UPSC Key: Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority, Retrospective tax, and Road accidents

— What is the purpose of Article 371?

— What are the challenges facing the state of Nagaland?

— What is the Free Movement Regime?

— What are the reasons for providing special provisions for the state of Nagaland?

— What are the major tribes of Nagaland?

— Know about the geography and important features of Nagaland

Key Takeaways:

— The agreement was signed in the presence of Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who said the Centre will extend all help and fulfil all its responsibilities for the development of eastern Nagaland.

— “The agreement will pave the way for creation of Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) for six districts of Nagaland viz. Tuensang, Mon, Kiphire, Longleng, Noklak and Shamator, and devolution of powers in respect of 46 Subjects to the FNTA,” an official statement said.

— However, this agreement does not affect in any manner whatsoever, the provisions of Article 371(A) of the Constitution.

— This “unique arrangement” envisages overall development of eastern Nagaland through financial autonomy, enhanced decision-making leading to accelerated infrastructure development, economic empowerment and optimum resource utilization, the statement said.

— “Today we have taken one more step forward in the direction of ending all disputes in Nagaland. Now, there will be no obstacle in the path of development of Eastern Nagaland…,” Shah said.

Do You Know:

— Articles 369 through 392 (including some that have been removed) appear in Part XXI of the Constitution, titled ‘Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions’.

— Article 371A (13th Amendment Act, 1962), Nagaland: This provision was inserted after a 16-point agreement between the Centre and the Naga People’s Convention in 1960, which led to the creation of Nagaland in 1963.

— Parliament cannot legislate in matters of Naga religion or social practices, Naga customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law, and ownership and transfer of land without concurrence of the state Assembly.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: What is Article 371?

📍Explained: Ladakh, Article 371, and the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(1) Which Schedule of the Constitution of India contains special provisions for the administration and control of Scheduled Areas in several States? (UPSC CSE 2008)

(a) Third

(b) Fifth

(c) Seventh

(d) Ninth

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Recent directives from Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas are perceived by the ‘Nagas’ as a threat to override the exceptional status enjoyed by the State. Discuss in light of Article 371A of the Indian Constitution. (UPSC CSE 2013)

FRONT

High capex to sustain growth, pvt investment also coming: Sitharaman

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Government Budgeting

What’s the ongoing story: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Thursday the government’s primary objective is to sustain growth, and even though the private sector is “moving out of the passive mode to invest”, her ministry has continued with the heavy lifting in capital spending in the Budget for 2026-27.

— What is capex?

— What is the significance of public and private capital expenditure in the growth of the economy?

— The increased public capital expenditure in the Budget. What is the reason?

— What are the steps taken by the government to increase private expenditure?

— What is the objective of taxing capital gains on sovereign gold bonds in the secondary market?

Key Takeaways:

— In an interview to The Indian Express, Sitharaman said, “At the moment we are looking at sustaining growth and therefore, we will have to do it, so we are doing it. That will be our primary object — sustaining growth.” The government has allocated Rs 12.22 lakh crore towards capex for next year, which is more than 11.5 per cent compared with 2025-26.

— Sitharaman also said that the sentiment of global investors is changing. “Countries like Norway, Canada are showing keen interest for their pension funds and large sovereign funds to come here. But there are some in North America, big fund managers, who wait and watch to see which way the trend moves, and then take a call,” she said.

— Responding to a question if she was being conservative in the estimates of the 10 per cent nominal GDP growth rate, Sitharaman said it was a “realistic” estimation.

— The Finance Minister also defended the Budget move to tax capital gains on sovereign gold bonds in the secondary market. “This scheme was for people who take it at the issuance and who will hold it till maturity. But leaving that aside, if you procured or you’ve taken it from the secondary market, you’re not in the same category, are you?” When pressed if the rules were changed midway, she said the Budget announcement was a clarification.

