3 September 2025

• Energy: India's green energy paradox 44 GW of renewable capacity ready but without power purchase agreements, while coal still supplies 79 per cent of energy.
• Judiciary: Supreme Court questioned the 2014 Pramati judgment that exempted minority schools from the RTE Act.
• Science: Vikram 32-bit processor launched at Semicon India 2025 India's first indigenously developed semiconductor.
• International: Global Peace Index 2025 ranks India at 115 out of 163 nations; Iceland tops the list.
• Disaster: Land subsidence in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district destroys seven buildings.

GS area: Economy, Energy, Environment

India has built considerable renewable energy capacity but fails to deploy it because of structural weaknesses in the power distribution system.

• The paradox: 44 GW of renewable energy capacity exists and is ready but lacks Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Discoms (distribution companies) prefer coal-backed PPAs because they offer predictable supply and pricing.
• Coal's share: Coal and lignite contribute about 79 per cent of India's domestic energy production. Renewable energy (excluding large hydro) accounts for only 3.8 per cent of actual production.
• Oil and gas dependence: India imports about 85 per cent of its oil and 50 per cent of its gas.
• Power interruptions: India's SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) is about 600 minutes per year. Thailand's is 35 minutes, Malaysia's is 46 minutes. This reflects grid unreliability that makes industrial investment in India costlier.
• Battery storage: Renewable energy with battery storage currently prices at ₹6.6 to ₹9 per unit. Coal power is cheaper on a per-unit basis, which drives Discom preference.
• Policy levers: Green Open Access Rules 2022 allow large industrial consumers to buy directly from renewable generators, bypassing Discoms. National Green Hydrogen Mission, PLI for batteries, and Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs) push toward green energy.
• The structural fix: Discom financial restructuring, smart metering for real-time load balancing, and viability gap funding for storage.

Static linkage: Energy security (Indian economy), National Action Plan on Climate Change.

GS area: Polity and Constitution

The Supreme Court questioned whether the 2014 Pramati judgment went too far in exempting minority schools from the Right to Education Act.

• Article 21A: Inserted by the 86th Constitutional Amendment (2002). Provides the right to free and compulsory education for children aged 6 to 14.
• RTE Act, 2009: Operationalises Article 21A. Section 12(1)(c) mandates that private unaided schools reserve 25 per cent of seats in Class 1 for children from economically weaker sections and disadvantaged groups.
• Article 30(1): Gives minorities (religious and linguistic) the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
• Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust v. Union of India (2014): A five-judge bench held that both aided and unaided minority schools are completely exempt from the RTE Act's provisions. The court held that the Act cannot be applied to minority institutions without violating Article 30.
• Current challenge: A bench led by Justice Dipankar Datta held that Pramati went "too far" in granting absolute immunity. The matter is being referred to the Chief Justice for a larger bench.
• The tension: Articles 21A and 30 must coexist. Children's rights cannot be wholly subordinated to institutional autonomy claims.

The design of this conflict is classic a fundamental right for children (Article 21A) versus a fundamental right of minorities (Article 30). Larger benches, not panels, resolve such structural tensions.

Static linkage: Fundamental rights (polity), education policy.

GS area: Science and Technology

India launched its first indigenously designed semiconductor at Semicon India 2025.

• Name: VIKRAM3201 (Vikram 32-bit processor).
• Developer: ISRO's Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) in Mohali, Punjab.
• Architecture: 32-bit processor. Not cutting-edge by global standards (global processors are 64-bit) but a sovereign milestone.
• Applications: Space, defence, aerospace, automotive, and high-reliability energy systems. Designed to withstand harsh environmental conditions including radiation in space.
• Context: India imports most of its chips. The Semicon India Programme allocates ₹76,000 crore with 50 per cent capital support for fabrication plants and OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test) facilities.
• Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme: Supports fabless chip design startups with up to 50 per cent of R&D costs.
• Chips to Startup (C2S): Training 85,000 engineers over five years with access to Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools.
• India's 20 per cent share: India hosts about 20 per cent of global semiconductor design engineers (about 1.25 lakh engineers) but designs 3,000 chips a year and manufactures very few.

Static linkage: Science and technology (semiconductors), Atmanirbhar Bharat.

GS area: International Relations, Governance

The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) released the Global Peace Index 2025.

• Publisher: Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), Sydney, Australia.
• Coverage: 163 states and territories covering 99.7 per cent of the world's population.
• Three domains of assessment:
  • Societal Safety and Security (crime, political instability, violent demonstrations, homicide, etc.)
  • Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict (wars, battledeaths, etc.)
  • Militarisation (military expenditure, armed services, nuclear/heavy weapons capability, etc.)
• 2025 rankings:
  • Most peaceful: Iceland (1st), Ireland, New Zealand, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Singapore, Portugal, Denmark, Slovenia.
  • Least peaceful: Russia and Ukraine (conflict), Sudan, DR Congo, Yemen.
  • India: 115th out of 163 nations (score 2.229). Improvement of 0.58 per cent over previous year.
• India's challenges: High militarisation spending, cross-border tensions with Pakistan and China, and sporadic internal unrest pull the rank down.

Static linkage: International organisations, India's foreign policy (diplomacy).

GS area: Disaster Management, Geography

Buildings collapsed in Chamoli's Nanda Nagar area of Uttarakhand following land subsidence.

