Government policies, constitutional matters, and governance
The Delhi High Court has held that private media organisations may be amenable to writ jurisdiction under Article 226 when they perform a public function and violate a personтАЩs right to privacy. The verdict arose from a broadcast that revealed details capable of identifying a minor survivor of sexual abuse and has triggered a debate on press freedom, privacy, horizontal application of fundamental rights and possible chilling effects on journalism.
At the 14th Passport Seva Divas, a senior Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official clarified that an Indian passport is primarily a travel document and does not by itself serve as conclusive proof of Indian citizenship. The remark, made amid the ongoing nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, triggered a wider public debate on what actually proves citizenship in India. This article explains the constitutional basis of citizenship under Articles 5тАУ11, the five modes of acquisition under the Citizenship Act, 1955, why no single document is conclusive proof, key Supreme Court rulings on the burden of proof, and the link with the NRC and Aadhaar.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs notified the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2026 through gazette notifications on 22 June 2026, overhauling how NGOs and associations receiving foreign funds are registered and regulated. Registrations must now be purpose-specific and geography-specific, activities must be chosen from a defined schedule, and several religious activities are funded only while excluding proselytisation. The rules also expand the definition of "key functionary," mandate social-media disclosure, require 75% utilisation before fresh instalments, and revise compounding penalties. This article explains the FCRA framework, the new rules, the constitutional context of the proselytisation bar, and the long-running debate over regulating foreign funding of civil society.
The Supreme Court has held that the right to walk on safe, demarcated footpaths is a fundamental right under Part III of the Constitution, and that pedestrians must take priority over motor vehicles. Delivered while deciding a motor-accident compensation case in which a five-year-old boy was killed by a tanker, the verdict reads this right into Article 19(1)(d) and Article 21, places a binding duty on civic bodies, and asks the government to frame a law. This article explains the judgment, the constitutional basis of the right, the expanding scope of Article 21, the duties of municipal bodies, the road-safety data behind the issue, and the way forward.
The Supreme Court, while upholding the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, has ordered that voters excluded on doubtful-citizenship grounds be referred to the competent authority under the Citizenship Act, 1955 for adjudication within four weeks. Assam's decades-old experience with 'D' (Doubtful) voters shows why this may be far from simple. This article explains the SIR verdict, how the 'D-voter' tag and Foreigners Tribunals work, the burden-of-proof question, and the constitutional and legal framework governing voter citizenship in India.
The Supreme Court, in Dr. Ramesh vs State of Maharashtra, has stressed strict enforcement of the PCPNDT Act to curb sex-selection practices driven by patriarchal preference for a male child. The judgment is important for UPSC because it links gender justice, child sex ratio, reproductive technology regulation, constitutional equality and welfare legislation.
The question of whether a political party can use a тАЬcockroachтАЭ as its election symbol came into focus after reports around the Cockroach Janta Party and IndiaтАЩs election-symbol rules. The issue is important for UPSC because it explains the Election Commission of IndiaтАЩs powers, the Election Symbols Order, reserved and free symbols, registered unrecognised parties and the role of symbols in IndiaтАЩs electoral democracy.
The Union government is preparing to reintroduce its constitutional amendment for delimitation and women's reservation, two months after the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 was defeated in the Lok Sabha in April for want of a two-thirds majority. The reworked plan reportedly seeks to add clarity that every state's existing seat share will be protected even as the House is expanded to around 850 seats, with allocation among states kept proportionate to the 1971 Census тАФ a move aimed at winning over southern states and the DMK. This article explains what delimitation is, the constitutional provisions (Articles 81, 82, 170, 330, 332), the 1971 Census "freeze", the women's reservation link, the North-South federalism debate, and why a Constitution Amendment Bill can fail despite a clear majority.
The Supreme Court, in Prajwala v. Union of India (May 2026), has framed a binding "Victim Protection Plan" for survivors of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), holding that they have a fundamental right to rehabilitation and must never be treated as criminals. Invoking Articles 21, 23, 32 and 142, the Court placed victims' consent and dignity at the centre and distinguished voluntary adult sex workers, for whom forcible "rescue" does not arise. The plan will operate until Parliament enacts a comprehensive anti-trafficking law. This article explains the judgment, the Prajwala case, the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, and the constitutional and international framework on trafficking тАФ mapped to the UPSC syllabus.
The newly released National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6), 2023-24 shows that infant and young child feeding practices in Delhi have declined sharply across almost every indicator compared with NFHS-5 (2019-21). Early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding and the share of children getting an adequate diet have all fallen, and underweight has risen тАФ even as several national child-nutrition indicators improved. This article explains what NFHS-6 is, the key breastfeeding and complementary-feeding indicators, what stunting, wasting and underweight mean, India's nutrition schemes and legal framework, and the way forward тАФ all mapped to the UPSC Prelims and Mains syllabus.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released the National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6, 2023-24) factsheets on 29 May 2026, and the number of indicators has fallen from 131 in NFHS-5 to 101 тАФ with data on anaemia prevalence, sex ratio at birth, infant and child mortality, cancer screening, HIV awareness, clean cooking fuel and sanitation no longer reported. The government calls it "data harmonisation"; critics call it suppression. This article explains what NFHS is, why these indicators were dropped, the meaning of data harmonisation, the role of the Sample Registration System and ICMR, and the survey's key health findings on fertility, obesity and immunisation for the UPSC GS-II Governance and Health syllabus.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is facing nationwide criticism after rolling out On-Screen Marking (OSM) тАФ a fully digital answer-sheet evaluation system тАФ for Class 12 board exams for the first time in 2026, amid complaints of low marks, blurred scans, and a crashing re-evaluation portal. This article explains what OSM is, how digital evaluation works, why CBSE adopted it, what went wrong in the rollout, the constitutional and governance questions it raises, and the wider e-governance lessons for India's examination system.