UPSC current affairs, 6 October 2026

• DRT3 is a bacterial enzyme system that protects bacteria against viruses called bacteriophages.
• DRT3b can synthesise DNA without a nucleic acid template, producing repetitive sequences such as CACACACA.
• Crick's central dogma holds that sequence information cannot flow from protein back to nucleic acid.

Useful for science and technology answers on bacterial immune systems and as an example of how new findings test, but need not overturn, established biological principles.

• The World Bank projects a deficit of 800 million jobs for 1.2 billion young people entering the Global South workforce over the next decade.
• Agriculture contributed about 16% of India's GDP in FY24 while employing nearly half the population.

Feeds answers on demographic dividend versus demographic burden, jobless growth, premature deindustrialisation and low female labour force participation.

2026 · GS1 · 15 marks Critically examine the challenges of demographic transition in contemporary India.

How to use it: Use the World Bank's 800 million job deficit forecast, early deindustrialisation and agriculture's 16% GDP share against nearly half of employment to show why India's demographic transition may not yield a dividend.

• The Central Electricity Authority classifies a plant's coal stock as critical when it falls below 25% of the normative requirement.
• India's peak power demand reached 270.8 GW on May 21, 2026.
• Coal accounted for 79% of India's total energy generated in 2024-25.

Shows India's continued dependence on coal for power and the vulnerability of energy security to heatwaves and weak monsoon-linked hydro output.

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: Cite critical coal stocks at 84 of 191 plants, 79% coal share in generation and record 270.8 GW peak demand to illustrate supply-side challenges to India's energy security.

• In Rajive Raturi vs Union of India (November 8, 2024), the Supreme Court held accessibility to be a fundamental right and required mandatory accessibility standards.
• The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act was enacted in 2016.
• A study cited found the CLIP AI model was 15% less accurate on images from blind or low-vision users.

Useful for answers on inclusive digital governance and the rights of persons with disabilities, showing how algorithmic bias and power-hungry data centres can deepen exclusion.

• Section 9D, inserted into the MMDR Act, 1957 by the 2026 amendment, restricts States from levying new taxes on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands.
• On July 25, 2024, in Mineral Area Development Authority v. Steel Authority of India, the Supreme Court (8:1) upheld the States' power to tax mines and minerals under Entries 49 and 50 of List II.

A live example of fiscal federalism tension: Union legislation narrowing a State taxing power affirmed by the Supreme Court, with mineral-rich States losing revenue autonomy.

2025 · GS2 · 15 marks Examine the evolving pattern of Centre-State financial relations in the context of planned development in India. How far have the recent reforms impacted the fiscal federalism in India?

How to use it: Cite the 2026 MMDR amendment's Section 9D, which curbs State mineral taxes despite the July 2024 Supreme Court ruling, as a recent reform affecting fiscal federalism and Centre-State financial relations.

• The India-EU Free Trade Agreement is scheduled to be signed on December 16, 2026 in Brussels.
• The BRICS Summit's Delhi Declaration of September 2026 did not refer to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Useful for answers on strategic autonomy, India-France and India-EU ties, and how middle powers build coalitions in a polarised order.

• The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye was signed on August 7, 2026.
• Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement on September 17, 2025.
• The Bab el-Mandeb Strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

Relevant to India's West Asia policy: a collective defence pact that brings Pakistani forces to Saudi Arabia, and fighting near the Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint, bear on India's security and energy routes.

• The proposed reforms are likely to raise the GST prosecution threshold from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore.
• The September 2025 GST rate rationalisation moved to main slabs of 5% and 18%, with 40% for demerit goods.

Illustrates the shift from penal enforcement to trust-based, technology-driven tax compliance and its effect on ease of doing business and service exports.

• The Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 allows US tariffs of up to 100% on countries that buy Russian oil and gas.
• The US has begun an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into whether India's industrial capacity harms American companies.
• India runs a trade surplus with the US, unlike its trade deficit with China.

Shows how tariffs and sanctions are used as foreign policy tools and the cost to India's exports of buying Russian energy.

2025 · GS3 · 10 marks What are the challenges before the Indian economy when the world is moving away from free trade and multilateralism to protectionism and bilateralism? How can these challenges be met?

How to use it: Use the stalled India-US talks, the US law allowing 100% tariffs on buyers of Russian oil and the Section 301 probe as examples of protectionism and bilateral pressure on Indian exports.

• Under the CEC and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, the selection committee is the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister.
• About 90 lakh voters were removed from West Bengal's electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision.

Feeds answers on the independence of the Election Commission, the executive-dominated selection process and the risk of disenfranchisement during roll revision.

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: Cite the removal of 90 lakh West Bengal voters with 93% of decided appeals favouring voters to discuss the Election Commission's role and the risks to the right to vote in roll revision.

• The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a vital oil shipping route; its seizure by the Houthis had jolted energy markets.
• The Houthis have controlled Yemen's capital Sanaa since 2014.
• Mocha, Dhubab and Taiz are places in Yemen in the news in this conflict.

Shows how conflict at a maritime chokepoint threatens India's energy imports and trade through the Red Sea and Suez route.

2025 · GS2 · 15 marks "Energy security constitutes the dominant kingpin of India's foreign policy, and is linked with India's overarching influence in Middle Eastern countries." How would you integrate energy security with India's foreign…

How to use it: Cite the Houthi seizure of the Bab el-Mandeb oil route, which jolted energy markets, to show why securing West Asian sea lanes is central to India's energy security and foreign policy.

• The ninth India International Water Week was the occasion for the article.
• India projects annual market revenue of about Rs 73,000 crore by 2047 from the sale of treated used water.
• The model rests on four Ps: political will, public financing, partnerships and people's participation.

Gives a framework (four Ps, community ownership through Pani Samitis, reuse of treated water) for answers on water governance and India's development partnerships.

• Ukraine is reviewing peace proposals from India, Turkey, Egypt and the United States.
• Prime Minister Modi told Russian President Putin in September 2022 that this is not an era of war.

An example of strategic autonomy turning into active mediation, balancing ties with Russia and the West while addressing global food security.

• India and Germany signed a Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement in 2022.
• The number of Indian nationals in Germany grew from 86,000 in 2015 to 280,000 in 2025.

Useful for answers on the Indian diaspora and labour mobility: demographic need in Europe collides with anti-immigrant politics.

• NCERT released the Grade IX Social Science textbook 'Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Part 2' on September 29, 2026.
• The article notes the textbook omits Ripon's local self-government initiative and the Morley-Minto and Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms.

Feeds answers on the politics of school curricula and the role of history education in building critical thinking.

• Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 penalises false declarations with imprisonment or a fine.
• The article says a new form such as Form 6X could be created by amending the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, through the Law Ministry.
• Form 6 is the application for inclusion of a new voter in the electoral roll.

A concrete procedural reform for electoral roll revision that protects eligible voters from exclusion and from being forced into false declarations.

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: Use the problem of deleted voters having to re-enrol through Form 6 and the proposed Form 6X to discuss safeguards the Election Commission needs while revising electoral rolls.