Information Technology Act, 2000
On UPSC.wiki
Current affairsPunjab's "Pehchaan" Portal: India's First Digital System for Identifying Unidentified Deceased PersonsPunjab became the first state in India to launch "Pehchaan" — a free, publicly accessible digital portal for identifying unidentified and unclaimed deceased persons in mortuaries. Built on the existing MedLEaPR (Medico-Legal Examination and Post-Mortem Reporting System), it stores photographs, physical descriptions, and identification marks, enabling families to trace missing relatives through police and hospital mortuary records. Current affairsLegal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules 2026: 'One Nation, One Time' — IST Made Legally Enforceable Nationwide with NavIC and White Rabbit TechnologyThe Ministry of Consumer Affairs notified the Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2026 on 27 August 2026, making Indian Standard Time (IST) the single legally enforceable time reference for all legal, administrative, commercial, and official purposes in India. The rules come into force 180 days after gazette notification (approximately March 2027), giving institutions time to align with the 'One Nation, One Time' initiative backed by NavIC and White Rabbit Technology. Current affairsSemicon 2.0 Notified: India's ₹1,27,500-Crore Semiconductor Mission Phase 2 — Indigenous Chip Design, 3-nm Roadmap, and Semiconductor SovereigntyThe Government of India formally notified Semicon 2.0 on August 31, 2026 — a ₹1,27,500-crore programme that expands the semiconductor ecosystem from chip assembly to indigenous design, intellectual property creation, advanced packaging, equipment, materials, research, and talent. India aims to domestically design and manufacture chips for 70–75% of its needs by 2029 and reach 3-nanometre and 2-nanometre technology nodes by 2035. Current affairsSupreme Court Issues Fresh Directions Against Digital Arrest Scams: RBI Ordered to Frame SOP on Mule Accounts Within Four WeeksThe Supreme Court of India has issued fresh nationwide directions to combat digital arrest scams, ordering the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to frame a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for handling mule bank accounts within four weeks, directing states to operationalise cyber fraud grievance mechanisms and e-Zero FIRs, and requiring the SOP to be shared with every High Court Registrar General. Complaints on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal fell sharply from 1,23,672 in 2024 to 16,377 by June 30, 2026. Current affairsUPI Completes 10 Years: From 21 Banks in 2016 to the World's Largest Real-Time Payments PlatformThe Unified Payments Interface (UPI) completes ten years in August 2026, marking its evolution from a pilot with 21 banks in April 2016 to the world's largest real-time payments platform — processing 2,366 crore transactions worth ₹29+ lakh crore per month, accounting for 85% of India's digital payments and approximately 49% of global real-time transactions, with active acceptance in 9 countries. Current affairsSraVaani 1.0 — IISc Releases India's Broadest-Coverage Multilingual Speech Recognition Model: 65 Indian Languages and DialectsThe SPIRE Lab at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, in collaboration with ARTPARK, released SraVaani-1.0 on August 13, 2026 — the broadest-coverage Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) model for Indian languages reported to date, covering 65 languages and dialects (20 scheduled + 45 regional). The model achieves 9.5% word error rate on Garo vs 69.4% for the next-best system. It is open-source (MIT licence) on Hugging Face. Note: it is NOT India's first multilingual ASR model — AI4Bharat's IndicConformer (22 scheduled languages) predates it. Current affairsPRAHAAR: India's First National Counter-Terrorism Policy and Strategy — A Whole-of-Government FrameworkThe Ministry of Home Affairs released PRAHAAR — India's first comprehensive National Counter-Terrorism Policy and Strategy — on 23 February 2026. The eight-page doctrine integrates counter-terrorism, counter-radicalization, cybersecurity, and coordinated response under a "whole-of-government" and "whole-of-society" framework anchored in the UAPA, PMLA, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Current affairsBankers' Books Evidence Bill, 2026: India Repeals 135-Year-Old Colonial Banking LawThe Lok Sabha passed the Bankers' Books Evidence Bill, 2026 on 5 August 2026, repealing the 135-year-old Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891. The new law expands the definition of "bankers' books" to cover digital, cloud-based, and electronic records, and makes certified copies of such records admissible as prima facie evidence in courts, arbitrations, and regulatory investigations. Current affairsSupreme Court Issues Nationwide Directions on Digital Arrest Scams; Directs RBI to Frame Mule Account SOPThe Supreme Court of India, on August 5, 2026, issued a fresh set of nationwide directions to strengthen the response to digital arrest scams and cyber-enabled financial fraud. The bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to frame and circulate a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for dealing with mule accounts and money laundering-linked bank accounts within four weeks. Current affairsUPI Hits Record 23.66 Billion Transactions in July 2026 — ₹29.88 Lakh Crore in ValueIndia's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed a record 23.66 billion transactions worth ₹29.88 lakh crore in July 2026, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). This surpassed the previous monthly volume record of 23.20 billion set in May 2026. Transaction volume grew 22% year-on-year and 4.1% month-on-month, without any major festival or quarter-end activity to drive the surge.