UPSC Key: Social media addiction trial, Nationally Determined Contributions and GLP-1 drugs

Key Points to Ponder:

• Map Work-Belarus and North Korea

• Belarus and North Korean signed a friendship and cooperation treaty-what are the key takeaways?

• What is the meaning of multipolar world order?

• What is the anti-West ideology?

• How global conflicts influencing bilateral relations in recent time?

• What is the role of Russia in shaping global alliances?

• What do you understand by alternative geopolitical blocs?

• India-Belarus bilateral relations-know in brief

Key Takeaways:

• Lukashenko, who was in Pyongyang on a two-day official visit, hailed the document as “fundamental,” and said that relations between the two countries are “entering a new stage,” according to his press service. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Friday that the leaders discussed boosting high-level cooperation and visits and exchanged their views on unspecified “international and regional issues of mutual concern.”

• Chang Yoon-jeong, a spokesperson for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles affairs related to North Korea, said the meeting with Lukashenko aligns with Kim’s foreign policy embracing the ideas of a “multipolar world order” and an “anti-West alliance.” The countries could also be pursuing stronger three-way cooperation with Moscow, she said.

• Lukashenko, however, has also been improving relations with the Trump administration, which announced Thursday it had eased restrictions on a group of Belarus-linked financial and potash companies. The move comes as the war in the Middle East squeezes global fertilizer supplies and limits access for some U.S. farmers.

Do You Know:

• Belarus is a close ally of Russia. Lukashenko allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory as a staging ground for the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and later authorized the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

• North Korea has also tilted his foreign policy toward Moscow in recent years, sending thousands of troops and large quantities of weapons to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine while portraying the North as part of a united front against Washington.

• North Korea has suspended all meaningful dialogue with Washington and Seoul since the collapse of his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019 over U.S.-led sanctions on the North. Kim’s government has been rejecting dialogue offers by Trump after the American president entered his second term, and has called for Washington to drop the demands for North Korea’s nuclear disarmament as a precondition for reviving talks.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Belarus’ Lukashenko joins Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ as US eases his isolation

UPSC Prelims Practice Question Covering similar theme:
1) Consider the following statement:
I. Belarus is located in Eastern Europe.
II. North Korea is in East Asia.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) I only
(b) II only
(c) I and II both
(d) None

Explained

India’s new climate targets are modest but significant

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

What’s the ongoing story: India on Wednesday (March 25) revealed its climate targets for 2035, promising to make further progress on cutting the carbon intensity of its economy, expanding the deployment of renewable energy and creating carbon sinks from forests and trees.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Know the terms-climate finance, clean energy, carbon sinks and the 2015 Paris Agreement

• What are non-fossil fuel sources?

• What are the renewable energy sources?

• Non-fossil fuel sources and renewable energy sources-compare and contrast

• What is emissions per unit of GDP?

• What is the emissions intensity in India?

• What is the meaning of renewable energy deployment?

• India’s previous NDC target and present upgraded NDC target-what has changed?

• “India’s reaffirmation of the clean energy pathway is extremely important in the current global situation”-Why it is important?

• Why countries are being forced to re-evaluate their policy options regarding energy, economy and security?

• “India has been extremely unhappy with the outcome of the climate finance negotiations in Baku in 2024”-Know about the climate finance negotiations in Baku in 2024

• What is intended nationally determined contribution?

• What are nationally determined contributions and national adaptation plans?

• India’s updated nationally determined contributions-What are the key provisions

• India’s updated nationally determined contributions (NDCs)-know its importance

• What kind of challenges faced by India in the actual clean energy transition?

Key Takeaways:

• India said it would ensure that at least 60% of its electricity installed capacity in 2035 was based on non-fossil fuel sources, up from the 50% target it had set for 2030.
—It has promised to attain at least a 47% reduction in emissions intensity, or emissions per unit of GDP, on 2005 levels, which is two percentage points more than its current target of 45% for 2030. —It has also promised to create a carbon sink that is at least 3.5 to 4 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent larger than what existed in 2005.

• Each of the new targets marks a progression over existing commitments for 2030, a mandatory requirement under the 2015 Paris Agreement.—Under this 2015 pact, every country is obligated to decide upon, and implement, a set of climate actions that help the global fight against climate change. These are referred to as nationally-determined contributions, or NDCs— emphasising the fact that countries themselves decide the nature and scale of climate actions.

