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  • The next farm revolution must aim at significantly raising farmers’ incomes

    The next farm revolution must aim at significantly raising farmers’ incomes

    Why in the News

    A review of the Prime Minister’s 25 years in public service, 13 of them as Gujarat’s Chief Minister, finds India secure in staples. Two tasks remain: a rice and wheat surplus against a pulses and oilseeds shortfall, and stagnant farm incomes.

    How did water and technology build India’s food security?

    1. Gujarat’s farm boom: Farm growth topped 9% a year in that tenure, rare even in Punjab’s Green Revolution heyday.
    2. Inputs behind it: Gujarat built check dams, secured Narmada waters and laid separate power feeder lines so farm pumps got power on time. Roads, Krishi Mahotsav village outreach and Bt cotton (approved 2002) followed.
    3. National irrigation push: After the 2014 and 2015 droughts, the Centre prioritised irrigation and crop insurance under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
    4. Irrigation coverage: Almost 60% of the gross cropped area (land sown twice counted twice) is now irrigated.
    5. The takeaway: Water, power, roads and seeds turned scarcity into surplus, now itself the problem.

    Where does Indian agriculture stand today?

    1. Overflowing grain stocks: Even after free grain under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), rice stocks exceed four times the buffer norm (the minimum stock required), wheat almost three times.
    2. Farm trade: India is the largest producer and exporter of rice and a net exporter of farm goods. Its $40 billion of farm imports are mostly edible oils and pulses.
    3. Growth rate: Agricultural GDP has grown about 4% a year under the present government, enough for food security as population grows slowly.

    Why does the crop basket not match demand?

    1. Demand supply mismatch: India grows too much rice and wheat and too few pulses and oilseeds. Atmanirbharta (self sufficiency) in these needs incentives matching rice and wheat.
    2. Rice for ethanol: Diverting almost 7 million tonnes of rice to ethanol is “perverse”: it consumes more energy than it yields and loses money.
    3. Paddy’s hidden subsidy: Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) research finds paddy in Punjab and Haryana pays because of power, fertiliser and canal subsidies worth almost Rs 40,000 per hectare.
    4. Crop neutral support: Paying pulses and oilseeds growers about Rs 35,000 per hectare saves groundwater at no extra cost to the exchequer, because paddy’s input subsidies fall.
    5. Haryana first: A jointly funded Centre State scheme could start in Haryana, where groundwater falls 1.7 feet a year.

    Why have farm incomes not doubled, and what could change that?

    1. Doubling target missed: The Ashok Dalwai Committee held that doubling farmers’ real incomes needed 10.4% annual farm growth.
    2. High value diversification: Fisheries, poultry, milk, fruits and vegetables raise incomes, but these perishables need efficient value chains.
    3. Agri photovoltaics: Solar panels 10 to 11 feet above crops let one field yield food and power, like rooftop solar over a farm, making the farmer ‘annadata’ and ‘urjadata’ (food and energy giver).
    4. Rajasthan pilot: An ICRIER pilot in Rajasthan raised a farmer’s income eight to 10 times.
    5. Surya Khet Kranti: Give farm solar under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) the rooftop PM Surya Ghar subsidy and a feed in tariff (fixed price for grid sales), sparking an Operation Flood style revolution.

    Challenges

    1. Procurement bias: Open ended minimum support price purchase covers mainly rice and wheat, so other crops stay riskier.
    2. Subsidies States control: A fiscally neutral swap needs States to cut politically sensitive power and canal subsidies.
    3. Selling farm power: Cash strapped distribution companies delay buying farmers’ solar power.

    Way Forward

    1. Assured pulses purchase: Extend assured minimum support price purchase to pulses and oilseeds.
    2. Lean buffer stocks: Hold only the buffer norm and sell surplus grain.
    3. Solar farming standards: Notify panel height and spacing norms protecting crop yields.

    Conclusion

    India’s farm policy still rewards the crops it has in surplus and penalises the ones it imports. Whether the Centre and States swap input subsidies for crop neutral support, and pay fairly for farm solar power, will decide if incomes rise as harvests did.

    Key numbers

    1. Free grain under PMGKAY: 5 kg of rice or wheat per person per month.
    2. Farm exports (2025-26): roughly $53 billion, led by rice and marine products.

    Government Initiatives for Crop Diversification

    1. Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses: A ₹11,440 crore mission (2025) for self reliance in tur, urad and masoor.
    2. National Mission on Edible Oils: NMEO-Oilseeds (about ₹10,103 crore) and NMEO-Oil Palm target edible oil self reliance.
    3. PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana: Converges 36 schemes for crop diversification in 100 low productivity districts.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2026, GS3, 15 marks] How Indian agriculture has been transformed from food scarcity to food surplus level? Explain the various government policies implemented for diversification of Indian agriculture.”

  • Behind India’s plan for Russia-Ukraine peace: Grain, oil, and Trump

    Why in the News

    For the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, India has moved from urging peace to proposing a “comprehensive” plan to end the war. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister revealed it after Russia’s President said India’s Prime Minister had some “very good ideas”.

    What does India’s proposal contain?

