In News:

India’s statistical architecture is undergoing a major transformation as the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) moves toward developing a bottom-up District Domestic Product (DDP) framework.

The initiative seeks to address long-standing limitations in district-level economic measurement by integrating two critical datasets—the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) and the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). Beginning January 2025, the combined use of these datasets aims to provide more accurate, granular and timely insights into India’s local economic activity, enabling evidence-based policymaking at the district level.

For decades, most states have relied on top-down allocation methods to estimate DDP, proportionately distributing Gross State Domestic Product based on outdated demographic indicators such as population. This approach produces “near-identical growth rates across districts”, obscuring regional disparities. Recognising this gap, MoSPI has initiated a shift toward a bottom-up estimation model in partnership with state governments. By directly capturing enterprise-level and labour market data from each district, the new framework is expected to radically improve the precision of district economic accounts.

The ASUSE forms the backbone of this strategy. Covering the unincorporated non-agricultural sector—which includes micro, household-based and small enterprises across manufacturing, trade and services—ASUSE produces detailed information on operations, investment patterns, workforce size and value addition. Previously released annually, the survey now offers quarterly data, enhancing frequency and granularity. Given the dominance of the unorganised sector in India’s economy, ASUSE provides an indispensable window into local economic activity.

The PLFS, conducted monthly by the National Statistical Office (NSO), complements ASUSE by capturing labour force participation, employment conditions, earnings and occupational structures in both rural and urban areas. Together, the two datasets reflect the dual pillars of district economies—enterprise activity and labour engagement. MoSPI notes that large enterprises are easy to identify, but district-level output is primarily driven by households, nano units and MSMEs, which both surveys cover extensively.

By combining these datasets, MoSPI aims to compute DDP through:

(a) bottom-up aggregation of district-level enterprise and labour data;

(b) integration of informal sector output; and

(c) alignment of statistical systems with decentralised planning structures.

This marks a paradigm shift in India’s economic measurement, aligning with the government’s emphasis on data-driven governance under Viksit Bharat @2047.

The initiative is part of a broader overhaul of the statistical system. Several complementary efforts are underway:

• The Annual Survey of Service Sector Enterprises (ASSSE), launching in January 2026, will map the incorporated services sector.
• The National Household Income Survey (NHIS), beginning February 2026, aims to measure income distribution and inequality—despite traditional challenges of under-reporting.
• A forward-looking capital expenditure survey has been introduced to track investment trends.
• MoSPI is also expanding public access to over 250 datasets, including GST aggregates, e-Vahan registrations and trade statistics, to strengthen national accounts and support research.

Despite these advancements, challenges remain. Accurate data capture from unincorporated enterprises is difficult, statistical capacity varies across states, and integrating multiple datasets raises risks of double-counting. Yet experts view the reform as a critical step toward improving the granularity, reliability and timeliness of India’s economic statistics. With several states already experimenting with district-level estimation, MoSPI’s framework could soon enable standardised and credible DDP measurement nationwide, transforming local governance and development planning.

In News:

India is grappling with a growing employability crisis, underscored by the fact that only 42.6% of graduates are considered job-ready. This mismatch between academic training and labour market needs has become a structural challenge, affecting productivity, economic growth, and youth aspirations. The crisis signals a systemic misalignment rather than a shortage of talent.

Understanding Employability

Employability today goes beyond academic qualifications. It includes the ability to:

• Acquire and apply knowledge in real-world contexts.
• Adapt to evolving technologies and workplace demands.
• Engage in lifelong learning, unlearning, and relearning.
• Demonstrate soft skills, value creation, and ethical behaviour.

Modern industries require graduates who combine technical capability with communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and a growth mindset.

Causes of the Academia–Industry Divide

Academic Factors

• Outdated Curriculum: Syllabi often fail to match rapid technological changes, new job roles, and automation trends.
• Theory-Oriented Pedagogy: Learning remains exam-centric with limited exposure to practical projects, internships, or problem-solving environments.
• Soft Skills Deficit: Institutions provide little training in communication, adaptability, workplace behaviour, and emotional intelligence.

Industry Factors

• High Expectations: Employers expect “ready-to-deploy” graduates but invest minimally in onboarding or mentoring.
• Rapid Technological Shifts: Industry skill needs evolve faster than academia can adjust, widening the skills gap.
• Weak Collaboration: Companies often view academic institutions as outdated, resulting in minimal engagement in curriculum design or research.
• Short-Term Approach: Recruitment is prioritised over building robust, long-term skill ecosystems.

Government and Institutional Initiatives

• National Education Policy (NEP) 2020: Encourages experiential learning, flexibility, internships, and stronger industry linkages.
• AICTE Internship Mandate: Requires engineering students to undergo industrial exposure.
• Skill India Mission: Strengthens vocational education through Sector Skill Councils aligned with market needs.
• NASSCOM FutureSkills PRIME: Upskills youth in digital technologies such as AI, data analytics, and cybersecurity.

These initiatives aim to modernise learning pathways and improve alignment with industry demands.

Challenges in Implementation

Despite reforms, several structural challenges persist:

• Curricular Inertia: Bureaucratic hurdles delay rapid updates in university syllabi.
• Fragmented Skills Ecosystem: Weak coordination among government, academia, and industry limits policy effectiveness.
• Faculty Skill Gaps: Many educators lack exposure to new technologies and contemporary workplace practices.
• Urban–Rural Divide: Smaller and rural institutions suffer from poor infrastructure and limited corporate linkages.
• Low Industry Investment: Companies underinvest in academia–industry partnerships and long-term talent development.

Way Forward

• Structural Reforms
  • Curriculum Co-Design: Regular, collaborative revision of syllabi with inputs from employers, universities, and policymakers.
  • Dual-Learning Model: Embed apprenticeships, live projects, and work-integrated learning into higher education.
  • Faculty Immersion: Promote faculty internships, industry sabbaticals, and continuous upskilling.
• Skills and Ethics
  • Soft Skills & Ethics Labs: Establish dedicated centres for communication, workplace ethics, and emotional intelligence.
  • Outcome-Based Tracking: Use data to monitor alumni career trajectories and skill relevance.
• Industry Engagement: Incentivise long-term corporate participation in curriculum development, research, and training.

Conclusion

India’s employability challenge is fundamentally an issue of alignment, not ability. Bridging the gap between academia and industry requires shared responsibility, continuous innovation, and sustained collaboration. When education becomes practical, dynamic, ethical, and closely connected to the world of work, India can unlock its demographic potential and build a resilient, future-ready workforce.

In News:

The Lokpal of India, established under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, was envisaged as an independent anti-corruption ombudsman capable of investigating complaints against high public officials, including the Prime Minister, Union Ministers, MPs and government officials.

Conceived in the backdrop of the 2011 anti-corruption movement, the institution began functioning meaningfully only in 2019, when the first Lokpal was constituted—marking a long-awaited step in strengthening mechanisms for integrity and transparency in governance.

Mandate and Powers

• The Lokpal is empowered to conduct inquiries and investigations under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
• Its jurisdiction extends to all public servants—Groups A to D—besides heads of government-funded institutions.
• It possesses quasi-judicial powers, including summoning witnesses, demanding documents, ordering asset freezes, and recommending prosecution.
• Crucially, it maintains supervisory authority over the CBI in cases referred by it, reinforcing independent and credible investigations.
• The Lokpal’s composition includes a Chairperson and up to eight members—half of them judicial. As of 2025, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar (retd.) serves as Chairperson, supported by a seven-member team. Members are appointed by the President upon the recommendation of a selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, Speaker of Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition, Chief Justice of India, and an eminent jurist.

Performance Crisis and Data Trends

Despite its powerful mandate, the Lokpal’s performance has raised serious concerns. Since inception, it has received 6,955 complaints, yet only 289 preliminary inquiries have been ordered. Out of these, a mere seven cases have progressed to the prosecution stage—an alarming indicator of institutional underutilisation.

The declining public engagement is sharper still. Annual complaints peaked at 2,469 in 2022–23 but plummeted to 233 in 2025, suggesting fading public confidence. Nearly 90% of all complaints were received in its first four years (2019–2023), while the past three years recorded only 691 complaints combined.

Civil society groups have criticised the procedural rigidity of the Lokpal. Activists point out that many complaints are dismissed on technical grounds such as format errors, while substantive allegations remain unaddressed. Further, the Lokpal’s failure to upload annual reports since 2021–22 has generated questions about its transparency and accountability.

Institutional Weaknesses and Controversies

A major lacuna has been the delayed operationalisation of the prosecution wing, notified only in June 2025—twelve years after the enactment of the Lokpal Act—severely constraining its ability to pursue legal action. The credibility of the institution also came under public scrutiny when it issued a tender to procure seven BMW 330Li luxury cars for its Chairperson and members. Critics argue that an anti-corruption body must demonstrate fiscal restraint and ethical prudence in its own functioning.

Way Forward

Strengthening the Lokpal requires structural, procedural, and ethical reforms. A real-time digital dashboard should be created to enable public tracking of cases and reduce opacity. Complaint formats must be simplified to ensure accessibility for ordinary citizens. Institutional autonomy must be reinforced with adequate staffing for inquiry and prosecution wings. Annual reports should be mandatorily published and tabled in Parliament. Above all, Lokpal must cultivate public trust by adopting austerity and demonstrating moral credibility.

Conclusion

The Lokpal was created to be the custodian of public integrity—an independent safeguard against high-level corruption. However, its diminishing complaint inflow, administrative inertia, and controversies signal a crisis of legitimacy. Revitalising the institution through stronger transparency, greater accountability, and ethical restraint is essential if it is to fulfil its constitutional promise of clean and accountable governance.

In News:

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has proposed amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, mandating the labelling and disclosure of AI-generated content on social media platforms. The move comes amid growing public concern over deepfakes and synthetic media, which have begun to challenge democratic discourse, individual privacy, and digital trust.

The Rise of AI-Generated Content and Deepfake Concerns

India is experiencing a rapid surge in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for content creation across entertainment, advertising, and online communication. However, this technological boom has also led to the proliferation of deepfakes — hyper-realistic videos, images, and audio clips generated by AI that mimic real individuals or events.

The issue gained national prominence in 2023, when a manipulated video of a popular actor went viral, prompting outrage and prompting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to call deepfakes a new “crisis.” These incidents have exposed how synthetic content can be weaponised for political propaganda, misinformation, financial fraud, and reputational harm.

Key Provisions of the Draft Rules

The proposed amendments introduce a comprehensive framework to enhance transparency and accountability in digital content creation:

• Mandatory Self-Declaration:Users uploading content on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, or X (formerly Twitter) must declare whether their material is AI-generated or synthetic.
• Dual Labelling Mechanism:
  • Embedded Label: AI-generated visuals and audio must carry a visible watermark or label covering at least 10% of the surface area or duration.
  • Platform-Level Label: A visible disclaimer will appear wherever such content is displayed online.
• Platform Accountability:If users fail to disclose synthetic content, platforms must proactively detect and label it using AI-based detection tools. Non-compliance could lead to loss of safe harbour protection under Section 79 of the IT Act, making intermediaries legally liable for misinformation.
• Metadata Requirement:AI-generated material must include a permanent, traceable metadata identifier embedded at the time of creation to ensure accountability.
• Scope of Application:The rule extends beyond social media to AI content generation tools like OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Gemini, requiring built-in watermarking mechanisms.

Rationale and Policy Objectives

The policy aims to ensure that users in a democracy can distinguish between authentic and synthetic content. By mandating labelling and traceability, the government seeks to curb misinformation, protect democratic integrity, and uphold public trust in the digital ecosystem.

The ministry’s note emphasizes that AI-generated misinformation poses risks to national security, elections, and social stability, making proactive governance essential. Previously, such misuse was addressed under general impersonation and fraud provisions of the IT Act, 2000, but the evolving sophistication of generative AI tools now demands specific regulatory safeguards.

Global Context

India’s initiative aligns with global best practices.

• China (2025): Introduced mandatory AI labelling for deepfakes, voice synthesis, and chatbots with visible and hidden watermarks.
• European Union: Under its AI Act, mandates user notification when interacting with AI systems.
• United States: Developing federal standards for content authenticity and AI watermarking.

By adopting a binding legal framework, India positions itself among the early regulators of generative AI, setting a precedent for responsible innovation.

Implementation Challenges and the Way Forward

While the proposal has been broadly welcomed, challenges persist. Detecting AI-generated content across diverse languages and formats requires sophisticated detection infrastructure. Excessive compliance burdens may also affect startups and smaller creators in India’s expanding $12 billion AI ecosystem.

