Daily Current Affairs- 31st March 2026

Daily Current Affairs- 31st March 2026

India Approves IBC Amendment Bill 2026 to Speed Up Insolvency Resolution

In the News: The Lok Sabha passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025, introducing major reforms to the insolvency framework — including strict timelines, out-of-court settlement mechanisms, and enabling provisions for cross-border and group insolvency processes. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman piloted the Bill, stating it would maximise value for stakeholders and improve the overall resolution process.

Key Points:

• Background: The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) came into force in 2016 and has been amended seven times so far. The Amendment Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on August 12, 2025, referred to a Select Committee, and its report was submitted in December 2025. Bill has a total of 12 amendments, including 11 recommended by the Select Committee and one introduced by the government.
• Primary Cause of Delays: Finance Minister Sitharaman identified extensive litigation by promoters as the main reason for delays — including parallel recovery processes and attempts at last-minute settlements during admission.
• 14-Day Admission Timeline: Applications for initiating insolvency resolution must now be admitted within 14 days once default by a company is established, especially for financial creditors, with no additional criteria required to be examined.
• New Creditor-Initiated Resolution Process (Out-of-Court): The Bill replaces the underutilised fast-track process with a new creditor-initiated insolvency framework featuring out-of-court initiation, a debtor-in-possession and creditor-in-control model (management continues with the existing Board of Directors/partners with safeguards), and a compressed 150-day timeline.
• Adjudicating Authority Timelines: The Adjudicating Authority (AA) must approve or reject a resolution plan within 30 days of receipt. Appeals before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) must be decided within 3 months.
• Penalty for Frivolous Proceedings: Penalties ranging from ₹1 lakh to ₹2 crore will be imposed on persons initiating vexatious or baseless insolvency proceedings, to deter abuse and delays.
• Prohibition on Wilful Defaulters: Wilful defaulters, persons related to NPAs, and their connected parties are prohibited from submitting a resolution plan. This also extends to sale of liquidated assets and Pre-Packaged Insolvency Resolution Process (PPIRP).

India Census 2027 Digital: Phase 1 Starting April 1, 2026

In the News: Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Shri Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, addressed a Press Conference in New Delhi announcing that Census 2027 — the world's largest census — will begin its Phase 1 from April 1, 2026. For the first time in India's history, the census will be conducted entirely digitally, with a Self-Enumeration option available to citizens in 16 languages.

Key Points:

• Background: The last Census of India was conducted in 2011. Census 2027 will be the 16th in the series and the 8th since Independence. The government's intent to conduct it was notified in the Gazette of India on June 16, 2025. The reference date of Census 2027 is 00:00 hours of March 1, 2027 (for Ladakh, snow-bound areas of J&K, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh, the reference date is October 1, 2026).
• Two-Phase Structure: The census will be conducted in two phases — Phase 1 is the House Listing and Housing Census (HLO) running from April to September 2026, collecting data on housing conditions, household amenities, asset ownership, and living standards. Phase 2 is the Population Enumeration (PE) scheduled for February 2027, collecting individual-level data on demographics, education, occupation, migration, fertility, socio-economic indicators, and caste enumeration as decided by CCPA.
• First-Ever Digital Census: Enumerators will collect and submit data directly through a Mobile App using smartphones, replacing paper forms entirely. Data will be uploaded in real time, reducing errors and improving accuracy.
• Self-Enumeration (SE) — A First-Time Feature: Citizens can log into the SE portal (se.census.gov.in) using their mobile number, fill household details online in 16 languages at their own convenience before the enumerator's visit, and receive a unique SE ID to share with the enumerator during the field visit.
• Hybrid Model: The process follows a 15-day self-enumeration window followed by a 30-day door-to-door enumeration period, ensuring both citizen convenience and verification of data by enumerators.
• Budget Outlay: The Union Government has approved ₹11,718.24 crore for Census 2027, covering honorarium and training for census functionaries, IT infrastructure, and logistics.
• Training Structure: A cascading training model has been set up — 100 National Trainers trained about 2,000 Master Trainers, who trained around 45,000 Field Trainers, who in turn are training approximately 31 lakh Enumerators and Supervisors across around 80,000 batches, with all materials prepared in regional languages.

Waste Segregation Made Mandatory: India’s New Rules from April 1, 2026

In the News: India's Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2026 came into effect, superseding the SWM Rules of 2016. Notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on January 27, 2026, under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the new framework mandates four-stream waste segregation at source, introduces digital monitoring, and enforces stricter accountability for waste generators based on the Circular Economy and Extended Producer Responsibility principles.

