Mentor Comment
Growth in the Index of Core Industries slowed to 5.4 per cent in July from 6 per cent in the previous month. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index eased in the same month to its lowest level since August 2021, on weak domestic demand conditions. July’s core sector growth was still the second highest rate in the last seven months. The tension sits between that headline and its composition: a large part of the growth rests on a statistical low base effect, the two genuinely strong sectors are cement and electricity, and the domestic crude oil and natural gas sectors have contracted continuously for at least the last 14 months.
https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/24th-august-2026-the-hindu-oped-core-concerns/

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Prelim 2027 The Hindu, IE &PIB
Microtheme: Economics: "BoP, FDI, FPI, External Financing" Repeated 10 times in the UPSC Prelims

With reference to the framework governing foreign direct investment (FDI) in India, which one of the following statements is correct?
(a) Investment traceable to an entity of a country sharing a land border with India ordinarily requires prior government approval, and the recent relaxation permits the automatic route only where the land border beneficial ownership is small and non controlling, and where majority shareholding and control of the Indian investee entity continue to rest with resident Indian citizens or with resident Indian entities owned and controlled by them.
(b) The land border investment restriction applies by name to China alone, and investment from every other neighbour sharing a land border with India travels on the automatic route without any approval requirement.
(c) Foreign direct investment is a debt creating capital inflow, and the resulting debt servicing obligation on the Indian investee is the reason such investment is screened before entry.
(d) The Press Notes that amend the Consolidated FDI Policy are issued by the Reserve Bank of India, which also notifies the sectoral caps and entry routes applicable to equity investment.

Prelim 2027 The Hindu, IE &PIB
Microtheme: Science and Technology / Space Programs: "Space ProgramsXIND" Repeated 8 times in the UPSC Prelims

Consider the following statements regarding private participation in India's space programme:
I. The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) is an autonomous, single window agency under the Department of Space, created to authorise and facilitate private sector participation in space activities that were previously the exclusive domain of ISRO.
II. NewSpace India Limited is a public sector undertaking under the Department of Space that commercialises ISRO developed technologies and manages the transfer of ISRO's capabilities to industry.
III. ISRO's existing Sriharikota launch facility and the under development Kulasekarapattinam spaceport function as mutually exclusive alternatives, so continued government investment in one necessarily comes at the expense of capacity at the other.
IV. Private Indian space companies have already matched ISRO's own launch vehicles in scale and operational reliability, so private participation currently substitutes for, rather than supplements, ISRO's own launch role.

Source link for the above question: https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/global-space-norms-find-a-firm-footing-in-indias-new-re-entry-rules/