Daily Current Affairs 21 September 2026 – IAS Current Affairs

Current Affairs 21 September 2026 focuses on the Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :

Public Services, Welfare And Electoral Accountability

Source: Indian Express
GS II: Government policies and interventions for development, transparency and accountability, Issues relating to development and management of social sector/services relating to health, education and human resources.

Why in the News?

The article in Indian Express examines why poor public services in India do not always translate into electoral pressure on governments, despite directly affecting citizens’ welfare.

News in Brief

• Public services such as education, healthcare, water, electricity and transport directly affect citizens’ welfare, but their quality does not always translate into electoral accountability in India.
• The “Exit and Voice” framework explains how citizens may either shift to private alternatives or demand improvements in public services; greater ability to exit can weaken pressure for public -sector reform.
• Visible and directly attributable welfare benefits, such as LPG connections, piped water and cash transfers, can create a clearer link between government action and citizens’ perceptions of performance.
• Concerns over competitive-examination integrity and paper leaks, amplified through social media, can turn dispersed individual grievances into broader collective concerns and raise questions of public accountability.

Public Services and Democratic Accountability

• Public services are one of the most direct ways through which citizens experience the State.
• Education, healthcare, water supply, electricity, public transport and other essential services have a significant impact on everyday welfare.
• In an electoral democracy, this creates an expectation that citizens will assess government performance and that governments will have an incentive to respond to public needs.
• However, poor service delivery does not automatically translate into electoral consequences.
• A citizen may be dissatisfied with a government school, unreliable public transport or inadequate healthcare without necessarily making that particular issue a deciding factor in an election.
• Thus, the importance of a public service for welfare does not necessarily correspond to its electoral importance.

Hirschman’s ‘Exit and Voice’

• Economist Albert O. Hirschman’s “Exit and Voice” framework helps explain how citizens respond when institutions or services fail.
• Exit means moving away from a failing service and choosing an alternative.
  • For example, households may shift from government schools to private schools or use private healthcare when public failures do not meet their needs.
• Voice, on the other hand, involves demanding improvements within the existing system.
• Citizens can raise complaints, seek administrative action or collectively demand reforms.
• Therefore, public-service failure can produce either ” exit from the system” or ” voice for reform within the system”.

Unequal Ability to Exit

• The ability to choose private alternatives is not equally distributed.
• Better-off households generally have greater financial capacity to move away from poorly performing public services.
• They may use private schools, hospitals, transport or other alternatives.
• This can reduce their dependence on public systems and potentially weaken pressure for government reform.
• Poorer households, in contrast, often have fewer alternatives and remain more dependent on public provision.
• This creates an important governance concern: when those with greater resources can exit, the pressure to improve public systems may become weaker, while those with fewer resources continue to depend on them.

Visibility and Attribution of Welfare benefits

• The political significance of public services can also depend on how easily citizens can identify and attribute benefits.
• Benefits such as LPG connections, piped water, electricity connections, toilets, food transfers and cash benefits are visible and directly experienced by households.
• Citizens can more easily recognize both what benefit they received and which government delivered it.
• By contrast, improvements in learning outcomes, air quality, public healthcare or transport quality may be gradual, dispersed and more difficult to attribute to a particular government.

From Grievance to Electoral Issue

• A public-service failure must pass through several stages before it can become an electoral concern.
• Citizens first need information about the problem.
• They must then be able to identify who is responsible, consider the issue sufficiently important and find meaningful political alternatives.
• Therefore, public dissatisfaction alone does not guarantee electoral pressure.
• Political parties also influence the process by determining whether particular public-service issues become part of electoral competition.

Examination Integrity as a Collective Concern

• Competitive examination provide an important example.
• Students and families invest considerable amounts of time, money and effort in examinations for higher education and public employment.
• The selection process is therefore expected to provide a basic assurance of fairness.
• Paper leaks or compromised examinations can generate wider concerns about fair selection, equal opportunity and institutional integrity.
• Unlike an isolated failure in a particular school or institution, examination-related controversies can affect large numbers of aspirants and create a broader collective grievance.

Role of Social Media

• Social media can further amplify such grievances.
• Earlier, an individual complaint might have remained an isolated incident.
• Digital platforms allow multiple complaints, photographs, videos and testimonies to be shared and connected.
• This can help citizens collect evidence, identify recurring patterns and communicate with others facing similar problems.
• As a result, scattered individual experiences can develop into a broader collective concern.

