UPSC GS Paper 1 current affairs

Latest GS1 stories

• Education Ministry approves five Centres of Excellence for newer classical languages 4 October 2026 · The Hindu

  Classical status came in 2024. Two years on, do Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit finally get institutions?

• Centre and Ladakh fix standard names for 28 places on the Survey of India map 2 October 2026 · PIB

  Atisha, Milarepa, Kanishka, Zorawar: why a list of Ladakh's peaks reads like a history syllabus.

• Monsoon 2026 ends 12.6% below normal, India's weakest season since 2015 1 October 2026 · The Hindu

  A dry June, a strong El Niño and a late rally: how did India end up with a 'deficient' monsoon?

• Supreme Court orders Delhi-NCR safety audit in four weeks after a string of rapes 29 September 2026 · The Hindu

  Nirbhaya was 2012. Why is the Supreme Court still asking who answers for a dark park in 2026?

• UN adopts a declaration that rising seas will not erase island states 28 September 2026 · The Hindu

  If the sea swallows a country's land, does the country, and its ocean zone, disappear too?

• Census 2027 first phase nears completion, PM calls it a national responsibility 28 September 2026 · The Hindu

  Where does India's first digital, caste-counting Census stand, and why does it matter?

• Justice Nagarathna: family disputes need mediation and adjudication working together 27 September 2026 · The Hindu

  Can mediation clear family court backlogs without weakening the rights of the weaker party?

• Vedanta seeks a return to Niyamgiri, 13 years after gram sabhas said no 27 September 2026 · The Hindu

  Can a mine that tribal gram sabhas rejected in 2013 be reopened, and who gets to decide?

• Census 2027: no decision yet on how open-field caste entries will be sorted 26 September 2026 · The Hindu

  If every household writes its own caste name, how will the Census turn that into usable data?

• El Niño, heat deaths and why parched Maharashtra cannot declare drought yet 24 September 2026 · Indian Express

  Crops are wilting, but the drought manual says wait. Why?

• Karnataka's legislature asks the Centre to shrink the Western Ghats eco-sensitive area 23 September 2026 · The Hindu

  Conservation zone or livelihood threat? A decade-old fight returns to the Assembly.

• Towards recognising women as farmers 23 September 2026 · The Hindu

  Women do much of India's farm work. Few own the land they work on.

• What does Tulu's new official language status mean? 21 September 2026 · The Hindu

  A language spoken by lakhs, missing from the Eighth Schedule.

• The persistent decline in India's groundwater 21 September 2026 · CGWB data

  India pumps more groundwater than any other country. For how long?

• Monsoon begins withdrawing from west Rajasthan with 43% of India's area rain-deficient 20 September 2026 · Indian Express

  The monsoon is leaving on time, but 15% short. What decides when it 'withdraws', and what comes next?

• Global Gender Gap Index 2026: India stays 131st of 145 with 64.5% of its gap closed 17 September 2026 · The Hindu

  India nearly matches men and women in schools and health. Why does it still rank 131st of 145?

• Urban Ministry tells House panel the 'census town' definition is outdated; RGI keeps it 17 September 2026 · The Hindu

  Is India 31% urban or closer to 63%? The answer depends on a definition the Census will not change for 2027.

• Unemployment steady at 5% in August 2026 as rural rate falls to 4.1%, says PLFS 16 September 2026 · Indian Express

  More people are working in villages, but urban joblessness is stuck near 7%. What does the monthly survey show?

• Hindi Diwas: how the Constituent Assembly settled India's language question 15 September 2026 · Indian Express

  Why does the Constitution call Hindi the 'official language' of the Union and never the 'national language'?

• Op-ed: Anganwadis shape India's future, and communities must share responsibility for them 14 September 2026 · Indian Express

  Anganwadis reach 8.9 crore children and women. Can local committees make sure the hot meal actually arrives?

• Study finds rapid Himalayan erosion releases CO2 through pyrite oxidation 13 September 2026 · Indian Express

  Mountains are said to pull carbon out of the air as rocks weather. In the upper Indus, the balance runs the other way.

• NSO releases first district-level estimates of the unincorporated non-farm sector 11 September 2026 · The Hindu

  Women are 78% of informal workers in Telangana's Nirmal but 6.7% in Rudraprayag. What does district data change?

• Bihar floods despite a 27% rain deficit, and the Ganga, not Nepal, is behind it 11 September 2026 · The Hindu

  How can a State short of rain be under water? Look downstream at the Ganga and Farakka, not north at Nepal.

• Houthis seize Yemen's Red Sea port of Mokha, close to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait 11 September 2026 · The Hindu

  A coffee port that gave 'mocha' its name is now a frontline on a vital sea lane. Why does India care?

