UPSC Key: Nepal flash flood, UN Human Rights and Economic D-Day

Over 100 Indians among hundreds missing in Nepal flash flood fury

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, cyclone 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.

• General Studies III: Disaster and disaster management.

What’s the ongoing story: Over 150 people were killed while at least 484, including 105 Indians and 37 Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), were reported missing after massive flash floods in Nepal’s districts bordering Tibet on Wednesday.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Map Work- Rasuwa district , Bhote Koshi river, Nepal-Tibet border, Lhende Khola river valley

• What happened in Nepal?

• What triggered the mudslide and flash floods?

• How does a flash flood happen?

• How can an earthquake trigger an avalanche?

• What is difference between Cloudburst and flash floods?

• How common are flash floods and floods?

• What according to Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change are the causes of landslides?

• What is Landslide?

• What causes Landslides?

• What are the types of landslides?

• Know the Landslide-Prone Areas in India and mark them on Map

• The Geological Survey of India (GSI) and national landslide susceptibility mapping-connect the dots

• How disaster management is done in the landslide and subsidence-hit zone?

Key Takeaways:

• According to official figures, 391 foreign nationals and 93 from Nepal had been reported missing until 7 pm (local time). These included at least 60 working in hydel projects in the area.

• Sources said most of the Indians reported missing were headed to Kailash Mansarovar.

• The remaining tourists are from the United States, Malaysia, United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and the Netherlands. Among the dead were 44 from Nepal’s Army, 28 from the police and 13 from the Armed Police Force. The authorities fear higher casualties and widespread destruction.

• Initial reports from the affected areas and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said the border river flood, which began a little after 9 am local time, swept away many settlements across the 60-km road from Gyirong in Tibet, down to Rasuwa and Dhading districts in Nepal, both bordering Tibet, and Nuwakot district.

• With these areas being part of Nepal’s old trade route with Tibet, they are thickly populated. Rasuwa is known for its trekking routes, with 108 lakes in the region including the sacred Gosaikunda Lake. Some of the missing were trekking to the Gosaikunda Lake, coinciding with the local festival of Janai Purnima on Friday.

• Though the monsoon season is less favorable for trekking in Nepal, it’s a major season for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, along the Rasuwa (Nepal)-Gyirong (Tibet) route.

• Dozens of multi-storied buildings, trucks and vans were buried under the mud in Nuwakot, one of the worst-affected areas. Critical infrastructure, including at least a dozen hydropower projects, was also destroyed, affecting about 700 MW of power generation. Gorkha, Nawalparasi and Chitwan were among the other districts affected.

Do You Know:

• Climate experts at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said an avalanche from a glacier likely caused the flash floods. Initial reports ⁠suggested that an earthquake in the area could have triggered an avalanche and caused the floods, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal also told Parliament on Wednesday, according to local media reports.

• Officials were caught off-guard by the floods on Wednesday because it was not raining, according to local news editors. The disaster appears to have begun high in the Himalayas, where part of a glacier collapsed, triggering a chain of events that caused a powerful surge of water and debris downstream.

• Satellite imagery showed that a substantial section of the lower end of the glacier broke away at an elevation of about 5,200 metres (17,000 feet), plunging about 1,200 metres (3,900ft) onto the valley floor, gathering rock and sediment as it fell.

• The resulting ice-rock avalanche struck the Lhende River in Tibet, about 20km (12 miles) northeast of the Nepal-China border crossing. Debris temporarily blocked the river before the natural dam gave way, releasing a powerful flood downstream.

• Early reports suggested that a magnitude 4.4 earthquake had triggered the collapse. However, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) later revised its assessment, saying the seismic signal had been generated by the landslide itself rather than an earthquake.

• The disaster struck the mountainous Nepal-Tibet border region, with some of the worst damage in Nepal’s Rasuwa district, immediately south of the Chinese border.

• A flash flood is a sudden (and often violent) surge of water that inundates low-lying areas in very small periods of time. In mountainous terrains, such floods carry greater energy, obliterating all the structures in its path. The sheer velocity of the flood leaves communities that live downstream with little to no warning or window for evacuation.

Before-and-after satellite images show flooding in the areas around the Trishuli river. (Special Arrangement)

• The latest flash flood instantly destroyed heavy infrastructure such as hydropower plants and communications hardware, cutting off affected border areas from the outside world. While the reason for this calamity is yet to be officially stated, official channels are considering the possibility that an avalanche triggered by an earthquake was the catalyst.

• The peaks of the Himalaya mountains are capped with gargantuan glaciers and precariously balanced rock formations. An earthquake can disturb this fragile balance, violently displacing rock, ice, mud and other solids.

