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Daily Current Affairs for UPSC

25 June 2026

Complete news analysis

01 · GS-II: Indian Constitution, Emergency Provisions & Democratic Safeguards

50 Years of the 1975 National Emergency: 44th Constitutional Amendment Safeguards, Article 352 and Basic Structure Evolution

NEWS PEG
  • India observed the 50th anniversary of the promulgation of the National Emergency on 25 June 1975, prompting constitutional retrospectives on the institutional resilience of Indian democracy and civil liberties.
  • Constitutional scholars evaluated how the landmark 44th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1978 dismantled executive loopholes by replacing 'Internal Disturbance' with 'Armed Rebellion' in Article 352 and making written advice of the Cabinet mandatory.
  • The Supreme Court's post-emergency jurisprudence (Minerva Mills, 1980 and Maneka Gandhi, 1978) established that Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended even during a National Emergency, cementing the Basic Structure doctrine as an unassailable shield against authoritarian overreach.
STATIC FOUNDATION
  • Article 352 (National Emergency): Can be proclaimed by the President on grounds of War, External Aggression (External Emergency), or Armed Rebellion (Internal Emergency); requires written recommendation of the Union Cabinet.
  • Key Reforms of 44th Amendment Act (1978):
  • Grounds Changed: 'Internal disturbance' replaced by 'Armed rebellion'.
  • Written Cabinet Advice: President can act only on written advice of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet).
  • Special Majority Approval: Proclamation must be approved by both Houses within 1 month (reduced from 2 months) by special majority (majority of total membership + 2/3rd members present and voting).
  • Non-Suspendable Rights: Articles 20 (Protection against ex-post facto law/double jeopardy) and Article 21 (Protection of life and personal liberty) CANNOT be suspended during any Emergency (Article 359).
  • Judicial Review: Proclamation of emergency is subject to judicial review against mala fides (Minerva Mills, 1980).
PRELIMS TRAP & PYQ BRIDGE MAINS ENHANCEMENT
  • Constitutional Safeguards Against Executive Overreach: The Legacy of the 44th Amendment — How procedural checks transformed emergency powers into an extraordinary, tightly restricted mechanism.
  • Institutional Resilience: Judicial Review as Constitutional Bulwark — The evolution of the Supreme Court from ADM Jabalpur surrender to the proactive guardian of fundamental rights.
  • Civil Liberties & Substantive Due Process: The Maneka Gandhi Paradigm — Ensuring that laws depriving personal liberty under Article 21 must be 'just, fair, and reasonable'.
02 · GS-II: International Relations, Solar Energy & Global South

International Solar Alliance (ISA): One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG), Solar Facility Fund and Africa Electrification

NEWS PEG
  • The Standing Committee of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) convened at its headquarters in Gurugram, approving the expansion of the Global Solar Facility (GSF) with a dedicated capitalization of $200 million to unlock private solar investments in underserved African and island nations.
  • The Alliance reviewed progress on the 'One Sun One World One Grid' (OSOWOG) initiative, which aims to interconnect regional power grids across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe to enable round-the-clock solar power sharing across different time zones.
  • India reiterated its commitment to supporting developing economies in achieving SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) through solar mini-grids, solarized primary health centers, and capacity-building programs.
STATIC FOUNDATION
  • International Solar Alliance (ISA): Launched jointly by India and France at COP21 (Paris, 2015); treaty-based intergovernmental organization headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana; aims to mobilize $1,000 billion in solar investments by 2030.
  • Membership Expansion: Initially open to 121 solar resource-rich countries lying between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn; amended in 2020 to allow all UN member states to join ISA.
  • One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG): Vision articulated by India to create an interconnected global renewable grid divided into 3 phases: Phase I (Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia interconnection), Phase II (Solar and other renewable energy resources in Africa), Phase III (Global grid interconnection).
  • Global Solar Facility (GSF): Multi-stakeholder payment guarantee and insurance mechanism to de-risk commercial solar investments in Africa.
PRELIMS TRAP & PYQ BRIDGE MAINS ENHANCEMENT
  • Global Clean Energy Interconnection: Overcoming Solar Intermittency with OSOWOG — Leveraging global time zones to supply continuous round-the-clock solar electricity.
  • De-Risking Private Capital in Africa: The Global Solar Facility — Providing political risk insurance and payment guarantees for off-grid rural solar installations.
  • India's Institutional Diplomacy: From Rule-Taker to Rule-Maker — Establishing first-tier multilateral international institutions headquartered in India.
03 · GS-III: Agriculture, Water Conservation & Sustainable Cropping

Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) Adoption: Slashing Groundwater Extraction, Methane Mitigation and Tar-Wattar Sowing Technology