The government has invited public and industry feedback until November 6, 2025, signaling openness to iterative policy design. Successful implementation will depend on multi-stakeholder cooperation, technological innovation, and digital literacy among users.

Conclusion

The proposed amendments mark a decisive shift in India’s digital governance—from reactive moderation to preventive transparency. By mandating AI content labelling, India aims to balance technological innovation with ethical responsibility, ensuring that the age of artificial intelligence strengthens rather than undermines truth, democracy, and public trust.

In News:

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has released its report titled “Status of Elephants in India”, marking a new chapter in the country’s elephant conservation efforts. The study estimates 22,446 elephants across four major landscapes — the first time a DNA-based census method has been used. Although the figure appears lower than the 2017 estimate of 29,964 elephants, experts clarify that this does not represent a population decline but a fresh scientific baseline for future monitoring.

Evolution of Elephant Population Estimation in India

India’s elephant counts have evolved significantly since the first census in 1929 in the then United Province (now Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand). Early surveys relied on direct visual counts and averaging of sightings. With the launch of Project Elephant in 1992, the estimation process became more structured, with five-yearly assessments using methods such as total count, dung count, and transect sampling.

However, since different States adopted varied techniques, results were often inconsistent and incomparable. To overcome this, synchronised elephant censuses were conducted in 2005, 2010, and 2017 using uniform methods like total count and line transect dung count, but observer bias and overcounting remained major issues.

Recognising these limitations, India adopted a new scientific framework under the Synchronous All-India Elephant Estimation (SAIEE) 2021–25, shifting from visual to genetic sampling for more accurate and comparable results.

SAIEE 2021–25: A Scientific Overhaul

The SAIEE 2021–25 represents the most comprehensive and methodologically advanced elephant census in India. The country was divided into 100 sq. km cells, further split into 4 sq. km grids, each uniquely coded to ensure spatial accuracy. Enumerators covered over 6.6 lakh km, surveying nearly 1.9 lakh transects, and collected 21,056 dung samples for DNA extraction.

The census was carried out in three phases:

1. Field data collection on animal signs, dung, vegetation, and human disturbances.
2. Habitat and human impact assessment, including forest cover and patch size.
3. Spatial abundance modelling using habitat and human interface data.

This shift to DNA-based identification eliminates duplication errors, allowing scientists to create a uniform national baseline for long-term monitoring and conservation.

Findings: The Landscape of Elephants

The report identifies four major elephant-bearing regions in India:

• Western Ghats (Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu) – The strongest habitat, hosting 11,934 elephants (53%), with Karnataka alone having 6,013.
• North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains – About 22% of the national population, led by Assam with 4,159 elephants.
• Shivalik Hills and Gangetic Plains – Around 9%, mostly in Uttarakhand.
• Central India and Eastern Ghats – About 8%, with Odisha as a key habitat.

This highlights the Western Ghats as India’s most critical elephant stronghold, while the Northeast remains vital for transboundary populations.

Emerging Challenges: Fragmentation and Conflict

The report warns that habitat fragmentation due to commercial plantations, mining, linear infrastructure, and encroachments is severely impacting elephant movement. This has triggered increasing human-elephant conflict, as herds venture into new areas in search of food and connectivity.

In Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala — which together host the majority of India’s elephants — conflicts have led to hundreds of human and elephant fatalities. Similar patterns are emerging in Andhra Pradesh and parts of central India, where elephants have recolonised regions after nearly two centuries.

Conservation Outlook

Experts emphasise that habitat connectivity and coexistence must be central to future conservation strategies. The new DNA-based baseline offers a reliable foundation for policy interventions, habitat restoration, and conflict mitigation.

Community participation, awareness programmes, and integration of Elephant Corridors under Project Elephant are essential to ensure long-term survival of Elephas maximus in India.

Conclusion

India’s transition to a DNA-based elephant census marks a scientific milestone in wildlife monitoring. While the numbers suggest a smaller population than before, the shift represents a more precise and globally aligned approach to conservation. With over half of Asia’s elephants residing in India, the findings of the WII’s study underscore an urgent need to balance development with ecological sensitivity, ensuring that India’s national heritage animal continues to thrive in its natural habitats.

In News:

The debate on poverty measurement in India has gained renewed significance with the Reserve Bank of India’s Department of Economic and Policy Research (DEPR) updating state-wise poverty estimates using the 2022–23 Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES). This marks the first major recalibration of the C. Rangarajan Committee’s poverty line, originally formulated in 2014, and reflects shifting paradigms in assessing deprivation in India.

Revisiting the Rangarajan Framework

The Rangarajan Committee was tasked with redefining poverty beyond the earlier Tendulkar methodology. It fixed the poverty line at ?972 per capita per month in rural India and ?1,407 in urban areas (2011–12 prices), categorising about 29.5% of the population as poor. Its poverty basket focused on minimum nutritional requirements along with basic spending on health, education, fuel, clothing, and rent. Unlike later approaches, it offered a strict consumption-based benchmark rooted in monetary expenditure.

Updated Poverty Trends: State-wise Insights

RBI economists reconstructed poverty lines for 20 major states based on HCES 2022–23 data using a new price index aligned with the original poverty line basket rather than Consumer Price Index weights. The findings highlight remarkable improvements, with major reductions observed in traditionally backward states:

• Odisha: Rural poverty fell from 47.8% (2011–12) to 8.6% (2022–23)
• Bihar: Urban poverty dropped from 50.8% to 9.1%
• Kerala: Rural poverty declined to 1.4%; Himachal Pradesh’s urban poverty fell to 2%
• Lowest poverty levels: Rural Himachal Pradesh (0.4%) and urban Tamil Nadu (1.9%)
• Highest poverty levels: Chhattisgarh (25.1% rural; 13.3% urban)

These transformations reflect improved rural infrastructure, livelihood programmes, PDS reforms, and social transfers. Yet persistent poverty in central Indian states underscores uneven development and structural gaps in employment quality, agrarian distress, and welfare delivery.

Methodological Continuity and Debate

Poverty estimates vary sharply across institutions, illustrating the sensitivity of measurement frameworks:

• SBI (2023–24): ~4–5% poverty
• World Bank (2022): 10.2% poverty in 2019
• IMF (2022): 0.8% in 2019 (including food transfers)

These disparities stem from differing inflation adjustments, survey datasets, and treatment of welfare subsidies. They also fuel a longstanding debate: can income-based poverty capture human deprivation comprehensively, especially in a transforming economy with evolving consumption patterns?

Shift to Multidimensional Poverty

Official focus has now decisively shifted to multidimensional poverty aligned with SDG frameworks. India’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) evaluates deprivation across twelve indicators spanning health, education, and living standards. According to NITI Aayog (2024), 24.82 crore people exited multidimensional poverty between 2013–14 and 2022–23, reducing MPI from 29.17% to 11.28%. This highlights the impact of welfare architecture—PDS expansion, Ujjwala, Saubhagya, Jal Jeevan Mission, Swachh Bharat, and financial inclusion.

Way Forward

• Regular poverty line updates reflecting new consumption patterns and regional price realities
• Integration of income and multidimensional metrics for balanced welfare planning
• Timely survey releases and transparent data to strengthen evidence-based policymaking
• Targeted interventions for lagging states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and parts of UP
• Leveraging digital delivery systems to minimise leakages and enhance inclusivity

Conclusion

India’s poverty trajectory reflects a dual narrative—sharp improvements driven by welfare provisioning and growth, yet uneven progress across regions and methodological contestation. While the Rangarajan line continues to serve as a benchmark for monetary poverty, the dominance of multidimensional metrics signals a shift towards understanding deprivation as a matter of human capability, not merely income. Ensuring sustained and equitable poverty reduction will require methodological rigor, policy innovation, and heightened focus on lagging geographies to achieve inclusive development.

In News:

Google’s announcement of a USD 15-billion investment to establish an Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centre in Visakhapatnam marks a transformational moment in India’s digital infrastructure landscape. The initiative, the largest single investment by Google in India, comes amid a geo-economic context of recalibrating India-US relations and the government’s emphasis on technological self-reliance and swadeshi digital systems. The project positions India as an emerging hub in global AI capability and computing power.

Why AI Data Centres Matter

AI-focused data centres differ fundamentally from conventional facilities. While traditional data centres are built around CPU-based servers to support cloud storage, websites, and enterprise applications, AI data centres rely on high-performance GPUs to handle data-heavy and compute-intensive workloads such as generative AI, advanced analytics, image/video processing, and deep-learning models. This makes them significantly more power-intensive and infrastructure-demanding, requiring robust energy supply and advanced cooling systems.

According to estimates cited by Google, the Visakhapatnam AI hub is expected to add at least USD 15 billion to the US GDP between 2026 and 2030 through increased AI adoption and cloud-driven activity, demonstrating the cross-border economic impact of such investments.

Partnerships and Green Infrastructure

The facility is being developed in partnership with AdaniConneX and Airtel, leveraging the same backbone used for Google’s global platforms like Search, YouTube, and Workspace. The project includes building a major subsea cable landing station, linking eastern India to Google’s expansive global cable network, enhancing international data routes and reducing latency.

A key dimension of the partnership lies in sustainable power and energy independence. AdaniConneX, a joint venture between Adani Enterprises and EdgeConneX, will provide 100% clean energy, supported by new transmission lines, renewable generation, and energy storage facilities in Andhra Pradesh. This aligns with India’s climate commitments and enhances grid resilience.

Economic Impact and Capacity Expansion

India’s data centre industry, currently valued at ~USD 10 billion with USD 1.2 billion in FY24 revenue, is projected to add 795 MW of capacity by 2027 — reaching 1.8 GW. Google’s project alone is expected to generate nearly 1.88 lakh direct and indirect jobs, strengthening regional development and high-skilled employment.

However, high capital costs and limited job intensity remain policy concerns. Approximately 40% of capex in data centres goes towards electrical systems, and 65% of operating costs are attributed to electricity, with ~?60–70 crore required per MW of capacity. This necessitates a careful assessment of incentives and long-term strategic benefits.

Energy Security and the Nuclear Option

The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that global data-centre electricity demand may double by 2026, raising questions around sustainability. While renewable energy remains the mainstay, its intermittency has prompted policy consideration of nuclear energy as a round-the-clock clean power source — a trend already visible in the United States and now emerging in India’s energy strategy.

Conclusion

Google’s AI hub in Visakhapatnam represents a strategic convergence of digital infrastructure, clean-energy innovation, and global technological cooperation. For India, it underscores the dual challenge of expanding digital capability while ensuring energy security and environmental sustainability. The success of this initiative will influence India’s journey toward becoming a global digital superpower underpinned by resilient, sovereign, and sustainable compute ecosystems.

In News:

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt for their seminal contributions to explaining how innovation drives long-term economic growth. Their work collectively answers a fundamental question in development economics: why has sustained growth become the norm in the last two centuries, despite millennia of stagnation? While Mokyr approaches the issue through economic history, Aghion and Howitt construct a formal model illustrating the dynamics of innovation and competition in modern economies.

Mokyr’s Framework: Useful Knowledge and Openness to Change

Joel Mokyr argues that economic stagnation persisted through most of human history because innovation lacked a strong scientific foundation. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, technological progress was primarily prescriptive—people knew how to produce goods but not why processes worked as they did. This limited systematic improvement.

The transformation began during the Scientific Revolution (16th–17th centuries) when controlled experimentation, measurement, and reproducibility became central to knowledge creation. This generated “useful knowledge”—a synergy of propositional (scientific principles) and prescriptive (practical techniques) knowledge. Examples include improvements in the steam engine driven by insights into atmospheric pressure and advancements in steel production based on understanding carbon reduction in iron.

However, knowledge alone was not sufficient. Societal openness to change, a hallmark of Enlightenment thought, enabled technological disruption. Acceptance of new ideas, weakening of entrenched elites, and institutional reforms—from the British Parliament curbing aristocratic privileges to society’s rejection of Luddite resistance to machinery—allowed innovations to diffuse widely. According to Mokyr, skills-based human capital and a culture supportive of disruption are crucial pillars of sustained growth.

Aghion–Howitt’s Creative Destruction Model

Drawing on Joseph Schumpeter’s concept of creative destruction, Aghion and Howitt develop a rigorous macroeconomic model explaining how innovation displaces old technologies and firms, generating productivity gains. Their model shows that firms invest in research and development (R&D) to secure temporary monopoly power through patents. This monopoly incentivizes innovation, yet it is continually threatened by newer technologies. Thus, growth emerges from a constant cycle of competition, firm turnover, and technological leaps.