• According to Reuters, authorities suspect that an ice-rock avalanche was triggered by such an earthquake in the Lhende Khola river. This narrow, high-altitude tributary of the Bhote Koshi carried the bulk of the avalanche down its waters. Somewhere along the way, the debris likely formed a dense and temporary dam. In such cases, water can back up rapidly behind this unstable barrier until the constantly increasing pressure gives way to a rupture in the dam wall.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Nepal flash floods: What triggered the disaster, and why the country is so vulnerable

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
1) Contour bunding is a method of soil conservation used in (UPSC CSE, 2013)
(a) Desert margins, liable to strong wind action
(b) Low flat plains, close to stream courses, liable to flooding
(c) Scrublands, liable to spread of weed growth
(d) None of the above

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍What is the phenomenon of ‘Cloudbursts’? Explain. (UPSC, GS1, 2024)

Politics

‘Highly malicious, motivated’: India rejects UN rights panel’s findings

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

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

What’s the ongoing story: India on Wednesday rejected a report by a UN panel that alleged discrimination against various ethnic and religious groups in the country.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD)?

• What is International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)?

• What are the universal human rights?

• How the universal human rights different from fundamental rights?

• What UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination raise concerns about?

• What is National Register of Citizens (NRC)?

• What exactly UNCERD raised concern about NRC?

• Does India have a national refugee law?

• What is India’s Refugee Policy?

• What exactly is a refugee, an asylum-Seeker and a migrant?

• Know about United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

• What is Global Refugee Forum (GRF)?

• 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol and India-Know in detail

• What do you understand by expression ‘right of non-refoulement’?

• What is the role of UN human-rights treaty bodies in monitoring State compliance with international human-rights conventions?

• What are the constitutional and ethical challenges involved in balancing citizenship verification, border management and protection of vulnerable communities?

Key Takeaways:

• The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD) flagged concerns on Tuesday over human rights violations against people belonging to scheduled tribes, scheduled castes and Rohingya refugees.

• It also called for action against those involved in “hate crime” in India. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India rejects “any politically motivated highly malicious references in the report with all the contempt that it deserves”.

• He said India’s commitment to combating racial discrimination “remains unwavering”.
“During the review, we highlighted India’s constitutional safeguards, robust legal framework, pluralism and sustained efforts to protect disadvantaged communities,” he said. “While we will respond to the committee’s observations through the established procedure, the inter-ministerial delegation, which was led by the Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, had already rejected the sweeping generalisations, unsubstantiated allegations, or tendency to exceed the Convention’s mandate during the review meeting,” he said.

• The United Nations (UN) human rights panel had raised concerns about violations against marginalised communities in India, and urged New Delhi to protect them from alleged abuse, torture, extrajudicial killings, and stripping of citizenship.

• It also sharply criticised the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, and raised concerns about the subjecting of Bengali-speaking Muslims to “systematic and structural racial discrimination”. The NRC implementation was leading to mass arbitrary deprivation of citizenship, it said, while expressing concerns about Bengali-speaking Muslims being categorised as “non-original inhabitants”.

• It had called for India to suspend the NRC and review its legislative framework. The Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process was also called out in the report, with the committee raising concern that Bengali-speaking Muslim voters were reportedly disproportionately impacted in West Bengal and Assam.

Do You Know:

• According to UN website, Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination.

• The International human rights law lays down the obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups.

• The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights exercises principal responsibility for UN human rights activities. The High Commissioner is mandated to respond to serious violations of human rights and to undertake preventive action.

• The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the focal point for United Nations human rights activities. It serves as the secretariat for the Human Rights Council, the treaty bodies (expert committees that monitor treaty compliance) and other UN human rights organs. It also undertakes human rights field activities.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍UN panel flags ‘human rights violations’ in India, urges Delhi to suspend, review NRC

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
2) Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2021)
1. ‘Right to the City’ is an agreed human right and the UN-Habitat monitors the commitments made by each country in this regard.
2. ‘Right to the City’ gives every occupant of the city the right to reclaim public spaces and public participation in the city.
3. ‘Right to the City’ means that the State cannot deny any public service or facility to the unauthorized colonies in the city.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 1 and 2
(d) 2 and 3

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍Though the Human Rights Commissions have contributed immensely to the protection of human rights in India, yet they have failed to assert themselves against the mighty and powerful. Analysing their structural and practical limitations, suggest remedial measures. (UPSC, GS2, 2021)

India & UK to ink pact, develop propulsion systems for Navy

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: India and the UK are “very soon” poised to sign an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) aimed at developing maritime electric propulsion systems for four Landing Platform Docks (LPDs) for the Indian Navy, British officials said Wednesday.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is Electric propulsion systems?

