Current Affairs 29 January 2026
India’s Data Privacy Imperative
- India is the world’s 3rd-largest digitalised economy.
- India’s expanding Digital Footprint:
- Aadhar Cards (~143 crore), DigiLocker Signups (~14 crore), UPI Transactions (~28 Lakh crore), Broadband Subscribers (~101 crore) .
- Budget Allocation: ₹782 crore (2025–26) for cybersecurity.
The central government has assured that the new UGC guidelines will not be misused.
- Background and Objective
- UGC’s new regulations aim to eliminate discrimination in higher education on the grounds of caste, religion, gender, race, place of birth, or disability, especially against SCs, STs, OBCs, EWS and Persons with Disabilities.
- The regulations are in line with the National Education Policy 2020 and apply to all universities, colleges and deemed universities in India.
- “Caste-based discrimination’’ has been defined as “discrimination only on the basis of caste or tribe against the members of the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward classes”.
Sonic boom
- A sonic boom is the noise created by an aircraft or some other object when it surpasses the speed of sound.
- This rapid movement creates shock waves that manifest as a loud, booming noise.
- Causes:
- Mostly associated with aircraft
- Natural phenomena:volcanic eruptions, meteor showers & earthquakes
Sea of Japan (also known as the East Sea.)
- Location: Western Pacific Ocean.
- It is connected with the East China Sea in the South via Tsushima and Korea straits and with the Okhotsk Sea in the north by the La Perouse and Tatar straits.
- In the East, it is connected with the Inland Sea of Japan via the Kanmon Strait and the Pacific Ocean by the Tsugaru Strait.
- Boundaries
- East: Japan & Sakhalin Island
- West: Russia and the Korean Peninsula
- Shape: Almost elliptical
Nipah Virus
- Nature: Zoonotic virus (spreads from animals to humans).
- Natural reservoir: Fruit bats also known as flying foxes.
- Transmission
- Animal to human: Direct contact with infected bats or pigs or consumption of raw date palm sap or fruit contaminated by bats.
- Human to human: Close contact with body fluids of infected persons
- First identified: 1999 outbreak in Malaysia and Singapore (from Bats to Pigs to Humans)
- Incubation period: 4–14 days
- Early symptoms: Fever, Headache, Cough, Sore throat and difficulty in breathing.
Gig Workers’ Welfare Board
- Constituted under the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare Development) Act, 2025.
- The Labour Minister is the ex officio Chairperson of the Board.
- It includes representatives of gig workers’ unions and aggregator platforms.
- Mandates registration of aggregators and gig workers with the issuance of unique IDs.
- It will facilitate the State government’s move to implement welfare measures for gig workers through a dedicated statutory body, with mandatory registration of both aggregator platforms and gig workers.
Euratom
- EURATOM (European Atomic Energy Community) was established by the Treaty of Rome, 1957.
- Objective: Promote peaceful use of nuclear energy, research cooperation and dissemination of technical knowledge.
- Prevents diversion of civil nuclear material for military use.
- India and the EU signed an R&D agreement on peaceful uses of nuclear energy with EURATOM in July 2020, and India has been an associate member of CERN since 2017.
Paris Agreement
- Background: Adopted at UNFCCC COP21, Paris in 2015 and entered into force in 2016.
- Recognises climate change as a global emergency requiring international cooperation.
- Nature: Legally binding international treaty.
- Parties: 195 (194 countries + European Union). India is a member.
- Core Objectives:
- Hold global temperature rise well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
- Pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C, acknowledging reduced climate risks.