UPSC CSE Current Affairs — 2 September 2026

ISRO will launch EOS-05 aboard GSLV-F17, the 19th flight of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, from Sriharikota's Second Launch Pad. EOS-05, also called GISAT-1A, will be India's first imaging satellite from geostationary orbit, stationed at roughly 36,000 km altitude. It will provide near-real-time imagery every 30 minutes, with priority-target revisits as short as five minutes. The mission revives ISRO's GISAT programme after GISAT-1 failed to orbit during the GSLV-F10 launch in August 2021.

Most Earth observation satellites operate in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), typically 400–800 km altitude, where they pass over a given location only once every few hours or days. This periodic coverage limits their utility for monitoring fast-moving events like cyclones or floods. EOS-05 changes that equation by operating from geostationary orbit at ~36,000 km, where the satellite's orbital period exactly matches Earth's rotation, keeping it fixed over the Indian subcontinent continuously.

This persistent watch capability — imagery every 30 minutes, or every 5 minutes for priority zones — transforms Earth observation from a snapshot service into near-real-time surveillance. Applications span weather forecasting, agricultural monitoring, disaster management (cyclones, floods, forest fires), and strategic observation.

Technically, geostationary imaging is harder than LEO imaging. The satellite must resolve surface features from nearly 100 times the altitude of a typical LEO satellite, demanding extremely sensitive optics, precise pointing, and thermal stability.

The GISAT series is ISRO's answer to this challenge. GISAT-1 (EOS-05's predecessor) was lost in August 2021 when GSLV-F10's cryogenic upper stage failed to ignite. EOS-05/GISAT-1A thus carries both scientific and programmatic significance — it is ISRO's second attempt to establish continuous geostationary Earth imaging, a capability that major space powers have deployed but India has not yet operationalised.

For UPSC, note the distinction: GSLV (not PSLV) is the launch vehicle, the orbit is geostationary (not LEO or SSO), and the unique selling point is persistent regional coverage rather than global revisit.

The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee, chaired by Governor Sanjay Malhotra, unanimously held the repo rate at 6.5 percent with a neutral stance in its first bi-monthly meeting for FY2025-26. The Standing Deposit Facility rate stays at 6.25 percent and the Marginal Standing Facility rate at 6.75 percent. RBI projects real GDP growth at 6.9 percent for FY26, against an estimated 7.6 percent for FY25, and CPI inflation at 4.6 percent. West Asia conflict and El Niño conditions are flagged as upside risks to inflation.

This MPC decision operates within India's flexible inflation-targeting framework, where the RBI targets CPI inflation at 4 percent with a ±2 percent tolerance band. The repo rate is the rate at which commercial banks borrow overnight funds from RBI against government securities. The LAF corridor is structured so the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) forms the floor, the repo rate is the policy rate in the middle, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) forms the ceiling — each separated by 25 basis points.

A neutral stance signals the MPC is neither committed to cutting nor hiking rates; it is data-dependent. The unanimous vote reflects MPC consensus that current conditions — elevated global energy prices from the West Asia conflict, rupee depreciation, and moderating but sticky inflation — do not justify a rate change.

Transmission mechanism: When repo rate is held steady, bank lending rates remain anchored. This neither stimulates additional credit growth nor tightens it — a deliberate balance when growth is moderating (6.9% from 7.6%) but inflation risks remain. The GDP growth downgrade from 7.6% to 6.9% reflects both global headwinds and domestic demand moderation.

On exchange rate, RBI reiterated its market-determined policy — intervening only to smooth excessive volatility, not to defend a specific rupee level. This is a standard distinction tested in exams: RBI does not target an exchange rate band, only curbs disruptive movements.

The Supreme Court of India has ruled that no court can force a woman, particularly a minor, to carry a pregnancy against her will. The bench grounded this ruling in Article 21, affirming that bodily autonomy and reproductive choice are core components of the right to life and personal liberty. The judgment reinforces that forced pregnancy constitutes a violation of dignity and cannot be sanctioned by any judicial order, regardless of gestational age or circumstance.

