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  • [11th July 2026] The Hindu OpED: Terrorism’s data retreat hides emerging global threats

    PYQ Relevance[UPSC 2021] Analyse the complexity and intensity of terrorism, its causes, linkages and obnoxious nexus. Also, suggest measures required to be taken to eradicate the menace of terrorism.
    Linkage: The PYQ examines the evolving nature, drivers and counter-terrorism strategies against terrorism. The article builds on this by arguing that terrorism has transformed into decentralised, conflict-driven and digitally networked ecosystems, requiring a shift from reactive security measures to preventive state-building and institutional resilience.

    Mentor’s Comment

    The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2025 reported a significant decline in global terrorism, with 5,582 deaths across 2,944 attacks, reflecting a 28% fall in fatalities, a 22% decline in attacks, and improvements in the security landscape of 81 countries. However, the apparent statistical success has exposed a deeper strategic concern: terrorism is not disappearing but reorganising into decentralised, conflict-driven and digitally networked forms that conventional global indicators increasingly fail to capture.

    Why do declining global terrorism indicators present a misleading picture of security?

    1. Geographical concentration: Nearly 70% of global terrorism deaths are confined to five countries, Pakistan, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Niger and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
    2. Organisational concentration: The threat is increasingly driven by a handful of organisations such as IS, JNIM, TTP, LeT and Al-Shabaab, indicating consolidation rather than disappearance of terrorism.
    3. Regional redistribution: Terrorism has retreated from many regions but intensified across fragile conflict theatres, particularly the Sahel, which now accounts for over half of global fatalities.
    4. Uneven security gains: Although 81 countries recorded improvement, the global decline largely reflects better security in stable regions rather than reduced terrorist capability.
    5. Misleading averages: Aggregate global indicators obscure localised escalation and encourage the mistaken belief that terrorism is steadily disappearing.

    Why is terrorism undergoing a structural transformation rather than a strategic decline?

    1. Decentralised networks: Terrorism has shifted from hierarchical organisations to autonomous cells and loosely connected affiliates.
    2. Digital radicalisation: Extremist recruitment, propaganda and operational coordination increasingly occur through online ecosystems instead of physical networks.
    3. Conflict dependence: Around 99% of terrorism-related deaths occur in countries already affected by armed conflict, making violence inseparable from state fragility.
    4. Border-centric operations: More than 60% of terrorist attacks occur within 100 km of international borders, reflecting growing dependence on poorly governed frontier regions.
    5. Adaptive resilience: Counter-terrorism operations fragment terrorist organisations but rarely eliminate their ideological and organisational capacity to regenerate.
    6. Operational normalisation: Terrorism is increasingly becoming a chronic feature of conflict zones rather than an exceptional global security crisis, reducing international attention despite persistent violence.
    7. Cross-border sanctuaries: Pakistan illustrates how safe havens continue to sustain transnational terrorism despite sustained counter-terrorism operations.

    What do contemporary terrorism hotspots reveal about the changing geography of terrorism?

    1. Burkina Faso: It has emerged as the world’s deadliest terrorism hotspot, illustrating the shift of global terrorism towards the Sahel.
    2. Pakistan: The resurgence of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) shows that terrorist organisations continue to expand despite declining global attack numbers.
    3. Nigeria: Boko Haram and ISWAP demonstrate how weak governance sustains long-term insurgencies.
    4. Niger: Political instability and military coups have weakened state capacity against extremist organisations.
    5. Democratic Republic of Congo: Armed conflict continues to fuel terrorist violence despite improvements elsewhere.
    6. Sahel Region: The region now accounts for over half of global terrorism deaths, making Africa the new epicentre of global terrorism.

    Why has the traditional counter-terrorism paradigm become inadequate?

    1. Military bias: Eliminating terrorists does not remove the governance failures that continuously generate extremism.
    2. Leadership decapitation: Killing leaders fragments organisations but produces smaller and harder-to-detect affiliates.
    3. National responses: Domestic strategies struggle against cross-border financial, ideological and logistical networks.
    4. Technology gap: Security agencies remain better prepared for physical organisations than encrypted digital radicalisation.
    5. Reactive approach: Counter-terrorism continues to respond to attacks instead of preventing the ecosystems that produce them.

    Why is statistical success producing strategic complacency?

    1. Misleading metrics: Falling attacks measure frequency but not organisational resilience.
    2. False optimism: Improving global rankings reduce political urgency for long-term institutional reforms.
    3. Invisible evolution: Smaller decentralised organisations generate fewer spectacular attacks but remain operationally resilient.
    4. Persistent conflict: Ongoing wars continue to replenish extremist ecosystems despite declining global averages.
    5. Strategic mismatch: Governments celebrate declining numbers while terrorist organisations continuously adapt their methods.

    What should next-generation counter-terrorism architecture prioritise?

    1. State capacity: Strengthen policing, justice delivery and local administration.
    2. Conflict prevention: Address armed conflict as the principal enabler of terrorism.
    3. Border governance: Improve surveillance, intelligence integration and frontier administration.
    4. Digital resilience: Disrupt online recruitment, financing and propaganda ecosystems.
    5. International cooperation: Expand intelligence sharing and coordinated action against transnational networks.

    Conclusion

    The central challenge confronting global security is not the persistence of terrorism but its transformation. Declining attacks and fatalities represent a quantitative improvement, whereas terrorism has reorganised into decentralised, conflict-driven and digitally networked ecosystems. Counter-terrorism success must therefore be measured not by annual attack counts but by the ability of states to build resilient institutions, prevent conflict and dismantle the conditions that allow violent extremism to regenerate.

