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Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for March 18, 2025. If you missed the March 17, 2025 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here
FRONT PAGE
Nagpur tense as protest against Aurangzeb’s tomb triggers violence
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: History of India and Current events of national and international importance.
Main Examination:
• General Studies I: communalism
• General Studies I: Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.
What’s the ongoing story: Vehicles were torched and police fired tear gas shells at mobs in Nagpur Monday following violence over rumours that a holy book had been desecrated during a demonstration in the city by right wing outfits, including Bajrang Dal, seeking removal of the tomb of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Khuldabad.
Key Points to Ponder:
• Who was Aurangzeb?
• Aurangzeb’s policies are often considered one of the major reasons for the decline of the Mughal Empire—know his religious, administrative, and military strategies and their impact on the empire.
• The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb remains a controversial historical figure in India—Why?
• Why are there socio-political tensions in Maharashtra over Aurangzeb’s tomb?
• Have protests taken place over Aurangzeb before?
• The portrayal of historical figures in films often leads to political and social controversies. Discuss with reference to the recent debate around the film ‘Chhaava’.
• Discuss the significance of religious monuments and heritage sites in the context of communal harmony and historical memory in India.
• “History and cinema are two different mediums, yet their intersection often sparks debate.” Discuss the challenges of representing historical events in films and their impact on public perception.
Key Takeaways:
• At least four policemen were injured in the clashes. Police officers said a group of protesters had burnt an effigy of Aurangzeb but this led to rumours of a holy book being desecrated, and video clips began doing the rounds of social media.
• Nagpur Commissioner of Police Ravinder Singal, according to news agency PTI, said: “A photograph was set on fire, which instigated people. A case was registered regarding this, and an investigation is underway. Later, clashes broke out. Some police personnel have been injured, but no one sustained any serious injuries.”
• Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, said, “I appeal to people not to fall prey to rumours. Everybody should maintain peace. The administration is taking all necessary measures.”
Do You Know:
• This is not the first time that Aurangzeb has been in the middle of a raging debate in Maharashtra politics.
• Muhi al-Din Muhammad, commonly known as Aurangzeb, ruled over the Indian subcontinent for over 49 years and spent the last 25 years of his life in areas that now constitute the state of Maharashtra during his failed and expensive foray into the Deccan.
• Aurangzeb’s reign is particularly remembered in Maharashtra for the fierce battles between his forces and the Marathas who essentially stopped the Mughal emperor’s advance. This is a defining moment in the state’s history and, in a place where Maratha pride runs deep, the Mughal emperor is seen as a historical antagonist.
• The capture of Shivaji’s son Sambhaji Maharaj by Mughals in 1689 and the subsequent execution of Sambhaji, who was tortured before his death, has cemented Aurangzeb as a bitter enemy in the collective memory of Marathas. The recent release of the movie Chhava and its graphic description of Sambhaji’s death has also brought into focus Aurangzeb’s reputation as a symbol of oppression, religious intolerance, and cruelty.
• While his injustices have been cited by Hindu right-wing organisations since Independence when calling for a Hindu cultural renewal, the Mughal emperor did not find much resonance in Maharashtra politics in the 1960s and 1970s.
While the state’s landscape is filled with remnants of forts and monuments that mark the Maratha-Mughal rivalry, the Shiv Sena was the first to use this imagery for political purposes. As it expanded its footprint outside Mumbai, the Sena set its sights on Aurangabad, a city named after Aurangzeb and with a substantial Muslim population.
• It was Bal Thackeray who first invoked the battles between the Marathas and Mughals, equating Muslims with Aurangzeb. The resultant communal surge helped the Sena gain power in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Decode Politics: How Aurangzeb became a lightning rod in Maharashtra politics
📍When Shivaji’s grandson visited Aurangzeb’s tomb
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering Similar Theme:
1. With reference to Mughal India, what is/are the difference/differences between Jagirdar and Zamindar?
1. Jagirdars were holders of land assignments in lieu of judicial and police duties, whereas Zamindars were holders of revenue rights without obligation to perform any duty other than revenue collection.
