Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialisation.

Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

What’s the ongoing story: E. Somanathan writes: “There is always a well-known solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong.” So wrote H L Mencken in Prejudices, Second Series, over a century ago. In the case of Delhi’s air pollution, the “well-known solution” is to crack down on crop-residue burning in Punjab and Haryana…

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the function of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)?

• What are the factors leading to pollution in Delhi?

• What are the initiatives taken by the government to curb air pollution?

• How effective are these initiatives and what is the way forward?

• What is the impact of various air pollutants on human health?

Key Takeaways:

• The problem is that while this source contributes about half of Delhi’s pollution, this is true for only three weeks or so at this time of year. On an annual basis, it contributes about 3 per cent of annual PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter) according to a review of scientific studies by Sarath Guttikunda and co-authors last year. So, while the effort to reduce stubble burning is justified, it is only a small part of the overall problem.

• The truth is that for the rest of the winter when air pollution is particularly acute, and for the rest of the year, there are other, much larger sources. These include residential burning of firewood and dung for cooking and heating, industries, including coal-fired power plants, construction dust and dust from roads that are dug up and not cordoned off from traffic, vehicle exhaust fumes, and waste burning.

• A second important point is that Delhi’s air pollution is not a recent phenomenon. It has built up over several decades. It is unrealistic to expect to solve it within a year or two.

• In 2021, prodded by the Supreme Court, the Government of India issued an ordinance creating a Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas. This was soon made into a law.

• Unfortunately, those who framed the ordinance didn’t ask why the Central and State Pollution Control Boards, who already have the mandate to tackle air pollution, had failed to control it.

• So, what do we need to solve the problem? An amended law that will not create yet another toothless and bankrupt institution, but rather empower our existing pollution control boards and the CAQM and give them the money and autonomy to actually diagnose the problem. Autonomy must go with accountability, of course.

• It is important to allow regulators flexibility to tailor regulations to the problem at hand. They should be allowed to charge pollution fees in addition to issuing pollution standards. They should be allowed to establish pollution permit trading schemes. These can be valuable to prevent lobbying by industry to stop action.

• The courts should stop telling the executive that they should implement harsh orders. Instead, they need to push to reform the institutional structure of pollution control to make it more effective and less threatening.

Do You Know:

From Explained:

Warmer, windier: why post-Diwali Delhi air was cleaner this year

• The 24-hour average air quality on the day before Diwali and Diwali — Wednesday and Thursday respectively — in Delhi this year was worse than in the last two years. However, on Friday morning — the day after Diwali — the pollution level was the lowest since 2015, barring 2022.

• Due to their size, the PM 2.5 particles can easily bypass the nose and throat and can enter the circulatory system. The particles can also lead to chronic diseases such as asthma, heart attack, bronchitis and other respiratory problems.

• Several factors played a role, but meteorological conditions had the biggest impact.

— WARMER TEMPERATURES: Last year, Diwali was in November, when the temperature conditions were much cooler. This year, however, the festival was celebrated in late October, when temperatures were much warmer.

— This is significant, as cooler temperatures mean increased pollution levels. As temperature dips, the inversion height — which is the layer beyond which pollutants cannot disperse into the upper layer of the atmosphere — is lowered. The concentration of air pollutants increases when this happens.

— STRONG WINDS: Another factor was high wind speeds, which led to a better dispersal of the pollution post-Diwali.

— Due to the stronger winds, levels of tiny pollutants such as PM2.5 and PM10, which had spiked on Thursday likely due to the bursting of crackers and stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, dropped the next day.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????PM 2.5, Sulphur Dioxide, and more

????Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

1. In the cities of our country, which among the following atmospheric gases are normally considered in calculating the value of Air Quality Index? (UPSC CSE 2016)

1. Carbon dioxide

2. Carbon monoxide

3. Nitrogen dioxide

4. Sulfur dioxide

5. Methane

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

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

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

???? Describe the key points of the revised Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) recently released by the World Health Organisation (WHO). How are these different from its last update in 2005? What changes in India’s National Clean Air Programme are required to achieve revised standards? (UPSC CSE 2021)

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies I: Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India

General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

What’s the ongoing story: Lyla Mehta and Hariprasad V M write: The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) completed 10 years last month. The country also has an urban Swachh Bharat Mission. However, every year, rains lay bare the inadequate state of sanitation, sewage and drainage in India’s cities and towns.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)?

