1. New powers for aviation regulators Hardeep Puri says the changes were necessary for the growth of the sector The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on March 17, was passed by Parliament on Tuesday after a heated discussion in Rajya Sabha over privatisation of airports. The Upper House passed […]
India’s great silence is the loudest sound Citizens must unceasingly demand that they be enabled to know the facts of the crises, authoritatively Ghosts of the Spanish flu (1918-1920), the four great recessions of 1958, 1966, 1973, 1980, and the Sino-Indian conflict (1962) have come together as one torment to plague India. And no one […]
1. India, China agree on 5-point action plan Countering the Chinese claims, government sources here said the events of the past few months have “inevitably impacted the bilateral relationship”. In particular, India had made the point that the mobilisation of a large number of PLA troops was responsible for the “flashpoints along the LAC”. “The […]
1. The twisted trajectory of Bt cotton Despite finding huge favour in India, the GM crop has only brought modest benefits Cotton has been woven and used in India for thousands of years. Cotton fabric from around 3,000 BCE has been excavated from the ruins of Mohenjo-daro, and archaeological findings in Mehrgarh, Pakistan, show that […]
1. Digital divide shadows post-pandemic education NSO report highlights wide disparity in access to online classes Schools across the country have now been closed for six months due to COVID-19, but this means vastly different things for different people. For the child in urban Himachal Pradesh, where Internet penetration is higher than 70%, it likely […]
1. Govt. intervention in education policy should be minimal: PM People’s doubts must be addressed before NEP implementation, Modi says The government’s intervention in the education policy should be “minimal”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, emphasising that the policy belonged to the whole country, rather than to any particular government in power. Mr. […]
1. ‘Moplah rioters’ not freedom fighters: report ICHR member Issac seeks removal of Malabar Rebellion leaders from martyrs list A report submitted to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) in 2016 had recommended the removal of the Wagon Tragedy victims and Malabar Rebellion leaders Ali Musliyar and Variamkunnath Ahmad Haji, and Haji’s two brothers […]
1. What is the GST compensation due to States? The 41st meeting of the GST Council was held on August 27 with the singular agenda of finding a solution to the question of how best to ensure that the compensation payable to the States as part of the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax […]
1. A politics of avoidance that must be questioned The dropping of Question Hour, which helps the government feel the nation’s pulse, goes against the grain of democracy We, the people of India, gave ourselves a Constitution that prescribes for our democracy a parliamentary form of government in which the executive is accountable to the […]
1. Question Hour dropped in LS schedule of monsoon session In view of the pandemic, private members business also given a miss The Lok Sabha Secretariat on Wednesday officially released the schedule for the monsoon Parliament session that starts on September 14, with Question Hour being dropped. Opposition leaders, including Congress leader in the House […]
1. A ‘new’ democracy? A systemic transformation of democracy is taking place from within to its very opposite The ‘democracy’ that a major part of our world swears by comprises free and fair, multi-party, fixed-term elections based on universal adult franchise in its ideal state. A contestant party winning the majority of votes represents the […]
1. GDP falls 23.9% in first quarter Worst contraction seen in decades The Indian economy saw its worst contraction in decades, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrinking by a record 23.9% in the April to June quarter in comparison to the same period last year, according to data released by the National Statistical Office on […]
1.A development that will hardly put India at ease The World Bank’s decision to halt its annual ‘Doing Business’ report on data authenticity issues has major implications On Thursday, the World Bank halted its annual publication, ‘Doing Business’ report, as it detected irregularities of data for a few countries. A World Bank Press release of […]
1. Memory T cells may only reduce COVID-19 severity The immune cells may mount a faster and stronger response upon exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but not totally prevent infection At least six papers published in reputable journals — Cell, Nature, Science, and Science Immunology — have found that 20-50% of people who have not […]
1. States can have sub-groups among SC/STs, says court Order counters 2004 verdict; referred to seven-judge Bench A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday held that States can sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Central List to provide preferential treatment to the “weakest of the weak”. The Constitution Bench, led by […]
1. The uncharted territory of outer space India’s space vision also needs to address global governance, regulatory and arms control issues Outer space has been the arena of some of the most memorable technology demonstrations. Russia’s Sputnik and the U.S.’s Apollo 11 were metaphors of geopolitical competition. For India, Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan were symbols of […]
1. DNA Bill can be misused, flags draft report House committee says provisions could lead to caste or community-based profiling The Bill that proposes DNA sampling and profiling of citizens accused of crime or reported missing and storing their unique genetic information for administrative purposes has some alarming provisions that could be misused for caste […]
1. More evidence of India’s food insecurity The SOFI report and lockdown distress have renewed focus on what is also the world’s largest food insecure population Data from the latest edition of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report show that India retains the dubious distinction of being the country […]
1. Moving resolutely toward the post-pandemic future Even as many countries are stumbling, India has seized control of its destiny, is recovering, and making bold plans A moment comes, but rarely in history, when a nation seizes control of its destiny; when a new Atmanirbhar era begins and when the people of a nation move […]
1. The marriage age misconception Addressing poverty is the key to improving the health and nutritional status of mothers and their infants From the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day, the Prime Minister declared that the government is considering raising the legal age of marriage for girls, which is currently 18 years. He […]
Current affairs decide a large share of marks in UPSC Prelims, Mains and the Interview, and in TNPSC exams. Every morning our faculty publish the day’s important news from The Hindu, PIB, Indian Express and other sources — explained, organised by GS paper, and linked to the syllabus.
What each daily post includes
The key news of the day, grouped by GS Paper 1, 2, 3 and 4
Background and the static syllabus topic each story connects to
