In the 128th episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’, the Prime Minister highlighted Ramban Sulai Honey from Jammu & Kashmir, noting that the product has gained national recognition after receiving a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2021.
Origin
Produced in Ramban District, Jammu & Kashmir.
Derived from Sulai (wild basil) plants growing naturally in the Himalayan region.
Distinct Features
Taste & Aroma: Naturally sweet with aromatic floral undertones.
Colour: Crystal-clear; ranges from white to amber.
Season of Production: Bees forage on snow-white Sulai blossoms from August to October.
Nutritional Profile: Rich in enzymes, vitamins, and essential minerals.
Medicinal Value: Known for high purity and therapeutic benefits.
Superior bee strains native to the region.
Ideal climatic conditions, giving higher yields than other honey-producing areas of India.
Recognised as the district’s One District, One Product (ODOP).
What is a Geographical Indication (GI) Tag?
A Geographical Indication (GI) is a sign used on products that: Originate from a specific geographical region, and Possess qualities, reputation, or characteristics exclusive to that region.
Key Points
GI is a type of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
Recognized under: Paris Convention and TRIPS Agreement (WTO)
Indian Legal Framework
Governed by the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
Key provisions:
Prevents unauthorized use of GI-tagged names.
Valid for 10 years, but can be renewed indefinitely.
Provides legal protection and helps preserve traditional knowledge.
India enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 in order to comply with the obligations to (2018)
A new damselfly species, Protosticta sooryaprakashi, commonly called the Kodagu Shadowdamsel, has been discovered in the Western Ghats, Karnataka. The finding underscores the rich but still understudied biodiversity of the region.
Species Details
Common Name: Kodagu Shadowdamsel
Scientific Name:Protosticta sooryaprakashi
Family: Platystictidae (Shadowdamsels)
Discovery Location
Found along the Sampaje River banks (Kodagu District)
Also observed in Agumbe high-altitude forests
Habitat: Shaded, riparian vegetation in the Western Ghats
Distinctive Features
Males show a sky-blue marking on the prothorax (behind the head).
Body: Dark brown to black, unlike the crimson thorax of the related Protosticta sanguinostigma.
Unique genital ligula: Tip shaped like a duck’s head (important taxonomic marker).
Smaller, more delicate, with weak fluttering flight.
In which of the following states is the lion-tailed macaque found in its natural habitat? (2013)
1. Tamil Nadu
2. Kerala
3. Karnataka
4. Andhra Pradesh
Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only (b) 2 only (c) 1, 3 and 4 only (d) 1, 2, and 3
[UPSC 2024] What is the present world scenario of intellectual property rights with respect to life materials? Although India is second in the world to file patents, still only a few have been commercialized. Explain the reasons behind this less commercialization.
Linkage: India’s weak research pipelines, unpredictable R&D funding, and poor industry-university linkages directly explain why patent filings do not translate into commercialization, making this PYQ highly relevant for GS-III themes of IPR, innovation ecosystem, GERD gaps, and research-industry translation.
Mentor’s Comment
India stands at a decisive moment where research capacity, funding predictability, and university-industry linkages. It will determine whether it becomes a global knowledge leader or remains a low spender on R&D. This translates a critical national issue, India’s missing research pipelines, into a structured UPSC Mains-ready analysis.
Introduction
India’s ambition to innovate and lead in emerging technologies is constrained by irregular research outlays, limited campus-industry linkage, low GERD (0.65% of GDP), and absence of predictable pipelines that convert lab innovations into products, patents, and industry deployment. In sharp contrast, countries that succeeded, such as the U.S., China, and advanced economies, matched corporate R&D efforts with stable campus-strengthening investments, enabling a steady rise in innovation intensity. India now aims to transition from isolated research islands to structured, industry-driven, multi-university research pipelines.
Why in the News?
India’s research ecosystem is under scrutiny because GERD remains stagnant at 0.65% of GDP, despite corporates like Tata Motors, Dr. Reddy’s, Reliance, Sun Pharma and Bharat Electronics posting strong R&D numbers in FY24. A major contrast is visible: India has global-scale labs and talent but lacks predictable, industry-linked research pipelines, unlike countries that institutionalised grant mechanisms, co-funded platforms, and competitive university partnerships. This mismatch between capability and structure is now a policy priority and a turning point for India’s innovation ambitions.
What global benchmarks reveal about successful research ecosystems?
