31 July 2026 Daily Current Affairs

By The Exams Made Simple | Source: The Hindu (International Edition)

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1. Pellet Guns as “Graded Police Response” — Supreme Court

Hindu Page: 1, 4

Key Points

• Supreme Court Bench (CJI Surya Kant + Justice Joymalya Bagchi & others) heard a plea by ex-IPS officer Yashovardhan Azad and two pellet-injury victims.
• Plea sought a ban on kinetic metallic pellets used by police on civilian assemblies.
• Court held: pellet gun use is part of a “graded response” in “exceptional circumstances” — did not define these circumstances or ban pellets.
• Court flagged the risk of “hijacking” of bona fide protests by “unscrupulous elements,” turning peaceful protest into violence.
• Suggested arming police with protective/defensive gear (helmets etc.) to buy time before force is used.

Concept Box: Constitutional Tests Cited in Petition

• Necessity
• Proportionality
• Reasonableness

These three tests together form the standard judicial review framework for restrictions on Fundamental Rights (Article 19).

Background — Kashmir Pellet Victims (2016 Protests)

• 6,000 pellet gun injuries in J&K in 2016 alone.
• 2018 study (Govt. Medical College, Srinagar): of 380 pellet victims studied
• 30.38% developed depression
• 16.92% adjustment disorder
• 13.08% panic disorder
• 10.77% PTSD
• Pellet cartridges introduced in J&K in August 2010 after street protests.

Constitutional Angle

• Article 19(1)(a) — Freedom of speech and expression (right to protest).
• Article 21 — Right to life (bodily integrity, health).
• Doctrine of proportionality in restricting rights — evolved through cases like Modern Dental College v. State of MP (2016).

Related — Women Protesters Facing Online Doxxing (Page 1)

• Context: Jantar Mantar protest (25 July) demanding resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
• Women protesters targeted with doxxing (circulation of personal data), rape/death threats.
• FIR invoked sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) — Sections 352, 353(1), 356(1) (in one cited case).

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2. PM CARES Fund — Transparency Concerns

Hindu Page: 1

Key Points

• No audited financial statements published for PM CARES since FY 2022-23.
• Latest available data (2022-23): Opening balance ₹5,415.65 cr; Receipts ₹6,723.07 cr; Closing balance ₹6,283.68 cr.
• Government maintains PM CARES is NOT a “public authority” under RTI Act, 2005 — hence outside RTI, CAG audit, and parliamentary scrutiny.
• Ministry of Corporate Affairs retrospectively amended Companies Act rules to support this stance.

Concept Box: PM CARES Fund

• Full name: Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund
• Set up: March 2020, amid COVID-19.
• Registered as a public charitable trust under Registration Act, 1908.
• PM is ex-officio Chairperson; Defence, Home & Finance Ministers are ex-officio trustees.
• Exempt/eligible under:
• Section 80G, Income Tax Act, 1961 (100% deduction)
• CSR eligible expenditure (Companies Act, 2013)
• FCRA exemption (can receive foreign donations)

Static GK Linkage

• RTI Act, 2005 — covers “public authorities” (bodies substantially financed by government).
• Contrast with Electoral Bonds case — cited by activists as a similar “opacity” concern (SC struck down Electoral Bonds Scheme in Feb 2024 as unconstitutional).

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3. Cauvery Water Dispute — CWMA Upholds Release Order

Hindu Page: 1, 10 (Explainer)

Key Points

• CWMA (Cauvery Water Management Authority) upheld CWRC (Cauvery Water Regulation Committee) order: Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs/day for 15 days to Tamil Nadu (from 29 July).
• Karnataka’s appeal (citing “Super El Niño” drought, 65.65% deficit in reservoir inflows) was rejected.
• Tamil Nadu had demanded 7,000 cusecs/day (9.45 tmc ft) under the “distress formula” — not fully granted.
• Karnataka CM D.K. Shivakumar convened all-party meeting to explore legal options.