Importantly, their general equilibrium framework links household savings, financial markets, production decisions, and innovation incentives, demonstrating that micro-level disruptions are essential for macro-level stability. Empirical trends—such as high annual firm entry and exit rates in developed economies—support their argument.

Policy Implications

The Nobel findings highlight key contemporary debates:

• R&D Subsidies: Innovation has positive spillovers beyond private profit. Public funding can correct under-investment, but excessive subsidies risk waste where gains are marginal.
• Social Safety Nets: Creative destruction benefits economies but harms displaced workers and firms. A balanced welfare ecosystem ensures societies remain open to technological change.
• Skilling and Human Capital: To convert ideas into output, governments must invest in education, vocational training, and research ecosystems.

Conclusion

The 2025 Nobel laureates collectively establish that economic growth is neither automatic nor guaranteed—it is the result of science-based knowledge creation, institutional openness, and dynamic competition. For emerging economies like India, fostering innovation-driven growth requires strong research systems, regulatory flexibility, investment in human capital, and social policies that cushion transition shocks. Their work underscores that sustainable progress lies in embracing change, not resisting it.

In News:

India’s ethanol blending programme, originally launched to reduce oil imports and stabilise the sugar industry, is undergoing a transformative shift. What began as a sugarcane-centric initiative has evolved into a grain-based ethanol ecosystem, reflecting structural changes in agricultural markets, energy policy, and rural industrialisation. For the first time, grain-derived ethanol—predominantly from maize—has surpassed sugarcane-based production, marking a pivotal moment in India’s biofuel sector.

Evolution of Ethanol Blending

The Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP) was initially designed to create additional revenue streams for sugar mills and ensure timely payments to cane growers. Early production relied on C-heavy molasses, a by-product of sugar extraction. Policy reforms in 2018 incentivised diversion of B-heavy molasses and even direct cane juice toward ethanol, raising supplies from 38 crore litres in 2013-14 to nearly 189 crore litres by 2018-19, and increasing blending levels from 1.6% to nearly 5%. This stabilised the sugar economy and boosted rural incomes.

Rise of Grain-Based Ethanol

A crucial turning point came when the government permitted ethanol production from grains such as maize, rice, and damaged foodgrains, offering differential pricing to attract investment. Grain-based distilleries rapidly expanded across Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and other states, with over ?40,000 crore invested in facilities capable of using multiple feedstocks.

By 2023-24, of the 672.49 crore litres supplied to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), almost 60% came from grains, with maize accounting for the largest share. In 2024-25, grain-based ethanol procurement is expected to reach 620 crore litres, with maize alone contributing about 420 crore litres. Drought-induced sugarcane shortages and more attractive prices—?71.86 per litre for maize-based ethanol versus ?57.97–65.61 per litre for cane-based routes—accelerated the shift.

Capacity and Policy Dynamics

India today hosts 499 distilleries with an annual ethanol capacity of 1,822 crore litres. Against a 20% blending target, OMCs sought 1,050 crore litres for 2025-26, but received offers exceeding 1,776 crore litres—signalling emerging overcapacity. While this capacity enhances energy security and reduces crude imports (over $160 billion annually), it introduces new challenges in balancing supply, food security, and price stability.

Challenges: Food Security, Sustainability, and Market Balance

India now faces a classic food-versus-fuel dilemma. Producing ~420 crore litres of maize ethanol consumes over 11 million tonnes of maize, nearly 26% of national output. With maize being vital for poultry and livestock feed, diversion to fuel can raise feed costs and food inflation. Similarly, viability of rice-based ethanol hinges on surplus FCI stocks—an uncertain variable.

Environmental concerns are also emerging. While ethanol reduces carbon emissions, grain-based production increases pressure on water, land, and fertiliser use, particularly in maize-growing regions.

Way Forward

Policy refinements are underway to ensure a balanced biofuel strategy. A dual-feedstock approach—leveraging both cane and grains—along with scaling second-generation (2G) biofuels from agricultural waste, is expected to drive future growth. Adequate stock monitoring, sustainable cultivation practices, and technological innovation will be critical for achieving the 20% blending target by 2025-26 without compromising food security.

Conclusion

India’s ethanol revolution demonstrates strategic economic diversification, rural industrialisation, and commitment to energy transition. However, sustaining this momentum requires calibrated policies aligning energy security with agricultural sustainability, food availability, and environmental stewardship—critical considerations for a resilient and self-reliant biofuel future.

In News:

India’s journey toward Viksit Bharat 2047 hinges on simultaneously nurturing human capital and modernising financial institutions. Two recent developments reflect this integrated approach: the Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025 and the Reserve Bank of India’s initiatives to strengthen financial markets and internationalise the rupee. Together, they illustrate India's twin strategy of empowering youth as innovation leaders while deepening economic capacity and regional influence.

Fostering a Culture of Innovation: Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025

• The Viksit Bharat Buildathon, launched by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission, is India’s largest school-level hackathon, engaging 1 crore students across classes 6–12.
• Aligned with NEP 2020, it aims to build problem-solving aptitude and innovation competencies from grassroots levels. Students work in teams to design prototypes based on four themes central to India’s development discourse—Atmanirbhar Bharat, Swadeshi, Vocal for Local, and Samriddh Bharat.
• The event adopts a phased structure: registrations (September), nationwide live build on 13 October 2025, and final evaluation by December. With Rs 1 crore award pool and dedicated mentorship from innovation networks and higher education institutions, it incentivises early exposure to experiential learning, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Importantly, it prioritises participation from Aspirational Districts, tribal belts, and frontier regions, promoting inclusivity in innovation ecosystems.
• By integrating rural and underserved communities, the initiative aligns with the principle of technology-enabled social justice and fosters an innovation-ready workforce. It positions schoolchildren not merely as future beneficiaries but as current contributors to nation-building—a step crucial for demographic dividend utilisation.

Rewiring India’s Financial System: RBI’s Strategic Reforms

Parallelly, the Reserve Bank of India has initiated significant policy reforms to bolster India’s financial depth and global standing. It has permitted banks to finance corporate mergers and acquisitions—a domain previously dominated by NBFCs—allowing formal banking channels to support corporate consolidation, expansion, and competitiveness. This move reflects confidence in banking sector resilience and recognises that scale and efficiency are essential for domestic firms in a globalising economy.

In a landmark regional diplomacy initiative, RBI has authorised Indian banks and their overseas branches to provide rupee-denominated loans to residents of neighbouring countries. This step supports rupee internationalisation, reduces dependence on the US dollar for regional transactions, and enhances India’s financial influence, especially amid global currency contestations.

Additional measures—such as raising the limit for loans against shares to Rs 1 crore, enabling investment of surplus Special Rupee Vostro Account balances in corporate bonds, and widening currency benchmarking—will deepen capital markets, enhance liquidity, and improve foreign participation confidence.

Conclusion

The Buildathon and RBI reforms, though sectorally distinct, serve a shared national objective: building a self-reliant, innovation-driven, globally confident India. While one invests in future innovators and inclusive talent pipelines, the other strengthens the institutional financial ecosystem needed to support economic expansion and regional leadership. Together, they represent India’s holistic developmental approach—nurturing minds, empowering markets, and globalising national capabilities in pursuit of Viksit Bharat.

In News:

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) recently inaugurated “Breathable Art” — an innovative living installation at Swarn Jayanti Park, Rohini, Delhi. Conceived under the ‘Breath of Change – Clean Air, Blue Skies’ campaign, the initiative aims to combine artistic expression with ecological functionality to promote awareness on air quality, sustainability, and urban environmental stewardship.

About the Initiative

• Breathable Art is a pioneering “living structure” created from air-purifying plants and eco-friendly materials.
• Sponsored by MoEFCC and supported by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA), it forms part of the Environmental Information, Awareness, Capacity Building and Livelihood Programme (EIACP) under the Environment Education, Awareness, Research and Skill Development (EEARSD) scheme.
• The installation integrates art, science, and community engagement — transforming a public space into an interactive platform for environmental education.
• Visitors can scan QR codes placed around the installation to learn about the plants’ role in air purification and sustainable living practices. This interactive element aims to make environmental learning participatory and accessible.

Features and Ecological Role

The structure uses a mix of air-purifying plant species — such as Areca Palm, Bamboo Palm, Money Plant, Snake Plant, Spider Plant, Parijat, Peace Lily, Arrowhead, Weeping Fig, and Zigzag Plant. These species are recognized for their capacity to absorb harmful pollutants like formaldehyde and benzene, regulate humidity, and enhance oxygen concentration — particularly valuable during Delhi’s winter months when air quality deteriorates sharply.

By embedding these plants into an aesthetically designed structure, Breathable Art offers a passive yet effective solution to urban air pollution. It also enhances local biodiversity and contributes to microclimate regulation within its surroundings.

Community and Educational Dimensions

Beyond its environmental function, Breathable Art serves as:

• An Educational Hub: Hosting students, eco-clubs, and community members for awareness sessions on clean air and sustainable living.
• A Community Catalyst: Encouraging participation of Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), schools, and volunteers in maintaining and replicating such models across the city.
• A Strategic Urban Intervention: Targeting pollution hotspots to promote green urban aesthetics and inspire behavioral change.

This aligns with India’s broader approach of nature-based solutions for urban environmental management — emphasizing community participation, low-cost interventions, and local ecological resilience.

Significance and Way Forward

• Delhi, one of the world’s most polluted capitals, continues to face critical air quality challenges. Initiatives like Breathable Art highlight how creative, sustainable, and participatory approaches can complement policy-driven measures such as the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
• By merging environmental science with public art, the project redefines sustainability as a lived, experiential practice rather than a distant policy goal. It underscores the principle that environmental consciousness begins with individual action and community involvement.
• As urban India grapples with escalating pollution, Breathable Art serves as a replicable model for integrating ecological awareness into everyday spaces — inspiring cleaner, greener, and more mindful cities.

Conclusion:
Breathable Art is not merely an installation but a vision — where art, environment, and community converge to remind citizens that sustainability begins with a single breath. It symbolizes India’s evolving approach to environmental governance — creative, participatory, and rooted in harmony with nature.

In News:

India’s judiciary faces an unprecedented crisis of pendency and delay, with over 4.57 crore cases pending across various courts, according to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG). Of these, the Supreme Court has about 81,768 cases, and High Courts collectively hold around 62.9 lakh cases. The situation underscores an urgent need to adopt efficient and accessible mechanisms like Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to ensure timely and inclusive justice.

Understanding ADR

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) refers to a set of methods that allow parties to settle disputes outside traditional court systems. It includes:

• Arbitration: A binding process where a neutral arbitrator delivers a decision.
• Conciliation: A non-binding process facilitated by a conciliator to promote settlement.
• Mediation: A voluntary and confidential dialogue process led by a neutral mediator.
• Judicial Settlement / Lok Adalat: Court-referred or community-level settlement platforms.

ADR processes are based on consensus, flexibility, and confidentiality, allowing parties to preserve relationships while saving time and resources.

Why ADR Is Crucial for India

The India Justice Report 2025 highlights critical inefficiencies within India’s justice system — including 33% vacancy in High Courts and 21% in District Courts. Judges in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Kerala handle workloads exceeding 4,000 cases each. Prolonged pendency not only delays justice but also undermines trust in legal institutions.

ADR addresses these challenges by offering:

• Speed and Efficiency: Arbitration and mediation significantly reduce case duration compared to conventional litigation.
• Cost-Effectiveness: Reduced procedural formalities make justice affordable and accessible.
• Ease of Doing Business: ADR, especially in commercial disputes, enhances investor confidence by ensuring timely contract enforcement.
• Social Inclusion: Mediation and Lok Adalats provide participatory platforms, particularly beneficial for rural and marginalized communities.

Legal and Constitutional Framework

The foundation of ADR in India rests on multiple legal provisions:

• Article 39A of the Constitution mandates equal access to justice and free legal aid.
• Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure (1908) legally recognizes ADR processes such as arbitration, conciliation, and mediation.
• The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (amended in 2021) provides the institutional framework, stipulating a 180-day resolution period and creating the Indian Arbitration Council.
• The Mediation Act, 2023 introduces mandatory pre-litigation mediation for civil and commercial disputes, encouraging resolution before approaching courts.

