UPSC Key: Red Sea, Retrospective Environmental Clearance and IRDAI

Tough exam leak Bill clears LS, Rahul raises police crackdown

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance

Main Examination: General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

What’s the ongoing story: Wrapping up a two-day debate punctuated by acrimonious exchanges as the Opposition slammed the government over the police crackdown on student protesters in Delhi, Lok Sabha Wednesday passed the stringent Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 by a voice vote amid sloganeering.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026-what the key provisions?

• How the new bill is different from the Public Examinations Act of 2024?

• The scope of rigorous anti-cheating law covers which all examinations?

• What are the contentious provisions in the new bill?

• “The Bill mandates that trials must wrap up within three months of filing a chargesheet”—Why this provision is problematic?

• What are fast track courts?

• What is the purpose of the fast track courts?

• What has been the experience of other fast-track courts?

Key Takeaways:

• The punishment for persons resorting to unfair means has been enhanced from imprisonment of three to five years to five to ten years, while the maximum fine has been increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.

• For service providers involved in such offences, the maximum fine has been enhanced from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore and the period of debarment from conducting public examinations has been increased from four years to eight years. The Bill further enhances punishment for organised crime from five to ten years’ imprisonment to seven to ten years and increases the maximum fine from Rs 1 crore to Rs 10 crore.

• The Bill provides for the establishment of special fast-track courts for offences relating to public examinations and envisages completion of investigation within two months and completion of trial within three months from the date of filing of the charge sheet.

• Referring to the implementation of the 2024 Act, the 52 FIRs have already been registered under its provisions.

Do You Know:
According to the prsIndia,

• The Bill requires that trial must be completed within three months from the date of filing of chargesheet. It also requires that the High Court decide an appeal within three months from admission, as far as possible. The Supreme Court (2002) held that it is neither advisable, nor feasible, nor judicially permissible to draw or prescribe an outer limit for conclusion of criminal proceedings. It further held that criminal courts are not obliged to terminate trial or criminal proceedings merely on account of lapse of time

• The Bill adds that no appeal “shall” be entertained by the High Court after 90 days from the date of judgment, sentence, or order. The National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 also has the same provision. The High Courts have taken conflicting views on whether they have powers to allow appeal beyond 90 days. The Bombay High Court (2023) ruled that if the provision were to be held mandatory despite sufficient cause shown by the applicant, it will amount to travesty of justice. It read down “shall” to be “may”, giving discretion to the High Court.
—Similarly, the Delhi High Court (2019) had ruled that if such a bar by Legislature curtails the right to life and liberty, it cannot be construed as mandatory. It held that the law is only directory, and not mandatory. However, the Madras High Court (2024) ruled that the Court does not have discretion in this matter. It held that reading down doctrine cannot be resorted to when the meaning of the provision is plain and unambiguous and the legislative intent is clear.9 In February 2025, the Supreme Court directed as an interim measure that appeals under the NIA Act will not be dismissed on the ground that delay cannot be condoned beyond 90 days.

• The Bill states that investigation must be completed within two months. However, there are no provisions if the specified timeline is not met. This is different from other laws. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 requires reasons to be recorded in writing for extending time period for preliminary inquiry and investigation. Similarly, under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the concerned officer must explain the delay in completing investigation and filing chargesheet within 60 days, in writing

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Bigger fines, longer jail terms, fast-track courts: How new paper leak Bill amends 2024 law

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
1) Consider the following: (UPSC CSE, 2011)
1. Right to education.
2. Right to equal access to public service.
3. Right to food.
Which of the above is/are Human Right/Human Rights under “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”?
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
📍What are the aims and objects of the recently passed and enforced, The Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024? Whether University/State Education Board examinations are also covered under the Act? (2024)

Retrospective green nod: SC strikes down Centre’s order, opens window for exception

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

What’s the ongoing story: The Supreme Court Wednesday struck down the Centre’s 2021 office memorandum regarding retrospective approval for projects that had already commenced construction or operation without environmental clearances.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is retrospective environmental clearance?

