UPSC PracticeUPSC Practice
Current Affairs

Editorials · 26 May 2026

Syllabus-mapped editorials, PIB updates, reports, judgments, and policy news for prelims and mains revision.

Today's practice test

26 May 2026

GS-2Editorials26 May 2026thehindu.com

​From black to grey: on the Sample Registration System – Statistical Report, 2024

The article analyzes the Sample Registration System – Statistical Report, 2024, highlighting India's significant demographic shift. It notes a falling Total Fertility Rate (TFR) to 1.9, below the replacement level of 2.1, and a slowing population growth. While India still has a demographic dividend with a young population (median age 29.2), the report signals a transition towards an aging population and a shrinking workforce expansion. Factors like urbanization, education, contraception access, and improved healthcare contribute to these changes. The article also points out vast regional and rural/urban disparities in demographic indicators, particularly in child survival rates, necessitating targeted interventions and forward planning for a 'greying nation'.

Social Justice & Development
Read analysis
GS-2Editorials26 May 2026thehindu.com

Finance Commission transfers and equity issue

The article analyzes the 16th Finance Commission's recommendations regarding fiscal transfers between the Centre and States, focusing on the vertical devolution share (retained at 41%) and the criteria for horizontal transfers. It highlights concerns raised by States regarding cesses and surcharges, fiscal pressures, and reduced fiscal autonomy due to Centrally Sponsored Schemes. The article details the 16th FC's adjustments to devolution criteria, including the introduction of States' contribution to national GDP with a square-root transformation, and the abolition of revenue-deficit grants. It discusses the marginal shifts in devolution shares among States and argues that the changes are too small to significantly alter the balance between equity and efficiency, with poorer states continuing to receive larger shares. The author suggests future FCs should emphasize fiscal capacity and outcome indicators and adopt more data-driven approaches.

Indian Polity & GovernanceIndian Economy
Read analysis
GS-2Editorials26 May 2026thehindu.com

Water governance in peri-urban areas

The article highlights the critical challenges of water and sanitation in India's peri-urban areas, a 'missing middle' between rural and urban classifications. These zones suffer from institutional limbo, leading to inadequate water supply, contaminated groundwater from waste dumps, and poor sanitation practices like illegal septage dumping. The article proposes five actions: resolving the governance vacuum by constituting Nagar Panchayats as per the 74th Constitutional Amendment, securing drinking water sources, launching a Swachh Bharat Mission 3.0 focused on peri-urban sanitation and faecal sludge management, scaling up decentralised wastewater treatment technologies, and financing peri-urban water as strategic infrastructure.

Indian Polity & GovernanceEnvironment & Ecology
Read analysis
GS-2Editorials26 May 2026thehindu.com

​Baby bait: on the Andhra Pradesh government’s proposed incentives for families

The Andhra Pradesh government has proposed incentives for families to have three or more children, a departure from India's traditional family planning policies. This move is in response to the state's Total Fertility Rate (TFR) dropping to 1.5, well below the replacement rate of 2.1, and concerns about an aging population and a smaller future workforce. The proposed incentives include cash payments, free education, monthly support, enhanced 'Thalliki Vandanam' funding, longer maternity leave, and childcare support. The article critically analyzes these incentives, suggesting that one-time payments are unlikely to produce sustained increases in fertility and may disproportionately impact economically vulnerable families. It emphasizes the need for comprehensive social infrastructure, citing examples from France and Nordic states, and highlights potential conflicts with increasing women's labor force participation and long-term environmental concerns. The article also touches upon the constitutional issue of population-based delimitation.

Social Justice & Development
Read analysis
GS-2Editorials26 May 2026thehindu.com

India and Australia — bridging the trade and trust barrier

The article discusses the ongoing efforts to deepen trade ties between India and Australia, moving from the 2022 Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) towards a potential Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA). It highlights the significant increase in bilateral trade post-ECTA but points out the asymmetry, with Australian exports dominating. A major sticking point is India's reluctance to open its agricultural market due to livelihood concerns for its farmers, contrasting with Australia's export-oriented industrial agriculture. The article suggests that agricultural trade need not be a zero-sum game, proposing cooperation in biosecurity/phytosanitary standards, precision farming technologies, cold-chain infrastructure, water management, and climate adaptation practices, coupled with Australian investment in India's agricultural sector.

International Relations
Read analysis

All 5 articles loaded.

UPSC MAINS PREP

Practise these topics in Mains evaluation

Upload a handwritten answer on any of these topics and get examiner-style feedback in under 2 minutes.

Upload your answer