UPSC Daily News Summaries: Essential Current Affairs, Key Issues and Important Updates for Civil Services

Scan through simple, relatable summaries that help you make sense of the day’s news.

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Daily News Capsules

1. Global climate efforts hit as US pulls out from key bodies

The US withdrew from 66 international organisations and conventions on Wednesday, with its most significant exit, from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), likely to deal a crippling blow to global efforts to tackle the climate crisis. In a statement, the White House said these organisations and conventions do not “serve American interests” and “advance globalist agendas over US priorities”. Describing the money that goes into them as “a waste of taxpayer dollars”, the statement said that some of these also espouse “radical climate policies, global governance and ideological programs that conflict with US sovereignty and economic strength”. Of the 66, around half are UN organisations. The areas where they work range from climate and the environment to labour and migration to trade and sexual violence. The Gurugram headquartered International Solar Alliance is one of the organisations the US is exiting. The US already exited the Paris Agreement (on climate) in 2025; the exit will take effect from January 27 this year. With Wednesday’s move to exit the UNFCCC and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which seeks to provide the scientific basis for policy action against the climate crisis, the US is now out of the framework the world has used for decades to understand and combat the climate crisis. UNFCCC was established in 1992 to provide a legal basis for climate talks. All COP meetings happen under its aegis. The Paris Agreement of 2015 was the result of these discussions. Almost 200 countries have ratified the UNFCCC with the US being the first developed country to do so (after its senate approved it). The US is the world’s largest historical emitter of gases responsible for global warming. UNFCCC is based in Bonn and funded by member countries, with the US providing the largest share — around a fifth. With Wednesday’s move, the US becomes the first country to withdraw completely from the global climate change mitigation framework and global scientific assessment of climate change. It also means the US will not do its fair share in climate change mitigation or meet its obligation of providing climate finance to developing countries for energy transition, mitigation and adaptation.

Possible Question

The withdrawal of a major emitter from multilateral climate institutions has implications beyond emissions targets. Examine the legal, financial and geopolitical consequences of the United States exiting the UNFCCC and IPCC for global climate governance and climate finance commitments to developing countries.

2. Green warrior, a lasting conservation legacy

Pioneering ecologist Madhav Dhananjaya Gadgil, whose seminal report on the protection of the Western Ghats in 2011 warned against the pillaging of the environment and whose bottom-up approach to conservation prioritised marginalised communities in the battle against the climate crisis, died after a brief illness in Pune on Wednesday night. Trained in evolutionary biology, Gadgil was among the earliest Indian scientists to use mathematical models to explain processes such as natural selection, population dynamics, resource allocation and ecological sustainability. For 31 years, he taught at IISc, where he established the Centre for Ecological Sciences and engaged in basic as well as applied research in collaboration with tribals, farmers, herders and fisherfolk. He was involved in drafting India’s Biological Diversity Act and chaired the Science and Technology Advisory Panel of Global Environment Facility and the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel. In 2011, Gadgil chaired the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel that recommended that 75% of the 129,037 sq km area of the Western Ghats be declared environmentally sensitive because of its dense forests and the presence of a large number of endemic species. The report, whose recommendations are yet to be implemented, was prescient about the fallout of the ravaging of the mountain range but many states at the time deemed it controversial because of development concerns. A second commission recommended it be reduced to 50% and subsequent panels sought to further shrink it to 37% amid growing concerns that mindless development and haphazard construction was ravaging the sensitive Ghats. Four draft notifications have since been issued but eco-sensitive areas along the Western Ghats are yet to be notified by the Centre, 15 years since the first such demarcation was recommended. Among the areas recommended for such demarcation by the panel was that in Kerala’s Wayanad where over 250 people were killed in landslides in 2024. Over the last decade, Gadgil repeatedly spoke out against unregulated mining and construction on steep slopes and advised that disasters such as the 2018 Kerala Floods would only be exacerbated by such activity.

Possible Question

The Gadgil Committee report on the Western Ghats highlighted tensions between ecological sustainability and development. Discuss the key recommendations of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, the reasons for their limited implementation, and the implications for disaster risk reduction in ecologically sensitive regions.

