Current Affairs – March 31, 2026

{GS1 – IS} Delimitation Exercise to Begin after Census 2027 **

• Context (TH): The upcoming Census 2027 will trigger the long-overdue delimitation exercise to readjust parliamentary and assembly constituencies.

About Delimitation in India

• Delimitation is the process of redrawing the boundaries of Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assembly constituencies to reflect population changes.
• Core Principle: The primary goal is to ensure “one person, one vote, one value” by making constituency populations nearly equal.
• Constitutional Mandate: Article 82 (Parliament) and Article 170 (State Assemblies) mandate readjustment of seats and boundaries after every decennial census.

About Delimitation Commission

• Delimitation Commission is an independent body appointed by the President, tasked with redrawing constituency boundaries and determining seat reservations.
• Legal Finality: Its orders carry the force of law and cannot be challenged in any court.
• Composition: It consists of a serving or retired Supreme Court judge as Chairperson, the Chief Election Commissioner, and the State Election Commissioner of the concerned state.
• Associate Members: Up to 10 associate members (MPs and MLAs) from each state are appointed for consultation without any voting rights.
• Reservation Mandate: Article 330 (Lok Sabha) and Article 332 (State Assemblies) require the Commission to reserve seats for Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes based on their population proportions.
• No Modification: The Commission lays copies of its orders before the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, but neither body holds any power to modify them.
• Effective Date: The new boundaries come into effect on a date specified by the President of India.

Challenges with Delimitation Exercise

• Demographic Penalty: Population-centric delimitation reduces the political weight of states that achieved population control targets.
• Representation Gap: The 1971 seat freeze creates a democratic deficit, with some MPs representing populations twice the national average.
• Timeline Pressure: The postponement of the 2021 Census significantly compresses the window available to redraw boundaries before the 2029 elections.
• Urban-Rural Imbalance: Rapid internal migration since 2001 renders current constituency boundaries outdated and unrepresentative of the actual population distribution.
• Logistical Strain: A major expansion of the Lok Sabha would require large administrative upgrades and new legislative infrastructure.

Proposed Solutions for Equitable Delimitation

• Seat Expansion: Expansion of Lok Sabha seats to ~888 would ensure that no state loses its current representation, even as high-growth states gain additional seats.
• Weighted Metrics: A weighted allocation model based on literacy, healthcare, and economic contribution could supplement population-based seat allocation to incentivise state efficiency.
• Finance Formula: Fiscal transfers should remain insulated from delimitation outcomes to prevent states from being financially penalised for reduced political weight.
• Representation Floor: A constitutional “representation floor” would legally guarantee that no state’s seat count falls below its 1971 level, regardless of population shifts.
• Hybrid Allocation: Adopting a hybrid allocation model combining 1971 and current census data could bridge the gap between historical stability and modern demographic reality.

Read More > Delimitation Process in India

{GS2 – Vulnerable Sections} PLFS 2025 Highlights Persistent Gender Pay Disparities

• Context (IE | BS): Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2025 shows faster wage growth for women, but a persistent gender wage gap remains across job categories.

• Wage Growth: Women’s wages increased more rapidly than men’s across regular jobs, self-employment, and casual labour during 2025.
• Pay Gap: Women earned only 76% of men’s wages in regular salaried jobs; this ratio has stayed almost the same since 2022.
• Casual Labour: Female casual workers earned 69% of male wages in 2025, up from 66% in 2024, while men’s wages declined slightly.
• Self-Employment: Women earn only 36% of men’s income in self-employment, making it the sector with the largest gender income disparity.
• Formalisation: Women’s share in salaried jobs increased from 16.6% in 2024 to 18.2% in 2025, reflecting improved employment quality.
• Workforce Participation: Women constituted 32.5% of total employment (20 crore out of 61.6 crore), highlighting a structural gender imbalance.
• Caregiving Burden: Around 40% to 44% of women outside the labour force cite caregiving as the main reason for not seeking a job, compared to less than 1% of men.

Read More > PSLF 2025

{GS2 – Governance} Government Planning to Expand Online Content Regulation **

• Context (TH | IE): The Union government has proposed amendments to the Information Technology Rules 2021 to expand regulation of online content and social media.

