Important News Articles — UPSC Extract
1. 🗳️ Special Intensive Revision: Bulk Deletion of Voters
The Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has raised concerns over the use of Form 7 for bulk deletion of names from electoral rolls.
Form 7 is used to object to an existing entry or seek deletion of a voter’s name on grounds such as:
- death,
- shifting of residence,
- duplicate entry,
- ineligibility.
Before deleting a name, the Booth Level Officer (BLO) or Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) is required to conduct an inquiry and issue notice to the voter.
The Hindu reports instances in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand where large numbers of Form 7 applications were allegedly submitted using the names of voters who were unaware of such applications.
Political party Booth Level Agents can submit up to 10 Form 7 applications per day and 30 in total, while there is no corresponding numerical limit for an individual elector. The ECI has stated that filing more than five objections will trigger a mandatory ERO review.
The editorial argues for:
- investigation of abnormal patterns of deletions,
- monitoring of bulk applications,
- verification of the identity and constituency of the objector,
- adherence to due process before deletion,
- a uniform nationwide Standard Operating Procedure.
The concern is particularly important because the right to vote depends first on the citizen’s continued presence on the electoral roll.
2. 🗳️ Karnataka SIR: Over One Crore Names Deleted
The draft electoral rolls in Karnataka contain more than 1.07 crore fewer names, reducing the electorate to around 4.46 crore.
The deleted entries have largely been categorised as:
Absent + Shifted + Duplicate + Dead + Others (ASDDO).
Around 43.81 lakh notices are also expected to be issued to voters whose enumeration forms contain logical discrepancies or could not be mapped.
The notice-generation and service process is expected to be completed within seven days, and the voter may have to appear personally for a hearing.
The newspaper highlights a practical concern: voters living away from their registered constituency may find it difficult to participate in such hearings.
In Telangana, the deletion rate during the enumeration phase was reported at 21.7%, the highest among the States covered by the SIR at that stage.
3. ⚖️ Supreme Court: New Interpretation of “Industry”
A nine-judge Constitution Bench has held that the landmark Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board v. R. Rajappa (1978) interpretation of industry will not automatically govern the Industrial Relations Code, 2020.
The 1978 judgment had evolved the famous Triple Test.
An activity could be considered an industry when it involved:
Systematic activity + employer–employee cooperation + production/provision of goods or services for human wants.
The judgment had brought several activities, including hospitals, educational institutions and municipalities, within the definition of industry. Core sovereign functions such as defence, judiciary and law enforcement were excluded.
The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 came into force in November 2025 and replaced the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
The Supreme Court has held that future disputes under the new Code must be interpreted primarily from the text and statutory context of the new legislation, rather than automatically relying on the 1978 precedent.
However, disputes governed by the old 1947 Act will continue to be governed by the earlier precedent.
4. 🌾 National Cooperative Development Corporation Amendment Act, 2026
The NCDC Amendment Act, 2026 expands the financial and operational scope of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).
The amendment has generated concerns over Centre–State relations in the cooperative sector.
The Seventh Schedule places cooperative societies in the State List, while Parliament has also created a constitutional framework for cooperatives through Article 43B and Part IXB.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha argues that the amended law enables the NCDC to directly intervene in cooperative societies and acquire their shares, potentially increasing centralisation of cooperative institutions.
Another important change is the removal of the earlier requirement that eligible industrial and village cooperatives should be located in rural areas.
The debate therefore involves:
Cooperative autonomy ↔ Central support ↔ State jurisdiction ↔ Rural development
The SKM argues that widening NCDC operations into non-agricultural and non-rural sectors could divert resources away from agriculture and rural infrastructure.
5. 🌊 Supreme Court Protection for Rajasthan’s Jojari River
The Supreme Court has prohibited:
- construction or development within 100 metres of the Jojari river, and
- hazardous industries within 500 metres on either side of the existing flood line.
The Jojari is a seasonal river flowing through Jodhpur. The Bandi flows through Pali and the Luni through Balotra; the Jojari and Bandi eventually merge with the Luni system.
The rivers have suffered extensive industrial contamination affecting around two million people.
