Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 28th May 2026

CLEAR Technology:

Researchers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) recently developed a novel imaging platform called Cleavable Light-Erased Antibody Reporter (CLEAR).

• Cleavable Light-Erased Antibody Reporter (CLEAR) is a novel imaging platform that could significantly improve the visualization and mapping of proteins within biological samples.
• It was developed by researchers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR).
• Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science also collaborated in demonstrating the technology in complex biological settings, particularly immune cell systems.
• CLEAR technology enables scientists to visualize a large number of proteins within the same biological sample using a single fluorescent marker, overcoming a major challenge in spatial protein mapping.
• The scientists introduced a light-cleavable probe system that allows repeated cycles of protein labelling and imaging within the same spectral window.
• After imaging a set of proteins, the fluorescent signal can be erased using a gentle pulse of 365 nm LED light, enabling researchers to label and image a new set of proteins in the same cell.
• It allows increasingly detailed protein maps to be generated across specimens ranging from single cells to complex tissue sections.
• Unlike existing multiplex imaging methods, CLEAR combines high multiplexing capability with speed, spatial resolution, and compatibility with delicate biological samples, including live cells.
• The technology has the potential to improve early disease detection, particularly in cancers and neurological disorders, while also helping researchers better understand immune responses and cellular behaviour.
• In the long term, the platform could contribute to precision medicine by enabling detailed molecular analysis that can support targeted therapies and personalized treatment approaches.

Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS):

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, and Minister of State for PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, recently joined the 150-year celebrations of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) in Kolkata.

• Founded in 1876, by Mahendra Lal Sircar, IACS is the oldest institute in India devoted to the pursuit of fundamental research in the frontier areas of basic sciences.
• Location: Kolkata.
• It became the first research institution in Asia established by Indians for the cultivation of modern scientific research.
• Over the decades, it has served as the intellectual home for several legendary Indian scientists, including:
  • Sir C.V. Raman
  • Jagadish Chandra Bose
  • Meghnad Saha
  • N. Bose
• Professor C.V. Raman worked at IACS from 1907 to 1933, and it is here that he discovered the celebrated Raman Effect, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.
• It is funded by the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, and the Government of West Bengal.
• Apart from fundamental research in the various frontier areas of physics and chemistry, IACS has ventured in a significant way, for the past few years, into the emerging multidisciplinary areas such as non-conventional energy sources, advanced and novel nanomaterials, chemical biology, and interdisciplinary sciences.

National Health Accounts (NHA) estimates for India 2022-23:

The Health Ministry recently released the National Health Accounts NHA estimates for India 2022-23.

• The NHA estimates, released annually, provide a time-series analysis of actual health expenditure incurred by the government, private sector, and other sources.
• The current estimates for 2022-23 mark the 10th edition in the series that began in 2013-14.
• It is prepared by the National Health Accounts Technical Secretariat (NHATS) under the National Health Systems Resource Centre, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, using the internationally accepted System of Health Accounts (2011) framework.
• Highlights:
  • The report indicates an increase in government expenditure on healthcare since 2013-14.
  • The report showed that government health expenditure increased from Rs 1.30 lakh crore in 2013-14 to Rs 3.85 lakh crore in 2022-23.
  • The share of government health expenditure in the country’s GDP has risen from 15 percent in 2013-14 to 1.43 percent in 2022-23. According to the new GDP series with base year 2022-23, the figure stands at 1.48 percent.
  • Similarly, government health expenditure’s share in general government expenditure has increased from 78 percent to 4.89 percent over the same period.
  • In per capita terms, government health expenditure has increased nearly 2.7 times, from 1042 to Rs. 2786 between 2013-14 and 2022-23.
  • The share of government health expenditure in total health expenditure has increased by almost 15 percentage points, from 28.6 percent in 2013-14 to 7 percent in 2022-23.
  • The increase in public spending has contributed to a substantial decline in out-of-pocket expenditure incurred by households on healthcare.
  • Out-of-pocket expenditure as a share of total health expenditure fell from2 percent in 2013-14 to 43.4 percent in 2022-23.
  • The share of Social Security Expenditure (SSE) in total health expenditure — which includes government-funded health insurance such as the AB PM-JAY, medical reimbursements to government employees, and social health insurance programmes — has increased substantially from 6 percent in 2013-14 to 9.9 percent in 2022-23.
  • The share of private health insurance in total health expenditure has also increased, from4 percent to 9.2 percent.
  • Expenditure on primary healthcare by the government more than doubled from Rs 0.5 lakh crore in 2013-14 to Rs 1.4 lakh crore in 2022-23.

Gynacantha khasiaca : Rare Dragonfly

A team of four citizen scientists recently recorded Gynacantha khasiaca, a rare dragonfly commonly known as the long-tailed duskhawker, from the Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve.

