News Analysis — 13 October 2026
Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls: How the 2025-26 Exercise Differs from 2002-04
Three phases of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) have removed about 13.3 crore entries from electoral rolls. With fresh protests and former constitutional functionaries divided on the exercise, a comparison with the last SIR of 2002-04 shows where the procedure has changed — and why it matters for the right to vote.
An electoral roll is the list of persons entitled to vote in a constituency. Only a name on the roll can vote, so the roll is the gateway to the franchise. Rolls are revised regularly; an intensive revision rebuilds them afresh through house-to-house enumeration.
- Article 324 — superintendence, direction and control of preparation of electoral rolls and conduct of elections vest in the Election Commission of India (ECI).
- Article 325 — one general roll per constituency; no exclusion on grounds of religion, race, caste or sex.
- Article 326 — adult suffrage for every citizen aged 18+ (lowered from 21 by the 61st Amendment, 1988).
- RP Act, 1950: Section 16 (disqualification, incl. non-citizens), Section 19 (age 18 and “ordinarily resident”), Section 21 (preparation and revision of rolls).
- Section 21(3) — lets the ECI order a special revision for any constituency “in such manner as it may think fit”; its proviso keeps the existing roll in force until the revision is complete.
- Forms: Form 6 (new enrolment), Form 7 (objection / deletion), Form 8 (shift of residence / correction) — under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
- Machinery: Booth Level Officer (BLO) → AERO → Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) → District Election Officer → Chief Electoral Officer of the State.
- June 2025 — ECI decides on a nationwide SIR; Phase I: Bihar.
- September 2025 — the Supreme Court directs that Aadhaar be accepted as an additional identity document, though not as proof of citizenship.
- Phase II (October 2025 – February 2026) — nine States and three UTs.
- Phase III (from May 2026) — 16 States and three UTs.
- May 2026 — the Supreme Court holds that the ECI is within its constitutional mandate to conduct an SIR for “many” or “all” constituencies in a State.
- 9 October 2026 — ECI caps the number of Form 7 objections one individual can file.
- Enumeration base — 2002-04: door-to-door verification from a preliminary list drawn from the existing roll. Now: electors not found, or who did not return the form, were left off the draft roll even if they had voted earlier.
- Supervision — 2002-04: supervisors checked 25% of households; AEROs, EROs and DEOs 12%, 5% and 2%; locked houses re-verified. Now: 10% random checks by supervisors (Bihar notification) plus monitoring meetings.
- Onus of proof — 2002-04: citizenship proof only for first-time applicants, with weight given to an existing roll entry as per Lal Babu Hussein (1995). Now: electors must link themselves or a parent to the last intensive-revision roll, or produce documents.
- Shifted electors — 2002-04: treated as a transfer, marked “S” and enrolled at the new address in the same exercise. Now: they must file Form 8 — or, if missed, Form 6 as new voters.
- Bulk objections — 2002-04: bulk claims or objections by any person or party were to be rejected summarily. Now: reports of bulk Form 7 filing; a cap came only in October 2026.
- Stale rolls: the last intensive revision was over two decades ago; migration, deaths and duplication had accumulated.
- Constitutional duty: Article 326 limits the franchise to citizens, and the ECI must ensure rolls are both inclusive and accurate.
- Judicial backing: the Supreme Court has upheld the ECI’s power to conduct the exercise.
- Remedies exist: claims-and-objections windows and appeals under the RP Act allow wrongly excluded electors to return.
- Shift of burden: requiring electors to prove eligibility, rather than the state to prove ineligibility, risks excluding the poor, migrants and women who changed residence after marriage.
- Algorithmic exclusion: software “logical discrepancies” — spelling variations, more than six voters linked to one ancestor, parent-child age gaps outside 15–45 years — flagged lakhs of genuine voters.
- Departure from the ECI’s own manual: the Manual on Electoral Rolls (2023) requires notice to a traceable shifted elector, and a notice at the last address before deletion.
- Legal questions: the declaration attached to Form 6, the use of Form 6 for re-enrolment, and the handling of a large volume of appeals.
- An independent audit of finalised rolls, especially the “absent/shifted” deletions.
- Door-to-door enumeration as the default in States where SIR is ongoing; expedited re-enrolment through home visits.
