UPSC Key: Western hoolock gibbons, Trump-Xi summit and Ebola outbreak

Key Points to Ponder:

• Know about India and the Netherlands bilateral relations before 1947 and after 1947.

• The India-Netherlands Strategic Roadmap (2026–2030)-what are the key takeaways?

• Map Work– Netherlands, Amsterdam, the Haque and Rotterdam

• Why did the Netherlands get called Holland?

• Did the Netherlands colonize India?

• The Dutch established their first factory at Masulipatnam-do you know in which year this happened?

• What you know about the Dutch East India Company?

• Why India–Netherlands strategic partnership is significant in India’s foreign policy?

• Why semiconductors are often called the ‘new oil’ of the digital economy?

• The India–Netherlands strategic partnership reflects what?

Key Takeaways

• Meeting his Dutch counterpart, 39-year-old Rob Jetten, at The Hague, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “India is the youngest nation in the world and the fastest-growing major economy globally. You represent the new generation of leadership in the Netherlands and Europe. We must combine the Netherlands’ expertise with India’s speed and scale across every sector. Our objective is to elevate cooperation in areas such as innovation, investment, sustainability, and defence to new dimensions. Guided by this shared vision, we are today elevating India-Netherlands relations to the level of a Strategic Partnership.”

• Jetten, in a post on X, said, “The friendship between India and the Netherlands is in full bloom. This is also underscored by the visit of Indian Prime Minister Modi to the Netherlands. It is a bond that is furthermore being elevated to an even higher level by our agreement to establish a Strategic Partnership with each other.”

• “This partnership is already bearing fruit… ASML and Tata Electronics have also jointly signed a declaration that marks an important step toward closer collaboration in the field of semiconductors. This builds on top of the major, historic trade agreement that India and the EU concluded earlier this year. In short, we are making enormous strides forward in our cooperation, and that is truly a win-win situation.”

Do You Know

• India and the Netherlands have elevated their bilateral ties to a strategic partnership, agreeing on a comprehensive five-year roadmap (2026–30) and signing 17 pacts spanning semiconductors, critical minerals, migration, water management, and renewable energy.

• The MoU between Tata Electronics and ASML aims to support the semiconductor Fab facility in Dholera, Gujarat. According to the joint statement, the two nations agreed to link the Dutch Semicon Competence Centre with the Indian Semiconductor Mission (ISM) to bolster industries, startups, and suppliers through technology and talent development.

• Furthermore, a “brain bridge” in semiconductor research was established through a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Eindhoven University of Technology, the University of Twente, and six premier Indian institutes: IISc Bangalore, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Guwahati, and IIT Madras. The initiative will be backed by industry majors NXP, ASML, Tata, and CG Semi.

• On defence cooperation, they agreed to plan a structured Joint Tri-services interaction between the Ministries of Defence and the Directorates of International Military Cooperation to coordinate bilateral military cooperation, including cooperation between Defence Industry and Research Centres, the statement said.

• The joint statement noted that Prime Minister Jetten strongly condemned the April 2025 terrorist attack on civilians in Pahalgam, expressing solidarity with India against cross-border terrorism.

• On the migration pact, the statement said they agreed to strengthen cooperation to prevent and combat irregular migration and trafficking in human beings, and to encourage the fair mobility of highly skilled professionals. “This approach is guided by international standards that ensure migrant workers are treated with dignity and respect, including fair mobility, transparent visa processes, and the protection of workers’ rights,” it said.

• The Netherlands hosts the second largest Indian Diaspora (after UK) in Europe and the largest on mainland Europe, totalling around 2,60,000 comprising 60,000 Indians and 2,00,000 strong Surinami-Hindustani community of Indian origin. Netherlands is a popular education destination for Indian students, particularly in the field of science & technology. Many Dutch Universities like TU Delft, Leiden University and Maastricht University have long standing collaboration with Indian universities. The number of Indian students has been growing over the years and more than 3500 Indian students are studying in the Netherlands presently.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍India, Netherlands seal historic 17-pact strategic partnership on chips, defence