India’s NDCs on climate.

• On the face of it, India’s new climate targets seem to be only a slight enhancement over its existing 2030 commitments, which it is on course to achieve well ahead of time. The renewable energy target has already been met and the other two might also be close to being achieved once fresh data on those indicators are available.

• The chain of events triggered by Donald Trump’s re-election as President of the US has resulted in a serious erosion in global efforts on climate change. These events have not just slowed down progress on climate, but threaten to reverse the momentum that was building on the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy.

• Considering the progress it has already made on its existing commitments, India, perhaps, was in a position to make bigger enhancements to its 2035 targets.
—For example, a recently released document by the Central Electricity Authority projected that the share of non-fossil fuel sources in the electricity generation capacity could go from the current 52% to 70% by 2035. India, however, has set a target of only 60% in its NDC for 2035. This shows that the country would be willing to do more only whenever it can, and not want to be constrained by international commitments that have to be made in advance.
—One of the reasons for India not aiming higher in its 2035 targets, despite seemingly being in a position to do so, could have something to do with its disappointment over the failure of the developed countries to make more money available for climate action.

• India has been extremely unhappy with the outcome of the climate finance negotiations in Baku in 2024, where the developed countries only agreed to raise about $300 billion a year for the developing countries, and only from 2035. The developing countries had been demanding that at least $1.3 trillion a year be made available for them to finance their climate actions.

• India has also been arguing that the lack of adequate money would compel countries such as itself to scale down the ambition of their climate actions.

• As a result, finding low-cost, long-term finance — both from domestic as well as international sources — for green investments has been identified as one of the core objectives in India’s 2035 climate plan.

Do You Know:

• According to PMO released statement, “the Union Cabinet, has approved India’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for the period 2031 to 2035, enhancing the country’s ambition under the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement while reinforcing its commitment to sustainable development and climate justice”.

• The PMO released statement further asserts that India’s original climate commitments i.e. NDC submitted in 2015, laid a strong foundation, with targets by 2030 of 33–35% reduction in the emissions intensity of GDP and 40% share of non-fossil resources based electric power installed capacity, both of which were met, 11 years and 9 years ahead of the committed timelines, demonstrating a credible and action-oriented approach to climate governance. Now the target has now been enhanced to 47% to be achieved by 2035.

• According to the UNFCCC website, Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and the achievement of its long-term goals. NDCs embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Paris Agreement (Article 4, paragraph 2) requires each Party to prepare, communicate and maintain successive nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that it intends to achieve

• According to the UNFCCC website, the Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 195 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015. It entered into force on 4 November 2016. Currently, as of 27 January 2026, there are 194 Parties to the Paris Agreement.
—Its overarching goal is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”

• According to the UNFCCC website, at the COP29 UN Climate Change Conference in Baku (November 2024), nearly 200 countries established a new climate finance goal, aiming to increase annual funding for developing nations to USD 300 billion by 2035. This agreement, known as the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on Climate Finance, includes an aspirational, broader aim of mobilizing $1.3 trillion per year from public and private sources by 2035.

• According to the PIB, at COP29 in Baku (2024), India strongly rejected the new climate finance deal, calling the agreed USD 300 billion annual target by 2035 “abysmally poor” and “an optical illusion”. Representing the Global South, India argued this falls far short of the required $1.3 trillion annual funding needed for developing nations, emphasizing the need for public, grant-based finance rather than loans.

• According to the UNFCCC website, Climate finance refers to local, national or transnational financing—drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing—that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change. The Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement call for financial assistance from Parties with more financial resources to those that are less endowed and more vulnerable.

