23 July 2025

• History: 23 July marks National Broadcasting Day. On this day in 1927, the Indian Broadcasting Company aired India's first formal radio broadcast from Bombay. All India Radio was renamed Akashvani in 1956.
• Energy: The Union Budget 2025-26 sets a 100 GW nuclear capacity target by 2047, with 20,000 crore rupees allocated for Small Modular Reactor development.
• Defence: The MiG-21 Bison, in Indian service since 1963, will retire fully in September 2025. Over 400 crashes and 200-plus pilot deaths in 62 years.
• International: The USA announced withdrawal from UNESCO by December 2026, citing anti-Israel bias, just two years after rejoining.
• Environment: A Karenia mikimotoi algal bloom off South Australia killed over 400 marine species and was declared a natural disaster.

GS area: History (Constitution, freedom movement)

Scholars are revisiting five major pre-1950 constitutional drafts that offered alternative visions of Indian democracy.

• 1895 Constitution Bill (Bal Gangadhar Tilak's attributed): 110 articles emphasising individual rights and legal equality, inspired by British constitutionalism.
• M.N. Roy's 1944 Draft: Introduced popular sovereignty, a robust Bill of Rights and the "right to revolt against tyranny."
• Hindusthan Free State Act (1944): Proposed a unitary structure with one language, one law, one culture. The most centralist of the drafts.
• Gandhian Constitution (1946): Proposed a confederation of self-reliant village republics based on the principles of khadi and trusteeship.
• Socialist Party Draft (1948, Jayaprakash Narayan): Advocated nationalisation of industry and worker-peasant control.

The adopted Constitution drew from all these traditions, which is why it can be read as both liberal, federal, socialist and Gandhian depending on which provision you pick.

Static linkage: History (freedom movement, Constituent Assembly, constitutional evolution, Article 368).

GS area: Science and Technology (nuclear energy), Economy

The Union Budget 2025-26 set a target of 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047 with 20,000 crore rupees for Small Modular Reactor development.

• History: Apsara was Asia's first nuclear reactor, commissioned in 1956. Tarapur Atomic Power Station began operation in 1963.
• The 1974 isolation: India's first nuclear test led to technology export bans and international isolation from the nuclear supply chain.
• 2008 Indo-US civil nuclear deal: The NSG waiver reopened international nuclear cooperation.
• Current barriers:
  • Atomic Energy Act 1962: Restricts nuclear operations to government entities. No private sector participation.
  • Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010 (CLNDA): Assigns supplier liability that deters foreign companies from selling reactors.
  • Capital cost: Approximately 2 million dollars per MW for PHWRs vs. under 1 million per MW for coal.
  • AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board): Lacks statutory independence. A 2011 reform bill lapsed without passage.
• Path forward: Amending CLNDA to cap supplier liability, classifying nuclear as "green" energy for green financing, and enabling private and foreign joint ventures.

Static linkage: Science and technology (nuclear energy, PHWR, SMR, BARC, AERB), economy (energy policy).

GS area: Society (social justice), Governance

150 workers died cleaning sewers in 2022-23. In 49 of 54 audited deaths, no safety equipment was provided.

• Legal status: Manual scavenging is prohibited under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
• Scale of the problem: The NAMASTE Scheme (2023) identified 84,000 manual scavengers. Only 50 per cent have access to Personal Protective Equipment.
• Caste dimension: Manual scavengers are almost exclusively from Scheduled Caste communities. The practice is inseparable from caste-based occupational segregation.
• Article 17: Abolishes untouchability. Manual scavenging is a form of caste-based forced labour that Article 17 is meant to address.
• NAMASTE: National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem. Aims to provide PPE, training and alternative livelihood support.

Static linkage: Society (caste, manual scavenging, social justice), Polity (Article 17, SC/ST rights), governance (NAMASTE).

GS area: History (modern India, media)

23 July is National Broadcasting Day, marking the first formal radio broadcast in India.

• First broadcast: 23 July 1927 from the Bombay station of the Indian Broadcasting Company.
• IBC failure: The company failed financially. The British government took it over in 1930 as the Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS).
• All India Radio: ISBS was restructured and renamed All India Radio in 1936.
• Post-independence: AIR was renamed Akashvani in 1956. Vividh Bharati was launched in 1957.
• Coverage at Independence: Only 6 stations covering 2.5 per cent of India's area and 11 per cent of its population.

Static linkage: History (modern India, media history, colonial institutions).

GS area: Defence

The last two MiG-21 Bison squadrons will retire in September 2025, ending 62 years of service since induction in 1963.

• Safety record: Over 400 crashes. Over 200 pilot deaths. Approximately 50 civilian deaths.
• Nickname: "Flying coffins." The description reflects the aircraft's outdated safety systems relative to modern jets.
• Replacement: Tejas Mk-1A, the indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft, takes over the role.
• Strategic context: The MiG-21 was a Soviet-era jet that India flew through Cold War, Kargil (1999) and various peacetime deployments. Its replacement with a domestically developed aircraft is a milestone under Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

Static linkage: Defence (IAF, Tejas, indigenous aircraft, Aatmanirbhar Bharat).

GS area: Environment (biodiversity, marine ecology)

A Karenia mikimotoi bloom covering 4,500 square km off South Australia killed over 400 marine species and was declared a natural disaster.

• What Karenia mikimotoi is: A dinoflagellate species that produces ichthyotoxins lethal to fish, shellfish and echinoderms.
• Mechanism: As the bloom decomposes, oxygen is depleted in the water column, creating hypoxic (low oxygen) or anoxic (no oxygen) zones.
• Direct human toxicity: Not directly toxic to humans who consume affected seafood, but severely impacts fisheries and tourism.
• Trigger factors: Warm sea surface temperatures and nutrient runoff provide conditions for Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs).

Static linkage: Environment (marine pollution, algal blooms, biodiversity, ocean health).

GS area: International Relations (multilateral institutions)

The United States announced it will withdraw from UNESCO by December 2026.

• Reason cited: Anti-Israel bias and recognition of Palestine as a UNESCO member.
• History of US-UNESCO relations: The US withdrew in 1984 (under Reagan), rejoined in 2003, withdrew again in 2018 (under Trump's first term), rejoined in 2023 and is now withdrawing again in 2025.
• UNESCO's mandate: Education, heritage preservation, scientific cooperation and cultural protection.
• Financial impact: The US contributes approximately 22 per cent of UNESCO's assessed budget. Withdrawal creates a significant funding gap.
• India's UNESCO relationship: India currently has 44 World Heritage Sites. India chairs the Codex Alimentarius Spice Committee, which is linked to FAO-WHO but engages with UNESCO's food heritage dimension.

Static linkage: International relations (UNESCO, USA, multilateralism, international institutions).

• Vanuatu at the ICJ: Vanuatu led a coalition of 130-plus countries to the International Court of Justice demanding accountability from major polluters for climate damage. The ICJ's advisory opinion, while non-binding, could establish legal principles that reshape climate liability globally.
• Ashokan Pillar facts: Monolithic sandstone, 40 to 50 feet high. Inscribed in Brahmi, Kharosthi, Aramaic and Greek, reflecting the multilingual reach of Ashoka's administration. The Lion Capital at Sarnath is India's National Emblem.