2. Land assignments to Jagirdars were hereditary and revenue rights of Zamindars were not hereditary.
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
Designate Sikhs for Justice as terrorist outfit, India tells US
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Main Examination:
• General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
• General Studies III: Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.
What’s the ongoing story: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has asked Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence in the US administration, to designate Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), the pro-Khalistan separatist outfit, as a “terrorist outfit”.
Key Points to Ponder:
• What is Sikhs for Justice?
• Who is Gurpatwant Singh Pannun?
• What is the significance of a possible FTO designation?
• What you know about the Khalistan movement?
• What are the Historical events responsible for Khalistan?
• How Khalistan movement affected India’s relationship with Canada and US?
Key Takeaways:
• Singh conveyed SFJ’s links with terrorist groups and Pakistan’s spy agency, ISI, during his meeting with Gabbard, sources said.
• Later, Gabbard met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Modi, in a post on X, said, “Glad to welcome @TulsiGabbard to India. Exchanged views on further advancing the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. Both countries are committed to combating terrorism and enhancing maritime and cyber security cooperation.”
• The discussions assume significance since Gabbard also attended the conference of intelligence chiefs Sunday which was hosted by NSA Ajit Doval, R&AW chief Ravi Sinha and IB director Tapan Deka.
• It was also attended by Canada’s CSIS chief Daniel Rogers, UK’s National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell and New Zealand’s intelligence head Andrew Hampton – all part of the Five Eyes, the intelligence-sharing alliance of US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Australia’s intelligence chief Andrew Shearer was in India last month, and couldn’t make it to the conference this time, but a senior intelligence official from Australia was present.
• That this request to designate SFJ as a terror organisation has come at a time when India is still confronting allegations of an assassination plot against SFJ leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in a US court, and there is an ongoing investigation by Canadian authorities into the killing of another Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, makes it an important element in Indo-US ties under the Trump 2.0 administration.
• The SFJ was banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs on July 10, 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and Pannun was designated an “individual terrorist” on July 1, 2020.
Do You Know:
• SFJ was founded in 2007 by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US-based attorney believed to be in his early 50s. According to its website, SFJ seeks to achieve “self-determination for the Sikh people in their historic homeland” in “Indian held Punjab”, and “establish a sovereign state, popularly known as Khalistan”.
• “SFJ was formed with the overt recognition that the wanton use of violence had been the Khalistan movement’s Achilles heel,” Terry Milewski, Canadian journalist and the author of Blood for Blood: Fifty Years of the Global Khalistan Project (2021), told The Indian Express in 2023. Pannun’s motto was “ballots not bullets”, Milewski said.
• Born in the 1960s in the village of Khankot, on the outskirts of Amritsar, Pannun grew up in Punjab during the heyday of the Khalistan movement and militancy in the state. He graduated in law from Panjab University sometime in the 1990s, and then moved to the US.
• He has been active in the movement for Khalistan in the Sikh diaspora in the US and Canada since the early 2000s. But it was in 2018, with the announcement of the so-called “Khalistan Referendum”, that he emerged as the leading pro-Khalistan figure that he is today.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Explained: What is Sikhs for Justice, pro-Khalistan group banned by Indian govt?
China rising in Indo-Pacific, India & New Zealand seal defence pact
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.
Main 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 signed a defence cooperation pact with New Zealand—a partner of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance—and agreed to step up dialogue to enhance maritime safety after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the visiting Prime Minister of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon recently.
Key Points to Ponder:
• India and New Zealand defence cooperation pact—What are the key takeaways?
• India-New Zealand Bilateral Relations-know about the same
• India and New Zealand recently announced the relaunch of free trade agreement (FTA)-What are the key takeaways?
• India-New Zealand and Indo-Pacific—Connect the dots
• What is the Indo-Pacific?
• Why Indo-Pacific is important for India-New Zealand?
