UPSC Key: World Sustainable Development Summit 2025, Pashu Aushadhi Kendras and Bernoulli’s principle

Trump delays tariffs on most goods from Mexico for a month

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: Two days after imposing sweeping tariffs on all imports from his country’s closest trading partners, US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a pause on tariffs for Mexican goods that fall under the USMCA trade agreement until April 2.

Key Points to Ponder:

• ‘Tariffs are often used as a tool for economic and political leverage’-Comment

• Why U.S. decided to delay tariffs on Mexican imports?

• U.S.-Mexico trade negotiations—What are the major issues?

• How do tariffs impact global trade and diplomatic relations?

• Compare and contrast the impact of protectionist trade policies on developed and developing economies.

• How should India respond to growing tariff wars?

Key Takeaways:

• “After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “This Agreement is until April 2nd.” Trump said he agreed to the exemption “out of respect” for Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum.

• Soon after, Mexican President thanked Trump for pausing tariffs on most goods from her country.

• “We had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration has given unprecedented result,” she said in a post on X in Spanish.

• “We will continue to work together, especially around the issues of migration and security, which includes reducing the illegal crossing of fentanyl into the United States, as well as weapons into Mexico,” she added.

• This comes after, Trump in his joint address to Congress on Tuesday evening, acknowledged that tariffs would cause disruption but insisted, “There will be a little disturbance, but we’re OK with that.”

• Trump had initially vowed to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico on his first day back in office. However, upon returning, he indicated he was considering implementing them at the start of February. Last month, he granted Canada and Mexico a one-month delay at the last minute.

Do You Know:

• In a significant reversal of his administration’s plan to impose sweeping tariffs on all imports from the United States’ closest trading partners—a move that had unsettled markets, businesses, and consumers—President Donald Trump recently signed executive actions delaying for nearly one month the tariffs on all products from Mexico and Canada covered by the USMCA free trade treaty.

• Canada had already imposed CA$30 billion (US$21 billion) worth of tariffs on various US goods, including orange juice, peanut butter, coffee, appliances, footwear, cosmetics, motorcycles, and pulp and paper products.

• Trump’s executive order stated that imports from Mexico and Canada complying with the 2020 USMCA trade pact would be exempt from the 25% tariffs for a month. However, certain Canadian potash exports would still face a 10% tariff, along with some Canadian energy products.

• Despite Trump’s claims that the US “doesn’t need Canada”, the country remains a key supplier of critical resources. Nearly 25% of the oil consumed daily in the US comes from Canada, making up 60% of US crude oil imports. Canada also supplies 85% of US electricity imports.

• Beyond energy, Canada is the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminium, uranium, and 34 critical minerals and metals—resources the Pentagon considers essential for US national security.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍After Mexico, Trump delays Canada tariffs till April 2

FRONT PAGE

‘World’s costliest cow’: Booming in Brazil, but dwindling in India

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Main Examination: General Studies III: Economics of animal-rearing

What’s the ongoing story: In Brazil, where Ongole cows make up 80% of its cattle heads, one of them sold for a whopping 4.38 million USD. Back in India, the original home of the Ongoles, the breed is fighting for survival. A government-run farm is attempting to change that.

Key Points to Ponder:

• The Ongoles cattle-Know its features

• Despite being the origin of some of the world’s most valuable cattle breeds, India struggles to enhance their productivity—Analyse the factors contributing to this decline and suggest measures for indigenous cattle breed conservation.

• Discuss the role of selective breeding and genetic enhancement in improving cattle productivity. • How has Brazil leveraged Indian-origin cattle breeds for economic gains?

• Compare the dairy and cattle farming practices in India and Brazil.

• How can India balance indigenous cattle conservation with economic sustainability?

