In News:

The NITI Aayog Frontier Tech Hub, in partnership with IBM, has released a national roadmap titled “Transforming India into a Leading Quantum-Powered Economy.” The roadmap outlines steps to position India among the world’s top three quantum economies by 2047.

What is Quantum Technology?

Quantum technology uses principles of quantum mechanicssuch as superposition and entanglementto develop capabilities beyond classical systems.

Global Potential: By 2035, quantum technologies could generate USD 1–2 trillion in global economic value across sectors.

Four Key Pillars of Quantum Technologies

• Quantum Computing: Uses qubits instead of classical bits, enabling exponential speed-ups for complex problems like optimisation, cryptography, and drug discovery.
• Quantum Communication: Employs Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and entanglement for ultra-secure communication where eavesdropping can be detected.
• Quantum Sensing & Metrology: Uses quantum effects for extremely precise measurements (atomic clocks, magnetometers, navigation systems).
• Quantum Materials: Development of advanced materials using quantum properties such as superconductivity and topological states.

India’s Quantum Policy Framework

• India entered the global quantum race with the launch of the National Quantum Mission (NQM) in 2023 (2023–24 to 2030–31).
• Objective:To seed, nurture and scale scientific and industrial R&D and build a vibrant quantum innovation ecosystem.

India’s Current Strengths

• Talent Base: India ranks 2nd globally in quantum-relevant graduates (~91,000 annually)
• Strong IT & software ecosystem suitable for quantum software and services
• Growing state-level initiatives, such as:
  • Quantum Research Park (Karnataka)
  • Amaravati Quantum Valley (Andhra Pradesh)

Vision for 2035

The roadmap outlines measurable goals:

• Incubate at least 10 globally competitive quantum startups, each crossing USD 100 million revenue
• Capture over 50% of global quantum software and services market value
• Achieve scaled deployment of quantum tech in strategic sectors
• Secure key positions in the global quantum supply chain
• Become a source of foundational research and intellectual property

Priority Application Areas

• Secure communications and cybersecurity
• Healthcare and pharmaceuticals (drug discovery, molecular simulation)
• Financial services (risk modelling, portfolio optimisation)
• Logistics and supply chain optimisation
• Climate modelling and advanced materials

Key Recommendations of the Roadmap

• Expand Quantum Workforce: Rapidly scale scientists, engineers, and industry-ready professionals within 2–3 years.
• Accelerate Lab-to-Market Transition: Simplify research, testing, and commercialization pathways to shorten innovation cycles.
• Retain Deep-Tech Startups in India: Make India attractive for quantum startups so most remain domestically registered.
• Lead Global Standards: Actively participate in international quantum standards bodies to ensure Indian technologies gain global acceptance.
• Strengthen Trade Ecosystem: Facilitate easier import/export of quantum components and technologies.

Role of NITI Frontier Tech Hub

• The Frontier Tech Hub of NITI Aayog functions as an “action tank” supporting India’s long-term technology leadership.
• It collaborates with experts across government, academia, and industry to design 10-year roadmaps across 20+ frontier technology sectors.

Significance for India

• Economic Growth: Entry into a high-value, future-defining technology sector
• Strategic Security: Quantum communication and computing have major defence and cybersecurity implications
• Technological Sovereignty: Reduces dependency on foreign critical technologies
• Innovation Leadership: Opportunity to lead rather than follow in a next-generation tech revolution

In News:

• India is hosting the 20th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in New Delhi. This is the first time India is hosting a session of this Committee.
• The session is being held at the Red Fort complex, symbolically bringing together India’s tangible and intangible heritage. The Ministry of Culture and Sangeet Natak Akademi are the nodal agencies organising the event.

What is Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)?

As defined by UNESCO, Intangible Cultural Heritage includes:Practices, knowledge, skills, expressions, objects, and cultural spaces that communities recognise as part of their cultural identity.

These traditions are:

• Transmitted across generations
• Continuously recreated
• Closely linked to identity, diversity, and creativity

Examples include oral traditions, performing arts, rituals, festivals, traditional craftsmanship, and indigenous knowledge systems.

UNESCO 2003 Convention on ICH

The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage was adopted by UNESCO in 2003 at its General Conference in Paris.

Objectives of the Convention:

• Safeguard intangible cultural heritage
• Ensure respect for communities and practitioners
• Raise awareness at local, national, and global levels
• Promote international cooperation and assistance

India ratified the Convention in 2005, marking its formal commitment to protecting living traditions.

Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding of ICH

The Intergovernmental Committee is the key body that implements the 2003 Convention.

