House Agreement. The Chagossians, approximately 2,000 people, were deported to Mauritius and the Seychelles between 1968 and 1973.

The UK High Court (2000) found their removal unlawful. The UN General Assembly endorsed the ICJ opinion with 116 votes in favour (2019).

The UK-Mauritius deal agreed in 2024 provided for sovereignty transfer + 99-year Diego Garcia lease. This deal was suspended in 2026 under US pressure from the Trump administration, citing concerns about Mauritius’s potential susceptibility to Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean Region.