Key Takeaways:

• In February, an Ongole purebred cow, Viatina-19, was sold for a whopping 4.38 million USD (25.7 million Brazilian Real or INR 40 crore) in Brazil’s Minas Gerais. It’s a breed that thrives in Brazil – about 80 per cent of the country’s 226 million cattle are Ongoles.

• In Brazil, the world’s top beef exporter where the cattle industry is a primary driver of its economy, the Ongoles are raised for their meat. As the country attempts to capture newer markets, Brazilian breeders are racing to raise bigger, meatier supercows such as the Viatina-19.

• The snowy-white, muscular Viatina-19, weighing 1,100 kg, was bought at an auction by three breeders — Casa Branca Agropastoril, Agropecuária Napemo, and Nelore HRO — who will now use her to breed cattle with superior characteristics based on her genetic traits.

• However, back in India, the original home of the Ongoles, the breed is facing the threat of extinction, its numbers halving from 15 lakh in 1944 to 6.34 lakh in the 2019 Livestock Census.

• In a country where the population of indigenous cattle has dropped by nine per cent between 2007 and 2012 and six per cent between 2012 and 2019, the fate of the Ongole breed is somewhat predictable. The price of the cattle, too, is relatively low in India – Rs 1 lakh a cow and Rs 10 to 15 lakh for a prized bull.

• Despite government efforts to promote conservation and rearing of desi breeds through schemes such as the Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM), launched in 2014, farmers prefer exotic and crossbred cattle that yield more milk when compared to the indigenous varieties. This is reflected in the 29.5 per cent jump in the population of exotic and crossbred cattle – from 39.73 million in 2012 to 51.47 million in 2019.

Do You Know:

• In 2012-13, the population of the four milch breeds, together with their upgraded progeny, was assessed at 11.29 million. Farmers would, no doubt, be happy to maintain such high-yielding animals. But on the other hand, the corresponding populations of the 7 dual-purpose and 26 draught breeds were11.76 million and 14.88 million, respectively.

• With decreasing demand for bullocks, farmers will prefer breeding the cows from these with bulls of the more profitable milch cattle breeds. This is already happening in buffaloes, where owners of Banni, Surti, Bhadawari and Pandharpuri breeds use Murrahbulls for producing more high milk-yielding progeny, without bothering to conserve the former breeds.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍23 breeds of indigenous cattle saw fall in numbers in 2012-19: Report

Previous Year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
1. Which of the following is the chief characteristic of ‘mixed farming’? (2012)
(a) Cultivation of both cash crops and food crops
(b) Cultivation of two or more crops in the same field
(c) Rearing of animals and cultivation of crops together
(d) None of the above
Previous Year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍Livestock rearing has a big potential for providing non-farm employment and income in rural areas. Discuss suggesting suitable measures to promote this sector in India. (2015)

THE IDEAS PAGE

A fig leaf for an imposition

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers.

What’s the ongoing story: Palanivel Thiaga Rajan Writes: People of ancient cultures like the Tamils cannot be subjugated nor their identity altered. The threat to language is consistent with Centre’s approach of using any means as a weapon to push its political agenda

Key Points to Ponder:

• The Three-Language Formula was originally conceived as a means of national integration but has become a contentious issue—Comment

• In this context, discuss the significance of multilingualism in India’s education policy and the concerns surrounding the imposition of Hindi.

• Examine the role of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in addressing language diversity in India.

• Examine the concerns raised by Tamil Nadu and other states regarding the Three-Language Formula.

• Discuss the constitutional provisions that protect linguistic diversity and evaluate whether India’s language policy strikes a balance between national integration and regional identity.

Key Takeaways:
Palanivel Thiaga Rajan Writes:

• Education is the beating heart of Dravidian political philosophy. It is vital to the movement’s core principles of self-respect, social justice, and equitable access. Given education’s prior exclusivity, the first Justice Party government of the Madras Presidency sowed the seeds for universal education by legislating compulsory elementary education — for boys and girls — in 1920.

