Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 8th Aug 2026

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation:

The Department of Posts, Kerala Circle, released the permanent pictorial cancellation (PPC) and premium special cover to commemorate the religious, cultural, historical, and architectural significance of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple recently.

• Permanent Pictorial Cancellation (PPC) is a postmark, which shows a replica/photo/design or a picture highlighting a tourist, religious, historical, or an important place or a living/non-living thing.
• PPCs give wide publicity to many places of historical, cultural, and tourist interest.
• It is one of the accepted methods of cancellation at post offices.
• They are provided at the post offices, which are located near such significant places.
• In PPC, the replica/photo/design or a picture is used as the cancellation seal.
• However, the regular features of the cancellation, the zip code, and date will be included in the seal.
• Unlike an ordinary cancellation used to cancel postage stamps on a particular day, a PPC is available for use on a permanent basis at a designated post office.
• The sender can have his mail sealed pictorially by postal staff by placing an oral request, provided a proper number of stamps are affixed on the mail.
• The pictorial cancellation can also be imprinted on postcards and inland letters. Once the pictorial cancellation is made, no normal cancellation is needed.
• It is of particular interest to philatelists (stamp collectors) because it provides a distinctive and lasting postal marking associated with a specific subject or location.
• Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala.
• The name of the city of Thiruvananthapuram in Malayalam translates to “The City of Lord Ananta, ”referring to the deity of Padmanabhaswamy Temple.
• The earliest recorded mention of the temple is from the 8th or 9th century CE, although the temple is likely older.
• The temple was built and rebuilt over the centuries, most recently by Martanda Varma, king of Travancore, who in 1750 donated the kingdom to the deity.
• It is a blend of Kerala and Dravidian styles of architecture.
• The idol of Vishnu is in the Anantha shayanam posture, the eternal yogic rest posture on his serpent Adisheshan.
• It has a seven-tier-high gopuram, which is decorated with delicate designs and carvings.
• Along with exquisite and intricate works on stone and bronze, the interior of the temple is adorned by exquisite paintings and murals, most of which are life-sized depictions of Lord Vishnu in the reclining posture, Lord Ganapati, Gaja Lakshmi, and Narasimha Swamy (half-lion, half-man incarnation of Lord Vishnu).
• The flag post of the temple (dhwaja stamba) is covered with gold-plated copper sheets and is about 80 ft high.
• The temple has around 3 million palm leaf manuscripts dating back to the 14th century
• Known as Mathilakam records, they contain the administrative and financial details of the temple town and Travancore kingdom spread over six centuries.
• In 2011 the temple was the subject of international news when an exploration of its vaults revealed a wealth of jewels, precious metals, and other treasures.
• It is also widely believed to be the world’s richest temple.

Betwa River:

In Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, the water level of the Betwa River has risen rapidly following continuous rainfall, increasing concerns in areas along the river.

• Betwa River is a significant river in central and northern India.
• It is an important right-bank tributary of the Yamuna River.
• It originates from Jhirri village in Raisen District, near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
• It begins in the Vindhya Hills.
• It flows generally northeast through Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh states and empties into the Yamuna River near Hamirpur town in Uttar Pradesh.
• Nearly half of its course, which is not navigable, runs over the Malwa Plateau before it breaks into the upland of Bundelkhand.
• The river flows in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
• In the active monsoon season, the Betwa River discharges exceptionally high levels, while in the summer; it discharges extremely low levels
• The Jamni and Dhasan rivers are its major tributaries.
• The Betwa is dammed at Dukwan and Deogarh for irrigation and water management.
• It has been mentioned in the Mahabharata and once supported the Chedi Kingdom, whose capital Suktimati stood on its banks.
• It is part of the Ken-Betwa Link Project, a major interlinking initiative designed to transfer surplus water from the Ken River to the Betwa River for irrigation and drinking purposes.
• The Indian Navy named one of its frigates INS Betwa in honour of the river.
• The historical little town of Orchha is famous for its architectural glory and graceful Betwa River.
• The town is landlocked and primarily fed by the Betwa River.
• Orchha Wildlife Sanctuary lies within the area through which the Betwa River flows.

Merchant Discount Rate:

The Govt recently said the proposed merchant discount rate (MDR) for UPI transactions will be nominal and apply only to a limited set of merchants for transactions above a threshold.

• Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) is the fee charged to a merchant for accepting a digital payment.
• When a customer pays a business digitally, multiple parties may be involved in completing that transaction.
• Depending on the payment mode, these may include the merchant, payment gateway or payment aggregator, acquiring bank, issuing bank, card network or payment network, and other payment infrastructure participants.
• MDR is part of the commercial structure that supports this payment acceptance chain.
• For a merchant, MDR is best understood as a cost of accepting a particular type of payment.
• When a customer makes a payment, the merchant usually receives the transaction amount after deduction of MDR.
• The MDR fees cover a variety of costs, including:
  • Payment processor fee: These fees are charged by payment processors (companies that handle transactions between merchants and banks like Razorpay) for their services.
  • Interchange fee: These are fees charged by card issuers (banks) to merchants for processing transactions.
  • Assessment fee: These are fees charged by card networks (like Visa, RuPay and Mastercard) to merchants for using their payment processing services.
  • Markup fee: These are fees that are divided among the different entities involved in the transaction.
  • Additional fees: Some payment processors may charge additional fees for services like fraud prevention, chargeback handling, and customer support.
• MDR is not a single fixed rate that applies to every business or every payment.
• It may apply differently across cards, net banking, wallets, UPI, EMI, BNPL, QR, and other payment modes, depending on the provider and the applicable arrangement.
• The MDR typically comes in the form of a percentage of the transaction amount. It is typically between 1% and 3%.
• Merchants must consider these fees as part of managing their business costs and setting their prices.
• MDR charges are automatically deducted from the merchant’s account at the time of settling the transaction batch.
• MDR on UPI:
  • When UPI was launched in 2016, MDR was applicable.
  • But in January 2020, the government removed MDR on UPI and RuPay debit cards to push mass adoption of digital payments.
  • But zero MDR also meant banks, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and fintech startups got nothing from the transaction.
  • The government has compensated the industry through subsidies.
• Recent Changes Introduced in the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026:
  • It empowers the government to levy an MDR on select electronic payment modes, with a potential MDR of 0.25 percent to 0.4 percent on business-directed UPI transactions.
  • The finance ministry said consumers will face no transaction charges and that all person-to-person (P2P) transfers will continue to be free.
  • The government says it will apply only to a limited set of merchant transactions above a certain value threshold, at a nominal rate, which will be far lower than existing debit or credit card MDRs.
  • Small merchants and person-to-merchant payments below that threshold are expected to remain free, to protect the digital-payments push among small businesses.

Kalaburagi Fort:

The MP for Kalaburagi recently met Union Culture Minister and submitted a letter seeking urgent approval for the proposed ₹20 crore conservation and rejuvenation project for the historic Kalaburagi fort.

• Kalaburagi Fort, also known as Gulbarga Fort, is a historic fort located in Kalaburagi (Gulbarga), Karnataka.
• It was initially constructed by Raja Gulchand, a feudatory of the Kakatiya dynasty of Warangal, in the 12th century.
• It was later strengthened by Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah, the ruler of the Bahmani dynasty.
• Bahmani Sultans had the longest rule in Kalaburagi between the 14th and 16th century.
• It served as the capital of the Bahmani Sultanate, one of the most powerful Muslim kingdoms in the Deccan region during the mediaeval period.
• The architecture showcases a blend of Hindu and Islamic styles, reflecting the diverse cultural influences of its builders and occupants over the centuries.
• Being positioned atop a hill, the fort provided a strategic advantage for defence.
• The fort’s structures include mosques, palaces, tombs, and other buildings, built using materials like granite and limestone.
• Notable features include massive walls, bastions, ornate gateways, and intricate carvings, showcasing the craftsmanship of the artisans of that era.
• The fort’s layout reflects its strategic importance, with a series of concentric walls and defensive structures designed to withstand sieges.
• The fort is a monumental structure highly fortified with 15 towers mounted with 26 guns; each gun located inside the fort is 8 metres (26 ft) long and is still well preserved.

Pteris madhusoodananii:

A team of Indian botanists recently discovered a rare new species of fern named Pteris madhusoodananii within the misty Kolli hills of the Eastern Ghats.

• Pteris madhusoodananii is a new species of fern.
• It was discovered within the misty Kolli hills of the Eastern Ghats in Tamil Nadu.
• It has been immediately classified as ‘Critically Endangered’ due to its extremely small habitat and the threat of human encroachment.
• While it looks similar to other ferns in the Pteris family, Pteris madhusoodananii is characterised by stiff, leathery leaves with a lustrous, deep green colour.
• Unlike its closest relatives, it features a very prominent lobe at the base of its lower segments and a unique pinna-pinnule architecture, in which its smaller leaflets are arranged along the stem.
• At a microscopic level, its spores possess a narrow, wavy-edged belt called a cingulum, a feature distinct from the smooth, wider belts found on similar species.

Philippines:

The enhanced southwest monsoon and tropical cyclones have affected more than 3.8 lakh people across eight regions in the Philippines.

• Philippines is an island country of Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean.
• It is surrounded by the South China (north and west); Philippine Sea (east); Celebes Sea (south); and by the Sulu Sea to the (southwest).
• It majorly consists of tropical and monsoonal types of climate.
• Highest Point: Mount Apo.
• Major Rivers: Cagayan River (Philippines’ longest river), Mindanao, Agusan etc.
• Major Lake: Laguna de Bay
• Volcano: Mayon Volcano, one of the most active in the country. Other volcanoes are Bulusan and Kanlaon.
• Natural resources: It mainly consists of Timber, petroleum, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt, copper
• The Philippines is the third-largest producer of geothermal energy globally, after the United States and Indonesia.

Roselle Crop:

In Odisha’s Malkangiri district, the indigenous crop Roselle is helping tribal communities adapt to climate change.Roselle crop’s scientific name is Hibiscus sabdariffa belongs to the Malvaceae family.It is locally known as Bhenda Dalhas long been cultivated by tribal communities in Odisha’s Malkangiri district.It thrives on rainfed uplands with minimal inputs and can grow on marginal land with relatively little water.It is being cultivated in warm countries particularly in Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Cuba, Central America, California, Florida, Egypt.It is valued as both food and medicine.It contains vitamin C, anthocyanins, flavonoids, polyphenols, iron, calcium and dietary fibre. The deep red colour of the flower cups comes from anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants that help protect the body against oxidative stress.