Current Affairs March 2026 for UPSC: Inflation Target 2026-31, Modified UDAN, WTO MC14, Passive Euthanasia, Census 2027 and Nepal

March 2026 at a Glance

🎯 March 2026: 1 to 31 March. The month brought the renewal of India's inflation target, a major aviation scheme, the WTO ministerial at Yaoundé, Nepal's landslide election, the Supreme Court's first passive-euthanasia order, a Naxalism deadline, the start of Census 2027 and a naval operation in the Strait of Hormuz. Facts marked 'official' come from a Gazette notification or All India Radio; the rest are named secondary sources.

March at a glance

Economy: the Inflation Target, Modified UDAN and the WTO Ministerial

Two economic decisions on 25 March are the most testable items of the month: the inflation target and the new UDAN.

Economy: inflation target, Modified UDAN and the WTO

• Inflation target renewed (official). By Gazette Notification S.O.1580(E) of 25 March 2026 the Central Government kept the target at 4 per cent with a tolerance band of plus or minus 2 per cent (2 to 6 per cent), measured on CPI-Combined, for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031. This is the second statutory five-year review; the target was first set for 2016-21 and retained in March 2021. Static: under Section 45ZA of the RBI Act the Government, in consultation with the RBI, sets the target once every five years; the six-member Monetary Policy Committee must meet it.

• Modified UDAN (Cabinet, 25 March). The Regional Connectivity Scheme - Modified UDAN has a total outlay of Rs 28,840 crore for ten years, FY 2026-27 to FY 2035-36. Reported components: 100 airports developed from existing unserved airstrips (Rs 12,159 crore); operations and maintenance support for about 441 aerodromes including heliports and water aerodromes (Rs 2,577 crore); 200 helipads for hilly, remote, island and aspirational regions (Rs 3,661 crore); viability gap funding of Rs 10,043 crore over ten years; and indigenous aircraft such as HAL's Dhruv helicopter and the Dornier. Static: UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) was launched in October 2016; in nine years it operationalised 663 routes across 95 airports, heliports and water aerodromes. The same meeting extended the immigration, visa, foreigners registration and tracking scheme for five years to 31 March 2031 at Rs 1,800 crore.

• WTO MC14, Yaoundé (26-30 March; secondary). The 14th Ministerial Conference ended without consensus on extending the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, which lapsed at the end of the conference. The US, with the EU and Japan, wanted a long extension; Brazil opposed; India had long opposed extension and reportedly softened its stance on 27 March. Afterwards several members, including the US, EU and UK, said they would keep duty-free treatment among themselves, and 66 members of the e-commerce Joint Statement Initiative announced a pathway for implementation. Static: the moratorium dates from 1998; MC13 (Abu Dhabi, 2024) had extended it to MC14.

Polity and Security: Passive Euthanasia, Naxalism and Census 2027

March had three governance items: a court ruling, a security claim and a census.

Polity, governance and security

• Passive euthanasia (11 March). A Supreme Court bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan allowed passive euthanasia for the first time in a specific case (Harish Rana), applying the guidelines in Common Cause v. Union of India (2018), with medical supervision at AIIMS (secondary source). Static: Common Cause (2018) held that the right to die with dignity is part of Article 21 and recognised living wills; passive euthanasia is withdrawal of life support, while active euthanasia remains illegal.

• Naxalism (30 March). Replying in the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah said the country had become virtually Naxal-free; the target date set by the Government was 31 March 2026. Affected districts fell from 126 in 2014 to two, and 706 Naxalites were neutralised in encounters from 2024 to March 2026. Reports differ on finality: some say a formal declaration will follow once the final formalities are completed. Treat the claim as the Government's own assessment.

• Census 2027 (from 1 April). Phase 1 (houselisting and housing census) runs from 1 April to 30 September 2026, with a 30-day window for each State or UT and a 15-day self-enumeration facility before it. Phase 2 (population enumeration including caste enumeration) is set for February 2027. It is the first digital Census. Static: the Census is a Union subject (Seventh Schedule, Entry 69 of the Union List) conducted under the Census Act, 1948.

International Relations: Canada, Nepal and Operation Urja Suraksha

The international items were a neighbour's election, a bilateral reset and a naval operation in the Gulf.

International relations and defence

• India-Canada (2 March). The visit of Canada's Prime Minister produced a long-term uranium supply arrangement (reported at about USD 2.6 billion), terms of reference for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement aimed at conclusion by the end of 2026, a critical minerals pact and a defence and maritime framework, with eight government-to-government agreements and 24 MoUs (secondary). Static: relations had frozen in 2023 over the Nijjar allegation.

• Nepal (5 March). In the first election since the youth-led protests of September 2025 ended the Oli government, the Rastriya Swatantra Party won a landslide; an All India Radio report of 9 March said it had won 122 of 165 directly elected seats. Balendra Shah, the former Kathmandu mayor, beat former Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli in Jhapa-5 and was sworn in as Prime Minister on 27 March (secondary). The final seat total including proportional seats is not verified here.

• Operation Urja Suraksha (from 23 March). The Indian Navy guides and escorts Indian-flagged energy ships through the Strait of Hormuz during the 2026 Iran war. About 22 Indian-flagged vessels with over 600 seafarers were reported in the western Gulf; on 30 March two LPG tankers, BW TYR and BW ELM, crossed with about 94,000 tonnes of LPG. Warships stay near the Gulf of Oman and transit is arranged with Iranian permission (secondary). Static: the Strait of Hormuz links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman; Iran lies to its north and Oman to its south.

Sport and Infrastructure: T20 World Cup and Noida Airport

Sport and infrastructure produced the month's easy marks.