3. Importers brace for $150bn tariff refund fight if Trump loses case

Company executives, customs brokers and trade lawyers are bracing for a Supreme Court ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs — and a potential fight over obtaining perhaps $150 billion in refunds from the US government for duties already paid by importers if he loses. Anticipation that the court will strike down the tariffs Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 rose after the November arguments in the case when conservative and liberal justices alike voiced scepticism about whether that law gave him the authority to levy the duties. The court is expected to issue rulings on Friday but, as is customary, has not said what case or cases will be acted upon. Some companies anticipate that even if the court invalidates Trump’s tariffs, the president will not make it easy for them to get refunds. “It’s not in the government’s DNA to give back money. And Trump would not want to give back money,” said Jim Estill, CEO, Danby Appliances, a Canadian company that sells small refrigerators, microwaves and laundry equipment through big-box stores including Home Depot. Trump is the first president to invoke the IEEPA to impose tariffs. This law historically had been used for imposing sanctions on adversaries or freezing their assets. His IEEPA-related tariffs generated $133.5 billion in estimated collections between February 4 and December 14, the date of the most recent data from US Customs and Border Protection, or CBP.

Possible Question

Unilateral trade actions have increasingly tested the boundaries of domestic law and international trade norms. Analyse the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs, and discuss its implications for the WTO framework, supply chains, and legal certainty in global trade.

4. Antibiotics under scrutiny as India steps up AMR fight

With antimicrobial resistance now a major public health and economic threat, India’s top drug regulator is overhauling rules for how antibiotics are developed, sold, and monitored. The proposed framework, based on a much-awaited report by a top panel of experts, has called for the development of new antibiotics, expediting regulatory approvals, strict prohibition of over-the-counter (OTC) sales, stamping prescriptions to check re-use and developing state-specific software models to track antimicrobial sales in real-time to check antimicrobial resistance (AMR). A high-level sub-committee of the Drugs Consultative Committee (DCC) has submitted its report to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), outlining over a dozen urgent recommendations for the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (NAP-AMR). With essential antibiotics failing, AMR has now become a public health crisis for India, with 267,000 deaths directly attributed to it each year, according to the National Centre for Disease Control. Beyond loss of life, its economic impact is staggering. A World Bank report of 2017 warned that if AMR was not checked, it could cost the world trillions of dollars in healthcare expenses and lost productivity. In India alone, the failure to control superbugs could lead to an extra $21 billion in economic losses by the middle of the century, said a 2024 study by the Center for Global Development.

Possible Question

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is emerging as a major public health and economic threat. Evaluate India’s proposed regulatory and surveillance measures to combat AMR, and discuss the challenges in balancing antibiotic access, regulation, and pharmaceutical innovation.

5. Crypto trades: 3rd-party reporting rules from April

India plans to further tighten its regulation of cryptocurrency tractions and could mandate third party reporting from April 1, two people aware of the development said. It has already put over 4,500 suspected cases involving virtual digital assets (VDAs) under the scanner, they added, asking not to be named. Although VDAs, including cryptocurrencies, are anonymous and borderless, the income-tax department, still tracks all transactions involving domestically-located exchanges through their income tax returns (ITRs) that have to disclose VDA-related transactions. The assesses have to make disclosure of acquisition and transfer of all such VDAs. In order to ensure that third parties such as banks and crypto-exchanges mandatorily inform the government about all VDA transactions, the government has already inserted a new provision–285BAA in the Income-Tax Act. CBDT is framing the rules which will be notified soon and the provision could be enforced from April 1, 2026, the first person said. Although VDAs including cryptocurrencies are unregulated in India, they are under the preview of both direct tax (30% tax on income) and indirect tax (GST). While domestic virtual asset service providers (VASPs) are largely complying with TDS provisions, overseas entities having Indian clients are under the scanner for non-compliance, the second person said.

Possible Question

Virtual Digital Assets pose regulatory challenges due to their anonymity and cross border nature. Examine India’s evolving tax-led approach to cryptocurrency regulation, including third-party reporting, and assess its effectiveness in ensuring compliance without stifling innovation.

