India’s Forex Reserves Decline

• India’s foreign exchange reserves decreased by $7.052 billion to $709.759 billion, marking the second consecutive weekly decline.

About Forex Reserves

• Forex reserves are foreign assets held by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to stabilise the rupee, finance imports, absorb external shocks, and strengthen India’s economic credibility.
• Components: Includes Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs), gold reserves, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), and Reserve Tranche Position (RTP) with the IMF.
• Legal Framework: RBI manages reserves under the RBI Act, 1934 and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.

Key Drivers Behind the Decline

• Valuation Impact: FCAs declined as the euro, pound, and yen fell against a strengthened US dollar due to safe-haven demand and global risk-aversion.
• RBI Intervention: RBI actively sold dollars from its reserves to provide liquidity and stabilise the rupee.
• Oil Price Surge: The West Asia conflict pushed Brent crude above $112 per barrel, raising the import bill and domestic demand for dollars.
• Capital Outflows: Continued selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) decreased capital inflows.

Home Ministry Issues Directives to WhatsApp to Combat Digital Arrests

• Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directed WhatsApp to implement strict technical measures to combat rising digital arrest scams in India.
• Loss Scale: Indians lost ₹1,935 crore across over 1.23 lakh reported digital arrest cases in 2024, a 21-fold jump from ₹91 crore in 2022.

Key Directives to WhatsApp

• Hardware Blocking: Block IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) numbers of handsets used by fraudsters to prevent device reuse with new SIM cards.
• APK Filtering: Detect and prevent the transmission of malicious APK files used by scammers to install malware or obtain remote access.
• Forensic Trail: Preserve metadata and records of deleted or reported accounts for at least 180 days under IT Rules, 2021.
• AI Guardrails: Use AI tools to automatically detect and ban profiles that use official emblems or uniforms to impersonate law enforcement.
• Caller Safety: Display caller identity information on video calls and issue real-time alerts on flagged or suspicious accounts.
• Synthetic Content: Flag and remove accounts that use deepfake videos, voice clones, or forged official documents to impersonate law enforcement.

SC Rejects Arbitrary Disability Ceiling in Public Employment

• Supreme Court held that the State cannot impose an arbitrary upper disability ceiling to exclude PwD candidates from public employment.
• Threshold Floor: The Court clarified that the RPwD Act, 2016, fixes 40% disability as the minimum threshold for benchmark disability.
• Statutory Scope: The act does not empower the State to prescribe an upper disability limit to exclude persons with higher disability.
• Suitability Test: Recruiting authorities must assess candidate suitability based on functional ability to perform job duties, not on a rigid medical percentage.
• Accommodation Duty: Under the Reasonable Accommodation Principle, the State must provide necessary adjustments to enable PWDs to perform job duties effectively.

Institutional Framework for Disability Rights in India

• Legal Framework: RPwD Act, 2016 expanded the list of disabilities from 7 to 21, defined the benchmark disability at 40%, and mandates a 5% reservation in education and 4% in jobs.
• Nodal Agency: Department of Empowerment of PwD (DEPwD) under MoSJE is the nodal Union agency for disability-related matters.
• Oversight: Chief Commissioner for PwD (CCPD) oversees implementation and addresses grievances under the RPwD Act, 2016.
• Research: Nine National Institutes (NIs) conduct specialised research, rehabilitation, and human resource development for specific disabilities.
• Financial Support: National Divyangjan Finance and Development Corporation (NDFDC) provides concessional loans for self-employment and income generation for PWDs.
• Digital Identity: The Unique Disability ID system issues digital disability certificates via a centralised platform to streamline access to benefits.
• Rehab Network: Composite Regional Centres (CRCs) provide rehabilitation, training, education, and awareness services to PwD, including underserved and remote areas.
• Accessibility Mission: Accessible India Campaign aims to achieve universal accessibility across the built environment, transport systems, and ICT ecosystem.

Compulsory Voting in India

• Election Commission announced 2026 Assembly polls, while Supreme Court questioned mandatory voting, reviving debate on compulsory voting to strengthen democratic participation.

