KAS Current Affairs

Preliminary Examination

Paper-I: Current Events of National and International Importance

Paper-II: Current Events of State Importance and Important Government Schemes and Programs

Main Examination

Paper-I: Essays

Essay – 1: Topic of International/National Importance

Essay-2: Topic of State importance/Local Importance

Paper-II: General Studies 1

Steps into the past: 1,500-year-old reservoir unearthed on Elephanta Island near Mumbai
Context: As we trudged through the scrub jungle on a hill on the Elephanta Island off the Mumbai coast on March 17, Abhijit Ambekar declared with a flourish, “We will show you the wonder-discovery of our excavation.” Professor Abhijit Dandekar chipped in, “It is a show-stopper.”

• As we reached the trench, where several men and women were excavating the soil deep below, it was clear that it was a spectacular discovery. There it was: a series of steps leading to a reservoir below. In other words, it was a stepped reservoir or a reservoir built with a wide staircase of perfectly aligned stone blocks.
• Dr. Ambekar, director of the current excavation and Superintending Archaeologist, Mumbai Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), estimated the stepped reservoir to be about 1,500 years old.
• “It is a massive structure — about 14.7 metres long, and 6.7 metres and 10.8 metres wide, forming a T-shape. The excavation has reached a depth of five metres so far. We have exposed 20 steps. The steps are built with stone-blocks which are not from the island. They were ferried from the mainland,” he said.
• While rock-cut cisterns have been found earlier on the Elephanta Island, the discovery of this stepped reservoir was important because it was a carefully designed architecture for storing water, Dr. Ambekar said. “Although the island receives a large amount of rainfall from the monsoon, very little seeps into the soil because of the island’s rocky nature, and the water runs off into the sea,” he said. Hence, this stepped reservoir, which was “a remarkable engineering work.”
• The ASI’s Mumbai Circle began the excavation here in November 2025. It has excavated 19 trenches, each measuring 10 metres x 10 metres.
• The excavation has so far yielded a beautifully built brick structure, which could be a dyeing vat for colouring textiles, a big storage pot, terracotta figurines, glass and stone bangles, beads made of carnelian and quartz and stone anchors. A total of about 3,000 amphorae sherds of Mediterranean origin and torpedo jar sherds from West Asia, including Mesopotamia, have been unearthed. Amphorae and torpedo jars were used for storing wine, oil and fish sauce. Their potsherds showed the island’s long-distance maritime contacts.
• Importantly, 60 copper, lead and silver coins have so far been found in the excavations. Several copper coins have been identified as belonging to ruler Krishnaraja of the Kalachuri dynasty of the sixth century CE, said Dr. Abhijit Dandekar, Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology of Deccan College, Pune.
• The identification was made on the basis of the motif of a seated bull on the obverse and a temple symbol with the legend of Sri Krishnaraja on the reverse, he said.

Paper-III: General Studies 2

Groundwater extraction in State saw reduction in 2025
Context: Releasing the 2025 Groundwater Assessment Report, Minister Boseraju says the gains have been made owing to good rainfall, policy interventions, and large-scale water conservation initiatives implemented over the past two years.

• Karnataka has recorded a significant decline in groundwater usage along with a notable increase in annual recharge capacity, reflecting the impact of sustained water conservation efforts and good rainfall.

Improved indicators

• According to the report, overall groundwater extraction reduced from 68.44% in 2024 to 66.49% in 2025, indicating more responsible and sustainable usage patterns across the State.
• Also, the annual groundwater recharge capacity has increased from 18.74 billion cubic metres (BCM) in 2024 to 19.28 BCM in 2025, while annual extractable groundwater resources rose from 16.88 BCM to 17.41 BCM.
• The improvement has been driven largely by the expansion of water conservation structures across the State. Recharge through these structures increased by 29.11%, from 0.81 BCM to 1.04 BCM in a year.

Rural impact

• The report indicates improvement in groundwater status across 11 taluks, with several regions moving to safer categories. Chamarajanagar taluk has improved from ‘over-exploited’ to ‘critical’.
• Domestic groundwater extraction has declined by 0.58%, from 1,21,731 hectare-metres in 2024 to 1,21,023 hectare-metres in 2025. Officials attributed this reduction to increased reliance on surface water under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
• Mr. Boseraju said initiatives such as lake rejuvenation, year-round water supply through treated and surface water, sustained public awareness campaigns, and good rainfall have played a key role in reducing over-extraction and improving recharge.
• “Instead of depending solely on the 120-day monsoon, we are ensuring water availability across all 365 days through scientific management. This has strengthened long-term water security for both farmers and urban residents,” he said.