    1. Black Sea relief: The two sides would ease fighting around the Black Sea, intense since July, so Ukraine’s farm exports reach the world.
    2. Energy truce: Russia would halt attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
    3. Front line restraint: Ukraine would refrain from attacking Russian positions along the line of contact, the front line between the two armies.
    4. US energy ceasefire: The US President has since announced an “energy ceasefire, effective immediately”, without details. Ukraine backs it; Russia did not immediately respond.
    5. The takeaway: The plan starts with food exports and energy because both sides lose when these are attacked, so restraint there is easier to agree.

    Why is the Black Sea at the centre of the plan?

    1. Global food risk: Fighting in this key grain export hub could put at least 400 million people in Africa, West Asia and Asia at risk of food shortages.
    2. Greater Odesa ports: Russia has targeted Ukraine’s three deep water ports, Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi, which handle around 90% of its agricultural exports.
    3. Cargo collapse: Average daily cargo at these ports fell from about 215,300 tonnes to around 14,000 tonnes from late July to end August, per Ukraine.
    4. Export dependence: Agri food products made up more than 56% of Ukraine’s merchandise exports in the 2025-26 marketing year.

    Why does Russia also have a stake in restraint?

    1. Attacks on Russian routes: Since mid July, Ukraine has hit grain vessels and ports on the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, which links the Azov to the Black Sea.
    2. Russian grain dependence: About 77 to 81% of Russia’s grain exports move through the Azov and Black Sea region.
    3. Winter grid threat: Western intelligence indicates Russia plans heavier attacks on Ukraine’s power grids and plants before winter.

    How did India move from advocacy to deal making?

    1. Long advocacy: The Prime Minister has pressed Russia’s President since 2022. At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek on August 31, he urged moving from “endless war” to “end of war”.
    2. Sailors killed: The latest talks began in July, after Russian and Ukrainian attacks on civilian shipping killed some Indian sailors and injured others.
    3. Beyond advocacy: The External Affairs Minister said on October 4 that India has gone “beyond advocacy” to be “a little more involved”.
    4. Talking to both sides: India buys discounted Russian crude, which angers Ukraine. It still keeps channels open with Kyiv, so it can talk to both.
    5. Tariff exposure: India wants to avoid another round of US tariffs over Russian oil. Half of last year’s 50% US tariff on India was imposed for these imports.

    Challenges

    1. Three way balance: India must meet US expectations as a strategic partner, keep ties with Moscow and avoid appearing close to an emerging Sino Russian axis.
    2. Fragile partial truces: Unmonitored truces collapse. Eg. The US brokered energy strike pause of March 2025 collapsed.
    3. Competing initiatives: The separate US energy ceasefire could sideline India’s proposal.

    Way Forward

    1. Monitored corridor: Propose neutral monitoring of shipping, like the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul under the 2022 Black Sea Grain Initiative.
    2. One energy track: Fold India’s energy terms into the US ceasefire, so the parties face one set of rules.
    3. Seafarer protection: Press both sides for safe passage of merchant ships carrying Indian crews.

    Conclusion

    India now proposes terms built on the narrow ground both sides share, food exports and energy infrastructure. Whether Moscow and Kyiv accept monitored limits on such attacks, and how the US defines its energy ceasefire, will test the shift.

    Key numbers

    1. Ukraine agri food export revenue: $22.5 billion (2025-26 marketing year).
    2. Ukraine harvest outlook: About 81 million tonnes of grain and oilseeds in 2026-27, of which about 64.4 million tonnes must be exported.
    3. Ukraine storage deficit: Could near 11 million tonnes by the end of autumn under prolonged disruption.

    Back2Basics: Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov

    1. Designation: A maritime chokepoint, the only sea exit from the Sea of Azov.
    2. Location: The strait separates Crimea’s Kerch Peninsula from Russia’s Taman Peninsula, and the Crimean Bridge spans it.
    3. Earlier coverage: “Strikes on Black Sea and Sea of Azov grain terminals open a second food-price chokepoint” (15 August 2026).

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2022, GS4, 10 marks] Russia and Ukraine war has been going on for the last seven months. Different countries have taken independent stands and actions keeping in view their own national interests. We are all aware that war has its own impact on the different aspects of society, including human tragedy. What are those ethical issues that are crucial to be considered while launching the war and its continuation so far? Illustrate with justification the ethical issues involved in the given state of affair.”

  • US IT salvo opens new front for India

    Why in the News

    The United States (US) has suspended major Indian information technology (IT) firms from the Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) programme, a pathway to permanent residency. The move follows last year’s $100,000 fee on H-1B visas and opens a labour mobility front alongside US pressure on India’s Russian energy purchases and the stalled trade deal.

    What is PERM, and why does the suspension matter?

    1. What PERM is: A US labour certification an employer must secure before sponsoring a foreign worker for permanent residency (the green card), like a hiring clearance for a permanent recruit.
    2. Wider agenda: The suspension is part of a larger US drive to crack down on foreign labour and curtail immigration, after the H-1B fee unsettled firms relying on skilled foreign workers.
    3. PERM volume: The programme received 1,17,849 applications in the US fiscal year that ended in September 2025.
    4. Small direct exposure: Indian IT firms filed less than 2% of them, an ICICI Securities report shows. The immediate impact is muted, but the move will sour sentiment.
    5. The takeaway: The direct cost is small, but the signal is that US curbs on Indian skilled workers are widening.

