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  • India’s next conservation challenge lies beyond protected areas

    Why in the News

    An argument is being made that India’s conservation model, centered on isolated protected areas, is no longer sufficient. As development corridors fragment habitats, the next challenge is protecting connectivity through ecological corridors and area-based measures outside formal parks, in line with global biodiversity commitments.

    What is Protected-Area-Only Conservation Model?

    1. The Protected-Area-Only (PA-only) model is a traditional conservation strategy focused on creating and managing geographically defined zones such as national parks and nature reserves where human activity is strictly limited or prohibited to preserve biodiversity.
    2. Key elements include strict legal boundaries, top-down enforcement, and the exclusion of everyday resource extraction.

    Core Characteristics

    1. Spatial segregation: Separates nature preservation zones from human-dominated landscapes like farms or cities.
    2. Strict regulation: Limits or bans resource use, hunting, grazing, and permanent human settlement inside borders.
    3. Top-down control: Relies heavily on government oversight, rangers, and legal penalties to prevent habitat damage

    What are Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs)?

    1. Meaning: Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) are areas outside formal protected areas that still deliver long-term biodiversity conservation.
    2. Difference from protected areas: They are not designated national parks or sanctuaries, but community lands, corridors or managed areas that sustain species.
    3. Global basis: OECMs are recognised under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as a route to expand effective conservation area.

    Why is the protected-area-only model insufficient?

    1. Habitat fragmentation: Infrastructure such as the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor cuts through and isolates wildlife habitats.
    2. Island effect: Isolated parks trap populations, reducing genetic exchange and long-term viability.
    3. Corridor need: Landscapes such as Pench-Seoni show that connectivity between reserves is as vital as the reserves themselves.

    What must the new approach include?

    1. Ecological corridors: Legally recognised corridors linking protected areas would let species move and populations mix.
    2. National Conservation Estate: A wider conservation estate would bring corridors and OECMs into a coherent framework.
    3. CBD alignment: Meeting India’s biodiversity-area commitments under the CBD requires counting effective conservation beyond parks.

    Conclusion

    Conservation confined to isolated protected areas cannot survive large-scale habitat fragmentation. The central need is connectivity, through ecological corridors, OECMs and a National Conservation Estate. Aligning this with CBD commitments is how India can protect biodiversity beyond park boundaries.

    Back2Basics

    Landscape-Based Conservation

    Definition:
    Landscape-based conservation is an integrated approach that conserves biodiversity, ecosystems, and ecological connectivity across entire landscapes, including Protected Areas, forests, farmlands, rivers, wildlife corridors, and human settlements, while balancing conservation with sustainable livelihoods.

    Key Features

    1. Conserves entire ecosystems, not just isolated Protected Areas.
    2. Maintains ecological connectivity through wildlife corridors.
    3. Integrates local communities into conservation.
    4. Promotes sustainable land-use in agriculture, forestry, and infrastructure.
    5. Improves climate resilience by enabling species movement and adaptation.

    Why is it needed?

    1. Wildlife frequently moves outside Protected Areas.
    2. Prevents habitat fragmentation.
    3. Addresses climate change by allowing range shifts.
    4. Balances conservation with development and livelihoods.

    Examples

    1. Western Ghats Landscape: Eco-Sensitive Areas and corridor-based conservation.
    2. Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve: Connects Mudumalai, Bandipur, Nagarhole, Wayanad, and Sathyamangalam.
    3. Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Landscape: Critical elephant and rhino corridor.
    4. Terai Arc Landscape (India-Nepal): Cross-border conservation for tigers, elephants, and rhinos.

    Global Recognition

    1. Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022): Encourages conservation through Protected Areas + Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs).
    2. IUCN: Promotes connectivity conservation and integrated landscape management.

    PYQ Relevance

    [UPSC 2014] With reference to ‘Global Environment Facility’, which of the following statements is/are correct?

