13 published UPSC current-affairs articles
Real time hydrological data is one of the most important forms of transboundary confidence building. India and Bangladesh should expand automated measurement of rainfall, river discharge, sediment load, groundwater levels, salinity, water quality and ecological indicators.
Flood resilience is also being supported indirectly under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation. Under AMRUT, states and Union Territories took up 838 storm water drainage projects worth Rs 3,022.39 crore.
Under AMRUT 2.0, proposals were approved for 2,951 water body rejuvenation projects worth around Rs 6,003.34 crore, covering approximately 1.21 lakh acres. Additionally, 1,649 green space and park projects worth about Rs 1,087.12 crore, covering around 12,750 acres, were approved.
A critical development in 2026 is greater use of geospatial technology. Under the AMRUT GIS Master Plan programme, 461 cities across 35 states and UTs had been onboarded. Final geospatial databases had been prepared for 437 cities, draft GIS master plans for 404, and 292 master plans had been finalised.
The government is using Very High Resolution Satellite imagery at approximately 1:4000 scale under the AMRUT GIS programme. Under AMRUT 2.0, satellite imagery and drone or UAV mapping at around 1:1000 scale are being used to create GIS base layers.
One of the strongest long term solutions is the sponge city approach. A sponge city is designed to absorb, store, filter and reuse rainfall rather than rapidly pushing every drop into underground drains.
River Centric Urban Planning Guidelines, along with an SOP for urban flooding and a Manual on Storm Water Drainage Systems, emphasise that cities along rivers should not turn their floodplains into permanent high density construction zones. Floodplains are part of the river system. A flood becomes a disaster when society places vulnerable assets where the river naturally requires space.
India is increasingly combining weather forecasting, river monitoring and AI or ML tools. IMD and the Central Water Commission use AI and machine learning models in monitoring parameters related to rainfall and flood forecasting. Cities can build on this with automatic rain gauges; IoT water level sensors; CCTV analytics; radar rainfall information; digital elevation models; and ward level inundation forecasts.
Syllabus: GS2/Governance; GS3/Science and Technology The ‘Ease of Doing R&D in India ’ reported that close to 80% of funding under the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), the flagship research funding body, is concentrated in the IITs. Low Expenditure on Research and Development: India ’s Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) has remained around 0.64% of GDP for many years.
Syllabus: GS3/Science and Technology Synthetic DNA has become central to advances in health, food security, climate and biotechnology, but its growing accessibility has created significant dual use and biosecurity risks. It is defined as artificially created genetic material that can be synthesized from digitized genome sequences and used to construct synthetic genomes.
PM Modi interacted with founders and CEOs of over 20 space start ups and highlighted the potential of India ’s private space ecosystem to attract global scientific and technological talent. India ’s Emerging Private Space Ecosystem India ’s space economy currently stands at $8.4 billion, accounting for 2–3% of the global space economy.
The Gaganyaan mission will require India to demonstrate the safe re entry of a crew module carrying astronauts, making its Thermal Protection System (TPS) one of the most critical technologies for ensuring crew safety during the return journey to Earth. Why is Thermal Protection Critical During Re entry? Handles extreme heat: During Gaganyaan’s return from LEO, the capsule enters the atmosphere at hypersonic speed, converting most of its kinetic energy into intense heat.
Polity and Governance SHANTI Rules 2026 The draft SHANTI Rules 2026 propose a framework for nuclear operator liability, insurance, and financial security as India plans to expand its nuclear power sector and increase private participation. The rules emphasize mandatory financial protections and periodic liability reviews. Syllabus: GS2/Government Policies & Interventions; GS3/Energy