Daily Current Affairs – 26-03-2026

National News

India’s Updated NDC Targets for 2035

India has updated its climate commitments under its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), pledging that by 2035, 60% of its installed electricity capacity will be generated from non-fossil fuel sources, while also aiming to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 47% from 2005 levels and increase its carbon sink capacity to 3.5–4 billion tonnes; these targets will be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as part of its obligations under the Paris Agreement, which requires countries to update their NDCs by 2025; India’s earlier NDC submitted in August 2022 set targets for 2030 including 50% non-fossil fuel power capacity, 44% reduction in emissions intensity, and 2.5–3 billion tonnes carbon sink, and the announcement of the updated targets was linked to discussions at COP30 held in Belem, Brazil, where Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav indicated that the revised NDC would be announced by the end of the year.

IVFRT Scheme Extended for 2026–2031

The Union Cabinet has approved the extension of the Immigration, Visa, Foreigners Registration & Tracking (IVFRT) Scheme for a period of five years from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2031 with a budget allocation of ₹1,800 crore; the scheme, launched in 2010, aims to modernise and integrate immigration, visa issuance, and foreigner registration systems in India within a secure framework, and its continuation follows the enactment of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, which addresses issues related to immigration control, foreigner management, and illegal migration; the IVFRT system currently covers 117 Immigration Posts, 15 Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRROs), and 854 Foreigners Registration Officers (FROs)/Superintendents of Police (SPs)/Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) across the country, and has enabled a 100% contactless visa process with online appointment and payment facilities, resulting in 91.24% of e-visa applications being processed within 72 hours over the past five years.

Inflation Target of 4% Extended till 2031

The Union Government has directed the Reserve Bank of India to maintain the retail inflation target at 4% with a tolerance band of ±2% (2%–6%) for the period from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2031, as notified by the Department of Economic Affairs through a Gazette notification dated March 25 in consultation with the RBI; India had first adopted the inflation-targeting framework in 2016, assigning the responsibility to the central bank, and the same target of 4% inflation with a 2% margin was initially set for the period ending March 31, 2021 and later continued in March 2021, making this the second extension of the same target; the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), a six-member body, was given this mandate in its first meeting held in October 2016 to maintain annual inflation within the prescribed limits.

Growth of Indian Tech Start-ups in 2025

According to a study by Nasscom and Zinnov, Indian tech start-ups raised $9.1 billion in 2025, recording a 23% year-on-year growth, with deep-tech funding increasing by 37% to $2.3 billion, of which 91% investments were in Artificial Intelligence (AI); the report titled “Momentum to Maturity” (Indian Tech Start-up Report 2025) states that over 140 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals were recorded in 2025, nearly double compared to the previous year, and seed and early-stage deals accounted for 74% of total funding activity, while India’s start-up ecosystem is estimated to have 31,000–34,000 start-ups, with new ventures increasingly concentrated in established hubs and proven sectors, indicating investor preference for infrastructure readiness and skilled workforce, and the study highlights the role of AI in driving funding and innovation trends.

Sports News

Gurindervir Singh Sets National Record in 60m Indoor Event

At the inaugural National Indoor Athletics Championships held at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar, 26-year-old Gurindervir Singh won the men’s 60m gold medal with a timing of 6.60 seconds, setting a new national indoor record, surpassing the previous record of 6.67 seconds set by V.K. Elakkiadasan in 2022; Lalu Bhoi finished second with 6.65 seconds, while Animesh Kujur was disqualified due to false starts; in the women’s 60m event, Harita Bhandra won gold with 7.32 seconds, and in the high jump, Swadhin Kumar Majhi secured first place with 2.18m, defeating Olympian Sarvesh Kushare (2.15m).

Modified UDAN Scheme Approved for 2026–2036

The Union Cabinet has approved a ₹28,850-crore modified UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) Scheme for a period of 10 years from 2026-27 to 2035-36 to enhance regional air connectivity in under-served and unserved areas; under the scheme, 100 new airports will be developed through a challenge-based approach with States, covering 120 new destinations and targeting four crore passengers, with a capital outlay of ₹12,159 crore for airport development over eight years; additionally, 200 helipads will be constructed in hilly, remote, island and aspirational regions with an allocation of ₹3,661 crore, while ₹2,577 crore is earmarked for operational support of aerodromes and heliports; the scheme also provides Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of ₹10,043 crore over 10 years to support airline operations on regional routes, and includes aircraft procurement under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, with plans to acquire HAL Dhruv helicopters for Pawan Hans and HAL Dornier aircraft for Alliance Air.

