Daily Current Affairs (02/01 – Oct – 26)

Daily Current Affairs (02/01 – Oct – 26)

1. IAF’s 17 Squadron ‘Golden Arrows’ Marks 75 Years –

• The Indian Air Force’s No. 17 Squadron, known as the Golden Arrows, completed 75 years on 1 October 2026. The squadron was raised on 1 October 1951 at Air Force Station Ambala, and Flight Lieutenant D. L. Springett served as its first commanding officer.

Formation and Early Aircraft

• 17 Squadron began as a tactical reconnaissance unit in 1951. It first operated 12 American Harvard-II B aircraft and later converted to British de Havilland Vampires in 1955. The Vampire was among the early jet aircraft inducted by the Indian Air Force.

Operational History

• The squadron has served in major Indian military operations since the 1960s. Its operational record includes the 1961 Liberation of Goa, the Indo-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, the Kargil conflict of 1999, the Balakot strikes, and Operation Sindoor in May 2025.

2. ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise 2026 Begins in Subic Bay –

• The second edition of the ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise (AIME-2026) began on 28 September 2026 at Subic Bay in the Philippines. Indian Naval Ships INS Sahyadri and INS Kulish are participating with maritime forces from all ASEAN Member States.

ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise

• AIME is a bilateral and multilateral maritime exercise framework involving India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The 2026 edition is the second iteration of the exercise and is being conducted under the theme “Anchored in Trust, United at Sea.”

Participating Indian Naval Ships

• INS Sahyadri is a Shivalik-class stealth frigate of the Indian Navy. INS Kulish is a Kora-class corvette of the Indian Navy. Both ships are surface combatants used for maritime operations, surveillance, and naval training.

3. Uttarakhand Installs First Glacial Lake Early-Warning System –

• Uttarakhand began installing its first glacial lake early-warning system at Vasundhara Tal in Chamoli district on 29 September 2026. The project is being carried out by a 22-scientist team led by the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, with support from the Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, under the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority and the National GLOF Risk Mitigation Programme.

Glacial Lake Outburst Flood

• A Glacial Lake Outburst Flood, or GLOF, is a sudden release of water from a glacial lake. Such events can occur when moraine dams, ice dams, or unstable slopes fail in high-altitude Himalayan terrain.
• Vasundhara Tal is one of the glacial lakes identified as high-risk in Uttarakhand. The National Remote Sensing Centre identified 344 glacial lakes in the State in 2023, and the National Disaster Management Authority classified 13 of them as high-risk.

4. India’s Kaveri Engine Programme Reaches Milestone –

• India’s Kaveri dry engine programme reached a major development stage in September 2026 when the engine recorded a peak dry thrust of 48.5 kilonewtons during high-altitude and flight trials in Russia. The engine, also called the Kaveri Derivative Engine, is being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment in Bengaluru for the planned Ghatak stealth Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle.

Kaveri Engine Programme

• The Kaveri programme is India’s indigenous aero-engine development effort for military aviation. The dry variant is a non-afterburning turbofan engine, while the afterburning version is designed to provide higher thrust for combat aircraft applications.
• The Kaveri dry engine achieved 48.5 kN of peak dry thrust during recent trials in Russia.
• The target dry thrust for the engine is about 46 kN.
• The programme is led by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment, a laboratory under the Defence Research and Development Organisation.
• The engine is intended for the Ghatak stealth UCAV, which is India’s planned unmanned combat aerial platform.

5. India Wins First Athletics Gold at 2026 Asian Games –

• India won its first athletics gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on 29 September 2026. The gold medal came in the women’s 4x400m relay, and the Indian team finished in 3:29.69 minutes at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium.

Women’s 4x400m Relay

• The 4x400m relay is a track event in which four athletes run 400 metres each and pass a baton within designated exchange zones. The Indian quartet in this event comprised Kiran Pahal, Poovamma Machettira, Prachi, and Vithya Ramraj.

Medal Positions in the Final

• Bahrain won the silver medal with a time of 3:30.21 minutes. The People’s Republic of China won the bronze medal with a time of 3:31.02 minutes.

MCQ Quiz

Q1. The Bhima River, which was recently seen in the news, is the largest tributary of which river ?

1. a) Krishna
2. b) Narmada
3. c) Yamuna
4. d) Kaveri

Q2. India’s first steel bridge for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project has been installed in which district of Maharashtra

1. a) Palghar
2. b) Thane
3. c) Pune
4. d) Raigad

Q3. Exercise KAZIND-2026 is a joint military exercise between India and which country ?

1. a) Kyrgyzstan
2. b) Kazakhstan
3. c) Mongolia
4. d) Mongolia

Q4. Consider the following statements regarding the UNESCO Tentative List and the recent additions to it:

• Inclusion on the UNESCO Tentative List is a mandatory prerequisite before a property can be officially nominated for World Heritage status.
• Recently, five new heritage proposals were added, taking India’s total count on the Tentative List to 78.
• All five of the newly added properties are exclusively located within the state of Madhya Pradesh.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

1. a) 1 and 2 only
2. b) 2 only
3. c) 2 and 3 only
4. d) 1, 2, and 3

Explanation-

• Statement 1 is correct: According to UNESCO guidelines, a property must first be included on a State Party’s Tentative List as an inventory of potential nominations before a formal nomination dossier can be submitted for World Heritage status. A site must generally remain on the tentative list for at least a year before official nomination.
• Statement 2 is correct: Five new heritage proposals were recently added to India’s UNESCO Tentative List, raising the country’s total tally to 78 sites.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: While four of the new additions are located in Madhya Pradesh (Bagh Cave Paintings, Group of Temples of the Chambal Valley, Udaigiri Caves, and Ginnorgarh Fort), the fifth addition is a serial transnational proposal titled Sites of Satyagraha, which connects locations across both India and South Africa.

Q5. Consider the following statements regarding the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO):

• It is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945 and its foundational mandate includes building peace through intellectual and moral solidarity.
• The 1972 World Heritage Convention provides the formal framework for identifying and conserving cultural and natural heritage of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV).
• UNESCO is a principal organ of the United Nations and possesses the sole authority to legally bind member states to its cultural conventions without domestic ratification.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

1. a) 1 and 2 only
2. b) 1 and 3 only
3. c) 2 and 3 only
4. d) 1, 2, and 3

Explanation-

• Statement 1 is correct: UNESCO was founded on November 16, 1945 (with its constitution coming into force in 1946) as a specialized agency of the UN. Rooted in the aftermath of World Wars, its core philosophy is that political and economic agreements are not enough to build lasting peace—peace must be established on the intellectual and moral solidarity of humanity.
• Statement 2 is correct: The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972. It defines the kind of natural or cultural sites that can be considered for inscription on the World Heritage List due to their Outstanding Universal Value (OUV).
• Statement 3 is incorrect: UNESCO is not a principal organ of the United Nations (the six principal organs are the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, International Court of Justice, Secretariat, and Trusteeship Council). Instead, it is a specialized agency linked to the UN through the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Furthermore, UNESCO conventions (like the World Heritage Convention) do not automatically override national laws; they require ratification by individual member states, which then commit to protecting the sites within their domestic jurisdictions.