  • Why Weekly Diabetes Shot Could Reshape Treatment

    Why in the News?

    Novo Nordisk launched Awiqli (insulin icodec), the world’s first once-a-week insulin injection, in India, cutting required insulin shots from 365 to 52 a year at Rs 261 per week. The launch targets India’s exceptionally large and growing diabetic population, but insulin use in India has long lagged clinical need because of reluctance among both patients and doctors to initiate insulin therapy.

    How does icodec technically reduce insulin’s dosing burden without changing its clinical effect?

    1. Albumin-binding depot: A fatty acid chain added to the insulin molecule increases its affinity for albumin, a blood protein. Delivered under the skin, the drug binds reversibly to albumin, forming an inactive depot that releases insulin into the bloodstream through the week.
    2. Reduced receptor affinity: Three amino acid substitutions lower the molecule’s affinity for insulin receptors. This slows the rate at which released insulin is used up, without reducing its potency.
    3. Injection frequency reduction: The two modifications together cut insulin injections from 365 days a year to 52 days, making icodec the world’s first long-acting weekly insulin shot.
    4. Clinical equivalence, not clinical superiority: Physicians state icodec’s blood sugar-lowering effect is similar to other insulins. The advance lies in reduced dosing frequency, expected to improve compliance rather than glucose control itself.
    5. Position in insulin’s evolution: Icodec is a genetically engineered insulin analogue (Insulin analogue: a modified version of human insulin engineered to alter how long it stays active or how it is absorbed), part of a line of modifications that extend how long insulin stays active in the body.

    Why does India’s insulin gap persist despite insulin’s proven superiority over oral therapy?

    1. Patient reluctance despite clinical failure of pills: Type 2 diabetics who have failed to control blood glucose even on the highest doses of oral medicines remain unwilling to switch to insulin shots, despite the risk of organ, nerve, and eye damage from delay.
    2. Physician-side reluctance: Doctors themselves show reluctance to initiate insulin treatment in patients, delaying transition even when maximal oral therapy has failed.
    3. Insulin’s undeserved stigma: Novo Nordisk India’s managing director states insulin is a drug that is never abused and is highly effective, yet patients avoid it, indicating the barrier is perceptual rather than clinical.
    4. Scale of underuse: Only six million people are currently on insulin in India, a number industry estimates should be at least double, given the population that clinically needs it.
    5. Gendered burden compounding avoidance: Women on multiple daily insulin doses report needing to adjust doses during menstruation, a flexibility burden not addressed by frequency reduction alone.

    Which patient groups does icodec target, and why does the clinical logic differ between type 1 and type 2 diabetes?

    1. First target group: treatment-failed type 2 diabetics: Patients with eight to ten years of diabetes whose pills can no longer control blood glucose are the primary intended users, to prevent further organ and nerve damage from delay.
    2. Second target group: background insulin for type 1 diabetics: Type 1 diabetics need a long-acting basal dose (Basal dose: a steady, long-acting insulin dose that manages blood glucose between meals) alongside meal-time bolus doses (Bolus dose: a fast-acting insulin dose taken around mealtimes based on calorie intake); icodec would add a fourth weekly dose without significantly raising treatment burden.
    3. Why type 2 is the better clinical fit: Type 1 diabetics already take three daily doses, and their blood glucose fluctuates more, requiring frequent dose adjustment that weekly dosing cannot accommodate.
    4. Loss of flexibility as a trade-off: A physician-run survey found women needed to adjust insulin doses during menstruation, a flexibility that a fixed weekly dose foreclosed for type 1 patients.
    5. Type 2’s larger untapped pool: Since 25% to 30% of type 2 diabetics eventually require insulin despite most managing initially on pills, this is the segment with the largest late-stage conversion potential.

    Does icodec’s safety and cost profile remove the practical objections to insulin therapy?

    1. Hypoglycemia risk unchanged: The most common side effect, hypoglycemia (Hypoglycemia: a condition where blood glucose levels fall too low), affects about one in ten people on icodec, matching the risk seen with other daily insulin shots.
    2. Why hypoglycemia appears more noticeable on insulin: Blood glucose is controlled for the first time once insulin is started, making hypoglycemic episodes more apparent; pills can cause hypoglycaemia too, but uncontrolled high glucose on pills masks the comparison.
    3. Weekly cost undercuts existing insulin analogues: Icodec costs Rs 261 a week, compared to Rs 345 to Rs 453 a week for existing insulin analogues, working out to about Rs 50 a day.
    4. Pricing structure: The drug is sold in two pre-filled pen sizes, a 700 ml unit priced at Rs 2,611 and a 2,100 ml unit priced at Rs 7,883, with a typical patient needing around 70 units a week depending on requirement.
    5. Combination potential with weight-loss drugs: Icodec becomes more effective when combined with GLP-1 drugs (GLP-1 drugs: a class of medicines that lower blood glucose and are also used for weight loss), since abdominal obesity reduces insulin sensitivity and raises the insulin needed to process the same amount of sugar.

    Does convenience alone close India’s insulin treatment gap?