    What is at stake for India’s services exports?

    1. Broader visa risk: The same report warns that “any extension into broader work-visa restrictions would pose a more material risk”.
    2. Export earnings: India’s software, business and other services exports, a major source of foreign exchange, stood at $221 billion in 2025-26.
    3. Bilateral strain: The suspension adds labour mobility to an India US relationship already strained over energy and trade.

    How does the move fit a wider pattern of US pressure?

    1. Energy tariff law: Weeks earlier, the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 allowed US tariffs of up to 100% on top buyers of Russian energy, such as China and India.
    2. Russian crude buyers: Since December 2022, China has taken roughly half of Russia’s crude exports and India 37%, per the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
    3. Diesel deal: The US President has prodded India to cut Russian oil purchases, yet announced a deal days ago for Russia to supply diesel to US and global markets.
    4. Stalled trade deal: The US Trade Representative said a trade agreement was not “imminent”. India’s Finance Minister said both sides have “reached a plateau”, beyond which giving or taking is very difficult.

    Challenges

    1. Visa dependence: Indian IT relies on sending professionals to US client sites, so each immigration curb raises costs and delays.
    2. No totalisation pact: Indian workers in the US pay social security they often cannot claim, with no agreement to count contributions across both countries.
    3. Strategic autonomy test: India’s ties with Moscow clash with US expectations of a strategic partner.
    4. Linked pressure: Washington ties energy, trade and labour issues together, so a concession on one front does not settle the others.

    Way Forward

    1. Totalisation agreement: Conclude a social security agreement so mobile Indian IT workers recover their contributions.
    2. Tariff waiver: Seek a waiver under the new US sanctions law, which lets the US President exempt a country.
    3. Market diversification: Use India’s trade agreements with the United Kingdom and the European Free Trade Association to widen services markets.
    4. Local hiring: Indian IT firms should raise local hiring in the US to cut dependence on work visas.

    Conclusion

    The PERM suspension costs little directly, but it confirms that Washington is now pressing India on labour mobility, energy and trade at once. Whether work visa curbs widen, and whether trade talks move past their plateau, will decide how far the pressure reaches India’s services exports.

    Back2Basics: H-1B visa

    1. What it is: A temporary US work visa that lets employers hire foreign workers in specialty occupations needing at least a bachelor’s degree.
    2. Annual cap: Visas are subject to a yearly numerical cap, allocated by lottery when applications exceed it.
    3. Indian share: Indian nationals have historically received the largest share of H-1B visas issued each year.
    4. Earlier coverage: “US moves to codify over $100,000 H-1B visa fee via formal regulation” (25 August 2026) covered the fee’s legal basis.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2020, GS2, 10 marks] ‘Indian diaspora has a decisive role to play in the politics and economy of America and European Countries’. Comment with examples.”

  • Insurance reforms: Need for a balanced approach

    Why in the News

    Insurers’ expenses of management (EoM) limits would fall sharply, for general insurers from 30% of premium to 20% within five years, under a proposal by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). Its consultation paper, “Recalibrating Economics of Insurance Distribution”, faces the strongest industry resistance of any regulatory change so far, and brokers say “the evidence does not support the remedy”.

    What is the expense of management limit, and why lower it?

    1. What EoM is: EoM is what an insurer spends to sell and run policies, meaning commission plus operating costs. The regulator caps it as a share of premium, like a spending limit on overheads.
    2. Stated aim: IRDAI promises a “customer-centric, competitive, efficient and transparent distribution ecosystem” for policyholders, insurers and distributors.
    3. Current framework: The present expense and commission rules date from 2023, and the Insurance Brokers Association of India (IBAI) wants them kept until their scheduled 2028 review.
    4. The takeaway: IRDAI wants selling insurance to cost less, but costs differ by sales channel, so one uniform limit falls unevenly.

    What does IRDAI propose?

    1. Life insurers: The EoM limit would apply at company level on Gross Direct Premium Income (GDPI), the premium written directly on policies, and fall to 12.5% within five years.
    2. General insurers’ base: The limit would be measured on domestic GDPI instead of Gross Written Premium (GWP), with the limit cut in yearly steps, a glide path.
    3. Three categories: Fragmented intermediary types would give way to Insurance Distribution Entities (IDEs), Insurance Distribution Persons (IDPs) and Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs), under “same structure, same functions, same norms”.
    4. Wider changes: IRDAI also seeks to end regulatory arbitrage, where similar intermediaries exploit different rules. It would lift curbs on intermediaries’ non insurance business, ease entry and capital norms, and revise commission rules.

    Why do brokers say the evidence does not support the remedy?

    1. Falling costs: General insurance EoM has already fallen as a share of premium, even as premium grew about 13% a year, IBAI argues.
    2. Reclassified commission: The reported rise in commission largely reflects payments earlier booked under other heads, which the paper itself acknowledges.
    3. Forced sales: The paper’s own figures place high cost where the buyer has no choice. Eg. Dealer controlled motor insurance pays up to 75%.
    4. Independent channels: Independent brokers and agents average 17 to 18%. The proposal still caps every channel, with the lowest cap on the customer’s own broker.

    What do insurers and intermediaries want before limits are notified?