This ruling sits at the intersection of Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) and reproductive rights jurisprudence. The Supreme Court has, over successive judgments, expanded Article 21 beyond mere survival to include dignity, privacy, and autonomy — and this ruling crystallises that trajectory in the specific domain of reproductive choice.

The constitutional foundation: In Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017), a nine-judge bench unanimously held that privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21, explicitly covering bodily integrity and reproductive autonomy. The present ruling operationalises that principle — a court order compelling pregnancy continuation is itself an unconstitutional infringement of Article 21.

The MTP Act dimension: The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, as amended in 2021, permits termination up to 24 weeks for certain categories (survivors of sexual assault, minors, women with foetal abnormalities) and beyond 24 weeks by a Medical Board for substantial foetal abnormalities. The Court has consistently held that access to safe abortion under MTP is a statutory right that courts must facilitate, not obstruct.

The minor-specific angle: For minors, the intersection with the POCSO Act is critical. Sexual offences against minors result in pregnancy that the State cannot compel the minor to carry. Courts must balance the MTP Act's protections against any procedural delay that itself becomes a rights violation.

The limitation the Court recognised: The ruling does not create an absolute right to abortion at any stage without any regulation. The State retains a legitimate interest in regulating termination procedures. The test applied is whether the restriction on reproductive choice is proportionate and justified — mere passage of time caused by court delays cannot be used to deny the right.

This judgment connects directly to the CLAT PG examiner's favourite angle: applying a constitutional right to a hypothetical fact pattern involving a minor or survivor, asking whether a High Court's refusal to grant termination permission is constitutionally valid.

India's Q1 FY27 GDP growth surprised analysts on the upside, prompting leading economists and institutions to revise full-year FY27 forecasts beyond the 7% mark. The beat was driven by stronger-than-expected domestic consumption and resilient manufacturing output. This upward revision follows a period of cautious growth projections shaped by global uncertainty, sticky inflation, and delayed private investment. The revision signals renewed confidence in India's growth trajectory, with monetary and fiscal policy coordination now under sharper scrutiny.

GDP surprises matter because they shift the policy calculus across three institutions simultaneously — the MPC, the Finance Ministry, and external rating agencies.

When Q1 GDP prints above consensus, economists revise their full-year estimates upward using two channels. First, the base effect: a stronger Q1 mechanically lifts the annual average even if subsequent quarters moderate. Second, the multiplier signal: strong consumption in Q1 suggests household balance sheets are healthier, which feeds into credit demand forecasts and corporate investment plans.

For monetary policy, a GDP surprise above 7% complicates the rate-cut narrative. The MPC targets inflation within a 2–6% band (with 4% as the midpoint), not growth. But growth above potential raises demand-pull inflation risks, which may delay further rate reductions even if headline CPI is within the band. This is the output gap argument — when actual GDP approaches or exceeds potential GDP, inflationary pressures build.

For fiscal policy, higher growth improves tax buoyancy, potentially allowing the government to meet its fiscal deficit target (4.5% of GDP for FY27 per the medium-term path) with less compression in expenditure.

For UPSC aspirants, the key concept here is the relationship between GDP growth, the output gap, and inflation — a classic macro trilemma that the examiner tests through statement-evaluation formats. For RBI Grade B aspirants, understanding how GDP data feeds into MPC meeting deliberations and forward guidance is critical.

The Supreme Court closed a suo motu case it had initiated after an NCERT Political Science textbook chapter described corruption in the judiciary. The Court took cognisance after the chapter attracted attention, but ultimately shut the proceedings without directing NCERT to remove or modify the content. The closure signals that the Court declined to use its suo motu jurisdiction to suppress academic discussion of judicial accountability, even when the subject touched the institution itself.