Composition:

• 24 Member States
• Elected for 4-year terms by the General Assembly of States Parties

India is currently a member of the Committee (2022–2026).

Key Functions:

• Monitor implementation of the Convention
• Recommend safeguarding measures and best practices
• Prepare plans for using the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund
• Examine periodic reports from States Parties
• Decide on:
  • Inscription of elements on UNESCO’s ICH Lists
  • Granting international assistance

Significance of Intangible Cultural Heritage

• Cultural Identity & Continuity:ICH strengthens community identity and connects generations.
• Social Cohesion:Shared traditions promote harmony and mutual respect in diverse societies.
• Livelihoods & Economy:Crafts, performing arts, and festivals support artisans, rural economies, and cultural tourism.
• Traditional Knowledge Systems:Indigenous ecological knowledge, healing practices, and agricultural traditions offer sustainable solutions relevant to climate change and biodiversity.
• Education & Intergenerational Learning:ICH carries local histories, values, and skills that enrich learning and cultural literacy.
• Cultural Diplomacy & Soft Power:Elements such as yoga, classical arts, festivals, and crafts enhance India’s global cultural presence.

India’s Role and Contributions

India has played an active role in global ICH safeguarding:

• Served on the Intergovernmental Committee for multiple terms
• Developed national-level documentation, inventories, and safeguarding programmes
• Supports practitioners through schemes under the Ministry of Culture and initiatives of the Sangeet Natak Akademi

India has 15 elements inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, covering performing arts, rituals, craftsmanship, and knowledge traditions.

Importance of Hosting the 20th Session

Hosting the session allows India to:

• Showcase its community-based safeguarding model
• Promote international cooperation and joint nominations
• Increase global visibility of lesser-known traditions
• Strengthen cultural diplomacy and soft power
• Link heritage with sustainable development, livelihoods, and tourism

In News:

The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) is witnessing increased operational use, handling around 45,000 data requests per month as Central agencies and State police forces increasingly rely on it for real-time intelligence access.

What is NATGRID?

NATGRID is a real-time, integrated intelligence platform under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that enables authorised security and law-enforcement agencies to securely access multiple government and private databases. It was conceived to improve counter-terrorism and organised crime investigations by eliminating delays in inter-agency data sharing.

• Conceptualised: 2009, after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks
• Operational rollout: Phased activation in the early 2020s, with wider agency access subsequently enabled
• Nature: Intelligence-support platform (not a surveillance agency itself)

Objectives

• Provide seamless, real-time access to relevant datasets for investigations
• Enable agencies to “connect the dots” across travel, finance, telecom, and identity data
• Reduce bureaucratic delays arising from separate data requests to multiple departments

Key Functions

1. Data Integration: NATGRID links diverse databases such as:

• Banking and financial transaction records
• Telecom subscriber data
• Immigration and visa logs
• Airline Passenger Name Records (PNRs)
• Tax and identity-related databases
• Police records (via integration with digital crime databases)

2. Secure Access for Agencies: Authorised officers now including Superintendent of Police (SP)-rank officials can query the system. All access is logged, encrypted, and monitored to ensure accountability.

3. Intelligence & Investigative Support: NATGRID helps agencies analyse suspicious patterns, track financial trails, map travel histories, and identify links between individuals and networksoften without waiting for lengthy inter-departmental clearances.

4. Inter-Agency Coordination: It serves as a unified platform for agencies such as:

• Intelligence Bureau (IB)
• Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW)
• National Investigation Agency (NIA)
• Enforcement Directorate (ED)
• Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)
• Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)
• Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI)
• State police forces

5. Technology Backbone: The platform uses Big Data analytics and secure network architecture to process vast datasets and generate actionable intelligence while maintaining strict cyber safeguards.

Significance

• Counter-terrorism Backbone: Created post-26/11 to prevent intelligence silos and ensure faster threat detection
• Faster Investigations: Reduces time in probes related to terrorism, narcotics, financial fraud, human trafficking, cybercrime, and organised smuggling
• Strengthens Federal Policing: Extends intelligence access beyond central agencies to state-level officers
• Institutional Accountability: Every query is digitally logged, enabling internal audits and oversight

In News:

The Defence Minister recently dedicated 125 infrastructure projects worth about ?5,000 crore built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). This marks the largest single-day inauguration of projects in BRO’s history. The projects include roads, bridges, tunnels, and other strategic works in border areas such as Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, and other frontier states.

What is BRO?

BRO is India’s premier road construction force responsible for developing and maintaining strategic infrastructure in border areas and also in certain friendly foreign countries.

