Daily Current Affairs Analysis | 27th August, 2026 | Shankar IAS Academy | UPSC | Mains 2026

Hi, hello, welcome to Shankar Academyy's daily current analysis for the date 27th of August 2026. Please like, comment, share and subscribe our YouTube channel and also have the bell icon press for instant notification better current affairs serve to you. So before moving ahead for the discussion there is an important notification which is regarding pre-torming test series. So pre-torming test series batch one starts from 7th of September 2026 which has 48 test inclusive of seesat and general service. It is exclusively for Chennai Ananaga branch and in offline mode. So these tests are specifically handpicked by the experts with guidance as well as the detailed solutions. You will know where you stand at the India level and you will also know where you stand at the institute level. This will give better informed decision for you in the preparation. So why wait? Please enroll into this pretorming test series and improve your chances of clearing up UBIC films 2027. So what are the topics for discussion today? The first topic is energy transition. So energy transition by moving from fossil fuel energy to clean energy is India is taking all the stakeholders into the into this consideration of energy transition. What are what are the problems faced by this pole based economy? People who are there in informal workforce related to the cold based economy. So we will see those problems. We'll see what can be the balance that can be created. So when we are when you are valuing environmental justice, you should not undergo or you should not actually undervalue this social justice. So there should be a balance between these two justice. So we will discuss in that context. The second topic is saroma which is a rare cancer. We will see what are the causes for this cancer and what are the steps that can be taken. The third will be Pragadi platform. Pragadi platform is coming it is monitored under the prime minister office which is actually having a periodical meeting under prime minister himself. He he discussed it with the union uh secretaries as well as the chief secretaries of the different states. It it is related to what are the projects that are being taken forward what can be the research mechanism effectiveness. So these things are discussed in pagodi that is monthly meeting. So we will see what is the recent meeting about this pagadi and what are the things that were discussed and our fourth discussion will be on transparency in judicial appointments. Now and then the judiciary is taking facing lot of issues. This transparency appointments is being there discussed every now and every now and then whenever there is such appointments. So there will be different flavor of such discussion here because we will give some facts which are which are which can be quoted in your answers. So these things will be discussed even the polygam the history of polyam also will be also will be seen in this discussion and finally we will end our discussion with films focus which will have three brief topics and also have a question related to the topics. Let's discuss the next interesting topic which is India's energy transition. See India's energy transition is moving on well but whether it is considering all the stakeholders into this transition whether all the stakeholders are getting benefited or who are getting benefited and who are not. So in this article we will see what are the energy targets or energy transition that is India's India's actually pinning it and moving ahead and also see we'll also see what are the other stakeholders who are part of this are getting affected and what can be the way forward to have a better or just transition. So in this context we will first see India's energy mix. See first India has actually has lot of targets lot of ambitious targets under Paris agreement. So it has also said that non-fossil fuel sources non-fossil fuel sources like solar wind actually should have should reach at least 50%age of the total installed energy capacity. So it has achieved it before 2030. Actually we have achieved it five years or almost four years before. So our nonfossil fuels based energy capacities more than 50%age. Let's say let's say for example we actually have 1,000 or sorry 100 gawatt of energy capacity production capacity since energy capacity production of 100 gawatt out of this 50%age plus is actually coming from renewable sources that is non-causal fuel sources. remaining less than 50 is coming from cold based sources. Less than 50. Okay, this is energy capacity. But energy capacity itself doesn't mean that the total energy that we get today is more than 50%age from non-causive source. No. See, even though coal is actually having the energy capacity of less than for less than 50%age in the total mix, it is contributing more than 60%age of energy production. So there's difference between energy capacity and energy production. See capacity it means the total gigawatt of whatever the plant is about. Let's say the plant is 100 gawatt. But the plant doesn't produce 100 gawatt. It can produce only 2 gawatt or maybe 10 gawatt. That can be its maximum. There is efficiency differences. There is storage problem. There are other problems which hinder this capacity. So always the a plant a energy plant cannot have maximum capacity. There is there are other inefficiencies which cause less capacity or even even we could say it is it is never more than 40 30%age for any plant. So that is that is more technical it can never be 40 45%age it can be it will be always less than that. So in that context if you say coal even though has less energy capacity in overall that is having less than 50%age of capacity overall but it produces more electricity. So the energy produced is more means the efficiency of coal production is more. So energy produced is more. It is almost around 60%age. So if you can see here coal share is around 60%age of India's actual electricity generation. So actual electricity generation from coal is above 60%age but the total capacity is less than 50% that is a difference which is very crucial which you need to know which can be tested in your films as well. and coal fleet if you see it is around 200 230 gawatt of coal based thermop power plant which is operating now but India's peak demand if you see it is around 250 to 270 gawatt per day so that is that is what India's peak demand uh in fact it has surpassed 270 recently in May 2026 so India's peak demand is actually being more supplemented by is coal based energy. In fact, coal can actually give the base load. Base load in the sense the base load is any any society or any uh any country or any uh state is having a base load because that is the base minimum load or minimum requirement of electricity for the state or the for country to run. Apart from that there can be fluctuations based on the peak or based on the other situations. So the base load is always been supplemented by coal. The other fluctuations that is coming is actually given by the renewable sources like solar or wind because solar or wind cannot give 24 to7 power. It cannot give power continuously. There are certain restrictions in storage. There are certain restrictions naturally as well. So that is why this base load is even supported by coal even today. And and that for that reason still supply over 60%age of India's electricity generation today. And if you see solar progress, see solar actually is getting progressed in a very significant drastic scale. If you can say this river solar park which is there in Madhya Pradesh, it is actually providing solar energy to Delhi Metro. So that was the first solar such park which is giving the protection which is giving electricity to another state or another union territory. So it is actually having inter interstate customer interstate customer for this energy that is Madhya Pradesh Reva solar park. So par in in Paris trajectory if you see India is running ahead in Paris agreement as I said it is it has achieved this 50%age of uh non-fossil fuse capacity and it is also moving toward this 500 gawatt of non-fossil installed capacity by 2030. So we are all in the target but whether we are taking all the stakeholders together that is a concern. Now see we we need to reduce we need