• A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases – for example, plants, the ocean and soil.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍India targets 47% emission intensity cut, 60% electricity capacity from non-fossils by 2035

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
2) The term ‘Intended Nationally Determined Contributions’ is sometimes seen in the news in the context of (UPSC CSE, 2016)
a) pledges made by the European countries to rehabilitate refugees from the war-affected Middle East
b) plan of action outlined by the countries of the world to combat climate change
c) capital contributed by the member countries in the establishment of Asian Infrastructure Investment
d) Bank plan of action outlined by the countries of the world regarding Sustainable Development Goals

3) Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2023)
Statement-I: Carbon markets are likely to be one of the most widespread tools in the fight
against climate change.
Statement-II: Carbon markets transfer resources from the private sector to the State.
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

(4) Consider the following activities: (UPSC CSE, 2023)
1. Spreading finely ground basalt rock on farmlands extensively
2. Increasing the alkalinity of oceans by adding lime
3. Capturing carbon dioxide released by various industries and pumping it into abandoned subterranean mines in the form of carbonated waters.
How many of the above activities are often considered and discussed for carbon capture and sequestration?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All three
(d) None

5) Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2025)
Statement I: At the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), India refrained from signing the ‘Declaration on Climate and Health’.
Statement II: The COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health is a binding declaration; and if signed, it becomes mandatory to decarbonize health sector.
Statement III: If India’s health sector is decarbonized, the resilience of its health-care system may be compromised.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
(a) Both Statement II and Statement III are correct and both of them explain Statement
(b) Both Statement II and Statement III are correct but only one of them explains Statement I
(c) Only one of the Statements II and III is correct and that explains Statement I
(d) Neither Statement II nor Statement II is correct

Why YouTube, Meta were held guilty in tech addiction trial

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests and Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

What’s the ongoing story: A US jury on Wednesday found Meta and YouTube guilty of deliberately designing addictive products that caused harm to a young user in a landmark social media addiction trial that will likely serve as a bellwether for future cases.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What you know about Social media addiction trial?

• Why Meta and YouTube were held guilty?

• ‘The jurors in a Los Angeles court found the tech companies to be negligent’-What exactly Los Angeles court said?

• What is product liability law?

• What is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act 1996?

• Does India also have similar act like Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act 1996?

• “Liability can arise from how a product is built rather than what it contains”-Analyse

• What is the concept of intermediary liability in India?

• What are the legal framework governing social media platforms in India?

• What are the issues and challenges in regulating social media platforms in India?

• How Social media addiction trial in USA will impact India?

Key Takeaways:

• The jurors in a Los Angeles court found the tech companies to be negligent in the design of the platform and in failing to warn users of its dangers.

• The jury said yes to questions that asked whether the platforms acted with malice, oppression and fraud. The jury awarded damages of $6 million, with Meta bearing around 70% of the liability and YouTube the remaining 30%.

• The present case is the first in a flurry of lawsuits filed by teenagers, school districts and states, claiming that platforms like Meta-owned Instagram and YouTube were designed to encourage excessive use by millions of young Americans.

• Twenty-year-old KGM started using YouTube when she was six, and Instagram at nine. She claimed that her addiction to social media led to anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia. The plaintiffs have argued that social media should be identified as a product and thus its design and other components must be held to product liability standards.

• Mark Lanier, her lawyer, compared this design to dopamine-seeking “slot machines”, and said that YouTube and Meta were operating like “digital casinos” with their endless scroll features fuelling dopamine hits and thus, addiction.

• Past lawsuits against social media companies over the harm they cause frequently ran into Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act 1996, which says that internet platforms cannot be held liable for content posted by their users. Courts had read it broadly enough to kill most lawsuits before they got anywhere near a jury.

• The plaintiffs in this case avoided that barrier by changing the claim itself, framing it instead around product design. It thus drew on principles from product liability law, where liability can arise from how a product is built rather than what it contains.

Do You Know:

• Meta owns Facebook and Instagram and has over 3.5 billion users, while nine out of ten American teenagers aged 13-17 overwhelmingly use YouTube, according to a 2025 Pew Research Center report. Meta has long been accused of addictive platform design by parents, child safety groups and tech policy advocates, and of causing mental health issues resulting in eating disorders and self-harm.

• The Government of India is learnt to be considering a graded approach to regulate children’s access to these platforms. For now, India has developed a framework of regulatory measures, self-regulatory codes, and educational initiatives, though critics argue that enforcement can be lax.

• Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, companies that collect the data of children – users under the age of 18 – must get their parent/ guardian’s consent. They also cannot track, monitor a child’s behaviour, or serve targeted ads directed to children. But it is widely believed that children would be able to get around this by simply misrepresenting their age.

