UPSC CSE Current Affairs — 6 October 2026

Axis Bank's ESG Data Book for FY 2025-26 discloses ₹45,511 crore in green lending and financial outreach to 2.76 million households. The report tracks the bank's sustainable finance portfolio, climate risk management practices, and social impact metrics. It reflects India's growing private-sector alignment with green finance frameworks, including RBI's guidelines on climate-related financial risks and India's broader net-zero commitments under the Paris Agreement.

ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting by banks is no longer voluntary optics — it is fast becoming a regulatory expectation. RBI's 2023 draft framework on climate-related financial risks requires banks to disclose physical and transition risks embedded in their loan portfolios. Axis Bank's ESG Data Book is a response to this evolving landscape.

Green lending refers to credit extended for projects with measurable environmental benefits — renewable energy, energy efficiency, green buildings, sustainable agriculture, and clean transportation. When a bank reports ₹45,511 crore in green lending, it is signalling portfolio alignment with taxonomy-based definitions of sustainable finance.

The 2.76 million household outreach figure captures the social dimension: financial inclusion of underserved populations, which is a key NABARD and priority-sector lending concern. RBI mandates that 40% of adjusted net bank credit flow to priority sectors, including agriculture and weaker sections — green rural lending sits at this intersection.

For RBI Grade B aspirants, the key framework is the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), both of which guide how banks measure and report financed emissions. SEBI's BRSR (Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting) framework similarly mandates ESG disclosure for listed companies. India's NDC targets — 500 GW renewable capacity by 2030 and net zero by 2070 — create the demand-side pull that makes green lending portfolios grow.

PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi), launched in June 2020, provides collateral-free working capital loans to urban street vendors displaced by COVID-19. Vendors begin with ₹10,000, scaling to ₹20,000 and then ₹50,000 on timely repayment. An interest subsidy of 7% per annum is credited directly to beneficiaries. The scheme is implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs through Urban Local Bodies, with Small Industries Development Bank of India as the nodal lending institution.

PM SVANidhi addresses a structural gap in urban financial inclusion: the roughly 50 lakh street vendors who operate outside the formal credit ecosystem. Before this scheme, vendors relied on moneylenders charging exploitative rates, creating a debt trap that prevented capital accumulation. The scheme's design is layered and behavioural. It starts small (₹10,000) to reduce lender risk, then rewards on-time repayment with credit graduation (₹20,000, then ₹50,000), nudging vendors toward formal financial discipline. The 7% per annum interest subsidy is paid as a cashback into the borrower's bank account, reinforcing digital transaction habits. Vendors who use digital payments earn additional cashback incentives, connecting the scheme to the broader India Stack and financial digitisation agenda.

From an RBI and NABARD lens, PM SVANidhi is a priority sector lending instrument — loans under the scheme qualify under the 'micro enterprises' sub-category within the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) priority sector target. This makes it directly testable in banking exams as both a welfare scheme and a credit delivery mechanism. For UPSC, the scheme illustrates urban livelihood governance, COVID-19 economic response, and the role of Urban Local Bodies in welfare delivery. The scheme also functions as a social registry — vendor identification through issuance of a Certificate of Vending integrates previously informal workers into a formal urban database, enabling future programme targeting.

The PM Vidyalaxmi scheme, launched in November 2024, provides collateral-free and guarantor-free education loans to meritorious students admitted to top-ranked higher education institutions in India. Loans up to ₹7.5 lakh receive a 75% credit guarantee from the government. Students with annual family income up to ₹8 lakh get a 3% interest subvention during the moratorium period. The scheme is administered by the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education.

PM Vidyalaxmi addresses a structural gap in India's education finance ecosystem: meritorious students from low-to-middle income families who clear competitive entrance examinations but cannot access institutional credit because they lack collateral or creditworthy guarantors. Traditional bank lending demands security; these students have neither property nor wealthy co-signatories.

