Why in news?

India has secured a long-term uranium supply deal with Australia, marking a key step toward operationalising the India-Australia Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, signed nearly 12 years ago.

The deal follows similar long-term uranium agreements with Canada and Kazakhstan signed earlier this year, reflecting India's push to diversify and secure fuel supplies for its nuclear power expansion.

While the volume of uranium oxide (yellowcake) to be supplied and the duration of the agreement have not been disclosed, the deal is part of a broader strategy to secure fuel amid India's ambitious nuclear expansion plans.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• India's Nuclear Power Targets
• India's Current Uranium Sourcing
• The NSG Waiver and Expanding Partnerships
• Why India Depends on Imports?
• Conclusion

India's Nuclear Power Targets

• India aims to expand its civil nuclear power capacity to 100 gigawatt-electric (GWe) by
• Last year, the government opened the tightly regulated civil nuclear sector to greater private participation to support this goal.

India's Current Uranium Sourcing

• Uranium, though a common element found worldwide, requires several processing stages before becoming usable nuclear fuel: Mining and milling; Conversion; Enrichment (where required); Fuel fabrication.
• India's indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), which run on natural uranium, source fuel through a mix of domestic production and imports.
• In contrast, enriched uranium used in India's two Light Water Reactor (LWR) plants, Tarapur and Kudankulam, is entirely imported.
• Domestic reserves
  • India's uranium oxide reserves stand at around 4.3 lakh tonnes, spread across 47 deposits in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
  • The state-owned Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) holds the mandate to mine and process uranium, operating major mines at Jaduguda and Turamdih (Jharkhand) and Tummalapalle (Andhra Pradesh).
• The supply gap
  • Despite these reserves, domestic sources meet the uranium requirement for only 2.4 GWe out of India's total 8.7 GWe nuclear capacity; the rest depends on imports.
  • A Ministry of Power committee, tasked with preparing a roadmap for 100 GW capacity by 2047, estimated that India will need an additional 8,029 tonnes of natural uranium and 1,045 tonnes of enriched uranium annually by 2047.

The NSG Waiver and Expanding Partnerships

• India's ability to import uranium was unlocked in 2008, when the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) granted it a "clean waiver", making India the only non-signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to enjoy such trading privileges.
• Import trends
  • Between 2008-09 and 2024-25, India imported a total of 18,842.60 metric tonnes of uranium (as ore concentrate, natural uranium dioxide pellets, and enriched uranium dioxide pellets) for reactors under IAEA safeguards.
  • In 2024-25, nuclear plants generated 56,631.48 million units of electricity, of which 39,180 million units came from imported uranium.
  • The estimated requirement of imported natural uranium for operating and proposed safeguarded PHWRs is around 9,000 metric tonnes during 2025-2033.
• Current and emerging suppliers
  • India currently imports uranium from Russia and Uzbekistan.
  • Cameco Corp. (Canada) signed a $2.6-billion supply agreement in March; shipments are expected to begin next year.
  • Kazatomprom (Kazakhstan), the world's largest uranium producer, agreed in February to sell a substantial volume to India. Both Cameco and Kazatomprom were major suppliers to India until 2020-21.
  • France supplied uranium ores and concentrates in 2025-26, while the US supplied similar imports in 2024-25.

Why India Depends on Imports?

• The core reason is economic: mining and processing domestic uranium into ore concentrate costs three to four times more than importing it internationally, largely due to the poor grade of uranium ore found in India.
• However, the Ministry of Power committee cautioned that the global push toward nuclear power could drive up international uranium prices in the coming years.
• It recommended that India consider enhancing domestic uranium production, even if costly, to maintain energy security, potentially through additional government equity infusion into UCIL to facilitate its expansion.

Conclusion

India's push to diversify uranium imports, from Australia to Canada and Kazakhstan, reflects the reality that domestic reserves alone cannot sustain its 100 GWe nuclear ambition by 2047.

Balancing import dependence with long-term investment in domestic uranium production will be central to ensuring both energy security and the pace of India's nuclear expansion.

Why in news?

Fighting between the US and Iran has resumed after a fragile ceasefire, with the conflict's second phase centred almost entirely on control of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which 20% of the world's energy supply flows.

The renewed hostilities have significant stakes for India, given its large expatriate population in West Asia and its dependence on energy imports through the strait.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Background: The Ceasefire and MoU
• How Iran Asserted Control?
• The Omani Route Controversy
• Breakdown of Doha Talks
• Why Iran Won't Back Down?
• Military Lessons from the Conflict
• Stakes for India

Background: The Ceasefire and MoU

• The US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire on June 14, followed by a MoU signed on June 17. Key terms included:
  • Iran would allow ships free passage for 60 days through the Strait of Hormuz.
  • Iran would work with Oman to define the strait's future administration and maritime services.
• However, tensions emerged almost immediately, suggesting the two sides never truly agreed on the strait's long-term status.

How Iran Asserted Control?