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
1) With reference to Indian history, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2021)
1. The Dutch established their factories/warehouses on the east coast on lands granted to them by Gajapati rulers.
2. Alfonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate.
3. The English East India Company established a factory at Madras on a plot of land leased from a representative of the Vijayanagara empire.
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

Despite top court raps, Jharkhand does not secure Saranda’s prized sal forests, jumbo herds

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change

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

What’s the ongoing story: Disregarding Supreme Court remarks over misleading the bench, and despite assurances by two of its own senior officials who made personal appearances before the court, Jharkhand has filed a review petition against the apex court’s reiterated order directing it to notify Saranda’s elephant forests as a wildlife sanctuary.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Map Work-Saranda Forest

• What are the key features of Saranda Forest?

• What is the ecological significance of sal forests?

• What is the case before the Supreme Court?

• What exactly Supreme Court said about the Saranda Forest?

• Who can notify a wildlife sanctuary?

• What the Supreme Court, on November 13, 2025, gave Jharkhand

• Why Justice MB Shah Commission’s 2013 report was referred?

• Distribution and population of Elephants in India-Know in detail

• Why Elephant Corridors in India is required?

• Have you heard of Project Elephant?

• What current data on Elephants says in India’s context?

Key Takeaways:

• One of the country’s most significant sal forest landscapes, Saranda is a biodiversity hotspot. But deforestation and mining in the region have increasingly pushed elephant herds into neighbouring states.

• After the state missed multiple deadlines, the Supreme Court, on November 13, 2025, gave Jharkhand three months to notify the sanctuary.

• Instead, the state filed a review petition on February 14 after a delay of two months. On February 17, the court registry pointed out that “the prayer is not correct”. The state refiled the petition on April 30, more than two months later. It is yet to come up for hearing.

• Last year, the Supreme Court had questioned “the propriety” of keeping the notification pending despite earlier commitments, and warned the Jharkhand government against “dilly-dallying”.

• In 1968, undivided Bihar declared 314 sq km of sal forests as the Saranda Game Sanctuary. More than half a century later, efforts to secure the landscape under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 ran into prolonged resistance from the Jharkhand government, drawing repeated Supreme Court rebukes for showing “clear contempt” and even “taking the Court for a ride”.

Do You Know

• The Supreme Court directed the Jharkhand government to notify an area of 314 sq km as a wildlife sanctuary while hearing a plea, which sought compliance with a July 2022 judgment of the National Green Tribunal’s eastern zone Bench. The plea before the NGT sought a declaration of an eco-sensitive zone in Saranda/Sasangada Sanctuary in West Singhbhum district.

• A Supreme Court Bench on November 20, 2024, took on record the NGT’s directions and directed the Jharkhand government to come out with a positive response on the declaration of a sanctuary. Between November and September 2025, the CJI-led bench has pulled up the state’s opportunities to complete the process of sanctuary declaration.

• Saranda, meaning seven hundred hills, forest division in West Singhbhum district covers about 856 sq km, and 816 sq km is a reserved forest, and the rest is a protected forest. In its assessment of the biological and ecological significance of the Saranda landscape, the Wildlife Institute of India has underlined that the area is historically recognised for its rich biodiversity.
It presently harbours elephants, four-horned antelope, and sloth bear, and is experiencing habitat degradation and fragmentation and is home to three elephant corridors, providing connectivity with other neighbouring forests.
Tigers have been sighted in the past, but they have not colonised this forest in recent times.
The proposed sanctuary, it said, will help protect the biodiversity hotspot in the junction of Jharkhand and Odisha. Moreover, mining operations, including illegal iron ore and manganese extraction, as revealed by the Justice M B Shah Commission of Inquiry, have led to a decline in wildlife density and biodiversity.

• The Hemant Soren government has argued in the Supreme Court that while it supports the declaration of the sanctuary, the rights of tribals and other forest dwellers must be protected, and has also pointed out high revenue from mineral extraction. The Saranda region accounts for 26% of the country’s iron ore reserves.
In an affidavit submitted on October 7, the state government said that the Saranda region falls under the fifth schedule and is inhabited by Ho, Munda and allied Adivasi communities, including some particularly vulnerable tribal groups.