Constitutional and Legal Framework

• Adult Suffrage: Article 326 guarantees voting rights to all citizens aged 18+ without discrimination.
• Legal Framework: Representation of the People Acts, 1950 and 1951, regulate voter registration and electoral rights.
• Statutory Right: Supreme Court holds that right to vote is a statutory right, not a fundamental right.
• Free Expression: Article 19(1)(a) includes the right to vote or abstain as a form of expression.

Arguments in Support of Compulsory Voting

• Higher Turnout: Compulsory voting significantly increases participation, ensuring broader citizen involvement and stronger democratic legitimacy. E.g, Australia records ~90% turnout.
• Inclusive Representation: Brings marginalised and less politically active groups into the process, reducing elite-driven electoral outcomes.
• Fair Mandate: Limits chances of candidates winning with low vote share, ensuring governments reflect majority preference more accurately.
• Civic Duty: Instils a sense of responsibility among citizens, strengthening democratic culture and long-term political engagement.

Arguments Against Compulsory Voting

• Freedom Violation: Compulsory voting infringes Article 19(1)(a), as the right to abstain is part of freedom of expression.
• Uninformed Voting: Forced participation may lead to random or ill-informed choices, weakening the quality of democracy.
• Implementation Issues: Difficult to enforce across India’s vast, diverse population with high mobility and administrative constraints.
• Vulnerable Impact: Penalties may disproportionately burden migrants, the poor, and daily wage workers with limited access to polling.

India’s Dependence on West Asia for Urea

• The West Asia conflict has disrupted LNG and fertiliser supply chains, threatening India’s urea production ahead of the Kharif season.
• India depends on West Asia for both LNG (to produce urea domestically) and direct urea imports (71%) sourced from the region.

What is Urea?

• Urea is a nitrogen-rich chemical compound with the formula CO(NH₂)₂, widely used as a fertilizer.
• It contains 46% nitrogen, making it the most concentrated and commonly used nitrogenous fertiliser.
• Urea is produced from ammonia and carbon dioxide via the Haber-Bosch & urea synthesis process.
• Natural gas (LNG) is the main input as it provides hydrogen for ammonia production.
• India has shifted from naphtha/fuel oil-based plants to gas-based plants for efficiency & lower emissions.

India’s Dual Dependence Problem

• LNG Imports: India imports over 50% of its LNG, exposing urea production to global supply shocks.
• Fertiliser Imports: Domestic production is insufficient, so India imports large quantities of urea, DAP, and potash.
• Over 60% of LNG imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, making supply vulnerable to conflict.

Economic & Agricultural Impact of LNG and Urea Disruptions

• Urea Production: LNG supply disruptions lead to lower output from fertiliser plants, affecting domestic availability.
• Price Rise: Dependence on imports causes fertiliser shortages and higher prices, especially during the Kharif season.
• Higher Subsidy: Increased global prices raise the government’s fertiliser subsidy expenditure.
• Food Security: Limited fertiliser use may reduce crop yields, impacting farmer income and overall food security.

Government Response & Policy Measures

• Fertiliser sector has been included under the priority category via the Natural Gas (Supply Regulation) Order, 2026.
• Assured Supply: Ensured ≥70% of average natural gas supply to fertiliser units to sustain production.
• Buffer Stock: Increased fertiliser reserves to ~177 LMT, including urea (~59–61 LMT) & DAP (~25 LMT).
• Subsidy Support: Continued fertiliser subsidies to cushion farmers from rising global prices.

Initiatives in India’s Fertiliser Sector

• Neem-Coated Urea: Neem coating of urea to reduce diversion, improve efficiency, and soil health.
• Nutrient-Based Subsidy: NBS Scheme Subsidy offered based on nutrient content (N, P, K, S) to encourage balanced fertiliser use (excluding urea).
• New Urea Policy (2015): Focus on maximising domestic production, energy efficiency, and reducing import dependence.
• DBT in Fertilisers: Subsidy transferred to companies based on actual sales to farmers via Point-of-Sale devices, ensuring transparency.
• Nano Urea: Developed by IFFCO to reduce urea consumption and improve efficiency.
• Soil Health Card: Provides farmers with soil nutrient status & recommendations for balanced usage.
• One Nation One Fertiliser: PMBJP – Bharat Brand standardised branding (“Bharat Urea, Bharat DAP”) to ensure uniform pricing and availability.

