PM Modi’s Visit to Oman

• PM Narendra Modi visited Oman as the final leg of a three-nation tour after Jordan and Ethiopia.
• Milestone: The visit coincided with the seventieth anniversary of India-Oman diplomatic relations.
• Oman is an absolute monarchy located at the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders UAE, Saudi Arabia, & Yemen, with coastlines along the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, & Strait of Hormuz.

Key Outcome of the Visit

Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)

• Zero Duty: India and Oman signed CEPA, granting zero-duty access to 99% of India’s exports by value.
• Investment: CEPA permits 100% FDI for Indian companies in Omani service sectors.
• Mobility: It extends the permitted stay for Indian contractual service suppliers in Oman to two years.
• Exclusions: India excluded sensitive products like dairy, gold, silver, tea, and coffee from the agreement.
• AYUSH: Oman became the first country to recognise trade in AYUSH within its trade framework.

Other Outcomes

• Maritime Vision: Both countries adopted a Joint Vision Document on Maritime Cooperation covering regional security and the blue economy.
• Agri Framework: A framework agreement was signed for cooperation in agricultural science, animal husbandry, and irrigation systems.
• Millet: India signed an Executive Programme to share its expertise in millet cultivation.
• Maritime Heritage: An MoU was signed to support maritime heritage museums and facilitate the exchange of artefacts.
• Civilian Honour: PM Modi received the First Class of the Order of Oman, the country’s highest civilian award.

Implications of U.S. National Security Strategy for India

• The recently published U.S. National Security Strategy 2025 marks a decisive shift in the strategic outlook and security priorities of the United States.

About the 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS)

• The NSS is a policy document that codifies the “America First” doctrine as Sovereign Realism.
• Alliances are treated as transactional arrangements based on mutual benefit and burden sharing.
• It mandates re-industrialisation and decoupling critical supply chains from China.
• U.S. strategic priorities are reordered, placing the Western Hemisphere above all other regions.

India-Related Provisions in US National Security Strategy 2025

• India is elevated to the “Core 5” (C5) group of global powers alongside the U.S, China, Russia, and Japan.
• NSS positions India as the primary counterweight to China in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region.
• Indian naval operations are encouraged to expand beyond their neighbourhood into the Indo-Pacific.
• Quad is maintained for surveillance and logistics, without evolving into a NATO-style defence alliance.
• India is designated as a priority partner for “friend-shoring” supply chains to reduce reliance on China.

Strategic Reorientation of India-US Partnership

• The relationship is redefined from a “values-based alliance” to a “transactional partnership“
• It recognises India as a pole in a multipolar world, beyond the previous ‘Major Defence Partner’ label.
• Security cooperation is now linked to trade reciprocity, exchanging defence technology for lower tariffs.
• 2025 NSS ends the US role as the sole primary security provider, expecting partners like India to assume regional security responsibilities.

Securities Markets Code Bill, 2025

• The Union Government has introduced the Securities Markets Code Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha to consolidate multiple legacy laws into a single, principle-based code.
• India’s securities regulation is currently governed by three separate laws: the SEBI Act, 1992, the Depositories Act, 1996, and the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956.

Key Objectives of the Bill

• Legal Consolidation: Replace three separate Acts with a single unified statutory framework.
• Investor Protection: Strengthen safeguards, grievance redressal and investor confidence.
• Capital Mobilisation: Facilitate broader participation & efficient fundraising for a growing economy.
• Regulatory Efficiency: Reduce compliance burden through simplified, principle-based regulation.

Key Provisions of Securities Markets Code

• Stronger SEBI Governance: SEBI Board strength expanded from 9 to up to 15 (Chairperson, 2 Central Government nominees, 1 RBI nominee (ex officio), and 11 members (minimum five whole-time members).
• Conflict of Interest Disclosure: Mandatory disclosure of direct or indirect interests by board members.
• Consultative Rule-Making: Introduces a transparent process for the issuance of subordinate legislation.
• Streamlined Enforcement: Single adjudication process for quasi-judicial actions with clear timelines for investigation and interim orders, ensuring regulatory certainty.
• Grievance Redressal: Creation of an Ombudsperson to address investor complaints.
• Regulatory Sandbox: Empowers SEBI to promote innovation in financial products and services.
• Inter-Regulatory Coordination: Enables seamless listing and regulation of instruments overseen by multiple financial regulators.

Decriminalisation of Minor Offences

• Category I: Only civil penalties for fraudulent or unfair trade practices.
• Category II: Civil and criminal penalties for market abuse and serious violations harming market integrity and public interest.

Potential Concerns of the Securities Markets Code

• Over-Centralisation: Consolidation of three Acts increases SEBI’s powers; globally, excessive regulator concentration has raised accountability concerns. E.g., UK FCA faced criticism post-2012 reforms.
• Transition Uncertainty: Migration from three legacy laws to a single Code may cause short-term compliance ambiguity; past reforms like GST rollout saw initial litigation spikes of over 30%.
• Investor Protection Risks: Decriminalisation of minor offences could weaken deterrence.
• Enforcement Capacity Strain: Number of cases pending before the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) jumped to 1,121 in 2024 from 736 in 2023, with 1,105 of those being appeals against SEBI orders.