Stable research outlays: Countries that scaled innovation kept firm-level R&D spending steady for years; they aligned CSR-type funding to predictable pipelines supporting labs and doctoral cohorts.
Corporate-university integration: The U.S. NSF’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers and Semiconductor Research Corporation link firms with competitive research consortia.
High corporate R&D leadership: Firms like Meta invested ~$44 billion in 2024; Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, IBM and Microsoft anchor multibillion-dollar R&D programmes.
Translation into partnerships: U.S. universities booked ~$692 billion of domestic R&D payments; ratio of industry contracting rose sharply in 2022.
Where does India stand in corporate R&D performance?
High-intensity corporate R&D: Tata Motors posted ₹44,381crore revenue and ₹29,398 crore R&D in FY24 (6.7% intensity).
Sectoral R&D patterns: Sun Pharma invested 6.7%; Dr. Reddy’s spent ₹2,29 billion (8.2% of sales).
Strategic spending: Bharat Electronics Ltd. invested 2.64% of turnover; Reliance Industries spent over ₹4,100 crore on R&D in FY24-25.
Emerging partnerships: Marlabs Research Park hosts more than 200 companies near faculty labs, creating a daily flow of industry ideas.
What structural gaps weaken India’s research pipeline?
Low GERD-to-GDP ratio: GERD at 0.65% of GDP remains below advanced economies.
Irregular funding cycles: HEIs face unpredictable, short-term grants; lack of multi-year financial visibility disrupts research continuity.
Weak measurable outcomes: Absence of instruments like patent targets, standards contributions, and milestone-linked funding.
Fragmented labs: Universities operate as isolated research islands instead of multi-university shared platforms.
What policy directions does the article propose?
Three-year R&D-to-sales norms: Electronics, pharma, defence and space firms must agree on rising year-on-year ratios supported by market-linked export expectations.
Shared campus facilities: Co-funded platforms where industry uses HEI labs for multi-year projects with open data deliverables.
Deadline industry-relevant KPIs: Universities must maintain structured performance indicators tied to outcomes.
Credit for collaborative research: Benefit firms that hire PhDs, invest in accredited labs, or co-supervise doctoral research.
Strengthening university research culture: Indian universities sit near dynamic markets; they must channel their knowledge traditions into technology breakthroughs.
How can India build future-ready research pipelines?
Predictable funding architecture: Move from ad-hoc grants to structured multiyear timelines and tendered project pipelines.
National mission pipelines: Semiconductor Mission’s startup and research integration via IDEX and AIMTOP serve as replicable templates.
Multi-university shared centres: These can pool equipment, modernise test instruments, and convert research into measurable outputs.
Industry-ready researchers: Create dual-track PhD programmes aligned with corporate rotations, job assignments, and real field tasks.
Publicise R&D metrics: Annual reporting by listed companies on R&D intensity and HEI contributions to enhance transparency.
Conclusion
India possesses the labs, talent and markets, yet the absence of predictable research pipelines denies it the innovation momentum achieved by global peers. With structured outlays, measurable outputs, co-funded facilities, multi-university centres, and industry-linked doctoral programmes, India can transform research from a sporadic activity into a national innovation supply chain. This shift is essential for scaling Indian R&D and creating sustained technological competitiveness.
India’s energy policy historically prioritised universal access, affordability, and supply security, achieved through government-led institutions, public sector enterprises, and diversified import sources. However, climate change, AI-driven electricity demand, and the greening of global supply chains have disrupted this stable model. The new policy imperative is to navigate complex trade-offs between economic growth, technological innovation, environmental sustainability, and geopolitical risks.
Why in the news?
India’s energy policy is at a crossroads as AI adoption, climate imperatives, and rising electricity demand collide for the first time at such scale. The article highlights a major policy dilemma: India’s rapid infrastructural expansion and AI-linked power consumption (e.g., Amazon’s data centre requirement causing Maharashtra to extend a coal plant licence) is clashing with renewable targets. This marks a significant shift from earlier decades when India only chased universal access and affordability. Today, the challenge is more complex, balancing energy security, economic growth, technology competitiveness, and environmental degradation simultaneously. The piece reveals how institutional fragmentation, import dependence on lithium/solar components from China, and new energy demands from data centres are re-shaping India’s energy calculus.
How has India’s energy approach evolved over time?
Universal Access Achieved: India electrified all villages; 80% of the poor now receive subsidised fuel.
