UPSC Key: ASEAN defence meet, ISRO to launch its heaviest satellite CMS-03, and Centrally Sponsored Schemes

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: India’s emphasis on the rule of law and its advocacy for freedom of navigation and overflight in the Indo-Pacific are not directed against any country but meant to safeguard collective regional interests, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Saturday.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is the significance of the India-ASEAN summit?

— Which countries are members of ASEAN?

— What is India’s ‘Act East Policy’?

— What are the areas of cooperation between India and ASEAN?

— inclusivity in security means ensuring that all nations, regardless of size or capacity, have a role in shaping the regional order. Elaborate.

— In what ways can India’s involvement in the Indo-Pacific contribute to a cooperative and sustainable regional order?

Key Takeaways:

— Singh was addressing a conclave of defence ministers of ASEAN member states and its dialogue partners in Kuala Lumpur. He also said that India’s strategic engagement with ASEAN is not transactional but long-term and principle-driven, and rests on the shared belief that the Indo-Pacific should remain open, inclusive and free from coercion.

— The Defence Minister’s comments at the ADMM-Plus conclave (ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting) come amid concerns of an increased Chinese presence in the region.

— ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN and its eight dialogue partners Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and the US (collectively referred to as the “Plus countries”).

— Singh said Saturday that inclusivity in security means ensuring that all nations, regardless of size or capacity, have a role in shaping the regional order and deriving benefits from it.

— He added that sustainability implies building security architectures that are resilient to shocks, adaptable to emerging threats, and rooted in long-term cooperation rather than short-term alignment.

— Describing ADMM-Plus as an essential component of India’s ‘Act East Policy’ and broader Indo-Pacific vision, Singh emphasised that defence cooperation with ASEAN and the Plus countries is viewed as a contribution to regional peace, stability and capacity building.

— He said the experience of the past fifteen years offers clear lessons: inclusive cooperation works, regional ownership builds legitimacy, and collective security strengthens individual sovereignty.

— He added that India’s engagement with ASEAN predates the ADMM-Plus, but the mechanism has provided a structured defence platform that complements the diplomatic and economic aspects of its outreach.

— He said the elevation of the ASEAN-India partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022 reflected not only the maturity of political ties but also a growing alignment of regional priorities, he said.

Do You Know:

— The Indo-Pacific has emerged as a key geopolitical and strategic space, with India remaining steadfast in its commitment to a free, open, inclusive, and resilient Indo-Pacific region.

— The vision of India – a key player in the Indo-Pacific dynamics – emphasises cooperation with regional partners to uphold maritime security, freedom of navigation, and a rules-based international order.

— The Indo-Pacific is a geographical area that encompasses the regions of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, along with the countries surrounding them and the crucial waterways and marine resources.

— India opted for neoliberal policies and in foreign policy, it started showing a tilt towards the US and the West. The ‘Look East’ policy of India was formulated in 1992 in this politico-historical context.

— The stated aim of the ‘Look East’ policy was to improve the level of relations between India and the countries in Southeast Asia and project India as a counterweight to China since many of the Southeast Asian countries perceived China as a threat to their security. The thrust of the ‘Look East’ policy initially was mainly economic relations and trade. However, due to the rise of China, a strategic dimension was added to it.

— As a forward step in the direction of operationalising the ‘Look East’ policy, India joined ASEAN in 1992 as a sectoral dialogue partner. In 1996, it became a full dialogue partner and member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). India also began participating in the East Asian Summit (EAS) in 2005. In 2010, it became a dialogue partner in the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus).

— ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a grouping of 11 countries — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the recently added East Timor or Timor Leste.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍The Indo-Pacific: A strategic arena for India’s global influence

📍India’s evolving engagement with Southeast Asia and Indo-Pacific

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(1) With reference to “Look East Policy” of India, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2011)

1. India wants to establish itself as an important regional player in East Asian affairs.

2. India wants to plug the vacuum created by the termination of the Cold War.

3. India wants to restore the historical and cultural ties with its neighbors in Southeast and East Asia.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

 

FRONT

A Giant launch today

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

What’s the ongoing story: In its first launch in three months, ISRO will use its biggest rocket LVM-3 to send a communication satellite CMS-03 to space Sunday evening. This is the first time that ISRO will put a satellite weighing over 4,000 kg in the distant geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) from the Indian soil.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What are the various launch vehicles of ISRO and what are their specifications?

