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Type: Prelims Only

  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    Swahid Diwas – PM’s Tribute 

    Prelims Only | History | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History,Population & Associated Issues

    Why in the News

    The Prime Minister paid tribute on Swahid Diwas (10 December 2025), honouring the martyrs of the Assam Movement and reaffirming the Government’s commitment to strengthening Assam’s culture and ensuring holistic development of the state.

    About Swahid Diwas

    • Observed in Assam to commemorate the martyrs of the Assam Movement (1979–1985).
    • Recognises those who died during the agitation for identification, deletion and deportation of illegal migrants to protect the demographic, cultural and linguistic identity of the Assamese people.

    About the Assam Movement  

    • Period: 1979–1985.
    • Led by AASU (All Assam Students’ Union) and AAGSP.
    • Trigger: Concerns over illegal immigration from Bangladesh affecting Assam’s demographic balance.
    • Core demands:
      • Detection of illegal migrants
      • Updating electoral rolls
      • Preservation of Assamese culture and identity
    • Culmination: Assam Accord (1985) signed between AASU, AAGSP and the Government of India; provided mechanisms for identifying and addressing illegal immigration.
    UPSC Prelims Pointers

    • Swahid Diwas → linked to Assam Movement, not to national movements.
    • Assam Movement → resulted in Assam Accord 1985.
    • Led mainly by AASU and AAGSP.
    • Focus → illegal migration, cultural identity, demographic protection.
    • Term “Swahid” means martyr in Assamese.
    Satya Shodhak Samaj organized (2016)

    (a) a movement for upliftment of tribals in Bihar 

    (b) a temple-entry movement in Gujarat 

    (c) an anti-caste movement in Maharashtra 

    (d) a peasant movement in Punjab

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    Gallbladder Cancer in the Gangetic Belt 

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields,Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Why in the News

    • New analysis calls gallbladder cancer (GBC) an “invisible epidemic” in India’s Gangetic belt, especially among women.
    • Despite high prevalence, GBC is not a national health priority, poorly monitored, and driven by environmental pollution.

    Key Highlights

    1. High-Burden Geography

    • India accounts for ~10% of global GBC cases.
    • Highest incidence in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam.

    2. Environmental Drivers

    • Arsenic, cadmium, lead contamination in groundwater.
    • Industrial effluent discharge into rivers.
    • Pesticide residues, adulterated oils, contaminated fish.
    • Chronic exposure through water, food, soil.

    3. Gendered Impact

    • ~70% of GBC patients are women.
    • Factors contributing:
      • Reuse of cooking oil
      • Consumption of unrefrigerated food
      • High exposure to contaminated water during domestic chores
    • 80%+ diagnosed at Stage III/IV, when surgery is not viable.

    4. Socio-Economic Burden

    • Treatment costs ₹8–12 lakh → debt, treatment abandonment.
    • Hotspots overlap with districts having high poverty and poor sanitation.

    5. Governance Failures

    • Cancer registries cover only 10% of the population → clusters remain invisible.
    • Weak enforcement of pollution laws.
    • No mandatory cancer reporting.
    Which of the following can be found as pollutants in the drinking water in some parts of India? (2013)

    (1). Arsenic 

    (2). Sorbitol 

    (3). Fluoride 

    (4). Formaldehyde 

    (5). Uranium 

    Select the correct answer using the codes given below. 

    (a) 1 and 3 only (b) 2, 4 and 5 only (c) 1, 3 and 5 only (d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

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  • ISRO Missions and Discoveries

    Aditya-L1 Reveals Why the 2024 Solar Storm Behaved Unusually

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Why in the news?

    • In May 2024, Earth experienced the strongest solar storm in over two decades, popularly known as Gannon’s Storm.
    • A collaborative study using Aditya-L1 and six NASA satellites has explained the unusual behaviour and enhanced intensity of this storm.

    What Are CMEs?

    • Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs): Massive bubbles of charged gas and magnetic energy expelled from the Sun.
    • When directed towards Earth, CMEs can:
      • Disturb the magnetosphere
      • Disrupt satellites, communication networks, GPS
      • Trigger geomagnetic storms affecting power grids

    Key Findings of the Study

    1. Collision of Two CMEs

    • Instead of a single CME rope, two CMEs collided in space.
    • This collision compressed and distorted their magnetic structures.