    (a) It serves as financial mechanism for ‘Convention on Biological Diversity’ and ‘United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’. (b) It undertakes scientific research on environmental issues at global level. (c) It is an agency under OECD to facilitate the transfer of technology and funds to underdeveloped countries with specific aim to protect their environment. (d) Both (a) and (b).

    Answer: (a)”

  • India confirmed as a global lepidoptera hotspot

    Why in the News?

    A Zoological Survey of India catalogue, published in the journal Zootaxa, records 13,703 species of butterflies and moths in India, about 8.25% of the world total. The finding reinforces India’s standing among the world’s megadiverse nations and provides a baseline for insect conservation.

    What does the catalogue record?

    1. Total species: India hosts 13,703 lepidoptera species, comprising 1,417 butterflies and 12,286 moths.
    2. Global share: This is about 8.25% of all butterfly and moth species worldwide.
    3. Source: The catalogue was compiled by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and published in the taxonomic journal Zootaxa.

    Why is this significant?

    1. Megadiverse status: The count reinforces India’s position as one of the world’s megadiverse countries.
    2. Baseline data: A comprehensive species list provides a baseline against which future losses or discoveries can be measured.
    3. Ecological role: Butterflies and moths are pollinators and prey species, so their diversity signals ecosystem health.

    What is Lepidoptera?

    1. It is the order of butterflies, a large biological order that includes insects such as moths, and skippers.
    2. With about 180,000 species worldwide, it is the second largest order in the insect kingdom after the beetles (Coleoptera).

    Why does lepidoptera diversity matter for conservation?

    1. Pollination service: Many butterfly and moth species pollinate wild and cultivated plants.
    2. Food web link: They sustain populations of birds, spiders and wasps that feed on them.
    3. Indicator species: Their sensitivity to habitat change makes them useful indicators of environmental stress.

    Conclusion

    The ZSI catalogue documents India’s exceptional lepidoptera diversity and its megadiverse status. The species baseline is a foundation for tracking ecosystem health. Butterflies and moths matter because they anchor pollination and food webs across habitats.

    Back2Basics:

    Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)

    1. Establishment: Founded in 1916 as the premier taxonomic research organisation for animal life in India.
    2. Ministry: Functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
    3. Headquarters: Kolkata.
    4. Mandate: Survey, exploration and documentation of India’s faunal diversity.

    PYQ Relevance

    [2017] Due to some reasons, if there is a huge fall in the population of species of butterflies, what could be its likely consequence/consequences?

    1. Pollination of some plants could be adversely affected. 2. There could be a drastic increase in the fungal infections of some cultivated plants. 3. It could lead to a fall in the population of some species of wasps, spiders and birds.

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 Answer: (c)

  • Why Kerala is particularly vulnerable to landslides

    Why in the News?

    Fresh landslides in Kerala, following the earlier Wayanad disaster, have renewed attention on why the state is so slide-prone. The explanation separates the terrain and soil conditions that make slopes unstable from the rainfall events that actually trigger a slide.

    What is the difference between conditioning and triggering factors?

    1. Conditioning factors: These are the standing features that make a slope prone to failure, such as steep gradients, weathered soil and geology. A steep gradient is a slope angle that has a high incline or is very vertical, making the ground less stable and more likely to slide or fall down.
    2. Triggering factors: These are the immediate events that set off a slide, above all intense or prolonged rainfall.
    3. Combined effect: A slope must be both predisposed by conditioning factors and hit by a trigger for a landslide to occur.

    Why is Kerala especially vulnerable?

    1. Western Ghats terrain: Steep slopes of the Western Ghats provide the gradient that makes failure possible.
    2. Weathered soil: Deeply weathered, loose soil on these slopes loses cohesion when saturated.
    3. Extreme rainfall: Short bursts of very heavy rain, worsened by climate change, act as frequent triggers.

    How is landslide risk being mapped?

