12 April 2026

• Infrastructure: The Cabinet approved the Rs 14,106 crore Kalai-II Hydroelectric Project on the Lohit River in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Bilateral: Work resumed on the Punatsangchhu-I Hydroelectric Project in Bhutan after a seven-year halt; all surplus power goes to India.
• Wildlife: The Indus River dolphin was highlighted in conservation efforts; citizen science aids population recovery.
• Trade regulation: The windfall tax on diesel and aviation fuel was increased as crude prices spiked from the West Asia conflict.

GS area: Economy (infrastructure, energy), International Relations

The Cabinet approved the Kalai-II run-of-river hydroelectric project on the Lohit River in Anjaw district, Arunachal Pradesh, at a cost of Rs 14,105.83 crore.

• Capacity: 1,200 MW across seven units (six of 190 MW and one of 60 MW).
• Annual generation: 4,852.95 million units.
• Location significance: Anjaw is Arunachal Pradesh's easternmost district. The Lohit River is a major tributary of the Brahmaputra. Infrastructure in the Lohit Valley has strategic importance near the China border.
• Project type: Run-of-river with pondage. Run-of-river projects use the natural flow of the river. Pondage allows small volumes of water to be stored for daily peaking generation.
• Implementation: Joint venture between THDC India Limited and the Arunachal Pradesh state government.
• THDC India Limited: Previously Tehri Hydro Development Corporation. A joint venture between the Government of India and the Government of Uttarakhand. It operates the Tehri Dam and several other hydro projects.
• Budgetary support: Rs 5.99 billion for peripheral infrastructure; Rs 7.5 billion central assistance for Arunachal Pradesh's equity share in the JV.
• Northeast hydro potential: India's northeast has about 58,000 MW of assessed hydropower potential, the largest concentration in the country. Arunachal Pradesh alone accounts for about 50,000 MW.

Static linkage: Energy infrastructure, India's northeast, Brahmaputra basin.

GS area: International Relations (India-Bhutan), Economy (energy)

Work on the 1,200 MW Punatsangchhu-I hydroelectric project in Bhutan resumed after a seven-year suspension caused by geological challenges.

• Location: Left bank of the Punatsangchhu River, about 80 km east of Thimphu, Bhutan.
• Capacity: 1,200 MW (six 200 MW turbines).
• Dam specifications: 130 metres high and 239 metres long.
• Financing: India provides 40 per cent as grant and 60 per cent as loan at 10 per cent annual interest. Repayment begins one year after the project becomes operational, in twelve annual instalments.
• Power export: All surplus power is exported to India. This is the standard India-Bhutan hydro model.
• India-Bhutan hydro partnership: India is Bhutan's primary development partner and the sole buyer of Bhutan's hydroelectric surplus. Revenues from power exports are Bhutan's largest source of foreign income.
• Suspension reason: Geological investigations in 2013 found significant landslide susceptibility in the dam's left bank. The 2019 dam design changes triggered additional review, delaying work until a revised geological and design assessment was completed.

Static linkage: India-Bhutan relations, hydropower, neighbourhood policy.

GS area: Science and Technology (public health)

Reports from the United States of a resurgence of Hib disease as vaccination rates declined provided a case study in vaccine-preventable disease rebound.

• Causative agent: Bacterium Haemophilus influenzae type b. Not related to influenza virus despite the name.
• High-risk group: Children under 5 years, particularly infants.
• Diseases caused: Ear infections, pneumonia, meningitis (inflammation of brain and spinal cord membranes), bloodstream infections (bacteraemia). Meningitis from Hib can cause permanent neurological damage.
• Transmission: Respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing; prolonged close contact.
• Prevention: The Hib vaccine is highly effective. India includes it in the Universal Immunisation Programme.
• Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP): India's national free vaccination programme. Covers vaccines against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases including Hib (as part of the pentavalent vaccine covering DTP, Hib and Hepatitis B).
• Anti-vaccination movements: The US resurgence linked to declining community immunity caused by vaccine hesitancy. India faces similar pockets of resistance.
• The public health lesson: Herd immunity requires maintaining high vaccination coverage. A small decline in coverage can allow a pathogen thought to be controlled to re-emerge.