    2. Magnetic Reconnection Inside the CME

    • Magnetic fields inside one CME snapped and rejoined, creating new magnetic pathways. This internal breakup is called magnetic reconnection.
    • Consequences:
      • Sudden reversal and strengthening of magnetic fields
      • Enhanced geomagnetic impact on Earth
      • Acceleration of charged particles detected by satellites

    3. First Multi-Vantage Observation

    • Observations came from Aditya-L1 and six US satellites:
      • NASA Wind
      • ACE
      • THEMIS-C
      • STEREO-A
      • MMS
      • DSCOVR (NASA-NOAA)
    • Enabled simultaneous study of the storm from Earth, Moon, and L1 point.

    4. Discovery of a Giant Reconnection Region

    • Aditya-L1’s precise magnetic field measurements showed:
      • Reconnection region ≈ 1.3 million km across
      • Nearly 100 times Earth’s diameter
    • First recorded instance of such a giant internal magnetic breakup within a CME.
    If a major solar storm (solar flare) reaches the Earth, which of the following are the possible effects on the Earth ? (2022)

    1. GPS and navigation systems could fail. 

    2. Tsunamis could occur at equatorial regions. 

    3. Power grids could be damaged. 

    4. Intense auroras could occur over much of the Earth. 

    5. Forest fires could take place over much of the planet. 

    6. Orbits of the satellites could be disturbed. 

    7. Shortwave radio communication of the aircraft flying over polar regions could be interrupted. 

    Select the correct answer using the code given below: 

    (a) 1, 2, 4 and 5 only (b) 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 only (c) 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7 only (d) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: United Nations

    UNEA-7: Rift Over UNEP’s Medium-Term Strategy and Funding Crunch

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Why in the news?

    The seventh UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) begins in Nairobi amid deep divisions over the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Medium-Term Strategy (MTS) 2026–2030 and a significant decline in core funding. The MTS acts as UNEP’s operational mandate guiding global work on climate, biodiversity, pollution and land restoration.

    UPSC Prelims Pointers

    About UNEP

    • Headquarters: Nairobi, Kenya
    • Established: 1972 (Stockholm Conference outcome)
    • Governing body: UN Environment Assembly (UNEA)
    • Works on: climate, biodiversity, pollution, land, chemicals, resource efficiency, environmental governance.

    About UNEA

    • Meets biennially.
    • World’s highest-level decision-making body on environment.
    • Each member state of the UN has one vote.

    UNEP’s Environment Fund (EF)

    • Voluntary, but based on an indicative scale of contributions.
    • Provides core, unearmarked funding.
    • Decline in EF impacts UNEP’s operational independence.

    Medium-Term Strategy (MTS)

    • 5-year framework guiding programmatic priorities.
    • Needed for budget approval.
    • Current debate concerns the 2026–2030 MTS text.

    Triple Planetary Crisis

    • Climate change
    • Biodiversity loss
    • Pollution and waste

    Plastics Treaty Process

    • Negotiated under the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC).
    • UNEP serves as secretariat, but mandate expansion is contested.
    Which one of the following is associated with the issue of control and phasing out of the use of ozone-depleting substances? (2015)

    (a) Bretton Woods Conference 

    (b) Montreal Protocol 

    (c) Kyoto Protocol 

    (d) Nagoya Protocol

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  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay 

    Prelims Only | History | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History

     Why in the news?

    • The family of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, author of Vande Mataram, recently praised the Prime Minister for commemorating the 150 years of the national song.

    About Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

    • Born: 27 June 1838, Kantalpara, 24 Parganas (Bengal Presidency)
    • Died: 8 April 1894
    • Also known as Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.
    • Regarded as “Sahitya Samrat” (Emperor of Literature) of Bengali literature.
    • One of the first two graduates of the University of Calcutta; later obtained a law degree.
    • Served in the British Indian government.