Additionally, Lok Adalats, functioning under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, operationalize Article 39A’s spirit. They include Permanent Lok Adalats, National Lok Adalats, and e-Lok Adalats, offering binding decisions without appeal, thus ensuring swift justice at the grassroots level.

Global and Cultural Resonance

ADR aligns with international standards like the UNCITRAL Model Law, making it essential for cross-border commercial arbitration and foreign investment. At the same time, it resonates with India’s civilisational ethos of collective consensus, reflected in the traditional “Panch Parmeshwar” doctrine — a principle recently highlighted by the Law Minister as a model for community-based dispute resolution.

Conclusion

In an overburdened judicial ecosystem, Alternative Dispute Resolution represents a pragmatic and human-centered reform. Strengthening ADR through legal awareness, institutional support, and public participation can transform India’s justice system into one that is efficient, inclusive, and globally credible. By embracing ADR, India not only advances its constitutional mandate of “speedy justice for all” but also revives its age-old tradition of resolving disputes through dialogue and consensus.

In News:

A recent survey by Just Rights for Children (JRC), a coalition of over 250 child protection NGOs, has reported a significant decline in child marriages across India. The trend underscores that legal enforcement, community engagement, and multi-sectoral collaboration can collectively transform entrenched social practices that violate children’s rights.

Significance of the Decline

• Human Rights Perspective: Child marriage undermines the fundamental rights of children—particularly girls—to education, health, and personal autonomy. Its reduction reflects progress toward SDG-5 (Gender Equality) and India’s commitments under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
• Health and Demographic Gains: Early marriages often precipitate early pregnancies, increasing risks of maternal mortality, low birth weight, and malnutrition. Delaying marriage improves reproductive health and supports demographic stability by spacing births.
• Educational and Economic Empowerment: Girls who remain in school gain greater social mobility and earning potential. Extended education creates a multiplier effect, reducing inter-generational poverty and enhancing overall human capital.
• Social Norms Transformation: The steep decline challenges the perception that child marriage is inevitable, showing that communities respond to visible enforcement and positive examples of girls pursuing education.

Key Survey Findings

• Assam recorded the highest decline (84%), followed by Maharashtra and Bihar (70% each), Rajasthan (66%), and Karnataka (55%).
• While three children were married every minute during 2019–21, by 2025, only three cases per day were reported.
• Awareness of the Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat campaign reached 99% of respondents.
• In 31% of surveyed villages, all girls aged 6–18 attended school, although Bihar lagged behind.
• Poverty (91%) and safety concerns (44%) remain major drivers of child marriage.

Drivers of the Decline

• Legal Deterrence: Enforcement under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006—FIRs and arrests—proved highly effective. Assam’s proactive approach set a national benchmark.
• Awareness Campaigns: Nationwide outreach through schools, media, and Panchayats via Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat fostered community ownership over child rights.
• Community-Based Mechanisms: Karnataka employed helplines and Child Welfare Committees (CWCs), while empowering Panchayat Development Officers to register marriages, preventing around 2,000 child marriages in 2021.
• Multi-Sectoral Collaboration: Integration of legal, social, and economic interventions through state governments, police, education departments, and civil society reinforced enforcement and awareness.

Remaining Challenges

• Under-reporting and hidden marriages, especially in rural and tribal regions.
• Entrenched social norms linked to caste, honour, and family prestige.
• Economic vulnerability, which still drives early marriages in poor households.
• Institutional capacity gaps, including inadequate training and resources for frontline workers.
• Need for robust data to ensure reported progress reflects reality.

Policy Recommendations

• Mandatory Marriage Registration linked with Aadhaar and education databases.
• Targeted Social Protection, expanding schemes like Kanyashree and conditional cash transfers to encourage education and delayed marriage.
• Education and Safety Measures, including improved school infrastructure, transport, and security for girls.
• Grassroots Empowerment, strengthening Panchayats, CWCs, and helplines for early detection.
• Normative Change, involving mass communication, role models, and religious/community leaders.
• Monitoring and Evaluation, through third-party audits, longitudinal surveys, and state dashboards.

Conclusion

India’s decline in child marriages is a landmark achievement in rights-based social reform. The country must now aim to reduce prevalence below 5% by 2030, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, thereby ensuring that every child’s future is determined by choice, education, and opportunity, rather than compulsion.

In News:

As the world approaches COP30 in Brazil (2025), the role of ethics in climate governance has been revived through the launch of the Global Ethical Stocktake. This initiative aims to place justice, equity, responsibility, and intergenerational fairness at the core of global climate action, complementing the scientific urgency highlighted by rising emissions and warming temperatures.

Ethical Dimensions of Climate Action:

• Justice and Equity:
  • The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities under the UNFCCC reflects fairness—developed nations bear historical responsibility, while developing nations require space for sustainable growth.
  • The Paris Agreement’s “leave no one behind” principle embodies distributive justice.
• Intergenerational Responsibility:
  • Present decisions affect the survival prospects of future generations. Ethical stewardship, not exploitation, is essential.
  • In 2025, the International Court of Justice reaffirmed intergenerational equity as central to climate treaties.
• Human Rights Linkage:
  • Access to food, water, housing, and a healthy environment is inseparable from the right to life (Article 21, Indian Constitution).
  • The Inter-American Court (2024) declared the right to a safe climate a fundamental human right.
• Integrity and Credibility:
  • The gap between climate promises and delivery undermines trust. Ethical governance requires accountability, transparency, and scientific rigor in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
  • Corporate greenwashing erodes credibility, emphasizing the need for ethical corporate responsibility.
• Solidarity with the Vulnerable:
  • Marginalized groups, Indigenous peoples, and communities in the Global South face disproportionate risks. Ethical climate action ensures inclusion and empathy in adaptation strategies.
  • Community-based initiatives, such as the Himachal Pradesh snow leopard survey, illustrate ethics of inclusion in environmental stewardship.

Role of Ethics in Governance:

• Guiding Negotiators: Ethics reminds negotiators of moral responsibility, where delays equate to human suffering and ecosystem loss.
• Embedding Frameworks: Initiatives like the Global Ethical Stocktake institutionalize ethics alongside scientific assessments.
• Judicial Oversight: Courts link morality with law, compelling states to respect climate and human rights obligations.
• Corporate Responsibility: Businesses must adopt ethical approaches to avoid tokenistic climate pledges.

Ethics in the Indian Context:

• Constitutional Mandates:
  • Article 48A – Duty of the State to protect the environment.
  • Article 51A(g) – Duty of citizens to protect natural resources.
• Judicial Precedents: Vellore Citizens’ Forum vs Union of India (1996) upheld the precautionary principle and polluter pays principle.
• Gandhian Philosophy: Trusteeship aligns with sustainable consumption and responsibility toward nature.

Challenges:

• National interest vs. global good delays climate finance and technology transfer.
• Political polarization and denialism hinder consensus despite rising urgency.
• Greenwashing and weak enforcement erode accountability.
• Adaptation finance remains underfunded, leaving vulnerable populations exposed.

Way Forward:

• Institutionalize the Global Ethical Stocktake to align climate action with justice and equity.
• Implement just transition policies protecting livelihoods while shifting from fossil fuels.
• Strengthen ethical climate jurisprudence to ensure rights-based accountability.
• Promote ethical leadership and integrate climate ethics into education and policymaking.

Conclusion:
Climate change is as much a moral challenge as a scientific one. Ethics—anchored in justice, responsibility, solidarity, and intergenerational equity—must guide global action. Embedding ethics into negotiations, law, community initiatives, and corporate practices is essential to restore credibility, build trust, and ensure a liveable planet for present and future generations.

In News:

• India’s rich cultural and architectural legacy, reflected in thousands of ancient monuments and archaeological sites, has long been under the stewardship of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
• Established in 1861, the ASI functions under the Ministry of Culture and enforces the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, and the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972.
• However, with over 3,700 protected monuments under its care, the ASI’s capacity constraints have often resulted in delays and maintenance backlogs.
• Recognizing this challenge, the government has initiated a landmark policy shift to introduce public-private partnerships (PPP) in heritage conservation — marking a major reform in India’s cultural governance.

The Policy Shift

• For the first time, the core conservation of protected monuments will no longer be ASI’s exclusive domain. Under the new model, private players, corporates, and public sector undertakings can directly fund and implement conservation projects under ASI’s supervision. This move seeks to expand capacity, accelerate timelines, and leverage private expertise, while retaining strict professional and regulatory oversight.
• All projects will be monitored by the ASI and must comply with the National Policy for Conservation of Ancient Monuments, Archaeological Sites and Remains (2014). The initiative aims to balance modernization and preservation by fostering collaboration between government, industry, and civil society.

Institutional Framework and Implementation

• The reforms will operate through the National Culture Fund (NCF), established in 1996 with an initial government corpus of ?20 crore.
  • • The NCF enables donors to contribute directly to heritage projects and offers 100% CSR tax exemptions, incentivizing private participation.
• To ensure professional standards, the Ministry of Culture will empanel conservation architects of national repute, who will guide donors in planning and executing projects. The Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) will require ASI approval before implementation.
• Private donors, guided by these architects, can hire external implementing agencies experienced in restoring structures over 100 years old. Initially, a list of 250 monuments requiring urgent conservation will be released for donor selection.

Track Record of the National Culture Fund

Since its inception, the NCF has mobilized around ?140 crore in corporate and public donations, supporting over 100 conservation projects. Notable examples include:

• Bhuleshwar Temple (Pune),
• British Residency (Hyderabad),
• Group of Monuments at Mandu,
• Purana Qila and Red Fort site museums (New Delhi),
• Ongoing work at Vikramshila (Bihar), Deobaloda (Chhattisgarh), and Singorgarh Fort (Madhya Pradesh).

Significance and Safeguards

• The PPP model represents a shift from state monopoly to collaborative stewardship, ensuring accountability, transparency, and efficiency.
• The ASI retains its supervisory authority, maintaining consistency with India’s constitutional framework, where heritage conservation falls under both Union and State jurisdictions, as outlined in the Seventh Schedule and Article 253.
• Qualified conservation architects, empanelled through due diligence, will ensure technical integrity, while all financial contributions must pass through the NCF to prevent misuse. The government views this as a cautious, phased reform, initially assigning private players a supplementary role to test the model’s viability.

Comparison with Past Initiatives

Unlike the earlier ‘Adopt a Heritage’ scheme, which allowed corporates to develop tourist amenities such as cafes and restrooms as “monument mitras,” the current initiative extends to core conservation work. This marks a decisive evolution from heritage promotion to heritage preservation.

Conclusion

India’s new heritage management framework reflects a pragmatic blend of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, cultural preservation, and corporate participation. By integrating private sector efficiency with ASI’s institutional expertise, the model promises to make heritage conservation financially sustainable, technologically advanced, and socially participatory — ensuring that India’s timeless legacy endures through collective stewardship.

In News:

India has achieved a major milestone in deep-sea exploration by signing a new 15-year contract with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) for the exclusive exploration of Polymetallic Sulphides (PMS) in a 10,000 sq km area of the Carlsberg Ridge in the Indian Ocean.

With this agreement, India has become the first country in the world to hold two PMS exploration contracts, commanding the largest area allocated globally for such exploration. This advancement marks a blend of scientific progress, strategic foresight, and economic opportunity within India’s broader Blue Economy vision.

Polymetallic Sulphides and Their Significance

Polymetallic Sulphides are mineral-rich deposits found on the ocean floor, primarily near hydrothermal vents along mid-ocean ridges. Formed through interactions between seawater and magma beneath the Earth’s crust, they contain valuable metals such as copper, zinc, lead, gold, silver, and trace rare elements.

For India, these minerals are crucial for high-technology industries, renewable energy systems, and green technologies. Given the country’s limited terrestrial reserves, deep-sea exploration ensures resource security, supports the energy transition, and reduces import dependence on critical minerals.

India’s Deep Ocean Initiatives

India’s engagement with the ISA dates back over three decades. It was among the earliest countries to receive an area for polymetallic nodule exploration, earning the status of a “Pioneer Investor.” The first PMS exploration contract was signed in 2016 for the Central and Southwest Indian Ridges, and the latest agreement in 2025 extends exploration to the Carlsberg Ridge, located near 2°N latitude — significantly closer to India than the earlier sites.

The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) in Goa, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), will begin exploration operations in 2026, employing geophysical, hydrographic, and near-seabed surveys.

These efforts are supported by the Deep Ocean Mission, launched by the Government of India to develop seabed mining technology, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and the Matsya submersible under the Samudrayaan Mission. This ecosystem strengthens India’s capacity for scientific research, environmental assessment, and mineral resource utilisation.

