India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement

• India and New Zealand have concluded negotiations on a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in just nine months, with formal signing expected in 2026.

India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement:

• A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is a bilateral pact where countries reduce or eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers on goods and services to boost trade, investment, and economic cooperation.

Targets of the India-New Zealand FTA

• Trade expansion: Double bilateral trade from the current level to USD 5 billion within five years, deepening economic engagement.
• Investment inflows: Facilitate USD 20 billion in New Zealand investments over 15 years, aligned with Make in India.
• Export diversification: Provide Indian exporters alternative markets amid high tariffs in the US and global protectionism.
• Services and mobility growth: Strengthen services trade and skilled mobility through temporary employment visas and education linkages.

Existing Trade Between India and New Zealand:

• Trade volume: Bilateral trade reached USD 1.3 billion in FY25, registering a strong 49% year-on-year growth, yet remains modest relative to the economic size of both countries.
• Indian exports: India’s exports are concentrated in pharmaceuticals, textiles, engineering goods, and IT/IT-enabled services, reflecting strengths in manufacturing and knowledge-based sectors.
• Indian imports: Imports from New Zealand largely consist of wool, fruits, forestry products, and dairy-related items, highlighting New Zealand’s comparative advantage in agriculture.
• Trade imbalance: The trade structure is asymmetrical, with New Zealand exporting agri-products and India exporting manufactured goods and services, limiting value-chain integration.
• Untapped potential: Despite economic complementarities, trade remains below potential due to tariff barriers, regulatory constraints, and limited business awareness.

Key Features

• Tariff liberalisation: India will offer duty concessions on 95% of New Zealand exports, while New Zealand will provide duty-free access on 100% of India’s tariff lines.
• Protection of sensitive sectors: India has excluded dairy, rice, wheat, sugar, onions, edible oils, and rubber, balancing trade liberalisation with farmer livelihood protection.
• Boost to labour-intensive sectors: Preferential access will support exports from textiles, apparel, leather, footwear, engineering goods, and pharmaceuticals, aiding employment generation.
• Services and mobility provisions: The FTA introduces 5,000 temporary employment visas annually, allowing Indian professionals to work in New Zealand for up to three years.
• Trade facilitation rules: Provisions on rules of origin, customs cooperation, SPS measures, and TBTs aim to reduce procedural delays and improve market predictability.

Challenges Associated with the FTA

• Agricultural sensitivities: Concerns from farmer groups, especially in dairy and horticulture, restrict deeper liberalisation and require careful policy calibration.
• Domestic political opposition in New Zealand: Sections of New Zealand’s ruling coalition oppose the pact, citing immigration pressures and dairy-sector disadvantages.
• Low trade base: Given the relatively small existing trade volume, economic gains may accrue gradually rather than immediately.
• Non-tariff barriers: Divergent regulatory standards, certification norms, and SPS requirements may continue to constrain exports.
• Implementation capacity: The agreement’s success depends on how effectively MSMEs and service providers utilise its provisions.

Way Ahead

• Strengthen supply chains: Beyond tariff cuts, both countries should build integrated manufacturing and agri-processing value chains to deepen trade.
• Deepen services cooperation: Expanding collaboration in IT, education, healthcare, tourism, and professional services can unlock high-value growth.
• Leverage diaspora and skills: Mobility provisions should be used to enhance people-to-people ties, skill transfer, and innovation linkages.
• Support MSMEs: Targeted trade facilitation, standards support, and export credit will help MSMEs access New Zealand markets.
• Continuous review mechanism: Regular monitoring through joint trade committees can address sectoral concerns and fine-tune implementation.

Conclusion

• The India–New Zealand FTA represents a new-generation trade agreement balancing market access with domestic sensitivities. By expanding trade, investment, and skilled mobility, it strengthens India’s Indo-Pacific economic strategy. Effective implementation can transform the pact into a durable platform for diversified and resilient bilateral ties.

Pa Pa Pagli Project

• Gujarat’s Dahod district has gained attention for a play-based early childhood education model in Anganwadi centres, where the UNICEF-supported “Pa Pa Pagli” initiative has improved learning outcomes and confidence among children aged 3–6 years.

Pa Pa Pagli Project:

• “Pa Pa Pagli (First Steps of the Child)” is a play-oriented pre-school education initiative of the Gujarat Women and Child Development Department.
• It targets children aged 3–6 years enrolled in Anganwadi centres, especially in educationally backward districts like Dahod.

Key features

• Games-cum-learning model: Learning through structured play, stories, songs, puzzles and movement-based activities.
• Life-skills orientation: Focus on social skills, communication, hygiene and routine habits.
• Anganwadi transformation: Expands Anganwadis beyond nutrition and health to early cognitive development.
• Digital and visual aids: Use of educational videos and activity-based tools.
• Institutional support: Implemented with technical support from UNICEF India for quality standards.

