Current Affairs – February 12, 2026

{GS2 – Polity} Removal of the Lok Sabha Speaker **

• Context (IE): 118 MPs from opposition parties submitted a formal notice for a resolution to remove Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

• Alleged Charges: The charges cited “blatantly partisan conduct” and the consistent denial of opportunities for opposition MPs to raise issues of public importance.

Process for Removal of the Speaker

• Source of Power: The procedure for the removal of the Speaker is governed by Article 94(c) and Article 96 of the Indian Constitution.
  • Article 94(C): A Speaker may be removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of the House.
  • Article 96: Prohibits the Speaker from presiding over a sitting of the House while any resolution for their removal is under consideration.
• Effective Majority: The resolution must be passed by an Effective Majority, defined as more than 50% of the “then members of the House” (Total Strength minus Vacancies).
• Notice Submission: A written notice of the intention to move the resolution must be submitted to the Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha.
  • Signature Requirement: This notice typically requires the signature of at least two members.
• Notice Period: A mandatory notice of at least 14 days must be given before moving the resolution as per the proviso to Article 94(C).
• Specific Charges: The resolution should be specific about the charges and clearly expressed.
  • Prohibited Content: The notice shall not contain arguments, inferences, ironic expressions, imputations, or defamatory statements.
• Admission of Motion: The motion requires the support of at least 50 members to be admitted for discussion in the Lok Sabha.
• Presiding Officer: The Deputy Speaker, or in their absence, a member of the Panel of Chairpersons, presides over the session under Article 96.
• Speaker’s Defence: The Speaker has the right to speak and participate in the proceedings to defend themselves against the charges.
  • First-Instance Vote: He is entitled to vote on the resolution in the first instance, but does not hold a casting vote in the event of a tie.

Read More > Speaker of Lok Sabha

{GS2 – MoD} New MoD Guidelines for Armed Forces Publications

• Context (TH): The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is creating new guidelines for book publications by armed forces personnel, incorporating provisions of the Official Secrets Act (OSA), 1923.

• The move follows controversy over former Army Chief M. M. Naravane’s unpublished memoir, which discloses sensitive military information.

About Official Secrets Act (OSA), 1923

• The Act is a colonial-era legislation originally enacted to suppress nationalist newspapers and dissent.
• It traces back to the Indian Official Secrets Act of 1889, which was strengthened in 1904 under Lord Curzon and consolidated in 1923.
• Objective: To protect India’s sovereignty, defence, and intelligence infrastructure by penalising espionage and unauthorised possession of classified information.
• Scope: The Act applies to all Indian citizens, including government officials, whether within or outside India, and holds company executives liable.

Key Legal Provisions of the Act

• Espionage Offence: Section 3 criminalises approaching prohibited places or collecting information useful to an enemy (up to 14 years’ imprisonment).
  • Prohibited Places include restricted areas like defence establishments, arsenals, and notified infrastructure (e.g., specific railway stations or ports).
• Evidence Standard: Section 4 treats communication with a foreign agent as evidence of prejudicial action towards the State; one is presumed to have communicated if they have their name or address.
• Wrongful Communication: Section 5 punishes unauthorised sharing or retention of official codes and documents (up to 3 years).
• Harbouring Spies: Section 10 penalises knowingly sheltering anyone who commits an espionage offence under Section 3.
• Search Powers: Section 11 empowers a Magistrate to issue search warrants based on reasonable grounds of suspicion of an offence.
• Cognizable Nature: Section 12 allows the police to arrest without a warrant for most offences.

{GS2 – Governance} Rashtriya Karmayogi Large Scale Jan Seva Programme *

• Context (NOA): The Rashtriya Karmayogi Large Scale Jan Seva Programme (Phase-II) concluded under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

• It is a national behavioural transformation initiative by the Capacity Building Commission (CBC), conducted under the broader umbrella of Mission Karmayogi.
• Objective: To instil “Seva Bhav‘ and “Svadharma’ among officials, shifting from a “rule-based” to a “role-based” and “purpose-driven” approach.
• Implementation: Phase I (Jan 2025) covered officials in Delhi NCR, while Phase II (Apr 2025–Feb 2026) expanded nationwide to organisations under Central Ministries.
• Scale: It has successfully trained approximately 10.5 lakh government servants nationwide.
• Significance: This high-impact initiative improves the quality of service delivery, enhances responsiveness, and accelerates the vision for Viksit Bharat 2047.