Strengthening Electoral Accountability

• The relationship between public services and elections;

Service failure → Individual grievance → Information and evidence → Attribution of responsibility → Collective political salience → Political response → Voting behaviour → Electoral accountability.

• For effective democratic accountability, citizens need reliable information, clear institutional responsibility and meaningful avenues to express their concerns.
• Improving public-service delivery is therefore not only an administrative challenge but also an important component of responsive and accountable governance.

Conclusion

Effective public services are essential or both citizens’ welfare and democratic accountability. When citizens have access to reliable information, can identify institutional responsibility and have meaningful channels to express their concerns, public-service delivery can become more responsive. Strengthening the quality, accessibility and accountability of public services is therefore central to building a responsive and citizen-oriented governance system.

UPSC Prelims and Mains Practice Question

Consider the following statements regarding public services and electoral accountability:

1. Citizens may respond to poor public services through “exit” by shifting to private alternatives or through “voice” by demanding reforms.
2. Greater access to private alternatives among better-off citizens can reduce pressure for improving public services.
3. Public-service failures can become electorally significant when citizens are able to identify the problem, attribute responsibility and connect it with political choices.
4. Social media can help transform individual grievances into collective political concerns.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

A. 1, 2, 3 and 4
B. 1, 2 and 3 only
C. 1, 3 and 4 only
D. 2, 3 and 4 only

Answer: A. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Mains Practice Question

Q) Discuss the role of effective public-service delivery in strengthening governance and democratic accountability in India. (250 words)

Indian Crafts And IPR: Cultural Misappropriation, GI Tags And Traditional Knowledge

Source: Indian Express
GS I: Indian Culture- Indian Art Forms, Handicrafts and Cultural Heritage, GS II: Intellectual Property Rights, Government Policies and Interventions.

Why in the News?

Recent instances involving global luxury fashion brands such as Prada, Ralph Lauren and Fendi have brought attention to the problem of cultural misappropriation of Indian traditional crafts.

News in Brief

• Traditional Indian crafts are increasingly being used or adapted by global fashion brands, raising questions over cultural appropriation, attribution and commercial benefits to artisan communities.
• Conventional IP laws generally protect identifiable individual or corporate creators, whereas traditional crafts are often community-based, transmitted across generations and collectively evolved.
• Geographical Indication (GI) protection can establish the geographical identity and reputation of a craft, but GI protection alone may not protect every motif, technique or cultural expression associated with it.
• Experts have suggested better documentation, community ownership, institutional support and specialised legal frameworks to protect traditional crafts and traditional knowledge.

Cultural Misappropriation of Indian Crafts and Intellectual Property Rights

• The growing use of Indian traditional crafts by international fashion brands has renewed the debate over cultural misappropriation, intellectual property rights and community ownership.
• Examples include Kolapuri chappals, Ralph Lauren’s use of hand-appliqued embellishments resembling Indian embroidery, and Fendi’s mirror-work bag drawing from traditional mirror-work associated with Gujarat.
• The concern is not merely about commercial use of traditional crafts, but whether the communities that developed, preserved and transmitted these traditions receive recognition, control and economic benefits.

Why traditional crafts are difficult to protect

• Traditional crafts do not always fit easily within conventional intellectual property frameworks.
• A craft may consist of a distinctive motif, geographical identity, traditional technique, cultural symbolism and knowledge transmitted across generations.
• Unlike modern inventions or artistic works, such knowledge is often collectively developed and continuously adapted by communities.
• Conventional IP systems, however, generally work around identifiable creators, inventors or owners.
• This creates a gap between individual ownership under IP law and collective ownership of traditional cultural expressions.
• Different forms of IP protection may provide partial solutions.
• Geographical Indications (GI) can protect goods whose quality, reputation or characteristics are linked to a particular geographical origin.
• Copyright may protect eligible original artistic expressions, while design protection can cover qualifying designs and trademarks can protect distinctive commercial identifiers.
• Traditional knowledge protection can address knowledge and practices developed and transmitted by communities.
• However, no single mechanism necessarily provides comprehensive protection to an entire traditional craft.

Role and Limitations of GI Protection

• GI protection can establish the place of origin, reputation, authenticity and commercial identity of a traditional craft.
• Registered proprietors and authorized users can also seek legal remedies against infringement.
• However, a GI does not automatically protect every individual motif, technique or cultural expression associated with a craft.
• Therefore, GI protection needs to be complemented by other legal and institutional mechanisms.

