UPSC Key: SC order on stray dogs, Abraham Accords, and Maoism insurgency
Why is Supreme Court judgement on stray dogs important for your UPSC exam? What significance do topics such as climate change, US-China relations, and Abraham Accords have for both the Preliminary and Main exams? You can learn more by reading the Indian Express UPSC Key for November 8, 2025.
The Supreme Court put the onus of removing the strays on the respective jurisdictional municipal body or authority and posted the matter for receiving the compliance report after eight weeks, on January 13, 2026. Know more in our UPSC Key. (File)
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: Noting that “incidents of dog-bite attacks continue to be reported with alarming frequency”, the Supreme Court directed Friday that stray dogs be removed “forthwith” from the premises of educational institutions, hospitals, sports complexes, bus stands and depots, and railway stations to “a designated shelter, after due sterilization and vaccination in accordance with the animal birth control rules”.
Key Points to Ponder:
— Which animal bites cause rabies in humans?
— Is rabies a viral or bacterial disease?
— What are the reasons for rabies-related mortality in India?
— What are the provisions of the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001?
— What is the Capture-Sterilize-Vaccinate-Release (CSVR) model?
— How has judicial intervention safeguarded the fundamental right to life and safety of citizens?
— What are the challenges of removing stray dogs from public places?
— What are the concerns related to logistics?
Key Takeaways:
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— Stating that its directions be “implemented uniformly across India” with “status compliance certificates within a period of eight weeks”, a three-judge bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria said “the stray dogs so picked up shall not be released back to the same location from which they were picked up”.
— Noting that “after Independence, despite significant advances in public health, India continues to report one of the world’s highest statistics of rabies-related mortality,” it said that despite the Animal Birth Control Rules, which “established the Capture-Sterilize-Vaccinate-Release (CSVR) model as the principal method for controlling the stray dog population”,
— the “implementation of these Rules has been ineffective, to say the least, across jurisdictions and the persistence of stray dog population has continued to imperil public safety in many parts of the country”.
— Directing state governments and Union Territories to identify these vulnerable institutional areas within a period of two weeks…
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— It asked the “management of every educational institution, hospital, sports complex, bus stand, railway stations identified under direction” to “designate a nodal officer responsible for the upkeep and cleanliness of the premises and for ensuring that the stray dogs do not enter or inhabit the campus”.
— The bench warned that “any lapse in this regard shall be viewed seriously”… It will consider the compliance reports on January 13, 2026.
Do You Know:
— According to data from the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, 3,196 dog bite cases have been reported till January. The figure was 25,210 in 2024 and it was 17,874 in 2023.
— Children — especially those under 10 years of age — are at a higher risk for severe or fatal outcomes following a dog bite, experts opine. The seriousness of a dog bite depends on factors such as wound depth, extent of damage to tissues, the location, and the dog’s vaccination status. — Even minor-looking bites should be carefully monitored, as per the experts. Immediate washing, cleaning, and medical treatment of the wound are crucial to prevent infection.
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— Dog bites are dangerous due to the bacteria harboured in the animal’s mouth, which can cause serious infection, including staphylococcus, pasteurella, and capnocytophaga, once the skin is broken.
— The bite itself may damage the skin, muscles, tendons, nerves, or even bones, especially in severe cases, which can result in scarring, disability, or even death, he underlines.
— “Complications from infection, such as sepsis, can be life-threatening if left untreated. Another critical risk is rabies, a fatal viral disease that can be transmitted through dog saliva.”
— Survival from a rabies infection is extremely rare, according to doctors. Once symptoms appear, rabies is considered one of the deadliest infections known, with a nearly 100% fatality rate.
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— Only a handful of human survivors have ever been documented worldwide, often due to either extremely aggressive critical care or infection by a weakened strain of the virus.
— Generally, if post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) — a series of rabies vaccines begun before the onset of symptoms — is not received, the outcome is fatal.
— Seeking medical care within 24 hours for any animal bite that breaks the skin is vital to reduce the risk of bacterial infection, tetanus, or contracting fatal diseases like rabies, according to experts.
— Even apparently minor bites can drive bacteria deep into tissue, leading to infection that may develop rapidly, with symptoms such as redness, swelling, discharge, or fever, caution experts.
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— Rabies is a viral disease that can infect any mammal, not just dogs. While dogs account for the majority of human rabies cases — especially in developing countries — many other animals are possible carriers. These include cats, cattle, horses, goats, ferrets, bats, raccoons, skunks, foxes, coyotes, and monkeys.