to face down the coal because coal is what is a major reason for your greenhouse gas emissions. So we need to reduce coal but in the in the context of reducing coal we are leaving out certain people because there is a huge economy which is dependent on coal. There can there can be informal formal every any economy this huge economy that is dependent on coal. In fact, the Indian railways actually get lots lot of its revenue from the coal trans transport rather than passenger transport. That is an important fact you might know. You should know Indian railways profit is more from the coal transport that is coal uh transport from in the different states that is interstates than the passengers transport the revenue that it gets from the passenger transport. So in that context you should actually know that this coal economy is actually having a huge uh direct and indirect dependence on different families and different states. So let's say for Odisa Odisa is the is the largest coal producer. So Odisa J and Chhattisar in these places there are people who are more dependent on this coal economy. This livelihood base that is what I'm saying this livelihood base of coal economy is significant and which cannot be just like that ignored. So when there is transition you need to take those people as well. You you might go to solar you might go to wind in Madhya Pradesh Kerala Tamilad you might go to different parts of places where you might scale it down to renewable energy but what happened to these people who are based on co uh coal economy. So this informal workforce that is present which is the large workers are present in the who lack social protection the coal underwrites a base load supply as I said. So this base load supply should be taken into account because beyond this is not just a fuel it is not just a source like of fuel but it is actually having more social relations. It is having economical relations it is having environment relations as well. So it is not just an energy relation and if you see the regional concentration the eastern and central India host more number of coal dependent districts. So whenever there is such such things happening let's say for example Tamil Nadu has more renewable sources of energy but it still needs to satisfy his base load. So it is getting electricity from other parts of India like central India or east India but what Tamlad is doing it for its social protection. So those people are actually not lacking a social protection due to different reasons because they are informally placed informally working. But whenever slowly we're transitioning let's say Tamat is slowly transitioning to wind energy or solar energy or hydro energy the the energy or the uh power that we are getting from this those states are getting reduced when it is getting reduced this is going to indirectly affect the workforce for those workforce what we what are we doing what is the just justice that we are doing to those workforce that is the major question that India India is facing today so if you see the paradox That is the paradox that I said is one side we are okay with with our renewable push with our non-fossil fuel push but other side we are actually putting certain stakeholders in in uh ruin because their livelihood they are uh their dependence on this coal economy is actually very much vulnerable today. So what are the national benefits when we are pushing towards non-cossal fuel sources? It is getting energy security, technological innovation and also industrial competitiveness in global markets because we are more in we are better in wind energy as well. So industrial competitiveness and climate resilience we are meeting the Paris agreements or even even meeting the other climate change agreements agreements. So that is also a benefit for from the national level. But if you see what is the local adjustment we are doing what is a who are those people who are sacrificed. See the job losses across mining declining cold royalty weak alternative use and concentrated in certain places. If you see this job losses weak alternative lily these are directly going to impact the people especially in Jark and satisfa. So the states who are buying energy from these states are also not going to satisfy it or not going to support it because they have their own problem and nation as nation as a whole or the union government as a whole should take take certain steps so that the balance should be there. The environment justice should not overlook the social justice. That is what the main problem is. So what can be the just transition? The just in the sense justified or justice. So what can be the just transition. So first principle is environmental justice should not overlook the social justice. So that should always be kept in mind. And also beyond climate, you need to go beyond climate. Not coal is not just an environmental problem. We should go beyond climate and see what can be the social economic developments that can be done for the improvement of certain communities who are living or dependent on coal economy. Fair sharing of resources should be done. So this cost and benefit share should be equitably distributed to the states not only to states who are producing more renewable energy to even though the states which are not producing renewable energy such trans such fair and fair sharing of resources should be given to states like Jan, Chhattiskar and Odisa. So that who supported us through coal now needs a support so that they can develop their own resources. They can develop their own livelihood measures and work focus. See reskilling deployment these things can be done through different measures like whenever the mining sites which are left the left out mining sites can be used for industrial industrial hubs or can be used for any industrial manufacturing productions so that the workers can be engaged in different opportunities or different economic livelihoods. Those things can be actually focused and political legitimacy should be there and also this Paris agreement is itself is reflecting that there should be justified transition not that drastic transition. Nobody expects a drastic transition. There should be a justified transition and even if you see in international lessons like see many countries actually face these problems and they have been moving out or they have been actually having this justified transition. So there can be certain examples for your for your understanding. Germany's rur rur is a place where there is lot of mining that happened and lot of mining coal and other minerals like chanakur plateau in India rur is actually very much important place for Germany this they actually add decades they took decades for this transition and they spent more than 200 billion euros for this public investment and they improved the quality and livelihoods of the people who were dependent on such economy and in Indonesia as in South Africa as well. These things actually they navigated through certain uh certain investments in public certain investments through public investments or certain uh public private partnerships. So these things were actually carried forward with with keeping in the mind of national interest and also the environmental uh interest environmental justice that needs to be done. So there needs to be a balance. So it needs to run in parallel that you cannot say that first I will resolve the GSC problem that is greenhouse gas problem then I will go then I will address this social justice. No it should go in parallel. Both the greenhouse gas emission address should be there and also this social justice should be moving in parallel. So what can be the India's pathway? What can be the India's priorities? First of all priorities should be renewable gap should be addressed. See the coal states are weaker in solar wind enormments than the western and south states. So for in that case the eastern states and even the central states should be included more into this renewable energy production. So renewable gap should be addressed. Economic diversification should be done to certain places like dark and strateg can be repurposed for industrial units. Special employment zones can be created. This land can be taken from the post mining landscapes. See post mining landscape the lands left empty without any purpose. So these