Nepal floodsGLOFHimalayan hazardsBhotekoshidisaster management
- 579 dead, nearly 2,000 missing on day three; 4,500+ rescued. Of 183 Indian tourists reported missing, 85 were rescued and 98 remain unaccounted for - the highest among foreign nationals. Citizens of 30+ countries are missing, including 65 Americans, 61 Ukrainians, 51 Malaysians.
- The key scientific correction: what registered at 8.44 a.m. on August 26 as a 4.4-magnitude earthquake was not tectonic at all. The USGS confirmed the seismic signal was the glacial collapse and landslide itself - an enormous glacial slab plunging a kilometre to the valley floor, later registered as equivalent to magnitude 5.2.
- Why no rain fell: the puzzle was flooding of this scale in the Bhotekoshi in Rasuwa district with zero recorded rainfall. The chain now proposed - ice-and-rock collapse -> debris blocks the Lhende Khola -> temporary dam fails -> surge sweeps downstream into the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli.
- Lhende Khola is a transboundary, high-altitude river rising in Gyirong County, Tibet and flowing south into Nepal. Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, using satellite imagery shared by China, points to a combination of ice avalanche, permafrost movement and rockslide.
- The avalanche began on the Nepali side but very close to the border, so damage crossed into both countries - China's Gyirong Port, its largest land trade port in Tibet and built at $175.8 million, was effectively buried.
- 475 MW of generating capacity was wiped off Nepal's electricity grid, alongside destroyed bridges and hydropower stations. Nepal reversed its refusal of international search teams after diplomatic pressure from countries whose citizens are missing.
- For the exam: this is the cleanest available illustration that seismic signals can be generated by mass movement rather than faulting - and that Himalayan disaster risk is now driven by permafrost degradation and slope instability, not rainfall alone. Pair it with the 2023 South Lhonak GLOF and the 2021 Chamoli disaster, which had the same rock-ice avalanche signature.
Practice Questions
With reference to the August 2026 Nepal flash floods, consider the following statements:
1. The seismic signal initially recorded as an earthquake was later confirmed to have been generated by the glacial collapse itself.
2. The Lhende Khola is a transboundary river that originates in Tibet and flows into Nepal.
3. The flooding was preceded by exceptionally heavy rainfall in the Rasuwa district.
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
The phenomenon in which a mass movement of rock and ice generates a seismic signal comparable to an earthquake is significant for Himalayan hazard assessment primarily because:
A It indicates that the region is becoming tectonically inactive
B Conventional seismic monitoring may misattribute slope failures to tectonic activity, delaying the correct hazard response
C It confirms that glacial lakes are the only source of sudden Himalayan floods
D It shows that permafrost has no role in Himalayan slope stability
Special Intensive RevisionElection Commissionelectoral rollsfranchiseRPA 1950
- The Special Intensive Revision (SIR), continuing after a Supreme Court judgment allowed it to proceed, has struck nearly 22% of names in Telangana and 19.5% in Karnataka off the electoral rolls - among the highest deletion rates in the country.
- Cuts are steepest in capital cities: five Bengaluru constituencies lost more than half their electors; nine of Hyderabad's 15 saw deletions above 40%.
- The editorial's central logical trap: deletions on this scale admit only two explanations, and both damage the ECI. Either its own earlier summary revisions were producing badly bloated rolls - in precisely the States with high net in-migration - or the current deletions are wrong.
- A deletion is only justified if the elector left the State entirely. Movement within Karnataka or Telangana merely relocates a name on the same State roll; it does not remove it. Neither survey data nor government population estimates support out-migration on this scale.
- The opacity problem: the ECI has not published the elector-to-population ratio for any State during this revision, though doing so is mandatory and is the only real test of under-enrolment. Karnataka's CEO has not released a gender-wise breakdown, scattering lists across Google Drive links without old booth numbers, making verification arduous.
- The West Bengal precedent: the ECI's 'logical discrepancy' process disenfranchised lakhs, who had to seek redress before tribunals set up under the Court. RTI records show barely 82,000 of nearly 38 lakh appeals have been decided - and over 90% of those decisions favoured the elector seeking restoration.
- For the exam: a 90% success rate on appeal is the strongest available evidence that the deletions themselves were flawed, not the objections. The editorial's closing charge is institutional - a body once envied for expanding the franchise is now framed as an obstacle to universal adult suffrage under Article 326.
Practice Questions
In the context of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, the elector-to-population ratio is significant because it:
A Determines the number of polling stations to be set up in a constituency
B Serves as the principal test of whether electors are being under-enrolled in a State
C Is used to allocate Lok Sabha seats among States
D Fixes the maximum election expenditure permitted per candidate
Consider the following statements regarding the deletion of a voter's name during a revision of electoral rolls:
1. A voter shifting residence from one district to another within the same State would ordinarily be removed from that State's electoral roll altogether.