    1. Scale of the underlying burden: India currently has 101 million people living with diabetes and 136 million with pre-diabetes, one of the largest such populations in the world.
    2. Projected insulin need over time: Industry estimates suggest 5% to 10% of diabetics would need insulin after five years of pill-based management, rising to 20% to 30% after ten years.
    3. Conservative estimate still implies a large gap: Even at a conservative 20% requirement, the number needing insulin would stand at around 20 million, more than three times the current six million on insulin.
    4. Convenience as the stated lever for closing this gap: Industry framing ties the drug’s adoption prospects explicitly to convenience and comparable cost, not to any claimed improvement in glucose control.
    5. Unaddressed question: Whether reduced dosing frequency by itself overcomes the reluctance documented among both patients and doctors, distinct from cost or frequency, is not established by the launch itself.

    Conclusion

    Icodec’s weekly dosing and competitive pricing directly target the practical barriers of frequency and cost that have long deterred insulin use in India. The deeper barrier is behavioural: both patients and physicians delay insulin initiation despite its established superiority over maximal oral therapy, driven by stigma and reluctance rather than price or frequency alone. Reducing shots from 365 to 52 a year does not by itself address this psychological resistance. Whether convenience translates into earlier insulin initiation, and closes the gap between India’s 101 million diabetics and the roughly 20 million projected to eventually need insulin, will depend on physician-driven behavioural change as much as on the drug’s technical advance.

  • Landslides: The Need for Early Warning Systems

    Why in the News?

    Recent landslides across the Western Ghats and other parts of India have revived the debate on installing early warning systems (EWS) for landslides. The renewed discussion exposes a gap between what landslide-prediction technology has already proven capable of and the absence of any single, scaled system deploying it nationally.

    Why has landslide prediction returned to the policy conversation, and does the science actually work?

    1. Trigger: Recent landslides in the Western Ghats and other parts of India reignited discussion on installing EWS for such events.
    2. Proven feasibility: Landslides can be predicted in high-risk zones. The 2024 Wayanad landslide killed more than 300 people, illustrating the human cost when prediction is absent.
    3. Working precedent: Two weeks before the Wayanad disaster, landslides in Munnar caused no fatalities. The Idukki district administration evacuated residents on the advice of an Amrita University research team, led by Maneesha Vinodini Ramesh, that was testing an EWS.
    4. Global validation: EWS already operates effectively in multiple countries, establishing that the underlying approach is proven rather than experimental.

    What are the two competing methodologies India is currently developing for landslide early warning?

    1. Amrita University approach: Deploys a network of on-site sensors, tilt meters, pressure gauges, accelerometers, at high-risk slopes to measure vibration and ground movement.
    2. Threshold-based alerts: When sensor readings cross well-defined thresholds, an automated warning is issued, allowing the administration to act.
    3. IIT Mandi approach: Professor Dericks Praise Shukla’s team uses probabilistic forecasting instead of physical sensors, currently being validated against ongoing landslide events in the Himalayan region.
    4. Satellite-based mapping: The IIT Mandi team has mapped vulnerable spots across the Himalayan region using a satellite-based database of past landslide events.
    5. Multi-factor modelling: The probabilistic model factors in localised rainfall forecasts along with soil conditions, rock stability, extent of slope, and population density.

    Why does neither current methodology, on its own, deliver a complete early warning solution?

    1. Sensor method’s blind spot: Amrita’s sensor network reports data only for the specific slope where instruments are installed. Neighbouring slopes remain unmonitored, even though landslides are highly localised events.
    2. Rainfall model’s lead-time constraint: Shukla’s probabilistic model depends on rainfall forecasts, but highly localised forecasts are currently available only for the day of the event or one day earlier, giving very little lead time.
    3. Trade-off exposed: The sensor method provides adequate lead time but incomplete geographic coverage. The probabilistic method provides wider coverage but insufficient lead time.
    4. Scale limitation: Both methods remain validated only at pilot or regional scale. Neither is currently integrated into a single nationwide operational system.

    What must change before India moves from pilot-scale projects to a comprehensive national system?

    1. Precondition 1: high-risk zone identification: A comprehensive system first requires identifying high-risk areas where landslides are frequent, before sensors or models can be meaningfully deployed at scale.
    2. Risk zones already flagged: Shukla identifies the north-western Himalayan region and parts of Manipur and Mizoram as highly vulnerable. Sikkim is relatively less vulnerable due to a less dense road network, which implies greater slope stability.
    3. Precondition 2: higher-resolution rainfall forecasting: The probabilistic method’s lead-time limitation can only be resolved once the India Meteorological Department develops higher-resolution rainfall forecasts, which is currently in progress.
    4. Timeline and resourcing: A comprehensive and effective landslide EWS can be built in about two years if resources and effort are properly dedicated to it, according to Shukla.
    5. Sequencing: The stated roadmap identifies high-risk zones nationally first, and installs sensors at selected sites only afterward, mapping precedes instrumentation, not the reverse.

    Conclusion

    Landslide early warning technology is scientifically proven and has already prevented casualties in India, as seen in Munnar in 2024. No standardised national system exists, however; current efforts are split between a sensor-based method and a rainfall-probability-based method, each constrained by a different limitation, localised coverage in one case, short lead time in the other. Scaling to a comprehensive national system depends on two preconditions currently absent: systematic identification of high-risk zones across India, and higher-resolution rainfall forecasting infrastructure from the India Meteorological Department. Until both are in place, early warning capability will remain confined to isolated pilot projects rather than a nationwide shield.

    PYQ Relevance

    [UPSC 2021] Describe the various causes and the effects of landslides. Mention the important components of the National Landslide Risk Management Strategy.