• A compulsory two-language formula — our mother tongue, Tamil, and the global link language, English — in effect for decades, reflects these values.

• All parties that originated here have vociferously, and repeatedly aligned with this formula, and it has produced great results. With high literacy rates and a higher education enrolment ratio of 47 per cent (compared to the national average of 28.4 per cent) Tamil Nadu stands tall in India.

• Our educational, and consequent economic successes are documented and quantifiable. To be clear, this compulsory formula is only for the curriculum set by the State Board of Education, and in schools run by the state government. TN’s commitment to educational choice is evident — even the Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha maintains its headquarters in Chennai.

• It is in this context that one must view the extra-constitutional conditions imposed belatedly on TN by the Union government for the release of our state’s allocation of the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan funds (approximately Rs 2,152 crore) in the FY 2024-2025 Union Budget approved by Parliament.

Do You Know:
Vinay Sahasrabuddhe Writes:

• Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin’s allegation that Hindi has eaten into smaller languages like Maithili, Santhali, etc, is false and a blatant attempt to pit one language group against the other.

• It’s vote bank politics in the name of language. Note that no one from these smaller groups — but rather, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu — is expressing concern about their languages facing an existential threat.

• CM Stalin has also talked about a monolithic Hindi identity. However, no monolithic identity could really be officially established in any language group. In Maharashtra, Karnataka and even Tamil Nadu, people in different regions speak different versions of the language.

• During the Mughal era, Urdu and Farsi made inroads into many Indian languages. The level of adulteration was so alarming that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had to personally monitor the creation of a Marathi Rajya Vyavahar Kosh, or a dictionary of Marathi administrative terms. With this initiative, he ensured that foreign languages do not have place of pride at the cost of indigenous languages. Later, British rule ensured the needless but all-pervading domination of English and prevented the development of several Indian languages as mediums of acquiring knowledge.

• As English was the language of the ruling class, speaking it became a symbol of higher social status leading to an inferiority complex among those speaking their mother tongue. Sadly, save for a few regional languages like Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and some North Eastern languages, most other Indian language groups have inadvertently submitted to the “status-symbol phenomenon” and paved the way for linguistic adulteration.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Here’s what the Hindi baiters don’t get

UPSC Prelims Practice Question Covering similar theme:
2. Which of the following constitutional provisions relate to language in India?
1. Article 29 – Protection of interests of minorities, including their language.
2. Article 343 – Hindi as the official language of the Union.
3. Article 351 – Directive for the promotion of Hindi.
4. Article 370 – Special status to Jammu and Kashmir, including linguistic provisions.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
a) 1, 2, and 3 only
b) 2, 3, and 4 only
c) 1, 3, and 4 only
d) 1, 2, 3, and 4

EXPRESS NETWORK

Target to limit global warming to 1.5°C is hanging by thread: IPCC chair

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

What’s the ongoing story: The world’s aspiration to limit global warming to 1.5°C is still possible but “hanging by a slender thread”, Jim Skea, chairperson of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which assesses climate change science, said here Thursday.

Key Points to Ponder:

• ‘The recent IPCC findings indicate that the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C is under threat’—Discuss

• Discuss the implications of failing to achieve this target and suggest measures India can take to mitigate climate risks.

• ‘The Paris Agreement and subsequent IPCC reports emphasize the urgent need for global climate action’—Comment

• Examine the challenges faced by developing countries in meeting their climate commitments while ensuring economic growth.

• Analyse India’s stance on climate justice and equity in the context of global climate action, particularly in light of the Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) principle.

Key Takeaways:

• Skea said that with warming having exceeded 1.5°C in 2024, the world is entering, even if temporarily, a zone with high risks of climate change. The impact could be limited by utilising available options in energy supply such as wind and solar energy and by turning to adaptation opportunities to cut risks of climate change.