• The Shah Commission had exposed that iron ore of an approximate value of 14,403 crores and manganese of Rs 138 crore were extracted illegally. As part of the action taken on Justice Shah Commission’s recommendation, the Union Environment Ministry prepared a sustainable mining plan for iron mining in Saranda. This put in place ‘go and no-go’ areas for mining with an annual cap of 64 million tonnes per annum, with room to increase it in case sustainable mining is done.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: Saranda’s forests and the case for a ‘sanctuary’ before Supreme Court

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
2) The most important strategy for the conservation of biodiversity together with traditional human life is the establishment of (UPSC CSE, 2014)
(a) biosphere reserves
(b) botanical gardens
(c) national parks
(d) wildlife sanctuaries

3) With reference to Indian elephants, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2020)
1. The leader of an elephant group is a female.
2. The maximum gestation period can be 22 months.
3. An elephant can normally go on calving till the age of 40 years only.
4. Among the States in India, the highest elephant population is in Kerala.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 4 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 3 and 4 only

4 years on, Govt plugs cost escalation loophole in Jal Jeevan projects

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Main Examination: General Studies II: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes and Important aspects of governance

What’s the ongoing story: A key safeguard to regulate spending under Jal Jeevan Mission, the Centre’s showpiece rural tap water scheme, has been reinstated in new rules to govern the initiative — plugging a gap that had led to cost escalations in projects far beyond official estimates.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the Jal Jeevan Mission?

• Jal Jeevan Mission comes under which Ministry?

• What is “Tender premium” ?

• Why “Tender premium” has been reinstated in new rules?

• What is the funding pattern of Jal Jeevan Mission?

• Is the Jal Jeevan Mission a centrally sponsored scheme?

• What are the factors which lead to the increment of per tap connection cost under the Jal Jeevan Mission from ₹30,000 to ₹1,37,500?

• How does Jal Jeevan Mission work?

• How Jal Jeevan Mission helps in empowering women?

• Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban) and Jal Jeevan Mission (Rural)-Compare and Contrast

• How important is the Jal Jeevan mission?

• What are the factors which constrains utilisation of Funds in Social Sector Schemes?

• What Steps/measures are needed for improving fund utilization capacity especially in schemes like Jal Jeevan Mission?

• How Funds are Allocated for Social Sector Schemes?

Key Takeaways:

• The safeguard, called “Tender premium”, refers to the additional amount quoted by a project bidder that is higher than the Government’s estimated cost. It was part of the original rules for the scheme drafted in 2019, and effectively meant that states were not allowed to use Central funds to cover the additional amount.

• On June 21, 2022, the Union Jal Shakti Ministry deleted the words “Tender premium” from the list of “inadmissible expenses” while amending the guidelines. On May 21 last year, an investigation by The Indian Express of data uploaded by states and Union Territories on the Jal Jeevan Mission dashboard showed that the change in guidelines resulted in additional costs totalling Rs 16,839 crore for 14,586 schemes — an increase of 14.58 per cent from the estimated cost.

• The Government has now moved to plug this gap in the new guidelines, “Operational Guidelines Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 Har Ghar Jal”, which will govern the scheme in the second phase till 2028.

• The new guidelines were finalised by the ministry last month after the Union Cabinet in March approved the extension of the scheme till 2028 — with additional funding from the Centre of Rs 1.51 crore above its share of Rs 2.08 lakh crore for the first phase (2019-2024).

• According to the new guidelines, which have been circulated to the Central ministries involved, state governments, MPs and Collectors, “Tender premiums” has been added again to the list of “inadmissible expenses”.

Do You Know

• A dilution of rules in 2022 allowed states to use Central funds to cover inflated bids for projects under the showpiece rural tap water sch¬eme. The latest rules reinst¬ate a check on such spending.

• The new guidelines also make it clear that the Centre will not provide financial support to states for the scheme where service level has been planned beyond the JJM norm of 55 Litres Per Capita Per Day (LPCD).