Significance

• Early brain development: Leverages the critical window where 85% of brain development occurs before age six.
• Reduced learning gaps: Builds school-readiness and lowers future dropout risks, especially in tribal and rural areas.
• Equity in education: Strengthens foundational learning among marginalised and first-generation learners.

SHAKTI Scholars – NCW Young Research Fellowship

• The National Commission for Women (NCW) has launched ‘SHAKTI Scholars’ – NCW Young Research Fellowship to promote policy-oriented research on women-centric issues.

SHAKTI Scholars – NCW Young Research Fellowship:

• SHAKTI Scholars is a six-month, grant-based research fellowship designed to support young scholars and independent researchers in undertaking policy-relevant, multidisciplinary research on issues affecting women in India.

Launched by: National Commission for Women (NCW)

Aim:

1. Encourage evidence-based research on women-centric challenges.
2. Build a pipeline of young researchers contributing to gender-responsive governance.
3. Support research that can inform laws, schemes, and institutional reforms.

Eligibility criteria:

• Nationality: Indian citizens only
• Age: 21 to 30 years
• Minimum qualification: Graduation from a recognised institution

Preference:

• Candidates pursuing or having completed post-graduation, M.Phil., or PhD
• Disciplines such as Gender Studies, Law, Social Sciences, Public Policy, Economics, Health, Technology, Development Studies, etc.

Key features

• Research grant – ₹1 lakh: The fellowship provides financial support to cover data collection, fieldwork, analysis, and documentation costs.
• Duration – 6 months: A six-month timeframe balances rigorous research with timely policy relevance and feasibility.
• Phased fund release: Grants are disbursed in stages, ensuring accountability and progress-linked research execution.

Research themes include:

1. Women’s safety and dignity
2. Gender-based violence and POSH implementation
3. Legal rights and access to justice
4. Cyber safety
5. Health, nutrition, education, and skill development
6. Economic empowerment and labour force participation
7. Women’s leadership, political participation, and work-life balance

Raccoon roundworm

• A new European study has found widespread spread of raccoon roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis) in wild raccoon populations across nine European countries, with very high infection rates.

Raccoon roundworm:

• Raccoon roundworm is a zoonotic parasitic infection caused by the nematode Baylisascaris procyonis, which primarily infects raccoons but can accidentally infect humans and other animals, causing severe neurological and ocular damage.

Origin:

• Native to North America, where raccoons are natural hosts.
• Spread to Europe through import of raccoons for pets and fur farms in the early 20th century.
• Escaped raccoons established wild populations, carrying the parasite with them

Found in:

• Primary host: Raccoons (Procyon lotor).
• Other animals: Dogs, birds, rodents, and small mammals (as accidental hosts).

Geographic spread:

• North America (endemic).
• Europe (now established in at least nine countries, Germany as epicentre).
• India: Not established due to absence of wild raccoon populations.

Symptoms in humans:

• Human infection is rare but often severe due to larval migration:
• Early symptoms: Nausea, fatigue, liver enlargement.
• Neurological signs: Loss of coordination, reduced attention, muscle weakness.
• Ocular larva migrans: Blindness.
• Neural larva migrans: Brain damage, coma, death.
• High-risk group: Children (soil contact, poor hand hygiene)

Key features:

• Extremely hardy eggs: Eggs become infectious after 2–4 weeks in soil.
• Can survive for years in the environment.
• High reproductive output: Adult worms release millions of eggs in raccoon faeces.
• Difficult diagnosis: No widely available definitive tests in humans.
• High severity, low frequency: Rare infections, but disproportionately serious outcomes.

Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) Spacecraft

• NASA has lost contact with the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft after it went silent in early December 2025 following a routine communication blackout.

Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) Spacecraft:

• MAVEN is a NASA Mars orbiter mission dedicated to studying the upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and atmospheric escape processes of Mars to understand how the planet transformed from a warm, wet world to a cold, dry one.

Launched in: November 18, 2013

Aim:

1. Determine how and how fast Mars lost its atmosphere to space.
2. Understand the role of the Sun and solar wind in driving atmospheric escape.
3. Support surface missions through data relay services.

Key features of MAVEN

• Orbiter mission: MAVEN follows an elliptical orbit that samples multiple altitudes, allowing scientists to observe daily, seasonal, and solar-driven atmospheric changes.
• Upper-atmosphere focus: The mission studies neutral gases, charged ions, solar wind, and magnetic fields, directly targeting the region where atmospheric escape occurs.
• Eight scientific instruments: MAVEN carries eight specialised payloads, including mass spectrometers and plasma sensors, designed for detailed atmospheric diagnostics.
• Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS): Though MAVEN lacks a conventional camera, IUVS maps the global structure and composition of Mars’ upper atmosphere in ultraviolet light.
• Communications relay role: MAVEN functions as an interplanetary relay satellite, transmitting data from rovers like Curiosity and Perseverance back to Earth.
• Highly elliptical orbit: Its orbit allows close passes through the upper atmosphere and distant observations, enabling vertical profiling of atmospheric processes.

