PIB Snippets
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UPSC Prelims & Mains
PIB Snippets — September 12, 2026
Today’s official releases — Critical Minerals strategy, the HPV vaccination milestone, the new Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 50 years of ICAR-ICRISAT, NMHC Lothal’s progress, and 7 years of PM-KMY
⛏️ Critical Minerals
💉 HPV Vaccination
⚖️ Bankers’ Books Evidence Act
🌾 ICAR-ICRISAT
⚓ NMHC Lothal
👨🌾 PM-KMY
⛏️
Critical Minerals: Key to India’s Energy Security and Industrial Competitiveness
Why in News
- Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh highlighted that critical minerals are vital for India’s energy, industry and national security at the 3rd Global Summit on Advanced Materials, Critical Minerals & Metals in New Delhi.
What Are Critical Minerals — Key Facts
- Minerals essential for economic development and national security, but whose supply chains are vulnerable due to geological scarcity, geopolitical concentration, or lack of substitutes.
- Building blocks of clean energy tech, EVs, semiconductors, telecom, aerospace, defence and nuclear energy. Examples: Lithium, Cobalt, Nickel, Graphite, REEs, Copper, Titanium, Niobium, Tungsten, Platinum Group Metals.
- Critical Minerals List (2023): Ministry of Mines identified 30 critical minerals for India.
- KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Limited) — JV of NALCO, HCL, MECL to acquire critical mineral assets abroad (e.g., lithium blocks in Argentina).
- MMDR Amendment Act, 2023 — removed six critical minerals (incl. Lithium, Niobium, REEs) from the atomic minerals list, opening them to private participation and auction.
- Domestic lithium discovery: Salal-Haimana, Reasi district, Jammu & Kashmir — India’s first significant lithium reserve, reported by GSI.
National Critical Mineral Mission
Ensures self-reliance across exploration, mining, processing, and recycling.
Why It Matters
Energy security, industrial competitiveness, national security (overdependence on China for processing), and building capability across the full value chain.
Source: PIB
💉
National HPV Vaccination Campaign: India Crosses 80 Lakh Doses
Why in News
- India has administered more than 80 lakh doses of the HPV vaccine under the National HPV Vaccination Campaign, launched by PM Modi in February 2026, to prevent cervical cancer among adolescent girls.
Key Facts for Prelims
- Target group: 14-year-old girls; free, single-dose, voluntary, administered with parental consent at government health facilities.
- Annual target cohort: ~1.2 crore girls turn 14 each year (RGI 2021 estimates).
- Monitored via the U-WIN platform — India’s digital immunisation tracking tool, distinct from CoWIN (used mainly for COVID-19).
- Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Mizoram have achieved 100% coverage of their target cohorts; Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Assam have crossed 90%.
Exam trap: The campaign is tracked on U-WIN, not CoWIN — a distinction already tested in this cycle’s MCQs.
Source: PIB
⚖️
Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 2026: In Force From October 1
Why in News
- The Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 2026 comes into force from 1 October 2026, replacing the 130-year-old 1891 Act and updating rules for using banking records as court evidence.
Key Features
- Technology-neutral: recognises paper, electronic, digital, virtual and cloud-based banking records as evidence.
- Easy certification: records can be certified using manual, digital or electronic signatures.
- Limited summons: bank officials summoned only when a court records a “special cause” in writing.
- Wider scope: Centre can extend the Act to NBFCs and fintechs in future.
Don’t confuse: This replaces the Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 1891 — not the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (which was replaced separately by the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023).
Source: PIB
🌾
50 Years of ICAR-ICRISAT Partnership Celebrated at Dryland Congress 2026
Why in News
- Dryland Congress 2026, New Delhi, marked 50 years of ICAR-ICRISAT partnership, focusing on climate-resilient dryland farming, seed systems, and greater participation of women and youth, with a roadmap for Viksit Bharat 2047.
Key Facts
- ICAR — apex body under DARE, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, coordinating agricultural research and education nationally.
- ICRISAT — international, non-profit research body for the semi-arid tropics; HQ at Patancheru, near Hyderabad; a CGIAR member; focus crops: sorghum, pearl millet, chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut.
Thematic Panels
Reimagining Resilient Dryland Farming; Transforming Seed Systems in the Global South; Gender and Youth-Centred Transformation.
South-South Cooperation
Strengthening collective action to accelerate dryland transformation across India and other developing regions.
Source: PIB
⚓
National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal: Progress Review
Why in News
- Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal reviewed NMHC progress at Lothal, Gujarat — Phase 1A is over 82% complete, and 13 countries have signed MoUs, with a target of 35+ international partnerships.
Key Facts
- Lothal is an Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilisation site in Gujarat, famous for one of the world’s earliest known dockyards — evidence of advanced maritime trade capability.
- Excavated by the ASI; ongoing excavation currently at 70% completion.
- NMHC is being developed under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways to showcase India’s 5,000-year maritime legacy; the Governing Council first met in June 2025.
Source: PIB
👨🌾
7 Years of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana (PM-KMY)
Why in News
- PM-KMY completed 7 years on 12 September 2026. Launched in 2019, it provides a minimum pension of ₹3,000/month to small and marginal farmers from age 60; over 24.96 lakh farmers had enrolled by February 2026.
Key Facts for Prelims
- A Central Sector Scheme, administered by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, implemented via LIC (manages the pension fund).
- Eligibility: Small & Marginal Farmers with landholding up to 2 hectares, aged 18-40 years at enrolment.
- 50:50 contribution model — farmer pays ₹55 to ₹200/month depending on entry age; Centre matches it.
- Family pension: spouse gets 50% (₹1,500/month) if not already a PM-KMY beneficiary.
Who’s Excluded
NPS/ESIC/EPFO/PM-SYM/PM-LVM beneficiaries, institutional landholders, constitutional post holders, public representatives, serving/retired govt-PSU employees (except MTS/Class IV/Group D), income tax payers, and registered professionals.
Top Enrolling States
Haryana (~5.75 lakh, highest), Bihar (3.46 lakh+), Jharkhand & UP (2.5 lakh+ each), Chhattisgarh (2 lakh+).
Source: PIB