UPSC Key: India-France ties, US diplomat summoned and El Niño

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: For the second time in less than 48 hours, India Friday summoned the US charge d’affaires (CDA) and lodged a “strong protest” over the series of attacks by US naval forces on commercial vessels carrying Indian mariners in the Gulf of Oman.

Key Points to Ponder:

— How is the global shipping industry being impacted due to the war?

— What are the challenges of seafarers in war torn regions?

— Maritime security and the safety of seafarers are a major concern in the Strait of Hormuz area. Elaborate.

— What are shadow fleets?

— What do you understand about the Indian flag ship?

— Why did the US attack the commercial oil thanker?

— What are the challenges in reaching a peace deal between Iran and the USA?

— What are the steps needed to be taken by countries like India to ensure maritime security in these regions?

Key Takeaways:

— On Thursday, the government confirmed the death of three Indian seafarers, reported missing a day earlier from MT Settebello after it was attacked — of the 24 Indians on board, 21 were rescued.

— The MEA, which usually doesn’t use the word “summoning” for calling in foreign diplomats, said in a statement: “The US Charge d’Affaires, Mr Jason Meeks, was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs today…”

— The war in West Asia, triggered by the US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 and the subsequent naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz, have jeopardised Indian lives and livelihoods, apart from the economic impact.

— Since Indian seafarers are part of the global shipping industry, they have become casualties in the ongoing conflict. At least 13 Indians have been killed since the start of the war, and one remains missing.

— The strait is the key channel through which 20 percent of the global energy supply passes in large carriers. Qatar, UAE, Kuwait have all been negatively impacted by the closure of the strait, and that has led to a global rise in prices of oil and gas, and impacted the supply of LPG to India and other countries.

Do You Know:

— The United States and Iran are expected to sign a memorandum as early as Sunday, likely in Geneva, that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt fighting across multiple fronts in the Gulf, according to Reuters sources familiar with the negotiations.

— As the war continues, and ships continue to find themselves stranded near the Strait of Hormuz, industry stakeholders are warning of the increasing risk of “abandonments” — when shipowners cease all support to their crew and ships.

— Indians, who make up about 15% of the world’s seafarer workforce — the second biggest share by nationality — top the list of “abandoned seafarers”.

— Indian seafarers top abandonment lists owing to a mix of socioeconomic pressures, systemic flaws in recruitment, and a surge in fraudulent practices, says Bahri.

— In India, the Directorate General of Shipping is responsible for verifying the credentials of ships, their owners and recruitment and placement agencies. But the shipping community alleges that lax regulatory oversight is behind issues such as abandonment.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍War in West Asia spotlights a growing risk for Indian seafarers: Abandonment

📍US, Iran may sign Geneva memorandum by Sunday as Hormuz reopening nears

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Why is maritime security vital to protect India’s sea trade? Discuss maritime and coastal security challenges and the way forward. (UPSC CSE 2025)

EXPLAINED

How trust underpins India’s ties with France

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 is headed to France over the weekend for a bilateral visit as well as the G7 leaders’ summit. He will be in Nice on June 13 and 14, in Evian on June 16 and 17 for the summit, and in Paris on June 17 and 18.

Key Points to Ponder:

— Which countries comprise the G7?

— Know the history of formation of G7

— What is the significance of G7 for India?

— Is India a member of G7?

— How is India invited to G7 summits?

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

— What are the recent agreements signed between both countries?

— India and France elevated their ties to a “Special Global Strategic Partnership”. What does it mean?

Key Takeaways:

— This is the Prime Minister’s seventh official visit to France since 2014 and follows French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India on February 17-19, when bilateral relations were elevated to a “Special Global Strategic Partnership”.

— France is one of India’s most preferred partners in Europe, and the relationship, built on strategic autonomy and respect, has been a success story over the last several decades.

— In Nice, Modi, alongside Macron, will inaugurate the Bharat Innovates event that brings together top innovation startups from India, France and the world.

— With US President Donald Trump attending the G7 Summit, India has an opportunity to convey its concerns on a matter that has hit its security and economic interests.

— In that context, France and Europe will be an important partner, as it is a common understanding that the continuation of the war is not in anyone’s interest.

