In News:

The Global Peace Index (GPI) 2025, compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), ranked Iceland as the world’s most peaceful country, a position it has held since 2008. Covering 163 independent states and territories that represent 99.7% of the global population, the index provides a comparative measure of peace across nations.

India’s Performance

• Rank: 115th out of 163 countries.
• Score: 2.229, reflecting a 0.58% improvement over the previous year.
• Improvement Drivers: Gradual decline in domestic disputes and relative stability in societal security.
• Persistent Challenges: High militarisation, cross-border tensions, and sporadic internal unrest continue to limit India’s peacefulness score.

Global Rankings

• Top 10 Peaceful Nations (2025): Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Singapore, Portugal, Denmark, and Slovenia.
• Least Peaceful Nations: Russia, Ukraine, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Yemen.
• Regional Highlights:
  • Europe dominates the top 10 due to low crime, political stability, and strong institutions.
  • South America witnessed improvements, with Argentina and Peru making notable gains.
  • Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East remain the least peaceful, marred by civil wars, terrorism, and political instability.

Criteria of Assessment

The GPI ranks countries across 23 indicators grouped under three domains:

1. Societal Safety and Security – crime rates, political stability, refugee impact.
2. Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict – wars, terrorism, civil unrest.
3. Militarisation – defence expenditure, arms imports/exports, armed personnel.

Global Peace Trends 2025

• The global average peacefulness has declined, primarily due to growing internal conflicts, rising militarisation, and widening geopolitical divides.
• While countries like Iceland scored consistently high due to low crime, absence of an army, and strong social trust, many regions faced setbacks with increased unrest and repression (e.g., Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa).

In News:

Researchers have discovered a new orchid species, Gastrochiluspechei, in Vijoynagar, Arunachal Pradesh, one of India’s remotest administrative circles bordering Myanmar. Until now, this orchid was known to bloom only in Myanmar, highlighting the floristic link between Arunachal Pradesh and Southeast Asia.

Key Features of Gastrochiluspechei

• Genus: Belongs to the Gastrochilus genus, first recorded in 1825, comprising 77 species spread across tropical, subtropical, and temperate Asia.
• Identification: Distinguished by short axillary inflorescence, brightly coloured flowers, a distinct epichile on the hypochile, and two porate, globose pollinia on a slender stipe.
• Habitat: Thrives in moist, evergreen rainforests, growing on small trees near riverbanks.
• Flowering Season: Blooms between September and October.

Floristic Significance

• With this finding, India now records 23 species of the Gastrochilus genus, of which 15 are from Arunachal Pradesh.
• The discovery reinforces Arunachal Pradesh’s title as the “Orchid State of India,” which harbours about 60% of the country’s orchid diversity.
• It also provides scientific evidence of the biogeographical continuity between Arunachal Pradesh and Myanmar, where the species was earlier recorded in Kachin’s Putao County.

Broader Context

Orchids are not only indicators of ecological richness but also hold significance for conservation, floriculture, and sustainable livelihoods. The discovery of Gastrochiluspechei adds to India’s botanical wealth and underscores the need to preserve fragile Himalayan ecosystems where such rare species thrive.

In News:

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has launched the BHARATI initiative (Bharat’s Hub for Agritech, Resilience, Advancement and Incubation for Export Enablement) to accelerate India’s agricultural and processed food exports.

Objectives and Vision

• Empowering Startups: BHARATI will support 100 agri-food and agri-tech startups in its first pilot cohort beginning September 2025.
• Export Growth: It is aligned with APEDA’s vision of achieving $50 billion in agri-food exports by 2030.
• Innovation & Competitiveness: The initiative seeks to promote cutting-edge solutions in GI-tagged products, organic foods, superfoods, processed agri-foods, livestock, and AYUSH-based products.

Key Features

• Technology Integration: Focus on AI-based quality control, blockchain-enabled traceability, IoT-enabled cold chains, agri-fintech, sustainable packaging, and sea protocols.
• Export Challenges Addressed: Product development, value addition, perishability, wastage reduction, quality assurance, and logistics efficiency.
• Collaborative Ecosystem: Startups will be connected with agri-innovators, tech providers, and SPS-TBT focused ventures to deliver scalable, cost-effective export solutions.
• Capacity Building: Selected startups will undergo a three-month acceleration programme covering product development, export readiness, regulatory compliance, and market access.

Institutional Support

To build a strong support ecosystem, APEDA will partner with:

• State agricultural boardsand agricultural universities
• IITs, NITs, and premier research institutions
• Industry bodies and accelerators

Significance

• Strengthens India’s global competitiveness in agri-food exports.
• Promotes Atmanirbhar Bharat, Vocal for Local, Digital India, and Start-Up India missions.
• Encourages demand-driven backward integration, innovation, and sustainable food value chains.
• Creates a scalable annual incubation model, ensuring long-term growth in agricultural and processed food exports.