The Carlsberg Ridge: A Strategic and Scientific Hub

The Carlsberg Ridge is a part of the mid-ocean ridge system formed by the divergence of the Indian and Somali plates about 40 million years ago. With a spreading rate of 2.4–3.3 cm per year, it features hydrothermal vent systems ideal for PMS deposits. Its proximity to India enhances logistical feasibility and strategic relevance. The region’s exploration will expand understanding of deep-sea geology, marine ecosystems, and plate tectonics, while supporting India’s long-term maritime interests.

Exploration Challenges and Governance

PMS exploration is among the most technically demanding deep-sea missions, occurring at depths of 2,000–5,000 metres in rugged, volcanic terrains. It demands multidisciplinary collaboration across marine geology, geophysics, biology, and ocean engineering, supported by dynamic-positioning vessels, AUVs, and ROVs.

The ISA, functioning under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), regulates seabed exploration beyond national jurisdictions. Applications must meet rigorous standards of environmental protection, financial capability, and scientific planning before approval.

Future Prospects

Beyond PMS, India has applied for exploration rights over cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts on the Afanasy-Nikitin Seamount in the Central Indian Ocean, aligning with its Blue Economy and resource security goals. Hosting the 8th ISA Annual Contractors’ Meeting in Goa underscores India’s growing leadership in global seabed research governance.

Conclusion

India’s twin PMS contracts with the ISA mark a historic milestone in ocean science, resource diplomacy, and sustainable technology development. By combining strategic exploration, indigenous innovation, and environmental stewardship, India is positioning itself at the forefront of responsible deep-sea resource management — a critical pillar of its vision for a self-reliant and resilient Blue Economy.

In News:

• India has proposed the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) 3 norms, drafted by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), aiming to tighten fuel efficiency standards, reduce vehicular emissions, and promote electric and alternative fuel vehicles.
• First introduced in 2017, CAFE norms regulate fuel consumption and CO? emissions for passenger vehicles weighing up to 3,500 kg, including petrol, diesel, CNG, LPG, hybrid, and electric vehicles.
• The earlier iteration, CAFE 2 (2022-23), capped fuel consumption at 4.78 litres/100 km and CO? emissions at 113 g/km, with penalties for non-compliance.

Need for CAFE 3

Current Indian norms inadvertently favourheavier vehicles like SUVs while imposing stringent targets on smaller cars, unlike international practices in the USA, EU, China, and Japan, where light vehicles enjoy relaxed emission standards. CAFE 3 seeks to align India with global best practices, revive the small car segment, and incentivisegreen mobility, particularly electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids.

Key Features of CAFE 3 Norms

1. Applicability

• Targets M1 category passenger vehicles (seating up to nine people, maximum weight 3,500 kg).
• Non-compliance will attract penalties under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001.

2. Efficiency Targets

• Efficiency formula: [0.002 × (W – 1170) + c], measured in petrol-equivalent litres/100 km, where W is fleet weight, 1,170 kg is a fixed constant, 0.002 is a multiplier, and ‘c’ decreases yearly from 3.7264 (FY28) to 3.0139 (FY32).
• Lighter vehicles benefit from easier compliance, motivating manufacturers to focus on small cars.
• Additional relaxation: 3.0 g CO?/km (capped at 9 g/km) for compact cars (<909 kg, ≤1200 cc engine, ≤4,000 mm length).

3. Incentives for EVs and Alternative Fuels

• Super credits: Each EV sold counts three times toward fleet compliance; plug-in hybrids 2.5×, strong hybrids 2×, flex-fuel ethanol vehicles 1.5×.
• Carbon Neutrality Factor (CNF): Offers relaxation based on fuel type (e.g., E20–E30 petrol vehicles 8% CNF; strong hybrids 22.3%).

4. Emissions Pooling

• Up to three manufacturers can form a pool, treated as a single entity for compliance.
• Pool managers are legally responsible for penalties, allowing strategic partnerships, cost-sharing, and smoother adherence to targets.

Policy Complementarities

• GST reforms (GST 2.0) reduced taxes on small cars from 28% to 18%, complementing the relaxation measures under CAFE 3.
• By incentivisingEVs, hybrids, and small vehicles, the norms aim to reduce oil import dependency and advance India’s climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.

Challenges

• Industry adaptation: Transitioning fleets to comply with stricter norms while managing costs.
• Consumer acceptance: Affordability and infrastructure readiness for EVs and hybrids.
• Infrastructure readiness: Charging and fuel infrastructure for alternative vehicles needs significant expansion.

Conclusion

CAFE 3 represents a transformative step in India’s vehicular emission regulation, combining fuel efficiency improvements, emission reductions, and green mobility incentives. By aligning with global practices, reviving the small car segment, and encouraging electric and hybrid vehicles, the norms have the potential to accelerate sustainable transportation while addressing environmental and energy security goals. Successful implementation will require coordinated action between manufacturers, policymakers, and consumers to build a cleaner, efficient, and resilient automotive sector in India.

In News:

India stands at a critical juncture where the pursuit of economic growth must align with environmental sustainability. The transition to a green economy offers an opportunity to reshape the country’s development paradigm—one that integrates ecological balance, inclusive livelihoods, and technological innovation within a landscape-driven framework.

India’s Green Economy: Growth and Scope

India’s bioeconomy has expanded remarkably from $10 billion in 2014 to $165.7 billion in 2024, growing sixteenfold and accounting for 4.25% of the national GDP. This growth, driven by over 10,000 bio-based start-ups, spans biofuels, bioplastics, pharmaceuticals, and bioinformatics. The industrial bioeconomy contributes nearly half the sectoral share, while India’s achievements—such as 20% ethanol blending in petrol and becoming the third-largest pharmaceutical producer by volume—reflect the scale of progress.

A green economy, however, extends beyond bio-based industries. It encompasses low-carbon growth, circular resource use, ecosystem restoration, and inclusive employment. By 2030, it is estimated to create 35 million green jobs, strengthening India’s resilience against climate shocks and enhancing energy security under Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

Challenges in the Green Transition

Despite this momentum, India’s green growth exhibits deep regional and socio-economic disparities. Urban centers like Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Gujarat dominate green investments, while the North-Eastern and tribal states contribute less than 6% despite abundant natural resources. This spatial imbalance mirrors unequal access to clean energy, irrigation, and digital infrastructure.

Simultaneously, energy transition dilemmas persist. While renewables are expanding, fossil fuel subsidies—still around 40%—undermine emission reduction efforts. In agriculture, solar pump deployment risks groundwater depletion, highlighting the complexity of balancing environmental and livelihood goals. Hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, cement, and power, which contribute nearly 23% of GHG emissions, face prohibitive costs for green technologies—often four times higher than conventional alternatives.

Social inclusion remains another challenge. Women hold only 11% of rooftop solar jobs, and their share in technical green roles is as low as 1–3%. Similarly, tribal and marginalised communities remain passive beneficiaries rather than active stakeholders in climate action.

Reimagining the Green Economy through Landscapes

A landscape-based approach can make India’s green transition more inclusive and ecologically coherent. Landscapes represent interconnected systems of land, water, biodiversity, and human activity. Integrating these systems through participatory planning—from village to national level—can enhance ecosystem services such as air and water regulation, soil fertility, and climate moderation.

Institutionally, leveraging 2.5 lakh Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and 12 million women-led Self-Help Groups (SHGs) can embed community ownership into green initiatives. Promoting tribal-led bioeconomy models based on non-timber forest produce, agro-waste reuse, and medicinal flora can align conservation with livelihoods.

Technology and fiscal innovation must complement this vision—through green budgeting, public procurement of sustainable products, and expansion of 5G/6G labs for greening digital infrastructure. Decentralised waste management and circular economy practices are vital, especially as urban areas generate 75% of India’s solid waste.

Conclusion

India’s green transformation must evolve from a sectoral to a landscape-driven, community-based model that harmonises economic growth with ecological integrity. Empowering local institutions, mainstreaming gender, and integrating traditional knowledge with modern innovation will be crucial to achieving a just and resilient green future. By 2047, the goal should not merely be higher GDP, but ecological regeneration, social equity, and global climate leadership.

Context:
The detention of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk under the National Security Act (NSA), 1980, has reignited a long-standing debate on the balance between national security and civil liberties in India. Wangchuk, who has been leading the movement for Ladakh’s statehood and Sixth Schedule protections, was detained following alleged provocative speeches that, according to the administration, triggered violent protests in Leh leading to four deaths and several injuries. His case illustrates the continuing tension between state power and individual freedoms under India’s preventive detention framework.

Understanding Preventive Detention in India

Preventive detention refers to the practice of detaining an individual not for a crime already committed, but to prevent them from acting in a manner considered prejudicial to public order, security, or essential supplies. Unlike punitive detention, which follows conviction through due process, preventive detention is anticipatory in nature—aimed at averting potential threats before they materialise.

The Constitutional sanction for preventive detention is provided under Article 22 (Clauses 3–7), which permits Parliament and State legislatures to enact laws allowing such detention. A person can be held for up to three months without approval from an Advisory Board of judges, and longer if such approval is obtained. However, detainees are denied the right to legal counsel before the Advisory Board, and authorities may withhold information on grounds of public interest—limiting transparency and accountability.

Evolution of Preventive Detention Laws

Preventive detention has deep colonial roots, beginning with wartime laws such as the Defence of India Acts and the Rowlatt Act (1919). Post-Independence, the Preventive Detention Act, 1950, institutionalised this power, followed by the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), 1971, which gained notoriety during the Emergency (1975–77). Although MISA was repealed in 1978, preventive detention returned with the National Security Act (NSA), 1980, reflecting the persistence of this legal mechanism in India’s security architecture.

Provisions and Safeguards under the NSA

The NSA empowers the Central and State governments, as well as authorisedDistrict Magistrates and Police Commissioners, to detain individuals to prevent actions “prejudicial to India’s defence, foreign relations, national security, public order, or essential supplies.”

• Detention orders operate like arrest warrants, allowing transfer across states and detention up to 12 months.
• Grounds for detention must be communicated within 5 to 15 days, and the detainee can submit a representation to the government.
• An Advisory Board of High Court judges must review the case within three weeks and order release if “no sufficient cause” exists.

However, no legal representation is allowed before the Board, and the government may withhold crucial information—leaving wide discretion in official hands.

Use and Misuse: Judicial and Public Concerns

Over the decades, NSA has been used in cases involving separatists, radical preachers, gangsters, and protesters. Notable instances include the detention of Amritpal Singh (2023), Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad (2017), and Dr. Kafeel Khan (2020). Courts have repeatedly intervened in cases of misuse, emphasising that the Act cannot be a substitute for ordinary criminal law. The Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling striking down detention for kerosene black-marketing underscored this misuse.

Critics argue that preventive detention contradicts the spirit of fundamental rights under Articles 19, 21, and 22, allowing incarceration without trial and enabling governments to suppress dissent under the guise of maintaining order. Scholars contend that Article 22 itself legitimises preventive detention, reflecting what Erich Fromm described as a “fear of freedom”—a societal tendency to trade liberty for perceived security.

Conclusion

The National Security Act remains one of India’s most powerful yet controversial laws. While it provides governments with a vital tool to prevent threats to national security and public order, its frequent and often arbitrary invocation erodes constitutional guarantees of liberty and due process.
The detention of Sonam Wangchuk serves as a stark reminder that preventive detention laws, though constitutionally sanctioned, sit uneasily within a democratic framework. India’s challenge lies in ensuring that security imperatives do not eclipse fundamental freedoms, reaffirming the Constitution’s promise of liberty, justice, and accountability.

In News:

Inflation, the sustained rise in general price levels, remains one of the most debated macroeconomic phenomena. While high inflation erodes purchasing power and destabilizes economies, moderate and predictable inflation is often considered essential for sustained growth and fiscal stability. Its impact, however, varies depending on the broader economic context and the balance between price stability and growth objectives.

Understanding Inflation and Its Role

Economists typically define inflation as a result of “too much money chasing too few goods.” Moderate inflation signals expanding demand and healthy economic activity, while very high or negative inflation (deflation) indicates structural imbalances. Central banks, such as the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), usually target a low but positive inflation rate — around 2% — to maintain price stability and incentivize investment.

