Current Affairs · 17 August 2026
UPSC Prelims Current Affairs: 17 August 2026
Parliament clears the Mines Bill, India hosts the BRICS ICT Track, and scientists describe new frog and shark species.
Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill clears Parliament
Parliament passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, with the Lok Sabha clearing it on 12 August and the Rajya Sabha on 13 August. It amends the parent 1957 Act, letting holders of existing mining leases add critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite without extra fees, and removes the 50 per cent ceiling on sales from captive mines. The National Mineral Exploration Trust's scope is widened to also fund mine development, not just exploration.
India hosts the BRICS ICT Track in Pune
The Department of Telecommunications is hosting the BRICS Information and Communication Technologies Track in Pune from 17 to 21 August 2026, under India's 2026 BRICS chairship. Themed "Innovate, Cooperate and Transform for a Resilient Future," it includes the 7th BRICS ICT Working Group Meeting, the Digital BRICS Forum and Expo on 20 August, and the 12th BRICS Communications Ministers' Meeting on 21 August.
Three new cascade frog species described in Northeast India
Researchers led by Professor S.D. Biju of the University of Delhi described three new cascade frog species of the genus Amolops after more than 15 years of fieldwork: Amolops ammachi from Tripura's Jampui Hills, named after Kerala social worker Padmini Varkey, Amolops sendenyo from Nagaland, and Amolops bella from West Bengal. Cascade frogs are typically found around rocky waterfalls and fast flowing forest streams.
New deep sea shark species found off Kerala coast
Scientists at the Zoological Survey of India described Apristurus drona, a new deepwater catshark found at the Kollam slope off Kerala's coast at depths of 400 to 650 metres, as part of the Deep Ocean Mission under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. It was distinguished by more than five per cent genetic divergence from its closest relative, well above the usual threshold used to classify a new species.