Economy: India's GDP growth for Q3 FY26 (October-December 2025) was revised upward to 7.4 per cent by the NSO in its second advance estimate.
Polity: The President gave assent to the National Judicial Data Grid (Amendment) Bill 2026, mandating real-time case disposal data publication.
Environment: The Ministry of Jal Shakti released the groundwater extraction data for 2025: 34 per cent of India's 6,965 assessed units are overexploited.
International: India and the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) signed the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), the first FTA-type agreement with a European grouping.
1. India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement
GS area: International Relations, Economy (trade)
India and the four EFTA nations (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) signed the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), committing to $100 billion foreign direct investment into India over 15 years and zero-duty access for 95 per cent of Indian goods into EFTA markets.
EFTA: European Free Trade Association, established in 1960. Distinct from the European Union. The four member nations are not in the EU Single Market.
India-EFTA negotiation timeline: Negotiations began in 2008, paused multiple times, resumed in 2018 and concluded in March 2024. Implementation required ratification by all four EFTA Parliaments and India's Cabinet, completed by April 2026.
Investment commitment: The $100 billion is a commitment target (not a treaty obligation). It is tied to India creating a specific investment facilitation mechanism and EFTA industries being given a fast-track approval window.
Indian gains: Zero duty on IT services exports, pharmaceutical products, textiles and engineering goods. Switzerland (home of Swiss pharma) agreed to patent protections in TEPA, a sensitive issue for India's generic pharma industry.
India's sensitivity: Dairy products, agriculture and fisheries are excluded from TEPA coverage. India's MFN (Most Favoured Nation) obligations under TRIPS were carefully managed.
Template for EU FTA: The India-EFTA TEPA is being watched as a template for the still-pending India-EU FTA negotiations. The investment-for-market-access structure is likely to be replicated.
Static linkage: International trade, FTA, investment policy.
2. Groundwater overexploitation: 34 per cent of assessed units
GS area: Environment (water resources)
The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) found that 2,382 of the 6,965 assessed hydrogeological units (blocks) are "overexploited" (extraction exceeds recharge). An additional 972 units are "critical" (extraction 90-100 per cent of recharge).
CGWB: Set up under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. Responsible for the scientific development and management of India's groundwater resources.
Overexploited unit: Extraction exceeds 100 per cent of natural recharge. The water table is falling every year. Sustainable yield has been crossed.
State-wise concern: Punjab (81 per cent of assessed units overexploited), Haryana (68 per cent), Rajasthan (49 per cent). The Green Revolution's paddy-wheat rotation requires enormous irrigation water; Punjab's groundwater depletion is a direct consequence.
MGNREGA-Jal Shakti Abhiyan convergence: The Jal Shakti Abhiyan uses MGNREGA labour for rainwater harvesting (check dams, percolation ponds, farm bunds). This is the primary government response to groundwater depletion.
National Water Policy 2012: Recommends treating groundwater as a public good, not a private property right. India lacks a comprehensive national groundwater law.
Atal Bhujal Yojana: A World Bank-assisted scheme for community-led groundwater management in seven water-stressed states (Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh).
Static linkage: Water resources, environment, agriculture, governance.
3. GDP Q3 FY26: upward revision to 7.4 per cent
GS area: Economy (national income accounting)
The NSO's second advance estimate revised India's Q3 FY26 (October-December 2025) GDP growth to 7.4 per cent (from 7.0 per cent first estimate), driven by stronger-than-expected services output and government capital expenditure.
National accounts methodology: India's GDP at market prices = GDP at factor cost + net taxes (indirect taxes minus subsidies). GDP at constant prices (real GDP) removes inflation.
Gross Value Added (GVA): Sum of value added across all sectors. GDP = GVA + (taxes on products minus subsidies on products).
