Daily Current Affairs Analysis | 14th August, 2026 | Shankar IAS Academy | UPSC | Mains 2026

Hello everyone, welcome to the daily current affair analysis brought by Shangaras Academy 14th August 2026. Before getting into the discussion, please make sure that you subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you haven't, please do subscribe and also hit the bell icon to receive ontime updates from the academy. And coming to the topics for today's discussion, the first topic is Babirusa and African swine flu. So Barbuza, it is a deer pit found in the Indonesian archipelago and recently this is facing the the threat from the African swine flu. And the second article is about Kasagasan's cloud seeding. So the southern region of the Kazakhstan is facing you know water stress and limited rainfall. So to overcome this issue you know to bring a short-term relief now the nation is going for crowd steing with the support of United Arab Emirates and the next is retail inflation 19 month 19 month high yes so as for the recent CPI that is consumer price index we can see that the the the retail inflation in India rose to 4.45%age 45 percentage which is highest in the last 19 months and the fourth article it is a mains article it is about the food security act reset. So we know that the draft of the the national food security amendment bill is currently available and uh the you know in this background we will be discussing what are the proposed changes and what are the concerns associated with the proposed changes and what are the new developments that government is planning to bring through this amendment and finally we'll be discussing the prelims focus for the day. say false that let's begin the discussion with the first article. Coming to the first article as African swine fever threatens to push Indonesian barusas towards extinction. UK's Chester just su welcomes critically important plet article is taken from the Hindu. So this is the you know deer pit or barbusa they are found in the Indonesian archipelago and we can see that in Indonesia they are facing this this population is facing the problem of African swine fever and now recently the UK's just as they adopted one of the big so in this background let us understand more about this article and this article is taken from the down to earth magazine so talking about Barbie so uh the scientific name is baby rosa And uh it is known as deer pig. Common name is deerpic because it has certain features of pig and deer. Okay. And this is endemic to the Indonesian island group such as you know solve to Sula and Buru. Okay. And each of these islands in each of these islands we can find a different spaces of this Babirusa. And talking about the key features so we can see that the male will have upper canine. That means they have a curved tusk and this curved tusk is grown through the snout. Okay, this is gone grown from the snout and it will slightly you know grow backward and it can reach even 40 cm. And talking about the next feature, it is the deer like body. So they have a long slender leg and that makes them different from the uh you know the the other the pig population and they have a snout uh you know weak snout. So comparing with the other pig this population have a very weak snout and that also you know a distinguishing factor and they mostly eat fruits, leaves, nuts and other plant matter and they are also very good swimmers because they can swim from one island to another island and talking about different species. So we have four spaces and one spaces is already extend and now we have three living spaces of this bario rosa. So the first is north siloy barb rosa scientifically known as baby rosa celances. So it is know the major features of this species is it has gray color. They do not have much hair and also they have wrinkled skin and they have a long sweeping uh upper tusk emerging through the snout. So in this picture you can see the snout here. So in this picture you can see the snout here. So they have a snout emerging through the snout. Sorry, they have a sorry they have a tusk emerging through the stout and you know they also have a wringled body with a limited hair. These are the major features that distinguishes this north barusa from other species and they are mainly found in the solvesi island and in the nearby islands and they are the most common species of this babioa population you know found in the sou. And the next spacious is the buru babid rusa or babi rosa baby rosa. So we can see that you know comparing with the previous one you can see the hair body hair right. This makes this spacious different from the other species and they are the smallest of the living babinosa species and they have a half of hair at the tail tip also. They have a hair in the body and also in the tail. And they are found in the Buru, Mangal and Talyabu islands of the Indonesia. And the next is another living species that is toian Babirusa or Babio Rosa toensis. So they are the largest species living species of Babirusa. And comparing with the previous two we can see the dark uh you know uh color and the first one is gray and now we can see uh this species is dark and they also have slightly hair coating in their body and they have short thinner upper tusk that curve inbent. So we can see the you know uh the the the the snout. So we can see the we can see the the tusk growing from the snout. So this is slightly you know growing inward. But in the previous case it was growing backward but this will slightly grow inward. So that makes this population or the spaces different from the other two and this is endomic to the toian islands of the uh Indonesia. So these are the three living spaces and now we also have you know we sorry we we had a species that extend that got extin because of extreme hunting and other human practices. So we can say that that population or that species is known as bola baruza. So scientific name is bario rosa bola buttonis. So this is the extin species of bario rosa and we have received the skull and you know teeth of this bario roa from the western the southwestern part of silves island and they got extinct because of many human activities especially because of the hunting pressure. Okay. So these are the four species of barbirusa and talking about conservation. So we have three living species. So the first is northwest bara. So the conservation status is vulnerable in the IUC and red list and the common concerns are habitat loss and