UPSC current affairs, 22 September 2026

• Candida auris was first reported in Japan in 2009.
• The three main antifungal drug classes are azoles, polyenes and echinocandins (such as caspofungin); Candida auris shows over 90% resistance to azoles.
• PGIMER, Chandigarh, has maintained a repository of about 15,000 fungal isolates over 25 years.

Health security: multidrug-resistant fungi such as Candida auris are a growing threat in ICUs, and the article links the rise of heat-tolerant fungi to global warming.

• Leopardus tilcayo was described in Current Biology on September 17, 2026; its lineage diverged about 1.4 million years ago.
• A related subspecies, Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo, was identified in Peru's Yungas region.
• The tiger cat group comprises five genetically distinct species, not one or two as previously thought.

Biodiversity: taxonomic splits can change IUCN threat status and conservation priorities for species once treated as one.

• The Outer Space Treaty (1967) prohibits weapons of mass destruction in orbit but does not explicitly prohibit conventional weapons.
• The Liability Convention (1972) is seen as inadequate for accountability involving autonomous, dual-use orbital systems.
• The U.S., Russia, China and India are all developing counter-space capabilities.

Space security: the article argues existing treaties leave gaps on conventional and dual-use space weapons, which multilateral forums must fill.

• In Delhi, Phase 3 of the SIR shows fewer electors in 24 of 70 constituencies than in February 2025.
• About 13.79 lakh Delhi electors are under notice for 'no mapping' and 19.33 lakh are flagged for 'logical discrepancies'.
• Article 326 of the Constitution provides for universal adult franchise.

Electoral governance: the article argues low appeal disposal and high restoration rates expose flaws in verification that risk disenfranchisement.

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 Election Commission's roll revision under scrutiny: only 3.2% of West Bengal deletion appeals were disposed of, 93% of decided cases restored electors, and voters bear the burden of proof.

• Under UNCLOS, transit passage allows continuous and expeditious transit, including for warships, while innocent passage can be suspended for security reasons and excludes submerged submarines.
• The Malacca-Singapore Aids to Navigation Fund is supported by voluntary contributions from user states and industry and administered jointly with the littoral states.
• Japan, through the Malacca Strait Council, fostered cooperation among the littoral states.

Maritime security and law of the sea: the article argues a littoral-user state mechanism under UNCLOS could ease disputes over Hormuz.

• The data come from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), drawing on the Vahan portal.
• EVs made up 60.5% of new three-wheeler registrations by August 2026.
• The EV share of two-wheelers rose from 6.4% in 2025 to 9.1% in 2026; two-wheelers form over 70% of new registrations.

Energy transition: the shift shows uneven adoption across segments, with three-wheelers electrifying fastest and two-wheelers lagging.

• The Maharashtra Poisons Rules, 1972, framed under the Poisons Act, 1919, were amended in 2011 to introduce stricter controls on methanol.
• The rules were challenged under Article 14 and Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.
• The Court applied the proportionality framework from K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017).

Fundamental rights: the ruling shows proportionality review of regulatory curbs on trade under Article 19(1)(g).

• Partners for Multilateralism (P4M) was founded by the European Union, Brazil, Kenya and Canada.
• State-based armed conflicts in 35 countries in 2025 were the highest number since 1946.

Global governance: P4M reflects middle powers pressing for representative, effective UN-based institutions and reform.

• India funded the construction of the Jaffna cultural centre with a $12 million grant; its foundation stone was laid in 2015.
• The centre is an 11-storey building with a 600-seat auditorium, a conference hall, an amphitheatre and a digital library.

India-Sri Lanka relations: development partnership projects in the Northern Province are a tool of India's soft power.

• Under the new Delhi High Court rules, a Permanent Secretariat replaces the Permanent Committee and invites applications annually.
• The 2024 designation round, which drew 302 applications, ran into controversy.

Judiciary: the change bears on transparency and merit in the designation of senior advocates.

• The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement is a trilateral pact of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, grounded in Article 51 of the UN Charter on the right of self-defence.
• Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support the internationally recognised government.

West Asia security: the article uses the MJDA to show the limits of new collective defence pacts without institutions, with Pakistan's priorities centred on India and Afghanistan.

• Sulphur is used to make sulphuric acid, an input for phosphatic fertilisers such as single super phosphate and di-ammonium phosphate.

Energy and food security: refinery disruptions transmit to fertiliser supply, showing how energy shocks reach agriculture.

2026 · GS3 · 15 marks Explain the key challenges for India's energy security. What measures do you suggest for ensuring energy security along with economic growth and sustainability?

How to use it: Shows a newer energy security challenge: strikes on refineries cause refined product and sulphur shortages that constrain India's phosphatic fertiliser production and imports.

• Article 174(1) mandates a maximum six-month gap between two sittings of a State Legislature.
• Attendance in parliamentary committees is reported to be around 50%.
• The article estimates Parliament's cost at about Rs 9 crore a day, against Rs 36,000 a day in the 1950s.

Parliamentary accountability: falling sittings and rushed Bills weaken the legislature's oversight of the executive.

• The UN Loss and Damage Fund was established at COP27.
• Nepal's reconstruction bill is estimated at nearly 10% of its GDP; a Nepal project has sat in the Green Climate Fund pipeline for over seven years.

Climate diplomacy: the article argues India must move from the North-South liability frame towards regional climate finance leadership.

• The CCTV measure was first proposed in 2021 to address drug abuse among children.
• An AIIMS 2019 study found opioid use among 1.8% and cannabis use among 1.9% of children; of India's 2.3 crore opioid users, 25 lakh depend on pharmaceutical opioids.

Health governance: the draft balances curbing prescription drug abuse against compliance costs and privacy for retailers and patients.

• Double deflation adjusts both input and output values by their respective prices to calculate real Gross Value Added.
• The Sources and Methods document came seven months after the new series' launch, the shortest gap so far.

Data quality: MoSPI earlier used double deflation only for agriculture and mining and quarrying; extending it to manufacturing avoids distorted real growth estimates when input and output prices diverge.

• FCNR(B) deposits brought in $132.98 billion under the swap facility.
• Overseas foreign currency borrowings brought $5.32 billion and external commercial borrowings $5.296 billion.

External sector: the facility shows the RBI using NRI deposits and swaps to build forex buffers during an oil shock.

• The Advisory Committee on National Accounts Statistics (ACNAS) set up four sub-committees for the revision.
• The 2022-23 base year is India's eighth base-year revision of national accounts, replacing 2011-12.
• Private Final Consumption Expenditure now follows the Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) 2018.

Statistical reform: new data sources such as ASUSE, PLFS and GST records aim to improve the credibility of GDP estimates.

• SBM-U was launched in October 2014 and SBM-U 2.0 in October 2021.
• At Delhi's Bhalswa dumpsite, 99.07 lakh metric tonnes were remediated by July 2026.
• Gorakhpur's 40-acre dumpsite has been converted into an eco-park.

Urban waste management: dumpsite remediation by biomining reclaims urban land and supports a circular economy.

• Discussions covered metal recovery from lithium-ion batteries, e-waste management and the circular economy.

Resource security: recycling end-of-life batteries and e-waste is a route to critical mineral supply for clean energy and defence.

• The I-STEM Portal has operated since January 2020.
• Publicly funded equipment costing over Rs 20 lakh must be registered on the I-STEM Portal.
• The One Nation One Subscription initiative was highlighted for wider access to scholarly resources.

Research ecosystem: sharing costly equipment through I-STEM improves utilisation of public R&D investment.