    Literary Contributions

    Early Works

    • Began as a poet, later shifted to fiction.
    • First Novel: Durgeshnandini (1865) – first Bengali romance.

    Major Works

    • Kapalkundala (1866), Mrinalini (1869), Vishbriksha (1873), Chandrasekhar (1877), Rajani (1877), Rajsimha (1881) and Devi Chaudhurani (1884)

    Most Famous Work

    • Anand Math (1882)
      • Based on the Sannyasi Rebellion (late 18th century).
      • Contains “Vande Mataram”, later adopted as the national song.

    Vande Mataram

    • Written in Sanskrit.
    • First sung by Rabindranath Tagore at the 1896 Kolkata Session of the Indian National Congress.
    • Adopted as the National Song on 24 January 1950 by the Constituent Assembly.
    • Symbol of Indian nationalism and anti-colonial struggle.
    With reference to the book “Desher Katha” written by Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar during the freedom struggle, consider the follow-ing statements: (2020)

    (1) It warned against the Colonial State’s hypnotic conquest of the mind. 

    (2) It inspired the performance of swadeshi street plays and folk songs. 

    (3) The use of ‘desh’ by Deuskar was in the specific context of the region of Bengal. 

    Which of the statements given above are correct? 

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

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  • Terrorism and Challenges Related To It

    NATGRID  

    Prelims Only | Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: External State & Non-State Actors: Challenges To Internal Security.

    Why in the News?

    • NATGRID is now receiving around 45,000 data-access requests per month, according to government officials.
    • At the 2024 DGP Conference (Nov 28–30, Raipur), chaired by the Prime Minister, all law-enforcement agencies were directed to scale up use of NATGRID in investigations.
    • States have been asked by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to use the platform extensively to access multiple government and private datasets.

    What is NATGRID?

    • National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) is an integrated intelligence platform that provides secure, real-time access to various databases for police and investigative agencies.
    • Conceptualised in 2009 after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
    • Became operational in 2023 (last year).
    • It is accessible only to authorised security agencies.

    Institutional Developments

    • NATGRID gained momentum in 2019 under Home Minister Amit Shah, who resolved inter-agency differences and expanded access to States.
    • In 2020, NATGRID signed an MoU with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to access the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), which links ~14,000 police stations nationwide.

    Recent Challenges Reported

    • Slow or time-consuming login procedures
    • Delays in receiving information that is expected to be real-time

    UPSC Prelims Pointers

    • NATGRID conceptualised → 2009, after 26/11.
    • Operational → 2023.
    • Provides access to government + private datasets.
    • No FIR required to use the platform.
    • Integrated with CCTNS through an MoU with NCRB (2020).
    • Access allowed to SP-rank officers and central agencies.
    • Aim → real-time, secure, multi-source data access for intelligence and investigation.

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  • Mother and Child Health – Immunization Program, BPBB, PMJSY, PMMSY, etc.

    Measles  

    Prelims Only | Social Justice | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    Why in the News?

    • According to recent global health reports, measles caused approximately 95,000 deaths in 2024, despite the presence of a highly effective vaccine.
    • Most deaths occurred among unvaccinated children under five, highlighting concerns about declining immunization coverage, vaccine hesitancy, and disruptions in routine immunization services in several regions.
    • The spike has raised alarms globally, making measles a significant public health priority in 2025.

    About Measles

    • Type: Highly contagious airborne viral disease.
    • Causative Agent: Measles virus (family Paramyxoviridae, genus Morbillivirus).
    • Severity: Can lead to pneumonia, encephalitis, blindness, and death.

    Who Is at Risk?

    • Any non-immune person.
    • Higher risk:
      • Unvaccinated young children
      • Pregnant persons
    • Common in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

    Treatment

    • No specific antiviral treatment.
    • Management is supportive (hydration, fever control, nutrition, monitoring complications).

    Prevention

    • Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccine offers long-term protection.
    • India:
      • Measles vaccine included in Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) in 1985.
      • Ongoing campaigns aim to eliminate measles and rubella.

