UPSC current affairs, 6 September 2026

• These States and UTs had added about 57.75 lakh voters after the 2024 polls and before the SIR enumeration phase.
• Maharashtra's draft rolls lost over 1.58 crore electors, though it added 47.92 lakh voters after the 2024 polls.
• Citizens can file claims and objections on the draft rolls before the final lists are published.

Electoral roll integrity versus exclusion: large deletions in the SIR raise questions on verification and the claims and objections process.

2026 · GS2 · 10 marks Is the right to vote a fundamental right? Discuss the position of the Election Commission of India while undertaking the revision of electoral rolls. Can it also examine the question of citizenship of the voters?

How to use it: Shows the scale of the Election Commission's roll revision: SIR draft rolls are 15.7% smaller, with 4.52 crore marked absent, before claims and objections and final publication.

• The project is planned with five 12 GW powerhouses and a 40 km tunnel.
• China already has the Zangmu dam on the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo.
• India and China are to convene a meeting of the Expert-Level Mechanism on Trans-border Rivers on water issues.

Transboundary water security in India China relations: an upstream mega project without transparent data sharing raises risks for downstream flows and ecology.

• India has about 600 Odonata species, with new discoveries in the northeastern States and the Western Ghats.
• Dragonfly eyes carry 16 or more visual opsin genes, allowing them to perceive ultraviolet light.

Bioindicators and biological pest control: dragonflies offer a natural measure of how farming practices affect ecosystems.

• Zika virus is a flavivirus primarily transmitted by mosquitoes.
• Hepatitis C virus causes liver inflammation.

Affordable point-of-care diagnostics can speed diagnosis and disease management in low-resource health systems.

• The striped hyena is Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List and listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• The global striped hyena population is estimated at 5,000 to 14,000.
• India's National Wildlife Action Plan covers 2017 to 2031.

Conservation of less charismatic species: scavengers provide ecosystem services, but need population estimates, a species plan and public awareness.

• The Indian Standard Time Rules, 2026, are framed under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009.
• IST is maintained by CSIR-National Physical Laboratory and is UTC plus 5 hours 30 minutes.
• A White Rabbit technology based IST dissemination demonstration network was commissioned in Bengaluru in July 2026.

Precise time as critical infrastructure for banking, telecom and railways, and indigenous time sources as a security safeguard against cyber threats.

• A totaliser consolidates EVM votes from about 14 polling booths, hiding booth-level results.
• The Election Commission first proposed totalisers to the UPA government in 2008; the case is a 2014 PIL by Yogesh Gupta and Imran Khan.

Secrecy of the vote versus booth-level transparency: totalisers would protect voter anonymity, but the Centre cites accountability and data security concerns.

2018 · GS2 · 10 marks In the light of recent controversy regarding the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), what are the challenges before the Election Commission of India to ensure the trustworthiness of elections in India?

How to use it: Totalisers, backed by the Election Commission, would protect voter anonymity by merging results of about 14 booths, while the Centre raises data breach concerns.

• The Strait of Hormuz is a critical passage for global oil shipping.
• Kharg Island is a major Iranian oil export terminal that has faced repeated targeting.

Maritime security in West Asia: attacks on oil shipping near the Strait of Hormuz carry consequences for international energy markets.

• Maharaja Digvijaysinhji of Nawanagar is remembered in Poland as the 'Dobry Maharaja' (Good King), and the children he sheltered called him 'Bapu' (father).
• The Valivade camp near Kolhapur, Maharashtra, housed around 5,000 Polish refugees who had fled Soviet labour camps after the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement.
• The Jam Saheb Memorial Youth Exchange Programme strengthens cultural ties between India and Poland.

Shared wartime history as a soft power asset that underpins India Poland relations.

• Teachers' Day on September 5 marks the birth anniversary of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
• The Skill India Mission was launched in 2015 to give youth market-relevant skills.

