Current Affairs – January 04, 2026

{GS2 – Governance} Need for Invalidation of All Forms of Unilateral Talaq

Context (TH): The Supreme Court’s ongoing reviews of Muslim personal law have reignited debate over abolishing unilateral talaq to ensure gender-neutral divorce rights.

Current Status of Unilateral Talaqs in India

Talaq-e-Biddat: Instant triple talaq leading to irrevocable divorce was declared unconstitutional in Shayara Bano v. Union of India (2017) and was subsequently criminalised.
Talaq-e-Ahsan: Single pronouncement followed by a 90-day waiting period (iddat) for reconciliation remains a legally valid extra-judicial divorce form.
Talaq-e-Hasan: Three pronouncements across three months during the purity period (tuhr) is currently valid but under constitutional challenge (Benazeer Heena v. Union of India, 2025).

Key Rationale for Invalidation

Fundamental Rights: Unilateral talaq violates Articles 14 and 15, which guarantee the right to equality and prohibit discrimination based on sex.
Human Dignity: Instant divorce practices create fear and insecurity, undermining women’s right to dignity enshrined under Article 21.
Economic Security: Unilateral divorce often leads to homelessness and loss of financial support.
Gender Inequality: Unilateral talaq grants men absolute divorce authority, while women need to pay or seek judicial relief.
Maintenance Evasion: Extra-judicial divorces are often used to bypass legal obligations of alimony and child support.
International Norms: India’s international human rights commitments require equal divorce rights for men and women at marriage dissolution.

Legal Framework in India

Parliament criminalised instant triple talaq as a cognisable, non-bailable offence punishable up to three years under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act (MWPRD), 2019.
The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, recognises various forms of talaq; it is currently under judicial review regarding whether personal laws yield to Article 13.
Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) provides a secular framework for the maintenance of women after divorce.

Reform Pathways

Personal Law Codification: Codify Muslim personal law to standardise divorce procedures and align them with Articles 14, 15, and 21.
Gender-Neutral Divorce: Provide a legal framework for equal divorce procedures for men and women under judicial oversight.
Post-Divorce Protection: Strictly enforce maintenance laws and expand legal awareness to prevent women’s post-divorce destitution.
Community Reform: Internal reform to revise nikahnama clauses to prohibit unilateral or instant talaq.
Institutional Resolution: Mediation and conciliation through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) systems to encourage reconciliation and reduce social trauma.
Uniformity in Approach: A consensus-based Uniform Civil Code (UCC) under Article 44, adopting best practices across personal laws.

Read More > Maintenance for Muslim Women

{GS3 – Infra} Land Acquisition Major Hurdle in India’s Infrastructure Development **

Context (TH | IE): Land acquisition has been identified as the biggest bottleneck in India’s infrastructure projects reviewed under PRAGATI.

Land acquisition caused 35% of project delays, while environmental clearances and right-of-way issues together account for 73% of total delays nationwide.

PRAGATI: Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation is a three-tier platform launched in 2015 to enable real-time project reviews and monitoring of government schemes.

Land Acquisition in India

Land acquisition involves the government acquiring private land for public uses like infrastructure, defence, industrial projects, and social infrastructure.
It is governed by the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act, 2013.
The Act mandates a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) to evaluate the impacts on livelihoods, infrastructure, and communities before acquisition.
Consent Norms: Prior consent of 80% families is required for private projects and 70% for PPP projects.
Compensation Rule: Landowners receive four times the market value in rural areas and twice the market value in urban areas.
- An additional “solatium” equal to 100% of compensation is paid to account for the involuntary nature of the acquisition.