• According to a report prepared by the think tank Indian Governance and Policy Project in November 2025, the Information Technology Act, 2000, has provisions which criminalises the creation of child sexual abuse material, the POCSO Act, 2012, defines and penalises online sexual exploitation and grooming, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 extends liability to digital/online offences against children including trafficking and harassment, and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 addresses online facilitation of child exploitation.

• Under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, platforms like Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, Apple TV etc. need to classify the content they host into five age based categories – U (Universal), U/A 7+, U/A 13+, U/A 16+, and A (Adult). These platforms are required to implement parental locks for content classified as U/A 13+ or higher, and reliable age verification mechanisms for content classified as “A”.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍What are the guardrails India is putting to safeguard young social media users?

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
📍Social media and encrypting messaging services pose a serious security challenge. What measures have been adopted at various levels to address the security implications of social media? Also suggest any other remedies to address the problem (2024)
📍Child cuddling is now being replaced by mobile phones. Discuss its impact on the socialization of children. (2023)

As war drags on, RBI may have to choose between forex reserves and rupee value

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

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

What’s the ongoing story: Earlier this week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said India’s foreign exchange reserves “remain adequate to provide cushion against external shocks”. The central bank’s assurances are crucial: so far in March, a net $12.1 billion worth of Indian shares have been sold by foreign investors – the highest monthly figure ever. This has dragged down the rupee to a new record low almost every other day.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is foreign exchange reserves?

• What is the foreign exchange reserves of India in 2026?

• What are components of the foreign reserves of India?

• How effective is RBI’s strategy in defending the Indian rupee?

• What is the difference between rupee appreciation and rupee depreciation?

• What are the reasons for current depreciation of Indian Rupee?

• What will be the impact, and will exporters benefit?

• What measures can the RBI and the government take to stabilize the currency?

• How does the fall of the Indian Rupee impact the macroeconomic indicators of India, such as inflation, foreign exchange reserves, and the current account deficit (CAD)?

Key Takeaways:

• At their current levels – $710 billion as on March 13 — the forex reserves are not far from the record of $728 billion that was hit at the end of February. However, this figure requires a lot of unpacking.

• The RBI can stop the rupee from falling in two ways.
—The first involves the central bank selling FX in the ‘spot’ market. This reduces the forex reserves immediately and helps the currency strengthen or not weaken further. But defending the rupee this way has an inadvertent impact on the domestic financial system: when the RBI sells FX, it gets rupees in return. This reduces rupee availability – or liquidity – in the Indian financial system and drives up interest rates. Which is why the central bank also sells FX in the ‘forward’ market: it gets the desired result – the rupee is defended – but not the undesirable indirect impact on interest rates. How? Because the RBI doesn’t have to immediately deliver the FX, but at a future date, rupee liquidity is not tightened.

• As per latest data for the end of January, the RBI had net sold $68 billion of FX in forwards. This figure has likely increased in the last two months considering the rupee has been under severe pressure in March. However, the RBI’s FX assets must be adjusted for these forward sales. Even if one conservatively assumes the figure to have remained at $68 billion, the FX assets number reduces to under $500 billion.

Do You Know:

• India’s forex reserves have four components: foreign currency (FX) assets, gold, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), and the Reserve Tranche Position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

• SDRs are a buffer of sorts for IMF members, who can exchange it for currency when they are in trouble. The value of SDRs is based on a basket of five currencies – the US dollar, the euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen, and the pound sterling. As of March 13, India’s SDR holdings were worth $18.7 billion. The reserve tranche position with the IMF is akin to an emergency line of credit. India’s reserve position is worth $4.8 billion.

• As such, the real heft in India’s forex reserves only comes from holdings of FX assets ($556 billion) and gold ($131 billion). However, selling gold for the RBI is a last resort – like it was the case during the Balance of Payments (BoP) crisis of ߇ the central bank can’t sell its gold on a day-to-day basis to defend the rupee.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Foreign exchange reserves adequate to provide cushion against external shocks: RBI’s State of the Economy article

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(6) Which of the following has/have occurred in India after its liberalization of economic policies in 1991? (UPSC CSE, 2017)
1. Share of agriculture in GDP increased enormously.
2. Share of India’s exports in world trade increased.
3. FDI inflows increased.
4. India’s foreign exchange reserves increased enormously.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1 and 4 only
(b) 2, 3 and 4 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

(7) With reference to the Indian economy, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2022)
1. If the inflation is too high, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to buy government securities.
2. If the rupee is rapidly depreciating, RBI is likely to sell dollars in the market.
3. If interest rates in the USA or European Union were to fall, that is likely to induce RBI to buy dollars.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

The Second Page

Centre pushes for biometric checks on SIM issuance to tackle digital arrest scams

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money-laundering and its prevention.