Economy News

SEBI–Google Verified Badge for Investment Apps

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) partnered with Google to introduce a ‘Verified’ badge for investment apps on the Google Play Store, aiming to curb digital financial frauds; only apps of SEBI-registered intermediaries will receive this verification mark, and it has initially been rolled out to over 600 stock broker apps with plans to extend to other intermediaries; India’s securities market has over 140 million investors and a market capitalisation nearing ₹423 trillion; the initiative comes amid rising cases of fraudulent investment apps promoted through social media and unregistered financial influencers (finfluencers); an API-based framework is already implemented to ensure that only verified intermediaries can run advertisements on Google and Meta Platforms platforms; SEBI has identified over 1.3 lakh misleading online content instances and removed dozens of fake trading apps from app stores; it will also sign an agreement with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) within a month to strengthen coordination in tackling financial fraud.

Personalities, Awards and Events

Appointment of SEBI Whole-Time Member

The Government of India appointed Kompella Venkata Ramana Murty as Whole-Time Member (WTM) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), filling a key vacancy in the board and restoring its full strength; he replaces Ananth Narayan G, whose tenure ended last year, and will serve a three-year term; Murty is a 1991-batch Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS) officer and previously served as Additional Controller General of Defence Accounts under the Ministry of Defence; he has experience in financial controls, internal audits, and compliance frameworks, and has earlier served as a part-time member of the SEBI board.

Kiran Mani Appointed OpenAI APAC Managing Director

Kiran Mani, CEO of JioStar, will join OpenAI as Managing Director for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region from June 2026; he will lead APAC regional strategy and operations and report to Jason Kwon, Chief Strategy Officer of OpenAI, and will relocate from India to Singapore; OpenAI has expanded its presence by setting up offices since April 2025 in Tokyo, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, and India; India is the second largest market globally by weekly users, while Japan and Indonesia are among the top 10 markets, and Japan is the top market outside the United States for business users of ChatGPT, with India among the top five global markets for Codex; Mani will continue as CEO of JioStar until June 2026 and previously served as Managing Director for Android and Google Play in APAC, and worked at Microsoft and IBM.

Tamil Nadu News

Tamil Nadu Leads in Smart Classrooms – UDISE 2024–25

According to the Central Government of India report under the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2024–25, Tamil Nadu ranks first in India with 82.5% of government schools equipped with smart classrooms; the report also states that 99% of schools in Tamil Nadu have internet facilities, while in 2021, only 43.5% of schools had smart classrooms; comparative data shows that smart classrooms are present in 57.1% of schools in Gujarat, 7.6% in Madhya Pradesh, 4.6% in Maharashtra, and 3.6% in Uttar Pradesh, as per the same report.

‘Theruvukalam’ App for Competitive Exams – Tamil Nadu

The Government of Tamil Nadu has introduced the ‘Theruvukalam’ mobile application as an integrated platform for information on competitive examinations for government jobs, and has directed exam agencies such as the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC), Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB), Medical Services Recruitment Board (MRB), and Uniformed Services Recruitment Board (USRB) to create district-level awareness about the app; the initiative was communicated by C. Samayamoorthy, Secretary, Human Resources Management Department; the app provides details on recruitment notifications, online applications, examination results, press releases, study materials, previous year question papers with answer keys, and free coaching classes, including videos from the Anna Institute of Management; it also includes information on examinations conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Staff Selection Commission (SSC), covering services such as IAS, IFS, IPS, and IRS, and provides real-time notifications for hall tickets, results, and important updates.

Kamarajar Port Allocates Space for Diverted Export Vehicles

Kamarajar Port Limited (KPL) has earmarked 1,00,000 sq. metres of storage space to handle diverted automobile export cargo due to geopolitical tensions in West Asia affecting Gulf-bound shipping routes; the port has planned capacity for around 7,000 vehicles, of which 5,711 vehicles have already been received and stored; additionally, space has been allocated for about 5,500 vehicles from regular export consignments to Gulf countries, which are currently facing delays; to support exporters, the port has extended the free storage period by 20 days, doubling the standard 20-day period, amid disruptions in maritime routes connecting India, West Asia, and Europe, impacting the automobile export supply chain, particularly around Chennai.