    1. Landslide Atlas: The ISRO National Remote Sensing Centre’s Landslide Atlas (1998-2022) maps slide-prone zones across India.
    2. Hazard zonation: Such mapping identifies high-risk areas for planning and early warning.
    3. Planning use: Zonation data can guide construction limits and evacuation planning in vulnerable districts.

    Conclusion

    Kerala’s landslides result from predisposing terrain and soil combined with increasingly extreme rainfall triggers. Distinguishing conditioning from triggering factors clarifies where and when slides occur. Hazard zonation using the ISRO Landslide Atlas is the basis for prevention and early warning.

    Back2Basics

    National Landslide Risk Management Strategy (NLRMS), 2019 (NDMA)

    The National Landslide Risk Management Strategy (2019), prepared by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), is India’s first comprehensive framework for reducing landslide risk through prevention, preparedness, mitigation, and capacity building.

    Key Pillars

    1. Hazard Mapping: Prepare national and state-level Landslide Hazard Zonation (LHZ) maps; Identify and monitor vulnerable slopes.
    2. Monitoring & Early Warning: Install rainfall- and ground movement-based monitoring systems; Develop Landslide Early Warning Systems (LEWS).
    3. Mitigation Measure: Slope stabilization, retaining walls, rock bolting, drainage improvement, and bio-engineering; Afforestation and regulated hill cutting.
    4. Land-use Planning: Restrict construction, quarrying, and infrastructure projects in high-risk zones; Integrate hazard maps into master plans.
    5. Capacity Building: Train local authorities, engineers, and communities; Conduct awareness campaigns and mock drills.
    6. Emergency Response: Strengthen search-and-rescue, evacuation plans, and post-landslide recovery.
    7. Research & Technology: Use GIS, Remote Sensing, LiDAR, drones, and satellite monitoring for landslide assessment; Promote research on landslide prediction and climate impacts.

    PYQ Relevance

    [UPSC 2021] Differentiate the causes of landslides in the Himalayan region and Western Ghats.

    Linkage: The PYQ focuses on the causes and mitigation of landslides and slope instability. It explains how steep gradients increase slope failure risk and the need for scientific slope management.

  • India’s push for sovereign artificial intelligence

    Why in the News?

    India’s drive for “sovereign AI” is being spotlighted through indigenous foundation models built for Indian languages and needs. The aim is to reduce dependence on foreign artificial intelligence systems by building domestic models and compute infrastructure, treating this as a matter of technological sovereignty.

    What is sovereign AI?

    1. Meaning: Sovereign artificial intelligence (AI) is the capacity to build and control foundational AI models, data and compute within the country.
    2. Rationale: It reduces reliance on foreign-owned models and infrastructure for strategically important services.
    3. Language focus: For India, it centres on models that work across Indian languages rather than only English.

    What is a foundation model?

    1. Meaning: A foundation model is a large AI model trained on vast data that can be adapted to many downstream tasks.
    2. Indian effort: Indigenous efforts aim to build a trillion-parameter foundation model tuned to Indian contexts.
    3. Language coverage: Related work, such as AI4Bharat, targets speech and language processing across the 22 scheduled Indian languages.

    Why does sovereign AI matter?

    1. Strategic autonomy: Controlling core AI capability avoids dependence on foreign systems for critical applications.
    2. Linguistic inclusion: Models covering Indian languages extend AI services to non-English speakers.
    3. Compute base: Domestic compute infrastructure is the physical foundation on which sovereign AI depends.

    Conclusion

    Sovereign AI reframes artificial intelligence as strategic infrastructure India must control, not merely import. Indigenous foundation models and coverage of the 22 scheduled languages are its concrete goals. Domestic compute capacity is the precondition that determines whether the ambition is realised.

    PYQ Relevance

    [UPSC 2020] With the present state of development, Artificial Intelligence can effectively do which of the following?