Way Forward

• Phased Rollout: Implement the Code in stages with transition guidelines; similar phased adoption helped Australia’s Corporations Act reforms stabilise markets.
• Clear Rulemaking: Issue detailed subordinate regulations early; India’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code gained predictability through timely regulations and circulars.
• Capacity Strengthening: Enhance SEBI staffing and tech tools; Singapore’s Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) invests heavily in reg-tech for faster enforcement.
• Investor Safeguards: Balance decriminalisation with strict civil penalties.
• Judicial Alignment: Strengthen coordination with appellate tribunals; fast-track securities cases like specialised commercial courts under India’s Commercial Courts Act.

Freight Diversification in Indian Railways

• A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways has urged Indian Railways to diversify its freight basket beyond bulk commodities to ensure sustainable freight growth.

Necessity of Freight Diversification

• Coal Dependence Risk: Coal alone accounts for Approx. 50% of freight loading (823 MT of 1,617 MT in 2024–25), but revenue growth from coal is slowing, exposing Railways to demand shocks.
• Low Modal Share: Railways carry only approx. 27% of India’s total freight, despite being cheaper and greener.
• Sustainability Imperative: Freight shift from road to rail can cut logistics costs (currently ~14% of GDP).
• Efficiency: Average freight speed on DFCs is 37 km/h, compared to 23.8 km/h on conventional tracks.

Challenges in Freight Diversification

• Tariff Inflexibility: Freight tariffs remain relatively rigid; road transport captures time-sensitive cargo.
• Weak Private Participation: High capital costs deter PPPs; the Son­nagar–Dankuni DFC PPP failed due to uncertain returns, slowing terminal and service innovation needed for diversification.
• Last-Mile Connectivity Gaps: Many industrial clusters lack rail sidings; as a result, road dominates first- and last-mile movement, discouraging firms from shifting to rail.
• Market Awareness Deficit: Railways historically focused on bulk freight; despite freight demand projected at 6,017 MT (National Rail Plan 2025), diversified cargo strategies remain underdeveloped.

Way Forward

• Freight Diversification: Target automobiles, FMCG and e-commerce through specialised wagons and scheduled freight services; E.g., Automobile Freight Train Operators scheme.
• Crew Augmentation: Fast-track recruitment, training and redeployment of loco pilots and guards.
• Terminal Integration: Develop multi-modal logistics parks and private freight terminals to solve last-mile gaps; e.g. PM Gati Shakti-linked logistics hubs.
• PPP Recalibration: De-risk private participation via viability gap funding and assured traffic commitments, learning from Japan’s freight corridor models.
• Technology Upgrade: Use digital freight management, real-time tracking and AI-based scheduling to improve reliability and customer confidence.

India’s Rapid AI Adoption Boom

• Bank of America (BofA) has identified India as the world’s largest and most active market for Large Language Model (LLM) adoption.
• India is leading globally in monthly and daily active users of AI applications like ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.

Why India Has Emerged as the Largest AI Adoption Market?

• Digital Scale: India has 700–750 million mobile internet users, making it the second-largest online population globally, providing unmatched scale for AI diffusion.
• Affordable Data Access: Ultra-low data costs allow 20–30 GB/month for about $2, sharply reducing entry barriers for compute- and data-intensive AI applications.
• Demographic Advantage: Over 60% of Indian internet users are below 35 years, a tech-curious cohort that rapidly experiments with and integrates new digital tools.
• Multilingual Edge: A large English-speaking base, combined with AI models now available in Indian languages, accelerates both global AI use and local inclusion.
• Telecom-Led Push: Telcos like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are bundling premium AI subscriptions with data plans, expanding adoption beyond early adopters.

Strategic Significance for India

• AI Power Shift: India’s role is evolving from a back-end IT services hub to a frontline AI consumption and experimentation market.
• Policy Opportunity: High adoption creates scope for responsible AI governance, indigenous model development and AI-skilled workforce expansion.
• Next-Gen AI Applications: BofA highlights India’s suitability for agentic AI systems that can reason, plan and execute tasks autonomously.
• Innovation Testbed: India’s diversity makes it an ideal real-world stress-testing ground for new AI models before global deployment.
• Democratisation of AI: Low-cost access enables students, gig workers and MSMEs to use advanced AI tools, narrowing digital and productivity gaps.

China Wireless Freight Trains

• China became the first country to successfully operate seven heavy-haul freight trains as a single coordinated unit without physical coupling.
• Wireless Control System: A domestically developed system replaced mechanical couplers with virtual coupling using a two-dimensional control mode.
• Two-Dimensional Control: The system integrated relative speed control with absolute distance monitoring to maintain close, safe spacing.
• Virtual Coupling: It enabled separate freight units operated as one group train, accelerating and braking simultaneously to prevent collisions or separation.
• Real-Time Communication: Continuous train-to-train and train-to-ground data exchange enabled coordinated multi-train manoeuvres.

