Daily Current Affairs (DCA) 03 September, 2026

• 17th Session of UNCCD COP17 was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from 17–28 August 2026.
• Theme: “Restoring Land. Restoring Hope.”
• Coincided with the UN International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP 2026).
• India was represented by Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• Key initiatives launched:
  • International Drought Resilience Observatory (IDRO) Phase-II
  • Drought Resilience Index (DRI) – AI-powered drought monitoring and assessment tool.
  • Drought Resilience Investment Facility (DRIF) – aims to mobilise up to USD 400 million for drought resilience.
• Next COP: Egypt will host UNCCD COP18 in 2028 at Sharm El-Sheikh.

• IPPB celebrated its 9th Foundation Day on 1 September 2026.
• Launched:
  • DakPay Sound Box for merchants.
  • Digital Insurance Technology Platform.
  • Digital Mutual Fund Platform.
• As of 31 March 2026:
  • Customer base: 13.25 crore
  • Rural customers: 77%
  • Women customers: 49%
  • Customer deposits: ₹29,104 crore

• LIC launched two non-linked, non-participating insurance plans on 1 September 2026.
• LIC Bima Platinum – Plan 770
  • Savings + protection plan.
  • Minimum Basic Sum Assured: ₹3 lakh.
• LIC Jeevan Raksha – Plan 894
  • Pure-risk insurance plan.
  • Basic Sum Assured: ₹5–24 lakh.

• InsuranceDekho and RenewBuy merged to create an AI-enabled insurance distribution platform.
• Operates under the InsuranceDekho brand.
• CEO: Ankit Agrawal.
• Platform offers:
  • 750+ insurance products
  • 52 insurers
  • Motor, health, life, travel and commercial insurance.
• Premium book: ₹6,600+ crore.

• GIFT City IFSC, Gujarat, is expanding international banking activity.
• Key areas include:
  • External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs)
  • FCNR(B) swap mobilisations
  • International bond listings.
• Significance: Strengthens India’s position as an international financial and banking centre.

Context: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for the first time set out a detailed “overshoot, peak and decline” pathway — warning that a breach of the 1.5°C global warming limit will bring irreversible ecological losses that no adaptation could undo.

What the Pathway Is

• It projects a trajectory where the world overshoots the Paris Agreement’s central goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels
• Which the report says is now unavoidable
• The pathway seeks to hold peak temperatures after the overshoot as low as possible
• And then bring it back down below the limit by 2100

Key Figures to Remember

The Paris Agreement Context

• Adopted at COP21, Paris, 2015; entered into force 2016
• Goal: hold warming well below 2°C, and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C
• Operates through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), submitted every five years
• The global stocktake assesses collective progress every five years

Important Facts for Exams

• Report: “Limiting Overshoot”, by UNEP
• First detailed “overshoot, peak and decline” pathway from the UN
• 1.5°C breach expected “in the next few years”
• Full delivery of pledges → 1.8°C peak; current policies → about 2.6°C by 2100
• UNEP — headquartered at Nairobi, Kenya; established 1972 after the Stockholm Conference
• UNEP also publishes the annual Emissions Gap Report and Adaptation Gap Report
• UN Secretary-General: António Guterres
• Paris Agreement, 2015 — well below 2°C, pursuing 1.5°C; operates through NDCs
• Net-negative emissions are required to return below the limit after a peak
• India’s targets: net zero by 2070, 45 per cent emissions intensity reduction by 2030, 50 per cent non-fossil capacity by 2030

• Ministry of Education released the 13th and 14th editions of AISHE.
• Higher education institutions expanded significantly over a decade:
  • Universities: 760 → 1,289
  • Colleges: 38,498 → 48,246
  • Standalone institutions: 12,276 → 15,221
• Higher education enrolment:
  • 3.42 crore → 4.50 crore
  • Increase: 31.5%
• Female enrolment:
  • 1.57 crore → 2.24 crore
  • Increase: 42.2%
• Gender Parity Index (GPI): 1.08 in 2023–24.
• GPI remained above 1.0 for the seventh consecutive year.

• Department of Social Justice and Empowerment signed an MoU with Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission.
• Objective: Strengthen bonds among children, parents and grandparents.
• Pilot implementation in 200 schools.
• Components:
  • Co-learning games
  • School-based activities
  • Bilingual resource platform
  • Teacher certification.
• Complements AVYAY and Elderline initiatives.

• Observed from 1–7 September.
• Focus: Balanced diets, healthy eating and nutrition awareness.
• First observed in India in 1982.
• Led by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

• Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) upgraded India’s sovereign rating by one notch:
  • BBB+ → A−
• Country ceiling also upgraded to A.
• Reasons cited:
  • Sustained economic growth of around 7%
  • GST reforms
  • Digital Public Infrastructure
  • Stronger bank balance sheets
  • Improved financial-system soundness

• MoSPI released National Accounts Statistics (NAS) 2026.
• New national accounts series adopts 2022–23 as the base year.
• Contains 60 statistical statements.
• Covers:
  • GDP
  • National income
  • Consumption
  • Savings
  • Capital formation
  • Public-sector transactions
  • External transactions.
• New/updated indices include:
  • Producer Price Index (PPI)
  • Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
  • Banking Services Price Index (BkSPI)
• Base year: 2022–23.

• MoSPI clarified the methodology behind the negative manufacturing deflator in India’s GDP estimates.
• Q1 FY27 real GDP growth was 7.8% under the 2022–23 base-year series.
• Important for understanding the distinction between real GDP, nominal GDP and deflators.