• Takedown Powers: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting may issue takedown notices directly to individual social media users.
• Scope Expanded: Earlier limited to news publishers, rules now apply to non-publisher users posting news and current affairs content.
• Safe Harbour Risk: Non-compliance may lead to loss of safe harbour protection under Section 79 of the IT Act.
• Compliance Time: Takedown timelines have been reduced to 2–3 hours from 24–36 hours.
• Expanded Role of IDC: The Inter-Departmental Committee will now hear broader grievances and government-referred matters.
• Concerns: It is a major expansion of censorship powers and may circumvent court-imposed restrictions on earlier IT Rules.

{GS3 – IE} IRDAI Approves Ind AS Framework for Insurance Sector

• Context (TH): Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) approved the adoption of Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) for insurance reporting, from April 2026.

About the Ind AS Framework

• Ind AS are principle-based accounting guidelines designed to make Indian companies’ financial statements more transparent and globally comparable.
• It replaces the Indian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (IGAAP) for insurance reporting.
• Applicability: Mandatory for life insurers, general insurers, standalone health insurers, and reinsurers.
• Nodal Agencies: IRDAI enforces adoption; Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) notifies standards framed by ICAI and recommended by NFRA.
• Core Standards: The transition is driven by two primary standards — Ind AS 117 on insurance contracts and Ind AS 109 on financial instruments.
• Key Feature: It introduces market-based valuation, unlike IGAAP’s historical-cost accounting.
• Global Alignment: Ind AS align with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), harmonising India’s insurance reporting with global standards.
• Significance: The transition will attract more FDI to India’s insurance sector, supporting its integration into global markets.

Read More > New Insurance Bill, 2025

{GS3 – IE} Green Exit from the Urea Trap

• Context (IE): India’s heavy dependence on imported natural gas for urea production, rising subsidy burden, and environmental damage from overuse are driving the push for green urea.

Urea Dependence in India

• Usage Share: Urea accounts for ~56% of total fertiliser consumption; most widely used fertiliser.
• Nitrogen Dependence: It constitutes nearly 80% of nitrogenous fertilisers.
• Import Dependence: ~90% of urea consumption is import-dependent, either directly or through imported natural gas.
• Energy Linkage: Domestic urea production depends largely on natural gas, linking agriculture to global energy markets.
• Fiscal Burden: Heavy dependence has led to a huge subsidy burden (~₹1.65 lakh crore).
• Environmental Impact: Excessive urea use leads to soil degradation, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Significance of Green Urea

• Environmental Sustainability: Reduces greenhouse gas emissions by over 60%, along with lowering soil and water pollution caused by excessive conventional urea use.
• Energy Security: Shifting to green urea reduces reliance on imported natural gas.
• Fiscal Savings: Transitioning to green urea can reduce the fertiliser subsidy burden by ~65%, which currently stands at ₹1.65 lakh crore (2022–23).
• Cost Advantage: Green urea is projected to become 20% cheaper than grey urea by 2030.
• Agricultural Sustainability: Promotes balanced fertiliser use and improved nitrogen efficiency, enhancing soil health and long-term productivity.
• Clean Energy Integration: Encourages adoption of green hydrogen and renewable energy, linking agriculture with clean energy transition.

{GS3 – IS} India is Declared Free of Naxal Violence **

• Context (NDTV): Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has officially stated that India has achieved its target of becoming Naxal-free.

• Deadline: The government met its deadline of March 31, 2026, to eradicate Maoist violence and dismantle extremist networks.

Factors Driving Successful LWE Eradication

• Tactical Dominance: Elite units like COBRA and Greyhounds used Company Operating Bases to seize the insurgents’ traditionally inaccessible “liberated zones.”
• Infrastructure Integration: The construction of 12,000 km of all-weather roads physically dismantled the geographical isolation that sheltered rebel units.
• Information Warfare: Over 9,000 mobile towers delivering 4G services neutralised Maoist propaganda by connecting remote tribal populations to the national digital narrative.
• Financial Asphyxiation: Systematic asset seizures by the NIA and Enforcement Directorate choked the “urban nexus” and internal funding channels.
• Human Capital: The Surrender-cum-Rehabilitation policy incentivised over 10,000 cadres since 2014 to defect by offering immediate cash grants and long-term vocational training.
• Administrative Saturation: Creation of Eklavya Schools and Aspirational District projects replaced the Maoist “Janatana Sarkar” (parallel government) with visible, functional state services.
• Unified Command: A Unified Command structure synchronised operations across state borders, ending the “border-jumping” tactics that previously allowed militants to evade pursuit.