lands can be used for this industrial hubs or industrial productions units and revenue substitution can be done. The fiscal transfer should be designed in such a way that we are going to compensate these states for uh the pole the transition because once the trans once you can going to transition on you going to do the transition you need some financial uh help as well. So the other states should should come forward for this revenue distribution model and union government should take a lead and actually focus on how what can be the fiscal package that can be given to these states. Early action should be done because once the transition is moving forward rapidly you will not be able to catch up because once the people who are more not who are not skilled who are living in informal workforce conditions then these people cannot be moved suddenly to another another places or another livelihood opportunities. So early action should be done by the government considering the uh considering the situation it should be the it should be infused or the different department should come together including power labor finance and tribal ministry and even the state ministry should come forward and have a dignified plan for this transition. So way forward as I said transition fund should be there grid modern modernization the smart grids can be can be done so that the interest rate transmission is more uh performed effectively let's say you you are saying you're producing rea social park means you you are producing solar energy in solar park so when when you are producing ra solar solar energy from there you can actually have better grid you can actually have better modernized grid so that you can transfer that energy to Jarkan or even Odisa or even Chhattisgar. So that kind of grid modernization should be done and skilling mission should be there because the green energy transition needs skilled green labor. So green labor or green jobs should be having should be skilled and also aligned to the our environmental ambitions or net zero ambitions. So these things are the way forward. Other things are intuitive which you can actually read upon and which I have discussed as well briefly. We'll have a practice question related to our discussion with reference to India's energy mix and clean energy targets. Consider the following statements. India has committed to reaching 500 gawatt of nonfossil fuel electricity installed capacity. Capacity and generation are two different terms which you need to always look into. Electricity installed capacity by 2030. Yeah, this is correct. This was one of the commitment given by India in Glasgow that is uh 2021. So that is correct. Non fossil fuel sources presently account for more than half of India's total installed electricity capacity. Yes, non-fossil fuse is actually more than 50%age of electrical capacity. Electricity capacity but not electricity generation. Electricity generation is still 60%age above by based on coal. Coal based thermal power plants continue to supply more than 60%age of India's actual electricity generation. That is definitely true. So these three statements should be true. Let's check 1 2 3. Yes, answer is D. Now let's move on to the next topic. Now let's discuss about saroma. Saroma is a cancer which occurs at bones or even at connecting tissues, blood vessels and nerves. So it is basically never it is never identified that a person is actually facing this kind of cancer. So we in this article we will see this lumps and what you should do about them means the lumps that have been present in your body now and then it it is actually in your legs or hands wherever these kind of lumps that which are present it is going to cause the saroma which is unknowing. So we'll see what are the reasons why this why this is actually very much significant for us and what are the medical concepts that are revolving around the saroma and what can be the significance of this cancer. So what is the saroma? It's a rare group of cancer as I said it is very rare because you will not be able to identify it at all very easily. So it's a rare group of cancer arising from connective and supportive tissues such as fat, muscle, blood vessels and bones and other soft tissues. So basically it occurs at the connecting places like blood vessels, fats, bones and even other soft tissues. It accounts for nearly 1 percentage of cancers in adults and significantly it is seen in children because it is around 15%age for cancers in children and it has various types of cancer means the saroma has been is called something called heterogeneous because it has various subtypes. So it is an heterogeneous family of cancer which have distinct subtypes. So the disease the disease can actually have different effects by having this different subtypes. So why it is in use? Because it may initially appear as an ordinary but it is actually a painless lump. Lump in the sense in any part of your hand or leg you have slightly a slightly what kind of a bulged kind of position where due to some reasons there might be some budge bulge and this lump you might actually forcefully take it off or you might do something so to remove the lump but this sometimes can cause can severe effects like the saroma. So a major concern is this unplanned excision means this unplanned removal of this lump. Excision means removal. The unplanned removal of this lump is actually causing this saroma and removing a suspicious lump without proper imaging biosp and oncological planning. Oncology is nothing but study of cancer. So these are terms which you need to know not very much deep just on top. Oncology is study of cancer. Biosphy is taking your fluid like blood or something to have an analysis under the microscope that is called bioscopy process biopsy and proper imaging. So without doing this if you are removing this lump that is unplanned excision then there can be saroma which is which is a cancer. So such surgery can increase the likelihood of residual tumor local recurrence mean such surgery in the sense whenever there is unplanned excision it can actually lead to more extentive second surgery and as well as this residual tumor. So that is these are the causes for this saroma and it is it is being seen in children in India as well that is why this is in use because children are more vulnerable. You need to know children are more vulnerable. So we'll quickly move ahead and see what is the features of this lump. It is it is an actually soft tissue mass warren specialized assessment and it is in 5 cm greater than in size that is C the lump should be the bulge or something like you see should be 5 cm greater than in size and it is located deep in fascia. What is fascia? Fascia if you see this is skin. Okay, this is your muscle. So the fascia is present in two different ones. There superficial fascia and deep fascia. So they actually are present between the skin and muscle and they give this shape or this give this the three-dimensional shape for our body. See if the blood it surrounds the supports and separates the these connections. See basically the muscles are are are located inside our body and skin on top. Okay. So this fascia is going to connect these muscles and uh and the skin so that it gives that touch it gives a connection and also this forms a continuous three-dimensional framework throughout the body. So whenever you don't have that connection your skin cannot hold you can your skin cannot stand be the same as it is. So you need some connection which is called faxia. So this lump is basically formed at the faxia deep in the faxia and has suspicious interminate imaging characteristics. It reappears after previous removal to whenever you forcefully remove it. Whenever posly remove the bulge on her hand or leg it is again going to reappear. So these are the uh features of the lump. So this un unplanned excision is actually going to create this saroma issue. So what are the important medical concepts diagnosis that are related to this uh treatment or to this disease that is MRI is generally the preferred local imaging. So you need to take this local imaging through MRI and for suspicious external soft tissue masses this MRA can help you to identify it and if there is malip suspected that is if there is anything unusual suspect suspected in the image then you go