• Why Supreme Court has struck down the Centre’s 2021 office memorandum regarding retrospective approval for projects?

• What exactly Supreme Court said?

• What is Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986?

• What you know about Vanasakthi vs Union of India?

• What was the Supreme Court’s verdict in Vanasakthi vs Union of India?

• What was the 2017 notification by the Ministry of Environment?

• What is Environmental Impact Assessment?

Key Takeaways:

• A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, however, said the Centre can grant exceptions where the project is in public interest, but that has to be done under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and not through a mere administrative office memorandum.

• To avoid disruption to existing projects, the bench said the ruling will apply prospectively, leaving existing clearances unaffected.

• The Supreme Court clarified that its earlier decisions in Common Cause and Alembic Pharmaceuticalswere rendered in the context of prevailing laws at the time and “do not place a clog on the power of the Central government to issue an appropriate, narrowly tailored amnesty notification in supervening public interest as an exception to the 2006 notification”.

• The bench added, “The decriminalisation of regulatory contraventions under the 1986 Act, through the Jan Vishwas Act 2023, reinforces our conclusion that the Central government has ample power under Section 3 to issue appropriate notifications, formulating amnesty schemes with regard to such classes or categories of non-compliant projects whose sustainability is necessary to subserve larger public interest.”

Do You Know:

• On May 16, 2025, the Supreme Court in the case Vanasakthi vs Union of India struck down a 2017 notification enabling retrospective environmental clearance and the subsequent 2021 office memorandum which laid down the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for such clearances.

• The SC has held that the government must make a distinct selection of projects for the grant of post facto environmental clearance. Projects with a bearing on public interest satisfy the test of proportionality, reasonableness.

• However, on November 18, 2025, the Supreme Court, by a 2:1 majority, recalled the May 16 ruling citing public interest and legal flaws. The bench had then Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, Justice Vinod Chandran and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, who dissented and said the judgement “overlooks the very fundamentals of environmental jurisprudence” and “is a step in retrogression”.

• However, on November 18, 2025, the Supreme Court, citing public interest and legal flaws, recalled the May 16 ruling, saying the judgement “overlooks the very fundamentals of environmental jurisprudence” and “is a step in retrogression”.
Hearing review petitions against this, the Supreme Court Wednesday said the 2017 notification was a “valid, narrowly tailored and time-bound delegated legislation, traceable to Section 3 of the 1986 Act, and Sections 20 and 21 of the General Clauses Act”.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍SC strikes down Vanashakti judgment: Why ruling is significant

Previous year UPSC main Question Covering similar theme:
📍Environmental impact assessment studies are increasingly undertaken before the project is cleared by the government. Discuss the environmental impacts of coal- fired thermal plants located at Pitheads. (2013)

Economy

IRDAI ushers in reforms to revamp insurance sector

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

What’s the ongoing story: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has introduced a set of reforms aimed at modernising the insurance sector, strengthening governance and accelerating insurance penetration across the country. The measures span regulatory, supervisory and developmental areas.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What kind of reforms Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has introduced?

• What is the significance of recent IRDAI reforms for the insurance sector?

• What is the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India?

• What is the role of insurance in achieving sustainable and inclusive economic development?

• Why does India continue to have relatively low insurance penetration despite rapid economic growth?

• Know the role of independent regulators such as IRDAI in balancing industry growth with consumer protection.

Key Takeaways:

• The measures aim to support the implementation of the Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Act, 2025 (SBSR Act), the regulator said.

• The reforms were approved at the IRDAI board meeting on Tuesday and are designed to provide insurers with greater operational flexibility, facilitate capital formation, improve governance standards and reinforce policyholder protection while enhancing ease of doing business across the insurance ecosystem.

• Among the key decisions was the approval of amendments to the IRDAI (Actuarial, Finance and Investment Functions of Insurers) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2026, and the IRDAI (Registration, Capital Structure, Transfer of Shares and Amalgamation of Insurers) (Amendment) Regulations, 2026.

