UPSC Daily Current Affairs for 28 October 2026

Drug Price Control: Right to Health vs “Calibrated” Regulation

Context

The Supreme Court said that economic policy could not take precedence over the lives of citizens, as it questioned the Union government about its approach to regulating the prices of essential medicines and medical products.

Background

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the government’s drug-price regulator, capped trade margins on 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer medicines at 30% of their maximum retail price (MRP).

Trade margins are the difference between the price at which a medicine is purchased and the price at which it is sold by intermediaries such as distributors, retailers or hospitals.

India needs to Strengthen Capabilities in Semiconductor

Context

At Semiconductor Summit 2026, Semiconductor Lab chief flagged India’s dependence on imported technologies and the need for R&D, manufacturing and specialised talent in Semiconductors.

Semiconductor Ecosystem

Global Status: The global semiconductor market grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5% between 2014 and 2024. It is projected to grow at 8.5% over the next 5–10 years.

However, recent disruptions have exposed vulnerabilities in the interconnected global semiconductor value chain.

Richard J. Roberts Backed GM Crops for India and Developing World

Context

Richard J. Roberts, the 1993 Nobel laureate in Medicine, dismissed the idea that Indians adopting genetically modified crops would become dependent on foreign companies.

Introduction of GM Crops in India

In 2002, the government approved the commercial cultivation of Bt cotton.

The first Bt hybrids incorporating the cry1Ac gene were approved to resist the bollworm complex.

Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS)

In News

NITI Aayog identified CCUS as critical for decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors, including steel, cement, oil and gas, petrochemicals, chemicals and fertilisers.

Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS)

It refers to a range of technologies that capture carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted by industries such as steel, cement and power generation, preventing it from entering the atmosphere

The captured CO₂ is either transferred into the earth or reused for industrial applications in various forms.

Grey-Zone Warfare and the LAC

In News

The face-offs between Indian and Chinese troops at multiple locations along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh highlighted the concerns of grey-zone warfare.

What is Grey-Zone Warfare (GZW)?

It is a form of conflict that stays below the threshold of conventional war but aims to achieve strategic objectives through ambiguity, deniability and coercion.

China’s version draws on the idea of “Unrestricted Warfare”. Its main tools are political action, economic pressure, cyber operations and non-state actors.

News In Brief 28-10-2026

In News

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is planning to rebuild the headless Vishnu statue at Khajuraho’s Javari Temple.

Khajuraho Temples

The Khajuraho Group of Monuments is a group of Hindu temples and Jain temples in Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh.

They were built during the Chandella dynasty between 950 and 1050 AD, and sculptures represent gods, heavenly beings, ordinary life, and lovers, masterfully carved from locally available sandstone.