Model Youth Gram Sabha Initiative

• The Ministry of Panchayati Raj, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Tribal Affairs, is launching the Model Youth Gram Sabha (MYGS) initiative from October 2025.

Key Highlights

• Aim: Inspired by the Model UN format, the initiative seeks to provide practical exposure to the functioning of Gram Sabhas.
• Students of Classes 9-12 will assume roles such as sarpanch, village secretary, Anganwadi worker, ANM, and junior engineers to hold mock Gram Sabha meetings.
• The first phase will cover 600 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) and 200 Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS).

Britain to Introduce Compulsory Digital ID for Workers

• Britain is set to introduce mandatory digital IDs for all British citizens & residents starting a new job, to tackle illegal immigration and unregulated employment.

Policy Lessons for India from the UK’s Digital ID Initiative

• Digital Governance: India’s Aadhaar already streamlines welfare, and the UK’s model underlines the need for stronger data security and privacy safeguards.
• Labour Monitoring: The UK’s Digital ID verifies “Right to Work” status to curb informal jobs and wage fraud; a similar system in India could improve legal employment and timely wage payments.
• Migration Control: Digital systems could help India manage cross-border migration, especially in sensitive border regions.
• Rights Protection: In India, ongoing Aadhaar privacy debates and new data protection laws stress the importance of designing identity systems that build public trust through transparency and user consent.

Government’s Borrowing Plan for Second Half of FY 2025-26

• The Government of India, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, has finalised its borrowing plan for the second half of FY 2025-26.

• The government will borrow ₹6.77 lakh crore in the second half of FY 2025-26 through dated securities, including ₹10,000 crore via Sovereign Green Bonds.
• This will bring the total borrowing to ₹14.72 lakh crore, which is below the budgeted ₹14.82 lakh crore.
• The government will continue switching/buybacks of securities to smooth repayment obligations and will utilise a greenshoe option for an additional subscription of up to ₹2,000 crore for each security type.

Operation Sindoor and Emerging Maritime Dimensions

• Following Operation Sindoor, India and Pakistan have shifted their attention to the maritime domain, signalling preparedness through infrastructure expansion and capability demonstrations.

Significance of the Maritime Domain for India

• Geostrategic Importance: A vital maritime highway through which 80% of global oil shipments pass, it is crucial for India’s regional and global strategy.
• Economic Lifeline: Facilitates 90% of India’s trade by volume and 70% by value, making it indispensable for economic growth.
• Maritime Security: India’s 11,098.81 km coastline, along with Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands, enhances defence against piracy, illegal fishing, and external threats.

Challenges Faced by India in the Maritime Domain

• Narrowing Capability Gap: Pakistan is enhancing its naval strength with Chinese-built Type 039A Hangor-class submarines and Babur-class corvettes from Türkiye, thereby shrinking India’s superiority.
• Chinese Strategic Presence: Beijing’s logistical and intelligence footprint in Gwadar and Karachi complicates India’s freedom of manoeuvre in the Arabian Sea.
• Maritime Terrorism: The resurgence of piracy off the Somali coast threatens global trade routes, while terrorist networks increasingly exploit sea routes for arms and drug smuggling.
• Climate Change: Rising sea levels endanger coastal cities & island nations like the Maldives & Bangladesh, while increasing cyclones and tsunamis disrupt trade and displace populations.

India’s Response to the Challenges

• Forward Deterrent Posture: Operation Sindoor underscored India’s readiness for pre-emptive maritime action, signalling capability and intent.
• Indigenous Modernisation Drive: Focus on stealth frigates, submarines, and AI-driven surveillance under ‘Aatmanirbhar Navy Vision 2047’ to ensure technological edge. E.g. India launched INS Vindhyagiri (2023) — a stealth frigate under Project 17A, boosting blue-water capability. *
• Regional Partnerships: Expanded cooperation with ASEAN, QUAD, and IORA nations to counterbalance China’s Indo-Pacific footprint.
• Crisis Management Mechanisms: Strengthening maritime communication hotlines and naval-to-naval engagement protocols to mitigate escalation risks.

Way Forward

• Modernisation with Scale: Accelerate shipbuilding under ‘Make in India’, ensuring force balance with Pakistan’s growing submarine fleet.
• Enhanced Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA): Expand Information Fusion Centre–Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) to integrate real-time intelligence across friendly navies.
• Strategic Signalling Balance: Use maritime deployments for calibrated deterrence, which is assertive yet restrained, avoiding uncontrolled escalation.
• Strengthen Blue-Water Capabilities: Prioritise aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, and logistics hubs to project sustained power in the Arabian Sea and Indo-Pacific. E.g. India aims for a third aircraft carrier by 2035, along with the Arihant-class SSBN fleet forming the sea leg of its nuclear triad.

Govt Approves Mitigation Projects Across Nine States

• A High-Level Committee Approves ₹4,645 Crore Disaster Mitigation and Recovery Projects across nine states.

• Beneficiary States: Assam, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, & Andhra Pradesh will receive funding support under the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF).