for biopsy. So this co needed biopsy generally preferred before the surgery not after the surgery. Before the surgery itself you just see what are the things that are present and what are the effects of that lump. So that is before the surgery and biopsy should be carefully planned as biopsy tract may need to be removed during subsequent surgery. The track should be removed after the surgery. So these are just medical steps that you need to know. So what the main thing is image processing that is that is first image modality. So in that you need you you have MRI and then once there is some suspicion found in the image then you go for biopsy where biopsy you collect the fluids and you analyze through the microscopes and other process and you see what are the conditions of this uh lump and then finally you go with go for other kind of treatments. So why unplanned excision matters because this unplanned excision means unplanned removal or sudden removal of your lump. So unplanned excision is removal of suspected saroma without the appropriate pre-operating imaging historical hisystological confirmation and oncological planning. See you don't know whether that is going to cause your saroma or not but without knowing without knowing anything without any treatment you're just going to remove it then it might reappear in other places even more significantly so that is why this unplanned excretion should be avoided. What are the possible consequences of this unplanned excretion? As I said when this unplanned surgery can lead to more complex treatment okay finally it's going to going to affect you in more complex treatment as saroma is not very easily can be cured so multi-disiplinary approach if you see saroma management may involve saroma management means treating saroma patient or mitigating saroma it includes pathologist include oncologist include medical oncologist and also it includes radiologist so there are different people or different departments which are included for this soma as it is not unid dimensional it has many subtypes as well. So you need to have these kind of people to have this multi disciplineary approach to mitigate the such problems that is a specialized health care which has been specialized healthcare address being given to such patients. The public health significance if you see it this article basically highlights the importance of early diagnosis. Early diagnosis comes from image modality through MRI then you go for biopsy then you go for the treatment. So early diagnosis, appropriate referral pathways and specialist cancer centers because you need radiologist, pathologist and oncologist as well. Specialist cancer centers unnecessary and unplanned surgical procedures the unplanned exition should be avoided and strengthening the primary care services and also the awareness saroma before we we came to this point in understanding or to this point in current affairs we don't know what what was saroma we just used to remove the lump whenever we find it uncomfortable for us. So this is should not be done. So we need to have this cancer awareness and we need to act accordingly. So let's have a prince practice question related to this discussion with reference to saroma and management of soft tissue lumps. Consider the following statements. An unplanned exition of suspected saroma may increase the risk of local reoccurrence. Yes, unplanned excision is going to increase your reoccurrence or increase your complexity of treatment. First statement is correct. A core needle biopsy is generally performed only after the surgical exition of suspected saroma. No, it is before because biopsy is used to detect whether there is some problem of this kind kind of saroma that is being present saroma cells that is cancer cells being present in your lump. So biopsy is done before the treatment. So statement two is incorrect. A painless slowly growing and soft tissue mass can still be a manifestation of saroma. It can be because the slowly growing soft tissue mass which is a soft tissue lump can be a hot spot for this saroma. Diagnosis and treatment of saroma may require multi-disiplinary team involving pathologist oncology. Yes, it is multi-disiplinary because there are several types include subtypes include and it's going to affect your different parts of your body because it is not only present in your hand or leg. So definitely it is multi-disiplinary. So answer should be 1 3 and four because second statement the biopsy should be done after before the surgery. So second statement is incorrect. So answer should be 1 3 and four. So it should be C. Let's check. Yes, the answer is C. Our next discussion will be on Pragadi. So PM has shared this 53rd Pragadi meeting. So we will see what is Pragadi when it was launched. What is the significance of Pragadi? and also we'll see what are the two things that prime minister has discussed in this meeting that is one is on agree and other is on this cyber crimes. So these two things we will discuss just briefly and also we'll have a practice question related to this pragadi. So what is pragadi? Pragadi is stands for this proactive governance proactive governance and timely implementation. It is more on governance. So it was launched in 2015 under prime minister office itself that is PM O. It doesn't comes under any ministry. It is under prime minister prime minister's office. Okay. So it is directly controlled by them. So in this pragi what it is done it is actually chaired by prime minister every month to review the process or review the progress of governance at every level even at the national level and even at the state level. So who are the participants? If you see the secretaries of union ministries and also the chief secretaries of the states and union territories. So all the secretaries of different ministries including home ministry defense ministry every ministry secretaries will be present and as well as the chief secretaries of the different states also will be present in the meeting so that they discuss both the national progress and also the state level progress. So these are the part these are the participants and what is the nature they actually meet online in the digital platform and it is ICT enabled that is information and technology information communication technology enabled and it is a multimodel platform for real-time governance see pragadi is actually going to monitor every every governance it is going to put on the what are the projects that are present what are the important uh public grievances that are there these all all this it all are actually ICD enabled that is information communication techn technology enabled and it is once in a time that is every month this is getting reviewed by prime minister himself through with the help of different secretaries of union military union ministries and as well as the chief secretaries of the state what are the three objectives of pragadi so what are the three objectives the first one is gven redressal so it addresses the public complaints which are complained on this CP grants portal so in CPRs portal every public complaint that is whatever the complaints in what level to it is present to what what are the bottlenecks in those complaints which are not resolved. This is all is present in this CB grants. So that is part of pragadi then redressel. Next one is project monitoring. So the flagship program projects like bulletin projects or even other important projects at nation level are monitored under pragadi. So there is monitoring of projects at state level and union level and also program review. So monitor centrally sponsored schemes. So different centrally sponsored schemes related to health education. So these things are actually getting reviewed by prime minister and also the other ministries so that to have a sync between the union and the state. So that is why this prag is getting more importance and more significant. So it how it works it works through video inference means the they all meet through video inference that is fine and it is datadriven. So specifically this is realtime data and drone image information for every project. So every project is updated updated through drone imaginary for if at all it is needed for drone imaginary or if the project doesn't request drone imaginary realtime data are actually feeded to