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UPSC Daily News Summaries: Essential Current Affairs, Key Issues and Important Updates for Civil Services
Follow the day’s important shifts through crisp, thoughtfully crafted rundowns.
Daily News Capsules
1. ‘Religious ego not above discipline’: SC upholds army officer’s dismissal
Underlining that soldiers cannot prioritise personal religious interpretation over the collective ethos of the armed forces, the Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on a Christian officer of the Indian Army who had refused to enter the sanctum sanctorum of his regiment’s “sarv dharm sthal” (place of worship for all faiths), and dismissed his petition challenging his termination. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi called the sacked officer a “misfit for the Indian Army” and a soldier who allowed his “religious ego” to override discipline, cohesion and respect for his own men. Remarking that his behaviour reflected the “grossest form of contempt and indiscipline”, the bench added that this type of “cantankerous attitude is not acceptable in an armed force”. Samuel Kamalesan joined the Indian Army as a Lieutenant in the 3rd Cavalry regiment in 2017. In 2021, he was dismissed from the Army over his refusal to enter the sanctum sanctorum despite repeated instructions from his commanding officer and also advice from a pastor that his faith would not be affected by entering the structure which had a gurdwara and a temple.
Possible Question
In the context of military discipline and constitutional freedoms, critically examine how the armed forces balances individual religious rights with the imperatives of cohesion, command responsibility, and operational effectiveness.
2. Israel plans to resettle 5,800 Jews remaining in India’s northeast
Israel’s government has approved a proposal to bring all the remaining 5,800 Jews from India’s northeastern region, commonly referred to as Bnei Menashe, over the next five years. “This historic decision will bring approximately 5,800 members of the community to Israel by 2030, including 1,200 already approved in 2026,” the Jewish Agency for Israel said. It will be the first time that the Jewish Agency will be leading the entire pre-immigration process, organising flights for eligible candidates, and managing their absorption in Israel. The plan is estimated to require a special budget of 90 million shekels ($27 million) to cover the costs of the flights of these immigrants, their conversion classes, housing, Hebrew lessons, and other special benefits. A professional and expanded delegation of rabbis is likely to leave for India in the coming days. “It will be the largest delegation sent to date and the first in more than a decade. The delegation will interview the first half of the community, about 3,000 Bnei Menashe who have first-degree relatives in Israel,” the announcement read.
Possible Question
Assess the strategic, demographic and diplomatic implications of large scale cross-border relocation programmes such as the Bnei Menashe migration for both the sending and receiving states, with special reference to India–Israel relations.
3. ‘Public interest’: SC seeks details about private varsities
The Supreme Court has placed the entire ecosystem of private and deemed universities across India under judicial scrutiny, demanding exhaustive disclosures from the Centre and state governments on the circumstances of their creation, the benefits extended to them, and the regulatory frameworks meant to ensure they adhere to a ‘no profit-no loss’ mandate if they position themselves as such institutions. A bench of justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and NV Anjaria said that “in the larger public interest” it found it appropriate to examine aspects relating to the “creation/establishment/setting-up of all private Universities, either under the state governments/UTs or the central government, and connected concerns.” The court directed the cabinet secretary to the Government of India and chief secretaries of all states and UTs to collate information pertaining to the establishment, functioning and regulation of such universities and place this on record through affidavits “personally affirmed by them”. The court further directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) to file an affidavit disclosing “its role vis-à-vis such institutions” and to state “what the statute/policy mandates as also the actual mechanism to monitor/oversee compliance by the institutions”. The court’s decision arose from a writ petition filed by the student of a private university in Noida who was aggrieved that the varsity had not changed her name in its records despite the submission of all necessary documents.
Possible Question
Evaluate the effectiveness of India’s current regulatory framework for private universities in safeguarding student rights, ensuring academic quality and maintaining the ‘no profit–no loss’ mandate.
4. Canada likely to seal $2.8-bn uranium deal with India: Report
New Delhi and Ottawa are nearing a $2.8 billion deal to supply uranium to India’s nuclear plants, the Canadian media has reported, days after the two countries embarked on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement to double bilateral trade to $50 billion (CAD 70 billion) by 2030. According to the Canadian outlet ‘Globe and Mail’, the terms of the deal could span a decade and could be “part of a broader nuclear co-operation effort” between the two countries. A senior Indian official confirmed on Tuesday that such a deal was “on the cards” but cautioned that it would “take some time.” According to the report, the uranium will be supplied by Cameco Inc, a firm based in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Cameco earlier had a supply agreement with India’s Department of Atomic Energy, which expired in 2020. That agreement had come into effect after PM Modi travelled to Canada in the spring of 2015 and held a bilateral meeting with the then Canadian PM Stephen Harper. Export of Canadian uranium to India for the generation of electricity is authorised under the Canada-India Nuclear Co-operation Agreement, which came into force in September 2013.