Digital Water Stack initiative

• Under this framework, the government will introduce space technology and AI-based satellite surveillance to obtain real-time data for continuous groundwater monitoring.

Cabinet clears draft amendment Bill over women’s reservation
Context: The Union Cabinet approved a draft amendment Bill to implement the Women’s Reservation Act by the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

• The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources said. The amendment seeks to revise the implementation framework of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, formally known as the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, passed in 2023. Under the proposal, the strength of the Lok Sabha is set to rise from 543 to 816, following a fresh delimitation exercise.
• Of the expanded House, 273 seats, around one-third will be reserved for women. The quota will be applied vertically, providing reservation for women within the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories as well.
• In a significant departure from the existing law, the government plans to carry out delimitation based on the 2011 Census, rather than waiting for Census data from 2027.
• The Bill will be taken up for debate at the Budget Session from April 16-18.

Paper-IV: General Studies 3

‘Over 4,600 objects placed in orbit in 2025 after 315 space launches’
Context: The year 2025 saw 315 successful space launches globally, with about 4,651 objects placed in orbit. According to the Indian Space Situational Assessment Report (ISSAR) for 2025 released, a maximum number of payloads were deployed during 2025.

• The report stated that 4,651 objects were launched to orbits and 1,911 re-entered the atmosphere with a net annual growth of 74.5%.

27 satellites operational

• With regard to the Indian space assets in 2025, eight satellites were launched and four rocket bodies were placed in orbit. The report said that 12 Indian objects re-entered the atmosphere.
• It added that the IRNSS-1 D satellite was decommissioned 600 km above geosynchronous orbit. In total, there are 86 Indian satellites in orbit of which 27 are operational, 23 are defunct (still in orbit), and 36 decayed.
• Among the Indian rocket bodies, three Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM-3) are still in orbit and five are decayed; four Small Satellite Launch Vehicles are decayed; four Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles (GSLV) are in orbit and 10 have decayed, and 42 Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) are in orbit and 19 have decayed.
• The report also said that 563 and 519 orbital manoeuvres were carried out in low-earth orbit and geostationary orbit, respectively.
• Fourteen collision avoidance measures were carried out in low-earth orbit along with four in geostationary orbit, the ISSAR report said.

72-year-old man from Shivamogga dies of Kyasanur Forest Disease
Context: A 72-year-old man from Sagar taluk died of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) at a private hospital in Manipal, Udupi district.

Tick-borne disease

• The KFD is a tick-borne disease, and people living near forest areas are particularly vulnerable to infection. The district administration and officials of the Health and Family Welfare Department are conducting awareness campaigns on preventing its spread. People visiting forest areas have been advised to apply tick-repellent oil on their hands and legs.’

India withdraws bid to host climate summit in 2028
Context: The government cites a review of its 2028 commitments, says report; the country had last hosted the summit in 2002, when it was a low-key affair.

• India has withdrawn its bid to host the 33rd edition of the Conference of Parties (COP 33) in 2028 — the annual United Nations climate talks, according to a report by Climate Home News (CHN).
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced India’s interest in hosting the COP33 at the COP28 in Dubai in 2023.
• The Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change did not comment on the report, but The Hindu has independently confirmed its veracity.
• According to the CHN report, an April 2 letter by Rajat Agrawal, Joint Secretary in the Environment Ministry, to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) stated that India was withdrawing its candidacy following a “review of its commitments for 2028”.
• In July 2025, the Environment Ministry set up a dedicated cell for the “professional and logistical requirements” for organising the COP33. This followed a joint declaration at the 17th BRICS summit on July 7, where the member countries “welcomed” India’s candidacy.
• The hosting of the COP rotates among the UN’s five regional groups, with India belonging to the Asia Pacific group.
• The COP30 was held in Brazil. The edition this year is to be jointly hosted by Turkiye and Australia and the 2027 summit (COP32) is scheduled to be held in Ethiopia. With India withdrawing, South Korea is the only country that has so far expressed interest in hosting the COP33. India has hosted the summit only once — in 2002 (COP8) — when it was a relatively low-key affair.
• On March 25, India announced its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), committing by 2035 to source 60% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources, reduce emissions intensity of GDP by 47%, and increase its carbon sink by 3.5-4 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.

