24 March 2026

• West Asia: Trump announced a 5-day negotiation pause for the Hormuz standoff.
• Health: World TB Day. India's NTEP targets elimination by 2027.
• Economy: Net FDI went negative for the fifth consecutive month; core sector hit a 3-month low.
• Polity: FCRA Amendment Bill 2026 introduced to tighten foreign funding norms for NGOs.
• Science: Superconductivity breakthrough at -122 degrees Celsius claimed (Mercury cuprate).
• West Bengal elections: Voting on April 23 (Phase 1) and April 29 (Phase 2) confirmed.

GS area: Governance (public health)

March 24 is World Tuberculosis Day, commemorating Robert Koch's 1882 announcement of the TB bacterium:

• Global TB burden: India carries 28 per cent of the global TB burden. In 2025, India had an estimated 2.8 million TB cases and 3.4 lakh deaths.
• NTEP: National TB Elimination Programme. India's operational framework under the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) structure.
• Target: TB elimination by 2027, 8 years ahead of the global SDG target of 2030.
• Nikshay Poshan Yojana: ₹1,000 per month nutritional support for TB patients. TB and malnutrition create a bidirectional cycle: malnutrition worsens TB outcomes and active TB worsens nutritional status.
• Nikshay Mitra: Community supporters who supplement nutritional support for TB patients.
• 2025 Progress: India reduced TB incidence by about 18 per cent between 2015 and 2023. The 2027 target requires much faster reduction.
• Drug-resistant TB: Bedaquiline-based regimens have replaced older second-line regimens. India provides free second-line drugs through the NTEP.

Static linkage: NTEP, SDG 3, public health (GS II, GS III).

GS area: Economy (foreign investment)

RBI data confirmed India's net FDI turned negative:

• Net FDI: Gross inflow minus repatriation and outward FDI. Net FDI for November 2025 was negative by $263 million.
• Trend: Five consecutive months of negative net FDI (July-November 2025). The West Asia conflict's uncertainty added to this trend in early 2026.
• Gross FDI remained positive: About $5.6 billion gross inflow. But repatriation and outward Indian investment exceeded this.
• Rupee impact: The rupee weakened, partly from FII portfolio outflows and declining net FDI.
• DPIIT FDI data vs RBI data: DPIIT reports gross FDI equity inflows; RBI reports net FDI in the balance of payments. These differ and create apparent contradictions in media reporting.
• Top FDI sectors: Services, IT/computer software, trading, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications.

Static linkage: FDI, BoP, RBI balance of payments (GS III).

GS area: Polity (legislation), Society

The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill 2026 was introduced in Parliament:

• FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010): Governs receipt of foreign funds by Indian associations, NGOs, and political parties.
• Key amendments proposed:
  • Further restrictions on "administrative expenses" (reduced from 20 per cent to 15 per cent of total foreign funding).
  • Central government approval required for all foreign contributions above ₹10 lakh (previously ₹50 lakh).
  • Mandatory biometric authentication of office-bearers.
  • Foreign contributions permitted only to "primary" NGO, with no sub-grants.
  • Social media accounts of FCRA-registered organisations to be disclosed.
• Context: Following the 2020 FCRA amendment that cancelled Oxfam India and Amnesty International India's registrations.
• Criticism: Human rights groups argued the Bill further constrains civil society space. The Venice Commission's standards consider foreign-funding restrictions for NGOs a threat to pluralism.

Static linkage: FCRA, NGO regulation, civil society (GS II).

GS area: Economy

The Eight Core Industries index for February 2026 showed a 3-month low:

• Core sector growth: 2.3 per cent year-on-year in February 2026, the lowest in three months.
• Sectors dragging growth:
  • Crude oil production: Down 3.2 per cent. Domestic oil production has been declining for several years due to ageing fields.
  • Natural gas: Down 1.5 per cent.
  • Fertilisers: Down 4.1 per cent (linked to urea import disruption from West Asia).
• Sectors performing well:
  • Coal: Up 6.3 per cent.
  • Cement: Up 5.1 per cent.
  • Steel: Up 4.2 per cent.
• IIP linkage: Core sector has a 40.27 per cent weight in the IIP. A 2.3 per cent core sector growth translates to moderate IIP growth.

Static linkage: Core sector, IIP, macroeconomic indicators (GS III).

GS area: Science and Technology

Researchers at the National Physical Laboratory of India (NPLI) announced a significant finding:

• Claim: A mercury-based cuprate compound (Hg1223) exhibited superconductivity at minus 122 degrees Celsius.
• Significance: Room-temperature superconductivity is the holy grail of condensed matter physics. Minus 122 degrees, while not room-temperature, is significantly warmer than previous mercury cuprate records.
• How superconductivity works: At or below the critical temperature (Tc), a material's electrical resistance drops to exactly zero and it expels magnetic fields (Meissner Effect). Requires quantum-mechanical pairing of electrons (Cooper pairs).
• Applications of superconductors:
  • MRI machines (medical imaging): Already use low-temperature superconductors.
  • Maglev trains: Frictionless levitation using superconducting magnets.
  • Quantum computers: Low decoherence environment for qubits.
  • Power transmission: Zero-resistance transmission lines.
• Indian significance: NPLI (New Delhi) is under CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), Ministry of Science and Technology.

Static linkage: Superconductivity, quantum physics, materials science (GS III).

GS area: Economy, Governance

The government's MyWAVES (My World of Artistic and Visual Entertainment Services) portal received renewed attention:

• Orange Economy: The creative and cultural industries (music, cinema, design, fashion, advertising, heritage, arts). The term was popularised in Latin America.
• MyWAVES portal: Launched under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. A marketplace connecting Indian creators, studios, and global platforms.
• India's creative economy value: Estimated at $30 billion (2025). Government target: $1 trillion by 2047.
• Cultural exports: India's film industry (Bollywood + regional) exports to 100-plus countries. OTT platforms accelerated this reach.
• India's IP framework: Traditionally focused on protecting IP (Copyright Act 1957, Patents Act 1970) rather than monetising creative output globally. MyWAVES attempts to shift to monetisation.

Static linkage: Orange Economy, creative industries, IP framework (GS III).