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Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for July 10, 2025. If you missed the July 9, 2025 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here
FRONT PAGE
EC doesn’t follow own practice, puts onus on voters, ignores existing rolls
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.
Mains Examination: General Studies II: Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.
What’s the ongoing story: The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar that comes up in the Supreme Court Thursday amid widespread apprehension across the state marks a sharp departure from previous such drives in two key aspects.
Key Points to Ponder:
• What you know about Special Intensive Revision (SIR)?
• What is the controversy about Special Intensive Revision (SIR)?
• What are the objectives of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls?
• How does Special Intensive Revision (SIR) impacts the credibility of elections?
• What challenges are associated with maintaining accurate and inclusive electoral rolls in India?
• Voter inclusion and exclusion are key elements of electoral integrity. How does the SIR process balance both aspects?
• How the SIR of electoral rolls can affect marginalized and migrant populations in Bihar?
Key Takeaways:
• One, for the first time, the SIR, essentially a fresh preparation through door-to-door enumeration, places the burden of proof on already-enrolled voters (on the question of citizenship) at the draft roll stage.
• And, two, it disregards the “sanctity” of the existing electoral roll – something the Election Commission (EC) had consistently instructed its officers to uphold in all earlier revisions, an analysis of past EC records by The Indian Express reveals.
• This despite a High Court order – it was upheld by the Supreme Court – that underlined the importance of self-declaration and made it clear that the “question of citizenship” didn’t arise during the preparation of the draft roll.
• The poll watchdog has undertaken “intensive revision” of the electoral roll for all or some parts of the country on several occasions, especially in the years 1952-56, 1957, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1983-84, 1987-89, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2002, 2003 and 2004.
• Intensive revision refers to the de novo preparation of the electoral roll from scratch through personal, house-to-house field verification by electoral registration officers (or EROs).
• A scrutiny of the methodology adopted in past such exercises shows that never before has the Commission required existing electors to furnish documentary proof to remain on the electoral roll.
Do You Know:
• Currently, under the Bihar SIR, those who were on the 2003 electoral rolls need only submit an extract from it as proof, while others (enrolled after 2003) must provide one or more documents from a list of 11 (along with a pre-filled enumeration form for existing electors) to establish their date and/or place of birth – which, in turn, is used to determine citizenship.
• In sharp contrast, in earlier intensive revisions, enumerators – now EROs for each polling station area – visited households to record details of all residents aged 18 or above as of the qualifying date.
• They were neither required nor authorised to verify citizenship or age and entries in the enumeration pad were made based solely on information provided by the head or a senior member of the household, who then signed or gave a thumb impression in the book, with an undertaking that the information was true to the best of their knowledge.
• In fact, in 1993, when the poll watchdog tried venturing into the question of citizenship at the stage of preparation of the draft roll, the Gauhati High Court held in the case of H.R.A. Chaudhury vs. Election Commission and Others (supra) (upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India) that “the draft rolls are to be prepared on the basis of the statements submitted by the heads of the households in a constituency in Form 4 under Rule 8 of Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.”
• The court underlined that the “statement made by a Head of the Household has its own value and cannot be lightly brushed aside. Rules do not contemplate any inquiry into the question of citizenship at the stage of preparation of draft roll, although there is provision for objection after the draft roll is published on the ground that a person who is not a citizen of India has been erroneously included.”
• The Commission had undertaken a staggered intensive revision of the electoral rolls across the country in 1983 and 1984. In fact, when in 1983, then Chief Minister of Mizoram Brig. T. Sailo wrote to the poll watchdog suggesting that all illegal entrants/immigrants after 25.3.1971 should be disenfranchised, the EC reiterated that its stand on the sanctity of the existing electoral roll could not be ignored.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Amid Bihar roll revision, next battlefront Bengal keeps a close watch
GOVT & POLITICS
Namibia says will roll out UPI after Modi, President hold talks
Syllabus:
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: Namibia will roll out Unified Payments Interface (UPI) later this year and will set up an Entrepreneurship Development Center, it was announced Wednesday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah held talks that focused on imparting a new momentum to the bilateral ties.
Key Points to Ponder:
• Map Work-Namibia
• What is the relationship between India and Namibia?
• India-Namibia history of friendship-what you know about the same?
• Why Namibia matters to India?
• Discuss the significance of UPI’s international expansion.
• What are the potential benefits and challenges for African nations like Namibia in adopting India’s UPI system?
Key Takeaways:
• The Modi-Ndaitwah meeting in Windhoek primarily focused on bolstering bilateral cooperation in areas such as digital technology, defence, security, agriculture, healthcare, education and critical minerals.
• There was an announcement on the launch of a digital payments system in Namibia later this year as an outcome of the signing of the UPI technology licensing agreement between NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) and Bank of Namibia in April last year.
