Prelims Focus 15th April 2026

15/04/2026

22 3 minutes read

Whip

In News: The majority party has made a three-line whip to all its MPs, urging them to attend the respective Houses in the prolonged Budget session of Parliament.

A whip requires people in a party in the House to follow a particular course of the party.
The political parties give whips to their MPs to vote in favour or against the bill, depending on the party line.
The issue with the whip is that after it has been issued, the MPs of each party will be forced to comply with the whip or they will be forced to lose their seat in Parliament.
It gets its name from the old British tradition of whipping lawmakers to vote according to the party.
It is not provided in the constitution but is said to be a parliamentary convention.
The parties nominate one of their senior members who represents their members in the House as an issuer of whips – he is known as a chief whip, and he/ she is aided by other whips.

Project HIM SAROVAR

In News: Project Him Sarovar has been initiated in Ladakh.

Purpose: The project will target the scientific harvesting of snow and the establishment of water bodies to solve the acute water shortage problem in Ladakh.
The project will construct storage ponds to receive water from melting snow and glaciers.
These ponds will serve irrigation and rural water requirements.
Another objective of the initiative is to come up with a local example of climate-resilient water management.
Since the valleys in Ladakh are dependent on snowfalls and glaciers as their source of water, there are unpredictable weather change which has caused water shortages, greatly impacting the lives of the villagers.
The Indian Army, ITBP, BRO and the local communities have supported the project.

Transition Metals

In News: Recent studies that were published in Nature have shown that aluminium is able to replicate some of the catalytic functions of transition metals.

Transition metals are those elements found in the d-block of the periodic table, and are defined by partially filled d-orbitals.
Examples: Palladium, Platinum and Rhodium.
Applications: These metals are widely used as catalysts due to their unique electronic configurations. In their reactions they have their catalytic properties which make the reaction time very low and yield and efficiency are optimised.
They are crucial in petrochemical refining, polymer manufacturing, and agrochemical industries.

e-SafeHER Programme

In News: The e-SafeHER Programme is a nationwide cybersecurity awareness initiative launched on April 13, 2026, by the Reliance Foundation and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Core Mission and Goals

Target Audience: Aims to empower one million women across rural India over the next three years (by 2029).
Primary Objective: To equip women with the skills and confidence to navigate the digital ecosystem safely, particularly for financial transactions and online livelihoods.
The “Cyber Sakhi” Model: The programme follows a peer-led model where trained women become “Cyber Sakhis” (Cyber Friends), serving as educators and ambassadors within their local communities to spread digital safety awareness.

Key Features of the Programme

Localized Learning: Training materials include multilingual content, audio-visual modules, and blended learning formats to ensure they are accessible to women in remote rural regions.
Implementation Strategy: The initiative is being rolled out in phases, starting with pilot programs in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.
Collaborative Approach: It combines MeitY’s national cybersecurity framework (ISEA), C-DAC’s technical expertise, and Reliance Foundation’s grassroots delivery through Self-Help Groups (SHGs).
Integration: Designed for sustainability, the programme is embedded into existing digital literacy and women’s empowerment schemes, avoiding the need for new, separate infrastructure.

Exercise Dustlik

In News: The 7th edition of Exercise Dustlik, a joint military training exercise between India and Uzbekistan, is currently underway from April 12 to April 25, 2026. The drills are being conducted at the Gurumsaray Field Training Area in Namangan, Uzbekistan.

Key Details and Objectives

Participants: Roughly 60 personnel each from India (MAHAR Regiment & Air Force) and Uzbekistan, totaling around 120, focusing on counter-terrorism in semi-mountainous terrain.
Focus: The 7th annual edition aims to enhance interoperability, sharing best practices in tactical drills, land navigation, and cordon-and-search operations.
Context: Held alternatingly, the exercise (meaning “Friendship”) has been running since 2019, with the previous edition (6th) in Pune, India.
Operational Goal: Development of joint command-and-control capabilities to counter terrorism.