— What are the various types of orbits in which spacecraft are usually placed?

— What is the difference between geostationary and geosynchronous transfer orbit?

— What is a cryogenic engine?

— Know about the new launch vehicle called Lunar Module Launch Vehicle (LMLV) that space agency is working on developing

— Understand the significance of LVM3 rocket for ISRO

— What are the major successful missions of LVM3 launch vehicle?

Key Takeaways:

— CMS-03, a multiband communication satellite, weighing 4,410 kg will be placed in a transfer orbit of around 29,970 km x 170km from the surface of the earth. So far, ISRO had to contract out the launch of its heavier satellites to private space agencies from other countries.

— The current launch is a milestone towards the growing capability of the LVM3 rocket, a modified version of which will also be used under the Gaganyaan mission to put humans in space.

— LVM-3, earlier referred to as Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle Mark 3 or GSLV Mk 3, uses solid, liquid, as well as cryogenic-fuel based engines to put up to 8,000 kg in low earth orbit (up to an altitude of 2,000 km from Earth’s surface) and up to 4,000 kg in geosynchronous orbit (about 36,000 km).

— India’s previous heavy satellites — it does have a few communication satellites weighing more than 4,000 kg — were put in orbit by other private launchers. The 5,854-kg GSAT 11 and 4,181-kg GSAT-24 were launched by Ariane space. ISRO also used the service of Elon Musk’s SpaceX last year to put in orbit the 4,700-kg GSAT-20 satellite.

— For this launch, to accommodate a heavier satellite — over its capacity of 4,000 kg to GTO — the orbit has been lowered slightly, with the highest point being somewhere around 29,970 km. ISRO, however, is working on ways to increase the capacity of this launch vehicle.

—  ISRO has been working on increasing the carrying capacity of launch vehicle, especially considering it will be used for the country’s human spaceflight mission.

— One of the ways is to increase the thrust produced by the third or the cryogenic upper stage of the rocket, which accounts for nearly 50% of the velocity needed to place the satellites in the geosynchronous transfer orbits.

— The C25 stage presently being used in the launch vehicle can carry only 28,000 kg of the propellent producing a thrust of 20 tonnes. The new C32 stage will be capable of carrying 32,000 kg of fuel and produce a 22 tonne thrust.

— The space agency is also looking at using a semi-cryogenic engine instead of the liquid-propellent based second stage of the rocket. A cryogenic engine essentially uses liquified gases at extremely low temperatures as the fuel — in this case liquid oxygen and hydrogen.

— A semi cryogenic engine uses a liquified gas and a liquid propellent. ISRO plans to use a refined kerosene and liquid oxygen based second stage. This will not only increase the capability of the launch vehicle, it might also be cheaper.

— With the new engine, the vehicle is likely to become capable of carrying around 10,000 kg to the low earth orbit instead of the current 8,000 kg. The heaviest payload it has carried to low earth orbit is 5,800 kg for the OneWeb mission.

— The space agency is working on developing a new vehicle called Lunar Module Launch Vehicle (LMLV) that will be capable of carrying up to 80,000 kg in the low earth orbit — mainly being designed to carry out missions sending humans to the moon.

Do You Know:

ISRO launch vehicles PSLV and GSLV.

— ISRO’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) is a three-stage Launch Vehicle configured with three Solid Propulsion Stages. It also has a liquid propulsion-based Velocity Trimming Module (VTM) as a terminal stage, which can help adjust the velocity as it prepares to place the satellite.

— The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is the third generation of Indian satellite launch vehicles. first used in 1994. More than 50 successful PSLV launches have taken place to date. It has also been called “the workhorse of ISRO” for consistently delivering various satellites into low earth orbits (less than 2,000 km in altitude) with a high success rate.

— Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles (GSLVs) have been instrumental in launching communication satellites in the geosynchronous transfer orbit. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), telecommunications satellites are usually placed in geostationary Earth orbit (GEO). It is a circular orbit 35,786 kilometres above Earth’s equator.

— GSLVs have a higher capacity because sending satellites deeper into space requires greater power. Therefore, cryogenic engines consisting of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are used in GSLVs as they provide greater thrust than the engines used in the older launch vehicles.

— According to NASA website, To attain geosynchronous (and also geostationary) Earth orbits, a spacecraft is first launched into an elliptical orbit with an apoapsis altitude in the neighborhood of 37,000 km. This is called a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). The spacecraft then circularizes the orbit by turning parallel to the equator at apoapsis and firing its rocket engine. That engine is usually called an apogee motor. It is common to compare various launch vehicles’ capabilities according to the amount of mass they can lift to GTO.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍ISRO launches SSLV: What is the aim behind developing Small Satellite Launch Vehicles?

📍Shubhanshu Shukla returns to Earth: 10 key points for your UPSC prep

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(2) With reference to India’s satellite launch vehicles, consider the following statements : (UPSC CSE 2018)

1. PSLVs launch the satellites useful for Earth resources monitoring whereas GSLVs are designed mainly to launch communication satellites.

2. Satellites launched by PSLV appear to remain permanently fixed in the same position in the sky, as viewed from a particular location on Earth.

3. GSLV Mk III is a four-staged launch vehicle with the first and third stages using solid rocket motors; and the second and fourth stages using liquid rocket engines.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 2 only

(d) 3 only

8 women, 1 child killed in stampede at Andhra temple; third this year

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Disaster and disaster management.

What’s the ongoing story: Eight women and a 13-year-old boy were killed in a stampede on Saturday morning at the Venkateswara Temple in Kasibugga in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district. Thirty-one people were injured.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is stampede?

— What are the factors leading to stampede?

— What are the challenges of crowd management in India?

— What is asphyxia?

— What should be done for effective crowd management and preventing stampedes?

Key Takeaways:

— The stampede is believed to have started when there was jostling for space in the women’s queue. Temple authorities said they had put up railings and barricades to control movement.

— In his report to the state government, the Palasa Mandal Revenue Officer wrote: “Since the entry and exit routes were the same, and the steel railings that were set up collapsed, people rushed in all at once, leading to a stampede.”

— Soon after the incident, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu accused the temple of negligence, saying it failed to inform police of the event. Addressing a gathering in the Sri Sathya Sai district, he said a large number of devotees gathered without proper arrangements or prior intimation.

— However, former YSRCP minister and ex-Palasa MLA Seediri Appalaraju claimed the temple management had informed police of the heavy rush on Saturday, but “not enough officials were sent to man the crowds”.

— According to officials, the temple owner, Hari Mukunda Panda, has been booked under charges of culpable homicide, and three aspects are being looked into.

— One, a larger number of people than expected turning up. According to police officials, “the rush was very high and not enough measures had been made for crowd control”.

— Two, officials said the entry and exit points of the temple were the same. “The sprawling campus of the temple did not have separate entry and exit points. People were trying to leave the spot and enter the premises simultaneously,” a source said.

— And three, the temple area where the stampede took place was under construction. “The railings and the structures meant for crowd control appear to have been makeshift. They gave way when the crowd pressed against them,” an official explained.

— The stampede at the Venkateswara Temple is the third such incident this year in the state. On April 30, seven people died and six were injured when a newly constructed rain-soaked wall at Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy at Simhachalam temple in Visakhapatnam collapsed.

— On January 8, six people were killed and scores were injured in a stampede in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh at a counter to distribute tickets for special darshan of Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala.

Do You Know:

— Anna Sieben, a professor at the University of Wuppertal in Germany, who has been researching crowd dynamics, notes that a big problem is that people in such events often do not realise anything is wrong until it is too late.

