1 . Pharmacovigilance, Biovigilance & National Formulary of India 2026
Syllabus Mapping: GS-II: Health | Public Health | Patient Safety | Pharmaceutical Sector | Health Governance; GS-III: Science & Technology | Biotechnology | Digital Health
- The 7th National Formulary of India (NFI) 2026 was launched by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare through the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) to promote the rational and safe use of medicines.
- The NFI 2026 contains 34 chapters, 20 appendices and 653 drugs, including 42 fixed-dose combinations and 30 immunologicals, and is also available digitally through NFI Online.
- The Government has approved the Biovigilance Programme of India, under which IPC will monitor adverse events associated with medicines and biological products used in organ and tissue transplantation, including products given to donors and recipients.
- India has around 1,150 Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) Reporting Centres, with plans to expand the reporting network to the primary healthcare level.
- India’s contribution to the WHO patient-safety database has increased from 123rd position during 2009–2014 to 8th globally, reflecting greater reporting and generation of medicine-safety data.
- The 6th National Pharmacovigilance Week (17–23 September 2026) is being observed with the theme “Promoting Rational Use of Medicines through Pharmacovigilance: A Step Towards Safer Healthcare.”
- Pharmacovigilance is the science and activities concerned with the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects or other medicine-related problems.
- The National Formulary of India is a guidance document for healthcare professionals, published by IPC since 2009, to support evidence-based and rational prescribing; its linkage with the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) helps align prescribing with national health priorities.
- IPC is responsible for publishing the Indian Pharmacopoeia, India’s official book of quality standards for medicines, while the NFI provides guidance on their rational and safe use.
2. Building India’s Critical Minerals Recycling Ecosystem
Syllabus Mapping: GS-III: Critical Minerals | Mineral Security | Circular Economy | E-Waste Management |
- The Ministry of Mines organised a national seminar on “India’s Critical Minerals Recycling Ecosystem and Circular Economy” to strengthen domestic recycling and recovery of critical minerals.
- Union Minister Kishan Reddy highlighted critical-mineral recycling as important for India’s clean-energy transition, defence preparedness, digital economy and advanced manufacturing, and called for collaboration among government, industry, research institutions and startups.
- The seminar emphasised recovery of critical minerals from End-of-Life (EOL) products, responsible e-waste management, innovative technologies and greater Jan Bhagidari.
- The Ministry identified e-waste, industrial waste and other EOL materials as secondary sources of critical minerals, which can improve resource efficiency and reduce dependence on primary mineral sources.
- The Minister launched the Concept Paper on Critical Mineral Recycling Ecosystem, focusing on secondary-resource recovery, resource efficiency and a circular and self-reliant recycling ecosystem.
- The Ministry is promoting responsible e-waste disposal and its channelisation into the formal recycling ecosystem under Special Campaign 6.0 and Swachhata Hi Seva.
- India identified 30 critical minerals in 2023 based primarily on their economic importance and supply risk, covering minerals important for sectors such as clean energy, electronics, semiconductors, defence and advanced manufacturing.
- Important Indian critical minerals include lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, copper, gallium, germanium, indium, tungsten, platinum-group elements and rare earth elements; their applications span batteries, semiconductors, electronics, magnets and defence technologies.
- Critical minerals and rare earth elements are not synonymous: critical minerals are identified according to their strategic/economic importance and supply vulnerability, whereas rare earth elements constitute a specific group of 17 elements.
- Urban mining refers to recovery of valuable materials from discarded products such as e-waste and spent batteries, making waste streams a potential source of critical minerals.
3. India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
Syllabus Mapping: GS-II: India–New Zealand Relations | Bilateral Trade | International Agreements
- The India–New Zealand FTA will enter into force on 20 October 2026 after completion of internal processes; it was signed on 27 April 2026 in New Delhi, and the New Zealand Parliament passed the implementing legislation on 16 September 2026.
- The FTA provides duty-free access from day one for 100% of India’s exports to New Zealand, including textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, gems and jewellery, engineering goods and processed foods, where New Zealand’s tariffs were as high as 10%.
- Indian manufacturers will also receive tariff-free access to selected industrial inputs, including wooden logs, coking coal and metal scrap, improving input competitiveness.
