52 Defence Surveillance Satellites
Operation Sindoor exposed the need for precision, round-the-clock surveillance of India’s land borders and coastline, especially to monitor enemy activities like drone and missile movements. It was reported that China supported Pakistan with satellite intelligence during this operation, underscoring the strategic importance of India having an independent and superior space-based surveillance capability.
Space-Based Surveillance-III (SBS-III) Programme
Private Indian companies to build and launch 31 satellites, indicating growing private sector participation in strategic space infrastructure.
Technology:
ISRO will transfer Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) technology to private players This will facilitate rapid satellite launches in emergencies, enhancing responsiveness
Oversight:
Coverage & Capability:
Provides shorter revisit times — meaning satellites will surveil the same area more frequently
Offers higher resolution imaging for detailed intelligence
Operational Benefits:
AI-enabled satellites that can communicate and collaborate to gather more effective GeoIntelligence
Timeline:
The first satellite is expected to be launched by April 2026, with the full constellation targeted for completion by the end of 2029.
Strategic Impact:
It will focus more precisely on China and Pakistan borders, and cover the Indian Ocean Region extensively.
Existing satellites like Cartosat and RISAT have already played vital roles in providing real-time intelligence during Operation Sindoor, helping prevent significant military losses.
Military Space Doctrine:
QUAD ‘At Sea Observer Mission’
A first-ever maritime cross-embarkation initiative involving Coast Guards of India, Japan, the United States, and Australia. It is a Part of broader QUAD efforts to ensure a Free, Open, Inclusive, and Rules-Based Indo-Pacific.Two officers, including women officers from each country have embarked on board US Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Stratton, which is currently sailing to Guam.
1. Interoperability
Enhances joint readiness and the ability to conduct combined maritime operations during crises, patrols, or disaster relief.
2. Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA)
Shared monitoring, surveillance, and response capabilities in the Indo-Pacific, especially key choke points like the Malacca Strait and South China Sea.
3. Capacity-Building
Focus on training, humanitarian outreach, and technical exchanges among partner nations.
4. Upholding a Rules-Based Maritime Order
Reinforces the Free, Open, Inclusive, and Rules-Based Indo-Pacific vision, central to QUAD's strategic doctrine.
Vessel: The mission involves cross-embarkation aboard the USCGC Stratton, a U.S. Legend-class national security cutter.
Personnel: Two officers, including women, from each nation are onboard.
Objective: Improve interoperability, operational coordination, and domain awareness, bolstering maritime safety in alignment with a Free, Open, Inclusive, and Rules-Based Indo-Pacific.
Foundation: This initiative stems from commitments made during the QUAD Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington, Delaware (September 2024), under the Wilmington Declaration.
India’s Role: India aligns the mission with its SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), focusing on capacity-building and humanitarian outreach.
First major joint observer mission by QUAD Coast Guards.
Demonstrates growing non-military security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
Symbolizes increasing strategic trust and maritime solidarity in response to regional challenges (e.g., illegal fishing, natural disasters, maritime disputes).
The Ministry of Power’s recent announcement to set up a task force to develop the India Energy Stack (IES)—a transformative digital public infrastructure for India’s energy sector. The IES aims to unify fragmented systems, support real-time data sharing, and foster innovation through tools like unique consumer IDs, open APIs, and the Utility Intelligence Platform (UIP)
What is the IES?
The India Energy Stack is a proposed digital public infrastructure (DPI) for the energy sector, modeled on successful systems like Aadhaar (for identity) and UPI (for payments). It aims to digitally integrate India's fragmented electricity ecosystem — unifying producers, consumers, grid operators, regulators, and more. It will provide unique IDs for stakeholders, enable secure, consent-based real-time data sharing, support system integration through open APIs, and offer tools to empower consumers and innovators. A 12-month proof of concept will test its effectiveness in real-world scenarios.
Unique Identification: For consumers, energy assets, and stakeholders (akin to Aadhaar).
Interoperability: Enables seamless integration between discoms, markets, and technologies.
Data-Driven Operations: Real-time, harmonized data to support intelligent decision-making.
Standardized Infrastructure: Provides a level playing field for startups, fintechs, and innovators in the energy domain
Energy Fintech: New business models around microtransactions, energy credit markets, insurance, and carbon trading.