Diversified Supply Sources: Imports now come from the US, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, and soon Guyana, not just the Middle East.
Governance Continuity: Post-Independence PSE structure ensured accountability; Nehru’s model remained dominant for decades.
Shift to Private Actors: Reforms allowed private sector participation, reducing exclusive PSE control.
Fragmented Institutional Structure: Multiple ministries and regulators divide responsibility, limiting coordinated energy transitions.
Why are new trade-offs emerging in India’s energy landscape?
Economic Growth vs. Environmental Degradation: Rising demand from infrastructure, manufacturing, and consumers collides with pollution and ecological limits.
Technological Innovation vs. Energy Mix: AI and green manufacturing require high reliability and large electricity reserves.
Speed of Transition vs. Social Costs: Rapid shifts affect livelihoods of coal-linked communities.
Domestic Needs vs. Global Climate Commitments: India must meet developmental aims while honouring decarbonisation pledges.
Self-reliance vs. Global Dependence: Lithium, solar cells, and key minerals remain import-dependent, especially from China.
How do data centres and AI intensify energy challenges?
High Electricity Demand: AI training models and data centres require massive power inputs.
Policy Example Highlighted: Maharashtra extended a thermal plant licence and delayed the shutdown of a 500 MW unit mainly to serve Amazon’s data centre load.
Conflict with Renewables: Renewable supply intermittency makes it difficult to guarantee continuous uptime for AI workloads.
Absence of Grid Upgradation: Without advanced transmission and storage infrastructure, clean energy cannot reliably support such heavy loads.
Corporate Commitments: Most IT companies pledge renewable sourcing but depend on a grid unable to meet that demand consistently.
How does China’s dominance in green-energy supply chains complicate decisions?
Global Solar Dominance: China controls 80% of photovoltaic manufacturing.
Lithium-ion Control: 80% of global lithium-ion processing is China-centric.
Cheaper Supply, High Dependence: India relies heavily on China for panels, cells, and critical mineral processing.
Strategic Risks: Over-dependence raises concerns about supply disruptions and competitiveness.
Manufacturing Dilemma: India must choose between accelerating competitiveness through imports or slowing transition to build domestic capabilities.
What institutional and policy shifts are required to navigate these trade-offs?
Governance Reform Needed: India’s energy responsibilities scattered across multiple ministries require rationalisation.
Integrated Resource Management: Indigenous fuels, renewables, and storage must be coordinated under a unified strategy.
Balanced Administrative Processes: Policies must simultaneously account for environmental costs, economic needs, and grid stability.
Dual-track Approach: Supporting clean energy while ensuring conventional capacity remains stable during transition.
Holistic Decision-making: Manufacturing, infrastructure, climate targets, and technological competitiveness need collective planning rather than siloed decisions.
Conclusion
India’s energy policy is transitioning from a supply-security model to a complex balancing act involving climate goals, technological competition, environmental constraints, and geopolitical dependencies. The coming decade will require stronger governance, resilient domestic manufacturing, upgraded grid capacity, and a careful negotiation of new trade-offs amplified by AI and climate change.
PYQ Relevance
[UPSC 2018] Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy is the sine qua non to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Comment on the progress made in India in this regard.
Linkage: India’s challenge of meeting AI-driven energy demand while pursuing clean, modern and reliable power directly reflects SDG energy goals. The article’s concerns on grid gaps and import dependence highlight why this theme remains central to GS-3 energy policy.
The rupee’s depreciation in late 2024 and 2025 has raised concerns not merely because of its nominal slide but because the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) also shows a downward trend. Unlike previous years, when inflation differentials kept the rupee “overvalued,” the REER for 2024-25 has fallen below 100, indicating undervaluation and revealing deeper currency pressures.
Why in the news
The rupee breached the ₹89-per-dollar mark for the first time, closing at ₹89.46, marking a significant psychological barrier. More importantly, the rupee has weakened not only nominally but also in real effective terms, a sharper and broader fall than seen in recent years, including against the euro, pound, yen and yuan. This constitutes a shift from earlier patterns where inflation-adjusted metrics often showed the rupee as stable or overvalued. The current fall is “real,” signaling deeper macroeconomic pressures.
How have the rupee’s effective exchange rates behaved recently?
NEER trends: The Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) fell from a peak of 106.19 (2022) to 103.53 in October 2024, showing broad-based weakening.