— The larger trust is on display again as India has again been invited for the G7 Summit in Evian on June 16-17. France believes that India’s presence at the G7 reflects its standing as a leading voice of the Global South and a key partner in addressing shared global challenges.

— In fact, if one goes back in history, the French Presidency had invited India to participate in the G8 summit (Russia was expelled after the Crimea annexation in 2014, and the grouping became G7) for the first time ever in 2003. PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee attended the summit at the invitation of President Chirac.

— France again invited India in 2019, and that was PM Modi’s first G7 summit in Biarritz, France. Since then, India has been participating in the summits — this will be India’s 13th participation at the G7 Summit and Prime Minister Modi’s seventh consecutive participation at the meet.

— In the case of India and France, the strategic trust, built over years of the strategic partnership, has matured in fields as critical as defence, nuclear energy and space.

— Defence: The India-France defence collaborations run deep and wide, spanning the entire spectrum from air and naval assets to helicopter engines and missiles. Some flagship examples of cooperation include the Rafale aircraft, Scorpene submarines and Shakti helicopter engines.

— Space: In this sector, there is the rich legacy of six-decade-old cooperation between ISRO and the French national space agency CNES. The highlights include joint launches, development of satellites such as Megha-Tropiques and SARAL, and collaboration in India’s human spaceflight mission Gaganyaan.

— Nuclear: With the passing of the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act, there is a great opportunity for collaboration among Indian and French industry.

Do You Know:

— The Group of 7 (G7) is an informal group of seven countries that consists of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Together these countries represent 40% of global GDP and 10% of the world’s population.

— It has no legal existence, permanent secretariat or official members. There is no binding impact on policy, and all decisions and commitments made at G7 meetings need to be ratified independently by the governing bodies of member states.

— History: The G7 originated from a 1973 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in Paris, France. This meeting was convened in response to major economic challenges of at time – an oil crisis, rising inflation and collapse of the Bretton Woods system.  US Treasury Secretary George Schultz decided that it would be beneficial for the large players on the world stage to coordinate with each other on macroeconomic initiatives.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Knowledge Nugget: G7 summit in Canada — Historical evolution and importance for UPSC

📍Knowledge Nugget: G7 summit in Canada — Historical evolution and importance for UPSC

UPSC Prelims Practice Question Covering similar theme:

(1) With reference to the G7, consider the following statements:

1. It is a formal grouping of advanced democracies that meets annually to coordinate global economic policy and address other transnational issues.

2. The presidency of G7 meetings is held by each of the seven countries in turn, along with the European Union.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Amid youth protests, a snapshot of India’s employment rate over this decade

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation of resources, growth, development and employment.

What’s the ongoing story: The past week saw the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre celebrate its achievements, especially the fact that Narendra Modi has become the longest continuously serving elected Prime Minister of India.

Key Points to Ponder:

— How is unemployment measured in India?

— What are the reasons for unemployment in India?

— Employment Rate (ER) and Unemployment Rate (UER)-Know in Detail

— Is GDP a real marker of growth in the economy?

— What Is the Unemployment Rate? How is it calculated by CMIE?

— Understand the key terms: Employed, Unemployment Rate (UR), Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Work Force

Key Takeaways:

— At the same time, stories pointing to growing unrest among India’s youth have made headlines of late: Be it in the form of disillusionment that forced the launch of a political party-cum-movement or 18-year-olds poring over government tenders to investigate what ails the school examination set-up.

— Udit Mishra (author) has used employment data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a leading private company.

— The reason being that CMIE data provides a continuous and comparable series of data since 2016 onwards. The official data, released by surveys done by India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has undergone a lot of changes during this period.

— Up until 2011-12, MoSPI used to release Employment-Unemployment Surveys (EUS). But these were done once every five years. Then in 2017-18, MoSPI replaced the quinquennial EUS with the annual PLFS (Periodic Labour Force Survey).

— The very first PLFS in 2017-18 found that unemployment had hit a 45-year high. It lost credibility when the government itself ran it down for flawed methodology before the 2019 general election, and accepted them after the election results.

