UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 23 January 2026 covers necessary present affairs of the day, their backward linkages, their relevance for Prelims examination and MCQs on most important articles
InstaLinks : Insta Hyperlinks enable you assume past the present affairs concern and enable you think multidimensionally to develop depth in your understanding of those points. These linkages supplied on this ‘trace’ format enable you body potential questions in your thoughts which may come up(or an examiner may think) from every present occasion. InstaLinks additionally join each concern to their static or theoretical background.
Desk of Contents
GS Paper 1:
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World Water Chapter Report
GS Paper 4:
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Rethinking Incapacity and Psychological Well being Legislation
Content material for Mains Enrichment (CME):
-
Army Quantum Mission Coverage Framework
Details for Prelims (FFP):
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Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
-
S. Formally Withdraws From the World Well being Group
-
Lengthy-Vary Anti-Ship Hypersonic Glide Missile (LRAShM)
-
Operation Megaburu
-
Governor’s Energy to Deal with the State Legislatures
Mapping:
-
Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary
UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 23 January 2026
GS Paper 1:
World Water Chapter Report
Supply: DTE
Topic: Crucial geographical options (together with water-bodies and ice-caps)
Context: The United Nations College Institute for Water, Atmosphere and Well being (UNU-INWEH) launched a flagship report titled “World Water Chapter: Dwelling Past Our Hydrological Means within the Submit-Disaster Period”.
About World Water Chapter Report:
What it’s?
- It describes a persistent post-crisis failure state the place long-term water use exceeds renewable inflows and protected depletion limits, inflicting irreversible harm to pure capital.
- It highlights that “water stress” (strain) and “water disaster” (momentary shock) are not sufficient phrases as a result of the earlier “regular” baselines have successfully collapsed in lots of areas.
Knowledge and Details Water Chapter:
- Large Scale: Practically 75% of the world’s inhabitants lives in nations labeled as water-insecure or critically water-insecure as of 2026.
- Agricultural Stress: Roughly 70% of worldwide freshwater is used for agriculture; over 170 million hectares of irrigated cropland are beneath excessive or very excessive water stress.
- Groundwater Depletion: Round 70% of the world’s main aquifers present long-term declining traits, with some areas sinking by as much as 25 cm per yr resulting from land subsidence.
- Wetland Liquidation: The world has misplaced roughly 410 million hectares of pure wetlands within the final 5 many years—an space nearly the dimensions of the European Union.
- Financial Price: Human-made anthropogenic droughts now value the world roughly $307 billion yearly, exceeding the GDP of three-quarters of UN Member States.
Causes of Water Chapter:
- Sluggish-Onset Depletion: Lengthy-term over-allocation and over-pumping, typically pushed by weak regulation, progressively erode water storage.
E.g. Widespread over-extraction within the Indo-Gangetic plain has led to among the highest charges of groundwater depletion globally.
- Infrastructure-Pushed Overshoot: Giant-scale dams and diversions enable cities and industries to broaden past sustainable native hydrological limits.
E.g. Inter-basin transfers like these supplying Chennai battle to stop Day Zero when monsoons fail.
- Ecological Liquidation: Changing wetlands and forests for growth removes pure shock absorbers, rising vulnerability to extremes.
E.g. The degradation of wetlands in cities like Bengaluru has lowered pure groundwater recharge and elevated flash flood dangers.
- Local weather-Amplified Overshoot: Local weather change acts as a catalyst, accelerating glacier soften and altering precipitation patterns that techniques have been already scuffling with.
E.g. Retreating Himalayan glaciers threaten the long-term reliability of dry-season flows for the Indus and Ganges basins.
- Institutional Inertia and Denial: Insurance policies and water rights stay organized across the assumption that the outdated regular will return, delaying troublesome demand-reduction selections.
E.g. Resistance to altering crop patterns in water-scarce areas perpetuates the cycle of insolvency.