• Following the talks between the two leaders, India and Namibia inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on setting up an Entrepreneurship Development Center in Namibia and another pact on cooperation in areas of health and medicine.
• Namibia has also joined the India-backed CDRI (Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure) and the Global Biofuels Alliance.
• CDRI is dedicated to enhancing the resilience of infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks. It includes national governments, international organizations, and the private sector.
Do You Know:
• This is the first visit of PM Modi to Namibia and the third-ever by an Indian PM to the country.
• Modi, who arrived from Brazil on the final leg of his five-nation tour, also paid tribute to Namibia’s founding father Sam Nujoma at the Heroes’ Acre memorial. Nujoma led Namibia to independence in 1990 and served as its first President for 15 years. The PM remembered Nujoma as a visionary leader who devoted his life to the struggle for Namibia’s independence.
• PM Modi was also conferred with Namibia’s highest civilian award, the ‘Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia Mirabilis’.
Addressing a gathering, the PM said, “Namibia’s Welwitschia, after which this award is named, is not an ordinary plant. It is like an elder in the household, one who has witnessed the passage of time. It symbolises Namibia’s struggle, courage, and culture.”
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍As PM Modi lands in Namibia, this is why the country, and the continent of Africa, matters to India
EXPRESS NETWORK
INSPACe gives nod to Starlink to launch services in India
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.
Mains Examination: General Studies III: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, biotechnology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
What’s the ongoing story: Elon Musk-owned Starlink has received the last remaining regulatory clearance from the government, paving the way for the company to start offering satcom services in India.
Key Points to Ponder:
• What is Starlink?
• Know the significance of satellite-based internet services like Starlink in achieving digital inclusion and bridging the rural-urban digital divide in India.
• What are the challenges and opportunities associated with the entry of foreign satcom service providers in India’s telecommunications landscape?
• What are Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites?
• What is the role of Starlink and similar services in achieving the goals of Digital India and BharatNet?
• What are the potential impact of Starlink and other satellite internet services on India’s indigenous space and telecom sectors?
• Know about the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe)
Key Takeaways:
• In May, the company had received an operator licence from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) — three years after first applying for one — and on Wednesday, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) granted authorisation to the satcom company for its satellite constellation.
• “IN-SPACe has granted authorisation to Starlink Satellite Communications for enabling provisioning of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites constellation, namely Starlink Gen1,” the agency, which operates under the Department of Space, said in a statement. It added that the authorisation will enable Starlink to provide satellite communication services in India.
• “IN-SPACe authorisation to (Starlink) has a validity period of five years from the date of authorisation or end of operational life of Gen1 constellation — whichever is earlier. The roll-out of services is subject to the stipulated regulatory provisions and requisite clearance/approval/license from the relevant government department(s),” it added.
Do You Know:
• The Starlink Gen1 Constellation is a global constellation with 4,408 satellites orbiting earth in altitude varying between 540-570 km, capable of providing around 600 Gbps throughput over India.
• Since turning its attention to launching services in India three years ago, Starlink came up against the country’s telecom giants Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, and differed with the former over how frequency for such airwaves should be assigned to satcom operators. While Starlink lobbied for administrative allocation, Jio made a pitch for the auction route. The government had opted for the administrative route, given that spectrum used for satellite communication is shared spectrum and is technically difficult to auction.
• Satellite communication services rely on an array of satellites in orbit to offer connectivity to homes and businesses on the ground. They are an alternative to ground-based communication, called terrestrial networks, such as cable, fibre, or digital subscriber line (DSL), and they don’t require wires to transmit data. Starlink operates the world’s largest satellite constellation, with around 7,000 satellites in orbit.
• Companies will have to provide real time monitoring to ensure that no user traffic originating from, or destined for India is being routed through any gateway outside Indian territory. They will also have to submit an undertaking that they will not copy and decrypt Indian telecom data outside India.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Elon Musk’s Starlink coming to India soon: How much will the hyper-fast internet cost?
THE IDEAS PAGE
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.
Mains Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests.
What’s the ongoing story: Yet, India needs to be strategic when engaging in such groupings, to understand how it can balance international partnerships without limiting its national interests and domestic priorities
Key Points to Ponder:
• What are Critical minerals?
• Rare minerals and Critical minerals-compare and contrast
• Why Critical minerals are important for India’s economic and strategic future?
• What is “critical mineral clubs”?
• What is the role of international “critical mineral clubs” in diversifying India’s mineral supply chains and reducing import dependence?
• ‘India is heavily dependent on China for rare earths and battery minerals’-Discuss
• What is the role of critical minerals in India’s green energy transition?
Key Takeaways:
• On July 3, the foreign ministers of the Quad countries — India, Japan, Australia and the US — announced the launch of the Critical Minerals Initiative for collaboratively “securing and diversifying” supply chains. These minilateral groupings or “clubs” form a key part of India’s minerals diplomacy.
