Daily Current Affairs (DCA) 03 October, 2026

Context
The Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas launched the GOBARdhan Central Sector Scheme with an outlay of ₹23,731 crore, to accelerate India’s Compressed Biogas (CBG) sector over 10 years — FY2026-27 to FY2035-36.

What It Is

• Objective: Promote domestic CBG production, reduce LNG imports and biomass burning, and convert agricultural waste and cattle dung into green energy and bio-fertilisers.
• Nodal Ministry:Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
• Capital Assistance: Up to ₹2 crore per TPD of installed CBG capacity for eligible greenfield plants.
• Credit Guarantee: Up to 85% of outstanding defaults, with an exposure cap of ₹20 crore, increased to ₹25 crore for women-led enterprises.
• Ecosystem Challenge Fund: Supports R&D, capacity building and district-level biomass mapping through the Unified GOBARdhan Portal.

Aim

• Boost domestic CBG production
• Reduce LNG imports and biomass burning
• Convert agricultural waste and cattle dung into green energy and bio-fertilisers

Important Facts for Exams

• GOBARdhan: Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan — initiative for converting organic waste into biogas, CBG and bio-fertilisers.
• CBG: Purified biogas with high methane content that can be used as a CNG substitute.
• FOM: Fermented Organic Manure, a useful by-product of CBG production.
• TPD: Tonnes Per Day, a measure of plant production capacity.
• SATAT: Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation, launched in 2018 to promote CBG production and its use as an alternative transport fuel.

Context
India’s first Female Farmer Worker Conference was held in New Delhi to recognise women’s contributions to agriculture and rural livelihoods — coinciding with the UN International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026.

What It Is

• A national-level convention for celebrating, networking and addressing structural challenges faced by women farmers, agricultural labourers and pastoralists
• Organised by the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS)

Aim

• Establish the formal social and legal identity of women as legitimate “farmers” (Kisan) rather than unpaid family helpers
• Facilitate access to institutional land rights and credit
• Promote sustainable agrarian models

Important Facts for Exams

• 2026 is the UN International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF) — proposed by India and adopted by the UNGA
• The core issue is land title. Without a patta in her name, a woman cannot access institutional credit, crop insurance, subsidies or compensation — regardless of how much farm work she does
• Joint patta — land title recorded jointly in the names of husband and wife
• Women constitute roughly one-third of the agricultural workforce and a far higher share of operations in some activities, but own only about 14 per cent of operational holdings
• Mahila Kisan Diwas is observed on 15 October, also the International Day of Rural Women
• MKSP — Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana, under DAY-NRLM
• Female LFPR: 41.7 per cent (2023-24) on usual status; agriculture absorbs the largest share
• India ranks 131st on the Global Gender Gap Index 2026

• MoHUA launched PRAGATI-50 under SBM-U 2.0 to develop 50 clean role-model cities across 24 States.
• It will use KPI-based monitoring and technology-enabled governance.
• A Swachh Bharat Test Bed & Innovation Centre will be established at Durgapur with CSIR-CMERI.
• A new cohort of sanitation and waste-management startups was also launched with IIT Kanpur.

• NCM 2.0 aims to strengthen conservation and sustainable management of India’s coastal and marine ecosystems.
• It has a total budget of ₹767 crore and will continue up to 2030–31.
• It covers 9 coastal States and 4 Union Territories.
• Focus areas include climate-resilient blue economy, coastal risk reduction, climate adaptation and capacity building.

• Zuppa and Tamil Nadu Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Corporation (TNUAVC) signed an MoU to establish indigenous drone training labs at Army Regimental Centres.
• The programme will train Agniveers and defence personnel in UAV operations.
• Zuppa plans to train and certify over 2,000 personnel in three years.
• Training will cover drone flying, simulation, maintenance, safety, mission planning and DGCA regulations.

• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs and IGNCA signed an MoU to preserve and promote India’s tribal cultural heritage.
• It covers tribal languages, traditions, art, folklore and freedom-struggle contributions.
• Activities include digitisation, documentation, research, publications, exhibitions and cultural festivals.
• Tribal Research Institutes will work with IGNCA on preservation and dissemination.

• The Ministry of Finance kept Small Savings Scheme (SSS) interest rates unchanged for Q3 FY27 (October–December 2026).
• Rates have now remained unchanged for 14 consecutive quarters.
• The last revision was made in Q4 FY24.
• SSS instruments are government-backed savings products administered mainly through Post Offices and designated banks.

• ICICI Lombard launched VIBE, a health insurance product aimed at Gen Z customers aged 18–35 years.
• It combines hospitalisation, outpatient care, mental-health support, fitness benefits and wellness rewards.
• It offers six variants, with coverage from ₹7 lakh to ₹1 crore.
• The product uses the company’s IL TakeCare digital ecosystem.

• Pramerica Life Insurance launched Poorna Rakshak, a non-linked, non-participating individual savings life insurance plan.
• It offers five variants based on different financial and income needs.
• Variants include Smart Scholars, Early Income, Income Booster, Smart Money Back and Smart Saver.
• The plan combines life protection with guaranteed benefits.