Persisting Security and Governance Challenges

• Guerrilla Residuals: Highly mobile “hardcore” splinter cells remain embedded in the Abujhmaad forest in Chhattisgarh, posing a persistent threat of high-impact asymmetric strikes.
• Clandestine Networks: Neutralising underground urban networks is a complex intelligence task, as these groups pivot from armed conflict to ideological subversion.
• Security Overstretch: Forward Operating Bases are logistically expensive to sustain, yet any withdrawal risks create a power vacuum.
• Economic Recidivism: The lack of local value-added industries for forest produce could drive unemployed youth back into militancy.
• Border Vulnerability: Porous inter-state boundaries continue to offer tactical ‘safe zones’ for fleeing cadres unless intelligence sharing becomes permanently unified.

Government Development and Stabilisation Initiatives

• Village Saturation: Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DA-JGUA) is saturating over 63,000 tribal villages with 25 key interventions to achieve 100% coverage in housing, water, and electricity.
• PVTG Support: PM-JANMAN targets 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) to provide basic infrastructure and healthcare in the most remote habitations.
• Trust Building: Civic Action Programme (CAP) has funded security forces to distribute essential supplies and medical aid.
• Forest Economy: Van Dhan Vikas Kendra (VDVK) scheme has established over 2,200 clusters for processing minor forest produce to ensure tribal communities receive fair market value.
• Digital Integration: The 4G Saturation Plan is installing over 8,500 additional mobile towers to ensure that even the deepest forest habitations are connected to the national digital grid.
• Skill Integration: Kaushal Vikas Yojana has established 46 ITIs and 49 Skill Development Centres in LWE districts to provide youth with immediate employment linkages.

Read More> Left-Wing Extremism | Maoist Insurgency Nearing a Terminal Phase

{GS3 – S&T} AI in Internal Security **

• Context (IE): Ministry of Home Affairs is integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) to strengthen internal security through predictive policing, cyber monitoring, and fraud detection.

• Objective: AI is being used to enable faster decision-making, real-time surveillance, and crime pattern analysis across police, paramilitary, and law enforcement agencies.

Key Initiatives under MHA’s AI Vision

• Cybercrime Complaint: Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) is developing an AI-enabled system for the 1930 helpline to enable faster, multilingual complaint registration.
• Fraud Monitoring: Collaboration with Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) aims to enable real-time detection and prevention of fraudulent financial transactions.
• Mule Account Detection: AI models are being developed with IIT Bombay to assign suspect scores to mule bank accounts used by criminals.
• Mule Hunter Application: An AI/ML-based Mule Hunter app is being enhanced to identify and mitigate risks related to mule accounts in banking systems.
• Dark Web Monitoring: AI tools are being used to monitor the dark web, phishing networks, and scam websites for early detection of cybercrime activities.
• CSEAM Detection Tool: AI-based tool by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing is used to detect and verify child sexual abuse material from cyber tiplines.
• Surakshini Initiative: A proposed system to create a hash bank of illegal content for proactive detection and prevention on digital platforms.
• AI in Forensics: AI tools are being explored for digital investigations, though use in document forgery detection is still under development.
• IVFRT 3.0: The Immigration, Visa Foreigners Registration and Tracking system (IVFRT 3.0) will use AI/ML for intelligent traveller profiling and explore blockchain for secure records.

Read More> AI And National Security

{Prelims – A&C} Mahavir Jayanti

• Context (ANI): President Droupadi Murmu extended greetings on Mahavir Jayanti on March 31, 2026.

• Mahavir Jayanti or Mahaveer Janma Kalyanak commemorates the birth anniversary of Vardhamana Mahavira, the 24^th Tirthankara of Jainism.

About Vardhamana Mahavira

• He was born around 599 BCE at Kundagrama near Vaishali in modern-day Bihar, into the royal Kshatriya family of the Ikshvaku dynasty.
• His father was King Siddhartha of the Jnatri clan, and his mother was Queen Trishala, a Lichchhavi princess. He married Princess Yashoda and had a daughter named Priyadarshana.
• Enlightenment: He gave up royal life at age 30 to follow ascetism and attained Kevala Jnana at age 42 under a Sal tree by the Rijupalika River.
• Pancha Mahavratas: Preached five vows — Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Aparigraha, and Brahmacharya as the core ethical principles for liberation.
  • The vow of Brahmacharya was Mahavira’s addition; the other four vows were established by his predecessor, Parshvanatha.
• Nirvana: He died at the age of 72 at Pavapuri near present-day Rajgir in Bihar.

