Current Affairs – May 29, 2026

{GS2 – IR} EU Carbon Border Tax: Impact on India’s Trade Competitiveness

• Context (TH): The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), proposed in 2021, entered its definitive phase from January 1, 2026 and it is expected to significantly impact India.

• The CBAM is a climate policy tool introduced by the EU to prevent “carbon leakage”. Under CBAM, imports entering the EU will face a carbon-linked charge based on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions embedded in their production process.

Implications for India

• Higher Export Costs: Indian exports of steel, aluminium, and other carbon-intensive goods to Europe may become more expensive due to additional carbon charges.
• Impact on Competitiveness: Indian industries with relatively higher emission intensity could lose competitiveness in European markets.
• Industrial Transition Pressure: Indian industries may need to invest in cleaner technologies, renewable energy, and energy-efficient manufacturing processes.
• Cascading Effect: CBAM’s influence may extend beyond targeted sectors through global price shifts, and other developed economies may adopt similar mechanisms, amplifying the pressure.

India’s Stand

• Equity vs. Climate Actions: CBAM violates the UN principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR). It penalizes developing countries that are still transition-financing their green energy infrastructure.
• Green Protectionist: The mechanism creates hidden trade barriers, masquerading climate action as economic protectionism.

{GS2 – Social Sector} India’s National Health Accounts 2022-23 *

• Context (TH I NOA): The National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC), under the Health Ministry, released the 10^th edition of National Health Accounts (NHA) Estimates for 2022-23.

• First published in 2013-14, the NHA provides a comprehensive picture of India’s health system from an expenditure perspective.
• It is based the National Health Accounts Guidelines for India, 2016, which adhere to the System of Health Accounts (SHA) 2011, a globally accepted standard for tracking health expenditure flows.

Key Highlights

• Rise In Government Health Expenditure: Government Health Expenditure as a share of GDP grew from 1.15% (2013-14) to 1.43% (2022-23). Government Share in total health expenditure increased from 28.6% in 2013-14 to 43.7% in 2022-23.
• Per Capita Government Health Expenditure: Increased nearly 2.7 times, from ₹1,042 in 2013-14 to ₹2,786 in 2022-23, indicating greater health resources available per citizen.
• Reduction in Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE): Increased public health spending has led to a decline in OOPE as a share of Total Health Expenditure.
• COVID-19 Health Spending Surge: Government health expenditure rose sharply to 1.84 % of GDP in 2021-22 due to pandemic management and the mass COVID-19 vaccination programme.
• Decline In OOPE During Pandemic: OOPE declined to 39.4 % of Total Health Expenditure during the COVID-19 period.

{GS3 – IE} 10 Years of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 **

• Context (PIB): Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) completed 10 years of implementation, effectively shifting insolvency management from defaulting promoters to financial lenders.

About Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)

• Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016, establishes a unified, time-bound legal framework for resolving insolvency cases in India.
• Applicability: It uniformly applies to individuals, corporations, partnerships, limited liability partnerships, and personal guarantors backing defaulting corporate entities.
• Liquidation Hierarchy: Asset distribution follows a statutory waterfall mechanism, prioritising insolvency resolution costs, labour wages, and secured creditors over government dues.
• Promoter Barring: Wilful defaulters and non-performing asset account holders are legally disqualified from bidding for their own companies to prevent fraudulent buybacks.
• Apex Regulator: Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) is the apex statutory body overseeing the insolvency ecosystem and the conduct of insolvency professionals.
• Dispute Adjudication: National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) adjudicates corporate disputes, while the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) handles bankruptcy proceedings for individuals and partnership firms.
• Data Repositories: Information Utilities are centralised digital repositories that record comprehensive credit data, providing undisputed legal proof of financial defaults.