• The 2022 rules excluded the words “Tender premium” and stated that the approved cost “shall be the cost as discovered through an open, transparent and competitive bidding process as per prevailing rules”. The 2022 rules also stated that wherever the “approved cost” is 10-25 per cent more than the estimated cost at which a tender was invited, approval by the head of the State Level Scheme Sanctioning Committee (SLSSC) should be taken before the contract is sanctioned.

• The Jal Jeevan Mission, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019, aimed to provide tap connections to about 16 crore rural households to achieve saturation coverage by December end 2024. But only 75 per cent of the target could be achieved over five years, and the remaining 4 crore tap connections are now proposed to be installed by extending the mission by four years till December 31, 2028.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Jal Shakti wants `2.79 lakh cr more for flagship water scheme, panel clears half

Previous year UPSC mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍What are the salient features of the Jal Shakti Abhiyan launched by the Government of India for water conservation and water security? (2020)
📍What is water stress? How and why does it differ regionally in India? (2019)

A bridge too far? India’s only ape species gets helping hand, but needs bigger steps

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change

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

What’s the ongoing story: The first instance globally of a Western hoolock gibbon using an artificial canopy bridge over a railway line was recorded in Assam’s Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary recently, offering cautious optimism for the survival of India’s only ape species.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What you about Western hoolock gibbons?

• Why hoolock gibbons are classified as apes rather than monkeys?

• What are the basic difference between ape, gorillas, chimpanzees, and monkeys?

• What is arboreal species?

• In which national park is the Western Hoolock Gibbon found?

• What is the IUCN status of hoolock gibbon in India?

• Which ape is only found in India?

• The recent conservation initiative involving “canopy bridges” was primarily intended for what?

• What is habitat fragmentation?

• Why are wildlife corridors and canopy connectivity important for biodiversity conservation?

Key Takeaways:

• Only an estimated 120–130 individuals survive in the 21-sq km sanctuary in Jorhat through which the historic, recently electrified Lumding–Dibrugarh railway line passes.

• However, while this is the first documented case of a gibbon crossing a railway line using a purpose-built canopy bridge, similar structures have been deployed globally over the past two decades to reduce the impact of habitat fragmentation. At the same time, studies caution that artificial canopy bridges are not a substitute for intact forests.

• The Hollongapar sanctuary got its first artificial canopy bridge in 2015. The rigid iron structure (see photo) remained unused because its design did not accommodate the hoolock gibbon’s specialised suspensory form of movement, known as brachiation, in which the animal swings hand-over-hand through the canopy.

• Later, natural canopy continuity was created through plantation efforts, and this briefly allowed movement across the railway corridor. However, storm damage disrupted this linkage.

• Finally, following consultations with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in 2022, five double-rope canopy bridges made of low-stretch nylon, with fail-safe safety nets, were installed. Within two months of the installation, between February and March this year, a male gibbon was recorded using one of these crossings.

Do You Know

• Arboreal (tree-dwelling) species rely on continuous tree canopies to move, forage, and disperse. Linear infrastructure such as roads, railways, powerlines and canals often interrupts this continuity, isolating wildlife populations in fragmented forest patches.

• Such fragmentation reduces movement, increases competition, and limits access to mates, threatening long-term genetic viability.
Artificial canopy bridges restore limited connectivity between isolated forest patches. The choice of materials ranges from steel cables, wire mesh, PVC conduit pipes, used fire hoses and mountaineering-grade polypropylene or nylon ropes to bamboo, canvas, hemp or coir, depending on local climatic conditions.

• Artificial canopy bridges are now used worldwide – from Costa Rica (sloths and howler monkeys) and South Africa (Samango monkeys) to Madagascar (lemurs) and Australia (possums and gliders). They help wildlife cross canopy gaps caused by roads in Brazil, gas pipelines in Peru, canal systems in the Netherlands, and even typhoon damage in China.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Ancient ape fossils in Egypt desert may rewrite history of human ancestors

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
4) Consider the following pairs: (UPSC CSE, 2010)

	Protected area	Well-known for
1.	Bhiterkanika, Orissa	Salt Water Crocodile
2.	Desert National Park, Rajasthan	Great Indian Bustard
3.	Eravikulam, Kerala	Hoolock Gibbon

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 2 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

The Editorial Page

At Beijing summit, both Trump, Xi got what they came for. But Xi got a bit more

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: Ashok K Kantha Writes- China has gained relative to the US and grown more confident despite its economic headwinds. It has the tools and the strategic discipline to manage escalation dynamics.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What are the key takeaways from the Trump-Xi summit?