• What are the challenges of SBM?

• Know about these schemes: SBM Urban, SBM Grameen, AMRUT, NAMASTE scheme, and Smart Cities Mission

• How the Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus status is given?

• What is manual scavenging?

• What is the status of manual scavenging in India?

Key Takeaways:

• While urban wastewater hazards are most visible in the monsoons, in reality only 28 per cent of India’s urban sewage is treated, with the rest released in rivers, seas and streams.

• Sanitation is a human right, a public good and critical for health and productivity. It is also one of the most off-track Sustainable Development Goals, with 43 per cent of the world’s population lacking access to safe sanitation.

• In India, as in many parts of the Global South, centralised and capital-intensive sanitation and waste management systems are largely restricted to the mega-cities with towns and smaller cities disconnected from networked treatment plants and sewage systems.

• In the 2024-2025 budget, drinking water and sanitation received an allocation of Rs 77,390.68 crore, a meagre increase of only 0.5 per cent from the 2023-2024 allocation, with 90 per cent of money allocated to the National Rural Drinking Water Programme.

• Until 2014, India had the world’s highest prevalence of open defecation with about 600 million defecating outdoors. While Prime Minister Modi stated in 2019 that India was open defecation free (ODF), there are reports of significant open defecation, especially in rural areas.

• In unplanned and growing towns, localities occupied by migrants, Dalits and other socially marginalised groups routinely encounter poorly managed sewer networks, blocked toilets and open drains. Over 65 per cent of urban India relies on onsite sanitation systems such as pits and septic tanks.

• While manual scavenging is officially banned in India, problems in the system often increase reliance on these workers. Many policies promote machine cleaning, yet existing septic tank designs are often not suitable for machines. Manual scavengers and other informal sanitation service providers continue to provide cheap labour for the maintenance of the sanitation system.

• Data from 2018 to 2023 reveals that over 400 people died while cleaning septic tanks and sewers. Yet, authorities routinely deny the existence of manual scavengers and informal sanitation workers.

• The current budget does not have any provisions to rehabilitate manual scavengers or sanitation workers. While the 2022 NAMASTE scheme by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment mentions rehabilitation as one of the objectives, the emphasis is on providing safety and skill training to the workers. This fails to address the historical injustices faced by these communities.

• These challenges can be an opportunity to reimagine off-grid urban areas for decentralised innovations that are people-centred, sustainable, equitable and contribute to economic growth. Faecal sludge is rich in organic compounds. A circular economy approach of resource recovery and reuse holds the promise of converting the sludge to biogas or fertiliser — “brown gold”.

• However, numerous hurdles exist, not least due to the inability of authorities to collect and safely dispose of the sludge and the lack of attention to the critical roles performed by marginalised formal and informal sanitation workers in local municipalities, mostly linked to the caste system.

• Transparent data regarding the entire sanitation chain, including the invisible manual workers, robust institutional and regulatory frameworks as well as community participation in policy formulation and long-term action research specific to local dynamics are critical.

Do You Know:

• As B R Ambedkar pointed out, caste leads not only to the division of labour but of labourers as well. Dalits often face discrimination when seeking employment in sectors that are considered “pure”. Manual scavenging or cleaning of dry latrines, for instance, is a job that the Dalit classes have been burdened with.

• Although the practice was banned under the Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers Act, 2013, the inhumane exercise continues. According to government data, 97 per cent of manual scavengers are Dalits. The breakdown of numbers reveals that 42,594 manual scavengers belong to Scheduled Castes, 421 belong to Scheduled Tribes and 431 belong to Other Backward Classes.

• An outlawed practice under the 2013 Act, manual scavenging is the practice of removing human excreta manually from sewers or septic tanks. In 2013, the definition of manual scavengers was also broadened to include people employed to clean septic tanks, ditches, or railway tracks.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????Failure to acknowledge existence of manual scavenging is deplorable

????Mumbai’s Deathholes

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

2. ‘Rashtriya Garima Abhiyaan’ is a national campaign to (UPSC CSE 2016)

(a) rehabilitate the homeless and destitute persons and provide them with suitable sources of livelihood

(b) release the sex workers from their practice and provide them with alternative sources of livelihood

(c) eradicate the practice of manual scavenging and rehabilitate the manual scavengers

(d) release the bonded labourers from their bondage and rehabilitate them

 

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation, of resources, growth, development and employment.