    1. Insurers’ objections: Every stakeholder except policyholders has objected, and insurers remain in dialogue with the regulator.
    2. Letter to the Prime Minister: IBAI has warned that the reforms would cost jobs and growth and reduce competition.
    3. Impact assessment: IBAI wants a published impact assessment on policyholders, employment, public sector insurers and foreign investment before any limit is notified.

    Challenges

    1. Cost shifting: A tighter limit pushes insurers to book payouts under heads outside the measured expense instead of removing them.
    2. Low penetration: Thinner margins make small rural policies harder to sell, with penetration at 3.7% against a 7% global average.
    3. Captive channels: Bank and dealer counters sell to buyers with little choice, so mis-selling persists whatever the cap.
    4. Existing breaches: Insurers already overshoot current limits. Eg. IRDAI barred two insurers from opening new offices in 2024-25.

    Way Forward

    1. Channel wise disclosure: IRDAI should publish each insurer’s commission and EoM data by channel, exposing high cost captive channels.
    2. Targeted caps: Set tighter limits on forced sale channels such as credit life and dealer motor than on independent advice.
    3. Suitability record: Require sellers to record why each product suits the buyer.

    Conclusion

    A uniform cap falls on independent and captive sellers alike. The proposal is still at consultation, with no date for final regulations, so the test is whether IRDAI aims its limits at captive channels.

    Key numbers

    1. General insurance EoM: 28.2% of premium (FY23) to 26.5% (FY25), as cited by IBAI.
    2. Loan linked credit life commission: 42 to 45%, from the consultation paper’s figures.

    Back2Basics: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India

    1. Governing Act: A statutory body under the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999, created on the Malhotra Committee’s recommendation.
    2. Appeals: Its orders are appealable to the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT).
    3. Earlier coverage: “Irdai proposes specific caps on insurance commission” (24 September 2026) examined the segment wise commission caps in the same paper.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2013, GS2, 10 marks] The product diversification of financial institutions and insurance companies, resulting in overlapping of products and services strengthens the case for the merger of the two regulatory agencies, namely SEBI and IRDA. Justify.”

  • Why UAPA demands urgent reform

    Why in the News

    Activists, scholars and journalists charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) routinely spend years in prison without trial. The second death anniversary of Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba, acquitted after a decade in prison, has renewed the case for reforming the law’s vague terms and near bar on bail.

    How does the UAPA keep people in jail without trial?

    1. What it is: The UAPA is India’s main anti-terror law. It defines offences broadly and makes bail very hard to get, so an accused can wait years for trial in jail.
    2. Saibaba’s case: Arrested over alleged Maoist links and denied bail, the 90% disabled professor got a life sentence. The Bombay High Court acquitted him in 2024. He died soon after release.
    3. The takeaway: Under the UAPA the process itself becomes the punishment, since a person can lose a decade before any court declares them innocent.

    Which cases show the pattern?

    1. Bhima Koregaon (2018): 16 scholars and activists were jailed under the UAPA. Charges have still not been framed, and the trial has not begun.
    2. Bhima Koregaon accused: Father Stan Swamy died in custody. Fourteen others got bail only after years, on strict reporting and travel conditions.
    3. Delhi riots (2020): Student leaders and scholars were charged with conspiracy without direct evidence. This year the Supreme Court bailed five of the seven appellants.
    4. Imam and Khalid: The Court denied bail to Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid as “intellectual architects” of the riots, a term unknown to law. They have spent over six years without trial.
    5. Khurram Parvez: Held on terror financing charges, the Kashmiri activist got bail in July 2026 after five years without trial.

    Why is the UAPA’s reach so wide?

    1. Undefined membership: The Act criminalises “membership” of an unlawful organisation without defining it. Other broad provisions can stretch to mere sloganeering or possessing literature.
    2. Narrowing reversed: In Arup Bhuyan v. State of Assam (2011), the Supreme Court read membership as “active membership”, meaning incitement to violence. In 2023 it reversed this in review jurisdiction, meant only to fix obvious errors.
    3. Precedent neutralised: In a Delhi riots bail case, the Delhi High Court read the Act’s “terrorism” clauses narrowly. The Supreme Court ruled the judgment would “not be treated as precedent”.
    4. Broad State discretion: Authorities can bring almost any conduct within the Act by tenuously linking it to terrorism or unlawful activity.

    Why is bail so hard, and so dependent on the judge?

    1. The bail bar: Under Section 43D(5), a judge must deny bail if the police chargesheet shows a prima facie case, meaning the accusation looks true on its face, before any evidence is tested.
    2. Judge-centric bail: Some judges scrutinise chargesheets strictly; others take an “eyes wide shut” approach that defers to the police, so bail is “extremely judge-centric”.
    3. Unsettled delay standard: The Supreme Court did not treat five years in prison as “excessive” delay when refusing bail to Imam and Khalid. Other courts, as in Khurram Parvez’s case, held that five years is excessive.

    Challenges

    1. Low conviction: Fewer than one in ten UAPA cases ended in conviction between 2019 and 2023, so most accused are jailed without proof of guilt.
    2. Long custody before charges: The Act allows up to 180 days of detention before a chargesheet, double the 90 days allowed for other serious offences.
    3. Trial pendency: Slow investigations and overloaded special courts turn the bail bar into open ended custody.

