18 July 2025

• Governance: Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 results: Ahmedabad tops the cleanest big-city category. 12 cities earned 7-star Garbage Free City certification.
• International: India opposed the proposed US Russian Sanctions Act, 2025, which threatens 500 per cent tariffs on countries trading Russian energy.
• Defence: Akash Prime, with a kill probability of 98.5 per cent in dual-salvo mode and a range of 30 km, is operational for high-altitude deployment in Ladakh.
• Society: Over 7,000 dowry deaths occur annually in India. Conviction rate in dowry death trials is 1.5 to 2 per cent.
• Space: LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA detected the merger GW231123 of two black holes totalling 240 solar masses, 12 billion light-years away, defying theoretical mass-gap predictions.

GS area: Governance (digital identity, welfare delivery)

The Public Accounts Committee flagged critical operational gaps in the UIDAI's (Unique Identification Authority of India) management of Aadhaar.

• Biometric failure: High biometric verification failure rates are excluding genuine beneficiaries from PDS and MGNREGA, the two flagship welfare delivery programmes.
• Data breach: Aadhaar data has been reported on the dark web. UIDAI asserts the central repository remains secure.
• Duplicate numbers: The number of duplicate or inactive Aadhaar numbers exceeds India's total population, raising data integrity concerns.
• Grievance redressal: PAC found grievance mechanisms inadequate.
• Right to Privacy (2017): The Supreme Court's Puttaswamy judgment established the right to privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21. Aadhaar's mandatory linking to welfare schemes was partially struck down in K.S. Puttaswamy (Aadhaar) (2018).

Static linkage: Governance (Aadhaar, UIDAI, welfare delivery, privacy), Polity (Article 21, Puttaswamy judgment).

GS area: Governance (urban sanitation, Swachh Bharat Mission)

The Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 covered 4,500-plus cities and engaged 14 crore citizens.

• Cleanest big cities (10 lakh-plus population): Ahmedabad (1st), Bhopal (2nd), Lucknow (3rd).
• 3 to 10 lakh category: Mira-Bhayandar (1st), Bilaspur (2nd), Jamshedpur (3rd).
• Best Ganga Town: Prayagraj.
• Super Swachh League: 23 cities including Indore, Surat, Navi Mumbai, Vijayawada, Chandigarh and Mysore earned this sustained-excellence designation.
• Certifications: 12 cities earned 7-star Garbage Free City status. 22 cities earned 5-star.
• Context: Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) is the urban sanitation programme. The Survekshan is its annual assessment.

Static linkage: Governance (Swachh Bharat Mission, urban local bodies, solid waste management).

GS area: International Relations, Economy (energy security)

A US Senate bill proposed by Senator Lindsey Graham threatens 500 per cent ad valorem tariffs on countries that trade in Russian energy.

• Target countries: India, China and Brazil are explicitly named for secondary sanctions.
• Mechanism: Any country trading in Russian oil, gas or coal faces punitive tariffs on goods exported to the US.
• Presidential waiver: The bill includes a 6-month waiver clause.
• India's position: Ministry of External Affairs stated India's sovereign right to energy diversification. India purchases from over 40 suppliers. India cautioned against applying double standards while the US itself imports Russian oil via third parties.
• India-Russia energy link: India sharply increased Russian crude purchases after 2022 sanctions. Russian oil now forms a significant share of India's import basket.

Static linkage: International relations (India-USA, India-Russia, sanctions, energy security, CAATSA context).

GS area: Society (gender justice), Polity (criminal law)

India records an average of over 7,000 dowry deaths annually. The conviction rate in trials is 1.5 to 2 per cent.

• Annual dowry deaths (2017-2022 average): Over 7,000.
• Dowry-linked murders: Over 6,100 annually.
• Trial outcomes: Approximately 100 convictions from approximately 6,500 trial cases annually.
• Geographic concentration: Over 80 per cent of cases in UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, MP, Odisha, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Haryana. Delhi accounts for 30 per cent among 19 major cities.
• Legal framework: Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code (dowry death) and the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
• Section 304B: Death of a woman within 7 years of marriage caused by burns, bodily injury or abnormal circumstances, where there was cruelty or harassment related to dowry demands, is punishable with 7 years to life imprisonment.

Static linkage: Society (gender, dowry, women's rights), Polity (criminal law, IPC, Dowry Prohibition Act).

GS area: Defence, Science and Technology

Akash Prime is an upgraded variant of the Akash surface-to-air missile system, designed for high-altitude operations.

• Altitude capability: 15,000-plus feet, making it suitable for Ladakh and other high-altitude border zones.
• Speed: Mach 2.5.
• Range: 30 km.
• Kill probability: 88 per cent single shot. 98.5 per cent in dual-salvo mode.
• Seeker: Indigenous active radar seeker for terminal guidance.
• All-weather capability: Can engage targets in adverse weather, overcoming a limitation of earlier Akash variants.
• Developer: DRDO with Bharat Dynamics Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited.

Static linkage: Defence (air defence, Akash, DRDO, high-altitude warfare, Ladakh).

GS area: Science and Technology (astronomy, gravitational waves)

The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) network detected the gravitational wave event GW231123 during its fourth observation run.

• Merger components: Two black holes of 140 and 100 solar masses.
• Product: A black hole of approximately 225 solar masses.
• Distance: Approximately 12 billion light-years from Earth.
• Theoretical problem: Standard stellar physics predicts a "mass gap" between 60 and 130 solar masses. No black hole should form in this range through stellar collapse alone. Both merging black holes were in or above this gap.
• Hypothesis: The black holes may be "second-generation" mergers of earlier black hole pairs, or they formed through exotic processes beyond standard models.

Static linkage: Science and technology (gravitational waves, black holes, LIGO, astronomy).

GS area: Governance (education technology), Science and Technology

Kerala's General Education Department has implemented AI ethics education through KITE (Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education).

• Teachers trained: 80,000-plus teachers across Classes 8 to 12 in AI ethics.
• Platform: Samagra Plus AI Platform, using Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) aligned with Kerala's state curriculum.
• Schools using open-source software: 15,000-plus schools.
• Student programme: Little KITEs IT Clubs for robotics training.
• Recognition: UNICEF recognised the programme as a global best practice in ethical educational technology.

Static linkage: Governance (education, AI ethics, NEP 2020), science and technology.

• Agni-I and Prithvi-II tests: Both missiles were tested from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Odisha. Prithvi-II has a range of approximately 350 km with a 500 kg payload. Agni-I has a range of 700 to 900 km with a 1,000 kg payload. Tests validate nuclear deterrence credibility and second-strike capability.
• Group of Friends for Peacekeeper Accountability: India launched this group during its UN Security Council presidency in December 2022. About 40 member states. Advances UNSC Resolution 2589 (2021). India has deployed over 300,000 peacekeepers globally (highest cumulative total) and lost 182 personnel.