• Open waste burning in Indian cities triples in winter, finds WRI India study 10 September 2026 · The Hindu

  It adds under 1% of a city's PM2.5, yet poor neighbourhoods breathe its smoke. Why does winter make it worse?

• Editorial: The push to dilute gram sabha consent for forest diversion 9 September 2026 · The Hindu

  Should a dam wait for every affected village to agree, or is the consent of three in four villages enough?

• After a deadly glacier collapse, Nepal seeks climate compensation, not aid 9 September 2026 · Indian Express

  Nepal emits almost nothing, yet a warming world just buried its valleys. Who should pay?

• Rajghat finds from decades-old digs shed new light on ancient Kashi 7 September 2026 · Indian Express

  Ten thousand objects sat in storage for about 70 years. What can they now tell us about one of India's oldest cities?

• Census count advanced in four poll-bound States, formally deferred in Manipur 6 September 2026 · The Hindu

  Why will Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa be counted two months before the rest of India?

• UN General Assembly backs the Equal Earth map to show Africa's true size 6 September 2026 · The Hindu

  On a Mercator map Africa looks about as big as Greenland. It is about 14 times bigger. Does that matter?

• Centre asks Himalayan States to step up monitoring of glacial lakes and avalanche zones 4 September 2026 · The Hindu

  Can a warning reach a mountain village before a glacial lake empties into the valley below?

• Newborn deaths in hospital fires and the case for 'hospital plus home' care 4 September 2026 · The Hindu

  Has India's success in getting mothers to deliver in hospitals made its newborn units crowded and unsafe?

• UNEP says 1.5°C will be crossed and maps an 'overshoot, peak and decline' path 3 September 2026 · The Hindu

  If 1.5°C can no longer be held, can the world go above it and still come back down?

• Is 'purifying' a venue after a Dalit leader's rally untouchability under Article 17? 2 September 2026 · The Hindu

  No one was stopped and no one was touched. Can a ritual of 'cleansing' still be untouchability in law?

• Delhi HC: return from maternity leave must restore role, not just pay and title 2 September 2026 · Indian Express

  If a mother returns to the same salary but a shrunken job, has the law protected her?

• Hague court says the Indus Waters Treaty is fully in force; India rejects the award 1 September 2026 · The Hindu

  A tribunal says India cannot suspend the Indus treaty. India says the tribunal itself is illegal. Who is right?

• India records its hottest August since 1901; IMD forecasts below-normal September rain 1 September 2026 · The Hindu

  A record-hot August, a 14% rain deficit and a strong El Niño: how bad can September get?

• Op-ed: Falling fertility, delimitation and the politics of population 1 September 2026 · The Hindu

  Fertility is falling in every community, yet leaders call for more babies. Why do seats in Parliament hang on it?

GS1 syllabus topics

• Art, literature and architecture
• Modern Indian history
• Freedom struggle
• Post-independence consolidation
• World history
• Indian society and diversity
• Women, population, poverty, urbanisation
• Globalisation and society
• Empowerment, communalism, regionalism, secularism
• Physical geography of the world
• Resources and industrial location
• Geophysical phenomena and changes