Challenges Related to Water Chapter:
- Threatened Meals Safety: Declining water storage in breadbaskets straight erodes yields and will increase manufacturing dangers.
E.g. Yield losses in main agricultural states are already being linked to extreme human-induced land and water degradation.
- Socio-Financial Failure Modes: Water insecurity drives misery migration and displacement, notably in rural communities.
E.g. Rural-to-urban migration spikes in areas like Bundelkhand throughout extended intervals of anthropogenic drought.
- City Day Zero Eventualities: Cities face recurring emergencies the place municipal techniques are unable to supply piped water to residents.
E.g. Chennai reached a extremely publicized Day Zero in 2019 after most important reservoirs ran dry resulting from years of over-allocation.
- Water High quality Paradox: Even the place water is volumetrically current, air pollution (sewage, industrial waste) makes it functionally unusable.
E.g. The Yamuna River in Delhi is commonly so closely polluted with untreated waste that it can’t be used safely for many human functions.
- Rising Battle and Injustice: The burden of water chapter falls disproportionately on the poor and smallholder farmers, whereas highly effective actors typically seize advantages.
E.g. Protests by farmers over dwindling groundwater and altering market legal guidelines spotlight deep-seated anxieties about ecological and financial survival.
Suggestions of the Report:
- Diagnose Actually: Governments should use chapter diagnostics to establish the place techniques have crossed irreversible thresholds.
- Prioritize Pure Capital: Shift from defending solely the product (water quantity) to defending the method (the hydrological cycle/ecosystems).
- Rework Agriculture: Part out water-intensive crops in bankrupt basins and decouple rural prosperity from ever-growing water use.
- Simply Transitions: Present social safety and livelihood diversification for these most affected by reallocations, guaranteeing a justice lens.
- A New World Agenda: Use the 2026 and 2028 UN Water Conferences to reset the worldwide agenda, positioning water as a bridge for peace and local weather motion.
Conclusion:
The report argues that acknowledging World Water Chapter shouldn’t be give up however a needed first step towards a sensible, science-based and equitable water governance. Accepting that many techniques can’t be restored permits societies to adapt to new hydrological realities, forestall additional irreversible harm, and deal with water as a unifying strategic useful resource to handle shared international challenges.
UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 23 January 2026 GS Paper 4:
Rethinking Incapacity and Psychological Well being Legislation
Supply: TH
Topic: Well being
Context: The authorized discourse in India intensified relating to the gray zone in incapacity regulation, the place the Psychological Healthcare Act (2017) and the Rights of Individuals with Disabilities Act (2016) fail to intersect for people with twin mental and psychiatric challenges.
About Rethinking Incapacity and Psychological Well being Legislation:
What it’s?
- This rethinking course of entails transferring past the medical mannequin (which views incapacity as a deficit to be cured) towards a social and rights-based mannequin.
- It focuses on the central paradox of Indian regulation: having progressive statutes that function in silos, leaving essentially the most weak—these with everlasting cognitive impairments or mental disabilities—in a authorized limbo relating to guardianship and supported decision-making.
Present Panorama of Legal guidelines in India:
- Psychological Healthcare Act (MHA), 2017: Changed the custodial 1987 Act; it grants sufferers the Proper to Make an Advance Directive and establishes Psychological Well being Assessment Boards.
- Rights of Individuals with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016: Expanded incapacity classes from 7 to 21 and mandated cheap lodging in all public spheres.
- Nationwide Belief Act, 1999: Particularly addresses Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Incapacity, and A number of Disabilities, primarily specializing in guardianship.
- Constitutional Provisions: Articles 14 (Equality), 15 (Non-discrimination), and 21 (Life and Dignity) function the bedrock for the judiciary to implement incapacity rights.
Success of Incapacity and Psychological Well being Legal guidelines:
- Judicial Enforcement of Accessibility: The Supreme Court docket has declared accessibility a non-negotiable mandate fairly than a suggestion.