• Map Work—New Zealand and Indo-Pacific region
Key Takeaways:
• After the bilateral talks, Modi said both sides decided to strengthen and institutionalise defence and security partnership and that a roadmap will be prepared for cooperation in the defence industry sector.
• Modi said India and New Zealand support a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific. “We believe in the policy of development, not expansionism,” he said, in an oblique reference to China’s aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region.
• The New Zealand prime minister said Modi and he discussed a challenging strategic outlook in the Indo-Pacific. “I reiterated our strong commitment to address shared concerns over our respective interests in contributing to a prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Luxon said.
• According to the joint statement, the prime ministers “recognised that we face an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world. They noted that, as maritime nations, India and New Zealand have a strong and common interest in an open, inclusive, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific, where the rules-based international order is upheld”.
• The joint statement said that “both leaders welcomed the signing of the India-New Zealand Memorandum of Understanding for Defence Cooperation. This will further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation and establish regular bilateral defence engagement. Both sides noted the need for ensuring the safety and security of sea lanes of communication and agreed there needs to be regular dialogue to discuss enhancement of maritime safety”.
• New Zealand welcomed India joining the Combined Maritimes Forces and welcomed the advancement in defence ties during the New Zealand command of Command Task Force 150.
Do You Know:
• In 2023-24, New Zealand exported US$ 0.84 billion of total goods and services to India and imported US$ 0.91 billion and had a total trade value of US$ 1.75 billion. India imports wool, iron and steel, fruit and nuts and aluminium from New Zealand and exports mostly pharmaceuticals, mechanical machinery, textile articles and pearls, precious stones and metals to that country.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍India, New Zealand to relaunch FTA talks after a gap of 10 years
Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering Similar Theme:
📍Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is transforming itself into a trade bloc from a military alliance, in present times Discuss. (2020)
📍The new tri-nation partnership AUKUS is aimed at countering China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. Is it going to supersede the existing partnerships in the region? Discuss the strength and impact of AUKUS in the present scenario. (2021)
IN PARLIAMENT
House panel: MEA budget low, does not reflect India’s growing global role
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance
Main Examination: General Studies III: Government Budgeting.
What’s the ongoing story: A parliamentary committee has said that the Budget allocation for the Ministry of External Affairs is “disproportionately low” compared to India’s growing stature and the role it is expected to play on the global stage.
Key Points to Ponder:
• What is the meaning of Demand for grant?
• Why the Ministry of External Affairs’ (MEA) budget has been criticized as inadequate for India’s growing global ambitions?
• What are the challenges posed by budgetary constraints on India’s foreign policy objectives?
• How does the allocation of India’s MEA budget reflect its strategic priorities in foreign policy?
• Compare and contrast India’s diplomatic spending with other major economies.
• India aspires to be a global power, yet its foreign policy budget does not align with this ambition—Discuss
• How can India balance its domestic development needs with its international commitments?
Key Takeaways:
• Calling for an increase in allocation, the panel, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, asked the Finance Ministry to take a more “forward-looking approach” considering the challenges the country faces as well as its future aspirations.
• It recommended that the government consider increasing the allocation for MEA by at least 20% in the next fiscal to meet expanding needs and ensure more effective global engagement.
• The Standing Committee submitted its Fifth Report on the Demands for Grants of the Ministry of External Affairs for 2025-26 in Lok Sabha on Monday.
Do You Know:
• Demand for Grants is the form in which estimates of expenditure from the Consolidated Fund, included in the annual financial statement and required to be voted upon in the Lok Sabha, are submitted in pursuance of Article 113 of the Constitution.
• MEA stands at the 22nd spot in terms of allocation in this year’s Budget, with an outlay of `20,516.61 crore — down 7.39% form 2024-25. In fact, MEA’s outlay is only 0.4% of the total allocation, the largest chunk going to Defence, Home Affairs, Road Transport and Highways, and Railways.
• According to the report, during its meetings, the committee — it includes 30 members from both Houses — specifically asked MEA officials, including Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, whether “foreign affairs has been perceived as requiring fewer resources in comparison to other high-priority sectors such as education, defence, etc”.
