22 July 2025

• International: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned citing health reasons. India moves to elect a new VP under Article 67(a). This is only the third mid-term VP resignation in India's history.
• Space: NISAR satellite, jointly developed by NASA and ISRO, is set for launch on 30 July 2025 from Sriharikota. It carries dual-frequency SAR capable of detecting ground deformation below 1 cm.
• Diplomacy: India held Foreign Secretary-level talks with Taliban representatives and EAM Jaishankar spoke directly with Amir Khan Muttaqi amid India's deepening cautious engagement.
• Economy: India's Female Labour Force Participation Rate is 28 per cent despite 84.9 per cent urban female literacy, a 57-point gap that defies simple explanations.
• Multilateral: India's share of abstentions at the UN reached 44 per cent in 2025, the highest ever, signalling strategic realignment in its multilateral posture.

GS area: International Relations (Afghanistan, South Asia)

India held high-level diplomatic contacts with Taliban representatives including a call between External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

• India's strategic interests: Counter-terrorism access (TTP, ISIS-K active in Afghanistan), connectivity to Central Asia, energy imports via TAPI pipeline, countering the China-Pakistan axis in Kabul.
• Russia's recognition factor: Russia became the first country to formally recognise the Taliban (July 2025). This creates diplomatic space for India to deepen engagement without being the first to legitimise the government.
• Challenges: Human rights concerns (women's education ban), Taliban's ties to Pakistan-backed groups and China's expanding economic footprint in Afghanistan.
• India's historical stake: India built the Salma Dam (Herat), the Afghan Parliament and the Zaranj-Delaram highway under the previous government. These assets risk being sidelined under Taliban stewardship.

Static linkage: International relations (Afghanistan, Taliban, India-Central Asia, TAPI, China-Pakistan axis).

GS area: Economy (labour force, gender), Society

India's Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) stands at 28 per cent despite urban female literacy of 84.9 per cent, a 57-percentage-point gap.

• National figures: Female literacy is 74.6 per cent. Employment gap is 33 percentage points from that base.
• Urban vs. rural: Rural FLFPR is higher than urban because agriculture work is flexible and close to home. Urban formal jobs demand rigidity (fixed hours, commutes) that conflict with domestic care responsibilities.
• Root causes: Job inflexibility, safety concerns in commuting, childcare deficit (61.3 per cent of households are nuclear, with no extended family support), and post-maternity workforce dropout.
• Paradox: Between 2005 and 2019, rising education and falling fertility rates did not raise FLFPR. It actually declined, unlike the pattern in comparable economies.
• Economic cost: The under-use of female labour depresses GDP growth, stunts household consumption and weakens India's demographic dividend case.

Static linkage: Economy (FLFPR, gender, labour market), society (gender equity, childcare).

GS area: International Relations (multilateral diplomacy, strategic autonomy)

India's share of abstentions at the UN General Assembly reached 44 per cent in 2025, up from 17 to 25 per cent before 2020.

• Historical shift: Between 2020 and 2025, India's "yes" vote share fell from 75 to 83 per cent to 56 per cent.
• What the trend signals: India is increasingly refusing to take sides in geopolitical blocs. Its abstentions on Ukraine-related resolutions, Gaza resolutions and sanctions votes reflect this posture.
• Strategic autonomy: India's foreign policy doctrine maintains the right to assess each resolution on its merits rather than following blocs.
• Trade-off: High abstention rates reduce India's influence on the outcomes of resolutions. Countries that vote reliably build transactional leverage that abstainers do not.

Static linkage: International relations (UN General Assembly, strategic autonomy, multilateralism).

GS area: Polity (constitutional positions, Vice President)

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned citing health reasons. This is only the third mid-term resignation of a Vice President in India's history.

• Constitutional basis: Article 67(a) of the Constitution allows a Vice President to resign by writing to the President.
• Historical precedents: V.V. Giri resigned in 1969 to contest the presidential election. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat resigned in 2007 to contest the presidential election. Neither resigned for health reasons in the pattern of this case.
• Election process: The Election Commission conducts the election. It is a proportional representation vote by the elected members of both Houses of Parliament. Unlike the President's election, state legislators do not participate.
• Dhankhar's tenure: Elected in 2022 as the 14th Vice President of India. Also served as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

Static linkage: Polity (Article 67, Vice President, Rajya Sabha, Election Commission).

GS area: Science and Technology (space, earth observation)

The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite is scheduled for launch on 30 July 2025 from Sriharikota using the GSLV-F16.

• What makes it unique: First dual-frequency SAR satellite. L-band radar (NASA contribution) and S-band radar (ISRO contribution) work together.
• Specifications: 242 km swath coverage. 12-day revisit cycle. Detects ground deformation below 1 cm.
• ISRO's contribution: S-band radar, the satellite bus structure and launch services.
• Applications: Monitoring land deformation (earthquake and landslide early warning), glacier and ice sheet movement, ecosystem dynamics and disaster response.
• Strategic significance: Largest international collaboration between NASA and ISRO. Demonstrates India's integration into the global space science community.

Static linkage: Science and technology (ISRO, space, SAR, earth observation, NASA).

GS area: Economy (financial technology, international)

US President Trump signed the GENIUS Act, the first federal stablecoin regulatory framework in the United States.

• What stablecoins are: Blockchain-based digital currencies pegged to a reference asset, typically the US dollar.
• Key players: Tether (USDT), Circle (USDC) and MakerDAO (DAI).
• GENIUS Act requirements: 100 per cent reserve backing for every issued stablecoin. Monthly audits. Dual pegging mechanisms.
• India relevance: RBI's Digital Rupee (e-RUPI) is a central bank digital currency, not a private stablecoin. The US framework affects global DeFi markets in which Indian exchanges participate.

Static linkage: Economy (financial technology, cryptocurrency, digital currency, DeFi).

GS area: Polity (federalism, rights), International Relations (Indian Ocean)

The government issued an acquisition notification for Bitra Island in Lakshadweep for a defence outpost.

• Location: 11°36'N, 72°11'E, approximately 483 km west of Kochi.
• Size: 0.105 sq km of land. One of the smallest inhabited islands in Lakshadweep.
• Population: 271 residents (2011 Census).
• Strategic position: Along international shipping lanes, within proximity of the Strait of Hormuz and Malacca routes.
• Controversy: Local opposition from the 271 residents. Legal challenges pending. This is the third proposed defence expansion in Lakshadweep.
• Rights tension: Indigenous community rights versus national security requirements is the constitutional tension.

Static linkage: Polity (land acquisition, indigenous rights, Lakshadweep), international relations (Indian Ocean, maritime security).

• Hatti tribe polyandry: The Hatti tribe of Sirmaur district (Himachal Pradesh) and Jaunsar Bawar (Uttarakhand) practises fraternal polyandry, locally called "Jodidara" or "Jajda." It is not legally valid under the Hindu Marriage Act but practised traditionally. Scheduled Tribe status in both states.
• Meri Panchayat App: Won the WSIS Prizes 2025 Champion Award in the Cultural and Linguistic Diversity category. Developed by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and NIC. Supports real-time Panchayat data, social audit tools and 12-plus language interfaces.