• Land subsidence: The gradual or sudden sinking of the ground surface, without any horizontal movement.
• Causes in Himalayan regions:
  • The Indian Plate is still converging into the Eurasian Plate. The Himalayas are the youngest, highest fold mountains, still geologically active and rising about 5 mm per year.
  • Fractured bedrock in young mountain ranges is inherently unstable.
  • Groundwater over-extraction lowers the water table, reducing pore pressure and causing compaction.
  • Unregulated construction on unstable slopes removes natural support.
  • Heavy rainfall and glacial melt saturate slope materials.
• Joshimath 2023: A preceding case where the town in Chamoli district suffered major subsidence, displacing thousands.
• Policy gap: No comprehensive national policy on urban construction in geologically sensitive zones. The Mountain Task Force under NDMA deals with hill-station risks but enforcement is weak.
• Grey Rhino concept: This is a "grey rhino event" a high-probability, high-impact, visible threat that authorities fail to prevent despite warning signs (ESA reports, geological surveys, expert assessments).

Static linkage: Disaster management (Disaster Management Act, 2005), geomorphology.

GS area: Economy, Agriculture, Governance

APEDA launched the BHARATI initiative to create export-ready agri-food startups.

• Full form: Bharat's Hub for Agritech, Resilience, Advancement and Incubation for Export Enablement.
• Implementing agency: APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• Target: Empower 100 agri-food and agri-tech startups.
• Export goal: 50 billion dollars in agri-food exports by 2030.
• Programme features: Three-month acceleration training covering product development, export compliance, and market access. Technology focus: AI quality checks, blockchain traceability, IoT-enabled cold chains.
• Focus products: GI-tagged products (like Basmati rice, Darjeeling tea), organic foods, AYUSH products, livestock products, marine products.
• APEDA's mandate: Statutory body under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act, 1985. Registers exporters, sets export standards, promotes Indian agricultural products abroad.

Static linkage: Agricultural exports, food processing industry.

GS area: International Relations, Geography

India's First Training Squadron visited Port Victoria, Seychelles, as part of maritime diplomacy.

• Geography: Seychelles is an archipelagic state in the southwest Indian Ocean. It comprises 115 islands. Only about 10 are inhabited.
• Capital: Victoria. One of the world's smallest capital cities.
• Location: About 1,500 km east of mainland Africa, northeast of Madagascar.
• Neighbours (island nations nearby): Maldives, Mauritius, Comoros, Madagascar; French territories of Reunion and Mayotte.
• Strategic importance for India: Seychelles sits astride key sea lanes from the Persian Gulf and East Africa to Indian Ocean ports. India provides naval patrol vessels, training, and intelligence sharing to Seychelles Defence Forces.
• SAGAR policy: India's "Security and Growth for All in the Region" framework. Seychelles is a key partner. India has also helped build infrastructure there.
• First Training Squadron: Indian Navy sends its training ships on voyages to friendly nations to build relationships and expose trainee officers to port operations.

Static linkage: India's maritime strategy, Indian Ocean region.

GS area: Polity, Governance, Internal Security

Foreigners Tribunals received expanded powers under the new Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025.

• What they are: Quasi-judicial bodies that determine whether a person is a "foreigner" under Indian law.
• Unique to Assam: In the rest of India, citizenship disputes go to regular courts. Assam has Foreigners Tribunals because of its unique demographic history with Bangladesh.
• Original order: 1964 Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, made under the Foreigners Act, 1946.
• Current law: Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, which consolidated and replaced multiple immigration-related laws.
• New powers (2025): Tribunals can now issue arrest warrants for non-appearance, summon witnesses, require document production, and send individuals to detention centres if citizenship proof is not produced within 10 days.
• Process: A notice is issued to the suspected individual. They have 10 days to produce documents proving citizenship. The tribunal disposes of the case within 60 days of referral.

Static linkage: Immigration law, Assam NRC process.

GS area: International Relations, Disaster Management

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan near Jalalabad, killing over 1,400 people. India sent 21 tonnes of humanitarian aid.

• India's HADR framework: India deploys the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indian Air Force, and Indian Navy for international disaster relief. The Ministry of External Affairs coordinates.
• Guiding principle: "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" (the world is one family). India's first-responder role in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region builds strategic goodwill.
• Recent HADR operations: Turkey earthquake (2023), Nepal earthquake, Sri Lanka crisis (2022), and now Afghanistan.
• Significance: HADR is soft power diplomacy. India's aid to Afghanistan is notable given the Taliban government is not formally recognised by India.
• National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA): Apex body under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The Prime Minister chairs it. NDRF is the operational arm.

Static linkage: Disaster management, India's foreign policy.

GS area: International Relations

India's conduct at the SCO and its HADR response to Afghanistan together illustrate its approach to its neighbourhood.

• India-Afghanistan after 2021: India's embassy in Kabul reopened in 2024 for consular services. India does not formally recognise the Taliban. Aid delivery is through international organisations and direct consignments.
• Neighbourhood First: India's foreign policy doctrine of prioritising relationships with immediate neighbours.
• Act East Policy: Extends Neighbourhood First to Southeast Asia.
• Connect Central Asia: India's outreach to Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan) through the SCO framework.

Static linkage: India's foreign policy (neighbourhood), international organisations.

• Vikram processor context: SCL (Semiconductor Laboratory) Mohali was established in 1984 under ISRO. It is one of India's oldest semiconductor fabrication facilities, though it uses older technology nodes. The VIKRAM3201 is its first publicly launched commercial chip.
• Global Peace Index vs World Happiness Report: GPI is published by IEP (Sydney). The World Happiness Report is published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) linked to the UN. A common question traps candidates into confusing these publishers.