NTPC inks MoU with Électricité de France

• State-owned National Thermal Power Corp Ltd. (NTPC) said it had inked a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with French counterpart Électricité de France (EDF) to explore opportunities in India’s nuclear power space.
• According to a statement, the two entities would seek to establish a framework for jointly assessing “feasibility and approach for collaboration”.
• NTPC is targeting to institute 30 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047.

Indian scientists find new way to measure distances in deep space
Context: The dense and rapidly spinning remnant cores of dead stars are called pulsars; they emit beams of radio waves that sweep across the earthlike light from a lighthouse sweeps across ships at sea; pulsars have an extraordinarily fixed spinning rate, so the pulses arrive very regularly.

• Indian astronomers, including from IIT-Kanpur, have developed a new way to measure distances in the universe using the pulsating cores of dead stars, by studying how their radio emissions are distorted as they travel through space. The technique combines a pair of subtle effects that occur when pulsar signals pass through clouds of ionised gas in the Milky Way.
• The dense and rapidly spinning remnant cores of dead stars are called pulsars. They emit beams of radio waves that sweep across the earth like light from a lighthouse sweeps across ships at sea. Pulsars have an extraordinarily fixed spinning rate, so the pulses arrive very regularly. So astronomers have used them as cosmic clocks.
• Pulsar timing experiments use millisecond pulsars, which spin hundreds of times per second, to create precise timing models that predict the arrival of following pulses. Any difference in arrival time indicates the presence of another astrophysical event, such as those producing gravitational waves.
• But as these radio waves travel through the galaxy before reaching the earth, they also pass through clouds of ionised gas, or plasma, that contain free electrons that slightly alter the radio signal.

Way of light

• Astronomers measure one of these effects using a quantity called the dispersion measure (DM). As radio waves travel through the interstellar medium, free electrons slow down lower frequency waves more than higher frequency ones. This causes different frequencies to arrive at the earth at slightly different times. By measuring the delay caused by dispersion, astronomers can estimate how many electrons lie between the earth and the pulsar.
• In general, signals from more distant pulsars pass through more interstellar plasma and encounter more electrons. As a result, DM provides a rough estimate of how far away the pulsar is.
• Astronomers have long used DM to estimate the distance to pulsars. However, this method relies on models of electron distribution throughout the Milky Way that can be unreliable in complex regions such as the Gum Nebula, a vast region of ionised gas and one of the largest known nebulae in our galaxy. Possibly associated with a supernova explosion or ionisation by hot stars, the nebula contains the Vela Pulsar and regions that can strongly influence radio signals passing through it.

Wobbling signals

• The interstellar medium also affects pulsar signals in another way. As plasma is not perfectly smooth, its irregularities scatter radio waves as they travel through it. This scattering causes the signals to follow multiple paths before reaching the earth. The scattered waves interfere with each other, causing the pulsar’s brightness to vary with time.
• The term for this is scintillation, similar to the twinkling of stars in the night sky. Since the signals arrive by different paths and at slightly different times, the signal appears stretched out or smeared. This effect is known as scatter broadening.
• In the new study, published in the Monthly Notices of Royal Astronomical Society, the team combined DM with scatter broadening to refine the distance estimates. As scattering depends on how turbulent the plasma is, the electron density, and the location of the scattering region along the line of sight, the joint method revealed where the turbulent plasma is located between the earth and the pulsar much more accurately.
• “Previously, we had only one ‘soldier’— dispersion — to solve the problem,” the study’s lead author Ashish Kumar, formerly at IIT-Kanpur and now at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, said. “Now we have two: dispersion and scattering.”
• The study was carried out with co-authors Avinash Deshpande, former professor at the Raman Research Institute, and Pankaj Jain, a professor at IIT-Kanpur.

Systematic application

• “The authors have done a careful job of utilising a variety of measurements on 10 pulsars to constrain the structure of the interstellar medium in this region, including the distance to the dominant scattering region [the Gum Nebula],” Cornell University professor James Cordes, who wasn’t involved in the study, said.
• He also said combining scattering and dispersion to estimate pulsar distances is not entirely new and has been explored in pulsar studies for decades. In this study, however, the team applied the approach in a systematic way: they used both dispersion and scattering measurements together and adjusted their model step by step until it matched both the observed DM and the scatter broadening.
• The distance where the model and observations agreed was then taken to be the pulsar’s distance.
• Their work shows that much of the scattering affecting pulsars in this direction likely comes from turbulent layers of the Gum Nebula. Using observations of 10 pulsars in the same region of the sky as Gum Nebula, researchers also developed a refined model of the nebula’s electron distribution. Results showed that the Vela pulsar lies behind the nebula’s front shell.

