Polity and governanceIndian Express, Page 8GS2GS3Must read
On 29 September 2026, a Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu of the Supreme Court quashed the preventive detention of Mulla Afroz under the National Security Act, 1980 (NSA). He had been called the alleged mastermind of the violence in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, on 24 November 2024, which broke out during a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid and in which four people died. The Court held that a confessional statement cannot be the sole ground for an order under a preventive detention law, and that the surrounding circumstances have to be looked into. It found that the power of detention was illegally exercised, set aside the Allahabad High Court judgment that had upheld the detention, and imposed costs of ₹10 lakh on the Uttar Pradesh government.
Prelims facts
- On 29 September 2026, the Supreme Court (Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu) held that a confessional statement cannot be the sole ground for an NSA detention order.
- The Court quashed Mulla Afroz's detention over the November 2024 Sambhal violence and imposed ₹10 lakh costs on Uttar Pradesh.
- The detention order of 13 October 2025 came after the Allahabad High Court had granted him bail in one case.
- Under the NSA, the maximum period of detention is 12 months; Article 22(4) requires an Advisory Board's opinion for detention beyond three months.
- A confession to a police officer cannot be proved against an accused under Section 23 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.
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EconomyThe Hindu, Text & ContextGS3Must read
The Hindu's explainer of 30 September 2026 examines the Centre's decision to cut customs duties on edible oils. Under Notification No. 31/2026-Customs dated 23 September 2026, which took effect on 24 September, the basic customs duty on crude soybean oil and crude palm oil was halved from 10% to 5%, and on crude sunflower oil it was cut from 10% to nil. Duty on the refined versions was also lowered: refined soybean and palm oil from 32.5% to 27.5%, and refined sunflower oil from 32.5% to 22.5%. The government kept the effective duty gap between crude and refined oils at 19.25 percentage points, so that importing crude oil and refining it in India stays more attractive than importing refined oil.
Prelims facts
- From 24 September 2026, basic customs duty on crude soybean and palm oil fell from 10% to 5%, and on crude sunflower oil from 10% to nil (Notification No. 31/2026-Customs).
- Refined soybean and palm oil duty fell from 32.5% to 27.5%, refined sunflower from 32.5% to 22.5%; the effective crude to refined gap stays at 19.25 percentage points.
- India imports about 57% of its edible oil needs and is the world's largest importer of edible oils.
- NMEO-Oilseeds (October 2024, ₹10,103 crore, 2024-25 to 2030-31) targets 69.7 million tonnes of primary oilseeds by 2030-31.
- Basic duty on crude edible oils was raised from nil to 20% in September 2024 and cut to 10% in May 2025.
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Society, justice and ethicsThe Hindu, Text & ContextGS3GS2Must read
The Hindu on 30 September 2026 analysed the Status of Policing in India Report (SPIR) 2026, released in New Delhi on 24 September by the NGO Common Cause and the Lokniti programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). This edition is devoted to cybercrime from the victim's point of view. It is based on a survey of 8,306 people across 16 States. About one in eight respondents (13%) said they had been a victim of cybercrime in the past two to three years; of these, 54% had suffered financial fraud and 23% lost more than ₹20,000. About a third said they frequently received scam calls, such as fake delivery calls (33%), high-return investment offers (31%) and callers posing as bank officials (27%).
Prelims facts
- SPIR 2026, by Common Cause and Lokniti-CSDS, surveyed 8,306 people in 16 States and focused on cybercrime victims.
- 13% of respondents had faced cybercrime in the past two to three years; 54% of these victims suffered financial fraud.
- 27% of victims who complained to police paid a bribe; 51% of poor victims did so against 12% of affluent victims.
- NCRB's Crime in India 2024 recorded 1,01,928 cybercrime cases, a 17.9% rise over 2023, with fraud as the motive in 72.6%.
- Police and public order are State subjects; the Centre supports States through I4C, the cybercrime.gov.in portal and the 1930 helpline.
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Science and technologyIndian Express, Page 1GS3GS2
The Indian Express reported on 30 September 2026 that the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund, the government's ₹1 lakh crore scheme to finance private-sector research in deep-tech areas, has paused new applications. The Technology Development Board (TDB), one of the fund's managers, issued a notice citing 'administrative reasons' for not accepting applications after this month. According to the report, the TDB had received ₹2,000 crore, which was used up in the first round, in which about ₹2,192 crore in soft loans was approved for 22 companies. Thirteen more companies selected in a second round are still awaiting letters of intent, out of more than 300 applications received.
Prelims facts
- The RDI scheme, approved by the Cabinet on 1 July 2025 with a ₹1 lakh crore corpus, was launched by the PM on 3 November 2025 at ESTIC.
- It has two tiers: a Special Purpose Fund in the ANRF and Second Level Fund Managers such as TDB and BIRAC.
- It gives long-term low or nil interest loans, equity and fund-of-funds contributions, not grants.
- In September 2026 the TDB paused new applications citing 'administrative reasons' after its ₹2,000 crore was used up in the first round.
- An August 2026 report found 15 of 22 first-round beneficiaries had investment links with selection committee members.
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Environment and geographyIndian Express, OpinionGS3
An opinion article in The Indian Express on 30 September 2026 argues that India's tiger protection is too focused on what happens inside Protected Areas, while both tigers and the criminals who target them operate across much wider landscapes. Drawing on data from TRAFFIC, the global wildlife trade monitoring network, it notes that 2,551 tiger seizures involving at least 3,808 tigers were recorded between January 2000 and June 2025. TRAFFIC's 'Skin and Bones' report of November 2025 shows that India recorded the most seizures among tiger range countries, 880 incidents involving 981 tigers, about a quarter of all tigers seized worldwide. The report names India, China, Indonesia and Vietnam as the top countries by number of tiger seizures.
Prelims facts
- TRAFFIC recorded 2,551 tiger seizures involving at least 3,808 tigers from January 2000 to June 2025.
- India had the most seizures among tiger range countries: 880 incidents involving 981 tigers.
- Whole tigers rose from about 10% of seizures in the 2000s to about 40% from 2020.
- The 2006 amendment to the Wild Life (Protection) Act created the NTCA and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.
- The op-ed calls for intelligence-led, landscape-scale enforcement that targets trafficking networks and finance, not just poachers.
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