1. Delhi Building Collapse: Urban Safety & Building Rehabilitation

A five-storey building collapsed in the Satya Niketan area of Delhi, near the South Campus of Delhi University. The area has a dense concentration of rented accommodation for students. Five people died in the incident.

The building was around 50 years old and had a basement below the ground floor. Repair work was reportedly underway in the basement.

Major Causes

• Ageing and deteriorating infrastructure
• Weak enforcement by urban local bodies
• Illegal construction and unauthorised extensions
• Lack of regular structural inspection and maintenance
• Climate-related stresses such as intense rainfall and urban flooding
• Weak implementation of evacuation orders for unsafe buildings

Building Rehabilitation

Building rehabilitation includes repair, strengthening, structural retrofitting, renovation and redevelopment. Its objective is to improve structural safety and extend the useful life of buildings wherever technically feasible.

Way Forward

• Periodic structural safety audits of old buildings
• Identification and timely action against unsafe structures
• Effective implementation of the National Building Code, 2016
• Use of drones, artificial intelligence, sensors and Geographic Information Systems
• Better financial and technical capacity of urban local bodies

2. Adulterated Liquor & Methanol Poisoning

Adulterated liquor can cause severe public-health emergencies, particularly when toxic substances such as methanol are present.

Methanol and Its Danger

Ethanol is the principal alcohol used in alcoholic beverages intended for human consumption. Methanol can be metabolised in the body into highly toxic substances such as formaldehyde and formic acid.

Health Effects

• Permanent visual impairment and blindness
• Liver and kidney damage
• Nervous-system damage
• Confusion and dizziness
• Seizures
• Unconsciousness
• Death in severe cases

Constitutional Dimension

Regulation of alcoholic beverages is primarily a State subject. Article 47 directs the State to improve nutrition, standard of living and public health and to endeavour to prohibit the consumption of intoxicating drinks injurious to health, except for medicinal purposes.

Key Challenges

• Weak enforcement of prohibition policies
• Illegal liquor production
• Poor monitoring
• Different State-level policies
• Expansion of illegal markets

3. Judicial Integrity & Accountability of the Judiciary

The issue of judicial integrity has gained attention in the context of allegations concerning the Acting Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court. The allegations reportedly involve issues such as harassment of judges, administrative mismanagement, transfer of cases to particular benches, alleged nepotism in appointments and alleged favouritism towards certain advocates.

Important: Allegations should not be treated as judicial findings. They need to be examined through established institutional procedures.

Major Institutional Challenges

• Limited mechanisms for effective judicial accountability
• Complex procedures for complaints against higher judiciary
• Balancing judicial independence with accountability
• Administrative transparency
• Public confidence regarding appointments and allocation of cases

Important References

The Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 is relevant to the institutional framework of judicial accountability. In K. Veeraswami v. Union of India (1991), the issue of criminal proceedings against higher judiciary was considered, including the requirement relating to the Chief Justice of India’s permission.

The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2012 was introduced as an attempt to strengthen accountability, but it lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.

4. EOS-05 Satellite & Earth Observation Technology

EOS-05 is an Earth-observation satellite launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation. It is intended to be placed in a geosynchronous orbit, enabling continuous observation of a particular region. The final orbital altitude is around 36,000 km.

Applications

• Flood monitoring
• Cyclone monitoring
• Forest-fire monitoring
• Agriculture and crop assessment
• Forest monitoring
• Water-body monitoring
• Land-use change detection

Remote Sensing

Sensors study signals reflected from the Earth’s surface across different wavelengths. This helps distinguish vegetation, water and different types of land cover.

Disaster Management

Earth-observation technology can support monitoring of landslides, geomorphological changes, possible glacial-break events, avalanches and stubble burning.

5. BRICS & the Global South

According to the source, the 18th BRICS Summit is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on 12–13 September 2026. BRICS is an important platform for economic cooperation, multilateralism, development and strengthening the voice of the Global South.

Major Priorities

• Respect for the UN Charter
• Sovereign equality
• Non-interference in internal affairs
• Peaceful settlement of disputes
• Stronger multilateral trading arrangements
• A central role for the World Trade Organization
• Opposition to protectionism
• Openness and inclusiveness
• Mutually beneficial cooperation

Global Significance

According to the source, BRICS countries represent approximately half of the world’s population, 30% of global economic output and one-fifth of global trade.

6. Unconditional Cash Transfer Schemes

Since 2020, unconditional cash transfer schemes have emerged as important welfare measures in India, particularly those targeting women beneficiaries.

Potential Benefits

• Provide direct financial assistance to women
• Support recognition of unpaid domestic and care work
• Improve income security among vulnerable groups

According to the source, States were expected to spend around $18 billion on such schemes in 2025–26.

Major Concerns

• Pressure on fiscal resources
• Possible reduction in resources available for productive investment
• Potential impact on employment and self-employment programmes
• Difficulty in withdrawing schemes because of political competition
• Identification of genuine beneficiaries

Inclusion and Exclusion Errors

Identifying the actual income of informal-sector workers is difficult. Governments may therefore use indirect indicators such as land ownership, electricity consumption and household assets. This can result in exclusion error, where an eligible person is left out, or inclusion error, where an ineligible person receives the benefit.

Alternative Approach

Conditional cash transfers can link benefits with desirable outcomes such as education, health and other socially desirable behaviour.

7. Forest Rights Act, 2006 & Role of Gram Sabha

The issue concerns the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and the role of Gram Sabhas in the diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes.

According to the source, during discussions with the Ministry of Power, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs stated that the Forest Rights Act does not explicitly provide for obtaining 100% consent of Gram Sabhas for forest clearance.

Important Procedures

• Identification of potential forest-rights claimants
• Recognition of their rights
• Vesting of recognised rights
• Obtaining relevant clearances or certificates from Gram Sabhas as required under the applicable framework

Nodal Ministry

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal ministry for implementation of the Forest Rights Act, while States and Union Territories also have an important role.

Core Issue

The central challenge is to balance Forest Conservation ↔ Tribal Rights ↔ Development Projects.