• Two days after the MoU, Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), established in May, circulated terms reasserting itself as the nodal transit authority, requiring vessels to hold passage permits and PGSA-approved insurance.
• Though free initially, fees were reserved for later, effectively formalising Iran's stake in the strait's management.
• While US-Iran delegations met in Switzerland on June 21 and sanctions were lifted the next day. But the PGSA, already sanctioned, was never explicitly relieved — leaving shipping firms wary of dealing with it.

The Omani Route Controversy

• Later, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), working with Oman, announced a temporary corridor: a southern route via Oman alongside Iran's preferred northern route.
• This effectively formalised the Omani route without Iran's consultation, prompting Tehran to call any route other than its own "unauthorised and dangerous."

Breakdown of Doha Talks

• Later, US and Iranian officials met in Doha, where Iran and Oman reportedly proposed a voluntary toll modelled on the Malacca-Singapore Straits. The US rejected this in favour of restoring the pre-war status quo.
  • Notably, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore clarified that the Malacca and Singapore Straits, like Hormuz, are "Straits Used for International Navigation," where no fees or tolls are levied on transit passage.
  • A voluntary Aids to Navigation Fund exists but is explicitly not a toll.
• Talks in Doha ultimately broke down over US resistance to any formal management arrangement for Hormuz.
• As a result, fighting resumed in mid-July.
  • On July 7, Iran struck three ships on the Omani route, including the India-bound Al Rekayyat, one of the largest LNG carriers built, an incident considered one of shipping's worst-case scenarios.
  • Trump declared the ceasefire over.

Why Iran Won't Back Down

• In the second phase, Iran has also targeted alternatives to the strait, hitting ship-to-ship transfers off UAE's Fujairah pipeline and pushing the Houthis to disrupt Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline route via Red Sea attacks.
• Despite the MoU's promise of economic relief for a sanctions-hit economy, Iran's resistance stems from two factors:
  • Distrust of US commitments — new leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei called Trump's signature "utterly worthless and devoid of credibility" after alleged repeated breaches.
  • The imperative to retain control over Hormuz, its most significant strategic leverage.
• Iran has also continued pushing for a formal transit fee, an Iranian Environmental Protection Agency official reportedly sought "environmental services" charges from ships, citing UNCLOS provisions, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Military Lessons from the Conflict

• According to ISW, Iran has adapted its tactics, deploying high-speed, manoeuvrable missiles and increasingly using cluster munitions to compensate for accuracy issues seen in earlier strikes against Israel.
• For the US, the conflict has reinforced lessons from Afghanistan and Iraq: excessive, poorly targeted firepower tends to generate more adversaries rather than resolve conflict.

Stakes for India

• India faces both humanitarian and economic risks from the conflict:
  • Human cost: Fourteen Indians have died and two remain missing since the war began on February 28, mostly seafarers and workers in the Gulf. New Delhi has protested the loss of lives to both Iran and the US.
  • Economic impact: Rising energy prices linked to the conflict are already having an inflationary and market impact on India's economy.
• India has urged both parties to return to dialogue and diplomacy, cautioning against a global economic slowdown that would disproportionately hurt the Global South.

Conclusion

The US-Iran conflict's second phase shows that control over the Strait of Hormuz, not broader territorial ambitions, is now the central battleground.

With insurers pricing in continued risk and both sides digging in, a durable resolution remains elusive, leaving India exposed to rising energy costs and continued risk to its citizens working across the Gulf and at sea.

About India’s First Immersive Language Museum:

• Museum of Word, also known as Shabdalok, at the National Library campus in Kolkata, is India’s first immersive language museum.
• It was developed by the National Library under the Union Culture Ministry.
• It showcases the country’s linguistic heritage and traces the evolution of oral and written traditions through interactive, technology-driven exhibits.
• The first phase of the museum chronicles the diversity of Indian languages, scripts, and literature.
• Instead of being a conventional repository, it has been designed as an immersive cultural experience with digital displays, holograms, and motion-sensor technology to engage visitors.
• The museum has nine galleries that explore different facets of the history of languages and their influence on India’s civilization and culture.
• Shabdalok celebrates India’s 22 official languages and traces their journey from oral traditions and ancient manuscripts to printed works and modern electronic texts.
• One of its key attractions allows visitors to trace the evolution of words over centuries, illustrating how their pronunciation, meaning, and usage have changed over time.

About Aral Sea:

• It is a saline lake in Central Asia straddling the boundary between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to the south and north.
• It was once a large saltwater lake in Central Asia and the world’s fourth-largest body of inland water.
• The remnants of it nestle in the climatically inhospitable heart of Central Asia, to the east of the Caspian Sea.
• Formation:
  • The Aral Sea depression was formed toward the end of the Neogene Period.
  • It was made by waters from the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya rivers that were dependent on glacial melt.
• Climate:
  • The Aral Sea is located within the harsh climate region of Central Asia.
  • The area experiences a desert-continental climate, characterized by hot summers, cold winters, and varying diurnal air temperature.
• Reason for its Disappearance:
  • The lake once covered large area between the Kyzylorda and Aktobe regions in Kazakhstan and the Karakalpakstan region of Uzbekistan.
  • However, the lake started shrinking in the 1960s, when the Soviet government decided to divert the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya, to irrigate the surrounding desert region.
  • By the 1980s, the Aral Sea had shed 80% of its volume, resulting in the extinction of native fish species and severe ecological degradation, including the emergence of the Aralkum Desert.
  • Today it is on the verge of complete disappearance.

About Hoollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary:

• It is located in the Jorhat district of Assam.
• It is named after the Hoolock Gibbon, the only ape species found in India. It has the thickest gibbon populations in Assam.
• River: The Bhogdoi River creates a waterlogged region dominated by semi-hydrophytic plants along the border of the sanctuary.
• Vegetation: Most of the vegetation is evergreen in character and is composed of several canopy layers.
• Flora: Hollong trees, Nahar trees and many shrubs.
• Fauna:
  • It is home to the only nocturnal primate found in the northeast Indian states, the Bengal slow loris.
  • Other primates include the stump-tailed macaque, northern pig-tailed macaque, eastern Assamese macaque, rhesus macaque, and capped langur.
  • Also found at the sanctuary are Indian elephants, tigers, leopards, jungle cats, wild boar, three types of civet, four types of squirrel, etc.
  • The sanctuary is home to many species of birds, including several rare and endangered species, such as the white-winged wood duck, the Bengal florican, and the great hornbill.

About Narwar Fort:

• It is a historical fort located in the Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh.
• It is spread atop the Vindhya ranges.
• Madhav National Park is located a short distance to the west.
• History:
  • The Narwar town, which lies below the fort, is said to have been the capital of Raja Nala of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, and it was called Nalapura until the 12th century.
  • Constructed by the Kachwaha Rajputs in the 10th century, Narwar Fort has witnessed the rise and fall of various dynasties.
  • Successively held by the Kachwaha, Parihara, and Tomara Rajputs, it eventually fell under Mughal rule in the 16th century.
  • It was conquered by the Maratha chief Scindia in the early 19th century.
• Architecture:
  • The interior of the fort is divided by cross walls into four sections known as “ahata” and “dholaahata,”
  • The architecture of the fort and palaces is basically Rajput in style with flat ceilings, fluted columns, and multifold arches.
  • The inner walls of the palaces have been decorated with bright paint and glass beads.
  • Outside the walled town are memorial pillars of the Tomar chiefs.

About Mangal Pandey:

• He was a brave Indian soldier during the pre-independence era.
• His attack on British officers on March 29, 1857 is widely regarded as one of the earliest triggers of the Revolt of 1857, referred to in different historical traditions as the First War of Independence or the Sepoy Mutiny.
• He was born on July 19, 1827, Ballia district in Uttar Pradesh.
• In 1849, Pandey joined the army of the British East India Company at the age of 22.
• He served as a sepoy in the 6th Company of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry in Barrackpore.
• He revolted against the East India Company for introducing cartridges that were greased with animal fat, as it hurt the religious sentiments of the soldiers.
• Mangal Pandey attacked two British officers on March 29, 1857.
• Following this, he was hanged to death on April 8, 1857, in Barrackpore. He was only 29 years old when he was executed.
• However, his act of revolt, subsequent arrest, and hanging triggered a nationwide uproar and marked the beginning of the revolt of 1857.
• Following this huge mass movement, the British were forced to recognise the trouble and passed new rules through the Government of India Act, 1858.

About Mexico:

• Location: It is located in the southern part of North America.
• Bordering Countries: It shares its land border with the United States of America to the north and with Guatemala and Belize to the southeast. 
• Maritime boundaries: It is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean to the south and west; by the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea to the east. 
• Capital City: Mexico City.
• Geographical Features of Mexico:
  • It is a part of the circum-Pacific “Ring of Fire”—a region of active volcanism and frequent seismic activity. 
  • Peninsulas: It consists of the Baja Peninsula and Yucatan Peninsula.
  • Major Rivers: Rio Grande River and Colorado river (which is shared with US)
  • Lakes: Lake Chapala and Lake Cuitzeo.
  • Major mountain range: Sierra Madre.
  • Natural Resources: Petroleum, silver, Antimony, Copper, Gold, Lead, zinc, natural gas.

About NAMASTE Scheme:

• The National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) ensures the safety, dignity and social security of sanitation workers while accelerating the transition towards mechanised sanitation across the country.
• It is jointly implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• It aims to eliminate hazardous manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks by promoting mechanised cleaning practices, skill development and comprehensive welfare measures for sanitation workers.
• Implementing agency: It is implemented by the National Safai Karmacharis Finance Development Corporation (NSKFDC) under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE)
• Duration: It would be implemented for three years from FY 2023-24 to FY 2025-26.
• The scheme targets the following objectives:
  • Zero fatalities in sanitation work,
  • Eliminates direct contact with human faecal matter,
  • Ensures all cleaning is done with safety devices by skilled workers,
  • Strengthens Emergency Response Sanitation Units (ERSUs), and empowers workers through Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and entrepreneurship.