News Context

• NIELIT (under MeitY) launched CYBER KUSHTI 2026 on August 15, 2026 — a national cybersecurity & AI hackathon that rewards human judgment over detection speed.

Key Facts

• Cyber Kesari 2026 is the technical track of NCCDFI 2026, held in New Delhi.
• ISAC Foundation is the partner, with CERT-In as the Knowledge Partner.
• Teams receive the same intentionally flawed security package and must identify real and false findings.
• The competition has 3 rounds: Akhada → Dangal → Kesari.
• The winner is titled “Cyber Kesari 2026” and receives a Gada; runners-up are called Rustam and Pahalwan.

News Context

• India is hosting the 12th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi on 18 August 2026, preceded by the Senior Officers’ Meeting of the Environment Working Group on 17 August 2026.
• Held under India’s BRICS Chairship 2026, theme: “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.”

Four Priority Areas (India’s Chairship)

News Context

• The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) dismantled a major network importing South-East Asian areca nuts into India by falsely declaring them as Bangladeshi origin to fraudulently avail concessional duty under SAFTA — a potential revenue loss of over ₹2,500 crore.

About SAFTA

• South Asian Free Trade Area — a free trade agreement among SAARC members; signed in 2004 (Islamabad), in force since 1 January 2006.
• Members: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
• Rules of Origin: criteria to determine the “nationality” of a product — prevents mere trans-shipment/re-routing to claim benefits.