Current Affairs Quiz — May 4, 2026

Mission Drishti, launched by Bengaluru startup GalaxEye via SpaceX Falcon 9 on May 3, 2026, is the world’s first OptoSAR satellite — a platform that fuses Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Multispectral Imaging (MSI) on a single spacecraft. SAR enables all-weather, day-night imaging using microwave pulses; MSI provides colour spectral detail.
Combined, the satellite achieves 1.2–1.8 m resolution imaging through clouds and in darkness — capabilities impossible for either sensor alone. The satellite weighs ~190 kg and orbits at ~500 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit.
GalaxEye plans a constellation of ~10 satellites by 2030.

INS Mahendragiri (hull Y-12654) is a Nilgiri-class stealth frigate built under Project 17A — the Indian Navy’s follow-on frigate programme after Project 17 (Shivalik-class). Project 17A comprises 7 ships total: 4 built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai, and 3 by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.
INS Mahendragiri is MDL’s 4th (and final) P17A ship, making it the 6th P17A ship delivered overall. All P17A frigates are designed by the Warship Design Bureau (WDB) of the Indian Navy.
Key systems include BrahMos missiles, Barak-8 SAM, and advanced sonar suites.

Vietnam was designated a “Priority Foreign Country (PFC)” in the 2026 USTR Special 301 Report — the first time since 2013. PFC is the most serious designation under the Special 301 framework and can trigger a formal Section 301 investigation, potentially leading to US trade sanctions or tariff increases.
Vietnam was flagged for inadequate copyright protection, weak pharmaceutical IP enforcement, and large-scale piracy of US software, films, and music. India was retained on the less severe “Priority Watch List” — as it has been for 34 consecutive years.
China remained on the Priority Watch List alongside India, Chile, Indonesia, Russia, and Venezuela. The EU was newly added to the less severe Watch List.

Section 3(d) of India’s Patents Act 1970 (amended 2005) prohibits the grant of patents for new forms of known substances (salts, esters, polymorphs, etc.) unless they demonstrate significantly enhanced efficacy compared to the known substance. This prevents “evergreening” — the pharmaceutical industry practice of making minor modifications to an existing drug molecule just before patent expiry, obtaining a new patent, and extending market exclusivity.
The landmark Novartis v. Union of India case (Supreme Court, 2013) upheld Section 3(d), ruling that Gleevec (imatinib) did not meet the enhanced efficacy threshold. USTR considers Section 3(d) to improperly restrict patent protection; India defends it as essential for affordable generic medicines and public health.

The Santa Marta Climate Conference was held outside the UNFCCC framework — the primary multilateral climate treaty under which annual COP meetings occur. This was deliberate: the UNFCCC operates by consensus, meaning any single country (including major fossil fuel producers or exporters) can block or water down decisions.
COP28 (Dubai, 2023) was the first COP to include language on “transitioning away from fossil fuels” — but “phase-out” language was blocked by oil-producing states. By meeting outside UNFCCC, the Santa Marta coalition of 57 countries (April 24–29, 2026) can develop binding national roadmaps without requiring global consensus.
India, the US, and China — three of the world’s largest emitters and fossil fuel users — were absent from Santa Marta.

The six sectors covered by CBAM are: (1) Cement, (2) Iron and Steel, (3) Aluminium, (4) Fertilizers, (5) Electricity, and (6) Hydrogen. Pharmaceuticals are NOT included.
CBAM works by requiring EU importers to purchase “CBAM certificates” for the embedded carbon in their imports — at a price equivalent to what they would have paid under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). During the transitional phase (October 2023 – December 2025), only reporting of embedded carbon was required.
From January 1, 2026, actual certificate purchases are mandatory. India exports significant steel and aluminium to the EU, making CBAM a significant trade concern.
India is exploring an India Border Adjustment Mechanism (IBAM) to retain carbon revenues domestically.

The Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) was established under the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2022 — which amended the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 to empower the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) to set up India’s domestic carbon market. Under CCTS, 1 Indian Carbon Credit (ICC) = 1 tonne CO₂ equivalent.
In January 2026, India added 208 new entities (petroleum refineries, petrochemicals, secondary aluminium, textiles), expanding total coverage to 490 entities. The scheme uses a “Perform, Achieve, Trade (PAT)” model initially, with carbon credits tradable on exchanges designated by the Ministry of Power (BSE/NSE).
The scheme is regulated by BEE under the Ministry of Power, not the Ministry of Environment.

The 27th edition of “Women and Men in India 2025” (MoSPI) reveals that the female Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education is 30.2 — surpassing male GER of 28.9. This means proportionally more women are enrolled in higher education than men — a Gender Parity Index (GPI) above 1.0.
GER is calculated as total enrolment (regardless of age) divided by the total population in the relevant official age group, multiplied by 100. This reversal is a remarkable change from historical patterns where male enrolment consistently exceeded female.
Drivers include Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, scholarship schemes, hostels for girls, and changing social attitudes. The report also found: sex ratio improved to 917 (from 904), rural female LFPR at 45.9%, rural TFR at replacement level 2.1.