No hard limit

• Scatter broadening depends on how strongly a pulsar’s signal is scattered along the line of sight. Calculating this exactly requires extensive analysis. So to simplify it, researchers combined the dependencies into a single parameter, called the k-factor, at a given frequency.
• Estimating the k-factor was the main technical challenge of the study, Dr. Kumar said, as it varies significantly in complex regions. However, one can determine its value for the target pulsar from a nearby pulsar at a known distance.
• For the Gum Nebula, the team analysed several pulsars in the region and calculated their individual k-factors. Instead of adopting a single number, they used a range of possible values to account for uncertainties in the scattering properties of the plasma. The team is now working on a follow-up study of roughly 300 pulsars across our galaxy to determine how the k-factor varies in different directions.
• Parallax-based measurements are extensively used in distance measurements. While the novel method offers several advantages over DM-only estimates, it cannot beat the “gold standards” of the parallax method in terms of accuracy, Dr. Kumar said.

• However, while certain parallax techniques have a “hard limit” on distance, the new method has no specific distance limitation. It could even be used to measure distances to objects outside the Milky Way, like the enigmatic fast radio bursts.

Why India wants fast breeder reactors

• In an important milestone, the prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam achieved criticality on April 6. The term ‘criticality’ is familiar to India: over the decades, it has been associated with the slow and tedious successes of India’s nuclear power programme. At the same time, in keeping with many terms in the nuclear vocabulary, ‘criticality’ is also often mistaken as an end goal. In reality, it is actually the first step.

What is criticality?

• A nuclear reactor becomes critical when its chain reaction is able to sustain itself. That is, when an atom’s nucleus undergoes nuclear fission, it releases neutrons that trigger at least one more fission reaction in the surrounding nuclei. Reactor engineers ensure this happens by controlling the composition of the fuel (the material whose nuclei undergo fission), how well the neutrons are able to ‘access’ more nuclei, and the temperature of the reactor. Once a reactor is critical, it also means it is in a kind of stable state. However, it does not mean that it is operating in a commercially viable way. That comes much later. After criticality, the operators keep the reactor running as it produces a low amount of power, for months if necessary, while they check if its operating parameters are within design limits. If an operator is sure that the parameters are, they can go to the next stage.

How do FBRs work?

• Most of India’s currently operating nuclear reactors are pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs). They are designed to support the fission of natural uranium. Natural uranium consists of 99.3% of uranium-238 and 0.7% of uranium-235. ‘235’ and ‘238’ denote the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus. In a PHWR, neutrons are introduced into the reactor, where a device called a moderator slows them down. This is necessary for the neutrons to cause uranium-235 to undergo fission. When it does, it releases heat, which the PHWR converts to electricity; a small amount of plutonium; and a few neutrons.
• PHWRs are inefficient because only a small fraction of the fuel, around 1%, undergoes fission before it becomes unusable.
• A fast-breeder reactor (FBR) is more efficient, achieving a fuel use rate of around 10% or more. Mainly, the fuel consists of plutonium, not uranium. The reactor core is surrounded by a ‘blanket’ of depleted uranium, like the unusable fuel produced by PHWRs. When a fast neutron bombards the blanket, the uranium nuclei are transmutated to plutonium nuclei, which are reprocessed as nuclear fuel. The plutonium-based fuel also uses the fast neutrons to undergo fission, releasing more fast neutrons.

What is India’s three-stage programme?

• The nuclear physicist Homi Bhabha is widely credited with conceiving India’s nuclear programme in the first years of its independence. The programme has three stages. In the first stage, PHWRs will use natural uranium to produce plutonium and depleted uranium and electricity. In the second stage, FBRs will use the plutonium and depleted uranium from the first stage to produce even more plutonium and electricity. Finally, future nuclear reactors will use plutonium and thorium to produce electricity.
• Bhabha came up with this programme because India has abundant quantities of thorium but only modest reserves of uranium.
• And in this scheme, FBRs have been envisaged as a bridge between the initial step, to use what we have, and the final step, to complete the cycle and thus make India self-sufficient in nuclear power.

Why are FBRs challenging?