• “After the IPCC special report on the 1.5 degree warming was published in 2018, I was quoted as saying that limiting warming to 1.5 °C was possible within the laws of chemistry and physics, and that is still true. But that aspiration is hanging by a slender thread,” Skea said at The Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) World Sustainable Development Summit. Under the Paris Climate Accords, nearly 200 countries decided to keep the increase in temperatures below 2°C above the pre-industrial levels, and preferably limit it to 1.5°C.

• The three-day TERI summit, which began Wednesday, is being held days after IPCC held a crucial meeting in Hangzhou, China, to set the future course of action on producing the next set of reports on the latest state of earth’s climate.

• The IPCC’s synthesis report integrating the contributions of three working groups and its special report will be produced during the current seventh cycle and released in the second half of 2029.

Do You Know:

• The WMO assessment said that the five-year period between 2023 and 2027 was almost certain to be warmer than the previous five year period between 2018 and 2022. The developing El Nino in the equatorial Pacific Ocean is also expected to play a role in this. Usually, El Nino has the impact of increasing the global temperature in the year after it develops. That means that 2024 could receive an additional warming pressure due to El Nino.

• The 1.2 degree Celsius warming over India is considerably less than the 1.6 degree Celsius, or higher, that has been experienced over the global land surface. This is not surprising, but it also does not mean that the threat of climate change is less in India compared to other areas.

• India is located in the tropical area, quite close to the equator. The increase in global temperature has been more pronounced in the higher altitudes, near the polar regions, than near the equator. This is attributable to a complex set of atmospheric phenomena, including heat transfers from the tropics to the poles through prevailing systems of air circulation.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍2024 was the warmest year for India and the world. But why was warming lower over India?

Previous Year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
3. In the context of India’s preparation for Climate-Smart Agriculture, consider the following statements: (2021)
1. The ‘Climate-Smart Village’ approach in India is a part of a project led by the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), an international research programme.
2. The project of CCAFS is carried out under Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) headquartered in France.
3. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India is one of the CGIAR’s research centres.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Previous Year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
📍‘Climate Change’ is a global problem. How will India be affected by climate change? How Himalayan and coastal states of India will be affected by climate change? (2017)

COP30 host Brazil calls for additional structures to ensure climate commitments are delivered

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance; Environment

Mains Examination:

• General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

• General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

What’s the ongoing story: Brazil, the host of this year’s annual climate conference, COP30, has called for setting up of “additional” multilateral mechanisms “complementary” to the Paris Agreement framework to ensure commitments by countries on climate action are fulfilled.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Who Organised World Sustainable Development Summit 2025?

• World Sustainable Development Summit 2025-What are the key takeaways?

• What you know about ‘The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)’?

• Brazil, as the host of COP30, has called for additional structures to ensure climate commitments are delivered—Elaborate

• Discuss the challenges in global climate governance and suggest mechanisms to improve accountability in climate action.

• ‘The role of emerging economies like Brazil and India is becoming increasingly crucial in global climate negotiations’—How?

• How emerging economies like Brazil and India can shape future climate agreements while balancing economic development and environmental sustainability?

• ‘Climate finance remains a key challenge in meeting global emission reduction targets’—Discuss

• Evaluate the effectiveness of mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Loss and Damage Fund in supporting climate action in developing nations.

Key Takeaways:

• In an interaction with journalists here Thursday, Brazil’s Minister for Environment and Climate Marina Silva acknowledged that the US pull-out from the Paris Agreement would hurt progress on climate action but said multilateral process was still the only way to effectively deal with the climate crisis.

• Minister Silva, who was in New Delhi to attend the annual World Sustainable Development Summit organised by TERI, said the idea is “to propose this discussion on (building) structures that could be complementary to the (UN) process to follow up on the commitments that have been made”.
—She, however, clarified that this was not part of the negotiation agenda at COP30, scheduled to be held in November in the Brazilian city of Belem. “It is important to fully acknowledge that…no country can do this on its own, all parties of the UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) must attend to it together. This (the discussion on this proposal) is something that will take place in the action agenda of COP30… This is not part of the negotiations,” she said.

