1.Judicial and Electoral Reforms Fortify Governance
SUBJECT: NATIONAL
• The Supreme Court has issued comprehensive guidelines requiring all DNA evidence in criminal trials to be processed through certified laboratories, ensuring strict chain-of-custody protocols to prevent tampering and enhance judicial integrity.
• A five-judge Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, has refused to stay the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, but temporarily suspended provisions allowing non-Muslims on Waqf boards, citing potential violations of religious autonomy under Article 26 of the Constitution.
• The Election Commission has launched a nationwide Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, aiming to achieve ninety-eight percent accuracy in voter lists by removing duplicates and errors ahead of the 2026 general elections.
• Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan, speaking at a federalism conclave in Delhi, has emphasized the importance of constitutional morality, urging state governments to align policies with secular and equitable values to strengthen cooperative federalism.
• The Lok Sabha has passed amendments to the Representation of the People Act, integrating Aadhaar as a voter identification option while ensuring privacy safeguards under Article 21 to prevent misuse of personal data.
• The Madras High Court has quashed Tamil Nadu’s reservation quota notification for promotions, directing the state to reassess policies in compliance with Article 16(4A) to ensure equitable representation for backward classes.
• The Union Cabinet has extended the review panel for the National Judicial Appointments Commission, sparking renewed debates on maintaining judicial independence while addressing executive involvement in judicial appointments.
2. Social Welfare and Disaster Management Take Center Stage
SUBJECT: NATIONAL
• Surajpur district in Uttar Pradesh has been declared a model for eradicating child marriage, achieving an eighty-five percent reduction in cases through sustained community awareness campaigns and swift legal enforcement under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched the Swasth Nari Sashakt Parivar Abhiyaan across two hundred aspirational districts, integrating maternal nutrition programs with vocational training to reduce infant mortality rates and empower women economically.
• A parliamentary panel has recommended stricter enforcement of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, to prevent communal disputes, responding to increasing petitions challenging the status of historical religious sites.
• Jharkhand has revived the Manki-Munda traditional governance system in tribal areas, merging it with Panchayati Raj institutions to strengthen community-led forest rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
• Flash floods have displaced fifty thousand people in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, prompting the National Disaster Management Authority to deploy advanced early warning systems and coordinate inter-state relief efforts to mitigate impacts.
• The Supreme Court has directed the Centre to implement AI-driven case triage systems to address judicial backlog, mandating annual case disposal targets for high courts to streamline justice delivery.
• Uttar Pradesh has introduced the Women’s Economic Empowerment Index, revealing a twenty-eight percent wage disparity between rural and urban women, with plans to establish skill development hubs to close this gap.
3. India Strengthens Global Diplomacy and Security
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL
• India has called for de-escalation in the Middle East following Israeli airstrikes on Hamas targets in Doha, advocating for UN-mediated diplomatic solutions during a G20 foreign ministers’ side meeting to stabilize the region.
• The Saudi Arabia-Pakistan Strategic Maritime and Defence Agreement has raised concerns in New Delhi, as its provisions for joint naval patrols could alter security dynamics in the Indian Ocean, prompting India to seek clarifications from Riyadh.
• India has proposed a multilateral anti-piracy framework at the fifth Coast Guard Global Summit in Mumbai, securing endorsements from fifteen nations, including Japan and Australia, for shared surveillance and technology cooperation.
• Iran has handed over Phase 1 operations of Chabahar Port to India, strengthening trade corridors to Central Asia through the International North-South Transport Corridor despite pressures from U.S. sanctions.
• Nepal’s interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki has accepted a five hundred million dollar aid package from India for post-protest reconstruction in Kathmandu, with a focus on enhancing border infrastructure and economic stability.
• The Universal Postal Union congress in Geneva has adopted India’s proposal for digital tracking reforms, expected to reduce cross-border e-commerce delivery delays by forty percent, benefiting small exporters.
• The United States’ tightened H-1B visa restrictions have impacted seventy percent of Indian IT professional applications, prompting bilateral discussions during Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming visit to Washington to address talent mobility.
4. Economic Challenges and Opportunities Shape Growth
SUBJECT: NATIONAL/ECONOMY
• The National Mission for Natural Farming has expanded to cover one crore farmers by 2026, promoting chemical-free agriculture to reduce input costs by twenty percent and boost organic exports to meet global demand.
• The Reserve Bank of India has estimated second-quarter FY26 economic growth at six point eight percent, slowed by U.S. tariff hikes that disrupted manufacturing output and strained global supply chains.
• The United Kingdom’s One-In-One-Out immigration policy has led to the deportation of an Indian national to France, signaling tighter EU-India mobility agreements under review for skilled workers and professionals.
• Aflatoxin contamination in maize exports has caused a two hundred million dollar loss for Indian farmers, prompting the Agriculture Ministry to enforce stricter EU-compliant testing protocols and expand crop insurance coverage.
• The Cabinet has approved seven thousand six hundred crore rupees for highway and railway projects in Bihar under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, projected to increase the state’s GDP by one point five percent through improved connectivity.
• India’s outward foreign direct investment to Mauritius has surged fifteen percent in FY25, drawing scrutiny from the OECD on tax evasion concerns and calls for revising double taxation avoidance agreement clauses.
• The government has allocated five hundred crore rupees to establish creative economy design hubs, targeting fifty billion dollars in global exports for handicrafts and digital content by 2030.
5. Military Modernization Enhances National Security
SUBJECT: NATIONAL/DEFENCE
• The Indian Navy has commissioned INS Androth, its first Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft, equipped with eighty percent indigenous technology to strengthen coastal sonar-based defence capabilities.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved the Defence Procurement Manual 2025, streamlining acquisition processes and offering incentives for innovation to achieve seventy-five percent self-reliance in defence manufacturing by 2030.
• A suspected People’s Liberation Army ambush in Manipur has killed two Assam Rifles personnel, escalating security measures under Operation Sunrise along the Indo-Myanmar border to counter militant activities.
• The Great Nicobar Island tri-service base has cleared environmental hurdles, with seventy-two thousand crore rupees allocated for strategic infrastructure to establish it as a key Indo-Pacific hub.
• India and Mauritius have strengthened defence ties through joint Exclusive Economic Zone patrols, incorporating helicopter transfers to enhance maritime surveillance against illegal fishing activities.
• Punjab’s Border Wing Home Guards have recruited five thousand personnel, deploying drone jammers to counter a thirty percent rise in infiltration attempts along the Indo-Pak border.
• The Frontier 50 Initiative has modernized fifty high-altitude outposts with AI-enabled sensors, reducing response times by half in conflict-prone areas like Ladakh amid ongoing tensions.