E.g. In Rajive Raturi v. Union of India (2024), the courtroom ordered the federal government to border necessary accessibility guidelines for all public areas inside three months.
- Recognition of Rights-Bearing Residents: Legal guidelines have shifted the main target from charity to rights, permitting people to take part in their very own therapy plans.
E.g. The MHA 2017’s provision for Advance Directives permits Indians with psychological sickness to state how they want to be handled throughout future intervals of incapacity.
- Growth of Inclusive Schooling and Employment: Statutory quotas and affirmative motion have been broadened to incorporate psychosocial and mental disabilities.
E.g. The 4% reservation in authorities jobs beneath the RPwD Act 2016 now covers a wider spectrum, together with survivors of acid assaults and people with studying disabilities.
- Decriminalization of Suicide: The MHA 2017 successfully neutralized Part 309 of the IPC by assuming extreme stress in suicide makes an attempt.
E.g. This has allowed for a medical fairly than a punitive method to psychological well being crises in hospitals throughout India.
Challenges and Loopholes:
E.g. Within the Seema Girija Lal (2024) case, the Supreme Court docket flagged that a number of states had not but appointed Incapacity Commissioners or established Particular Courts.
- The Guardianship Hole: There’s a lack of readability on how supported decision-making works for these with everlasting cognitive challenges.
E.g. Households of adults with extreme autism typically battle with the what occurs after us dilemma resulting from gradual and sophisticated authorized guardianship processes.
- Bureaucratic Crackdowns on Certification: Excessive-profile scams have led to stricter, slower certification processes for real individuals with disabilities.
E.g. The Puja Khedkar pretend certificates scandal in 2024 triggered a nationwide tightening of medical board guidelines, inflicting delays for hundreds of reliable candidates.
- Institutional Over-reliance: Regardless of the push for neighborhood dwelling, India lacks the midway houses and neighborhood infrastructure wanted to switch old-style asylums.
E.g. The NHRC’s 2023-24 reviews uncovered inhuman circumstances in 46 authorities psychological well being establishments the place cured sufferers have been nonetheless being held illegally.
- Monetary and Skilled Scarcity: Budgetary allocations for incapacity companies stay stagnant regardless of the elevated variety of acknowledged incapacity classes.
E.g. The Indira Gandhi Nationwide Incapacity Pension stays as little as ₹300-₹500 in lots of areas, which is inadequate for primary survival.
Finest World Practices:
- Sweden’s Social Companies Act: Prioritizes least-restrictive care and ensures the state is legally accountable for offering community-based assist alternate options earlier than institutionalization.
- Canada’s Accessibility Roadmap: Makes use of a sliding scale mannequin that units fast minimal thresholds for retrofitting buildings whereas planning for superior AI-enabled navigation.
Method Forward:
- Built-in Laws: Create a convergence framework that bridges the hole between the MHA 2017 and RPwD Act 2016 for multi-disabled people.
- Obligatory State Compliance: Use the Supreme Court docket’s 2024 deadlines to make sure each state has a useful Incapacity Fund and Particular Courts by mid-2026.
- Digital Certification Reform: Streamline the UDID (Distinctive Incapacity ID) course of to make it fraud-proof but accessible for these in rural areas.
- Group-Based mostly Rehabilitation (CBR): Put money into midway houses and sheltered workshops to maneuver away from the custodial institutional mannequin.
- Sensitization of Judiciary and Police: Practice ground-level officers to deal with disability-related behaviours with medical empathy fairly than as regulation and order points.
Conclusion:
India has constructed a progressive rights-rich authorized framework on paper, but it surely stays operationally poor for these dwelling on the intersection of mental and psychological disabilities. The transition from symbolic coverage to lived actuality requires the state to satisfy its function as a proactive supplier of accessibility and care. True inclusion will solely happen when the regulation treats essentially the most invisible residents not as dangers to be contained, however as people entitled to a lifetime of dignity.
UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 23 January 2026 Content material for Mains Enrichment (CME)
Army Quantum Mission Coverage Framework
Context: The Chief of Defence Workers (CDS) Common Anil Chauhan has launched the Army Quantum Mission Coverage Framework to combine quantum applied sciences into the Indian Armed Forces.
About Army Quantum Mission Coverage Framework:
What it’s?
- The Army Quantum Mission Coverage Framework is a strategic imaginative and prescient and roadmap doc that lays down how quantum applied sciences might be systematically adopted and operationalised throughout the Military, Navy and Air Power to attain future battlefield superiority.
Purpose:
- To combine quantum capabilities throughout tri-services by jointness and interoperability.
- To align defence necessities with the Nationwide Quantum Mission utilizing a civil–army fusion method.
Key options:
- 4 pillars of quantum integration: Focuses on quantum communication, quantum computing, quantum sensing & metrology, and quantum supplies & gadgets.
- Tri-services jointness: Emphasises unified adoption throughout Military, Navy and Air Power fairly than siloed growth.
- Civil–army fusion mannequin: Leverages academia, startups, trade and a number of authorities sectors by devoted governing our bodies.
- Coverage + implementation roadmap: Offers phased milestones, institutional mechanisms and governance buildings for execution.
- Future battlefield orientation: Addresses safe communications, superior sensing, quicker decision-making, and resilience towards cyber-electronic threats.
Relevance for UPSC Examination
- GS Paper III: Science & Know-how / Defence
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- Utility of rising applied sciences (quantum tech) in nationwide safety
- Defence modernisation and indigenous functionality constructing
- Civil–army know-how fusion and Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence
- GS Paper II: Governance & Safety
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- Function of CDS and jointness in defence reforms
- Institutional coordination throughout ministries and companies
UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 23 January 2026 Details for Prelims (FFP)
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
Supply: IT
Topic: Historical past
Context: The Centre is organising Parakram Diwas–2026 within the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to commemorate the 129th Beginning Anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, celebrating his legacy of braveness, sacrifice, and patriotism.
About Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose:
Who he was?
- Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was a revolutionary nationalist chief who advocated full independence by assertive and army means, diverging from the dominant non-violent technique of the liberty motion.
Adolescence:
- Born on 23 January 1897 in Cuttack, Odisha, to a distinguished household.
- Sensible pupil; studied at Presidency Faculty and Scottish Church Faculty.
- Cleared the Indian Civil Companies (ICS) examination in England (1920) however resigned voluntarily to serve the liberty battle.
Contribution to the Freedom Motion:
- Radical Congress management: Rose as a mass chief of the Left wing; elected Congress President in 1938 (Haripura) and 1939 (Tripuri), signalling a shift in direction of assertive anti-colonial politics.
- Uncompromising demand for Purna Swaraj: Rejected dominion standing and constitutional gradualism; argued for fast independence, particularly throughout Britain’s wartime vulnerability.
- Socialist financial imaginative and prescient: Based the Nationwide Planning Committee (1938), advocating state-led industrialisation, scientific planning, and financial self-reliance.
- Ideological problem throughout the INC: Resigned after the Tripuri disaster, exposing tensions between Gandhian non-violence and Bose’s militant political realism.
- Ahead Bloc and radical mobilisation: Established the Ahead Bloc (1939) to consolidate leftists, youth, and employees beneath a militant nationalist platform.
Exile and Armed Wrestle:
- Escape and globalisation of the battle: Escaped home arrest in 1941, internationalising India’s freedom motion and shifting it to the geopolitical enviornment.
- Pragmatic Axis engagement: Sought assist from Germany and Japan as a strategic anti-imperialist transfer, not ideological alignment.
- Revival of the INA: Reorganised the Indian Nationwide Military, instilling self-discipline, nationalism, and a direct army problem to British authority.