• According to IRDAI, the changes will provide insurers with “greater operational and financial flexibility through liberalised investment norms, a facilitative framework for capital infusion and corporate restructuring, and streamlined provisions relating to transfer of shares and amalgamations, while strengthening actuarial oversight and financial governance.” The regulator said the reforms are expected to improve ease of doing business, enhance financial resilience and support insurers’ long-term growth without compromising policyholder interests.

• A major policyholder-centric initiative approved by the regulator is the IRDAI (Policyholders’ Education and Protection Fund) Regulations, 2026, which operationalise the Policyholders’ Education and Protection Fund (PEPF) established under Section 16A of the IRDA Act, 1999, as introduced through the SBSR Act.

• According to IRDAI, the PEPF establishes “a dedicated institutional mechanism to promote insurance awareness and literacy, strengthen grievance redressal mechanisms, leverage technology to improve policyholder services, facilitate the tracing and recovery of unclaimed insurance amounts, and support other initiatives aimed at empowering and safeguarding policyholders.”

• A key feature of the reforms is the mandatory tagging of the authorised salesperson to every insurance proposal, policy and certificate of insurance. “The requirement enhances accountability and traceability across the insurance distribution process, strengthens regulatory oversight and promotes greater transparency for policyholders,” IRDAI said.

Do You Know:

• In 1993, the Government set up a committee under the chairmanship of RN Malhotra, former Governor of RBI, to propose recommendations for reforms in the insurance sector.

• The objective was to complement the reforms initiated in the financial sector. The committee submitted its report in 1994 wherein , among other things, it recommended that the private sector be permitted to enter the insurance industry. They stated that foreign companies be allowed to enter by floating Indian companies, preferably a joint venture with Indian partners.

• Following the recommendations of the Malhotra Committee report, in 1999, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) was constituted as an autonomous body to regulate and develop the insurance industry. The IRDA was incorporated as a statutory body in April, 2000. The key objectives of the IRDA include promotion of competition so as to enhance customer satisfaction through increased consumer choice and lower premiums, while ensuring the financial security of the insurance market.

• The IRDA opened up the market in August 2000 with the invitation for application for registrations. Foreign companies were allowed ownership of up to 26%. The Authority has the power to frame regulations under Section 114A of the Insurance Act, 1938 and has from 2000 onwards framed various regulations ranging from registration of companies for carrying on insurance business to protection of policyholders’ interests.

• In December, 2000, the subsidiaries of the General Insurance Corporation of India were restructured as independent companies and at the same time GIC was converted into a national re-insurer. Parliament passed a bill de-linking the four subsidiaries from GIC in July, 2002.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Why IRDAI has brought in a statutory body to curb dark patterns in insurance

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
2) Consider the following: (UPSC CSE, 2012)
1. Hotels and restaurants
2. Motor transport undertakings
3. Newspaper establishments
4. Private medical institutions
The employees of which of the above can have the `Social Security’ coverage under Employees’ State Insurance Scheme?
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 4 only
(c) 1, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Explained

As conflict expands to Red Sea, India’s crude options

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: The theatre of the West Asia conflict, earlier limited to the Strait of Hormuz from the perspective of India’s crude oil imports, has now widened. Last week, the Yemen-based Houthi militia announced that it will target Saudi Arabian tankers attempting to cross the Bab al-Mandab, and indeed attacked a few ships.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Map Work—Bab al-Mandab, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea

• Can the Red Sea replace Hormuz?

• Know the brief history of India’s Russian oil imports.

• What percentage of India’s oil import is imported from Russia?

• India’s dependence on crude oil imports from Russia-What you know so far?

• What is the role of Russian oil in India’s energy security?

• How can India reduce its dependency on oil imports?

• What crude oil means?

• What are the types of crude oil?

• Why India is dependent on crude oil?

• Where does India import oil?

• India’s domestic crude oil and natural gas production has declined steadily-why?

• What steps have been taken by the Government of India to reduce the imports of crude oil?