Mutual Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs

• Context (PIB): The Government has modified the Mutual Credit Guarantee Scheme (MCGS) to support MSME Manufacturers and Exporters in line with Budget 2025-26.
• Objective: Launched in 2025 to provide collateral-free credit to MSMEs for investment in plant, machinery, and equipment.
• Loan Coverage: Credit facility of up to ₹100 crore available to eligible MSMEs.
• Credit Guarantee: 60% guarantee coverage provided to lenders by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited.
• Risk Mitigation: Reduces default risk, encouraging banks/NBFCs to increase lending to MSMEs.
• Tenure: Guarantee coverage available for up to 10 years.

Modifications in Mutual Credit Guarantee Scheme

• Refundable Contribution: Earlier fixed 5% contribution is now refundable (1% annually from 4th year.
• Expanded Eligibility: Scheme extended to include service sector MSMEs (earlier mainly manufacturing).
• Relaxed Project Cost Norms: Minimum machinery cost reduced to 60% of project cost (from 75%).
• Guarantee Tenure: Guarantee coverage now fixed at 10 years.
• Modifications for Exporter MSMEs: Exporter MSMEs get 75% guarantee coverage with loans up to ₹20 crore and zero guarantee fee in the first year.
• Lower 2% upfront contribution (refundable) and concessional annual fee (0.5%), easing cost of credit.
• Significance: Enhances access to credit, promotes investment in machinery, strengthens manufacturing and exports, and supports employment generation in line with Viksit Bharat 2047.

National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited

• Set up in 2014 as a wholly owned Government company to act as a trustee for credit guarantee funds.
• Nodal Agency: Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance.
• Core Function: Provides credit guarantees to banks and NBFCs, enabling them to lend without collateral to priority sectors.
• Objective: To improve credit access for underserved sectors like MSMEs by reducing lending risk.

Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement

• India opposes the incorporation of the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) framework despite increasing global backing.

About Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement

• IFD is a WTO-led Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN)-based plurilateral binding agreement launched through a Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) in 2017 and finalised in 2023.
• Objective: It aims to make investment procedures more transparent, efficient, and predictable, particularly for developing and Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
• Scope: The agreement focuses only on facilitating FDI across all economic sectors.
• Exclusions: It excludes market access, investment protection, government procurement, and Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) from its scope.
• Pillars: The agreement is structured around four pillars:

1. Transparency: Requires members to publish investment-related laws and regulations, preferably through a single digital portal.
2. Procedures: Simplifies authorisation processes and promotes one-stop shops for investors.
3. Sustainability: Encourages Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) and anti-corruption measures.
4. Cooperation: Strengthens government-investor dialogue and cross-border cooperation.

• Participation: More than 128 WTO members (approx. 75% of membership) participate in or support the agreement; India is not a participant.
• Firewall: The agreement includes a firewall clause to prevent its rules from being used to interpret or override existing Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) or other international investment agreements.
• Appeal Rights: It requires members to maintain independent administrative or judicial tribunals to review and appeal investment-related decisions.
• JSI is a flexible negotiating tool introduced at the 2017 Buenos Aires Ministerial, enabling groups of WTO members to advance specific issues without requiring initial consensus from all members.
• A plurilateral agreement is a “coalition of the willing” treaty within the WTO that is legally binding only on its signatories, not on the entire 166-member body.

India’s Opposition to the IFD Agreement

• Mandate Issue: Investment is not a “trade” subject and falls outside the WTO mandate.
• Consensus Rule: Launching negotiations via Joint Statement Initiatives (JSIs) violates the WTO’s core rule of explicit consensus among all 166 members.
• Policy Space: Binding procedural rules could limit its right to regulate Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for national security or public interest.
• Geopolitical Concern: 98 of the 128 supporters are part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

Agri-Photovoltaics for Dual-Purpose Farms in India

• Agri-photovoltaics can transform farms into dual-purpose powerhouses and reduce India’s land-use conflicts between solar expansion and food security.