Key Points:

• Four-Stream Segregation Mandatory: All households and institutions must now segregate waste into four categories — Wet Waste (kitchen waste, vegetables, fruit peels, meat, flowers — to be composted or bio-methanated), Dry Waste (plastic, paper, metal, glass, wood, rubber — sent to Material Recovery Facilities for recycling), Sanitary Waste (diapers, sanitary towels, tampons, condoms — to be securely wrapped and stored separately), and Special Care Waste (paint cans, bulbs, mercury thermometers, medicines — collected by authorised agencies or deposited at designated centres).
• Extended Bulk Waste Generator Responsibility (EBWGR): Bulk Waste Generators (BWGs) are defined as entities with a floor area of 20,000 sq. m or more, water consumption of 40,000 litres/day or more, or solid waste generation of 100 kg/day or more. BWGs — accounting for nearly 30% of total solid waste — must process wet waste on-site or obtain an EBWGR certificate if on-site processing is not feasible.
• Stricter Landfill Restrictions: Landfills are now strictly restricted to non-recyclable, non-energy recoverable waste and inert material. Higher landfill fees will be charged for unsegregated waste — exceeding the cost of proper segregation, transportation, and processing — to incentivise compliance. Annual audits of landfills are mandated by State Pollution Control Boards.
• Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) Target: Industries using solid fuel, including cement plants and waste-to-energy units, must increase use of RDF (fuel derived from high-calorific municipal solid waste). The substitution rate will rise from the current 5% to 15% over six years.
• Special Provisions for Hilly Areas and Islands: Tourist user fees, regulation of tourist inflow, designated collection points for non-biodegradable waste, and mandatory decentralised wet waste processing by hotels and restaurants in hilly and island regions.
• Governance Structure: Central and State-level Committees for Effective Implementation will be established. A State-level committee chaired by the Chief Secretary will recommend measures to the CPCB for effective enforcement.

PM Modi Inaugurates Samrat Samprati Museum on Mahavir Jayanti

In the News: On the occasion of Mahavir Jayanti, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Samrat Samprati Sangrahalay (Jain Heritage Museum) at Koba Tirth in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The museum is dedicated to Jain culture, the life and legacy of Emperor Samprati, and India's ancient heritage, designed to preserve and present this wisdom for future generations.

Key Points:

• About the Museum: The Samrat Samprati Sangrahalay is a Jain Heritage Museum conceived by Jain saints at Koba Tirth, Gandhinagar. It features seven galleries showcasing India's diversity and cultural richness, including the Navpad (Arihant, Siddha, Acharya, Upadhyaya, Sadhu) and the four principles of Samyak Darshan, Samyak Gyan, Samyak Charitra, and Samyak Tap. A dedicated gallery artistically presents the stories and teachings of the Tirthankaras.
• About Samrat Samprati: Emperor Samprati was a historical Maurya ruler and a devoted follower of Jainism, often called the "Jain Ashoka." PM Modi described him as a bridge between India's philosophy and governance — one who treated power as service and propagated Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truth), Asteya (non-stealing), and Aparigraha (non-possessiveness) from the throne.
• Manuscript Preservation at Koba: Acharya Bhagwant Shri Padmasagar Surishwarji Maharaj Saheb spent 60 years travelling across India to collect manuscripts. Over 3 lakh manuscripts — inscribed on palm leaves and birch bark, some hundreds of years old — are safely compiled at Koba Tirth.
• Gyan Bharatam Mission: PM Modi stated that the government launched the Gyan Bharatam Mission to correct the neglect of previous governments towards manuscript preservation. It leverages technology for digitisation, scientific preservation, scanning, chemical treatment, and digital archiving of ancient manuscripts. A nationwide survey also enables citizens to upload manuscripts preserved with them.
• Cultural Renaissance Initiatives: PM Modi referred to several ongoing heritage projects — the Maritime Museum at Lothal, the museum at Vadnagar, and the upcoming Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum in Delhi — as part of a larger effort to present India's true history free from political bias.
• Ten Resolves Reiterated: PM Modi recalled his eleven resolves announced at the historic Navkar Mahamantra Divas in Delhi, which included saving water, Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam, cleanliness mission, Vocal for Local, Desh Darshan, natural farming, healthy lifestyle, yoga and sports, helping the poor, and preservation of India's heritage — calling the museum a living reflection of these resolves.

8 dead in Nalanda temple stampede

In the News: A deadly stampede occurred at the Maa Sheetla Mata Temple in Maghra village, Nalanda district, Bihar, during the weekly Tuesday fair that coincided with Mahavir Jayanti. At least 8 women lost their lives and several others were injured after barricades collapsed due to an unmanageable crowd surge, exposing serious gaps in crowd management and emergency response.

