12 June 2025

• Bhakti tradition: Sant Kabir Das Jayanti marked on the Jyeshtha Purnima. Kabir's Nirguna tradition and his place in the Guru Granth Sahib remain standard prelims targets.
• Finance: RBI flagged a microfinance crisis. Gross Loan Portfolio fell 13.5 per cent and NPAs crossed Rs 55,000 crore. The sector needs structural attention.
• Agriculture: CROPIC, a new AI-based crop-monitoring app under PMFBY, launched pilot in 50 districts for Kharif 2025.
• Defence: India-UK bilateral naval exercise PASSEX held in the North Arabian Sea with INS Tabar and HMS Prince of Wales.
• International: Pakistan chairs the UNSC Taliban Sanctions Committee (1988) for 2025-26. Taiwan logged a 5.9-magnitude earthquake at the Eurasian-Philippine Sea plate boundary.

GS area: History and Culture (Medieval Bhakti Movement)

Sant Kabir Das Jayanti falls on Jyeshtha Purnima. Kabir is the canonical figure of Nirguna Bhakti, the strand of devotion that rejects idol worship and caste hierarchy entirely.

• Birth and period: Kabir was born around 1440 CE in Varanasi (then Kashi). He lived through the early Lodi sultanate era and died at Magahar, a town that Brahminic tradition considered inauspicious for salvation. Dying there was itself an act of protest.
• Nirguna Bhakti: worship of a formless god, with no image and no priest. This stands in contrast to Saguna Bhakti (Mirabai, Tulsidas) which venerates god in a personal form.
• Literary corpus: the Bijak is the primary Kabir text used by the Kabir Panth. The Sakhi Granth and Kabir Granthavali are additional collections. Crucially, 541 of Kabir's verses were included in the Guru Granth Sahib by Guru Arjan Dev.
• Kabir Panth: the religious community that formed around his teachings. Members are called Kabir Panthis. The sect crosses caste and community lines, which is integral to its character.
• Social critique: Kabir opposed caste distinctions and the ritual authority of both Brahmin priests and Muslim clerics. His dohas (couplets) attacked social hierarchy in plain vernacular Hindi. That bluntness is why the examiners return to him.
• Constitutional link in news: the 52nd Amendment (1985) inserted the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection) into the Constitution. It appeared in news on this day for Tamil Nadu proceedings. The Amendment has no relation to Kabir; examiners sometimes pair the Amendment number in distractor options with the Bhakti movement year, so keep them separate.

Static linkage: Medieval history (Bhakti-Sufi traditions), Art and Culture.

GS area: Economy (Financial sector, inclusive finance)

The RBI Deputy Governor flagged a deepening stress in the microfinance institution (MFI) sector. The numbers reveal a sector that overlent, raised average ticket sizes without proportionate income gains in borrower households, and is now collecting at far lower rates.

• Gross Loan Portfolio (GLP): fell 13.5 per cent to Rs 3.75 lakh crore as of the latest reporting quarter. GLP is the total outstanding principal lent by MFIs. A 13.5 per cent fall signals active contraction, not just slower growth.
• Non-Performing Assets (NPAs): surged to Rs 55,000 crore. NPAs are loans overdue beyond 90 days. Their jump reflects genuine borrower distress.
• Portfolio at Risk (PAR 31-180 days): rose from 2 per cent to 6.2 per cent. PAR measures loans where repayment is 31 to 180 days overdue. A tripling signals widespread stress before loans fully turn bad.
• Disbursals: Q4 FY25 disbursals fell 34 per cent year-on-year to Rs 70,942 crore. Lenders tightened the tap. That alone worsens the problem by reducing fresh cash to existing borrowers who rely on re-lending.
• Average loan size: rose 11.5 per cent to Rs 53,897. Loan sizes grew while repayment rates fell. That mismatch points to over-leverage of borrowers.
• SEWA Bank, Ahmedabad (1974): India's first microfinance institution. It was started by the Self-Employed Women's Association to provide banking to informal-sector women workers.
• Grameen Bank (1976): founded by Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. Its group-lending model became the template for Indian MFIs.
• Malegam Committee (2010): RBI-constituted committee that recommended the NBFC-MFI category, caps on loan sizes and interest rates, and the 50,000-rupee income ceiling for borrowers. Its recommendations remain the regulatory baseline.