About Agri-photovoltaics (Agrivoltaics)

• Agrivoltaics is a land management method that uses the same land simultaneously for solar power generation and agricultural production.
• Mechanism: Solar panels are mounted on elevated, spaced structures (2–3 metres high), permitting crop cultivation underneath.

Key Advantages of Agrivoltaic Farming

• Climate Resilience: Elevated panels offer shade, creating a microclimate that reduces heat stress, UV damage, and heavy rainfall exposure for crops.
• Water Conservation: Panel shade decreases soil moisture evaporation and reduces irrigation needs in arid and semi-arid areas.
• Efficiency Gain: Vegetation beneath the panels cools solar modules and can increase electricity generation efficiency by up to 10%.
• Dual Income: Farmers generate additional income by selling surplus electricity to DISCOMs or leasing land to solar developers.

Key Challenges in Agrivoltaics Adoption

• Capital Barrier: Agrivoltaics cost 25% to 50% more than standard solar systems, limiting adoption among smallholders (86% of Indian farmers).
• Regulatory Constraints: India doesn’t have a dual-use land category, necessitating costly, time-consuming land conversions for solar projects.
• Technical Uncertainty: India lacks standard guidelines on panel height, row spacing, tracking systems, and crop suitability across diverse agro-climatic zones.

Key Government Initiatives

• PM-KUSUM: Government is preparing for its second phase with a 10 GW agrivoltaics component.
• India Agrivoltaics Alliance (IAA): This alliance, by the National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI), brings together stakeholders to design business models and promote policies.
• National Agriphotovoltaics Mission: A proposed draft aims to promote the adoption of agrivoltaics on 10–15% of India’s agricultural land by 2035.
• State Initiatives: Delhi, Maharashtra, and Gujarat are promoting agrivoltaics through lease income, subsidies, and feed-in tariff support, respectively.

Induction Cooktops

• Rising LPG prices due to the West Asia conflict and energy disruption have increased demand for induction cooktops in India.
• An induction cooktop is an electric cooking device that uses electromagnetic induction to heat cookware directly without a flame.
• No Combustion: Unlike gas stoves, induction cooktops do not use combustion or open flames, making them cleaner and safer.
• Working Principle: It generates a magnetic field that induces heat-producing currents inside compatible utensils.
• Heating Mechanism: Heat is produced within the vessel itself, making cooking faster & more efficient.
• Energy Efficiency: It is highly energy efficient (about 85–90%) with minimal heat loss compared to traditional methods.
• Cookware Requirement: It requires induction-compatible (ferromagnetic) cookware, such as iron or magnetic stainless steel.

Randomization of EVM-VVPATs

Source: PIB

• The Election Commission of India has completed the first stage of EVM-VVPAT randomization across Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry to prepare for the upcoming April 2026 Assembly elections.

About Randomization of EVM-VVPATs:

• It is a two-stage, software-driven process used to allocate voting machines to various constituencies and polling stations. It ensures that no one—including election officials—knows in advance which specific machine will be deployed to which polling station.

Started In:

• While EVMs were introduced in the late 90s, the formalized EVM Management System (EMS) for computerized randomization was streamlined and made mandatory for all general and assembly elections in the mid-2000s to enhance institutional integrity.

Aim:

• The primary objective is to eliminate human intervention and bias in the distribution of machines, thereby ensuring electoral neutrality and boosting public confidence in the voting process.

How It Works?

The process is executed in two distinct phases:

• First Stage (District to Constituency): Machines that have passed the First Level Checking (FLC) are randomly shifted from the District Warehouse to the specific Assembly Constituency (AC).
• Second Stage (Constituency to Polling Station): Once the list of contesting candidates is finalized, the machines are again randomized to be assigned to specific Polling Stations within that constituency.

Key Features

• EVM Management System (EMS): A specialized software used to conduct the draw, ensuring the process is mathematical and unpredictable.
• Multi-Stakeholder Presence: Conducted by the District Election Officer (DEO) in the direct presence of representatives from recognized National and State political parties.
• Strong Room Security: After the first randomization, machines are moved to AC-specific Strong Rooms, which are sealed and guarded 24/7.
• List Sharing: The serial numbers of the randomized machines are shared transparently with political parties and candidates at every stage.