    Linkage: The PYQ examines India’s institutional approach to landslide risk reduction through the National Landslide Risk Management Strategy (NLRMS) and disaster preparedness. The article directly complements this PYQ by highlighting early warning systems, sensor networks, vulnerability mapping, localized rainfall forecasting, and timely evacuation, all of which are core components of proactive landslide risk management envisaged under the NLRMS.

  • NeoSep1 Trial to Combat Antimicrobial Resistant Neonatal Sepsis

    Why in News?

    India has joined the NeoSep1 international trial to evaluate effective antibiotic combinations for treating antimicrobial resistant (AMR) neonatal sepsis.

    Key Highlights

    • NeoSep1 is a multicentric clinical trial led by GARDP and international partners.
    • India’s first participants were enrolled at:
      • JIPMER, Puducherry
      • PGIMS, Rohtak
    • The trial aims to enrol 3,000 newborns across Asia and Africa by 2028.
    • Uses a Personalised Randomised Controlled Trial (PRACTical) design to identify the most effective antibiotic regimens.
    • Primary outcome: 28 day survival; secondary outcomes include 90 day survival, hospital stay, and need for additional antibiotics.

    Neonatal Sepsis

    • A life threatening bloodstream infection in infants below 90 days of age.
    • Classified as:
      • Early onset: Within 72 hours of birth.
      • Late onset: Up to 28 to 90 days after birth.
    • Premature and low birth weight babies are at the highest risk.

    India and AMR

    • Accounts for 30 to 40% of neonatal deaths in India.
    • Causes an estimated 2 to 2.5 lakh preventable deaths annually.
    • Predominant pathogens: Klebsiella pneumoniae. Escherichia coli. Acinetobacter spp. Pseudomonas aeruginosa
    • These organisms often exhibit multidrug resistance, unlike developed countries where Group B Streptococcus is the leading cause.

    [2019] Which of the following are the reasons for the occurrence of multi-drug resistance in microbial pathogens in India?
    1. Genetic predisposition of some people
    2. Taking incorrect doses of antibiotics to cure diseases
    3. Using antibiotics in livestock farming
    4. Multiple chronic diseases in some people
    Select the correct answer using the code given below.

    [A] 1 and 2

    [B] 2 and 3 only

    [C] 1, 3 and 4

    [D] 2, 3 and 4

  • National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER)

    Why in News?

    The Vice President of India recently addressed the 15th Graduation Ceremony of the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar.

    About NISER

    • Established in 2006.
    • An Autonomous Institute under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India.
    • Located about 20 km south of Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
    • Equipped with advanced laboratories, computational facilities, library, and residential hostels.
    • Affiliated with the Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai, a deemed-to-be university under the DAE.

    Objectives

    • Develop high quality human resources in basic sciences.
    • Promote excellence in scientific research and innovation.
    • Contribute to India’s knowledge economy through education and research.

    Major Activities

    • Science Education: Centre of excellence for undergraduate and postgraduate education in basic sciences.
      • Offers: Five year Integrated M.Sc. Ph.D. programmes in pure and applied sciences.
    • Scientific Research: Conducts theoretical and experimental research in frontier areas of science. Has seven Schools specializing in different scientific disciplines.
    • Science Outreach and Policy: Promotes scientific temper through outreach programmes for students and the public. Faculty members contribute to national science policy formulation through various government committees.

    About Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI)

    • Established in 2005.
    • A Deemed to be University under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
    • Headquartered in Mumbai.
    • Integrates academic programmes of premier DAE institutions to promote advanced education and research in science, engineering, and technology.

    [2015] Indira Gandhi Peace Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2014 was given to which of the following?

    [A] Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

    [B] Indian Institute of Science

    [C] Indian Space Research Organization

    [D] Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

  • China Achieves First Controlled Recovery of Reusable Rocket Booster

    Why in News?

    China has successfully conducted its first controlled recovery of an orbital class reusable rocket booster during the maiden launch of the Long March 10B carrier rocket, marking a significant milestone in its reusable space technology.

    Key Highlights

    • Long March 10B successfully placed its payload into the designated orbit.
    • After stage separation, the first stage booster returned safely and was captured on a sea based platform using a net capture system.
    • This marks China’s first successful controlled recovery of an orbital class rocket booster.
    • The achievement follows SpaceX, which became the first to recover an orbital class rocket booster in December 2015.
    • Two previous Chinese attempts at vertical landing in December 2025 had failed.

    What is a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)?

    • A launch vehicle designed to recover and reuse some or all of its components after launch.
    • Typically, the first stage booster is recovered since it accounts for a major share of launch costs.
    • Recovery methods include:
      • Vertical landing on land or drone ships (SpaceX).
      • Sea based platform recovery using net capture (Long March 10B).
    • Reusability significantly lowers the cost of access to space.

    Benefits of Reusable Rocket Technology

    • Reduces launch costs through multiple reuse of boosters.
    • Enables higher launch frequency.
    • Improves commercial viability of space missions.
    • Supports deep space exploration and satellite deployment.
    • Reduces manufacturing time and resource consumption.

    China’s Long March Rocket Family

    • Developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT).
    • Serves as China’s primary family of orbital launch vehicles.
    • Used for: Satellite launches. Human spaceflight missions. Lunar and deep space exploration.
    • Long March 10 is being developed for China’s future crewed Moon missions.

