Daily Current Affairs - 1 September 2026
Today’s Top Current Affairs for UPSC: Key national and international developments explained for Prelims and Mains, with quick revision points and practice questions.
India-Uzbekistan Ties Upgraded; Long-Term Uranium Supply in Focus
India and Uzbekistan have elevated their relationship from a Strategic Partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent on August 30, 2026. The two countries also agreed to target bilateral trade of $5 billion by 2030.
A major outcome was cooperation in uranium and critical minerals.
According to the Prime Minister's Office, Modi welcomed progress towards a long-term arrangement for the supply of uranium from Uzbekistan to India.
This is significant for India's nuclear-energy programme because uranium is used as fuel in nuclear reactors and diversifying overseas supplies can strengthen long-term energy security.
The official wording is important: the two sides noted progress in the long-term arrangement; it should not be described as a newly completed uranium-supply contract unless such an agreement is separately announced.
What Else Was Agreed?
The partnership is expanding beyond traditional diplomacy into trade and investment, defence and security, critical minerals, digital public infrastructure and UPI, AI and innovation, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, agriculture, education, tourism and space. A Foreign Ministers-led mechanism will oversee the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, while the Inter-Governmental Commission is to be elevated to ministerial level.
The visit produced agreements covering areas including geology and mineral resources, higher education, environment, tourism, Ayurveda, cultural exchanges and archaeological cooperation. India also announced a $1 million grant for afforestation in the Aral Sea region, 100 Lal Bahadur Shastri Hindi scholarships and an ICCR Sanskrit Chair in Tashkent.
A commercial agreement will also enable Indian UPI apps to scan Uzbekistan's UZQR for merchant payments.
Why Uzbekistan Matters to India
Uzbekistan is a strategically important Central Asian country and a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). For India, stronger relations support three major objectives: energy and critical-mineral security, access to Central Asia, and regional security cooperation, particularly in relation to Afghanistan and terrorism.
Connectivity, however, remains a challenge because India lacks a direct land route to Central Asia. This increases the importance of alternative connectivity initiatives such as the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and India's engagement through Iran.
Uzbekistan also occupies an unusual geographical position: it is one of the world's two doubly landlocked countries, the other being Liechtenstein.
Prelims Quick Revision
Capital of Uzbekistan: Tashkent
Region: Central Asia
India-Uzbekistan relationship: Upgraded to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2026
Trade target: Over $5 billion by 2030
Key energy development: Progress towards a long-term arrangement for uranium supply from Uzbekistan to India
Uzbekistan is a member of: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
India became a full SCO member: 2017
Uzbekistan: Doubly landlocked country
INSTC: Multimodal connectivity corridor linking India towards Iran, the Caspian region, Russia and Europe
Aral Sea: Major environmental crisis in Central Asia; India announced a $1 million afforestation grant for the region.
Trump Renames Lake Ontario as ‘Lake America’: Can the US Change the Name of a Shared Lake?
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 27, 2026, directing the US federal government to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America.”
The order directs the US Secretary of the Interior and the US Board on Geographic Names to update the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and federal maps and documents.
However, this does not internationally rename Lake Ontario.
The US decision governs American federal nomenclature; Canada is not required to adopt it.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected the change and said Canada would continue to call it Lake Ontario.
This distinction is the most important UPSC takeaway: a country can determine names used in its own official maps and government documents, but it cannot compel another sovereign state—or the international community—to use that name for a shared geographical feature.
What is Lake Ontario?
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America:
Superior → Michigan → Huron → Erie → Ontario
Lake Ontario lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of New York. It is the easternmost of the Great Lakes and forms part of the wider Great Lakes–St. Lawrence waterway connecting the North American interior with the Atlantic Ocean.
Unlike the other four Great Lakes, Lake Michigan lies entirely within the United States. The other four are shared by the US and Canada.
Can a Country Unilaterally Rename a Shared Water Body?
It can change the name used domestically, but that does not automatically create an internationally binding geographical name.
There is no single world authority with the power to impose one name for every disputed or shared geographical feature.
International bodies can encourage standardisation of geographical names, but naming disputes often involve history, language, indigenous heritage, sovereignty and geopolitics.
The Lake Ontario case therefore illustrates the difference between:
Domestic official nomenclature and internationally accepted geographical usage.
The same issue arose after Trump's January 2025 executive order directing US federal agencies to use “Gulf of America” for the Gulf of Mexico.