Significance:

• By involving political parties in the room during the draw, it eliminates black box suspicions regarding machine deployment.
• Since the location of a specific machine is unknown until the last moment, it is impossible to pre-program a machine for a specific booth.

Large Hadron Collider discovers a new particle

• Previously, LHC has discovered key particles such as Higgs Boson (2012), Exotic hadrons (Particles composed of four or five quarks), Rare B- meson decay, etc.

About the New Particle Xi-cc-plus

•  It is made up of two charm quarks and one down quark,similar to proton (made up of two up quarks and one down quark).
• Quarks are fundamental building blocks of matter and come in six flavours: up, down, charm, strange, top and bottom.
• Quarks are always found in combination and never occur in a free state.
• The replacement of charm quarks with up quarks makes its mass four times heavier than proton.

About Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

• LHC is the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator which operates in a tunnel 100 metersunderground at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
• Structure: It consists of a 27-kilometre ring of superconducting magnets with a number of accelerating structures to boost the energy of the particles along the way.
• Functioning: Inside the accelerator, two high-energy particle beams of protons or ions travel at close to the speed of lightbefore they are made to collide.
• These collisions produce particles and fields necessary for fundamental understanding of nature such as mass, unification of forces, dark energy and dark matter,etc.

About CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research)

•  Located on Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, it is the world''s largest centres for scientific research in fundamental physics using advanced particle accelerators.
• Founded: in 1954.
• Members: 25 member states (India is an associate member).

Diego Garcia Island

• the U.K. condemned a reckless Iranian ballistic missile attack targeting the joint U.K.-U.S. military base on Diego Garcia, marking a significant escalation in the 2026 Iran war.

About Diego Garcia Island:

• A tropical footprint-shaped atoll that hosts one of the most secretive and critical overseas military installations for the United States and the United Kingdom. Diego Garcia is the largest and most strategically vital island of the Chagos Archipelago, serving as a cornerstone of Western military power in the Indian Ocean.
• Located in: Situated in the central Indian Ocean, approximately 1,796 km southwest of India and 3,535 km east of Tanzania, forming part of the underwater Chagos-Laccadive Ridge.

History:

• Discovery: Found by Portuguese explorers in the early 16th century; later used by the French for coconut plantations.
• British Rule: Transferred to the UK after the Napoleonic Wars (1814) and administered from Mauritius.
• Depopulation: Between 1968 and 1973, the UK forcibly removed the native Chagossian population to Mauritius and Seychelles to clear the island for military use.

Current Control:

• Sovereignty: Currently part of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), though a 2025 treaty initiated the transfer of sovereignty to Mauritius.
• Operational Control: Under a 99-year lease (signed in 2025/2026), the base remains under joint U.K.-U.S. military administration, with the U.S. Navy and Air Force as primary operators.

Key Geological Features:

• Atoll Structure: A classic coral atoll consisting of a rim of land surrounding a large, deep natural lagoon.
• Strategic Anchorage: The lagoon provides a protected deep-water harbor capable of docking massive naval vessels, including aircraft carriers and submarines.
• Low Elevation: Like most coral islands, it is extremely low-lying, with an average elevation of only a few feet above sea level.
• Chagos-Laccadive Ridge: It sits atop a vast underwater mountain range that extends from the Lakshadweep islands down to the southern Indian Ocean.
• Seclusion: Its extreme geographic isolation provides a natural security buffer, making it nearly impossible to monitor or attack without long-range assets.

Significance:

• It serves as a critical launchpad for long-range bombers (like the B-52) and global surveillance operations across the Middle East and Indo-Pacific.
• It allows the U.S. to project power over the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab-el-Mandeb, and the Malacca Strait, the world’s most vital energy and trade chokepoints.