Community Ownership and Documentation

• Traditional crafts are often collective cultural expressions, preserved and practiced by communities across generations.
• Recognizing community custodianship is therefore important when decisions are made about their commercial use.
• Proper documentation can establish the provenance and community association of traditional motifs, techniques, geographical regions, historical records and production methods.
• However, documentation itself can create risks if traditional knowledge is transferred to outside institutions without safeguards, potentially facilitating misappropriation or unauthorised commercialisation.
• Hence, documentation should remain community-controlled and appropriately protected.

Institutional and Cross-Border Challenges

• Producer organizations, cooperatives, artisan associations, GI bodies and government institutions can strengthen communities through legal awareness, registration, enforcement, negotiation and benefit-sharing.
• This is particularly important because individual artisans may lack the resources to challenge large multinational corporations.
• Cross-border enforcement remains difficult because traditional crafts entering international markets may involve different legal systems, high litigation costs, jurisdictional challenges and difficulties in proving provenance.
• This makes effective international cooperation essential.

Need for a Specialized Framework

• The central challenge is to enable commercial use of traditional cultural expressions without depriving their originating communities of recognition, control, and benefits.
• A specialized framework should address collective ownership, attribution, traditional knowledge, community rights and benefit-sharing without creating an excessive monopoly that prevents legitimate innovation.
• The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has been working on international approaches concerning traditional knowledge, genetic resources, attribution and benefit-sharing.
• The broader objective should be to develop a system that protects cultural heritage while allowing traditional crafts to continue evolving as living traditions rather than becoming museum pieces.

Way Forward and Conclusion

Protecting India’s traditional crafts requires moving beyond a narrow understanding of intellectual property towards a community-centered approach that recognizes cultural heritage, collective ownership and traditional knowledge.

Stronger GI protection, proper documentation, institutional support, attribution and fair benefit-sharing can help ensure that artisans are not excluded from the economic value created from their traditions. At the same time, protection should not restrict legitimate innovation. The objective should be to preserve traditional crafts as living cultural expressions while enabling their sustainable and equitable participation in the modern economy.

UPSC Prelims and Mains Practice Question

Consider the following statements regarding the protection of traditional Indian crafts:

1. Geographical Indication protection can establish the geographical identity and reputation associated with a traditional craft.
2. Traditional crafts always have a clearly identifiable individual owner under conventional intellectual property law.
3. Documentation of traditional motifs and techniques can help establish provenance and community association.
4. Protection of traditional cultural expressions necessarily requires granting an exclusive monopoly over their future use.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

A. 1 and 3 only
B. 2 and 4 only
C. 1, 2 and 3 only
D. 1, 3 and 4 only

Answer: A. 1 and 3 only

Mains Practice Question

Q) Traditional Indian crafts represent both cultural heritage and economic assts. Discuss the challenges involved in protecting traditional cultural expressions under conventional intellectual property frameworks. Suggest measures to ensure community ownership, attribution and benefit-sharing. (250 words)

Agentic Commerce And The Future Of Digital Payments

Source: Indian Express
GS II: Governance, GS III: Economy- Digital Payments, Science and Technology- AI, FinTech

Why in the News?

The Global Fintech Fest (GFF) held in Mumbai highlighted the growing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly agentic AI, into digital payment systems.

News in Brief

• Payment companies and financial institutions are exploring how AI agents to streamline the entire ” procurement-to-payment” journey, making digital commerce more automated and personalized.
• NPCI showcased MyUPI, an AI-powered system designed to support pre-authorized payments and automate payment-related processes.
• Such developments indicate a shift towards AI-assisted digital payments, where consumers can delegate routine transactions while retaining control through predefined authorization and spending limits.

What is Agentic AI?

• Agentic AI refers to AI systems that can understand objectives, plan actions, make decisions and execute tasks with limited continuous human intervention.
• Unlike conventional AI, which generally responds to specific instructions, agentic AI can coordinate multiple steps to achieve a defined goal.
• Key capabilities include:
  • Understanding the user’s objective.
  • Breaking a task into multiple steps.
  • Selecting appropriate tools or actions.
  • Executing tasks within predefined permissions.
  • Adapting to changing circumstances.

Agentic AI in payments

• In digital payments, an AI agent could assist with the journey from product discovery to payment.
• This may involve comparing products and prices, identifying offers, selecting a suitable payment method and completing a transaction after obtaining the required authorization.
• The AI operates within predefined spending limits and permissions, allowing consumers to retain control over financial decisions.

What is Agentic Commerce?