The Supreme Court bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan allowed a 15-year-old rape survivor to terminate a 30-week pregnancy and directed Parliament to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act to extend the gestational limit for rape survivors. The current MTP Act (as amended in 2021) allows termination up to 20 weeks on the opinion of one registered medical practitioner, and up to 24 weeks for “vulnerable women” (rape survivors, minors, differently-abled) on the opinion of two practitioners.
Beyond 24 weeks, termination requires approval of a State Medical Board. The Court held that reproductive autonomy is a fundamental right under Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) and that the woman’s health and welfare must be the primary consideration.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) was established on May 1, 1956 — completing 70 years in 2026. It functions under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.
ED enforces three primary legislations: (1) PMLA 2002 (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) — for attachment, adjudication, and prosecution in money laundering cases; (2) FEMA 1999 (Foreign Exchange Management Act) — for foreign exchange violations, replacing the older FERA 1973; and (3) Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA) 2018 — to confiscate assets of economic offenders who flee Indian jurisdiction (e.g., Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi). ED operates 10 Zonal Offices and 11 Sub-Zonal Offices across India, headquartered in New Delhi.

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT) concept is explicitly modelled after the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) — using the same framework structure of: (1) non-proliferation (no new fossil fuel extraction), (2) phase-out (reduce existing production), and (3) transition support (just transition, like NPT’s disarmament + peaceful use pillars). The NPT (1968, entered into force 1970) distinguishes nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states.
Similarly, FFNPT advocates distinguish high-historical-emitters (like G7 nations) who should phase out faster, from developing nations who need transition support. The FFNPT was initially championed by Timor-Leste, Vanuatu, and Tuvalu, and has been supported by many SIDS and academics.
It has not been adopted as a formal UN treaty.

The landmark case upholding Section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act was Novartis AG v. Union of India (2013) — decided by a 2-judge bench of the Supreme Court (Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai). Novartis sought a patent for imatinib mesylate (brand name Gleevec/Glivec) — a beta crystalline form of imatinib, a cancer drug.
The Supreme Court rejected the patent, holding that the beta crystalline form did not demonstrate “enhanced efficacy” over the known imatinib free base — as required by Section 3(d). The ruling was globally significant: it validated India’s anti-evergreening provision and affirmed that minor chemical modifications cannot secure new patents.
Bayer v. Natco (2014) is a separate case on compulsory licensing — the Controller of Patents granted India’s first compulsory licence to Natco Pharma for Bayer’s Nexavar (sorafenib tosylate).

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) operates as a payments bank — a special category of bank introduced by the RBI in 2015 based on the Nachiket Mor Committee recommendations. Payments banks can: accept deposits (up to Rs 2 lakh per customer), offer payment and remittance services, issue debit cards, and provide internet banking.
Payments banks cannot: issue credit (no loans, no credit cards), accept NRI deposits, or issue credit cards. This distinguishes IPPB from commercial banks (like SBI) and Small Finance Banks (which can lend).
IPPB leverages India Post’s extensive network of 1.65 lakh post offices and ~3 lakh postmen as banking correspondents — reaching rural areas where traditional bank branches are absent. The recently launched SHG account has a maximum balance of Rs 2 lakh — consistent with the payments bank deposit cap.

A TFR (Total Fertility Rate) of 2.1 is the “replacement level fertility” — the rate at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next (accounting for child mortality and sex ratio at birth). India’s rural TFR reaching 2.1 (as reported in Women and Men in India 2025) means rural India is at the threshold of population stabilisation.
The urban TFR of 1.5 is well below replacement — meaning urban India’s population would decline without migration from rural areas or abroad. India achieved the national replacement-level TFR in 2021 (TFR = 2.0 per NFHS-5).
For UPSC context: India’s population crossed 1.4 billion in 2023; India surpassed China as most populous nation (UN estimate, 2023). The demographic dividend window (larger working-age population) is expected until around 2040–2045 for India.

Phase II of the e-Courts Mission Mode Project (2015–2023) introduced the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) — providing real-time case pendency data across 18,500+ courts — and deployed video conferencing infrastructure in district courts and prisons. Phase I (2007–2015) focused on computer hardware installation and basic LAN connectivity in courts.
Phase III (2023–2027, ongoing) aims for AI-assisted legal research, nationwide e-filing, paperless courts (as achieved in Sikkim), and extension to tribunals. The project is implemented jointly by the Ministry of Law and Justice (Department of Justice) and the Supreme Court of India, with technical support from the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
The e-Committee of the Supreme Court — chaired by a sitting SC judge — is the key steering body.