News in Short

Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum

Context: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the development of the Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum at an estimated cost of ₹3,230 crore in New Delhi.

About the Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum

• Location: Historic North and South Block complex, New Delhi.
• Objective: To showcase India’s civilisational journey, continuity, diversity and cultural richness through an integrated presentation of its tangible and intangible heritage.
• Development: The museum will be developed through the adaptive reuse of North and South Block buildings, preserving their architectural character and heritage significance.
• Area: It will cover a proposed built-up area of approximately 1,78,509 square metres and is envisaged to have the world’s largest museum display area.
• Key Features: It features curated thematic galleries, exhibitions, collection of storage and conservation facilities, visitor amenities, immersive technologies and intelligent building systems.
• Proposed Galleries: Themes include Adornment, Architecture and Cityscapes, Mathematics and Astronomy, Languages and Scripts, Faith and Spirituality, and Bharat Connects – Trade and Ideas.
• Collection: Around 1.8 million objects have been identified from the National Museum, other Ministry of Culture museums, 52 ASI site museums, State museums, and private collections.
• Implementation: The project will be implemented in phases from FY 2026–27 to FY 2030–31.
  • The first gallery, themed ‘Adornment’, is expected to open in North Block in the latter half of 2027.
• Visitor Capacity: It is designed to accommodate up to one crore of visitors annually.
• Background: The project was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 18 May 2023.

Allianz Green Transition Tracker 2026

Context: According to the Allianz Green Transition Tracker 2026, India’s greenhouse gas emissions declined by 0.2% in 2025 despite economic growth of around 7.6%, marking the first decline outside an economic contraction in 25 years.

Key Findings of the Report

• India’s Emissions: Declined by 0.2% to 4,508 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (MtCO₂e) in 2025.
• Global Ranking: India improved five positions to 45th among 65 economies. Its progress score increased by 4.5 points to 14.6, against a global average improvement of 2 points.
• Clean Energy Expansion: Low-carbon electricity’s share increased from 22.4% in 2024 to 26.6% in 2025.
  • Solar generation increased by 37% (53 TWh).
  • Wind generation increased by 28% (23 TWh).
  • Coal-fired generation declined by 2.9%, its first annual decline since the pandemic.
• Emission Intensity: Carbon intensity declined by 7%, while energy intensity fell by 6%.
• Per Capita Emissions: Territorial CO₂ emissions increased by 3% to 2.2 tonnes per capita, while consumption-based emissions increased by 8% to 1.8 tonnes.
• Fossil Fuel Subsidies: Increased from $63.1 billion to $67.5 billion, more than double the 2015 level.
• Future Projections: Under current policies, emissions could reach 5,900 MtCO₂e by 2030 and 6,600 MtCO₂e by 2035.
• Report Coverage: Released on 5 November 2026 ahead of COP31, it assessed 65 economies accounting for 81% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Global Findings

• Renewables overtook coal as the largest source of global electricity generation, accounting for 33.5% against coal’s 33.2%.
• Global emissions growth slowed to 0.7% in 2025 from 1.5% in 2024.
• Global clean energy investment is projected to reach $2.2 trillion in 2026.

Claude Mythos and Project Glasswing

Context: The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has gained restricted access to Anthropic’s advanced AI model, Claude Mythos Preview, to conduct controlled experiments on identifying software vulnerabilities and strengthening India’s cybersecurity.

About the Claude Mythos

•  Developed by US-based AI company Anthropic, Claude Mythos is a general-purpose frontier AI model with advanced coding, reasoning and autonomous agentic capabilities.
• It is available only through a restricted research preview.
• Key Capabilities: It can analyse complex software codes, identify previously unknown and zero-day vulnerabilities, reproduce potential exploits, and recommend security fixes. It has reportedly detected vulnerabilities that remained undetected for decades, including a 27-year-old flaw in OpenBSD.
• Why Restricted: Its vulnerability-discovery capabilities could be misused by cybercriminals and malicious state actors.

About the Project Glasswing

• Launch: Anthropic launched Project Glasswing on 7 April 2026 to secure critical software infrastructure through AI-powered defensive cybersecurity.
• Partners: Includes Microsoft, Google, Amazon Web Services, Apple, Cisco and CrowdStrike, among others.
• Support: Anthropic committed up to $100 million in model usage credits and $4 million in donations for open-source security.
• India’s Participation: CERT-In has received access for limited experiments in a controlled environment without external system connectivity. Other Indian organisations reported to be involved include I4C, NCIIPC and the Department of Telecommunications’ Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP).

About the CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team)

• CERT-In is India’s national nodal agency for responding to cybersecurity incidents, operating under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• Established in January 2004, it functions under Section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
• It coordinates responses to cyber threats and collects, analyses and disseminates information on cybersecurity incidents.

Booker Prize 2026

Context: British author M. John Harrison won the Booker Prize 2026 for his novel The End of Everything, becoming the oldest winner in the history of the literary award at the age of 81.

