Probity in Governance

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 “cockroach” as its election symbol came into focus after reports around the Cockroach Janta Party and India’s election-symbol rules. The issue is important for UPSC because it explains the Election Commission of India’s powers, the Election Symbols Order, reserved and free symbols, registered unrecognised parties and the role of symbols in India’s electoral democracy.

AI authorship is back in the spotlight after the 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize was hit by allegations that some winning entries were AI-generated, with an AI detector flagging one Caribbean-winning story as "100% AI". The episode has revived a hard question: can software reliably tell whether a text was written by a human or a machine? This article explains the machine-learning science behind such detectors, the "AI tells" they look for, why the tools are not foolproof (false positives, low-entropy text, code and short text), and what this means for education, writing and publishing — all 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 — 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 — 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 — 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.

On March 27, 2026, the Uttar Pradesh government announced a major plan to turn Sambhal into a new religious tourism destination like Ayodhya and Varanasi. The project will revive 87 ancient teerth sthals (pilgrimage sites), 19 old wells and the 52-km Vanshgopal 24 Kosi Parikrama route at a total cost of Rs 300 crore. This is part of a bigger vision to make Sambhal a year-round pilgrimage centre based on the Hindu belief that it is the future birthplace of Lord Kalki, the last avatar of Vishnu. The plan also aims to boost local economy and tourism.

The National Health Authority released its annual report for 2024-25, revealing that over half of the hospitalisations under the Ayushman Bharat scheme occur in private hospitals, which also account for two-thirds of the total treatment costs. Haemodialysis stands out as the most accessed treatment, highlighting how the scheme is helping people manage chronic conditions like kidney failure without financial ruin, especially as private care dominates utilisation patterns. This development is significant now because it shows the scheme's growing impact on making expensive treatments affordable, while also pointing to the need for better public hospital involvement.

The Executive Board of Commonwealth Sport has recommended Ahmedabad in Gujarat as the host city for the 2030 Centenary Commonwealth Games, following a detailed evaluation process, with the final decision set for the General Assembly in Glasgow on November 26, 2025. This marks India's return to hosting the Games after the 2010 Delhi edition and aligns with its ambitions to build world-class infrastructure ahead of a potential 2036 Olympics bid, while Nigeria's proposal is being considered for future events like 2034.