• The report quoted Misri as saying that “the 0.4 per cent share does appear to be low” but that the Ministry “is able to fulfil its international obligations”. The Foreign Secretary, however, flagged three priority areas wherein a better flow of funds could be helpful, including development assistance. India’s development partnership expenditure, he said, “gains much diplomatic capital and goodwill”.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering Similar Theme:
2. Which of the following are the methods of Parliamentary control over public finance in India? (2012)
1. Placing Annual Financial Statement before the Parliament
2. Withdrawal of moneys from Consolidated Fund of India only after passing the Appropriation Bill
3. Provisions of supplementary grants and vote-onaccount
4. A periodic or at least a mid-year review of programme of the Government against macroeconomic forecasts and expenditure by a Parliamentary Budget Office
5. Introducing Finance Bill in the Parliament
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only
(b) 1, 2 and 4 only
(c) 3, 4 and 5 only
(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
In violence-hit Kakching, skill training at relief centres offers sliver of normalcy
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance
Main Examination: General Studies II: Important aspects of governance
What’s the ongoing story: Kha Manipur College in Kakching is also home to two rehabilitation centres; the skill development programme was initiated here, too.
Key Points to Ponder:
• Discuss the role of skill development and livelihood generation in ensuring sustainable recovery in conflict-affected regions like Manipur.
• Examine the policy measures taken by the Indian government for the rehabilitation of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
• In the context of violence-hit areas like Kakching, analyse the significance of integrating mental health services with economic rehabilitation efforts.
• ‘Rehabilitation in post-conflict regions is not just about economic recovery but also social and psychological integration’—Comment
Key Takeaways:
• At the sprawling District Khelo India centre in Kakching, a facility built to train sports prodigies in the district, Britain, 28, stands at the entrance, talking to four middle-aged women. These women are not athletes. They are people displaced by the Meitei-Kuki ethnic violence in Manipur.
• Among the 60 families, and 134 people, is Ebeyaima Maibam, 71. She says her son trained in carpentry for some time and is now building his own house. “My son and daughter-in-law got compensation from the government to build a house in Serou. Once it’s complete, we will move there and start our shop again,” says Maibam. She used to have a grocery shop in Sugnu, which was vandalised two years ago during the violence.
• Kha Manipur College in Kakching is also home to two rehabilitation centres; the skill development programme was initiated here, too.
Do You Know:
• For the initiative to empower displaced persons through skills training and sustainable livelihood opportunities, Kakching District Collector Rohit Anand was recognised under the Skill Development category at the Excellence in Governance Awards 2024 organised by The Indian Express.
• “We wanted to provide skills to the people so that they can earn their dignity back via employment… People wanted to go back, but how do they earn money for that? The government can give them ration, but how do they get jobs? This was our goal,” Anand said.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Express View: Seize the lull in Manipur
GOVT & POLITICS
Periyar did call Tamil a ‘barbaric’ language, but was also crucial to its growth
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance
Main Examination: General Studies II: Issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure
What’s the ongoing story: DURING the heated discussion in Parliament last week over the National Education Policy (NEP), with the DMK claiming “forcible imposition of Hindi”, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hit back saying that while the DMK attacks the BJP, it reveres the person who once called Tamil “a barbaric language”.
Key Points to Ponder:
• EV Ramasamy Naicker (EVR) or “Periyar”-Know in brief
• ‘Periyar is remembered for the Self Respect Movement’-what was that?
• Discuss the role of E.V. Ramasamy Periyar in shaping the socio-political landscape of Tamil Nadu.
• How did Periyar’s ideas contribute to the Dravidian movement and contemporary debates on Tami-Hindi?
• Examine the historical roots and contemporary relevance of Tamil linguistic nationalism
• Periyar’s rationalist ideas challenged traditional religious and caste structures—How relevant are his thoughts in the present-day context of social justice and secularism in India?
Key Takeaways:
• The reference was to Periyar, the founder of the self-respect movement out of which the Dravidian political ideology was born, and one of the greatest rationalists and social reformers of Tamil Nadu.
• The DMK reacted with outrage, saying Sitharaman’s remarks were reflective of the BJP’s stand and insulted the Tamil nationalist sentiment.
• Periyar who kept his own organisation, Dravidar Kazhagam (DK), away from electoral politics, moderated his views over time. For example, he criticised the classic Tamil text Thirukkural but later also promoted its reformist aspects.
• During the first anti-Hindi movement in the 1930s, Periyar mobilised Tamil scholars.
His fight against Sanskrit – and, by extension, upper caste – hegemony, also led him to back Tamil. When the University of Madras was founded in 1857, under the British, it didn’t have a Tamil department. When a Tamil department was established 70 years later, in 1927, Brahmin groups protested, demanding Sanskrit’s supremacy.
• In the university’s Madras Christian College, Tamil was taught as a minor subject. Tamil scholar Maraimalai Adigal, the leader of Tanittamil Iyakkam (Pure Tamil Movement), had to quit the college after Tamil was removed as a second language by the University of Madras.
• Sitharaman’s remarks reflect a common misreading of Periyar, says Kali Poongundran, a close aide of Periyar and the vice-president of the Dravidar Kazhagam. “His critique of Tamil came from frustration – to remind people that linguistic pride alone wouldn’t uplift the oppressed… Periyar knew language alone wouldn’t break oppression. His real fight was against Brahminical dominance in religion, governance, and education. Tamil was one front in a larger war.”
• Interestingly, given the language debate currently on, Poongundran says Periyar was all for learning English. “He even urged people to speak English at home to climb the social ladder… His argument that Tamil alone cannot ensure social mobility remains relevant today,” Poongundran says.
Do You Know:
• The social reformer did refer to Tamil as “a barbarian language”, but it was because of his belief that it had “not evolved or reformed” over time, “clinging to ancient glories” without adapting to modern needs.
• As a proponent of the self-respect movement who spoke of human welfare above all else, Periyar rejected linguistic nationalism or pride – as he did any affiliation with race, religion or caste. Hence, the focus of Tamil scholars on Bhakti literature and ancient traditions which perpetuated caste and superstition was attacked by Periyar, who chose a blunt, provocative approach deliberately, to best catch people’s attention.
• In December 1970, in a piece in the Viduthalai daily, Periyar put this in his own words: “I bear no personal animosity towards Tamil. My concern is that Tamil has not evolved to meet the demands of a modern language, particularly in conveying scientific knowledge. In contrast, English is rich in science and knowledge. This disparity troubles me.”
• Periyar’s writings up to 1949 reflect his push for Tamil to be used as a tool for transformation, equality and dignity. This was in tune with the realities of the time, with caste discrimination at its peak, with linguistic purism seen by Periyar as a part of that. The DMK incidentally was founded only in 1949, and its embrace of Tamil as a part of Dravidian identity and pride followed after that.
• Periyar also led the fight against Kula Kalvi Thittam, the Hereditary Education Policy of the early 1950s, often seen as Tamil Nadu’s first “NEP encounter”. It called upon students to learn their parents’ trades, such as farming or as barbers, entrenching caste-based inequality.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
UPSC Prelims Practice Question Covering Similar Theme:
3. The Self-Respect Movement, founded by Periyar, aimed at:
a) Promoting Sanskrit and Vedic traditions
b) Establishing a Hindu Rashtra
c) Abolishing caste-based discrimination and empowering the Dravidian identity
d) Strengthening the influence of Brahmins in Tamil Nadu
ECONOMY
PM Internship Scheme a ‘national cause’, more companies need to chip in, says FM
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development
Main 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: Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called on more companies to participate in the PM Internship Scheme (PMIS), citing larger national interest. Now, in its second round – still at the pilot stage – the scheme has drawn internship postings from 327 companies, up from around 280 in the first round.
Key Points to Ponder:
• Prime Minister Internship Scheme-know key details
• What is the primary objective of the Prime Minister Internship Scheme launched in 2024?