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
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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: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Kazakhstan will join the Abraham Accords to have normalized relations between Israel and Muslim-majority nations.
Key Points to Ponder:
— What are Abraham Accords?
— Which countries are part of the Abraham Accords?
— What is the significance of the Abraham Accords?
— Why is the USA pushing for this Accord?
— How does it bring stability to the region?
— What is the role of Gaza ceasefire in reviving Abraham Accords?
— Assess India’s relationship with Central Asian countries.
— Map work: Location of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
Key Takeaways:
— The announcement came after Trump said he had held a call with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
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— Kazakhstan already has full diplomatic relations and economic ties with Israel, meaning the move would be largely symbolic, something Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back against on Thursday.
— Trump met with Tokayev alongside four other Central Asian leaders from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan at the White House on Thursday as the US seeks to gain influence in a region long dominated by Russia and increasingly courted by China.
— The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain established ties with Israel in 2020 under the Trump-brokered Abraham Accords. Morocco established ties with Israel later the same year.
— Trump has been upbeat about the prospects that regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia will finally join the accords since a ceasefire went into effect in Gaza last month, but Riyadh has shown no willingness to move ahead without at least a pathway to Palestinian statehood.
— Other Central Asian countries such as Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, both of which have close ties with Israel, have also been seen as potentially joining the Abraham Accords, which is considered a signature foreign policy achievement of Trump’s first term.
Do You Know:
— Under the Abraham Accords, which were signed in September 2020, the UAE and Bahrain became the first Arab countries to formally recognise Israel since 1994. Later, Morocco also agreed to normalise relations with Israel, taking the number of Arab countries that recognised the Jewish state to five, with Egypt and Jordan being the only ones to do it earlier.
— Though Sudan also announced that it would recognise the state of Israel, it has not been formalised yet.
— The second Trump administration has been trying to expand the Abraham Accords to more Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Lebanon.
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Linkages between development and spread of extremism
What’s the ongoing story: Prakash Singh writes: The Maoist insurgency, which was at one time described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as “the gravest internal security threat” to the country, is undergoing a complete meltdown.
Key Points to Ponder:
— What is Maoist insurgency?
— What is Left-Wing Extremism (LWE)?
— Know about the origin of Maoism in India
— What are the steps taken by the government to curb Maoism?
— The physical defeat of insurgency does not necessarily signify the extinction of its ideological roots. Elaborate.
— What are the steps need to be taken for the government to eliminate the possibility of rise of Naxalism?
Key Takeaways:
— According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database, 333 Maoists have been killed and 398 arrested by the security forces in Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) related incidents across the country during the current year till October 29. Mass surrenders have been dramatic.
— The total number of districts affected by LWE, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs, has shrunk to 11, with only 3 districts (Bijapur, Sukma and Narayanpur) in the most affected category. It may be recalled that 15 years ago, 223 districts were affected in varying degrees by LWE violence.
— This is a huge achievement and the result of the central political leadership successfully pursuing an integrated and holistic approach to deal with the problem of LWE insurgency. It also shows the tremendous potential of our police and central armed police forces to subdue and defeat an insurgency.
— The Maoist movement, in retrospect, was bound to fail in the country. In the initial stages, when Charu Mazumdar, the chief ideologue of the party, gave the slogans “China’s Chairman is our Chairman” and “China’s path is our path”, several party leaders expressed their reservations. Any revolutionary movement, to be successful, must have its roots in the soil and draw inspiration from local heroes and local literature.
— They were drawn to the movement because it took up the cause of the landless, the deprived, the marginalised, the displaced and the exploited. The question today is, have their grievances been addressed?
— The ideological undercurrent that inspired the Naxalite movement — a deep sense of injustice arising from social inequality, economic deprivation, and political marginalisation — unfortunately continues to persist. The physical defeat of insurgency does not necessarily signify the extinction of its ideological roots.
— The Naxalite philosophy, stripped of its potential for violence but retaining its moral critique of inequality and exploitation, may well endure and erupt again — maybe in a different form, maybe under a different label in the future.
— Economic growth without equitable distribution creates a fertile ground for protest. In most LWE-affected districts, human-development indicators lag far behind the national averages. The Human Development Index (HDI) for Malkangiri district (Odisha) — a LWE stronghold — is only 0.37, compared to the state’s average of 0.579.
