Conservation: International Tiger Day (29 July) marks India's tiger count reaching 3,682 in 2024, representing 75% of the world's wild tiger population. Project Tiger has expanded from 9 reserves in 1973 to 58.
Food security: The SOFI 2025 report (FAO-WFP-IFAD-WHO-UNICEF) finds 720 million people face chronic hunger globally. 6% of India's population cannot afford a nutritious diet.
Judiciary: Indian district courts have 4.6 crore pending cases. The judge-to-population ratio stands at 15 per 10 lakh, against a target of 50.
Education: NEP 2020 completes 5 years. Higher education enrolment stands at 4.46 crore. NIPUN Bharat showed measurable improvement: 23.4% of Class III students reading at Grade II level in 2024 versus 16.3% in 2022.
Sports: Divya Deshmukh won the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 at Batumi, Georgia, defeating compatriot Koneru Humpy in the final.
1. SOFI 2025: the state of global food security
GS area: Society (food security, nutrition, international bodies)
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2025 report, jointly published by five UN agencies, documents a continuing failure to achieve Zero Hunger.
Chronic hunger: 720 million people faced chronic hunger in 2024. This represents 8.2% of the global population.
Publishing agencies: FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), WFP (World Food Programme), IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), WHO and UNICEF.
SDG 2 gap: The report projects a deficit of approximately 65 million undernourished people relative to the Zero Hunger goal by 2030. The 2030 target will not be met at current trends.
India-specific: 6% of India's population cannot afford a nutritious diet. India records among the highest levels of child stunting and wasting globally, pointing to diet quality deficits alongside caloric deficits.
Definition: Chronic hunger means insufficient caloric intake for an active life over a year. It differs from acute hunger (emergency food crisis) and hidden hunger (micronutrient deficiency without caloric shortage).
Static linkage: Society (food security, nutrition, SDG 2), international relations (FAO, WFP, IFAD, UN bodies).
2. Pendency in Indian courts
GS area: Governance (judiciary, access to justice)
India's judicial system faces structural overload with 4.6 crore cases pending at the district court level alone.
Total pendency: 4.6 crore cases in district courts; 63.3 lakh in high courts; 86,700 in the Supreme Court.
Judge deficit: India has 15 judges per 10 lakh population. The Law Commission and Supreme Court have recommended a target of 50 judges per 10 lakh.
Vacancy gap: 5,665 judicial posts lie vacant. The judiciary operates at 79% sanctioned capacity.
Resolution speed: Only 38.7% of civil cases are resolved within one year. 20% extend beyond five years.
Government initiatives:
e-Courts Mission Phase III: 7,210 crore rupees for technology infrastructure in courts.
Lok Adalats: 27.5 crore cases resolved since 2021.
Root causes: Inadequate infrastructure, slow recruitment processes managed jointly by High Courts and state governments, and the adversarial character of civil litigation in property disputes.
Static linkage: Governance (judiciary, access to justice, e-Courts, Lok Adalat, GS-2).
3. NEP 2020 at five years: progress and gaps
GS area: Governance (education policy), Society
The National Education Policy 2020 marks five years of implementation with measurable gains in some metrics and unresolved structural challenges.
Higher education enrolment: 4.46 crore students enrolled in higher education, up from earlier levels.
Women in research: Female PhD enrolments doubled to 1.12 lakh, reflecting improved access to doctoral research.
Early childhood: 1.1 crore children enrolled in Balvatikas (pre-primary classes in government schools).
NIPUN Bharat: The foundational literacy and numeracy mission showed progress. The share of Class III students reading at Grade II level rose from 16.3% (2022) to 23.4% (2024).
Academic Bank of Credit: 32 crore credit IDs created; 2,556 institutions onboarded. However, actual usage remains low: approximately 31,000 undergraduate and 5,500 postgraduate users.
Challenges:
Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill, which was meant to replace UGC, is still pending.
Teacher training programmes are delayed.
Tamil Nadu and Kerala have opposed the three-language formula, creating Centre-State tension.
29 July is International Tiger Day, adopted at the St Petersburg Declaration (2010) which set the Tx2 target of doubling wild tiger populations by 2022.
India's count: 3,682 tigers in 2024, representing approximately 75% of the world's wild tiger population.
Project Tiger: Launched in 1973 with 9 reserves covering a fraction of current protected area. Now expanded to 58 Tiger Reserves covering 1,38,200 square kilometres.