hunting. And the second is toian barusa. So the IC status is endangered. So this population is threatened because the you know this toian barusa is endemic to the toian island. So they have only limited you know area to live and any degradation in this limited ecosystem will lead to the extinction or decline in the population of the species. So that is why it is considered as endangered. And the next is buru or hairy babir rusa. So that is also considered as vulnerable. And the major threat of this babusa includes habitat loss and hunting practices or hunting pressure. And now we are going to see about the African swine fever. So we can see that now this population this babusa population in Indonesia is facing the threat of African swine fever. So African swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease caused by you know a DNA virus called uh DNA virus called African swine fever virus that belongs to the family aspar okay and the mortality of this infection is 100%age if the condition or the infection severely affects a population and this uh this uh you know this virus is mostly found in the in the subsaharan regions of Africa Yeah. And it is also found in other regions and this will mainly attack or that means it will it is endemic to the animal population. Is it a zunotic disease? No, it is not aotic disease. It will not transmit from animals to humans. And talking about key symptoms. So if the pig is affected by the the b uh sorry uh the African spine fever, what are the major symptoms? The first is high fever and severe weakness, loss of appetite and rapid weight loss. you know uh red or bulgy skin especially on ears, abdomen and legs, severe vomiting and diarrhea. In severe cases if the infection is very severe if it is high if the population is in a high-risk zone then the death is confirmed within few days. So these are the major symptoms if the condition is you know uh is is present in the pigs and now we are going to see the pre practice question. The question is with reference to the African spine fever consider the following statements. Statement one, it is caused by a DNA virus belonging to the family aspar aspar vir. Yes. So it is a DNA virus. The genetic material of this virus is it is DNA and it belongs to the aspar family. So the statement one is correct. And statement two, it is a zunotic disease that can be transmitted from pigs to humans. No, it is not a zenotic disease. And statement three, the virus can spread through contaminated products, farm equipment and clothing. Yes, animal to animal transmission can happen through similar uh you know the equipments which are commonly used in the farms or you know uh or through other contact. So the statement three and statement uh one are correct. So the correct answer is going to be option C one and three. Okay. Yes. With this we will move to the next article. Coming to the second article. Kazakhstan desperate for rain turns to cloud seeding. Article is taken from the Hindu. So the central Asian country Kazakhstan has started cloud seeding with the technical support from the United Arab Emirates. So we know that Kazakhstan is one of the central Asian countries that is sharing border with the Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan and also Usbakistan. And the important water bodies in the Kazakhstan includes lake uh Balash uh RLC and also the Caspian Sea. And this country it is a landlocked country. Even though it is sharing border with the water bodies like Caspian Sea and RLC, still it is considered as a landlocked country. Uh why? Because this Caspian Sea and RLC are classified as large lake rather than a sea because they do not share border with the open ocean. Okay. So this country it is a central Asian country sharing border with Russia, China, Kurdistan and Pakistan and the southern part of this country especially the region of Turkiststan is facing the water stress for a very long time. So they are facing water water stress and also limited rainfall and this region is very important for the country because it is one of the important cotton cultivating regions. So considering all these uh reasons now the nation has started cloud seeding with the technical support from the United Arab Emirates. So what is cloud seeding? So it is a weather modification technique that attempt to enhance the precipitation from the existing cloud. So we can see that normally when the atmosphere is warmed the warm air will rise upward right the warm air will rise upward and once it reaches a particular height it will be cooled it will be cooled and the tiny water droplets will be you know suspended in the air that means they are not uh they do not have density enough to make a rainfall so they will be suspended in the rainfall uh sorry in the suspended in the atmosphere and in the atmosphere we have another particle called condensation nuclei. So this condensation nuclei are the tiny particles that are suspended in the atmosphere. So this condensation nuclei can be anything. It can be particles like smoke, ash, dust or anything. So this condensation nuclei will slowly attract or this you know or this tiny water droplets will will slowly collide and it will stick with this condensation nuclei. Okay, these are called hyroscopic natural hyroscopic substances. So this condensation nuclear will attract all this tiny water droplets and eventually this water droplets will grow. It will become denser and it will give rainfall over a particular region. So we can see that in a short in a in a short period of time or maybe in a limited in a limited area billions of such uh you know droplets will be formed. Okay. And that gives enough rainfall in a region. Sometimes you know there will not be any sometimes this process will not happen. That means this process will not happen sufficiently. As a result, the rainfall will not happen in a region sufficiently. So this issue will be addressed through the cloud seeding. So cloud seeding it is a weather modification technique that enhances the precipitation from the existing cloud. That means it will not create the the rainfall cloud. Instead it will utilize the existing cloud to give the rainfall. So here the condensation nuclei will be replaced by certain hydroscopic substances artificial hydrocopic substances such as sodium chloride and potassium chloride. So they will act as cloud condensation nuclei and slowly the water droplets will be attached to those nuclei they will grow and they will give