What’s the ongoing story: Over the past few days, several observers of the Indian economy have made the point that urban India, especially the larger mega cities, are the new areas of concern when it comes to economic activity while rural India is witnessing an uptick. In simpler terms, all this means is that people in urban India are not buying (consuming) as much stuff (be it cars or cereals) as companies expected them to buy while people in India’s rural areas seem to be doing much better than earlier.

Key Points to Ponder:

 

• What are the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)?

• What are headline rural inflation and headline urban inflation?

• How is inflation measured in India?

• How the impact of inflation is different for rural and urban India?

• Compare the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rural and urban basket.

Key Takeaways:

• The Finance Ministry’s own monthly review (for September) states “Rural demand continues to strengthen in H1 of FY25”. “The improvement in rural demand is reflected in rising Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sales reported by Nielsen IQ, which grew by 5.2 per cent (volume growth) in Q1 of FY25, higher than the 4 per cent growth in the corresponding quarter of the previous year,” it further states.

• But, oddly enough, if one looks at the inflation data closely, it becomes clear that high food inflation stung the rural households more than their urban counterparts.

•“Food inflation contributed 73.1 per cent to the headline rural inflation. In contrast, food inflation contributed only 56.1 per cent of the headline urban inflation. This stark disparity is because of the disproportionately higher weight food holds in the rural consumption basket,” states a research note by CMIE’s (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) Economic Outlook.

• “Vegetable inflation contributed the most to overall headline inflation. In rural and urban areas vegetable inflation was almost the same at 36 per cent and 35.9 per cent, respectively. But, the sting is different. Vegetables have a weight of 7.5 per cent in rural CPI and 4.4 per cent in urban CPI. Due to the relatively larger importance of vegetables in rural consumption, it contributed to 45.8 per cent of the headline rural inflation. In contrast, vegetable inflation only contributed 31.3 per cent to headline urban inflation,” explains the CMIE note.

• Rural India may be consuming more at a faster rate than what it did last year, but high food inflation is still pinching it more than it is hitting urban India.

Do You Know:

• The two most-often used inflation rates in the country are the year-on-year are the wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation rate and the consumer price index (CPI) based inflation rate.

• The former is called the wholesale inflation rate and the latter is called the retail inflation rate. Both WPI and CPI are price indices. In other words, these are two different baskets of goods and services. The government assigns different weights to different goods and services based on what is relevant for those two types of consumers.

• The CPI-based inflation data is compiled by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (or MoSPI) and the WPI-based inflation data is put together by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (or DPIIT).

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????Everyday Economics: What are WPI and CPI inflation rates?

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

3. Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2020)

1. The weightage of food in Consumer Price Index (CPI) is higher than that in Wholesale Price Index (WPI).

2. The WPI does not capture changes in the prices of services, which CPI does.

3. Reserve Bank of India has now adopted WPI as its key measure of inflation and to decide on changing the key policy rates.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

????Do you agree with the view that steady GDP growth and low inflation have left the Indian economy in good shape? Give reasons in support of your arguments. (UPSC CSE 2019)

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General Science

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life

What’s the ongoing story: A new study says scientists have discovered a “black hole triple” in space for the first time. The system comprises a black hole at its centre, currently in the process of consuming a small star spiralling very close to it. There is also a second star, which appears to be circling the black hole but is actually far away.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What are black holes?

• What is light year?

• What are the various theories related to the origin of the universe?

Key Takeaways:

• The discovery of the system, located about 8,000 light years away from Earth (one light year is the distance light travels in a year, 9.5 trillion kilometre), has raised questions about how black holes are formed.

• A black hole is a region in space where the pull of gravity is so strong that no matter or light can escape it. Astronomers believe most black holes are formed after massive stars explode at the end of their lives — known as a supernova. However, the triple system suggests a gentler process.

• Many black holes discovered until now have been part of binary systems, consisting of a black hole and a secondary object (such as a star or another black hole). But the black hole triple not only has one star which orbits the black hole about every 6.5 days, but also a more far-off star which orbits it every 70,000 years.

• Situated in the constellation of Cygnus, the system features one of the oldest known black holes, the V404 Cygni, which is nine times as big as the Sun in our solar system.

