UPSC current affairs, 3 November 2026

• Only green crackers certified by CSIR-NEERI and PESO and uploaded on the CSIR-NEERI website may be manufactured.
• Crackers containing barium, and series crackers ('ladis') and garlands, remain banned.
• No bursting is allowed within 300 metres of hospitals, nursing homes, health centres, old-age homes and notified silence zones.

Illustrates the judiciary balancing festival practice and livelihoods against the right to clean air in a polluted airshed, and the difficulty of enforcing such limits.

• Delhi's AQI rose from 60 on 30 October to 324 on 2 November 2026; 36 of 58 reporting stations recorded very poor air.
• The Graded Response Action Plan is operated in the NCR by a sub-committee of the Commission for Air Quality Management.
• Measures reported with the Stage II order include regulated diesel generator use and asking hotels and restaurants to avoid coal and firewood in tandoors.

A case for GS3 on why emergency, episodic curbs like GRAP cannot substitute for year-round action on the sources of NCR's winter pollution.

• India met its Paris pledge of half its installed power capacity from non-fossil sources in 2025, five years early.
• Over 65 lakh households have joined PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, launched in February 2024 with a target of one crore rooftop homes.
• Solar module manufacturing capacity has grown from about 2 GW a decade ago to over 200 GW.

Links clean energy to energy security: domestic renewables and manufacturing reduce exposure to imported fossil fuel shocks.

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: Use the PM's point that the West Asia crisis tied energy security to economic security, and the push to cut imported fossil fuel dependence through non-fossil capacity.

• The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 consolidated four earlier laws on immigration and foreigners.
• Under the Act, the Bureau of Immigration handles immigration functions, assisted by FRROs authorised by the Central Government.
• FRROs register foreigners after arrival, issue residential permits and exit permits, and grant permission for protected and restricted areas.

Relevant to GS2 and GS3 on governance of foreigners: faster services for visitors alongside stronger compliance and tracking of overstay and visa violations.

• India and Vietnam elevated ties to an Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during President To Lam's visit to India in May 2026.
• The Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030 guides defence cooperation.
• 2027 marks the 55th anniversary of India-Vietnam diplomatic relations.

Feeds GS2 on India's ties with Southeast Asia: security and defence cooperation with Vietnam is deepening alongside the upgraded Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

• The Finance Minister said the capex strategy has worked well over the past four to five years through its growth multipliers.

Useful for GS3 on public investment crowding in private investment, and the tension between a capex-led growth strategy and fiscal consolidation.

• The FRRO, Mumbai, issued the 'leave India' notice directing the actor to leave by 28 October.
• The Centre argued that Article 21 does not give a foreign national a right to reside in India.

Raises GS2 questions on which rights extend to non-citizens and on natural justice, since the court questioned whether the notice could stand without first hearing him.

• Operators opposed the DGCA's requirement of two mandatory pilots, citing financial unviability; a final decision is due before next year's yatra.
• The Federation of Indian Pilots sought a safety review of commercial helicopter operators in Uttarakhand and a national committee on helicopter safety.

A GS3 disaster management example of safety regulation for pilgrim helicopter services in difficult Himalayan terrain, and the cost of safety rules for operators.

• Classifying bulk Scotch under heading 2106 instead of heading 2208 could subject it to the full 150% customs duty.
• Industry bodies at the meeting included CIABC and ISWAI.

Shows that the gains from a trade agreement depend on implementation details such as tariff classification, which affect domestic bottlers as well as exporters.

• 34 fisheries production and processing clusters have been notified under PMMSY, including organic clusters in Sikkim and Meghalaya.
• The Soreng cluster emphasises Amur carp, Indian Major Carps and trout.
• Sikkim signed an MoU with the ITBP for institutional procurement of locally produced rainbow trout.

An example of cluster-based, organic fisheries raising farm incomes and opening premium markets in the Northeast.

2018 · GS3 · 10 marks Sikkim is the first 'Organic State' in India. What are the ecological and economical benefits of Organic State?

How to use it: The Soreng cluster shows organic farming in Sikkim extending to fisheries: fish raised without harmful chemicals, antibiotics or pesticides, aimed at higher incomes and premium markets.

• The largest biosphere reserve is the Great Rann of Kutch (12,454 sq km) and the smallest is Dibru-Saikhowa (765 sq km); Nilgiri, designated in 1986, is the oldest.
• Cold Desert in Himachal Pradesh was the latest Indian reserve added to UNESCO's World Network, in 2025.
• UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme was launched in 1971.

Biosphere reserves combine conservation with livelihoods of resident communities, a model for GS3 answers on protected areas beyond strict exclusion.

• The Geological Survey of India has mapped 381 hot springs and identified 10 geothermal provinces, with 42 promising sites.
• The Puga Valley wells in Ladakh, each 1,000 metres deep, are at over 14,000 feet above sea level.
• The National Policy on Geothermal Energy was notified in September 2025.

Geothermal can supply clean power and direct heat, and pilots such as retrofitting unproductive oil and gas wells at Ankleshwar show a route to diversify India's clean energy mix.

• India had 308.027 GW of non-fossil capacity as of September 2026, against a target of 500 GW by 2030.
• The Ministry of Power notified Guidelines to Promote Development of Pumped Storage Projects in April 2023.
• Pumped storage projects awarded for construction by 30 June 2028 get a 100% ISTS charge waiver for 25 years.

Storage is central to a renewable-heavy grid; the policy push on pumped storage, alongside battery storage, shows how India plans to integrate its growing non-fossil capacity.

2022 · GS3 · 15 marks Do you think India will meet 50 percent of its energy needs from renewable energy by 2030? Justify your answer. How will the shift of subsidies from fossil fuels to renewables help achieve the above objective? Explain.

How to use it: With 308 GW of non-fossil capacity against a 500 GW target for 2030, storage such as the 73.93 GW CEA projects by 2031-32 is key to using renewables fully.