    India’s Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Programme

    • Developed by ISRO.
    • Aims to create a fully reusable space transportation system.
    • Key milestones:
      • RLV-TD (Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator) first flew in 2016.
      • LEX (Landing Experiment) successfully demonstrated autonomous runway landing in 2023.
      • LEX-02 and LEX-03 further validated autonomous landing technologies.
    • Intended to reduce launch costs and improve access to space.

    [2018] With reference to India’s satellite launch vehicles, consider the following statements :
    1.PSLVs launch satellites useful for Earth resources monitoring whereas GSLVs are designed mainly to launch communication satellites.
    2.Satellites launched by PSLV appear to remain permanently fixed in the same position in the sky, as viewed from a particular location on Earth.
    3.GSLV Mk III is a four-stage launch vehicle with the first and third stages using solid rocket motors, and the second and fourth stages using liquid rocket engines.
    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    [A] 1 only

    [B] 2 and 3

    [C] 1 and 2

    [D] 3 only

  • Government Tightens Regulation of High Alcohol Containing Drug Formulations

    Why in News?

    The Central Government has amended the Drugs Rules, 1945 to tighten regulation of high alcohol containing medicinal formulations, removing their exemption under Schedule K and bringing them under Schedule H1.

    Key Highlights

    • Schedule K exemption removed for medicinal formulations containing:
      • More than 12% v/v ethyl alcohol, and
      • Pack size exceeding 30 mL.
    • Such products must now obtain manufacturing and sale licenses under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
    • Shifted to Schedule H1, making them:
      • Available only on the prescription of a Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP).
      • Subject to strict sale records and monitoring.
    • Targets misuse of formulations such as cardamom tincture, ginger tincture, and other aromatic preparations, some containing 80 to 90% v/v ethyl alcohol.
    • Ensures availability for genuine therapeutic use while preventing diversion for intoxication.

    Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940

    • Regulates the import, manufacture, distribution and sale of drugs and cosmetics in India.
    • Administered by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
    • Implemented through the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and State Drug Controllers.
    • Supported by the Drugs Rules, 1945, which prescribe standards, licensing, labeling and schedules.

    Schedule K

    • Lists specified drugs exempted from certain licensing provisions under defined conditions.
    • Intended mainly for low risk preparations or specified categories of sale.
    • The amendment removes exemption for high alcohol formulations exceeding the prescribed threshold.

    Schedule H1

    • Introduced to regulate drugs prone to misuse and antimicrobial resistance.
    • Drugs can be sold only on a registered medical practitioner’s prescription.
    • Pharmacists must:
      • Maintain a separate register recording patient and prescriber details.
      • Preserve records for at least three years.
    • Originally covered certain antibiotics, anti TB medicines and other critical drugs; now also includes specified high alcohol medicinal formulations.

    [2018] Consider the following statements:

    1. The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 replaced the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.
    2. The Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) is under the charge of Director General of Health Services in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
    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

  • [10th July 2026] The Hindu OpED: Building a durable India-Australia partnership

    PYQ Relevance[UPSC 2024] The West is fostering India as an alternative to reduce dependence on China’s supply chain and as a strategic ally to counter China’s political and economic dominance. Explain this statement with examples
    Linkage: The article shows India and Australia strengthening cooperation in critical technologies, resilient supply chains and maritime security to reduce dependence on China and manage its strategic influence in the Indo-Pacific.

    Mentor’s Comment

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia produced a cluster of institutional deliverables, a defence MoU, a maritime security roadmap, an operationalised uranium supply deal, and a new critical-technology partnership. The visit has sharpened the question of whether India and Australia have moved from independently arriving at similar strategic conclusions (convergence) to building genuinely interlocked capabilities and institutions (alignment).

    Why Is Strategic Convergence Between India and Australia Deepening?

    1. Shared hedging instinct: Both countries face structural risk from single-point dependence, Australia economically on China and militarily on the United States, India across its energy suppliers, defence platforms and critical minerals sourcing.
    2. Eroding trust in Washington: This year’s Lowy Institute Poll recorded Australian trust in the United States at a record low of 31%, with a narrow majority of Australians favouring distance from Washington under President Trump.
    3. Conflict-driven lesson on dependency: The Iran and Ukraine conflicts demonstrated that long-standing single-point dependencies, however historically stable, have become strategic liabilities.
    4. India’s parallel diversification: New Delhi is diversifying energy suppliers, defence platforms and critical minerals processing for the same underlying reason as Australia.
    5. Limits of unilateral hedging: No single country can balance China or hedge against American unpredictability alone, which makes partners such as India, Australia and Japan mutually reinforcing.

    What Institutional Steps Toward Alignment Did This Visit Deliver?

    1. Defence and security MoU: A Joint Declaration on Defence and Security Cooperation created a memorandum of understanding between Australia’s Maritime Border Command and the Indian Coast Guard.
    2. Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap: Both countries adopted a roadmap to address shared threat perceptions across maritime domains.
    3. Uranium deal operationalised: The SHANTI Act, enacted last December, reformed the nuclear liability regime that had deterred foreign suppliers since the 2014 bilateral civil nuclear agreement. 
    4. Technology partnership launched: The summit launched the Australia-India Partnership on Cyber, Critical Technologies and Supply Chains (PACTS), positioned to build resilient technology partnerships through flexible minilateral arrangements. 
    5. Complementary minilateral framing: PACTS was framed as complementary to the Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation Partnership, both structured as flexible minilateral arrangements rather than formal alliances.

