30^th January 2026

1. Uneven Availability of Secondary Schools: Recently, the Economic Survey identified the uneven availability of secondary schools as a major barrier to achieving NEP 2020’s target of 15 expected years of schooling, compared to the current average of 13 years.

• Key Highlights: Only 17% of rural schools and 38% of urban schools offer secondary education, contributing to high dropouts in the 14–18 age group.

• The primary reason for school dropouts continues to be economic compulsion—the need to supplement household income—followed by domestic and care responsibilities, especially among girls.

• Nearly two crore adolescents (14–18 years) were out of school, as per PLFS 2023–24

• 44% of dropouts cited income supplementation as the main cause; over 67% of boys dropped out for work, while 55% of girls cited household responsibilities.

• The Survey stresses the urgency of integrating vocational and skill-based education at the school level to address economically driven dropouts.

• Learning outcomes show post-COVID recovery (PARAKH 2024), but gaps persist: only 35% of schools cater to children with special needs and 38% have trained teachers.

• Student emotional well-being remains a concern, with only 55% feeling motivated to attend school and fewer than half feeling emotionally safe.

• In higher education, the Survey calls for internationalisation, stronger State-level capacity, and deeper academia–industry collaboration to align education with economic needs.

2. PAIMANA: Recently, marking a major push towards data-driven infrastructure governance, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) operationalised a new web-based monitoring portal, PAIMANA.

• About PAIMANA: Project Assessment, Infrastructure Monitoring & Analytics for Nation-building) is a centralised digital platform enabling end-to-end monitoring of major infrastructure projects.

• Key Features: Serves as a national repository for large infrastructure projects.

• Uses advanced analytics to generate web-based reports for informed decision-making.

• Provides role-based access with customised dashboards, query, and review modules.

• Helps identify data gaps, strengthening data quality and project oversight.

  • New Projects under PAIMANA: 20 projects have entered the implementation stage.

• Railways: Furkating–New Tinsukia line; Gondia–Dongargarh fourth line.

• Urban Transport: Pune Metro Phase-II and Aviation: Greenfield Airport at Bundi, Rajasthan.

3. JALAJ Livelihood Centres: Recently, the Union Jal Shakti Minister inaugurated 25 JALAJ Livelihood Centres, a joint initiative of the Namami Gange Mission and the Wildlife Institute of India.

• About JALAJ Livelihood Centres: The initiative follows a circular economy approach; wherein local communities are trained in eco-friendly livelihood practices while actively contributing to biodiversity protection and river ecosystem restoration.

  • Objective: To merge river conservation with sustainable livelihood generation across the Ganga river basin.

  • Key Features: Encourages community-led conservation, creating dignified and sustainable livelihood opportunities, with special emphasis on women’s empowerment.

• Envisions a symbiotic relationship between rivers and people, linking ecological health with human well-being.

• Each JALAJ centre reflects the local culture, traditions and indigenous communities of its respective Ganga basin location.

• Designed as integrated hubs for community well-being, conservation awareness and skill development.

• Equipped with facilities for aquatic biodiversity education, livelihood skill training, and marketing/sale of products created by trained beneficiaries.

4. Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026: Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, marking a comprehensive overhaul of the earlier waste management framework.

• Core Principles of the 2026 Framework: The rules are based on the waste hierarchy, prioritising:

  Prevention → Reduction → Reuse → Recycling → Energy recovery → Disposal (last resort)

• Landfills are restricted to non-recyclable, non-recoverable, and inert waste only.

• Higher landfill charges are imposed on unsegregated waste to discourage dumping and promote decentralised processing.

• Solid Waste Management in India: Solid waste management remains a major urban governance challenge, driven by rapid urbanisation, rising consumption, and population growth.

• India generates nearly 85 lakh tonnes of solid waste daily, with 30–40% contributed by bulk waste generators such as housing societies, commercial complexes, institutions, and government buildings.

• While door-to-door collection and segregation have improved under Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), waste processing capacity has not kept pace with generation.

• A large proportion of waste continues to end up in landfills, causing land degradation, groundwater pollution, air pollution, and health hazards.

• Poor segregation at source remains the most critical bottleneck, increasing processing costs and inefficiencies.

5. V-BAT Drones: Recently, the Indian Army formally selected the US-based deep-tech firm Shield AI to supply advanced V-BAT autonomous drones under an emergency procurement framework.

• About V-BAT Autonomous Drone System: A Group-3 Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS).

• It uses a ducted-fan configuration, allowing vertical launch and recovery like a rocket, followed by efficient horizontal flight for long-duration surveillance—without requiring runways.

• Designed to deliver persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) in high-threat and contested environments, including areas with GPS denial or communication jamming.