• A recent global crisis in rare earth magnets after Beijing’s imposition of export controls has shown that India’s green industries face significant strategic and economic risks due to heavy dependence on China.
• Essential enablers of India’s green transition, critical minerals are vital for manufacturing technologies such as electric vehicles, solar panels, batteries, and semiconductors.
• With unexplored domestic reserves and a late start in the global race, India has recently signed a flurry of bilateral minerals partnerships. Agreements with resource-rich countries such as Argentina and Zambia aim to facilitate exploration and mining by the Indian government and firms overseas.
Do You Know:
• Minilaterals, or “clubs”, offer a unique solution where India and partner countries coordinate and co-develop projects. These small groupings of like-minded partners allow for joint technical, financial, and diplomatic resources to support innovation across the minerals value chain.
• Clubs allow India to ensure economic security, diversify supply chains, forge resilient partnerships, and secure its place in the emerging clean-tech order. Yet, India needs to be strategic when engaging in such groupings, to understand how it can balance international partnerships without limiting its national interests and domestic priorities.
• India’s ambitions under “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” seek to make the country self-reliant on critical minerals and green technologies, while creating incentives for exports-based minerals industries.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Centre identifies 30 critical minerals: Why, how, and importance of the exercise
EXPLAINED
Is palm oil bad for health? Here’s what the science says
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.
Mains Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
What’s the ongoing story: A food and beverage industry association has said that the use of labels such as “palm oil free” or “no palm oil” are misleading, and rooted more in marketing than science.
Key Points to Ponder:
• Palm oil consumption in India-Know in detail
• How does it compare to other dietary fats commonly used in Indian households?
• What are the scientific findings on the link between palm oil and non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and obesity?
• What policy measures can the Indian government adopt to balance consumer health with economic dependence on palm oil imports?
• Know the pros and cons of palm oil as a dietary fat.
Key Takeaways:
• The Indian Food and Beverage Association (IFBA) said in a statement issued on Tuesday that palm oil has been consumed by Indians since the the 19th century, and that the oil has a well-rounded fatty acid profile.
• Palm oil is among the most affordable and versatile edible oils globally, valued for its long shelf-life and neutral taste. Most packaged foods, including potato chips, biscuits, ice cream, and chocolates use palm oil.
• Of late, the oil has been getting a bad rap from online influencers, celebrities, and fitness gurus. For instance, actor-producer Jackky Bhagnani recently called palm oil “the most dangerous thing in life”. “It’s suicidal [to consume palm oil],” he said.
• All oils mainly contain three types of fatty acids: the “bad” saturated fatty acid (SFA) and the “good” mono-unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and poly-unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA).
• Consumption of oils with high SFAs is known to increase the levels of bad cholesterol (low density lipoproteins) which in turn increases inflammation in the body, decreases insulin sensitivity, and enhances the tendency of clot formation. Therefore, consuming such oils can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes, as well as the onset of type-2 diabetes.
• Fats that remain solid or semi-solid at room temperatures — including palm oil, coconut oil, ghee, butter, and lard — are high in saturated fatty acids.
Do You Know:
• According to the Indian Dietary Guidelines, prepared by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), coconut oil and ghee have the highest SFA content, around 90 grams and 70 grams respectively per 100 grams of oil. Palmolein, the liquid part of palm oil, contains around 40 grams of SFA and 40 grams of MUFA, with the rest being PUFA. Mustard, safflower, and sunflower have the lowest SFA content, less than 10 grams per 100 gram of oil.
• Apart from these three fatty acids, trans fatty acids (TFA) are produced during the hydrogenation of liquid vegetable oils. The addition of hydrogen atoms into such oils converts liquid oil to semi-solid, and increases their shelf-life.
• According to the ICMR’s guidelines, a mix of oils that are low in SFA and high in PUFA should ideally be used. This would mean avoiding palm oil as much as possible.
• The ICMR’s guidelines suggest that consumption of oil should be limited to between 20 and 50 grams (four to 10 teaspoons) per person per day. Those living sedentary lifestyles should stick to the lower end of this range (20-30 grams).
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Why wheat and edible oil are the real inflation worries now
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development
Main Examination: General Studies III: Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
What’s the ongoing story: A government release over the weekend claimed that “India is not only the world’s fourth largest economy, it is also one of the most equal societies today”.
Key Points to Ponder:
• What is the Gini Index?
• What made government to say that inequality in India is declining?
• What is the role of fiscal policy in addressing income and wealth inequality in India?
• How effective have recent welfare measures like PM-KISAN and free food grain schemes been in reducing economic inequality?
• What are the limitations of conventional indicators like the Gini Coefficient in assessing inequality in India?
• Evaluate the claim that the top 1% of India’s population holds a disproportionate share of national wealth.