River Cauvery — Quick Facts

• Origin: Talakaveri, Brahmagiri Range, Kodagu (Coorg) district, Karnataka, Western Ghats.
• Length: ~800 km.
• Basin States: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry (UT).
• Major tributaries: Hemavathy, Harangi, Kabini, Bhavani, Noyyal, Amaravathi (right bank); Lakshmana Tirtha (left bank).
• Reservoirs mentioned in news: Krishnarajasagara (KRS), Kabini, Hemavathy, Harangi (Karnataka); Mettur, Bhavanisagar, Amaravathy (Tamil Nadu); Banasurasagar (Kerala).
• Delta: Forms a fertile delta in Tamil Nadu — the “Garden of South India” / Thanjavur delta, before draining into the Bay of Bengal.
• Dispute history:
• Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) constituted 1990; final award 2007.
• Modified by Supreme Court verdict, 2018.
• CWMA & CWRC set up as per 2018 SC order / June 2018 notification — implementation mechanism.

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4. Centre Defends CEC Selection Panel Without CJI — Supreme Court

Hindu Page: 4

Key Points

• Centre argued in SC: if PM’s decision “cannot be trusted,” even Cabinet Minister appointments would need an outsider’s check — used to defend excluding the CJI from the CEC selection panel.
• Case relates to challenge against Chief Election Commissioner and other ECs (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.
• 2023 Act replaced CJI with a Cabinet Minister nominated by PM on the selection panel (panel = PM + LoP + Cabinet Minister).
• Petitioners argue this defeats the Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India (2023) Constitution Bench judgment.

Landmark Case: Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India (2023)

• Constitution Bench ruled CEC/ECs must be selected by a panel of PM + LoP (Lok Sabha) + CJI, until Parliament makes a law.
• Held CEC must have “fierce independence, neutrality and honesty.”
• Called for end to government’s monopoly/”exclusive control” over such appointments.

Constitutional Angle

• Article 324 — Election Commission’s powers, superintendence of elections.
• Principle invoked: “Justice must not only be done, but seen to be done” (natural justice).
• Doctrine of Separation of Powers — Solicitor-General argued Legislature has independent wisdom akin to judiciary’s independence.

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5. Fast-Track Courts — Do They Deliver Speedy Justice?

Hindu Page: 9

Key Points

• PM Modi announced fast-track courts for paper-leak cases (NEET-UG leak fallout); Delhi HC set up a fast-track court at Rouse Avenue Complex under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.
• Fast-Track Special Courts (FTSCs): backlog of ~2.45 lakh cases (Union Law Ministry data).
• Case clearance rate has stayed below 100% every year (2025: ~1.4 lakh instituted vs ~66,000 disposed).
• FTSCs largely work by redeploying existing judges, not adding new judicial capacity — so backlog merely shifts.

Concept Box: Fast-Track Courts

• First constituted (present wave) in 2019 for time-bound trial of rape cases and offences under POCSO Act.
• SC has cautioned: rigid/mandatory timelines can hurt fair trial rights; arbitrary designation of fast-track categories may violate Article 14 (equality).

Constitutional & Legal Angles

• Article 14 — Equality before law (equal access to speedy justice).
• Article 21 — Right to speedy trial read into Right to Life (Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar, 1979).
• POCSO Act, 2012 — Protection of Children from Sexual Offences.

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6. Explainer: Cauvery Panel + Cloudburst (Page 10)

Cloudburst — Concept Box

• IMD Definition: Rainfall of 10 cm or more in one hour over a small area (20–30 sq. km).
• “Mini-cloudburst”: 5 cm/hour over similar area (per some scientists).
• Recorded incidents: Only ~30 cloudbursts recorded by IMD (1970–2016) — considered an underestimate due to sparse monitoring in remote/hilly terrain.
• Formation: Convection → orographic lifting in mountains → warm moist air rises rapidly → forms tall cumulonimbus clouds → strong updrafts hold raindrops until they fall suddenly as a “wall of water.”
• Why hard to forecast: Occur over area smaller than standard weather-model grid cells; radar beams blocked by mountains (blind spots); few automatic weather stations in hilly terrain.
• Government Response: “Mission Mausam” — plans to double Doppler radar network, use AI for hyperlocal prediction; IMD’s “nowcasting” gives short-term alerts every few hours.
• Caution: Term often misused — e.g., 2025 Dharali (Uttarakhand) floods initially blamed on a “cloudburst,” but actual rainfall was below threshold; real causes were illegal riverbed construction, deforestation, poor drainage.

