News Summary · 2 minutes read
Stay ahead in your UPSC CSE preparation with our daily News Summary. Designed to save time, it highlights key national and international events from leading newspapers and government websites.
PM inaugurates Ganga Expressway
- PM Modi inaugurated the 594-km-long Ganga Expressway (GE) in Hardoi on 29 April 2026.
- GE connects 12 districts of UP → begins from Meerut and passes through Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Raebareli, and Pratapgarh before culminating in Prayagraj.
- GE is a six-lane access-controlled expressway, a project built at a cost of over ₹36,000 crore.
- Includes a 3.5 km emergency airstrip in Shahjahanpur.
Madhya Pradesh forms panel on UCC
- Headed by Ranjana Prasad Desai.
- To help the MP govt prepare a draft Bill on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
- Uttarakhand became the first State in India to implement the UCC in 2024 and remains the only State to do so.
- Gujarat has passed a bill regarding UCC, but it has not been implemented yet.
- Chhattisgarh hasformed a panel to prepare a draft UCC Bill for the State.
- Article 44 directs the state to endeavour toward a Uniform Civil Code for all citizens.
NSO 80th Round Survey on Household Social Consumption on Health
- Out-of-Pocket Medical Expenditure (OOPE): recorded to be at ₹11,285 per hospitalisation case in 2025 → for non-hospitalisation (outpatient) care, the OOPE in public health facilities is zero.
- Free Drugs Service Initiative (FDSI) and Free Diagnostics Initiative (FDI), launched in 2015, have ensured theavailability of free medicines and diagnostic services to people.
- Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) initiative provides drugs at discounts of up to 50% on market rates.
- Proportion of Population Reporting Ailments (PPRA): nearly doubled (2025) between the 75th and 80th rounds, indicating a shift towards proactive health-seeking behaviour.
- Epidemiological transition: decline in infectious diseases and a rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular conditions.
- Government health/insurance Schemes: coverage has increased to 45.5% in rural areas and 31.8% in urban areas (2025).
- Institutional delivery: increased to 95.6% in rural areas and 97.8% in urban areas (2025) → nearly two-thirds (66.8%) of rural deliveries occur in Government health facilities, while it is 47% (nearly half) for the urban deliveries.
Quick Picks for Pre and Mains (QPPM)
- SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting: occurred on 28 April 2026, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
- The UAE has announced that it will exit OPEC and OPEC+ on 1 May 2026.
- Tuareg rebels: insurgent groups in northern Mali who demand autonomy for the so-called Azawad region.
Coming soon…