Daily Current Affairs: 15 April 2026

Sunil Bajpai assumed charge as Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry.

[Tamil Nadu, Puducherry]

Key Updates:

• Sunil Bajpai belongs to the 1990 batch of IRS.
• He holds a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT Kanpur and an M.Tech in Structural Engineering from IIT Delhi.
• He completed his PGDM from IIM Lucknow and holds an LLB degree.
• He previously served as Chief Commissioner of Income Tax-5, Mumbai.
• He has served as Additional Director of Income Tax in the Directorate of Systems.
• He has served as Principal Additional Director General at NADT Regional Campus, Lucknow.
• During deputation, he served as Joint Assessor & Collector at Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
• He also served as Director at National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), Government of India.

Centre proposes 850-seat Lok Sabha expansion with 33% women’s quota from 2029 elections.

Key Updates:

• The Centre circulated three bills on 16 April 2026: Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Delimitation Bill 2026, and Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill 2026.
• Article 81 amendment will expand Lok Sabha from 543 to around 816 seats with an upper cap of 850.
• The women’s reservation will create roughly 273 reserved seats, advancing implementation to the 2029 polls instead of 2034.
• A three-member delimitation commission led by a current or retired Supreme Court judge and including Election Commission of India (ECI) representation will redraw constituencies.
• The bills require a two-thirds majority in Parliament and ratification by at least 50% of states for passage.
• Reserved seats for women will be rotated across constituencies in every election cycle.
• The quota will apply to Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry, with ECI acting as delimitation authority for 24 vacant assembly segments in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
• The reservation will initially last 15 years unless extended by a future law.

Susan Coyle Appointed as Chief of Army of Australia

[Australia]

Key Updates:

• Lieutenant General Susan Coyle has been appointed as the first female commander to lead the Australian Army in its 125-year history.
• The appointment was announced by the Defence Minister Richard Marles, with her term as the Chief of Army set to begin in July 2026.
• She currently serves as the Chief of Joint Capabilities Group, where she leads the Space and Cyber Domains and National Support for Defence.
• Her military career spans over three decades, including deployments to Timor Leste, Solomon Islands, Afghanistan, and the Middle East.
• She graduated from the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) and the Royal Military College (RMC) into the Royal Australian Corps of Signals in 1992.
• Her previous key appointments include Head of Information Warfare, Commander of Forces Command, and Commander of Task Group Afghanistan.
• She has been awarded the Member of the Order of Australia, the Distinguished Service Medal, and the Conspicuous Service Cross.
• She is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Army War College and an alumnus of the Harvard Advanced Management Program.

Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar Commemorated as Chief Architect of Indian Constitution

Key Updates:

• India observed Ambedkar Jayanti, also known as Bhim Jayanti, on 14 April 2026 to honour the contributions of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar.
• Dr Ambedkar, born in 1891 in Mhow, served as the chief architect of the Indian Constitution and was the first Law Minister of India.
• He was the first Dalit to earn a doctorate in economics from abroad, having pursued higher education at Columbia University and the London School of Economics (LSE).
• The day is observed as a gazetted public holiday across India and coincided with regional festivals including Baisakhi and Vishu.
• As a jurist and economist, Dr Ambedkar led the drafting of the Constitution to safeguard the rights of marginalised communities and promote social justice.

B R Ambedkar inspires oppressed Roma community in Hungary through dedicated school and translated texts.

[Hungary]

Key Updates:

• Tibor Derdak co-founded the Dr Ambedkar School in Miskolc, Hungary, 20 years ago to serve the long-oppressed Roma community.
• The school operates under a brass plaque inscribed in Hungarian and Hindi, and an Ambedkar statue stands near its building.
• Derdak translated Ambedkar’s writings, including the Pune Pact and stories from Chandalika, into Hungarian to reproduce Ambedkar’s impact.
• The Roma flag adopted at the 1971 World Roma Congress near London features a dharma chakra proposed by an Indian diplomat, symbolically linking the Roma to India.
• Graduates like Kuru Janos, who arrived with Class 6 education and later attended university in Budapest, return as local leaders or school staff.
• In villages where the school works, girls increasingly view education as possible and early motherhood is declining.