Q3 sector performance:
Agriculture GVA: 3.5 per cent growth
Industry GVA: 6.2 per cent growth
Services GVA: 8.9 per cent growth (driven by financial services and IT)
Government capital expenditure: The Union government front-loaded capex in H1 FY26. States also accelerated capex due to elections in Q4 FY26. Higher public investment multiplied into GDP.
NSO (National Statistical Office): Under MoSPI. Releases GDP advance estimates (two rounds in the year) and the final estimate (released in May of the following year).
GDP vs GNI: GDP counts production within India's borders. GNI (Gross National Income) adds net factor income from abroad. India's remittances inflow (about $120 billion in FY26) means GNI is somewhat higher than GDP.
Static linkage: National income accounting, GDP, economic data.
4. National Judicial Data Grid Amendment: real-time transparency
GS area: Polity (judiciary, governance)
The National Judicial Data Grid (Amendment) Act 2026 mandates that all district and sessions courts, High Courts and the Supreme Court publish real-time case disposal data on the NJDG portal, with monthly trend reports.
NJDG: The National Judicial Data Grid is an online platform managed by the Supreme Court's e-Committee. It provides case-filing, pendency and disposal data for High Courts and district courts.
Current state (2026): 4.8 crore cases pending across all courts (Supreme Court: 72,000; High Courts: 62 lakh; district courts: 4.1 crore).
Amendment's requirements: Mandatory quarterly disposal targets per judge; automated flag when a case crosses 3 years without hearing; monthly Chief Justice report on pendency trends.
Article 39A: DPSP mandating equal justice and free legal aid. Rapid disposal is part of equal justice, because delay effectively denies justice to poor litigants who cannot sustain prolonged litigation.
Mission Satark Nyaya: The government's judicial reform initiative, launched alongside NJDG Amendment, providing financial grants to courts that achieve quarterly disposal targets.
e-Court Project (Phase III): Digitising court processes including e-filing, online hearings for routine matters and electronic evidence submission.
Static linkage: Judiciary, access to justice, governance reform.
NOAA and IUCN jointly declared a global coral bleaching emergency (the fourth global bleaching event), with the Indian Ocean's Lakshadweep reefs showing 62 per cent bleaching.
Coral bleaching: When sea surface temperatures rise 1-2 degrees Celsius above the seasonal average for extended periods, corals expel their symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae). Without algae, corals lose colour ("bleach") and are unable to photosynthesise food. Prolonged bleaching causes coral death.
Previous mass bleaching events: 1998 (El Nino), 2010, 2015-2017 (third global event). The 2026 event follows warmer-than-average 2025-26 Indian Ocean Sea Surface Temperatures linked to the accumulated ocean heat from climate change.
Lakshadweep: India's Union Territory of 36 atolls. The coral reefs support fishing livelihoods for 73,000 residents and constitute ecologically important habitat for over 200 fish species.
Coral Triangle: Southeast Asia's Coral Triangle (Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, PNG, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste) and the Great Barrier Reef were also heavily impacted.
Coral reef ecosystem services: Food security for 1 billion people dependent on reef fisheries globally; coastal protection equivalent to $9 billion per year in storm damage prevention; tourism revenues of $36 billion per year.
Article 48A (DPSP): The state shall protect and improve the environment and safeguard forests and wildlife. Coral reefs are marine ecosystems protected under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY): The scheme reached 55.2 crore account holders by April 2026, up from 50 crore in April 2024. The proportion of dormant zero-balance accounts fell from 10 per cent (2024) to 6 per cent (2026), indicating improved account use.
Global Malaria Report 2026: India accounted for 2 per cent of global malaria cases in 2025, down from 3 per cent in 2020. India's National Framework for Malaria Elimination targets elimination by 2030.
Practice MCQs
Check yourself
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) consists of which of the following countries?
Check yourself
According to the Central Ground Water Board's classification, an "overexploited" hydrogeological unit is one where:
Check yourself
Coral bleaching is triggered primarily by:
Check yourself
India's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and GNI (Gross National Income) differ in that:
Check yourself
The National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) in India is managed by: