19 June 2025

• India's school education index shows Chandigarh on top and no state reaching the highest performance band.
• OECD data reveals 40 per cent of the planet faces more frequent droughts. Aquifer decline is accelerating.
• Iran's Fattah hypersonic missile travels at Mach 13 to 15. India evacuated students from Iran via Armenia.
• NHAI will launch a FASTag-based annual highway pass on 15 August 2025 for private vehicles.
• India's gharial conservation programme turns 50 this year. The Chambal River holds the primary wild population.

GS Paper 2 (Governance: Education)

The Ministry of Education released the Performance Grading Index 2.0 report for 2023-24. PGI 2.0 replaced the original PGI to add more nuanced measurement across governance and learning outcomes.

• Top scorer: Chandigarh with 703 points out of 1,000.
• Lowest scorer: Meghalaya with 417 points. The gap between the highest and lowest exceeds 286 points.
• Grading scale: 10 grades from Daksh (951 to 1,000) at the top to Akanshi-3 (below 551) at the bottom.
• No state reached Daksh: the highest band remained unoccupied nationally. Odisha achieved Daksh in the Access domain specifically.
• Six domains measured: Learning Outcomes, Access, Infrastructure, Equity, Governance and Teacher Education. Each domain uses multiple indicators totalling 73 across the index.
• Improvement trend: 24 States and Union Territories improved their scores in 2023-24 compared to the previous cycle.
• Significance for prelims: PGI is the Ministry of Education's tool for ranking states and pushing competitive improvement. The index is not a ranking for releasing funds. States use it for reform benchmarking.

The wide gap between the best and worst performers points to the federal variation in school governance quality. Teacher education and governance domains tend to separate high-performing states from low-performing ones more than infrastructure alone.

Revises topics: School Education Policy, National Education Policy 2020, Cooperative Federalism

GS Paper 3 (Environment: Water Resources)

The OECD released its Global Drought Outlook 2025 with projections through 2100. The data frame the context for India's groundwater policy and agricultural vulnerability.

• Current drought extent: 40 per cent of the planet is experiencing more frequent droughts compared to the 20th century baseline.
• 2023 extreme drought: 48 per cent of the world's land area faced extreme drought conditions in 2023.
• Aquifer depletion: 62 per cent of monitored aquifers are declining. This is a structural problem because aquifer recharge takes centuries.
• Economic cost trend: drought costs are rising at 3 to 7.5 per cent annually. A 35 per cent increase in drought-related economic losses is projected by 2035.
• Agricultural impact: crop yields can fall by 22 per cent in severe dry years.
• Climate scenario at plus 4 degrees Celsius: droughts could become seven times more frequent than the pre-industrial baseline by 2100.
• Soil drying: 37 per cent of global soils show significant drying since 1980. India's northwest and Deccan plateau are among the most affected South Asian zones.

India's National Water Mission targets 20 per cent improvement in water-use efficiency. The Atal Bhujal Yojana addresses groundwater recharge in over-exploited blocks. Neither scheme yet addresses the scale implied by the OECD projections.

Revises topics: Water Conservation Schemes, Groundwater Management, Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture

GS Paper 2 (International Relations: Nuclear Proliferation)

Iran's enrichment activities continue at levels that exceed any civilian power programme requirement. Understanding the enrichment ladder is essential for UPSC questions on the NPT and the JCPOA.

• What enrichment does: increases the concentration of the fissile isotope Uranium-235 in uranium. Natural uranium contains roughly 0.7 per cent U-235.
• Low-enriched uranium (LEU): 3 to 5 per cent U-235. This is the grade used in civilian nuclear power reactors.
• Weapons-grade (HEU): approximately 90 per cent U-235. This is what a nuclear weapon requires.
• Iran's current level: 60 per cent U-235. This is far above reactor-grade and technically close to weapons-usable material. Iran crossed this threshold after the JCPOA collapsed.
• Key facilities: Natanz (main enrichment plant), Fordo (hardened underground facility), Isfahan (uranium conversion).
• JCPOA limit: the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action capped Iranian enrichment at 3.67 per cent. The USA withdrew in 2018. Iran began breaching limits in 2019.
• India's position: India supported the JCPOA framework diplomatically. India's oil import dependence on Iran creates a competing interest in stable Iran relations.

Revises topics: NPT and Safeguards, Iran Nuclear Deal, India-Iran Relations

GS Paper 3 (Environment: Wildlife Conservation)

India's gharial conservation programme was established in 1975 at Etawah in Uttar Pradesh. World Crocodile Day on 17 June 2025 marked its 50th anniversary.

• Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus): a critically endangered crocodilian species. It is the only living member of family Gavialidae. The male's bulbous nasal growth is called a ghara.
• Conservation method: eggs are collected from wild nests. Artificial incubation ensures higher hatch rates than natural nesting. Hatchlings are reared in captivity for 3 to 5 years until large enough to survive in the wild. They are then staged back into rivers.
• Kukrail Gharial Rehabilitation Centre: the primary captive rearing facility, located in Lucknow. It functions under the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department.
• Primary habitat: the Chambal River is the stronghold of the remaining wild gharial population. The National Chambal Sanctuary spans Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
• IUCN status: Critically Endangered. Population estimates range from 650 to 900 mature individuals in the wild.
• Threats: sand mining, irrigation barrages that fragment river flow, fishing nets and poaching.