• Established: 7 May 1960
• Administrative Control: Ministry of Defence (fully under MoD since 2015)
• Parent Body: Border Roads Development Board (BRDB)
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Motto:Shramena Sarvam Sadhyam (Everything is achievable through hard work)

Organisational Setup

The organisation is headed by the Director General Border Roads (DGBR), an officer of Lieutenant General rank.

Its workforce includes:

• Personnel from the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF)
• Officers and troops from the Indian Army Corps of Engineers on deputation
• Over 2 lakh local workers, providing employment in remote and border regions

Key Roles of BRO

Peace-Time Role

BRO constructs and maintains:

• Strategic border roads
• Bridges, tunnels, airfields, and other infrastructure

It plays a major role in socio-economic development by improving connectivity in remote and backward regions.

War-Time Role

During hostilities, BRO:

• Maintains and repairs roads used for troop movement
• Clears snow, landslides, and avalanches to keep supply lines open
• Supports operational requirements of the armed forces, including forward airfields

International Projects

BRO undertakes infrastructure projects in friendly countries such as:Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Tajikistan, and Sri Lanka — strengthening India’s regional connectivity and diplomatic outreach.

Engineering Specialisation

BRO is known for working in extreme terrains, including:

• High-altitude Himalayan regions
• Snow-bound and glaciated zones
• Deserts and marshlands
• Seismically active areas

It uses advanced and indigenous technologies such as Class-70 modular bridges, capable of carrying heavy military equipment.

Strategic Importance

BRO is crucial for national security, as border roads enable rapid troop mobilisation along sensitive frontiers, particularly with China and Pakistan.

It also promotes:

• Economic development and tourism in border regions
• Better access to remote villages
• Disaster response during floods, earthquakes, and landslides

In News:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, denounced attempts to link India's past economic slowdown with the Hindu faith, calling the “Hindu rate of growth” label a deliberate distortion.

What is meant by “Hindu Rate of Growth”?

• The phrase refers to India’s persistently low real GDP growth of about 3–4% per year from the 1950s to late 1970s, before growth accelerated in the 1980s and later reforms. It described long-run macroeconomic performance, not any religion-based economic model.
• Coined by: Economist Raj Krishna (Delhi School of Economics) in the late 1970s (often dated to 1978). He used it as a polemical device to highlight how India’s growth appeared stuck at a low, stable trend.

Key Characteristics of the Period

• Low & Persistent Growth: GDP hovered near 3.5–4%, while population growth ~2% kept per-capita income growth modest.
• Stability Across Shocks: Growth changed little despite wars, droughts, political shifts—suggesting a structural equilibrium.
• Licence–Permit–Quota Raj: Extensive industrial licensing, high tariffs, import substitution, and a dominant public sector curbed competition and productivity.
• State-Led Mixed Economy: Planning, public control of core sectors, and tight trade/FDI policies limited private dynamism.
• East Asia Contrast: Economies like South Korea and Taiwan grew 7–10%, underscoring India’s relative underperformance.

Was it “Cultural”?

Later scholarship clarified that “Hindu” was not a technical or religious category. It reflected Krishna’s rhetorical framing about the embeddedness of low growth across decades, not a claim about faith-based behavior. Contemporary debates have criticized the label as misleading or colonial in tone.

Growth Before and After

• Colonial Benchmark: Estimates place late colonial GDP growth near ~1%; early post-Independence growth rose to ~4% in the 1950s–early 1960s, indicating capacity building in heavy industry, power, transport, and basic chemicals.
• 1980s Acceleration (Pre-1991): Evidence shows growth rose to ~5.6–5.8% in the 1980s, before the 1991 liberalisation.
  • Attributed to within-system reforms: selective de-licensing, technology imports, export incentives, and fiscal/credit easing.
  • Scholars like Baldev Raj Nayar, Arvind Virmani, and Arvind Panagariya highlight the 1980s as a turning point.
• Post-1991: Broad liberalisation deepened competition, trade openness, and private investment, sustaining higher trend growth.

Policy Drivers of the Low-Growth Phase

• Import Substitution Industrialisation (ISI): Protected domestic industry but reduced export competitiveness.
• High Effective Protection & Quotas: Limited scale and innovation.
• Financial Repression: Directed credit and administered interest rates distorted capital allocation.
• Public Sector Dominance: Efficiency varied; crowding-out and soft budget constraints emerged.

What the Term Does Not Mean

• Not a religious doctrine or a formal macroeconomic theory.
• Not uniform stagnation: agriculture, services, and specific industries saw episodic gains; human capital and infrastructure bases expanded.