Key Points:

• The Incident: The stampede broke out at the Sheetla Mata Temple, which holds a fair every Tuesday and draws large crowds. The situation turned fatal when the crowd became too dense, barricades broke under pressure, and panic ensued with people pushing and falling. Eyewitnesses reported no visible police presence at the site at the time. The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals, with several reported to be in critical condition.
• Government Response & Compensation: PM Narendra Modi expressed grief and announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh from the PM's National Relief Fund for the next of kin of each deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called the incident "extremely tragic" and announced a total state ex-gratia of ₹6 lakh per deceased — ₹4 lakh from the Disaster Management Department and ₹2 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. Senior officials were deployed to oversee relief and rescue efforts.
• Stampede Statistics in India: According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), from 2000 to 2022, 3,074 lives were lost in stampedes across India. Nearly 4,000 stampede events have been recorded over the last three decades. The NCRB has been collecting stampede data since 1996. The year 2025 alone saw around 90 deaths in crowd crushes.
• Common Sites of Stampedes in India: Stampedes in India typically occur at — places of worship, sporting events, railway stations, and large-scale gatherings like the Maha Kumbh. Recent examples include: Kumbh Mela (Jan 29, 2025) — 30 killed, 60+ injured at Sangam on Mauni Amavasya; Shirgaon, Goa (May 2025) — multiple deaths at Shree Lairai Devi Temple yatra; Bengaluru RCB IPL Victory Celebration (June 2025) — at least a dozen lives lost near Chinnaswamy Stadium due to lack of planning and crowd estimation failure.

NASA’s Artemis II Mission Explained: How Humans Will Return to the Moon in 2026

In the News: NASA is set to launch the Artemis II mission — carrying four astronauts on a flyby mission to the Moon. This will be the first time humans have travelled to the Moon's neighbourhood since the last Apollo mission in 1972, marking a historic milestone in human space exploration. The mission will not land on the Moon but will circle it and return to Earth after a 10-day journey.

Key Points:

• Mission Overview: Artemis II is a crewed lunar flyby mission — a test-ride mission designed to test and validate all systems before astronauts finally make a Moon landing in 2028 (Artemis IV). The spacecraft will carry four astronauts and travel to the Moon's neighbourhood over a 10-day journey before returning safely to Earth.
• The Route — Two Phases: The Artemis II spacecraft will first make two rounds of the Earth before embarking on its journey toward the Moon. Once near the Moon, it will orbit around it, reaching a distance of approximately 6,500 km from the far side of the Moon — the farthest any human has ever ventured into space. It will then begin the return journey to Earth.
• Travel Time: The mission will take 3 to 4 days to reach the Moon's neighbourhood — roughly the same time Apollo missions took to reach the lunar surface. In contrast, many recent uncrewed lunar missions like India's Chandrayaan-3 took several weeks to months, as they use longer but more fuel-efficient and economical routes. Faster routes require more powerful rockets.
• Rockets & Spacecraft — SLS and Orion: NASA is using the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket — currently the most powerful launch vehicle available to NASA — and the Orion spacecraft. Both debuted on the Artemis I mission in 2022, which was uncrewed and stayed in space for about 25 days to conduct tests. Artemis II marks the first time SLS and Orion are being used to carry astronauts.
• Comparison with Apollo Missions: The Apollo missions used Saturn V rockets, which remain the most powerful rockets ever built. Apollo missions that landed on the Moon reached an altitude of just about 110 km from the far side of the lunar surface while orbiting it — far closer than Artemis II's 6,500 km reach, making Artemis II a deeper space journey than any Apollo mission.

India Leads Globally in Nagoya Protocol Compliance Certificates

In the News: India has emerged as the global leader in issuing Internationally Recognised Certificates of Compliance (IRCCs) under the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS). With 3,561 certificates issued out of a global total of 6,311, India accounts for over 56% of all IRCCs worldwide, demonstrating its strong commitment to biodiversity governance and equitable resource sharing.

Key Points:

• India's Global Standing: According to data from the ABS Clearing-House, India stands far ahead of all other nations in IRCC issuance. Among 142 registered countries, only 34 have issued IRCCs so far. India is followed by France, Spain, Argentina, Panama, and Kenya, highlighting a significant gap in implementation levels between India and the rest of the world.
• What are IRCCs? Internationally Recognised Certificates of Compliance are official records issued under the Nagoya Protocol when a country grants access to its genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. They confirm that: Prior Informed Consent (PIC) has been obtained from the provider country, and Mutually Agreed Terms (MAT) have been established between the user and provider. They ensure transparency and accountability in the utilisation of biological resources.
• Role in Biodiversity Governance: IRCCs are critical tools for tracking the use of genetic resources — from research stages all the way to commercial applications. They ensure that benefits arising from such use are shared fairly with the provider country, supporting conservation efforts and promoting the sustainable use of biodiversity at a global level.
• About the Nagoya Protocol: The Nagoya Protocol is a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). It provides a transparent legal framework for the equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources. ABS (Access and Benefit-Sharing) is its core principle — ensuring that countries providing genetic resources receive a fair share of the benefits derived from their use.
• ABS Clearing-House: It is an international platform established under the Nagoya Protocol to promote transparency in biodiversity use. It serves as a global repository where countries register IRCCs, national legislation, and other ABS-related information, making information accessible to all parties.
• India's Institutional Framework: India's dominant position is attributed to its robust three-tier institutional framework under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002: the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) at the central level; State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) at the state level; and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at the local level — with over 2.76 lakh local BMCs powering benefit-sharing implementation across the country.