• Which government ministry is responsible for implementing the PM Internship Scheme?
• Discuss the significance of the Prime Minister Internship Scheme in enhancing the employability of Indian youth.
• How does practical industry exposure complement formal education in bridging the skill gap?
• Analyse the role of public-private partnerships in the successful implementation of large-scale internship programs like the PM Internship Scheme.
Key Takeaways:
• Announced in the Union Budget for 2024-25 last July, the scheme aims to provide internships to one crore youth in top 500 companies over five years.
• In the first round of the pilot, which was conducted between October and December last year, over 1.27 lakh opportunities were posted and over 82,000 offers were made to successful candidates. The number of candidates who accepted internship offers was lower than expected in the first round, with just around 8,000 taking up offers till February 6, The Indian Express had earlier reported.
• In the second round, which began in January, around 1.18 lakh internship opportunities are up for grabs, spread across 735 districts. The application window for the second round will close on March 31.
• The ministry has also taken steps to enhance access to the scheme in the second round. “The dashboard of the PMIS Portal has been simplified, made more user-friendly, and greater details of the opportunities and roles offered have been provided. Officials from the MCA, state governments, and industry partners interacted with the youth at more than 80 outreach events held at various educational institutes, such as colleges and Rozgar Melas,” the note added.
Do You Know:
• The scheme aims to provide internships to one crore youth in top 500 companies over five years. Under the scheme, an amount of Rs 4,500 will be provided per month by the Government of India through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) with an additional Rs 500 offset to be provided by the company’s CSR (corporate social responsibility) funds.
• The government will also provide a one-time grant of Rs 6,000 per annum for incidentals to cover miscellaneous expenses incurred by the selected candidate during the internship.
• The internship scheme was a part of the Prime Minister’s Package for Employment and Skilling announced in FY25 Budget with an overall outlay of Rs 2 lakh crore.
• The package was allocated Rs 12,000 crore for this financial year, out of which Rs 10,000 crore was allocated to the Ministry of Labour and Employment for the three Employment Linked-Incentive schemes and Rs 2,000 crore was provided to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for the internship programme.
• In the revised estimates for 2024-25, the amount allocated for the internship scheme was scaled down to Rs 380 crore. For 2025-26, an amount of Rs 10,831 crore has been provided for the internship scheme in the Budget, including Rs 59.77 crore of capital outlay.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍8,000 candidates join PM internship scheme in 4 months since its launch
Previous year UPSC main Question Covering Similar Theme:
📍“Demographic Dividend in India will remain only theoretical unless our manpower becomes more educated, aware, skilled and creative.” What measures have been taken by the government to enhance the capacity of our population to be more productive and employable? (2016)
EXPLAINED
NASA closes offices, lays off staff: here’s what this means
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.
Main Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests
What’s the ongoing story: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has become the latest United States agency to face the brunt of the Donald Trump administration’s obsession with finding and eliminating every government expenditure it considers excess or unnecessary.
Key Points to Ponder:
• NASA recently announced the closure of three departments due to budget constraints—Discuss the implications of this decision
• In the era of privatized space exploration, how is NASA adapting its policies to maintain leadership in deep space exploration?
• Examine the role of private entities like SpaceX and Blue Origin in shaping the future of space travel.
• ‘The restructuring of NASA reflects a shift in priorities towards deep space exploration’—How does this impact planetary research, Earth observation programs, and space diplomacy?
• Compare and contrast how India’s ISRO and NASA manage financial limitations while ensuring technological progress.
Key Takeaways:
• The world’s leading space agency has announced it would be shutting down at least three departments to comply with President Trump’s executive orders issued in January.
• The departments include the office of the chief scientist which is the topmost scientific advisory position in the agency.
• The other two departments facing the axe were the office of technology, policy and strategy, and some parts of the office of diversity and equal opportunity (ODEO) that deals with diversity and inclusion.