Key Takeaways:
• Using data from the World Bank’s latest Poverty and Equity Brief, it said India’s Gini Index was at 25.5, which made it the world’s “fourth most equal country…after the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Belarus”, reflecting how fruits of economic progress were being shared “more evenly across its population”.
• The Gini Index or Gini coefficient, named after the early 20th century Italian statistician Corrado Gini, has historically been the most commonly used measure of inequality. It measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1 (or 0% to 100%), with higher values indicating higher inequality.
• The government release does not mention the “data limitations” that the World Bank itself has flagged, and does not take into account the Gini Index value calculated by the World Inequality Database, which shows a rise in the Gini Index from 2004 to 2023.
• To map income inequality, countries often conduct surveys on income data. India, however, collects data on consumption, not income.
Do You Know:
• The Gini Index too does not capture all aspects of the inequality picture. This is because it is not ‘sensitive’ to changes at the extremes of a population, but is overly sensitive to changes in the middle.
• The point of studying inequality is to allow governments to tailor appropriate policies to alleviate excessive inequality. However, an inaccurate reading of inequality can lead to policies that actually exacerbate existing inequalities. If high inequality is not contained, it can create social unrest and eventually militate against sustained economic growth.
• The Gini Index, a report by the World Bank, has placed India in the fourth position with a score of 25.5, much lower than countries like China (35.7), the USA (41.8), and the United Kingdom (34.4). It is also more equal than every G7 and G20 country, many of which are considered advanced economies.
• The term “most equal country” describes a nation where income and consumption are distributed more evenly among its population.
• The Gini Index measures the extent to which the distribution of income or consumption among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. In simpler terms, it provides a clear picture of how evenly income is distributed within a country.
• The index ranges from 0 to 100 — a Gini Index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality. The higher the Gini Index the more unequal the country.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Top 10 most equal countries in the world and India’s rank in it
In India’s Global South outreach, give-and-take, and a delicate balance
Syllabus:
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: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Brazil for the BRICS leaders’ summit was one of the longest he has made in the last 11 years.
Key Points to Ponder:
• What is considered the Global South?
• Which countries are in Global South?
• The term ‘Global South’ is more related to geography or to the economies of the countries?
• What is the Global South known for?
• What are the differences between global north and global south?
• How does India’s engagement with the Global South support its strategic autonomy and multilateral diplomacy goals?
• What are the role of initiatives like the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and ITEC in advancing India’s soft power in the Global South?
• To what extent is India’s Global South policy an extension of the principles of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)?
Key Takeaways:
• India has taken a much more pronounced pro-Israel position especially since the war in Gaza started after the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas. This has been noticed by the developing countries, now collectively referred to as the Global South.
• One of the first impacts was felt at the election for the UNESCO Executive Board vice chair in November 2023, in which Pakistan defeated India with the support of Global South countries.
• Days later, the Second Voice of the Global South summit hosted by India witnessed a lesser participation of top leaders than at the First Voice of the Global South summit in January that year.
• Several developing countries perceived India as positioning itself in the major powers’ club, taking a position in favour of Israel, and not criticising its actions in Gaza.
• At the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in Russia in June 2024, India joined in grouping in expressing “grave concern at the deterioration of the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in particular the unprecedented escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli military operation that led to mass civilian displacement, death and casualties, and destruction of civilian infrastructure”.
Do You Know:
• The term ‘Global South’ has since been used multiple times, such as when Jaishankar said of ongoing global conflicts, “polarisation may occur elsewhere, the people who suffer most are the Global South”.
• ‘Global North’ refers loosely to countries like the US, Canada, Europe, Russia, Australia and New Zealand, while ‘Global South’ includes countries in Asia, Africa and South America.
• For a long time in the study of international political systems, the method of categorising countries into broad categories for easier analysis has existed. The concepts of ‘East’ and ‘West’ is one example of this, with the Western countries generally signifying greater levels of economic development and prosperity among their people, and Eastern countries considered as being in the process of that transition.
Another similar categorisation is of First World, Second World and Third World countries, referring to countries associated with the Cold war-era alliances of the US, the USSR, and non-aligned countries, respectively.
• At the centre of these concepts is the World Systems approach introduced by sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein in 1974, emphasising an interconnected perspective of looking at world politics.
• In the post-Cold War world, the First World/Third World classification was no longer feasible, because when the Communist USSR disintegrated in 1991, most countries had no choice but to ally at some level with the capitalist US – the only remaining global superpower.
• What sets the terms Global North and South apart are that first, they are arguably more accurate in grouping like countries together, measuring similarly in terms of wealth, indicators of education and healthcare, etc. Another commonality between the South countries is that most have a history of colonisation, largely at the hands of European powers.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍PM to meet leaders at Summit, says will emphasise priorities of the Global South
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