Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.

What’s the ongoing story:  Days after senior members of the Trudeau administration alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was behind a campaign to target Khalistan separatists based in Canada, India has lodged a protest “in the strongest terms” through diplomatic channels, calling the allegations “absurd and baseless”.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the history of India-Canada bilateral relations?

• What are the main causes of the recent diplomatic tensions between India and Canada?

• What is the significance of Canada for India?

• What could be the implications of an escalating India-Canada diplomatic row?

Key Takeaways:

• In remarks suggesting further strain in relations, New Delhi has warned Ottawa that “such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences for bilateral ties”. Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said, “We had summoned the representative of the Canadian High Commission yesterday. A Diplomatic Note was handed over in reference to the proceedings of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security in Ottawa on October 29, 2024.”

• On October 29, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s National Security and Intelligence Adviser Nathalie Drouin and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison acknowledged leaking information to The Washington Post which first reported that Shah was behind the campaign of targeting Khalistan separatists in Canada.

• Morrison told Parliament members of the national security committee that he had “confirmed” Shah’s name to The Washington Post which first reported the allegations. “The journalist called me and asked if it was that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Morrison told the committee.

• On Saturday, Jaiswal said communications of Indian diplomats were being intercepted by the Canadian government, and New Delhi has formally protested against the audio and video surveillance of its officials with the Canadian government.

• For the first time, India has been described as an adversary in an official Canadian government document. That description came in the National Cyber Threat Assessment 2025-2026, released by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security last Tuesday. In its section on cyber threat from “state adversaries”, it includes China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and India.

• India’s ties with Canada have been severely strained ever since September 2023 when Trudeau alleged that there was “potential” involvement of the Indian government in the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India rejected the charges as “absurd” and “motivated”. This led to expulsion of diplomats from both countries in two batches – once in October last year, and again last month.

Do You Know:

• The bilateral ties between India and Canada are long-standing and significant. Canada is home to a high percentage of Sikhs. However, the two countries’ bilateral relations have been affected by various issues, such as Khalistani separatism and Canada’s position on human rights in India. These issues have led to increased tensions and have impacted diplomatic interactions.

• The deepening acrimony in India-Canada bilateral ties could not only affect the bilateral relations but also harm India’s global reputation. The potential consequences of the escalating dispute are:

• Impact on Economic Relations: The trade and investment linkages between India and Canada form an integral component of the multi-faceted partnership between the two countries. In this context, the escalating tension between India and Canada has raised concerns about its potential impact on bilateral economic relations. This could affect Canadian pension fund investments worth $75 billion in India, the fate of paused negotiations for a proposed trade agreement, and the inflow of remittances into India.

• Geopolitical implications: Canada is a part of the G7 grouping and shares the table with the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Japan. It also shares intelligence with the Five Eyes grouping — with the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. All these countries are also close strategic partners of choice for India. India has the Quad partnership with the US, Australia, and Japan, and strong and growing bilateral ties with each of them. The diplomatic standoff has put these countries in a spot.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????UPSC Issue at a Glance | India-Canada Diplomatic Row

????Canada’s claims against Indian officials: threats, extortion, Lawrence Bishnoi angle, and other details

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

‘Indian diaspora has a decisive role to play in the politics and economy of America and European Countries’. Comment with examples. (UPSC CSE 2020)

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation, of resources.

What’s the ongoing story: India’s crude oil imports in October declined to a 13-month low amid maintenance-related shutdowns at some refineries and the geopolitical crisis in West Asia which led to fears of high volatility in international oil prices. Consequently, import volumes from the top five suppliers — Russia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States — declined sequentially, according to ship tracking data.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What factors are contributing to the recent decline in India’s crude oil imports?

• Analyze the implications of India’s reliance on a few major suppliers for its crude oil imports.

• How do seasonal factors influence crude oil import patterns in India?

• In what ways are geopolitical uncertainties impacting energy security in India?

• Who are the top three crude oil suppliers to India?

Key Takeaways:

• In October, Indian refiners cumulatively imported 4.35 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude, down 7.6 per cent month-on-month, according to provisional vessel tracking data from international commodity market analytics firm Kpler. Going forward, industry watchers expect oil imports to rebound in November as all Indian refiners would be fully back on stream amid robust demand and expectations of relatively limited oil price volatility in the international market.

• Supplies from Russia—India’s largest source market for crude—fell 9.2 per cent sequentially to a seven-month low of 1.73 million bpd, accounting for almost 40 per cent of India’s total oil imports in October. In addition to refinery maintenance season and oil market volatility, competition from Chinese refiners for certain grades of Russian crude played a role in the decline in oil imports from Moscow.

• Oil import volumes from Iraq and Saudi Arabia were sequentially lower by 3.3 per cent at 0.84 million bpd and 10.9 per cent at 0.65 million bpd, respectively.