    Way Forward

    1. Define the terms: Parliament should define “membership” and “terrorist act” narrowly in the Act itself.
    2. Time bound trials: Set deadlines for framing charges and ending UAPA trials, with bail as of right once a deadline lapses.
    3. Delay as a bail ground: Apply Union of India v. K.A. Najeeb (2021) uniformly; it lets constitutional courts grant bail where trial is unlikely to end soon.
    4. Chargesheet scrutiny: Courts should test the chargesheet’s material before applying the bail bar.

    Conclusion

    A vague law with stringent bail terms, read in ways that widen rather than limit State discretion, produces years of imprisonment without trial. Whether Parliament or the Supreme Court narrows the definitions and settles when delay alone earns bail is what to watch.

    Back2Basics: Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967

    1. Purpose: The Act defines and penalises unlawful and terrorist activities and bans terrorist organisations.
    2. Amendments: It has been amended several times since 2004. The 2019 amendment lets the Centre designate individuals, not only organisations, as terrorists.
    3. Investigation: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigates UAPA cases and can attach property linked to terror.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2019, GS3, 10 marks] Indian government has recently strengthened the anti-terrorism laws by amending the unlawful activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967 and the NIA Act. Analyze the changes in the context of prevailing security environment while discussing the scope and reasons for opposing the UAPA by human rights organizations.”

  • Barricades cannot silence the voice of democracy

    Why in the News

    Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) covered the whole of New Delhi district ahead of a protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation. Metro stations were shut and the Delhi Police made mass detentions. Protest is being first relocated, then confined and finally banned, shrinking a right the Supreme Court has recognised as fundamental.

    What is the right to protest, and how can it be restricted?

    1. What it is: Peaceful protest rests on freedom of speech and the right to assemble peacefully and without arms under Article 19(1)(b). It works like a petition delivered in person to those in power.
    2. Reasonable restrictions: Under Article 19(3), the State may restrict assembly in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India or public order.
    3. Judicial recognition: The Ramlila Maidan case (2012) and Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan v. Union of India (2018) upheld peaceful protest as a fundamental right. The later ruling directed guidelines for regulated demonstrations at Jantar Mantar.
    4. Prohibitory orders: Section 163 of the BNSS, which replaced Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), lets authorities ban gatherings to prevent an apprehended danger to peace.
    5. The takeaway: When restrictions meant to regulate demonstrations prevent them altogether, the right survives on paper but not on the street.

    How has Delhi’s protest geography shrunk?

    1. Boat Club to Jantar Mantar: The Boat Club was once Delhi’s designated site for demonstrations, before they were shifted to Jantar Mantar.
    2. Lost rally routes: Until the COVID-19 lockdown, rallies ran from Mandi House or Ramlila Maidan to Parliament Street, where people expressed dissent before their elected representatives.
    3. Permissions dried up: Since the lockdown, barring a few exceptions, almost no permissions have been granted, and Jantar Mantar is routinely blocked on the plea of “permission denied”.
    4. More barricades: Barricading rose after the NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) protests of 20 July. The Delhi Police reportedly require protest applications 10 days in advance.

    Is this a Delhi problem or a national pattern?

    1. Bengaluru: Protests moved from Town Hall to Freedom Park, where the Karnataka High Court confined them in 2022. The park closed in December 2025 for “redevelopment”, with power and water cut.
    2. Hyderabad: Protests are permitted only at Dharna Chowk.
    3. Farmers’ march: Farmers marching to Delhi in early 2024 met barricades, barbed wire, tear gas and trenches on the Haryana border.
    4. Standard State responses: Preventive detentions, prohibitory orders against strikes and student marches, and Internet shutdowns have become standard responses across States. The column holds the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responsible for this pattern.

    Why does the column call the restrictions self-defeating, and part of a wider fight?

    1. Displaced protest: When the state seals the formal public sphere, protest moves to borders, highways, campuses and digital networks. Eg. Shaheen Bagh sit-in against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
    2. Fear of exclusion: The column argues the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls threatens mass deletion of the poor, migrants, minorities and women. It cites ECI data showing short-term migrants and married women at risk of deletion.
    3. Appointments law: The column objects to the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. It says the Act removed the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel and gives Commissioners lifelong immunity from prosecution.

    Challenges

    1. Competing rights: Indefinite occupation of public roads burdens commuters. Eg. Amit Sahni v. Commissioner of Police (2020), the Shaheen Bagh case.
    2. Blanket orders: Repeated, standing Section 163 orders replace a case by case assessment of danger with a permanent ban.
    3. Unchecked discretion: Police discretion to refuse permission for protests against the government has no published criteria.
    4. Advance notice: Long notice periods rule out timely protest against sudden events.

    Way Forward

    1. Restore designated sites: Reopen Jantar Mantar and Parliament Street to regulated assembly under the 2018 guidelines.
    2. Reasoned, time bound orders: Issue Section 163 orders only against specific threats, with written reasons and a fixed duration.
    3. Transparent permissions: Publish criteria and deadlines for protest permissions, with an appeal to a magistrate against refusal.
    4. A site in every city: Keep an accessible protest site with water and power in each major city.