Revises topics: Wildlife Protection Act, Critical Endangered Species, River Conservation

GS Paper 3 (Infrastructure: Transport)

The National Highways Authority of India will launch a FASTag-based Annual Pass on 15 August 2025. This is a flat-fee model for private vehicle users who use national highways regularly.

• Cost: Rs 3,000 per year for non-commercial private vehicles. Commercial vehicles are excluded from this scheme.
• Validity conditions: one year from activation or 200 highway trips, whichever occurs first. A trip is counted each time the vehicle passes a toll plaza.
• Platforms: available through the Rajmarg Yatra app and the NHAI and MoRTH portals.
• Technology: RFID-based automatic toll deduction. The FASTag tag on the vehicle's windscreen is read by the toll plaza antenna. No manual transaction occurs.
• Implementing body: NHAI under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
• Policy rationale: reduces per-trip transaction friction for frequent highway users. Encourages digital payment adoption and reduces queue time at toll plazas.

Revises topics: National Highway Infrastructure, Digital Payments in Transport, NHAI

GS Paper 2 (International Relations: Defence Technology)

Iran deployed the Fattah hypersonic missile in Operation Honest Promise 3 in 2025. The missile represents a qualitative shift in Iran's strike capability.

• Developer: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force.
• Speed: Mach 13 to 15, equivalent to approximately 15,000 km per hour.
• Range: 1,400 km. This brings Israel, US bases in the Gulf and parts of South Asia within range.
• Evasion features: the missile manoeuvres mid-flight, making its trajectory unpredictable. It also generates a plasma shield that absorbs radar signals. These two features together defeat most existing terminal-phase missile defence systems.
• Hypersonic definition: a missile travelling above Mach 5. The Fattah qualifies as a hypersonic glide vehicle because it combines ballistic launch with manoeuvrable atmospheric flight.
• Comparison: Russia's Kinzhal (Mach 10), China's DF-17 (Mach 10), and India's developing hypersonic technology demonstrator programme are the reference points.

Revises topics: Hypersonic Technology, Iran's Military Doctrine, Missile Defence Systems

GS Paper 2 (Governance: Diaspora and Consular Services)

India launched Operation Sindhu to evacuate Indian nationals from Iran following the escalation of regional tensions.

• Evacuation route: Northern Iran to Yerevan (capital of Armenia) by road or air, then Yerevan to New Delhi by chartered flight.
• Why Armenia: Armenia shares a border with Iran and maintains civil aviation links. Direct flights from Iran were disrupted due to airspace closures.
• MEA support: the Ministry of External Affairs activated a 24/7 Control Room in New Delhi to coordinate with the Indian Embassy in Tehran and the consulate.
• First flight: carried approximately 110 students who were enrolled in Iranian medical colleges.
• Precedent: India has conducted similar operations before. Operation Devi Shakti (Afghanistan 2021), Operation Kaveri (Sudan 2023) and Operation Ajay (Israel-Gaza 2023) follow the same consular framework.
• Legal basis: consular evacuations operate under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. India has obligations to provide consular assistance to its nationals abroad.

Revises topics: India's Diaspora Policy, MEA Consular Framework, Regional Security

GS Paper 2 (International Relations: Europe)

Prime Minister Modi visited Zagreb, making it the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Croatia. India-Croatia ties have been low-key but the visit signals a broadening of India's European engagement.

• Croatia's geography: located on the Eastern Adriatic coast of Europe. It borders Slovenia and Hungary to the north, Serbia to the east, and Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro to the south. The Dinara peak at 1,831 metres is the country's highest point. Major rivers include the Sava and the Drava.
• Capital: Zagreb.
• Trade with India: principal Indian exports to Croatia are pharmaceuticals, engineering goods and IT services.
• EU membership: Croatia joined the European Union in 2013. It adopted the euro in 2023. EU membership means any bilateral framework with Croatia must be compatible with EU trade law.
• Strategic context: India is deepening engagement with Central and Eastern European nations to diversify diplomatic networks within the EU. Croatia's Adriatic position gives it relevance in discussions on Indian shipping routes to European markets.

Revises topics: India's European Engagement, EU Architecture, Maritime Trade Routes

• World Crocodile Day is observed on 17 June each year by the Crocodile Specialist Group of the IUCN. India has three crocodilian species: gharial, mugger and saltwater crocodile.
• Fordo in Iran is built inside a mountain, making it resistant to conventional airstrikes. It was originally a secret site revealed by Iranian opposition groups in 2002.
• The Rajmarg Yatra app also handles permit applications for oversized vehicles and vehicle tracking on national highways.
• Croatia's coastal region is Dalmatia. Its offshore islands include over 1,200 formations in the Adriatic. The Plitvice Lakes are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• The OECD Drought Outlook notes that virtual water trade (importing food rather than growing it) is one mechanism for water-stressed nations to reduce consumption. India is a net exporter of virtual water through rice and sugar exports.