Mild inflation helps prevent deflation, which discourages spending and investment as consumers postpone purchases in anticipation of falling prices. The British economist John Maynard Keynes argued that a small amount of inflation encourages consumption, supports employment, and sustains aggregate demand. This aligns with the concept of the Phillips Curve, which once suggested a trade-off between inflation and unemployment, though the relationship has weakened in recent decades.

Economic Benefits of Moderate Inflation

A modest level of inflation can stimulate economic activity when idle capacity and underutilized labor exist. Rising prices encourage producers to expand output, generating more employment and income. Borrowers, including businesses and households, also benefit since debts can be repaid with “cheaper” money, thus encouraging borrowing and spending. Fixed-rate homeowners and long-term debtors gain, as the real value of their obligations declines over time.

For governments, inflation contributes positively to nominal GDP growth, the key denominator in fiscal ratios such as the debt-to-GDP ratio and fiscal deficit. Higher nominal GDP, driven partly by price growth, increases tax collections and helps meet revenue and deficit targets. Hence, inflation, within manageable limits, supports both macroeconomic stability and fiscal sustainability.

Challenges of High or Low Inflation

Excessive inflation, however, leads to declining real incomes, uncertainty, and reduced investment. Rising input and borrowing costs can trigger stagflation — a combination of stagnant growth and high inflation. On the other hand, very low inflation, as seen in India recently with CPI inflation at 2.07% (August 2025) and WPI at 0.52%, presents a different set of challenges.

While subdued prices benefit consumers, they constrain the government’s fiscal arithmetic. Lower inflation suppresses nominal GDP growth — the sum of real growth and inflation — reducing tax revenue growth and widening fiscal gaps. The Union Budget 2025–26 projected nominal GDP growth at 10.1%, but with low price levels, actual growth has trailed this target, weakening revenue collection and straining fiscal balances.

Moreover, persistently low inflation can reflect weak demand and investment sentiment. Although corporate profits have risen due to falling input costs, private capital expenditure remains sluggish, suggesting that firms are not reinvesting profits into productive capacity — a sign of demand-side weakness rather than efficiency gains.

Conclusion

Inflation’s impact on an economy depends on its source, magnitude, and persistence. Moderate inflation supports economic dynamism, government finances, and debt sustainability. However, extremes on either side — hyperinflation or deflation — can destabilize the macroeconomic framework. For India, the policy challenge lies in maintaining a delicate balance: ensuring that inflation stays within the target range to protect consumers while sustaining enough price growth to support investment, job creation, and fiscal health.

In News:

The Supreme Court of India is currently examining a Presidential reference on whether fixed timelines can be prescribed for Governors and the President in giving assent to Bills passed by State legislatures. The reference arises from growing concerns over delays in assent, which have triggered debates about the balance of power, federalism, and accountability within India’s constitutional framework.

Constitutional Provisions

Under Article 200 of the Constitution, when a Bill is passed by a State legislature, it is presented to the Governor for assent. The Governor may:

1. Grant assent.
2. Withhold assent.
3. Reserve the Bill for the President’s consideration.
4. Return the Bill (if not a Money Bill) with a message for reconsideration.

If the legislature passes the Bill again, the Governor is constitutionally obliged to grant assent. Article 201 governs the President’s assent to Bills reserved by Governors. Notably, neither Article prescribes a timeframe for decision-making, allowing for indefinite delays, which some States view as a de facto pocket veto.

The Current Debate

States such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Punjab, and Telangana have raised complaints about Governors withholding or delaying assent, often stalling critical legislative reforms. The Supreme Court is tasked with determining whether judicially enforceable timelines can be set to prevent such inaction, while ensuring the Governor’s discretion is respected.

Proponents argue that indefinite delays undermine parliamentary democracy and the functioning of elected governments. Critics caution that imposing strict timelines could limit constitutional discretion and upset the delicate Centre-State balance. The Union government has maintained that Governors operate within their constitutional mandate and that delays may result from the need for scrutiny or consultation with the Centre.

Judicial Precedents

Earlier rulings, including Shamsher Singh v. State of Punjab (1974) and NabamRebia v. Deputy Speaker (2016), emphasized that Governors are generally bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, except in exceptional circumstances. The current reference under Article 143 seeks to clarify whether inaction can be constitutionally limited through prescribed timelines, ensuring accountability without undermining constitutional checks.

Implications for Federalism

1. Strengthening Legislative Authority: Time-bound assent would reinforce the role of elected State legislatures, reducing the scope for executive interference.
2. Preventing Political Deadlocks: Clear timelines could mitigate friction between Governors and State governments, facilitating smoother legislative functioning.
3. Judicial Oversight: The Supreme Court’s intervention could clarify constitutional ambiguities affecting Centre-State relations, setting a precedent for other offices where delays impact governance.
4. Balancing Discretion and Accountability: A measured approach could preserve the Governor’s discretionary powers while ensuring responsiveness to elected governments.

Conclusion

The question of whether timelines can be fixed for Governors and the President is more than a procedural issue—it reflects the tensions inherent in India’s federal design. Governors are intended as neutral constitutional authorities, yet their actions are often perceived through the prism of partisan politics. By addressing this grey area, the Supreme Court has an opportunity to redefine Centre-State dynamics, strengthen legislative authority, and enhance accountability within India’s parliamentary democracy. The ruling will have far-reaching implications for federal governance, political neutrality, and the balance of power in the legislative process.

In News:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the global technological and economic order, influencing sectors from healthcare to defence. For India, AI represents both a transformative development tool and a strategic domain crucial for economic competitiveness and national security.

India’s Position in the Global AI Landscape

India has entered the AI race with significant momentum, backed by a vast digital ecosystem and growing policy support. The government’s India AI Mission, with an outlay of ?10,372 crore, seeks to enhance AI infrastructure, computing power, and research capacity. With over one billion smartphone users and 20 billion monthly UPI transactions, India offers a data-rich environment that can power AI development at scale.

However, compared to the United States ($20 billion) and China ($30 billion) in AI investments during 2024, India’s funding remains modest. While India boasts a talent base of over 18 million software professionals and has integrated AI into school curricula, it still lags in advanced research output and patent generation.

Opportunities for India’s Development

AI holds immense potential to drive India’s socio-economic transformation:

• Healthcare: AI-assisted diagnostics and predictive models can enhance early disease detection, telemedicine outreach, and epidemic forecasting.
• Education: Initiatives like the Bhashini Project enable real-time language translation, improving accessibility and inclusivity in classrooms and governance.
• Agriculture: AI-driven precision farming and weather-based advisories can help small farmers optimise productivity and manage climate risks.
• Finance: Tools such as “Hello UPI” and AI-based fraud detection can deepen rural financial inclusion and strengthen digital security.
• Disaster Management: States like Odisha employ AI in cyclone prediction and geospatial mapping, showcasing AI’s role in saving lives and resources.

Together, these applications align with India’s broader developmental goals of inclusion, sustainability, and resilience.

Challenges in India’s AI Ecosystem

Despite its promise, India faces structural and institutional constraints:

• Infrastructure Deficit: Limited access to high-end GPUs and slow expansion of data centres constrain computational capacity.
• R&D Weakness: India contributes barely 1.4% of global AI research papers and produces less than 2% of global AI PhDs, reflecting a shallow innovation base.
• Regulatory Lag: The outdated IT Act (2000) continues to govern digital activities, lacking provisions for algorithmic transparency, accountability, and data ethics.
• Talent Gap: The focus on short-term certification courses produces surface-level skills rather than deep AI expertise.
• Geopolitical Pressure: The US, EU, and China lead in developing Large Language Models (LLMs), while India risks remaining a consumer market rather than a producer of foundational AI technologies.

Way Forward

A robust AI ecosystem requires a multi-dimensional approach:

• Strengthen Research and Innovation: Enhance public funding for fundamental AI research and incentivise private R&D.
• Human Capital Development: Expand AI training beyond elite institutions and develop teacher capacity for advanced AI pedagogy.
• Regulatory Reforms: Enact a Digital India Act and an AI-specific ethical charter inspired by the EU AI Act, ensuring safety without stifling innovation.
• Public–Private Collaboration: Establish AI innovation hubs focused on healthcare, agriculture, and sustainability.
• Global Partnerships: Engage with international initiatives and leverage India’s leadership in G20 and BRICS to promote responsible AI governance.

Conclusion

India’s AI trajectory stands at a decisive juncture. With its digital depth, demographic advantage, and policy intent, the country can harness AI to drive inclusive growth and global leadership. Yet, without addressing gaps in research, regulation, and ethics, India risks being a user rather than a creator in the AI revolution. Balancing innovation with responsibility will determine whether India can truly emerge as a leading power in the AI-driven century.

In News:

Rivers are the lifelines of India, sustaining agriculture, industry, and millions of livelihoods. Yet, rapid urbanisation, untreated sewage, industrial effluents, and agricultural runoff have severely degraded many river ecosystems. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), river pollution remains a critical environmental and public health challenge.

Status of River Pollution

The CPCB’s 2023 assessment indicates a marginal reduction in polluted river stretches. Out of 271 rivers across 32 states and Union Territories, 296 stretches were identified as polluted, down from 311 in the previous assessment. Maharashtra continues to report the highest number of polluted stretches (54), followed by Kerala (31), Madhya Pradesh and Manipur (18 each), and Karnataka (14).

Polluted stretches are defined as two or more consecutive locations where the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) exceeds 3 mg/L, rendering water unfit for bathing. BOD measures the oxygen consumed by microorganisms in decomposing organic matter, serving as a key indicator of organic pollution. The CPCB classifies polluted stretches into five priority categories, with Priority I (BOD >30 mg/L) representing the most contaminated stretches requiring urgent remediation. Currently, 37 stretches fall under Priority I, including the Yamuna (Delhi), Sabarmati (Ahmedabad), Chambal (Madhya Pradesh), and Tungabhadra (Karnataka).

However, despite marginal improvements, certain rivers have recorded deterioration in water quality. Notable examples include the Jhelum (J&K), Ganga and Sikrahna (Bihar), Hasdeo and Mahanadi (Chhattisgarh), Cauvery and Tungabhadra (Karnataka), Periyar (Kerala), and Krishna (Telangana).

Major Causes

• Untreated Sewage: Urban centres generate over 72,000 million litres/day (MLD) of sewage, with only 30% treated.
• Industrial Effluents: Chemical, textile, and other industrial hubs discharge toxic waste despite regulatory frameworks.
• Agricultural Runoff: Fertilisers and pesticides enter rivers during monsoons, affecting aquatic ecosystems.
• Encroachments and Sand Mining: These activities degrade riverbeds and floodplains, compounding pollution impacts.

Impacts

Polluted rivers compromise aquatic biodiversity, pose health risks via waterborne diseases, and lead to economic losses in fisheries and agriculture. Social unrest, as seen along the Yamuna and Ganga, underscores the public concern over deteriorating river health.

Institutional Interventions

In 2018, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) mandated states and the Centre to prepare river rejuvenation action plans. The CPCB, in collaboration with State Pollution Control Boards, monitors water quality at over 2,155 locations on 645 rivers under the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme. Recommended measures include catchment and basin management, floodplain protection, and sewage treatment.

While initiatives such as the Namami Gange Mission, Jal Jeevan Mission, and promotion of decentralised sewage treatment plants show progress, persistent infrastructure gaps, coordination failures, and urbanisation pressures remain major challenges.

Way Forward

Sustainable river rejuvenation requires holistic approaches—strengthening sewage treatment, enforcing industrial compliance, controlling agricultural runoff, and fostering community participation. Integrating scientific monitoring with participatory governance can help restore rivers as ecological lifelines while ensuring water security, public health, and environmental sustainability.

In News:

The United States government has announced a sweeping change to its H-1B visa programme, introducing a $100,000 annual entry fee per visa effective September 21, 2025. Framed as a measure to protect American workers, this move has significant geopolitical and economic implications, particularly for India, whose citizens constitute over 70% of all H-1B beneficiaries annually.

What the New Rule Entails

Under the new proclamation signed by President Donald Trump, no petition filed for an H-1B worker outside the US will be approved unless the sponsoring employer pays the $100,000 fee upfront. Applications without proof of payment will be denied at consular processing. The rule applies to new entrants or those seeking re-entry after travel, though workers already in the US on valid H-1B status are exempt.

The order, valid for 12 months with scope for review, also directs the Department of Labor to raise wage levels for H-1B jobs and asks the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prioritise petitions offering higher salaries. A discretionary clause empowers DHS to waive the fee for specific individuals, companies, or entire industries if deemed in the “national interest.” However, the proclamation does not define which sectors qualify—though healthcare, defence, and critical technology are likely candidates.