precipitation in the region. So this is how the cloud seeding technique is done. So not this it is a weather modification technique just to enhance the rainfall in a particular region or precipitation in a particular region through the artificial hydro hyroscopic substances like sodium chloride and potassium chloride. This process will not create rainfall cloud. Okay. And now we are going to see we already discussed the mechanism. So the the the mechanism so the first step of this cloud sitting is identifying the suitable cloud and then is dispersing the the particles that is the hy hyroscopic substances like sodium chloride or potassium chloride using the aircraft rocket or sometimes using certain direct spraying technology and once it is done the droplets or the ice particles will grow around this hyroscop hydroscopic substance and it will grow into large droplets and it will give rainfall in particular region. So this is how the cloud seeding technique is done. Okay. And now we are going to see two types of uh cloud seeding. The first is hydroscopic cloud seeding. Second is glacioenic cloud seeding. So this hyroscopic cloud seeding is what we have discussed so far. It is mostly done uh to attract the water particles such uh you know uh to grow uh and give rainfall in a region and then it is mostly practiced uh this cloud seeding technique this hydroscopic cloud seeding technique is mostly practice practiced in the tropical and subtropical region and then we have glacioenic seeding. So here you know the water would be draw will be trapped in the in this case uh this this is mostly done in the higher altitude or high latitude region. So here the water will be draw will be uh you know trapped in the super cooled cloud. Okay the water will be tra will be trapped in the super cooled cloud. In that case we will use certain substance like silver iodide to promote the ice crystal formation. So this will give precipitation in the form of either rainfall or in the form of snow. Okay. This is done usually in the temperature to you know higher altitude region. Okay. And and also here we have to note this process is also not possible if the region is free of cloud. This process is also not possess is also not possible if the region is cloud free or it is free of cloud. Okay. For this also we need a super cooled cloud. The water would should be trapped inside this cloud and then using this silver iodide we will promote the crystal formation to give precipitation in the form of rainfall or in the form of ice. Okay. So the major limitations of this cloud shading technique includes first is larger scale implementation is difficult because it needs lot of expertise and cost. Second is you know pre-existing conditions like the the you know identifying the suitable cloud like I mentioned if a region has no cloud then this process is not possible. Okay. And the next is uh we can expect you know sometimes around 15 to 20% rainfall you know excess rainfall can be created from the average. So these are the major facts we have to remember regarding the cloud city and why it is important or significant for the central Asian region. So we know that few years back United Arab Emirates they conducted the cloud seeding right. So now the central Asian countries also started using this cloud seeding technique. Why this is important for central Asia? Because we know that central Asia it is for for centuries it is known as you know uh know arid region that means you know this region is very dry and also therefore this is very vulnerable to water stress and warming and also we can see that for countries like Kazakhstan which is mostly depending on agriculture especially the cultivation of cotton know it needs lot of water and we can see that therefore you know the water scarcity or drought like condition can make the make the situation more worsenome and Next is cloud seeding is therefore being explor explored as a supplementary drought management tool. So we have to understand that this cloud seeding cannot substitute the existing water conservation methods like uh waterershed management you know groundwater groundwater conservation. So this is just for a short-term relief. We are going to see that in the next slide. So we can see that uh these are the major concerns or limitations of the cloud. First is scientific uncertaintity. So we cannot guarantee that we can bring enough rainfall in a particular region. Sometimes we will get excess rainfall also. And the second is uh second limitation is the large scale operation needs that much cost. And the next is cloud dependency. So suitable if there is no suitable cloud no rainfall can be uh know can be brought. And the next is water allocation concern. So the artificial enhancement of water. So artificial rainfall sometimes it can bring excess rainfall. Okay. Sometimes this procedure can bring excess rainfall. In that case the nearby regions which already have sufficient rainfall and water may face floodike conditions or water logging like conditions. And the next is like I mentioned in the previous slide. It cannot replace or it is not a substitution for the existing water conservation technologies or water conservation methods like groundwater recharge you know um or the waterershed management and know. So it is this procedure is just for a short-term relief not for the long-term solution. Okay. So these are the major limitations of the uh cloud seeding. And now we have a prelimin practice question. The question is with reference to Kafkasan's cloud seeding initiative. Consider the following statements. Statement one cloud seeding can create cloud even in the absence of natural occurring cloud. No it will not create cloud. Cloud has to be there. Suitable cloud has to be there then only we can go for the cloud feeding. So this is one of the limitations. Therefore, the statement is incorrect. And second statement, hydroscopic cloud steing commonly uses substances such as sodium chloride and potassium chloride. Yes, they know sodium chloride and potassium chloride as used as cloud condensation nuclei or hyroscopic substances. So the statement two is correct. And statement three, cloud seeding is primarily weather modification technique and is not by itself a substitute for long-term drought and water resource management. That is also correct. It is just for a temporary release not for a long-term water scarcity solution. Okay. So the statement two and three are correct. So the correct answer will