Supreme Court seeks Centre and states' response on PIL over RTE Act and NEP 2020 implementation.

Key Updates:

• Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notices to Centre, all states and Union Territories on PIL by advocate Haripriya Patel.
• PIL alleges uneven implementation of Right to Education (RTE) Act across states since its enactment over a decade ago.
• Petition highlights disparities in National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 rollout with states following different timelines and approaches.
• Plea urges bringing pre-primary education within enforceable ambit of RTE Act to ensure foundational learning rights.

Supreme Court seeks Centre and EC reply on biometric voter authentication PIL

Key Updates:

• The Supreme Court of India (SC) issued notice to the Election Commission of India (EC) and the Central Government on a PIL filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.
• The PIL requests creation of a nationwide fingerprint and iris biometrics database for voter authentication at polling booths to curb bogus, proxy and ghost voting.
• A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi stated that implementing biometric authentication is not feasible for the imminent elections but sought the respondents’ views for future parliamentary and assembly polls.
• The petitioner contended that current voter identification relies on voter ID cards and manual verification, which are prone to misuse because of outdated photographs, clerical errors and absence of real-time validation.

Supreme Court of India (SC) refuses voting rights to 34 lakh West Bengal residents with pending electoral roll appeals.

Key Updates:

• The Supreme Court of India (SC) bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi declined to permit 34 lakh appellants excluded from West Bengal electoral rolls to vote in the 2026 polls while their appeals remain pending.
• The Court was hearing petitions challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal and a suo motu case on the gherao of judicial officers in Malda district.
• Chief Justice Surya Kant stated that allowing excluded persons to vote would undermine the voting rights of those already included in the rolls.
• Justice Bagchi clarified that appellants whose appeals are allowed by 9 April will be included in the electoral roll even if the decision comes shortly after the 6 April list publication.
• The bench directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the West Bengal government to continue security for judicial officers until elections conclude and to withdraw protection only by further Court orders.

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation releases March CPI inflation at 3.4%

Key Updates:

• India’s retail inflation quickened to 3.4% year-on-year in March from 3.21% in February under the revised CPI series with 2024 base year.
• Rural inflation stood at 3.63% and urban inflation at 3.11%.
• Food inflation rose to 3.87% in March from 3.47% in February.
• Inflation in electricity, gas and other fuels category was 1.65%.
• Garlic inflation was -10.18%, onion -27.76%, and potato -18.98%.
• Silver jewellery inflation was 148.61% and gold, diamond and platinum jewellery inflation was 45.92%.
• Housing inflation was 2.11%, clothing and footwear 2.75%, restaurants and accommodation services 2.88%, health 1.75%, and information and communication services 0.82%.
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has projected CPI inflation at 4.6% for FY27 with quarterly estimates of 4.0% in Q1, 4.4% in Q2, 5.2% in Q3, and 4.7% in Q4.
• Under the revised CPI basket, food and beverages weight declined to 36.75% and housing, utilities, and fuel-related categories weight rose to 17.7%.

Samrat Choudhary to be sworn in as Bihar Chief Minister

[Bihar]

Key Updates:

• Samrat Choudhary was unanimously elected leader of the NDA legislative party.
• Choudhary will take oath as Chief Minister of Bihar.
• Nitish Kumar proposed Choudhary’s name and gave his blessings in the NDA legislative party meeting.
• The BJP is the single largest party in the 243-member Bihar assembly with 89 MLAs.
• The NDA has 202 members in the Bihar assembly.

Maharashtra makes Marathi compulsory for taxi/auto driver licences

[Maharashtra]

Key Updates:

• Maharashtra government will enforce Marathi language proficiency for all licenced auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers from 1 May 2026.
• Drivers unable to read, write or speak Marathi may face cancellation of permits under the statewide verification drive.
• Verification will cover all 59 regional transport offices (RTO) and deputy RTOs through tests and on-ground inspections.
• Rule 24 of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 already mandates working knowledge of Marathi for public service vehicle licences.