Rationale and Political Context

Immigration has become a central and polarising issue in US politics. Public concern on immigration rose from 2.1% in 2012 to 14.6% in 2024 as a top voter priority. Trump’s political narrative has long linked immigration—both low-skilled and skilled—to job displacement and wage depression among the American working class. The H-1B programme, originally designed to attract top global talent in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields, is now portrayed by nativist factions as a vehicle for outsourcing and wage suppression.

Data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) indicate that nearly 70% of H-1B approvals for Indian workers in FY2023 were for salaries below $100,000, while the median US IT salary was $104,420.

Economic and Industrial Impact

The fee fundamentally alters the cost structure of hiring global talent. The new surcharge, in addition to existing statutory fees, transforms the H-1B from a skill-mobility programme into a premium channel accessible mainly to top-tier corporations or sectors granted exemptions.

Big Tech firms such as Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Google, and Apple—already the largest H-1B sponsors—face millions in additional costs. Indian IT service giants like Infosys, TCS, Wipro, and HCL, who rely on the visa for onsite client delivery, are particularly vulnerable. The policy may push more work to offshore hubs in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune, reinforcing India’s role as a global back-office and development centre rather than an onsite service provider.

Startups, universities, and research labs, often operating on tight budgets, may scale back recruitment or face disruption to innovation and research projects if waivers are not granted.

Implications for India

For India, this measure could limit opportunities for young professionals transitioning from student visas (OPT) to H-1Bs, while families already in the US may face travel restrictions and uncertainty. However, it may also spur reshoring of tech investment to India, as multinational firms expand local operations to mitigate costs.

Conclusion

The $100,000 H-1B fee marks a decisive shift in US immigration policy—from selective reform to fiscal deterrence. While it may serve short-term political optics of job protectionism, it risks undermining America’s long-standing advantage in global innovation. For India, the challenge lies in turning this disruption into opportunity—by strengthening domestic tech ecosystems, skilling talent, and positioning itself as a preferred global innovation hub amid shifting international labour dynamics.

In News:

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India released the State Finances Publication 2025, providing a comprehensive assessment of revenue, expenditure, debt, and fiscal sustainability across India’s 28 states. The report highlights critical trends in committed expenditure, salary and subsidy bills, and public debt, offering insights for policy planning and fiscal management.

Salary and Subsidy Expenditure

• Over the last decade (2013-14 to 2022-23), states’ salary bills have grown 2.5 times, reaching ?16.6 lakh crore, forming the largest component of committed expenditure.
• Subsidy spending, defined as day-to-day operations that do not create or enhance assets, more than trebled to ?3.09 lakh crore, accounting for 8.61% of total revenue expenditure.
• The distribution of subsidy expenditure is highly uneven. In 2022-23, Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan spent over 10% of their total expenditure on subsidies, with Punjab at 17%, the highest among states. By contrast, 10 states, including Sikkim, Nagaland, Kerala, and Goa, reported subsidies below 2%, and Arunachal Pradesh recorded no subsidy spending.

Committed Expenditure Patterns

Committed expenditure, comprising salaries, pensions, and interest payments, constituted 43.49% of states’ revenue expenditure in FY 2022-23. The share varied widely across states:

• Nagaland: 74%
• Kerala: 63%
• Tamil Nadu: 51%
• Andhra Pradesh: 42%
• Telangana: 41%
• Karnataka: 33%
• Maharashtra: 32%

In total, 15 states reported committed expenditure exceeding 50% of revenue expenditure, seven between 40–50%, and six below 40%. The report indicates that committed expenditure and subsidies together have frequently exceeded states’ own tax revenues, reaching 102% in 2013-14 and 134% in 2020-21, signaling fiscal pressure and limited flexibility.

Public Debt and Fiscal Risk

Public debt has risen 3.4 times over the last decade, reaching ?59.6 lakh crore, approximately 23% of the combined Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). This increase in debt, coupled with rising committed expenditure, poses medium-term fiscal risks, necessitating prudent fiscal management and reforms.

Union Tax Devolution and Revenue Sources

States’ major revenue sources include own taxes and non-tax revenues, grants-in-aid, and their share of Union taxes. Between 2013-14 and 2022-23, states’ average share of Union taxes remained around 27% of total revenue receipts, with FY 2022-23 showing the same share.

Distribution of devolved taxes is concentrated:

• Top 5 states (UP, Bihar, MP, West Bengal, Maharashtra) received 50% of devolved taxes.
• Southern states’ shares: Tamil Nadu 4.08%, Andhra Pradesh 4.02%, Karnataka 3.65%, Telangana 2.07%, and Kerala 1.93%.

Policy Implications

The CAG report underscores the rising fiscal pressures on states due to expanding salary bills, high subsidies, and growing debt. With committed expenditure consuming a large portion of revenue, states have limited fiscal space for development and capital investment. The findings highlight the need for targeted reforms in public expenditure management, subsidy rationalisation, and debt sustainability, ensuring that states can maintain service delivery without compromising fiscal health.

In News:

• The Central Government, through the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), has decided to study and replicate Andhra Pradesh’s “WhatsApp Governance Model”, recognized as a national best practice in e-governance.
• The announcement came during the 28th National Conference on e-Governance 2025, held in Visakhapatnam on the theme “Viksit Bharat: Civil Service and Digital Transformation.”

About Mana Mitra

• Mana Mitra, launched by the Andhra Pradesh government in January 2025, is India’s first WhatsApp-based governance platform.
• It integrates 36 departments and provides 738 citizen services through a single WhatsApp number — 9552300009 — ensuring accessibility, efficiency, and transparency in public service delivery.

Objectives

• Ease of Access: Deliver services through WhatsApp, a widely used platform, reducing citizens’ dependence on physical offices.
• Transparency & Trust: Digital certificates are issued with QR-coded verification, minimizing fraud and fake documentation.
• Inclusivity: Brings governance to the mobile phones of rural and remote citizens, fostering last-mile digital inclusion.

How It Works

• Single-Number Access: Citizens initiate a chat by sending “Hi” on WhatsApp.
• Menu-Driven Services: A chatbot guides users through departments and available services—education, revenue, endowments, RTC, tourism, and health.
• Instant Document Delivery: Documents such as income and caste certificates, hall tickets, and tax receipts are generated digitally with verifiable QR codes.
• Real-Time Dashboard: Tracks service delivery, ensuring accountability and performance monitoring.
• Next-Gen Tech Integration: Future phases will use AI chatbots, voice-based assistance, and blockchain authentication for secure transactions.

Key Features

• Wide Coverage: 738 services across 36 departments.
• Security: Built-in encryption and QR verification to prevent misuse.
• Partnership with Meta: Ensures robust backend infrastructure and global-grade security.
• Scalability: Phase-II aims to include AI, voice, and real-time grievance redressal systems.

Significance and Impacts

• Citizen-Centric Governance: Empowers citizens by providing services at their fingertips, in line with the vision of Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.
• Administrative Efficiency: Reduces paperwork, manual processing, and delays through automation.
• Cost and Time Savings: Citizens save travel and administrative costs; departments save on manpower and logistics.
• Digital Inclusion: Leverages WhatsApp’s nearly 500 million Indian users, ensuring access even in areas with limited digital literacy.
• Model for Replication: DARPG recognized it as a national model to be documented and replicated across all states.

Challenges

• Digital Divide: Connectivity issues in remote and tribal regions can hinder equitable access.
• Cybersecurity Threats: Phishing, fake accounts, or data breaches must be prevented through strong encryption and verification systems.
• Capacity Building: Frontline staff need training for effective digital grievance handling.
• Data Privacy: Must comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) 2023.
• Scalability and Reliability: Systems must withstand heavy user loads without technical failures.

Way Forward

• AI & Voice Integration: Enable predictive service delivery and multilingual assistance.
• Strengthen Cybersecurity: Introduce two-factor authentication and blockchain-based certification.
• Enhance Digital Literacy: Awareness campaigns targeting rural, elderly, and marginalized populations.
• Institutionalization: Provide legislative backing to make WhatsApp governance legally accountable.
• Nationwide Replication: Integrate with platforms like DigiLocker, UPI, and CoWIN to create a unified digital service ecosystem.

The 28th National Conference on e-Governance 2025

• Venue: Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
• Organizers: DARPG and the Ministry of Electronics & IT in collaboration with the AP Government.
• Theme:Viksit Bharat: Civil Service and Digital Transformation.
• Participants: Delegates from 28 States and 8 Union Territories, including 70 speakers.
• Focus Areas:
  • AI for Viksit Bharat: Driving inclusive and scalable solutions.
  • Cybersecurity and digital sovereignty in e-governance.
  • Gram Panchayat-level innovations and agri-stack development.
  • Role of subsea cables and AI data centers in digital infrastructure.

Conclusion

Mana Mitra represents a transformative step in India’s digital governance journey, bridging citizens and the state through a simple yet powerful medium — WhatsApp. By ensuring transparency, efficiency, and inclusivity, it exemplifies how technology can democratize governance. If successfully replicated nationwide, this model could become a cornerstone of Viksit Bharat 2047, bringing governance truly “to the people’s fingertips.”

In News:

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has released a first-of-its-kind decadal report (2013–14 to 2022–23) analysing the fiscal health of Indian states, highlighting a worrying surge in public debt and its implications for fiscal sustainability and cooperative federalism.

Understanding Public Debt

• Public debt arises when government expenditure exceeds revenue from taxes and other receipts, prompting borrowing to bridge the fiscal gap. For states, such debt includes liabilities under the Consolidated Fund of the State, comprising internal debt and loans and advances from the Centre.
• Internal debt consists of marketable securities like government bonds and treasury bills, and non-marketable debt such as loans from financial institutions like LIC and NABARD or the Reserve Bank’s Ways and Means Advances (WMA).
• The Debt-to-GSDP ratio is a key indicator of fiscal sustainability, reflecting a state’s capacity to service its debt. A higher ratio implies greater fiscal stress.
• The NK Singh Committee on FRBM (2016) recommended a combined general government debt ceiling of 60% of GDP — 40% for the Centre and 20% for states.

Key Findings of the CAG Report

• The CAG report reveals that the aggregate public debt of 28 states trebled over the past decade — from ?17.57 lakh crore in 2013–14 to ?59.60 lakh crore in 2022–23.
• As a share of combined GSDP, debt rose from 16.66% to 22.96%, with state debt accounting for 22.17% of India’s GDP in FY 2022–23.

Inter-State Variations

Fiscal vulnerability varies widely:

• Highest debt-to-GSDP ratios: Punjab (40.35%), Nagaland (37.15%), and West Bengal (33.70%).
• Lowest ratios: Odisha (8.45%), Maharashtra (14.64%), and Gujarat (16.37%).
  As of March 2023, eight states had debt exceeding 30% of GSDP, while six states maintained it below 20%.

Debt Sustainability and Composition

• The states’ debt-to-revenue receipts ratio ranged from 128% (2014–15) to 191% (2020–21), averaging about 150% of total receipts.
• The debt-to-GSDP ratio oscillated between 17–25%, with a sharp rise during the COVID-19 pandemic year (2020–21) due to falling GSDP and increased borrowing for relief and GST compensation.
• Major sources of debt include open market borrowings, RBI advances, institutional loans, and back-to-back loans from the Centre in lieu of GST shortfall and capital assistance.

Fiscal Management Concerns

• The report flags a violation of the “golden rule of borrowing”, which stipulates that governments should borrow only for capital formation, not to finance revenue expenditure.
• Eleven states, including Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, and West Bengal, used borrowings to fund current expenses.
• In Andhra Pradesh, only 17% of borrowings went to capital expenditure; in Punjab, 26%.

Such practices threaten fiscal sustainability, crowd out productive investments, and risk pushing states into a debt trap, thereby undermining macroeconomic stability.

Way Forward

• Fiscal Discipline: States must prioritise borrowing for productive infrastructure and avoid financing recurring expenditure.
• Debt Management Reforms:Operationalising the Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) could ensure transparency and better coordination in debt operations.
• Revenue Strengthening: Enhancing tax buoyancy, rationalising subsidies, and diversifying revenue bases can reduce dependence on central transfers.
• Adherence to FRBM Targets: States should align fiscal deficit and debt ratios with FRBM norms to ensure long-term sustainability.
• Institutional Oversight: Strengthening State Finance Commissions and CAG monitoring can promote accountable and sustainable fiscal federalism.