    Why Does Convergence Still Fall Short of Durable Alignment? 

    1. Indian Ocean overlap is real: India’s Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region and Australia’s closer attention to its western seaboard show converging maritime domain awareness.
      1. Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region: India’s hub for monitoring regional shipping movements and maritime threats.
    2. Shared threat assessments: Both navies have converged on assessments of shadow fleets, threats to undersea cables, and coercive activity below the threshold of conflict.
    3. Australia’s force posture points elsewhere: Australia’s most consequential defence decisions, including AUKUS, remain oriented toward the Western Pacific rather than the Indian Ocean.
    4. India’s strategic attention remains divided: India’s planners continue to split focus between continental threats and maritime challenges, limiting dedicated Indian Ocean bandwidth.
    5. Operational overlap is narrower than political rhetoric: The shared strategic ground between the two countries is real but narrower than the convergence visible at the political level.

    Why Has Economic Convergence Not Translated into Broad-Based Alignment?

    1. Trade growth is concentrated: Trade has grown sharply since the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement came into force, but gains sit disproportionately with large firms.
    2. SME awareness gap: Smaller exporters on both sides remain unaware of how to use the trade agreement’s provisions.
    3. Operationalisation gap flagged by experts: Track 1.5 dialogues have identified this awareness gap as a structural obstacle to broad-based trade alignment.
      1. Track 1.5 dialogue: a hybrid diplomatic format combining government officials and non-official experts.

    Why Does Australian Public Perception Lag Behind Elite Convergence?

    1. Wide perception gap with China: This year’s Lowy Poll found only 5% of Australians expect India to be the world’s most important power a decade from now, against 54% for China.
    2. High trust, low strategic recognition: Trust in India remains comparatively high among Australians, but this has not translated into recognition of India’s strategic weight.
    3. Elite-public disconnect: Convergence at the political and institutional level has not yet trickled down into wider Australian public awareness of India’s strategic heft.

    Can the Diaspora Bridge the Convergence-Alignment Gap?

    1. Diaspora scale: Indian-origin Australians are now the country’s largest immigrant-born community, surpassing the U.K.-born population for the first time.
    2. Existing recognition is narrow: A Centre for Australia-India Relations study finds Australians broadly recognise the diaspora as skilled migrants, students and workers, but only in that limited sense.
    3. Cultural asset is not alignment: Recognising the diaspora as a cultural or electoral asset differs from using it to build a public economic case for India.
    4. Institutionalisation is missing: Alignment requires institutionalising the diaspora’s role in helping Australian SMEs navigate Indian regulatory and business culture, and vice versa, rather than relying on individual champions.
    5. Migration politics complicate mobility: The mobility of Indian professionals remains entangled with Australia’s increasingly contested migration politics.
    6. Visit as fresh ballast: PM Modi’s remarks on Australian pension funds investing in India, framed as a marker of strategic trust rather than pure capital, provided renewed momentum for these conversations.

    Conclusion

    The India-Australia relationship rests on strong convergence: both countries are independently hedging against overdependence on China and an unpredictable Washington. Alignment, however, remains narrower than the political rhetoric suggests. Defence cooperation stays bounded by Australia’s Western Pacific-oriented force posture, trade gains remain concentrated among large firms, and Australian public perception of India continues to lag behind elite consensus. The partnership will deepen only if institutional steps, the Coast Guard MoU, the uranium deal, and diaspora-linked economic outreach, are sustained incrementally, since convergence alone does not guarantee durable alignment.

  • Why is the centre revising the NFSA 

    Why in the News?

    The Union Food and Public Distribution Department has published a draft amendment to the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 converting the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) entitlement from a household-based to a per-capita formula. Tamil Nadu and Kerala have objected, arguing the change will cut monthly foodgrain allocations for smaller households even though it is framed as an equity correction. The dispute revives a food-politics fault line between the Centre and these two States that traces back to the NFSA’s 2013 enactment.

    What has the Centre proposed, and what does it claim to fix?

    1. Current rule: Every Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) household receives 35 kg of foodgrains per month, regardless of household size.
    2. Proposed rule: Each person in an AAY household is entitled to 7 kg per month, subject to a ceiling of 35 kg per household.
    3. Legal provision amended: The first provision to Section 3(1) of the NFSA, which governs the right to subsidised foodgrains for eligible households.
    4. Stated rationale: The F&PD Department says the household-based system causes intra-category inequity. Smaller households get a higher per-capita share. Larger households get a lower per-capita share that can fall below what priority households receive.
    5. Stated objective: The amendment aims to make allocation more rational and align entitlements with nutritional norms.
    6. Consultation window: Public comments were invited till July 13, 2026.
    7. Gap in the amendment: The draft does not address inclusion of ineligible persons as beneficiaries. This problem remains a State-level issue.

    Why have Tamil Nadu and Kerala historically treated food policy as high-stakes politics?

