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Daily Current Affairs for UPSC

18 June 2026

Complete news analysis

01 · GS-II: Social Welfare, Urbanization & Affordable Housing

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban 2.0: Interest Subvention Scheme, Affordable Rental Housing and Credit-Linked Subsidies

NEWS PEG
  • The Union Cabinet approved the expansion of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U 2.0) with a dedicated investment of ₹10 lakh crore (including central assistance of ₹2 lakh crore) to construct 1 crore additional affordable urban houses over the next 5 years.
  • The scheme introduces a revamped Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) for Middle Income Groups (MIG) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), alongside dedicated financing for Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs) for urban migrant workers.
  • Urban development economists highlighted that urban housing shortages exceed 18 million units, with rapid rural-to-urban migration driving the expansion of informal slums lacking piped water and sanitation.
STATIC FOUNDATION
  • PMAY-Urban (2015): Launched with the mission 'Housing for All'; implemented by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA); operated through 4 verticals: In-situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR), Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP), and Beneficiary-led Construction (BLC).
  • PMAY-U 2.0 Enhancements: Unified Interest Subvention Scheme (4% interest subsidy for loans up to ₹25 lakh for houses costing up to ₹35 lakh), expanded focus on rental housing (ARHCs), and mandatory inclusion of rooftop solar under PM Surya Ghar.
  • Beneficiary Identification: EWS (annual income up to ₹3 lakh), LIG (₹3 lakh to ₹6 lakh), and MIG (₹6 lakh to ₹9 lakh); statutory ownership of the house must be in the name of the female head or in joint ownership.
  • Constitutional Right to Shelter: Supreme Court in Chameli Singh v. State of U.P. (1996) ruled that the right to shelter is a fundamental right under Article 21, encompassing adequate living space, safe surroundings, and basic amenities.
PRELIMS TRAP & PYQ BRIDGE MAINS ENHANCEMENT
  • Decoupling Urbanization from Slum Expansion: Scaling Affordable Rental Housing (ARHCs) — Providing formal rental housing for circular migrant labourers to eliminate precarious slums.
  • Financial Inclusion & Interest Subvention: Leveraging Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) — Ensuring upfront interest subsidies lower monthly EMI burdens for lower-middle-class urban families.
  • Sustainable Green Building Norms: Integrating Rooftop Solar & Rainwater Harvesting — Mandating eco-friendly construction materials (fly-ash bricks) and thermal insulation in social housing.
02 · GS-III: Shipping Decarbonization, Hydrogen Economy & Green Ammonia

Green Ammonia as Maritime Bunker Fuel: IMO Net-Zero 2050 Targets, Bunkering Corridors and Harit Nauka Guidelines

NEWS PEG
  • The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways launched the pilot for India's first Green Ammonia bunkering terminal at VO Chidambaranar Port (Tuticorin) under the Harit Nauka Guidelines and the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
  • Global maritime shipping accounts for nearly 3% of global CO2 emissions; the International Maritime Organization (IMO) mandates a net-zero greenhouse gas emission target for international shipping by or around 2050, driving shipbuilders toward zero-carbon Green Ammonia (NH3) and Green Methanol.
  • Energy scientists highlighted that green ammonia offers higher volumetric energy density than liquid hydrogen, can be stored at manageable cryogenic temperatures (-33°C), and burns with zero carbon emissions.
STATIC FOUNDATION
  • Green Ammonia Production: Produced by reacting Green Hydrogen (from water electrolysis using 100% renewable power) with Nitrogen separated from air using the Haber-Bosch process powered by renewable energy.
  • IMO GHG Strategy (Revised 2023): Targets net-zero GHG emissions from international maritime shipping by 2050, with indicative checkpoints: at least 20% (striving for 30%) reduction by 2030, and at least 70% (striving for 80%) by 2040.
  • Harit Nauka Guidelines: Green transition roadmap for inland water vessels in India aiming for 100% green-fuelled passenger ferries by 2047.
  • Safety Challenges in Ammonia Bunkering: Toxicity to human lungs and marine life in case of leaks; requires double-walled fuel piping, advanced boil-off gas management, and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) to mitigate NOx emissions.
PRELIMS TRAP & PYQ BRIDGE MAINS ENHANCEMENT
  • India as a Global Green Fuel Bunkering Hub: Leveraging Coastal Renewable Deserts — Positioning southern and western Indian ports as premier green ammonia refueling hubs for global East-West maritime traffic.
  • Overcoming Fuel Transition Economics: Addressing the Dual-Fuel Engine Cost Gap — Providing capital subsidies and carbon tax credits to encourage private shipowners to adopt ammonia-ready engines.
  • Port Infrastructure Safety Protocols: Standardizing Toxic Leak Containment — Formulating stringent standard operating procedures for cryogenic liquid ammonia loading and off-loading.
03 · GS-II: International Relations, Regional Security & Central Asia