    1. Bring down electricity consumption in industrial units 2. Create meaningful short stories and songs 3. Disease diagnosis 4. Text-to-Speech Conversion 5. Wireless transmission of electrical energy

    Select the correct answer using the code given below: (a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only (b) 1, 3 and 4 only (c) 2, 4 and 5 only (d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

    Answer: (b)

  • Why India struggles to retain its scientists

    Why in the News

    A wave of resignations, including about 120 from the Indian Space Research Organisation, has reopened the question of why India produces skilled scientists but fails to keep them. The argument locates the problem not in talent or pay alone, but in the bureaucratic culture of research institutions that erodes professional autonomy.

    What is the retention problem?

    1. Scale of exits: About 120 scientists resigned from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), signalling a retention issue in premier institutions.
    2. Talent drain: Skilled researchers are moving to private and foreign institutions that offer better conditions.
    3. Not only pay: The problem is framed as professional environment and dignity, not compensation alone.

    What drives scientists away?

    1. Bureaucratic hierarchy: Colonial-era administrative hierarchies subordinate scientists to non-scientific control.
    2. Weak autonomy: Limited freedom over research direction and funding frustrates working scientists.
    3. Poor grievance redressal: Absent transparent grievance mechanisms, institutional disputes go unresolved.

    What would improve retention?

    1. Administrative reform: Streamlining bureaucratic control over research bodies such as the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) would restore autonomy.
    2. Professional dignity: Recognising scientists as decision-makers, not subordinates, addresses the core grievance.
    3. Transparent processes: Clear grievance redressal and funding rules reduce the friction pushing talent out.

    Conclusion

    India’s problem is not producing scientists but retaining them, and the cause is institutional culture, not talent or pay alone. Bureaucratic hierarchy and weak autonomy drive researchers to private and foreign institutions. Administrative reform that restores professional autonomy is the fix.

    Back2Basics

    Brain Drain to Brain Circulation

    1. Brain Drain: The emigration of highly skilled professionals, scientists, and researchers to other countries in search of better research opportunities, funding, salaries, or working conditions, resulting in a loss of talent for the home country.
    2. Brain Circulation: A model in which skilled professionals move across countries but continue to contribute to their home country through research collaborations, joint publications, mentoring, technology transfer, investments, or by eventually returning with enhanced expertise.

    Why Brain Circulation is Better

    1. Converts migration into a knowledge network rather than a permanent loss.
    2. Promotes international collaborations and access to cutting-edge research.
    3. Facilitates technology transfer and innovation.
    4. Enables return of experienced researchers with global best practices.
    5. Strengthens India’s research ecosystem without requiring every scientist to remain permanently in India.

    How India can promote Brain Circulation

    1. Create flexible return fellowships and re-entry grants.
    2. Strengthen collaboration with the Indian scientific diaspora through joint research projects and visiting professorships.
    3. Offer competitive funding, modern laboratories, and greater institutional autonomy.
    4. Simplify recruitment and administrative procedures for returning scientists.
    5. Encourage industry-academia-global research partnerships.

    PYQ Relevance

    [UPSC 2024] India is second in patent filings, yet only a few patents are commercialized. Explain the reasons.

    Linkage: The PYQ examines challenges in India’s research and innovation ecosystem. The article explains that retaining scientific talent through greater autonomy and better governance is essential for improving research output and commercialization.

  • [3rd August 2026] The Hindu OpED: Strong health systems for all with better public spending 

    PYQ Relevance
    [UPSC 2024] In a crucial domain like the public healthcare system, the Indian State should play a vital role to contain the adverse impact of marketisation of the system. Suggest some measures through which the State can enhance the reach of public healthcare at the grassroots level.
    Linkage: The PYQ focuses on strengthening public healthcare through better financing and governance. The article shows how efficient spending, preventive care, and stronger governance can improve grassroots healthcare despite limited funds.