    1. Kerala’s PDS legacy: Kerala traces informal food distribution mechanisms to the erstwhile princely State of Travancore and launched a formal Public Distribution System (PDS) in 1962, three years before the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was established.
    2. Tamil Nadu’s political precedent: Incumbent governments lost power in 1952 and 1967 over failure to manage rice shortages, making rice policy a lasting political sensitivity.
    3. Kerala’s resistance to the 2013 NFSA: The Congress-led UDF government, despite the Congress-led UPA pushing the law at the Centre, resisted implementation. It argued the law would drop a large number of poor families and impose a heavy financial burden on the State.
    4. Delayed Kerala rollout: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy committed to enforcing the NFSA, but the formal decision was taken only under his successor, Pinarayi Vijayan.
    5. Tamil Nadu’s universal rice policy: Chief Minister Jayalalithaa opposed the NFSA after her government began distributing free rice to all ration cardholders in 2011, regardless of economic status.
    6. Concession extracted in 2013: Tamil Nadu secured a Central guarantee that its then-existing allocation levels would be legally protected under the NFSA.
    7. Delayed adoption: Both southern States joined the rest of the country in implementing the NFSA only in November 2016.

    Why does a per-capita formula built on a household ceiling disadvantage southern States?

    1. Mechanical effect of the formula: A household with fewer than five members receives less than 35 kg under the per-capita rule, since 7 kg multiplied by fewer than five persons falls short of the existing ceiling.
    2. Kerala’s structural exposure: Kerala’s Food Minister has argued that States characterised by nuclear families will lose out, since Kerala took the position in 2013 that AAY cardholders deserved “special consideration,” a stance it maintains.
    3. Tamil Nadu’s quantified loss: The State’s monthly allocation is projected to fall from 65,261 tonnes to 42,040 tonnes under the new formula.
    4. Scale of exposure in Tamil Nadu: Of 18.64 lakh AAY households, 15.75 lakh have fewer than five members, covering 58.51 lakh of the State’s 69.27 lakh AAY beneficiaries.
    5. Non-substitutability argument: Rice is a staple across all three daily meals for AAY cardholders and cannot be replaced with market purchases without significant out-of-pocket cost.
    6. North-South divide argument: Right to Food Campaign functionary Anuradha Talwar has argued that northern States, with larger average family sizes, will receive higher allocations under the new formula while southern States lose out.
    7. South’s collective stake: The five southern States and Puducherry together hold 52.51 lakh of India’s 250 lakh AAY household ceiling, about one-fifth of the national total, making the region’s exposure to the formula change substantial in absolute terms.

    What is the way forward, and does it resolve the underlying tension?

    1. Process concern: A change of this scale should have been subjected to wider public scrutiny before a consensus was sought, according to food policy commentary cited in the report.
    2. Middle-path proposal: Tamil Nadu Progressive Consumer Centre president T. Sadagopan has suggested a flat allocation of 30 kg per household, irrespective of family size, as a compromise.
    3. Fiscal rationale for the middle path: A flat 30 kg allocation would still let the Union government reduce its overall subsidy bill compared to the current 35 kg ceiling.
    4. Implementation context: Current off-take and distribution data for the financial year up to May 2026 show uneven utilisation across southern States relative to their allocations, indicating that formula design alone will not resolve execution gaps in the PDS chain.
    5. Unresolved gap: Neither the Centre’s draft nor the proposed middle path addresses the separate, State-level problem of ineligible persons remaining on beneficiary lists.

    Conclusion

    The NFSA amendment corrects a genuine per-capita inequity within the AAY category, but the household ceiling built into the new formula shifts the burden onto smaller-household southern States, reviving a federal food-politics conflict rooted in each State’s distinct PDS history. The amendment leaves the parallel problem of ineligible beneficiaries at the State level untouched, meaning one inequity is corrected while another persists. A flat per-household allocation remains a proposed middle path, but the Centre has not formally responded to it.

    PYQ Relevance

    [UPSC 2013] What are the salient features of the National Food Security Act, 2013? How has the Food Security Bill helped in eliminating hunger and malnutrition in India?

    Linkage: The PYQ examines the provisions and effectiveness of the NFSA as a rights-based framework for ensuring food and nutritional security. The proposed shift from a fixed 35 kg entitlement per AAY household to 7 kg per person, capped at 35 kg, enables a critical assessment of whether rationalising foodgrain allocation may weaken existing NFSA entitlements and affect vulnerable households unevenly.

  • Lessons for India from Brazil’s ethanol pathway

    Why in the News?

    India achieved its E20 ethanol-blending target in 2025, five years ahead of the original 2030 deadline, compressing the E5-to-E20 journey into just six years. Brazil took five decades to move from E10 to E30 blending, sequencing its mandate behind vehicle readiness and consumer price incentives at every stage.

    How does the pace of India’s ethanol-blending mandate compare with Brazil’s phased trajectory?

    1. Brazil’s blending law dates to 1931: Brazil mandated a 5% anhydrous ethanol blend in petrol in 1931. This law preceded the National Alcohol Program by over four decades.
    2. 1973 oil crisis triggered Proálcool: The 1973 global oil crisis prompted Brazil to launch the National Alcohol Program in 1975. The program aimed to cut petroleum dependence through ethanol promotion.
    3. Brazil took 50 years for E10 to E30: Brazil moved from E10 to E30 blending over five decades. The 2025 blend increase to 30% followed dedicated government studies.
    4. India compressed E5 to E20 into six years: India’s blending share rose from E5 to E20 in six years. The 10% blending milestone was reached only in 2022.
    5. India’s 20% target was front-loaded: The original 20% ethanol target was set for 2030. The government advanced this to a nationwide standard years ahead of schedule.
    6. E20 target met five years early: India reached its E20 target in 2025. Blending stood at 19.2% at that point, up from 12.1% in 2023.

    What specific Brazilian policy and institutional milestones enabled its ethanol transition?

