Current Affairs – January 24, 2026

{GS2 – Polity} Governor’s Walkout During Address to State Legislatures **

Context (TH): Recent walkouts by Governors during special addresses at inaugural State Legislative Assembly sessions have sparked constitutional debate about the limits of gubernatorial discretion.

Governor’s Address to State Legislature

Article 175: Discretionary Address

Discretionary Address: Article 175(1) empowers the Governor to address the Legislative Assembly, either House, or both Houses assembled together, at any time.
Legislative Messages: Article 175(2) authorises the Governor to send messages to the House(s) on pending Bills or otherwise.
- Mandatory Duty: The House is required to consider messages under Article 175(2) with “all convenient dispatch” (in the fastest reasonable speed).

Article 176: Special Address

Special Address: Article 176(1) mandates the Governor to address the Legislative Assembly (or both Houses assembled together) at the commencement of
- The first session after each General Election and
- The first session of each year.
Constitutional Purpose: The address informs the Legislature about the “causes of its summons” as mandated by Article 176(1).
No Discretion: The Governor has no constitutional authority to refuse or alter this address, as it is a binding duty.

Motion of Thanks

Discussion Requirement: Article 176(2) requires the State Legislature to allot time for discussion on the Governor’s Special Address.
Formal Motion: A member of the ruling party submits the Motion of Thanks to formally acknowledge the Governor’s address.
Amendment Right: Members may move amendments to highlight omissions, raise criticism, or address specific policy grievances.
Confidence Test: Defeat of the Motion of Thanks amounts to a loss of confidence in the Government.

Nature of Governor’s Address

Executive Function: The address is an executive function performed with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.
Cabinet Text: The speech content is drafted entirely by the State Cabinet and represents the elected government’s views.
No Alteration: Constitutional convention bars the Governor from adding, deleting, or modifying the text prepared by the Cabinet.
Colonial Origin: This practice mirrors the British “Speech from the Throne,” in which the Sovereign reads the government’s statement without personal responsibility.

In Shamsher Singh (1974) and Nabam Rebia (2016), the Supreme Court ruled that Governors cannot act against the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers in the exercise of executive functions.

Challenges with the Governor’s Address

Text Ambiguity: The Constitution mandates the Governor to “address” the House, but remains silent on the requirement of verbatim reading.
Political Loading: Cabinets increasingly insert partisan rhetoric or Centre-State debates, turning the address into a political instrument.
Conflict of Conscience: Governors often argue that they cannot be forced to read statements they deem factually incorrect or “misleading” to the public.
Procedural Vulnerability: Legislatures’ reliance on “taken as read” resolutions following Governors’ walkouts dilutes procedural sanctity.

{GS2 – IR} Spain Formally Joined Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative *

Context (NIE): Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares concluded a visit to New Delhi, commemorating 70 years of diplomatic relations between India and Spain.

Upgrade: Both countries agreed to elevate bilateral ties to a formal “strategic association” framework.
IPOI Participation: Spain formally joined the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) to support a free and rules-based maritime order.
Dual Year: 2026 was declared the India-Spain Dual Year of Culture, Tourism, and AI.
Consular Expansion: Spain announced the opening of a new Consulate General in Bengaluru to strengthen engagement in southern India.

About Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI)

IPOI is an India-led, non-treaty collaborative framework that promotes regional cooperation and a rules-based maritime order.
Launch Origin: PM Narendra Modi proposed the IPOI at the 14th East Asia Summit in Bangkok in November 2019.
Strategic Basis: The initiative extends India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) doctrine to advance a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
Operational Design: IPOI functions through seven pillars, with partner countries leading or co-leading specific pillars according to their expertise.
- Seven Pillars: Maritime Security, Maritime Ecology, Maritime Resources, Capacity Building, Disaster Risk Reduction, Science and Technology, and Trade Connectivity.
India’s leadership: India formally co-leads two pillars: (1) Maritime Security with the UK and (2) Disaster Risk Reduction & Management with Bangladesh.
Lead Countries: Currently, twelve countries have formally assumed lead or co-lead roles, including India, the UK, Australia, France, Japan, Germany, and the United States.
Global Alignment: IPOI aligns with the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) to support a rules-based international order under UNCLOS.

{GS3 – IE} Capital Infusion in SIDBI to Expand MSME Credit Coverage

Context (TH): Union Cabinet approved equity infusion into Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to enhance MSME credit and expand financial assistance coverage.

Decision Roadmap for Credit Infusion

Equity Infusion Plan: Department of Financial Services (DFS) to infuse ₹5,000 crore in three tranches.
Tranche Structure: ₹3,000 crore in 2025–26, ₹1,000 crore each in 2026–27 and 2027–28.
Credit Expansion Goal: MSMEs supported to rise from 76.26 lakh (FY25 end) to 102 lakh by FY28 end.