- India has protected sensitive agricultural interests by excluding dairy, most animal meat except sheep, key agricultural commodities, sugar and edible oils from tariff concessions.
- New Zealand’s apples, kiwifruit and Manuka honey will receive calibrated access through Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs), Minimum Import Price and seasonal import windows, along with safeguards for domestic farmers.
- The agreement establishes an Agriculture Productivity Partnership, with dedicated action plans and proposed Centres of Excellence covering orchard management, post-harvest practices, supply chains, food safety and sustainable beekeeping.
- The agreement provides mobility opportunities through 5,000 Temporary Employment Entry visas for skilled Indians and 1,000 Working Holiday visas annually for young Indians, along with student mobility and post-study work rights of up to 3 years for STEM graduates and 4 years for doctoral scholars.
- Indian pharmaceutical and medical-device exporters will benefit from New Zealand accepting inspection approvals from regulators including the US FDA, EMA, UK MHRA and Health Canada, potentially reducing regulatory delays for market entry.
- India and New Zealand also announced a Strategic Partnership and India–New Zealand Strategic Partnership: Roadmap to 2030, with an aspirational goal of doubling bilateral two-way trade in goods and services to NZ$7 billion by 2030; bilateral merchandise trade was around USD 1.1 billion in 2025–26.
- An FTA (Free Trade Agreement) is a reciprocal trade agreement under which participating countries provide preferential market access by reducing or eliminating tariffs and other trade barriers on agreed products/services; it is different from a customs union, where members also adopt a common external tariff.
- Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) combines two instruments: a specified quantity of imports receives a lower/preferential tariff, while imports beyond the quota may face a higher tariff; therefore, TRQs provide controlled rather than unlimited market access.
4. PM-SETU
Syllabus Mapping: GS-II: Skill Development | Employment | Inclusive Growth; GS-III: Human Capital | Manufacturing & Industry | Emerging Technologies | Vocational Education
- The National Steering Committee (NSC) of MSDE approved a ₹320 crore Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) for the Kurukshetra ITI Cluster, Haryana under PM-SETU, with Jindal Naveen Avsar Limited as the Anchor Industry Partner.
- With this approval, cumulative PM-SETU investment has reached ₹2,491 crore across 10 ITI clusters, aimed at transforming Government ITIs into modern, industry-led and future-ready centres of excellence.
- PM-SETU stands for Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs and is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) focused on upgrading Government ITIs with modern infrastructure and industry-aligned vocational training.
- The ITI system provides vocational training through trades designed to develop practical technical skills; it is therefore distinct from conventional academic higher education and is closely linked to employability, apprenticeships and industrial workforce requirements.
- The Hub-and-Spoke model concentrates advanced infrastructure and specialised training facilities at selected Hub ITIs, while Spoke ITIs are connected to and supported by the Hub, allowing infrastructure and expertise to be shared across multiple institutions.
- NSTIs are institutions under the Directorate General of Training (DGT), MSDE, providing advanced skill training and particularly important instructor-training/Training of Trainers functions within India’s vocational-training ecosystem.
- Apprenticeship provides structured workplace-based practical training alongside institutional instruction, making industry participation important for reducing the skill–job mismatch and improving transition from training to employment.
5. Exercise NOMADIC ELEPHANT 2026
Syllabus Mapping: GS-II: India–Mongolia Relations | Bilateral Defence Cooperation; GS-III: Defence Exercises
- The 18th edition of Exercise NOMADIC ELEPHANT commenced at the Foreign Training Node, Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, and is being conducted from 21 September to 3 October 2026.
- It is an annual platoon-level bilateral military exercise between the Indian Army and Mongolian Armed Forces, conducted alternately in India and Mongolia; the previous edition was held at Ulaanbaatar in May–June 2025.
- Both sides are represented by 45 personnel each, with the exercise focused on enhancing joint capability for Counter-Insurgency (CI) Operations in semi-urban and mountainous terrain under a UN mandate.
- Training includes Cordon and Search Operations, Room Intervention Drills, Special Heliborne Operations, Cyber Security Training, drones and counter-drone systems, along with tactical-level operational drills.
