News In Short 24-09-2026

Biovigilance Programme of India

Syllabus: GS2/Governance; Health

In News

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has approved the Biovigilance Programme of India.

Biovigilance Programme of India

• It will monitor and prevent adverse events linked to medicines and biological products used in organ and tissue transplantation.
• It will also cover products administered to both organ and tissue donors and recipients.
• It will be led by the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC).
  • Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) is an autonomous institution of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare which sets standards for all drugs that are manufactured, sold and consumed in India.
• It will complement the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI), which monitors adverse drug reactions, and the Materiovigilance Programme of India (MvPI), which tracks adverse events associated with medical devices.

Source: IE

PBSHABD

Syllabus: GS2/Governance

In News

• Prasar Bharati’s PBSHABD user base reached 3,600 media organisations in two years and free access extended until March 2027.

Background 

• Prasar Bharati is India’s autonomous public service broadcaster which was formed on 23 November 1997 under the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990 with Akashvani and Doordarshan as its two elements.
• Its mandate includes the promotion of fair and balanced flow of information in the public interest. The core of this position has been news collection. 
• Prasar Bharati News Service (PBNS) was initially an internal news wire providing content to Akashvani and Doordarshan. 
• In March 2024, its scope was broadened to turn this internal news resource into a news-sharing service.

PBSHABD 

• It stands for Prasar Bharati – Shared Audio-Visuals for Broadcast and Dissemination.
• It was launched by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) in 2024 in New Delhi. 
• It is a news feed service of Prasar Bharati, open to media users round the clock.
• It supplies timely, authentic and ready-to-use news content from India and the world. 
• It has text, video, audio, photos and infographics in 15 Indian languages spanning approximately 50 categories for media organisations to use. 
• Its users are registered media organisations, digital publishers and content creators. Newspapers, news television channels and digital news publishers form the bulk of this base.

Source: PIB

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana 2.0

Syllabus: GS2/Governance

In News

• The Government is creating a more responsive, technology-driven, and outcome-oriented skilling ecosystem through DDU-GKY 2.0.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) 

• The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) introduced Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) in 2014 under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission. 
• It is a placement-linked skilling program for rural youth, with a focus on sustainable livelihoods for rural youth.
• It has been delivering placement-linked vocational training to rural youngsters in the age group of 15-35 years from disadvantaged homes for more than a decade.
• It also fosters social inclusion by ensuring coverage for SC/ST communities (50%), women (33%), and persons with disabilities (5%). Over the last decade, the initiative has developed to focus more on employment outcomes and post-placement support. 

Upgraded Version 

• In May 2025, the Government released the improved DDU-GKY 2.0 Guidelines, which further enhanced the framework around training, placements, employment sustainability, and post-placement support.
• It offers training in several industries like aerospace and aviation, agriculture, beauty and wellness, green jobs, healthcare, textiles and others based on industry requirements. 
• The Union Budget 2026-27 has kept the focus on rural skilling with an allocation of ₹750 crore for DDU-GKY.

Importance 

• DDU-GKY 2.0 represents an important step towards building a skilled, empowered, and self-reliant rural workforce for the future.
•  It also promotes India’s vision of Viksit Bharat @2047 that aims to transform the country into a global economic and knowledge hub.

Source: PIB

Gaza Board of Peace 

Syllabus: GS2/International Relations

Context

• The US-backed Board of Peace has proposed a six-month, $2.45-billion recovery programme for Gaza, covering projects related to infrastructure, housing, healthcare, economic revival, digital services and security.

What is the Board of Peace?

• The Board of Peace (BoP) is an international organisation established to promote peace, stability, reconstruction and effective governance in conflict-affected regions, with its immediate and major focus on the post-war transition in Gaza.
• U.S. President Donald Trump proposed the Board as part of his framework for achieving a lasting peace in Gaza following the Israel–Hamas conflict.
  • He serves as the Chairman of the Board of Peace.
• The Board’s framework received international backing through UN Security Council Resolution 2803 (2025), which endorsed the broader Gaza peace and transitional framework.
• Members: The organisation has brought together a group of countries as founding members, including the United States, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and the UAE, among others.

Source: HT

BRICS and the Changing Global Tax Architecture

Syllabus: GS2/ International Relations

Context

• The BRICS tax heads meeting has highlighted the grouping’s effort to develop common positions on international taxation and strengthen the voice of large developing economies in ongoing negotiations for a new global tax framework.