    Mentor’s Comment

    As donor countries reduce health aid and developing countries face rising debt repayments, increasing health funding for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is not a realistic option in the near future. The focus has therefore shifted to using existing health budgets more effectively through full utilisation of funds, greater investment in preventive and public health, and better governance. However, while improving efficiency is essential, it cannot fully overcome the basic problem of inadequate per-person health spending.

    Why does the LMIC health financing gap appear to be narrowing but is actually widening?

    1. GDP-share convergence: The health expenditure gap between LMICs and high-income countries as a share of GDP narrowed from 2.05 percentage points in 2000 to 1.68 percentage points in 2023.
    2. Per capita divergence: In per capita terms, the same gap has expanded more than three-fold over the same period.
    3. Absolute shortfall: Per capita public spending on universal health coverage in LMICs, including government expenditure and off-budget aid, is about half the minimum benchmark identified by the World Bank.
    4. Misleading metric: A GDP-share comparison understates the real resource gap. LMIC economies and populations are growing, so per capita spending is the more accurate measure of unmet need.

    Why can LMICs no longer count on external aid or fiscal headroom to close this gap?

    1. DAH peak and reversal: Development assistance for health (DAH) peaked in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and has declined sharply since.
    2. US cuts: The United States, historically the source of over a third of global DAH, announced a 67% cut to foreign assistance in early 2025.
    3. Allied cuts: The United Kingdom, France, and Germany followed with cuts of 39%, 35%, and 12% respectively.
    4. Projected decline: The OECD projects health funding could fall by up to 60% from its 2022 peak.
    5. Debt burden: Global public debt reached $102 trillion in 2024. Developing countries owed $31 trillion of this, growing twice as fast as advanced-country debt since 2010.
    6. Crowding out: Developing countries paid a record $921 billion in net interest payments in 2024, leaving less fiscal space for health.

    Why does allocated health money not reach the ground in LMICs?

    1. Execution rates: LMIC health budgets are executed at 85-90%, lower than execution rates for the general budget and for education.
    2. Deprioritisation at implementation: Underspending against allocation amounts to a deprioritisation of health at the implementation stage, even when the budget itself was adequate on paper.
    3. India infrastructure mission: A parliamentary panel found only about two-thirds of the allocation for the flagship health infrastructure mission was spent in 2024-25.
    4. India disease programmes: Within the National Health Mission, only 26% of the money earmarked for communicable and non-communicable disease programmes was used that year.
    5. Category-wise variation: Wage and salary budgets are implemented in full. Spending on goods and services is underutilised. Health workers are left without adequate supplies and equipment.

    Why does the composition of health spending matter as much as its volume?

    1. Curative bias: A large share of public health spending goes to curative care at the secondary and tertiary levels rather than preventive, primary care.
    2. India preventive share: India spends less than one-fourth of public health money on preventive care, per London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine estimates.
    3. Public goods logic: Public health money delivers the highest impact when spent on classic public goods such as infectious disease control or sanitation, where market failure prevents private provision.
    4. Evidence on outcomes: Public health spending markedly improves infectious disease outcomes through access, vaccination, and sanitation. It does far less for maternal, child, and non-communicable disease outcomes.
    5. Emerging pressure: Ageing populations will increase the need for spending on chronic disease risk factors, early detection, and management.

    How does governance quality determine whether health spending converts into health outcomes?

    1. Governance-spending interaction: Countries with lower corruption and stronger bureaucratic quality see greater positive effects of public health spending on outcomes such as child mortality.
    2. Converse risk: Increasing spending where governance is weak does not reliably improve outcomes.
    3. Decentralisation challenge: Growing decentralisation of service delivery makes subnational governance quality increasingly central to health outcomes.
    4. PFM components: Budget credibility, timely cash disbursement, and flexible budgets that can respond to unforeseen circumstances such as pandemics are central to good public finance management.
    5. Provider involvement: Involving public health providers in budget processes improves both their accountability and motivation.
    6. Procurement: Improving procurement processes helps achieve greater value for money in health-sector resources.