— Tribal communities concentrated in mineral-rich areas of central India have, in fact, borne the brunt of “development”. Large-scale mining, dam, and industrial projects have displaced thousands, often without adequate rehabilitation or compensation.
— The Government of India is well on its way to defeating the Maoist insurrection. It is a matter of pride and great satisfaction. However, the ideological spark that ignited Naxalbari will perhaps not be extinguished so easily and will continue to flicker beneath the surface unless we bridge the chasm between glittering growth and the grim realities of inequality and deprivation.
Do You Know:
— While often conflated, Maoism, Naxalism, and Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) have distinct origins. Maoism is based on Mao Zedong’s doctrine of agrarian revolution and guerrilla warfare. Its Indian variant emerged with the 1967 Naxalbari uprising, leading to the broader Naxalite movement.
— Over decades, this transformed itself into factions, with the CPI (Maoist) becoming the dominant group in 2004 through the merger of the People’s War Group (PWG) and the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC). LWE is the term used by the Indian state to categorise such insurgencies within a national security framework.
— The Maoist insurgency traces its roots to the CPI(Marxist-Leninist) founded by Charu Mazumdar and Kanu Sanyal. The movement fractured during the 1970s–90s into numerous groups, many of which operated in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh.
— The 2004 unification of PWG and MCC marked a turning point, resulting in a stronger organisational base and the creation of the PLGA (People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army), aimed at expanding Maoist control in India’s central tribal belt.
— Under the UPA (2004–2014), operations like “Green Hunt” and schemes such as the Backward Regions Grant Fund and Integrated Action Plan were launched but criticised for poor tribal outreach. In contrast, since 2014, the NDA has adopted a dual strategy under the National Policy and Action Plan (2015) – zero tolerance for violence and development-led governance
Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍Left Wing Extremism (LWE) is showing a downward trend, but still affects many parts of the country. Briefly explain the Government of India’s approach to counter the challenges posed by LWE. (UPSC CSE 2018)
📍What are the determinants of left-wing extremism in the Eastern part of India? What strategy should the Government of India, civil administration and security forces adopt to counter the threat in the affected areas? (UPSC CSE 2020)
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
What’s the ongoing story: The association of climate change with industrialisation is well known. What is less understood are the connections between global warming and environmental shifts over the last 500 years. Environmental historian Sunil Amrith joins the dots in The Burning Earth.
Key Points to Ponder:
— What do you understand from this quote of Mahatma Gandhi: “The world has enough for everyone’s needs but not enough for everyone’s greed”.
— How to create a balance between human welfare and resolving climate change?
— What are the reasons for the increase in climate change induced disasters?
— What are the global efforts in tackling climate change?
— How human need and greed induce climate change?
— What is climate-change precipitated migration?
— How is climate change creating refugees around the world?
— Think about examples from your everyday life where human greed and human need are cause for climate change
Key Takeaways:
— While writing, I often thought of Mahatma Gandhi’s statement: “the world has enough for everyone’s need but not enough for everyone’s greed”. We need to look at both the story of human need and human greed to understand how we arrived at this point of the planetary crisis.
* In what ways were attitudes of post-colonial regimes, and their scientists similar and dissimilar to that of their colonial forebears?
— Post-colonial regimes and their scientists were far more ambitious than their colonial forebears — they were more morally ambitious and more technically ambitious. Many of them were motivated by a genuine sense that technology would bring social liberation.
* In what respects have post-colonial India and China been similar in ways they have framed the environment? Where have they diverged?
— One idea in The Burning Earth is that a key sensibility that linked India and China — and many other post-colonial societies — was an emphasis on haste. Despite fundamental differences in ideology and the form of government, their leaders shared a sense that, however fast change was happening, it was not happening fast enough. This opened the way to environmental recklessness.
* There’s a school of thought which holds that the era of migration is over. There is also another school that warns of waves of climate-change precipitated migration. What are your views?
— The relationship between climate change and migration is complex. Climate pressures are indeed adding to the strain that many rural families feel. But except in cases of sudden disasters — where movements to safety tend to be short-term — environmental pressures combine with other factors to shape patterns of migration: poverty, debt, access to capital, the presence or absence of social networks, and the cultural imagination of what opportunities lie elsewhere.