Major discoveries and contributions

• Atmospheric loss quantified: MAVEN confirmed that solar wind stripping has been a dominant mechanism removing Mars’ atmosphere over billions of years.
• Water loss pathways identified: The mission showed how water vapour breaks into hydrogen and oxygen, with lightweight hydrogen escaping irreversibly to space.
• Impact of solar storms: MAVEN observed that solar flares and coronal mass ejections sharply increase atmospheric escape rates during extreme space-weather events.

Ghost Pairing

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued an advisory warning users about WhatsApp “ghost pairing”, a new cyber fraud technique.

Ghost Pairing:

• Ghost pairing is a social-engineering based cyberattack in which fraudsters secretly link (pair) a victim’s WhatsApp account to the attacker’s device, gaining real-time access to chats, media, and contacts without hacking the phone itself.

Aim:

• Gain unauthorised access to WhatsApp conversations
• Steal sensitive information (photos, OTP hints, documents)
• Extort money, commit identity fraud, or empty bank accounts through follow-up scams

How it works?

• Impersonation: Attacker messages the victim using a familiar name, or poses as a bank, tax, or government official.
• Bait message: Victim receives a message like “Hi, check this photo” or “Your account will be blocked” with a malicious link.
• Urgency and panic: Social pressure is applied using threats such as bank account freeze or number deactivation.
• Verification trap: Victim is tricked into approving a WhatsApp device-linking request or entering a pairing/verification code.
• Silent takeover: Attacker’s device gets linked as a companion device, giving them full WhatsApp access without alerting the victim.

Key features

• No SIM swap required.
• No password cracking involved.
• Exploits human trust, urgency, and fear.
• Works across WhatsApp, Telegram, and similar messaging apps.
• Enables real-time spying and data extraction.

Limitations of the attack

• Requires user action: The scam succeeds only if the victim clicks a link or approves pairing.
• Traceable transactions: Financial fraud leaves digital trails; quick reporting can freeze accounts.
• Linked-device visibility: Users can detect and remove unknown devices from WhatsApp → Linked Devices.

Reversal of Net FDI Flows in India

• India recorded a net Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) outflow in October 2025 (-$1.55 billion), following a similar outflow in September, due to high foreign repatriations.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

• FDI is a non-debt monetary source (it involves the transfer of a part of the ownership to the investor rather than the creation of debt).
• In FDI, a foreign company or a foreign investor not only invests in a company (in another country) but is also directly involved with the day-to-day operations, thus bringing knowledge and technology.
• Net FDI is basically gross FDI, which is the total money coming in, minus the money being repatriated out by foreign companies doing business in India and the outward FDI by Indian companies.

Drivers Behind FDI Net Outflow

• Foreign Repatriation: Foreign investors repatriated just under $5 billion in October, reflecting profit-booking and risk rebalancing amid global uncertainty, which outweighed fresh equity inflows into India.
• Outward FDI Surge: Indian companies invested $3.09 billion abroad during the month, indicating a strategic shift towards overseas presence to access markets and supply chains.
• Sustained High Outflows: Combined repatriations and outward FDI reached $8.08 billion for the second consecutive month, marking an unprecedented scale of capital moving out on a net basis.
• Services Concentration: Nearly 90% of outward FDI was directed towards financial, insurance and business services, limiting reinvestment into domestic manufacturing and infrastructure.
• Global Rate Cycle: Persistently higher interest rates in advanced economies have reduced India’s relative return attractiveness, encouraging capital relocation to developed markets.

Implications for the Indian Economy

• Rupee Stress: Net FDI outflows reduced stable dollar inflows, contributing to the rupee weakening beyond 90 per US dollar, before stabilising due to central bank intervention.
• Investor Confidence Signal: While gross inflows remain positive, repeated net outflows signal weaker investor confidence in reinvestment and long-term commitment.
• Domestic Growth Impact: Higher outward FDI supports global expansion of Indian firms, but may temporarily slow domestic capital formation and job creation.
• Corporate Strategy Shift: Outward FDI concentrating in services and key hubs like Singapore, USA and UAE suggests firms are investing to access markets and supply chains, not just exporting from India.
• BoP Sensitivity: A net outflow despite $6.54 billion gross inflow shows repatriation/outward flows can dominate, raising dependence on more volatile portfolio flows in stress periods.
• Balance of Payments (BoP) is a comprehensive ledger that records a country’s financial transactions with the rest of the world, showing inflows and outflows of money. It shows the flow of money coming in (positive) and going out (negative) of the country.