• That an FBR is easier said than done would be a gross underestimate. The Indian government approved the PFBR more than two decades ago. It was designed by the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research and built by the Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam, Ltd. The latter proved to be more challenging than first expected.
• Among other features, the PFBR uses liquid sodium as coolant. Sodium becomes liquid at a higher temperature, and at higher temperature heat transfer is more efficient. Liquid sodium also does not need to be pressurised. However, it reacts violently with air and water, so the pumps, pipes, and tanks exposed to liquid sodium need to be perfectly sealed, with stringent leak detection protocols. Water-cooled reactors do not have such operational complexities, nor the additional cost.
• India is also not alone in confronting these challenges. Japan’s Monju Nuclear Power Plant suffered a sodium leak and fire in 1995, leading to long shutdowns; the plant eventually had to be decommissioned. The Superphénix in France was once the world’s largest breeder reactor but it was shut down as well, due to technical issues and high operating costs, which also fanned political opposition. Russia, however, has continued to maintain a small fleet of fast-breeder reactors.
• In other words, operators have shown FBRs to be technically feasible but they are not yet economically feasible; they have also not won broader public acceptance. Aside from the costs of making them, they also demand rigorous oversight — which depends on both engineering excellence and the safety culture.

How has India pursued FBRs?

• India is pursuing FBRs because, as discussed earlier, the three-stage nuclear programme prioritises long-term fuel security. Importantly, it is able to do so because India’s nuclear sector remains largely driven by the state. Its decision-making structure is relatively insulated from the ruling establishment: the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) reports directly to the Prime Minister’s Office. As a result, as long as there has been political stability, India has been able to sustain nuclear projects across electoral cycles.
• On the flip side, this insulation has reduced scrutiny of the nuclear power programme and protected it from the same pressure to deliver that assails other public sector enterprises like the Indian Railways and the National Highways Authority of India. Engineers have taken on projects with limited transparency on timelines and budgets. When one or both have slipped, the accountability has been spread across agencies. The PFBR’s original cost was ₹3,500 crore. It came to ₹6,800 crore in 2019. The DAE also sought multiple deadline extensions. In 2020, it said the PFBR would be commercialised in October 2022. That milestone is still pending.
• The economics of FBRs also remain uncertain. In addition to the aforementioned issues, the broader fuel cycle — especially the reprocessing of spent fuel and the fabrication of new fuel assemblies — will require its own infrastructure. And for this the nuclear establishment will have to set up new regulatory processes.

What next for the PFBR?

• The PFBR will be operated at a low power level to check its behaviour in different operating conditions. Engineers will collect the data from these tests to inform decisions about raising the reactor’s power output and refining safety protocols. Eventually, they will seek approval from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board to operate the reactor in commercial mode.
• This entails running the PFBR at or near its rated capacity to generate electricity for the grid on a sustained basis, with standard operating procedures and clear regulatory oversight. At this point in time, the reactor will also have transitioned from being experimental to a commercial power plant.
• In parallel, the DAE will also develop fuel reprocessing facilities and plan for future FBRs. Once these aims are closer to being realised, the government and India will develop a clearer sense of whether the broader vision of a closed fuel cycle can be realised.

Paper-V: General Studies 4

KAS Current Affairs

Preliminary Examination

Paper-I: Current Events of National and International Importance

Paper-II: Current Events of State Importance and Important Government Schemes and Programs

State urges Maharashtra govt. to give Kannada option in TET
Context: The Karnataka government has urged the Maharashtra government to provide an option for candidates to appear for the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) in Kannada medium also for those who are serving in Kannada-medium schools in Maharashtra.

• With the Supreme Court mandating all serving teachers to clear the TET by 2027 to ensure job security, the Maharashtra government has issued Kannada-medium school teachers recruitment notification to fill up vacancies in Kannada-medium schools of Maharashtra.
• The current-unavailability of TET in Kannada medium has caused significant distress and professional uncertainty among those serving as Kannada medium teachers in these schools.
• “These linguistic minority students and teachers come under the protection of constitutional provision of Articles 30, 347, 350, 350A and 350B,”.
• There was around 377 Kannada-medium schools with 44,860 students in Jatta, Akkalkot, Dakshin Solapur where about 80% linguistic minority Kannadigas live.

In recognition of Basavanna’s ideology, State of Kansas proclaims April 20 as ‘Basava Day’
Context: The State of Kansas in the U.S. has recognised the ideology of Karnataka’s 12th century social reformer Basavanna by proclaiming April 20, Basava Jayanti, as “Basava Day” in Kansas. The proclamation was made by Kansas Governor Laura Kelly.

• The proclamation said: “Basava Day honours the birth and teachings of Jagadguru Basavanna, also known as Basava, a 12th century Indian philosopher and a social reformer who was said to have been a mystic by temperament, an idealist by choice, a statesman by profession, a man of letters by taste, a humanist by sympathy, and a social reformer by conviction, whose message continues to inspire people around the world.”
• It also observes that Basava’s vision remains highly relevant today of a just society, free from all discrimination.
• This proclamation celebrates the vibrant contributions of the Lingayat community and the broader Indian-American diaspora to the cultural fabric of Kansas.”

