News Summary · 3 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.
Supreme Court (SC) directs States/UTs to ensure disability-friendly prisons
In Sathyan Naravoor v. Union of India (2025), the SC issued directions to protect the rights of prisoners with disabilities.
Key highlights
- Framework decided in L. Muruganantham v. State of Tamil Nadu (2025) case has been extended nationwide.
- SC has mandated that all prisons in India should ensure:
- Wheelchair-friendly spaces
- Accessible infrastructure like ramps and toilets,
- Dedicated therapy rooms and trained medical staff,
- Arrangements of appropriate diets and regular physiotherapy
- A robust and independent grievance redressal mechanism for disabled prisoners.
- SC has extended Section 89 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, to prisons.
Reasons behind decline of Indian Rupee
The Indian Rupee has depreciated over several years amid volatility, and recently it slipped past the ₹90 per dollar mark.
Reasons for decline
- Reduced exports: decline in exports from India causes Indian exporters to earn fewer dollars, creating a “dollar scarcity” → relative abundance of Indian Rupee erodes its value.
- Example: 50% tariff on Indian goods imposed by the US reduced the demand for Indian goods in the US market, suppressing Indian exports.
- Increased Imports: surge in imports by Indian businesses causes “dollar drain” that creates the situation of “dollar scarcity” → relative abundance of Indian Rupee erodes its value.
- Example: a recent surge in precious metal imports contributed to the rupee’s depreciation.
- FPI flight: when Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) leave, they sell rupees to take their dollars home, which again creates a situation of “dollar scarcity” → relative abundance of rupees erodes its value.
- Example: FPIs pulled out over $17 billion from Indian equities in 2025.
- Reduced RBI forex intervention: RBI usually intervenes in the forex market by selling dollars to prevent excessive depreciation. If such an intervention is reduced, the Rupee is more likely to fall if a situation of dollar scarcity is created.
- Example: RBI sold just $10.9 billion in the quarter ending September 2025, far below levels seen in similar periods in the past. → reason behind the reduced intervention is the RBI’s expectation that a weaker rupee will act as a shock absorber, making Indian goods cheaper abroad, and offset the US tariff effect.
Quick Picks for Pre and Mains (QPPM)
- Rajasthan has become the first Indian State to do 100% digitisation of its electoral roll under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
- Project Cheetah: an intercontinental translocation programme launched in 2022 by India →implemented by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
- Srinivasan Muralidhar: former Chief Justice of Odisha High Court → appointed by UN’s Human Rights Council as the chairperson of the 3-member UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
- A report recently tabled in the Assam State Assembly proposes to grant ST status to 6 communities, namely Adivasi or ‘Tea Tribes’, Chutia, Koch-Rajbongshi, Matak, Moran, and Tai Ahom → opposed by several other tribal groups in Assam.
- A study conducted by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (Chennai) highlighted that women face greater health risks from rising heat.
- India aims to eliminate child marriage by 2030 under UN’s SDG-5 (Target 5.3) → prevalence of child marriage in India is 23.3% (NFHS-5).
- Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns): a Venezuela-based cartel, recently declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US.
- Aceh province: Indonesia