Current Affairs Quiz 25 June 2026

The Constitution provides for three kinds of emergency: National Emergency (Article 352, on grounds of war, external aggression or armed rebellion), President’s Rule (Article 356, failure of constitutional machinery in a state), and Financial Emergency (Article 360). The 1975 to 1977 Emergency saw the 38th, 39th and 42nd Constitutional Amendments.
The 44th Amendment Act, 1978 reformed Article 352 by requiring written Cabinet advice, parliamentary approval within one month, and by making Articles 20 and 21 non-suspendable. In ADM Jabalpur v Shivkant Shukla (1976), the Supreme Court controversially held that the right to move courts could be suspended; this was expressly overruled in K.S. Puttaswamy v Union of India (2017).
The Shah Commission investigated Emergency-era excesses.

MGNREGA (the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005) was a rights-based, demand-driven law guaranteeing 100 days of unskilled manual work, with statutory features such as the 15-day wage-payment rule, social audits, and high women’s participation (averaging around 55%). The VB-G RAM G Act adds 125 days of guarantee and a climate dimension through four thematic focus areas: Water Security, Core Rural Infrastructure, Rural Livelihoods, and Special Works for Mitigation of Extreme Weather Events.
Ahead of commencement, the Department of Rural Development notified an interim list of 318 permissible works spanning natural resource management, irrigation, connectivity, livelihood assets and disaster preparedness.

DISHA 2.0 (Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice) is a Central Sector Scheme approved for the period April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2031 with an outlay of Rs 255 crore and 100 percent Gross Budgetary Support, implemented by the Department of Justice. It introduces a new component, VIDHI Sanjeevani.
The legal-aid architecture rests on the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, along with Tele-Law and Nyaya Bandhu (pro bono) services. The original DISHA reached about 2.37 crore cumulative beneficiaries by May 31, 2026.
Article 39A complements Articles 14 (equality before law) and 21 (right to life and personal liberty).

In a “digital arrest” scam, fraudsters impersonate police, CBI, ED or judges over video calls and extort money by falsely claiming the victim is under arrest. Operation Chakra is the CBI’s flagship anti-cybercrime series; Operation Chakra-VI involved raids at more than 80 locations across 16 states using 60 teams, linked to over 200 cases, with the syndicate even running a fake website mimicking the Supreme Court.
The legal framework includes the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the cheating and impersonation provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. I4C runs the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS) and the 1930 helpline.
Prime Minister Modi has warned citizens against digital arrest in Mann Ki Baat.

Perseverance landed in Jezero Crater in February 2021 and carries instruments including SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) and PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry); its companion was the Ingenuity helicopter. Gale Crater, by contrast, is explored by the earlier Curiosity rover.
The samples Perseverance caches are intended for the planned Mars Sample Return mission. India’s Mars programme began with the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan), ISRO’s first interplanetary mission, which entered Mars orbit in September 2014; a follow-on Mangalyaan-2 is planned.
Detecting organic molecules is central to astrobiology, the study of the potential for life beyond Earth.

South Korea is a global leader in shipbuilding and a semiconductor powerhouse (home to Samsung and SK Hynix), making it a natural partner for India’s manufacturing and chip ambitions. At the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity 2026, Jaishankar invoked Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and outlined five steps to reinvent cooperation: de-risking the global economy and diversifying supply chains, building new understandings among major powers, raising awareness of the cost of confrontation, building capacity for the Global South, and providing global public goods.
The India-Korea CEPA, in force since 2010, is being upgraded. The relationship anchors India’s Act East Policy and its Indo-Pacific strategy, complementing ties with Japan, ASEAN and the Quad.

The 44th Amendment, enacted by the Janata government, reversed several distortions of the 42nd Amendment (1976). Besides protecting Articles 20 and 21 during emergency, it replaced “internal disturbance” with “armed rebellion” as a ground for proclaiming a National Emergency under Article 352, required the proclamation to rest on written Cabinet advice, mandated parliamentary approval within one month (earlier two months), and required a special majority.
It also removed the right to property from the list of fundamental rights, making it a legal right under Article 300A. ADM Jabalpur v Shivkant Shukla (1976) was overruled in K.S. Puttaswamy v Union of India (2017), which affirmed privacy and the inviolability of life and liberty.

Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence promotes indigenous design and manufacturing, supported by mechanisms such as iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence), the positive indigenisation lists, and the Strategic Partnership model. Unmanned Surface Vessels are being developed by firms like Sagar Defence Engineering, with reported plans for around 400 USVs.
REARM-D enables reloading of vertical-launch missile cells at sea by drone, and MANTA is a ship-launched ISR drone. These complement crewed and high-altitude platforms such as the MQ-9B Sea Guardian.
Sagarmala (port-led development), SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the Deep Ocean Mission are distinct maritime initiatives, not defence-indigenisation programmes.

The IMO sets global standards for the safety, security and environmental performance of international shipping, through conventions such as SOLAS (safety of life at sea), MARPOL (marine pollution) and the STCW (training and watchkeeping). Seafarer labour rights are governed by the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), 2006, often called the “seafarers’ bill of rights”, which is jointly relevant to the International Labour Organization.
India is a major supplier of seafarers to the global merchant fleet, and the Directorate General of Shipping is its maritime regulator. Around 80 to 90 percent of global trade by volume moves by sea, underscoring the strategic importance of seafarers and shipping lanes.

PFRDA was established under the PFRDA Act, 2013 and regulates the NPS, a defined-contribution pension scheme, and the APY, a guaranteed-pension scheme for the unorganised sector. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), by contrast, administers the EPF, the Employees’ Pension Scheme and EDLI under the EPF and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, while the Public Provident Fund is a small-savings scheme under the Finance Ministry.
Pension Sahayak supports 22 languages through Bhashini, allows login by mobile and OTP without a PRAN, and is available on web, mobile and WhatsApp. NPS subscribers hold a Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN).

The Passports Act, 1967 empowers the Ministry of External Affairs, through its Consular, Passport and Visa Division, to issue passports and travel documents. The Citizenship Act, 1955 provides for the acquisition of citizenship by birth, descent, registration and naturalisation, and for its termination.
India does not permit dual citizenship; the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card is not citizenship. The clarification that a passport is not proof of citizenship is significant in the context of documentation debates, the National Register of Citizens discourse, and deportation or nationality-determination proceedings, where a higher evidentiary standard applies.

ADM Jabalpur is widely regarded as one of the Supreme Court’s darkest moments, with Justice H.R. Khanna’s lone dissent later vindicated. The 44th Amendment subsequently ensured that Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended during emergency.
The nine-judge bench in Puttaswamy (2017) unanimously held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21 and, in doing so, declared that ADM Jabalpur was seriously flawed and stood overruled. Other landmark cases differ in focus: Kesavananda Bharati (1973) established the basic structure doctrine, Maneka Gandhi (1978) expanded the meaning of “procedure established by law” under Article 21, and Minerva Mills (1980) struck down parts of the 42nd Amendment.

A biosignature is any substance, pattern or feature whose origin specifically requires, or is strongly suggestive of, biological activity. The Perseverance find is the first identification of intact macromolecular organic carbon in Martian mudstones at multiple sites in the Bright Angel outcrop of Jezero Crater.
Because the same mineral textures can sometimes form without life, scientists classify it cautiously as a candidate biosignature. The rover seals samples in tubes for the planned Mars Sample Return mission, a joint NASA effort.
This restraint reflects the scientific principle that extraordinary claims, such as life beyond Earth, require extraordinary and verifiable evidence.

The interim list of 318 permissible works spans natural resource management, irrigation and water conservation, rural connectivity, community infrastructure, livelihood and productive assets, and disaster preparedness. The four thematic areas, Water Security, Core Rural Infrastructure, Rural Livelihoods, and Special Works for Mitigation of Extreme Weather Events, structure these works.
Under MGNREGA, similar works such as water harvesting, afforestation and rural roads had already built durable assets, and roughly two-thirds of works were linked to agriculture and allied activities. The climate-resilience theme aligns rural employment with adaptation goals under the National Action Plan on Climate Change and state action plans.