Why Has the Issue Become Politically Significant?
The renaming comes amid heightened US-Canada trade tensions. Canada recently announced retaliatory tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of annual US imports following new American duties.
The dispute demonstrates how geographical names can become instruments of political signalling and nationalism, even when the physical geography and international boundaries remain unchanged.
It also has a digital dimension. Following the US government's GNIS change, Google Maps began displaying “Lake America” for US users, while Canadian users continue to see Lake Ontario; users elsewhere may see both names.
Prelims Quick Revision
Lake Ontario: One of North America's five Great Lakes.
Great Lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario.
Lake Ontario borders: Canada and the United States.
US state bordering Lake Ontario: New York.
Canadian province bordering it: Ontario.
Easternmost Great Lake: Lake Ontario.
Lake Michigan: The only Great Lake located entirely within the United States.
Great Lakes outlet: Connected towards the Atlantic through the St. Lawrence River/Seaway system.
“Lake America”: US federal designation ordered in August 2026; it does not compel Canada or other countries to adopt the name.
Possible Mains Question
“Disputes over the naming of shared geographical features demonstrate how geography can become an instrument of diplomacy and political signalling.” Discuss with suitable examples.
RBI and SEBI Tighten Cybersecurity Rules for India’s Financial Sector
India's financial regulators are strengthening cyber-defences as banks, stock exchanges and other financial institutions face increasingly sophisticated digital threats.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) are focusing not only on preventing cyberattacks but also on ensuring that critical financial systems can withstand an attack, recover quickly and continue operating.
A major recent step came from SEBI, which issued its IT Resilience Index (ITRI) framework for Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs) on August 24, 2026.
MIIs include critical institutions such as stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories. SEBI had first released the proposal for consultation in March 2026.
What is the IT Resilience Index?
The IT Resilience Index (ITRI) is designed to quantitatively assess the robustness of critical IT systems operated by MIIs.
It covers parameters such as availability, security, integrity, governance, reliability and monitoring, business continuity, scalability, and modularity and flexibility. The idea is to turn cyber and technological resilience into a measurable indicator so that weaknesses can be detected and corrected systematically.
SEBI has also aligned its Cyber Incident Reporting Portal with the standardised Format for Incident Reporting Exchange (FIRE). This allows cyber incidents to be reported through their lifecycle—from initial reporting and intermediate updates to final closure.
Why is AI Increasing the Cybersecurity Challenge?
Artificial intelligence can improve fraud-detection systems, but it can also strengthen the capabilities of criminals.
AI-enabled threats can include deepfake voices and videos, sophisticated phishing, impersonation and automated social-engineering attacks. In the financial sector, such attacks can target customers as well as the underlying systems of banks, exchanges and other institutions.
This is why regulators are increasingly moving from traditional cybersecurity towards cyber resilience.
Cybersecurity seeks to prevent and detect attacks.
Cyber resilience asks an additional question: If an attack succeeds, can the financial institution continue providing critical services and recover quickly?
What is a Financial ‘Kill Switch’?
A proposed kill-switch mechanism would allow a customer facing suspected fraud to rapidly block or suspend financial transactions across relevant channels.
The concept is similar to an emergency brake: instead of separately trying to stop individual transactions after fraud begins, the customer could activate a mechanism designed to prevent further unauthorised movement of funds.
For UPSC, treat the kill switch as an emerging/proposed regulatory mechanism, not as a universally operational facility across India's financial system.
What is I4C?
The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs as the nodal mechanism for coordinating India's response to cybercrime. It became an attached office of the MHA on July 1, 2024.
Its components include the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit, National Cybercrime Training Centre and platforms supporting cybercrime investigation and research.
For financial cyber fraud, citizens can call 1930 or report cybercrime through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal. According to the MHA, the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System had helped save more than ₹8,690 crore across over 24.65 lakh complaints up to January 31, 2026.
Prelims Quick Revision
RBI: Regulator and supervisor of banks and specified financial institutions; India's central bank.
SEBI: Regulator of India's securities market.
ITRI: IT Resilience Index.
ITRI introduced by: SEBI.
ITRI applies to: Market Infrastructure Institutions such as stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories.
FIRE: Format for Incident Reporting Exchange; SEBI aligned its cyber-incident reporting system with it in August 2026.
I4C: Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre.
I4C comes under: Ministry of Home Affairs.
