Current Affairs — 1 July 2026

1. Health Governance Overhaul: The SUMAN Roadmap 2030 and New Digital Health Tools

Core Context Maternal and newborn health has long been one of India's toughest public health frontiers, and policymakers have repeatedly leaned on time-bound, mission-mode roadmaps to move the needle. At the 16th Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW) — the apex Centre-State coordination body for health policy — the Union Health Ministry rolled out the SUMAN Roadmap 2030, a strategic blueprint meant to overhaul maternal and newborn healthcare delivery across the country.

Latest Developments

• The Roadmap sits within the RMNCHA+N framework (Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition), taking a life-cycle view stretching from pre-pregnancy through the postnatal period.

• It targets high-risk pregnancies across four stages — antenatal care, the third trimester, intrapartum care, and the postnatal period — and rolls out time-bound interventions in 130 districts across 13 high-focus States, including Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

• The stated goal is to bring the Maternal Mortality Ratio below 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 3.1, while also cutting neonatal and infant mortality.

• Interventions span pre-pregnancy folic acid supplementation, Maternal Death Surveillance and Response (MDSR) reviews, Non-Pneumatic Anti-Shock Garments for obstetric haemorrhage, AI-enabled labour rooms, and closer tracking through the JANANI Portal.

• The same event saw a clutch of digital health tools unveiled: Aarogya Setu 2.0 (a rebuilt Personal Health Record app tied to the ABHA ID), Ayushman Sarathi (a WhatsApp chatbot for PM-JAY services), eSushrut@Clinic (a lightweight hospital management system for small clinics), a unified Drug Registry, and the Unified Health Interface enabling cross-platform access to health services.

• Fresh National Ambulance Services Operational Guidelines 2026 were also released, standardising ambulance deployment, GPS tracking, and integration with the 112 emergency number.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• SUMAN Roadmap 2030 works within the RMNCHA+N framework and targets Maternal Mortality Ratio below 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030 (aligned with SDG Target 3.1).

• CCHFW (Central Council of Health and Family Welfare) is the apex advisory body chaired by the Union Health Minister with State Health Ministers as members — relevant because health is a State subject under the Constitution.

• Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), launched 2021, underpins the ABHA ID and forms the backbone for Aarogya Setu 2.0 and the Unified Health Interface.

• Non-Pneumatic Anti-Shock Garment (NASG) is a first-aid device that stabilises blood pressure in cases of obstetric haemorrhage by applying circumferential pressure to the lower body.

2. Anemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan: From 6x6x6 to 7x7x7

Core Context Anaemia remains one of India's most stubborn nutritional deficiencies, cutting across age groups and regions. Launched in 2018 under the National Health Mission, the Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) programme completed eight years of implementation this year, prompting the Health Ministry to release sharply revised operational guidelines.

Latest Developments

• The programme's original six-part strategy (6x6x6) has been expanded to 7x7x7, adding a seventh beneficiary group (Low Birth Weight babies aged 0–6 months), a seventh intervention ("Eating Right" — daily iron-rich food habits), and a seventh institutional mechanism (a digital Monitoring and Evaluation system).

• The operating model has shifted from T3 (Test, Treat, Talk) to T4 (Test, Treat, Talk, Track), adding a stronger follow-up and referral loop.

• Intravenous Iron Therapy using Ferric Carboxymaltose and Iron Sucrose is now a standard clinical option for severe or non-responding anaemia cases among pregnant and lactating women — marking a shift from a purely preventive approach to active, case-based treatment.

• A new centralised AMB Portal will pool data from the JANANI Portal (maternal screening), the RBSK Portal (child screening) and the U-WIN Portal (immunisation tracking).

• As per NFHS-5, anaemia affects 67.1% of children under five, 59.1% of adolescent girls, 57.0% of women aged 15–49, and 52.2% of pregnant women in India — figures that explain why the programme needed a course correction.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Anemia Mukt Bharat launched in 2018 under the National Health Mission; original strategy was 6x6x6, now expanded to 7x7x7.

• T4 Strategy: Test, Treat, Talk, Track — the revised operational model.

• WHO anaemia threshold: haemoglobin below 12 g/dL for women of reproductive age; below 11 g/dL for children under five.

• National Deworming Day is observed twice yearly, on 10th February and 10th August, under the AMB umbrella.

• Ferric Carboxymaltose (FCM) is an intravenous iron formulation used for rapid correction of iron-deficiency anaemia.