REER trends: The Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) also declined from 109.86 (Nov 2024 high) to 97.05, pushing it below the 100-mark, indicating undervaluation.
Shift from past pattern: For years, REER stayed above 100 due to India’s higher inflation, which normally made the rupee appear stronger, this trend has reversed.
Why is the current fall described as “real” rather than just nominal?
Inflation-adjusted depreciation: The rupee has weakened even after adjusting for inflation differentials with 40 trading partners, capturing “true” competitiveness loss.
CPI-driven REER insight: Higher CPI inflation in India (5.2% Oct 2024) versus trading partners like the US (3%), Japan (3%), and Euro Area (2%) historically kept REER high, but the nominal fall is now so steep that REER has slid below 100.
Undervaluation signal: A REER below 100 means the rupee is undervalued relative to its long-term average, a reversal from the usual overvaluation.
What explains the rupee’s weakening across multiple currencies?
Broad-based decline: Rupee weakened against the dollar, euro, pound, yen, and yuan, not just one currency.
Comparative movements: Between Nov 1-28, rupee depreciated:
Against EUR: ₹90.18 to ₹93.36
Against GBP: ₹103.32 to ₹106.37
Against JPY (100 units): ₹54.62 to ₹57.18
Against yuan: ₹11.82 to ₹12.49
Higher import costs: Rising global inflation and domestic CPI have jointly exerted pressure.
How does the RBI’s shift to a ‘stabilised arrangement’ matter?
IMF reclassification (Nov 2024): India moved from “floating” to “stabilised arrangement”, meaning RBI intervenes more actively to limit volatility.
Significance: Signals persistent depreciation pressure requiring defensive central bank actions.
What macroeconomic factors are pushing REER below 100?
Persistent CPI inflation: Even modest inflation differentials now fail to offset nominal weakness.
Import-price pass-through: Costlier imports make domestic inflation elevated, weakening competitiveness.
Global monetary tightening: Stronger dollar and higher yields globally reduce EM currency strength.
Conclusion
The current weakness of the rupee is not merely a nominal slide but a deeper, inflation-adjusted depreciation. With both NEER and REER falling sharply, and REER moving below 100 for the first time in years, the pressure is structural. Combined with higher domestic inflation and global monetary tightening, the rupee’s fall now reflects broader competitiveness concerns rather than short-term volatility.
PYQ Relevance
[UPSC 2018] How would the recent phenomena of protectionism and currency manipulations in world trade affect macroeconomic stability of India?
Linkage: Protectionism and currency manipulation directly affect exchange rate stability and India’s external sector, a core GS-III theme. They link to rupee depreciation, import costs, inflation, and RBI’s intervention needs.
Every year, hundreds of aspirants who barely cleared prelims go on to secure top ranks in UPSC Mains, not because they studied everything, but because they studied right.
In this live session, I will help you understand how to build that precision, how to turn your next 75 days into a smart, structured, and scoring Mains sprint.
Arvind Sir, Civilsdaily IAS
What I will cover (practical, no fluff):
1. Understanding the 75 Day Window
How to identify what truly matters in these 10 weeks.
Balancing revision, answer writing, and test feedback efficiently.
Why most aspirants waste the first 30 days and how to avoid that trap.
2. The Daily and Weekly Study Structure
How to divide your GS syllabus week by week for full coverage.
When to stop reading new material and start revising.
How to combine PYQs and Microthemes into your daily answer writing practice.
3. The Smash Mains Framework for 75 Days
The 3C Rule, Content, Concept, and Connect, to refine every answer.
How to use theme based notes instead of bulky materials.
The importance of value addition, keywords, and concise presentation.
4. How to Fix the Common Mains Mistakes
Why most answers sound the same to evaluators, and how to stand out.
Avoiding over dependence on coaching notes.
Creating your personal revision mini books for each paper.
5. Building the Ranker Mindset
The psychological edge, how to deal with burnout, comparison, and time anxiety.
Turning feedback into measurable improvement within a week.
Why attend this session:
• To build a realistic and high yield plan for the final 75 days.
• To learn the strategic sequencing of content, writing, and revision.
• To identify the themes and questions most likely to repeat in Mains 2026.
• To get exclusive access to the Smash Mains Prelims Microthemes PDF for integrated revision.
It will be a 45 minute session, post which we will open up the floor for all kinds of queries which a beginner must have. No questions are taboo and Arvind sir is known to be patiently solving all your doubts.