    Does spending health money better substitute for spending more, or does it merely defer the underlying financing question?

    1. Efficiency as necessity, not choice: With external aid contracting and fiscal space shrinking, efficiency reforms are being pushed as the primary lever, not because they are sufficient but because more money is currently unavailable.
    2. Limits of efficiency: Even full execution and optimal prioritisation cannot close a financing gap that stems from an absolute shortfall in per capita resources relative to benchmarks.
    3. Equity argument: Returns to health spending are greatest exactly where outcomes are poorest. Underfunded LMICs stand to lose the most from a financing pullback that efficiency measures alone cannot offset.
    4. Unresolved question: The article does not specify how the residual financing gap, after full execution and reprioritisation, will eventually be closed.

    Conclusion

    The contraction of development assistance for health and the fiscal squeeze from rising public debt have made the additional-financing pathway to closing LMIC health gaps unreliable. The immediate policy response must be to spend existing health budgets more fully, reprioritise toward preventive and public-goods spending, and strengthen governance and public finance management. These measures improve outcomes per rupee spent but do not eliminate the underlying financing shortfall. Since returns to health spending are highest where outcomes are worst, the case for restoring adequate financing remains unresolved.

  • The legal patchwork facing doxxing victims in India

    Why in the News?

    The online targeting of women protesters has highlighted the absence of a dedicated law against doxxing in India, forcing victims to rely on scattered legal provisions.

    What is Doxxing?

    • Doxxing is the unauthorised public disclosure of a person’s private or personal information online to harass, intimidate or threaten them.
    • It can lead to stalking, identity theft, threats and physical harm.

    Existing Legal Framework

    • Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023: Provisions relating to stalking, criminal intimidation and harassment.
    • Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000: Covers privacy violations and unauthorised disclosure of personal information.
    • Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021: Prescribe due diligence obligations for online platforms and provide safe harbour protection.

    Challenges

    • No specific offence for doxxing under Indian law.
    • Delays in content removal and prosecution.
    • Difficulty in fixing platform liability due to safe harbour provisions.
    • Rising digital threats to privacy and safety.

    Prelims Facts

    • The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 governs the processing of personal digital data but does not specifically criminalise doxxing.
    • Safe Harbour under Section 79 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 protects intermediaries from liability if they comply with due diligence requirements.

    [2024] Under which of the following Articles of the Constitution of India, has the Supreme Court of India placed the Right to Privacy?

    (a) Article 15

    (b) Article 16

    (c) Article 19

    (d) Article 21

  • India imposes Minimum Import Price on PVC resin to curb import dependence

    Why in the News?

    The Government has imposed a Minimum Import Price (MIP) of US$0.766/kg on PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) Suspension Resin to protect domestic manufacturers from cheap imports.

    What is MIP?

    • Minimum Import Price (MIP) is the minimum price below which a product cannot be imported.
    • It protects domestic industries from low-priced imports.
    • Unlike anti-dumping duty, MIP applies to all imports, irrespective of the exporting country.

    What is DGTR?

    • The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) investigates unfair trade practices.
    • It recommends: Anti-dumping duties, Countervailing duties, and Safeguard measures

    Why was MIP Imposed?

    • Protect domestic PVC manufacturers from cheap imports.
    • Address import dependence due to insufficient domestic production.
    • Exemptions are available for:
      • Export Oriented Units (EOUs)
      • Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
      • Advance Authorisation Scheme imports.

    Challenges

    • Higher input costs for PVC-based industries.
    • Possible disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
    • Does not address the domestic capacity gap.
    • Requires strict customs enforcement against under-invoicing.

    Prelims Facts

    • India uses MIP, anti-dumping duty, countervailing duty and safeguard duty as trade remedy measures.
    • PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) is a widely used plastic in pipes, cables, packaging and construction.
    • DGTR functions under the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

    [2020] With reference to the international trade of India at present, which of the following statements is/are correct?