• Despite the decline in overall import volumes of Russian oil in October, shipments of the country’s flagship crude grade—the medium-sour Urals—were at a four-month high in October. Urals is also the mainstay of India’s Russian oil purchases, and accounts for over three-fourths of Russian oil imported by Indian refiners. Imports of some other Russian crude grades, however, declined and led to the overall slide in imports.

Do You Know:

• Prior to the war in Ukraine, Iraq and Saudi Arabia were the top two suppliers of crude oil to India. But as the West started weaning itself off Russian energy supplies following Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia started offering discounts on its crude and Indian refiners started snapping up the discounted barrels.

• As the world’s third-largest consumer of crude oil with a high import dependency level of over 85 per cent, India is extremely sensitive to oil prices. Although trade sources have indicated that discounts on Russian crude have shrunk over time, Indian refiners have evidently remained keen on buying Russian oil as given the high import volumes, even lower discount levels lead to significant savings.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????India’s reliance on imported oil, natural gas grows as stagnant domestic production lags demand growth

Previous year UPSC Prelims/Mains Question Covering similar theme:

(1) The term ‘West Texas Intermediate’, sometimes found in news, refers to a grade of (UPSC CSE 2020)

(a) Crude oil

(b) Bullion

(c) Rare earth elements

(d) Uranium

 

In break from ‘tradition’, Nepal PM Oli picks China for 1st bilateral visit

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-II: India and its neighbourhood- relations.

What’s the ongoing story: Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli is likely to undertake an official visit to China next month, his first bilateral, four months after he took over as head of the new government replacing the Left coalition government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda).

Key Points to Ponder:

• India-Nepal Bilateral relations-know the historical background

• What is the India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950?

• What are the areas of cooperation and conflict between India and Nepal?

•  What are the areas of conflict in India-Nepal Bilateral relations?

•  How is China’s political influence in Nepal harming Indian interests?

• What is India’s Neighbourhood First Policy?

• Map work: Location of Kali River, Limpiadhura, Lipulekh, Kalapani, Indian states bordering Nepal, China-Nepal border.

• What is China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)?

Key Takeaways:

• Official sources said the Prime Minister will visit Beijing most likely between December 2 and December 5. Oli’s China visit is seen as a visible break from the ‘tradition’ of the new Nepali PM undertaking his first trip to India.

• India normally extends an invitation to Nepal’s new prime minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to have told Oli in New York when they met in September that he would soon be visiting Nepal.

• Oli’s visit to China is scheduled at a time when the two biggest coalition partners in the government — Nepali Congress and Oli-led Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist— are at odds over the conditions of executing projects under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). While the Nepali Congress is firm that BRI projects should be accepted only under grants, the CPN-UML supports projects with loans from China’s Exim bank.

Do You Know:

• Nepal and India have a unique relationship. The open border, shared culture, economic interdependence and deep-rooted people-to-people relationship make bilateral ties special.

• India is Nepal’s largest trading partner, the top-source country for tourists, the only supplier of petroleum products and the largest source of total foreign investment. India also provides transit for almost all of Nepal’s third-country trade and accounts for a significant share of inward remittances from pensioners, professionals and labourers working in India. It has always been the first responder during disasters and emergencies in Nepal.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????Nepal and India’s special relationship – and how it is getting better

????Explained: History of India and Nepal’s border issue

Previous year UPSC Prelims/Mains Question Covering similar theme:

(2) Consider the following pairs: (UPSC CSE 2016)

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 3 only

 

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national importance, economic development

Mains Examination: GS-II, GS-III: Government policies and interventions, Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation, of resources, growth, development and employment.

What’s the ongoing story: The Internal Audit Wing (IAW) of the Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has detected discrepancies leading to losses totalling Rs 35.37 crore in some districts of Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MG-NREGS) during 2023-24.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the MGNREG scheme?

• Who are eligible to benefit from the MGNREG scheme?

• How are wage rates for MGNREGS workers fixed?

• Who are the key stakeholders of MGNREG scheme?

• How schemes such as MGNREG schemecan help alleviate distress migration?

• What are the issues and challenges associated with the MGNREG scheme?

• What is the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana (PMAY-G)?

Key Takeaways:

• According to sources, the IAW findings are part of the Annual Review of Performance Audit for 2023-24, a report prepared by the Office of Chief Controller of Accounts and shared with the MoRD. The IAW conducted an audit of 92 works of various rural development schemes, including MG-NREGS, across the country during 2023-24. The report also showed that a loss of Rs 5.20 lakh was detected in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana (PMAY-G) in Pherzawl district of Manipur.

• As per the report, the IAW also found cases of wasteful and infructuous and unauthorised expenditure on works under MG-NREGS, PMAY-G and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) across Gujarat, Sikkim, Manipur, Odisha, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar. The total amount of wasteful and unauthorised expenditure across these states was reported at Rs 15.20 crore.

