1 . India–MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement
Syllabus Mapping: GS-II: International Relations | India’s relations with Latin America GS-III: Indian Economy | External trade | Trade facilitation
- India and MERCOSUR have initiated negotiations to expand their existing Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to deepen economic relations and create greater market-access opportunities for businesses.
- MERCOSUR is a South American regional economic bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as its core members. Venezuela’s membership remains suspended, while Bolivia has been admitted as a new member.
- The India–MERCOSUR PTA was signed on 25 January 2004 and entered into force on 1 June 2009. It provides preferential tariff concessions on 450 tariff lines by India and 452 tariff lines by MERCOSUR.
- Unlike a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a PTA provides tariff concessions on selected products rather than eliminating or substantially reducing tariffs across most traded goods. Its limited product coverage is one reason for seeking expansion.
- The scope of the expanded agreement will be determined through Terms of Reference (ToR), which will define the sectors, products, negotiating structure and areas of mutual interest to be covered.
- The expansion can help India diversify its export markets in Latin America, improve access for sectors such as pharmaceuticals, automobiles, engineering goods, chemicals, textiles and agricultural products, and reduce excessive dependence on a few major trading partners.
- MERCOSUR offers India access to a large South American market and may support cooperation in critical minerals, food security, energy, infrastructure, agriculture and industrial supply chains. However, greater market access must also address tariff barriers, standards, logistics costs and non-tariff measures.
- India and MERCOSUR also signed the First Additional Protocol to the PTA to recognise electronic Certificates of Origin (e-CoO) as legally equivalent to paper certificates.
- A Certificate of Origin certifies the country in which a product qualifies as originating under applicable rules of origin. It is important for exporters seeking preferential tariff treatment and helps customs authorities prevent misuse of trade preferences.
- The Protocol amends Article 16 of Annex III on Rules of Origin and requires electronic certificates to be issued and digitally signed by authorised entities in accordance with the domestic laws of the participating countries.
- Acceptance of e-CoO will promote paperless trade, reduce documentation and verification time, lower transaction costs and improve customs efficiency. It also supports India’s broader push for trade facilitation and digitalisation of logistics.
- The Protocol will enter into force after India and the MERCOSUR countries complete their respective internal procedures and notify one another. Its signing does not automatically mean immediate operational implementation.
2 . Great Indian Bustard Conservation and Sayara Van Kavach
Syllabus Mapping: GS-III: Environment | Biodiversity conservation | Species recovery | Protected areas | Forest management |
- The Great Indian Bustard (GIB) (Ardeotis nigriceps) is a critically endangered, ground-dwelling grassland bird found mainly in the arid and semi-arid landscapes of India.
- Its major threats include habitat loss and fragmentation, conversion of grasslands, power-line collisions, predation, disturbance and invasive species such as Prosopis juliflora.
- The GIB is protected under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. It is also included in CITES Appendix I.
- The Great Indian Bustard is the state bird of Rajasthan. Important habitats include the Desert National Park landscape in Rajasthan, the Naliya grasslands of Kachchh in Gujarat and parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
- The GIB conservation breeding programme, supported by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), aims to increase the captive population and support future recovery in the wild.
- The “jump-start” intervention involves replacing infertile eggs laid by wild GIB females with viable eggs from the conservation-breeding programme. The resulting chicks are raised with the aim of strengthening wild populations; the survival of a chick beyond the critical first three months in Gujarat is an important conservation milestone.
- Habitat-management measures in the Kachchh landscape include the restoration of around 11 sq. km. of grassland, construction of 30 km. of predator-proof fencing covering approximately 15 sq. km., and enhanced patrolling and rescue capacity.
- The Soft Release Centre at Naliya is intended to support the gradual release and adaptation of conservation-bred GIBs before their integration into suitable natural habitats.
- The conservation approach reflects in-situ conservation through habitat protection and restoration, along with ex-situ conservation through captive breeding. Their integration is essential for species whose wild population has declined sharply.
- The Sayara Van Kavach initiative in Kachchh uses the Miyawaki method of dense, multi-layered plantation. It covers about 9.46 sq. km. and includes more than 10,000 saplings of 47 native species suited to saline and low-water conditions.
3 . Operation Deep Manifest
Syllabus Mapping: GS-II: India–Pakistan relations | National security | Government policies GS-III: Foreign trade | Customs administration | Economic security | Supply-chain integrity
- Operation Deep Manifest is a DRI-led enforcement drive to detect and prevent the entry of Pakistan-origin goods through third countries by identifying misdeclaration, transshipment and manipulation of import documents.