this pagadi portal or this padi platform so that it get it can get reviewed it can get reviewed then and there so these are things and PMO is the one who who's going to in enforce this pragadi or who is monitoring this ragodi So what are the key directives of pragadi in this meeting? So in this meeting prime minister has specifically focused on two things that is agreeist and as well as the cyber crime but apart from that is holistically has said certain things. The first thing is integrative view. So the mon the projects as a whole should be not should be considered but not as an isolated. So every project should be considered as a whole. So it is not like if you work in silos say that you consider this project now and then do the next project again because see they should have should have should also have a common corridor. What is common corridor? Said tomorrow there's there needs to be a road which should be dug for a pipeline sea wage pipeline. Okay, you're digging it and you you're putting the sea w pipeline but in the same place tomorrow you need to put an fiber net. So you need to dig the same same place again and you need to place the fiberet. So that is why that is where the prime is stressing that have a common corridor. Consider every project as a holistic project because you dig it once do all the project at the same time so that you align different departments who do does the project at that place align them do that at the same place and finish it don't keep on doing keep on reworking on the same place so such common should be present and also have integrated view as I mentioned and end to end delivery should be focused and quality should be ensured more than speed and finally he has said that proactive culture he has he has argued that take ownership of all the project. Don't do it for just name sake. Take ownership at all the levels of implementation of project so that you are doing the project better better version of itself and the cost of delay should also be reduced so that it is going to uh impact impact the ex sector of the governments both states and union. So these all were stressed by prime minister briefly and specifically he has spoke about this agree or he has reviewed this agree agree AI mission is under ministry of agriculture. So what this mission is about that it is going to give farmers it is going to support farmers both in the forward and the backward linkages that is it is going to support both the processing and also the market linkages for the farmers through the help of data at different levels and also it is going to give farmers digital idea to every farmer so that they can be represented they can be reached easily for so and so purposes so AI can be used there and as well and core idea is it is going to be former centric farmercentric digital public infrastructure for agree Agree value chain agree value chain every former will be integrated so they will know they will they will have a specific ID they can be integrated with data they can be fed with they can be helped with data whatever the soil data or the weather data any data can be helped to these farmers and once again they are actually helped with market linkages as well. So these things are the these things are actually the holistic view of this agree stack and it it targets better beneficial identification and datadriven policy intervention that is important aspect of this uh agree stack mission. So prime minister actually has pushed this agree AI mission to next level. So he has said that you have to ramp it ramp up the efforts. So since he has mentioned it you need to have a brief look at it. That's it. And he he has also mentioned about the cyber crime and also the cyber fraud. So digital arrest if you see this is nothing but the police the people who are actually the cyber criminals who are actually doing it are are fake fake investigators. They look like fake investigators through you. They come through video conference like a fake investigator policeman or whoever it is and they demand certain amount of money so that you are actually not you are actually let out of a fake case that has been put to you. So you are the the most vulnerable groups here if you see the senior citizens, youth and less digitally literate people because whenever the people who are dressed like a policeman and come forward and speak like speak boldly you'll think like okay he's a real policeman he's is demanding something which is real. So that is that that vulnerability is used by these cyber fraud or cyber criminals and that is what we call as digital arrest. The operation how they operate is that fake officials on video call demand ransom by fabricated case. The case that is fabricated to you saying that you are a drug dealer, you are you are linked with so and so offender. So once they fe fabricate such case you get you get the fear of getting punished. So whatever they ask you try to do it. So they ask money and you just pay it. So that is where this cyber fraud and digital arrest is predominantly seen in India now and then even the the top shots or even the big people are actually who are more important to society are getting uh vulnerable to this digital arrest. So he has spoke about digital. He has also said that the CERT computer emergency response team should be uh strengthened and also this I4C that is cyber crime coordination center of India I4C. So this is also this should be also strengthened. So these things come under Matei. So which is Ministry of Electronic uh electronic ministry. So the Matey actually uh oversees or monitors the SER and IPOC. So he has given directions to the secretaries of Matei saying that these things uh should be more strengthened and more effectively be used. That is what the capacity building about that is computer response emergency and as well as I4C which is India cyber crime coordination center four C's and co coordination between the government should also be enhanced is also stressed by prime minister. So you all need to know is what is pragadi what are the three different parameters of what are the three different pillars of pragadi who are the participants in pragadi and what are the important things that are mentioned in recent pragadi because that is where you'll be tested so here you have a question with reference to pragadi platform consider the following statements it enables the prime minister to interact directly with union secretaries and state chief secretaries through signal digital interface yes that is correct directly though it it seems directly is incorrect no it is directly in EU he actually speaks to these people directly through the video single digital interface. So first statement is correct. It is an ICT enabled platform chaired monthly by cabinet secretary of India. It is yes ICT enabled but it is not charred by cabinet secretary. It is shared by prime minister himself. So this statement incorrect. It is its objective includes grievance redress project monitoring and program review. That is what exactly are the pillars of Padi platform. So statement three should be correct. So the answer should be 1 and three which is B. Let's check. Yes, the answer is B. Now let's move on to the next topic. Now let's move on to the next topic which is the ending of culture of secrecy in judicial appointments. It is a beautiful article which which is keep on reminding that how these judicial appointments are done in Supreme Court and I court. What is colligium's criteria? What are the things that are going within the collision and how the appointments are made. So in this article we will see what is SE collision that is supreme court's collision how it functions what are its backlashes like why it is so uh rigid why it is not so transparent so these things we will discuss what are other democracies similar to India choose their judges in supreme court or respective courts in their countries and we will also have a way forward to what can be done for this situation. So this collision system if you see it was evolved from judge cases. It can be it is actually called as first judge case, second judge case and third judge case. We will see the evolution also in the next coming slides. But you should understand that it is not a constitutional body or it is neither a statuto body too. It evolved through the