Operational Process

• Trigger Mechanism: Financial or operational creditors can initiate the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) when a company defaults on a minimum threshold of ₹1 crore.
• Resolution Timeline: The entire resolution must be completed within 330 days to prevent business deterioration during prolonged default.
• Creditor Governance: Financial lenders constitute the Committee of Creditors (CoC) to evaluate, negotiate, and vote on resolution plans proposed by potential buyers.
• Mandatory Liquidation: The defaulting company automatically enters into asset liquidation if creditors fail to approve a viable resolution plan within the 330-day deadline.

Key Achievements of IBC 2016

• Creditor Recovery: Creditors realised over ₹4 lakh crore, recovering 95% of fair value and 167% of liquidation value. Pre-admission settlements resolved 30,000 cases worth ₹14 lakh crore.
• Case Outcomes: Out of 7,102 closed cases, 58% resulted in corporate rescues, while 42% ended in liquidation orders. Investor confidence tripled the market valuation of listed resolved companies from ₹2.8 lakh crore to ₹9 lakh crore.
• Overdue Period: The average period corporate loan accounts remained overdue plummeted from 344 days to 87 days.
• Global Recognition: Enhanced recovery efficiency prompted S&P Global Ratings to upgrade India’s insolvency regime from Group C to Group B.

Key Challenges with IBC 2016

• Plunging Recoveries: Creditor recoveries under IBC collapsed from 46% in FY25 to 23% in FY26, driven by prolonged timelines, steep haircuts, and a surge in liquidation cases.
• Severe Delays: 78% of ongoing CIRP cases had exceeded 270 days without resolution, and the average resolution timeline had reached 744 days, well beyond the 330-day statutory deadline.
• Judicial Bottlenecks: Manpower shortages at the National Company Law Tribunal delay the admission of time-bound cases, forcing lenders to absorb steeper haircuts on outstanding corporate debt.
• Process Failure: The Pre-Packaged Insolvency Resolution Process (PIRP) for MSMEs remained severely underutilised, with only 18 applications admitted by March 2026.

Read More> Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC): Successes & Challenges

{Prelims – Awards} ‘President of India’s Police Colour’

• Context (NOA): Sikkim Police has been awarded the “President of India’s Police Colour” for its distinguished service and contribution to maintaining peace and security.

• The “President’s Police Colour” is the highest honour awarded to a State Police Force or Central Armed Police Force for exceptional service, discipline and professionalism.
• Sikkim has become the 15^th state of the country and 3^rd from the Northeast to receive this award.
• Eligibility: A police force must complete at least 25 years of distinguished service to receive the honour

{Prelims – Envi} Dumpsite Remediation and Action Plan (DRAP)

• Context (PIB): Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs reviewed the progress of Bhalswa Dumpsite remediation in Delhi under the DRAP.
  • Bhalswa is one of Delhi’s three major legacy dumpsites alongside Ghazipur and Okhla and among the most environmentally hazardous waste mountains in urban India.

• DRAP is a nationwide mission-mode programme launched under Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban (SBM-U) 2.0. It aims to scientifically remediate major legacy dumpsites across the country and achieve the target of “Lakshya Zero Dumpsites”.
• The initiative focuses on scientific remediation of legacy waste, environmental restoration and reclamation and productive reuse of urban land.

Read More> Waste Management in India

{Prelims – Envi} Forest Advisory Committee

• Context (HT): Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has granted in-principle approval to divert over 3,000 hectares of forest land across several states for infrastructure and mining projects.

• FAC is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), established by Section 3 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
• It evaluates and advises the Central government on proposals to divert forest land for non-forestry purposes such as mining, dams, and highways.
• FAC examines proposals referred through the Central Government route, incl forest diversion above 40 hectares, mining proposals, dereservation, violations, regularisation cases & larger hydropower projects.
  • Proposals covering more than 5 hectares and up to 40 hectares are appraised by the MoEFCC Regional Empowered Committees.
• It is chaired by the Director General of Forests and Special Secretary.

{Prelims – Envi} Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary

• Context (TH): Karnataka Govt has issued regulations for development activities around the Bhimgad WLS.