- Finalise rolls only after all claims and objections are disposed of; under the proviso to Section 21(3), pre-SIR rolls can stay in force for upcoming elections meanwhile.
- Publish booth-wise deletion data and reasons, to build trust in the process.
A clean electoral roll and an inclusive electoral roll are both essential to free and fair elections. In the light of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision, examine how the Election Commission of India can reconcile the two objectives. 15 marks · 250 words
Jantar Mantar De-notified as a Protest Site: What the Courts Have Said on Designated Protest Spaces
On 12 October 2026, the Delhi Police de-notified Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site on the recommendation of an MHA-constituted committee, naming Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground as alternatives. The move revives the old question: how far can the state relocate dissent?
The Constitution does not use the word “protest”, but the right flows from Article 19(1)(a) (speech and expression) and Article 19(1)(b) (to assemble peaceably and without arms). Under Article 19(3), assembly can be restricted only in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India or public order.
- Why the MHA decides in Delhi: under Article 239AA(3)(a), the Delhi Assembly cannot legislate on public order, police and land; the Delhi Police therefore functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Prohibitory orders: now issued under Section 163 of the BNSS, 2023 (formerly Section 144 CrPC).
- Old rules at Jantar Mantar: application 10 days in advance and a cap of 1,000 people; Ramlila Maidan holds about 50,000.
- Static hook: Jantar Mantar is an 18th-century astronomical observatory built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, who built five — Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi, Mathura; the Jaipur one is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2010).
- Ram Manohar Lohia v. State of Bihar (1966) — law and order, public order and security of State as three concentric circles.
- Himmat Lal K. Shah v. Commissioner of Police (1972) — prior permission for street meetings is valid, but the State cannot prohibit assembly on every public street or place.
- Re: Ramlila Maidan Incident (2012) — curbs for law and order must be the least infringing; “every breach of peace may not lead to public disorder”.
- Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan v. Union of India (2018) — after a 2017 NGT order halted protests at Jantar Mantar, the Court allowed content-neutral regulation and earmarked areas, and reopened a portion of Jantar Mantar Road for regulated demonstrations.
- Amit Sahni v. Commissioner of Police (2020) — public ways cannot be occupied indefinitely; protests belong in designated areas.
- For regulation: traffic, public safety and residents’ rights near the seat of government; designated sites make policing predictable.
- Against relocation: sites far from the “concentration of power” blunt the purpose of protest — being seen and heard by those in authority.
- Rule of law test: experts note police must act under a specific law and cannot invoke “public order” on their own to curtail a fundamental right.
- Democratic value: shutting legitimate channels of peaceful dissent risks pushing grievances towards less peaceful forms.
The right to protest is integral to democracy, yet it must coexist with the rights of others. Discuss the constitutional and judicial principles that govern the designation and regulation of protest sites in India. 10 marks · 150 words
Supreme Court Asks Centre to Plan Price Caps for All Medicines, Not Just Cancer Drugs
The Centre told the Supreme Court it will cap trade margins at 30% on non-scheduled cancer drugs, patented and non-patented. The Bench called the move commendable but inadequate, asked why other essential medicines and devices should be left out, and gave the Centre until 27 October to work out modalities.
A medicine’s trade margin is the gap between what the manufacturer charges the trade and the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) the patient pays. Wide margins mean the chemist or hospital, not the manufacturer, captures most of the price.
- Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), 2013 — issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
- National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) — set up in 1997; fixes and enforces prices, now under the Department of Pharmaceuticals.
- Scheduled drugs — medicines in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM 2022: 384 medicines) carry a ceiling price that includes a 16% retailer margin.
- Non-scheduled drugs — free pricing, but MRP can rise by at most 10% a year.
- Paragraph 19, DPCO — extraordinary power to fix prices in public interest; used for coronary stents (February 2017), knee implants (August 2017) and the 2019 Trade Margin Rationalisation that capped margins at 30% on 42 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs.
- Mark-ups between price to retailer (PTR) and MRP touching 1,000% on some cancer drugs — called “broad daylight dacoity”.
- A made-in-India cardiac stent costing about ₹5,000 sold by hospitals for over ₹25,000.
- The Centre cautioned against a uniform cap; the Court replied that ensuring availability of price-controlled medicines is the Government’s responsibility.