Do You Know:
— About the author Sunil Amrit: Historian Sunil Amrith has been named the winner of the 2025 British Academy Book Prize for The Burning Earth: An Environmental History of the Last 500 Years, a panoramic account of how human ambition has transformed the planet, and how the planet, in turn, has shaped human history.
— Amrith has become the13th winner of the British Academy’s non-fiction book prize that has been awarded annually since 2013. It recognises work that “searches for truth and reason in difficult places, and shines a light on the connections and divisions that shape cultural identity worldwide.”
— His central claim is that you cannot separate human history from the history of the Earth. Environmental transformation has always been political, driven by the forces of power, profit, inequality, which define our societies. He describes the destruction of landscapes and livelihoods with empathy, revealing how the pursuit of progress reshaped both people and planet.
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(3) In the context of mitigating the impending global warming due to anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide, which of the following can be the potential sites for carbon sequestration? (UPSC CSE 2017)
1. Abandoned and uneconomic coal seams
2. Depleted oil and gas reservoirs
3. Subterranean deep saline formations
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
‘Climate Change’ is a global problem. How India will be affected by climate change? How Himalayan and coastal states of India will be affected by climate change? (UPSC CSE 2017)
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: Minutes before US President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week in South Korea, he said in a post on his website, Truth Social, that “THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY!”.
Key Points to Ponder:
— What is QUAD grouping?
— Who are ASEAN countries?
— How is the USA relationship with China under Trump 1.0 different from Trump 2.0?
— How has the US and China relationship evolved in recent times?
— What is the significance of the Indo-Pacific for the USA?
— How is Chinese aggression in the South China Sea a cause of concern for India?
— What is the status of the trade deal between India and the US? What are key issues in their trade talk?
— How is India evaluating the changing dynamics between the US and China?
Key Takeaways:
— “G-2” was first coined in 2005 by economist and author C. Fred Bergsten, then Director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, in his book The United States and the World Economy. He wrote that amid changing power equations, the US needed to focus on cultivating some key bilateral relationships, calling them the “G-2”.
— These included the “European Union (for macroeconomic, monetary, and some other issues), China (inter alia for global growth, exchange rates, and energy), Japan (for trade and to counter China’s rise), and Saudi Arabia (for energy).”
— It became part of policy debates in the wake of the international financial crisis of 2008. Bergsten later defended the concept, writing in Foreign Affairs magazine that it was never meant to replace any other relationships, or groups like the G-20 (which includes India) or institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation.
— Bergsten argued that “There will be no sustained recovery from the current global economic crisis unless the United States and China lead it.” Similarly, as the largest polluters globally, “There will be no international compact on global warming unless they embrace it”.
— Since 2013, when Xi came to power, China has increasingly asserted itself in various domains, including military muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific.
— The US, under Trump 1.0 from 2017 to 2021, played a pivotal role in pushing back against China. In fact, it was the Trump administration which framed China as a strategic threat and rival for the first time in 2017, defining China’s belligerent actions as a threat to the US and the West-led rules-based global order.
— That led to the revival of the Quad grouping — comprising India, Japan, Australia and the US — in November 2017, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asia leaders’ summit in the Philippines.
— Having experienced Chinese aggression in the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific firsthand, ASEAN nations were relieved at the US’s presence and renewed focus in the region.
— The new framing, indicating parity between the countries, has worried US partners about how Washington would now treat them after years of committing to cooperating against Chinese actions, with a potential softening on China. The tariff saga under Trump 2.0 had already cast a shadow on the earlier certainties and assumptions about US policy.
Do You Know:
— Following the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, India, Japan, Australia, and the US created an informal alliance to collaborate on disaster relief efforts. In 2007, then PM of Japan, Shinzo Abe, formalised the alliance, as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or the Quad.
— The group’s primary objectives include maritime security, addressing the risks of climate change, creating an ecosystem for investment in the region, and boosting technological innovation. In 2020-21, the grouping also collaborated to combat the Covid-19 crisis, especially vis-à-vis vaccine diplomacy.
— Quad members have also indicated a willingness to expand the partnership through a so-called Quad Plus that would include South Korea, New Zealand, and Vietnam, amongst others.
— Members of ASEAN: Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, East Timor, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, East Timor, Brunei and Laos.
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation, of resources, growth, development and employment.
What’s the ongoing story: The official release on Monday (November 3) said GST revenue “soars” in October 2025, which also saw festive spending on account of Diwali. A total of Rs 1,95,936 crores flowed into the government coffers last month — an increase of 4.6% over October last year.