    1.India’s merchandise exports are less than its merchandise imports.
    2.India’s imports of iron and steel, chemicals, fertilisers and machinery have decreased in recent years.
    3.India’s exports of services are more than its imports of services.
    4.India suffers from an overall trade/current account deficit.
    Select the correct answer using the code given below:
    a) 1 and 2 only
    b) 2 and 4 only
    c) 3 only
    d) 1, 3 and 4 only

  • The fast-growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo

    Why in the News?

    The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is facing its largest Ebola outbreak, with 3,605 cases and 1,587 deaths, caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which no approved vaccine exists.

    What is a PHEIC?

    • A Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) is the World Health Organization’s (WHO) highest level of global health alert.
    • Declared when an outbreak poses a cross-border public health risk and requires international coordination.

    Why is the Outbreak Difficult to Control?

    • Caused by the Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BDBV) strain, with no approved vaccine or treatment.
    • Ongoing conflict hampers movement of health workers and supplies.
    • Weak healthcare infrastructure and community distrust delay detection and isolation.

    Response Measures

    • Oxford ChAdOx1 BDBV vaccine is undergoing clinical trials.
    • India has supplied emergency medicines to support relief efforts.
    • Surveillance, contact tracing and isolation remain the primary control measures.

    Prelims Facts

    • Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a severe viral haemorrhagic fever caused by Ebolaviruses.
    • It spreads through direct contact with infected body fluids of humans or animals.
    • The Bundibugyo virus (BDBV) is one of the six known Ebola virus species.
    • The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

    [2025] With reference to monoclonal antibodies, consider the following:

    I. They are man-made proteins.

    II. They stimulate the patient’s immune system to fight the specific disease.

    III. They are produced using animal cells only.

    Which of the statements given above are correct?

    (a) I and II only

    (b) II and III only

    (c) I and III only

    (d) All the three

  • Centre asks states to set up exclusive NDPS courts

    Why in the News?

    The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed States and Union Territories to establish exclusive NDPS courts to tackle the backlog of nearly 39 lakh drug-related cases. However, 22 States are yet to comply.

    What is the NDPS Act?

    • The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 is India’s primary law to regulate and prohibit narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
    • The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is the apex agency for enforcement.
    • The Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) coordinates anti-drug efforts among Central and State agencies.

    Why Exclusive NDPS Courts?

    • Speed up disposal of nearly 39 lakh pending cases.
    • Ensure specialised and faster trials for drug offences.
    • Improve conviction rates and reduce judicial delays.

    Significance

    • Strengthens deterrence against drug trafficking.
    • Helps curb crimes linked to money laundering, organised crime and terror financing.
    • Enhances India’s internal security, especially along vulnerable border regions.

    Challenges

    • 22 States have not yet established exclusive NDPS courts.
    • Need for adequate judges, prosecutors and infrastructure.
    • Court reforms must be complemented by effective enforcement and rehabilitation.

    Is it Mandatory?

    • Legally: The NDPS Act empowers State Governments to establish Special Courts, but it does not make exclusive NDPS courts mandatory in every district.
    • Administratively: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has strongly directed States and Union Territories to establish exclusive NDPS courts due to the huge backlog. While this directive is not directly enforceable like a statute, States are expected to comply in the interest of effective criminal justice and internal security.

    Prelims Facts

    • NCORD was established in 2016 to improve inter-agency coordination against drug trafficking.
    • NDPS Act, 1985 replaced the Opium Act, 1857, the Opium Act, 1878, and the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930.
    • The NCB functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

    [2018, GS3, 15 marks] India’s proximity to two of the world’s biggest illicit opium-growing states has enhanced her internal security concerns. Explain the linkages between drug trafficking and other illicit activities such as gunrunning, money laundering and human trafficking. What counter-measures should be taken to prevent the same?”