NEWS PEG
  • State agriculture departments in Punjab and Haryana rolled out fiscal cash incentives (₹1,500 to ₹4,000 per acre) to accelerate farmer adoption of Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) across 10 lakh hectares.
  • Agronomic field trials demonstrated that the modern 'Tar-Wattar DSR' technique (sowing pre-soaked seeds directly into moist soil with tractor-mounted seed drills) saves 15% to 20% of irrigation water (nearly 3 lakh liters of groundwater per acre) and cuts input costs by eliminating manual nursery transplantation.
  • Environmental scientists highlighted that DSR eliminates the prolonged anaerobic flooding of paddy fields, achieving an estimated 30% to 40% reduction in agricultural methane emissions.
STATIC FOUNDATION
  • Conventional Puddled Transplanting vs DSR: Conventional method requires raising seedlings in a nursery, puddling the field with standing water for 4–5 weeks, and manually transplanting seedlings, consuming ~4,000–5,000 liters of water per kg of rice. DSR sows seeds directly into fields without puddling.
  • Tar-Wattar DSR Technique: Sowing directly in optimal field-capacity moisture (Tar-Wattar) followed by the first irrigation after 21 days; significantly reduces weed infestation and iron deficiency chlorosis.
  • Methane Production in Rice Fields: Flooded puddled fields create anaerobic conditions where methanogenic bacteria decompose organic matter, generating methane (CH4 - a greenhouse gas with 28x global warming potential of CO2).
  • Key Agronomic Challenges in DSR: Severe early weed competition, nematode attacks, and micronutrient (Iron and Zinc) deficiencies in sandy soils.
PRELIMS TRAP & PYQ BRIDGE MAINS ENHANCEMENT
  • Agrarian Ecological Transition: Decoupling Paddy from Aquifer Depletion — Scaling DSR to reverse catastrophic groundwater overdraft in northwestern plains.
  • Agricultural Climate Action: Methane Abatement in Rice Cultivation — Positioning DSR under national carbon offset and climate mitigation commitments.
  • Mechanization & Farmer Extension: Subsidizing Laser Levelers & DSR Drills — Providing customized machinery through Custom Hiring Centers (CHCs) to encourage smallholder adoption.
04 · GS-III: Infrastructure, Maritime Ports & Sagarmala Project

Vadhavan Mega All-Weather Deep-Draft Port: ₹76,200 Crore Greenfield Terminal, Container Transshipment and IMEC Gateway

NEWS PEG
  • The Union Cabinet approved the development of the greenfield Vadhavan Port in Palghar district, Maharashtra, with an estimated investment of ₹76,220 crore developed by Vadhavan Port Project Limited (VPPL - a joint venture between JNPA and Maharashtra Maritime Board).
  • The port features a natural deep-draft of 20 meters, enabling it to berth the world's largest mega-container vessels (carrying up to 24,000 TEUs) without expensive continuous dredging, positioning it among the top 10 container ports globally with an annual capacity of 298 million metric tonnes (23.2 million TEUs).
  • Maritime strategists highlighted that Vadhavan will serve as a premier maritime transshipment hub for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC).
STATIC FOUNDATION
  • Vadhavan Port Specifications: Greenfield all-weather deep-draft major port; constructed on a Landlord Port model where basic infrastructure is created by the SPV and operational berths are leased to private terminal operators on PPP model.
  • Transshipment Economics: India currently handles ~75% of its transshipped container cargo through foreign transshipment ports (Colombo, Singapore, Port Klang, Jebel Ali), costing Indian exporters millions in additional handling freight.
  • Landlord Port Model (Major Port Authorities Act, 2021): Port authority acts as regulatory body and landlord; port operations (stevedoring, cargo handling) are privatized to global operators.
  • Major Ports in India: India has 12 major ports governed by the Union Government under the Major Port Authorities Act, 2021; Vadhavan will be the 13th major port.
PRELIMS TRAP & PYQ BRIDGE MAINS ENHANCEMENT
  • Container Transshipment Sovereignty: Recapturing Indian Seaborne Cargo from Colombo — Lowering logistics costs for Indian manufacturing exporters by berthing mega container ships directly.
  • Multimodal Freight Integration: Connecting Vadhavan to WDFC & National Highways — Enabling high-speed 24-hour container rail transit from the northern industrial hinterland.
  • Eco-Sensitive Coastal Engineering: Offshore Reclamation & Fisherfolk Rehabilitation — Implementing comprehensive marine environmental management plans to protect local coastal artisanal fisheries.
05 · GS-II: Indian Judiciary, Electronic Records & Evidence Law

