Category: Polity and Governance

Context:

• CEC of India is set to assume the role of the Chairperson of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) for the year 2026.

About International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA):

• Establishment: It is an inter-governmental organisation established in 1995 to strengthen democratic institutions and electoral processes worldwide.
• Objective: The objectives of the Institute are to support stronger democratic institutions and processes, and more sustainable, effective and legitimate democracy.
• Secretariat: Its secretariat is located in Stockholm, Sweden.
• Association with UN: International IDEA has been granted UN observer status.
• Member countries: It currently has 35 member countries, with the United States and Japan as observers. India is a founding member of International IDEA
• Governance: The Institute’s governance consists of a Council of Member States, a Steering Committee, a Finance and Audit Committee, a Board of Advisers and a Secretariat, led by the Secretary-General.
• Major functions: Its working modalities include four elements: knowledge production, capacity development, advocacy as well as convening of dialogues.
• Focus areas: It focuses on six workstreams namely:
  • Electoral Processes
  • Constitution-Building 
  • Democracy Assessment
  • Political Participation and Representation
  • Climate Change and Democracy
  • Digitalization and Democracy

Source:

• The Hindu

Category: History and Culture

Context:

• Sirpur is set for a facelift as Chhattisgarh pushes for a UNESCO World Heritage tag for the 5th Century archaeological site.

About Sirpur Archaeological Site:

• • Location: It is located in Mahasamund district of Chhattisgarh. It is a 5th–12th Century archaeological site located on the banks of the Mahanadi.
  • Other names: It is also known as Shripur and Sripura.
  • Discovery: It was first discovered in 1882 by Alexander Cunningham, a British army engineer who became the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1871.
  • Later excavations: Excavations stalled in subsequent years, resuming only in the early 1950s, and later in the 1990s and 2003.
  • Historical significance: It was the flourishing capital of Dakshina Kosala under the Panduvanshi and later Somavamshi kings. Its rulers patronised art, architecture, and religious scholarship, making it a flourishing urban centre of its time.
  • Major Buddhist centre: It was a major Buddhist centre with large viharas, meditation halls and excavated stupas.
  • Visted by Chinese travellers: Excavations have revealed significant Buddhist remains, including the Anand Prabhu Kuti Vihara, visited by Chinese traveller Xuanzang in the 7th century CE.
  • Religious and commercial hub: It also has a 6th Century market complex, showing Sirpur was both a religious and commercial hub.

• Notable Structures at the site:

• • Lakshmana Temple (dedicated to Vishnu): It is one of India’s finest brick temples which was built around the 7th Century.
  • Surang Tila complex: It is built on a high terrace and has multiple shrines in the panchayatana style (one main shrine surrounded by four subsidiary ones).
  • Tivaradeva Mahavihara: It houses a significant Buddha statue.
• Suitability for UNESCO’s tag: Sirpur’s location along the Mahanadi creates a sacred riverine cultural landscape with ghats and temple clusters, aligning with UNESCO’s concept of a combined work of nature and humankind, enhancing the site’s value.

Source:

• The Indian Express

Category: Environment and Ecology

Context:

• The Project Affected Peoples Forum (PAPF) of Arunachal Pradesh has urged NHPC Ltd to reinstate every local worker previously engaged in the Etalin Hydroelectric Project.

About Etalin Hydroelectric Project (EHEP):

• Location: It is a 3,097 MW hydropower project planned in Arunachal Pradesh’s Dibang Valley.
• Rivers associated: The project involves two gravity dams, one on the Dri River and another on the Talo (Tangon) River, both tributaries of the Dibang River, with an underground powerhouse near their confluence close to Etalin village.
• Construction: The project is being executed by NHPC Limited (formerly known as the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation).
• Nature: It is a type of hydroelectric power generation project that utilizes the natural flow and elevation drop of a river to produce electricity.
• Uniqueness: It is one of the largest hydropower projects proposed in the country in terms of installed capacity. EHEP is proposed to be developed as a combination of two run-of-the-river schemes.
• Environmental impact: The project will require the felling of over 270,000 trees and the diversion of over 1,100 hectares of unclassified forest land.
• Concern: The project area falls under the “richest bio-geographical province of the Himalayan zone” and “one of the mega biodiversity hotspots of the world”.
• Indigenous tribes: The project area is dominated by indigenous populations belonging to Idu-Mishmi tribes.

Source:

• Northeast Now

Category: Science and Technology

Context:

• PM Modi inaugurated Skyroot-built India’s first private rocket Vikram-I in Hyderabad.