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7. EPFO — No Plans to Reopen Higher Pension Window

Hindu Page: 6

Key Points

• EPFO CEO Ramesh Krishnamurthi: EPF Scheme, 2026 is about “continuity,” not disruption.
• Core provisions of EPS (Employees’ Pension Scheme), 1952 unchanged — contribution remains 12%; wage ceiling still ₹15,000 (set in 2014).
• Code on Social Security (one of the 4 Labour Codes) has introduced a harmonised definition of “wage” and extends social security to gig & platform workers.
• EPFO will NOT reopen the window for higher pension — cites fund sustainability (EPS is a pooled, defined-benefit fund).

Concept Box: Code on Social Security, 2020

• One of 4 Labour Codes passed by Parliament (others: Industrial Relations Code; Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code; Code on Wages).
• First Indian law to explicitly bring gig workers and platform workers under a social security net.

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8. Editorial 1: “Clearance in Reverse” — Post-Facto Environmental Clearance

Hindu Page: 8

Key Points

• SC (Bench led by CJI Surya Kant, 29 July order) quashed the 2021 Office Memorandum allowing post-facto environmental clearances — BUT left the door open for the Centre to legalise such violations via a statutory notification.
• Editorial’s critique: this is a “fig-leaf” — administrative order vs notification distinction is a procedural nicety, not real reform.
• Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act — decriminalised many environmental violations, replacing jail terms with monetary penalties only — editorial argues this turns environmental compliance into a mere “cost of doing business.”

Concept Box: EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment)

• Regime requires prior appraisal before project construction (“pickaxe piercing the ground”) — the sequencing rule the editorial says is being eroded.
• Key principle at stake: Precautionary Principle in environmental law.

Static Fact

• Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 — decriminalised over 180 provisions across 42 Central Acts to promote ease of doing business.

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9. Editorial 2: “Temporary Respite” — IIP Growth

Hindu Page: 8

Key Points

• June 2026 IIP (Index of Industrial Production) grew 7.3% — a 23-month high.
• Drivers: manufacturing sector (dual push — domestic + external demand); consumer durables >7% growth (2nd consecutive month); merchandise exports grew 15.5% in June; capital goods saw double-digit growth (8 of last 10 months).
• Risk factors: monsoon deficiency may hit rural demand; West Asia conflict → oil price volatility; electricity/mining growth was seasonal (heat wave, monsoon disruption ahead).

Concept Box: IIP

• Composite indicator of industrial growth across manufacturing, mining, and electricity sectors.
• Released by National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
• Base year currently: 2011-12.

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10. Op-Ed: “The Next DPI — How India Can Commoditise AI”

Hindu Page: 8

Key Points

• Argues India should treat Artificial Intelligence as the “fourth foundational Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)” after Aadhaar (identity), UPI (payments), and Account Aggregator/DEPA (data).
• Account Aggregators (AA) use technology to assist you in simple and secure exchange of your data between financial institutions like banks, insurance agencies etc.
• Proposes: cheap AI compute via IndiaAI Mission (outlay ₹10,372 crore; GPU access at ₹65/hour vs global rates); mandate that AI models built on state-subsidised compute or public datasets be released as open-weight/open-source.
• Proposes a “Unified Intelligence Interface (UII)” — an API gateway modelled on UPI’s interoperability principle.

Concept Box: DPI (Digital Public Infrastructure)

• Definition: Foundational, interoperable digital systems built as public goods (identity, payments, data-sharing) enabling innovation at population scale.
• India’s DPI “stack”: Aadhaar (identity) + UPI (payments) + Account Aggregator/DEPA (data) — often called India Stack.
• IndiaAI Mission — Government’s mission to build sovereign AI compute capacity, launched to boost domestic AI ecosystem (₹10,372 crore outlay cited).

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11. Parliament Highlights

Hindu Page: 5

Key Points

• Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 — passed by both Houses (Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha). Aimed at curbing paper leaks (context: NEET-UG leak controversy).
• Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026 — passed; makes intentional insult to Vande Mataram a punishable offence, giving it status on par with the National Anthem (Jana Gana Mana).
• Existing Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act already penalises disrupting the National Anthem — punishment up to 3 years/fine/both; repeat offence = min. 1 year jail.
• Opposition (INDIA bloc) staged protests over Ram Temple donation-theft allegations and police action on NEET protesters (pellet gun use).