GS1 previous-year questions 48

1. 2026 · GS1 · 15 marks "The centre of global trade is gradually shifting from the Atlantic region to the Indo-Pacific region." Examine this statement.
2. 2026 · GS1 · 15 marks Linguistic reorganization of Indian States was driven by popular pressure from below. Comment.
3. 2026 · GS1 · 15 marks Critically examine the challenges of demographic transition in contemporary India.
4. 2025 · GS1 · 15 marks Achieving sustainable growth with emphasis on environmental protection could come into conflict with poor people's needs in a country like India. Comment.
5. 2025 · GS1 · 15 marks Does tribal development in India centre around two axes, those of displacement and of rehabilitation? Give your opinion.
6. 2025 · GS1 · 10 marks How are climate change and the sea level rise affecting the very existence of many island nations? Discuss with examples.
7. 2024 · GS1 · 15 marks The groundwater potential of the Gangetic valley is on a serious decline. How may it affect the food security of India?
8. 2024 · GS1 · 15 marks Despite comprehensive policies for equity and social justice, underprivileged sections are not yet getting the full benefits of affirmative action envisaged by the Constitution. Comment.
9. 2024 · GS1 · 15 marks How far was the Industrial Revolution in England responsible for the decline of handicrafts and cottage industries in India?
10. 2024 · GS1 · 10 marks Distinguish between gender equality, gender equity and women's empowerment. Why is it important to take gender concerns into account in programme design and implementation?
11. 2024 · GS1 · 10 marks What is the concept of 'demographic winter'? Is the world moving towards such a situation? Elaborate.
12. 2024 · GS1 · 10 marks Underline the changes in the field of society and economy from the rig vedic to the later vedic period.
13. 2023 · GS1 · 10 marks Child cuddling is now being replaced by mobile phones. Discuss its impact on the socialization of children.
14. 2023 · GS1 · 10 marks Why is the world today confronted with a crisis of availability of and access to freshwater resources?
15. 2023 · GS1 · 15 marks Why did human development fail to keep pace with economic development in India?
16. 2023 · GS1 · 10 marks Why is the South-West Monsoon called 'Purvaiya' (easterly) in Bhojpur Region? How has this directional seasonal wind system influenced the cultural ethos of the region?
17. 2023 · GS1 · 15 marks Why is caste identity in India both fluid and static?
18. 2022 · GS1 · 15 marks Are tolerance, assimilation, and pluralism the key elements in the making of an Indian form of secularism? Justify your answer.
19. 2021 · GS1 · 10 marks Differentiate the causes of landslides in the Himalayan region and Western Ghats.
20. 2021 · GS1 · 10 marks Despite India being one of the countries of the Gondwanaland, its mining industry contributes much less to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in percentage. Discuss.
21. 2021 · GS1 · 15 marks Discuss the main objectives of Population Education and point out the measures to achieve them in India in detail.
22. 2020 · GS1 · 10 marks Has caste lost its relevance in understanding the multi-cultural Indian Society? Elaborate your answer with illustrations.
23. 2019 · GS1 · 10 marks What are the challenges to our cultural practices in the name of secularism?
24. 2019 · GS1 · 15 marks What is water stress? How and why does it differ regionally in India?
25. 2019 · GS1 · 15 marks What are the continued challenges for women in India against time and space?
26. 2019 · GS1 · 10 marks 'Empowering women is the key to control population growth.' Discuss.
27. 2018 · GS1 · 15 marks "The ideal solution of depleting ground water resources in India is water harvesting system." How can it be made effective in urban areas?
28. 2018 · GS1 · 10 marks How the Indian concept of secularism different from the western model of secularism? Discuss.
29. 2018 · GS1 · 10 marks 'Despite implementation of various programmes for eradication of poverty by the government in India, poverty is still existing'. Explain by giving reasons.
30. 2018 · GS1 · 10 marks "Caste system is assuming new identities and associational forms. Hence, caste system cannot be eradicated in India." Comment.
31. 2018 · GS1 · 10 marks Safeguarding the Indian art heritage is the need of the moment. Comment.
32. 2017 · GS1 · 15 marks Distinguish between religiousness/religiosity and communalism giving one example of how the former has got transformed into the latter in independent India.
33. 2017 · GS1 · 15 marks What characteristics can be assigned to monsoon climate that succeeds in feeding more than 50 percent of the world population residing in Monsoon Asia?
34. 2017 · GS1 · 10 marks 'In spite of adverse environmental impact, coal mining is still inevitable for development.' Discuss.
35. 2017 · GS1 · 15 marks Examine how the decline of traditional artisanal industry in colonial India crippled the rural economy.
36. 2017 · GS1 · 10 marks What are the two major legal initiatives by the State since Independence addressing discrimination against Scheduled Tribes (STs)?
37. 2017 · GS1 · 10 marks How do you justify the view that the level of excellence of the Gupta numismatic art is not at all noticeable in later times?
38. 2016 · GS1 · 12.5 marks Has the formation of linguistic states strengthened the cause of Indian unity?
39. 2016 · GS1 · 12.5 marks 'An essential condition to eradicate poverty is to liberate the poor from the process of deprivation.' Substantiate this statement with suitable examples.
40. 2015 · GS1 · 12.5 marks India is well endowed with fresh water resources. Critically examine why it still suffers from water scarcity.
41. 2015 · GS1 · 12.5 marks How do you explain the statistics that show that the sex ratio in Tribes in India is more favourable to women than the sex ratio among Scheduled Castes?
42. 2015 · GS1 · 12.5 marks How far do you agree that the behaviour of the Indian monsoon has been changing due to humanising landscape? Discuss.
43. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marks Most of the unusual climatic happenings are explained as an outcome of the El-Nino effect. Do you agree?
44. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marks Discuss the various economic and socio-cultural forces that are driving the increasing feminization of agriculture in India.
45. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marks Critically evaluate the various resources of the oceans which can be harnessed to meet the resource crisis in the world.
46. 2014 · GS1 · 10 marks Why do some of the most prosperous regions of India have an adverse sex ratio for women? Give your arguments.
47. 2013 · GS1 · 5 marks Bring out the causes for more frequent landslides in the Himalayas than in Western Ghats.
48. 2013 · GS1 · 10 marks Discuss the various social problems that originated out of the speedy process of urbanization in India.