Uttar Pradesh hikes interim minimum wages by up to 21% effective April 1, 2026

[Uttar Pradesh]

Key Updates:

• Uttar Pradesh government announced an interim increase in minimum wages for unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled workers effective April 1, 2026.
• Workers in Noida and Ghaziabad districts will receive the highest hike of 21%.
• Workers in other municipal corporation districts will see a wage rise of nearly 15%.
• Workers in remaining districts of Uttar Pradesh will receive a wage increase of 9.21%.
• The government clarified that rumours of a Rs 20,000 statewide minimum wage are baseless.

Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) provides first tap water connections to Nelangur village in Chhattisgarh

Key Updates:

• The Government of India implemented tap water connections in the remote village of Nelangur in the Abujhmad region of Chhattisgarh under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
• The water supply system in Nelangur utilizes a solar pump to lift water from the source and distribute it directly to homes through pipelines, reducing dependence on electricity.
• The project covers all 35 families in the village, providing water access to a total population of 115 people.
• Nelangur is located in the Narayanpur district, situated approximately 52 kilometres from the district headquarters and 8 kilometres from Kuwakodi village in Maharashtra.
• Infrastructure development in the area includes the ongoing construction of National Highway 130D (NH 130D) to facilitate economic activity.
• A functional anganwadi has been established in the village, and a concrete school building is currently under construction.

Mitchell Starc and Deepti Sharma Named Leading Cricketers by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack for 2025

[Australia]

Key Updates:

• Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc was named Leading Cricketer in the World by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack for 2025 after taking 55 wickets in 11 Test matches at an average of 17.32.
• Indian women’s all-rounder Deepti Sharma was named Leading Cricketer in the World by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack for 2025 and was India’s Player of the Tournament in their first ODI World Cup victory.
• India defeated South Africa by 52 runs in the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup final.
• Deepti Sharma scored 215 runs at an average of 30.71 and took 22 wickets at an average of 20.40 in the 2025 ODI World Cup.
• In the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup final, Deepti Sharma scored 58 runs off 58 balls and took 5 wickets for 39 runs in 9.3 overs.
• Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, and Mohammed Siraj were included in Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year for their performances in the five-match Test series against England that ended 2-2.
• Shubman Gill scored 754 runs at an average of 75.40 with four centuries in the 2025 India-England Test series.
• Ravindra Jadeja scored 516 runs at an average of 86.00 in the 2025 India-England Test series.
• Rishabh Pant scored 479 runs at an average of 68.43 in the 2025 India-England Test series.
• Mohammed Siraj took 23 wickets at an average of 32.43 in the 2025 India-England Test series.
• Shubman Gill received the Wisden Trophy for the outstanding individual performance of the year for scoring 430 runs in the second Test at Edgbaston.
• Abhishek Sharma was named Leading T20 Player globally after scoring 1602 runs in 40 matches at an average of 41.07 and a strike rate of 202.01 in 2025.
• Haseeb Hameed was the sole English player named among the Five Cricketers of the Year after scoring 1,258 runs at an average of 66.00 for Nottinghamshire in the County Championship.

Australia appoints first female chief of army in 125-year history

[Australian Defence Force]

Key Updates:

• Lieutenant General Susan Coyle will become chief of army in July 2026, the first woman to lead the Australian Army in its 125-year history.
• Coyle currently serves as chief of joint capabilities and will replace Lieutenant General Simon Stuart, who has held the post since July 2022.
• Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, current chief of the navy, was appointed head of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), succeeding Admiral David Johnston.
• Rear Admiral Matthew Buckley will replace Hammond as chief of the navy.
• Women comprise 21 percent of the ADF and 18.5 percent of senior leadership roles; the ADF targets 25 percent female participation by 2030.
• A class action filed last October alleges systemic sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination against women officers in the ADF.