Expansion in Rabi Crops Cultivation

• Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare highlighted that the total area under rabi crops cultivation has increased this year.

Key Details

• The total area sown under rabi crops in the ongoing winter season went up by 8.11 lakh hectares to 580.70 lakh hectares compared to last year.
• Wheat, pulses (Urad, Masur and Moong), millets (jowar, bajra, ragi) and oilseeds such as rapeseed and mustard all saw an increase in total cultivated area this year.
• Good monsoon rains and Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)’s decision to raise Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all mandated rabi crops for 2026-27 have facilitated this expansion.

About Rabi Crops

• Rabi crops are winter crops sown after the southwest monsoon (Oct-Dec) and harvested in spring (Mar-Apr), mainly dependent on irrigation and western disturbances.
• Compared to kharif crops, rabi crops face lower pest pressure, require assured irrigation rather than rainfall, and are less vulnerable to monsoon failure, making output more predictable.
• They account for the bulk of India’s wheat and mustard production and play a key role in maintaining buffer stocks and price stability in the food economy.

CRISPR Gene-Editing Technology

• Context (PIB): A Centre of Excellence for CRISPR Innovation and Translation (CoE-CIT) will be established in Bengaluru.

About CRISPR

• Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) is a genome-editing technology that allows for the precise addition, removal, or alteration of DNA sequences.
• It was originally a natural defence mechanism in bacteria and archaea against viruses, which was adapted into a biotechnological tool.
• Components: Cas9 Enzyme as the “molecular scissors” that cuts the DNA at the specific location and the Guide RNA (gRNA) as the “navigator” guiding the Cas9 Enzyme to the target location.
• Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier demonstrated CRISPR technology in 2012, for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2020.
• Advantages: Compared to older techniques like Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs) and TALENs, CRISPR is simpler, faster, cheaper, has better accuracy and allows targeting multiple genes at once.
• Applications: Treating genetic disorders (E.g., sickle-cell disease), genetically modified crops, disease diagnostics, vector control (E.g., gene-edited mosquitoes to curb malaria), and so on.

Recent Advancements in India using CRISPR Technology

• Medical: BIRSA-101 CRISPR-based gene therapy for sickle-cell disease, GlowCas9 fluorescent CRISPR enzyme to visually monitor gene-editing activity in live cells.
• Agriculture: Genome-edited rice varieties (DRR Dhan 100, Pusa DST Rice-1), CRISPR-edited Indian mustard (Brassica juncea – ‘Varuna’) to improve oil quality.
• Tools: FELUDA CRISPR-Cas9 paper-strip COVID-19 test, indigenous TnpB-based genome-editing systems developed as compact, low-cost alternatives to Cas9.

Chillai Kalan

• Kashmir has received its first snowfall of the season, marking the onset of Chillai Kalan and bringing an end to the prolonged dry spell.

About Chillai Kalan

• It is the harshest 40-day winter period in the Kashmir Valley, beginning on 21 December and lasting until 30/31 January; the term is Persian for “major cold.”
• It is followed by Chillai Khurd (20 days, late January-mid February) and Chillai Bachha (10 days, late February), marking progressively weakening cold phases.
• During Chillai Kalan, temperatures remain sub-zero, snowfall probability is highest, and water pipelines and water bodies such as the Dal Lake freeze.
• The heavy snowfall in this phase is hydrologically vital, as it recharges glaciers, snowfields and perennial water bodies.

National Mathematics Day

• National Mathematics Day has been observed on 22nd December since 2012 to honour the birth anniversary of Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920).

About Srinivasa Ramanujan

• Early Life: Born in 1887 in Erode, Madras Presidency, he was largely self-taught and published his first paper in the journal of the Indian Mathematical Society in 1911.
• He went to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1913, became the 1st Indian to be elected a Fellow of Trinity College, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1918.
• He discovered the Ramanujan tau function, developed rapidly convergent series for π, introduced mock theta functions, results for partition numbers and paved the way for Game Theory.
• Legacy: His mock theta functions are critical for Black Hole physics, String Theory and modern cryptography. 1729 has been designated as the Ramanujan number in his honour.

National Farmers’ Day

• National Farmers’ Day (Kisan Diwas) is observed on December 23 since 2001 on the birth anniversary of 5th Prime Minister of India Chaudhary Charan Singh.
• He was known for his avid advocacy for farmers’ rights and agricultural reform initiatives, and was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna in 2024.
• Nationwide Kisan Melas, Krishi Vigyan Kendra outreach programmes, and celebratory events are organised on this day to highlight the vital role played by the farmers.