Teacher-led innovation as a means to the National Education Policy 2020 aim of holistic, multidisciplinary and skill-based learning.

• The Dar Commission (1948) advised against linguistic reorganisation, and the JVP Committee of Nehru, Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramayya (1949) recommended postponing it.
• The bilingual Bombay State was bifurcated into Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960.
• Article 3 empowers Parliament to form new States and alter the areas, boundaries or names of existing States, without needing the State's consent.

Federalism and accommodation of diversity: the article presents linguistic reorganisation as an example of unity through recognising regional identity.

2016 · GS1 · 12.5 marks Has the formation of linguistic states strengthened the cause of Indian unity?

How to use it: Gives the article's case: Andhra (1953) and the 1956 reorganisation into 14 States accommodated linguistic identity and, despite early fears, strengthened national cohesion.

• MoSPI estimated real GDP growth of 7.8% and nominal GDP growth of 10.3% for April to June 2026.
• The base year for GDP calculations has been revised from 2011-12 to 2022-23 to reflect structural changes in the economy.
• Real GDP is adjusted for inflation using base-year prices, while nominal GDP is measured at current market prices.

Credibility of official statistics: growth claims must compare data on the same base year, and base revisions keep GDP aligned with the current economic structure.

• About 40,000 Nairobi residents worked in online essay writing at the peak of the trade.

AI and employment: displacement of digital gig work in developing countries points to the need for reskilling toward new forms of digital work.

• GIFT City in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, hosts an International Financial Services Centre.
• The International Financial Services Centres Authority was established in April 2020 under the IFSCA Act, 2019.
• The RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme under FEMA allows up to USD 250,000 per financial year for overseas investments.

Development of India's IFSC and outward portfolio flows: retail investors diversify abroad when domestic markets underperform.

• NSE accounts for about 93% of India's cash market turnover.
• SEBI regulations prohibit a stock exchange from self-listing on its own platform, citing conflict of interest.

Governance of market infrastructure institutions: conflicts of interest when an exchange lists, and the concentration of turnover in one exchange.

• India depends on imports for about 70% of its fertiliser requirement.
• Fertiliser subsidy rose 46.2% and food subsidy 23% in the first four months of FY27, per ICRA.

Fiscal pressure from subsidies: import dependence transmits global energy shocks to the fertiliser bill, while MSP and procurement drive food subsidy.

2026 · GS3 · 15 marks Discuss the different types of subsidies and supports provided by the Government of India to agricultural sector. Examine the related issues pertaining to Agreement on Agriculture of World Trade Organisation (WTO).

How to use it: Gives current data on farm-linked support: fertiliser subsidy up 46.2% on costlier raw materials such as natural gas, and food subsidy up 23% on higher MSPs and procurement costs.

• ECLGS 5.0 gives a 100% guarantee for MSMEs and 90% for non-MSMEs and airlines.
• Loans have a five-year tenure with a one-year moratorium for MSMEs and non-MSMEs, and seven years with a two-year moratorium for airlines.
• Earlier ECLGS phases, which ended on March 31, 2023, issued 1.19 crore guarantees worth Rs 3.68 lakh crore.

Credit guarantees as a counter-cyclical tool to keep credit flowing to MSMEs and stressed sectors during external shocks.

2023 · GS3 · 10 marks Faster economic growth requires increased share of the manufacturing sector in GDP, particularly of MSMEs. Comment on the present policies of the Government in this regard.

How to use it: ECLGS 5.0 is a current policy supporting MSME credit: it gives MSME loans a 100% guarantee, and guarantees worth Rs 2,50,024 crore had been issued under it by August 20, 2026.

• CIL's August 2026 supplies of 60.60 MT were up 5.50% year on year.
• Coal India maintains a stock cushion of about 76 MT of coal at pitheads.

Energy security: the monsoon affects coal handling and mine operations, and supply to power plants relies on rail with road transport as a supplement.