In News:

India’s energy sector is witnessing a paradoxical challenge: while 44 GW of renewable energy (RE) capacity is ready for deployment, it remains stranded due to lack of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), weak demand absorption, and systemic barriers. This “green energy paradox” highlights the tension between India’s global climate commitments and its domestic energy realities.

Current Energy Landscape

Despite global recognition for its renewable push, India’s energy mix remains heavily dependent on coal:

• Coal & lignite: ~79% of domestic energy (FY23).
• Renewables (excluding large hydro): Only 3.8% of domestic production.
• Oil & gas imports: Over 85% oil and 50% gas, making India highly import-dependent.

While renewable capacity is expanding, India continues to lock itself into long-term coal PPAs, raising both environmental and economic concerns.

Green Energy Paradox: Two Dimensions

1. Supply-Side Readiness

• 44 GW of RE projects are deployment-ready but idle without PPAs.
• Tariff challenges: Solar power in India remains costlier than global benchmarks due to high cost of capital, GST, duties, and import taxes.
• Storage costs: Storage-backed renewables (battery/pumped hydro) raise tariffs to ?6.6–?9/unit, making them uncompetitive against coal.
• Government interventions: Initiatives like the National Solar Mission, Hybrid Policy, Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) for batteries, and Viability Gap Funding (VGF) aim to reduce costs and promote adoption.

2. Demand-Side Weaknesses

• Discom reluctance: Financially stressed state distribution companies (discoms) prefer coal PPAs due to predictable pricing.
• Grid inflexibility: Poor transmission capacity, absence of smart meters, and weak demand-response systems hinder RE integration.
• Slow electrification: With electricity accounting for just 20% of India’s total energy consumption (vs. 28% in China), limited adoption of EVs, electric cooking, and industrial heating suppresses RE demand.
• Reliability deficit: India’s System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) stands at 600 minutes/year, compared to 35 minutes in Thailand and 46 in Malaysia, deterring energy-intensive industries.

Barriers to Integration

• Structural: Debt-ridden discoms, weak cross-subsidy frameworks, and lack of flexible grids.
• Economic: High capital costs, expensive borrowing, and unviable storage solutions.
• Environmental: Long-term coal lock-ins undermine India’s Net Zero 2070 goals, while idle RE capacity delays emissions reduction.

Initiatives Taken

• Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs): Mandate states to procure RE, though targets often clash with local grid capability.
• Green Open Access Rules (2022): Allow industries to directly purchase renewable power, bypassing discoms.
• National Green Hydrogen Mission: Positions hydrogen as a long-term storage solution and clean fuel.
• PLI for batteries and India Semiconductor Mission: Support indigenous storage manufacturing.

In News:

A devastating 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan near Jalalabad, killing over 800 people and injuring at least 2,800 across Kunar, Nangarhar, and Laghman provinces. The tremors, felt from Kabul to Islamabad, destroyed homes in remote mountainous regions and highlighted Afghanistan’s acute vulnerability to natural disasters.

Afghanistan’s Seismic Vulnerability

Afghanistan lies at the collision zone of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, making it one of the world’s most seismically active regions. The Hindu Kush mountain range, part of the greater Himalayan system, witnesses frequent tremors. Since 1900, at least 12 earthquakes exceeding magnitude 7 have struck northeast Afghanistan.

Most Afghans live in low-rise, mud-brick dwellings, which offer little resistance to seismic shocks. With poor infrastructure, fragile governance, and limited access to technology, the human toll of disasters is amplified.

Geographic and Geostrategic Context

Afghanistan is a landlocked, multi-ethnic nation in South-Central Asia, historically situated at the crossroads of trade and power rivalries—from the “Great Game” between Britain and Russia to Cold War confrontations.

• Capital: Kabul
• Neighbours: Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and China (via the narrow Wakhan Corridor).
• Geographic Features:
  • Mountains: The Hindu Kush dominates, with passes like the Khyber and Shebar, linking Central and South Asia.
  • Rivers: Amu Darya (north), Kabul River (tributary of Indus), Helmand (longest at 715 miles), and Hari Rud (Afghanistan–Iran boundary).
  • Regions:
    • Central Highlands – rugged, earthquake-prone terrain.
    • Northern Plains – fertile, resource-rich areas with gas reserves.
    • Southwestern Plateau – arid deserts such as Registan and Margow.

These geographical features make Afghanistan both strategically significant and highly disaster-prone.