    1. 1931 blending law set the baseline: Brazil’s first ethanol law fixed a 5% anhydrous ethanol blend in petrol. This gave the fuel market an early, low-disruption entry point for ethanol.
    2. Proálcool (1975) built institutional demand: The National Alcohol Program created sustained government-backed demand for ethanol after the 1973 oil crisis. This program anchored ethanol’s role in Brazil’s energy strategy for decades.
    3. Fiat’s 147 (1979) proved single-fuel ethanol vehicles: Italian automaker Fiat launched the 147, the world’s first vehicle powered entirely by ethanol. Volkswagen, GM and Ford followed with their own ethanol models.
    4. Flex-fuel production scaled from 2003: Volkswagen introduced Brazil’s first flex-fuel vehicle on March 23, 2003. Toyota’s flex-fuel Corolla sales rose from 48,178 units in 2003 to 1.63 million units, nearly 90% of the Brazilian car fleet, within two decades.
    5. National Biofuels Policy (2017) consolidated the regulatory framework: Brazil passed this policy to formalise its biofuel targets. It followed over four decades of incremental legislative steps.
    6. ‘Fuel of the Future’ and Mover Program (2024) targeted low-carbon vehicle technology: These laws pushed low-carbon vehicle technology and further biofuel adoption. They set the stage for the 2025 E30 mandate.

    Why has India’s flex-fuel vehicle ecosystem lagged behind its blending mandate?

    1. India has only a handful of flex-fuel models: The WagonR flex-fuel model, Toyota Hycross hybrid flex-fuel prototype, Tata Punch and Hyundai Creta flex-fuel versions form India’s flex-fuel car range. Hero and TVS have introduced flex-fuel two-wheelers.
    2. Most Indian vehicles remain unequipped for high ethanol blends: Indian roads are not geared up for handling higher ethanol blends in the fuel mix. Most cars and two-wheelers use fixed-ratio fuel systems rather than flex-fuel sensors.
    3. Flex-fuel vehicles depend on a fuel composition sensor: This sensor adjusts fuel injection and ignition timing based on the ethanol-petrol blend in the tank. It allows seamless switching between petrol, ethanol, or blends of the two.
    4. India’s E85 dispensing stations are ahead of its vehicle base: E85 fuel dispensing stations are being established nationwide. Only a few flex-fuel vehicle prototypes exist to use them.
    5. Flex-fuel certification remains an incomplete category in India: Flex-fuel vehicles require an entirely separate vehicle category and a distinct set of readiness certifications. India has completed only a fraction of this process compared with Brazil’s near-complete fleet conversion.

    Why did consumer price incentives drive Brazil’s ethanol adoption while their absence undermines India’s blending push?

    1. Brazilian pumps offer motorists a fuel choice: Nearly every Brazilian petrol pump offers a choice between blended petrol, typically E27, and E100, pure hydrous ethanol. Consumers choose whichever fuel is cheaper on a given day.
    2. Price gap made ethanol the rational choice in Brazil: E100 is typically 25-35% cheaper than lower-blended petrol in Brazil. This price gap, not the blending mandate alone, drove flex-fuel vehicle adoption.
    3. Government price support cemented flex-fuel demand: Brazilian government price support made blended fuel cheaper than petrol. Nine out of every 10 new cars sold in Brazil by the late 1980s could run on ethanol alone.
    4. Ethanol carries technical performance advantages: Ethanol improves acceleration and reduces engine knocking. This is cited as a further consumer benefit in Brazil.
    5. India offered a blending mandate without a matching price incentive or choice: Indian motorists were not offered a fuel choice at the pump. They were told performance would not be affected, without addressing fuel efficiency.
    6. Mileage was excluded from India’s performance assurance: The government’s performance assurance to motorists did not include mileage. Vehicle owners have since reported a sharp dip in fuel efficiency.

    What questions does India’s rushed ethanol rollout leave unanswered?

    1. Efficiency losses are set to increase with higher blending: Vehicle owners have noticed a fuel-efficiency dip since blending began. This efficiency loss is expected to worsen as blending increases further.
    2. Vehicle damage concerns are contested but not absent: Concerns over vehicle damage appear overstated on the whole. Plastic and rubber components in older vehicles still show degradation.
    3. India’s E20-to-E25 transition is positioned as a strategic necessity: The push to raise blending from E20 to E25, ahead of a full shift to flex-fuel vehicles and E85-E100 fuels, is described as integral to reducing fossil fuel import dependence.
    4. Import dependence frames the urgency: India imports nearly 88.5% of its crude oil requirement. This dependence exposes the country’s energy security to geopolitical disruptions.
    5. The mobility strategy remains a declared combination without a sequencing plan: An official has stated that India’s future mobility ecosystem will combine EVs, biofuels, hydrogen and renewables suited to Indian conditions. No phased sequencing comparable to Brazil’s decades-long approach has been specified.
    6. The rollout proceeded without adequate disclaimers or preparation: The blending push moved forward without adequately preparing consumers or vehicle systems. This gap, more than the blending percentage itself, is the substance of the unresolved question for India.

    Conclusion

    Brazil’s ethanol success rested on sequencing blending mandates behind vehicle readiness and consumer price incentives, sustained across five decades. India has reversed this sequence, reaching its blending target years ahead of schedule without a matching flex-fuel vehicle base or price-based consumer choice. The unresolved question is not the blending percentage itself but whether India’s vehicle certifications, fuel infrastructure and consumer disclosures can catch up to a mandate already in force.

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