Karnataka makes audit of adolescent pregnancies mandatory
Context: In a move aimed at strengthening adolescent health and addressing early pregnancies, the State government has made it mandatory to audit all adolescent pregnancy cases involving girls aged 10 to 18 years.

• The audit will be carried out by the respective Taluk Health Officers across the State, covering all such cases reported through both government and private health establishments.
• Adolescent pregnancy continues to be a significant public health and social concern, with implications for maternal health, neonatal outcomes and long-term socio-economic development. Pregnancies in this age group are associated with higher risks of complications, adverse birth outcomes, school dropout and increased social vulnerability. Citing global estimates, nearly half of adolescent pregnancies are unintended.
• The Health Department had directed private hospitals to mandatorily report cases of minor pregnancies under the POCSO Act, warning that failure to do so will invite legal action against both doctors and hospital managements.
• While programmes such as the National Health Mission and the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) focus on adolescent health through counselling, awareness and access to services, the persistence of teenage pregnancies points to gaps that require systematic review.
• Under the new framework, all adolescent pregnancies must be mandatorily reported on the Reproductive and Child Health platform. The audit will examine factors such as age at marriage, educational status, awareness of reproductive health, access to contraception and counselling services, and socio-economic vulnerabilities. It will assess linkages with schemes such as RKSK, ICDS and school health programmes.
• At the taluk level, an audit committee headed by the THO will be set up, with members including health inspectors, Primary Health Centre medical officer, ASHA supervisors, anganwadi supervisors and, where applicable, school representatives.
• Based on the findings, the health system will undertake measures including counselling through designated centres, provision of contraceptive services and pregnancy testing kits, and identification of vulnerable adolescents such as school dropouts, migrants and those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

Main Examination

Paper-I: Essays

Essay – 1: Topic of International/National Importance

Essay-2: Topic of State importance/Local Importance

Paper-II: General Studies 1

Paper-III: General Studies 2

‘Records on caste census decision can’t be disclosed’
Context: The Union government has stated that records of the Inter-Ministerial deliberations, inputs, and suggestions referred to in making the decision to enumerate caste in the 2027 Census are exempt from public disclosure under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

• Responding to a request for these records filed by The Hindu under the RTI Act, the Union Cabinet Secretariat said that these records were exempt from disclosure under Section 8(1)(i) of the 2005 law. This section says the government is not obligated to disclose Cabinet papers, provided that “the matter is over” or “complete”; and provided that “the decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken”.
• On April 30, the Centre posted a statement, saying, “Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided to include caste enumeration in the upcoming Census.” On March 25, responding to requests for information on records relied upon for this decision, the Cabinet Secretariat said, “The information sought is exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(i) of the RTI Act.”

Paper-IV: General Studies 3

Fast breeder nuclear reactor at Kalpakkam takes ‘critical’ leap forward
Context: The prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam, Chennai, had achieved “criticality”. This means that the nuclear reaction in the reactor had become safely self-sustaining, and was on its way to being able to produce electricity.

• While it will be some months before the PFBR is powered up to its full capacity, and even longer before it produces useful electricity, multiple experiments have to be conducted at low power to check if it’s running as expected, which must be evaluated by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board before it grants a go-ahead for commercial power operation, this the beginning of the second stage of India’s nuclear programme.

Since it was first formally approved as a project by the government in 2003, the PFBR at Kalpakkam has taken over two decades to reach this stage.

PFBR as a bridge

• India’s nuclear reactors are heavily dependent on imported uranium. The country’s three-stage programme, conceived in the 1950s, envisages being able to be independent of imported uranium, creating its own stockpile of suitable uranium, and eventually harnessing thorium, of which it has vast stores. The PFBR development serves as an essential bridge.
• “What this means is that we are now on our way to extract 80-100 times more energy from a given quantity of uranium.”
• The PFBR is a 500 MW sodium-cooled, pool-type fast breeder reactor designed by the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research and built by Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited, both operating under the Department of Atomic Energy.

