GDP vs Happiness: India, the world’s fifth-largest economy by GDP, faces a paradox: it ranks 118th in the 2025 World Happiness Report, trailing smaller neighbors Nepal and Bhutan. This disparity raises critical questions about GDP as a flawed indicator of well-being and underscores the need for holistic metrics like Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness (GNH) or … Read more
Quick commerce is revolutionizing India’s retail sector, promising 10-minute deliveries and tech-driven convenience. However, this rapid growth of quick commerce in India has sparked a fierce debate about its impact on traditional retail, particularly the survival of neighbourhood kirana stores. While startups like Blinkit and Zepto cater to urban consumers’ demand for instant gratification, small … Read more
World Happiness Index 2025– Published annually since 2012, the World Happiness Report is a landmark annual survey of the state of global happiness that ranks more than 150 countries by their happiness levels. The World Happiness Report provides valuable, interdisciplinary insights into the well-being and happiness of people across the globe, reflecting a worldwide demand … Read more
Pink fire retardants are a critical tool in combating wildfires, especially in large-scale operations. Their distinctive pink color (achieved with fugitive dyes) helps pilots and ground crews track application areas. Context- Pink fire retardants are currently in the news due to several global and India-specific factors, like Wildfire incidents (California forestfire) UPSC Relevance GS III … Read more
In a quantum leap bridging physics and engineering, Italian scientists led by Dr. Daniele Sanvitto (CNR NANOTEC) have achieved the unprecedented: freezing light by merging photons with electron excitations in semiconductors. Published in Nature Physics, this experiment creates polaritons—hybrid light-matter particles—that temporarily trap light. Context- For UPSC aspirants, this breakthrough aligns with India’s National Quantum … Read more
Spice Production in India- India, often hailed as the “Spice Bowl of the World”, has been the epicenter of spice cultivation, trade, and culinary heritage for millennia. With a staggering 48% share in global spice trade by volume and a legacy of producing 75 out of 109 spices recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The sector sustains over 8 … Read more
Discover the fourth form of water (EZ water) –Water, the essence of life, is universally recognized in its three classical states: solid (ice), liquid (water), and gas (vapor). However, groundbreaking research in the early 2000s unveiled a mysterious fourth form of water, challenging conventional scientific understanding. Termed “Exclusion Zone (EZ) water” or “fourth-phase water”. This … Read more
The Vedic Civilization, also known as the Vedic culture or the Vedic period, was a complex and varied civilization that arose in ancient India between 1500 and 600 BCE. It was distinguished by the practice of Vedic religion and the composition of the Vedas, a collection of sacred texts that serve as the foundation of … Read more