What’s the ongoing story: In a bid to tighten SIM card issuance and curb fraud, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has been directed to fast-track the rollout of a Biometric Identity Verification System (BIVS) across all telecom service providers within nine months.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is biometric identification?

• What is digital arrest?

• What are the efforts taken by the government to counter digital arrest?

• What are the legal framework governing SIM issuance in India?

• What are the ethical concerns in biometric verification?

Key Takeaways:

• The directions were issued by a high-level Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC) constituted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to tackle the threat of digital arrest. They came earlier this month during a high-level committee meeting chaired by a senior MHA official, with inputs from representatives of Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and DoT.

• According to the official, during the discussion, DoT is learnt to have informed that they currently identify multiple SIMs issued to an individual on a best-effort basis using demographic and facial data, as Aadhaar storage remains legally restricted.

• The official said that DoT and TSPs have been directed by the committee to explore slashing suspicious SIM blocking time to two-three hours. “TSPs have been directed to build mechanisms for sharing suspect spam and scam numbers among themselves, DoT, and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) for proactive blocking.”

Do You Know:

• Facial recognition technology-Facial recognition technology as the name suggests can identify a person by capturing his face from a photo or video. The technology can work in real-time as well and relies on advanced machine learning algorithms powered by deep neural networks to identify faces and map them to an existing data base.

• Digital Arrests-Online frauds and criminals typically call potential victims and tell them that they have sent or are the intended recipients of a parcel containing illegal goods, drugs, fake passports or any other contraband item. In some cases, the criminals contact relatives or friends of the target and tell them that the target has been found to be involved in a crime or an accident, and is in their custody.
—The criminals, who often use pictures or identities of police personnel to convey authenticity, usually demand money from the target for a ‘compromise’ and closure of the case. In certain cases, the victims are “digitally arrested”, and forced to stay visible over Skype or other video conferencing platforms to the criminals until their demands are met.
—The cybercriminals are also known to use studios that look like police stations or government offices, and to wear uniforms similar to those of law enforcement agencies.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Who watches the watchman? Why Indians need policy that safeguards data gathered by the government

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(8) The identity platform ‘Aadhaar’ provides open “Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)”. What does it imply? (UPSC CSE, 2018)
1. It can be integrated into any electronic device.
2. Online authentication using iris is possible.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

(9) In addition to fingerprint scanning, which of the following can be used in the biometric identification of a person? (UPSC CSE, 2014)
1. Iris scanning
2. Retinal scanning
3. Voice recognition
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

The Editorial Page

West Asia war is a warning. It’s also a window to securing our energy

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

What’s the ongoing story: Amitabh Kant Writes-The choices made today will determine whether India remains vulnerable to external shocks or becomes a nation that shapes its energy destiny

Key Points to Ponder:

• How the West Asia conflict impacts India’s energy security?

• India’s dependence on imported oil and gas-know in detail

• Why strategic petroleum reserves is important?

• How India has to be prepareded for global energy disruptions?

• Why energy diversification in India is important?

Key Takeaways:
Amitabh Kant Writes-

• The turbulence in West Asia is a reminder of a structural reality that India has long grappled with: Energy insecurity is not episodic; it is systemic. For a country that imports over 85 per cent of its crude oil, geopolitical volatility is not an external risk. But such crises also present opportunities. India has the scale, the policy momentum, and the entrepreneurial capacity to convert this vulnerability into a decisive advantage.