— She said that “individuals in crowds often communicate and orient themselves through non-verbal cues, such as body language” and that it has been convincingly shown that “mental states in crowds do not spread like wildfire, but emotions actually change depending on the situation and the behaviour of others”.

— That transmission happens faster if the crowds are densely packed, given that the sense of personal space is a lot more negotiable in India than elsewhere in the world.

— Also, in a stampede, while some people might die due to trampling, a bigger trigger is compressive asphyxia, where pressure on the rib cage due to the sudden crush leads to impaired breathing. The initial cause is invariably asphyxia. But then someone may stumble and fall, resulting in a domino effect and others falling on top of the people who are down, which could then lead to more deaths on account of trampling.

— A tightly packed gathering is a recipe for disaster, especially if the authorities have underestimated the crowd sizes or are ill-prepared to tackle a localised crush, which can then spread outwards in a gathering.

— According to the NCRB’s report titled ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India,’ the number of deaths caused by stampedes spanning from 2000 to 2022 revealed that a total of 3,074 lives had been lost due to stampedes in India.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍AP Venkateswara Temple Stampede: Why stampedes frequently tend to unfold in India

📍UPSC Issue at a Glance | How to prevent stampedes at mass gatherings — 4 Key Questions You Must Know for Prelims and Mains

UPSC Mains Practice Question Covering similar theme:

Crowd management is an important tool for the safety of citizens especially at religious places. Unfortunately, crowd disasters still happen. What are the major reasons behind such disasters? Suggest strategies to avoid crowd disasters.

 

GOVT & POLITICS

CAG forms panel over ‘issues’ in Centrally Sponsored Schemes

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

What’s the ongoing story: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has constituted a committee to look into “problems and issues” in the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), which will make recommendations to strengthen their budgeting, accounting and payment framework, a top official told The Indian Express.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What are Centrally Sponsored Schemes?

— How is it different from the Central Sector Scheme (CS)?

— What are the concerns related to CSS?

— What is the role and function of the CAG?

— What is the financial burden of CSS on the central government budget?

— What are the major CSS?

— What is fiscal federation?

Key Takeaways:

— The official said that the panel was constituted to implement outcomes of the Second State Finance Secretaries Conference held in New Delhi on September 19, which was attended by officials from the Ministry of Finance, RBI, the CAG and state governments.

— The official said the committee’s mandate is not to deliberate about the delivery of the CSS. “It is about budgeting. For example, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are linked with some individual schemes. It is depicted very well in some states like Haryana and Rajasthan and in many states it is not,” the official said.

— The CAG’s decision is significant as allocation for CSS has been rising over the years with some schemes having an annual budget of over `50,000 crore. The government has also started the process of evaluating schemes before allowing their continuation in the next finance commission cycle, beginning April 2026.

— In the Union Budget 2025-26, the Centre has allocated Rs 5.41 lakh crore for the CSS, of its total spending of Rs 50.65 lakh crore. There were several schemes, including MGNREGS, Jal Jeevan Mission and PM-Kisan, each having an annual budget of over Rs 50,000 crore. Each rupee the government spends, 8 paise go to the CSS.

Do You Know:

— Centrally Sponsored Schemes are schemes that are funded fully or partly by the central government, but implemented by the states. This is because they address subjects that are included in the state list.

— CSS as defined by the National Development Council are: “those schemes that are funded directly by the central ministries/departments and implemented by states or their agencies, irrespective of their pattern of financing, unless they fall under the centre’s sphere of responsibility i.e. the union list.”

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍3rd-party evaluation must for Central schemes to go on beyond March 2026

📍Devolution dilemma: Centre, states and a way to share the pie better

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(3) Which one among the following statements about the objectives of Vibrant Village Programme is correct? (CDS-II)

(a) It is a Centrally sponsored scheme.

(b) This programme was launched in 2021.

(c) Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Manipur are the states selected under this scheme.

(d) Villages of Uttar Pradesh along the Nepal border are selected as flagship villages under this scheme.