About Mission Karmayogi

• Mission Karmayogi, officially known as the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building, was launched in 2020 to create a future-ready workforce.
• Objective: To make civil servants more creative, proactive, innovative, and technology-enabled to deliver citizen-centric governance.
• Digital Infrastructure: The mission utilises the iGOT Karmayogi platform to enable officials to learn “anytime, anywhere, on any device”.
• Competency Framework: It employs the ‘Framework of Roles, Activities, and Competencies (FRAC)’ to map specific roles to required competencies.
• Institutional Structure: Includes the PM’s Public Human Resources Council (apex body), CBC (executive body), Karmayogi Bharat SPV (manages the iGOT platform), and a Coordination Unit.
• Key Achievements: The iGOT Karmayogi platform currently hosts over 1.49 crore registered users and over 7.26 crore course completions.

{GS3 – IE} Scenarios Towards Viksit Bharat and Net Zero

• Context (PIB | NA): NITI Aayog’s “Scenarios Towards Viksit Bharat & Net Zero study” highlights that India can simultaneously achieve developed-economy status by 2047 and net-zero emissions by 2070.

Core Strategy for Viksit Bharat and Net-Zero

Viksit Bharat @ 2047

• High Growth Requirement: Sustained real GDP growth of ~7–8% is essential to transition into a high-income, developed economy status by 2047.
• Infrastructure Expansion Window: Nearly 85% of India’s 2047 infrastructure is yet to be built, offering a rare opportunity for efficient, low-carbon urbanisation.
• Demographic Dividend Use: Productive absorption of India’s large working-age population remains critical to income expansion, productivity, and fiscal stability.

Net-Zero Emissions @ 2070

• Electrification Backbone: Deep electrification across sectors is the single largest driver of long-term emissions reduction under the net-zero pathway.
• Massive Investment Need: Achieving net-zero requires about $22.7 trillion, implying one of the world’s largest long-term climate capital mobilisation efforts.
• Energy System Transformation: Scaling renewables to 6,500–7,000 GW fundamentally reshapes India’s power mix, storage needs, and grid architecture.

Key Challenges Faced by India

• Critical Minerals Dependence: Clean energy technologies could increase India’s lithium demand by over 40 times by 2040, exposing the economy to import concentration risks.
• Supply Chain Vulnerability: Global processing of critical minerals remains highly concentrated, with China controlling ~60–70% of refining capacity for several energy-transition minerals.
• Insufficient Climate Investment: Current climate investment flows of ~$135 billion annually remain far below levels required for long-term decarbonisation and infrastructure expansion.
• Rising Energy Demand: India’s electricity demand is projected to grow at ~6–7% annually this decade, driven by cooling, industrial expansion, and digital infrastructure growth.
• Financial System Constraints: India’s corporate bond market (~16% of GDP) and household financialisation (~60%) remain too shallow for the required capital mobilisation scale.

Macroeconomic and Social Implications

• Investment-Led Rebalancing: Growth structure gradually shifts from consumption-driven patterns toward capital-intensive, technology-led and infrastructure-heavy development pathways.
• Structural Adjustment Pressures: Fossil-fuel-linked sectors employ millions; coal mining alone supports ~12 million livelihoods, raising transition-related reskilling challenges.
• Energy Security Risks: Coal continues to supply ~70% of India’s electricity generation, limiting the pace of decarbonisation without risking supply instability.
• Climate Risk Exposure: Climate shocks already affect growth drivers, and agriculture employs ~45% of the workforce, yet remains highly climate-sensitive.
• Equity and Affordability: Energy costs disproportionately impact lower-income groups, with households accounting for ~25–30% of electricity demand growth.

NITI Aayog’s Strategic Policy Directions

• Demand Moderation: Institutionalise Mission LiFE-driven behavioural shifts to control long-term energy demand growth; E.g., efficiency standards & lifestyle nudges.
• Electrification Push: Accelerate electrification across transport and industry to structurally reduce fossil fuel dependence; E.g., EV adoption & industrial electrification.
• Green Finance Institution: Establish a dedicated national green finance institution to mobilise, aggregate and de-risk large-scale transition capital.
• Renewable Expansion: Scale solar, wind and storage capacity while strengthening grid and transmission networks; E.g., battery energy storage & pumped hydro balancing systems.
• Domestic Market Deepening: Expand corporate bond markets and accelerate financialisation of household savings to mobilise stable long-term capital for climate and infrastructure investment
• International Finance Mobilisation: Deepen integration with global capital markets to bridge the ~$6.5 trillion financing gap through concessional climate finance flows.

{GS3 – IE} Industrial Relations Code (Amendment) Bill, 2026

• Context (BS | CNB): Industrial Relations Code (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was introduced in Lok Sabha to remove interpretational doubt on repeal & savings to prevent future legal complications.

• Industrial Relations Code, 2020 brought the Trade Unions Act, 1926, the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 and the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 under one unified framework.