Do You Know:

• The Government of India passed the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 in September, 2005. The Act gives legal guarantee of a hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to adult members of a rural household who demand employment and are willing to do unskilled manual work.

• Another aim of MGNREGA is to create durable assets (such as roads, canals, ponds, and wells). Employment is to be provided within 5 km of an applicant’s residence, and minimum wages are to be paid. If work is not provided within 15 days of applying, applicants are entitled to an unemployment allowance. Thus, employment under MGNREGA is a legal entitlement. MGNREGA is implemented mainly by gram panchayats (GPs)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????NREGA: low funds, caste-based payment delays, and implications for the economy

????NREGS demand not true indicator of rural distress: Survey

Previous year UPSC Prelims/Mains Question Covering similar theme:

(3) Among the following who are eligible to benefit from the “Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act”? (UPSC CSE 2011)

(a) Adult members of only the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe households

(b) Adult members of below poverty line (BPL) households

(c) Adult members of households of all backward communities

(d) Adult members of any household

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance- Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues

Mains Examination: GS-II: Constitution, Polity, Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.

What’s the ongoing story: Shyamlal Yadav writes-“The Centre has indicated that the much-delayed Census could start as early as next year. A key event that could follow is the delimitation of constituencies, a move that’s the subject of debate with the southern states saying they have much to lose in terms of their representation in Parliament.”

Key Points to Ponder:

• What are the constitutional provisions related to the elections in India?

• How do multi-member constituencies differ from single-member constituencies?

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of multi-member constituencies in a parliamentary democracy?

• Read about the historical usage of multi-member constituencies in India and the reasons for their discontinuation?

• What is delimitation and how is it done?

Key Takeaways:

• “In this context, a short-lived experiment with multi-member constituencies is a sign of how far India has travelled in terms of parliamentary representation in less than eight decades. The idea behind multi-member constituencies — seats where more than one member would be elected — was to give representation to persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.”

• “Therefore, depending on their population, it was decided that certain seats would be reserved for them. But unlike now, they would not be the only candidates on that seat. Take for instance, a constituency that we hypothetically name ‘X’. If X has a high population of SCs, it will be declared a two-member constituency and each party can field a general candidate and an SC candidate. Each voter in this constituency then has two votes. At the end of the electoral process, this seat would send two members to the Lok Sabha or the Assembly, as the case may be. In line with the first-past-the-post system, the two candidates with the maximum votes would be declared the winner.

• “But the concept of multi-member constituencies lasted only two elections in Independent India — 1952 and 1957.”

• “For the first general elections of 1951-52, 72 of the 489 seats in the Lok Sabha were reserved for Scheduled Castes and 26 for the Scheduled Tribes. Of these 72 seats reserved for SCs, 71 were two-member seats. North Bengal was the only three-member Lok Sabha constituency, where there was a general candidate and two reserved category candidates — one SC and the other ST.”

• “Each voter in a multi-member constituency would have as many votes as there are seats in that constituency, but his votes are cumulative. To prevent cumulative voting in multi-member constituencies, for two-member constituencies, the Election Commission would print two ballot papers, each bearing the same serial number but with one bearing the suffix “A”.

• “Ahead of the 1957 general elections, states were reorganised based on the recommendations of the Justice Fazl Ali Commission and constituencies were redrawn by the Delimitation Commission based on the 1951 Census.”

• “Consequently, the Lok Sabha seats went up to 494 (of the 403 constituencies, 91 had two members each) and the count of the state Assemblies went up to 3,102 seats (2,518 constituencies: 584 of them double-member). There were no three-member seats in 1957.”

• “On May 20, 1959, a bench of five judges upheld the High Court’s decision, saying that in a two-member constituency, ST candidates (in this case) were free to contest not only the reserved seat but also the general seat. Following the verdict, the government decided to amend the Constitution to do away with the system of two-member constituencies.”

Do You Know:

• The Election Commission defines delimitation as the process of drawing boundaries of constituencies for elected bodies based on the population in the most recent Census. Article 82 of the Constitution states that after every Census is completed, the allocation of Lok Sabha seats to each state must be adjusted based on population changes.

• Article 81 states there can be no more than 550 members in the Lok Sabha – 530 from states and 20 from Union Territories. It also says that “the ratio between (the number of seats) and the population of the state is, so far as practicable, the same for all states”. So, each constituency across the country should ideally have the same population.

• Under these provisions, an independent Delimitation Commission is to be set up once every decade to reapportion seats among states. The Commission is appointed by the President of India and comprises a retired judge of the Supreme Court or a high court, the Chief Election Commissioner and the State Election Commissioner.