2. Universal adult suffrage in India is provided for under Article 326 of the Constitution.
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
VB-G RAM GMGNREGSe-KYCrural employmentwelfare delivery
- Two months after the launch of Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) [VB-G RAM G], the e-KYC verification rate of registered workers stands at just 71%.
- For active workers - those who worked at least once in the last three years - the rate is 94.88%, but this still leaves 57 lakh workers unverified and therefore at risk of being unable to access work.
- The number that should worry planners: only 7.67 crore person-days were generated under VB-G RAM G in July 2026, against 15.33 crore under MGNREGS in July last year - a fall of 49.94%. A person-day is the work done by one person in one working day.
- Deadlines repeatedly missed: an RTI by Chakradhar Buddha of the NCPRI shows States were told on January 30 to finish e-KYC of remaining active workers within a week, then again on February 12 to finish by end-February. Seven months on, the target is unmet.
- State variation among the largest MGNREGS workforces: Tamil Nadu leads at 99.32% (active) and 84.89% (all registered); Rajasthan 95.66%/69.45%; Uttar Pradesh 94.21%/58.89%; Andhra Pradesh 90.4%/82.32%. Bihar is among the lowest for registered workers at 58.05%.
- The Ministry has allowed exceptions for some unverified job cards and insists no eligible worker will be left behind - while simultaneously making e-KYC a condition for availing work under the new scheme.
- For the exam: a textbook case of technology-mediated exclusion in welfare delivery - where a verification requirement intended to remove ghost beneficiaries becomes an access barrier for genuine ones. Connects to the right to work framing of MGNREGA, Aadhaar-based authentication failures, and the Supreme Court's Aadhaar (Puttaswamy) caveats on denial of benefits for authentication failure.
Practice Questions
With reference to the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), consider the following statements:
1. Workers already e-KYC verified under MGNREGS are eligible to avail of work under the new scheme.
2. e-KYC verification has been made a condition for availing work under the new scheme.
3. Person-days generated under the new scheme in July 2026 exceeded those generated under MGNREGS in July of the previous year.
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
The concern raised over pending e-KYC verification in rural employment schemes best illustrates which of the following governance challenges?
A Fiscal federalism disputes over the sharing of scheme costs between the Centre and States
B Exclusion errors, where an authentication requirement designed to remove ineligible beneficiaries denies access to eligible ones
C The absence of any statutory basis for rural employment guarantees
D Judicial overreach into the design of executive welfare schemes
PARIVARTANair pollutionPM2.5vehicle scrappageDelhi-NCR
- The Union government will replace more than 2 lakh trucks and buses in Delhi-NCR with BS-VI or electric vehicles within one year, advancing the two-year timeline the Cabinet had approved.
- PARIVARTAN = Programme for Accelerated Renewal and Incentivization of Vehicle Assets for Reducing Transport Air Pollution and Network Emissions. Approved by Cabinet on June 3, launched July 14. It targets vehicles registered in Delhi and NCR districts of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh conforming to BS-IV or older norms.
- The statistic that justifies the scheme: trucks and buses are just 3.1% of the region's vehicle fleet but contribute 36% of vehicular PM2.5 emissions - a disproportion that makes targeted replacement far more efficient than fleet-wide measures.
- Outlay ₹9,585 crore, including ₹5,041 crore in Central budgetary support. Funded through the National Capital Region Planning Board under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, implemented by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
- Incentives: 5% interest subvention on vehicle loans for five years, 100% road-tax waiver for 10 years, exemption from registration fees, and a minimum 8% discount on ex-showroom price from participating manufacturers.
- Buyers of BS-VI diesel or CNG vehicles get monthly fuel vouchers of ₹1,200-₹4,800 for five years; EV buyers get a one-time incentive of ₹64,000-₹2.56 lakh.
- Conditionality: beneficiaries must scrap BS-III or older trucks and buses; BS-IV vehicles may be scrapped or sold outside the NCR - a carve-out that shifts, rather than removes, those emissions.
- For the exam: note the institutional design - an NCRPB-funded, inter-ministerial scheme addressing an airshed that crosses four State boundaries, illustrating why airshed-level governance is needed where pollution ignores administrative borders.
Practice Questions
With reference to the PARIVARTAN scheme, consider the following statements:
1. It targets replacement of trucks and buses conforming to BS-IV or older emission norms in Delhi and specified NCR districts.