Key Amendments in the Code

• Repeal Clarification: Makes it explicit that repeal of the three legacy laws happens by the operation of Section 104 itself, not through any executive “repeal power” route.
• Savings Continuity: Reinforces that past rights, liabilities, penalties, notifications and ongoing proceedings continue seamlessly, so transition does not disrupt industrial adjudication.
• Legal Certainty Shield: Tightens drafting so misconceived challenges (delegation/ultra vires arguments) don’t derail the Code’s continuity logic later.

Why the Amendment Became Necessary?

• High Litigation Load: India’s courts carry ~54 million pending cases, so even a narrow interpretational dispute can snowball into years of avoidable litigation over continuity.
• Continuity Risk: Labour disputes often run for long durations; any doubt on “which law applies” can trigger preliminary objections and adjournments before merits are heard.
• Compliance Scale: MSME registrations on the national dashboard show ~7.7 crore enterprises, meaning small ambiguities can multiply into massive compliance uncertainty at scale.

Significance of the Amendment

• Regulatory Predictability: Clear repeal mechanics stabilise the legal base for employers, unions and labour offices, reducing “first-principles” disputes during implementation.
• Faster Dispute Handling: With continuity clarified, tribunals/courts are less likely to waste time on preliminary jurisdiction-and-applicability fights.
• Reform Credibility: Shows course-correction to protect the labour-code architecture from technical derailment, improving trust among investors and organised labour alike.

Potential Concerns

• Drafting Optics: A clarificatory amendment so soon can be read as an initial drafting vulnerability, inviting a more “technical challenge” mindset in future.
• Residual Ambiguities: Even with Section 104 clarified, other transition questions like rules, subordinate legislation, and forum shifts can still generate disputes.
• Change Fatigue: Repeated small amendments can create a perception of moving goalposts, especially for MSMEs already coping with multi-layer compliance.

Read More> About the Four Labour Codes

{GS3 – IE} Taxpayer Base Expansion in India **

• Context (PR): Income Tax data show sustained growth in India’s direct taxpayer base over the last decade.

Taxpayer Base Trends

• Base Expansion: Total taxpayers increased from 5.26 crore (AY 2013–14) to 12.13 crore (AY 2024–25).
• Growth Pace: Taxpayer base recorded a CAGR of ~7.89%, indicating structural compliance growth.
• Individual Dominance: Individual taxpayers rose from 4.96 crore → 11.61 crore, growing at 8% CAGR.
• Pandemic Dip: AY 2020–21 saw ~9% contraction, reflecting COVID-linked economic disruptions.
• Non-Individual Growth: Expanded from 0.29 crore → 0.48 crore, with steady ~5% CAGR.
• Efficiency Gain: Cost of collecting direct taxes declined sharply from 1.36% (FY 2000–01) to 0.41% (FY 2024–25, provisional).

Drivers of Taxpayer Base Expansion

• Digital Filing Systems: Expansion of online return filing reduced compliance costs & widened accessibility. E.g. Income Tax e-Filing Portal enables paperless submissions & faster processing.
• Prefilled Returns: Auto-population of taxpayer data using TDS and financial transaction records improved accuracy and encouraged voluntary compliance.
• Faceless Assessments: Elimination of physical interface reduced discretion & strengthened taxpayer confidence in assessment processes. E.g., Faceless Assessment Scheme & Faceless Appeal mechanisms.
• Economic Formalisation: Growth of digitised transactions & tax-linked systems increased traceability of income and broadened tax participation. E.g., GST regime, & UPI-driven digital economy expansion.

Read More > India’s Taxation System

{GS3 – S&T} India’s Nuclear Energy Strategy **

• Context (IE): Department of Atomic Energy stated NTPC Ltd and Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) are exploring the development and deployment of thorium-based ANEEL fuel for PHWRs.

Key Developments in Nuclear Energy Strategy

• Three-Stage Programme Stability: India continues to anchor its nuclear roadmap on uranium → plutonium → thorium progression, ensuring long-term fuel sustainability.
• Shift Towards Fuel Innovation: Advanced fuels like ANEEL (Advanced Nuclear Energy for Enriched Life) reflect the transition from infrastructure-heavy to efficiency-driven nuclear modernisation.
• Thorium Deployment Reorientation: Earlier strategies focused on designing dedicated thorium reactors, but current thinking prioritises adapting existing PHWR fleets.
• Closed Fuel Cycle Reinforcement: India’s long-standing reprocessing strategy remains central to maximising fissile material recovery and reducing waste burdens.