    UPSC Prelims Pointers

    • Measles virus → Paramyxoviridae.
    • Virus survives 2 hours in air/surfaces → high transmission.
    • No antiviral; vaccine is key preventive tool.
    • Koplik spots → diagnostic hallmark.
    • India introduced measles vaccine in Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) → 1985.
    • Recent spike in global deaths makes measles a current affairs hotspot.
    HINI virus is sometimes mentioned in the news with reference to which one of the following diseases? (2015)

    (a) AIDS 

    (b) Bird flu 

    (c) Dengue 

    (d) Swine flu

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-Africa

    Benin

    Prelims Only | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    Why in the news?

    Benin President Patrice Talon said the security forces stopped a coup attempt by some soldiers in Cotonou on December 7.

    Key Facts

    • Country in West Africa
      Total area about 112622 sq km
       Borders: Niger to the northeast and east, Togo to the west, Burkina Faso to the northwest and the Southern coastline on the Bight of Benin (Gulf of Guinea, Atlantic Ocean)
    • Major rivers:
      • Niger and its tributaries Mékrou, Alibori, Sota (northeast)
      • Mono, Couffo, Ouémé
    • Official capital: Porto Novo
      • Largest city and de facto capital: Cotonou
    • Approx population: 10.87 million (2016)
    • Official language: French
       Widely spoken local languages: Fon, Yoruba
    • Currency: West African CFA franc (XOF)
    • Former French colony; independence in 1960
    • Type of government: Presidential Republic
      • Multi-party democratic system
    In the recent years Chad, Guinea, Mali and Sudan caught the international attention for which one of the following reasons common to all of them? (2023)

    (a) Discovery of rich deposits of rare earth elements 

    (b) Establishement of Chinese military bases 

    (c) Southward expansion of Sahara Desert 

    (d) Successful coups

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  • Digital India Initiatives

    Unified Payments Interface (UPI)

    Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth

    Why in the news?

    An IMF report has recognized UPI as the worlds largest real time retail fast payment system by transaction volume. As per ACI Worldwide (Prime Time for Real Time 2024), UPI accounts for about 49 percent of global real time payment transactions.

    Note: UPI accounts for 85% of all digital payments within India.

    Key Facts

    • Global leadership
    • India: 129.3 billion transactions
    • 49 percent share of global real time payment volume
    • Followed by: Brazil 14 percent, Thailand 8 percent, China 6 percent and South Korea 3 percent
    • Developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
    • Regulatory oversight Reserve Bank of India and Ministry of Finance support policy push
    • Government support initiatives
      • Incentive scheme for low value BHIM UPI transactions
      • PIDF (Payments Infrastructure Development Fund) for merchant infrastructure in Tier 3 to 6 areas
      • Expansion of RuPay UPI acceptance across transport, ecommerce, and public services

    Infrastructure Growth: 5.45 crore digital touch points deployed through PIDF in Tier 3 to 6 centers (as of Oct 2025)

    • 56.86 crore QR codes deployed to approx 6.5 crore merchants (FY 2024-25)
    Which one of the following links all the ATMs in India? (2018)

    (a) Indian Banks’ Association 

    (b) National Securities Depository Limited 

    (c) National Payments Corporation of India 

    (d) Reserve Bank of India

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  • Wildlife Conservation Efforts

    International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA)

    Prelims Only | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    Why in the news?

    India chaired a high level meeting of Big Cat Range Countries in New Delhi, where the Union Environment Minister invited all such countries to join IBCA. India will host the Global Big Cats Summit in 2026.

    What is IBCA?

    A global cooperative initiative launched by India to protect big cats and their habitats worldwide.
     Envisioned by the Prime Minister of India.

    Species covered

    Seven big cats:
    Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Jaguar, Puma

    Purpose

    • Strengthen conservation and ecological balance
    • Promote knowledge sharing, capacity building
    • Encourage nature based solutions for green growth
    • Safeguard ecosystems and enhance climate resilience

    Current Status

    • Secretariat: New Delhi, India
    • Members: 18 countries
    • Observer countries: 3
    • Supported by various international organisations
    Consider the following statements: (2016)

    1. The International Solar Alliance was launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015. 

    2. The Alliance includes all the member countries of the United Nations. 

    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

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