Cybercrime helpline: 1930 for financial cyber fraud.
National Cybercrime Reporting Portal: Used for reporting cybercrime.
Kill switch: Proposed emergency mechanism intended to rapidly stop financial transactions when fraud is suspected.
Possible Mains Question
“As India's financial system becomes increasingly digital, cyber resilience is as important as cyberattack prevention.” Discuss the role of financial regulators and institutional mechanisms in strengthening India's financial cybersecurity.
Nepal Flash Floods Renew Warning Over GLOF Risks in the Himalayas
The devastating August 26, 2026 flash flood in Nepal's Rasuwa district has again highlighted the growing disaster risks across the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region. Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed that the flood struck the Bhote Koshi River and caused severe damage across Rasuwa and downstream districts including Nuwakot, Dhading and Gorkha.
Importantly, because the precise chain of events is still being investigated, it is safer not to state conclusively that this was a GLOF triggered by a 4.4-magnitude earthquake. ICIMOD currently describes it as a major flash flood carrying large volumes of water, sediment and boulders through the Bhote Koshi-Trishuli river system, while information about the event continues to develop.
What is a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF)?
A GLOF occurs when water stored in a glacial lake is suddenly released after failure of the natural barrier containing it.
As glaciers retreat, meltwater can accumulate behind unstable deposits of rock and sediment called moraines. Failure may be triggered by factors such as an avalanche, landslide, intense rainfall, ice fall or other disturbances.
The sudden release can send a destructive mixture of:
Water + sediment + rocks + debris
through narrow mountain valleys at high speed.
Why Are the Himalayas Particularly Vulnerable?
The Himalayas are young, geologically active mountains with steep slopes, fragile terrain and high seismicity. Climate change adds another layer of risk by altering glaciers, snow and permafrost and contributing to the formation and expansion of some glacial lakes.
At the same time, Himalayan valleys increasingly contain roads, bridges, hydropower projects, hotels, settlements and tourism infrastructure. This means a natural hazard can become a much larger disaster when people and infrastructure are concentrated along vulnerable river corridors.
The October 2023 South Lhonak GLOF in Sikkim demonstrated this risk dramatically. The event caused major destruction along the Teesta River and damaged the Teesta-III hydropower project.
Hydropower and the Himalayan Challenge
Hydropower is important for clean electricity and economic development, particularly for Himalayan states and countries such as Nepal and Bhutan.
But projects located in narrow mountain valleys can face compound hazards from GLOFs, landslides, earthquakes, extreme rainfall and sediment flows.
The solution is therefore not simply to reject Himalayan hydropower. Projects need stronger hazard mapping, cumulative environmental assessment, dam-safety planning, early-warning systems and climate-resilient design.
Why Transboundary Cooperation Matters
Himalayan disasters do not respect political borders. Rivers originating in Tibet and the Himalayan region flow through countries including China, Nepal, Bhutan, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
A flood or glacial-lake failure upstream can therefore create consequences far downstream.
The 2026 Rasuwa event itself affected the Nepal-China border region, prompting calls from Himalayan policymakers for stronger regional cooperation on climate risks.
Countries therefore need greater cooperation in satellite monitoring, hydrological data sharing, glacial-lake assessment, forecasting and cross-border early-warning systems.
India has also been strengthening GLOF preparedness. Government measures include identifying high-risk glacial lakes, scientific expeditions, automatic weather stations, early-warning systems and community evacuation protocols.
Prelims Quick Revision
GLOF: Glacial Lake Outburst Flood.
It involves the sudden release of water from a glacial lake.
Moraine: Rock and sediment transported/deposited by a glacier; moraine material can form natural dams around glacial lakes.
South Lhonak Lake: Located in Sikkim; associated with the destructive October 2023 GLOF.
Teesta River: Important transboundary river flowing through the eastern Himalayan region.
Bhote Koshi-Trishuli system: Severely affected during the August 2026 Nepal flash flood.
Major Himalayan river systems to locate: Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra.
GLOF risk reduction includes remote sensing, lake monitoring, early-warning systems, hazard mapping and community evacuation planning.
Map work: Locate Rasuwa, Nepal; Tibet/Xizang; Sikkim; Teesta River; and the Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra river systems.
Possible Mains Question
“Climate change is transforming glacial hazards into a transboundary disaster-management challenge in the Himalayan region.” Discuss the causes of GLOFs and the measures required to improve Himalayan resilience.
