UPSC Daily Current Affairs| One Liners 20-06-2026

One Liners 20-06-2026

Polity & Governance

Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC)

The delegation from IPC recently participated in in the 16th International Meeting of World Pharmacopoeias (IMWP).

• It is a national coordination centre for monitoring and collecting adverse drug reaction (ADR) data across the country.

• Headquartered in – Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

• Nodal ministry – Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

• Vision – To promote the highest standards of drugs for use in human and animals.

• Role –

  • To ensure the safety, efficacy, and quality of medicines to safeguard public health.

  • To update the National Formulary of India (NFI) i.e, guidance document for healthcare professionals.

Project Super 50

Recently, Tripura Governor invocates Ambedkar’s vision at NCSC’s "Project Super 50" launch ceremony.

• Organized by – National Commission for Scheduled Castes.

• Theme – “Guide • Mentor • Empower”.

• Objectives –

  • To empower and support Scheduled Caste (SC) communities to crack the UPSC Civil Services Examination.

  • To adopt Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s mantra “Educate, Organise, Agitate” among the youth.

The SHe-Box Portal (Sexual Harassment electronic Box)

• Launched by – Ministry of Women and Child Development.

• Offers – A secure, multilingual (23 languages) space for women across all sectors to register and track complaints.

• Integrated with – Mission Shakti mobile app.

• To Register a Complaint –

  • Click "Register Your Complaint" on the site.

  • Select the employment category.

  • Fill in the detailed complaint form and submit to receive a tracking.

• Objective – To ensure the effective implementation of the PoSH Act (Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal Act, 2013).

Economy

Qadian-Beas Railway Line Project

The historic Qadian-Beas railway line project revived after nearly 100 years recently.

• Location – Punjab.

• Specifications

  • Route – Connects Qadian (Gurdaspur district) to Beas (Amritsar district).

  • Executed by – Northern Railway.

• Safety –

  • Integration with kavach (India's indigenous automatic train collision avoidance system).

  • Modern digital signalling and telecommunication networks will be fitted.

• Significance –

  • It is a strategic alternative rail corridor to the Amritsar–Pathankot section.

  • It strengthens the resilience of railway operations in northern India.

Agriculture

Kashmiri saffron

Recently a sharp decline in saffron output from Iran has resulted in the demand for Kashmiri saffron.

• It is also known as "Red Gold" or bahukam.

• Grown in – Pampore region (Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district)

• Soil profile – Karewas  (elevated alluvial lake-bed terraces rich in minerals and loamy organic material).

• Altitude – 1,500–2,000m.

• Temperature – not exceeding 35°C to 40°C.

• GI Tag – 2020

• Colour – Deep crimson-maroon-purple hue, making it the darkest natural saffron coloring globally.

• Significance – Represents a vital part of Jammu and Kashmir's agricultural heritage.

Environment

Fly ash

A recent ministerial meeting held planning on a green initiative to transport fly ash by railways.

• It is a fine, powdery byproduct generated from burning pulverized coal in thermal power plants.

• Chemically reacts with – Water and calcium hydroxide to form strong compounds.

• Captured from – Exhaust gases by electrostatic precipitators before reaching power plant chimneys.

• Composition – Silica, Alumina, and Iron oxide.

• Applications –

  • Substitute for Portland cement in concrete making.

  • Raw material for manufacturing sustainable fly ash bricks.

  • Road construction, soil stabilization, and mine backfilling.

• Environmental importance –

  • It promotes a circular economy and reduces the need for landfill disposal.

  • Unmanaged fly ash contains arsenic, lead, and cadmium and silica dust, that cause respiratory issues.

Health

Operation DRISHTI (Armed Forces Healthcare Initiative)

Jharkhand’s largest-ever mega eye surgical camp concluded recently under Operation DRISHTI.

• Launched in – 2024

• Jointly conducted by – Indian Army and Indian Air Force.

• Objective – To eliminate avoidable blindness by providing free advanced eye surgeries to underprivileged.

• Beneficiaries –

  • Ex-servicemen,

  • Serving dependents,

  • War widows (Veer Naris), and

  • Underprivileged local civilians

• Treatments provided –

  • High-end procedures like Phacoemulsification for cataracts.

  • Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS).

  • Anti-VEGF injections.

• Impact –

  • Completed 9 national editions.

  • Screening over 75,000 patients.

  • Restoring sight to more than 3,000 individuals.

Sports

Asian Senior Fencing Championships 2026

• It is recognized as the "Asia Cup" of fencing.

• Held at – Bharat Mandapam, in New Delhi.

• Participation – Over 400 athletes from 34 countries.

• Three fencing categories — Foil, epee, and sabre (both individual and team events).

• Direct qualifier for –

  • 2026 Asian Games in Japan.

  • Offered ranking points toward qualification for the LA 2028 Olympic cycle.

• Significance – First time India hosted it.

Miscellaneous

Malaria

• Malaria is mosquito-borne disease caused by parasites.

• Caused by – The Plasmodium parasite (mainly P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi).

• Transmission – Through bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes,

  • Blood transfusions or contaminated needles, etc. (No direct human-to-human transmission).

• Symptoms – Fever, fatigue, and headaches.

  • Severe cases can lead to jaundice, seizures, coma, or death.

• Higher risk – Infants, children under 5 years, pregnant women and girls, travellers and people with HIV or AIDS.

• Note – “GanLum” a antimalarial combination therapy designed to combat drug-resistant parasites (not licensed yet).

Guinness World Records (GWR) ICON for 2026

Jonathan (tortoise), has been officially named a Guinness World Records (GWR) ICON for 2026 recently.

• About Jonathan (tortoise) –

  • Seychelles giant tortoise.

  • Lives on – Island of St Helena, South Atlantic Ocean,

  • Believed to have been born around 1832 (194 years old).

• It holds two Guinness World Records titles:

  • Oldest living terrestrial animal.

  • Oldest known chelonian (a group that includes turtles and tortoises).

• Research – Jonathan's DNA and cellular makeup help to better understand his survival tactics for nearly two centuries.