More on the News

• The End of Everything is a dystopian, post-apocalyptic novel set on the near-future Kent coast of Britain. It follows a beachcomber and his pistol-carrying aunt as they struggle to survive.
• Record: Harrison surpassed Margaret Atwood, who was 79 when she jointly won the 2019 Booker Prize for The Testaments.
• Award: He received a trophy and £50,000 in prize money. The ceremony was held at Old Billingsgate, London.

About the Booker Prize

• Established: 1969; it is one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards.
• Eligibility: It recognises the best work of long-form fiction written in English and published in the UK or Ireland during the eligible period, irrespective of the author’s nationality.
• Selection Process: Books undergo three stages: longlisting, shortlisting and final selection.
• Judging Panel: The 2026 jury was chaired by Mary Beard and included four other members: Raymond Antrobus, Jarvis Cocker, Rebecca Liu and Patricia Lockwood.
• Books Considered: The 2026 jury considered 163 books published between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026.

QS World University Rankings: Asia 2027

Context: The QS World University Rankings: Asia 2027, released by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), showed a decline in the rankings of several leading Indian institutions, although India maintained strong performance in research output and doctoral capacity.

Key Findings

• Top Indian Institutions: IIT Delhi was India’s highest-ranked institution at 66th, followed by IISc Bengaluru at 79th.
• Declining Rankings: IISc Bengaluru slipped from 64th to 79th, IIT Delhi from 59th to 66th, IIT Bombay from 71st to 83rd, IIT Madras from 70th to 85th, IIT Kharagpur from 77th to 90th and IIT Kanpur from 77th to 97th.
• Indian Representation: India had 325 institutions, including 34 new entrants, making it Asia’s second-most represented higher education system after China.
• Research Output: 27 Indian universities featured in Asia’s top 50 for Papers per Faculty, including five in the top 10:
  • IISc Bengaluru (1st)
  • IIT Madras (3rd)
  • IIT Delhi (7th)
  • IIT Roorkee (8th)
  • IIT Ropar (9th)
• Doctoral Capacity: 15 Indian universities shared first place in the Staff with PhD category.
• Research Impact: Only three Indian universities featured in Asia’s top 50 for Citations per Paper.
• Reasons for Decline: Academic reputation (30% weightage) declined for over 76% of Indian institutions, employer reputation (20%) for 83%, and the international student indicator for 85%.

About the QS World University Rankings: Asia

• Publisher: Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a UK-based higher education ranking organisation.
• Coverage: The 2027 edition ranked 1,722 institutions across Asia, with 195 new entrants from 26 countries and territories.
• Assessment Indicators: Academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per paper, papers per faculty, faculty-student ratio, staff with PhDs, international research network and international student representation.
• Top University: The University of Hong Kong retained the first position, followed by Peking University and Tsinghua University.

8th Edition of India–Myanmar Naval Exercise (IMNEX-26)

Context: The 8th edition of the India–Myanmar Naval Exercise (IMNEX-26) commenced at Visakhapatnam on 10 November 2026 and will continue until 14 November 2026.

About the India–Myanmar Naval Exercise (IMNEX-26)

• It was formally launched in 2018.
• It is a periodic bilateral exercise conducted at flexible intervals rather than a fixed annual or biennial schedule.
• Participating Ships: Myanmar Navy Ship UMS King Sin Phyu Shin is participating alongside Indian Navy ships INS Rana and INS Sumedha.
  • The opening ceremony was held onboard INS Rana on 10 November 2026.
• Objective: To strengthen maritime cooperation, exchange professional expertise, enhance mutual understanding and improve operational coordination between the two navies.
• Phases of Exercise:
  • Harbour Phase: Includes professional interactions, Subject Matter Expert Exchanges (SMEEs), cross-deck visits, sporting engagements and discussions on operational matters.
  • Sea Phase: Includes coordinated maritime operations, tactical manoeuvres and exercises to enhance interoperability among participating naval units.
• Significance: The exercise strengthens the longstanding friendship and maritime partnership between India and Myanmar and promotes a secure and stable regional maritime environment.
• Strategic Alignment: The exercise aligns with India’s MAHASAGAR vision (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions).

Naseem Al Bahr (Sea Breeze) 2026

Context: The Indian Navy and the Royal Navy of Oman conducted the 15th edition of their bilateral maritime exercise, Naseem Al Bahr (Sea Breeze), which concluded on 11 November 2026 in the Al Batinah maritime area of Oman.

About Naseem Al Bahr (Sea Breeze)

• Participants: Indian Navy and Royal Navy of Oman.
• Harbour Phase: Included Subject Matter Expert Exchanges (SMEE) covering Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Mine Countermeasure Operations and Hydrography.
• Sea Phase: Featured joint operations between Indian Naval Ship INS Surat and Omani vessel Al-Mu’azzar, including:
  • Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) drills.
  • Cross-deck operations.
  • Joint naval manoeuvres and operational exercises.
• Objective: To exchange professional expertise, enhance mutual understanding, and improve operational interoperability between the two navies.
• Significance: Strengthens India–Oman maritime partnership and supports India’s MAHASAGAR vision (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions).