Daily Current Affair 05-September-2025

News at a Glance

Topic	GS Paper/Prelims Tag	Explanation
Right to Education Exemptions for Minority Schools	GS2 – Polity – FRs	The Supreme Court is re-examining whether minority schools should be fully exempt from the RTE Act’s protections (like 25% reserved seats and basic norms). Earlier, the Pramati judgment gave these schools a blanket exemption to protect minority rights under Article 30, fearing quotas and mandatory standards would dilute their cultural character. But critics argue this ignores children’s fundamental right to quality education (Article 21A), weakens accountability, and allows some institutions to misuse minority status to bypass inclusion. The Court now seeks a balanceupholding both minority autonomy and universal educational access, possibly by ensuring independent oversight and tying state support to core RTE norms.
The 50% Ceiling Debate in Reservations	GS2 – Polity – Reservation	The 50% reservation ceilingfirst set in Balaji (1962) and reaffirmed in Indra Sawhney (1992)remains a hot topic as states like Bihar and Maharashtra consider breaching it. While formal equality demands limits, advocates say substantive equality (addressing historic disadvantage) may justify higher quotas. There are persistent shortfalls in filling reserved posts, and benefits are still concentrated among a few OBC subcastes. There are debates on excluding the creamy layer even for SCs/STs, and calls for data-driven sub-categorisation using the 2027 Census. The future of reservations hinges on balancing merit, representation, and genuinely reaching the most marginalized.
BharatNet Driving Digital Inclusion	GS3 – Governance – Issues	BharatNet is India’s ambitious rural broadband project connecting gram panchayats via optical fibre. While it’s the world’s largest of its kind, the project struggles with maintenance, local ownership gaps, bureaucratic delays (especially after BBNL’s merger with BSNL), and limited last-mile impact. The way forward lies in empowering districts, offering DBT broadband vouchers to households, upgrading maintenance, and adopting satellite/wireless tech for remote areas to convert infrastructure into real digital inclusion.
Next Generation GST Reforms	GS3 – IE – Taxes	India’s latest GST overhaul simplifies the slab structure (now 5%, 18%, and 40% for luxury/sin goods), automates refund systems, and boosts export competitiveness. While reduced rates may spur consumption and lower inflation, this could mean a shortfall in government revenues, especially for industrialized states. Success now depends on better compliance tech, gradual expansion of the tax base (petroleum, alcohol), compensation for states, and nimble review by GST Council fitment panels.
Van Amendment Rules & Forest Conservation	GS3 – Envi – Laws	The latest amendments extend validity for linear project clearances, simplify offline defence submissions, and make compensatory afforestation land no longer compulsorily notified as “protected forest”allowing faster project rollouts but raising concerns about forest protection. Scrutiny now depends on tighter enforcement and the authority of frontline forest officers for timely legal interventions.
Floods in North India	GS3 – DM – Floods	Punjab’s 2025 floods underscore how monsoon change, sediment loss, and human actions (encroachment, poor desilting, chronic underinvestment, policy lapses) are making floods more frequent and severe. Coordination issues, lack of real-time alerts, and weak zoning worsen the damage. Solutions: Integrated basin planning, better desilting, upgraded radars, and land-use regulation to adapt to a new rainfall regime.
India’s First Vulture Conservation Portal	Prelims – Envi – Conservation	“The Vulture Network” portal, launched in Assam on International Vulture Awareness Day, provides outreach materials in local languages. With several native vulture species now critically endangered (slender-billed, white-rumped, red-headed), the portal focuses on education, monitoring, and addressing threats like diclofenac poisoningkey for mobilizing public and local conservation efforts.
Gastrochilus pechei (New Orchid in Arunachal)	Prelims – Envi – Species	A new orchid species, Gastrochilus pechei, previously found only in Myanmar, has been recorded in Arunachal Pradesh’s rainforests. Raising India’s known count of the genus to 23 species (15 in Arunachal), it highlights both India’s biodiversity and the importance of rainforest protection for rare flora.
‘Count on Me’ Toolkit (Dyslexia)	Prelims – In News	Madras Dyslexia Association’s “Count on Me” toolkit features colour-coded booklets for children with maths-learning difficulties (dyscalculia), aiming to boost inclusion and learning equity in Indian classrooms.
UPI 20 Billion Monthly Transactions	Prelims – Economy	In August 2025, India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) crossed 20 billion monthly transactions (₹24.85 lakh crore value)a jump showcasing digital inclusion and the rapid replacement of cash-based payments by digital rails for millions.

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