• Burdge and his colleagues have proposed that V404 Cygni has two stars around it as the black hole did not arise from a supernova, which typically kicks away outer stars in the explosion.

• Instead, it was formed through another process called “direct collapse”, where the star caves in after expending all its fuel, but does not explode.

• However, the black hole triple will not have three members forever, as V404 Cygni is consuming the nearer star. This suggests that some already discovered binary systems could have been triple systems at some point, with the black hole later devouring one of its members.

Do You Know:

• A nova explosion is the dramatic instance of a star exploding as it interacts with another, nearby star. It’s a one of many, repeated moments during the long, slow, death of two neighboring stars in the same system.

• A supernova is the final explosion that utterly destroys stars. In a nova event, the dwarf star remains intact, which is why nova events typically repeat themselves.

• The explosion of a nova blasts away star matter in a blinding light, but it won’t look like a star explosion you see in the movies — thankfully, we’re too far away to see this level of detail.

• To the naked eye, the nova will instead look like a new star has appeared in the sky. People with high-powered telescopes will be able to see the nova’s brightly colored luminosity in some detail.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????How to see the September 2024 nova explosion without a telescope

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

4. Consider the following pairs : (2023)

How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialisation

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

What’s the ongoing story: As part of its commitment under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF), India submitted its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) spelling out its 23 national biodiversity targets during the conclusion of the annual United Nations conference on biodiversity in Cali, Colombia.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF)?

• What is the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP)?

• What is the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)?

• What are invasive alien species?

Key Takeaways:

• India’s 23 targets are aligned with the three broad themes of the KM-GBF treaty – reducing threats to biodiversity, meeting people’s needs through sustainable use and benefit-sharing, and tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming.

• The KM-GBF was adopted in 2022 at the 15th meeting under the Convention on Biological Diversity and 196 countries agreed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 to achieve a nature-positive world.

• Under its goals to reduce threats to biodiversity, India’s NBSAP has stated it will prioritise effective restoration of at least 30 per cent of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and marine and coastal ecosystems.

• India harbours nearly 8 per cent of the world’s known plant and animal species and 9.24 per cent of globally known plant species. It is home to 3,532 species of fish, 450 amphibian species, 738 reptilian species, 1,346 bird species and 436 mammals.

• The NBSAP provides a framework for biodiversity conservation, enables focus on sustainable use of biological resources, and ensures fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from them, the government’s action plan stated.

• Around eight of the 23 targets centre around reducing threats to biodiversity. They pertain to land and sea use change, pollution, species overexploitation, climate change, managing the threat of invasive alien species and ecosystem restoration.

• As part of its plans to achieve the target of managing invasive alien species, the action plan stated that the country has to “eliminate, minimize, reduce and or mitigate the impact of prioritized invasive alien species on biodiversity and ecosystem services”.

• Trade in exotic wildlife species, abandoning of exotic pets, and farming of exotic fish for trade are some of the ways in which invasive alien wildlife gets introduced into the ecosystem.

• An important action point listed under this target is to develop quarantine measures to monitor introduction pathways and establish a national database on the extent and control of invasive alien species reported in India, the NBSAP stated.

Do You Know:

• The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) came out of the same 1992 Rio Earth Summit that gave rise to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). CBD aims to protect global biodiversity, restore natural ecosystems, and ensure that benefits from the world’s biological resources are equitably distributed.

• This year’s meeting — the 16th Conference of Parties to CBD, or COP16 — is the first after a landmark agreement on biodiversity was finalised two years ago. This agreement, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework that was concluded at COP15 in Montreal in 2022, lay down four goals and 23 targets to be achieved collectively by 2030.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????Biodiversity COP16

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

5. Consider the following international agreements: (UPSC CSE 2014)

1. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

2. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

3. The World Heritage Convention

Which of the above has/have a bearing on the biodiversity?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

 

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies II: India and its neighbourhood- relations

What’s the ongoing story: Moving swiftly after completing the process of disengagement at the friction points of Demchok and Depsang Plains along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, Indian troops have resumed patrolling in the Demchok area.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What was the outcome of the recently concluded BRICS Summit?

• What are the border issues between India and China?

• What are the other areas of concern for India concerning China?

• How the recent disengagement is significant for the India-China relationship?

• Map Work: Depsang Plains, Demchok, LAC, Galwan Valley, Gogra, and Pangong Tso.