Conclusion

The surge in state-level debt underscores the growing strain on subnational fiscal capacity. While borrowing is essential for development, unchecked debt accumulation and non-productive spending threaten fiscal stability. Ensuring fiscal prudence, efficient debt management, and adherence to reform frameworks like FRBM are vital to preserving India’s long-term macroeconomic resilience and cooperative federal balance.

In News:

India’s media and entertainment (M&E) industry is experiencing rapid digital transformation, fueled by rising global collaborations and the growing influence of independent creators. To channel this momentum and establish India as a global content hub, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) launched WAVES Bazaar in January 2025—a first-of-its-kind hybrid content marketplace that connects creators, investors, and distributors across various media segments.

Now entering its second phase, WAVES Bazaar is expanding with AI-driven matchmaking, online pitching sessions, and secure viewing rooms—initiatives aimed at strengthening India’s creative ecosystem and democratizing access for new talent.

About WAVES Bazaar

WAVES Bazaar serves as a digital platform bringing together diverse stakeholders from films, television, animation, gaming, music, radio, advertising, and podcasts. It allows creators to network, pitch ideas, and collaborate with OTT platforms, production houses, distributors, and financiers.

Key Features of the Second Phase

• Online Pitching and Viewing Rooms:Budding creators will now be able to pitch directly to production houses, OTT platforms, and investors through virtual sessions. The addition of secure online viewing rooms will allow content buyers to preview projects safely, ensuring transparency and intellectual property protection.
• AI-Driven Matchmaking and Profiling:Artificial Intelligence will enhance the platform’s efficiency by recommending suitable collaborators—such as financiers, distributors, or genre-specific buyers—based on project details. The system will also support automated profile building, pitch deck creation, and project scoring, guiding creators to improve their market visibility.
• Skill Development and Knowledge Hub:The second phase introduces a knowledge ecosystem comprising webinars and masterclasses by industry experts. These sessions aim to bridge the knowledge gap for emerging creators and provide mentorship on project development, financing, and global trends.
• Global Outreach and Co-Production Opportunities:WAVES Bazaar will expand its international footprint through delegations and participation in global festivals. It also seeks to strengthen co-production treaties with partner countries, promoting cross-border collaboration and investment in India’s creative sectors.

Significance for India’s Creative Economy

The initiative aligns with India’s ambition to become a global content hub by enabling equal opportunities for small and independent creators. It aims to diversify creative exports beyond films into music, gaming, animation, podcasts, and short-form content, while also enhancing India’s soft power and digital cultural economy.

By integrating technology, mentorship, and market access, WAVES Bazaar could emerge as the central gateway for Indian creative exports, fostering innovation and sustainable growth in the sector.

Challenges and Way Forward

While the portal’s potential is immense, its success will depend on addressing data security, ensuring inclusive access for regional creators, and maintaining long-term international partnerships. If implemented effectively, WAVES Bazaar 2.0 can position India as a leading creative powerhouse, bridging the gap between talent and opportunity in the global digital age.

In News:

The 2025 monsoon season has witnessed intense and destructive rainfall across North India, particularly in the Himalayan states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir. Cloudbursts, landslides, and flash floods have resulted in widespread devastation, exposing the growing vulnerability of India’s mountain ecosystems and urban regions. The intensification of monsoon rainfall can be traced to the complex interplay of global climate change, regional topography, and anthropogenic factors such as urbanisation and deforestation.

Scientific Basis of Intensified Rainfall

Dry regions like northwestern India lie at the confluence of tropical and extratropical systems. Moist monsoon currents from the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea increasingly collide with western disturbances, producing strong atmospheric instability and torrential rainfall. This interaction has become more frequent as climate change alters the behaviour of mid-latitude westerlies.

Global warming weakens and destabilises the jet stream, allowing westerly troughs to extend southward and interact with the monsoon more often. A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, intensifying the hydrological cycle and leading to heavier downpours. These processes have made events like the recent Udhampur (630 mm in 24 hours) and Leh (59 mm in two days) rainfall episodes more common, even in regions historically considered semi-arid.

Why the Himalayas Are More Vulnerable

The Himalayas sit at the convergence of moist tropical monsoon winds and mid-latitude westerlies, creating ideal conditions for orographic uplift and deep convection that trigger extreme precipitation and cloudbursts. When moisture-laden air is forced up steep slopes, it cools rapidly and condenses into intense, localised storms.

Climate change compounds this natural vulnerability. Rapid Arctic warming is weakening the jet stream, causing slower and more meandering weather systems that linger over regions, leading to prolonged heavy rainfall. Similar dynamics have been linked to the Pakistan floods (2010), Germany (2021), and West Asia (2024) events.

In mountainous terrain, rainfall that would be manageable in coastal plains becomes catastrophic — flash floods and landslides occur as water cascades downhill, carrying debris, loose soil, and boulders. Over the last month, such incidents have been recorded in Mandi, Kullu, Dharali, Tharali, and Jammu, destroying homes and cutting off roads.

Challenges in Prediction and Preparedness

Despite technological advances, forecasting cloudbursts remains challenging. Current systems employ Doppler Weather Radars (DWRs), satellites (INSAT-3D/3DR, GPM, Himawari), rain gauges, and high-resolution numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. However, coverage in Himalayan terrain is sparse, satellite resolution is coarse, and models require ultra-fine grid scales (<1 km) with precise initial conditions.

Improved dense observation networks, enhanced process-based models, and integration of AI/ML techniques for real-time data assimilation are critical for reliable nowcasting.

Urban and Developmental Pressures

Rapid urbanisation, deforestation, and construction on unstable slopes have magnified the flood risks in both mountain towns and plains cities. Urban drainage systems, designed for rainfall of only 10–20 mm/hour, are ill-equipped for cloudbursts exceeding 100 mm/hour. Concretised surfaces increase runoff, while encroachments block natural drainage, turning heavy rain into urban deluges.

Mitigation demands a multi-pronged approach—redesigning stormwater systems, enforcing land-use regulations, restoring natural water channels, and incorporating climate risk assessments in infrastructure planning.

Conclusion

The increasing frequency of extreme rainfall and cloudbursts in India’s Himalayan and urban regions reflects the intersection of climate dynamics, fragile topography, and unsustainable development. Strengthening early warning systems, integrating scientific forecasting with local planning, and promoting climate-resilient infrastructure are essential to mitigate future disasters. The Himalayan crisis underscores a broader reality—climate change is no longer a distant threat but an unfolding challenge demanding immediate, coordinated action.

In News:

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) recently announced a set of comprehensive reforms aimed at improving foreign investment inflows, easing IPO norms for large issuers, strengthening governance in market infrastructure institutions (MIIs), and promoting financial inclusion. These reforms are introduced amid heightened global uncertainty, with foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) withdrawing over ?63,500 crore from Indian markets since July 2025 due to weak earnings, high valuations, and international trade tensions.

SWAGAT-FI: Single Window Access for Foreign Investors

A cornerstone of SEBI’s reforms is the Single Window Automatic &Generalised Access for Trusted Foreign Investors (SWAGAT-FI) framework, designed to simplify investment access for FPIs and Foreign Venture Capital Investors (FVCIs).

Eligibility and Scope:

• Sovereign wealth funds, central banks, regulated public retail funds (mutual funds, insurance companies, pension funds).
• Existing FPIs meeting criteria can migrate to SWAGAT-FI status.

Features:

• Unified registration and KYC cycle, reducing repeated compliance.
• Exemption from the 50% cap on contributions by NRIs, OCIs, and resident Indians.
• Simplified access through the India Market Access portal, reducing regulatory complexity.
• Implementation over a six-month timeline, aiming to restore investor confidence and enhance India’s global competitiveness.

Relaxed IPO Norms for Large Companies

To encourage large issuers to raise capital efficiently:

• Companies with market capitalization of ?1–5 lakh crore must now offer 2.75–2.8% of post-issue market cap, down from 5%.
• Minimum public offer for mega-IPOs raised to ?6,250 crore.
• Public shareholding timeline relaxed: Firms with <15% float at listing get 10 years to meet 25% minimum, and those with ≥15% float get 5 years.
• Anchor investor quota increased from one-third to 40%, reserving one-third for domestic mutual funds and the rest for life insurers and pension funds.

These measures help promoters reduce immediate dilution while facilitating broad investor participation.

Strengthened Governance in Market Infrastructure Institutions

SEBI has introduced structural reforms to improve transparency and accountability in exchanges and clearing corporations:

• Two executive directors appointed to oversee critical operations (trading, clearing, settlement) and regulatory compliance (risk, investor grievances).
• Defined roles and responsibilities for Managing Directors and Key Managerial Personnel to enhance succession planning.
• Scale-based thresholds introduced for material related-party transactions.
• Separate AIF schemes for accredited investors with flexible compliance norms.

Mutual Fund and Retail Investor Reforms

To promote financial inclusion and investor protection:

• Maximum exit load reduced from 5% to 3%.
• Distributor incentives revised to encourage inflows from B-30 cities and women investors.
• Enhanced transparency in investor reporting and compliance requirements.

Significance and Implications

• For India’s markets: Provides operational flexibility for large issuers, simplifies compliance, and reduces procedural hurdles for trusted foreign investors.
• For global competitiveness: Positions India as a stable, long-term investment hub amid capital volatility.
• For retail investors: Encourages broader participation from smaller cities and underrepresented groups, aligning with inclusive financial growth objectives.

Overall, SEBI’s reforms reflect a balance between market facilitation, investor protection, and governance standards, reinforcing India’s ambition to be an attractive, transparent, and globally competitive capital market.

In News:

India and Mauritius share deep-rooted historical, cultural, and economic ties, which have been further strengthened through recent diplomatic engagements. In September 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Mauritius PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam in Varanasi, reaffirming the partnership as more than a diplomatic arrangement, describing it as a “family bond” rooted in shared history, values, and strategic interests.

Special Economic Package and Development Cooperation

During the meeting, India announced a special economic package worth $680 million, aimed at supporting Mauritius in infrastructure, healthcare, defence preparedness, and maritime security. Key components of the package include:

• Healthcare: Establishment of a 500-bed Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam National Hospital, an AYUSH Centre of Excellence, and a Veterinary School and Animal Hospital. The first Jan Aushadhi Kendra outside India was also inaugurated.
• Infrastructure: Development of roads, highways, ring roads, and the ATC Tower at SSR International Airport.
• Strategic and Maritime Security: Assistance in Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surveillance, hydrographic surveys, navigation charting, and maritime domain awareness over the next five years.
• Chagos Marine Protected Area: India will support Mauritius in monitoring, developing, and protecting the Chagos EEZ, following Mauritius’ sovereignty agreement with the UK.

These initiatives are positioned as hard and soft power diplomacy, enhancing India’s strategic reach in the Indian Ocean while improving Mauritius’ development and security capabilities.

Economic and Technological Cooperation

Mauritius is one of India’s closest economic partners in Africa, ranking as the second-largest source of FDI into India after Singapore. The two nations signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) in 2021, India’s first trade deal with an African country. Last year, UPI and RuPay services were launched in Mauritius, and both nations are now exploring trade in local currencies.

India also supports academic and civil service capacity building through collaborations between IIT Madras, Indian Institute of Plantation Management, and the University of Mauritius, as well as the launch of Mission Karmayogi training modules.

Geopolitical and Strategic Significance

Mauritius views India as a trusted partner and net security provider in the Indian Ocean, reinforcing a free, open, and secure maritime domain. India’s support aligns with its Neighbourhood First and Vision Mahasagar policies, countering the growing influence of China, Russia, Iran, and Gulf nations in the region. By assisting Mauritius with EEZ surveillance and maritime capacity building, India strengthens its strategic leverage while bolstering Mauritius’ sovereignty, particularly in the Chagos Archipelago.

Cultural and People-to-People Connect

The bond between the two nations is also cultural and historical. Approximately 70% of Mauritius’ 1.3 million population are of Indian descent, and Indian culture, traditions, and languages are deeply embedded in daily life. During the Varanasi visit, the Mauritian Prime Minister participated in the Ganga Aarti and planned prayers at Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham, highlighting the symbolic spiritual dimension of bilateral relations.

Conclusion

India’s multi-dimensional engagement with Mauritius demonstrates a blend of strategic foresight, development diplomacy, and cultural affinity. Through the special economic package, maritime cooperation, and people-centric initiatives, India not only strengthens Mauritius’ development and security but also consolidates its influence in a geopolitically vital part of the Indian Ocean, fostering mutual prosperity, stability, and strategic partnership.