    Conclusion

    The right to assemble survives in law but is being narrowed in practice through site closures, permission rules and standing prohibitory orders. Whether courts test blanket orders against the guidelines they set for Jantar Mantar will decide whether regulation of protest stays regulation and not a ban.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2014, GS2, 12 marks] What do you understand by the concept “freedom of speech and expression”? Does it cover hate speech also? Why do the films in India stand on a slightly different plane from other forms of expression? Discuss.”

  • The need to preserve the shine of Indian elections

    Why in the News

    The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has drawn litigation and street protests against the Election Commission of India (ECI), including demands for the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation. The malaise is wider: Indian elections, long among India’s topmost soft powers, are losing public trust.

    Why have Indian elections been a national asset?

    1. Soft power: Credible elections gave India stability, reasonable governance and a path to development. India delivered them better than dozens of countries that won independence around the same time.
    2. Scale: The 2024 national elections had about 98 crore electors. ECI machinery runs from Nirvachan Sadan to over a million polling booths.
    3. A school for others: The ECI set up the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) to train election managers of younger nations.
    4. Voter faith: Poor and largely illiterate at independence, ordinary Indians learned the strength of their vote and came to respect the polling process.
    5. The takeaway: Sukumar Sen, the first Chief Election Commissioner, faced a test of logistics in 1951, not of trust, and today trust itself is at risk.

    How has the electoral contest changed?

    1. Partisan allegations: Chronic allegations of partisan conduct by the poll body, and grievance bordering on rejecting results, have replaced the stoic calm of earlier decades.
    2. Disinformation: Door to door campaigns have given way to digital battles fought with disinformation and deepfakes, AI generated fake video or audio.
    3. Voter database manipulation: Booth capturing and bogus voting were confined to pockets. Manipulating the voter database through undue enfranchisement or disenfranchisement, adding ineligible names or deleting eligible voters, threatens elections at a far larger scale.
    4. Money power: Declared candidate and party spending is a small part of poll finance. Unofficial estimates are far larger.
    5. Cash transfers: Cash paid into voters’ wallets as welfare distorts electoral integrity and public finance. The Economic Survey 2026 puts its strain on States at Rs 1.7 lakh crore.

    How do defections and disputed management add to distrust?

    1. Wholesale defections: The anti-defection law in the Tenth Schedule was meant to stop party hopping. Its exception for party mergers now lets legislators move in bulk.
    2. No recall, disputed recognition: With no recall system, voters cannot remove party hoppers. The Speaker’s recognition of splits and the ECI’s symbol allocation also draw partisan accusations.
    3. Appointments law: The collegium appointing Election Commissioners under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 has not eased distrust. The Supreme Court is examining it.
    4. Routine functions contested: Roll preparation, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and the announcement of results now become disputes, even with backing from higher courts.

    Why is this more than a problem for the ECI?

    1. Shared duty: Election managers, the three organs of the State, parties and voters all have a remedial role.
    2. No global excuse: A global decline of democratic values, visible even in the United States, offers India no consolation.
    3. Scapegoating: Making the election process a scapegoat in inter-party fights spreads polarised parties’ distrust to ordinary citizens.

    Challenges

    1. Budget not charged: The ECI’s expenses are not charged on the Consolidated Fund of India, so they need Parliament’s vote, unlike the Supreme Court’s or the Comptroller and Auditor General’s.
    2. Weak tenure for Commissioners: Election Commissioners can be removed on the Chief Election Commissioner’s recommendation.
    3. Toothless Model Code: The MCC lacks statutory backing, so the ECI relies on moral suasion.

    Way Forward

    1. All party compact: Parties should hold an apolitical sit-down to add safeguards and plug legal loopholes, the logic behind the 1993 move to a three member Commission.
    2. Money, freebies and crime: Regulate political financing and freebies, and shield the electoral process from criminalisation.
    3. AI fakes: Build the ECI’s capacity to detect and act against AI abetted fake narratives.
    4. Financial independence: Charge the ECI’s expenses on the Consolidated Fund, as the Law Commission’s 255th Report recommended.

    Conclusion

    Indian elections face a crisis of trust, not of logistics, and no single institution can restore it. Whether parties agree on rules for political finance and defections, and how the Supreme Court rules on the appointments law, will show whether that trust is being rebuilt.

    Initiatives to Strengthen the Electoral Process

    1. ECINET (2026): A one stop digital interface integrating over 40 applications for voters and officials.
    2. cVIGIL app: Citizens report MCC violations, and investigators must respond within 100 minutes.
    3. Delisting of RUPPs: Over 808 Registered Unrecognised Political Parties failing essential conditions were delisted, curbing misuse of tax exemptions.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2026, GS2, 10 marks] Is the right to vote a fundamental right? Discuss the position of the Election Commission of India while undertaking the revision of electoral rolls. Can it also examine the question of citizenship of voters?”

  • RBI hopes to shore up weakening rupee by using Chinese playbook

    Why in the News

    For the first time, Indian banks must park cash with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) against large forex derivative contracts involving the rupee, which makes hedging against a falling rupee costlier. The RBI announced this Foreign Exchange Risk Reserve (FERR), borrowed from China, in a set of measures to defend a rupee trading close to its all-time low.

    What is the FERR, and why make hedging costlier?