— Since 2025, the PLFS’s annual reporting cycle has been changed; from treating July to June as a year to treating January to December as the year. It also made some changes to the methodology of PLFS.

— As such, even though the methodology and definitions of CMIE and MoSPI surveys are different, this column is using CMIE simply because it can provide a clearer, comparable and fuller picture of employment in the decade gone by.

— Let’s first look at the overall Employment Rate in the country between 2016-17 and 2025-26.

Chart 2

— As Chart 2 shows, the percentage of working-age people (15 years and above) with a job was 42.7% in 2016-17, and it is 38.7% at the end of March 2026.

— According to CMIE, around 406 million Indians had a job in 2016-17 and in 2025-26, this number rose to 438 million.

— But this rise of 32 million was not enough because the underlying working-age population of India grew faster. That is why the ER is lower today than roughly a decade ago.

— For men, the ER has fallen from 70.5% to 64.8% and for women it has fallen from 11.8% to 9.4% over the same period.

Table 4

— Table 4 maps how the Employment Rate changed over the past decade for people with different levels of educational achievement. All groups show a lower ER now than a decade ago. There are differences.

— For instance, the cohort with only primary education has seen the sharpest decline in ER especially when compared to graduates where the ER has fallen by lesser degree.

— In 2016-17, for instance roughly 51% of all graduates had a job. In 2025-26, this percentage had fallen but only to about 49%.

— The data on Employment Rate shows that while things may be improving from the lows of 2020 and 2021, broadly speaking, across different cohorts, a lower percentage of people hold a job now than a decade ago.

In other words, joblessness is a secular problem in India.

— Many academics, such as Ashoka Mody (who wrote the book India is Broken), have argued that India should be paying greater attention to job creation. That, unless employment gets prime focus, the country will not choose policies that improve employment.

— Other economists, such as Pronab Sen and Ravi Srivastava, have in the past pointed out that existing policies are designed more to boost GDP than to create more jobs.

Do You Know:

— Employed: According to MoSPI, following the usual status approach (with a reference period of 365 days) adopted by NSSO a person in the labour force is considered as working or employed if he/she is engaged relatively for a longer time, during the reference period of last 365 days in any one or more of the work activities.

— Unemployment Rate (UR): Unemployment refers to the condition where individuals capable of working are actively seeking employment but are unable to secure suitable jobs. An unemployed person, then, is someone who is part of the labor force, possesses the requisite skills, but currently lacks gainful employment.

The unemployment in the country is commonly calculated using the formula:

Unemployment rate = [Number of Unemployed Workers / Total Labour Force] x 100.

— Here, the ‘total labour force’ includes the employed and the unemployed. Those who are neither employed nor unemployed — students, for example— are not considered a part of the labour force.

— Worker Population Rate (WPR): Under the CWS, the WPR refers to the number of persons who worked for at least one hour on any day during the days preceding the date of the survey. According to MoSPI, it is defined as the number of persons/person-days employed per 1000 persons/person-days.

— Work Force: According to MoSPI, “Persons engaged in any gainful activity are considered ‘workers’ (or employed). They are the persons assigned any one or more of the nine activity categories under the first broad activity category i.e. “working or employed”.”

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Knowledge Nugget: What are key highlights of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and why is it UPSC essential

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(2) With reference to the Indian economy after the 1991 economic liberalization, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2020)

1. Worker productivity (Rs. per worker at 2004 — 05 prices) increased in urban areas while it decreased in rural areas.

2. The percentage share of rural areas in the workforce steadily increased.

3. In rural areas, the growth in non-farm economy increased.

4. The growth rate in rural employment decreased.

Which of the statements given above is/are Correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 and 4 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 4 only

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Most of the unemployment in India is structural in nature. Examine the methodology adopted to compute unemployment in the country and suggest improvements. (UPSC CSE 2023)

NATION

El Niño emerges in Pacific Ocean, to intensify during SW monsoon: IMD

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian and World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic geography of India and the World.

Mains Examination: General Studies-I: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclones. etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes

What’s the ongoing story: The El Niño has developed in the Pacific Ocean, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) declared on Friday.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What are El Nino and La Nina?

— What is El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)?

— How does El Nino and La Nina year impacts Indian monsoon?