Concept Box: Vande Mataram

• Composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, from novel Anandamath (1882).
• Adopted as National Song by the Constituent Assembly (24 January 1950) — given equal status with the National Anthem at that time, though not part of the Constitution’s text.
• Note: There is no constitutional article designating a “National Song” (unlike National Anthem references); it stems from a Constituent Assembly resolution.

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12. Health: Gene-Editing Case in China — Ethics of “First-in-Human” Trials

Hindu Page: 7

Key Points

• 6-year-old girl in China died (March 2025) after receiving an experimental base-editing gene therapy for Snijders Blok-Campeau syndrome (rare neurodevelopmental disorder, CHD3 gene mutation).
• Trial proceeded without prior review by China’s national drug regulator (NMPA).
• Raises global debate on “first-in-human” gene-editing trial oversight, especially after the 2018 He Jiankui case (world’s first gene-edited babies, done without ethical review — he was jailed).

Concept Box: Base Editing vs CRISPR-Cas9

• CRISPR-Cas9 — cuts both DNA strands to edit genes (developed by Jennifer Doudna & Emmanuelle Charpentier).
• Base Editing — developed by David Liu (Broad Institute, 2016); converts one DNA letter to another (e.g., C→T) without cutting both strands — considered more precise/”gentle.”
• India comparison: Case of Uditi Saraf (2018, FENIB disorder) — Indian researchers (Narayana Nethralaya; CSIR-IGIB) worked on AAV gene therapy; patient passed away before treatment was ready.

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Static/Prelims-Focused One-Liners

1. Cauvery river originates at Talakaveri, Brahmagiri Range (Kodagu, Karnataka) and drains into the Bay of Bengal.
2. Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was constituted in 1990; final award given in 2007; modified by the Supreme Court in 2018.
3. CWMA (Cauvery Water Management Authority) and CWRC (Cauvery Water Regulation Committee) implement the Tribunal’s award.
4. Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India (2023) — SC ruled CEC/EC selection panel = PM + LoP + CJI until Parliament legislates.
5. The CEC and other ECs (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 replaced CJI with a PM-nominated Cabinet Minister on the selection panel.
6. Article 324 of the Constitution deals with the Election Commission of India.
7. PM CARES Fund was set up in March 2020 as a public charitable trust; it is not classified as a “public authority” under the RTI Act, 2005.
8. Fast-Track Special Courts (FTSCs) for rape/POCSO cases were constituted in 2019.
9. IMD defines a cloudburst as rainfall of ≥10 cm/hour over a 20-30 sq. km area.
10. EPS (Employees’ Pension Scheme), 1952 wage ceiling stands at ₹15,000 (set in 2014); EPF contribution rate = 12%.
11. The Code on Social Security, 2020 is one of 4 Labour Codes and extends coverage to gig and platform workers.
12. India’s “India Stack” (DPI) = Aadhaar + UPI + Account Aggregator (DEPA).
13. Vande Mataram was written by Bankinchandra Chattopadhyay in the novel Anandamath and given National Song status by the Constituent Assembly on 24 January 1950.
14. Base-editing gene technology was developed by David Liu at the Broad Institute in 2016.
15. Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 decriminalised many provisions of environmental and business laws, replacing jail terms with monetary penalties.

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Practice MCQs

Q1. Consider the following statements regarding the Cauvery river:

1. It originates in the Brahmagiri range of the Western Ghats in Karnataka.
2. It forms a delta in Tamil Nadu before draining into the Bay of Bengal.
3. The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was constituted in 2007.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (a) — Statement 3 is wrong; the Tribunal was constituted in 1990, and its final award was given in 2007.

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Q2. The judgment in Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India (2023) relates to which of the following?
(a) Appointment procedure of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners
(b) Electoral Bonds Scheme
(c) Delimitation of constituencies
(d) Anti-defection law

Answer: (a)

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Q3. With reference to the “PM CARES Fund,” consider the following statements:

1. It is registered as a public charitable trust under the Registration Act, 1908.
2. It is classified as a “public authority” under the RTI Act, 2005.
3. Donations to it qualify for 100% deduction under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (b) — Statement 2 is incorrect; the government maintains PM CARES is NOT a public authority under RTI.

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Compiled from The Hindu, International Edition, Friday, 31 July 2026 — Pages 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10