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

The concept of cooperative federalism has been increasingly emphasized in recent years. Highlight the drawbacks in the existing structure and the extent to which cooperative federalism would answer the shortcomings. (UPSC CSE 2015)

 

THE WORLD

Asia-Pacific leaders called for shared trade benefits as APEC summit ends

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate

What’s the ongoing story: Facing deepening fractures in the global trade order, Asia-Pacific leaders adopted a joint declaration that emphasised the need for resilience and shared benefits in trade at the end of the annual APEC Summit on Saturday.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is APEC?

— Is India a member of APEC?

— What are the areas of cooperation and conflict between India and APEC?

— What are the challenges faced by APEC in wake of ongoing trade war between US and China?

— How can smaller economies in APEC protect their interests amid the power play between the U.S. and China?

— Is APEC still a champion of multilateralism?

— Map work: APEC member countries

Key Takeaways:

— The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, hosted by South Korea this year, unfolded under the shadow of rising geopolitical tensions and aggressive economic strategies — ranging from US tariffs to China’s export controls — that have pressured global trade.

— China would host the next year’s APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in November 2026, Xi announced on Saturday. The 2026 summit of leaders of 21 Asian and Pacific Rim nations would be held at Shenzhen, he said while speaking at the concluding session of this year’s meeting being held at Gyeongju in South Korea. Next year’s summit will be China’s third APEC leaders’ meeting as a host.

Do You Know:

— APEC is a regional economic forum that was established in 1989. Its stated aim was to “leverage the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific and create greater prosperity for the people of the region through regional economic integration”.

— The 21 members of APEC are termed “economies” (rather than countries or member states) because trade and economic issues are the focus of the grouping. In a reflection of the idea, Taiwan and Hong Kong attend APEC meetings as distinct entities, even though China says they are parts of China and not independent entities.

— The APEC economies are Australia, Brunei, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong (as part of China), the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, and Chile – as located geographically around the Pacific Ocean.

— The grouping has always championed free trade, the lowering of trade tariffs, and economic liberalisation. According to the US State Department, “During its first five years of operation, APEC established its core objectives. In the 1991 Seoul Declaration, APEC member economies proclaimed the creation of a liberalized free trade area around the Pacific Rim as the principle objective of the organization.”

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Xi-Biden to meet amid US-China tensions: What is APEC, the forum they will be attending?

📍Explained: The economic implications of India opting out of RCEP

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(4) Consider the following pairs: (UPSC CSE 2009)

Organisation	Location of Headquarters
1. Asian Development Bank	: Tokyo
2. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation	: Singapore
3. Association of SouthEast Asian Nations	: Bangkok

Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 3 only

ALSO IN NEWS
Armed Forces carry out mega drills along Western border to test combat readiness	A mega tri-service military exercise kicked off earlier this week along the western border with Pakistan, the first joint drills at such a large scale since Operation Sindoor in May. Additionally, a NOTAM (notice to airmen) was also issued Friday for a large-scale Indian Air Force (IAF) exercise in the North East in areas bordering China, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. The tri-service drills, Exercise Trishul, will go on till November 13 and will focus on the Western border, including the desert and the Sir Creek areas. Sources said the three services will operationally test the entire spectrum of resources for efficacy and capability — T-90 and Arjun tanks, attack helicopters, missile systems, Rafale and Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, drones and a range of warships. Also taking part in the drills will be indigenous platforms and equipment that have been inducted or recently upgraded.
HC: Right to marry person of choice integral to Article 21	Stating that the right to marry a person of one’s choice is integral to Article 21 of the Constitution, the Gujarat High Court recently dismissed a man’s petition seeking directions to the Anand police to lodge an FIR against officials who registered the marriage of his daughter immediately after an interfaith conversion in Rajasthan earlier this year. The court said, “Prima facie interfaith marriage between two consenting adults by operation of the provisions of Section 3 (prohibition of forcible conversion) of the Act, 2003 interferes with the intricacies of marriage, including the right to the choice of an individual, thereby infringing Article 21 (Right to Life and Liberty) of the Constitution of India…”

 

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

1. (d)   2. (a)   3. (a)    4. (b)

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