• Agentic commerce refers to a model in which AI agents assist consumers in discovering, evaluating and purchasing products or services.
• It goes beyond providing recommendations by enabling AI systems to perform several stages of the purchasing process.
• An AI agent may:
  • Identify a product based on the consumer’s requirements.
  • Search for available products, prices and offers.
  • Compare alternatives.
  • Recommend a suitable option.
  • Select an appropriate payment method.
  • Execute the transaction after receiving the required authorisation.
• The objective is to reduce friction in digital commerce while maintaining consumer oversight and payment security.
• Importantly, agentic commerce does not necessarily remove payment authentication.
• Instead, authentication can be incorporated according to the transaction value, risk level and permissions previously provided by the consumer.

How Agentic AI could transform digital payments

• Personalized payments- AI agents could consider a consumer’s preferences, available payment options and applicable offers while assisting with payment decisions.
• Reduced payment friction-  AI-enabled systems could simplify repetitive authentication and payment steps for eligible transactions while retaining appropriate security safeguards.
• Automated recurring purchases- Consumers could establish predefined limits for routine purchases.
  • For instance, an AI agent could manage recurring grocery purchases within a specified monthly budget, while transactions exceeding the limit could require additional approval.
• Fraud detection and risk management- AI is already used in digital payments for fraud detection, transaction monitoring, risk assessment and consumer screening.
  • Agentic systems could integrate these functions into a broader payment workflow.
• Greater convenience- Consumers could delegate repetitive activities to AI agents, reducing the time and effort required to complete routine online purchases.

India’s Emerging Agentic Payment Ecosystem

MyUPI

• NPCI’s MyUPI reflects India’s efforts to integrate AI with digital payments.
• It can support pre-authorized payments and automated payment-related processes, while AI-enabled systems can potentially simplify interactions across the payment journey.
• NPCI has also explored Agentic Orchestration and Messaging (AtMOM) as a framework for enabling AI-based interactions within the financial ecosystem.

Smart Wallets and Automated Payments

• AI-enabled wallet systems are also exploring features such as personalized recommendations, biometric authentication, tap-and-pay functionality and simplified small-value recurring payments.
• For example, a consumer could establish a predefined spending limit for routine purchases.
• Transactions within the permitted range could be processed automatically, while transactions beyond the threshold could require additional authentication.

Benefits of Agentic Commerce

For Consumers

• Greater convenience and reduced transaction time.
• Personalised product and payment recommendations.
• Automated recurring purchases.
• Easier identification of relevant offers.
• Reduced friction during online transactions.

For Businesses

• Faster transaction completion.
• Greater personalisation of customer experiences.
• Automation of repetitive commerce processes.
• Potential reduction in transaction-related friction.

For the Digital Economy

Agentic commerce could shift digital commerce from user-driven transactions towards AI-assisted transactions, creating new possibilities for automated and personalized financial services.

Concerns and Challenges

• Consumers should be able to review, modify, pause or cancel AI-initiated transactions.
• Clear mechanisms are required to determine responsibility when an AI agent makes an incorrect, unintended or unauthorised transaction.
• Greater autonomy creates additional attack surfaces.
• Compromised AI agents could potentially be manipulated to initiate fraudulent transactions.
• Payment agents may process sensitive financial, transactional and behavioural information.
• Strong safeguards are therefore necessary to protect consumer data.
• Incorrect recommendations or decisions could result in unsuitable purchases or financial losses.
• AI agents could become targets for identity theft, malicious instructions, prompt manipulation or other forms of financial exploitation.
• Consumers need awareness of AI permissions, spending limits, authentication requirements and transaction controls before delegating financial activities to automated systems.

Way Forward and Conclusion

India should promote secure and consumer-centric agentic payments through strong consent, authentication, data protection and cybersecurity safeguards.

With effective oversight, agentic AI can make digital payments more convenient, personalized and efficient while preserving consumer control and trust.

UPSC Prelims and Mains Practice

Consider the following statements regarding Agentic AI in digital payments:

1. Agentic AI can perform multi-step tasks on behalf of users with limited continuous prompting.
2. Agentic commerce necessarily eliminates all forms of payment authorisation.
3. AI can be used in digital payments for fraud detection and transaction screening.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 and 2 only
B. 1 and 3 only
C. 2 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3

Answer: B. 1 and 3 only

Mains Practice Question

Q) Agentic AI could transform digital payments from user-driven transactions to AI-assisted financial transactions. Discuss its potential benefits and the regulatory and cybersecurity challenges associated with its adoption in India. (250 words)

Balancing Ethanol Production With Food And Water Security

Source: Indian Express
GS III: Agriculture, Environment, Energy, Food Security, Biofuels

Why in the News?