Key Points to Ponder:
— What is GST?
— What was the objective of introducing GST?
— How has it impacted state finances?
— How has the centre compensated the states for the loss?
— How is GSDP calculated?
Key Takeaways:
— The official release stated: “It is commendable that several industrial and service-oriented states have reported a significant growth in GST collections compared to October 2024… Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Haryana together contributed over 40% of the total GST revenue, underscoring their role as major consumption and production hubs.”
— But a closer inspection of the data showed that as many as 20 states and union territories actually saw their GST revenues contract in October. In fact, since its introduction in 2017, many states have complained about GST revenues, especially when compared to the system before GST.
— “Since its introduction, aggregate revenue from subsumed taxes of the Centre and states has declined from 6.5% of GDP in 2015-16 (in the pre-GST regime) to 5.5% of GDP in 2023-24,” it states. For perspective, it is noteworthy that in 2020-21, the 15th Finance Commission had estimated a GST-to-GDP ratio of 7% over the medium term.
— The inadequacy of overall GST revenues to match the pre-GST level also means several states are now worse off.
CHART_GST
— But not all states were affected equally. While most states saw their revenues decline, some saw them rise — five to be exact. The CHART alongside lays down the changes in those five states as well as the five states that got the biggest hit.
— It is the north-eastern states of Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Meghalaya and Manipur that have seen an improvement in their subsumed tax to GSDP ratios as compared to the pre-GST regime. GSDP refers to the state’s GDP or economic output.
— In contrast, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha have witnessed the biggest drop in their revenue from the subsumed taxes as a percentage of GSDP.
Do You Know:
— GST is an indirect tax, while income tax is an example of direct tax. First introduced in 2017 through the 101st Constitution Amendment Act, 2016, GST replaced a number of central and state taxes that were imposed on manufactured goods.
— Before GST, there were several indirect taxes and levies at the central and state level, such as central sales tax, excise duty, value-added tax, and entry tax, etc. The GST replaced all of them.
— One of the primary objectives behind the implementation of GST 1.0 was to address the ‘cascading effect’ of the earlier indirect tax system, and its impact on lower-income groups. In doing so, the government introduced four tax slabs – 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.
— An important aspect of GST 1.0 was that products like petroleum and liquor for human consumption continued to be under the old excise tax system. Products like tobacco, cigarettes, pan masala, chewing tobacco were brought under GST and subjected to a 28% GST rate along with an additional compensation cess.
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(5) What is/are the most likely advantages of implementing ‘Goods and Services Tax (GST)’? (UPSC CSE 2017)
1. It will replace multiple taxes collected by multiple authorities and will thus create a single market in India.
2. It will drastically reduce the ‘Current Account Deficit’ of India and will enable it to increase its foreign exchange reserves.
3. It will enormously increase the growth and size of the economy of India and will enable it to overtake China in the near future.
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
Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
Enumerate the indirect taxes which have been subsumed in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India. Also, comment on the revenue implications of the GST introduced in India since July 2017. (UPSC CSE 2019)
THE STANDING committee of the National Board for Wildlife (SC-NBWL) has recommended approval for 12 key defence projects in Ladakh, of which, Defence Ministry has said, some are necessary for “high level of operational preparedness” in the context of “increasing assertiveness of People’s Liberation Army (PLA)”.
The latest round of approvals are in line with a push to ramp up infrastructure near the LAC in the aftermath of the 2020 Galwan clash with China that claimed the lives of 20 Indian Army personnel.
The standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife (SC-NBWL), chaired by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, has recommended reinstating Rhesus Macaque species of monkeys under Schedule II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, to restore statutory protection, enforcement against illegal capture, cruelty and to regulate its scientific management.
The matter of reinstating protection for the species was placed in the previous 85th meeting of the SC-NBWL for advice on policy framing. Subsequently, the ministry circulated a detailed questionnaire to Chief Wildlife Wardens of all states and Union Territories seeking reasoned statements.
PRELIMS ANSWER KEY
1. (b) 2. (c) 3. (d) 4. (a) 5. (a)
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Khushboo Kumari is a Deputy Copy Editor with The Indian Express. She has done her graduation and post-graduation in History from the University of Delhi. At The Indian Express, she writes for the UPSC section. She holds experience in UPSC-related content development. You can contact her via email: khushboo.kumari@indianexpress.com ... Read More