Federalism

In the news

• 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.

• Bihar makes prior State consent mandatory for CBI probes into its employees 6 September 2026 · Indian Express

  The CBI is a central agency. Why must it ask a State before probing that State's own officials?

• 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?

Key facts

• The Gadgil panel (WGEEP, 2011) proposed treating about 64% of the Western Ghats as ecologically sensitive. (23 September 2026)
• The Kasturirangan working group (2013) reduced this to about 37%, focusing on natural landscapes. (23 September 2026)
• Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 requires the consent of a State government before the CBI can exercise its powers in that State. (6 September 2026)
• Bihar's memorandum No. 10770 of 3 September 2026 keeps standing consent for probes into Central employees and private persons but makes prior State consent mandatory for cases involving Bihar government employees and State-controlled or State-aided bodies. (6 September 2026)
• India's total fertility rate was 2.0 in NFHS-5 (2019-21), below the replacement level of about 2.1. (1 September 2026)
• Fertility has fallen in all major communities: Muslim TFR from 4.41 (1992-93) to 2.36, Hindu TFR from 3.3 to 1.94. (1 September 2026)

Previous-year questions

1. 2026 · GS3 · 10 marks Discuss how the contradiction between 'rapid infrastructure development' and 'disaster-risk reduction' in ecologically-sensitive areas of India can be managed, with suitable examples.
2. 2026 · GS1 · 15 marks Critically examine the challenges of demographic transition in contemporary India.
3. 2024 · GS2 · 15 marks What changes has the Union Government recently introduced in the domain of Centre-State relations? Suggest measures to be adopted to build the trust between the Centre and the States and for strengthening federalism.
4. 2024 · GS1 · 10 marks What is the concept of 'demographic winter'? Is the world moving towards such a situation? Elaborate.
5. 2021 · GS1 · 10 marks Differentiate the causes of landslides in the Himalayan region and Western Ghats.
6. 2021 · GS2 · 15 marks The jurisdiction of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding lodging an FIR and conducting probe within a particular state is being questioned by various States. However, the power of States to withhold…
7. 2024 · Prelims The total fertility rate in an economy is defined as: (a) the number of children born per 1000 people in the population in a year (b) the number of children born to a couple in their lifetime in a given population (c)…
8. 2016 · Prelims 'Gadgil Committee Report' and 'Kasturirangan Committee Report', sometimes seen in the news, are related to (a) constitutional reforms (b) Ganga Action Plan (c) linking of rivers (d) protection of Western Ghats