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defense Ministers Meeting: Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), Eurasian Security and Cross-Border Terrorism

NEWS PEG
  • Defense ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) convened in Astana, Kazakhstan, to deliberate on regional stability, joint military exercises (Peace Mission), and intelligence sharing against transnational narco-terrorist networks.
  • India strongly articulated its zero-tolerance stance on cross-border terrorism, calling for the unconditional implementation of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) and holding state sponsors of terrorism accountable.
  • The meeting reviewed the operational mandate of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, focusing on border security along the Afghan periphery and cyber-terrorism countermeasures.
STATIC FOUNDATION
  • Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO): Eurasian political, economic, and defense alliance founded in 2001 in Shanghai; evolved from the 'Shanghai Five' (1996); India and Pakistan became full members at the Astana Summit in 2017; Iran joined in 2023; Belarus joined in 2024.
  • Secretariat and Official Languages: SCO Secretariat is in Beijing; RATS Executive Committee is in Tashkent; official working languages are Russian and Chinese.
  • Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS): Permanent organ of SCO tasked with coordinating member states' fight against the 'Three Evils': Terrorism, Separatism, and Extremism.
  • Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT): Proposed by India at the UN General Assembly in 1996; aims to provide a universal legal definition of terrorism, ban all terror groups, and make terror financing a criminal offence.
PRELIMS TRAP & PYQ BRIDGE MAINS ENHANCEMENT
  • Navigating Complex Geopolitical Blocs: India's Strategic Autonomy in SCO and Quad — How India successfully engages Eurasian continental powers while deepening maritime Indo-Pacific partnerships.
  • Countering Narco-Terror Networks: Operationalizing SCO-RATS Intelligence Sharing — Disrupting synthetic opioid and illicit weapon pipelines radiating from the Afghan heartland.
  • Eurasian Economic Connectivity: Integrating Chabahar with INSTC — Promoting non-sovereignty-violating, transparent trade corridors to Central Asian landlocked markets.
04 · GS-III: Environment, Wildlife Conservation & Supreme Court Directives

Great Indian Bustard (GIB) Habitat Protection: Supreme Court Expert Panel, Underground Power Cables and Renewable Energy Trade-Offs

NEWS PEG
  • A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice of India modified its earlier blanket 2021 order mandating underground cabling across the entire Thar desert, appointing an expert technical committee to assess the feasibility of selective undergrounding in the core habitat of the Critically Endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB - Ardeotis nigriceps).
  • The Court delivered a landmark judgment recognizing that citizens have a 'Right to be Free from the Adverse Effects of Climate Change' as an intrinsic part of Articles 14 and 21, ruling that wildlife protection mandates must be balanced with national commitments to expand solar/wind renewable energy grids.
  • Wildlife surveys confirmed that fewer than 150 Great Indian Bustards survive in the wild (primarily in Rajasthan's Desert National Park), with overhead powerline collision serving as the single largest mortality threat due to their poor frontal binocular vision.
STATIC FOUNDATION
  • Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps): Critically Endangered (IUCN Red List); Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; Appendix I of CITES; State bird of Rajasthan; flagship grassland bird species.
  • Threat Mechanics: GIBs have narrow frontal vision; when flying across desert plains, they cannot detect high-voltage overhead transmission wires in time, leading to fatal high-velocity collisions and electrocution.
  • Supreme Court Ruling in M.K. Ranjitsinh Case (2024): Formally recognized the constitutional right to be free from climate change; balanced the imperative of rapid renewable energy deployment (solar parks) with localized underground cabling and installation of dynamic Bird Flight Diverters (BFDs) in core GIB priority zones.
  • Conservation Breeding Programme: Ex-situ breeding center established at Sam in Jaisalmer (Rajasthan) under Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and state forest department.
PRELIMS TRAP & PYQ BRIDGE MAINS ENHANCEMENT
  • Constitutionalizing the Right to Climate Justice: The M.K. Ranjitsinh Precedent — How the Supreme Court derived the right against adverse climate change from Articles 14 and 21.
  • Balancing Green Energy with Species Extinction: Precision Zonation — Enforcing mandatory underground cabling in breeding pockets while enabling mega solar power evacuation.
  • Reviving Grassland Ecosystems: Protecting Unnotified Wastelands — Reclassifying arid grasslands from administrative 'wastelands' into critical biodiversity reserves.
05 · GS-II: Indian Constitution, Judicial Federalism & Special Leave Petitions