This episode sits at the intersection of two foundational constitutional principles: the Supreme Court's suo motu jurisdiction under Article 32 read with Article 142, and the limits of that power when it potentially conflicts with academic freedom and free expression under Article 19(1)(a).

Suo motu jurisdiction allows the Court to take cognisance of a matter without a formal petition, treating a news report, letter, or public event as a writ petition in the public interest. It is one of the most powerful instruments of judicial activism in India. However, it is also subject to self-restraint — the Court must assess whether intervening serves a genuine public interest or whether it would amount to the Court acting as a party in its own cause (nemo judex in causa sua).

The NCERT chapter discussed corruption in the judiciary as a civic education topic. The Court's decision to close the case without ordering deletion is significant: it implicitly affirms that textbook discussion of institutional shortcomings, including judicial corruption, falls within the bounds of permissible academic discourse. Ordering deletion would have raised serious questions about judicial overreach and self-interest.

For CLAT PG, the key principle is the boundary of suo motu PIL — when is it appropriate, and crucially, when must the Court step back? This case also reinforces the doctrine that courts cannot be immune from academic scrutiny. The examiner may test this through a hypothetical where a court takes suo motu cognisance of criticism directed at itself.

Prime Minister Modi met President Xi Jinping and President Putin at the SCO Summit, marking a visible diplomatic thaw after years of India-China border tensions. The meeting signals normalisation in bilateral ties following the Galwan Valley clash of 2020 and subsequent disengagement at friction points. Both sides indicated momentum ahead of the BRICS Summit. The SCO gathering brought together Eurasian leaders on trade, security, and connectivity — all core pillars of the grouping's founding mandate.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was founded in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan — growing from the earlier Shanghai Five framework. India and Pakistan became full members in 2017, making SCO a rare multilateral platform where India, China, and Pakistan share the same table. Iran joined in 2023, and Belarus was admitted in 2024, expanding the grouping to ten full members.

For India, the SCO is both an opportunity and a diplomatic tightrope. India engages with SCO's counter-terrorism mechanism (RATS — Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure), trade facilitation, and connectivity goals. However, India has consistently opposed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key SCO-linked infrastructure project, as it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The Modi-Xi meeting at the SCO is significant because it follows a formal disengagement agreement at Depsang and Demchok in October 2024 — the first comprehensive patrolling restoration since Galwan. Diplomatic engagement between two nuclear-armed neighbours with contested borders rarely proceeds smoothly, and summits like SCO provide neutral multilateral cover for bilateral conversations.

For UPSC aspirants, the examiner will test the founding year, membership expansion, RATS, India's membership year, and India's nuanced position on SCO-linked projects. The geopolitical triangle of India-China-Russia — all three being SCO members — is a recurring exam theme.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attributed India's resilience against global headwinds to structural economic reforms and systematic easing of compliance burdens. Speaking in an interview, she highlighted measures including GST rationalisation, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code strengthening, and reduction of regulatory friction for businesses. She positioned India's macroeconomic stability — marked by controlled inflation, robust tax collections, and steady capital expenditure — as outcomes of deliberate policy design rather than external fortune. India's GDP growth trajectory remains among the strongest globally despite geopolitical and trade pressures.

FM Sitharaman's statement situates India's economic performance within a policy framework that competitive exam aspirants must understand at multiple levels.

At the structural level, India's post-2014 reform architecture rests on three pillars: fiscal consolidation (reducing fiscal deficit through direct benefit transfers and plugging subsidy leakages), ease of doing business (decriminalisation of minor offences, faceless assessments, single-window clearances), and financial sector strengthening (IBC, NARCL for bad-loan resolution, recapitalisation of PSBs).

The compliance-easing dimension is especially testable. Key measures include: decriminalisation of the Companies Act (2020), faceless income tax assessments, GST return simplification, and the Jan Vishwas Act (2023) which decriminalised 183 provisions across 42 central acts — converting imprisonment clauses into fines for minor business violations.