About Vikram-I Rocket:

• Development: It is developed by Skyroot Aerospace, a Hyderabad-based private space start-up.
• Nomenclature: It is India’s new private orbital-class launch vehicle named after Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India’s space programme.
• Uniqueness: It is India’s first privately-built orbital-class rocket capable of launching satellites into Earth orbit.
• Thrust: It produces 1,200 kN of thrust using an all-carbon composite structure for enhanced lightweight strength and efficiency.
• Design: The design emphasises simplicity, reliability, and the ability to launch within 24 hours from any location.
• Stages: It has four stages and the first three stages are solid-fuelled, providing robust initial thrust, topped by a hypergolic liquid upper stage for precise orbital adjustments. Stage 4 uses a cluster of four Raman engines.
• Targets small satellite segment: It is built to target the small-satellite segment and is capable of placing multiple satellites into orbit in a single mission.
• Payload Capacity: It can deploy up to 350 kg into low Earth orbit (LEO) and 260 kg into a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).

Source:

• India Today

Category: Government Schemes

Context:

• The Government of India has approved the Tex-RAMPS Scheme, to strengthen research, innovation and competitiveness in textiles sector.

About Tex-RAMPS Scheme:

• • Nature: It is a Central Sector Scheme focused on research, assessment, monitoring, planning, and start-up support for the textiles sector.
  • Nodal ministry: It is implemented by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.
  • Objective: It aims to future-proof India’s textiles and apparel ecosystem through innovation, data systems, capacity building and start-up support.
  • Time-period: The scheme, with a total outlay of ₹305 crore for the period FY 2025-26 to FY 2030-31, is co-terminus with the upcoming Finance Commission cycle.

• Key components of Tex-RAMPS:

• • Research & Innovation: Promotion of advanced research in smart textiles, sustainability, process efficiency, and emerging technologies to boost India’s innovation capacity.
  • Data, Analytics & Diagnostics: Creation of robust data systems including employment assessments, supply chain mapping, and the India-Size study to facilitate evidence-based policymaking.
  • Integrated Textiles Statistical System (ITSS): A real-time, integrated data and analytics platform to support structured monitoring and strategic decision-making.
  • Capacity Development & Knowledge Ecosystem: Strengthening of State-level planning, dissemination of best practices, capacity building workshops, and organisation of sectoral events.
  • Start-up & Innovation Support: Support for incubators, hackathons, and academia-industry collaborations to nurture high-value textile start-ups and entrepreneurship.
• Expected outcomes: The Tex-RAMPS Scheme is expected to-
  • Enhance India’s competitiveness in global markets
  • Strengthen research and innovation ecosystems
  • Improve data-driven policymaking
  • Generate employment opportunities
  • Foster deeper collaboration between States, industry, academia, and government institutions

Source:

• PIB

(UPSC GS Paper III – “Indian Economy; Government Budgeting; Inclusive Growth; Data and Statistical Systems”)

Context (Introduction)

The IMF’s ‘C’ grade for India’s national accounts, outdated base years for key indicators, and persistent blind spots in informal sector measurement expose systemic weaknesses in India’s statistical architecture, raising concerns over macroeconomic reliability, policy precision, and global credibility.

Main Arguments

• Global Credibility Signal: The IMF’s ‘C’ grade signals impaired economic surveillance and places India alongside low-transparency economies, reducing confidence in GDP, GVA, exports, investment, and consumption estimates.
• Outdated Base Years: Key indicators — GDP, IIP, and CPI — still rely on the 2011–12 base year, failing to capture a decade of structural shifts such as rising services, digital consumption, gig platforms, and urbanisation.
• Policy Distortion: An outdated CPI basket (with excessive food weight) misrepresents inflation, weakening the RBI’s inflation-targeting framework and complicating monetary-policy calibration during volatile global conditions.
• Informal Sector Underestimation: With the majority of Indians still working in unregistered and cash-based activities, weak informal-sector capture leads to misestimated growth, disguised distress, and misplaced welfare targeting.
• Fragmented Data Reforms: While improvements like MCA-21 (corporate dataset) and upcoming GST-based GDP estimation exist, their slow integration and fragmented implementation undermine their effectiveness.

Challenges / Criticisms 

• Delayed Updates: Repeated postponements of base-year revisions reveal administrative inertia despite rapid shifts in economic composition.
• Inadequate Institutional Capacity: Statistical agencies remain understaffed, underfunded, and often dependent on outdated survey frameworks, affecting frequency and depth of data collection.
• Weak High-Frequency Indicators: IIP and CPI lack responsiveness to contemporary consumption and production patterns, producing mismatches with real-time economic activity.
• Opaque Methodologies: Limited transparency in back-series revisions, sampling decisions, and estimation techniques invites suspicion and politicisation of data.
• Digital Economy Blind Spots: Informal digital work, e-commerce, platform-based labour, and peer-to-peer financial ecosystems remain statistically invisible in current models.

