UPSC Daily Current Affairs 5 August 2026 | UPSC CSE GS Prelims & Mains Current Affairs

Rajya Sabha Passes Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026
Lok Sabha Passes Appropriation Bill Amid Opposition Protests
Supreme Court Orders SOP Against Mule Accounts to Curb Digital Arrest Fraud
Madhya Pradesh: Pumped Storage Project Cleared Inside Panna–Ranipur Tiger Corridor
FCNR(B) Deposits: $49 Billion Inflow Fails to Repeat the 2013 Rupee Rally
Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, Tabled in Lok Sabha
Iran–Oman Talks on Reopening the Strait of Hormuz
Ebola Outbreak in Eastern DR Congo Crosses 1,700 Deaths
Race for the Next UN Secretary-General: Why the P5 Matter
Supreme Court Expands Domestic Cruelty Law (Section 498A) to Live-in Couples
Glaw Lake Becomes Arunachal Pradesh’s First Ramsar Site

1. Rajya Sabha Passes the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026

The Rajya Sabha cleared the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026 by voice vote amid opposition sloganeering, days after the Lok Sabha had already passed it. Piloted by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, the Bill amends the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 to tighten the process for delayed registrations.

Key change: Under the existing law, registering a birth or death more than a year after the event requires an order from a District Magistrate, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, or an authorised Executive Magistrate. The amendment extends this “delay window” needing magisterial approval from one year to two years, and additionally requires that registrations made more than two years after the event get a specific order from a Judicial Magistrate (First Class).

UPSC relevance: This links to GS Paper II (Statutory bodies, civil registration systems, government policies for vulnerable sections) since birth/death registration underpins access to welfare schemes, voter rolls, and the National Population Register debate.

2. Lok Sabha Passes the Appropriation (Number 3) Bill, 2026, Amid Protests

The Lok Sabha passed the Appropriation (Number 3) Bill, 2026, which deals with the government’s demand for excess grants, even as Opposition members protested inside the well of the House over alleged police action against protesting students and claims of theft of donations linked to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The House was adjourned twice during the day. Separately, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, though it was not taken up for discussion that day.

UPSC relevance: A recurring Prelims and Mains theme — know the constitutional basis of Appropriation Bills (Article 114), how they differ from the Finance Bill and Money Bill, and their passage procedure without amendment scope for the Lok Sabha in substance.

3. Supreme Court Directs States and UTs to Adopt SOP Against “Mule Accounts” in Four Weeks

Taking suo motu cognizance of the “digital arrest” fraud menace, a Supreme Court bench headed by CJI Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana, directed all states and Union Territories to formally adopt a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) within four weeks to place temporary debit holds on suspicious bank accounts used for laundering scam proceeds (“mule accounts”).

Key directions and facts:

States/UTs must notify and operationalise State Cyber Crime Coordination Centres.
The SOP must include a grievance redressal mechanism, a money-restoration module, and public awareness measures.
Registrar Generals of High Courts have been asked to sensitise courts and authorities dealing with account-freezing matters.
States/UTs must adopt the e-zero FIR mechanism in consultation with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).
As per the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), “digital arrest” complaints fell from 1,23,672 in 2024 to 58,239 in 2025, with 16,377 more up to June 2026.
Defrauded money worth ₹18.06 crore has been restored to victims in 36,290 cases so far.
The Court also asked the CBI to examine lowering the threshold for taking up cases involving an organised fraud network from the current ₹10 crore.

UPSC relevance: Directly useful for GS Paper III (cyber security, internal security architecture) and GS Paper II (judicial activism, suo motu powers, coordination between Centre, States and judiciary).

4. Madhya Pradesh: Power Project Cleared Inside the Panna–Ranipur Tiger Corridor Despite Red Flags

The Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (SC-NBWL) has recommended wildlife clearance for the 1,800 MW Panari Pumped Storage Hydropower Project, located within the Panna–Ranipur tiger corridor, despite reservations flagged by Madhya Pradesh’s own Forest Department. The project requires 411.48 hectares of forest land that falls within the corridor and the satellite core areas of Panna Tiger Reserve — a corridor that links forest patches across Panna (Madhya Pradesh) and Ranipur Tiger Reserve in Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh).

Key conditions attached to the clearance:

Construction of three 30-metre-wide wildlife overpasses across the Baghain River.
Realignment of a proposed road and relocation of muck-dumping and job facility areas away from the corridor.
The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) noted “significant implications” for habitat connectivity but said these could be reduced through mitigation measures.

UPSC relevance: A classic GS Paper III case study on the conflict between infrastructure/renewable-energy push (pumped storage is being promoted for grid balancing) and wildlife corridor conservation — useful for essay and answer-writing on “development versus environment.”

5. FCNR(B) Deposits See $49 Billion Inflow in Two Months, But Rupee Stays Muted

India received $49 billion in Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) [FCNR(B)] deposits, external commercial borrowings, and net investment in government bonds over June–July, yet the rupee barely moved — closing around 95.38/dollar, just 0.4% stronger than before the Reserve Bank of India’s swap scheme was announced. This is a sharp contrast to 2013, when a similar RBI swap window for FCNR(B) deposits announced by then-incoming Governor Raghuram Rajan helped the rupee appreciate nearly 10% in weeks.

Why the difference: Under the current scheme, dollars raised by banks through FCNR(B) deposits are swapped directly with the RBI and added to its foreign currency assets, rather than entering the open market — so they don’t directly affect the rupee’s demand-supply balance the way they did in 2013.

UPSC relevance: Core GS Paper III economics topic — exchange rate management tools, RBI’s forex intervention (spot vs forward market), capital account management, and NRI deposit schemes (FCNR(B), NRE, NRO).

6. Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, Tabled to Ease Business and Attract Global Capital

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, in the Lok Sabha, proposing tax concessions aimed at attracting foreign investment funds, cloud/infrastructure businesses, and improving predictability of India’s tax treatment for overseas players who route operations through the country.

UPSC relevance: Ties into GS Paper III themes of ease of doing business, taxation reforms, and India’s positioning to attract global capital amid supply-chain diversification.

7. Iran and Oman Near a Deal to Reopen the Strait of Hormuz

According to a New York Times report, Iran and Oman are close to an agreement to reopen shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, though the arrangement could effectively cement greater Iranian control over what was previously an open international waterway. Under the emerging plan, inbound vessels would transit a channel controlled by Iran, while outbound vessels would use a channel near Oman, with a “service fee” (not tolls) shared between the two countries to cover environmental impact, security, and staffing costs. The talks are linked to a broader 14-point plan referenced in the “Islamabad MoU.”

UPSC relevance: Important for GS Paper II (India and its neighbourhood/West Asia relations) and GS Paper III (energy security) — the Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most critical oil chokepoints, and any change in its control has direct implications for India’s crude oil imports.

8. Ebola Outbreak in Eastern DR Congo Crosses 1,700 Deaths, Fastest-Growing Surge on Record

Ebola has killed more than 1,700 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, with 3,802 cases recorded as of early August — the fastest-growing outbreak of the disease so far. The outbreak, declared on 15 May, has been linked to the Bundibugyo virus strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments yet, though clinical trials for post-exposure prophylaxis and vaccines are underway. Nearly 90% of cases are concentrated in Ituri province. Neighbouring Uganda has already declared itself free of Ebola after discharging its last patient in mid-June. The WHO is monitoring over 17,000 potential contacts.

UPSC relevance: Relevant to GS Paper III (health, epidemics, biosecurity) and GS Paper II (role of WHO, Africa CDC, international health cooperation) — a recurring theme following COVID-19 and past Ebola outbreaks.

9. Race for the Next UN Secretary-General: Why Winning Over the P5 Is Key

The UN Security Council (UNSC) held its first “straw poll” to shortlist the next UN Secretary-General (UNSG), whose five-year term begins on 1 January 2027. Although results were not officially announced, three candidates from Latin America are believed to have polled well: Rebeca Grynspan (Costa Rica, head of UNCTAD), Carolyn Birkett (Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the UN), and Rafael Grossi (Argentina, Director-General of the IAEA). Other contenders include Michelle Bachelet (Chile), Maria Espinoza (Ecuador), Macky Sall (Senegal), and Olara Otunnu (Uganda).

How the process works:

The UNSC has 15 members: five permanent (P5 — China, France, Russia, UK, US) and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the UN General Assembly.
In a straw poll, member-states mark each candidate’s slip as “encourage,” “discourage,” or leave it blank — voter identity stays confidential in early rounds.
In later rounds, the P5’s slips are colour-coded, so a “discourage” mark from a P5 member signals a likely veto.
Under Article 97 of the UN Charter, the Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council, which forwards only one name.
Since Kofi Annan (Ghana, Africa) and Ban Ki-moon (South Korea, Asia) held the post before current UNSG Antonio Guterres (Portugal), there is a strong expectation that the next chief will come from Latin America — potentially a woman, since none have held the post so far.

UPSC relevance: A must-know for GS Paper II (International organisations, UN reforms, India’s global engagement) — questions on UNSC composition, veto powers, and appointment procedures are recurring Prelims favourites.

10. Supreme Court Expands Domestic Cruelty Law to Cover Women in Live-in Relationships

In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court held that protection against domestic cruelty under criminal law — traditionally available only to “married women” under Section 498A of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code (IPC), now Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) — also extends to women in live-in relationships, provided the couple shares an “intent to marry.”

Background of the case: A man facing a Section 498A complaint from his live-in partner argued he was already married to someone else, so his relationship with the complainant was not a “valid marriage” and hence outside the law’s scope. The Karnataka High Court rejected this defence, holding that a man cannot escape liability by claiming no valid marriage existed after inducing a woman to believe otherwise. The Supreme Court, in a judgment authored by Justice Karol, upheld this reasoning through a “purposive interpretation” of the law.

Key legal reasoning:

The Court borrowed the concept of a “relationship in the nature of marriage” from the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence (DV) Act, 2005, describing it as a narrower legal subset of a general live-in relationship — marked by pooling of financial resources, shared domestic arrangements, a sexual relationship, and holding themselves out to society as spouses.
Existing civil remedies under the DV Act (like maintenance and protection orders) were held to be not sufficient, since the DV Act is civil legislation while Section 498A/85 provides criminal deterrence.
Crucially, the couple must also have an “intent to marry” — relationships where partners consciously choose not to marry, despite meeting other criteria, will not get this protection.
The burden of proving this “intent to marry” lies on the woman seeking protection, though the Court did not lay down precise parameters for establishing it.

UPSC relevance: High-value for GS Paper II (women’s rights, judicial interpretation, criminal law reform under BNS) — a good example of the judiciary adapting old provisions to “changing social realities.”

11. Glaw Lake Becomes Arunachal Pradesh’s First Ramsar Site; India’s Tally Reaches 101

The Union Environment Ministry announced that Glaw Lake in Arunachal Pradesh has been designated a Ramsar Site — the state’s first — taking India’s total count of wetlands of international importance to 101. The Environment Minister highlighted the addition as reflecting India’s commitment to wetland conservation, biodiversity protection, and sustainable livelihoods for local communities.

UPSC relevance: A high-frequency Prelims fact-type question — aspirants should track the running total of Ramsar Sites in India, state-wise distribution, and the Ramsar Convention (1971, Iran) criteria for designation.