Highlights
- Economy: India's green hydrogen sector: SECI auction prices at ₹49.75-64.74 per kg - 40-50 per cent below European benchmarks.
- Trade: The India-EU Free Trade Agreement (signed 27 January 2026) is being analysed; it covers over 90 per cent of tariff lines and connects two billion people.
- Defence: Exercise Dharma Guardian (India-Japan joint military exercise) begins in Uttarakhand.
- Society: School dropout data from Karnataka: high-school dropout rate at 20.4 per cent in 2024-25.
1. India-EU Free Trade Agreement: the historic deal
GS area: International Relations, Economy (Trade)
India and the European Union signed a Comprehensive Trade and Investment Agreement (CTIA) on 27 January 2026 after nearly two decades of negotiations.
- Scale: The EU is India's largest trading partner as a bloc. The deal covers more than 90 per cent of tariff lines. It connects over two billion people.
- Significance: India's RCEP opt-out (2019) was a major retreat from multilateral trade. The EU deal reverses that trend and demonstrates India's readiness for ambitious FTAs.
- What changes:
- Indian exports: pharmaceuticals, textiles, engineering goods and IT services gain improved market access.
- EU exports: automobiles, high-end machinery and processed food gain easier entry to India.
- EU CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism): Tariffs on carbon-intensive Indian steel and aluminium could rise under EU's carbon border tax. India negotiated transition provisions.
- FTA coverage trajectory: India's FTA coverage rose from covering 22 per cent of its export basket in 2019 to a projected 71 per cent by 2026. The EU deal is the largest single addition.
- Trade target: India's Foreign Trade Policy 2023 targets $2 trillion in merchandise exports by 2030. The EU FTA is central to that target.
Static linkage: India-EU relations, WTO, trade policy, RCEP (IR/Economy).
2. Green hydrogen: India's price breakthrough
GS area: Economy (Energy), Environment
The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) held green hydrogen auctions. The clearing prices of ₹49.75 to ₹64.74 per kilogram represent 40 to 50 per cent below European benchmarks (approximately $1,153 per tonne at European market rates).
- Why prices matter: Green hydrogen's commercial future depends on achieving price parity with grey hydrogen (produced from natural gas). Grey hydrogen in India costs approximately ₹150 per kg. Green is still more expensive but the gap is narrowing.
- National Green Hydrogen Mission (2023): Targets 5 million metric tonnes per year (MMTPA) of domestic green hydrogen production by 2030. Total outlay: ₹19,744 crore.
- SIGHT Programme: The Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition scheme under the Mission. Outlay: ₹17,490 crore. It provides financial incentives for electrolyser manufacturing and green hydrogen production.
- Annual demand target: 7,24,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030 from SECI-tendered capacity.
- Applications: Fertilizer production (replacing grey hydrogen in urea plants), refining, steel making and city gas distribution.
- CO₂ impact: Full target achievement would avoid nearly 50 MMT of CO₂ emissions annually by 2030.
Static linkage: National Green Hydrogen Mission, SECI, energy transition (Economy/Environment).
3. Exercise Dharma Guardian: India-Japan military ties
GS area: Security, International Relations
Exercise Dharma Guardian, the bilateral India-Japan joint military exercise, began in Uttarakhand on 24 February. This is the ongoing edition that spans to 9 March.
- Format: Land forces exercise focusing on counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations in jungle and mountain terrain.
- Location: Uttarakhand, a high-altitude training environment significant for both countries' mountain warfare capabilities.
- India-Japan relationship: Elevated to a Special Strategic Global Partnership. The relationship covers defence technology, infrastructure financing (Japan is India's largest ODA lender) and Quad cooperation.
- Japan-India defence cooperation: Japan's Self-Defense Forces have expanded international engagement post-2015 security legislation changes. Exercises with India are part of a broader Indo-Pacific partnership.
- Quad: India, Japan, Australia and the US. The Quad framework coordinates on maritime security, technology supply chains, pandemic response and climate. Dharma Guardian is bilateral but nestled within the Quad strategic context.
Static linkage: India-Japan relations, Quad, India-Japan defence (Security/IR).
4. Karnataka school dropout data
GS area: Society (Education), Social Justice
Karnataka's school dropout data for 2024-25 shows a high-school dropout crisis even as primary retention improves.
- Overall dropout rate: 20.4 per cent in 2024-25, up from 19.63 per cent in 2020-21.
- Lower primary (Classes 1-5): 0 per cent dropout rate, reflecting the RTE Act's success at the primary level.
- High school (Classes 9-10): 18.3 per cent dropout in 2024-25. This peaked at 22.1 per cent in 2023-24.
- SC students: Nationally, SC students show 31.9 per cent dropout at high school level. Karnataka ranks 5th nationally for SC dropout.
- ST students: Karnataka ranks 3rd nationally for ST student dropout at high school.
- RTE Act gap: The Right to Education Act, 2009 guarantees free and compulsory education for children aged 6 to 14 (Classes 1-8). It does not cover Classes 9-12. The absence of a legal guarantee for upper-secondary education is the structural gap.
- Teacher vacancies: Karnataka has approximately 60,000 vacancies in government schools. Teacher shortage directly correlates with dropout rates.
Static linkage: RTE Act 2009, school education, SC/ST welfare (Society/Education).
5. MILAN 2026: India's largest naval exercise
GS area: Security (Naval diplomacy)
MILAN 2026, the biennial multilateral naval exercise hosted by India, reached its largest-ever scale with 74 nations participating at Visakhapatnam.
- Theme: "Camaraderie, Cooperation and Collaboration."
- Scale: 74 nations, including all nine ASEAN member states. Previous editions had 46 nations (2022).
- Location: Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, home of the Eastern Naval Command.
- Activities: Anti-Submarine Warfare drills, air defence exercises, search and rescue operations, and maritime interdiction exercises.
- Showcases: INS Vikrant (India's first domestically built aircraft carrier) and Visakhapatnam-class destroyers.
- MILAN's history: The exercise began in 1995 with 4 nations. It has grown into the region's largest multilateral naval gathering.
- India's naval diplomacy: MILAN sits alongside Malabar (India-US-Japan-Australia), IONS (Indian Ocean Naval Symposium) and RIMPAC as India's key multilateral maritime engagement platforms.
Static linkage: Indian Navy, Indo-Pacific, maritime security (Security).
6. Briefly noted
- Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary: Located in Nainital district, Uttarakhand. Area: 269.96 sq km. Part of the Terai Arc Landscape and Shivalik Elephant Reserve. The National Tiger Conservation Authority recently prescribed it as Uttarakhand's third tiger reserve. The first-ever sighting of smooth-coated otters (Lutrogale perspicillata, IUCN Vulnerable) was recorded here in February 2026.
- Exercise Vajra Prahar: India-US Special Forces bilateral exercise in Himachal Pradesh.
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