• What explains the central argument that “Xi got a bit more” from the Beijing summit?

• Beijing, not Washington, controlled the narrative throughout.

• What ‘constructive strategic stability’ from China’s viewpoint?

• What is the post-Busan détente?

• Why does Taiwan remain one of the most sensitive issues in US–China relations?

• Why India is relevant in the context of Trump–Xi discussions?

• What factors make India strategically important to both the US and China?

Key Takeaways:

• Donald Trump’s state visit to China was a performance of diplomacy: Carefully choreographed, heavy on optics, and light on binding detail. Both sides were eager to show progress: Trump called the visit “very successful”; Xi Jinping declared it “historic”.

• The Chinese catered to Trump’s weakness for spectacle with the state banquet, the parting tea, and Xi accompanying Trump to the Temple of Heaven – but the substance, as expected, was meagre. Significantly, Beijing, not Washington, controlled the narrative throughout.

• Trump needed a foreign-policy “win” to serve as a distraction from the political headwinds of the Iran war, and to impress markets and domestic constituencies. Xi needed validation: That China had weathered the tariff storm, emerged from geopolitical friction with its strategic position intact, and was now being courted as a peer by the US, something Chinese leaders have long sought. Both got what they came for. But Xi got a little more.

• The new formulation — “constructive strategic stability” — for the bilateral relationship, described by Foreign Minister Wang Yi as “the most important political consensus” of the summit, is Beijing’s handiwork.

• Beijing acknowledges the relationship as competitive but talks about keeping it within acceptable limits. Xi’s four-part elaboration — “positive stability with cooperation as the mainstay, healthy stability with competition within proper limits, constant stability with manageable differences, and lasting stability with expectable peace” — is designed to lock in the post-Busan détente.

Do You Know

• The post-Busan détente refers to the tactical truce and diplomatic stabilization between the United States and China, which stemmed from the October 2025 APEC summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Eagle -Dragon in tactful Tango, world watches

Previous year UPSC main Question Covering similar theme:
📍The West is fostering India as an alternative to reduce dependence on China’s supply chain and strategically to counter China’s political and economic dominance.’ Explain this statement with examples. (2024)

Explained

The challenge for India’s renewables surge: Storage

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

What’s the ongoing story: As India rapidly scales up its renewable energy capacity to meet its climate goals, a key challenge is emerging for its power system — electricity supply that is abundant in some hours but insufficient in others.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is energy storage?

• What are the types of energy storage?

• What is India’s energy storage capacity?

• Why energy storage is increasingly becoming central to India’s energy policy?

• What are the major energy storage technologies available for renewable energy integration?

Key Takeaways:

• This is because renewable power generation sources come with a fundamental limitation: They are intermittent. Solar power generation drops to zero after sunset and wind output fluctuates with changing weather.

• But electricity demand does not always align with these patterns. This creates a growing mismatch between when electricity is generated and when it is needed. This mismatch can stretch the grid and even threaten its stability if not managed properly.

• This challenge is particularly relevant for India, where renewable sources account for 53% (283 gigawatts) of the total installed power generation capacity of 532 GW. Solar power alone contributes over 150 GW, making it the largest source in the renewable energy mix.

Do You Know

• Energy storage refers to systems that can store excess renewable electricity during periods of high generation and discharge it when
demand rises but power generation remains low.

• At its core, energy storage systems convert electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind, when it is available, into forms that can be stored. Later, it converts these back into electricity when need arises.