Significance

• Capacity Gain: The system can raise railway freight capacity by over 50% without laying new tracks.
• Operational Efficiency: It enables faster movement of larger cargo volumes, improving cost efficiency and reducing energy use in heavy-haul transport.
• Global Leadership: China positions its system as a scalable technical solution for heavy-haul railways in constrained or developing regions.

India Assumes BRICS Presidency for 2026

• Brazil formally handed over the 18th BRICS Presidency to India for the year 2026.
• Leadership Vision: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed a shift toward a people-centric ‘humanity-first approach’ for the upcoming session.

About BRICS

• BRICS is an informal grouping of major emerging economies; the term “BRIC” was coined by economist Jim O’Neill in 2001.
• The first BRIC summit was held in 2009; South Africa joined in 2010, changing the acronym to BRICS.
• Expansion: The grouping included Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE in 2024, and Indonesia became the 10th full member in 2025.
• Key Focus: To promote a more equitable, multipolar world order by strengthening Global South cooperation and representation.
• Chairmanship: The BRICS presidency rotates annually in alphabetical order of the acronym “BRICS”.
• Key Initiatives: The New Development Bank (NDB) for infrastructure financing, the Contingent Reserve Arrangement for liquidity support, and BRICS PAY for blockchain-based local-currency payments.

Black-Capped Capuchin

Bannerghatta Biological Park in Karnataka imported eight black-capped capuchin monkeys from South Africa under an exchange programme.

Black-capped capuchin (Sapajus apella)

• The black-capped capuchin, or tufted capuchin, is a New World monkey native to the Amazon Basin.
• Appearance: It has light brown fur with a distinctive dark fur cap on the head.
• Distribution: The species is widely distributed across South America, including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
• Habitat Range: It thrives in moist tropical, subtropical, and disturbed or secondary forests across the Amazon Basin.
• Behaviour: the capuchins are diurnal, primarily arboreal, and highly social animals living in groups of 10-30 individuals
• Ecological Role: They act as seed dispersers and help control potential pest populations.
• Conservation Status: IUCN - Least Concern; CITES: Appendix II.

DHRUV64 Microprocessor

• India launched DHRUV64, its first indigenously designed 1.0 GHz, 64-bit dual-core microprocessor, marking a major milestone in the country’s semiconductor self-reliance journey.
• The launch strengthens India’s efforts under the Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) Programme to reduce dependence on imported processors.

DHRUV64 Microprocessor:

• DHRUV64 is India’s first 64-bit, 1.0 GHz dual-core microprocessor, fully designed domestically and based on the RISC-V open-source architecture.
• It is suitable for both strategic and commercial applications.

Developed by:

• Designed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).
• Developed under the Microprocessor Development Programme (MDP), guided by MeitY.

Aim:

• To build a trusted, indigenous processor ecosystem.
• To support Atmanirbhar Bharat in semiconductors and reduce reliance on foreign chips.
• To enable low-cost prototyping, research, and startup innovation within India.

Key features:

• GHz clock speed with 64-bit dual-core architecture.
• Enhanced efficiency, multitasking, and reliability.
• High compatibility with external hardware systems.
• Designed for applications in 5G, automotive electronics, industrial automation, IoT, and consumer electronics.
• Fabricated as the third chip under DIR-V, after THEJAS32 and THEJAS64.

Significance:

• Strengthens national security and technological sovereignty in critical electronics.
• Provides a domestic platform for startups, academia, and industry to design and test products.
• Accelerates future indigenous processors like DHANUSH64 and DHANUSH64+ SoCs.

Erivan Anomalous Blue

• Armenia has unveiled the official logo of COP17 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), featuring the Erivan Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus eriwanensis), a rare endemic butterfly.

Erivan Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus eriwanensis):

• Polyommatus eriwanensis, commonly known as the Erivan Anomalous Blue, is a blue butterfly species endemic to Armenia.
• It is named after Yerevan (Erivan) and is found only in southern Transcaucasia.

Habitat:

• Inhabits calcareous grasslands in Armenia.
• Found at elevations of 1,200–2,200 metres above sea level.
• One generation per year; adults are active from mid-June to mid-July.
• The larval host plant is still unknown, limiting ecological assessment.

IUCN status:

• Not listed in the Global or European IUCN Red Lists.
• Listed as Endangered in the Red Book of Animals of Armenia (2010).
• Distribution partly overlaps with Khosrov Forest State Reserve and Gnishik Protected Landscape.

Key characteristics:

• Endemic and range-restricted, making it highly sensitive to environmental change.
• Butterflies act as indicator species, reflecting ecosystem health.
• Population trends and density remain uncertain due to identification challenges and unknown host plant.

About COP17 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD):

• The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) under the Convention on Biological Diversity, a UN treaty adopted in 1992.
• Serves as the supreme decision-making body for global biodiversity governance.
• Host: Yerevan, Armenia
• Scheduled for October 2026
• Theme: “Taking action for nature”

Logo significance:

• Features the Erivan Anomalous Blue butterfly, symbolising local biodiversity linked to global goals.
• Uses 23 blended colours, representing the interdependence of the 23 biodiversity targets.