be option B 2 and three only. Yes. With this we will move to the next article. Coming to the third article retail inflation hits 90th 19th month high as food and fuel prices rises. Article is taken from the Hindu. So we can see that the retail inflation in India rose to 4.45%age 45 percentage in July 2026 and this is highest rate of the last 19 months. So in this background let us understand more about this article. So talking about inflation so we know that inflation is nothing but it is a it is a sustained rise in the general price level of goods and services in an economy and we can see that this will erode the purchasing power because people before you know purchased the commodity at 10 rupees now they have to give 20 rupees. So the purchasing power will fall and this will hurt the saving savers and income fixed income earners in the economy. So if a person is receiving 10 uh 10 rupees as his month monthly salary if the price of the commodity rises to 15 or 20 then it will be difficult for him to purchase or to use that commodity and it will erode the savings in the economy because the economy demands more money. That means the goods and services demands more money. And we can classify the inflation into headline inflation and core inflation. So headline inflation is the inflation that calculates the rise in the price level of all the goods and services in the economy. And next we can see that in the case of the core inflation, it will exclude the volatile items like food and fuel. Okay. So if the if you know from this basket if you eliminate the food and fuel which are volatile in nature we will get the corn core inflation in the economy and talking about RBI's inflation target. So the inflation target is 4 percentage plus or minus 2. Okay. And we have the uh the the inflation review uh uh in India and that is done by the monetary policy committee and this is done in every 5 years under the RV act of 197 uh sorry 1934. So even though it is mentioned as 5 years in the act you know the monetary policy committee will frequently review the the inflation in the economy or they will frequently monitor the inflation in the economy. And talking about the measurement of inflation. So we have the consumer price index and the wholesale price index. So the consumer price index will combine the inflation of the rural and urban India. And this uh uh data is released by the or this index is released by the the ministry of uh statistics and program implementation and exactly from the office of national statistical office and we can see that it has a weighted set of goods and services from consumer surveys. So you know it how the CPI will calculate uh the inflation because uh they will have a set of basket they will sorry they will have a community of uh uh goods in a basket which are regularly used by the end users or the consumers. So we can see that this CPI will be calculating the the inflation experienced by the end user that means the inflation experienced by the end consumer. So this will give real picture or more accurate or precise picture about the inflation and we can see that this TPI will cover urban rural uh inflation in the economy and they will release it together. And then we have the wholesale uh price index which is released by the ministry of commerce and we can see that this wholesale price index tracks the wholesale uh rise of the the the general price level or the whole price in the economy. For example, you know the it will uh it will measure the the uh the general rise in the price level of the wholesale goods and services. So uh the CPI will be measuring the retail while the WPI will be measuring the wholesale uh price index sorry wholesale price rise in the economy. And uh talking about the base year change. So we can see that recently the government revised the base year of the CPI from 2012 to 2024 for better inflation monitoring and the uh you know policym and we can see that know it will cover uh all the sectors in the economy but the data about the subgroup inflation that means the the data about the sector wise inflation will be calculated only from the January 2026 onwards and talking about the top basket the items in the basket basket. So we can see that it includes you know food and beverage items that carries approximately 36%age of the weight in the CPI basket and other items are housing and electricity which is around 17%age and the transport which is around 8 8.8 percentage. So we can see that these items are generally or commonly used by the end users. So these are the items you know placed in the basket for the measurement of the uh you know retail inflation in the economy. So that is the difference between the wholesale and the retail price index. Wholesale price index will calculate the the the the price the rise in the price level of the wholesale goods and commodities while the retail will be calculating the the inflation experienced by the end user. Okay. And recently the government revised the date the base year from 2012 to 2014 sorry 2024 for better or accurate calculation of inflation in the economy. And uh talking about the drivers so what what drive this uh the present inflation retail inflation in the economy. First is food items like onion and garlic. So recently we can see that there is a price hike of this onion and garlic and the ginger truck. So ginger price also remained high in the uh in the economy. On other side the tomato and potato prices rem you know went to deflation and the monsoon so erratic and unprecedented monsoon in certain areas of India damaged the crops and this led to price increase and we can see that edible oil so high global prices being transmitted into domestic market. So you know the oil prices or the volatality about the oil production in the different parts of the country also affected the the the domestic market price. So this is one of the reasons why we are experiencing the inflation. And the next is fuel stickiness. So the price remains high inelastic in the uh in the downward direction. So we can see that you know the ongoing tension in West Asia also have affected the the fuel supply or it it has affected the supply chain and that is one of the reasons why we are experiencing the hike in the and the fuel price or uh and that is contributing to the uh inflation in the retail level and the policy response. So the monetary policy committee is uh you know currently to weigh the footlet persistence against the base effect. That means