UPSC current affairs, 27 September 2026

• India and Liberia co-chair the Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers, launched with 23 partners to address attacks on vessels.
• Jaishankar's 'Four Fs' through which conflicts hurt the Global South are food, fuel, fertilizers and finance.
• India reiterated support for a two-state solution for the Israel-Gaza conflict and called for reformed multilateralism, including UN Security Council expansion.

India's multilateral diplomacy: the speech pairs a zero-tolerance line on state-sponsored terrorism with positioning India as a voice of the Global South and a backer of UN Security Council reform.

• S.S. Dhanoa v. Union of India (1991) warned against concentrating the Election Commission's powers in one person.
• In the T.N. Seshan case (1995), the Supreme Court upheld the multi-member ECI and held that the CEC does not hold superior powers over the other Election Commissioners.
• The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023 gives effect to Article 324(2) and requires the ECI to conduct business unanimously or by majority.

Independence of constitutional bodies: the Dhanoa and Seshan rulings make the case that a collegial Election Commission, with equal say for all Commissioners, is a safeguard against concentrated discretionary power.

• Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India (2023) required a committee of the PM, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the CJI to appoint Election Commissioners until Parliament legislated.
• Under the 2023 Act, which came into force in January 2024, the selection committee is the PM, the Leader of the Opposition and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM.
• Section 16 of the 2023 Act protects the CEC and ECs from civil or criminal proceedings for official acts.

Independence of the Election Commission: the unequal removal protection for the CEC and other Commissioners, and the executive-dominated selection committee, are central to debates on ECI autonomy.

• The 2014 NALSA judgment recognised transgender persons as a third gender with the right to self-identify their gender.
• The 2026 amendments to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 removed the 'self-perceived gender identity' provision.
• The National Council for Transgender Persons is a statutory body that advises the government on transgender policy.

Rights of transgender persons: the amendments test whether a physiology-based definition is compatible with NALSA's self-identification principle and constitutional morality.

2026 · GS2 · 10 marks Right to privacy relating to self-identity is very dear to every human being and well protected under Article 21 of the Constitution. In this context, examine the effect of the amendment in 2026, to the Transgender…

How to use it: The 2026 amendments replaced self-perceived gender identity with a physiology-based definition, departing from NALSA's self-identification principle, which is the effect the question asks you to examine.

• Maharashtra's drought declaration rests on 'Trigger 1': a continuous dry spell of at least 21 days since June.
• The declaration activates 12 relief measures, including land revenue waivers and crop loan restructuring.
• A Cabinet subcommittee headed by Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule will oversee drought relief.

Drought management: the trigger-based declaration and survey with photographs and GPS show how states assess crop loss, while farmers' concerns highlight gaps in NDRF relief after repeated Kharif failures.

• Pu'er is a fermented tea traditionally from China's Yunnan province; Sheng-style pu'er is made for ageing.
• Phalap is a traditional tea of Assam's Singpho community, aged in bamboo.
• Assam raised its subsidy on orthodox and speciality teas from Rs 10 to Rs 15 per kg for 2026-27.

Value addition in plantation agriculture: specialty teas and traditional community products such as phalap show a route to higher-value output for Assam's tea sector.

• Haryana's 'Spandan One' tele-ECG network, a partnership with Sunfox Technologies, covers nearly 600 government health facilities.
• By September 17, Spandan One had conducted over 33,854 ECG tests and identified 1,342 critical cardiac cases.
• Cardiovascular diseases cause about 2.8 to 3.1 million deaths a year in India.

Public health delivery: a public-private tele-ECG model run by ASHA workers at PHCs shows how technology can shorten diagnosis within the 'golden hour' in rural areas.

2018 · GS2 · 10 marks Appropriate local community level healthcare intervention is a prerequisite to achieve 'Health for All' in India. Explain.

How to use it: Spandan One lets ASHA workers at PHCs and CHCs deliver clinician-reviewed ECGs in under three minutes, an example of community-level healthcare intervention improving outcomes.

• In a Pew Research Centre survey of 37 countries, a median of 55% of adults in high-income countries expected AI to reduce jobs, against 36% in middle-income countries.
• The survey grouped countries using the World Bank's classification based on gross national income per capita.

Social impact of AI: uneven awareness and concern between rich and middle-income countries shapes who drives demand for AI regulation and worker protection.

• A National Task Force report recorded that 13,600 students from disadvantaged communities dropped out between 2018 and 2023, and noted significant dropouts of OBC, SC and ST students from IITs and IIMs.
• Students at IIT-Bombay sought at least one counsellor per 250 students and independent audits of the Student Wellness Centre.

Equity in higher education: the protests link caste discrimination, student mental health and dropouts of SC, ST and OBC students from elite institutions.

• The Kasturirangan report recommends 59,940 sq. km of the Western Ghats, covering 4,156 villages in six states, as an Ecologically Sensitive Area.
• The Kasturirangan Committee (High Level Working Group) was set up in 2012 to reassess the Madhav Gadgil Committee's findings.
• ESAs are declared under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; the proposed curbs include bans on mining, quarrying, sand extraction and red-category industries.

Conservation versus livelihoods: Karnataka's objection over agriculture, housing and survey accuracy shows the federal friction in notifying eco-sensitive zones, with Kerala's ground-survey approach cited as a model.