- Azad Hind Authorities (1943): Proclaimed India’s first government-in-exile, with symbols of sovereignty together with forex, courts, and diplomatic recognition.
- Psychological blow to colonial rule: INA’s advance to Imphal and Kohima (1944), although militarily unsuccessful, broke the parable of British invincibility and hastened colonial exit.
Final days and thriller:
- Reported to have died in a aircraft crash in Taiwan on 18 August 1945, although circumstances stay controversial.
- A number of inquiries have been held; debates over his demise proceed to this present day.
Significance and legacy:
- Popularised the slogan “Give me blood, and I gives you freedom.”
- Impressed mass nationalism, notably amongst troopers and youth.
- INA trials (1945–46) weakened British ethical authority and accelerated India’s independence.
- 23 January is well known as Parakram Diwas to honour his indomitable spirit.
U.S. Formally Withdraws From the World Well being Group
Supply: FE
Topic: Worldwide Organisation
Context: The US is ready to formally withdraw from the World Well being Group (WHO) after serving a one-year discover, regardless of warnings about antagonistic impacts on U.S. and international well being governance.
About U.S. Formally Withdraws From the World Well being Group:
What’s the WHO?
- The World Well being Group is the specialised well being company of the United Nations accountable for coordinating worldwide public well being, responding to well being emergencies, and setting international well being requirements to make sure the best attainable degree of well being for all.
Institution and Headquarters:
- Established: 7 April 1948 (World Well being Day)
- Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
- Membership: 194 Member States
Historic background:
- Emerged from earlier worldwide sanitary efforts such because the Worldwide Sanitary Conferences (1851–1938).
- Included the League of Nations Well being Group after World Struggle II.
- Performed a decisive function in landmark achievements like eradication of smallpox, near-eradication of polio, and coordination throughout Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks.
Core capabilities of WHO:
- World well being management: Coordinates worldwide responses to pandemics, epidemics, and well being emergencies.
- Commonplace setting: Develops international norms such because the Worldwide Classification of Illnesses (ICD) and well being laws.
- Common Well being Protection (UHC): Promotes equitable entry to important well being companies.
- Technical help: Helps nations with coverage recommendation, knowledge, and capability constructing.
- Knowledge and surveillance: Collects and disseminates international well being statistics and early-warning alerts.
Strategy of withdrawal from WHO:
- Below U.S. home regulation, withdrawal requires:
- One-year advance discover, and
- Full fee of excellent monetary obligations.
- The present withdrawal has raised authorized considerations as membership dues reportedly stay unpaid, and last modalities are beneath dialogue inside WHO’s Govt Board.
Significance of the U.S. withdrawal:
- For WHO: Lack of ~18% of whole funding, resulting in workers reductions and scaled-back programmes.
- For international well being: Weakens pandemic preparedness, illness surveillance, and coordinated emergency response.
- For the U.S.: Decreased entry to real-time international well being knowledge, early warnings, and multilateral affect in setting well being norms.
Lengthy-Vary Anti-Ship Hypersonic Glide Missile (LRAShM)
Supply: BL
Topic: Defence
Context: India will publicly debut its Lengthy-Vary Anti-Ship Hypersonic Glide Missile (LR-AShM) on the 77th Republic Day parade, marking India’s entry into the unique hypersonic anti-ship weapons membership.
About Lengthy-Vary Anti-Ship Hypersonic Glide Missile (LRAShM):
What it’s?
- LR-AShM is an indigenous hypersonic glide missile designed to have interaction high-value naval targets, together with plane provider battle teams, at very lengthy ranges with excessive velocity and evasive manoeuvres.
Developed by: Defence Analysis and Growth Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Navy, primarily to fulfill coastal battery and maritime strike necessities.
Purpose:
- Improve maritime deterrence within the Indian Ocean Area (IOR).
- Neutralise enemy floor combatants at standoff distances, past the attain of typical cruise missiles.