- For wider caps: out-of-pocket spending on medicines is a leading cause of medical impoverishment; Article 21 (right to health, as interpreted by courts) and Article 47 (public health) support intervention.
- Against a blanket cap: margins differ with logistics, cold chains and low-volume products; rigid caps can push firms to withdraw products or cut supply, and may dull R&D incentives.
- Middle path: margin caps at the first point of sale, wider use of trade-margin rationalisation, stronger NPPA monitoring, and expansion of Jan Aushadhi Kendras (PMBJP) for generics.
Excessive trade margins, rather than manufacturing costs, often make medicines unaffordable in India. Examine the effectiveness of the existing drug-pricing framework and suggest reforms that balance affordability with the availability of medicines. 15 marks · 250 words
Economics Nobel 2026: Hall and Woodford Honoured for the Micro Foundations of Macro Stabilisation
The 2026 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences goes to Robert E. Hall (Stanford, 83) and Michael Woodford (Columbia, 71) “for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation”. Their work explains how household spending and firms’ pricing decisions shape the tools central banks and governments use to smooth booms and busts.
Economies move in cycles of boom and slowdown. Stabilisation policy uses monetary policy (interest rates, set by the central bank) and fiscal policy (taxes and spending, set by the government) to keep inflation and unemployment from swinging too far.
- Counter-cyclical policy: in a slowdown, cut rates and taxes or raise spending; when the economy overheats, raise rates.
- Keynes (1936) — The General Theory, written after the Great Depression (from the October 1929 crash; US output fell about 30% and unemployment hit about 25%), made the case for state intervention.
- Phillips curve (1958) — an apparent trade-off: lower unemployment comes with higher inflation.
- 1970s stagflation — oil shocks brought high inflation and high unemployment together; the simple trade-off broke down.
- Lucas critique (1976) — models built on aggregate patterns fail when policy changes, because people change behaviour; policy needs micro foundations.
- Robert E. Hall — the demand side: how households decide how much to consume and when. His 1978 work tested Milton Friedman’s permanent-income hypothesis (1957) with rational expectations, implying consumption should follow a “random walk”.
- In 1982, using household microdata, Hall showed that not all households smooth consumption — hand-to-mouth households spend as income arrives, so tax cuts and transfers to them work differently.
- Michael Woodford — the supply side: how firms set prices. Since prices are not changed every day, firms set them looking ahead; so expectations of future interest rates drive inflation today.
- Woodford’s Interest and Prices (2003) became the foundation of the New Keynesian model used by central banks, and of forward guidance — clear communication about future policy.
- Flexible inflation targeting: the RBI Act, 1934 was amended in 2016 to create a six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) with a CPI target of 4% ± 2%, set for five-year periods.
- Expectations management: the MPC’s stated stance and policy statements are a form of the forward guidance Woodford’s work underpins.
- Hand-to-mouth households: a large informal workforce means direct transfers and tax relief can move consumption faster than rate cuts — a lesson from Hall’s work.
- Current test: the RBI’s recent rate increase to contain oil-driven inflation, alongside earlier tax cuts to support demand, shows the monetary-fiscal mix the laureates studied.
- Prize instituted by Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden’s central bank) in 1968; first awarded in 1969 to Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen; chosen by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
- Prize money in 2026: 12 million Swedish kronor, shared equally.
- Indian-origin laureates: Amartya Sen (1998) and Abhijit Banerjee (2019).
The stagflation of the 1970s exposed the limits of demand management. Explain how micro-founded macroeconomic models reshaped stabilisation policy, and discuss their relevance for the Reserve Bank of India’s inflation-targeting framework. 15 marks · 250 words
57th GST Council Meeting: Process Reforms on Refunds, Registration and Litigation
Meeting on 8 October 2026 — over a year after the September 2025 rate overhaul — the GST Council approved process reforms to ease refunds and registration, unblock input tax credit (ITC), cut litigation and lighten compliance for small firms, all due from 1 April 2027.
- Lineage: recommended by the Kelkar Task Force (2004); enabled by the 101st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2016; rolled out on 1 July 2017.
- Article 246A — simultaneous power of Parliament and States to levy GST; Article 269A — IGST on inter-State supplies.
- Article 279A — GST Council: chaired by the Union Finance Minister; decisions need three-fourths of weighted votes (Centre one-third, States together two-thirds).