Landscape of Infrastructure Development in India

Financial Outlay: The 2025-26 Union Budget allocated a record ₹11.21 lakh crore (3.1% of GDP) for capital investment, a 10.1% increase from the previous year.
Road: India has the 2^nd-largest road network, with national highways spanning 1,46,145 km in 2024.
Railway: Indian Railways has electrified 99.2% of the Broad Gauge network by 2025.
Aviation: India is the 3^rd largest domestic aviation market after the United States and China.
Shipping: Under Sagarmala 2.0, cargo handling reached 1,630 MT, improving India’s global ranking in international shipments from 44^th to 22^nd.
Urban Infrastructure: India now has the 3^rd-largest operational metro network, spanning 1,013 km across 23 cities (May 2025).
Rural Development: Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) achieved 80% rural tap water coverage by early 2025.

{GS3 – IE} Banks Can Now Manage Assets in the National Pension System (NPS)

Context (TH): The PFRDA has approved a framework that allows banks to set up pension funds to manage assets under the National Pension System (NPS).

Earlier Role: Scheduled Commercial Banks were earlier limited to acting as Points of Presence for onboarding and servicing NPS subscribers.
Expanded Scope: Banks can now directly sponsor a Pension Fund Manager entity, subject to meeting prescribed financial criteria.
Eligibility Norms: Bank eligibility will align with RBI norms on net worth, market capitalisation, and overall prudential soundness.

About National Pension System (NPS)

NPS is a voluntary, defined-contribution retirement scheme regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
Subscriber Choice: Subscribers can choose a Pension Fund Manager and asset allocation, while the Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) remains portable across jobs and locations.
Investment Pattern: Professional managers allocate contributions among equities, government securities, corporate bonds, and alternative assets to generate market-linked returns.
Eligibility Scope: Any Indian citizen or Overseas Citizen of India aged 18-70 can open NPS accounts.
Retirement Withdrawal: At the normal retirement age of 60, government employees may withdraw up to 60% of their accumulated corpus tax-free.
- Annuity Rule: At least 40% of the corpus must be used to purchase an annuity from PFRDA-empanelled providers to receive a taxable monthly pension.
- For non-government subscribers, recent reforms allow a lump sum withdrawal of up to 80%.

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)

Statutory Regulator: PFRDA is the primary statutory pension regulator under the Ministry of Finance.
Legal Status: It was constituted as an interim body in 2003 and later became statutory through the PFRDA Act, 2013.
Core Objective: PFRDA promotes old-age income security by establishing, developing, and regulating pension funds.
Regulatory Role: It prescribes guidelines for pension fund operations, investment norms, and performance benchmarking standards.
Major Schemes: PFRDA administers National Pension System (NPS), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), and NPS Vatsalya.

Read More> National Pension System Reforms 2025

{GS3 – Envi} Circular Model for Waste Management in India **

Context (TH): India must transition from linear waste management to a circular model to minimise waste and recover energy and material resources.

India’s Waste Management Landscape

Waste Generation: India generates about 1.70 lakh tonnes of municipal solid waste daily, projected to reach 165 million tonnes annually by 2030.
Processing Gap: Only 55-70% of collected waste is scientifically treated, leaving over 16 crore tonnes of legacy waste piled at 2,450 active dumpsites.
E-Waste Growth: India ranks third globally in e-waste generation, with volumes increasing annually by nearly 15-20%.
C&D Waste: 150 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste are generated annually, often illegally dumped in wetlands or along roadsides.
Plastic Burden: India generates about 9 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, dominated by single-use plastics.

Waste Management Framework in India

Municipal Powers: Article 243W and the 12^th Schedule empower municipalities to manage public health, sanitation, conservancy, and solid waste.
Fundamental Duty: Article 51A(g) places a fundamental duty on citizens to protect and improve the natural environment.
Umbrella Law: The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, serves as the umbrella legislation for all waste management rules.
SWM Rules: The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, mandate source segregation into wet, dry, and domestic hazardous waste streams.
C&D Rules: The Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2025, introduce Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and mandatory recycling targets.
Plastic Rules: The Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2025, mandate QR-based digital tracking and set targets for recycled-plastic content.

Significance of Circular Waste Management for India

Economic Potential: India’s circular economy can unlock nearly ₹3.5 trillion annually by 2030 and create 10 million green jobs by 2050.
Resource Security: Recovering materials from e-waste, batteries, and end-of-life vehicles reduces dependence on imported virgin raw materials and critical minerals.
Climate Gains: Processing 50% of wet waste via bio-methanation can generate ₹2,460 crore each year and cut over 10 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.
Urban Land: Scientific remediation of legacy dumpsites can free up more than 10,000 hectares of valuable urban land for productive use.
Industrial Fuel: Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) can replace 10-30% of fossil fuels in industrial units, reducing coal dependence and lowering carbon footprints.
C&D Efficiency: With a 25% recycling target set for 2025-26, recycling construction and demolition (C&D) waste can conserve virgin minerals and lower project costs.

Challenges with the Circular Economy in India

Investment Gap: NITI Aayog estimates that India needs USD 50–80 billion over the next decade for circular infrastructure, but most municipalities lack adequate capital.
Policy Fragmentation: Waste management oversight across multiple ministries leads to overlapping mandates and uneven enforcement.
Economic Viability: Low user-fee collection and volatile recycled material prices can make WtE facilities financially unviable without substantial subsidies.
Informal Dominance: Around 90% of waste handling by informal workers lacks legal recognition, social security, and safe working conditions.
Consumption Shift: Rising urban consumption and convenience preferences weaken traditional repair and reuse practices central to the circular economy.

Government Initiatives for the Circular Economy

SBM Urban: Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) 2.0 aims to remediate 2,400+ legacy dumpsites by October 2026, freeing nearly 14,000 acres of urban land.
City Platform: India launched the Cities Coalition for Circularity (C-3) in Jaipur to accelerate the adoption of the circular economy through knowledge exchange and collaboration.
Bioenergy Push: GOBAR-dhan Scheme converts biodegradable waste into Compressed Biogas (CBG) and organic manure.
Producer Accountability: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) mandates producers to finance the recycling of post-consumer waste generated by their products.
Lifestyle Change: India introduced Mission LiFE at COP26 to promote mindful resource use over mindless consumption.
Tech Deployment: Waste to Wealth Mission, led by the Principal Scientific Adviser‘s (PSA) office, identifies and deploys technologies to recover energy and resources from diverse waste streams.

{Prelims – Polity} Delhi Cabinet Clears Jan Vishwas Bill

Context (DDN): The Delhi Cabinet approved the Delhi Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026, to decriminalise minor and procedural offences.

The Bill aligns with the Central Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, which decriminalised minor offences for central laws.
Objective: to simplify compliance procedures to improve ease of doing business and ease of living.
Key Provision: The law replaces criminal proceedings for minor offences with civil penalties and an appellate mechanism, while safeguarding provisions on public health, safety, and life.
Significance: The Bill reduces judicial burden and promotes a trust-based governance model aligned with the “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” approach.

{Prelims – Geo} Dhasan River

Context (HT): The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has dismissed an appeal challenging the cancellation of environmental clearance granted for sand mining in the Dhasan River.

About Dhasan River

It is a right-bank tributary of the Betwa River, which itself flows into the Yamuna River; it drains part of the Bundelkhand region in central India and was called Dasharna in ancient times.
It originates in Begumganj in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and forms the south-eastern boundary of Lalitpur district in Uttar Pradesh (UP) before joining the Betwa near Barua Sagar.
It is about 365 km long, of which 240 km lies in MP, 54 km forms the MP-UP boundary, and 71 km flows within UP; its important tributaries include Kathan, Mangrar, Bachneri, Sukhanai and Rohni.
Pahari (Sujara) Dam and Lahchura (Ghat Lahchura) Dam are on the river, supporting the Dhasan Canal System for regional irrigation.

{Prelims – Geo} Vishnugad–Pipalkoti Hydroelectric Project *

Context (TOI): A collision between a loco train and a goods train inside the Vishnugad–Pipalkoti Hydroelectric Project has injured several.