India Moves Closer to Polymer Banknotes: What Are Plastic Currency Notes?
India has moved a step closer to potentially introducing polymer banknotes, with Indian and foreign companies bidding to supply specialised polymer substrate for printing Indian currency notes.
This is not yet a nationwide rollout of plastic currency.
The official position at this stage is that Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL) invited a global Expression of Interest (EOI) for manufacturing and supplying opacified polymer substrate sheets with security features suitable for Indian banknotes.
The EOI opened on July 17 and closed on August 18, 2026.
BRBNMPL is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and operates banknote printing presses at Mysuru in Karnataka and Salboni in West Bengal.
What Are Polymer Banknotes?
Unlike conventional banknotes made using specialised paper substrates, polymer notes use a plastic-based substrate on which security and printing features are incorporated.
Polymer notes can potentially offer advantages such as greater durability, resistance to moisture and dirt, and sophisticated anti-counterfeiting features. Their actual suitability for India, however, depends on factors including security, cost, climatic performance and the complete lifecycle of the notes.
BRBNMPL has indicated an approximate requirement of 68,000 reams of polymer substrate, with 500 sheets in each ream.
Samples submitted during the process are expected to undergo testing under different climatic conditions before eligible suppliers move to the final tender stage.
Why the Animal Tallow and Security Conditions?
According to the tender-related reporting, bidders have been required to certify that polymer substrate supplied to BRBNMPL will not contain animal tallow or its DNA.
The procurement process also contains national-security safeguards.
Bidders have reportedly been required to sign an integrity pact, confidentiality agreement and no-agent undertaking, along with provisions intended to firewall their Indian operations from operations they may have in China and Pakistan.
These requirements underline a broader point: currency is part of a country's critical sovereign infrastructure.
The integrity of banknote materials, security features and supply chains therefore has implications beyond ordinary commercial procurement.
Prelims Quick Revision
Polymer banknotes: Currency notes printed on a polymer rather than conventional banknote-paper substrate.
BRBNMPL: Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited.
BRBNMPL is: A wholly owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India.
Its banknote presses: Mysuru in Karnataka and Salboni in West Bengal.
2026 development: BRBNMPL issued a global EOI for polymer substrate sheets with security features for Indian banknotes.
Indicative requirement: Around 68,000 reams, with 500 sheets per ream.
Current status: Procurement/testing stage — polymer notes have not yet been introduced for general circulation on the basis of this EOI.
Key advantages: Potentially greater durability, moisture resistance and enhanced security features.
Possible Mains Question
“The introduction of polymer banknotes involves considerations extending beyond durability to currency security, supply-chain resilience and public trust.” Discuss.
Rising Heat Stress Puts India’s Children and Elderly at Growing Risk
Two recent studies have highlighted how climate change-driven heat stress is disproportionately affecting children and older adults, making age-specific heat adaptation increasingly important for India.
The material you shared notes that these groups face different physiological vulnerabilities, meaning generic heatwave warnings may not provide adequate protection.
A 2026 study led by Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) found that around 145 million Indian children aged 0–9 — 61% of this age group — already experience at least one additional month of heat stress each year because of human-induced climate change. Globally, the figure is estimated at up to 560 million children.
Another study published in The Lancet Planetary Health examined age-specific heat tolerance.
It projects that at 3°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels, more than 80% of India's older adults could experience at least 180 hours of intolerable heat annually.
Why Are Children and the Elderly More Vulnerable?
Young children are less efficient at regulating body temperature: their bodies can heat up faster, sweating is less effective, and they depend heavily on adults for hydration, rest and protection. Extreme heat can contribute to dehydration, heat exhaustion and heatstroke, while prolonged exposure can also disrupt everyday activities and learning.
Older adults face a different physiological problem.
Ageing can reduce sweating and alter cardiovascular responses to heat, making it harder for the body to dissipate excess heat.
The Lancet study found that using age-specific heat-tolerance limits substantially increases estimates of the population potentially exposed to dangerous heat.
What is Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature?
An important concept here is Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT). Unlike ordinary air temperature, WBGT is a heat-stress indicator that accounts for environmental factors affecting the body's ability to cool itself.
The VUB research defined a humid heat-stress day as one with a WBGT in the shade above 28°C, a level at which measures such as reduced physical activity and structured rest are recommended.
This should not be confused with wet-bulb temperature, which is a different metric primarily reflecting the combined effects of temperature and humidity. Your source discusses the wet-bulb concept separately.