• What is Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP)?

• Does Indian warships have electric propulsion systems?

• Why is electric propulsion useful for modern warships?

• What is a dock in Landing Platform Dock?

• What is the strategic significance of Integrated Full Electric Propulsion for future naval platforms?

• How can technology like Electric propulsion systems alter the design and operational capabilities of modern warships?

Key Takeaways:

• They also indicated that a second inter-governmental agreement between the countries is set to be inked soon for the procurement of British Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMMs) for the Indian Army.

• Responding to a question from The Indian Express, a top British official said an IGA for the maritime electric propulsion system for four LPDs will be signed “very shortly”.

• As part of the collaboration, GE Vernova and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd will establish India’s first maritime Land-Based Testing Facility to support the development of the Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP) system.

• A joint statement issued by both countries in November last year highlighted the intent to finalise the IGA for maritime electric propulsion systems.

• The official quoted above said that negotiations and working groups have been ongoing and have been productive, adding that both sides have also been in talks over India’s naval fleet modernisation programme, which will also include retrofitting of certain legacy ships with electric propulsion systems, aside from looking at other modern warships of the Indian Navy.

• A Statement of Intent (SoI) on Cooperation on Design and Development of Electric Propulsion Systems for the Indian Navy was signed by India and the UK in Portsmouth on 28 November, 2024, during the third meeting of the Joint Working Group on Electric Propulsion Capability Partnership.

• A government statement at the time mentioned that the SoI provided a framework for cooperation in the co-design, co-creation and co-production of electric-propulsion capabilities for future Indian vessels.

Do You Know:

• Indian warships at present do not have electric propulsion systems. They are currently powered by diesel engines, gas turbines or steam turbines. The Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers of the UK Royal Navy are integrated full electric propulsion vessels. The electric propulsion capability is meant to power bigger warships of the Indian Navy, with a displacement of over 6,000 tonnes and will be first tested on Landing Platform Docks.

• The India-UK joint statement, issued in October 2025, stated that both sides have agreed to proceed via the government-to-government route on an initial supply of LMM systems. “This will further support India’s air defence capabilities and, in the spirit of Atmanirbhar Bharat, meet the current and future requirements of the Indian Ministry of Defence, and support a long-term collaboration on complex weapons between the two countries,” it had stated.

• According to Thales UK, the LMMs are equipped with a triple-effect warhead and proximity fuse, and thus respond to various threats like light-armoured, wheeled and tracked vehicles or aerial platforms.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Navy Chief flags inadequacies in development of propulsion systems, aero-engines and hypersonics capabilities

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
3) With reference to India’s defence, consider the following pairs: (UPSC, CSE, 2025)
Aircraft Type Description
I. Dornier-228 Maritime patrol aircraft
II. IL-76 Supersonic combat aircraft
III. C-17 Globemaster III Military transport aircraft
How many of the pairs are correctly matched?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All three
(d) None

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍What are the maritime security challenges in India? Discuss the organisational, technical and procedural initiatives taken to improve the maritime security. (UPSC, GS3, 2022)
📍Why is maritime security vital to protect India’s sea trade? Discuss maritime and coastal security challenges and the way forward. (UPSC, GS3, 2025)

Nation

Nuclear power operator plans new design unit to support pvt players

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance and General Science

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.

What’s the ongoing story: Months after the country’s tightly regulated nuclear power sector was opened to private participation, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) plans to set up a new design vertical which will provide technological support to private players and state governments seeking to deploy indigenous nuclear reactor technology.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the civil nuclear sector?

• Can a private company open a nuclear power plant?

• Are there any private nuclear power plants in India?

• What are the initiatives and steps taken by the GOI to allow private players in the nuclear sector?

• What are the salient features of the Atomic Energy Act 1962?

• Why amendments to the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 are being initiated?

• What is the civil liability of nuclear damage?

• What is Nuclear Energy?

• Why do we need nuclear energy?

• What are the types of nuclear reactor?

• What is the current Status of Nuclear Energy and Nuclear power plants in India?

• Map Work-Mark Nuclear power plants

Key Takeaways:

• The proposal for the new vertical is currently under process, The Indian Express has learnt.

• With the draft rules under the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act — it was enacted in December 2025 — now released and expected to provide greater clarity on the legal framework around licensing for new nuclear projects once notified, the state-owned company plans to streamline its functions through the new vertical.

• This vertical will be a gateway for entities seeking access to pressurised heavy-water reactor (PHWR) technology and technical expertise, including technology support, design reviews and quality assurance.