— On hiking the Securities Transaction Tax on futures and options despite the sharp reduction in trading volumes, Sitharaman said, “Even after (the interventions by Sebi), the market regulator came up with a report that 90 per cent of people who are participating in futures and options were losing money… that study is the answer for your question.”

Do You Know:

— The finance minister also announced the setting up of dedicated Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) to accelerate the monetisation and recycling of significant real estate assets of CPSEs. She further unveiled an Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund aimed at providing prudently calibrated partial credit guarantees to lenders, in a move to boost infrastructure financing.

— FM Sitharaman also proposed to develop a new Dedicated Freight Corridors ((DFC) connecting Dankuni in East to Surat in West. The DFC network provides the backbone that enables new-generation multimodal logistics.  The finance minister also announced the development of 20 new waterways in the country.

— Capital expenditure (CapEx) is the funds allocated and utilised by the government to develop assets contributing to the country’s economic growth. This includes investments in infrastructure, machinery, healthcare, education, and other essential sectors.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Budget 2026: Rs 12.2 lakh crore capex boost for infrastructure in FY27

📍Union Budget 2026 : Key highlights for UPSC and other competitive exams

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(2) With reference to the expenditure made by an organization or a company, which of the following statements is/are correct? (UPSC CSE 2022)

1. Acquiring new technology is capital expenditure.

2. Debt financing is considered capital expenditure, while equity financing is considered revenue expenditure.

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

 

PARLIAMENT

Accidents, fatalities on NHs fell 11% in 2025 as UP, MP led the way, shows data

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: With road safety initiatives bearing tangible results, the total number of road accidents and fatalities on the National Highways (NHs) in 2025 have reduced by over 11%, according to data tabled by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in Lok Sabha on Thursday.

— Road Accidents in India-Know Broad Profile of Road Accidents

— Why is Road Safety a must in India?

— What are the reasons for high road accidents in India?

— What are the Initiatives related to road safety at national as well at international level?

— What is V2V or vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology?

Key Takeaways:

— Road accidents on national highways have always remained a serious concern as it accounts for a larger chunk of road fatalities with data showing that NHs logging over 36% of road accident deaths, though it forms only 2.3% of total road network.

— Declining for the first time in the last three years, total accidents and fatalities on the NHs in 2025 were 1,34,307 and 57,482, respectively — over 11% less than 1,50,958 accidents and 64,772 fatalities in 2024, shows data. In 2023, 63,112 people lost their lives in 1,50,177 accidents on the national highways.

— An analysis of MoRTH data shows the reduction in road accident fatalities in 2025 was led by five states — Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. These states saw fatalities falling by 6,072 in 2025 compared to 2024, thereby bringing down total deaths by 7,290 in 2025.

— The data is provisional and based on information from states/UTs to the Electronic Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) portal — a central repository for reporting, managing and analysing road accident data.

— However, some states also saw an increase in both accidents and fatalities on NHs compared to 2024. In Gujarat, accidents rose from 3,519 to 3,944, and fatalities from 2,192 to 2,380.

— In terms of number of annual road accident fatalities, India tops globally, followed by China, which accounts for just 36% of India’s total road deaths, and the US at 25%. India has the second-largest road network in the world — about 63.45 lakh km, including 1.46 lakh km of NHs and 1.80 lakh km of state highways.

Do You Know:

— V2V or vehicle-to-vehicle communication is a wireless technology that will enable the vehicles to communicate or talk with one another to share real-time information like speed, location, acceleration, braking, etc. It is the sub-category of Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) and comes under the umbrella of the Intelligent Transport System.

— The system is similar to the aviation sector technology, where aircraft broadcast their position, speed, altitude, and the nearby aircraft and ground stations receive it. While this system is fortified in the aviation sector across the world, the road sector is still evolving, and V2V is working in a few countries, mostly developed nations.

— According to the MoRTH officials, for the V2V system, an On Board Unit (OBU) will be installed in cars so that the nearby vehicles can exchange information among vehicles wirelessly. It will alert the driver about the black spots, obstacles, parked vehicles on roadsides, fog or any potential threats.