• A range of energy storage technologies are being deployed globally. Among them, pumped hydro storage (PHS) and battery energy storage systems (BESS) are currently the most widely used.
—PHS uses surplus electricity to pump water from a lower reservoir to a higher one. When electricity demand peaks, it releases the stored water downhill through turbines to generate power.
—BESS technology stores electricity chemically and discharges it when needed. Lithium-ion batteries, particularly lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, are currently the dominant technology for grid-scale storage because of their falling costs, high efficiency and long operational life. Lithium-ion batteries, especially LFP batteries, account for the overwhelming majority of global battery storage deployment. In 2025, LFP batteries made up more than 90% of annual storage additions, according to data from BloombergNEF.
—Concentrating solar-thermal storage systems: This technology uses mirrors that capture and focus sunlight onto a receiver. As the receiver gets heated, materials such as molten salt are circulated inside the receiver to store the heat. The stored heat can later be used to produce steam.
—Compressed-air energy storage systems use excess electricity to compress air and store it in underground caverns or tanks. When power demand rises, the compressed air is released to drive turbines and generate electricity.
—Flywheel energy storage systems store electricity as rotational energy by spinning a rotor at extremely high speeds. Because they can inject power into the grid almost instantly, they are particularly useful for maintaining grid stability and managing short-term fluctuations.
—Gravity energy storage systems use electricity to lift heavy weights to higher elevations. When electricity is needed, the weights are lowered, converting gravitational energy back into electricity through generators.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Peak summer yet to come, but power supply is already falling short at night. Here’s why

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
5) Consider the following infrastructure sectors: (UPSC CSE, 2023)
1. Affordable housing
2. Mass rapid transport
3. Health care
4. Renewable energy
On how many of the above does the UNOPS Sustainable Investments in Infrastructure and Innovation (S3i) initiative focus for its investments?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) Only three
(d) All four

Great Nicobar megaproject: Case before HC hinges on legality of tribal consent

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment and Infrastructure and Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

What’s the ongoing story: On May 8, the Calcutta High Court’s Port Blair circuit bench agreed to hear a public interest litigation by former union government secretary Meena Gupta alleging violations of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, while seeking tribal consent for the Great Nicobar infrastructure project.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the case before the Calcutta High Court?

• Why does the petition challenge the legality of the consent obtained under the FRA?

• How the Great Nicobar Project can impact on the Shompen and Nicobarese tribes?

• What does the plea argue about the rights and protection of the particularly vulnerable Shompen tribe?

• Map Work– Andaman and Nicobar Islands in general and Great Nicobar Island in particular, Barren Island, Ross Island, Eastern most and southern most point

• What tribe are in the Great Nicobar?

• What you know about Shompen and the Nicobarese?

• The ‘draft master plan for Great Nicobar Island Development Area, 2047-what you know about the same?

• What are the issues related to the Great Nicobar Island Development Area Project?

• Analyse the trade-offs between development and conservation in the Great Nicobar Island Project.

• How the Great Nicobar Project can enhance India’s maritime security?

• What is the conservation status of leatherback sea turtle, long-tailed macaque, coconut crab and Nicobar megapode?

Key Takeaways:

• The Union Government and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration had raised preliminary objections regarding the maintainability of the PIL and two other matters: on the reduction of the buffer zone of Galathea National Park and Campbell Bay National Park.

• However, the court overruled these objections. As part of the Rs 81,000 crore Great Nicobar Island (GNI) project, the government has proposed to build an integrated township, a transshipment container port, a solar and gas-based power plant, and a greenfield dual-use military and civilian airport.

• In a PIL filed in 2024, Gupta has challenged the different sets of procedures followed under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and orders issued thereunder, alleging that they are unlawful. Specifically, this includes the constitution of a sub-divisional level committee (SDLC) for Campbell Bay tehsil; the Gram Sabhas convened in Campbell Bay, Laxmi Nagar and Govind Nagar on August 12, 2022, and the resolutions passed consenting to forest diversion.

• The plea states that three Shompen settlements, located within the proposed development area, including foraging and hunting regions which sustain the southern Shompen population on the GNI, will be “denuded and desecrated.” This, it is argued, will violate their rights to food, water and shelter by displacing their places of worship, forest groves used for horticulture and sources of safe, clean drinking water.