The Court has also asked Rajasthan to prepare a 20-point plan for addressing contamination in the Jojari, Bandi and Luni rivers.
Because major industrial areas, particularly around Pali, are located along the riverbanks, the Court has indicated that relocation of industries away from riverbanks may need to be considered in the long term.
6. 🧪 Assam Semiconductor Plant and Environmental Concerns
The ₹27,000-crore Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test (TSAT) facility is being developed at Jagiroad in Morigaon district, Assam.
More than 60% of the project work is reported to have been completed.
Semiconductor facilities require highly controlled environments. The India Semiconductor Mission guidelines require:
- ISO Class 1–5 cleanrooms,
- vibration-controlled environments,
- protection from microscopic dust contamination,
- large quantities of ultra-pure water for wafer rinsing, chemical processing and cooling.
Stone quarries and crushers within about 5 km of the facility have reportedly generated significant dust.
Excavation and blasting in the nearby Sonaikuchi Reserve Forest have also reportedly contributed to flash floods and public-health concerns.
The environmental concern is significant because semiconductor manufacturing is extremely sensitive to particulate contamination. The article therefore illustrates the challenge of reconciling industrial infrastructure with environmental regulation and site planning.
7. 🇮🇳🇨🇳 India–China Boundary Talks
National Security Adviser Ajit Doval arrived in Beijing for the 25th round of talks between the Special Representatives of India and China on the boundary question.
Doval is meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is his Chinese counterpart in the Special Representatives mechanism.
China describes these talks as the main channel for negotiations on the boundary question and also an important platform for discussing bilateral, regional and international issues.
The 24th round of talks had been held in August 2025, where both sides reached certain common understandings.
The present round comes ahead of the expected visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India for the September 12 BRICS Summit.
India–China relations have gradually normalised following the October 2024 Modi–Xi meeting at Kazan.
8. 🇮🇷 Iran, U.S. Sanctions and Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. Treasury Secretary has announced plans for expanded secondary sanctions against Iran, describing the strategy as an attempt at the country’s “economic asphyxiation”.
The proposed sanctions could target Iran’s:
- digital assets
- technology
- gold
- aviation
- shipping sectors.
The announcement comes amid the continuing conflict with Iran and stalled peace negotiations.
A major strategic issue is the Strait of Hormuz, through which Iran has been restricting much of the traffic.
The Strait is a critical global energy chokepoint connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.
The conflict therefore has consequences beyond Iran and the U.S., particularly for:
global oil supplies → shipping → energy prices → inflation → energy-importing economies.
9. 💰 Press Note 3 and Foreign Direct Investment
India introduced Press Note 3 in April 2020, requiring prior government approval for FDI from countries sharing a land border with India.
The countries covered included:
China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
The measure was introduced during the COVID-19 period partly because depressed company valuations had raised concerns over opportunistic takeovers by foreign investors, particularly Chinese companies.
In March 2026, India relaxed the restrictions.
Entities with less than 10% ownership from a land-border country could invest through the automatic route, without requiring prior government approval.
The objective was to facilitate:
- FDI inflows,
- technology transfer,
- domestic value addition,
- expansion of Indian firms,
- integration with global supply chains.
By August 10, 2026, 29 FDI projects worth ₹4,895.65 crore had been reported under the revised framework.
Investments covered sectors such as:
IT, AI, telecommunications, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, data centres and transport services.
10. 💳 UPI Completes 10 Years
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) completed ten years since its launch on 25 August 2016 by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
UPI has become a major component of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and digital payments ecosystem.
Its annual transaction volume increased from:
1.78 crore transactions in FY2017 → more than 24,162 crore transactions in FY2026
— roughly a 13,000-fold increase.
Transaction value increased from:
₹0.07 lakh crore → approximately ₹314 lakh crore
during the same period.
UPI is now operational in 11 countries.
Its significance lies in providing an interoperable, real-time payment system enabling both person-to-person and person-to-merchant transactions.
11. ✈️ Privatisation of 11 Airports
The Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) has given in-principle approval for the third round of airport privatisation.