The rising price of sugar and India’s growing emphasis on ethanol blending have brought renewed attention to the availability, cost and sustainability of ethanol feedstocks.

News in Brief

• India’s ethanol programme is witnessing a shift in feedstock preferences, with maize emerging as an important source alongside rice and sugar-based products.
• The increasing diversion of maize towards ethanol could affect its availability for poultry and cattle feed, creating linkages between biofuel demand and food prices.
• The choice of feedstock also has resource implications, particularly because crop-based ethanol production requires substantial amounts of water.
• With E20 blending increasing ethanol demand, India faces the challenge of expanding production while managing the competing requirements of fuel, food, feed and natural resources.

Maize is becoming an important ethanol feedstock

• Ethanol in India is produced from maize, rice and sugarcane-derivedproducts.
• Around 45% of ethanol comes from maize, while another 20-25% comes from rice and the remaining share from sugar-based feedstocks.
• Maize is increasingly preferred because of its relatively favorable economic and ethanol yield.
  • One tonne of maize can produce around 380–400 litres of ethanol.
  • Rice produces around 370–385 litres per tonne.
  • Sugarcane yields around 220–280 litres per tonne.

Maize faces competition from the feed sector

• Maize is relatively cheaper than rice and sugar-based feedstocks, making it attractive for ethanol producers.
• However, it is also an important raw material for the poultry and livestock industry.
• Around 60% of maize demand is linked to cattle and poultry feed.
• If more maize is diverted towards ethanol, the resulting pressure on supplies could raise feed costs and eventually affect the prices of milk, meat and poultry products.

Water use is a major consideration

• Ethanol production from different crops has significant differences in water comsumption.
• Maize requires about 500–900 litres of water per kg, while the requirement can rise to around 1,500–2,500 litres for sugarcane and 2,000–3,500 litres for rice.
• While maize may have a lower water requirement than rice and sugarcane, expanding its cultivation for ethanol can still place additional pressure on agricultural water resources, particularly in water-stressed regions.

Rising ethanol demand could create new policy challenges

• The move towards E20 blending is expected to increase demand for ethanol feedstocks.
• This raises questions about whether existing agricultural production can meet the additional requirement without affecting food and feed availability.
• Maize productivity could become an important concern if ethanol demand rises.
• However, the use of GM maize seeds for cultivation is not permitted in India.
• Therefore, increasing maize production would have to rely on existing varieties unless regulatory policy changes.
• One possible approach could involve allowing GM seeds specifically to enhance production for ethanol, although this raises wider questions concerning biosafety, regulation, food security, and agricultural policy.

Surplus Rice can not be a permanent solution

• The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has previously diverted excess rice stocks for ethanol production.
• However, depending on surplus stocks cannot automatically be treated as a long-term strategy for ethanol feedstock, because future availability of rice, domestic requirements and its prices may change.
• This makes a stable and sustainable feedstock strategy important for the long-term expansion of ethanol production.

Ethanol and Water Security

• The choice of feedstock has implications for India’s water security.
• If rice and sugarcane-based ethanol production expands substantially, their relatively high water requirements could intensify pressure on water resources.
• At the same time, maize expansion also needs to consider regional water availability and competing agricultural requirements.

Ethanol policy and digital infrastructure has wider resource implications

• The concern is not limited to ethanol blending.
• India’s growing Data centre infrastrucutre are heavy consumers of electricity and water.
• As both digital infrastructure and biofuel production expand, efficient management of India’s energy and water resources will become increasingly important.

Way Forward and Conclusion

India’s ethanol programme can strengthen energy security and reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels, but its long-term success will depend on the availability and sustainability of feedstocks. A balanced approach is needed to ensure that the expansion of ethanol does not compromise food security, livestock feed availability or water resources.

Promoting efficient crops, advanced biofuel technologies and region-specific feedstock planning can help India pursue its blending targets while maintaining agricultural and environmental sustainability.

UPSC Prelims and Mains Practice Question

Consider the following statements regarding ethanol production in India:

1. Maize, rice and sugarcane-derived products can be used as feedstocks for ethanol production.
2. Maize has competing uses as livestock and poultry feed.
3. Increasing ethanol production from agricultural crops has no implications for water resources.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2 and 3 only
C. 1 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3

Answer: A. 1 and 2 only

Mains Practice Question

Q) India’s ethanol-blending programme can contribute to energy security, but increasing dependence on agricultural feedstocks may create trade-offs involving food security, livestock feed and water resources. Discuss. (250 words)

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