— Usually, V2V systems have a range of 300 metres and can detect vehicles in this range. For instance, if a car applies brakes suddenly, the nearby vehicles will get an alert to slow down before seeing it. This will help in reducing crashes.

— India ranks first in the world in total road accident fatalities, far ahead of second- and third-ranked countries: China accounts for just 36%, and the United States for 25%, of India’s road deaths.

— The government has not yet announced any specific date for rolling out this system. However, it is MoRTH’s key initiative as part of its road safety program for the year.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍India’s road deaths are not accidents — they are a public health crisis

📍India has most road accident deaths in the world. Can ‘talking cars’ curb these?

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(3) Consider the following statements Brasilia declaration:

1. It was signed at the first Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety.

2. India is not a signatory to the declaration.

3. Under the declaration, the countries plan to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 1.

How many of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

The Budget has delivered a googly— the retrospective tax

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: Surjit S Bhalla writes: Most of the comments on Budget 2026 were laudatory, if not euphoric. A collection of some of the summary comments: Businesslike, calm-collected, short, boring and good. Over 95 per cent approval rating — something I have not witnessed in over 36 years of active Budget-watching. I was asked to write this article on Budget day, but politely refused. Reason: Bitter experience that there was always a wicket-taking googly in the budget.

— What is retrospective tax?

— What is capital gain?

— What are Sovereign gold bonds (SGBs)?

— What are the positives and negatives of the SGBs?

— What is Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)?

— What are the reasons for the decline of FDI?

— What is the Model Bilateral Investment Treaty of 2015?

Key Takeaways:

— Only after the dust of euphoria had settled did the googly emerge in the form of yet another retrospective tax — starting April 2026, there will be a new tax on capital gains made via the purchase of SGBs or sovereign gold bonds.

— The SGBs were introduced in 2015-16 when gold prices were low and stable (even declining from their local peak in 2011-12). This scheme of annual issuance of gold bonds was stopped in 2024 — well before the parabolic surge in international gold prices.

— The terms of the SGB agreement with the citizen and voter was that you buy paper gold, and you are returned paper money when you sell. Capital gains, and losses, with the investor. No tax was to be paid if the price of gold went up, and if the price of gold went down, your loss.

— Now, retrospectively, because gold prices have shot up, you will pay a long-term capital gains tax of 12.5 per cent. Paraphrasing Khrushchev, the government’s attitude is: What is mine is mine — what is yours is also mine.

— Besides being greedy and unfair — retrospective taxes should be illegal — the government is also being petty, and can one dare say it, stupid and counterproductive.

— Several benefits have accrued to the government via gold bonds. SGBs lowered imports (less physical gold imports), and via a higher current account balance, helped keep the rupee stable, if not to appreciate.

— Retrospective taxes reflect very badly on the process of Budget– and decision-making in India. As I have been shouting to whoever has been within earshot, the secret decision-making of the Budget is a relic of several bygone eras. We did so when we were ruled by a colonial power, and we are doing it today when we are ostensibly on the road to Viksit Bharat.

— For the last decade or so, I have advocated an open policy towards Budget presentation. There is no need to follow the 200-year-old legacy of secret preparation (though the halwa should stay). Budget preparation should be an open, collaborative effort, with the final decision resting, obviously, with the policymakers.

— In the run-up to the Budget, most commentators, both within and outside the government, expected the Centre to take significant steps towards addressing the number one ailment of the Indian economy — lack of growth of private investment.

— The share of private investment in GDP is down about 10 percentage points from its earlier peak of 30 per cent. Indian investment is going abroad and foreign investment is not coming to India. Net FDI is falling, is barely positive, and is at the lowest level (as a percentage of GDP) since our mega-crisis year, 1990.

