Week 16, 2026

📖 Explanation

Article 324 vests in the Election Commission of India the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls and conduct of elections. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is carried out under this mandate and the Representation of the People Act. The Supreme Court's intervention under its writ jurisdiction (Article 32) protected eligible voters who had been wrongly excluded.

📖 Explanation

A constitutional amendment bill requires a special majority under Article 368 — at least two-thirds of the members present and voting, in addition to a majority of the total membership. With 528 present, the threshold is 352. The Bill secured only 298 votes in favour and was therefore defeated.

📖 Explanation

The Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Amit Mahajan held that EWS candidates cannot claim automatic parity with SC, ST or OBC candidates on age relaxation and on the number of permissible attempts. The Court reasoned that these are 'ancillary considerations' tied to social, not economic, backwardness, and reflect the distinct nature of the EWS quota introduced by the 103rd Constitutional Amendment.

📖 Explanation

NIHSAD, Bhopal is the apex laboratory in India for foreign and emerging animal diseases, including highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The 14 April 2026 H5N1 confirmation at Hesaraghatta came from NIHSAD. NCDC and NIV handle human public-health labs; IVRI is broader animal-health research, but HPAI confirmation specifically goes to NIHSAD.

📖 Explanation

The Boilers Act, 1923 is the central law for the regulation, manufacture, inspection and certification of boilers in India. State Inspectorates of Boilers under DPIIT enforce it. The Factories Act covers broader factory worker safety, and the OSH Code, 2020 is set to consolidate labour laws on safety; but the boiler-specific regime continues under the 1923 Act.

📖 Explanation

On 17 April 2026, India and Austria operationalised a Fast-Track Investment Mechanism (FTM) at the India-Austria Business Forum. The FTM is a single-window dispute-resolution and approvals platform for cross-border investors. Both sides also positioned the wider proposed India-EU FTA as the larger trade driver.

📖 Explanation

India imports about 90% of its crude oil requirement. This is why disruptions in the Persian Gulf — for example, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz between 28 February 2026 and mid-April 2026 — translate so quickly into freight, insurance and pump-price spikes for India.

📖 Explanation

Kerala reached the replacement-level TFR of 2.1 in 1987-88, well ahead of the rest of India. The other southern states followed in the mid-2000s. A TFR of 2.1 means each woman has, on average, just enough children to replace her generation; below this level, population eventually declines. NFHS-5 (2019-21) reported India's national TFR at 2.0, indicating the country has now also crossed into sub-replacement.

📖 Explanation

R. Vaishali won the FIDE Women's Candidates tournament held in Cyprus in April 2026, becoming the first Indian to do so since the event was first held in 1952. The winner of the Candidates earns the right to challenge the reigning Women's World Champion — Ju Wenjun of China — in the World Championship match later in 2026. Divya Deshmukh had earlier won the FIDE World Cup in July 2025.

📖 Explanation

India accounts for roughly 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions — the third largest, after China and the United States — but its per-capita emissions are the lowest in the G20, at about one-eighth of the average American level. Its historical (cumulative) contribution is just about 3%. India has also submitted updated NDCs targeting 500 GW of non-fossil installed capacity by 2030.

📖 Explanation

Tele-MANAS — Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States — was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 2022. It is currently a voice-based helpline that has scaled significantly. The NIMHANS-ICMR consultation in April 2026 proposed augmenting it with AI-based screening, vernacular chat-bots and clinician-supervised digital CBT.

📖 Explanation

The unit's foundation was laid at Info Valley in Khordha district near Bhubaneswar, Odisha on 19 April 2026. The Rs 1,943.53 crore project is being implemented by 3D Glass Solutions Inc through its Indian subsidiary HIPSPL under the India Semiconductor Mission. With this, Odisha becomes the only Indian state to host both a compound semiconductor fabrication unit and a 3D glass substrate packaging unit on the same campus.

📖 Explanation

The Union Cabinet approved the BMI Pool on 18 April 2026 with a sovereign guarantee of Rs 12,980 crore. The pool will provide Hull and Machinery, Cargo, Protection and Indemnity (P&I) and War-risk cover to Indian-flagged or Indian-controlled vessels and to foreign vessels trading with Indian ports. Its combined underwriting capacity is around Rs 950 crore, with GIC Re as the administrator.