• The move comes amid growing interest in PHWRs among prospective public and private sector entrants as a preferred technology for the initial phase of India’s nuclear capacity expansion, given its established domestic supply chain and ecosystem.

• Currently, NPCIL implements PHWR-based nuclear power projects through indigenous technology developed in India. The country has a nuclear power capacity of 8.7 gigawatt-electric (GWe), all of which is run and operated by NPCIL.

• Earlier, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), in its roadmap for achieving 100 GWe nuclear capacity by 2047, had also identified PHWRs as a prime candidate for adoption by other public sector undertakings and private companies.

• It suggested that the proposed agency could be established under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), with experts drawn from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research and other specialised DAE units.

Do You Know:

• Domestic PHWRs are considered the most viable nuclear option, at around Rs 18 crore/MWe, for the price-sensitive Indian power market. Imported Russian, French and US technologies cost a lot more. Established design standards and a mature domestic supply chain are being flagged as key advantages for deployment of PHWRs in the initial phase of nuclear expansion.

• Industry insiders said foreign reactor technologies such as light water reactors (LWRs) or pressurised water reactors (PWRs) are more expensive than indigenous PHWRs. Some estimates peg the cost of Indian reactors at around Rs 18 crore per megawatt-electric (MWe), compared with about Rs 34 crore per MWe for Russian reactors, while reactors
from France and the US are estimated to cost much more.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Key nuclear deal breakthrough: US clears firm to build and design n-reactors in India

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
4) In India, why are some nuclear reactors kept under “IAEA safeguards” while others are not? (UPSC CSE, 2020)
(a) Some use uranium and others use thorium
(b) Some use imported uranium and others use domestic supplies
(c) Some are operated by foreign enterprises and others are operated by domestic enterprises
(d) Some are State-owned and others are privately owned

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍With growing energy needs should India keep on expanding its nuclear energy programme? Discuss the facts and fears associated with nuclear energy. (UPSC, GS3, 2018)

Explained

Strikes to sanctions: The limits of US move on Iran

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.

What’s the ongoing story: On Monday (August 24), the US threatened to impose severe sanctions on any country or entity that maintains economic ties with Iran. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who announced ‘Operation Economic Outcast’, termed it “Economic D-Day”, a reference to the June 1944 Allied offensive against Nazi-occupied France.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is ‘Operation Economic Outcast’, or “Economic D-Day”?

• Why US threatened to impose severe sanctions on any country or entity that maintains economic ties with Iran?

• What can be the implications of Economic D-Day?

• How do US sanctions on Iran create a strategic dilemma for India?

• Why does India’s dependence on imported crude make geopolitical stability in West Asia a matter of domestic economic security?

Key Takeaways:

• The US has issued fresh sanctions against Iran’s digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping sectors, with the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioning “nearly 60 entities, individuals, and vessels in multiple jurisdictions that enable the Iranian regime’s recklessness”. These include sanctions against firms across countries such as China, UK, France, Singapore, UAE and Ukraine.

• In the hours following the announcement, Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces, Asim Munir, made his second trip to Tehran since the March war. Islamabad described the visit as part ⁠of its efforts ⁠to “promote regional peace and stability”. Al Arabiya also reported that Munir spoke to US President Donald Trump in the lead-up to the visit.

• These interlinked developments come at a time when the US appears to be shifting away from its military strategy that has failed to dislodge the Iranian regime. Both countries are entering a de facto ceasefire following the expiry of the interim peace framework’s 60-day implementation period.

Do You Know:

• The US’s new ‘Economic D-Day’ sanctions are only the latest in a series of sanctions regimes that Washington has had in place against Iran since 1979, the year of the revolution.

• President Trump intensified these sanctions through his “maximum pressure” campaign in his first term (2017-2021). While the Joe Biden administration diluted this campaign’s measures, the second Trump administration renewed them in February 2025.

• This meant that by the time the US attacked Iran a year later, the Iranian economy was reeling from inflation crossing 50% (near hyperinflation), national per capita income dropping to about $5,000, rising youth unemployment and the rial in near free-fall. The currency has now fallen to around 2 million rial per US dollar.

• Historically, US sanctions on Iran have proven to have a limited deterrence effect. Despite their adverse economic effect, the principal affected party is the citizenry of Iran with government actors consolidating power further as the sole arbiter of resources.