Uranium powerhouse

• India’s pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR) burn up uranium to produce electricity and small quantities of plutonium. However, less than 1% of the energy from this uranium (that can be used as heat and make electricity) is extracted from these reactors. The ‘depleted’ uranium in India isn’t considered ‘waste’ but is reprocessed and stored. It, however, cannot be used back in the existing PHWRs.
• “The PFBR reactor is designed to use the ‘spent’ uranium from the PHWR as well as produce more plutonium. We are no longer using fresh, mined uranium here. As a thumb rule, this means that the 1% energy extracted can go up to nearly 10% for a single cycle and for every additional cycle 10% more. The efficiency of the uranium that is mined goes up substantially.
• “The burn-up or the energy extracted goes from about 8,000 units (in a PHWR) to nearly 100,000 units,”.

Two more reactors

• India’s current plan, Mr. Grover said, was to construct two more PFBR at Kalpakkam, though this would only be following a proper assessment of the performance of the PFBR for a year. In the current scheme of things, the PFBR will produce only “marginally more” plutonium.
• “Our current priority is to use the uranium that we have far more efficiently. There is a reprocessing plant to come up on site at Kalpakkam which will use the processed spent fuel from the PFBR and for the two future PFBR. The PFBR will use depleted uranium (from the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors or PHWRs).
• In the future, we will use thorium, but that is still a long time away, and what kind of reactors we will use for that, we need more work and have to wait and watch,” he said, adding, “These reactors are self-sustaining but as and when we need more plutonium in the future, the design has to be optimised to extract more plutonium.”
• Currently, India has a fleet of 18-20 PHWRs that use natural uranium as fuel and produce plutonium-239 (Pu-239) as a by-product in spent fuel. India’s full fleet of 23 nuclear reactors have a combined capacity of 7.48 GW. India hopes to have 100 GW by 2047 and this is premised on a larger fleet of Bharat Small Modular Reactors (which are scaled down PHWR) that are in the pipeline.
• A significant technological challenge that has led to delays in the PFBR is the use of liquid sodium as a coolant to manage the extremely high heat from fissioning uranium atoms in the PFBR. In India’s current reactors, the heat is largely absorbed by ‘heavy water’, or in some cases, ordinary water. Once fully operational, the PFBR is expected to generate 500 MW of electricity, with a design life of 40 years.

Paper-V: General Studies 4

KAS Current Affairs

Preliminary Examination

Paper-I: Current Events of National and International Importance

Paper-II: Current Events of State Importance and Important Government Schemes and Programs

Karnataka frames guidelines for multi-pair kidney swap transplants
Context: Expanding access for those unable to undergo renal transplantation due to biological incompatibility, the State government has issued detailed administrative guidelines enabling multi-pair kidney paired exchange (swap) transplants. Karnataka is the first State to frame such guidelines in the country, officials said.

• A Government Order (GO), issued on April 4, operationalises provisions under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA), 1994, to permit kidney swaps involving three or more donor-recipient pairs, while laying down a structured regulatory and procedural framework.
• Officials said a significant number of patients in Karnataka are unable to undergo transplantation due to incompatibility factors such as ABO blood group mismatch, positive crossmatch, or HLA incompatibility. Kidney Paired Exchange (KPE), an internationally accepted and scientifically validated approach, allows such incompatible pairs to exchange donors with other pairs to achieve compatible matches.
• “While Section 9(3A) of THOTA explicitly allows swap transplants between two pairs, it does not directly address multi-pair exchanges. However, the absence of any prohibition, along with the Supreme Court’s 2025 judgment in Indian Society of Organ Transplantation vs. Union of India and a supporting legal opinion obtained by the State, has enabled the government to permit three-way and higher-order swaps,” officials said.

Safeguards

• The guidelines stipulate that multi-pair swaps will be allowed only under strict conditions.
• Each donor must be a ‘near relative’ of the intended recipient, and each pair must have documented medical evidence of incompatibility.
• At the same time, compatibility must be established across the swap group through cross-match and HLA reports certified by NABL-accredited laboratories.
• All donors and recipients are required to enter into a single joint agreement consenting to the exchange. The order mandates that all clinical, immunological, psychological and legal evaluations prescribed under the Act and Rules be completed to the satisfaction of the Appropriate Authority and the Authorisation Committee. It also explicitly prohibits any form of commercial transaction.

Approval and oversight

• Every multi-pair swap transplant will require prior approval from the Authorisation Committee, with the State-Level Authorisation Committee vested with jurisdiction over all such cases, including those involving multiple hospitals or districts.
• The Committee has been tasked with additional scrutiny, including verifying that the swap group comprises only near-relative pairs, ensuring that no participant is substituted after the agreement without fresh approval, and conducting individual interviews of all donors and recipients, which must be video-recorded.