📖 Explanation

Dr Ch. Srinivasa Rao, Director and Vice-Chancellor of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, received the 9th Prof. M. S. Swaminathan Award on 19 April 2026 in Hyderabad. He was honoured for designing the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project, preparing district-level agri contingency plans for over 650 districts and scaling soil and resource-conservation work in rainfed regions.

📖 Explanation

Under the Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS), each side may simultaneously station up to 3,000 military personnel, 5 warships and 10 military aircraft on the other country's territory. RELOS was signed in February 2025 in Moscow, ratified by Russia in December 2025 and entered into force on 12 January 2026. It is valid for five years and can be extended.

📖 Explanation

The blast happened at a private firecracker manufacturing unit in Kattanarpatti village in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, 19 April 2026. At least 23 workers were killed and 6 injured. The Sivakasi-Virudhunagar belt accounts for most of India's firecracker production. The unit was reportedly operating on a Sunday — designated as a mandatory rest day for fireworks units — and the NHRC took suo motu cognisance of the deaths.

📖 Explanation

World Liver Day 2026, observed on 19 April, used the theme 'Solid Habits, Strong Liver'. The day commemorates the founding of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) in 1966 and focused on four daily habits — balanced diet, physical activity, moderate or no alcohol and periodic liver check-ups. India's National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme (NVHCP), launched in 2018, complements these public-health goals.

📖 Explanation

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) declares a heatwave over the plains when the maximum temperature touches at least 40°C and is 4.5°C to 6.4°C above the normal for that location. The threshold is 30°C over hills and 37°C over coastal areas. A 'severe' heatwave is declared when the departure from normal exceeds 6.4°C. On 19 April 2026, the IMD warned of heatwave conditions over Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand.

📖 Explanation

GIC Re — the General Insurance Corporation of India — will administer the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool. Public-sector general insurers, private insurers and oil marketing companies will be members. The pool is meant to reduce dependence on foreign reinsurers such as the International Group of Protection and Indemnity Clubs and to keep marine insurance flowing during disruptions like the Strait of Hormuz tensions.

📖 Explanation

NICRA stands for National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture. It is an ICAR project that develops and disseminates climate-resilient farming practices — heat-tolerant varieties, water-saving techniques, soil-carbon sequestration and district-level contingency plans — across India's vulnerable rainfed regions. The project has been a core element of India's climate-adaptation work in agriculture.

📖 Explanation

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway between Iran (to the north) and Oman's Musandam exclave (to the south). It connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, and is the world's most important oil chokepoint. It should not be confused with the Strait of Malacca (between Malaysia/Singapore and Indonesia) or with Bab-el-Mandeb (between Yemen and Djibouti).

📖 Explanation

Articles 163 and 164 govern the appointment of State Chief Minister and Council of Ministers. Articles 74-75 cover the Union equivalents (Prime Minister and Union Cabinet). The Governor invites the leader of the majority party or alliance to form the government, as seen in Bihar where Samrat Choudhary replaced Nitish Kumar.

📖 Explanation

The biggest strategic prize for India under RELOS is access to facilities in the Russian Arctic, particularly those linked to ports such as Murmansk and Severomorsk. As polar ice recedes, the Northern Sea Route is becoming a viable shipping corridor between Europe and Asia, and India also has growing scientific and energy interests in the Arctic. RELOS lets the Indian Navy refuel and rest in this region during long-range deployments.

📖 Explanation

The Delhi High Court held that the 103rd Constitutional Amendment (2019) provides only the 10% EWS reservation in direct recruitment and education. Age relaxation and additional attempts for SC/ST/OBC flow from recognition of historical social disadvantage and do NOT extend to EWS, which is a purely economic criterion.

📖 Explanation

The 84th Constitutional Amendment (2001) extended an earlier freeze on the number of Lok Sabha seats, based on the 1971 Census, until the first Census taken after 2026. The 87th Amendment (2003) updated only the basis for redrawing constituency boundaries (to 2001 Census), while keeping the seat-number freeze intact. With the 2026-27 Census still under way, this freeze underlay the 131st Amendment debate.