judicial cases itself. So the nature itself is a evol it is getting evolved from three cases since 1980s. So what is what is before 1980? So how the judges were appointed before 1980. Before 1980 how it happens is whenever there is an vacancy there is an informal uh meeting or there is a informal decision taken by the CGI along with the CGI chief justice of India along with the union law minister that is uh central government's law minister will decide and they'll pick names. Okay. These names will be sent to prime minister for again another evaluation where the intelligence bureau does the background check of th those people who are shortlisted and finally it is recommended to president for appointment. So there is there was no such uh um binding process you can say from the starting. So the search committee itself is started from through an informal meeting or through an informal decision taken by chief justice of India and also the union law ministers and other executives at the I Court level. If you see the state uh the state chief minister is involved. The chief minister and the chief justice of respective IT are involved in choosing or shortlisting the people and they recommend it to the uh union law minister and from then on it goes to president through prime minister. So that is how the informal kind of appointment was being done and since 1980s or maybe after 1993 if you see that is where the turning point comes in. We'll see what does those cases are in the next coming slides. After 1993 only this colligium system got established. Poly in the sense what happened the CJ that is chief justice of India plus four senior most supreme court judges will be actually shortlisting will be finalizing the names for the appointment and this will be recommended to government see what happens this this polyam will recommend it to government that is union law ministry and union law ministry can actually they don't have any timeline they don't have any timeline to decide so from union law ministry It moves to president and president can only once repel it. That is only once he or she can send it back saying that this appointment will not be done. But again once the again the name is given given again to the president for appointments then he or she is actually obliged to appoint the respective person in IT or supreme court. So that is how the process is happening after collab. So it starts from the Supreme Court itself with the four senior more judges as well as the CGI and then then it moves to the government that is through union law ministry and union lawyer doesn't have a timeline to fix it. So that is where a problem is to that is a different problem which you can say between the exe between the judiciary and the executive. The union law ministry takes its own time to decide to see the background check and finally it moves to the it moves it gives the names to the president. So there is no uh arbitrary arbitrary decision by the union law ministry. So that that things those things cannot be done by the union law ministry which was done earlier through informal things. Here only the collision has the old power. Now SC collision similar way then SC collision this I collim similar way the I court the seis of the IO starts the process initiate the process along with the two senior mode judges of the respective ISO. Then it moves to the supreme court where the final decision is made. Then finally it moves to the law ministry and then to the president for appointments. So the function of this collim you see it recommends appointments and transfers of judges too. So not only appointments the transfer of judges to is being done by this collision. Let's say one I court judge is transferred to other IO judge other I court sorry the other I court then this collision is actually comprised of the respective chief justice of two I courts then two senior most judges of supreme court and finally one CJI that is totally five members more than five members are involved here okay for transfer more than five members are involved okay so that is how you need to understand what is the polyim what are these functions what is it doing for Supreme Court I code and what is its composition in transfer of judges cases and if you see this uh article 124 and actually 227 talks about the appointment of these judges supreme court judges or high court judges. So this actually is interpreted through these cases that is three judges cases which we will discuss and that gave evolution to this collision. So what is the criticism here? We'll also discuss the criticism briefly moving forward after the evolution and we'll see what are the way forward that can be done. So the evolution if you see the first just case in 1981 what happened whenever the when the case was argued that why the judiciary why the executives having the appointments uh criteria are also having the role in appointments of judiciary. So there is no separation of power is what argued. But Supreme Court said at that time that consultation that is in article 124 what it means that the CGI the chief justice of India should be consulted for appointment that is president should consult CJI to appoint a judge. So that was given in the article but Supreme Court said that consultation doesn't mean concurrence means he can consult that is president can consult CGI but the CGI's views are not binding on president. So that was said in 1981 that is consultation is not equal to concurrence. Okay. But in second judges in 1993 what happened? Supreme Court just reversed the uh previous uh judgment. It said that consultation is concurrence means the views of CJI and the senior most judges of Supreme Court is necessary to appoint a judge or appoint a Supreme Court judge or I court judge. So here where the polygam started. So polyam has begun here. So here Supreme Court said that CJI plus two senior judges will decide the appointments of respective judges in I court and supreme court. But 198 1998 again this was challenged. Okay, this was challenged and this was through the presidential review and in 1998 what happened? The Supreme Court expanded the polyam. It said not CGI plus two senior judges but CGI plus four senior more judges. So it expanded the collision expanded polyam. So this is what this is how this polyam has got evolved in 1993 then in 1998 it got expanded. So what is the doctrine? It says that the appointments moved from executive control to the judicial control. Earlier it was purely executive control union as the discretion or as the arbitrary uh arbitrary position to appoint the judges who whom the government may or may not like. So that is how the point was. Then after 1993 they said that only the polyam will appoint or coll give the names for appointment which should be approved by the union law ministry. There is no arbitrary decision by the executive now and no statute. See there is no statute here. No constitutional provision no law that actually gives strength to this collision. It is only based on the judges cases. Means they said that it is part of basic structure doctrine. So they made it part of basic sector doctrine of constitution. Okay. So here where the transparency here where the criticism comes. So the Supreme Court has said that okay we will appoint the judges but what are the what are the criterias? What are the what is the steps? What are the procedure to appoint it? It it is still not transparent. It is still not open. So since 1993 it is still living OPEC. So in 2017 what happened? Polian began publishing the resolutions with brief reasons. So they gave few reasons few uh meeting minutes of meetings were given saying that these were the reasons we are going to promote the so and so judges. These were the reasons so and so judges are appointed. So briefly they were publishing and still 2024 this practically this was happening but the story the practice was getting filled because the chief justice BR gave confirmed in 2025 saying that if we are giving such uh things outside we are giving such resolutions outside it is going to affect the career of the respective judge because we may give some comments which may not be which may not be good for the public to take it. So in that cases the collision's resolve actually came to an all saying that the careers of those judges or careers or the or the