3. The Fiscal Tightrope for State Governments

Core Context White Papers recently released by Kerala and Tamil Nadu flagged their outstanding public debt as a matter of serious concern, reviving a long-running debate in Indian fiscal federalism: the Union government commands the lion's share of tax-raising powers, yet States bear a disproportionately large share of actual public spending, especially on health, education, agriculture and irrigation.

Latest Developments

• An analysis of the Reserve Bank of India's "State Finances: A Study of Budgets" (2020–23) shows Kerala's per capita social-sector spending running 30% above the all-India average and Tamil Nadu's 20% above it, while Bihar and Uttar Pradesh lag well behind.

• Kerala's own-tax revenue per capita is 1.5 times the national average, yet its share of Union tax devolution stood at just 1.92% against a 2.6% population share in 2023–24 — a mismatch that squeezes its fiscal room further.

• Only about 10% of Kerala's spending goes toward capital expenditure that builds future productive capacity; the rest covers salaries (around a fifth of the budget), pensions (15.3%) and interest payments (16.5%).

• States raise market debt through State Development Loans (SDLs), paying 6.5–7.5% interest — noticeably higher than the Union government's own borrowing cost and far above the roughly 2% Chinese local governments pay when tapping domestic bank credit.

• The broader argument advanced in the discourse is that debt taken on to fund welfare and development is fundamentally different from unproductive borrowing, and that India's fiscal architecture — tight borrowing caps paired with costlier SDLs — limits States' ability to channel domestic savings into productive public investment.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• State Development Loans (SDLs) are market borrowings raised by State governments through the Reserve Bank of India via auctions, typically priced higher than Union government securities.

• The FRBM Act, 2003 (Centre) and corresponding State-level legislations generally cap the fiscal deficit around 3% of GSDP, with conditional additional borrowing space.

• Credit-to-deposit ratio is a bank-level indicator of loan disbursal relative to deposits mobilised; a low ratio signals idle savings within a region.

• The Finance Commission recommends the formula for vertical and horizontal devolution of the divisible tax pool between the Union and the States.

4. India's First 3D-Printed Artificial Reefs off the Ramanathapuram Coast

Core Context Marine habitat restoration is gaining a distinctly Indian, technology-driven edge. As part of the second phase of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), Tamil Nadu is preparing to lower the country's first 3D-printed artificial reef modules into the sea, aiming to rebuild degraded marine ecosystems and support traditional fishing communities.

Latest Developments

• Six pilot reef modules, each weighing about a tonne, will be tested off the Ramanathapuram coast to assess durability and ecological effectiveness before any wider scale-up.

• The project brings together the Visakhapatnam Regional Centre of ICAR–Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) and Tvasta, a Chennai-based, IIT Madras-incubated startup that manufactured the modules.

• Unlike conventional iron-reinforced concrete reefs, these modules are printed without iron and feature intricate crevices and textured surfaces designed to be more hospitable to corals, sponges and other marine life.

• The initiative is funded jointly by the Centre and Tamil Nadu government on a 60:40 basis and forms part of a larger reef-building programme spanning 213 sites across the State.

• PMMSY itself was launched on 10th September 2020 with a ₹20,050 crore outlay (since extended to 2025-26) to drive a "Blue Revolution" in Indian fisheries; the scheme has helped create 58 lakh livelihoods and supported over 99,000 women so far.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• India's first 3D-printed artificial reef pilot is located off Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, under PMMSY Phase II.

• The modules are developed by Tvasta (IIT Madras-incubated) with ICAR-CMFRI's Visakhapatnam Regional Centre; each module is about 1 tonne and built without iron reinforcement.

• ICAR-CMFRI, headquartered in Kochi, is India's premier marine fisheries research institute.

• PMMSY was launched in September 2020 with an outlay of ₹20,050 crore to promote a "Blue Revolution" in fisheries.

5. Garudastra: India's Indigenous Long-Range Mortar System

Core Context India's defence indigenisation drive scored another milestone with the successful trial of Garudastra, described as the country's heaviest indigenous 120mm vehicle-mounted mortar system, demonstrated for the Indian Army at the Infantry School in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh — the Army's oldest training establishment.

Latest Developments

• Garudastra has been developed by Nibe Ltd and combines high mobility with precision indirect-fire support, aligning with the Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat push in defence manufacturing.