• The New York Times reported that about 20 positions in all were likely to be eliminated including that of the chief scientist. NASA has a workforce of about 18,000.
• The NASA decision has not touched the operational parts of the space programme as yet. However, some fear that this might just be the beginning of budget cuts that eventually would start to affect the missions as well.
• Currently, NASA seems to have gotten away lightly in comparison with some other government departments which have faced much heavier cuts. For example, only a few positions in ODEO have been axed. The department itself seems to have survived. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) measures have been under special attack by the Trump administration, and all such programs across the federal government have already been defunded.
Do You Know:
• The most high-profile closure is that of the office of the chief scientist. The entire office has been shut down. The chief scientist worked as an advisor to the NASA chief, called the administrator, providing independent assessment and advice on all science-related matters. It was also NASA’s public-facing branch on science. Current chief scientist Katherine Calvin, a climate scientist, was appointed to the position in 2022. The office also had a deputy chief scientist and at least five other senior officials.
• This is not the first time that the office of chief scientist has been discontinued. Created in 1982, this office has undergone closure or restructuring several times. It either did not exist or was not manned, during 1989 and 1993, for example, and then again between 1996 and 1999, and between 2005 and 2011.
• NASA is currently awaiting a new administrator, who has been appointed but not yet confirmed by the US Senate. The NASA administrator, the overall head of the agency, is a political appointment. A deputy administrator is also a political appointee. The highest-ranking NASA cadre employee is the associate administrator.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍NASA’s PUNCH set to lift off: Why there has been an increase in the launch of solar missions
HOW ‘MICROLIGHTNING’ IN WATER DROPLETS MAY HAVE SPARKED LIFE
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: General Science
What’s the ongoing story: How life began on Earth has been a long-standing mystery, but according to a study the process could have been kicked off simply with crashing waterfalls and breaking waves that would have thrown up mists of water.
Key Points to Ponder:
• What is the Miller-Urey hypothesis?
• What did the new study find?
• Discuss the significance of ‘microlightning’.
• Compare the recent study with other scientific theories related to the emergence of life on Earth.
• What is the role of electrical discharges, such as lightning, in the synthesis of organic molecules in prebiotic conditions.
• How does research on ‘microlightning’ impact our search for extraterrestrial life?
Key Takeaways:
• The findings add another angle to the much-disputed Miller-Urey hypothesis, which argues that life on the planet emerged from a lightning strike. They were described in the study, ‘Spraying of water microdroplets forms luminescence and causes chemical reactions in surrounding gas’, which was published in the journal Science Advances last week.
• According to the researchers, the findings showed that it was not necessarily that lightning strikes may have kick-started life on Earth. Tiny sparks due to crashing waves or waterfalls may have done the job.
• “On early Earth, there were water sprays all over the place – into crevices or against rocks, and they can accumulate and create this chemical reaction… I think this overcomes many of the problems people have with the Miller-Urey hypothesis,” said Zare in a statement.
Do You Know:
• The Earth formed around 4.6 billion years ago. For a few billion years afterwards, it had a rich mixture of chemicals but almost no organic molecules with carbon-nitrogen bonds. These bonds are crucial for proteins, enzymes, nucleic acids, chlorophyll, and other compounds that makeup living beings today.
• In 1952, American chemist Stanley Miller and physicist Harold Urey performed an experiment in which they successfully demonstrated that the organic compounds (such as amino acids) needed for life could form with the application of electricity to a mixture of water and inorganic gases. Put simply, the two scientists showed that a lightning bolt struck the ocean, triggering chemical interaction with gases such as methane, ammonia, and hydrogen that created organic molecules.
• The experiment was considered a landmark at the time as it gave one of the possible explanations for how life could have found its first foothold on Earth. However, in the following years, many scientists raised doubts about the experiment, saying “real lightning would have struck infrequently — and mostly in open ocean, where organic compounds would have quickly dispersed,” according to a report by Scientific American.
• According to the new study, water spray is sufficient to generate organic compounds without the requirement of external electricity. Stanford University chemist Richard Zare, who led the analysis, told Scientific American, “Unlike lightning… water sprays are everywhere”.