    1. What it is: A bank must set aside 20% of any forex derivative contract above $2 million involving the rupee, as cash with the RBI. The RBI can change the percentage.
    2. Hedging: Hedging means locking in today’s exchange rate for a future payment, like buying insurance against the rupee falling before an importer’s dollar bill is due.
    3. Hedging as dollar demand: Authorities usually encourage importers to hedge. When the rupee is under strain, every hedge against its fall is a purchase of dollars, so hedging itself pushes the rupee down.
    4. Target: The measures aim at local banks and traders, not foreign ones.
    5. The takeaway: The RBI has chosen to raise the cost of protection against a weak rupee, so that fewer dollars are bought at home when the currency is under strain.

    Why is the rupee under pressure?

    1. Record low: The rupee is down almost 7% against the dollar this year and hit a record low of 96.96 per dollar in May.
    2. Failed rate hike: The RBI raised the repo rate, its lending rate to banks, by 25 basis points to 5.5%. Costlier money should cut the supply of rupees and lift its value, yet the rupee fell.
    3. Trade deficit pressure: India buys more from abroad than it sells, so more foreign currency leaves than enters. Scarce dollars cost more rupees, and the rupee weakens.
    4. Own currency trade: India and others are settling more trade in their own currencies, which cuts the need to hold dollars and the exposure to sharp swings.

    What is China’s playbook, and why is India’s problem the opposite?

    1. China’s reverse move: In March, China cut its own FX risk reserve ratio from 20% to zero, because the yuan was strengthening. India, with a weakening rupee, is adding the cost that China removed.
    2. Undervaluation charge: The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has rejected accusations that it keeps the yuan cheap to boost exports. It credits its trade surplus to four decades of reform and innovation.
    3. Effective exchange rates: The nominal effective exchange rate (NEER) measures a currency against a basket of partner currencies. The real effective exchange rate (REER) adjusts it for relative inflation.
    4. Yuan’s price edge: Nomura finds the yuan’s NEER and REER have diverged since early 2022, because Chinese prices barely rose. This has kept Chinese exports price competitive.

    Challenges

    1. Short term relief only: Bank economists call the measures breathing room, reminiscent of the 2013 taper tantrum. The rupee’s medium term path depends on global factors and the Balance of Payments.
    2. Costlier protection for importers: Firms with genuine dollar bills now pay more to hedge, so they carry more exchange rate risk.
    3. Regulatory unpredictability: The RBI is sometimes accused of changing market rules through regulation, which makes participants wary of its next move.
    4. Deficit untouched: A reserve on derivatives does not change the trade gap that keeps foreign currency scarce.

    Way Forward

    1. Calibrated ratio: Use the RBI’s power to vary the reserve, and lower it as pressure eases, as China did when its currency strengthened.
    2. Genuine hedgers spared: Exempt documented import and export hedges, so the reserve falls on speculative bets.
    3. Rupee settlement: Widen trade invoicing in rupees and partner currencies to cut everyday demand for dollars.

    Conclusion

    The RBI is now defending the rupee by taxing protection against its fall, reversing the usual advice that firms should hedge. How soon it lowers the reserve, and whether the rupee holds once global pressures reassert themselves, is what to watch.

    Back2Basics: Taper tantrum (2013)

    1. What happened: The United States Federal Reserve signalled in 2013 that it would slow, or taper, the bond purchases it used to pump money into markets.
    2. Effect on emerging markets: Foreign investors pulled money out of emerging markets, and the rupee fell past 68 to the dollar within months.
    3. India’s response: The RBI opened a concessional swap window for Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) (FCNR(B)) deposits, which raised about $34 billion, including banks’ overseas borrowing.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2022] With reference to the Indian economy, consider the following statements : 1. An increase in Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) indicates the appreciation of rupee. 2. An increase in the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) indicates an improvement in trade competitiveness. 3. An increasing trend in domestic inflation relative to inflation in other countries is likely to cause an increasing divergence between NEER and REER. Which of the above statements are correct ? (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 ANSWER: (c)”

  • Samachar Manthan

    Samachar Manthan

    Single-source solution for current affairs and static enrichment

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    UPSC’s Mandate Is Clear

    UPSC expects you to track big shifts, not just headlines and events. New challenges like AI and semiconductor self-reliance; old problems where new approaches are being tried, like infrastructure financing, MSME credit and domestic manufacturing; and institutional issues that keep returning, like the Governor and the Speaker.

    In parallel, for Prelims, we track 15 themes that are mostly factual.

    Here’s an open session explaining it in detail:

    Static is Dead: Strategy for Current Affairs, Shikhar Sir

    Close to 80% of the Prelims and Mains paper has a direct bearing on current affairs, except Modern History and Art and Culture.

    Most questions tagged as static link directly to news from that very year.

    What Deserves Your Attention

    Most candidates struggle because their judgement of what deserves their attention is not yet well formed. Understandably so. This is the most crucial skill, and it decides your fate in this examination.

    Samachar Manthan works hard to solve this for you, until you start developing that sense yourself.

    ~100

    News every day

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    Overlap with PYQs

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    6 hours explaining the shifts, covering static backgrounders and stressing the important areas.

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    5 high-probability questions a week, 250 a year, answered with current affairs enrichment rather than static pointers. By year end you hold a ready repository of the best arguments for any question.