Read More > Vardhamana Mahavira | Philosophy of Jainism

{Prelims – Geo} Solar Study Explains Long-Standing Radio Burst Mystery *

• Context (DDN): Researchers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics solved a long-standing mystery about solar radio burst emissions.

• Mystery: The study explains why harmonic emissions sometimes appear stronger than fundamental emissions, contrary to earlier scientific expectations.
• Findings: Type II Solar Radio Bursts are caused by shock waves from solar flares and coronal mass ejections moving through the Sun’s corona at ~1000 km/s.
• Findings will improve space weather forecasting, especially for satellite communication and navigation systems.

Solar Radio Burst Emissions

• Radio burst emissions are intense, short-duration bursts of radio waves produced by energetic events in space, especially from the Sun.
• They are commonly generated during solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) due to accelerated charged particles.
• Radio bursts are detected using radio telescopes and observatories on Earth and in space.
• They are important indicators of space weather events that can affect satellites, GPS, and communication systems.
• Variations in their strength and frequency help scientists study solar activity and predict disruptions on Earth.

{Prelims – Eco} Additional Tier-1 (AT1) Bonds *

• Context (TOI): HDFC Bank has dismissed three employees after an internal probe revealed the mis-selling of high-risk AT1 bonds to NRI clients.

• AT1 bonds are perpetual debt instruments issued by banks to strengthen their capital base.
• Nature: They have equity-like features; no fixed maturity and higher risk than regular bonds.
• Returns: Offer higher interest rates (yields) to compensate for higher risk.
• Loss Absorption: Can be written off or converted into equity if the bank faces financial stress.
• Repayment: Rank lowest among debt instruments; investors are paid last in case of bankruptcy.
• Risk Factor: Considered high-risk instruments, not suitable for conservative investors.

{Prelims – IR} WTO E-Commerce Moratorium Expires

• Context (TH): World Trade Organisation (WTO) e-commerce moratorium expired after members failed to reach consensus at the WTO’s 14^th Ministerial Conference (MC14).

• It is a multilateral agreement where WTO members don’t impose customs duties on electronic transmissions like software downloads, streaming media, e-books, video games, and data flows.
• It was initially adopted in 1998 as a temporary measure to promote the emerging digital economy, but has since been renewed.
• Core Debate: Developed countries favour extending it for affordable digital trade, but developing countries oppose, arguing it mainly protects foreign tech monopolies.
• India’s Stance: India opposes extension, citing revenue loss, an asymmetric playing field, and constraints on domestic digital industrialisation.

{Prelims – Species} Jungle cat (Felis chaus) *

• Context (TH): The first comprehensive population assessment of the jungle cat estimates approximately 3,08,585 individuals in India.
• It is a medium-sized wild cat also called “swamp cat” or “reed cat” due to its affinity for wetlands.
• Appearance: The cat has a uniform sandy or reddish-brown coat, very long legs, a short tail with black rings, and tall ears tipped with black tufts.
• Habitat preference: Despite the name, it avoids dense forests and occupies wetlands, swamps, littoral zones, and irrigated agro-pastoral landscapes.
• Distribution: Its range extends from the Middle East and Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and southern China.
  • India Range: It is India’s most common small wild cat and occurs in almost every state except high altitudes and extreme deserts.
• Diet: Jungle cat is an opportunistic mesopredator, with rodents forming nearly 70% of its diet.
• Ecological Role: It serves as a vital biological pest controller in agricultural landscapes.
• Key threats: Habitat loss, road accidents, predation by stray dogs, and retaliatory killing by farmers.
• Conservation Status: IUCN: Least Concern; CITES: Appendix II; WPA: Schedule I

{Prelims – In News} Morung Education System

• Context (DDN): PM Modi recently praised the Morung education system for preserving cultural heritage while promoting modern education.

• Morung is a traditional, community-based indigenous educational institution that forms the social framework of several Naga tribes.
• It served as a training ground and socialisation centre for village youth (primarily boys), often called a ‘bachelor’s dormitory’.
• Core Functions: It trained youth in crafts, agriculture, and warfare; transmitted culture through oral traditions; instilled discipline; and served as a village council and guardhouse.
• Modern Evolution: Morung centres are now being integrated with formal education through the ‘Samagra Shiksha Nagaland’ initiative, combining modern and traditional learning.