In News:

As per the Asian Waterbird Census-2025, a record number of 39,725 birds belonging to 106 species have been sighted in the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary and adjoining wetlands.

Asian Waterbird Census (AWC): An Overview

• AWC is an annual citizen-science programme that supports the conservation of wetlands and waterbirds across Asia.
• Initiated in 1987 in the Indian subcontinent, it now covers extensive regions of East and Southeast Asia, Japan, Australasia, and parts of the Central Asian and East Asian–Australasian Flyways.
• AWC is the Asian chapter of the global International Waterbird Census (IWC).
• In India, it is coordinated by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) every January.

About BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society)

• An Indian NGO engaged in biodiversity research and conservation.
• Recognized as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (SIRO) by the Department of Science and Technology.
• Official partner of BirdLife International in India.

Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary (Andhra Pradesh): Census Findings 2025

• The Asian Waterbird Census 2025 recorded a record 39,725 birds representing 106 species in the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) and adjoining Godavari estuary wetlands.
• Of these, nearly 70 species are migratory, using the site as a key winter feeding ground.

Species of Conservation Concern

• Endangered species sighted:
  • Indian Skimmer (Rynchops albicollis) – ~450 individuals sighted
  • Black-bellied Tern (Sterna acuticauda)
  • Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris)
• Vulnerable species: Common Pochard (Aythya ferina)
• Near Threatened species: 11 species identified

Migratory Pathways and Monitoring

• Migrants such as the Great Knot travel from Russia, Siberia, China, and Mongolia to the Godavari estuary.
• A tagged Great Knot, tracked from Russia, was recorded after a 7,500 km journey, seen in Bhairavapalem mudflat and Etimoga wetland in successive winters (2024 and 2025).
• Data sharing with global avian research groups aids in tracking migratory patterns and supports conservation of endangered species.

Ecological and Ramsar Significance

• The Godavari estuary supports feeding grounds for nearly 90,000 birds, as observed by CWS authorities.
• Avian diversity is a key criterion for Ramsar Site designation, and experts advocate for Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary and its surroundings to be recognized as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.

In News:

After a four-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Galwan Valley clash, India and China have agreed to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in June 2025, along with other confidence-building measures.

This decision aligns with the 75th anniversary of India-China diplomatic relations, symbolizing an attempt to stabilize and recalibrate bilateral ties through people-centric initiatives.

Key Highlights:

Key announcements include:

• Resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra
• Restoration of direct air services
• Visa issuance for journalists and think tanks
• Hydrological data sharing and cooperation on trans-border rivers
• Enhanced people-to-people exchanges and academic/media dialogues

About the Yatra

• The Yatra involves a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (Xizang).
• Organised by India’s Ministry of External Affairs between June–September, via two routes:
  • Lipulekh Pass (Uttarakhand)
  • Nathu La Pass (Sikkim)
• Supported by the state governments of Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Delhi, and coordinated with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.
• Open only to Indian citizens with valid passports; no financial subsidy is provided by the Government of India.

Geographical and Religious Significance:

• Mount Kailash, located in the Kailash Range (Transhimalaya), is the source of four major rivers: Sutlej, Brahmaputra, Indus, and Karnali.
• Revered across religions:
  • Hindus consider it the abode of Lord Shiva; Mansarovar is one of the 51 Shaktipeeths.
  • Buddhists and Tibetans regard it as the ‘Stairway to Heaven’.
  • Jains believe Rishabhanatha attained enlightenment here—referred to as Ashtapada.

Diplomatic Interpretations and Differences

• India’s Position: Emphasized a step-by-step, cautious approach focusing on rebuilding trust and resolving contentious issues, particularly the border situation. India sought policy predictability and transparency in trade, and reaffirmed the importance of mutual respect and interests.
• China’s Position: Took a more optimistic and strategic stance, stressing the need to avoid "mutual suspicion" and to advance cooperation based on long-term national interests. It emphasized early action, including the swift resumption of the Yatra and flights.

Ongoing Concerns in Bilateral Relations

• Unresolved Border Disputes:
  • Tensions persist along the Line of Actual Control (LAC)—notably in Galwan (2020) and Tawang (2022).
  • India and China have made limited progress in resolving issues in Depsang and Demchok.
• Trade Imbalance:
  • Bilateral trade in 2023–24 stood at USD 118.4 billion, with India facing a trade deficit of USD 85 billion.
  • India raised concerns on market access and non-tariff barriers.
• China-Pakistan Axis:
  • The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, violating India’s territorial sovereignty.
  • China’s support for Pakistan in multilateral forums remains a thorn in bilateral ties.
• China’s Regional Assertiveness:
  • Expanding influence in South Asia and the Indian Ocean through the String of Pearls, strategic presence in Maldives, Sri Lanka, and strong claims in the South China Sea, contribute to regional unease.

