Polity and governanceThe Hindu, NationalGS2Must read
The Supreme Court has told the Uttar Pradesh government that the onus lies on the State to make sure that undertrial prisoners who have been granted bail are actually released. A Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.B. Varale, hearing the suo motu case In Re: Policy Strategy for Grant of Bail, issued the directions on 4 November 2026; they were reported on 9 and 10 November. Data placed before the Court from 20 of the State's 75 districts showed that 264 undertrials had been granted bail but were not immediately released. Of these, 158 were later freed, while 106 remained in jail because they could not meet conditions such as furnishing sureties. The Court asked the State to carry out the same identification exercise in the remaining 55 districts, together with the District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs).
Prelims facts
- In 20 of Uttar Pradesh's 75 districts, 264 undertrials got bail but were not immediately released; 106 were still in jail, mostly unable to furnish sureties.
- A Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.B. Varale said the onus lies on the State to secure their release and ordered the exercise for the other 55 districts.
- DLSAs must help such prisoners even if they have private lawyers, and trial courts are to relax or modify bail conditions in the cases flagged.
- The 31 January 2023 directions in the same case say the jail must alert the DLSA if a bailed prisoner is not released within 7 days, and courts may relax conditions if bonds are not furnished within a month.
- A 2023 NALSA report found about 5,000 undertrials in jail despite bail; 1,417 of them were released after legal help.
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Polity and governanceThe Hindu, NationalGS2Must read
On 10 November 2026 the Ladakh administration announced that elections to eight Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) will be held on 4 December. The schedule was issued by the State Election Commission, Ladakh, after a Revenue Department notification called on all 100 constituencies of the eight councils to constitute new councils. Nominations close on 17 November, scrutiny is on 18 November and candidates can withdraw until 3 pm on 20 November. Polling, if required, will run from 8 am to 5 pm on 4 December, and the whole process is to be over by 8 December. The administration has approved 33% reservation for women. Separately, panchayat and municipal elections in the Union Territory are due on 21 November.
Prelims facts
- Elections to eight Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils, covering 100 constituencies, are set for 4 December 2026, with the process to end by 8 December.
- The LAHDC (Amendment) Regulation, 2026, promulgated by the President on 16 October, gives every one of Ladakh's eight districts its own hill council.
- Each council will have 7 to 24 elected seats instead of the earlier 26, plus four nominated members from women and unrepresented communities.
- Leh has had a hill council since 1995 and Kargil since 2003; Sankoo became Ladakh's eighth district on 16 October 2026.
- Ladakh is not under the Sixth Schedule, which covers tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
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Environment and geographyThe Hindu, NationalGS3Must read
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said on 10 November 2026 that hourly particulate matter (PM) readings above 1,000 microgrammes per cubic metre (µg/m³) are left out of the National Air Quality Index (NAQI) under its existing method. The analysers deployed when the NAQI was introduced in 2015 were calibrated to measure 0 to 1,000 µg/m³. The automated validation system treats readings beyond that range as outside the calibrated range and excludes them, and excluded hours are not counted in the station's 24-hour average. This, the CPCB said, can create apparent data gaps during extreme episodes such as Diwali fireworks. It added that "internal deliberations and consultations with respect to processing of data beyond system design range are underway".
Prelims facts
- CPCB's analysers are calibrated for 0 to 1,000 µg/m³; hourly PM readings above that are excluded from the NAQI and from the 24-hour average.
- On Diwali night 2026, DPCC data showed PM2.5 of 4,985 µg/m³ at Jahangirpuri and 3,744 µg/m³ at Mundka; the WHO 24-hour guideline is 15 µg/m³.
- The NAQI, introduced in 2015, uses eight pollutants and is capped at 500; 401 to 500 is 'Severe'.
- Continuous monitoring stations have grown from 30 in 2014-15 to 634; Delhi has 59.
- CPCB says it is consulting on how to process data beyond the system's design range.
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Polity and governanceThe Hindu, EditorialGS2
By an order dated 6 November 2026, issued by Public Secretary E. Sundaravalli of the Public (Law and Order-F) Department, the Tamil Nadu government led by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay discontinued the High-Level Committee on Union-State Relations "with immediate effect". The committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph, had been set up on 17 April 2025 by the previous DMK government of M.K. Stalin. Its other members were retired IAS officer K. Ashok Vardhan Shetty and former State Planning Commission vice-chairman M. Naganathan, who later resigned. The order says the committee is "a non-statutory body" whose work substantially overlaps with that of the Tamil Nadu State Law Commission, reconstituted on 7 August 2026 with a mandate that includes Centre-State and inter-State relations. All records are to be handed over to the Law Commission.
Prelims facts
- Tamil Nadu discontinued the Justice Kurian Joseph High-Level Committee on Union-State Relations by an order dated 6 November 2026.
- The committee was set up on 17 April 2025, gave Part I of its report on 16 February 2026, and had until 31 May 2027 for Part II.
- The government called it a non-statutory body overlapping with the State Law Commission, reconstituted on 7 August 2026.
- Part I sought time limits for Governors on State Bills and rejected 'One Nation, One Language'.
- Its terms of reference included the 1971 recommendations of the Rajamannar Committee, appointed by Tamil Nadu in 1969.
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International relationsThe Hindu, WorldGS2
On 9 November 2026, Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York allowed Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel of the group Sikhs for Justice, to serve his civil lawsuit on National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Samant Goel through district courts in Delhi. The judge relied on Article 19 of the Hague Service Convention, which lets a country keep domestic laws that allow other ways of transmitting documents for service. She also cited Section 29(c) of India's Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), which, read with a January 2009 notification, lets summonses from civil courts of Convention countries be sent to Indian courts and served as if issued by them. Pannun named the Patiala House, Dwarka and Tis Hazari court complexes, and must submit a proposed service packet by 30 November.
Prelims facts
- A New York federal judge on 9 November 2026 allowed Pannun to serve his civil suit on NSA Ajit Doval and ex-RAW chief Samant Goel through Delhi district courts.
- The order relied on Article 19 of the Hague Service Convention and Section 29(c) of the CPC, read with a January 2009 notification.
- The MEA said service in India can only go through the Ministry of Law and Justice, India's Central Authority under the Convention.
- India acceded to the Hague Service Convention on 23 November 2006; it entered into force for India on 1 August 2007.
- Nikhil Gupta, accused in the related U.S. criminal case, has pleaded guilty and is due to be sentenced on 20 November 2026.
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