- Mohit Minerals (2022) — the Supreme Court held Council recommendations to be persuasive, not binding.
- GST 2.0 (September 2025) — slabs cut to 5% and 18%, with a 40% rate for sin and luxury goods.
- Why process reform matters now: after rate rationalisation, the main friction for businesses lies in delayed refunds, ITC mismatches and disputes.
- The Union Finance Minister said 99% of rate and process issues had been addressed but the “door is not closed” to further reform.
- Watch points: the backlog before the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), fake-invoice fraud that tighter registration checks target, and whether the gains reach MSMEs.
With rate rationalisation largely complete, the next phase of GST reform lies in processes rather than rates. Discuss, with reference to refunds, input tax credit and dispute resolution. 10 marks · 150 words
Living Planet Index 2026: What the 73% Decline in Wildlife Populations Does — and Does Not — Mean
The WWF’s 2026 Living Planet Index (LPI), titled around the “Science of Hope”, reports an average 73% decline in monitored wildlife populations between 1970 and 2022. The figure is often misread as “73% of wildlife lost” — understanding what it measures is itself exam-worthy.
The Living Planet Index tracks changes in the abundance of vertebrate populations — mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish — relative to 1970 (= 1). It is compiled by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and published in WWF’s Living Planet Report, a biennial series begun in 1998.
- Coverage: 35,803 populations in the 2026 edition; invertebrates and plants are not yet included.
- Method: a rate of change is computed for each population; the index is a weighted geometric mean of these rates.
- Why the geometric mean matters: it measures the average proportional change per population, not the total number of animals.
- Not the number of species lost or extinct.
- Not the number of individuals or populations lost.
- Not the share of populations in decline — exactly 50% were declining, 43% increasing and 7% stable.
- The 2022 report showed 69%; 2024 and 2026 show 73%. This is not a four-point fall in recent years — the whole trend line was revised as new data came in.
- Since 2024, about 1,000 populations (+3%) and 300 species (+5%) were added; African coverage grew most — populations +14%, species +38%.
- From 2024, only native species are counted; the 2022 edition included non-native species too.
- Latin America & Caribbean (95%) — intense deforestation and farm expansion, the main driver of habitat loss, in a region rich in highly specialised endemic species.
- Africa (80%) — the only continent with a significant number of large mammals left, but declining sharply.
- Asia (49%) and Europe (23%) — Europe’s smaller decline partly reflects that much of its habitat loss happened before 1970, the index’s baseline.
- Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (December 2022, CBD COP15) — 23 targets for 2030, including “30×30”: protect 30% of land and sea by 2030. India released its updated NBSAP in 2024.
- Biodiversity hotspots (concept by Norman Myers, 1988) — ≥1,500 endemic vascular plants and ≥70% of original habitat lost; India has parts of four: Himalaya, Indo-Burma, Western Ghats–Sri Lanka, Sundaland.
- IPBES Global Assessment (2019) — about 1 million species at risk of extinction.
- India’s laws: Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (amended 2023).
- Targeting: knowing that half of populations are stable or rising lets scarce funds go to populations in serious decline.
- Credibility: exaggerated headlines (“73% of species extinct”) invite backlash and erode trust in conservation science.
- Hope with evidence: recoveries show that protection works — the basis of the report’s “Science of Hope” theme.
Global biodiversity indices are often misreported in public debate. With reference to the Living Planet Index, explain what such indices measure and discuss how a correct reading can sharpen conservation priorities for countries like India. 15 marks · 250 words
JOSH Teams: Youth Volunteers Enlisted for the Last Mile of TB Elimination
The Union Health Ministry launched JOSH (Joint Squad for Health) Teams under the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, pairing MY Bharat volunteers and NCC cadets to take TB awareness, screening referrals and stigma reduction to households — a bid to turn TB control into a people’s movement.
Tuberculosis is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis and spreads through the air when a person with lung TB coughs. It is preventable and curable, but India carries about a quarter of the world’s cases.
- National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) — renamed from the RNTCP in 2020; the National Strategic Plan 2017–25 aimed to end TB by 2025, ahead of the SDG 3.3 deadline of 2030.
- WHO End TB Strategy — by 2030, cut incidence by 80% and deaths by 90% from 2015 levels.
- Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (2022) — Ni-kshay Mitras adopt patients with nutrition support; Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana pays ₹1,000 a month (raised from ₹500 in 2024).
- TB Mukt Panchayat initiative — launched on World TB Day, 2023.
- Diagnostics and regimens: AI-supported portable X-rays, rapid molecular tests such as Truenat and CBNAAT, and the shorter BPaLM regimen for drug-resistant TB.
- Partners: MoHFW with the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MY Bharat) and the Ministry of Defence (NCC), plus the Government of NCT of Delhi.
- Team design: 5 MY Bharat volunteers + 5 NCC cadets, led by a Class-I officer at block/ward level.
- Scale: 6,347 squads with 31,429 MY Bharat volunteers and 26,794 NCC cadets; Phase 1 in 55 districts of 11 States/UTs; all 804 districts joined the launch virtually.
- Tools: Khushi Avatar (an e-Sangini service in 12 languages), a JOSH feature on the TB Mukt Bharat App, flipbook and brochure.
- Milestone: 67,933 panchayats across 697 districts recognised as TB Mukt in 2026.
- Progress cited: per the latest WHO report, India’s TB incidence fell 21% (global 12%); treatment coverage reached 92% (global 78%).
- Target slippage: the 2025 elimination goal was missed; the new horizon is “before 2030”.
- Social determinants: undernutrition, crowded housing and diabetes drive TB; volunteers cannot substitute for nutrition and housing policy.
- Privacy and consent: door-to-door outreach by young volunteers needs training on confidentiality, given TB stigma.
- Verification: TB Mukt panchayat status should rest on independent checks, not self-reporting alone.
- Sustainability: volunteer energy fades without incentives, supervision and a clear link to the health system.
India has made notable progress against tuberculosis but missed its 2025 elimination target. Discuss the role of community participation, such as youth-led JOSH Teams, in achieving TB elimination, and identify the structural gaps that remain. 10 marks · 150 words
Ageing India Needs Trained Caregivers: Building a Formal Care Economy
With India’s 60-plus population set to rise from about 149 million (2022) to 347 million by 2050 — about 20.8% of the population — the Budget 2026-27 plan to train 1.5 lakh caregivers and NITI Aayog’s new care report mark a first step towards treating caregiving as skilled work.
The joint family once served as India’s long-term care system. With smaller households and migration, care has shifted onto individual family members — mostly women — who are untrained and unpaid.
- Data source: the India Ageing Report 2023 (UNFPA and IIPS) gives the 149 million → 347 million projection.
- Article 41 (DPSP) — public assistance in old age, sickness and disablement.
- Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 — children’s legal duty of maintenance; National Policy on Older Persons, 1999.
- Schemes: NPHCE (2010) for geriatric care; AVYAY umbrella scheme; AB PM-JAY extended to all citizens aged 70+ in 2024; Elder Line 14567.
- Gender gap: an NSO survey cited by the authors finds women spend 299 minutes a day on unpaid domestic and care work, against 97 minutes for men.
- Kudumbashree (Kerala, 1998) — its K4 Care programme (February 2024) certifies members as geriatric, patient and disability care executives; only 838 have completed it.
- ASHA workers — the NHSRC has a Training Manual on Elderly Care, delivered through Ayushman Arogya Mandirs; completion data are not public.
- Budget 2026-27 — 1.5 lakh caregivers to be trained to the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF).
- NITI Aayog (August 2026) — “Reimagining Care” frames caregiving as an economic activity and proposes a National Caregiver Council.
- Scale: against an estimated 146 million untrained family caregivers, 1.5 lakh trainees is a small start; a train-the-trainer chain using Kudumbashree and ASHA workers can multiply reach.
- Curriculum: include dementia and Parkinson’s care, geriatric mental health and emergency response, not just physical assistance.
- Gender parity: train at least two family members per household so that care is shared, not defaulted to women.
- Recognition: certify experienced informal caregivers; maintain a national registry of certified caregivers under the proposed Council.
- Global models: Japan (2000) and Germany (1995) fund care through long-term care insurance — a financing question India will eventually face.
