26 November 2025

• India marks the 76th anniversary of adopting the Constitution on 26 November 1949, with emphasis on the Basic Structure Doctrine and expanded Article 21 rights.
• A World Bank report projects the AI-based precision farming market growing from $1.5 billion in 2023 to $10.2 billion by 2032, with drone pilots cutting chemical use by up to 95%.
• INS Mahe, India's first Mahe-class Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft built by Cochin Shipyard with over 80% indigenous content, was commissioned in Mumbai.
• The IMF is expected to reclassify India's exchange rate regime as having "crawling peg" features in its 2025 Article IV report.
• Wing Commander Namansh Syal was killed in a crash of the LCA Tejas at the Dubai Air Show.

GS area: GS-2 (Indian Constitution, fundamental rights, landmark cases)

India observes Constitution Day on 26 November each year to mark the date the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution in 1949. The Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950.

• Universal Adult Franchise: India adopted Universal Adult Franchise in 1950. Both the United States and Australia granted full voting rights only later, making India's position historically notable for a newly independent nation.
• Anti-discrimination provisions: Article 15(2) prohibits discrimination in access to shops, restaurants, hotels, and places of public entertainment on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. Article 17 abolishes untouchability and declares its practice a punishable offence. Article 23 prohibits traffic in human beings and forced labour.
• Basic Structure Doctrine: The Supreme Court established the Basic Structure Doctrine in the Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala judgment of 1973. The doctrine holds that Parliament cannot amend the Constitution in a way that destroys its basic structure. The Court did not define basic structure exhaustively, allowing it to evolve through subsequent judgments.
• Article 21 expansions: Article 21 originally guaranteed the right to life and personal liberty. Through successive interpretations, the Court has read into it the right to privacy (K.S. Puttaswamy, 2017), the right to a clean environment, the right to education (now separately codified under Article 21A), and the right to legal aid.
• Article 21A: Added by the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002. Guarantees free and compulsory education to children aged six to fourteen. This provision gave constitutional weight to what had been statutory rights.

Revises topic: Indian Constitution, Fundamental Rights, Landmark Supreme Court cases.

GS area: GS-3 (agriculture, technology, food security)

A World Bank report on AI adoption in agriculture outlines the technology's potential to raise yields and reduce input costs in low and middle-income countries, while noting structural barriers to adoption.

• Market size: the AI-based precision farming market stood at approximately $1.5 billion in 2023. The projected size by 2032 is $10.2 billion.
• Yield gains: AI-based interventions can raise agricultural yields by 20 to 30% under suitable conditions.
• Drone-based pilots: drone-based crop management pilots achieved up to 95% reduction in chemical use through targeted application, reducing input costs and environmental runoff.
• Use cases enumerated: the report identifies 60 specific use cases applicable to low and middle-income countries, ranging from soil health monitoring to market price prediction.
• Challenges specific to developing countries: the digital divide limits connectivity in rural areas. Data bias arises when models are trained on datasets from temperate climates and applied to tropical contexts. Low human capital constrains the ability to operate and maintain AI systems. Weak governance means AI-generated recommendations may bypass regulatory safeguards on pesticide use.
• Precision farming concept: precision farming uses sensors, satellite data, and algorithms to apply inputs (water, fertiliser, pesticides) only where and when crops need them. This contrasts with uniform broadcast application across fields.

Revises topic: Agriculture technology, food security, rural digital infrastructure.

GS area: GS-1 (medieval Indian history, Sikh tradition, religious movements)

26 November 2025 marks the 350th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of Sikhism, who was publicly executed by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1675.

• Personal chronology: born on 1 April 1621 at Amritsar. Died on 11 November 1675 at Chandni Chowk, Delhi.
• Title: "Tegh Bahadur" translates as "Brave of the Sword." He earned this title at the Battle of Kartarpur in 1634.
• Installation as Guru: installed as the Ninth Guru of Sikhism in August 1664.
• City founded: established Anandpur Sahib (initially called Chakk Nanaki) between 1665 and 1672. Anandpur Sahib later became the birthplace of the Khalsa under Guru Gobind Singh.
• Literary contributions: composed 59 Shabads and 57 Shaloks across 15 Raagas. All compositions are incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib.
• Circumstances of martyrdom: Kashmiri Pandits appealed to the Guru when Aurangzeb's administration initiated forced conversions. Guru Tegh Bahadur chose to present himself to the Emperor's court in their defence. He was publicly beheaded at Chandni Chowk after refusing to convert to Islam.
• Memorial: Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Chandni Chowk marks the site of his martyrdom.

Revises topic: Sikh Gurus, Mughal religious policy, medieval Indian saints.

GS area: GS-3 (Indian economy, monetary policy, international financial institutions)

The IMF is expected to describe India's exchange rate regime as having "crawling peg" features in its 2025 Article IV consultation report. This classification reflects observed rupee behaviour rather than a formal policy declaration by India.

• Governing framework: IMF Article IV of the Articles of Agreement mandates bilateral surveillance of members' exchange rate policies. The annual Article IV consultation report is the principal output.
• Classification method: the IMF uses a "de facto" classification based on how a currency actually behaves in the market. This may differ from the "de jure" regime that a country officially declares.
• Crawling peg meaning: a crawling peg is a regime where a currency is adjusted periodically in small increments to a target or in response to quantitative indicators. India does not formally declare a crawling peg. The IMF's de facto classification is an analytical observation.
• RBI's approach: the Reserve Bank of India allows the rupee to adjust gradually while intervening in foreign exchange markets to smooth volatility. Critics describe this as a managed float. Proponents say it protects exports and financial stability.
• Eight IMF categories: IMF de facto regimes range from hard pegs (currency board, dollarisation) through soft pegs (conventional peg, crawling peg, stabilised arrangement) to floating regimes (managed float, independently floating).
• India's official position: India classifies its regime as a managed float with the RBI intervening to prevent excessive volatility.