Static linkage: Public health, immunisation, Science and Technology.

GS area: Economy (taxation, energy)

The government raised the windfall tax on diesel (Rs 55.5 per litre) and aviation turbine fuel (Rs 42 per litre) as crude prices spiked to $107 per barrel amid the West Asia conflict.

• Windfall tax: A tax on unexpectedly high profits earned from external circumstances such as a commodity price shock, war or pandemic. The logic: profits earned not from productive investment but from luck should be partially taxed to finance public goods.
• India's windfall tax mechanism: First introduced in July 2022 when Russian crude was being refined at a discount and sold as products at full international price. Revised every two weeks based on crude prices.
• OIDB (Oil Industry Development Board): Collects this tax through the Special Additional Excise Duty mechanism.
• Targets: Upstream crude producers and refiners benefiting from high spreads. Airlines are separately affected through the ATF windfall levy.
• Fiscal logic: The tax provides the government additional revenue during the period of high oil prices, which can be used to subsidise downstream consumer prices or fund the SPR.
• Trade-off: Too high a windfall tax discourages domestic exploration and production. India still imports 87 per cent of crude partly because domestic production incentives have been inadequate.

Static linkage: Taxation, energy policy, fiscal management.

GS area: Environment (biodiversity, conservation)

The Indus River dolphin (Platanista minor) was highlighted in conservation news as citizen science contributed to better population estimates.

• Scientific name: Platanista minor. One of the rarest mammals in the world. Also called the Bhulan.
• IUCN status: Endangered. The global population was estimated at fewer than 2,000 individuals in recent surveys.
• Distribution: Primarily the Indus River system in Pakistan with a small remnant population in the Beas River in Punjab, India.
• Schedule I, WPA 1972: India's highest wildlife protection level.
• Unique traits: Functionally blind (eye lenses absent; the eye detects light direction only). Navigates by echolocation. Swims on its side, a behaviour unique among river dolphins.
• Threats: River pollution, irrigation barrages that fragment habitat, fishing net entanglement, poaching.
• Conservation reserves: Several beas stretches in Punjab are notified as conservation reserves. Citizen science through eBird and similar platforms has helped map distribution and estimate numbers.
• National aquatic animal: The Ganges River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica) is India's national aquatic animal, not the Indus dolphin.

Static linkage: Endangered species, freshwater ecosystems, wildlife protection.

GS area: International Relations, Geography

The United Kingdom paused its plan to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, citing national security concerns linked to the China-Russia strategic axis.

• Location: Central Indian Ocean, about 1,600 km south of India's southernmost point.
• Diego Garcia: The largest island. Home to a major US-UK military base. Crucial for power projection in the Indian Ocean region.
• British Indian Ocean Territory: The UK's formal name for the territory, declared in 1965. The Chagos Islands were controversially excised from Mauritius before independence.
• Legal backdrop: The International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea had both ruled in favour of Mauritius's sovereignty claim. The UK agreed in October 2024 to cede sovereignty but is now pausing the process.
• India's stake: A Chinese-linked presence on Diego Garcia, which could result from a Mauritius sovereignty transfer, would significantly affect India's maritime security in the Indian Ocean.
• UNCLOS: Mauritius invokes UNCLOS's continental shelf provisions in asserting rights over the territory.

Static linkage: Indian Ocean geopolitics, UNCLOS, India's maritime security.

• Export Inspection Council (EIC): The EIC is India's official body for export certification, established under the Export (Quality Control and Inspection) Act, 1963. The EU restricted EIC certification requirements for rice exports to select European nations amid the West Asia crisis disrupting normal trade routes.
• Lanjia Saora tribe: A PVTG primarily in Odisha, also found in Andhra Pradesh. Their unique Sorang Sompeng script is among the rare indigenous scripts still in use.