• Now, the imposition of the D-Day sanctions reflects the limits of military means as an effective coercion instrument against the Islamic republic. But they also represent a large-scale unlearning of Washington’s lessons from its history of economic coercion against Tehran. Iran has near-continually been the most heavily sanctioned country in this century. Its sustained ability to both prevent regime collapse as well as to militarily respond to American attacks successfully in 2026 have already proved the ineffectiveness of Washington’s historic economic measures.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Trump’s Iran ‘economic pressure’ plan: 5 ways he could squeeze Tehran

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
5) What is the importance of developing Chabahar Port by India? (UPSC CSE, 2017)
(a) India’s trade with African countries will enormously increase.
(b) India’s relations with oil-producing Arab countries will be strengthened.
(c) India will not depend on Pakistan for access to Afghanistan and Central Asia.
(d) Pakistan will facilitate and protect the installation of a gas pipeline between Iraq and India.

$100,000 fee for h-1B: The new legal route Trump is pursuing

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.

What’s the ongoing story: Barely two months after a US federal court struck down the Donald Trump administration’s $100,000 charge on new H-1B visa petitions, the administration is trying again. This time, through a formal rulemaking process and under a different provision of immigration law.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is H-1B visas ?

• What is the role of H-1B visas in shaping India-U.S. relations?

• How can diversifying the scope of H-1B visa applications beyond IT benefit both nations?

• What are the challenges posed by the Trump administration’s immigration policies on the H-1B visa program?

• What sectors can Indian professionals explore to mitigate the challenges posed by restrictive U.S. visa policies?

• What are the strategic importance of the H-1B visa program for India and the U.S?

• How does the H-1B visa program contribute to the U.S. economy?

• What are the implications of H-1B visa restrictions on global talent mobility?

• In the context of the Trump administration, how can Indian policymakers address the challenges faced by Indian professionals due to restrictive U.S. immigration policies?

Key Takeaways:

• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed an additional $103,265 fee on every H-1B petition subject to the annual visa cap. The amount would be paid by the sponsoring employer at the time of filing, on top of existing H-1B fees. The proposal is not yet in force, and has been opened for public comments for 30 days, after which DHS would have to consider submissions and issue a final rule.

• The H-1B programme has come under heightened scrutiny in the US amid a wider debate among its critics over whether it is being used for its original purpose — allowing companies to fill specialised jobs for which sufficiently skilled American workers are unavailable — or as a route to access cheaper foreign labour.

• The Trump administration has argued that some companies, particularly in the technology sector, have continued to hire H-1B workers even while laying off US employees, and that the programme can suppress wages and reduce opportunities for American graduates. Indians, who are the biggest beneficiaries of the visa programme, stand to lose the most if the current proposal goes through.

Do You Know:

• The H-1B programme allows US employers to hire foreign workers in “specialty occupations”, typically jobs requiring at least a bachelor’s degree. The US Congress caps new H-1Bs at 65,000 a year, with another 20,000 available to people with a master’s or higher degree from a US university.

• The new $103,265 charge would apply to these cap-subject petitions, including the advanced-degree category. It would not apply to cap-exempt H-1B petitions, including many filed by universities, non-profit research institutions and government research organisations.

• DHS estimates the fee would raise about $8.8 billion annually, assuming 85,000 fee-paying petitions. Unlike a normal visa processing charge, the money is meant to support costs across the wider immigration system. The proposal also makes clear that the policy has a labour-market objective. DHS says a six-figure charge would make employers less likely to choose an H-1B worker over a qualified American unless they genuinely need the foreign worker’s specialised skills.

• Trump had imposed the earlier charge through a September 2025 presidential directive, relying on provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allow the president to restrict the entry of foreigners deemed detrimental to US interests.

• The stakes are particularly high for Indians. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data show that people born in India accounted for 71% of all approved H-1B petitions in FY2024. People born in China come a distant second, hovering at the 12-13% mark since 2018.

• Between October 2022 to September 2023, 72% of the nearly 4 lakh visas issued under the H-1B program went to Indian nationals. During the same period, top four Indian IT majors with a presence in the US — namely Infosys, TCS, HCL, and Wipro — got approval for around 20,000 employees to work on the H-1B visa, as per USCIS data.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Trump says he has ‘always liked’ H-1B visas: How the programme did under his last term

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
6) Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2023)
Statements-I: Recently, the United States of America (USA) and the European Union (EU) have launched the ‘Trade and Technology Council’.
Statement-II: The USA and the EU claim that through this they are trying to bring technological progress and physical productivity under their control.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
(a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I
(b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I
(c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect
(d) Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍“India’s global diaspora acts as a living bridge, as a critical economic factor and knowledge network in transforming cultural heritage into geopolitical influence and strategic leverage worldwide.” Critically examine this statement. (UPSC, GS2, 2026)

 

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

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

  

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