Significance of the Current Diplomatic Thaw

• The resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra reflects a symbolic softening in ties, emphasizing religious diplomacy and people-to-people connection.
• Restoration of direct flights and journalistic presence can aid in reducing mistrust.
• Hydrological cooperation, particularly over the Brahmaputra River, is essential for India’s water security, especially with China constructing mega-dams upstream.

Way Forward

• Rebuild Trust Through Engagement: Maintain diplomatic dialogues via platforms like BRICS, SCO, and G20, while holding to core national interests.
• Resolve Border Disputes: Pursue early finalization of the LAC through confidence-building agreements and military disengagement.
• Diversify Economic Strategy: Reduce dependency on Chinese imports by strengthening domestic manufacturing and regional trade alternatives.
• Enhance Cultural Diplomacy: Use platforms like the Kailash Yatra to foster mutual understanding rooted in shared civilizational values.
• Promote Transparency and Reciprocity: Especially in media, trade, and information sharing, to ensure balanced bilateral engagement.

In News:

DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup based in Hangzhou, has emerged as a major player in the global AI race with the release of its models DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1.

These models are designed to rival top-tier Western counterparts such as OpenAI’s GPT-4, Google’s Bard, and Meta’s LLaMA, but at a fraction of the cost.

Key Developments and Technological Edge

• Cost Efficiency: DeepSeek-V3 was trained at a cost of under $6 million, using older Nvidia H800 chips, compared to the estimated $100 million cost of GPT-4. Its subscription fee is significantly lower—$0.50/month versus $20/month for ChatGPT.
• Model Performance:
  • DeepSeek-R1, a “reasoning model,” reportedly matches OpenAI’s o1 model in mathematics, coding, and contextual processing, while using fewer resources through incremental reasoning.
  • Models use Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture, reinforcement learning, and self-improvement loops, making them more memory-efficient and scalable.
• Advanced Models Released:
  • DeepSeek Coder / Coder-V2 (for coding tasks).
  • DeepSeek LLM (67B parameters), V2, V3 (671B parameters), and R1-Distill (fine-tuned using synthetic data).

Global Impact and Market Disruption

• App Success & Outages: The DeepSeek AI app topped the U.S. App Store, surpassing ChatGPT. This success triggered large-scale cyberattacks and caused temporary service disruptions.
• Market Reaction: The launch reportedly led to a historic $600 billion drop in Nvidia's market value, highlighting the disruptive potential of cost-efficient AI innovation.
• Geopolitical Ramifications: The rise of DeepSeek is seen as a technological parallel to the 1957 Sputnik moment, which shocked the U.S. and triggered the space race.
  DeepSeek has reignited US-China AI rivalry, intensifying great-power competition in frontier technologies.

Strategic Lessons for India

• Bipolar AI Landscape: The U.S. and China dominate AI due to massive investment and infrastructure. Middle powers like India and France face the challenge of staying relevant without matching this scale.
• Doing More with Less: DeepSeek’s success underscores how innovation with limited resources can be effective—providing a model for India to emulate via Small Language Models (SLMs) and cost-efficient AI strategies.
• Sovereign AI & Global Governance:
  • India advocates for “Sovereign AI”, balancing independence and strategic alliances, especially with France and the U.S.
  • Future cooperation between U.S. and China on AI governance, similar to Cold War-era nuclear agreements, is a possibility.
  • India must learn from past exclusions (e.g., nuclear governance) and proactively shape global AI governance frameworks.
• Policy Implications:
  • DeepSeek's rise may lead to stricter U.S. chip export restrictions to China.
  • It presents both security risks (censorship, pro-China bias) and opportunities (cost-effective models, domestic self-reliance).

Ethical Concerns and Limitations

• Censorship: DeepSeek complies with Chinese state censorship, refusing responses on politically sensitive topics (e.g., Tiananmen Square), raising concerns about bias and lack of transparency.

Security & Privacy: Experts have flagged potential data privacy and AI ethics issues, emphasizing the need for robust global standards and accountability mechanisms.

In News:

Researchers at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi, have successfully decoded the gene expression pattern of the Indian squid (Uroteuthis duvaucelii), marking a major scientific advancement with wide-ranging implications for neuroscience, environmental studies, and sustainable marine resource management.