North Korea conducts strategic cruise and anti-warship missile tests on 12 April 2026

[North Korea]

Key Updates:

• North Korea test-fired two strategic cruise missiles and three anti-warship missiles from the 5,000-ton Choe Hyon-class destroyer.
• The tests were conducted off the western coast of the country to verify the integrated weapons command system and the accuracy of upgraded navigation systems.
• The strategic cruise missiles recorded flight times ranging from 7,869 to 7,920 seconds, while the anti-warship missiles flew for 1,960 to 1,973 seconds.
• The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the drills were supervised by Kim Jong Un to strengthen the national nuclear war deterrent and naval strike capabilities.
• The North Korean administration confirmed the construction of a third and fourth Choe Hyon-class vessel as part of a plan to build two additional destroyers in 2026.
• The exercise aimed to train naval crews in missile-launch procedures and verify the anti-jamming performance of the warship's systems.

Puthandu (Tamil New Year) observed on 14 April 2026

Key Updates:

• Puthandu, also known as Varusha Pirappu or Tamil New Year, will be celebrated on 14 April 2026.
• The festival marks the beginning of the Tamil Shaka Samvata 1948 and the start of the month of Chithirai.
• The Sankranti moment for 2026 is recorded at 09:39 AM, marking the sun's transition into the zodiac sign of Aries (Mesha).
• The origins of Puthandu are traced back to the Sangam period, which occurred between 300 BCE and 300 CE.
• Traditional rituals include decorating homes with Kolam (rangoli) made of rice powder and preparing a Puthandu Tray containing fruits, flowers, coins, and a mirror.
• Specific festive dishes prepared include mango pachadi, vatha kuzambu, sundal, and payasam to symbolise the balance of life's experiences.
• The traditional greeting exchanged during the festival is Puthandu Vazthukal.

Baisakhi observed on 14 April 2026

Key Updates:

• Baisakhi is an ancient harvest festival celebrated in northern India, particularly in the Punjab region, to mark the ripening of rabi (winter) crops such as wheat.
• The festival marks the Solar New Year, known as Mesha Sankranti, and falls on 14 April 2026.
• It commemorates the formation of the Khalsa Panth by Guru Gobind Singh at Anandpur Sahib on 13 April 1699.
• The day is associated with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre which occurred at Jallianwala Bagh in 1919.
• The religious Sikh New Year, known as Nanakshahi, begins in the month of Chet (March).
• Traditional celebrations include folk dances such as bhangra and giddha, community fairs (melas), and religious processions called Nagar Kirtans.
• Devotees participate in seva (selfless service) and langar, a community meal offered to all regardless of background.

Ambedkar Jayanti to be observed on 14 April 2026

Key Updates:

• Ambedkar Jayanti, also known as Bhim Jayanti, will be observed on 14 April 2026 to mark the 135th birth anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
• Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956) served as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution and is popularly known as the Father of the Indian Constitution.
• He was born on 14 April 1891 in Mhow, which is currently located in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
• Dr. Ambedkar was a prominent jurist, economist, and social reformer who advocated for Dalit rights, women's rights, and labour welfare.
• Major memorials dedicated to him include Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur and Chaitya Bhoomi in Mumbai.

Boiler blast at Vedanta power plant in Chhattisgarh

[Vedanta]

Key Updates:

• Ten workers were killed and 23 injured in a boiler explosion at Vedanta Limited power plant in Sakti district, Chhattisgarh.
• The explosion occurred in the afternoon and three victims died on the spot while others succumbed in hospital.
• Injured workers were admitted to hospitals in neighbouring Raigarh district.
• The boiler unit is operated and maintained by NGSL (NTPC GE Power Services Limited), a subcontractor of Vedanta.
• Sakti Collector Amirt Topno confirmed the updated toll and Sakti Superintendent of Police Prafull Thakur reported preliminary figures of nine dead and 15 injured.
• Chhattisgarh chief minister expressed condolences and stated that strict actions will be taken against responsible entities after investigation.