Expected Impact

Employment Push: With an average of 4.37 jobs per MSME, ~25.74 lakh new MSME beneficiaries could create ~1.12 crore jobs by 2027–28.
Cheaper Credit Flow: Higher capital improves SIDBI’s ability to raise funds at fair rates, enabling competitive-cost MSME lending.

Need For Capital Infusion in MSME

Rising Beneficiary Demand: MSMEs supported are expected to rise from 76.26 lakh (FY25 end) to 102 lakh by FY28, requiring higher lending capacity.
Massive Enterprise Base: India has ~6.9 crore registered MSMEs (Sept 2025), so scaling institutional credit needs stronger development finance buffers.
Prudential Capital Need: Higher MSME lending increases risk-weighted assets, so equity is needed to maintain a strong Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR).

Challenges in MSME Credit Ecosystem

Large Credit Gap: MSME credit gap is ~₹20–25 lakh crore, forcing many firms into informal borrowing.
Payment Delays: Delayed payments lock working capital; MSMEs often face receivables cycles running into 60–90 days, worsening liquidity stress.
Low Credit Penetration: Formal credit access remains uneven; MSMEs contribute ~30% of India’s GDP/GVA but receive only ~16–18% of total bank credit, showing a persistent credit-access gap.

Way Forward

Credit Guarantees: Expand risk-sharing cover to unlock collateral-free MSME loans; E.g., strengthen CGTMSE coverage limits and reduce guarantee fees for micro units.
Prompt Payments: Enforce faster MSME receivables and expand invoice discounting to free working capital; E.g., scale up TReDS across PSUs, CPSEs and large private buyers.
Cluster Financing: Create sector-based credit windows for MSME clusters to reduce transaction costs.
Last-Mile Channels: Deepen NBFC-fintech partnerships for micro and informal units with limited banking reach; E.g., SIDBI refinancing lines for NBFC–fintech co-lending models.

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)

SIDBI was established in 1990 by an Act of Parliament as the Principal Financial Institution for the Promotion, Financing and Development of the MSME sector or similar activities.
It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance.
It was incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of IDBI Bank, and later delinked from IDBI w.e.f. March 27, 2000, became an independent development finance institution.

{GS3 – Envi – Pollution} Pollution as the Largest Economic Drag **

Context (IE): At the World Economic Forum (Davos), experts warned that economic damage from pollution far exceeds losses from trade tariffs, reframing pollution as an economic crisis.

Economic Cost of Pollution

Global Welfare Loss: Air pollution causes ~$5.7 trillion annual welfare loss, ~4.8% of global GDP, through productivity loss, health spending and premature mortality (World Bank).
Mortality Burden: Pollution linked to ~1.7 million deaths annually in India, ~18% of total deaths, directly shrinking labour supply and effective workforce participation.
GDP Drag: Economic cost of pollution estimated at ~$150 billion annually, ~1.7% of India’s GDP, reflecting persistent long-term growth erosion (World Bank).

Channels of Economic Damage by Pollution

Productivity Loss: Chronic pollution exposure lowers labour efficiency and increases absenteeism.
Healthcare Drain: Rising pollution-related diseases inflate public and household health expenditure.
Human Capital Erosion: Early-life PM₂.₅ exposure reduces cognitive outcomes and lifetime earnings; E.g., childhood exposure linked to lower schooling outcomes (Lancet studies).
Crop Yield Loss: Ground-level ozone and PM₂.₅ diminish agricultural productivity; e.g., India loses millions of tonnes of crops annually due to air pollution (ICAR/World Bank).

Why Pollution Causes More Damage Than Tariffs?

Structural Drag: Pollution imposes continuous economy-wide costs, unlike episodic tariff shocks; E.g., annual GDP loss of ~1–2% in India persists year after year.
Invisible Externalities: Health damage and mortality are underpriced in markets; E.g., welfare loss equals ~4.8% of global GDP annually (World Bank).
Investment Deterrence: Poor air quality lowers city liveability and talent attraction; E.g., polluted metros rank lower on global competitiveness indices.
Urban Exposure Evidence: Delhi met national air quality standards on only 156 of 365 days in 2025, indicating sustained economic stress on urban labour markets (CPCB data).

Way Forward

Clean Regulation: Tighten emission standards with strict enforcement across sectors; E.g., real-time monitoring under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
Urban Transport: Strengthen mass transit and electric mobility adoption; E.g., metro–bus integration and faster EV penetration in cities.
Airshed Governance: Implement regional pollution control beyond city limits; E.g., coordinated Airshed Management Models used in China.
Health Accounting: Internalise pollution costs into economic planning frameworks; E.g., use health-adjusted growth metrics in cost–benefit analyses.