the RBI is watching that monetary policy committee of RBI is currently watching the situation and uh you know they will take appropriate measures soon and there is a recommendation for fixing the supply chain of onion garlic and ginger. So we will the know the RBI sorry the government will monitor the supply chain of these items which are currently triggered in the retail inflation in in India. And the next is buffer stock. So strengthen the oil seed and pulse the stock in India to reverse the uh you know uh the shock. And the next is monsoon preparation that is better crop insurance and post-h harvest infrastructure has uh you know uh is planning to expand to reduce the shock uh you know brought by the uh unprecedented rainfall. Next is fuel policy. So diversifying the source of fuel that means diversifying the source of energy uh is in the consideration and we can see that data trust that means ensuring the new 2024 base CPI is transparent and comparable. So we can see that we have recently revised the the base data sorry the base year of the CPI for better data collection. So this will provide more accurate uh you know picture about the retail inflation in India. So these are the major measures taken by the government. So RBI is currently studying the the foodled uh price hike in the economy. Uh and that is done by the monetary policy committee. One of the core aspects or the core pillars of the RBI and they are also looking into you know fixing the supply chain of the garlic, ginger and onion. And uh there is a recommendation for strengthening the buffer stock you know strengthening the crop insurance and the post infra sorry post-h harvest infrastructure and also we the government is recently trying to diversify the sources of energy and also we have recently revised the base year to 2024 for better and accurate data collection. So these are the policy response or the recent initiatives taken by the government to address the problem of inflation. And now we have the prelims practice question. The question is consider the following statements regarding retail inflation in India. Statement one, the consumer price index is compiled by the ministry of commerce and industry. No, it is done by the ministry of statistics and program implementation. So the statement one is incorrect. And statement two, RBI is mandated to keep the headline CPI at four percentage with a plus or minus percentage tolerance band. Yes, the the RPA inflation targeting targeting is 4 percentage plus or minus 2. So the statement two is incorrect. And statement three put and various carry the highest weight in the CPA. Yes, they together sorry they together carry around 36%age weight in the basket. So the statement three is also correct. And statement four, the wholesale price index covers the services whereas the CPI does not know. CPA will also cover service. Okay. So the statement four is incorrect. Statement one is incorrect. So the correct answer will be option B 2 and three only. Yes, with this we will move to the next article. Coming to the fourth article, a timely reset for the food security act. Article is taken from the H. So now the government has released the draft of national food security amendment bill of 2026 and it is open to the public for the feedback. So this national food security uh amendment bill of 2026 is trying to change a lot of things in the national food security act of 2013. So in this background let us understand more about this article. So we know that currently we have the draft of national food security amendment bill of 2026 and the major one of the major focus of this uh bill is bringing the reform in the Antio. We will discuss what is the reform. So we can see that as per the current provisions of the national food security act the priority household in India will receive 5 kg of food grains per person per month. For example, imagine that there if the if the family has five people then 5 into 5 is equal to 25 kg. So 25 kg will be received by the household that is the priority households in India under the food security act of 2013 and the current and anayojana. So we know that andayojana covers the families or the households which are more vulnerable or economically more backward. So under this and as for the current system a flat 35 kg will be provided to a household. So if the household has five five people then the household will be receiving 35 kg. If the household has only two people then also the under the household will receive 35 kg. So a flat 35 kg will be provided to the families covered under the so through this amendment bill of 2026 we are trying to bring the change here. So here what is the proposal is increasing the allocation from 5 kg to uh 7 kg per person and cap the allocation at 35 kg per household irrespective of the uh irrespective of the population or irrespective of the members of the family. So we can say that currently under the juda a person irrespective of the household the people will be receiving 35 kg and now the proposal is increase the allocation to 7 kg per person and cap the total allocation at 35 kg respective of the uh irrespective of the members of the family irrespective of the size of the household that is the new proposal given under the amendment bill of 2026 and we can see that currently the national food security act of 2013 covers nearly 18 cr people you know as per the uh census of 2013 but now we the population has increased and now the population has almost reached 100 uh you know 41 cr right so we have to cover more people for that the census is going on so we need to bring reforms or we have to bring changes in the food sec security act to ensure more coverage so these are the reasons why we are currently you know these are some of the reasons Why we are currently you know going for the amendment amendment of the 2013 and apart from that what are the major reasons that led to the emergence of the national food security amendment bill 2026. First is the affordability gap. So we can see that you know uh in 2023 24 we conducted the household conception expenditure survey in India and through this survey we found that 25%age of the households in India are not able to afford healthy diet recommended by the ICMR and national institution of nutrition. So currently we have the food coverage that means providing food is different providing nutrition is different ensuring you know uh quantity of food is different providing balanced diet is different. So we can see