• Jio Financial Services and Allianz Europe invested a combined ₹640.10 crore in their 50:50 Jio Allianz General Insurance joint venture.
• Each partner invested ₹320.05 crore through a rights issue.
• The capital will support the expansion of general insurance operations in India.

Context
The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD) and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India launched CAG-BHASHINI Anuvaad — an AI-powered multilingual translation solution for official and audit-related documents.

What It Is

• An AI-enabled multilingual document translation solution
• Developed by BHASHINI specifically for the CAG
• To translate official documents and audit reports into Indian languages

Aim

• Integrate Language AI into CAG workflows
• Enabling faster and consistent multilingual translation
• While ensuring human oversight, security and data sovereignty

Important Facts for Exams

• CAG-BHASHINI Anuvaad — by the Digital India BHASHINI Division and the CAG
• BHASHINI supports 36 Indian text languages, 23 Indian voice languages, 35 international languages
• BHASHINI — Bhasha Interface for India, launched 2022 under the National Language Translation Mission; an initiative of MeitY
• It is built as Digital Public Infrastructure for language, with an open API ecosystem
• CAG — Article 148; appointed by the President; tenure six years or age 65
• The CAG audits accounts under Articles 149-151; reports go to the President or Governor, who lays them before Parliament or the State Legislature
• CAG reports are examined by the Public Accounts Committee, the Committee on Public Undertakings and the Estimates Committee
• Dr B. R. Ambedkar called the CAG the “most important officer under the Constitution”
• India has 22 scheduled languages in the Eighth Schedule; Hindi and English are the languages of the Union under Articles 343-351

• The Cabinet approved the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) for Delhi at an estimated cost of ₹1,789.52 crore.
• The project will cover 42 traffic corridors.
• It will be implemented in three phases over 24 months, followed by five years of operation and maintenance.
• The project aims to improve traffic management, urban mobility and transport infrastructure.

• The Cabinet approved Green Energy Corridor Phase-III (GEC-III) to strengthen intra-state transmission networks.
• It will facilitate the evacuation of up to 135 GW of renewable energy.
• The project supports India’s expansion of renewable-energy infrastructure.
• It was covered earlier as a major clean-energy transmission initiative.

• India Energy Week 2027 will be held in Kolkata from 28–31 January 2027.
• Theme: “Unlocking Innovation. Securing Energy. Shaping Tomorrow.”
• The event will focus on oil and gas, LNG, hydrogen, biofuels, petrochemicals, AI and digitalisation.
• It will be the first India Energy Week hosted in eastern India.

• The 2nd ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise (AIME-2026) was held at Subic Bay, Philippines.
• Indian Navy ships INS Sahyadri and INS Kulish participated.
• The exercise aims to improve interoperability, operational coordination and maritime cooperation.
• It has two phases: Harbour Phase and Sea Phase.

• The report found that around 74% of Indian entrepreneurs surveyed planned to relocate or secure overseas residency.
• Singapore was the most preferred destination, followed by France, the UK and the US.
• Around 99% were adopting or planning to adopt AI in business.
• Major AI-related concerns included data privacy, employee resistance and integration with legacy systems.

• RBI approved Anup Kumar Saha as the next MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank.
• He will take charge on 1 January 2027 for a three-year term.
• He will succeed Ashok Vaswani.

• Mahesh Muralidhar Pai became MD & CEO of South Indian Bank from 1 October 2026.
• His appointment has RBI approval and is for a three-year term.
• He succeeds P. R. Seshadri.

• The Central Government approved Lavanya R. Mundayur as Chairman-cum-Managing Director of New India Assurance Company Limited.
• She will serve until 31 May 2029, subject to the applicable terms of appointment.

• Morocco’s King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as Prime Minister.
• She became the first woman Prime Minister of Morocco.
• She belongs to the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM).
• Morocco follows a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral Parliament.

• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved BNP Paribas Cardif’s proposal to acquire a 26% stake in IndiaFirst Life Insurance.
• The stake is being acquired from Warburg Pincus.
• After the transaction, the shareholding is expected to be Bank of Baroda 65%, BNP Paribas Cardif 26% and Union Bank of India 9%.
• CCI is India’s statutory competition regulator under the Competition Act, 2002.

• Observed annually on 28 September to promote rabies prevention and elimination.
• 2026 theme: “Stronger Together.”
• The day was established in 2007 by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control.
• It commemorates the death anniversary of Louis Pasteur, developer of the first successful rabies vaccine.

• Observed on the fourth Sunday of September to promote river conservation and sustainable management.
• 2026: 27 September.
• The initiative was associated with Canadian river conservationist Mark Angelo.
• The first World Rivers Day was observed in 2005.

• Observed to raise awareness about cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and heart health.
• 2026 theme: “Don’t Miss a Beat.”
• The first World Heart Day was observed in 2000.
• The observance is associated with the World Heart Federation and WHO.

• Observed on 30 September to recognise the role of language professionals in international communication.
• 2026 theme: “Linguistic Diversity and Language Rights.”
• The UN officially recognised the day through UNGA Resolution A/RES/71/288 in 2017.
• The date coincides with the feast day of St. Jerome, regarded as the patron saint of translators.