Context:  Bihar has announced the launch of the Vidyarthi Sahyog Portal (Student Support Portal) from 17 August 2026. It is intended to provide students with a single digital channel for registering academic and institutional grievances, with a stated resolution target of 30 days.

Key Features

• Students will be able to submit complaints and suggestions related to schools, colleges, hostels, coaching centres, examinations and educational administration.
• The government has set a 30-day deadline for resolving registered grievances.
• If a complaint is not resolved within the stipulated period, monthly Sahyog Shivirs (support camps) may be held under the Chief Minister’s supervision.
• The initiative appears to be modelled on Bihar’s existing Sahyog Portal, which provides a digital mechanism for public grievance redressal.
• Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary announced it at the Independence Day function at Gandhi Maidan, Patna.

BCG Vaccine and Alzheimer’s Disease Research

Context:  A clinical study suggests that the BCG vaccine, primarily used against tuberculosis, may reprogram innate immune cells and affect Alzheimer’s-related amyloid biomarkers.

Key Findings

• Researchers conducted two one-year, open-label clinical studies involving 23 adults aged 55 years and above: 12 without Alzheimer’s-related pathology and 11 with it.
• Participants received two BCG doses one month apart.

What is BCG?

• BCG stands for Bacillus Calmette–Guérin.
• It is a live attenuated vaccine derived from Mycobacterium bovis.
• It is primarily used to prevent severe forms of tuberculosis in children and is also used as intravesical immunotherapy for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
• Beyond pathogen-specific protection, BCG can induce trained immunity—a long-lasting functional reprogramming of innate immune cells through metabolic and epigenetic changes.

Link With Alzheimer’s Disease

• Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the most common cause of dementia. It is associated with:
  • Accumulation of amyloid-beta plaques outside neurons.
  • Tau neurofibrillary tangles within neurons.
  • Chronic neuroinflammation, synaptic loss and progressive neuronal damage.

Significance

• Repurposing potential: BCG is inexpensive, widely known and has a long safety record for its approved uses.
• New research direction: The finding supports further investigation of immune modulation and trained immunity in neurodegenerative diseases.
• Early-intervention insight: The difference between participants with and without established pathology suggests that timing of intervention may matter.
• Biomarker-based research: It demonstrates the importance of cerebrospinal-fluid and blood biomarkers in studying mechanisms before launching large clinical trials.

Independence Day 2026 Gallantry Awards

Context:  President Droupadi Murmu approved 78 gallantry awards, including 13 posthumous awards, for personnel of the Armed Forces and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) on the eve of the 80th Independence Day.

Award Breakdown

• A Bar denotes a subsequent award of the same decoration to a person who has already received it.

Major Awardees

• Kirti Chakra: Lieutenant Colonel Maneo Francis of 21 PARA (Special Forces), Major Jitendra Rathee of 2 PARA (Special Forces), and Havildar Gajendra Singh of 2 PARA (Special Forces), who received it posthumously. Six CAPF personnel also received the Kirti Chakra posthumously.
• Bar to Shaurya Chakra: Major Aditya Pratap Singh.
• Shaurya Chakra: Awardees include Major Paramveer, Major Tarun Vasudevan, Major Keshav Kumar, Major Gaurav Singh Brijwal, Naib Subedar Dabbal Singh Bisht, Havildar Jagattar Singh, Lieutenant Commander Shivam Kumar and Squadron Leader Sudhir Kumar.
• Sena Medal (Gallantry): The recipients include personnel from Rashtriya Rifles, PARA and Special Forces units, Assam Rifles, Gorkha Rifles, Grenadiers, Dogra Regiment and Maratha Light Infantry.

Gallantry Awards

• Peacetime Gallantry Awards
  • Ashoka Chakra: Highest peacetime gallantry award; awarded for the most conspicuous bravery, exceptional courage or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield.
  • Kirti Chakra: Second in order of precedence; awarded for conspicuous gallantry away from the battlefield.
  • Shaurya Chakra: Third in order of precedence; awarded for gallantry away from the battlefield.
  • These awards may be conferred on military personnel, CAPF personnel, police personnel and civilians.
  • They are announced twice annually: on Republic Day and Independence Day.
• Wartime Gallantry Awards
  • Param Vir Chakra: Highest wartime gallantry award; awarded for most conspicuous bravery or self-sacrifice in the presence of the enemy.
  • Maha Vir Chakra: Second in order of precedence; awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy.
  • Vir Chakra: Third in order of precedence; awarded for gallantry in the presence of the enemy.