{GS3 – S&T} Space Insurance in India **

Context (TP): Space insurance demand in India is rising following the consecutive launch failures of PSLV-C61 and PSLV-C62 missions.

Space insurance offers financial coverage for losses from manufacturing, transport, launch, and in-orbit operations of space assets.

Need for Space Insurance in India

State Responsibility: Under the Outer Space Treaty, 1967, India bears international responsibility for all space activities from its territory, including private missions.
Absolute Liability: The Liability Convention, 1972, makes India absolutely liable for Earth or aircraft damage caused by its space objects.
Startup De-Risking: Space missions are capital-intensive; insurance safeguards startups from bankruptcy resulting from launch failures.
FDI Confidence: A clear insurance framework builds investor confidence and supports the 100% FDI liberalisation in the space sector (2024).
Private Participation: India’s goal of shifting its space sector to a demand-driven, commercially independent ecosystem requires a structured risk-management mechanism.
Global Competitiveness: International customers prefer insured launches; mission assurance is essential for access to the $500+ billion global space economy.

Key Challenges of Space Insurance in India

High Premiums: Launch insurance costs 15–20% of mission value; premiums increased 20–30% after PSLV launch failures.
Capital Strain: Early-stage startups struggle to pay upfront premiums, diverting funds from R&D and hardware development.
Reinsurance Dependency: Domestic insurers lack capacity for large risks, relying on foreign reinsurance markets, exposing missions to global market volatility.
Legislative Gap: The absence of an umbrella Space Activities Act leaves liability caps undefined, complicating insurers’ actuarial pricing.
Orbital Risks: Rising space debris and Kessler Syndrome (fear of a chain reaction of collisions) increase in-orbit insurance costs and complexity.

Way Forward

National Space Act: Enact legislation defining Maximum Probable Loss and government indemnity beyond thresholds to keep premiums affordable.
Domestic Pool: Create a public-private space insurance pool involving New India Assurance and GIC Re to retain risks domestically.
Risk Guarantee Fund: Establish a government-backed partial risk guarantee to subsidise premiums for early-stage startups.
Data Sharing: Enable ISRO and IN-SPACe to share non-sensitive performance data with insurers for accurate actuarial pricing.
Regulatory Empowerment: Grant IN-SPACe statutory authority to enforce insurance compliance, verify satellite health, and resolve claim disputes.

{Prelims – Polity} ECINET Digital Platform *

Context (NOA): Election Commission of India launched ECINET Digital Platform at the IICDEM 2026 in New Delhi to strengthen end-to-end digital electoral governance.

About ECINET

Nature: Unified digital election platform integrating over 40 apps and web services under a common, secure and interoperable architecture.
Users Covered: Citizens, voters, candidates, political parties and election officials connected through one seamless national digital interface.
Language Support: Available in 22 Indian languages plus English, significantly improving accessibility for diverse voter populations.
Legal Alignment: ECINET data usage is strictly governed by the Representation of the People Act, 1950 & 1951, Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 and Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.

Key Features

Single Window: Consolidates voter services, candidate processes and election administration tools into one integrated national access point.
Citizen Engagement: Enables easier participation, grievance redressal and verified information access across all election stages.
Operational Integration: Links backend systems used by election officials for real-time coordination, supervision and monitoring.

{Prelims – Geo} Gangapur Dam

Context (TH): The Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted an aerial display over the Gangapur Dam.

Gangapur Dam is an earthfill dam near Nashik, Maharashtra. It is the longest earthen dam in Asia.
It is built on the Godavari River at the confluence with the Kashyapi River.
The dam is designed using Terzaghi’s soil mechanics principles, ensuring structural stability.
It has a unique emergency spillway designed to protect the dam body in case the main spillway fails.
The dam supplies irrigation and drinking water to Nashik and the surrounding drought-prone regions.

{Prelims – PAN} Eco-Sensitive Zone Declared Around Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary *

Context (UT): The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has declared a zero-to-one-kilometre zone around the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary as an Eco-Sensitive Zone.

About Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary

Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary is a dry deciduous forest in the Aravalli Range of Rajasthan.
Fort Surroundings: The sanctuary surrounds Kumbhalgarh Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site featuring the world’s second-longest continuous wall.
Aravalli Ranges: It covers four specific Aravalli ranges – Kumbhalgarh, Sadri, Desuri, and Bokhada.
Watershed Divide: Eastern slopes drain into the Banas River, while the western slopes feed small tributaries of the Luni River.
Wolf Habitat: It is among the few Indian locations where Indian wolf packs breed successfully and remain highly visible.
Faunal Diversity: Leopard, Sloth Bear, Striped Hyena, Jackal, Sambar, Chinkara, Chausingha, etc.
Floral Diversity: Vegetation is predominantly dry deciduous, with common tree species including Dhok, Salar, and Khair.
Tribes: The main tribal communities living around the sanctuary are the Bhils and the Garasias.

About Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs)

ESZs are designated areas surrounding Protected Areas to regulate land use and human activities.
Buffer Role: They act as buffer and transition zones to reduce negative impacts on protected areas.
Legal Basis: MoEFCC notifies the ESZs under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
Management: Each ESZ is managed through a site-specific Zonal Master Plan.
Activities: Activities within these zones are categorised as Prohibited, Regulated, or Permitted.
Spatial Extent: They usually extend up to 10 km from Protected Area boundaries, depending on ecological sensitivity.

{Prelims – Species} Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus)

Context (TH): A whale shark (Rhincodon typus) was recently sighted near Rushikonda Beach in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

About Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus)

About: The Whale Shark is the world’s largest living fish and belongs to Class Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fishes).
Appearance: It has a flattened head, a wide terminal mouth, and a dark grey body marked by white spots and stripes.
- Spot Pattern: The arrangement of spots and lines on the skin is unique to each whale shark.
- Mouth Position: Unlike most sharks, its mouth opens at the front of the head, not on the underside.
Habitat Preference: The species prefers warm surface waters, typically between 21°C and 30°C.
Distribution: It is found in tropical and warm-temperate oceans but is rare in the Mediterranean Sea.
Indian Range: Major aggregations occur along Gujarat’s Saurashtra coast, with smaller populations in Lakshadweep, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh.
Behaviour Traits: Despite its enormous size, it is solitary, gentle, and harmless to humans, earning it the name “gentle giant.”
Feeding Method: It is a filter feeder that consumes plankton, krill, and small fish by sucking in water and filtering it through gill rakers.
Ecological Role: Whale Shark serves as an indicator species, reflecting nutrient-rich waters and high plankton productivity.
Reproductive: The species is ovoviviparous, with eggs hatching inside the female and releasing fully formed live pups.
Key Threats: Net bycatch, vessel collisions, and ingestion of marine plastic debris.
Conservation Status: IUCN: Endangered; CITES: Appendix II; WPA: Schedule I
Conservation Initiative: The “Save the Whale Shark Campaign”, launched in 2004 by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), is recognised as a community-based marine conservation model.

{Prelims – S&T} Blue Origin TeraWave Satellite Constellation *

Context (RE): Blue Origin announced plans to launch the TeraWave satellite constellation in 2027.

TeraWave is a multi-orbit, space-based communications network developed by Blue Origin.
It is designed to serve enterprise, data centre, and government customers who need mission-critical, high-capacity connectivity.
The system integrates Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites to create a global space backbone.
Data Capacity: The network is designed to deliver 6 terabits per second of throughput with symmetrical upload and download speeds, supporting real-time IoT data transfers and cloud operations.
Significance: TeraWave complements fibre networks, offering route diversity and resilience, particularly in remote or suburban areas where fibre deployment is costly.

{Prelims – S&T} Humanoid Robot ASC ARJUN *

Context (PIB): Indian Railways has deployed a humanoid robot named “ASC ARJUN” at Visakhapatnam Railway Station.

Objective: To modernise station security, improve passenger services, and work alongside the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to support station operations
Significance: It is developed using fully indigenous technology and marks a first-of-its-kind deployment across the Indian Railways network.

Key Features & Capabilities

AI Surveillance: The robot uses a Face Recognition System (FRS) and AI-based crowd analytics to detect intrusions and manage congestion.
Multilingual Assistance: It delivers automated safety messages in English, Hindi, and Telugu.
Autonomous Navigation: The system conducts round-the-clock platform patrols using semi-autonomous navigation and obstacle avoidance.
Emergency Response: Integrated fire and smoke sensors generate real-time alerts to control rooms.
Interactive Design: It features a passenger-friendly interface supporting familiar gestures like “Namaste” and salutes for RPF personnel.

{Prelims – PIN} Karpoori Thakur *

Context (PIB): PM Narendra Modi paid tributes to Karpoori Thakur on his birth anniversary.

Karpoori Thakur was born on January 24, 1924, in Karpoori Gram, Bihar.
He was a socialist leader and former CM of Bihar, popularly known as “Jan Nayak”.
He actively participated in India’s freedom struggle, including the Quit India Movement of 1942.
Major Reform: He introduced the “Karpoori Thakur Formula”, a layered reservation system for government jobs and educational institutions.
- The formula allocates 26% reservation;12% for OBCs, 8% for Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), 3% for women, and 3% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
Social Measures: He enforced a total prohibition of alcohol in Bihar, waived school fees, strengthened Panchayati Raj, and prioritised farmers’ welfare.
National Honour: He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2024 for advancing social justice.