that currently the people are able to afford the food but 25%age of the households in India are not able to afford healthy diet and this was found through the household consumption expenditure survey of 2023 24 and second is the hidden hunger. So only 15%age of the children can get adequate diet in India. So hidden hunger is there. So the adolescent we know that adolescent age is very important right the childhood adolescent age is very important. So providing nutrition is very important because that is that is what going to determine their health in the coming ages. And next is double burden. So we can see that currently in India nearly 101 million people are suffering from diabetic condition and nearly 136 million people are in the stage of pre-diabetics. That means any anytime they can uh they can get the diabetes and talking about the next feature that is domination of carb. So we can see that carbs dominates the Indian diet. So if you take the rice or wheat you know these food items are or this food grains are mostly rich in carb and what is lacking here is protein. So we know that protein is very important to keep the person more active. It is very important for muscle building. It is very important for you know building a healthy body mass. But we can see that in the Indian uh scenario the foot culture or the food diet is dominated by what carb. So addressing this imbalance and next is ceiling of 81 81 cr. So we can see that currently the population got increased. So the last census was conducted in 2011. Right? And as for the 2011 census we have ensured that the food security act covers 81 cr people. But now the population has increased and it almost touched 141 cr. Right? So if you take the present status we can see that this 81 cr is just half of the population just 55%age of the population. So we have to provide more coverage and this is one of the reasons why we are currently proposing the amendment of the 2013 act. And second is the ballooning physical weight. So we can see that in the budget of 2026 27 the government announced a food subsidy of approximately 2.27 lakh cr. So if the food subsidy is going on it if it is increasing then it will become a burden a physical burden for the government. So addressing all these you know is very important and these are the major reasons why we have proposed an amendment to the 2013 act and the next is timeline of the India's food security. So we know that from the very beginning from the ancient times itself we had a lot of you know provisions or we had lot of mechanisms to ensure food safety in India. For example, during the time of Ashoka, there was an inscription which talks about the P security. And then we know that during the time of medival you know era the allowin pri during the reign of allowin pilg he established you know an ancient or sorry a medival form of uh you know uh PDS system and in the postindependence time we brought the PDS system and to govern all this to govern all this we brought the national food security act in 2013 which also recognizes the food not just as a need but also as a right and then in 2023 24 we conducted household consumption expenditure survey and in this survey we found that nearly 25%age of the Indian population or the Indian household is not able to afford healthy diet and the next is in 2024 the ICMR and the uh national institution for nutrition they recommended a healthy diet and currently we can see that we are not in a position the households in in India are not in a position to afford this healthy diet and Now we are going for the amendment of 2026. So in 2026 we have proposed the amendment for the National Food Security Act of 2013 to address all these problems. So this is a short history or the short timeline about the development of the food security concept in India. And then talking about the government objectives. So what are the government objectives? What are the areas the government is trying to uh reform? So the first is fixing the iniquity in the andodayo anayogja family. So we can see that you know sometimes uh the families imagine that there are two families which are covered under the anayojana. In one household there is only two member and in the another household it is uh seven member. So we can see that you know if if we if you take the calculation we can see that this household as per the present system they will receive a flat 35 kg of food grain and this household will also receive a flat 35 kg of food grain. So if you divide the 35 into two for to the uh to each of the individuals in the household A we can see that each person will be receiving approximately 14 sorry 17.5 kg of rice or 17.5 kg of food grain. But if you take the case of this household, we can see that each person if you provide approximately 5 kg then that will not be sufficient. So addressing this inequity in the andodi is the major proposal given under the amendment of 2026. But there is a small issue. So imagine that and is provided to the people or the households who are in the vulnerable stage, economically vulnerable stage, right? So economically vulnerable means they you know they may be doing agricultural job they may be seasonal workers they they can be you know uh migrant workers right so their life is always in a state of you know uncertaintity that means if any unprecedented event happened in the life there is a high chance that they will fall into the poverty right there is a chance and here what the government is saying that the ceiling will be saying that means the ceiling is at 35%age but per person allocation is increased to 7 kg. So without rising the total uh ceiling what is the how how this uh per person increase is going to work. So if the household has uh two people then as per the new proposal each person will be receiving 14 kg of rice per month. So each person means 7 kg 7 kg 14 kg rice per month. But in the case of the large families they also receiving maximum 35 kg only. That means you know even though we are trying to address this inequity there is no significant or major changes you know can be seen. So this is the concern associated with this equity correction. So before irrespective of the household size the the families the vulnerable families received the 35 kg of price but now what they saying is they got uh you know the per person allocation got increased to 7 kg and the total capping will be at 35 kg. So and the scaffing will not consider the household size. So if the household has