The proposal covers 11 airports grouped into five bundles:
| Bundle | Airports |
| 1 | Amritsar, Kangra |
| 2 | Varanasi, Gaya, Kushinagar |
| 3 | Bhubaneswar, Hubballi |
| 4 | Raipur, Aurangabad |
| 5 | Tiruchirappalli, Tirupati |
The proposal will proceed for final PPPAC approval and subsequently go to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
A major concern is concentration of ownership in the airport sector.
The government is therefore considering a cap on the number of airport bundles that a single bidder can obtain.
The issue became particularly important after the previous round, when one major private group won all six airports that were offered.
12. 🧅 Onion Prices and Food-Price Management
The all-India average retail price of onion increased by 59% year-on-year to ₹43.53/kg on August 24, compared with ₹27.37/kg a year earlier.
To moderate prices, the Centre has begun transporting bulk onion stocks from Nashik to major consuming centres using dedicated railway rakes known as “Kanda Express”.
This represents the use of buffer stocks and supply-chain intervention to manage food-price volatility.
13. 🍬 Sugar Prices: Volatility Despite Adequate Stocks
Domestic sugar prices have begun cooling after the Centre permitted the import of 10 lakh tonnes of raw sugar.
Maharashtra ex-mill prices had increased from around ₹38–39/kg earlier in the sugar season to ₹56/kg on August 24.
However, the industry maintains that the country is not facing a structural sugar shortage.
For the 2025–26 sugar season:
- Net production: approximately 279 lakh tonnes
- Domestic consumption: 280–285 lakh tonnes
- Projected closing stocks: approximately 35 lakh tonnes
The recent price rise is attributed to a combination of:
lower-than-expected production + festive demand + market sentiment + firm international sugar prices.
14. 🏦 SEBI’s Information Technology Resilience Index
SEBI has introduced an Information Technology Resilience Index (ITRI) for Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs) such as stock exchanges and depositories.
The index assesses institutions across parameters including:
- availability,
- security,
- integrity,
- governance,
- reliability and monitoring,
- business continuity,
- modularity and flexibility,
- scalability.
MIIs are also required to develop an Early Warning System (EWS) capable of detecting deterioration in IT resilience before it leads to system disruption.
The initiative reflects the growing importance of cyber resilience and technological stability in financial-market infrastructure.
15. 👓 AI Smart Glasses and Privacy
AI-enabled smart glasses combine:
camera + microphone + speakers + AI-enabled functions
in ordinary-looking eyewear.
They can allow users to:
- answer calls,
- receive messages,
- listen to information,
- take photographs,
- record videos.
The major concern is that the technology enables inconspicuous recording of people in public or private spaces.
The article highlights a regulatory gap: privacy controls are largely designed around the wearer, whereas the person being recorded may have little or no control.
The glasses also generate and transmit data, raising questions concerning:
- consent,
- surveillance,
- biometric/privacy risks,
- data storage,
- third-party access,
- regulation of wearable AI.
The larger issue is the difficulty of ensuring that privacy law keeps pace with rapidly evolving AI-enabled consumer technologies.
16. 📊 Manipur: Census 2027 and NRC Demand
The Population Census 2027 remains uncertain in Manipur amid demands from sections of Meitei and Naga civil society for an NRC to be compiled before the Census.
The first phase — House Listing and Housing Census — is scheduled for September 1–30.
Arguments differ between communities.
Some groups argue that alleged illegal immigration and demographic changes need to be addressed before the Census.
The Kuki-Zo Council, in contrast, argues that an impartial Census is necessary to establish reliable demographic facts and counter competing claims regarding population changes during the conflict.
17. 🌱 Sri Lanka’s Renewable Energy Push and Ecological Concerns
Sri Lanka is seeking to expand renewable energy, particularly wind power, as it attempts to reduce its dependence on imported fuel.
Sri Lanka has an installed electricity capacity of around 6,345 MW, while peak demand is about 3,000 MW.
The government aims to add 300 MW of renewable energy capacity to the grid by the end of the following year.
However, communities and environmental groups in the Mannar region are concerned about the ecological consequences of large renewable-energy projects.
The government faces a familiar development dilemma:
Energy transition → lower fossil-fuel dependence → infrastructure expansion → possible ecological and livelihood impacts.