• Zare and his team showed that when water droplets divide, they develop opposing charges. While larger droplets have positive charges, smaller ones carry negative ones. When these oppositely charged droplets move close together, tiny sparks leap between them. This process, called “microlightning” by the researchers, imitates how lightning forms in clouds. As a result, when Zare and his team sprayed water into a mixture of nitrogen, methane, carbon dioxide and ammonia, it led to the formation of organic compounds, including hydrogen cyanide, glycine, and uracil.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Experts Explain | Darwin Day: How theories of evolution helped our knowledge of life on Earth
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering Similar Theme:
4. The terms ‘Event Horizon’, ‘Singularity’, ‘String Theory’ and ‘Standard Model’ are sometimes seen in the news in the context of (2017)
(a) Observation and understanding of the Universe
(b) Study of the solar and the lunar eclipses
(c) Placing satellites in the orbit of the Earth
(d) Origin and evolution of living organisms on the Earth
5. Which of the following pairs is/are correctly matched? (2008)
Theory/Law Associated Scientist
1. Continental Drift : Edwin Hubble
2. Expansion of Universe : Alfred Wegener
3. Photoelectric Effect : Albert Einstein
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 2 and 3 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 2 only
(d) 1 only
Why docking-undocking capability is crucial for India’s space ambitions
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.
Main Examination: General Studies III: Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
What’s the ongoing story: Nearly two months after ISRO successfully docked two satellites in space, it carried out an undocking procedure on Thursday. This makes India the fourth country — after the US, Russia, and China — to boast docking-undocking capabilities.
Key Points to Ponder:
• What is space docking?
• When was the first space docking carried out? By whom?
• Examine the importance of autonomous docking and undocking technology for India’s future space collaborations and international partnerships in space exploration.
• How ISRO’s success in space docking experiments can enhance India’s geopolitical positioning in the field of space technology.
• Analyse the challenges and technical complexities involved in developing docking technology for spacecraft.
• Highlight the role of docking technology in supporting long-duration space missions and space station assembly.
Key Takeaways:
• This capability is essential for missions with heavy spacecraft that cannot be launched from Earth in one go. Weight is among the biggest limiting factors in what we can or cannot send to space. This is why things are often sent to space in parts, to be assembled while in space. This is how the ISS was built.
• The docking-undocking process is also essential to carry astronauts and supplies to a space station.
• With India setting its sights on extremely ambitious missions in the near future, including setting up its own space station by 2035 and sending a human to the Moon by 2040, the capability to rendezvous, dock, and undock will be critical.
• Chandrayaan-4, which is designed to bring back lunar soil and rock samples, will utilise this capability.
Do You Know:
• As the name suggests, space docking is essentially a process by which two fast-moving spacecraft are put into the same orbit, progressively brought closer, and finally joined together. It is an extremely complicated process.
• To demonstrate this capability, ISRO launched the experimental Spadex mission on December 30, 2024. This comprised launching two 220-kg satellites — SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target) — in a 470 km circular orbit, with a small relative velocity between the two. From an initial distance of 20 km in space, these two were progressively brought together and then joined using their extended locking mechanism.
• For the mission, ISRO developed its own docking system on the lines of the one used at the International Space Station. Like the ISS system, ISRO’s is androgynous — meaning the systems on both the Chaser and Target satellites are identical. But it has only two motors, compared to the 24 used in the International Docking System Standard.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Why ISRO’s ‘docking’ mission today is critical for India’s space ambitions
UPSC Practice Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
6. What is the primary objective of ISRO’s SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment)?
(a) Launching heavier satellites into geostationary orbits
(b) Testing autonomous docking and undocking capabilities in space
(c) Enhancing navigation capabilities of the GAGAN system
(d) Studying solar radiation effects on spacecraft
| PRELIMS ANSWER KEY |
| 1. (d) 2.(a) 3.(c) 4.(a) 5.(b) 6.(b) |
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