Key Takeaways:

• Like the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab al-Mandab — which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea — is another critical chokepoint for global trade, and energy supplies in particular.

• The impact is already visible, with vessel crossings through the Bab al-Mandab slumping to an average 31 per day over the past three days from 43 per day in the first half of July, as per S&P Global data. Moreover, energy volumes transiting the Strait of Hormuz continue to be paltry.

• Saudi Arabia was using the route, which is independent of the Strait of Hormuz, to export its oil, including to India as maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz reduced to a trickle.

• The immediate impact of a Houthi blockade on Saudi Arabia-linked shipping and energy supplies would be delays in oil shipments to Asia, as tankers would be forced to sail westward instead, through the Suez Canal, and then taking the circuitous route around Africa.

• This would add up to four weeks to the journey, and make supplies expensive due to higher freight and insurance costs. Moreover, the anti-Saudi blockade could keep oil prices elevated, which is another concern for India as the country depends on imports to meet over 88% of its oil requirement. According to industry insiders, experts, and analysts, while the current risks for India are a matter of concern, they appear manageable.

• The first and the most obvious fall-back for the country is Russian crude, the mainstay of its oil imports. So far, Russian oil appears to be safe from Houthi attacks as it was in earlier Bab al-Mandab blockades by the Iran-backed militia.

• Russian oil exports are also under pressure, with Ukrainian strikes against Moscow’s energy infrastructure. But the expectation by and large is that while this may lead to some tightness in availability of Moscow’s crude, any material impact on India would be limited from a supply security perspective, even though Indian refiners may get battered by higher oil, freight, and insurance costs.

Do You Know:

• Industry analysts said that if Saudi Arabian oil supplies to India are disrupted, Indian refiners are likely to further increase purchases of Russian oil barrels, while also drawing on commercial crude inventories to bridge temporary supply gaps. Moreover, India’s increasingly diversified crude slate — which includes dozens of suppliers from across the world — provides greater flexibility than in previous years, reducing the risk of a severe supply disruption.

• Amid the Strait of Hormuz crisis, as supplies from West Asia faltered, India’s Russian crude imports have increased sharply from around 1 million bpd in February, to record highs of about 2.6 million bpd in June, accounting for over 50% of India’s overall oil imports. July oil imports from Russia are also tracking at similar levels, as per ship-tracking data. Before the war, over 40% of India’s oil imports came from West Asia via the Strait of Hormuz.

Russian oil

• According to Ritolia, Russian crude remains India’s strongest supply hedge, and imports could potentially rise toward or even above 3 million bpd if market conditions and Russian export availability permit. He added that the situation would become tighter if Red Sea flows are disrupted, but it is unlikely to become critical.

• According to industry experts and analysts, a key uncertainty from India’s point of view is whether Russia can sustain higher export availability, given the impact of continued Ukrainian attacks on parts of its upstream and downstream oil infrastructure.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍What is the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and why does the Houthi ‘blockade’ threat against Saudi Arabia matter?

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
3) Consider the following activities: (UPSC CSE, 2025)
I. Production of crude oil
II. Refining, storage, and distribution of petroleum
III. Marketing and sale of petroleum products
IV. Production of natural gas
How many of the above activities are regulated by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) in India?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) Only three
(d) All four

4) The term ‘West Texas Intermediate’, sometimes found in news, refers to a grade of (UPSC CSE, 2020)
(a) Crude oil
(b) Bullion
(c) Rare earth elements
(d) Uranium

5) Consider the following statement: (UPSC CSE, 2024)
Statement I: Sumed pipeline is a strategic route for Persian Gulf oil and natural gas shipments to Europe.
Statement-II: Sumed pipeline connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
(a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains. Statement-I
(b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
(c) Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
(d) Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Besra arrest may not stop Maoist insurgency, but effectively ends the movement

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Linkages between development and spread of extremism.

What’s the ongoing story: The arrest of senior Communist Party of India (Maoist) Politburo member Misir Besra in Jharkhand marks the culmination of one of India’s longest counter-insurgency campaigns.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Who is Misir Besra?