• It follows a "shoot-and-scoot" doctrine — firing and relocating within seconds to avoid counter-battery fire — and supports Multiple Rounds Simultaneous Impact (MRSI), where several rounds fired on different trajectories land on target simultaneously.

• The system can engage targets 7–10 km away using GPS and laser guidance, be brought into firing position in under 30 seconds, fire two rounds within 15 seconds, and relocate within 15 seconds.

• Operated by a two-member crew, it can fire 12 rounds in 60 seconds, and its 17-kg warhead is designed to defeat reinforced concrete, making it effective against bunkers and hardened targets.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Garudastra is a 120mm vehicle-mounted mortar system developed by Nibe Ltd, trialled at the Infantry School, Mhow.

• "Shoot-and-scoot" is a tactical doctrine where a mobile weapons platform fires and immediately relocates to avoid detection and counter-fire.

• Multiple Rounds Simultaneous Impact (MRSI) allows several rounds to land on target at the same instant despite being fired at different times/trajectories.

6. Digital Governance Push: The Interoperable Criminal Justice System and the FCRA 2.0 Portal

Core Context India's criminal justice and NGO-regulation frameworks are both undergoing rapid digitisation. The Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) — which links police, courts, prisons, forensics and prosecution on one platform — is nearing full nationwide rollout, while the Home Ministry has separately unveiled a revamped portal for Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA) registrations.

Latest Developments

• Every investigation and trial procedure under India's new criminal laws — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita (BSS) and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), all effective from 1 July 2024 — is set to be recorded fully digitally from 1 January 2027.

• Over 74 lakh FIRs have been registered under the BNS so far, and more than 63,000 zero-FIRs (which can be filed at any police station regardless of jurisdiction) have been registered under the BNSS, now with explicit statutory backing.

• The national ICJS implementation score rose from about 46% in January 2025 to over 70% by June 2026; forensic laboratories increased from 129 in 2023 to 154 in 2025, since forensic examination is now mandatory for offences carrying a sentence of seven years or more.

• Separately, the Union Home Minister launched the FCRA 2.0 Portal, hosted on the National Government Cloud (MeghRaj), featuring Aadhaar-based authentication, e-Sign and OCR-based document analysis to speed up processing of the roughly 15,000–20,000 FCRA applications received annually.

• An e-Overseas Citizen of India (e-OCI) card initiative was launched alongside, benefiting over 50 lakh OCI cardholders by removing the need to reissue physical OCI booklets after passport renewal.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• BNS, BSS and BNSS replaced the Indian Penal Code (1860), the Indian Evidence Act (1872) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (1898) respectively, effective from 1 July 2024.

• A Zero-FIR can be registered at any police station irrespective of jurisdiction and is later transferred to the station with territorial jurisdiction; it now has explicit statutory backing under the BNSS.

• FCRA, 2010 regulates acceptance and utilisation of foreign contributions by individuals, associations and companies, and is administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

• OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) status was introduced under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2005, granting lifelong multiple-entry visa-free travel to India, though without voting rights or the ability to hold constitutional posts or buy agricultural land.

7. India's Biodiversity Database Expands: 709 New Fauna Species, 353 New Plant Taxa

Core Context India's standing as one of the world's mega-diverse nations received fresh confirmation as the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and Botanical Survey of India (BSI) released their annual discovery reports for 2025, adding hundreds of new species and first-time records to the national biodiversity database.

Latest Developments

• India's fauna list grew by 709 species in 2025 — 483 entirely new to science and 226 recorded in India for the first time — taking the country's total documented faunal biodiversity to 1,05,953 species.

• Kerala led State-wise fauna discoveries with 98 new species, followed by West Bengal, Karnataka and Arunachal Pradesh; the insect order Hymenoptera contributed the most new additions.

• Notable new finds include a Himalayan bat species (Myotis himalaicus), two new green fan-throated lizard species, and a newly described wolf snake species.

• On the flora side, 353 new plant taxa were added, including 221 entirely new to science; Arunachal Pradesh led with 49 discoveries, followed by Uttarakhand and Kerala, with vascular plants making up roughly 43% of the newly described taxa.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• ZSI (established 1916) and BSI (established 1890), both headquartered in Kolkata under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, publish the annual "Animal Discoveries" and "Plant Discoveries" reports respectively.

• India is one of 17 recognised mega-diverse countries in the world.

• "New to science" means a species never previously described anywhere; a "new record" means a species already known elsewhere but documented in India for the first time.