Major Approvals by Committee

Wetland Restoration in Assam

• A project worth ₹692.05 crore has been sanctioned for the rejuvenation of 24 wetlands across 9 districts in the Brahmaputra system.
• Aim: Improve water retention capacity, enhance flood resilience, protect the aquatic ecosystem, and promote fisheries-based economic growth.
• Funding Pattern: 75% by the Centre and 25% by the State.

Urban Flood Risk Management Programme (UFRMP)-Phase II

• Approved for 11 Cities: Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Jaipur, Kanpur, Patna, Raipur, Trivandrum, Visakhapatnam, Indore, and Lucknow, with the financial outlay of ₹2,444.42 crore.
• Funding Pattern: 90% by the Centre and 10% by the State.
• Focus: Structural measures (stormwater management, flood walls, erosion control) and non-structural measures (flood early warning systems, data acquisition, capacity building).

Urban Tree Plantation and Air Pollution

• Urban tree plantation drives, often promoted as solutions for pollution, can worsen air quality if high Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) emitting species are planted in traffic-heavy cities.

Tree Plantation and Its Unintended Consequences

• VOC Emissions: Certain trees (e.g., mango, peepal, banyan) release VOCs like isoprenes and monoterpenes, worsening the air pollution.
• Urban Chemistry: VOCs + vehicular NOx + sunlight → form ground-level ozone, a harmful pollutant.
• Public Health Impact: Ozone exposure causes asthma, respiratory issues, and eye irritation.
• Rising Deaths: In 2021, 237,700 deaths in India were attributed to ozone (Health Effects Institute).
• Climate Link: VOCs can extend methane’s lifetime, indirectly worsening global warming.

‘Right Tree, Right Place’ Approach

• Tree Selection
• Avoid high-VOC emitters in traffic-heavy zones such as Peepal, mango and banyan.
• Prefer low-VOC species including Neem, tamarind, arjuna, golden shower, ashoka and silk cotton.
• Location Planning
• Prioritise high-dust areas because trees act as natural pollutant traps.
• Ensure pruning & leaf-litter management to reduce VOCs from decaying biomass.
• Integrated Approach: Control NOx emissions and conduct awareness alongside tree planning.
• Balanced Strategy: Urban forestry must go beyond the number of trees planted and focus on species mix, location and maintenance.

Raksha-IBR Vaccine

• Indian Immunologicals Ltd. (IIL) has launched India’s first indigenously developed glycoprotein E (gE) deleted DIVA marker vaccine for Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR).

Raksha-IBR

• First of Its Kind: Raksha-IBR is India’s first indigenously developed vaccine designed to combat Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR).
• Weakened Virus: It uses an attenuated strain of Bovine Herpes Virus-1 (BHV-1), ensuring protective immunity while minimising the risk of active infection.
• Marker Design: As a glycoprotein E (gE) deleted DIVA vaccine, it also helps differentiate between vaccinated and naturally infected cattle.

Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR)

• Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) is a highly contagious viral disease in cattle caused by Bovine Herpes Virus-1 (BHV-1).
• Endemic Status: The disease is endemic in India, affecting domestic cattle, buffaloes, and occasionally wild bovine populations.
• Transmission: It spreads through aerosols, nasal discharges, genital secretions, and infected semen, enabling quick herd-to-herd transmission.
• Symptoms: Clinical signs include fever, eye and nasal discharges, cough, loss of appetite, abortions, and decreased milk production.
• Types: IBR presents in four forms: respiratory (nasal and lung infections), genital (reproductive tract disorders), ocular (eye infections), and neonatal (calf mortality).
• Treatment: Currently, there is no curative therapy; management depends on supportive care and preventive vaccination.
• Economic Cost: India faces annual losses of about ₹18,000 crore due to infertility, abortions, and reduced dairy productivity associated with IBR.

Payments Regulatory Board

The Reserve Bank of India has constituted a six-member Payments Regulatory Board (PRB) to oversee the functioning of payment systems in the country.

• Composition: The PRB is chaired by the RBI Governor and includes the Deputy Governor, the Executive Director of RBI, and three representatives nominated by the Central government.
• Predecessor Body: It replaces the Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems (BPSS), which was a five-member RBI committee with no government representatives.
• Legal Authority: PRB derives its statutory powers from the Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007.

President’s Bodyguard (PBG)

President Droupadi Murmu presented the Diamond Jubilee Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the President’s Bodyguard, marking 75 years of service since their re-designation.

• The President’s Bodyguard is an elite cavalry unit that directly serves the Head of State. It is the oldest regiment in the Indian Army and the most senior unit of the army.
• Establishment: The PBG was raised in 1773 at Benares (present-day Varanasi) by the first Governor-General, Warren Hastings, with support from Raja Chet Singh.
• Re-designation: The regiment was officially renamed in 1950 as the President’s Bodyguard (PBG).
• Duties: The PBG serves dual roles as ceremonial state escorts and as operators of paratroopers, reconnaissance units, and armoured vehicle crews.