• Action agenda refers to discussions that happen on the sidelines of COP meetings. These are voluntary and meant to encourage countries to take additional measures to fight climate change. Negotiations are the formal process through which decisions are taken by consensus. These decisions become international law.

• On the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, she said it was incumbent upon other countries — Brazil, India, China, the EU, the UK and others — to work more closely to strengthen the multilateral system.

Do You Know:

• In 2025, Brazil is hosting the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30), which will take place in Belém, Pará. The chosen city will provide the world with a unique platform to discuss climate solutions, firmly rooted in the heart of the Amazon.

• The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention. All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention, including institutional and administrative arrangements.

• A key task for the COP is to review the national communications and emission inventories submitted by Parties. Based on this information, the COP assesses the effects of the measures taken by Parties and the progress made in achieving the ultimate objective of the Convention.

• The COP meets every year, unless the Parties decide otherwise. The first COP meeting was held in Berlin, Germany in March, 1995. The COP meets in Bonn, the seat of the secretariat, unless a Party offers to host the session. Just as the COP Presidency rotates among the five recognized UN regions – that is, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe and Others – there is a tendency for the venue of the COP to also shift among these groups.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Five things you need to know about Conference of the Parties (COP), the world’s biggest climate meeting

Previous Year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
📍Describe the major outcomes of the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). What are the commitments made by India in this conference? (2021)

ECONOMY

As US sanctions hit India’s Russian oil imports, smaller suppliers’ cash in

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies III: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

What’s the ongoing story: Recent American sanctions on Russia’s oil trade have started to have an impact on India’s crude oil imports from Moscow, which fell to an over two-year low in February.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is the main reason behind India’s crude oil diversification strategy?

• What are the challenges and opportunities this presents for India’s energy security.

• India’s crude oil import diversification strategy has led to increased engagements with Africa and Latin America—Analyse the implications of this shift.

• Discuss the role of refining capacity and technological advancements in India’s ability to adapt to changing global oil supply chains.

• Evaluate the measures taken by India to reduce its dependence on traditional crude oil suppliers and ensure energy security in the face of global uncertainties.

Key Takeaways:

• To make up for the lost Russian volumes for now, Indian refiners are actively diversifying their crude oil sources by turning to relatively smaller suppliers from regions like Africa and Latin America, per vessel tracking data.

• In January, just before demitting office, the US’s Joe Biden administration announced sweeping sanctions against Russia’s oil trade.

• It sanctioned as many as 183 tankers—a sizable part of the so-called shadow fleet that had kept Russian oil flowing—apart from sanctioning two Russian oil majors and Russian insurance companies, among others involved in the Russian oil sector and trade.

• The sanctions have made it difficult for Indian refiners to secure enough cargoes of Moscow’s crude, and they are being forced to look elsewhere to cover the gap.

• In February, India’s oil imports from Russia declined 14.5 per cent month-on-month to 1.43 million barrels per day (bpd), the lowest since January 2023, shows data from commodity market analytics firm Kpler.

• Russia’s share in India’s oil imports declined to around 30 per cent in February, down significantly from the 2024 average of around 38 per cent.

Do You Know:

• With the exception of Iraq, which is India’s second-largest supplier of crude, oil imports from the other key West Asian suppliers—Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—declined sequentially. Oil imports from Iraq in February rose 5.5 per cent sequentially to 1.09 million bpd, while imports from Saudi Arabia declined over 6 per cent to 679,372 bpd. India’s oil imports from the UAE fell over 22 per cent in February to 342,076 bpd.

• On the other hand, oil imports from relatively smaller sources of India’s oil imports, like Brazil, Nigeria, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Qatar, Oman, Alegria, Republic of the Congo, Libya, and Gabon, rose in February. Some of these smaller suppliers exported oil to India after a gap of a few months. February also saw Argentina appearing on the map of India’s crude oil import sources by supplying around 25,000 bpd.