— What is the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)?

— How do IOD’s three phases: positive, neutral and negative- impact the Indian monsoon?

— How is the monsoon formed?

— Why is a drier monsoon a cause of concern for India?

Key Takeaways:

— El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a naturally occurring ocean-atmospheric phenomenon observed along the central and equatorial Pacific Ocean. It has three phases — warm (El Niño), neutral and La Nina (cool).

— El Niño means ‘little boy’ and La Nina means ‘little’ girl in Spanish. The ENSO phase is decided by the sea surface measured temperatures along the equatorial Pacific Ocean. ENSO phases can emerge once in 2 to 7 years, with varying intensities and alternating phases.

— When the temperature in one of the regions along the equatorial Pacific Ocean region, known as a Niño 3.4 region, surpasses 0.50 degrees Celsius, an El Niño is declared.

ENSO phases, explained.

— Like El Niño in the Pacific Ocean, India is also affected by its Indian Ocean counterpart, known as the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). This, too, has three phases : positive, neutral and negative.

— The IMD said that during the southwest monsoon season, IOD would continue to remain in the neutral phase. This phase commenced in early 2026 and is expected to remain so for most part of the year.

— Since an episode of El Niño can last anywhere between a few months to upto two years, the peak of El Niño generally coincides with the winter season along the northern hemisphere.

— Over India, many El Niño years in the past have seen subdued monsoon rainfall and extreme temperatures.

— This year, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast below-average rainfall during the ongoing southwest monsoon season mainly due to El Niño. The country-wide seasonal rainfall is expected to be 10 per cent short of normal.

Do You Know:

— Southwest monsoon: It occurs from June to September. It hits Kerala on the southwestern coast and then proceeds across the country.

— This monsoon is the primary monsoon affecting India — it not only brings respite from the heat but also contributes to the country’s ecosystem and economy, especially the growing of kharif crops.

— Over 70 per cent of the country receives the majority of its annual rainfall during the June to September season. The country’s Long Period Average is 880 mm.

— Northeast monsoon: It is another significant and persistent aspect of the Indian subcontinent’s climate system. Its name comes from the direction of the monsoon winds, which blow from northeast to southwest.

— It occurs from October to December and affects peninsular India. It is not as intense as the southwest monsoon but is crucial for the growth of rabi crops.

— The northeast monsoon is key for Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Karaikal, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema and Yanam in southern India. Of the total annual rainfall, Tamil Nadu receives nearly 48 per cent (443.3mm) during the October to December months, important for rabi cultivation.

— The Northeast monsoon is also known as the winter monsoon, retreating monsoon, or reverse monsoon.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍‘Super El Niño’ forms in Pacific: Why 2027 is likely to be the hottest year on record

📍How El Niño development during May-June is likely to affect India

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(3) With reference to ‘Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)’ sometimes mentioned in the news while forecasting Indian monsoon, which of the following statements is/are correct? (UPSC CSE, 2017)
1. IOD phenomenon is characterised by a difference in sea surface temperature between tropical Western Indian Ocean and tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean.
2. An IOD phenomenon can influence an EI Nino’s impact on the monsoon.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

(4) La Nina is suspected to have caused recent floods in Australia. How is La Nina different from EI Nino? (UPSC CSE, 2011)
1. La Nina is characterized by un¬usually cold ocean temperature in equatorial Indian ocean whereas EI Nino is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperature in the equatorial pacific ocean.
2. EI Nino has adverse effect on south¬west monsoon of India, but La Nina has no effect on monsoon climate.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Why is the South-West Monsoon called Purvaiys’ (easterly) in Bhojpur Region? How has this directional seasonal wind system influenced the cultural ethos of the region? (UPSC CSE 2023)

Content of national importance in I&B’s draft rules for TV, radio

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: TV channels should air 30 minutes of content daily between 6 am and 11 pm on themes of national importance, private FM stations should broadcast at least an hour of programme of “social relevance”, and appointments of key managerial personnel should be made after security clearance: These are some of the draft rules the Information & Broadcasting (I&B) ministry has published for the telecommunications sector.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What are the main features of the Telecommunications Act, 2023?

— What are “landing-page placements”?