• What does his arrest mean for the Maoist movement?

• What kind of action has the government taken over the past two years?

• Can the movement survive without its leadership?

• What do you understand by Maoism?

• What created the space for Maoism in India?

• How many states were affected by Maoism in India?

• Maoism and Naxalism and left wing insurgency-Compare and Contrast

• ‘Maoism is a social, economic and developmental issue manifesting as a violent internal security threat’-discuss

• What steps being taken by the Government of India to eradicate Naxal and LWE forces from the country?

• How the Government of India has taken several specific initiatives in LWE affected States with Special reference to expansion of road network, improving Telecommunication connectivity, skill development and financial inclusion?

• Can Maoism—or violent far-left politics—rise again?

Key Takeaways:

• For nearly four decades, Besra remained one of the organisation’s most influential leaders in the Jharkhand-Bihar region, surviving repeated security offensives even as the rest of the Maoist leadership was steadily eliminated through encounters, arrests, and surrenders. With his arrest, the CPI (Maoist) has effectively lost the last active member of the leadership that built the organisation into a nationwide insurgent force.

• Besra’s arrest completes the dismantling of the CPI (Maoist)’s central leadership that security agencies have pursued over the past two years. Unlike earlier phases of the anti-Maoist campaign, which largely targeted field commanders, the recent offensive focused on decapitating the organisation’s command structure.

• At the start of 2024, the Politburo and Central Committee together had 21 leaders directing military operations, recruitment, and strategy across the country. Over the next two years, 12 were killed, seven surrendered, and one was arrested. Besra, the only leader still underground, has now also been captured.

Do You Know:

• Born into a Santhal Adivasi family in Madnadih village of Jharkhand’s Giridih district, Misir Besra studied in Dhanbad before completing graduation and postgraduation in political science at Rajganj. It was during the sociopolitical churn of the Jharkhand movement in the late 1980s that he was drawn to Maoist ideology. Leaving behind his young wife and family, he joined the Maoist Communist Centre, which later merged with the People’s War Group in 2004 to form the CPI (Maoist).

• Besra’s rise was driven by military success. Soon after Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000, he was linked to a series of attacks on security forces, including the 2003 and 2004 IED ambushes in West Singhbhum’s Bitkilsoy and Baliba that killed 55 personnel. The attacks earned him a place in the Central Military Commission and charge of the Eastern Regional Bureau, making him one of the organisation’s most influential leaders in eastern India.

• For years, security agencies knew little about the man behind these attacks until his arrest during a routine vehicle check in 2007. Two years later, he staged one of the country’s most audacious Maoist jailbreaks when around 30 armed cadres attacked a court complex in Bihar’s Lakhisarai, killing a policeman and freeing him.

• The arrest of Besra does not automatically end Maoist violence. Small armed groups remain active, particularly in parts of Bastar, and could continue sporadic attacks or extortion. But security officials believe the CPI (Maoist) no longer possesses the leadership, territorial control, or organisational depth needed to regenerate itself as a nationwide insurgency. Roads, mobile connectivity and a stronger administrative presence have also reduced the isolation that once enabled the movement to flourish.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Misir Besra, Maoist commander with Rs 1 crore bounty, finally arrested

Previous year UPSC Main Question Covering similar theme:
📍Naxalism is a social, economic, and developmental issue manifesting as a violent internal security threat. In this context, discuss the emerging issues and suggest a multi-layered strategy to tackle the menace of Naxalism. (2022)
📍 What are the determinants of left-wing extremism in the Eastern part of India? What strategy should the Government of India, civil administration and security forces adopt to counter the threat in the affected areas? (2020)
📍 Article 244 of the Indian Constitution relates to administration of scheduled areas and tribal areas. Analyze the impact of non-implementation of the provisions of the Fifth schedule on the growth of Left-wing extremism. (2018)

 

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

1.(d)  2.(d)  3.(b) 4.(a) 5.(a)

  

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