Virtual Power Plants (VPPs): Aggregating distributed assets like rooftop solar and battery storage into coordinated energy supply.
Peer-to-Peer Trading: Prosumers can buy, sell, or store energy across regions.
Demand Response: Consumers respond to real-time grid signals to shift or reduce load.
Fragmentation Fix: India’s power ecosystem is currently a patchwork of disconnected islands – state vs. central, legacy vs. modern systems. IES aims to unify them
Facilitates Renewables & EVs: Standardized data flows and API-driven architecture will boost renewable integration, EV demand-responsive operations, and prosumer-driven markets
Consumer & Market Impact: Real-time data, market access tools, and payment-grade infrastructure create a foundation for peer-to-peer trading, energy fintech, and virtual power plants (VPPs) — mirroring the impact of Aadhaar/UPI in identity and finance.
A 12-month PoC involving selected utilities from Mumbai, Gujarat, and Delhi will pilot real-world scenarios
The UIP is a modular, analytics-driven application built atop the IES architecture, designed to deliver real-time insights and smarter energy management for regulators, DISCOMs, and consumers
India is testing an indigenous Cell Broadcast (CB) system developed by C-DOT to deliver real-time alerts during natural and man-made disasters. The system complements SMS alerts by broadcasting messages to mobile users in affected areas instantly. It’s based on the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and is already active in all 36 States/UTs via the SACHET platform. Test messages in English and Hindi will be sent over the next 2–4 weeks; no action is needed by recipients
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) are testing an indigenous Cell Broadcast (CB) system developed by Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT).It is a technology used by mobile network operators to send text messages simultaneously to all mobile users in a specific geographic area.
It aims to deliver real-time, geo-targeted emergency alerts during disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, lightning strikes, and industrial hazards.
Key Features:
CB technology broadcasts messages simultaneously to all mobile users in a specific geographical area.
Faster and more reliable than SMS during network congestion.
Supports multiple Indian languages, ensuring inclusive communication.
Works alongside the existing Integrated Alert System (SACHET) which has sent over 6,899 crore SMS alerts across all 36 States and UTs.
SACHET follows the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) recommended by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Rapid Dissemination of Alerts: To broadcast emergency and critical information instantly to all mobile users within a specific geographical area.
Disaster Management: To provide timely warnings during natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones, lightning strikes) and man-made emergencies (chemical leaks, industrial hazards).
Enhance Public Safety: To ensure citizens receive alerts promptly to take necessary precautions and reduce casualties and damages.
Overcome Network Congestion: Unlike SMS, Cell Broadcast sends messages simultaneously to many users without overloading the network.
Real-time Communication: Enables near-instantaneous transmission of alerts to targeted regions.
Geographical Targeting: Alerts reach only those in the affected area, minimizing unnecessary panic elsewhere.
Multilingual Support: Broadcasts messages in multiple Indian languages, making communication inclusive.
Indigenous Development: Developed by India’s C-DOT, ensuring control, security, and customization to local needs.
Complementary to Existing Systems: Works alongside SMS-based systems like SACHET to strengthen the country’s disaster response infrastructure.
Network Efficiency: Broadcast mode avoids delays and message failures common in congested networks, especially during emergencies.
Researchers at the S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences have discovered a novel phenomenon in chromium antimonide (CrSb) — a rare class of magnetic material called an altermagnet. Altermagnets combine the benefits of ferromagnets and antiferromagnets, with unique electron behavior but no net external magnetism.
About Altermagnets
Altermagnets are a novel class of magnetic materials that combine the benefits of ferromagnets (spin splitting) and antiferromagnets (zero net magnetization). Though they show no external magnetism, their internal electron spin behaviors make them highly promising for spintronics—technologies that manipulate electron spin rather than charge. Their unique properties, such as directional spin polarization and high thermal stability, open up exciting possibilities in future electronics.
Altramagnetism in Chromium Antimonide
Among the known altermagnets, chromium antimonide (CrSb) is truly remarkable.
It is metallic, with the magnetic order sustaining up to more than two times that of room temperature and the largest altermagnetic spin-splitting, equivalent to more than 30 times that of room temperature.
CrSb is one of the very few materials known to exhibit direction-dependent conduction polarity property and, notably, the first Altermagnet to do so.