- Strengthen A2/AD (Anti-Entry/Space Denial) capabilities by shore-based, cell launchers.
Key options:
- Hypersonic velocity: Operates within the hypersonic regime (as much as ~Mach 10, common hypersonic glide round Mach 5+), drastically compressing enemy response time.
- Lengthy vary: ~1,500 km operational vary (future variants reportedly aiming larger).
- Increase-glide structure: Two-stage stable propulsion boosts the automobile; post-burnout unpowered hypersonic glide with a number of manoeuvres.
- Superior steerage: Inertial navigation + satellite tv for pc support + lively radar seekers, enabling correct engagement of transferring targets and resilience towards digital countermeasures.
- Low-altitude, manoeuvrable flight: Excessive velocity and evasive trajectory cut back radar detection and interception chance.
- Deployment flexibility: Land-based cell launchers initially; ship-borne and air-launched variants envisaged.
Significance:
- Locations India alongside the US, Russia and China in hypersonic glide missile functionality.
- Credibly threatens provider strike teams and strengthens India’s posture throughout the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.
Operation Megaburu
Supply: TOI
Topic: Miscellaneous
Context: Operation Megaburu, a serious anti-Maoist offensive in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district, led to the killing of 16 Maoists, together with prime CPI (Maoist) chief Anal alias Patiram Manjhi.
About Operation Megaburu:
What it’s?
- Operation Megaburu is a large-scale counter-insurgency operation towards the CPI (Maoist), carried out within the Saranda forest area, one of many final main Maoist strongholds in Jharkhand.
Launched in: January 2026
Location: Kumdi space, Kiriburu police station, West Singhbhum district, Jharkhand
Forces concerned: Central Reserve Police Power (elite CoBRA models) and Jharkhand Police
Purpose:
- Neutralise prime Maoist management and dismantle command buildings.
- Clear remaining Maoist pockets in Singhbhum area.
- Advance the Authorities of India’s purpose to finish Naxalism by March 2026.
Key options:
- Intelligence-driven operation: Launched on particular inputs in regards to the presence of senior Maoist leaders, together with Central Committee members.
- Elite pressure deployment: Round 1,500 CoBRA commandos deployed for deep-jungle fight in troublesome terrain.
- Simultaneous management decapitation: Elimination of a number of space, sub-zonal and regional committee members, together with ladies cadres.
- Largest restoration in Jharkhand: Highest variety of Maoist our bodies recovered in a single encounter within the state.
Significance:
- Nearly all Central Committee members in Jharkhand neutralised; solely a small residual presence stays.
- Confirms that Maoists are actually confined to restricted forest pockets fairly than widespread zones.
- Enhances civilian confidence and permits developmental actions in long-affected tribal areas.
Governor’s Energy to Deal with the State Legislatures
Supply: DH
Topic: Polity
Context: A number of States have seen contemporary confrontations with Governors over the content material and studying of the Governor’s Deal with to the State Legislature, elevating questions on constitutional propriety.
About Governor’s Energy to Deal with the State Legislatures:
What it’s?
- The Governor’s Deal with is a constitutional formality initially of the primary session of a State Legislature after elections and at the beginning of the primary session of yearly.
- It outlines the insurance policies and priorities of the elected State authorities, not the non-public views of the Governor.
Constitutional articles concerned:
- Article 163: Governor acts on the support and recommendation of the Council of Ministers, besides in constitutionally specified discretionary issues.
- Article 174: Energy to summon, prorogue and dissolve the State Legislature (to be exercised on Cupboard recommendation).
- Article 175: Governor might deal with or ship messages to the Home.
- Article 176:
- (1) On the graduation of the primary session after every common election to the Legislative Meeting and on the graduation of the primary session of every yr, the Governor shall deal with the Legislative Meeting or, within the case of a State having a Legislative Council, each Homes assembled collectively and inform the Legislature of the causes of its summons.