Article 136 and Special Leave Petitions (SLP): Overburdened Apex Docket, Doctrine of Substantial Question of Law and Judicial Restraint

NEWS PEG
  • A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court examined the systemic over-utilization of Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) under Article 136, which now comprise over 85% of all new filings before the apex court.
  • Senior jurists highlighted that the Supreme Court was conceived by the framers as a constitutional court to adjudicate questions of paramount national law, but has increasingly transformed into a routine court of regular civil and criminal appeals, causing pending cases to touch 83,000 cases.
  • The Bench reaffirmed the principles in Mathai v. George (2010), reiterating that Article 136 is an extraordinary, discretionary constitutional remedy that should be exercised only in cases of grave, manifest miscarriage of justice.
STATIC FOUNDATION
  • Article 136 of the Constitution (Special Leave to Appeal): Discretionary power of the Supreme Court to grant special leave to appeal from any judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order in any cause or matter passed by any court or tribunal in the territory of India (except military tribunals/court martial under Article 136(2)).
  • Discretionary vs Constitutional Right: Article 136 does not confer a right of appeal upon any party; it confers a wide discretionary power upon the Supreme Court to grant leave to appeal.
  • Law Commission 229th Report (2009): Recommended setting up a Constitution Bench in New Delhi and 4 Cassation Benches (Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western) to handle routine appellate appeals and declog the apex court.
  • Article 145(3) Mandate: Requires a minimum of 5 judges (Constitution Bench) to decide any case involving a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution.
PRELIMS TRAP & PYQ BRIDGE MAINS ENHANCEMENT
  • Re-Centering the Supreme Court as a Constitutional Court: Pruning the SLP Influx — Establishing strict gatekeeping thresholds to dismiss routine commercial and rent disputes at the threshold.
  • National Court of Appeal (NCA) Debate: Decentralizing Appellate Cassation — Evaluating the constitutional feasibility of regional appellate benches to improve geographic access to justice.
  • Preserving the Safety Valve of Justice: Article 136 in Gross Human Rights Violations — Retaining extraordinary discretionary powers to rectify grave procedural injustices by lower tribunals.
06 · GS-III: Agriculture, Pulses Mission & Self-Sufficiency

National Mission on Pulses: Procurement Guarantees (PM-AASHA), Tur/Urad Self-Sufficiency and Biological Nitrogen Fixation

NEWS PEG
  • The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and NAFED reviewed the nationwide farmer portal for pre-registration and 100% procurement guarantee for Tur (Arhar), Urad, and Masur under the PM-AASHA umbrella scheme.
  • Agricultural economists highlighted that India is the world's largest producer, consumer, and importer of pulses, importing over 3 million metric tonnes of pulses annually from Myanmar, Mozambique, and Canada to meet domestic protein consumption demand.
  • Agronomic scientists demonstrated that expanding pulse acreage enhances national nutritional security while reducing synthetic chemical fertilizer use through natural Biological Nitrogen Fixation (fixing 30–60 kg of Nitrogen per hectare).
STATIC FOUNDATION
  • PM-AASHA (Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanraksan Abhiyan, 2018): Umbrella scheme comprising Price Support Scheme (PSS - physical procurement by NAFED/FCI), Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS), and Pilot Private Procurement & Stockist Scheme (PPPS).
  • Pulses Agronomy: Mostly leguminous C3 plants with deep taproot systems; symbiotic association with Rhizobium bacteria in root nodules fixes atmospheric nitrogen into plant-usable ammonium.
  • Major Pulses in India: Gram (Chickpea) accounts for ~45% of total production, followed by Tur/Arhar (~15%), Urad (~10%), Moong (~10%), and Masur (Lentil).
  • Target of Pulses Self-Sufficiency: Complete elimination of pulse import dependency by December 2027 through assured public procurement and high-yielding certified seeds.
PRELIMS TRAP & PYQ BRIDGE MAINS ENHANCEMENT
  • Nutritional Security through Pulse Autonomy: Eliminating Protein Malnutrition — Providing subsidized pulses in the TPDS and Mid-Day Meal baskets.
  • Assured Public Procurement as Incentive: The Dynamic e-Samridhi Portal — Guaranteeing 100% MSP purchase to de-risk farmers transitioning away from water-intensive paddy.
  • Soil Regeneration through Crop Rotation: Legumes in Green Revolution Belts — Incorporating short-duration summer Moong into the wheat-paddy cycle to restore depleted soil fertility.
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