2. It is funded through the National Capital Region Planning Board and implemented by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
3. Beneficiaries availing the scheme must scrap BS-III or older trucks and buses.
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
Trucks and buses constitute about 3.1% of the vehicle fleet in Delhi-NCR but account for roughly 36% of vehicular PM2.5 emissions. This disproportion primarily justifies which policy approach?
A Uniform restrictions applied equally across all vehicle categories
B Targeted replacement of a small, high-emitting segment to achieve disproportionate emission reductions
C Complete prohibition of private vehicle ownership in the National Capital Region
D Relocating all industrial units outside the National Capital Region
IIPindustrial productionmanufacturingrural consumptionMoSPI
- India's Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew 6.7% in July 2026, down from 8.8% in June - but still the second-best print since December last year, buoyed by manufacturing and electricity and gas supply.
- A significant revision: June's growth was upgraded from a provisional 7.3% to 8.8%, a large upward revision that itself makes July's slowdown look sharper than it otherwise would.
- Manufacturing grew 7.3% in July, down from 9.5% in June - but comfortably faster than the 5.1% recorded in July of the previous year, so the year-on-year picture remains an improvement.
- Growth was propelled by engineering (electrical and non-electrical), automobiles (all kinds of transport), electronics, and plastic and rubber products, per Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda.
- The divergence economists are flagging: headline industrial strength coexists with weakness in rural consumption levels - a two-speed demand pattern where production data alone overstates the health of the economy.
- For the exam: the IIP is released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) with base year 2011-12, and carries three sectoral classifications - mining, manufacturing, electricity - alongside a use-based classification (primary, capital, intermediate, infrastructure, consumer durables and non-durables).
- Analytical point worth carrying into an answer: consumer non-durables are the standard proxy for rural demand, which is why weak rural consumption can persist even as capital and infrastructure goods lift the headline index.
Practice Questions
With reference to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in India, consider the following statements:
1. It is released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
2. Under its use-based classification, consumer non-durables are generally treated as a proxy for rural demand.
3. Its sectoral classification comprises mining, manufacturing and electricity.
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
In July 2026, India's IIP grew at 6.7% against a revised 8.8% in June 2026, while economists simultaneously pointed to weakness in rural consumption. This combination is best described as:
A Stagflation, since output and prices are both falling
B A divergence between aggregate industrial output and the strength of mass consumption demand
C A balance of payments crisis driven by falling exports
D Jobless growth, since industrial output has contracted
JavelinForeign Military Salesemergency procurementOperation SindoorIndia-US defence
- India signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) with the United States to procure Javelin anti-tank guided missile systems through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route.
- The LOA is the defining instrument of the FMS route: it is a government-to-government agreement in which the U.S. government, not the manufacturer, contracts with the buyer - distinguishing FMS from Direct Commercial Sales, where the purchaser negotiates with the vendor directly.
- The purchase uses emergency procurement powers granted to the armed forces to augment critical operational capabilities following Operation Sindoor. Under this framework, the forces may buy up to ₹300 crore per equipment category.
- The Indian Army is procuring the missiles in limited numbers. Deliveries under the sixth tranche of emergency procurements are expected to begin by end of 2026-27.
- The Javelin is a medium-range, fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile designed to engage armoured vehicles and fortified positions.
- U.S. Ambassador Sergio Gor said the agreement reflected a partnership growing 'deeper, more capable, and consequential', with the U.S. Embassy framing it as evidence of the U.S.-India Major Defence Partnership.
- For the exam: emergency procurement is designed for speed - compressed timelines, capped value, limited quantities - so it fills immediate operational gaps rather than substituting for long-cycle capital acquisition. Contrast this with indigenisation under Atmanirbhar Bharat and the positive indigenisation lists, and the tension between the two is a ready GS3 answer.
Practice Questions
The Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA), referred to in the context of India's procurement of Javelin missiles, is associated with which of the following?
A The Direct Commercial Sales route, where the buyer contracts directly with the manufacturer
B The U.S. Foreign Military Sales route, which is a government-to-government arrangement
C An offset obligation requiring reinvestment in the buyer's domestic defence industry
D A technology transfer agreement mandating local manufacture of the equipment
Emergency procurement powers granted to India's armed forces are best characterised as a mechanism to:
A Replace the long-term capital acquisition process for major platforms
B Rapidly fill immediate operational capability gaps through value-capped, limited-quantity purchases
C Mandate that all defence purchases be made from domestic manufacturers only
D Transfer procurement authority from the Ministry of Defence to the Ministry of External Affairs
Mecca PactBangladeshSaudi ArabiaTurkiyePakistanneighbourhood policy
- Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. Khalilur Rahman told Parliament that Dhaka would give positive consideration to joining the Mecca Pact - the trilateral defence agreement signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan - if its existing members propose bringing Bangladesh into the framework.