— What is the purpose of introducing these rules?

— How are Television, Radio and Associated Services governed in India?

— What steps are taken in case of ethical breaches in the broadcast and digital space?

— What is the significance of broadcasting programmes of “social relevance”?

Key Takeaways:

— The draft Telecommunications (Television, Radio and Associated Services) Rules, 2026, consolidate various existing guidelines governing television, radio, and related services, replacing the regulatory framework that operated under the Telegraph Act of 1885. Stakeholders have been invited to submit comments on the draft rules by July 27.

— The proposed rules will cover television channels, Direct-to-Home (DTH) services, Headend-in-the-Sky (HITS) platforms, teleport, private FM radio, community radio stations, news agencies supplying footage to television, and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services under the Telecommunications Act, 2023.

— Television channels would also be required to stay active throughout the validity of their authorisation, according to the draft rules.

— Channels going off air for more than 60 consecutive days must notify the government and provide an explanation of the reasons, they added. Their authorisation can lapse if operations remain suspended for over 90 continuous days.

— Private FM stations would need to broadcast at least an hour of programmes of “social relevance” while ensuring that at least 20% of their daily content is locally produced.

— The rules state that private radio services must remain free-to-air, emphasising they cannot charge listeners for access.

— The draft rules propose an authorisation period of 10 years for television channels, teleports, television news agencies and community radio services, 15 years for private FM radio operators, and 20 years for television channel distribution services.

— The draft rules state that the entities that already hold internet service authorisations or multi-system operator registrations would be able to offer IPTV services after they file a declaration with the government, thus simplifying their market entry.

— IPTV enables the delivery of television content over internet protocol networks instead of transmitting over traditional terrestrial, satellite, or cable television formats.

— Significantly, the rules mandate broadcasters to disclose information related to “landing-page placements” to both the government and television ratings agencies.

— The rules mandate that broadcasters, key managerial personnel and governing body members would need security clearance till the time their authorisations are valid.

— Foreign personnel involved in installation, maintenance or operation of broadcasting networks would also need security clearance before deployment.

Do You Know:

— Nearly 60 per cent of orders passed in the past three years by an independent self-regulatory body for private TV and digital news broadcasters were against programmes that violated its ethics code on communal harmony, according to records reviewed by The Indian Express in January 2026.

— These orders were issued by the News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) established by the News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA).

— The NBDSA is an independent body set up by the News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA), which serves as a representative of private television news, current affairs and digital broadcasters. It describes itself as “the collective voice of the news, current affairs and digital broadcasters in India.”

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍In 3 years, nearly 60% orders by TV & digital news regulator cite communal code breach

📍What is the News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(5) The technique used to transmit audio signals in television broadcasts is: [1995]

(a) Amplitude Modulation

(b) Frequency Modulation

(c) Pulse Code Modulation

(d) Time Division Multiplexing

THE IDEAS PAGE

Indian industry is at a crossroads. It needs to look at longer horizons

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: V Anantha Nageswaran writes: The first part of this article traced four structural roots of India’s chronic underinvestment in research and development. Apart from the four reasons mentioned, two further explanations remain — one chronological, one generational — before the case for a different calculus.

Key Points to Ponder:

— How much does India spend on research and development?

— What are the reasons for underinvestment in research and development in India?

— What are steps taken by the government to increase investment in R&D?

— What is the role of the private sector in enhancing investments in R&D?

— How do family-owned business structures influence long-term investment decisions?

— What is the significance of R&D for VIkshit Bharat?

— Why is intellectual property important for economic growth?

Key Takeaways:

— The fifth explanation is chronological. The last 15 years have been among the most volatile in living memory. The financial crisis of 2008, the Eurozone debt crises through 2015, and so on.

— To ask businesses to commit to decade-long R&D programmes in such an environment is to ask them to plant orchards in a forest fire.

— A more intimate explanation sits alongside the macroeconomic ones. Indian business, like business elsewhere, is predominantly a family affair, and family firms tend to follow a recognisable trajectory: The founder builds with hunger, the second generation consolidates, and by the third, the urgency has often dissipated.

— Indian industry stands at a juncture where the choice between short- and long-horizon thinking is no longer merely a matter of competitive positioning — it has become a question of strategic survival.