• The challenge must be used to redesign India’s energy architecture:
—First, India must accelerate its renewable energy (RE) ambition and move from incrementalism to scale.
—India must rethink energy consumption at the household level. LPG has played a transformative role in improving health outcomes and reducing indoor pollution. But it is import-dependent. Electric induction cooking offers a pathway to shift household energy consumption towards clean power. This transition requires scale and strategy.
—Third, transport electrification should become a national economic strategy. India must announce a clear and time-bound roadmap: Full electrification of new two-wheelers and three-wheelers by 2030, buses in the near term, and cars and trucks by 2035.
—Fourth, nuclear energy must be scaled as a long-term backbone of India’s energy mix. Renewables and storage will form the bulk of future capacity. But nuclear power provides the firm, non-intermittent supply that is essential for grid stability.
—Fifth, India must build end-to-end capabilities in critical minerals. The challenge is not just access to raw materials, but also processing and refining.
—Sixth, and this is where India’s current discourse remains underdeveloped — the country must position itself as a clean energy manufacturing hub. Solar modules, batteries, electrolysers, grid technologies and green hydrogen represent the next wave of global manufacturing.
—Seventh, financing the transition must become a core strategic priority. India must deepen its green finance ecosystem, including green bonds, blended finance structures, and sovereign-backed risk mitigation instruments.

Do You Know:
Amitabh Kant Writes-

• India’s existing target of 500 GW of RE by 2030 was bold when announced. Today, it’s no longer sufficient. A revised target of 1,500 GW by 2030 is both necessary and achievable. This pertains to both climate commitments and energy sovereignty. In 2025, China added almost 1,600 GW in clean energy (solar and wind), whereas India added a mere 49 GW.

• India’s renewable sector has attracted private capital from across the world. This was feasible because of predictable policies and actions through the Solar Energy Corporation of India. Similar policy frameworks are necessary across sectors to enable the private sector to attract capital and technology. Domestic financial institutions must be incentivised to lend to clean energy projects. Multilateral development banks and global climate funds must be leveraged more effectively. Carbon markets can play a catalytic role if designed with integrity and scale.

• India has demonstrated its ability to deliver at scale, whether through digital public infrastructure, financial inclusion, or RE deployment. Energy transition now requires a similar whole-of-government approach. The turbulence in West Asia is a warning. But it is also a window. The choices made today will determine whether India remains vulnerable to external shocks or becomes a nation that shapes its energy destiny.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍How India’s economy deals with West Asia war

The Ideas Page

Regulatory prudence will be key

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: K. Srinath Reddy Writes-The levels of benefits and risks associated with these relatively recent drugs still need to be carefully assessed in our patient population

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is semaglutide?

• What are generic medicines?

• What are GLP-1 drugs? What is its purpose?

• What are the major drugs to treat obesity?

• Will the new anti-obesity drugs that replicate actions of intestinal hormones, such as glucagon like peptide (GLP) and gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP), help in reducing body fat while providing cardio-metabolic benefits?

• Should doctors prescribing these drugs, and patients using them, be aware of the many possible adverse effects of these drugs?

• Is there adequate recognition of a rebound in obesity and fadeout of health benefits that many persons experience when they discontinue these drugs?

• What restrictions were imposed by the Director General of Health Services?

• What is a patent?

• What are the recent WHO guidelines on these obesity drugs?

• What is the status of generic medicines in India?

Key Takeaways:
K. Srinath Reddy Writes-

• Semaglutide was included in the WHO’s list of essential drugs in 2025 for treatment of obesity and diabetes, prescriptions by doctors or dieticians who are not well versed with the effects of these drugs will pose dangers of misuse.

• Generic drugs transformed access to essential medicines that were unaffordable for people suffering from serious diseases. Their impact on the global HIV-AIDS pandemic was profound. Since 2000, access to antiretroviral drugs dramatically increased, reaching millions of HIV-infected persons in developing countries. India’s generic drug industry played a major role in this.

• In 1970, India substituted “process patenting” for “product patenting”, giving a marked fillip to the production of generics in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Thereafter, India became the acclaimed “pharmacy of the world”. As the prototype GLP-1 agonist drug semaglutide goes off patent, many Indian drug manufacturers are rushing to benefit from the burgeoning domestic market for the drug.

• The Doha Declaration, adopted by the World Trade Organisation in 2001, permits countries to relax patent rules to counter major public health threats. Cardiovascular diseases and diabetes now constitute a “slow motion public health emergency”.

• However, these drugs also come with several potential adverse effects. These include gastrointestinal side effects (nausea, bloated stomach, pancreatitis), mental health disturbances (anxiety, depression), visual disturbances (optic neuropathy) and bone thinning with risk of fractures. While many of these occur in a small proportion of users, a common side effect is loss of skeletal muscle (sarcopenia) which accompanies fat loss.