• Gynacantha khasiaca is a rare species of dragonfly, commonly known as the long-tailed duskhawker.
• It has resurfaced in the dense rainforests of Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh.
• It is the first confirmed record of the dragonfly from Arunachal Pradesh in 110 years.
• Outside India, the dragonfly has only been reported from scattered locations in Nepal, Myanmar, and Bangladesh.
• Within India, confirmed records remain sparse, with occasional sightings from Assam, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, and Maharashtra.
• The male dragonfly was first spotted rapidly patrolling the forest edge on a cloudy morning before settling into a vertical hanging posture beneath dense vegetation — behaviour typical of elusive duskhawker species.
• Globally, the species is classified as “Data Deficient” by the IUCN Red List.

Fiji : In News

A surprise announcement by the Quad to build a “model” port in Fiji recently sparked hopes that the US, Australia, India, and Japan will fund a $1.82 billion plan to relocate the nation’s main dock.

• Fiji is a country located in the South Pacific Ocean, surrounding the Koro Sea, to the northeast of New Zealand and southwest of Hawaii.
• It does not share land borders with any other country.
• The islands feature a central range of mountains, giving way to plateaus, lowlands, and coastal plains.
• Almost half of Fiji’s total area remains forested, while dry grasslands are found in western areas of the large islands.
• The capital, Suva, is on the southeast coast of the largest island, Viti Levu (“Great Fiji”).
• Viti Levu accounts for more than half of Fiji’s land area.
• It includes the country’s highest peak, Mount Tomanivi
• Fiji Islands are largely the product of volcanic action, sedimentary deposit, and formations of coral.
• The majority of Fijians are of mixed Melanesian-Polynesian ancestry, with a large South Asian minority.
• Fiji’s major languages are English, Fijian, and Hindi, and its major religions are Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam.
• Currency: Fiji dollar.
• Fiji has one of the most developed economies in the Pacific, relying heavily on its tourism and sugar industries.

Humboldtia nairiana: New Evergreen Tree Species

Researchers have discovered a new evergreen tree species from the southern Western Ghats of Kerala and have officially named it as Humboldtia nairiana.

• It is a new evergreen tree species belonging to the genus Humboldtia.
• The species identified in the riparian forests of the Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary.
• It is a medium-sized evergreen tree that grows between 5 to 8 metres in height.
• It possesses stable and distinguishing features including a unique warty, pale brown bark with a distinct creamy-white blaze; angled, glabrous branchlets.
• It has distinctly shorter, sparsely hairy, isometric stipules and appendages;
• It consists of larger flowers with comparatively long pedicels, and produces elliptic-oblong fruits with a shorter beak.
• It is strictly endemic to Kerala and is presently known only from the biodiversity-rich Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve.

Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary:

• It is located in the southern part of the Western Ghats in Kerala.
• It forms part of the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve.
• Most of the Sanctuary area is hilly and interspersed with ravines.
• The major rivers are Shendurney, Kazhuthuruthy, and Kulathupuzha, which join together to form the Kallada River.
• The vegetation primarily consists of tropical evergreen forests, semi-evergreen forests, and moist deciduous forests.

Algoza:

Rajasthan’s celebrated folk artist Taga Ram Bheel received the Padma Shri in Art for preserving and promoting the traditional music of the Thar Desert through the rare folk instrument, the Algoza.

• Algoza is a traditional pair of woodwind instruments, widely associated with Rajasthan, Punjab, Sindh, and parts of western India and Pakistan.
• It is one of India’s oldest surviving folk wind instruments.
• Its name comes from the idea of “two flutes” because it is played using two wooden pipes simultaneously.
• One flute plays the melody, the other provides a continuous drone or rhythmic base. Together, they create a hypnotic, layered sound unique to desert folk music.
• For playing the Algoza, musicians must master circular breathing (a demanding technique that allows them to blow continuously without stopping for breath).
• Sound is generated by breathing into it rapidly; the quick recapturing of breath on each beat creates a bouncing, swing rhythm.
• This creates the instrument’s signature uninterrupted flow, making performances sound seamless and meditative.

UN to Honour Two Fallen Indian Peacekeepers on International Day of UN Peacekeepers:

On International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, United Nations will honor the two Indian peacekeepers who have lost their lives while serving under the UN flag. At the same time, Indian Army officer Major Abhilasha Barak will also receive the UN award for promoting gender inclusion and empowerment during the peacekeeping operations.The United Nations will posthumously award the prestigious Dag Hammarskjold Medal to the Lance Havildar Harbhajan Singh and Naib Subedar Sujit Kumar Pradhan for their sacrifice while serving in the UN peacekeeping missions.Lance Havildar Harbhajan Singh served with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), and the Naib Subedar Sujit Kumar Pradhan was deployed with the United Nations Mission in the South Sudan (UNMISS).This medals will be presented by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the International Day of UN Peacekeepers ceremony and honoring their dedication and ultimate sacrifice in the some of the world’s most challenging conflict zones.