• Citing the setting up of habitation for 330 ex-servicemen on the east coast of the island in 1972, the plea argued that this activity had disturbed Shompen habitation, and that they subsequently moved into the interior of the forests. The plea has also raised the question of whether the existing framework under the Forest Rights Act is sufficient for tribes like the Shompen, who are semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers. The Shompen, the plea argues, have a right to self-determination and to live as they deem fit, and thus their habitat cannot be taken away by the government.

Do You Know

• Great Nicobar Island covers 910 sq km and is home to India’s southernmost location, Indira Point. The government’s main goal on the island is to create an economic and defence hub. This goal rests on four pillars: An integrated township that will include defence facilities, a transhipment port, a civil and military airport, and a 450-MVA gas and solar power-based plant. Initially driven by NITI Aayog, the project’s implementing agency is now the Andaman and Nicobar Island Integrated Development Corp Ltd (ANIIDCO).

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Development of Great Nicobar: strategic imperative and ecological concerns

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
6) Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2018)
1. The Barren Island volcano is an active volcano located in the Indian territory.
2. Barren Island lies about 140 km east of Great Nicobar.
3. The last time the Barren Island volcano erupted was in 1991 and it has remained inactive since then.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 3 only
(d) 1 and 3

7) Which one of the following pairs of islands is separated from each other by the ‘Ten Degree Channel’? (UPSC CSE, 2014)
(a) Andaman and Nicobar
(b) Nicobar and Sumatra
(c) Maldives and Lakshadweep
(d) Sumatra and Java

Economy

US nuclear cos tapped for inputs on investment potential in India

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: US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright was part of an official briefing with members of a high-powered American nuclear industry delegation headed for India on Sunday.

Key Points to Ponder:

• The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act-know the key highlights and features

• What was the US India nuclear Deal?

• What is present scenario in US India Nuclear deal?

• What is the 123 Agreement between India and USA?

• India’s nuclear liability law-what you know about the same?

• Which two laws are being amended to open up India’s civil nuclear sector?

• The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 (CLNDA)-know its key features

• Why the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 (CLNDA) was cited as an impediment by foreign equipment vendors?

• What kind of impediment Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 (CLNDA) caused?

• Atomic Energy Act, 1962-what you about the same?

• What are the legal barriers posed by the Atomic Energy Act and CLNDA to private and foreign participation in India’s civil nuclear
sector?

• What do you understand by the term ‘capping supplier liability under CLNDA’?

• How amendments may revive the strategic Indo–U.S. civil nuclear dialogue and influence broader trade negotiations?

Key Takeaways:

• During the course of the briefing, US-based nuclear firms that have prior exposure to India or have received official approval from the
US Department of Energy in recent months to transfer nuclear technology to Indian entities were invited to share insights on the investment potential of the Indian market with others in the US industry grouping.

• The ‘executive mission’ is headed to India Sunday with a twin-pronged agenda: to take stock of India’s nuclear energy landscape less than six months after a landmark legislation opened up this critical sector and to communicate the American industry’s interest, as well as coordinate US government messaging, on the emergent opportunities.

• Organised by the Washington DC-based Nuclear Energy Institute — the lobby group for America’s commercial nuclear industry — and the US India Strategic Partnership Forum, the visiting delegation is expected to meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Union Power Minister Manohar Lal, besides likely meetings with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

• Over the last 15 months, a handful of American nuclear companies have bagged ‘specific authorisations’ from the US government with respect to a restrictive American regulation referred to as “10CFR810” — (Part 810 of Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954). This authorisation permits these firms, subject to certain conditions, to transfer technology to India entities — which is otherwise not possible under the 810 regulations. Most of the firms that secured clearances are part of the visiting delegation.

• Deliberations planned during the course of the delegation’s five day schedule (May 17-21) also include meetings with the Department of Atomic Energy’s top brass, NITI Aayog, other energy ministries and representatives of state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd and NTPC Ltd.