Do You Know:
Dr Subhash Wangnoo Writes-

• On March 20, the Indian healthcare landscape reached a definitive historic moment. The patent for semaglutide, the active molecule behind global blockbusters like Wegovy and Ozempic, officially expired in India. This event has unleashed a wave of generic competition that experts suggest could redefine the treatment of Type II diabetes and obesity — not just for the Indian population, but for the global market.

• India’s status as the “diabetes capital of the world” provides a stark backdrop for this pharmaceutical shift. With over 101 million people living with Type II diabetes and an adult population where roughly one in three has a high BMI, the demand for effective metabolic intervention is staggering. Historically, GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor agonists — which mimic natural hormones to regulate blood sugar and appetite — have been restricted to a small elite due to prohibitive costs.

• However, the rapid influx of cheap generics has created what some describe as a “wild west” scenario. The regulator’s primary concern is the misuse of GLP-1 drugs for cosmetic weight loss rather than medically indicated chronic conditions. Critics point to significant risks, such as off-label prescriptions by gym trainers, and serious side effects like pancreatitis and gastrointestinal distress.

• India stands at a critical inflection point. By embracing the generic GLP-1 revolution while building a “loyal patient base” through responsible clinical practices, the country can reinforce its leadership in global accessible medicine.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Will reduce overall healthcare spending

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
📍How is the Government of India protecting traditional knowledge of medicine from patenting by pharmaceutical companies? (2019)

Economy

WTO MC14: Why it could be a ‘turning point’ for trade & what’s at stake for India

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate and Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: The World Trade Organization’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) began in Cameroon on Thursday at a time when the trade body faces a crisis of relevance.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Why India is set to oppose a key US-led World Trade Organisation (WTO) proposal seeking a permanent moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions?

• What exactly India wants?

• What does Most Favoured Nation mean?

• What is electronic commerce?

• What is the E-transmission Moratorium?

• What is the WTO Work Programme on e-commerce?

• What has happened since MC11?

• What is India’s position on digital trade rules at WTO?

• Know the role of WTO in regulating emerging digital economy.

• Know about WTO

Key Takeaways:

• On the agenda are reforms aimed at bringing back some predictability to a global trade order that has been shaken up by the Donald Trump-led US administration.

• WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has dubbed the conference a ‘turning point ministerial’, one that comes at a time when its trade dispute settlement powers have been rendered dysfunctional, with successive American administrations blocking the appointment of judges to the WTO’s dispute settlement body.

• The US is pushing for radical reforms, such as a rethink on the ‘most-favoured nation’ (MFN) principle that ensures non-discriminatory trade practices, and incorporating a plurilateral agreement in the WTO architecture, which is seen as a contrast to long-established consensus-based decision-making.

• India, meanwhile, is primarily pursuing the policy space owing to its relatively low share in global trade but large scope for future growth.

• A section of international trade experts believes that this stance also stems from previous experience, like agreeing to the Information Technology Agreement -1 (ITA-1) in 1996. At that time, participants, including India, agreed to completely eliminate tariffs on IT products covered by the agreement. While India benefited from the IT boom, it missed out on pushing for the manufacturing of IT products within the country.

Do You Know:

• One of the key issues dividing developing and developed nations is the issue of an e-commerce moratorium. The moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions — a blanket term for services ranging from streaming to e-books — has been renewed every two years since its inception in 1998.

• India has been opposing the WTO’s proposal to impose a moratorium as this would undermine its ability to collect revenue from digitally delivered services in the future. India, Indonesia and South Africa have said that the moratorium fundamentally disadvantages nations lacking advanced digital industries.

• Another major issue at the WTO is the China-backed Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement, which has gained the support of 128 countries. The pact, according to the WTO, is meant to improve the flow of foreign direct investment between WTO members.

• One of India’s biggest unmet demands has been a permanent solution to public stockholding for food security purposes.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Knowledge Nugget: WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference begins — all you need to know

 

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

1.(c)  2.(b)  3.(b)  4.(c)  5.(c)  6.(b)  7.(b)  8.(c)  9.(d)

  

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