• Suppliers like Gabon, Libya, Algeria and the Republic of the Congo featured on India’s oil import sources list in February after being absent for varying periods. India’s oil imports from these countries ranged between 35,000 bpd and 55,000 bpd in February.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Iraq, UAE gain as India’s Russian oil imports slip to 12-month low in Dec amid Moscow’s high domestic demand

UPSC Prelims Practice Question Covering similar theme:
4. Which of the following countries are significant alternative crude oil suppliers to India, apart from Russia?
1. Nigeria
2. Brazil
3. Venezuela
4. Iran
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 1, 2, and 3 only
c) 2, 3, and 4 only
d) 1, 2, 3, and 4

EXPLAINED

What USAID gives, to whom

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.

What’s the ongoing story: A program to explore the creation of a secure 5G Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) for India as part of the United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy, initiatives for clean air and water and sanitation, and dozens of health projects will come to a halt in India following a decision by the Trump administration (January 20 Executive Order titled “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid”) to end foreign aid and all but disband the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is United States Agency of International Development (USAID)?

• United States Agency of International Development (USAID)-Role and functions

• Analyse the implications of merging USAID with the U.S. State Department.

• Evaluate the significance of USAID’s initiatives in India, particularly in areas such as health and climate change.

Key Takeaways:

• USAID has been a major contributor to health- and population-linked projects in India over the last two decades. In recent years, it has also focussed on building systems in India as part of a partnership strategy drawn up in 2022 to counter China in the Indo-Pacific.

• In 2022, USAID was fourth among providers of Official Development Assistance to India with a contribution of $228 million after Japan ($2.97 billion), European Union institutions ($383.5 mn) and Germany ($235 mn), according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data.

• Data on foreignassistance.gov, a joint website of USAID and the US Department of State that details US non-defence foreign assistance through governments and NGOs, show USAID disbursed a total $2.8 billion in Official Development Assistance to India since 2001.

• The largest aid packets came over 2022 and 2023 – $228 million and $175 million respectively. In 2024, $151 million had been disbursed to India until December 19, when the site was last updated.

• A significant increase in USAID allocation to an economic support fund to India after the Covid-19 pandemic – $148 million in 2022 and $81 million in 2023 – was the main reason US aid to India reached all-time highs over the last three years.

• These years were the first since the 2001-08 period when total annual disbursals to India exceeded $100 million. (The earlier peak of $175 million was reached in 2006.)

Do You Know:
• USAID is the “lead international humanitarian and development arm of the US government”, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

• The agency provides assistance to other countries primarily by funding non-governmental organisations (NGOs), foreign governments, international organisations, or other US agencies, often for specific programs to alleviate poverty, provide education and healthcare, among other things.

• The agency managed more than $43 billion in funds, and provided assistance to around 130 countries in FY2023. (See Charts). The top 10 recipients of USAID-managed funds in FY2023 were: (in descending order of funding) Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Syria.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Trump, Musk & USAID

Pashu Aushadhi initiative for health of livestock

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies III: Economics of animal-rearing

What’s the ongoing story: The government will open “Pashu Aushadhi” stores across the country to provide affordable generic veterinary medicines to people engaged in animal husbandry and dairying.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Discuss the significance of Pashu Aushadhi Kendras in improving livestock health and rural livelihoods.

• What are the major challenges in ensuring affordable veterinary healthcare for Indian farmers?

• How initiatives like Pashu Aushadhi Kendras, Rashtriya Gokul Mission, and NADCP can help in improving livestock productivity and farmers’ income.

• The expansion of Jan Aushadhi Kendras to include veterinary medicines is a step towards holistic rural healthcare—how this initiative aligns with India’s broader rural development goals.