- The framing matters: accession is not currently under discussion, and any move would depend on the intentions of the existing signatories rather than on a Bangladeshi initiative. This is a signal of availability, not an application.
- The position has drawn support from Bangladesh's main Opposition parties, including Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party - indicating a rare degree of domestic political convergence.
- Why this matters for India: a defence architecture linking Pakistan with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye already complicates India's West Asia calculus. Extending it eastward to Bangladesh would place a Pakistan-linked security framework on both of India's flanks.
- Turkiye's consistent support for Pakistan on Kashmir, and its growing defence-industrial exports, make its presence in such a grouping particularly significant for Indian planners.
- This sits against a broader recalibration of India-Bangladesh relations since the political transition in Dhaka, making the trajectory of that bilateral relationship a live examination theme.
- For the exam: use this to argue that India's Neighbourhood First policy is increasingly tested not by bilateral disputes alone but by third-party security architectures that neighbours may join - and note India's counterweights, from I2U2 and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor to its own deepening Gulf ties.
Practice Questions
The 'Mecca Pact', in the news recently, is a trilateral defence agreement signed between which of the following countries?
A Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan
B Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan
C Saudi Arabia, Iran and Bangladesh
D Turkiye, Qatar and Malaysia
The prospect of a neighbouring country acceding to an external trilateral defence framework poses a challenge to India's foreign policy primarily because it:
A Automatically terminates all existing bilateral agreements between India and that country
B Introduces third-party security commitments into India's immediate neighbourhood, constraining bilateral management of regional security
C Requires India to seek approval from the United Nations Security Council
D Compels India to join the same framework under principles of reciprocity
AfghanistanTalibanUNSC Resolution 2593India-Afghanistanrecognition
- The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA 2.0) has completed five years since the August 15, 2021 takeover. The balance sheet is deliberately binary - genuine gains in stability set against deep social regression.
- On the positive side: the transition avoided mass retribution, unlike 1996; the country is largely stable and secure; the IEA has disallowed use of its territory for operations against other countries; and it has absorbed an estimated 5.7 million returning refugees from Pakistan and Iran - an eighth of the population - reasonably well despite worsening penury.
- On the negative side: the harshest rules in the contemporary Islamic world - a ban on music, no education for girls beyond class six, gender segregation, the lifting of the ban on child marriages, and a narrow power base excluding women, non-Pashtuns and ethnic minorities. These are defended by citing Sharia, Sunni Deobandi Islam, Hanafi jurisprudence and Pashtun traditions.
- The governance structure: an uncodified unitary theocracy evolved from the Quetta Shura (later Rahbari Shura), endorsed by 3,000 clerics and tribal leaders at a Loya Jirga in Kabul in mid-2022. Hibatullah Akhundzada is Supreme Leader (Amir al-Mu'minin) - simultaneously head of state, commander-in-chief and religious leader - heading a 26-member Leadership Council.
- The global framework remains UNSC Resolution 2593 (adopted August 30, 2021), demanding that Afghan territory not be used for terrorism, that human rights of women, children and minorities be upheld, and encouraging an inclusive negotiated settlement.
- Recognition status: the IEA claims 40 diplomatic missions abroad and 20+ countries represented in Kabul, yet Russia alone has extended formal recognition. India, Pakistan, China and Iran maintain links at nuanced de jure levels without formal recognition.
- India's position: initially sceptical, New Delhi has come full circle - withholding recognition in line with global norms while pursuing substantive engagement. After the Afghan Foreign Minister's October 2025 visit, three more Afghan Ministers have visited. Despite Pakistan's denial of overland transit, bilateral trade hovers near $1 billion, with India among the largest markets for Afghan exports.
- For the exam: the author's argument is that some IEA leaders now show flexibility - the girls' education ban is being reframed as a funding problem for segregated schooling rather than a doctrinal one - and that India, as South Asia's trendsetter, is well placed to build a critical mass of incentives, preferably via a multilateral donors' conference.
Practice Questions
With reference to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2593 concerning Afghanistan, consider the following statements:
1. It demands that Afghan territory not be used to threaten or attack any country or shelter terrorists.
2. It formally extended United Nations recognition to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
3. It calls for upholding the human rights of women, children and minorities.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
A 1 and 2 only
B 1 and 3 only
C 2 and 3 only
D 1, 2 and 3
Which of the following best describes India's approach to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan over the past five years?
A Formal diplomatic recognition accompanied by a comprehensive security treaty
B Complete disengagement, with no trade or humanitarian contact maintained
C Withholding formal recognition while pursuing substantive engagement through trade, humanitarian assistance and ministerial visits
D Recognition extended jointly with Pakistan through a regional grouping