only two member then for each member 7 kg 7 kg 14 kg will be received and if the household exceeds more than five five members then there will not be any increase in the allocation more than 35 kg. So here we have a concern how we are going to address this issue and like I like I said even if you take the case of this small household they may be agricultural workers or migrant workers or seasonal workers if there is any unprecedented even happened in in their life if there is any adversity then how they are going to survive for the coming uh you know days. So that is also going to be a concern. So these are the major concerns associated with the equity correction which is proposed under the uh the amendment of 2026. And second is the uh second objective is containing the the ballooning uh food subsidy. So already we have allocated nearly 2.27 lakh uh cr food subsidy in the budget of 2026 27. So government is trying to contain the increasing food subsidy because it can bring physical strain to the government. And next and the next is uh nutrition pe shifting focus from serial calories to balanced diet. Yes, that is important. And the next is government is you know bringing an effective method to respond to the NCD non-communicable diseases. So we know that as for the recent data from the ICMR we can see that 60%age of the death in India is contributed by the non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular problem you know pulmonary issues and different types of cancers and within this non-communicable disease 30% sorry 50%age of the death is caused because of the cardiovascular problem. So 50%age of the death is caused because of the cardiovascular problem. And if you take cancer, you know, uh cardiovascular problem, pulmonary issue or any other issue you know the base reason, the basic reason will be diabetes and hypertension. Right? So addressing this needs a healthy diet and that is what the government is trying to bring through this amendment. And the next is uh deliver uh technology. So that means leveraging the point of sale PDS system you know strengthening the concept of one nation one ration card initiative that means the people irrespective of the jurisdiction they can get the ration from any part of the country using the same ration card and the next is diversification that means including you know pulers millets and oils and in the in the foot policies in different phases. So these are good but there is a concern associated with this equity correction. So if the vulnerable family what if they are facing any adversity in the coming days how we are going to address it you know and the second is without raising the total cap of the 35 kg how we are going to address the equity problem in the so this remains you know this is the two major concerns associated with the the equity correction and the stakeholder reaction so we can see that you know there is a concern about the household from the from So they are fearing the the the loss of you know the guaranteed 35 kg. So they are they have like I mentioned you know they they have rights with the per person allocation. So the there is automatically there is a concern from the families of household and you know that they may lose the total entitlement and the state governments for example Tamil Nadu like governments they have raised concern about the the loss of total allocation. So why? Because if you take the southern states that is especially Kerala and Tamil Nadu the the total population the birth rate is falling the population rate is uh reducing. Therefore the the the states have a concern that their allocation or their port their you know part from this total allocation may get reduced. And next is the nutritionist they have welcomed the concept of diversification which is mentioned in the uh food security amendment bill. and the farmers they are pushing for M MSP procurement of pulsers, millets and oil seeds. So we know that currently the Indian uh agriculture system is dominated by uh two major food grains. First is wheat and second is rice. And if you take the procurement system in the country, it also has an inclination towards the procurement or it is automatically or unconsciously it is prioritizing the procurement of the rice and wheat. So we have to diversify our p our procurement system uh to encourage the the uh the pulsers millers and the OC's and we can see that for that we have to provide we have to bring certain changes in the minimum support price uh mechanism also because the farmers has to uh you know they we have to build a trusty with the farmers that they will be paid adequately based on their hard work and the next is public health. So we can see that you know uh NCD so we we are trying to address the problem of non-communicable diseases through this uh through diversification and bringing more nutrition rich diet but at the same time we have to consider our ration condition. So you know uh we have to fix certain uh issues in our ration or in our public distribution system and there is a concern yes there is a concern about the ex the possibility of excluded household. So the last census in India was conducted in 2011 and after you know now we are going to going for the uh the census in 2026 and 27. So we have to update the data uh from the census 2026 27 to ensure more coverage uh in in the food security of India. So to provide the food security in India. So uh these are the major uh uh you know concerns or reactions from various stakeholders regarding this draft and uh way forward. So what can be done? So first is no loss guarantee. So we have to preserve the existing 35 kg monthly uh you know cap for every household. That means we have to make sure that this 35 kg rise will reach. Yes, there are concerns about the equity but still we have to make sure that uh the the 35 the guaranteed 35 kg will re will reach the the household and second is periodic review. So we have to reassess the 35 kg ceiling for larger and high dependency family. So sometimes imagine that there is a condition like uh if there are seven members in the family and out of the seven members you know there there will be old age people you know there will be people suffering from diseases. So we have to reassess this the feasibility of this you know ceiling procedure. So if you know will in that condition can we assure that this 35 kg will be enough? No right if the there are seven members out of the seven members four members are facing some health