views of those judges are very much important for their privacy and also for future judicial functioning. So that's why in keeping that rational as mind they said that we are they are not going to publish whatever the resolution that they that they were doing since 2017. So that is where the contradiction starts because the court demands transparency in other offices in other constitutional bodies in other legislature or even in executive but it itself being denied means it itself is denying its own transparency in its process. So that is where the uh contradiction comes into base and here if you see this is this can be used in your answer writing anywhere. So we can just briefly see what it is. See uncle's judges. So these are some facts. So this former CJF Loa has claimed that one in three I court judges could be an uncle means one in three judges having previous relations working previous relative or someone who is close in a family worked in the respective IOT or in different IO so it said that one in three so it is almost 33%age so 33%age of judges are almost kin of the judges or retired judges who are working you might also know our 50th chief justice of India Chandra Chud Chandrch's father was also chief justice of India when he was a Supreme Court judge so these things are actually present in even I court as well that is what given that is what actually pointed out by former chief justice of India Lola and in 2018 what happened 11 out of 33 names from Alhabad I court judges has been rejected by union said that we are not going forward with this appointments because 11 out of 33 names are actually judges relatives mean the relatives of the judges were actually given in those list and in Jan 2025 kam actually barred the judges with kin and kin. So kim has said that we are not we are going to bar kit and kin of the respective people who are getting appointed but there was no legal backing there is no legal backing till today saying that we are not going to appoint so and so person. So that is where the loophole is. That is where the opaque nature of collision stands. And if you see Numa Dvi case, it's Supreme Court has also barred backd dooror appointments demanded transparent procedures. So it is being demanding transparent procedure now and then but it is not taking steps to have a legal backup for its own process. So that is where the uncle's concern comes in. The uncle's concern is then the relatives are always the relative one in three relatives are all are retired or are present in the respective I codes are the different IDs that is what the concern is and if you see in other democracy so we saw what is collision we saw how it is functioning for HC judge for supreme court judge it is CJI plus four senior judges for IC court judge transfer CJI plus two senior judges plus respective chief justice of high courts. So these things you should you should remember. So that is what the collisions composition is all about. And if you see in other democracies in United Kingdom or in South Africa there are two things that they are doing. They are officially saying that there are there is such and such and so vacancy in judiciary. Let's say in civil services we say that there is vacancy for IPS, there is vacancy for is similarly they say there's vacancy for supreme court judge. There's vacancy for respective court judges position. Once the postings or once the advertisement is out they also invite nominations respective nominations who are eligible can can come forward and apply and once they apply there is a commission. This commission is not purely judicial comprised commission. It it is also having executive. It is also having academia too. It is having different stakeholders who come who come to and certain uh platform called as this judicial service commission which is present in both the places. They come together and they actually uh choose the respective person or they interview the person. This interview once it is done then the finally the merit candidate is appointed. So this merited candidate is given or disclosed. This merit criteria actually this merit criteria is disclosed in advance so that only the persons who are eligible or only the persons who who think that they can they can satisfy this criteria are applying but in India there is no advertisement such kind the Supreme Court now and then actually the Supreme Court now and then meets whenever there's a vacancy in need and they decide based on certain parameters which is not which is not disclosed openly. So that is what the other democracies are doing. The United Kingdom and South Africa you just need to know they have a judicial service commission. The nominations are openly public and conduct television interview as well. They conduct interviews and finally they release the they release the candidate list which is public for which is also left for public scrutiny. That is what those people do. And what can be the way forward in our case? So in our case the first thing is the publishing the anticipated I code and supreme court vacancies should be there. So in advance let's say the there are two people who are going to retire next week or maybe next year. So for I supreme court judges this is 65 years. Okay for I judge it is 60 years 62 years sorry. So these two these two things you need you need to know for 65 years and 62 years. So once they are once the respective judges are actually nearing these ages there need to be vacancy which which should be made public saying that there is so and so vacancy and finally they can invite applications and nomination for eligible candidates. Eligible advocates can also apply for Supreme Court judge. What is the criteria? You should be at least serving as an I court judge for five or five or more years or you must be at least serving as an advocate or in in an respective IT or supreme court for 10 or more years or you should be in a special juristics mean distinct jurist according to from the eyes of president of India. So when in these three criterias you can actually invite applications and nomination for supreme court judge or IOJ your respective criterias are there. So once the criteria are out create have an interview have an interview kind of short listing then you have confidential inputs protect integrity and reports like you can have reports from IB you can have reports from other bodies saying that uh in assessing these individuals who are coming for interviews who are getting shortlisted and finally you have a you have a public scrutiny you have public scrutiny or for which you can for which the accountability is getting increased. So this public scrutiny can be done and through democratic legitimized way and finally you can also prefer you can also prefer one candidate saying that why you are going to uh choosing th those candidates let's say you are having 10 criterias you mark you have five candidates who are coming up for the post you should match them or you should actually mark them in those 10 criterias and you should finally say I have chosen this candidate because so and so in so and so parameters he has performed in so and so level. So such transparency such accountability is needed and in such cases like CPIO is a subasandra agarwal cases in that case the Supreme Court has clearly also mentioned that this right to information is also applicable to chief justice of India's office. So nothing can be left opaque even in in seat justice of India's office whatever it is happening the right to information is applicable. So this right to information can be used better so that Supreme Court itself can encrage this right to information and seek what are the procedures that they are having the criterias the procedures and the applications how it is happening. So these things can be improved these things can be done in our case so that the judicial appointments is not criticized or judicial appointment is not getting opaque. So briefly if you see today we have 38 Supreme Court judges including Chief Justice of India. So it has increased from 34 to 38 recently. So 34 to 38 increase who is going to who who has decided it what is the criteria why they need it. So these things are not these things are not even disclosed when whenever there is such an operation. So whenever we have this kind of uh a procedure, this kind of