The scheme's financial architecture has three layered supports. First, the credit guarantee — covering 75% of loans up to ₹7.5 lakh — de-risks lending for scheduled commercial banks and makes them willing to lend without collateral. Second, an interest subvention of 3% during the moratorium period (study period plus six months or one year after employment, whichever is earlier) reduces the real cost of borrowing. Third, targeting is done through institutional ranking: only students admitted to QS-ranked, NIRF-ranked, or state-designated premier institutions are eligible, ensuring resources flow to high-ROI education investments.

The scheme uses the existing Jan Samarth portal for loan processing, integrating it within the broader digital public infrastructure. It is distinct from the older Central Sector Interest Subsidy (CSIS) scheme and the Padho Pardesh scheme, which had narrower eligibility. For NABARD and RBI aspirants, the key mechanism is the credit guarantee, which functions like a partial credit enhancement — a tool also used in priority sector lending and MSME credit.

Eligibility is income-linked: full benefits flow to families earning up to ₹8 lakh per annum, aligning with the EWS/OBC non-creamy layer income threshold used in several other government programmes.

The Supreme Court ordered a safety audit of Delhi-NCR infrastructure while separately taking up duplicate NEET-UG scorecards as a students' rights concern in the week of 28 September to 4 October 2026. High Courts across India also delivered notable rulings touching education, safety, and administrative accountability. The week's developments span constitutional rights, regulatory oversight, and judicial review of executive action — all domains regularly tested in CLAT PG and UPSC CSE.

This weekly cluster of rulings sits at the intersection of three constitutional doctrines that are perennial CLAT PG and UPSC CSE targets.

First, the NEET-UG scorecard fraud engages Article 21 (right to education as a facet of life and dignity) read with the broader right against arbitrary State action under Article 14. The Supreme Court's consistent position since Mohini Jain v. State of Karnataka (1992) and Unni Krishnan v. State of A.P. (1993) is that the right to education is embedded in Article 21. When fraudulent scorecards displace meritorious candidates, the Court treats it as a State failure to protect that right.

Second, the Delhi-NCR safety audit order illustrates how Article 21 has expanded to cover the right to a safe environment and safe public infrastructure. The Court has repeatedly used its Article 32 jurisdiction combined with the parens patriae doctrine to direct executive audits where life is at risk.

Third, the students' rights angle connects to Article 19(1)(g) (freedom to practise a profession) and the statutory framework of the National Medical Commission Act, 2020, which replaced the Medical Council of India and now governs NEET oversight.

For the examiner, the key doctrinal move is the Court treating an administrative irregularity — duplicate scorecards — not merely as a service matter but as a constitutional rights violation, thereby widening the scope of judicial review.

Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Anupriya Patel launched the Jan Aushadhi Sugam mobile application and chaired a review meeting on the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) scheme. The app enables citizens to locate nearby Jan Aushadhi Kendras, check medicine availability, and access product information. PMBJP provides affordable generic medicines through dedicated outlets called Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJKs) across India, reducing healthcare costs for common citizens.

The Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) is a flagship scheme run by the Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. Launched originally in 2008 and restructured in 2015, it aims to make quality generic medicines available at affordable prices through dedicated retail outlets called Jan Aushadhi Kendras (PMBJKs). The scheme is implemented by the Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI), which serves as its implementing body.

The Jan Aushadhi Sugam app is a digital interface that allows users to locate the nearest PMBJK, search for medicines, compare prices between branded and generic versions, and get product details. This digital tool bridges the awareness gap that often prevents citizens from accessing scheme benefits.

Generic medicines sold under PMBJP are priced at least 50–90% lower than branded equivalents, directly reducing out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure for low- and middle-income households. The scheme connects to the broader 'Affordable Healthcare' pillar of government policy and is frequently tested alongside schemes like Ayushman Bharat and ESIC in competitive exams.

For exam purposes, the institutional architecture matters: Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers oversees the scheme; BPPI implements it; PMBJKs are the retail outlets; and the Jan Aushadhi Sugam app is the citizen-facing digital layer.