— A private sector that captures domestic demand but remains technologically dependent — a consumer of intellectual property rather than a generator of it — is one whose future profitability is under slow but accumulating existential threat.

— History, however, is not without encouragement, and the pattern of transformation is not unprecedented. Germany’s Mittelstand — the dense ecosystem of mid-sized manufacturers with deep engineering capabilities — did not emerge spontaneously.

— Japan’s post-war industrial miracle rested on long-horizon corporate strategies, state-guided but privately executed investment in technological capability, and a willingness to absorb short-run losses in pursuit of competitive positions in the industries that would matter in the future.

— Each of these transformations was preceded by a recognition, often born of crisis, that the existing trajectory was insufficient and that the path to national prosperity ran through industrial capability rather than around it. India is, arguably, at such a moment.

— The short horizon has served Indian business reasonably well in the long era of low-hanging domestic demand. The next era will belong to those who learn, perhaps not too late, to look further.

Do You Know:

— India’s Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) is 0.6-0.7 per cent of GDP. While India’s present ranking in the Global Innovation Index (GII) is 38th, it has risen significantly from 81st in 2015 to 38th in 2025.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍R&D underspending in India has no one cause. It’s systemic as well as cultural

📍We need to speed up economic reform, but pessimism doesn’t help

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(6) Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding National Innovation Foundation-India (NIF)? (UPSC CSE, 2015)

1. NIF is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology under the Central Government.

2. NIF is an initiative to strengthen the highly advanced scientific research in India’s premier scientific institutions in collaboration with highly advanced foreign scientific institutions.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

(7) Atal Innovation Mission is set up under the (UPSC CSE 2019)

(a) Department of Science and Technology

(b) Ministry of Labour and Employment

(c) NITI Aayog

(d) Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

“Industrial growth rate has lagged in the overall growth of Gross-Domestic-Product(GDP) in the post-reform period” Give reasons. How far are the recent changes in Industrial Policy capable of increasing the industrial growth rate? (UPSC CSE 2017)

 

ALSO IN NEWS

• Why Zojila tunnel breakthrough is a boost for military mobility

The Zojila tunnel, the world’s longest high-altitude bi-directional road tunnel, is a step closer to completion after a “breakthrough” was achieved in its construction on Tuesday — marking the end of the excavation phase.

The Zojila tunnel, situated at an altitude of 11,758 feet, is a 13-km road tunnel connecting Baltal (near Sonamarg) in Kashmir valley and Minimarg (near Drass) in Ladakh’s Kargil district.

In tunnel construction, a “breakthrough” is the moment when excavation teams from opposite ends meet by cutting or blasting through the last section of rock or soil separating them.

• The June 12 HC ruling that paved way for Emergency

Late on the night of June 25, 1975, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, acting on the recommendation of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, proclaimed a state of Emergency, citing threats to the nation’s internal security. But the trigger, according to historians, was a June 12 judgement of the Allahabad High Court, upholding a petition that charged Gandhi with corrupt practices in her 1971 election.

The Allahabad High Court became the stage for a closely watched legal battle when Raj Narain, the socialist leader defeated by Indira Gandhi in the 1971 Rae Bareilly parliamentary election, challenged her victory. Known as the Election Case, the petition alleged that the prime minister had secured her win through corrupt practices, particularly by exceeding the legal limit on campaign spending and by using government officials and state machinery to support her campaign.

• Four sites on Nicobar west coast identified for coral translocation, says Zoological Survey

Coral colonies and giant clams that will be impacted due to the work on the transhipment port proposed at Galathea Bay as part of the Great Nicobar Island (GNI) mega project will be translocated to four sites on the west coast of the islands, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has said.

ZSI informed this to the committee overseeing the implementation of biodiversity-related issues as part of the project’s environmental management plan during its fourth meeting, held on November 7, according to the minutes. The minutes of the meeting were made public by the Andaman and Nicobar Island Integrated Development Corporation Ltd (ANIIDCO) only on June 10. Read in detail here. 

 

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

1. (d)  2. (b)  3. (b)   4. (d)  5. (b)  6. (a) 7. (c)

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