2016 · Prelims 'Gadgil Committee Report' and 'Kasturirangan Committee Report', sometimes seen in the news, are related to (a) constitutional reforms (b) Ganga Action Plan (c) linking of rivers (d) protection of Western Ghats

How to use it: Karnataka's rejection of the Kasturirangan report, which reassessed the Gadgil Committee's findings, concerns the proposed Ecologically Sensitive Area for protecting the Western Ghats.

• Bangladesh's first nuclear power plant, Rooppur, has two VVER-1200 reactors built with Russian assistance.
• Bangladesh and the U.S. are both parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and have IAEA safeguards agreements.

India's neighbourhood: the U.S. entering Bangladesh's civil nuclear sector, alongside Russia's role at Rooppur, adds to great-power competition for energy partnerships in South Asia.

• Form 6 is the application form for inclusion in the electoral roll; its added declaration was made without formal rule amendments and will revert after the SIR.
• Under the revised SIR process, Booth Level Officers will collect documents at the homes of 'unmapped' voters instead of holding in-person hearings.
• An independent committee will review the ECINet portal for legal compliance.

Electoral governance: the meeting shows the collegial ECI responding to internal dissent with process fixes (advance agendas, prompt minutes) and easing the burden of roll revision on voters.

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: It shows how the ECI is adjusting its Special Intensive Revision of rolls: no in-person hearings for flagged voters, reverting the Form 6 declaration after the SIR and reviewing ECINet.

• Maharashtra's monsoon rainfall deficit was 18%, against a national deficit of 13%; Marathwada's was 38%.
• Maharashtra's Employment Guarantee Scheme, started during the 1972 drought and formalised in 1978, inspired MGNREGA in 2005.
• The 1972 drought followed three consecutive monsoon failures and affected 75 to 80% of Maharashtra's population.

Drought and El Nino: the 1972 response (public works employment and PDS) offers a model, while outdated irrigation and weak water conservation explain current vulnerability.

2014 · GS3 · 12.5 marks Drought has been recognised as a disaster in view of its spatial expanse, temporal duration, slow onset and lasting effect on various vulnerable sections. With a focus on the September 2010 guidelines from the National…

How to use it: Marathwada's 38% deficit amid El Nino fears, and Maharashtra's 1972 drought response through the Employment Guarantee Scheme that later inspired MGNREGA, illustrate drought preparedness and relief.

• Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon is an architectural model of surveillance in which the possibility of being watched leads to self-regulation.
• The right to privacy is protected under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Privacy and ethics: the piece offers the 'digital gaze' and the Panopticon as frames for how permanent recording affects autonomy and behaviour, relevant to Article 21 privacy debates.

• Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPPs) are registered with the Election Commission but not recognised as national or state parties.
• Section 80GGC of the Income Tax Act allows a 100% deduction for contributions to political parties or electoral trusts.

Electoral reform and political funding: the case shows how tax exemptions for party donations can be misused through RUPPs with no genuine political activity, strengthening the case for scrutiny of such parties.

• Maharashtra was the top destination for bank-sanctioned private project costs in FY26, with Rs 88,880 crore (20.2%), ahead of Gujarat.
• Banks and financial institutions financed about 55% of the aggregate project cost in FY26.
• Private companies also raised Rs 1 lakh crore through ECBs and Rs 23,809 crore through IPOs for capital expenditure in FY26.

Private investment and regional disparity: rising investment intentions point to a capex revival, but the concentration in six states raises questions of balanced regional growth.

• Net FDI inflows were $7.35 billion in July 2026, the highest monthly inflow since May 2021.
• Mauritius, the UAE and the US together accounted for about 70% of equity inflows.
• The RBI and government encouraged inflows through a concessional swap window for FCNR(B) deposits.

External sector: FDI is a non-debt source of capital, and strong inflows help offset pressure on the rupee amid high global interest rates.

• China and the U.S. agreed an eight-point consensus that includes a dialogue on the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence.
• APEC is a regional economic forum of 21 Pacific Rim members.

Great-power relations: a China-U.S. thaw on trade and AI governance changes the context for India's own trade and technology strategy.

• The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea and is a critical chokepoint for global oil shipments.
• Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was conveyed through Qatari mediators.

Energy security and West Asia: disruption at the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for global oil shipments, affects the world economy and is a direct energy security concern for India.

• Google's MVP satellite under Project Suncatcher carries four Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), chips Google developed to accelerate machine learning.
• The MVP satellite was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Technology and energy: moving data centres to orbit is one response to the energy and land demands of AI, though radiation and launch costs remain hurdles.

• India's e-Visa covers 172 countries and 88 entry ports, with 95% of applications processed within 72 hours.
• Tourism contributed 5.22% of India's GDP and created 8.46 crore jobs in 2023-24.
• Swadesh Darshan 2.0, PRASHAD and SASCI are government schemes for tourism infrastructure.

Tourism as a growth and employment sector: digital public infrastructure for tourism, alongside schemes such as Swadesh Darshan 2.0 and PRASHAD, is presented as a driver of growth and jobs.

• She-Mart connects women's Self-Help Groups and rural women entrepreneurs directly with markets, with support from NAFED, Kendriya Bhandar and Amul.
• The government aims to create 6 crore Lakhpati Didis, women earning at least Rs 1 lakh a year, by 2029.
• The NAFED-Kalyan Scholarship Scheme gives scholarships to girls from farmer families.

Women-led development through cooperatives: market linkage for SHGs under the 'Sahkar se Samriddhi' vision is presented as a route to rural women's income growth.