issue they are not able to work in such situation will that you know make sense with this 35 kg. Right? So these are the things that we have to consider and second is separate financing. So fund diet diversity without cutting serial entitlement. So you know we are uh yes in in in the agricultural system there is something called transition gap right there is something called transition gap. So uh here we have to consider that this transition gap will mostly occur when the farmer shipped their you know cropping system or cropping uh technique or sometimes the crop itself. So here we are giving priority to diverse and rich diet but at the same time we have to make sure that the existing cereals or the existing food grain you know their cultivation is not affected and next is coverage reset. So recalculated the 75 75 percentage by uh by 50%age coverage ceiling using the 207. So we can see that you know we have to we are going we are conducting the census uh next year and the procedures are already started. So we have to take data from the census and we have to make sure that at least 70 to 80%age of the population is covered under the national food security act that means the amended national food security act and next is nutrition bridge. So link the PDS with angari portion and arugia mandar. So we have to make sure that this produced food this procured food will reach the right population. For that we have to bring certain reforms in the PDS. We have to connect the PDS system with the angaradis and arrogant in the grassroot level. And next is dignified delivery. So dosed up access. So already you know states like Tamil Nadu they are already doing it. That means for the old age people you know the P there will be a special system from the PDS that will deliver the food grains to the doorstep. So we have to uh you know we have to diversify we have to strengthen such measures. So these are the way forward or these are the steps that we can take currently to ensure that the the amendment will go or the implementation uh or the implementation of the provisions of the amendment will be effective and it will be beneficial for everyone and the the most like I like I mentioned the concern is about the 35%age ceiling right so here we have to go for periodic review then only we can make sure the social justice and uh coming to the mains practice question the draft after national food security amendment bill of 2026 attempts to shift India's food security architecture from calorie sufficiency to nutrition security critically examine its rational structural concerns and the safeguards needed to protect the vulnerable household so it's a 15 marks question and you have to write around 250 words write the answer post it in the comment section we will review and we will reply for your answer now it's time to move to the prelimin focus for the day coming to the prelims focus for the day the first topic is param prayer AI supercomputing facility. So we know that recently the parra the AI supercomputing facility which is located in the IAT Delhi was introduced sorry inaugurated by the prime minister of India. So we know that in 1991 India developed a param 8000 the first supercomputer indigenous supercomputer of India and this was developed by the center for advanced computing right and uh next is in 2020 we brought param siddhi param siddhi AI India India's first National AI supercomputer and now we have param priarch AI supercomputing facility and it is located in the IG Delhi and it was inaugurated by the prime minister of India. So it is a high performance computing facility that is designed for the development of artificial intelligence data science advanced computing and also for interdisciplinary research. And coming to the next topic, blue heart. So blue heart is a man-made lake in the city of Ahmedabad and we developed this lake using the Dutch expertise. And we can see that the key features of this lake includes closed loop design which will prevent the incursion of waste water and the depth profile of this uh you know uh this lake will prevent the stratification the temp sorry the temperature stratification and the continuous movement of the water in this lake using an automated inlet system will prevent the utrofication and algae bloom and at the same time the lake is designed in a way that it can support the repairarian vegetations and also biodiversity in in this region and the next is international day of world's indigenous peoples. So we can see that you know recently that is on August 9 we observed the international day of the world's indigenous people and this uh this day is observed on August 9 because it commemorates the first meeting of the UN working group on indigenous populations in 1982 in the city of Geneva and this year the theme is honoring indigenous midwives safeguarding life and well-being because we can see that you know 476 million indigenous peoples across 19 countries are safeguarding nearly 28%age of the earth surface and 11%age of the forest. So we are recognizing their role in the environmental conservation and we know that generally this day is observed to recognize the indigenous knowledge and indigenous language and also to respect the indigenous culture and now we have the prelim practice question. The question is with reference to the lakes consider the following statements. Statement one, closed lakes generally have no surface outlet and may develop high salinity due to evaporation. Yes. Statement two, oxbow lakes lakes are formed when a meander of lake of the river gets cut off from the main channel. Yes, oxbow lakes are formed when the meandering happens. And statement three, thermal stratification can occur in deep lakes resulting in distant layers of water with a different temperature. Yes. So if you take the case of the wetland, wetland will not have this temp thermal stratification but the lakes do and that is one of the key differences between the wetlands and the lakes. And because of this feature lakes gives more cooling effect than the wetlands. So the statement 1 2 and three all the three statements are correct. So the correct answer is going to be option D. With this we are coming to the conclusion for today's prelims focus. With this we are coming to the conclusion for today's current affair analysis. If you like the video, hit the like button, give your feedbacks as comments and share this content with your friends. 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