About Indian Squid

• Common Name: Indian Calamari
• Scientific Classification: Cephalopod
• Size: Typically 20–30 cm; can grow up to 50 cm
• Appearance: Light pinkish-grey body with two large fins, eight arms, and two longer tentacles used for capturing prey
• Key Abilities:
  • Camouflage
  • Jet propulsion for rapid movement
  • Advanced nervous system
  • Problem-solving skills and behavioral intelligence

Habitat & Distribution

• Preferred Habitat: Coastal and open sea regions of the Indian Ocean
  • Found at depths ranging from 100 to 500 meters, some even up to 1,500 meters
  • Requires high dissolved oxygen levels for respiration
• Geographic Distribution:
  • Widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific
  • Found in Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, from Mozambique to the South China Sea, Philippine Sea, and northward to Taiwan
• Conservation Status: IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Scientific Significance of Genetic Research

• Key Findings:
  • Revealed genetic similarities with higher vertebrates like fish and humans, suggesting deep evolutionary links
  • Indicates that Indian squid could serve as a model organism to study brain evolution, intelligence, and neurobiological functions
  • Potential to inform research in neural circuits, memory, learning, and even neurological diseases
  • Findings may also explain squid's adaptive success, such as evading predators and fishing pressures due to high cognitive ability

Institutional Background: CMFRI

• Established: 1947
• Affiliation: Part of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) since 1967
• Headquarters: Kochi, Kerala
• Mandate: Research on sustainable marine fisheries and ecosystem conservation

CMFRI’s Broader Recommendations for Sustainable Marine Management

• Enactment of Sea Fishing Act to regulate fishing beyond territorial waters
• Institutionalization of ecological stock assessments for sustainable exploitation
• Simplification and promotion of open mariculture with focus on environmental sustainability
• Use of AI-based systems to estimate landings and monitor fishing vessels
• Deep-sea resource exploration and alternative fishing methods
• Institutional mechanism for supervising deep-sea fishing
• Strengthening insurance coverage for marine fishers

In News:

The Payment System Report – December 2024 is a bi-annual publication by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

It analyses trends in digital and retail payment systems over the last five calendar years (up to CY-2024) and highlights India's transformation into a global leader in payment innovation and inclusion.

Growth in Digital Transactions

• Exponential Growth: Digital payment transactions rose 94 times in volume (from 222 crore in 2013 to 20,787 crore in 2024) and 3.5 times in value (from ?772 lakh crore to ?2,758 lakh crore).
• Recent CAGR (2019–2024):
  • Volume: 45.9% CAGR
  • Value: 10.2% CAGR
• Retail Digital Payments: From 162 crore transactions in FY13 to 16,416 crore in FY24 — a 100-fold increase in 12 years.
• Digital Payments Index (DPI): Surged from a base of 100 in March 2018 to 445.50 in March 2024, indicating massive digital adoption.

UPI: A Game-Changer

• Launched in 2016 by NPCI, UPI has revolutionized mobile-based payments.
• CAGR (Last 5 Years):
  • Volume: 74.03%
  • Value: 68.14%
• Monthly Transactions: UPI processes over 16 billion transactions monthly, ranking among the largest globally.
• Inclusive Innovations:
  • UPI Lite & UPI Lite X: For offline/small-value payments.
  • UPI123Pay: For feature phone users.
  • UPI 2.0: Includes auto-debit and recurring payment functionalities.

Credit and Debit Card Trends

• Credit Cards:
  • Growth: More than doubled from 5.53 crore (Dec 2019) to 10.80 crore (Dec 2024).
• Debit Cards:
  • Stable Usage: Marginal increase from 80.53 crore to 99.09 crore in the same period.

Cross-Border Payment Integration

• RBI is actively enhancing cross-border payments by integrating India's UPI with international Fast Payment Systems (FPSs), addressing high costs, delays, and limited access.
• Key Developments:
  • UPI-PayNow Linkage (Feb 2023): India-Singapore real-time cross-border payments.
  • UPI-enabled QR Payments: Available in Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, UAE.
• Project Nexus:
  • A BIS-conceptualized multilateral project.
  • Aims to interlink FPSs of India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand for seamless retail payments.

Institutional and Legal Framework

• Legal Backbone: Payments and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act) empowers RBI to:
  • Regulate, supervise, and license payment system operators.
  • Authorize systems like NPCI, card networks, ATM operators, etc.
• Governing Body:
  • Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems (BPSS) under RBI.
  • Chairperson: RBI Governor; Vice-Chairperson: Deputy Governor (in charge of DPSS).
• Payment Ecosystem Entities:
  • RBI-regulated: RTGS, NEFT, Cheques (CTS).
  • NPCI-managed: UPI, IMPS, AePS, BBPS, NETC, NACH, Cards.
  • Other PSOs: TReDS, PPIs.

Strategic Significance

• Financial Inclusion: Payment systems are critical tools for promoting inclusive growth by ensuring last-mile delivery of services and direct benefit transfers.
• Global Competitiveness: RBI’s regulatory foresight and innovation have placed India among the global frontrunners in digital payments.