Key Takeaways:

• The Pashu Aushadhi initiative has been conceptualised on the lines of the existing Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJK), which provide “quality generic medicines at affordable prices” to people in order to “bring down the healthcare budget of every citizen of India”.

• More than 10,300 PMBJKs are currently functional across the country, according to the Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers. India will celebrate Janaushadhi Diwas on March 7.

• “Generic medicines” are basically non-branded drugs, which are marketed under a non-proprietary or approved name rather than a proprietary or brand name.

• While the PMBJKs provide medicines for humans, Pashu Aushadhi Kendras will provide generic medicines for animals.

Do You Know:

• The Pashu Aushadhi initiative is part of the revised Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme (LHDCP), which was approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (March 5).

• LHDCP has an overall outlay of Rs 3,880 crore for the years 2024-25 and 2025-26. Of this, Rs 75 crore have been provided for “good quality and affordable generic veterinary medicine and incentive for sale of medicines under” the Pashu Aushadhi component.

• As per the 20th Livestock Census, India’s Livestock population stood at 535.78 million in 2019. This included a total bovine population (including cattle, buffalo, mithun and yak) of 302.79 million.

• The Pashu Aushadhi stores will be run by cooperative societies and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samriddhi Kendras (PMKSK). The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying will soon release guidelines for the functioning of these stores, a source said.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍What is the livestock census and why is it conducted?

How does a cricket ball swing? How does saliva help in its movement?

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General Science.

What’s the ongoing story: Indian pacer Mohammad Shami on Thursday (March 6) appealed to the ICC to lift the ban on using saliva to shine cricket balls that was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is swing?

• Why does a cricket ball swing?

• What is the primary scientific principle behind conventional swing in cricket?

• What is the concept of Bernoulli’s principle?

• What is reverse swing and why does it occur?

• Where does saliva figure in all this?

Key Takeaways:

• Swing refers to the lateral movement of a cricket ball in the air, before it lands on the pitch. It is essentially a product of an air pressure differential on either side of the ball.

• A thin layer of air forms along the ball’s surface after it is released by the bowler. But the so-called “boundary layer” must separate from the surface at some point. Where this separation occurs on either side of the ball determines the air pressure on that side.

• Bowlers generally tilt the seam towards one direction or the other. In a new ball, the raised seam disturbs the airflow on the side towards which it is tilted. This turbulent flow on the seam side sticks to the ball’s surface longer and travels faster than the smooth laminar flow on the other side.

• According to Bernoulli’s principle, faster travelling air on the seam side results in a decrease of air pressure on that side, making the ball swing in that direction. In theory, a new ball that is held straight — with the seam perfectly aligned to the direction it is travelling — will not swing because the airflow on both sides of the ball is even.

Movement of the cricket ball during a ‘swing’.

Do You Know:

• Cricketers have traditionally used saliva to shine one side of the ball, smoothen the surface, and make it a tad heavier on that side. The idea is to create as great of a contrast between the two sides of the ball as possible, which helps generate reverse swing. Cricketers have chewed on all kinds of mints and candy to aid the shining process — sugary saliva is heavier, and thus considered more effective for shining a cricket ball.

• Saliva is the most readily accessible shining agent that works the way cricketers want it to. Take sweat, for example. Rubbing the ball with sweat is legal but sweat is not as good a polishing agent as saliva, presumably because it does not contain mucus.
Moreover, the ball tends to soak up sweat — too much sweat can soften the ball which is not something bowlers want. Softer balls do not bounce as much, they do not turn as quickly, or retain much pace after pitching. In short, they are easier for a batter to deal with.

• Other substances like vaseline have also been touted, although they are not as effective. Notably, vaseline is lighter than sweat. As former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra once said: “Vaseline can help keep the shine, but it does not make the ball heavier on one side”.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Why Mohammed Shami is appealing to ICC to allow use of saliva on the cricket ball again

 

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

1. (c) 2.(a) 3.(d) 4.(b)

 

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