From an RBI angle, the macroeconomic resilience argument connects to monetary-fiscal coordination: RBI's inflation targeting framework (4% ±2%) complemented fiscal capital expenditure-led growth. The fiscal multiplier from public capex — which averaged over ₹10 lakh crore in Union Budgets 2023–2025 — has sustained growth even as private capex remained subdued.

For UPSC, the governance angle is paramount: reforms like PM Gati Shakti, NIP (National Infrastructure Pipeline), and PLI schemes represent supply-side economics embedded in welfare delivery. The distinction between reform-led resilience and cyclical luck is itself a conceptual test the examiner may pose.

India and Uzbekistan upgraded their bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during a summit meeting. The upgrade deepens engagement across defence, connectivity, trade, and counter-terrorism. Uzbekistan is a key Central Asian partner for India's Connect Central Asia policy and a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. The partnership signals India's intent to strengthen ties with a landlocked but strategically located nation that serves as a gateway to Afghanistan and broader Central Asia.

India classifies its bilateral relationships into tiers — from basic diplomatic ties to Strategic Partnership, and then to the highest level of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP). A CSP signals cooperation across the full spectrum: defence, economy, culture, counter-terrorism, science, and people-to-people ties. Upgrades of this kind are deliberate foreign policy signals.

Uzbekistan matters to India for several structural reasons. First, it is the most populous nation in Central Asia, giving India a significant market and strategic anchor. Second, India's Connect Central Asia policy (launched 2012) and the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) both treat Central Asian nations as critical nodes. Uzbekistan's location — bordering Afghanistan — makes it relevant to India's concerns about post-2021 Afghan instability and cross-border terrorism.

Uzbekistan is also a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), where India has been a full member since 2017. Bilateral trade remains modest but growing, and both nations have cooperated in the Chabahar Port framework that gives landlocked Central Asia an alternative route to Indian ports bypassing Pakistan.

For UPSC, the examiner is likely to test the strategic rationale — why India invests in Central Asia — and India's specific policy architecture (Connect Central Asia, SCO, INSTC, Chabahar) rather than headline diplomacy alone.

India and Israel formalised diplomatic relations in 1992, and since then bilateral ties have expanded across defence, agriculture, water technology, and counter-terrorism cooperation. Israel is now one of India's top defence suppliers, with deals covering drones, missile systems, and surveillance equipment. The two countries also run joint agricultural research projects under the India–Israel Agricultural Project. Bilateral trade stands at roughly $7–8 billion annually. Strategic convergence on counter-terrorism and technology transfers continues to deepen the partnership beyond its originally limited diplomatic footprint.

India's relationship with Israel is a case study in pragmatic foreign policy evolution. Until 1992, India withheld full diplomatic recognition largely to retain Arab support and solidarity with the Palestinian cause under a Non-Aligned Movement framework. The 1992 normalisation under P.V. Narasimha Rao marked a pivotal shift—India began separating its symbolic support for Palestine from its practical bilateral interests with Israel.

The relationship today rests on four pillars. First, defence: Israel is consistently among India's top two or three arms suppliers, providing systems like the Barak missile, Heron and Harop drones, and Phalcon AWACS radars (co-developed with Russia). India is Israel's largest defence export customer. Second, agriculture and water: the India–Israel Agricultural Project (IIAP), launched formally around 2008 and expanded through subsequent phases, supports centres of excellence in states like Haryana, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan for drip irrigation, protected cultivation, and post-harvest management. Third, counter-terrorism intelligence sharing, particularly relevant after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Fourth, technology and innovation, including start-up collaboration under joint innovation funds.

The static knowledge the examiner tests includes: when diplomatic relations were established (1992), the nature of IIAP, India's earlier non-recognition policy rationale, and the broader context of India's 'multi-alignment'—maintaining ties with Arab states, Iran, and Israel simultaneously without formal alliance obligations.