• In Independent India’s history, delimitation has taken place four times – 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002. A look at how they changed the political landscape.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????Delimitation, and the changing India political map

Previous year UPSC Prelims/Mains Question Covering similar theme:

(4) With reference to the Delimitation Commission consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2012)

1. The orders of the Delimitation Commission cannot be challenged in a Court of Law.

2. When the orders of the Delimitation Commission are laid before the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assembly, they cannot effect any modification in the orders.

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

 

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of international importance and Environment

Mains Examination: GS-III: Disaster and disaster management.

What’s the ongoing story: The deadliest flash floods in Spain’s modern history have killed at least 214 people and dozens were still unaccounted for, four days after torrential rains swept the eastern region of Valencia, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What are flash floods?

• How do flash floods differ from regular floods?

• What are the major causes of flash floods in India?

• What are the impacts of flash floods?

• What challenges are there in managing flash floods?

Key Takeaways:

• In a televised statement, Sanchez said the government was sending 5,000 more army troops to help with the searches and clean-up in addition to 2,500 soldiers already deployed.

• The tragedy is already Europe’s worst flood-related disaster since 1967 when at least 500 people died in Portugal.

• The storm triggered a new weather alert in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia, where rains are expected to continue during the weekend.

• Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in Europe, and elsewhere, due to climate change. Meteorologists think the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe.

Do You Know:

• Excessive or continuous rainfall over a period of days, or during particular seasons, can lead to stagnation of water and cause flooding. Flash floods refer to such a situation, but occurring in a much shorter span of time, and are highly localised. For instance, the US’s meteorological agency, the National Weather Service, says flash floods are caused when rainfall creates flooding in less than 6 hours. It adds that flash floods can also be caused by factors apart from rainfall, like when water goes beyond the levels of a dam.

• Flash flooding commonly happens more where rivers are narrow and steep, so they flow more quickly, as per the Met Office, UK’s national weather service. They can occur in urban areas located near small rivers, since hard surfaces such as roads and concrete do not allow the water to absorb into the ground.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????What are flash floods?

 

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development- Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

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

What’s the ongoing story: India has 53 per cent of women outside the labour force due to care responsibilities and needs further investment in the care economy, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in its latest report ‘The impact of care responsibilities of women’s labour participation’ released last week.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the care economy?

• What are the main factors behind low female labour force participation in India?

• What are the impacts of unpaid care responsibilities on gender equality in India’s workforce?

• What steps should be taken to increase women’s labour force participation in India?

• Organisation to look for:  International Labour Organization (ILO)

Key Takeaways:

• India would need further investment in the care economy, particularly in the early childhood care and education (ECCE) to support labour force participation of unpaid carers and gender equality in the workforce, the report said.

• In comparison, just around 1.1 per cent of men stay outside the labour force due to care responsibilities in India. The high proportion of women staying outside the labour force comes amid concerns over low female labour force participation rate in India, with most employed in unpaid household work.

• “Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Mali and India have more than 50 per cent of women outside the labour force due to care responsibilities and may need further investment in the care economy, particularly in ECCE. On the other hand, countries such as Belarus, Bulgaria, Latvia and Sweden have less than 10 per cent of women outside the labour force due to caregiving while investing around 1 per cent of GDP in ECCE,” the ILO report said.

• The report also showed that 97.8 per cent women and 91.4 per cent men in India are outside the labour force due to personal or family reasons.

• According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for 2023-24, 36.7 per cent of females and 19.4 per cent of the workforce in India is engaged in unpaid work in household enterprises as against 37.5 per cent females and 18.3 per cent of total workers in 2022-23.

• Care responsibilities present the main barrier to women entering and staying in the labour force, while men are more likely to cite other personal reasons for being outside the labour force, such as education and health issues.

• This shows the disproportionate role of women in child-rearing and care along with housekeeping and other care responsibilities. Women with lower education and those in rural areas face a higher barrier to workforce participation, it said.

Do You Know:

• Care refers to all activities and relations needed for the existence and well-being of societies. It includes both paid as well as unpaid care work, which are overlapping in nature. Unpaid care work is often direct, personal, and relational, and is provided without any monetary compensation. Examples include taking care of children, nursing an ill partner and cooking for the family. Paid care work, on the other hand, is performed in exchange for some remuneration or profit. It includes a wide range of personal service workers such as domestic workers, nurses, teachers, etc.

• The care economy is marked by low wages and informalities. Even when the care economy exists in formal markets (the health and education sectors), the remuneration is often low and the work is underestimated. For instance, ASHA workers in India are some of the least paid workers in the world.

• Another important characteristic of the care economy is that women are disproportionately represented here. According to the World Health Organisation, women form 70% of the total workers in health and social sectors with a gender pay gap of around 28% on average, making it one of the most biased sectors in terms of wage payments.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????For women-led development, invest in the Care Economy

????Balancing the care and monetised economies for India’s growth

 

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