INS Taragiri

• Indian Navy is scheduled to commission INS Taragiri soon at Visakhapatnam.
• INS Taragiri is the fourth stealth guided-missile frigate of the Nilgiri-class under Project 17A.
• It is the modern reincarnation of the earlier INS Taragiri, a Leander-class frigate (1980-2013).
• Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai, built it with over 75% indigenous content.
• Stealth Feature: It has a specialised hull design and radar-absorbent coatings that reduce its radar cross-section (RCS).
• Propulsion: It uses a Combined Diesel or Gas (CODOG) system, enabling speeds of over 28 knots.
• Armament: Equipped with BrahMos surface-to-surface missiles, medium-range surface-to-air missiles (MRSAM), and anti-submarine torpedoes and rockets.
• Automation: It is managed by an Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) for centralised, real-time control of machinery and onboard networks.

Sarhul Festival

• President and Vice President extended their greetings for the Sarhul festival.
• It is a three-day festival celebrated by the Oraon, Munda, and Ho tribal communities in Jharkhand, as well as in parts of Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal.
• “Sarhul” refers to the worship of the Sal tree, which is revered as the abode of Sarna Maa, the village guardian deity.
• It is observed on the third day of the waxing moon (Shukla Tritiya) in the month of Chaitra and marks the New Year with the onset of spring.
• Rituals: Include purifying houses and Sarna Sthals, perform priestly fasting, and offer fresh Sal flowers.
• Symbolism: The rituals symbolise union of the Sun and Earth, with the village priest (Pahan) and his wife representing the forces.
• Celebrations: It ends with communal feasting and traditional dances like Jadur, Gena, and Por Jadur.
• Agrarian Significance: The festival signifies the beginning of the agricultural cycle.

Shaheed Diwas

• PM Modi paid tribute to Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar, and Shivaram Hari Rajguru on Shaheed Diwas (23 March 2026).
• This day marks their execution by the British government in 1931 in the Lahore Conspiracy Case.
• India observes 30 January as Martyrs’ Day, marking the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.

Bhagat Singh

• Bhagat Singh, born in 1907 in Banga, Punjab, is honoured as Shaheed-e-Azam.
• He founded the Naujawan Bharat Sabha in 1926 to mobilise youth for the freedom struggle.
• Along with Chandrashekhar Azad and others, he restructured the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) into Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) in 1928.
• He aimed to avenge Lala Lajpat Rai by targeting James A. Scott, but accidentally killed John Saunders in 1928, resulting in the Lahore Conspiracy Case (1929–1930).
• Central Assembly Bombing: He and Batukeshwar Dutt threw smoke bombs in 1929 to protest the Public Safety Bill and Trade Disputes Bill.

Sukhdev Thapar

• Sukhdev Thapar was born in 1907 in Ludhiana, Punjab and was a member of Naujawan Bharat Sabha.
• He organised activities within HSRA and was a key conspirator in John Saunders’ 1928 assassination.
• He joined the 1929 Lahore jail hunger strike with Bhagat Singh and Jatin Das to demand rights for political prisoners.

Shivaram Hari Rajguru

• Shivaram Hari Rajguru was born in 1908 in Khed, Maharashtra, now renamed as Rajgurunagar.
• He studied Sanskrit and Hindu scriptures in Varanasi, where he joined the Seva Dal.
• He was influenced by Lokmanya Tilak, joined the HSRA, and fired the first shot, killing Saunders.

Lipulekh Pass

• India is set to resume border trade with China through Lipulekh Pass after a six-year halt since the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The pass is located in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand (5,334 metres), at a tri-junction of India, Nepal, and China (Tibet).
• Pilgrimage: Kailash Mansarovar Yatra occurs every year via Lipulekh Pass (Uttarakhand) and Nathu La Pass (Sikkim).
• Trade Route: It was the first Indian border post opened for trade with China in 1992.
• Border Dispute: Longstanding India-Nepal dispute originates from the 1816 Treaty of Sugauli, which set the Kali River as Nepal’s boundary but didn’t specify its source.
• Nepal locates the Kali River origin at Limpiyadhura, including Lipulekh, Kalapani, & Limpiyadhura within its territory; India places the origin near Kalapani village, keeping the area under its control.