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    20 questions a week on schemes, acts, policies, places in news, reports and international organisations, practised through active recall and elimination, giving you a real edge in Prelims.

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    Hit Ratio

    With Samachar Manthan, we aim for a higher hit ratio while keeping the weekly selection to around 30 pages.

    From Classroom to UPSC Paper: How Much Did We Hit?

    Rankers’ Testimonials

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    I can say that these Samachar Manthan classes have played huge role in filling knowledge gap and that too with answer writing and linking current with static, I am short of words on Samachar Manthan experience…!!!

    “

    Samachar Manthan has been a source of holistic knowledge-building. It provides conceptual clarity while also strategically integrating current affairs into the larger framework of the syllabus. It has strengthened my understanding of subjects in a multi-dimensional way, ensuring that I can view an issue from different perspectives.

    “

    Samachar Manthan was Really helpful as single new paper can not cover all UPSC specific news with exact microtheme based approach. With prelims and mains PYQ’s approach to exam centric studies. Prelims and mains tests based on weekly samachar manthan. Keeps prelims and mains aptitude and dimensions in check.

    Samachar Manthan = (Prelims aptitude + Mains Dimensions)

    “

    You have regularly checked my Samachar Manthan copies and given very practical and relevant feedback. That helped me improve my structure and clarity in answer writing. Similarly, when you checked my Mains PYQs, the additional points and improvements you suggested helped me understand how to make my answers more complete and examiner-oriented. I genuinely feel more confident now compared to before.

  • Ultimate Assessment Program(UAP) for UPSC 27/28

    Ultimate Assessment Program

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    Book a 1-1 session with Mentor Now
    UAP rankers: AIR 2 Animesh, AIR 22 Pavandatta, AIR 48 Aaditya

    AIR 2, 22 and 48
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    Prelims + Mains + Essay

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    Why Civilsdaily’s UPSC Mentorship Program Is Unique?

    The heart of the Civilsdaily is the Ultimate Assessment Program (UAP). It is NOT your regular course. It’s an ecosystem built to deliver ranks.

    The core of UAP is – Fault Finding & Course Correction. While other mentorships feel like blackboxes-random calls, vague advice, zero accountability & mere doubt solving-ours is a precision system built to spot your faults and fix them fast. No fluff, no guesswork. Real mentorship means real corrections.

    All of my prep was online and with a job. I opted for UAP because I needed accountability, and an integrated plan with mock tests to measure progress. If I could do it, I am sure this program can deliver for you, too.

    Animesh Pradhan, AIR 2, UPSC 2023 · First attempt · 473 in GS Mains, 133 in Essay
    UAP rankers: AIR 2 Animesh (UPSC 2023), AIR 22 Pavandatta (UPSC 2022), AIR 48 Aaditya (UPSC 2022)
    UAP rankers: AIR 2 Animesh (2023), AIR 22 Pavandatta (2022), AIR 48 Aaditya (2022)

    Get your name on the list for 2027/28

    Seats are limited so every student gets real mentor attention. Start with a 1-1 call.

    Book a 1-1 session with Mentor Now

    How UAP works

    Most mentorships are arbitrary calls and doubt solving. UAP is built around one idea: find your faults, then fix them fast. There are 2 tracks, 1:1 Mentorship Track and 5 Centralised Programs Track, and every student goes through the same.

    1:1 Mentorship Track

    1

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    2

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    Your weekly targets are set and tracked.

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    5 Centralised Programs Track

    01

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    Weekly current affairs linked to static

    Tests + notes

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    3 phases of preparation

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    Depending on when you enter the system, we make the best plan for you.

    Every student is a batch

    There is no one-size plan. Your mentor follows a fixed rhythm with you:

    • Months 1–2: a 1:1 mentor call every week to set targets and your planner
    • After that: a mentor call every 10 days
    • Every 3 months: macro strategy and targets
    • After every test: a detailed 1:1 discussion

    UAP vs. the usual way

    Classes, model answers and a few mocks feel like preparation, but they are about 10% of what it takes to get a rank.

    The usual wayWith UAP
    A generic timetableA fortnightly plan set with your mentor, with a mock after each cycle
    Mocks with a score and little elseSharp feedback from mentors who guided AIR 2, 4, 7, 22.
    Solving PYQsMapping the syllabus to Microthemes using PYQs and covering entire MT
    Long notes you never finish revisingOne-page notes per theme, with updated examples
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    Why start now for 2027/28

    • Clarity without pressure. Cover the syllabus with time to understand it.
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    • Current affairs in order. Built week by week, not crammed at the end.

    Questions before you enroll

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    1.5 years, covering Prelims, Mains and Essay for UPSC CSE 2027/28.

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    Can I do this with a full-time job?

    Yes. AIR 2 Animesh Pradhan prepared online while working, and cleared in his first attempt.

    What if I miss my targets?

    That is what your mentor is for. Your weekly targets are tracked, so slippage is caught early, and your plan is reset at the next mentor call.

    UPSC 2027/28 · October batch open

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    The Ultimate Assessment Program (UAP) is a 1.5-year mentorship for UPSC CSE. A dedicated mentor plans your targets, tests you and corrects your course until you are exam ready.

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