• Eliminates dependence on runways, catapults or recovery nets, enabling deployment from naval decks, rooftops and remote forward posts.

• Technical Highlights: Endurance: Exceeds 12 hours of continuous flight.

• Engine: Heavy-fuel engine compatible with standard military logistics.

• Payload: Advanced high-definition ISR sensors and targeting suites.

• This induction marks a strategic leap, as India adopts Hivemind AI software, enabling sovereign development of autonomous military capabilities rather than mere platform acquisition.

6. Global Innovation Index (GII): Recently, India’s Global Innovation Index (GII) rank improved from 66th in 2019 to 38th in 2025, leading among lower-middle-income countries.

• Key Highlights: India now tops the lower-middle-income countries and ranks 1st in Central & Southern Asia. This reflects stronger innovation inputs, research output, startup depth, and IP creation.

• Global Innovation Clusters: Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai feature among the top 50 most innovation-intensive clusters globally. These cities anchor India’s technology, startup, and R&D ecosystems, boosting innovation spillovers.

• India emerges as a major global IP filer (2024): 4th in trademarks

• 6th in patents

• 7th in industrial designs

• Growth Trends (FY20–FY25): Patent filings witnessed an almost twofold increase, reflecting stronger innovation activity.

• Trademark registrations expanded by 5 times, indicating rising brand creation and formalisation.

• Industrial design registrations surged 5 times, highlighting growth in design-led manufacturing.

• WIPO ranked India 12th globally for its entrepreneurship policy framework and entrepreneurial culture.

7. Scabies: Recently, scabies has re-emerged as a public health concern, with the Economic Survey 2025–26 highlighting its neglect and strong links to poverty and overcrowding in tropical countries like India.

• About Scabies: A highly contagious skin condition caused by the Sarcoptes scabiei mite, which burrows beneath the skin and triggers an allergic reaction.

• Around 200 million people worldwide are affected at any given time; in 2017, the World Health Organization classified scabies as a Neglected Tropical Disease, reflecting its burden on vulnerable populations.

  • Causes: Female mites (microscopic in size) tunnel under the skin, where they live, lay eggs and release waste.

• The characteristic itchy rash is due to the body’s immune response to the mites.

• Scabies spreads mainly through prolonged skin-to-skin contact, and sometimes via shared clothes, bedding or towels.

• It affects people of all ages and backgrounds and is not linked to poor hygiene.

• Symptoms: Intense itching, often worse at night, is the most common symptom.

• In first-time infections, symptoms may appear after 4–6 weeks; reinfection causes symptoms within days.

• Common sites include finger webs, armpits, groin, wrists, elbows, waist, buttocks and genital area.

• Burrow marks (thin, wavy lines), bumps, and sores from scratching may be seen.

• In infants and young children, rashes may also affect the palms, soles and scalp.

• Treatment: Managed with topical anti-scabies creams/lotions and sometimes oral medicines.

• Treatments are often applied from neck to toe and left on for 8–14 hours.

• Ivermectin may be prescribed orally but is not recommended for pregnant women or children under 15 kg.

• Itching may persist for weeks after treatment, even when mites are eliminated.

• Prevention and control: All household contacts should be treated simultaneously, even if asymptomatic. Avoid close physical contact until treatment is complete.

• Wash clothes and bedding in hot water and dry with heat or sunlight.

• Items that cannot be washed should be sealed in plastic bags for at least a week.

• Thorough cleaning and vacuuming of living spaces helps prevent reinfestation.

8. Digital Addiction: Recently, the Economic Survey has flagged rising digital addiction and screen-related mental health issues as a serious public health concern, particularly among children and adolescents.

• Key Highlights: It recommends structured preventive interventions, including cyber-safety education, peer mentoring, compulsory physical activity in schools, parental training on screen-time control, age-appropriate digital access, and stronger platform accountability.

• The Survey suggests network-level safeguards, such as separate data plans for educational and recreational use and default blocking of high-risk online content.

• It calls for expanding the Tele-MANAS programme beyond crisis counselling to actively address digital addiction, with integration into schools and colleges and deployment of trained counsellors for early intervention.

• A policy shift from treatment-centric to preventive and public healthcare is emphasised, linking long-term economic productivity to healthier human capital.

• The Survey highlights the rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)—cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, and mental health disorders—affecting even working-age populations, alongside persistent communicable diseases.

• It stresses the need for technology-enabled public health surveillance, sustained investment in preventive care, nutrition, mental health, digital wellness, and community health systems.
• Experts note that the pandemic accelerated screen dependence, worsening lifestyle diseases, and emphasise exercise, sleep, stress management, and traditional diets as key preventive measures.