Why Heat Action Plans Need to Change
India's response cannot rely only on issuing a general heatwave alert. Heat-health planning increasingly needs to identify who is vulnerable, where they live and whether they have access to cooling, drinking water, reliable electricity and healthcare.
Measures can include targeted alerts for older adults and people living alone, changes in school and outdoor-work timings, shaded public spaces, drinking-water access, cooling centres, heat-resilient housing and stronger local health surveillance.
This is both an adaptation and mitigation challenge: adaptation can reduce immediate deaths and illnesses, while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions is necessary to limit the long-term increase in extreme heat exposure.
Prelims Quick Revision
Heat stress: Physiological strain that occurs when the body struggles to dissipate excess heat.
WBGT: Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature; a heat-stress indicator incorporating multiple environmental factors.
In the VUB study, WBGT above 28°C in shade was used to identify humid heat-stress days.
Around 145 million Indian children aged 0–9 currently experience at least one additional month of heat stress annually attributable to human-induced climate change.
At 3°C global warming, more than 80% of India's older adults could experience at least 180 hours of intolerable heat annually, according to the Lancet Planetary Health study.
Humid heat can be especially dangerous because high humidity reduces the effectiveness of evaporative cooling through sweating.
Heatwave, wet-bulb temperature and WBGT are related but not identical concepts.
Heat adaptation includes early warnings, cooling access, heat-health action plans, resilient buildings, adequate water and targeted protection of vulnerable populations.
Possible Mains Question
“Climate change is transforming extreme heat from a seasonal weather event into a major public-health and social-equity challenge in India.” Discuss with particular reference to children and the elderly.
Typhoid Control in India: Why Vaccination Matters in the Fight Against Antibiotic Resistance
Typhoid remains an important public-health challenge because it is both vaccine-preventable and increasingly complicated by antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The disease is caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi and spreads mainly through food or water contaminated with faecal matter. WHO estimates that typhoid causes about 9 million illnesses and 1.1 lakh deaths globally each year.
A major concern is the frequent use of antibiotics for suspected typhoid without reliable confirmation. Symptoms such as prolonged fever, headache, fatigue and abdominal problems can overlap with other infections. Inappropriate or unnecessary antibiotic use can accelerate antimicrobial resistance, making future infections more difficult and expensive to treat.
Why Typhoid Conjugate Vaccines Matter
The Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) contains the Vi capsular polysaccharide antigen of Salmonella Typhi linked to a carrier protein. This conjugation produces a stronger immune response, including in young children.
WHO recommends TCV as the preferred typhoid vaccine for routine programmatic use because of its improved immune response, suitability for younger children and longer-lasting protection compared with older typhoid vaccines. WHO particularly prioritises its introduction in countries with a high typhoid burden or high levels of antimicrobial-resistant S. Typhi.
India also has significant vaccine-manufacturing capacity. Typbar-TCV, manufactured by India's Bharat Biotech, became the first typhoid conjugate vaccine to receive WHO prequalification in December 2017. Another Indian vaccine, TYPHIBEV, manufactured by Biological E, received WHO prequalification in 2020.
This makes vaccination relevant not only to disease prevention but also to AMR control: fewer typhoid infections can mean fewer antibiotic treatments and therefore less selection pressure for antibiotic-resistant strains. WHO explicitly identifies reduced antibiotic use and slowing resistance as potential benefits of widespread TCV use.
Vaccination Alone Is Not Enough
Typhoid control requires an integrated prevention + diagnosis + treatment strategy.
Vaccination cannot substitute for safe drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and food safety. Better laboratory diagnosis is also important because indiscriminate treatment of undiagnosed fever with broad-spectrum antibiotics can contribute to AMR.
WHO therefore recommends that typhoid vaccination programmes operate alongside improvements in water quality, sanitation, health education, diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
Prelims Quick Revision
Typhoid is caused by: Salmonella Typhi — a bacterium, not a virus.
Major route of transmission: Contaminated food and water.
TCV: Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine.
TCV uses the Vi capsular polysaccharide antigen conjugated to a carrier protein.
WHO recommends TCV as the preferred vaccine for routine programmatic use against typhoid.
Typbar-TCV: Manufactured by Bharat Biotech; became the first WHO-prequalified TCV in December 2017.
TYPHIBEV: Manufactured by Biological E; WHO-prequalified in 2020.
