The government has highlighted that special provisions have been made to exclude all tribal communities from the ambit of the UCC, thereby ensuring full protection of their customary rights and cultural traditions.

About UCC

• It seeks to replace religion-based personal laws with a common law applicable to all, irrespective of religion, caste, creed, gender, or sexual orientation.
• Constitutional provision: Article 44 (Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV)) Provides that State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a UCC throughout the territory of India.
• Current Status: No nationwide implementation, but only applicable in some states. E.g., Gujrat, Uttarakhand (1st in Independent India), and Goa
  • Goa follows a form of common civil code based on the Portuguese Civil Code.

India’s cold-water fisheries sector is emerging as an important pillar of the country’s Blue Economy.

About Cold Water Fisheries

• They are practiced in high-altitude snow-fed rivers, streams, lakes, and reservoirs.
• Regions: Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, etc., along with hill districts of West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
• Current Status: Contribute nearly 3 % of inland fish production in India. 
• Key Cold-Water Fishes: Mahaseer, Snow trout and Indian hill trout
• Government Initiatives: It is supported under initiatives like Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF), etc.

Recently, Oil India Limited discovered a new natural gas reserve in Rajasthan.

• The discovery marks the first-ever confirmed gas presence in the Sanu Formation of the Dandewala field.

About Natural Gas in India

• Composition: Mainly composed of methane (CH₄) with smaller amounts of natural gas liquids and nonhydrocarbon gases, like CO2 and water vapor
• Estimated reserves: ~1,000 billion cubic meters, with largest reserves being in Western Offshore region followed by eastern offshore.

The eleventh Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) concluded without agreement on a consensus outcome document.

About NPT

• It is international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament. 
• Treaty establishes a safeguards system under the responsibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 
  • Safeguards are used to verify compliance with the Treaty through inspections conducted by the IAEA.
• It is binding in nature. 
• Opened for signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970.
• Members: 191 (including five nuclear-weapon States i.e. USA, Russia, China, UK and France).
  • India has not joined NPT.

1st meeting of the High Powered ‘Education to Employment and Enterprise’ Standing Committee was recently convened by NITI Aayog. 

About the committee

• Origin: Union Budget 2026-27 proposed its establishment
• Objective: to help India achieve a 10% share of the global services market by 2047 by aligning education, skilling, employment, and entrepreneurship with emerging economic opportunities.
• Composition: chaired by CEO, NITI aayog, it has representation from Union and state government, Industry bodies and other experts. 

Recently, Google unveiled Information Agents, a feature built into Search to monitor the web. 

• Apart from Google, Microsoft and Meta are also working on it. 

About Information Agents (IA)

• Refers to persistent, background processes that continuously scan the web, social media, news outlets, finance data, and real-time sources on  user’s behalf, and alerts them when something relevant surfaces.
• Key Concerns: Type of agentic feature that works best when fed with a lot of user data; can use user data as feed for ad tech industry; accelerate automated traffic on internet, etc. 

Total FPI outflow from equity market crossed 2.22 lakh crore rupees so far in 2026.

About FPI

• Meaning: Any investment made by person resident outside India through equity instruments where such investment is less than 10% of the post-issue paid-up share capital on a fully diluted basis of listed Indian company. 
  • Or less than 10% of paid-up value of each series of an equity instrument of a listed Indian company. 
• Regulation: Securities and Exchange Board of India [(Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations, 2019 last amended in 2022]
• Nature: Short-term investment done to diversify investment portfolio and unlike FDI, does not involve transfer of knowledge or technology. 

Chinese Coast Guard ship was recently spotted near Taiwan's strategically located Pratas Islands at top of South China Sea. 

About Pratas Island

• Also known as Dongsha Island, are a small group of three islands forming a coral atoll located in the South China Sea, governed by Taiwan. 
• Characterized by circular atoll structure, with Dongsha Island being only island above sea level, while other two (North Vereker Bank and South Vereker Bank) are submerged.
• Contested between China and Taiwan. 
• Other Islands of South China Sea: Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, and Scarborough Shoal.