Daily Briefing Current Affairs

GS-3SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM - EPFO/GIG WORKERS

EPFO's New "Target Retirement Sum" - Can a Pension Plan Handle an Irregular Income?

This is the first concrete architectural detail of how the Code on Social Security, 2020's promise to cover gig and platform workers will actually be implemented - six years after the law was passed, EPFO 3.0 is now designing the technical mechanism that operationalises it. The government is working on a flexible contributory pension scheme under the EPFO 3.0 reforms, utilizing a "Target Retirement Sum" to cover gig and…

Sub TopicSOCIAL SECURITY REFORM FOR GIG AND UNORGANISED SECTOR…SourceTHE INDIAN EXPRESS
UPSC Relevance8/10
Time to Read3 min read
Total Views23,946
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GS-3DIGITAL GOVERNANCE & PLATFORM REGULATION

NITI Aayog Asks Big Tech to Help Redesign India's Content-Takedown Rules

The consultation is significant because it marks NITI Aayog's direct entry into an area normally governed solely by the IT Ministry under the IT Act and IT Rules, 2021. It comes at a moment when India has sharply escalated its content-blocking activity and when the world's shortest takedown window has already drawn formal pushback from a major platform.

Sub TopicTECH REGULATION, DEREGULATION POLICY AND PLATFORM…SourceTHE INDIAN EXPRESS
UPSC Relevance8/10
Time to Read3 min read
Total Views39,522
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GS-3GREEN HYDROGEN & RAILWAY DECARBONISATION

India's First Hydrogen Train Runs on a Route Electrification Was Never Going to Reach

The launch marks India's entry into hydrogen-powered passenger rail, arriving after Indian Railways pushed broad-gauge electrification to roughly 99% over the past 12 years, raising the underlying technical question of where hydrogen trains genuinely add value on a network that is already overwhelmingly electrified.

Sub TopicHYDROGEN FUEL CELLS VS FULL ELECTRIFICATION - MATCHING…SourcePIB
UPSC Relevance8/10
Time to Read3 min read
Total Views35,265
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GS-3HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT - ELEPHANT BEHAVIOUR

Three Years, One Highway: What a 'Grieving' Elephant Reveals About Infrastructure and Trauma

The elaborate, months-long capture of a lone elephant that had repeatedly attacked people and property since surviving a fatal 2023 highway collision has drawn attention to how trauma and social disruption in elephants, triggered by infrastructure fatalities, can convert a single road accident into years of ongoing human-wildlife conflict.

Sub TopicELEPHANT TRAUMA, KUMKI-ASSISTED CAPTURE AND WILDLIFE…SourceTHE INDIAN EXPRESS
UPSC Relevance8/10
Time to Read3 min read
Total Views26,198
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GS-3HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT - ASIATIC LIONS

891 Lions, 394 Slots: What Gujarat's 'Maneater' Crisis Is Really About

A sharp rise in fatal lion attacks across Gujarat's Greater Gir landscape has triggered mass captures, permanent "maneater" designations and a behavioural study by the Wildlife Institute of India, reopening debate on whether the crisis is really about lion behaviour or about a population that has outgrown its protected core habitat.

Sub TopicCARRYING CAPACITY AND HABITAT OVERFLOW IN GIR'S…SourceTHE INDIAN EXPRESS
UPSC Relevance8/10
Time to Read3 min read
Total Views42,654
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