2 April 2026

• Energy: Commercial LPG prices jumped over 10 per cent in major metros. Aviation turbine fuel for international routes doubled. The Strait of Hormuz closure drove both.
• Polity: The Supreme Court continued hearing West Bengal's plea against the Special Intensive Revision that deleted 87 lakh voters.
• Education: NCERT's Class 8 textbook was pulled by the Supreme Court for content the bench found misrepresentative of the judiciary.
• Internal Security: India was declared "Naxal-free" with 4,839 Maoists having surrendered in the recent phase of operations.

GS area: Economy (energy, inflation)

On the first day of the new financial year, Indian cities woke up to significantly higher fuel prices driven by the Strait of Hormuz blockade.

• Commercial LPG: Prices crossed Rs 2,000 per cylinder in Delhi (from Rs 1,883) and Rs 2,160 in Bengaluru. Commercial cylinders are used by hotels, restaurants and small businesses.
• ATF for international flights: Roughly doubled. Domestic ATF rose about 8.6 per cent.
• Why LPG was hit hardest: About 20 to 30 per cent of global LPG transits the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi contract prices for LPG jumped 44 per cent between March and April. Oil marketing companies (IOCs) faced losses of around Rs 380 per cylinder with projected cumulative losses of Rs 40,000 crore by May.
• PMUY (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana): Launched in 2016 to provide subsidised LPG connections to BPL households. It has extended 10.3 crore connections. Price shocks in commercial LPG feed into small business costs; domestic cylinder prices under PMUY are partially sheltered but not immune to procurement cost rises.
• DBTL (Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG): Also called PAHAL. The world's largest direct cash-transfer scheme at its peak. Subsidy goes straight to the bank account of the beneficiary after they buy at market rate.

Static linkage: India's energy security, inflation, government schemes.

GS area: Polity (elections, judiciary)

The Supreme Court began examining the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision that had reduced the West Bengal electorate from 7.66 crore to 6.75 crore.

• Article 326: Every citizen who is 18 years of age and not otherwise disqualified is entitled to vote. This is the constitutional guarantee of adult suffrage. Bulk deletions test its real-world meaning.
• Representation of the People Act, 1950: Governs electoral roll preparation. Sections under this Act set out the grounds on which a name may be deleted, the notice that must be given and the appeal mechanism.
• SIR (Special Intensive Revision): A house-to-house verification exercise conducted by electoral registration officers before elections. The West Bengal exercise produced deletions far beyond any previous SIR in scale.
• 19 appellate tribunals: Constituted by the Supreme Court's direction, chaired by former High Court judges, to hear appeals from the 60 lakh voters placed "under adjudication." The court set a deadline: Phase 1 cases resolved by 6 April.
• Scale context: 91 lakh total deletions; 27.16 lakh remained excluded after adjudication. Murshidabad (4.55 lakh), North 24 Parganas (3.25 lakh) and Malda (2.39 lakh) had the highest concentrations, all Muslim-majority districts. The pattern attracted the opposition's allegation of targeted disenfranchisement.

Static linkage: Election law, Representation of the People Act, fundamental rights.

GS area: Polity (judiciary), Education

The Supreme Court ordered NCERT to withdraw a Class 8 textbook that contained content the bench said misrepresented the judiciary's role in corruption. An expert committee was ordered to review it.

• Article 19(1)(a): The freedom of speech and expression. Academic writing is generally protected. Content about institutions, including courts, is within this freedom.
• Article 19(2): Permits reasonable restrictions including on material that amounts to contempt of court.
• Contempt of Courts Act, 1971: Distinguishes civil contempt (disobedience of court orders) from criminal contempt (scandalising the court or lowering its authority). The bench's concern was closer to the second category.
• NCERT: The National Council of Educational Research and Training. An autonomous body under the Ministry of Education that prepares model curriculum and textbooks for schools.
• NEP 2020: The National Education Policy mandates revising curriculum to emphasise critical thinking. The tension here is between encouraging institutional critique and protecting institutions from misrepresentation.

The deeper governance question: NCERT publishes textbooks affecting crores of students. The review process that allowed the disputed content to clear publication was opaque.

Static linkage: Fundamental rights, judiciary, education policy.

GS area: Internal Security, Governance

The Home Minister's declaration that India is free of Maoist insurgency on 30 March 2026 was the political culmination of a decade of SAMADHAN operations.

• Operational numbers: 4,839 Maoists surrendered, 2,218 arrested, 706 neutralised in the recent phase.
• Red Corridor at its peak: More than 180 districts across Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were affected.
• UAPA designation: The CPI (Maoist) is designated a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. This designation enables NIA jurisdiction and asset seizure.
• Urban Maoist label: The government's use of the "urban Naxal" label to describe sympathisers in cities has been contested by civil society as broadening the security apparatus in ways that could silence legitimate dissent.
• Governance gap post-clearance: PESA (1996) and the Forest Rights Act (2006) remain the two statutory tools for addressing the tribal rights grievances that Maoism exploited. Implementation on the ground is patchy. Security gains that outrun governance tend not to hold.

Static linkage: Internal security, Fifth Schedule, PESA, Forest Rights Act.

GS area: International Relations, Economy

India's non-aligned posture in the US-Israel-Iran conflict was tested as sanctions waivers began to run down.

• India's crude sources: Iraq (largest), Saudi Arabia, UAE and Russia. The bulk of Gulf supply depends on Hormuz access. Russia routes via the Suez Canal, not through the strait.
• Diaspora: About 8.9 million Indians live in Gulf states. Annual remittances exceed 30 billion dollars. Kerala's economy alone draws about 17 per cent of its GSDP from Gulf remittances.
• Chabahar Port: India's operated terminal (Shahid Beheshti) in Iran. A US sanctions waiver allowed India to continue operations. That waiver was approaching its expiry in late April. Chabahar is India's access point to Afghanistan and Central Asia bypassing Pakistan.
• IMEC (India-Middle East-Europe Corridor): Announced at the G20 Delhi Summit in 2023. A planned trade corridor linking India to Europe via the Gulf. The conflict disrupted preparatory work.
• I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA): A grouping formed in 2022. The conflict put all four members in different postures toward Iran, straining the grouping's coherence.

Static linkage: India's foreign policy, neighbourhood relations, energy security.

GS area: Education, Social Justice

The expansion of higher education institutions from 1,600 in 1950 to 69,000 in 2022 masked widening equity gaps.

• GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio): The share of the 18-23 age group enrolled in higher education. India's GER was about 16 per cent in 2011 and reached 29.5 per cent by 2022-23. NEP 2020 targets 50 per cent by 2035.
• Student-teacher ratio: Worsened from 24:1 in 2010 to 32:1 in 2021. Faculty shortages compromise quality.
• Professional degree costs: Medical education averages Rs 97,400 per year; engineering Rs 72,600. Private professional education has become a class-determined good.
• Article 21A: The right to free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 years. Beyond this age there is no constitutional right to education.
• Article 41 (DPSP): The state shall make provision for securing the right to education. This is directive, not enforceable in court.
• PM-USHA: Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan. The central scheme for infrastructure support to state universities.

Static linkage: Education policy, DPSPs, social justice.

• FAO Food Price Index: Rose in March 2026 as higher energy costs from the West Asia conflict pushed up fertiliser and transport expenses across global food supply chains.
• INSTC (International North-South Transport Corridor): A 7,200 km multimodal route connecting India to Russia via Iran and Azerbaijan. Discussed as an alternative to Hormuz-dependent routes, though Iran's own role in the conflict complicated its use.