20 February 2026

• Polity: Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls conflicts with Census 2027 house-listing start (April 1): both exercises need schoolteachers.
• Courts: Supreme Court bench criticised indiscriminate pre-election freebie distribution without targeting needy populations.
• Environment: NCST Foundation Day; VVP-II launched covering 1,954 strategic border villages.
• Science: Gaganyaan drogue parachute successfully tested; Salem Sago gets its first direct GI-tagged export consignment to Canada.

GS area: Polity (Elections, Governance)

The Supreme Court's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise for electoral rolls across 22 states and UTs is expected to conflict with the Census 2027 house-listing phase, which begins on 1 April 2026.

• The conflict: Both exercises rely heavily on government schoolteachers as field staff. Deploying teachers for SIR leaves them unavailable for Census house-listing. The gap between March 10 (SIR completion target) and April 1 (Census start) is very narrow.
• What SIR does: Physically verifies every voter's residence. Removes "unmapped" voters (those whose addresses cannot be located) and those with logical discrepancies.
• Bihar precedent: Bihar was the first state to complete SIR in 2025. Its experience provides the operational template.
• Registration of Electors Rules, 1960: The rules made under the Representation of the People Act, 1950 govern the SIR process. They specify timelines, the format of the electoral roll, and the revision authority.
• Article 324: Vests the superintendence, direction and control of elections (including preparation of electoral rolls) in the Election Commission.

Static linkage: Article 324, electoral rolls, RPA 1950, Census (Polity/Governance).

GS area: Governance, Economy (Fiscal policy)

The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant criticised states for distributing freebies to the wealthy rather than the needy, asking: "Why do freebies come to the affluent's pockets first?"

• Tamil Nadu Power Distribution: Faces a ₹50,000 crore revenue gap attributable to free electricity provisions. The fiscal stress is transferring to the state's power infrastructure budget.
• FRBM Act, 2003: The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act mandates progressive reduction of fiscal deficit. State-level versions exist in many states. Unconditional cash transfers and free electricity test the boundary between welfare spending and fiscal irresponsibility.
• Articles 38 and 282: Article 38 directs the state to promote a social order for welfare. Article 282 allows both Union and states to make grants for any public purpose. Both are invoked to defend welfare schemes, but neither mandates that benefits be universal rather than targeted.
• The Court's consistent position: Not to ban freebies but to question the absence of targeting. Benefits flowing to households that can afford to pay (the "affluent") is the specific critique.

Static linkage: FRBM Act, fiscal federalism, welfare schemes, Article 282 (Economy/Polity).

GS area: Governance, Internal Security, Geography

The Vibrant Villages Programme-II (VVP-II) was launched covering border villages not included in VVP-I (which focused on northern Himalayan borders).

• Scope: 15 states and 2 Union Territories. 1,954 strategic villages identified as "strategic" because they abut International Land Borders.
• Financial outlay: ₹6,839 crore through FY 2028-29.
• Core themes: All-weather roads (PMGSY-IV), telecom connectivity, television coverage, electrification.
• Launch site: Nathanpur village, Cachar district, Assam.
• VVP-I: Targeted villages along India's northern border with China, specifically Himalayan districts where border populations face out-migration and strategic neglect.
• Strategic rationale: Inhabited border villages create a "human buffer" against encroachment. The Chinese "model villages" built near LAC spurred India's VVP response.

Static linkage: Border management, PMGSY, internal security (Governance/Security).

GS area: Economy (Agriculture), Science and Technology (Biotechnology)

The Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences (SKUAST-K) developed two wheat varieties (Shalimar Wheat-3 and Shalimar Wheat-4) specifically to fit Kashmir's rice-wheat rotation.

• The problem they solve: Kashmir's dominant cropping system is rice (planted June-July, harvested October-November) followed by wheat (planted November, harvested June-July). But conventional wheat varieties mature too late to allow timely rice transplantation the following season.
• SW-3: Matures in early June (instead of late June-July). Biofortified with iron and zinc content above 40 ppm. Protein content of 12 per cent. Potential yield of up to 38 quintals per hectare.
• SW-4: Matures by late May, even earlier than SW-3. Yellow rust resistant.
• Mid-altitude adaptation: Suited for areas up to 1,850 metres altitude.
• Biofortification significance: Iron and zinc deficiency affect roughly 50 per cent of Indian children. Biofortified staple crops are a cost-effective public health intervention.

Static linkage: Biofortification, crop science, J&K agriculture (Economy/S&T).

GS area: Economy (Agriculture, Trade)

Salem district (Tamil Nadu) sent the first direct GI-tagged export consignment of Salem Sago (Javvarisi) to Canada.

• What sago is: A starch-based product processed from tapioca roots into pearl-like granules. Salem district in Tamil Nadu produces 80 per cent of India's sago.
• GI tag: Granted in March 2023 by the SAGOSERVE cooperative. A Geographical Indication tag protects the product's geographic identity and prevents counterfeiting.
• Production facts: Tapioca yields 25-30 tonnes per hectare. About 1 kilogram of sago requires 5 kilograms of tapioca tubers.
• Applications beyond food: Paper, textile, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, adhesive and construction industries all use sago starch.
• Export significance: The direct GI-tagged consignment to Canada, bypassing intermediary processors, demonstrates that GI branding adds traceable value along the supply chain.

Static linkage: GI tags, agricultural exports, Tamil Nadu (Economy).

• NCST Foundation Day: The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes celebrated its 23rd Foundation Day. NCST was established under Article 338A (added by the 89th Amendment, 2003) by separating the previously combined National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
• MILAN 2026: 74 nations participating in Visakhapatnam; INS Krishna (India's first indigenous Cadet Training Ship, built by L&T at Kattupalli) was showcased. INS Krishna: 4,700-tonne displacement, 122-metre length, 20-knot speed, capacity for 200 cadets.