Revises topic: Exchange rate policy, IMF surveillance, monetary economics.

GS area: GS-3 (defence technology, indigenisation, maritime security)

INS Mahe is India's first Mahe-class Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft. It was commissioned in November 2025 at Mumbai.

• Builder: Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi. CSL is a Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
• Indigenous content: over 80% indigenous content, consistent with Atmanirbhar Bharat defence procurement targets.
• Operational role: designed to detect, track, and neutralise submarine threats in shallow coastal waters where conventional anti-submarine warfare platforms face operational constraints due to water depth.
• Significance: shallow water environments are among the most challenging for sonar-based detection. Diesel-electric submarines operating in shallow coastal zones are difficult to track using deep-water techniques. Dedicated shallow-water ASW craft address this gap.
• Motto: "Silent Hunters."
• Broader context: India's coastline spans 7,516 km including island territories. The exclusive economic zone covers 2.37 million square km. Protecting this space against submarine incursions requires layered capability across deep and shallow water domains.

Revises topic: Indian Navy, naval indigenisation, maritime security.

GS area: GS-2 (international relations, United Nations, multilateral institutions)

The UN Secretary-General selection process has come under scrutiny ahead of Antonio Guterres's term expiry on 31 December 2026, with calls for the first female Secretary-General gaining momentum.

• Constitutional basis: Article 97 of the UN Charter states that the Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
• Term length: five years. Renewable once by the same process. Guterres is currently serving his second term.
• UNSC role in selection: the Security Council must vote to recommend a candidate. A recommendation requires nine votes out of fifteen and no veto from any of the five permanent members (the United States, United Kingdom, China, Russia, and France).
• Current budget: the UN regular (core) budget is approximately $3.7 billion. The peacekeeping budget is approximately $5.6 billion.
• Reform demand: no woman has ever served as UN Secretary-General across all 79 years of the organisation's existence. A growing coalition of member states is advocating for this to change in the next selection cycle.
• Secretary-General powers: the Secretary-General heads the UN Secretariat. The role carries significant convening power and moral authority but limited enforcement powers. The Secretary-General can bring matters to the Security Council's attention under Article 99 of the Charter.

Revises topic: United Nations system, multilateral diplomacy, global governance.

GS area: GS-3 (defence technology, aeronautics, indigenisation)

Wing Commander Namansh Syal of the Indian Air Force was killed when an LCA Tejas fighter crashed during an aerobatic display at the Dubai Air Show.

• Design and production: designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) under DRDO. Produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bengaluru.
• First flight: 4 January 2001.
• Formal IAF induction: inducted into the Indian Air Force as a Light Combat Aircraft in 2016.
• Generation classification: 4.5-generation, all-weather, multi-role fighter. Designed to replace the MiG-21 fleet.
• Key systems: AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar for simultaneous air and ground targeting. Advanced electronic warfare suite. Digital fly-by-wire flight control system replacing conventional mechanical controls.
• Variants in service or development: single-seat fighter (IAF and Navy variants), twin-seat trainer, Tejas Mk-1A (upgraded variant under delivery). Tejas Mk-2 is under advanced design.
• Export interest: Malaysia, Argentina, and Egypt have held discussions on Tejas procurement.

Revises topic: Indian defence manufacturing, HAL, LCA programme.

GS area: GS-2 (governance, public administration, urban infrastructure)

G. Manuneethi, a civil engineer with Tamil Nadu's Highways Department, spent over 30 years developing practical solutions to urban traffic congestion before retiring in 2025.

• Breakthrough project: in 2021, Manuneethi redesigned the Lawley Road Junction in Coimbatore using sandbags as a temporary roundabout. The intervention cleared chronic congestion at the junction without permanent construction.
• Design principle: his approach moves the turning point 100 metres away from the main intersection. This reduces conflict points where vehicles cross paths, which is the primary cause of bottlenecks at junctions.
• Academic recognition: IIT Madras prepared a formal academic report documenting his U-turn system design as a replicable model for Indian urban road conditions.
• Institutional context: traffic engineering innovations in India typically flow from large consulting firms or academic institutions. Manuneethi's work demonstrates that field-level engineers with domain experience can generate solutions the formal system does not.
• Relevance: urban traffic management is part of India's Smart Cities Mission objectives. Low-cost, rapidly deployable interventions are particularly relevant for Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities with limited capital budgets.

Revises topic: Urban governance, smart cities, public administration.

• Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) was decided by a 13-judge bench, the largest in Supreme Court history. The ruling was 7-6. The majority held that Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution but cannot destroy its basic structure.
• 86th Amendment (2002) inserted Article 21A (right to education for ages 6-14), amended Article 45 (free and compulsory education for children below 6), and amended Article 51A to add a duty on parents and guardians to provide educational opportunities.
• Cochin Shipyard Limited listed on stock exchanges in 2017. It is India's largest shipyard by dry-dock capacity and has delivered warships, submarines, and civilian vessels.
• Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) is a DRDO body headquartered in Bengaluru. It is the design authority for all Tejas variants and is currently leading the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) design.