Legal Current Affairs for 18 February 2026

DNTs are communities earlier notified as “criminal tribes” by the colonial British government through various legislations, beginning with the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871.
Criminal Tribes Act was repealed in 1952, and these communities were “denotified”.
These communities were enumerated in 1911 and 1931 Census with 1931 Census being the last census with information on such communities.
Idate Commission in 2017 identified close to 1,200 DNT communities that have been assimilated into existing SCs, STs and OBCs classification and 268 other DNTs that had not been classified at all.
Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) comprehensively categorised these 268 DNTs and recommended their inclusion in SCs, STs and OBCs lists.
These communities remained largely socially, economically, educationally, and politically backward.
Government Interventions: Some schemes of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment include:
Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED): Educational support, Health Insurance Coverage, livelihood promotion, and Housing support.
Dr. Ambedkar Pre-Matric & Post-Matric Scholarship for DNTs (2014–15).
Nanaji Deshmukh Scheme of Construction of Hostels for DNT Boys and Girls (2014-15).

Location: Great Nicobar Island (southernmost island of Andaman and Nicobar Islands) including parts of Galathea Bay, Campbell Bay and Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve.
Objective: Project envisions transforming the remote outpost into a major transshipment and defence hub with integrated township, 450 MVA Gas and Solar-based power plant, dual-use civil-military airport, etc.
Implementing Agency: Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation along with the NITI Aayog.

Indian Army hosts first UN Training Program on Small Arms Control for Asia-Pacific region in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.
Program is being organised by United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and is being held under the aegis of India’s Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Defence.
About UNODA
Origin: Established in 1998 as the Department for Disarmament Affairs by UN Secretary General.
HQ: New York, USA.
Goal: Complete elimination of weapons of mass destruction especially nuclear weapons and the strict control of conventional weapons

A large hornbill with a yellow and black casque and bill perched on a tree branch, showing a black body, white underparts, and long pale tail against a leafy background.
Chhattisgarh Forest Department is establishing hornbill restaurants in Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve (in Gariband District) to protect rare Malabar Pied Hornbill.
Hornbill Restaurants are natural clusters of fruit-bearing trees (eaten by Hornbills).
About Malabar Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus)
Distribution: Endemic to the Indian subcontinent – Western Ghats moist forests, North-eastern Himalayan foothills (India & Nepal), Satpuda Hills and Sri Lanka.
Features: Black body with white underparts; Keystone seed disperser in tropical forests.
Diet: Primarily frugivorous.
IUCN Status: Near Threatened.

Type: Medium range, surface-to-air missile system which provides air defence.
Developed by: DRDOin collaboration with BEL and Bharat Dynamics Limited.
Features: Can simultaneously engage multiple aerial targets e.g. aircraft, missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Covers upto 18 km in altitude.
Multi-function fire control radar named Rajendra, which has a coverage of 80 km.
3D Central Acquisition Radar scans the airspace upto 120 km.

President of India inaugurated the centenary celebrations of the ol chiki script.
About Ol Chiki Script
Developed in 1925 by Raghunath Murmu, specifically for the Santhali language.
Transitioned Santhali from oral to written tradition.
Before Ol Chiki, Santhali was written using Roman, Bengali, Odia, Devanagari script.
About Santhali Language
Belongs to Austroasiatic language family.
Spoken in: Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and parts of Nepal & Bangladesh
Included in the Eighth Schedule via 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003.

It is a type of internal combustion engine that converts chemical energy from fuel into thermal energy.
How It Works: The process follows four main steps: intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust.
Compression: A compressor draws in air and compresses it.
Combustion: The fuel burns in presence of air and produces high temperature gas.
Power Generation: Turbine extracts power from the hot gas flow.
Exhaust: Remaining gas is removed through nozzle.

It is a biennial multilateral naval exercise hosted by the Indian Navy.
It promotes cooperation, interoperability and maritime partnership among friendly navies across the world.
History: Launched in 1995 with four navies at Port Blair, it has evolved into a premier Multilateral Exercise with partner navies across the globe.