Electronic Evidence Admissibility: Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), Digital Signatures and Section 65B Jurisprudence

NEWS PEG
  • Judicial academies and bar councils conducted national orientation seminars on the procedural shifts introduced by the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023, which replaces the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
  • The new statute elevates electronic and digital records to the status of primary evidence under Section 57, expanding the definition to include semiconductor memory, emails, server logs, mobile SMS, location data, and voice messages.
  • Legal scholars examined the modernized certification framework under Section 63 of BSA (corresponding to Section 65B of the repealed Evidence Act), which streamlines certificate requirements for digital records generated in the ordinary course of business while instituting strict cryptographic hash verification to prevent digital tampering.
STATIC FOUNDATION
  • Repealed Indian Evidence Act, 1872 vs BSA 2023: The BSA consolidates and modernizes rules of evidence, giving full statutory recognition to electronic records, digital signatures, and encrypted communications.
  • Arjun Panditrao Khotkar v. Kailash Kushanrao (2020): Landmark Supreme Court judgment ruling that production of a Section 65B(4) certificate is a mandatory condition precedent for the admissibility of electronic evidence in secondary form.
  • Section 63 of BSA (Electronic Admissibility): Any information contained in an electronic record printed on paper, stored, recorded, or copied in optical/magnetic media shall be deemed to be a document and admissible in proceedings without further proof, provided conditions of custody, computer integrity, and proper certification are satisfied.
  • Cryptographic Hash (SHA-256): One-way mathematical algorithm that computes a unique digital fingerprint of a file; any modification to the digital record alters the hash value, proving tampering.
PRELIMS TRAP & PYQ BRIDGE MAINS ENHANCEMENT
  • Modernizing Evidentiary Standards: Aligning Evidence Law with the Digital Age — Eliminating archaic Victorian paper presumptions to admit immutable digital records.
  • Preventing Electronic Evidence Tampering: Mandating Secure Hash Trails & Cloud Timestamps — Establishing tamper-proof chain-of-custody protocols for police seized smartphones and CCTV hard drives.
  • Capacity Building of Trial Courts: Digital Forensics Training for Prosecutors & Judges — Upgrading district court complexes with specialized forensic verification software.
06 · GS-III: Industrial Decarbonization, Steel Sector & Green Hydrogen

Decarbonizing Primary Steel Production: Green Hydrogen DRI, Electric Arc Furnaces and National Green Steel Policy

NEWS PEG
  • The Ministry of Steel and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) sanctioned pilot commercial projects with a budget of ₹455 crore to inject Green Hydrogen into existing blast furnaces and Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) shaft furnaces.
  • The Indian steel sector currently accounts for over 12% of total national greenhouse gas emissions with an average carbon intensity of 2.55 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of crude steel (higher than global average of 1.85 t CO2/tcs), driven by coal-based blast furnace routes.
  • The government finalized draft standards for the 'Green Steel Taxonomy' to define certified low-carbon steel, preparing domestic manufacturers for compliance with the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
STATIC FOUNDATION
  • Steel Production Pathways in India:
  • Blast Furnace - Basic Oxygen Furnace (BF-BOF): Uses coking coal/coke as reducing agent and thermal source; highly carbon-intensive (~2.2–2.8 t CO2/tcs); accounts for ~45% of India's steel production.
  • Direct Reduced Iron - Electric Arc Furnace (DRI-EAF): Uses coal/gas to reduce iron ore directly into sponge iron, followed by melting in EAF; accounts for ~55% of Indian steel.
  • Green Hydrogen DRI Pathway: Replaces fossil carbon (coke/gas) with green hydrogen (H2) as the reducing gas; chemical reaction releases only water vapor (H2O) instead of CO2, reducing emissions by up to 95%.
  • National Green Hydrogen Mission (2023): Aims to produce 5 MMT of green hydrogen per annum by 2030, with dedicated pilot allocations for steel, shipping, and heavy mobility.
PRELIMS TRAP & PYQ BRIDGE MAINS ENHANCEMENT
  • Export Competitiveness under CBAM: Decarbonizing Heavy Industry — Transitioning Indian steel mills to green hydrogen to avoid 20–35% carbon border adjustment tariffs in European markets.
  • Securing Green Hydrogen Feedstocks: Electrolyzer Capex Subsidies (SIGHT Scheme) — Scaling domestic alkaline and PEM electrolyzer manufacturing to bring green hydrogen costs below $2/kg.
  • Circular Steel Scrap Policy: Scrap-Based Electric Arc Furnaces — Expanding vehicle scrappage and domestic metal recycling to reduce raw iron ore smelting requirements.
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