Possible Question
Discuss how long-term nuclear-fuel supply partnerships, such as the proposed Canada–India uranium agreement, can strengthen India’s energy security while navigating issues of non-proliferation and geopolitical trust.
5. Online games involving real money linked to terror financing, Centre tells apex court
The Union government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that unregulated real-money online gaming has demonstrable links to terror financing and money laundering, offering to share classified material showing the specific nature of these connections as it mounted a vigorous defence of Parliament’s decision to ban such games entirely. In a detailed affidavit responding to transfer petitions filed by gaming companies, including Head Digital Works Pvt Ltd, the Centre described the online real-money gaming ecosystem as a “menace” that has enabled systematic criminal activity involving tax evasion, mule accounts, crypto-routed fund diversion, hawala operations and offshore shell entities. The government cited inputs verified across multiple ministries and enforcement agencies, including analyses of Suspicious Transaction Reports (STR) and Cross Border Wire Transfer Reports. The Centre highlighted a “dramatic and exponential escalation” in suspicious gaming-related transactions, from one STR enquiry in 2019-20 to 239 in 2023-24, involving 7,056 accounts and reflecting 20-fold increases in both credits and debits. Outward remittances through real-money gaming channels exceeded ₹5,700 crore in FY 2023-24, with multiple Indian entities sending large sums to foreign jurisdictions known for weak financial oversight.
Possible Question
Analyse how India’s regulatory approach to real-money online gaming adequately addresses economic risks, consumer protection, and national security threats without stifling innovation and digital entrepreneurship.
Editorial Snapshots
A. Regulating social media for children
Several studies and surveys document the harm that social media can cause users, especially young people. Yet, social media companies have minimised this in their narratives or outright denied it. Recent court filings in a US case indicate that companies may have been aware of such fallout and, in some cases, deliberately overlooked adverse findings from their own research. According to a Reuters report, the documents talk of the termination of a 2020 internal research by Meta — the social media bellwether — after responses pointed to mental health gains that followed deactivation of the platform. The court filings seem to suggest that Meta internally sought to explain the findings as being tainted by “existing media narrative”. Meta and other social media companies need only look at research. A 2019 study amongst adolescent users in the US reported twice the risk of poor mental health outcomes among those who used social media for more than three hours than what was common for the overall age cohort. Several countries have taken measures to contain the harm. A 2023 advisory of the US Surgeon General urged lawmakers to pursue policies that further limit access to social media for all children, “including strengthening and enforcing age minimums”. Australia’s ban on social media use for children under the age of 16 years is to be enforced from December 10. The UK is considering “app caps” that will limit time spent on social media. India has a large catchment of young users, and excessive usage is taking root quite early as well — a 2023 survey found almost two out of three Indian children aged 9-17, from urban areas, spend three or more hours on social media. Against such a backdrop, there is perhaps a need for a regulatory architecture. Business-as-usual too can’t continue anymore, especially when the technology giants in question privilege profits over the mental wellness of users.
Possible Question
Should India introduce age-based restrictions and design-rules for social media platforms used by children? Critically evaluate the merits, risks, and institutional challenges of such regulation.
B. Judicial language free of prejudices
It is language that gives life to law. Language holds a mirror to society; it is both a repository of social prejudices and an instrument that can help reshape perceptions. Which is why the Supreme Court’s effort to reform its administrative language deserves appreciation. A recent report, Reforming Administrative Nomenclature in the Indian Judiciary, by the Centre for Research and Planning (CRP), the Court’s in-house think tank, has cited numerous examples to state that “while the Constitution guarantees equality, dignity, and fraternity, the very institutions meant to uphold these values continue to operate with an administrative lexicon that perpetuates inequality and reinforces servitude and exclusion”. The report calls for the Court to drop job titles such as halakhor, dhobi, coolie, masalchi, etc, and replace them with neutral terms. So, sanitation assistant could be the new title for halakhor, masalchi could be redesignated as kitchen assistant, and coolie could be freight assistant, among others. Such acts of renaming are not merely exercises in translation — from a desi language to English — but essential reforms that will align the judiciary’s administrative language with the Constitution’s egalitarian values. Job titles often suggest caste functions and carry prejudices rooted in notions of ritual pollution. Renaming them is, thus, a step towards making the judiciary prejudice-free. Another of CRP’s recent reports, Judicial Conceptions of Caste, also foregrounds the centrality of language in the dispersal of justice. It has argued that the judicial language influenced not just legal doctrine but also reinforced or diminished notions of ideas such as equality, dignity and merit. Language, like law, has to respond to social change and evolve accordingly, in the spirit of building a society that conforms to values such as equality and equity. That’s the message from the Court.
Possible Question
To what extent can reforms in administrative and judicial language help dismantle entrenched caste hierarchies in India’s public institutions?