Past pipeline projects like the Iran–Pakistan–India (IPI) and Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI)

• The ongoing West Asia crisis has disrupted energy supplies, exposing India’s heavy dependence on imported gas.
• This has revived discussion on past pipeline projects like the Iran–Pakistan–India (IPI) and Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI)

About The Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) Pipeline:

• A proposed 2,775 km natural gas pipeline designed to transport gas from Iran’s South Pars field to Pakistan and India. Often referred to as the Peace Pipeline, this project was intended to link the energy-rich Persian Gulf with the energy-starved South Asian economies.
• Established In: Conceptually originated in the 1990s; gained significant diplomatic momentum between 2004 and 2005.
• Aim: To provide a cost-effective, land-based alternative to expensive Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports for India and Pakistan’s industrial and power sectors.

Key Features:

• Capacity: Designed to supply 60 mmscmd (million standard cubic meters per day) each to India and Pakistan.
• Economic Impact: Offered lower transit costs compared to maritime shipments.
• Strategic Leverage: Aimed to foster regional cooperation and peace through economic interdependence.
• Current Status: Dormant/Recast. India effectively exited negotiations in 2007 due to U.S. sanctions (CAATSA pressure), pricing disagreements, and security fears regarding the pipeline passing through Balochistan.

About The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Pipeline:

• An 1,814 km trans-regional pipeline project supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to bring gas from Central Asia to South Asia. Following the stalling of IPI, India shifted its focus to this Central Asian alternative, which enjoyed broader international and institutional backing.
• Established In: India officially signed the intergovernmental agreement in 2010, though the idea dates back to the mid-90s.
• Aim: To diversify India’s energy basket away from West Asian volatility by tapping into the world’s second-largest gas field.

Key Features:

• Source: Originates from the Galkynysh gas field in Turkmenistan.
• Capacity: Projected to transport 33 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas annually.
• Diplomatic Support: Unlike IPI, TAPI was promoted by the U.S. as part of the New Silk Road strategy to stabilize Afghanistan’s economy through transit fees.
• Current Status: Partially Active/Stalled.
• While the Turkmen-Afghan section was inaugurated in October 2025 (linking Serhetabat to Herat), the extension to Pakistan and India remains stalled.

The Chambal River

• The Ministry of Environment has directed the Central Water Commission (CWC) to ensure environmental flows in the Chambal River to protect the endangered Ganges River Dolphin.

About The Chambal River:

• A perennial, rain-fed river in central and northern India, forming a vital part of the greater Gangetic drainage system. The Chambal is one of India’s most pristine and ecologically significant rivers, remarkably known for being nearly pollution-free and hosting a rich diversity of rare aquatic fauna.
• Origin: It rises at Janapav (Singar Chouri peak) in the Vindhya Range, just south of Mhow in the Indore district of Madhya Pradesh, at an elevation of approximately 843 meters.
• States Flow Through: It flows through three primary states: Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
• It also serves as a natural boundary between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
• Tributary: It is the chief and largest tributary of the Yamuna River. It joins the Yamuna at Pachnada (near Bhareh, UP) in a unique confluence of five rivers.

Other Tributaries of Chambal:

1. Left Bank: Banas (rising in the Aravallis), Mej.
2. Right Bank: Kali Sindh, Parbati, Shipra, Kuno, Seep, and Kwari.

Key Features of the Chambal River:

• Badland Topography: The lower course is famous for the Chambal Ravines (badlands), a 16-km belt of deep gullies caused by accelerated soil erosion.
• Ancient Lineage: Geologically, it is an anterior-drainage river, meaning it is much older than the Yamuna and Ganges rivers into which it eventually flows.
• Untouched Purity: Unlike many Indian rivers, it is considered legendary for being pollution-free, largely due to local myths that once kept industrial and human activity away from its banks.
• Deep Pools: During the summer or lean seasons, the river forms deep natural pools which become critical refuge points for large aquatic mammals and reptiles.
• Steep Gradient: In its initial 16-km stretch, the river falls nearly 305 meters, eventually passing through dramatic gorges like the one near Chaurasigarh Fort.

Significance:

• It is the primary habitat for the Gharial (critically endangered), the Ganges River Dolphin, and eight species of freshwater turtles.
• A large stretch is protected as the National Chambal Sanctuary, which is vital for the conservation of the Red-crowned roofed turtle and smooth-coated otters.