Join us for a Zoom session on 02nd Dec at 7 PM. This session is a must attend for you If you are attempting UPSC for the first time or have attempted earlier and now preparing for 2026/2027, then it is going to be a valuable session for you too.
See you in the session”
Register for the session for a complete in-depth UPSC Prep
(Don’t wait—the next webinar/session won’t be until Mid Dec’25)
These masterclasses are packed with value. They are conducted in private with a closed community. We rarely open these webinars for everyone for free. This time we are keeping it for 300 seats only.
Taragiri, the fourth Nilgiri-class (Project 17A) indigenous stealth frigate, was delivered to the Indian Navy on 28 Nov 2025 by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL), Mumbai.
About Taragiri (Yard 12653)
Third P17A ship built by MDL.
Named after the erstwhile INS Taragiri (Leander-class), which served 1980–2013.
Represents major strides in Aatmanirbhar Bharat, with 75% indigenous content.
Key tests for Samudrayaan, India’s first manned deep-ocean submersible, have been delayed due to the late procurement of syntactic foam cladding from France. The crucial 500-metre test dive is now expected by mid-2025 (around April).
What is syntactic foam?
A special composite material made of hollow micro-balloons embedded in resin. Provides high buoyancy & resistance to extreme pressure → essential for deep-sea vehicles.
About Samudrayaan
Part of India’s Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
Developed by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai.
Aim: Conduct manned exploration of deep-sea resources and collect soil & rock samples from the ocean floor.
Features of the Manned Submersible (MATSYA-6000)
Capacity: 3 persons
Maximum Depth:6,000 metres
Hull Material: Titanium sphere (final version)
Buoyancy: Achieved using syntactic foam
Purpose:
Deep-sea mineral exploration
Study of polymetallic nodules
Geological and biological sample collection
Depth Significance
Only a few countries (USA, Russia, China, Japan, France) have undertaken comparable manned dives.
The term ‘IndARC’, sometimes seen in the news, is the name of (2015)
(a) an indigenously developed radar system inducted into Indian Defence
(b) India’s satellite to provide services to the countries of Indian Ocean Rim
(c) a scientific establishment set up by India in Antartic region
(d) India’s underwater observatory to scientifically study the Arctic region
A Rustic Bunting (Emberiza rustica) — a rare migratory passerine bird — was spotted for the first time in the National Capital Region (NCR) at Najafgarh Jheel (Delhi–Gurugram border) on 28 November 2025.
About Rustic Bunting (Emberiza rustica)
General Features
Passerine bird, slightly larger than a sparrow.
Distinctive markings:
Males: black head + reddish breast band
Females: reddish flank streaks
Breeding Range
Breeds across the northern Palearctic region.
Prefers wet coniferous woodlands.
Migration Pattern
Winters in SE Asia & East Asia (Japan, Korea, eastern China).
Shows altitudinal migration.
Extremely rare visitor to India; usually recorded only in:
Northeast India
Himalayan belt (Ladakh, Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh)
Status in India
Very few sightings historically: Ladakh (2023, 2024), Arunachal Pradesh (2025), Kashmir (2022) and Jammu & Kashmir’s Kangan (2022 — fifth record for India).
First Ever Record for Delhi NCR
Sighted at Najafgarh Jheel, confirming its first occurrence within a 100 sq km NCR radius.
IUCN Status
2025 IUCN Red List:
Status changed from Vulnerable → Near Threatened
Reason: Decline has slowed down over the last decade.
Consider the following: (2014)
1. Bats
2. Bears
3. Rodents
The phenomenon of hibernation can be observed in which of the above kinds of animals?
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 only (c) 1, 2 and 3 only (d) Hibernation cannot be observed in any of the above
India on 28 November 2025 signed a ₹7,995-crore follow-on support package with the United States for the Indian Navy’s fleet of 24 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters. The deal comes amid recent tensions after the U.S. imposed 50% tariffs on Indian goods.
Key Highlights of the Deal
Signed under: U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme.
Documents signed:Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOAs).
Duration:5 years.
Purpose: Long-term sustainment support for MH-60R helicopters.
What the Sustainment Package Includes
Provisioning of spares, support equipment, training, technical support.
Repair and replenishment of components.
Setting up of intermediate-level component repair and periodic maintenance inspection facilitiesin India.
Improved operational availability and maintainability of the fleet.
About MH-60R Seahawk
Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin.
Type: Maritime variant of the Black Hawk helicopter.
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