Editorial Snapshots

A. What the GDP numbers reveal

India’s GDP growth is expected to be 7.4% in 2025-26, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said in its first advance estimates released on Wednesday. This is pretty much on expected lines given RBI’s forecast of 7.3% growth in its December 2025 monetary policy resolution. With almost a quarter left before the fiscal year gets over, the first advance estimates are keenly watched because they are the last GDP data released before the presentation of the Union Budget for the next fiscal year. The suspense was greater this time because nominal GDP growth was expected to be underwhelming given the subdued inflation through most of the ongoing fiscal year. NSO’s latest data expects nominal GDP growth for 2025-26 at 8%, which is significantly lower than the 10.1% assumed in the 2025-26 Budget. Nominal GDP serves as the base for revenue projections, and a significant shortfall in its value can lead to revenue shortfalls, thereby causing problems for overall budgetary math including the fiscal deficit. The good news from the latest GDP numbers is that the absolute value of nominal GDP is marginally higher than what was assumed in the 2025-26 Budget. This means that there is no reason to suspect a major slippage as far as the fiscal calculus of the budget is concerned. And as inflation inches upwards — which is not necessarily a bad thing — we should see a revival in nominal growth rate and, perhaps, a moderation in real growth rate because of indexation-related issues. To be sure, given the GDP base revision on the cards, the changes in future GDP data and growth rate could be much larger than just inflation driven. Meanwhile, India’s economy continues to face a turbulent external environment, is using its domestic momentum to maintain resilience, and will have to pump-prime both the domestic and external to boost future growth on a sustainable basis. Macroeconomic stability, reforms, and, given the times, diplomacy too, must work in tandem to achieve this goal.

Possible Question

Advance estimates of GDP play a critical role in fiscal planning. Discuss how deviations in nominal GDP growth from budget assumptions affect revenue projections fiscal deficit management, and capital expenditure decisions in India.

B. Thank you and rest in peace, Bazball

“We aren’t here to win or lose, we are here to entertain.” It was with this audacious proclamation that England captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum kicked off one of the more entertaining experiments in Test cricket. The 4-1 Ashes victory by Australia might bring the curtain down on a tactic that was popularly known as Bazball, but there is no denying that it was fun while it lasted. It got people back in the stands, stirred up debate, and challenged the norms. In that sense, regardless of the results, it was a success. A new tactic (and it was new in that it was the way the entire team, not one or two individuals, played) is often a step into the unknown. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Could anyone have predicted that Total Football, a fluid tactic where any outfield player can take over another’s role that was famously employed by Ajax and the Dutch football teams in the 1970s, would capture the imagination of the public in the way it did? In basketball, the Golden State Warriors made a miss-more than-hit shot, the three-pointer, the centrepiece of their domination of the US’s National Basketball Association (NBA). In cricket itself, we saw the West Indies teams of the late ’70s revolutionise the game by playing four fast bowlers when everyone else thought a spinner or two was necessary, and closer still, we saw the great Australian team of the late ’90s and early 2000s score at a rate that wasn’t quite Bazball but pretty stunning when viewed in isolation. Which is why one must say thank you, Bazball. It was far from perfect, as the tours of India and Australia showed, but where would sport be without these risk-takers? Imagine everyone doing the same thing year after year! It would be boring and monotonous, without a hint of the unpredictability or awe that makes sport so watched and loved.

Possible Question

Innovation in institutions—whether in sport, governance or the economy—often involves risk-taking and departure from convention. Discuss the role of experimentation and adaptive strategies in sustaining institutional relevance, drawing parallels from sports and public policy.

Fact of the day

Gadkari announces V2V tech for safer Indian roads: Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday announced that India will roll out vehicle to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology that will bring the number of road accidents significantly down. The technology, according to the minister, will enable cars to directly communicate with one another and issue automatic warnings to drivers. The system, currently deployed in a few countries, allows vehicles to exchange safety alerts without entering a mobile or internet network, Gadkari said. He said V2V communication will work across the front, rear and sides of vehicles, and will factor in terrain and road curves, allowing alerts even when hazards are hidden from a driver’s line of sight. The technology will be integrated within Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), substantially enhancing their effectiveness. He said the estimated cost of the system would be ₹5,000– ₹7,000 per vehicle. The ministry is finalising standards and regulations, after which a notification will mandate installation in new vehicles first, followed by retrofitting in older vehicles. To support its implementation, the department of telecommunications will provide free spectrum under the National Frequency Allocation Plan, allowing vehicle manufacturers and on-board unit makers to deploy the system without additional spectrum costs. Gadkari said the government aims to fully implement the technology within the current year.