Vaccination can indirectly help combat antimicrobial resistance by reducing infections and consequently reducing the need for antibiotics.
Typhoid prevention also requires WASH — Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.
Possible Mains Question
“Vaccination can be an important tool not only for preventing infectious diseases but also for combating antimicrobial resistance.” Discuss with reference to typhoid control in India.
NASA Launches Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to Study Dark Energy and Exoplanets
NASA successfully launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on August 30, 2026, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The observatory is now travelling roughly 1 million miles (1.6 million km) from Earth toward the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2), where it will operate in the same broad region of space as the James Webb Space Telescope.
Roman is expected to take about three months to reach and complete commissioning around L2.
Its primary science goals include investigating dark energy, dark matter and exoplanets, while its large surveys will also contribute to research on galaxies, black holes and the evolution of the universe.
What Makes the Roman Space Telescope Special?
Roman combines infrared observations with an exceptionally wide field of view. Its Wide Field Instrument can survey large regions of the sky far more rapidly than telescopes designed primarily for narrow, highly detailed observations.
NASA expects Roman's surveys to map billions of galaxies and potentially discover around 100,000 exoplanets, creating a large astronomical dataset for scientists.
Roman and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are therefore complementary rather than competitors: Roman is particularly suited to wide-area surveys, while Webb can make highly detailed observations of selected targets.
What is Lagrange Point L2?
Roman is heading towards Sun-Earth L2, located roughly 1 million miles from Earth.
A Lagrange point is a region where the gravitational effects of two large bodies, together with the orbital motion of a spacecraft, allow it to maintain a relatively stable configuration with respect to those bodies.
L2 is useful for astronomy because it provides an advantageous environment for maintaining a stable observatory and obtaining a largely unobstructed view of space. Roman will orbit around L2 rather than simply remain motionless at the point.
Why is it Named Nancy Grace Roman?
The telescope honours Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief astronomer. She played an important role in establishing NASA's programme of space-based astronomical observatories and is widely associated with the development of the scientific case that eventually led to the Hubble Space Telescope.
Roman is planned as an approximately five-year mission, with a goal of operating for as long as 10 years.
Prelims Quick Revision
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: NASA space observatory launched on August 30, 2026.
Launch vehicle: SpaceX Falcon Heavy.
Launch site: Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
Destination: Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2).
Distance of L2 from Earth: Roughly 1.6 million km (1 million miles).
Major scientific targets: Dark energy, dark matter, exoplanets and large-scale cosmic structure.
Primary instrument: Wide Field Instrument; Roman also carries a technology-demonstration Coronagraph Instrument for advanced exoplanet-observation techniques.
Expected exoplanet discoveries: Roughly 100,000, according to NASA projections.
Named after: Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief astronomer.
JWST and Roman: Both operate around Sun-Earth L2, but Roman is especially designed for wide-field surveys.
Possible Mains Question
How can next-generation space observatories such as the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope improve our understanding of dark energy, dark matter and planetary systems beyond the Solar System? Discuss.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What are the important UPSC current affairs for 1 September 2026?
Answer. Important topics include India-Uzbekistan relations and uranium cooperation, the Lake Ontario naming controversy, financial-sector cybersecurity, Himalayan flood and GLOF risks, polymer banknotes, typhoid vaccination and antimicrobial resistance, NASA's Roman Space Telescope, and rising heat stress among children and the elderly.
Q. Why is India-Uzbekistan uranium cooperation important?
Answer. Uzbekistan is an important Central Asian partner for India. Progress towards a long-term uranium supply arrangement can support India's energy security and diversification of nuclear-fuel supplies.
Q. What is a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF)?
Answer. A GLOF is the sudden release of water from a glacial lake following the failure of the natural barrier containing it. Such floods can carry large quantities of water, sediment and debris downstream.
Q. What is SEBI's IT Resilience Index?
Answer. The IT Resilience Index is a framework designed to assess the technological and cyber resilience of critical Market Infrastructure Institutions such as stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories.
Q. What is the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope?
Answer. It is a NASA space observatory launched in August 2026 to study subjects including dark energy, dark matter and exoplanets through wide-field astronomical surveys.
Q. How should UPSC aspirants use Daily Current Affairs?
Answer. Aspirants should focus on why an issue is in the news, understand the underlying concept, revise important factual information for Prelims and connect major developments with broader themes that can be used in Mains answers.
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