Do You Know

• Earlier, in December, Parliament passed the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act, 2025, marking a major shift in governance of the tightly-controlled nuclear power sector.
For the first time, the Act opened up the sector’s operations side and areas like fuel management to private players, that had been under tight public-sector control for decades.

• Along with a larger role for the private sector in nuclear plant operations, the new legislation also paves way for deployment of imported Light Water Reactor-based projects, aided by foreign funding. It opens up the possibility of more imported LWR-based nuclear projects of the kind being set up in Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu by the Russians. India is also keen to look at the possibility of the deployment of small modular reactors or SMRs. Though India’s civil nuclear programme has expertise in manufacturing pressurised heavy water reactors — 220 MWe PHWRs all the way up to the new 700 MWe reactors — an impediment of sorts for the country’s nuclear establishment is its reactor technology.

• Based on heavy water and natural uranium, the PHWRs are a technology that the nuclear establishment has a mastery over, but one that is increasingly out of sync with the LWRs that are now the most dominant reactor type across the world. The Americans, the Russians and the French are among the leaders in LWR technology. Further, India’s dominant nuc¬lear technology, its ¬main¬stay PHWRs, has scalab¬il¬ity issues.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍SHANTI Bill: How India is overhauling its nuclear power sector

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
8) 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

The World

Ebola outbreak in Congo & Uganda an ‘emergency’ of global concern, says WHO

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: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” (PHEIC), its highest level of global health alert, after the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus spread across borders in East Africa

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the Bundibugyo strain?

• Why did WHO issue a global alert?

• How dangerous is Ebola?

• What is being done now?

• Is this a pandemic like Covid-19?

• What is Public Health Emergency of International Concern?

• Why WHO declares any outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern?

Key Takeaways:

• According to the WHO, as of May 16, at least eight laboratory-confirmed Ebola cases, 246 suspected cases, and around 80 suspected deaths had been reported in eastern DRC, mainly in Ituri province. Uganda has also confirmed two Ebola cases, including one death, linked to travellers arriving from Congo.

• More recent reports from Reuters and The Guardian said suspected cases had crossed 300, while the death toll was estimated at 88.

Do You Know

• A rare but severe and often fatal illness in humans, Ebola is caused by viruses belonging to the Orthoebolavirus genus of the filoviridae family. Of the six Orthoebolavirus species identified to date, three strains have been known to cause major outbreaks: the Ebola virus causing Ebola virus disease (also known as the Zaire strain), the Sudan virus causing Sudan virus disease, and the Bundibugyo virus causing Bundibugyo virus disease. WHO confirmed that the Bundibugyo strain has caused the current outbreak.

• Ebola is a zoonotic disease: that is, it originates in animals and can spill over to infect humans. According to a WHO fact sheet, fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are presumed to be natural hosts of the Orthoebolavirus, which can get transmitted to humans when people come into close contact with the “blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals… found ill or dead”.

• The first Ebola outbreak was identified in 1976 after two successive outbreaks caused by the Sudan strain in what is now South Sudan and DRC. Since then, major outbreaks have occurred in Uganda (2000-01), West Africa (2013-16), DRC and Uganda (2018-20), and most recently in Uganda (2025).

• The one in West Africa (caused by the Zaire strain) remains the deadliest outbreak, which recorded over 28,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths as it spread widely in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and their neighbouring countries. Some cases were also reported in the US and Europe, which was linked to travellers and health workers travelling from Africa. According to WHO, the average fatality rate for Ebola is around 50%. This has varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks.

• The Bundibugyo ebolavirus causes the current outbreak; a rarer strain of Ebola first identified in Uganda in 2007. Unlike the more common Zaire strain, there are currently no approved vaccines or targeted treatments specifically designed for Bundibugyo Ebola.

• Health experts say the absence of vaccines and the spread into densely populated areas such as Kampala and Goma have heightened fears of wider regional transmission.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Knowledge Nugget | From Hantavirus to COVID-19: Understanding viral diseases in news

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
9) Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2025)
I. No virus can survive in ocean water.
II. No virus can infect bacteria.
III. No virus can change the cellular transcriptional activity in host cells.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All the three
(d) None

 

 

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

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

  

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