India’s demographic transition will make elderly care one of its largest social and economic challenges. Discuss the need for a formally trained caregiving workforce and examine how it can address both the welfare of the elderly and gender inequality in unpaid care work. 15 marks · 250 words
Case Study: Profit, Price and the Patient — The Ethics of Medical Mark-ups
The Supreme Court’s remarks on 1,000% mark-ups on cancer drugs and stents sold at five times their cost raise a question no price order fully answers: when is a legal price an unethical one?
You are the newly appointed chief administrator of a large private hospital. The pharmacy earns a major share of its revenue by selling cancer drugs and implants at full MRP, far above purchase cost. Everything is within the law. The board wants margins protected; patients’ families increasingly take loans to pay bills.
- Stakeholders: patients and families, doctors, the hospital board and shareholders, employees, the regulator (NPPA) and society at large.
- Legality vs morality: charging MRP is lawful, but exploiting a patient’s helplessness raises questions of fairness.
- Fiduciary duty vs duty of care: obligations to the board conflict with the hospital’s healing mission.
- Short-term revenue vs long-term trust: reputational risk and public scrutiny can outweigh margins.
- Kant — treat persons as ends, never merely as means; a patient in distress is not a captive market.
- Rawls — the difference principle: arrangements should benefit the least advantaged.
- Gandhi’s talisman — recall the poorest person and ask whether the step will help them.
- Professional codes: the medical duty of beneficence and non-maleficence; the NMC’s push for generic prescribing.
- Values to deploy: compassion, integrity, transparency, accountability, social responsibility.
- Adopt a transparent pricing policy: display procurement cost and margin for high-value drugs and implants.
- Cap the hospital’s own margin on life-saving drugs voluntarily, and offer generic and Jan Aushadhi alternatives.
- Set up a patient-assistance fund and link eligible patients to AB PM-JAY and State schemes.
- Present the board with the long-term case: trust, regulatory goodwill and reputation as assets.
“What is legal is not always ethical.” In the context of high mark-ups on life-saving medicines and medical devices, discuss the ethical obligations of private healthcare providers. As a hospital administrator facing pressure to protect margins, what course of action would you adopt, and why? 20 marks · 250 words
National Conclave on Constitutional Rights and Legal Provisions for Tribal Communities
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs held a two-day conclave (6–7 October 2026, New Delhi) with tribal-welfare and revenue officers from about 30 States/UTs.
The focus was on making access to rights simple, time-bound and transparent — through digitised records, online tracking, grievance redressal and inter-State verification — while guarding against fraudulent claims.
- Static anchors: Article 342 (President notifies STs; Parliament can modify the list by law) · Article 244 with the Fifth and Sixth Schedules · Article 338A — NCST (89th Amendment, 2003) · PESA, 1996 · Forest Rights Act, 2006.
- Prelims hook: Kumari Madhuri Patil (1994) — the Supreme Court laid down scrutiny-committee procedures to verify caste and tribe certificates; the Lokur Committee (1965) set the criteria for identifying STs.
Lakshadweep Declared a Fully Literate Union Territory under ULLAS
Lakshadweep has been declared 100% literate under the ULLAS – Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram. A survey identified 1,113 adult non-literates, who were taught and then cleared the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Test (FLNAT).
- Static anchors: ULLAS = Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society; a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for 2022–27 targeting 5 crore non-literates aged 15+, in line with NEP 2020. Under ULLAS, 95% literacy is treated as equivalent to full literacy.
- Prelims hook: Lakshadweep’s literacy was 91.85% in Census 2011; Ladakh (2024) was the first UT and Mizoram (2025) the first State declared fully literate under ULLAS.
TRISHNA: Indo-French Thermal Imaging Satellite Nears Launch
TRISHNA (Thermal Infra-Red Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural Resource Assessment), jointly built by ISRO and France’s CNES, is in an advanced stage and is expected to launch in 12–16 months, according to the U.R.
Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru. It will map land and water surface temperature to track crop water stress, evapotranspiration and urban heat islands.
- Static anchors: the third Indo-French satellite after Megha-Tropiques (2011), for tropical water cycle and climate, and SARAL (2013) — Satellite with ARGOS and ALTIKA, an ocean altimetry mission.
- Prelims hook: thermal infrared sensing measures emitted heat, so it works by day and night; URSC (formerly ISRO Satellite Centre) is ISRO’s lead centre for satellite design.