These outstanding attributes make CrSb the most promising altermagnetic candidate for practical applications.
CrSb is made of earth-abundant and non-toxic elements, making it an environmentally friendly option for future electronics. Combined with its altermagnetic properties.... Read more at:
Simplified Device Architectures: With both p-type and n-type behavior in one material, engineers can potentially design devices (like thermoelectrics or spin-based logic circuits) without needing heterostructures or doping gradients .
Environmental Advantage: Cr and Sb are abundant and non-toxic, making CrSb an eco-friendly choice for next-generation electronics .
Altermagnetic Edge: CrSb uniquely combines antiferromagnetic order (no net magnetization), strong non-relativistic spin splitting, and directional conduction properties—making it a prime candidate for spin caloritronics, where spin and heat currents are manipulated together.
What are altermagnets used for?
Altermagnets, with their unique magnetic properties—combining zero net magnetization and strong spin polarization—have promising applications mainly in the field of spintronics and spin caloritronics. These include:
Generating and controlling spin-polarized currents without stray magnetic fields, enabling energy-efficient information processing and storage.
Developing ultrafast memory devices that operate at terahertz frequencies.
Creating spin-filter tunnel junctions for advanced magnetic sensors and memory elements.
Enabling novel thermoelectric and spin-heat devices through their unique interaction of spin and heat currents.
Beyond electronics, magnetic properties and magnetic measuring techniques related to altermagnets also find uses in broader areas such as metallurgy and chemistry, for understanding material properties and improving processes.
A mud volcano erupted in Wandan Township, southern Taiwan, in front of a temple.The eruption lasted nearly 10 hours, ejecting bubbling mud from 4 vents, reaching 2 meters (6.6 feet) high.
A mud volcano is a cone-shaped mound formed by the eruption of mud, gases, and water from underground. Unlike magmatic volcanoes, they do not eject lava
Features
It Formed by the release of hot water, gas (methane, CO₂, nitrogen), and fine sediment from underground.
The Eruptions can be gentle flows or explosive, with some even throwing flames several hundred meters high.
It Found on land and sea floors, they can alter coastlines by forming islands or banks.
Globally, around 1,000 mud volcanoes are known, spread across parts of Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Caused by high underground pressure from gas and water, not magma.
Eruptions may be gentle or explosive, with mud fountains and gas flaring.
Mud cones are typically small in height (few meters or less).
Mud & clay
Hot water
Gases: Mainly methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen
Water is often salty or acidic
Asia: Taiwan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Iran, China
Europe: Ukraine, Romania, Italy
Americas: Alaska, California, Trinidad, Venezuela, Colombia
Oceans: Present on seafloors, where they can form islands or alter coastlines
comparison between mud volcanoes and magmatic volcanoes
|
Feature |
Mud Volcano |
Magmatic Volcano |
|---|---|---|
|
Material Erupted |
Mud, clay, water, hydrocarbon gases (methane, CO₂, nitrogen) |
Molten rock (magma/lava), volcanic gases |
|
Temperature |
Low to moderate (cooler than magmatic volcanoes) |
Very high (up to 1200°C or more) |
|
Eruption Style |
Can be gentle flows or explosive mud/gas eruptions, sometimes with flames |
Explosive or effusive lava eruptions |
|
Size |
Usually small, cones less than a few meters tall |
Often large, can build mountains hundreds or thousands of meters high |
|
Formation Process |
Result of underground gases and fluids forcing mud to surface |
Result of molten magma rising from the mantle/crust |
|
Hazards |
Mudflows, release of flammable gases, local ground deformation |
Lava flows, pyroclastic flows, ash fall, earthquakes |
|
Location |
On land and seabed, often near sedimentary basins and hydrocarbon reserves |
Mainly along tectonic plate boundaries (subduction zones, rifts, hotspots) |
|
Appearance |
Cone of mud and clay, often with shallow crater |
Rocky cone or mountain with crater(s) |
|
Associated Gases |
Mainly methane, CO₂, nitrogen |
Mainly water vapor, CO₂, sulfur dioxide |
The agriculture sector in India is witnessing a significant transformation with a shift from traditional staple crops like cereals to high-value crops such as fruits, vegetables, spices, and animal products. This change reflects evolving consumer preferences, increased incomes, technological advances, and government focus on nutritional security and export potential.