legally backed procedure, so these things should be legally backed as well. Whenever we have such legally backed procedure, the the democratic legitimacy is more strengthened. So there is a practice question from related to this discussion. The collision system originally designated to safeguard judicial independence has been increasingly criticized for opacity. In this context, critically examine whether greater transparency in the collision's functioning would strengthen the judicial independence rather than weakening it. Suggest reforms drawing on comparative constitutional practice. See, you need to you need to just summarize whatever we have done. Now the first thing is the originally designed to safeguard judicial independence. Yes, it has come out from the clutches of executive from the discretion of executive that thing should be discussed. Then why it is been criticized should be discussed. What why the procedure is not opaque? What are the what are the reasons like the uncle phenomena the uncle CM CJ Loda said one in three three I quotes are uncle to each other that can be highlighted here and you also critically ex examine the transparency why why such transparency is lacking and finally you say what are the practices that can be done to increase the transparency to increase accountability and legitimacy of judiciary and also you compare you can use a point from South African model or United Kingdom model to support your answer. That is all about this topic. Let's move on to the next topic. Now let's move on and see the prelims focus topics for the day. The first topic is Kanda Express. So what is Kanda Express? Kanda Express nothing but a train. So why this train is in use? This train is specifically launched from Nasi. Nasi is in Maharashtra two places like Delhi, Chennai, Chennai, Kochi and Dawati. Recently there was rise in oil prices that we have been witnessing. The month-on-month rise is very much significant around 19%age. So to c curb that rise because it is going to directly affect your food inflation. Okay. To curb that rise to match the demand and supply what what tot has done that it has launched a train from Nasik. Nasik is a primary onion producing area in India. Primary onion producing area which is in Maharashtra. So from from the surplus places like Nasik the train has been launched so that it meets the demand in the other places of the park other part of India. So that is the reason for which the train is in use. So you need to know why the train is in use and for what reason that's all. And next one is the first non GMO that is genically modified eye expansion popcorn maze hybrid is being released. So this was released in Andhra Pradesh by our honorable vice president Mr. Radhak Krishnan and it is nonGMO non GMO in the sense non- genetically modified so it doesn't need required of GAC that is genical engineering uprising committee so whenever you need to whenever you need to have this approval from genical engineering appraisal committee you you need for this these committees actually giving permission for having this GM crops so this is non GMO this is non genetically modified so no need such permissions and since the first such kind in India and this has been released in Andhra Pradesh. See we have been importing popcorns. Popcorn is nothing but a variety of maze. So we have been importing popcorn for our use. By this release it means that we are going to have atma in popcorn. So we need atma in many other things as well. So even in food aspects even in food food uh things we need to also have this kind of initiatives. So that is why Andhra Pradesh government has taken it forward and which is recently released by our vice president. So that's all you need to know about the G non GMO popcorn where it is released who released it and what are these features it was it is it can have high expansion rate it can have better quality and also it it is not going to harm your environment to that level because it is non genetically modified. And the third topic is very interesting which is Altera. Altera is name of the fund released by UAE in the context of COP28. So COP28 is a conference of parties. Conference of parties means where the countries come and discuss on certain conventions like COP 28 is for climate change means conference of parties happens for every conventions. For every conventions there is COP. So it is not that COP means one convention. For every convention there is a COP. So in in for climate change that is under UNFCC under UNFC FCC what happens there are there were 30 such conference of parties. So till now we have COP 30. So latest COP 30 was was took place in Bellum. Bellum is in Brazil and COP 31 it is going to take place in Turkey. So you need to know where the COP is going to take place and what are the initiatives or what are the discussions that are taking place in COP the agreements and also what is the role of India in COP. So in COP 28 the major thing was every all the countries around 200 countries accepted that they're going to phase out the fossil fuel. So in that context the western countries and other developed countries said that they going to pledge around hundred billion dollars for developing countries so that they can move towards transitioning towards the clean energy and co in COP 29 which took place in Azarbaan. So they agreed that they will mobilize 300 billion dollars they in the sense the western countries and the developed countries. So in COP28 it's $und00 billion in COP 29 it's $300 billion though the ask is for around $1 trillion. So many countries were not happy with that. Even India was not happy with $300 billion. But let's move on here. See they have this UAE has actually initiated this $30 billion fund for climate change and the purpose is to finance a clean energy and climate resilience infrastructure in developing countries. So this is based on the CR CBDR that is common but differentiated responsibility. What is common but differentiated responsibility? So there the cost is common. you're going to mitigate the climate change but the responsibility taken is different because different countries need to have different responsibilities the western countries which are developed should take more responsibility so so there is difference in responsibility but for a common cause so that is common but differentiated responsibility and significance is intuitive because it is going to support your climate missions climate ambitions for our global world so that is all it is you need to know what are what is the different agreements that are getting signed or agreed in different cops then and there that can that should be a current affairs notes and that will be tested. So with reference to altera recently associated with international climate finance consider the following statements. It was launched by UAE at COP28 with the commitment of US $30 billion. That is exactly correct. It seeks to mobilize private capital for climate investments particularly in emerging and developing economies. That is correct. It is not for developed countries. It is for developing countries. So statement two is correct. But if you see in options statement two is already correct. You don't need to specifically check because statement two is common in everything. That's how you actually increase your speed of solving. So statement two you don't need to go at all. It is correct. It is an initiative established under the financial mechanism of the UNFCC. It is not under the financial mechanism of UNFCC. It is done by UAE but the financial mechanism of US is something different. So there is different funds which are under UNFC. We called global climate fund GCF environmental facility. So there are different funds under this UNFCC which you need to know. So this is not under such funds. So third should be incorrect. It approach is consistent with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and difference and respective capabilities. That is exactly correct. Common cost but different responsibilities. So the answer should be 1 2 and 4 B. Let's check. Yes, the answer is B. Thank you for watching. Thank you for your time. Please like, comment, share and subscribe our YouTube channel and also have the bell icon pressed. See you again in the next interesting current affair session. Thank you.