Tx2 achievement: India met the global Tx2 target (doubling tiger numbers from the 2010 baseline) ahead of the 2022 deadline.
Monitoring: The All-India Tiger Estimation uses camera traps, pugmark surveys, DNA sampling and acoustic monitoring. It is the world's largest wildlife survey of its kind.
Threats remaining: Habitat fragmentation, human-wildlife conflict, prey base depletion and poaching remain. The Southern Western Ghats landscape holds the largest tiger population outside the Terai.
Reserves with highest density: Corbett (Uttarakhand), Bandipur (Karnataka) and Kaziranga (Assam) record the highest tiger densities.
India enacted its first legal framework specifically for identifying, assessing and remediating chemically contaminated sites under the Environment (Protection) Act.
Gap addressed: India had no specific legal mechanism for contaminated sites before these rules. Contaminated industrial sites remained unaddressed because the general Environment Protection Act 1986 did not provide a step-by-step remediation process.
Key timelines: Preliminary assessment must be completed within 90 days of identification. Final confirmation of contamination within 180 days.
Liability principle: Polluter identification must be completed within 90 days. The polluter pays for remediation. If the polluter cannot be traced, costs are shared between the Central and State governments.
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita link: Criminal liability for violations is established under BNS 2023.
Significance: India has hundreds of legacy industrial sites where hazardous chemicals contaminated soil and groundwater. These rules create a pathway for systematic remediation.
Divya Deshmukh won the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025, becoming the first Indian woman to win this title.
Tournament details: 107-player knockout format, seven rounds, held at Batumi, Georgia, 5 to 29 July 2025.
Final opponent: Koneru Humpy, also Indian. An all-India Women's World Cup final.
GM milestone: Deshmukh becomes India's 88th Grandmaster and the fourth Indian woman to earn the Grandmaster title.
Koneru Humpy: Former Women's World Rapid Chess Champion. One of India's top-ranked women players.
India's chess rise: India produced 6 new Grandmasters in 2024 alone. The surge follows Viswanathan Anand's legacy and is supported by strong grassroots academies and FIDE-rating pathways.
Static linkage: Art and culture (sports achievement, chess, India's global presence).
The Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar (MGMD) programme has documented 4.7 lakh of India's 6.5 lakh villages for cultural heritage.
Launch: June 2023 under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative.
Implementation: IGNCA (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts).
Documentation method: 360-degree video documentation of 750 heritage villages selected for intensive coverage.
Digital portal: National Cultural Workplace hosts records of artists, crafts and heritage elements with linkages to welfare scheme access.
Scale: 4.7 lakh out of 6.5 lakh total villages documented, representing the world's largest grassroots cultural mapping exercise.
Significance: Preserves oral traditions, craft knowledge and living heritage that is otherwise at risk of disappearing as younger generations migrate to cities.
Static linkage: Governance (cultural heritage, IGNCA, GS-1 and GS-2).
8. Briefly noted
Operation Mahadev: A joint counter-terror operation near Srinagar by Indian Army Para SF, CRPF and J&K Police under Chinar Corps neutralised three high-value Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists including Suleiman Shah, identified as the mastermind of the Pahalgam attack. This illustrates the multi-agency intelligence-to-action model now standard in J&K counter-terrorism.
Kaziranga grassland bird census: The first dedicated grassland bird census in Kaziranga National Park (March-May 2025) documented 43 species including 1 Critically Endangered, 2 Endangered and 6 Vulnerable species. Over 85 nests of the endangered Finn's Weaver were found. Passive acoustic monitoring with AI-based BirdNET software was used alongside traditional survey methods.
Practice MCQs
Check yourself
The SOFI report on global food security is published jointly by which five UN agencies?
Check yourself
India's judge-to-population ratio currently stands at 15 judges per 10 lakh population. The recommended target is:
Check yourself
The NIPUN Bharat initiative measures foundational literacy and numeracy. Which of the following correctly describes its improvement between 2022 and 2024?
Check yourself
International Tiger Day (29 July) was established following which declaration?
Check yourself
India's new Environment Protection (Contaminated Sites) Rules 2025 introduce the "polluter pays" principle with what specific timeline for polluter identification?
Check yourself
Divya Deshmukh won the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 defeating which opponent in the final?