The Vishnugad–Pipalkoti Hydroelectric Project is an under-construction run-of-river project on the Alaknanda River in Uttarakhand.
Tehri Hydropower Development Corporation, a Centre-State joint enterprise, is developing the project.
Funding: The project is primarily financed through a loan from the World Bank.
Capacity: The project has an installed capacity of 444 MW, comprising four units of 111 MW each.

{Prelims – IR} Unrest in Iran

Context (HT | IE): Recent protests in Iran have resulted in several deaths and extensive damage to banks and government buildings.

Key Reasons: Currency collapse, inflation exceeding 42%, security-heavy budgeting, war with Israel, and chronic water–energy shortages are driving mass unrest.

Significance of Iran for India

Strategic Access: Iran provides India with a critical land-sea route to access landlocked Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics (CARs), bypassing Pakistan’s transit constraints.
Counterbalance: The India-operated Chabahar Port in Sistan–Baluchistan province serves as a counter to China-backed Gwadar Port in Pakistan under the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Connectivity: Iran anchors the 7,200-km International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), reducing transit time by 40% and costs by 30% compared with the Suez route.
Energy Security: Iran holds the world’s second-largest gas reserves and third-largest oil reserves.
- ONGC Videsh discovered Iran’s Farzad-B gas field, creating investment prospects for India.
Trade: India–Iran bilateral trade reached USD 2.33 billion in FY 2022–23, often settled through a Rupee–Rial mechanism to circumvent sanctions.
- Iran is a key market for Indian basmati rice (over USD 1 billion annually), tea, sugar, pharmaceuticals, and organic chemicals; India imports fruits, chemicals, & limited petroleum due to crude oil sanctions.

{Prelims – PAN} Black Dried Fish Bring Recognition For Kolleru Lake

Context (ETV): Kolleru Lake has been gaining recognition for its delicious black dried fish both in the domestic and international markets.

Key Details

Kolleru (Andhra Pradesh) has been a fishing hub since ancient times and during the COVID-19 pandemic the fishermen began drying their fish to prevent wastage.
The dried fish trade has since transformed into a sustainable livelihood for nearly 200 families across five villages in Andhra Pradesh.
The Korameen (Murrel) fish is the most sought after, garnering up to Rs. 800 per kg, while smaller varieties like Natu Goraka, Ingilai, Bommidai, Jallalu and Valuga also have strong demand.
Kolleru fishermen follow chemical-free preservation methods, adding salt, turmeric and crushed chillies to the fish before sun-drying them, preserving the flavour.

About Kolleru Lake

It is one of India’s largest shallow freshwater lakes, in the Krishna-Godavari inter-deltaic plain near Eluru (Andhra Pradesh); its area is 308 sq km.
It serves as a natural flood-balancing reservoir and discharges into the Bay of Bengal through the Upputeru outlet.
It was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary (1999) and a Ramsar Site (2002), supports ~20 million migratory birds annually and sustains fishing, duck rearing, and paddy-based livelihoods.

Read More > India’s Fisheries Sector

{Prelims – S&T} National Technology Readiness Assessment Framework *

Context (PIB): The National Technology Readiness Assessment Framework (NTRAF) was unveiled by the Government of India (GoI).

About NTRAF

It is a standardised tool designed to measure the maturity of technology projects, bridging the gap between laboratory research (conception) and commercial deployment.
It was developed by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
It applies 9 Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) to categorize projects; TRL 1-3 (proof of concept), TRL 4-6 (prototype) and TRL 7-9 (deployment).
It targets the “Valley of Death”, the funding gap that occurs between the prototype stage and market readiness, by using evidence-based metrics to de-risk early-stage technologies.
It has been adapted from global standards (e.g., NASA) tailored to the Indian R&D ecosystem and will serve as the backbone for R&D funding under various National Missions.