GS-III: Environment | GS-II: Tribal Issues | Inter-State River Water Management | Rehabilitation & Resettlement | Sustainable Development Context Ken-Betwa River Linking Project: The project aims to transfer water from the Ken river to the Betwa river through a 231-km-long canal. Objective: Provide irrigation and drinking water to water-stressed areas of Bundelkhand. Displacement: The Daudhan…
UPSC Mains Current Affairs for 18 August 2026
UPSC Mains Current Affairs for 18 August 2026 covers the day’s developments in the form Mains answers need — context, stakeholders, the arguments on either side, and the way forward. Each note is mapped to the General Studies paper and topic it belongs to, so the material is ready to be used in an answer rather than only read.
5 articles
Can SHANTI Act Override Courts on Compensation for Nuclear Disasters
GS-II: Polity | GS-III: Nuclear Energy | Disaster Management | Constitutional Law Context Supreme Court hearing: The Court asked whether the SHANTI Act, 2025 can prevent constitutional courts from granting fair and just compensation to victims of a nuclear accident beyond the statutory liability cap. Constitutional challenge: A petition led by E.A.S. Sarma, along with…
The road to E20 is not without bumps
GS-III: Energy | Biofuels | Environment | Automobile Sector | Consumer Protection Context E20 fuel regime: India is transitioning to petrol blended with 20% anhydrous ethanol. Government objective: Reduce crude oil import dependency, save foreign exchange and reduce carbon emissions. Emerging concerns: Mileage reduction, mechanical vulnerabilities in legacy vehicles, fuel contamination and elimination of unblended…
Losing forest for trees
GS-III: Environment | Forests | Climate Change | Biodiversity | Environmental Governance Context CAG Performance Audit: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) found that the Green India Mission (GIM) achieved very little of its intended objectives over a decade. Forest quality: Against the target of improving forest quality over 1.4 million hectares, only 0.11 million…
Taxing ‘frivolous’ industries will not fund India’s science
GS-III: Science & Technology | Research & Development | Innovation | Economy Context Science funding: Lack of funding for Indian science often leads to demands to tax “unintellectual” industries such as cinema, tourism, apparel and perfumes. IPL taxation: An academic suggested taxing the IPL to generate ₹15 billion for scientific pursuits. Core argument: The “tax-this-to-fund-that”…
Ravi Raaz
Hassan Khan
Shadab Ali