The sector's crisis has a structural cause: multiple lenders serving the same borrower with no shared database to track total indebtedness. The Credit Bureau for Microfinance partially addresses this but compliance is uneven.

Static linkage: Financial inclusion (Economics), RBI regulatory framework.

GS area: Agriculture, Government schemes

The Ministry of Agriculture launched CROPIC (Crop Real-time Observation and Predictive Intelligence for Crop Insurance) as a pilot in 50 districts for Kharif 2025.

• Parent scheme: CROPIC operates under the Financial Inclusion and Agriculture Technology (FIAT) mandate of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). PMFBY is the flagship crop insurance scheme that replaced NAIS in 2016.
• What it does: the app builds an AI-based image database of crops at different growth stages. Farmers or field agents photograph crops; the app compares them against the database to detect stress, pest attack or yield loss in real time.
• Pilot scale: 50 districts for the Kharif 2025 season. Kharif crops are sown with the monsoon onset (June to July) and harvested in autumn.
• Significance for PMFBY: the scheme's perennial weakness is delayed loss assessment and settlement disputes. Real-time satellite and app-based monitoring is meant to cut the lag between crop damage and insurance payout.

Static linkage: Agriculture (schemes), Science and Technology (AI applications in governance).

GS area: International Relations, Defence

India and the United Kingdom conducted a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) in the North Arabian Sea. PASSEX is a short-duration bilateral drill conducted when naval vessels of two countries pass through the same waters.

• INS Tabar: a Talwar-class stealth frigate of the Indian Navy. The Talwar class was built in Russia for the Indian Navy. Tabar has featured in earlier anti-piracy and bilateral exercises.
• HMS Prince of Wales: a Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. The carrier group's presence in the Arabian Sea reflects UK's post-Brexit Indo-Pacific tilt.
• HMS Richmond: a Type 23 Duke-class frigate. It forms part of the carrier strike group escorting Prince of Wales.
• Focus areas: the drill covered anti-submarine warfare (ASW), maritime interdiction and communication interoperability. ASW is the practice of detecting, tracking and neutralising enemy submarines.
• PASSEX versus formal exercises: a PASSEX is unscheduled and brief. It differs from structured bilateral exercises like India-UK KONKAN (Navy) or SHAKTI (Army with France). KONKAN is the named India-UK naval exercise series; PASSEX supplements it opportunistically.

Static linkage: India's bilateral relations (Defence and International Relations).

GS area: International Relations (United Nations, Counter-terrorism)

Pakistan assumed the chairmanship of the UNSC Taliban Sanctions Committee for 2025-26. The committee is formally titled the 1988 Sanctions Committee after the resolution that created it.

• UNSC Resolution 1988 (2011): established a separate sanctions list for Taliban-affiliated individuals and entities. Before 2011 the Taliban and Al-Qaeda were on a joint list under Resolution 1267 (1999). The split created two committees with distinct mandates.
• Scope: monitors and updates the consolidated list of approximately 130 Taliban-affiliated individuals and entities. Sanctions include travel bans, asset freezes and arms embargoes.
• Why Pakistan chairs it: UNSC non-permanent members rotate committee chairmanships. Pakistan holds a non-permanent seat on the Council for 2025-26.
• 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC): established by Resolution 1373 (2001) after the September 11 attacks. It operates under Chapter VII of the UN Charter (the enforcement chapter). The CTC monitors all member states' compliance with counter-terrorism obligations. Pakistan also holds a Vice-Chair position here for 2025-26.
• Chapter VII distinction: Chapter VII empowers the Security Council to authorise enforcement action including military force. Resolutions under it are binding on all member states. Chapter VI deals only with peaceful settlement of disputes.

The dual position places Pakistan at the centre of two key UN counter-terrorism bodies simultaneously. That juxtaposition has drawn criticism from India given Pakistan's own record on cross-border terrorism.

Static linkage: International Organisations (UNSC, UN Charter), Counter-terrorism.