Way Forward

• Five-Year Base-Year Revision Cycle: Institutionalise periodic resets for GDP, IIP, and CPI to keep pace with structural economic change.
• Comprehensive Informal Sector Mapping: Integrate GST records, EPFO/ESIC databases, household surveys, labour force data, and fintech transaction trends to estimate informal output more accurately.
• Upgrade CPI Methodology: Rebalance weights to reflect contemporary consumption — services, digital goods, mobility, health, and education — over the outdated food-centric basket.
• Institutional Strengthening: Provide statutory autonomy, expanded staffing, and modern digital infrastructure to NSO, MoSPI, and the new National Data Governance Framework.
• Transparent Methodological Communication: Publish assumptions, revisions, and estimation practices openly to build public and international trust.
• Leverage Big Data: Use GST filings, satellite imagery, e-way bills, UPI transaction patterns, and machine-learning tools for nowcasting and real-time economic monitoring.

Conclusion

A rapidly diversifying economy cannot be governed with outdated statistical foundations. The IMF’s low grading is a timely reminder that credible data is not merely technical infrastructure — it is central to sound monetary policy, welfare targeting, investment planning, and India’s global economic reputation. Strengthening statistical systems is thus essential for India’s transition to a modern, high-growth economy.

Mains Question 

1. Why did the IMF downgrade India’s national accounts statistics, and what does this reveal about weaknesses in India’s data systems? What reforms would you suggest? (250 words)

Source: The Hindu

(UPSC GS Paper III – “Environment; Conservation; Environmental Impact Assessment; Land Degradation”)

Context (Introduction)

A recent Supreme Court acceptance of the Environment Ministry’s proposal to classify only landforms above 100 metres as part of the Aravalli range risks shrinking its protected area by nearly 90% in Rajasthan, raising serious concerns over mining, ecological loss, and policy inconsistency.

Main Arguments

• Critical Ecological Functions: The Aravallis act as a 700 km green lung, moderating hot winds, preventing Thar Desert expansion, recharging aquifers, and supporting rich biodiversity.
• Massive Reduction in Protection: The 100-metre height filter shrinks protected Aravalli area in Rajasthan drastically, from 12,081 hills (20m+ as mapped by FSI) to just 1,048 qualifying under the new definition.
• Contradiction with Scientific Criteria: The panel’s definition contradicts the Forest Survey of India’sestablished mapping standards, which treat all hillocks, plains, ridges, and plateaus as parts of a single functioning ecosystem.
• Historical Judicial Recognition: Since 2002, the Supreme Court has recognised the Aravalli as an integrated ecological unit essential for preventing air pollution and desertification.
• Continued Degradation: Surveys, including the SC’s Central Empowered Committee (2018), show the Aravallis have already lost a quarter of their hills due to mining, deforestation, and encroachments.

Challenges / Criticisms 

• Weakened Ecological Safeguards: The new definition risks opening large tracts of fragile terrain to mining, accelerating degradation.
• Policy Inconsistency: The Ministry’s stance contradicts its own Aravalli Landscape Restoration Action Plan (May 2025) which emphasises protection from deforestation, mining, grazing, and encroachment.
• Desertification Threat: Eastward movement of desert sands has already affected areas like Gurugram and Alwar, underscoring the need for comprehensive protection.
• Mining Pressure: Rajasthan’s mining industry may exploit the narrowed definition, intensifying ecological damage in already vulnerable zones.
• Loss of Ecosystem Services: Fragmentation of the landscape will impair hydrology, local climate moderation, biodiversity corridors, and pollution buffering for NCR.

Way Forward

• Restore Scientific Criteria: Adopt FSI’s broader geomorphological definition which includes hills, slopes, ridges, plains, and plateaus as a single ecosystem.
• Strengthen Regulatory Framework: Reinstate strict mining restrictions across the entire Aravalli landscape, including low-elevation hillocks.
• Implement Restoration Plan: Operationalise the Aravalli Landscape Restoration Action Plan with clear timelines, funding, and monitoring.
• Use Satellite-Based Mapping: Leverage GIS, remote sensing, and ecological zoning to identify vulnerable areas and regulate land use.
• Community-Centric Conservation: Engage local communities in afforestation, water conservation, and protection efforts to ensure long-term stewardship.

Conclusion

India’s oldest mountain system cannot be safeguarded through narrow definitions that privilege extractive interests over ecological stability. A holistic, science-based protection framework is essential to preserve the Aravallis’ irreplaceable environmental functions and shield northern India from worsening desertification and pollution.

Mains Question 

1. The Supreme Court’s acceptance of the Environment Ministry’s new definition of the Aravallis has significant ecological implications.” Examine. (250 words, 15 marks)

Source: Indian Express