— Private investment is down big-time because of the UPA’s retrospective taxation in 2012 and the BJP’s Model Bilateral Investment Treaty of 2015 (an extraordinarily bad model). The latter stipulated that a divorce agreement between a foreign and a domestic firm could only be achieved if two conditions were met — a five-year cooling and negotiation period, failing which, adjudication by an Indian judge.

— Seeing these requirements, the foreign investor decided to vote with her feet. (The new, revised BIT recommends a three-year cooling period and maybe an international judge — some improvement). Do we know of any divorce that faces these stringent conditions? No.

Do You Know:

— Sovereign gold bond (SGBs) schemes are debt securities issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on behalf of the government, with each unit denoting a gram of gold. These bonds offer the flexibility of trading in the secondary market, providing investors with the opportunity to accrue capital gains. It is also used by the government to finance its fiscal deficit. The interest on SGBs is fixed, ensuring a predictable income stream.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Knowledge nugget of the day: Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme (SGBs)

📍India needs a model BIT that balances investment protection with the right to regulate

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(4) What is/are the purpose/purposes of the Government’s ‘Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme’ and ‘Gold Monetization Scheme‘? (UPSC CSE 2016)

1. To bring the idle gold lying with Indian households into the economy

2. To promote FDI in the gold and jewellery sector

3. To reduce India’s dependence on gold imports

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d)  1, 2 and 3

To be future ready, healthcare system has to ensure quality

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: Indu Bhushan writes: With the Lancet Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System being launched last month, it is worth pausing to ask: Are we building a health system for yesterday’s diseases or tomorrow’s India?

— What is Ayushman Bharat?

— What are the challenges of the Indian health system?

— What are the problems of primary health care?

— What are the steps needed to be taken to address it?

— India must move from a fragmented, facility-driven system in healthcare to one that is comprehensive, coordinated, and people-centred. Elaborate.

— Why is private investment important to achieve universal health coverage?

— What are the initiatives taken by the government for the universalisation of the health sector?

Key Takeaways:

— Soon after Ayushman Bharat was rolled out, a beneficiary asked me something that has stayed with me: “Card toh mil gaya hai, par ilaaj ka raasta kaun dikhayega (We have got the card, but who will guide us towards treatment)?” That goes to the heart of India’s health challenge — not just paying for care, but ensuring that people are guided through the system with dignity and continuity.

— As the founding CEO of Ayushman Bharat, I have seen both the promise and the limits of health reform at close quarters. When the scheme was launched, many doubted whether India could pull off the world’s largest government-funded health assurance programme.

— Eight years on, the outcomes are hard to ignore. More than 10 crore hospital treatments have been provided, and by one estimate, households have saved nearly Rs 2 lakh crore in out-of-pocket expenditure.

— As proud as I am of what Ayushman Bharat has achieved, I am conscious of its limitations. While physical access to care has expanded, the experience of care remains fragmented and often poor in quality. Our system continues to be hospital-centric and curative.

— Primary care, which should anchor prevention, continuity, and trust, remains underpowered. It is evident that even the best health assurance scheme cannot compensate for weak primary care.

— Chronic underinvestment lies at the root of many of these problems. Public health spending as a share of GDP has remained largely stagnant for two decades. Compounding this is the way money is spent — fragmented across schemes, departments, and line items, with limited flexibility or accountability.

— This is why the Lancet Commission argues that incremental change is no longer sufficient. India must move from a fragmented, facility-driven system to one that is comprehensive, coordinated, and people-centred. Quality, dignity, and respect must count as much as coverage numbers.

— One of the Commission’s messages is the need for decentralisation. States, districts, and blocks face very different disease burdens, capacities, and social contexts. A reimagined health system must therefore empower states with greater financial flexibility, better data, and real autonomy — while holding them accountable for outcomes.

— The Commission also squarely addresses the role of the private sector. India cannot achieve universal health coverage without private providers. Managed care principles, emphasising prevention, gatekeeping, defined provider networks, and rational payment systems, must replace volume-driven incentives. Regulation should enable innovation while protecting the public interest.