Sport and infrastructure

• T20 World Cup (8 March). India beat New Zealand by 96 runs in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad: a third title and a successful defence of the 2024 crown. India's 255/5 is the highest total in a T20 World Cup final; Sanju Samson made 89 off 46 and Jasprit Bumrah took 4 for 15. The tournament was co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka (secondary).

• Noida International Airport (28 March). Prime Minister Modi inaugurated Phase 1 at Jewar, Gautam Buddh Nagar, built at Rs 11,282 crore. Commercial flights began on 15 June 2026, with an IndiGo flight from Lucknow carrying villagers whose land was acquired for the project; international operations are expected by end-2026 (secondary).

Further Reading

• PIB press releases, ministry websites and annual reports, the Gazette of India, MEA and UN documents and the official sources named in each note — the primary sources behind every fact above.

How UPSC Could Ask This Next

Here is how UPSC could turn March into questions.

How UPSC could ask this next

• Who sets the inflation target: the Central Government, not the RBI; band 2 to 6 per cent on CPI-Combined; the section of the RBI Act; the period of the current target.

• Schemes: UDAN's year of launch, what Modified UDAN adds (helipads, water aerodromes, O&M support), and the number of airports.

• Euthanasia: active against passive, the article of the Constitution involved, the 2018 judgment and what a living will is.

• Census: the two phases, what caste enumeration means for the Census Act, the Union List entry.

• IR and trade: what the e-commerce moratorium covers and why developing countries oppose it; Hormuz geography; Nepal's constitutional position after its election.

Test Yourself: Practice Questions

Sixteen practice questions on March 2026, each tied to a verified fact.

Practice Questions

Q1. The inflation target notified by the Central Government in March 2026 for 2026-31 is

• (a) 5 per cent with a band of plus or minus 1 per cent

• (b) 4 per cent with a band of plus or minus 2 per cent

• (c) 3 per cent with a band of plus or minus 2 per cent

• (d) 4 per cent with a band of plus or minus 1 per cent

Q2. The inflation target for the RBI is set by

• (a) the Finance Commission

• (b) the RBI Governor alone

• (c) the Monetary Policy Committee alone

• (d) the Central Government in consultation with the RBI

Q3. The inflation target is measured in terms of

• (a) GDP deflator

• (b) CPI for Industrial Workers

• (c) CPI-Combined

• (d) WPI

Q4. The outlay of the Modified UDAN scheme approved by the Cabinet in March 2026 is

• (a) Rs 12,159 crore

• (b) Rs 28,840 crore

• (c) Rs 10,043 crore

• (d) Rs 50,000 crore

Q5. Modified UDAN proposes to develop

• (a) 200 airports and 100 helipads

• (b) 100 airports and 200 helipads

• (c) 25 airports and 500 helipads

• (d) 50 airports and 100 helipads

Q6. The 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14) in March 2026 was held at

• (a) Geneva

• (b) Yaoundé, Cameroon

• (c) Nairobi

• (d) Abu Dhabi

Q7. At the end of MC14, the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions

• (a) was extended for two years

• (b) was made permanent

• (c) was extended to 2030

• (d) lapsed because members did not agree to extend it

Q8. The Supreme Court allowed passive euthanasia in a specific case in March 2026, relying on the guidelines in

• (a) Naz Foundation v. Government of NCT of Delhi

• (b) Common Cause v. Union of India (2018)

• (c) Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab (1996)

• (d) Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India (2018)

Q9. The target date set by the Government for eliminating Left Wing Extremism was

• (a) 31 March 2026

• (b) 31 March 2025

• (c) 31 December 2026

• (d) 15 August 2026

Q10. According to the Home Minister, the number of Naxal-affected districts fell from 126 in 2014 to

• (a) forty-five

• (b) two

• (c) twelve

• (d) twenty

Q11. Phase 1 of Census 2027, the houselisting operation, runs from

• (a) 1 April to 30 September 2026

• (b) 1 January to 30 June 2026

• (c) 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027

• (d) 1 April to 30 September 2027

Q12. India and Canada in March 2026 set the goal of concluding which agreement by the end of 2026?

• (a) Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

• (b) Social Security Agreement

• (c) Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific

• (d) Bilateral Investment Treaty only

Q13. Who became Prime Minister of Nepal on 27 March 2026?

• (a) Balendra Shah

• (b) Sher Bahadur Deuba

• (c) Pushpa Kamal Dahal

• (d) K.P. Sharma Oli

Q14. Operation Urja Suraksha of the Indian Navy relates to

• (a) evacuating Indians from Sudan

• (b) protecting Indian energy shipping through the Strait of Hormuz

• (c) rescuing fishermen in the Bay of Bengal

• (d) anti-piracy patrols off Somalia

Q15. India won the 2026 T20 World Cup final against New Zealand at

• (a) R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

• (b) Eden Gardens, Kolkata

• (c) Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

• (d) Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

Q16. Phase 1 of the Noida International Airport (Jewar) was inaugurated on

• (a) 30 October 2025

• (b) 28 March 2026

• (c) 15 June 2026

• (d) 1 April 2026

Mains Practice Questions

Use these to frame full-length answers. You don't have to answer one exactly — they show the angles UPSC tests, so let them guide which points you cover.

• Explain why India's inflation target is set by the Government and not the RBI, and assess the decision to retain the 4 per cent target.

• Discuss the constitutional basis and the guidelines for passive euthanasia in India after Common Cause (2018).

• Examine the significance of the lapse of the WTO e-commerce moratorium for India's digital trade interests.

• Evaluate the challenges of conducting India's first digital Census with caste enumeration.