- Under the operation, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized over 362 MT of Pakistan-origin dry dates at CFS Ambad, Nashik. The goods were routed from Karachi → Jebel Ali → India, while the documents declared the UAE as the country of origin.
- Transshipment involves transferring goods from one vessel or container to another during transit. Such routing does not automatically change the country of origin of the goods.
- India prohibited the direct and indirect import or transit of goods originating in or exported from Pakistan from 2 May 2025 through DGFT Notification No. 06/2025-26, citing national-security concerns after the Pahalgam terror attack.
- The case highlights the importance of Rules of Origin, which determine the economic nationality of goods for applying tariffs, trade restrictions and import prohibitions. Mere repacking, relabelling or transshipment generally does not confer a new origin.
- The operation strengthens economic security by protecting trade restrictions, preventing customs fraud and securing supply chains against covert movement of prohibited goods.
- The DRI functions under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and investigates serious customs violations, including smuggling, misdeclaration, under-invoicing and evasion of import restrictions.
- Effective enforcement requires coordination among DRI, Customs authorities, ports, shipping companies and freight forwarders, along with scrutiny of shipping routes, container changes, ownership patterns and country-of-origin declarations.
4 . Vayu UTtaM
Syllabus Mapping: GS-III: Defence technology | Drone technology | Airspace management | Atmanirbharta | Internal security
- Vayu UTtaM is an indigenous, multi-mode Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system demonstrated by the Indian Air Force during Dronathon–2026 at the Pokhran Field Firing Range, Jaisalmer.
- During the real-time demonstration, it successfully detected and tracked both military and civilian Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).
- Its main purpose is to manage the growing number of drones operating in congested airspace and support the identification and timely mitigation of unauthorised or rogue drones.
- UTM systems help coordinate drone movements by improving situational awareness, tracking and airspace deconfliction between different unmanned platforms and other airspace users.
- Vayu UTtaM has applications beyond defence, including civil aviation, critical infrastructure protection, airspace safety and public security.
- The system is important in the context of the rapid expansion of drone use in surveillance, logistics, agriculture, emergency response and military operations, which increases the risk of airspace congestion and unauthorised drone activity.
- Vayu UTtaM strengthens Atmanirbharta in Defence by developing indigenous capabilities in drone detection, tracking and airspace management instead of relying entirely on imported systems.
- It complements Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CUAS), which focus on detecting, identifying, tracking and neutralising hostile drones. UTM primarily supports the safe and coordinated management of drone traffic, while CUAS addresses security threats.
- The system reflects the shift from developing individual drones to building an integrated unmanned systems ecosystem, including communication networks, surveillance, identification, autonomy, airspace coordination and counter-drone capabilities.
5. TlCu₅Se₃: Unusual Heat Transport and Thermoelectric Potential
Syllabus Mapping: GS-III: Science & Technology | Nanotechnology and advanced materials | Energy efficiency | Waste-to-energy | Industrial innovation
- Researchers at JNCASR, Bengaluru, have identified an unusual heat-transport mechanism in thallium copper selenide (TlCu₅Se₃), a copper chalcogenide with potential for efficient thermoelectric energy conversion.
- Thermoelectric materials convert a temperature difference directly into electricity. They can help recover waste heat from power plants, cement and steel industries, automobiles, data centres and battery systems.
- Conventional heat transport in crystals occurs through phonons, which are quantised lattice vibrations. In TlCu₅Se₃, heat transport is unusual because strong anharmonicity and structural disorder promote wave-like coherence between vibrational modes.
- The material has a complex tetragonal, knot-like crystal framework with open channels along the c-axis. This structure restricts the movement of copper atoms and produces confined dynamic disorder, rather than liquid-like long-range ion migration.
- Restricted copper-ion movement generates strong anharmonicity, meaning atomic vibrations deviate from ideal harmonic behaviour. This disrupts conventional phonon propagation and leads to ultralow lattice thermal conductivity.
- Unlike superionic materials, where excessive ion migration can destabilise the crystal structure, TlCu₅Se₃ exhibits confined ion dynamics, helping suppress heat conduction while maintaining structural stability.
- The researchers used first-principles calculations and molecular-dynamics simulations to study atomic motion and explain the transition from particle-like phonon transport to wave-like thermal transport.
- TlCu₅Se₃ recorded a thermoelectric figure of merit (zT) of 1.7, indicating high thermoelectric performance among pristine ternary chalcogenides. A higher zT generally indicates better efficiency in converting heat into electricity.
- The study is significant for waste-heat recovery and thermal management, as materials with low lattice thermal conductivity and favourable electronic transport are desirable for thermoelectric devices and thermal-barrier applications.