Key Takeaways:

• Indian Army sources confirmed that “coordinated patrolling” began Friday in the Demchok area and would soon commence in the Depsang Plains.

• This is in line with the agreement between India and China, announced on October 21, two days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping held talks on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Russia to repair bilateral ties.

• Relations between the two countries plunged after Chinese incursions in eastern Ladakh were detected in May 2020, triggering a military standoff along the LAC.

• The resumption of patrolling in Demchok came a day after the two armies exchanged sweets at border points along the LAC Thursday, also the Diwali day.

• This agreement is important because the Chinese side, until a year ago, showed reluctance to even discuss Depsang Plains and Demchok while it agreed on disengagement at other friction points — PP 14 (Galwan valley), PP 15 (Hot Springs), PP 17A (Gogra), north and south banks of Pangong Tso.

• It marks the first step of a three-step process — disengagement, de-escalation and de-induction of troops in the border areas.

Do You Know:

• The Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the demarcation that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory. India considers the LAC to be 3,488 km long, while the Chinese consider it to be only around 2,000 km.

• It is divided into three sectors: the eastern sector which spans Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the middle sector in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and the western sector in Ladakh.

• P. Stobdan writes: “There is no question about achieving a breakthrough or trust between India and China. The issue is about each other’s interests. The Chinese may have achieved some strategic and military successes through the boundary standoffs in Ladakh but New Delhi has shown it can deal with the situation through its diplomatic fortitude and maturity. Given that each country has other geopolitical and economic issues to deal with, India and China have tried to find an honourable exit and reset ties.”

 

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????India-China LAC agreement is welcome – but is it a breakthrough?

????India-China LAC Agreement: What this means, why experts are advising caution

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

6. ‘Hand-in-Hand 2007’ a joint anti-terrorism military training was held by the officers of the Indian Army and officers of the Army of which one of the following countries? (UPSC CSE 2008)

(a) China

(b) Japan

(c) Russia

(d) USA

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

????“China is using its economic relations and positive trade surplus as tools to develop potential military power status in Asia”. In the light of this statement, discuss its impact on India as her neighbour. (UPSC CSE 2017)

 

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: Adding a new stress point to bilateral ties, the United States Wednesday put 19 private firms from India and two Indian nationals on a list of “nearly 400 entities and individuals” from several countries that will face sanctions for their alleged role in aiding Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the status of the India-US relationship?

• How the Russia-Ukraine war is impacting the global economy?

• How is India balancing its relationship with the USA and Russia?

• What are the challenges imposed by the Russia-Ukraine war on the Indian economy?

Key Takeaways:

• This is not the first time that Indian firms have been targeted by US sanctions, but the latest move was the “most concerted push so far against third-country evasion”, a US State Department official told Reuters.

• The US action comes at a time when bilateral ties with India are already under stress over allegations of an Indian national’s role in a plot to assassinate Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil.

• The US sanctions have had a limited impact on the Russian war machine. In this context, the latest move is being seen as an attempt to target Moscow with an eye on domestic constituents in the US with presidential elections on November 5.

Do You Know:

• In the aftermath, while there may be a temptation to grandstand against the US sanctions, it would help to understand their context, and to assess their consequences for India’s domestic interests.

• There is a war raging in Europe and there is a growing sense that it is likely to escalate. As such, the West is tightening sanctions to prevent Russia’s military capability from growing.

• The second critical aspect is that the sanctions have a broad sweep, across several countries. India or Indian firms have not been specifically targeted or singled out.

• The third key point is that while India has differences with the US on Russia, it is also true that India has a strong partnership with the US when it comes to China.

• The Indian government should neither take offence at the sanctions, nor ignore them as the decision of an outgoing US President. It should, instead, treat them as a caution.

• Delhi would do well to focus on the need to protect Indian businesses from getting caught in the crossfire. India had set up export control mechanisms as part of the nuclear deal with the US — it is time to update them.

• The government needs to educate industry about the export restrictions, and possibly even licence some of the critical items, to ensure that Indian businesses are not adversely affected by the ongoing conflict.

 

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????Express View on US sanctions on Indian companies

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

????‘What introduces friction into the ties between India and the United States is that Washington is still unable to find for India a position in its global strategy, which would satisfy India’s National self-esteem and ambitions’. Explain with suitable examples. (UPSC CSE 2019)

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