— Many of the Commission’s recommendations are already reflected in policy intent. The challenge lies in execution. Health governance reform is never purely technocratic; it is inherently political.

— Yet, moments of crisis also open windows of possibility. India’s ambition to become a developed nation by 2047 cannot be realised without a health system that is fair, resilient, and people-centred.

Do You Know:

— The Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme was rolled out in 2018 with the aim of providing universal health coverage, especially in a country where a majority of hospital-based care — 60% in urban areas and 52% in rural areas — is provided by the private sector.

— This essentially means that the scheme has been able to prevent people from dipping into their savings or going into debt to afford care that they were anyway accessing at private hospitals. This is affirmed by the reduction in out-of-pocket expenditure even as the government expenditure has increased.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍India has made great strides in healthcare, challenge now is to improve service quality

📍Most utlising Ayushman Bharat to seek care in private hospitals: Report

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(5) Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2023)

Statement-I: India’s public sector health care system largely focuses on curative care with limited preventive, promotive and rehabilitative care.

Statement-II: Under India’s decentralized approach to health care delivery, the States are primarily responsible for organizing health services.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

(a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-ll is the correct explanation for Statement-I

(b) Both Statement-I and Statement-ll are correct and Statement-ll is not the correct explanation for Statement-I

(c) Statement-l is correct but Statement-ll is incorrect

(d) Statement-l is incorrect but Statement-ll is correct

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

“Besides being a moral imperative of Welfare State, primary health structure is a necessary pre-condition for sustainable development.” Analyze. (UPSC CSE 2021)

EXPLAINED

India’s Russia challenge — balance old ties, new reality

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: When US President Donald Trump announced the India-US trade deal, he also claimed on Truth Social that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “agreed to stop buying Russian oil”. This has put India in a diplomatically difficult position, as it has to balance its longstanding ties with Russia while continuing to work with the Trump administration.

— Know the historic background of India-Russia relationship

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

— What are the current challenges in their relationship?

— What are the reasons for the increase in oil imports from Russia after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war?

— Why has the US imposed a reciprocal tariff on India?

— Know about the energy security of India- imports from different countries

Key Takeaways:

— Russia has been India’s friend and ally, but it is also friends with China, which adds a layer of complications to New Delhi’s dealings with Moscow.

— Trump’s statement has not been addressed by PM Modi, but to analyse its potential impact, one has to look back at India-Russia ties over the past few decades.

— India’s relationship with the Soviet Union blossomed specially in the 1970s, when Moscow stood with India during the 1971 India-Pakistan war as a counterweight to the US.

— The defence ties between the two countries boomed, and India became dependent on Soviet Union-manufactured defence equipment. These equipment comprised more than 80% of India’s weapons at that time.

— After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, defence continued to be the backbone of the ties, and even as India started diversifying to other sources — Israel, US, France and some other European countries — Russia remained the mainstay, of defence equipment and more importantly of “spares” of the legacy equipment.

— After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the US-led Western bloc imposed sanctions on Moscow. Russia found a willing buyer of its oil in India, selling at deep discounts.

— The India-Russia energy trade was just 2% of India’s energy imports before February 2022 (the Russian invasion of Ukraine). That increased to more than 32% over the next few years. Bilateral trade between India and Russia reached a record high of $68.7 billion in FY 2024-25, with Russian oil imports comprising the bulk of this trade, amounting to $63.8 billion. India’s exports to Russia was a paltry $4.9 billion.

— This worked well till Trump assumed office last year. He singled out India for punitive 25% tariffs for buying Russian oil, sparing European buyers and even China. India has been rolling back its Russian oil imports since September 2025, though it has maintained that its decisions are driven by commercial logic and its energy needs.

— Even as it cut back on oil purchases, India has sent out other signals to the world. PM Modi has had several phone conversations, and two very high-visibility meetings in Tianjin and Delhi, with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

— There is a sense that the leaders have had the opportunity to discuss these new realities and challenges that India faces from the Trump administration, especially since the 25% tariffs were imposed as a ‘Russian penalty’.