Reasons for Deployment of Thorium-Based ANEEL Fuel for PHWRs

• Resource Security Imperative: India’s limited uranium reserves contrast sharply with its vast thorium deposits, creating a structural incentive for fuel diversification.
• Existing Fleet Compatibility: PHWRs form the backbone of India’s nuclear capacity, ANEEL fuel enables performance upgrades without costly reactor redesign or reconstruction investments.
• Enhanced Fuel Efficiency: Thorium-based blends offer higher burn-up potential and improved neutron economy under reactor conditions.
• Waste Reduction Benefits: Thorium cycles generate comparatively lower quantities of long-lived transuranic elements, reducing long-term storage challenges.
• Safety & Stability Gains: Thorium’s favourable thermal conductivity and reactor behaviour contribute to safer fuel performance, especially under variable reactor stress scenarios.

Read More > Thorium Push for India’s Nuclear Programme

{Prelims – PAN} Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve

• Context (IE): The Standing Committee of the NBWL has approved the diversion of 272 ha of forest land within the core area of Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve for the Kopra Medium Irrigation Project.

About Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve

• Reserve Status: Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve (VDTR) is the 7^th tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh and the 54^th in India.
• Formation: The reserve was formally notified in 2023 through the merger of Nauradehi and Veerangana Durgavati Wildlife Sanctuaries.
  • Project Linkage: Creation of VDTR was a mandatory condition for approval of the Ken-Betwa River Linking Project.
• Spread: Spanning about 2,339 sq km, the landscape includes parts of both the Narmada and Yamuna river basins.
• River System: Bamner, Kopra, & Bearma rivers flow through the reserve as tributaries of the Ken River.
• Landscape Connectivity: It serves as a critical wildlife corridor linking Panna Tiger Reserve with Satpura Tiger Reserve.
• Forest Type: Vegetation mainly comprises tropical mixed dry deciduous forests dominated by teak, saja, dhaora, ber, and amla.
• Faunal Diversity: Tigers, leopards, wolves, hyenas, sloth bears, Chital, Sambar, Nilgai, etc.
• Etymology: The reserve is named after Rani Durgavati, the legendary Gond queen who fought the Mughals in the 16^th century.
• Cultural Site: Singorgarh Fort, a historic Gond hill fort, lies within the boundaries of the tiger reserve.

{Prelims – Exercise} Exercise Vayushakti-26

• Context (DDN): The Indian Air Force (IAF) will conduct Exercise Vayushakti-26 at the Pokhran Air-to-Ground Range in Jaisalmer.

• Exercise Vayushakti is a major triennial firepower demonstration that showcases the IAF’s integrated operational capabilities and precision-strike potential.
• The 2026 edition will specifically highlight the performance and effectiveness of modern weapon systems deployed during Operation Sindoor.
• It will be conducted within IAF’s Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) to monitor operations in a simulated wartime environment.
• The display will feature more than 100 aerial assets, including Rafale, LCA Tejas, and transport aircraft such as the C-295.
• It will demonstrate advanced weapon systems, including Short Range Loitering Munitions (SRLM), Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (CUAS), and surface-to-air systems such as Akash.
• The drill includes day and night missions, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) capabilities, Electronic Warfare (EW) systems, and drone swarms.
• It will showcase IAF’s readiness as the “first, fastest, and fiercest” responder in modern combat.

{Prelims – Indices} Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2025 *

• Context (IE): Transparency International has released the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

• The CPI is the leading global metric for measuring perceived public-sector corruption.
• It evaluates 182 countries and territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
• The index aggregates data from 13 external sources and surveys by institutions such as World Bank.

Key Highlights of CPI 2025

• Global Average: The global average score fell to a historic low of 42, with over two-thirds of assessed nations scoring below 50.
• Top Performers: Denmark (89) retained the top spot for the eighth consecutive year, followed by Finland (88) and Singapore (84).
• Bottom Performers: South Sudan and Somalia tied for the lowest rank, making them the most corrupt countries globally.
• Global Trend: Established democracies such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada recorded declines in scores to historic lows due to weakened institutional checks.
• Regional Stagnation: The Asia-Pacific region showed stagnation in anti-corruption efforts and rising public dissatisfaction with unaccountable leadership.

• India’s Position: India improved its ranking by five positions to 91, though its score remains below average at 39.
  • Key Concerns: The report flagged high risks for journalists reporting on corruption in India, along with persistent bureaucratic opacity and weak oversight.

{Prelims – In News} India’s First Musical Path

• Context (TH): Mumbai has introduced India’s first “musical path” on the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Coastal Road, playing the Oscar-winning song ‘Jai Ho’.

• The initiative aims to enhance road safety by encouraging motorists to maintain a steady driving speed.
• The path uses Hungarian technology, with rumble strips carved into the asphalt at precise intervals.
• Mechanism: Vehicles driving over the grooves at 70–80 km/h generate vibrations and sound waves that produce the song’s notes.
• Global League: This marks Mumbai’s entry into a select group of cities with “melody road” technology, joining Japan, Hungary, South Korea, and the UAE.