26th June 2026 Current Affairs MCQ

Around 40 Su-30MKI aircraft now carry the BrahMos-A, marking a shift from proof-of-concept to a genuinely large-scale operational strike force. The Su-30MKI itself is license-built by HAL in Nashik and remains the IAF's most capable multirole fighter, with a combat range over 3,000 km. BrahMos-A travels at Mach 2.8–3.0, making it one of the fastest air-launched cruise missiles anywhere, and it lets these jets hit ground or naval targets from well outside the reach of enemy air defences. The programme isn't finished either — it's expected to eventually cover around 100 Su-30MKI aircraft, so this 40-jet mark is really a milestone, not the ceiling.

The package supports India's M777A2 Ultra-Lightweight Howitzers and AH-64E Apache attack helicopters — and importantly, it's a Foreign Military Sales sustainment deal, covering spares, maintenance, and upgrades rather than new purchases. The M777A2's real value is weight: at just under 4,200 kg, it can be helicopter-lifted into high-altitude positions in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh that heavier guns simply can't reach. India's 22 Apaches, meanwhile, have been operating in Ladakh for high-altitude anti-armour missions. Keeping both fleets combat-ready matters most precisely because of where India needs them — along a contested, high-altitude border.

AIR SUVIDHA 2.0 aligns directly with the WHO's International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005, the global rulebook for how countries should respond to public health risks at points of entry. In practice, passengers submit a digital health declaration before landing, which streams in real time to India's Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) — meaning health officials can flag a risk and act before someone even reaches customs. Think of it as a digital health checkpoint that works ahead of you, not after you've already walked through the airport. Given the ongoing Ebola outbreak in DRC and Uganda (declared a PHEIC in May 2026), the timing of this 2.0 upgrade is clearly deliberate.

CrPI (Criminal Procedure Identification) is the digital backbone of the 2022 Act, which expanded what biometric data police can legally collect — beyond fingerprints, now including iris scans, facial recognition, and behavioural measurements. It builds a centralised national database of this data, accessible across state law enforcement agencies. The other three apps serve different jobs: Abhigyan trains officers, e-Prosecution 2.0 links police chargesheets directly into the court system, and e-Forensics 2.0 speeds up digital evidence processing. All four sit under India's broader Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) umbrella.

India and Bangladesh share the Sundarbans — the world's largest mangrove forest — where Bengal Tigers move freely across the international border, effectively forming one connected ecosystem. Bangladesh's IBCA membership takes what had been informal, bilateral cooperation and gives it the weight of a multilateral conservation framework. IBCA itself was launched by PM Modi on 9 April 2023, marking Project Tiger's 50th anniversary, and now covers seven big cat species across 27 member nations — with India hosting four of those seven species itself.

An AEW&C aircraft is essentially a flying radar station — its rotating radar detects enemy aircraft, missiles, and ground threats from hundreds of kilometres away, giving pilots and ground forces a real-time picture of the entire battlespace. India's Netra system was built by DRDO's Centre for Airborne Systems in Bengaluru, mounted on an Embraer ERJ-145 jet, with an indigenous radar and mission computer. Reaching FOC (Final Operational Clearance) means it's cleared for full combat use by the IAF. This puts India alongside a very short list of nations — the USA, Russia, China, and Israel — that can independently build and operate this kind of system.

The injection responded to a liquidity deficit — banks collectively needed more cash than they had on hand, largely due to advance tax outflows, GST payments, and the government building up cash in its RBI account. In a VRR auction, banks bid for funds at varying rates, and RBI accepts bids up to a ceiling — it's routine monetary plumbing, not a crisis response. That said, it's worth reading alongside the broader economic backdrop of May-June 2026 — fuel price hikes, rupee depreciation, and forex reserve depletion — where RBI is actively working to keep credit markets functioning smoothly despite external pressure.

The ADR/National Election Watch report found 31% of sitting Rajya Sabha MPs have declared criminal cases, with 16% facing serious charges carrying five-plus years of potential imprisonment. The core structural issue: the Representation of the People Act, 1951 only disqualifies someone convicted and sentenced to two-plus years — pending cases don't trigger disqualification at all. That gap between "accused" and "convicted" is exactly where political criminalisation persists, despite Supreme Court rulings in 2018 and 2020 pushing parties to disclose and justify candidates' criminal records. Rajya Sabha's indirect election — through state assemblies rather than direct voters — may weaken the incentive for parties to screen candidates more carefully.

Singapore's role as a distribution hub for Southeast Asia means a successful sea shipment there could unlock the entire ASEAN market for Indian mangoes at commercially viable volumes. Until now, premium mangoes moved mainly by air freight — fast, but too costly to scale up export volumes. Banganapalle mangoes (also called Benishan) are GI-tagged, grown in Nandyal district, Andhra Pradesh, and prized for their fibre-free pulp and golden skin. If the cold chain holds up on this 5-tonne trial shipment, it could reshape how India exports mangoes to distant markets going forward.

Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the decades-long Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict — one of Africa's longest-running border disputes. His first term also brought major reforms: releasing political prisoners, legalising opposition parties, and appointing women to half his Cabinet. His second term, though, carries the weight of the devastating 2020-2022 Tigray War, whose 2022 peace deal ended the fighting but left rebuilding as an enormous ongoing challenge. For India, Ethiopia's relevance goes beyond this election — it's a founding Non-Aligned Movement member and a growing partner through IAFS IV.