— Delhi’s change in course is expected to be understood by Moscow, as India has kept the Russians in the loop about its compulsions of minimising the political and economic cost being imposed by the US under Trump.

— India may not officially confirm the stoppage of Russian oil, just as it has never publicly spoken about phasing out Iranian oil or Venezuelan oil since Trump 1.0, under US pressure. The government has maintained that it will be guided by its national interests, which includes its energy security.

— Coming back to defence, although dependence on new Russian equipment has dropped to less than 40%, and there are challenges with the efficacy of the Russian equipment due to sanctions on high-tech transfers to Russia, India is careful about Russian sensitivities, especially due to its proximity to its strategic rival, China.

— With about 50,000 Indian troops still deployed on the India-China border for almost six years now, India would not want to risk its ties with Russia. So, Delhi will have to diplomatically navigate this tricky territory about the declining oil imports and its continuing defence partnership with Moscow.

Do You Know:

— India-Russia bilateral relations date back seven decades. The bilateral diplomatic relations have gone through several periods since their formal establishment in 1947 but have remained strong and even grown. The recent visit of Prime Minister Modi to Russia demonstrates India’s commitment to its partnership with Russia as it has been a longstanding and reliable partner for India.  The India-Russia relations have been a key pillar of India’s foreign policy.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Trump says India will stop buying Russian oil. That is easier said than done

📍UPSC Issue at a Glance | India-Russia Relations: 4 Key Questions You Must Know for Prelims and Mains

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(6) Recently, India signed a deal known as ‘Action Plan for Prioritization and Implementation of Cooperation Areas in the Nuclear Field’ with which of the following countries? (UPSC CSE 2019)

(a) Japan

(b) Russia

(c) The United Kingdom

(d) The United States of America

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

What is the significance of Indo-US defence deals over Indo-Russian defence deals? Discuss with reference to stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (UPSC CSE 2020)

ALSO IN NEWS
START pact ends, Europe security calculus under (nuclear) cloud	The LAST arms control treaty between the US and Russia expired on Thursday, and in theory, they are now under no obligation to limit their strategic nuclear arsenals. While this is a matter of concern for the world — UN secretary general António Guterres said the START treaty could not have expired “at a worse time” as the “risk of a nuclear weapon being used is the highest in decades” — caught bang in the middle is Europe, with its main adversary emboldened, and its main security guarantor unreliable. This topic was covered in yesterday’s UPSC Key and Knowledge Nugget.
In India’s first-ever disaster victim identification guidelines, teeth hold the key	India’s first-ever guidelines and standard operating procedures for Disaster Victim Identification (DVI), released by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) late last month, are aimed at ensuring recognition, registration and dignified handover of human remains to families in the event of mass fatality incidents. This topic was covered in yesterday’s UPSC Key and today’s Knowledge nugget.
Diversifying energy sourcing: MEA on Trump’s ‘India not to buy Russian oil’ claim	In the first remarks since US President Donald Trump’s post on Truth Social that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “agreed to stop buying Russian oil” and “to buy much more from the US and, potentially, Venezuela”, and that “this will help end the war in Ukraine”, India on Thursday said it was “diversifying energy sourcing” in keeping with “objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics”. In Delhi, MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to questions on the US President’s statements about Russian oil imports, said, “Insofar as India’s energy sourcing is concerned, the government has stated publicly on several occasions ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion Indians is supreme priority of government. Diversifying our energy sourcing in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics is at the core of our strategy to ensure this.”
India, GCC ink terms of reference to formally launch trade talks	India and the six-nation bloc of Middle Eastern nations, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), inked terms of reference (ToR) on Thursday for formally launching negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA). The ToR outline the scope and modalities of a proposed trade pact. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal presided over the signing ceremony of the ToRs with GCC.

 

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

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

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