GS area: Polity (Anti-corruption institutions)

The Lokpal adopted a new motto: "Empower Citizens, Expose Corruption." The occasion is a useful hook to revise the institution.

• Statutory basis: the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013 (effective 16 January 2014) created the Lokpal. It gave statutory form to a demand that had been pending since the First Administrative Reforms Commission (1966).
• Nature: an independent statutory body. It is not a constitutional body (no Article in the Constitution specifically creates it). The distinction matters for prelims.
• Composition: a Chairperson who must be a former Chief Justice of India or a former Supreme Court judge, plus up to eight members. At least four members must be from judicial backgrounds; at least 50 per cent must come from SC, ST, OBC, minorities or women categories.
• Jurisdiction: covers the Prime Minister (with limitations), Union Ministers, Members of Parliament, Group A to D central government employees, and employees of central-government-funded bodies.
• CBI link: the Lokpal can supervise the CBI in cases that it has referred to it. This is the most-tested institutional relationship.
• Headquarters: Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.

Static linkage: Polity (Anti-corruption mechanisms, statutory vs constitutional bodies).

GS area: International Relations, Economy (Maritime)

India is hosting the 3rd General Assembly of the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) in 2025. The 21st IALA Conference is scheduled in Mumbai in 2027.

• IALA full name: International Organization for Marine Aids to Navigation. The older name referenced lighthouse authorities but the body covers all aids: buoys, beacons, vessel traffic services and electronic navigation systems.
• Founded: 1957 as a technical non-governmental organisation. Became an intergovernmental organisation in 2021, which gave it treaty status and formal standing with the International Maritime Organization.
• Headquarters: Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, France.
• India's position: India has been a council member since 1980 and was elected Vice President for 2023-2027. Hosting the General Assembly and the biennial conference in Mumbai signals India's growing maritime-governance ambition.
• What IALA standardises: the buoyage and beacon systems that ships rely on globally. Without standard signal conventions, entering an unfamiliar port would be hazardous. IALA divides the world into Region A (red-to-port) and Region B (green-to-port) buoyage systems. India follows Region A.

Static linkage: Indian Ocean strategy, maritime law (International Relations).

GS area: Geography (Physical geography, disaster management)

Taiwan recorded a 5.9-magnitude earthquake in June 2025. The island's seismicity is among the highest in the world.

• Tectonic setting: Taiwan sits at the collision boundary of the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. The Philippine Sea Plate subducts under the Eurasian Plate along the eastern coast of the island. This active subduction and associated faulting makes Taiwan earthquake-prone.
• Ring of Fire: Taiwan lies on the western segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire is an arc of high seismic and volcanic activity encircling the Pacific Ocean through the Americas, Aleutian Islands, Japan, Philippines, and New Zealand.
• Capital: Taipei, located in the Taipei Basin in the north of the island.
• Taiwan Strait: the body of water separating Taiwan from mainland China. It is approximately 180 km wide at its narrowest point and connects the South China Sea to the East China Sea.
• Highest peak: Yu Mountain (Jade Mountain or Yushan), 3997 metres above sea level. It is the highest point in Taiwan and one of the highest peaks in East Asia.
• Geopolitical note: Taiwan operates as a self-governing territory. The People's Republic of China claims it under the One China policy. The island's status remains one of the world's most sensitive geopolitical questions.

Static linkage: Physical geography (plate tectonics, Ring of Fire), world geography.

• Kabir Panth and the 52nd Amendment: the 52nd Amendment (1985) inserted the Tenth Schedule. It is unrelated to the Bhakti movement but appeared in the same news cycle. Keep the two separate in memory: 1985 is anti-defection; 1440 is Kabir's birth.
• MFI regulation: under the RBI's NBFC-MFI framework, an NBFC qualifies as a microfinance institution if at least 85 per cent of its assets are qualifying microfinance loans. This threshold is the exam hook.
• PMFBY premium structure: the farmer pays a maximum of 2 per cent of sum insured for Kharif crops and 1.5 per cent for Rabi crops under PMFBY. The balance is shared equally by the Centre and States.