- (2) Provision shall be made by the principles regulating the process of the Home or both Home for the allotment of time for dialogue of the issues referred to in such deal with.
Powers of the Governor:
- Obligatory deal with, not discretionary speech: The Governor is constitutionally required to handle the Home however can’t alter, omit, or rewrite the speech ready by the elected authorities.
- No unbiased coverage authority: The Deal with displays the Council of Ministers’ agenda, reaffirming democratic accountability.
- Restricted discretion in summoning periods: As clarified by courts, the Governor can’t unilaterally summon or delay periods opposite to Cupboard recommendation.
- Symbolic constitutional function: The deal with is supposed to speak authorities coverage, not act as a veto or critique mechanism.
- Procedural compliance: Guidelines of the Home present time for dialogue on the Deal with, reinforcing legislative scrutiny fairly than gubernatorial management.
Key courtroom judgements:
- Nabam Rebia v. Deputy Speaker (2016): The Supreme Court docket held that the Governor can’t train discretion in summoning the Meeting beneath Article 174 and should act on support and recommendation.
- Rajasthan Excessive Court docket (1966): Held that even a partial studying of the Governor’s Deal with satisfies constitutional necessities; it’s an irregularity, not illegality.
- Syed Habibullah v. Speaker, West Bengal Meeting (Calcutta HC): Dominated that the Deal with is necessary, however defects in supply don’t invalidate legislative proceedings.
Significance:
- Federal stability: Reinforces that Governors are constitutional heads, not parallel energy centres.
- Democratic legitimacy: Protects the authority of elected State governments over coverage articulation.
- Institutional concord: Prevents politicisation of the gubernatorial workplace.
UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – 23 January 2026 Mapping:
Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary
Supply: TH
Topic: Mapping
Context: A forest hearth has been raging since 20 January 2026 in Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary, close to the Indo-China border, affecting about 12 hectares of forest land.
About Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary:
What it’s?
- Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary is a high-altitude protected space and a chosen Vital Hen Space (IBA), identified for its distinctive alpine to subtropical biodiversity and strategic location alongside India’s jap Himalayan frontier.
Positioned in: East Sikkim, Sikkim.
- Altitude (~1,300 m to >4,000 m): Broad elevation vary creates subtropical, temperate and alpine ecosystems, supporting excessive biodiversity and climate-sensitive species.
- Space (~12,400 hectares): Giant contiguous forest expanse permits ecological connectivity, wildlife motion, and functioning of high-altitude watersheds.
- Established (2002): Notified to legally defend fragile jap Himalayan ecosystems and preserve uncommon flora, fauna, and migratory chook habitats.
Neighbouring states / nations
- Bhutan to the east
- China (Tibet Autonomous Area) to the north (through Nathu La–Jelep La hall)
- Extends southwards in direction of West Bengal, connecting with Neora Valley Nationwide Park
Key options:
-
- A part of the Jap Himalayas biodiversity hotspot
- Encompasses three biomes:
- Eurasian Excessive Montane (Alpine & Tibetan)
- Sino-Himalayan Temperate Forest
- Sino-Himalayan Subtropical Forest
-
- Rhododendron forests, Silver Fir, Juniper, oak forests with dense bamboo thickets
- Alpine pastures and high-altitude wetlands reminiscent of Bedang Tso Lake
-
- Tiger, Leopard, Takin, Musk Deer, Goral, Serow, Asiatic Black Bear
- Himalayan Monal, Snow Partridge, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, Wooden Snipe (Susceptible), Tibetan Eared Pheasant (Close to Threatened)
- Acts as a migratory hall through Nathu La and Jelep La passes
- Strategic & army significance:
Significance:
- Crucial habitat for endangered Himalayan species and high-altitude wetlands.
- Acts as a pure water regulator by forests and alpine lakes.
- Extremely delicate to local weather change, forest fires and lowered snowfall.
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