Relevance (UPSC): GS-I – Culture & Heritage | GS-II – International Bodies; Internal Security (Heritage Crime) The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has launched a Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects. It publicly displays verified images and stories of looted idols, manuscripts and paintings so that…

Relevance (UPSC): GS-III – Environment; International Conventions The latest update of the Red List by the International Union for Conservation of Nature warns that several Arctic seals and seabirds face a higher risk of extinction. Shrinking sea-ice, warming waters and shifting prey are lowering breeding success, changing migration,…

Relevance (UPSC): GS-III – Environment & Biodiversity; Science & Tech (Genomics) A Stanford-led study that sequenced the whole genomes of 37 snow leopards finds that they are the least genetically diverse among big cats—likely because their numbers have stayed small and scattered for a very long time. Low…

Relevance (UPSC): GS-I – Demography | GS-II – Governance (Civil Registration) The latest Vital Statistics of India based on the Civil Registration System (CRS) shows 2.52 crore births in 2023, about 3.32 lakh fewer than 2022—confirming India’s steady fertility transition. Registered deaths rose slightly to 86.6 lakh (86.5…

Relevance (UPSC): GS-III – Indian Economy (Growth, Innovation & Policy) The Nobel Prize in Economics 2025 honours Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt for explaining how ideas power long-run growth. Mokyr (economic history): using archives and technology records, he showed how useful knowledge spread—from laboratories and guilds…

Relevance (UPSC): GS-III – Indian Economy; Social Security & Labour The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s Central Board of Trustees has simplified withdrawals for over three crore members. The retirement fund (under the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and the Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme, 1952) has…

Relevance (UPSC): GS-III – Indian Economy (Growth, Inflation, Monetary Policy) Retail inflation, measured by the consumer price index, has eased to 1.54% year-on-year. This is well below the lower tolerance band of 2% around India’s medium-term inflation target of 4%. In simple words, the average price rise faced…

Relevance (UPSC): GS-III – Energy & Environment; Infrastructure; Inclusive Growth On a hot July afternoon, a new bidirectional meter in a Lucknow home spins backwards. The family’s rooftop plant is feeding the grid and the bill is shrinking. Multiply that story by one crore homes—that is the promise…

Relevance (UPSC): GS-II – Polity & Governance (Transparency, Privacy, Citizen Charters) A mason in Beawar files a request under the Right to Information Act, 2005 to ask why his widow pension has stopped. Weeks later he gets copies of orders, names of sanctioning officers, and the pension is…

Relevance (UPSC): GS-III – Infrastructure, Energy & Environment | GS-II – Governance (Schemes & Delivery) On a warm morning, a suburban train glides into a solar-topped station. The announcement is crisp, the platforms are cleaner, and the locomotive hums instead of roars. This is not a brochure—it is…

Relevance (UPSC): GS-II – Polity & Governance (Social Justice); GS-I – Indian Society On a Friday bazaar in a Bundelkhand village, Meera (Class VIII) buys gur and chana for the walk home. The shopkeeper slips the packet to her with two fingers, asking her to place the coins…