Timeline

• The guidelines also prescribe a timeline, requiring the Authorisation Committee to take a decision within 24 hours of convening its meeting.

Documentation and procedure

• Hospitals must submit extensive documentation, including Form 11 applications jointly executed by donors and recipients, proof of relationship, medical fitness certificates, incompatibility reports, and declarations affirming the absence of financial transactions.
• A single joint agreement signed by all participants is mandatory, along with certification from the Authorisation Committee. Surgical procedures are to be conducted simultaneously, as far as possible, to prevent breakdown of the swap arrangement.
• Where this is not feasible, transplants may be carried out in a closely coordinated sequence with prior approval, stated the GO.
• In cases involving multiple hospitals, a detailed inter-hospital coordination plan must be submitted in advance, and organ transport must comply with protocols under the THOTA Rules, 2014.
• A designated transplant coordinator will oversee the process.

Monitoring and reporting

• The guidelines emphasise post-transplant monitoring and data reporting. All participating hospitals must report details of such transplants to the State Organ Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) and the national registry in prescribed formats, while also maintaining long-term follow-up data for donors and recipients.
• The State will compile consolidated data and submit periodic reports. Recognising that multi-pair swaps are relatively new in Karnataka, the government has directed that initial cases be treated as special cases, with decisions subject to additional review or guidance, if required.

Clarification

• The GO clarifies that the guidelines are administrative in nature and consistent with the provisions of THOTA and the 2025 Supreme Court judgment and will remain in force until any formal amendments are made to the central law.

Main Examination

Paper-I: Essays

Essay – 1: Topic of International/National Importance

Essay-2: Topic of State importance/Local Importance

Paper-II: General Studies 1

Paper-III: General Studies 2

Paper-IV: General Studies 3

With 2,039 stations, Karnataka second in EV charging network
Context: It is ahead of major States such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat in terms of operational OMC-run charging stations.

• Karnataka has emerged as the second-largest hub for Electric Vehicle public charging stations in India, with 2,039 operational units installed by oil marketing companies. This puts Karnataka just behind Uttar Pradesh in the national rankings, according to data by Ministry of Heavy Industries.
• According to the data accessed by The Hindu, a total of 2,039 EV public charging stations (EV PCS) installed by oil marketing companies (OMCs) are currently operational in Karnataka. A year-wise analysis shows a steady acceleration in deployment. Karnataka had just 36 charging stations in 2020–21, which rose over fourfold to 153 in 2021–22. The pace picked up significantly in 2022–23, when installations jumped to 542 stations, reflecting adoption of EVs.
• While 2023–24 saw a marginal dip to 478 stations, the overall trajectory remained upward. The most notable surge came in 2024–25, when installations more than doubled to 1,034 stations, marking the single largest annual addition in the five-year period.
• In the current financial year (2025–26, up to March 1), an additional 157 stations have been installed, taking the cumulative installations over five years to 2,400, out of which 2,039 are operational.
• A senior official said that the sharp rise, particularly after 2022–23, indicates increasing alignment between infrastructure rollout and EV adoption trends in urban centres such as Bengaluru, as well as along key highways.
• “The expansion has largely been driven by OMCs, alongside private sector participation, as setting up EV charging stations remains an unlicensed activity,” the official added.
• Karnataka is ahead of major States such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat in terms of operational OMC-run EV charging stations. Only Uttar Pradesh, with 2,893 stations, has a larger network.

Adequacy

• However, despite the rapid expansion, an official source noted that there is currently no centralised assessment of the adequacy of charging infrastructure relative to the number of registered EVs, nor a detailed roadmap for future expansion.
• Meanwhile, across India, OMCs have installed a total of 27,737 EV public charging stations, of which 22,753 are currently operational, at the same time, a small number of stations (21) across the country have been decommissioned. According to the data, under the FAME-II scheme, ₹912.5 crore has been sanctioned for EV charging infrastructure, of which ₹895.48 crore has been released and ₹655.43 crore utilised so far. Additionally, the government has earmarked ₹2,000 crore under the PM E-DRIVE scheme to expand charging infrastructure nationwide, although no funds have been released yet.

To tackle LPG deficit, Jindal uses syngas in furnaces

• Jindal Steel said it has deployed syngas in galvanising and colour coating line furnaces to counter the shortage of natural gas, LPG and propane, enabling the company to sustain operations amid supply disruptions.
• Syngas, or synthesis gas, is a clean-burning fuel that offers a way to turn waste and biomass into valuable energy, acting as a circular energy source. The switch allowed the firm to mitigate fuel constraints.

Paper-V: General Studies 4