• Located in Karnataka, along the Karnataka–Goa border in the Western Ghats.
• It derives its name from the historic Bhimgad Fort, a 17^th century fort built by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
• Mahadayi River (Mandovi) originates in the Bhimgad region.
• Flagship Species: The sanctuary is known for the rare Wroughton’s Free-tailed Bat. It also hosts tigers, leopards, elephants, gaur, sloth bears, and Malabar giant squirrels.
• Vegetation: Tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forests with high endemism.

{Prelims – MoC} PM WANI Reforms

• Context (DDN): The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) announced a series of reforms to the Prime Minister’s Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) framework.

• The reforms are aimed at making public Wi Fi faster, simpler and more accessible for ordinary citizens.
• The key changes include QR based authentication for laptops and secondary devices, sachet style short duration Wi Fi plans, and standardised PMWANI hotspot branding.

{Prelims – MoPR} Nirbhay Raho Initiative *

• Context (PIB): Nirbhay Raho initiative was launched under the Nirbhaya Fund to strengthen women’s safety and gender-responsive governance in rural India.

• Implemented by Ministry of Panchayati Raj in collaboration with Ministry of Women and Child Development and National Law School of India University (NLSIU).
• Objective: To build legal awareness, gender sensitivity, and institutional support mechanisms for women’s safety through Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
• 3 Components: Nirbhay Netri (women leaders’ capacity building), Nirbhay Chetna (gender sensitisation of male representatives) and Nirbhay Drishti (CCTV-based rural safety infrastructure).
• Focus Areas: Domestic violence, child marriage, cyber safety, survivor support systems, & legal remedies.
• Coverage: The initiative seeks to reach ~32 lakh male and female elected Panchayat representatives.

{Prelims – PIN World} Belgorod *

• Context (TH): Cross-border strikes in the Russia-Ukraine war damaged energy infrastructure in Belgorod.

• Located in southwestern Russia, Belgorod shares an international border with northeastern Ukraine. It lies along the upper Donets River and serves as the administrative capital of Belgorod Oblast.
• The region borders Kursk, where the 1943 Battle of Kursk—history’s largest tank battle—took place.
• Lies over the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly (KMA), one of the world’s largest iron ore reserves, and produces nearly one-third of Russia’s iron ore.
• It serves as a critical military and logistics hub for the Russian Armed Forces.

{Prelims – Polity} Assam’s Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, 2026

• Context (TH | NOA): Assam passed the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, 2026, becoming the first state in Northeast India and the third nationwide to approve a unified civil framework.

Key Provisions of the Bill

• Prohibits bigamy and polygamy across all communities, with up to 7 years’ imprisonment.
• Marriages and divorces must be registered within 60 days, and live-in relationships within one month.
• Children born from live-in relationships are legally recognised as legitimate.
• Legal marriage age set at 18 for brides and 21 for grooms to curb child marriage and early pregnancies.
• All Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Assam are fully exempted to protect customary laws.

Read More > Uniform Civil Code

{Prelims – Polity} Right to Trauma Care: A Fundamental Right

• Context (TH): Supreme Court recognised timely trauma care as part of the Right to Life under Article 21 in SaveLIFE Foundation v. Union of India (2026).

Key Directives of the Court

• Unified Helpline: States and UTs must integrate all helpline numbers into the single emergency helpline ‘112’ within three months.
• Ambulance Standardisation: All ambulances should comply with Automotive Industry Standard-125 (AIS-125) and install a GPS and Vehicle Location Tracking Device (VLTD) linked to helpline ‘112’.
• Trauma Registry: The Union Health Ministry must issue guidelines for a National Trauma Registry, requiring states to establish matching registries across all medical facilities.
• Legal Safeguard: States need to establish grievance redressal systems for the good-samaritan protection under Section 134A of the Motor Vehicles Act.
• Accident Care: All states should fully operationalise PM RAHAT within three months to enable immediate cashless treatment for road-accident victims.