About

• The members focused on international taxation, transfer pricing, revenue statistics, digital tax administration and capacity building, alongside constructive engagement with the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (UNFCITC).
• India’s BRICS Tax Initiatives: India is sharing experiences in faceless assessment, pre-filled tax returns, real-time invoice authentication and AI-enabled taxpayer assistance with BRICS partners.
  • India established two new working groups on international taxation and transfer pricing and revenue statistics during its 2026 BRICS tax chairship.
  • The BRICS Tax Cross-Learning Lab and Tax Support Network are intended to strengthen peer learning and institutional cooperation.
  • The first in-person BRICS Young Tax Professionals Capacity Building Programme was organised in India in April 2026 and has been institutionalised as an annual programme.

UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation

• The UNFCITC is a proposed global framework intended to strengthen international tax cooperation and make global tax governance more inclusive and transparent.
• In 2023, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution initiating the process for a new international tax convention.
• Negotiations began in 2025, with the process expected to move towards finalisation of the convention and related protocols by 2027.

Source: HT

India Rejects OIC Group’s Remarks on Kashmir

Syllabus: GS2/International Groupings

Context

• India categorically rejected the references to Kashmir in the Joint Communique of the Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

About OIC

• Established: 1969, in Rabat, Morocco.
• Trigger Event: Response to the arson attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
• Headquarters: Currently in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• Membership: Open to UN member states with a Muslim majority (57 member states as of 2026).
• Goals and Mandate: Present itself as the “collective voice of the Muslim world”. It promotes solidarity and unity among members.
• Membership & Voting: 
  • Full membership requires consensus in the Council of Foreign Ministers.
  • Observer status follows a similar process.
  • Decisions: Preferably by consensus, or by two-thirds majority of those present and voting.
• Key Organs
  • Islamic Summit: Highest authority, composed of Heads of State, meets every 3 years.
  • Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM): Primary decision-making body, meets annually.

Source: AIR

Siang Upper Multipurpose Project

Syllabus: GS3/Infrastructure

Context

• The Arunachal Pradesh Cabinet has approved an Empowered High-Level Committee to guide and coordinate the pre-feasibility survey for the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP).

About the Project

• Location: The project has three designated sites, of which two are in Siang district and one is in Upper Siang district.
• Capacity of SUMP: 11,000 megawatts (MW).
• The Union government declared the project a National Project in 2008, reflecting its strategic importance.

Siang River

• The Siang originates in Tibet, where the river is known as the Yarlung Tsangpo.
• It flows eastward for more than 1,000 km before making a major bend around Namcha Barwa and entering Arunachal Pradesh as the Siang.
• In Assam, the Siang joins the Dibang and Lohit rivers and forms the Brahmaputra.

Source: TH

Satellite Smart Anti-Airfield Weapons (SAT-SAAW) 

Syllabus: GS3/ Defence

Context

• The Defence Ministry has signed a contract of over 810 crore rupees with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for the procurement of 160 Satellite Smart Anti-Airfield Weapons (SAT-SAAW) along with associated equipment for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

About Smart Anti-Airfield Weapons (SAT-SAAW) 

• The SAT-SAAW is an air-to-ground precision-guided glide bomb designed to strike enemy airfields from a long stand-off range. 
• The weapon has been designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and will have 60 per cent indigenous content.
• It can be launched from Jaguar, Hawk and Su-30MKI aircraft, allowing the IAF to engage airfield targets without having to approach them directly.
  • The delivery of SAT-SAAW is scheduled between 2027-2028 and 2028-2029.
• The indigenous SAAW project was first approved in 2013, underwent flight testing from 2016 to 2021, and was officially inducted into the IAF in 2021.

Source: AIR

Naoero

Syllabus: GS1/Places in News

Context

• At the UN General Assembly, President David Adeang announced that Nauru will be known as Naoero.
  • The change restores an ancestral name, language and national identity.

About Naoero

• Naoero, an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of a raised coral island located in southeastern Micronesia, 25 miles (40 km) south of the Equator.
• Naoero is the third smallest country in the world. Vatican City is the smallest country in the world.

• It is home to about 12,000 people, and became independent in 1968 after colonial rule under the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and Germany. 
• Its international code is changing from NRU to NRO, and its people will be known as dei-Naoero instead of Nauruan. 

Source: IT