• Indian Navy commissioned INS Nipun on 31 August 2026 at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai.
• It is the second Nistar-class Diving Support Vessel (DSV).
• Strengthens:
  • Deep-sea diving
  • Underwater intervention
  • Submarine rescue operations.
• Particularly significant for the Western Naval Command.
• Exam keywords: DSV, deep-sea diving, submarine rescue, underwater operations.

• Russia test-fired the RS-24 Yars mobile ICBM.
• Launch site: Plesetsk Cosmodrome.
• Missile travelled over 6,700 km.
• Features:
  • Solid-fuel
  • Three-stage
  • Nuclear-capable
  • MIRV capability
  • Road-mobile and silo-based deployment.

• Indian Air Force conducted a successful drop trial of Khagantak-243 on 2 September 2026.
• Indigenously designed long-range glide bomb.
• Released from a Sukhoi aircraft.
• Significance: Enhances India’s indigenous precision-strike capability.

• Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru established the Foundation for Quantum Computing Innovation (FQCI).
• It will function as a Quantum Computing Thematic Hub under the National Quantum Mission (NQM).
• Focus areas:
  • Photonic quantum systems
  • Superconducting circuits
  • Semiconductor quantum devices
  • Neutral atoms
  • Trapped ions.
• NQM outlay: ₹6,003.65 crore
• Period: 2023–24 to 2030–31.
• Target: Development of 50–1,000 qubit quantum computers.

• Türkiye became the 71st country to join the Artemis Accords.
• Artemis Accords were launched by NASA and the US Department of State in 2020.
• Aim: Promote safe, peaceful and sustainable space exploration.
• Türkiye became the 7th West Asian country to join.

• Indian Patent Office granted Patent No. 599900 to DRDO and the University of Hyderabad.
• Related to solid rocket fuel technology.
• Significance: Strengthens indigenous defence and propulsion research.

• China tested the GJ-21 stealth UAV.
• The Type 076 Sichuan amphibious assault ship entered its final sea-trial phase.
• Features of Sichuan:
  • Displacement: 40,000+ tonnes
  • Flight deck: around 250 m × 62 m
  • Equipped with EMALS.
• Significance: Integration of fixed-wing aircraft and unmanned combat systems in naval operations.

• India and Canada held annual Foreign Office Consultations on 2 September 2026 in New Delhi.
• Held at Hyderabad House.
• Focus: Bilateral relations and strengthening diplomatic engagement.

• Union MoS Pabitra Margherita visited Vietnam and Laos from 26–29 August 2026.
• Visit aimed at strengthening partnerships under India’s Act East Policy.
• Laos engagement coincided with the 70th anniversary of India–Laos diplomatic relations.

• Singapore Corporate Counsel Association (SCCA) and General Counsels’ Association of India (GCAI) signed an MoU.
• Focus:
  • Cross-border legal collaboration
  • Knowledge exchange
  • Legal technology
  • AI
  • Negotiation
  • Professional development.

• The 68th batch of Ramon Magsaysay Award laureates includes:
  • Tommy Koh
  • Runa Khan
  • Bo Kyi
• The award was established in 1957.
• Often called “Asia’s Nobel Prize.”
• Named after Ramon Magsaysay, former President of the Philippines.

• Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
• Career achievements:
  • 20 Grand Slam titles
  • 103 ATP titles
  • 310 weeks as World No. 1
  • 8 Wimbledon titles
  • Career Grand Slam.
• Retired from professional tennis in 2022.

• Four recipients were announced by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on 2 September 2026.
• The awards recognise outstanding achievements in adventure activities.

• Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international football at age 39.
• He represented Argentina for around two decades.
• Key career achievements:
  • 2022 FIFA World Cup
  • Copa América 2021
  • Copa América 2024
  • Finalissima 2022
• He remains associated with Inter Miami for club football.

• Held from 15–30 August 2026 in Belgium and the Netherlands.
• Men: Germany defeated Spain 1–0.
• Women: Argentina defeated Netherlands in a shootout.
• Germany successfully defended its men’s title.

• ICC named India as host of the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy 2027.
• Scheduled from 14–28 February 2027.

• India will host the Hyundai World Archery Para Series 2026 for the first time.
• Venue: Sabarmati Riverfront, Ahmedabad.
• Dates: 5–9 September 2026.

• Authored by former Karnataka High Court judge H. N. Nagamohan Das.
• Kannada and English editions released on 31 August 2026.
• Focus:
  • Judicial experiences
  • Constitutional awareness
  • Rule of law
  • Justice and governance.

• The Kakatiyas were a major medieval dynasty of the eastern Deccan.
• Particularly associated with present-day Telangana.
• Known for:
  • Temple architecture
  • Water management
  • Strong administration
  • Deccan cultural heritage.

• Vodafone Idea (Vi) appointed Shah Rukh Khan as brand ambassador.
• Introduced a refreshed “Vi” logo.
• Campaign: “Vi badal raha hai… tayaar rahiye.”
• Linked to the company’s Vi 2.0 strategy.

• Adani Energy Solutions Ltd. received an ESG score of 90 from S&P Global.
• Environmental score: 93
• Social score: 89
• Governance & Economic score: 84.
• Focus areas included climate strategy, product stewardship and human capital management.

• Suman Ray appointed Executive Director of RBI from 1 September 2026.
• Previously served as Regional Director, Maharashtra.
• Has over 30 years of RBI experience.
• Areas of experience:
  • Currency management
  • Financial inclusion
  • Payment systems
  • Consumer protection
  • HR.
• Will oversee DICGC and the Premises Department.