Key Highlight of the Report
Gross Value Added (GVA) at current prices rose sharply by 225%, from ₹1,502 thousand crore in 2011–12 to ₹4,878 thousand crore in 2023–24.
Gross Value of Output (GVO) at constant prices (2011–12 base) increased by 54.6%, from ₹1,908 thousand crore to ₹2,949 thousand crore, indicating steady real growth.
2. Shift from Staples to High-Value Crops:
Cereals’ share in agriculture GVO (Gross Value of Output) declined from 17.6% (2011-12) to 14.5% (2023-24).
Increased focus on fruits (strawberries, pomegranates), vegetables (parmal/parwal, mushrooms), and spices (dry ginger) reflects changing consumer preferences, nutritional awareness, and export opportunities.
3. Dramatic Rise in Certain Crops:
Strawberries: GVO jumped over 40 times from Rs 1.32 crore to Rs 55.4 crore (constant prices) between 2011-12 and 2023-24.
Parmal (Parwal): Nearly 17 times increase to Rs 789 crore.
Pumpkin: Nearly 10 times increase to Rs 2,449 crore.
Pomegranate: Over 4 times increase to Rs 9,231 crore.
Mushrooms: 3.5 times increase to Rs 1,704 crore.
Dry Ginger: 285% increase in GVO to Rs 11,004 crore (thanks to better processing).
4. Rising Meat Consumption:
Share of meat in agriculture & allied sectors' GVO increased from 5% to 7.5% (2011-12 to 2023-24).
Meat production grew by 131%, though still behind growth in high-value crops like strawberries.
5. Consumption Patterns:
Fresh fruit consumption in rural areas increased slightly in expenditure share (2.25% to 2.66%), but declined marginally in urban areas.
Despite small percentage changes, more rural households (from 63.8% to 90.3%) are consuming fresh fruits, including lower-income groups.
Cereal consumption share in monthly expenditure fell significantly in both urban (6.61% to 3.74%) and rural areas (10.69% to 4.97%).
6. Engel’s Law in Action:
As incomes rise, the share of expenditure on food is decreasing:
Rural: from 52.90% (2011-12) to 47.04% (2023-24)
Urban: from 42.62% to 39.68%
7.Spices & Condiments:
Dry ginger witnessed a 285% increase in GVO, reaching Rs 11,004 crore, supported by improved processing.
Changing Consumer Preferences:
With rising incomes, people diversify their diets and demand more fruits, vegetables, and protein-rich foods like meat.
Market Opportunities:
Increasing urban demand combined with improved supply chains open new markets for high-value agricultural products.
Technological Shifts:
Advances in farming methods, storage, and processing (e.g., for dry ginger) help farmers grow and market perishable, high-value crops effectively.
Policy Orientation:
Government policies emphasize nutritional security by promoting diverse diets and supporting export potential for high-value crops.
Agricultural Transition: Indian agriculture is moving away from traditional staples toward diversified, nutrient-rich, and higher-value crops.
Nutrition and Income: Increasing income and awareness are driving demand for fruits, vegetables, and animal products, enhancing nutrition.
Market and Policy: These shifts suggest a need for policy focus on high-value crop production, processing infrastructure, supply chains, and nutritional security.
Rural Empowerment: More rural households, across income levels, are adopting better diets, indicating improving living standards and reduced inequality in food consumption.
As household income rises, the proportion of income spent on food decreases, even if the absolute expenditure on food increases.
Gross Value Added (GVA)
Gross Value Added (GVA) in Agriculture refers to the total value of output (all agricultural products like crops, livestock, forestry, fishing) minus the value of intermediate inputs (like seeds, fertilizers, labor, machinery used in production). GVA = Total agricultural output value – Value of inputs used in producing that output
It measures the net contribution of the agriculture sector to the economy, showing the actual value created by farming activities. It helps estimate the economic contribution of agriculture.It reflects the productivity and efficiency of the sector. It Used for policy-making, planning, and tracking sectoral growth over time.
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We provide offline, online and recorded lectures in the same amount.
Every aspirant is unique and the mentoring is customised according to the strengths and weaknesses of the aspirant.
In every Lecture. Director Sir will provide conceptual understanding with around 800 Mindmaps.
We provide you the best and Comprehensive content which comes directly or indirectly in UPSC Exam.
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