For JPSC,BPSC, UPSC

Jharkhand Public Service Commission

1. MMDR Amendment Act, 2026
Tags: Federalism, Mining Rights, State List
Why Important: Centralises control over “mineral-bearing land”; Odisha (43.49% of India’s mineral value) is most affected.
Prerequisite: Union/State/Concurrent Lists; MMDR Act 1957 basics.
Content:
Section 2 amended to add “mineral-bearing land” to “regulation of mines” — expands Union control.
Section 9D bars States from imposing new taxes/cesses/levies on mineral rights and from collecting court-ordered dues.
Bill passed both Houses on Aug 13, 2026; received Presidential assent.
Odisha’s ORISED Act (2004) was struck down by Orissa HC/SC, ending a 20-year legal fight where the State stood to reclaim ₹1 lakh crore+ in retrospective dues.
Mining accounts for 37.59% of Odisha’s 2026-27 revenue.

2. Vande Mataram Amendment — Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 2026
Tags: Fundamental Rights, Freedom of Conscience
Why Important: Tests the balance between patriotic symbolism and Articles 25/26; directly linked to landmark SC precedent.
Prerequisite:
Constituent Assembly’s Jan 24, 1950 statement by Dr. Rajendra Prasad giving Vande Mataram “equal status” with the national anthem.
It was never made the anthem/co-anthem.
1937 Congress Working Committee limited official use to the first two (secular) stanzas.
Content:
Amendment passed by Parliament — Rajya Sabha July 29, Lok Sabha July 30, 2026.
Extends the same penal protection (up to 3 years imprisonment) to Vande Mataram as the national anthem.
Only penalises preventing/disturbing its singing.
Does not mandate participation or prescribe which stanzas must be sung.
Bijoe Emmanuel v. State of Kerala (1986): SC held that compelling anyone to sing violates Article 19(1)(a) and Article 25(1).
Article 51A (Fundamental Duties) cannot override Part III rights.

3. Lok Sabha Prorogation Delay
Tags: Parliamentary Procedure
Content:
Lok Sabha adjourned sine die on Aug 13, 2026, but had not yet been prorogued.
Congress flagged the 10-day gap as “abnormal”.
Normal gap: 2–4 days.
Exceptions: 28 days in Monsoon 2015, 20 days in 2021.
Prorogation, not adjournment, formally closes a session.
Governed by Article 85(2) and done by the President on the advice of the PM/Council of Ministers.

4. Triple Test — Industrial Relations Code, 2020
Tags: Labour Law, Judicial Review
Content:
9-judge SC Bench, headed by CJI Surya Kant, reviewed the Bangalore Water Supply case (1978).
“Triple Test” for defining industry under ID Act 1947, Section 2(j):
Systematic activity
Employer–employee cooperation
Production/distribution of goods or services
Sovereign functions are excluded.
Majority ruled BWSSB is not the “sheet anchor” for interpreting IRC 2020, Section 2(p).
Justice B.V. Nagarathna dissented.
ID Act was repealed on Nov 21, 2025, when IRC 2020 came into force.

5. Delhi’s Inter-State Prisoner Transfer Plan
Tags: Prison Reform, Federalism
Content:
Delhi government plans to implement the Transfer of Prisoners (Punjab Amendment) Act, 2025.
Aim: Shift undertrial gangsters/high-risk prisoners to other States.
Requires mutual consent + MHA approval.
Transfer of Prisoners Act, 1950: Covers only convicts, not undertrials.
Prisons Act, 1900: Allows only intra-State transfer.
188 members of 26 gangs identified in Delhi.

6. Doval’s China Visit / BRICS Summit
Tags: India-China Relations, Boundary Question
Content:
NSA Ajit Doval visiting Beijing (Aug 24–25) for the 25th round of Special Representatives talks on the boundary question.
Visit comes ahead of possible Xi Jinping visit to India for BRICS Summit (Sept 12, 2026).
First Xi visit to India in 7 years.
2005 Agreement on Political Parameters underpins boundary settlement.
Three-stage process:
Framework → Delimitation → Demarcation

7. Iran-US Standoff
Tags: West Asia, Strait of Hormuz
Content:
Iran President Pezeshkian defended June-signed 60-day MoU with the US amid a new sanctions threat.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is near standstill.
War began in Feb 2026 following US-Israel strikes on Iran.

8. MV Ocean Winner Sinking
Tags: Disaster Management
Content:
Panama-flagged bulk carrier MV Ocean Winner sank off Odisha in the Bay of Bengal.
24 crew members: China, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Indian Navy P-8I aircraft + Indian Coast Guard conducted search operations.
MRCC Sri Vijaya Puram coordinated rescue through merchant vessel MT Aisopos.

9. AI-Designed Bacteriophage Genomes — Stanford/Arc Institute
Tags: Biosecurity, Frontier AI
Content:
Genome language models Evo 1 and Evo 2 generated 285 complete ΦX174-like bacteriophage genomes.
16 produced functioning phages.
Some were capable of overcoming bacterial resistance.
Marks a shift from AI analysing biology → AI designing biological systems.
Raises concerns about biosecurity and capability amplification.
Screening needs to assess biological function, not merely sequence similarity to known pathogens.

10. IN-SPACe Re-entry Guidelines
Tags: Space Governance, Sustainability
Content:
IN-SPACe, under the Department of Space, issued India’s first guidelines for planned satellite/spacecraft re-entry.
Issued days after Vikram-1’s success, India’s first privately built orbital rocket by Skyroot Aerospace.
Key elements:
Mandatory IN-SPACe authorisation for planned re-entry by Indian entities.
Casualty risk must remain below 1 in 10,000.
Re-verification of re-entry parameters approximately 3 months prior.
Advisory notice 45 days before re-entry.
Linked with:
Space Liability Convention, 1972 → absolute liability for damage.
UN COPUOS Long-Term Sustainability Guidelines → soft law.

11. Core Industries Slowdown
Tags: Economy, Index of Core Industries
Content:
ICI growth slowed to 5.4% in July 2026, from 6% in June.
Largely influenced by the low base effect.
Crude oil and natural gas contracted continuously for 14+ months.
Strong growth:
Cement → 13.1%
Electricity → 9%

12. Female LFPR — PLFS 2025
Tags: Employment, Gender
Content:
Overall FLFPR (15+) increased from 30% (2019–20) → 40% (2025).
Rural FLFPR increased sharply:
33% → 45.9%
Urban FLFPR:
23.3% → 27.7%
States above the all-India rural average growth rate:
West Bengal
Uttar Pradesh
Gujarat
Odisha
Bihar
Rajasthan
Haryana

Static Concept Linkages
MMDR Amendment → Union/State List entries on mines & minerals (Entries 23, 24, 54) → Article 246
Vande Mataram → Fundamental Rights vs Fundamental Duties → Constituent Assembly debates → Anandamath (1882)
Triple Test → Article 246 → Concurrent List Entry 22 (Labour)
Doval Visit → 2005 Agreement → Kazan 2024 Modi-Xi meeting → SCO Tianjin Summit
IN-SPACe → Outer Space Treaty 1967 (Article IX) → Space Liability Convention 1972