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  • International Space Agencies – Missions and Discoveries

    What is Dark Matter?

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Space scientists from the University of Sussex have found a new way to know more about dark matter. They have narrowed down the range of masses within which particles that could make up dark matter may lie in.

    What is the news about?

    • Around 95 % of the Universe is unknown to human beings.
    • It is often referred to as dark which has nothing to do with the colour of any substance but to do with the unknown nature of cosmic entities known as dark matter and dark energy.

    Trending in news these days is the Quantum Technology. (as it used to be until last year were- the Internet of Things (IoT) CSP 2019, Artificial Intelligence (AI) etc.)

    Must read all this news in a loop:

    1. National Mission on QC
    2. Quantum Coin
    3. Quantum Supremacy
    4. Quantum Entanglement

    What is Dark Matter?

    • Dark matter is composed of particles that do not absorb, reflect, or emit light, so they cannot be detected by observing electromagnetic radiation.
    • Dark matter is a form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe and about a quarter of its total mass-energy density or about 2.241×10−27 kg/m3.

    What does the research say?

    • Scientists carried out the research using quantum gravity, a field of study that tries to combine two of Einstein’s concepts — quantum physics and general relativity theory of gravity.
    • This is the first time anyone has thought of using what we know about quantum gravity to calculate the mass range for dark matter.
    • Their research shows that the dark matter particles can neither be super light nor super heavy unless there is a force acting on it that is yet unknown.

    Quantum gravity: The concept

    • Quantum gravity is a field of theoretical physics that seeks to describe gravity according to the principles of quantum mechanics.
    • Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics which describes nature at the smallest scales of energy levels of atoms and subatomic particles.
    • Here quantum effects cannot be ignored, such as in the vicinity of black holes or similar compact astrophysical objects where the effects of gravity are strong, such as neutron stars.

    Significance of the findings

    • This might help in finding out more about this mysterious force. There are currently four known forces in the Universe — gravitational, electromagnetic, weak and strong.
    • Scientists estimate that roughly 68 per cent of the Universe is made up of dark energy which is responsible for the accelerated expansion of the Universe.
    • Another 27 per cent is a dark matter whose existence was inferred from the observation that ordinary matter in galaxies, including the Milky Way, is far less than that required by gravity to hold the galaxies together.

    Why does the ‘Dark Matter’ matter?

    • Dark matter’s gravitational effects are also necessary to explain the motions of clusters of galaxies and the structure of the entire Universe at the largest scale.
    • On smaller scales, dark matter is too diffused to impact the motion of the Solar System, Earth or the origin and evolution of humans in any significant way.
    • But the nature of that dark matter is still unclear. It is most likely made of particles that do not couple to light because of which humans cannot see them.

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  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    Patharughat Uprising of Assam (1894)

    Prelims Only | | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History

    Twenty-five years before the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, more than a hundred peasants fell to the bullets of the British on January 28, 1894, in Patharughat, a small village in Assam’s Darrang district.

    Make a note of all breakthrough peasants’ revolt in the nineteenth century. Also, try this PYQ:

    Q.The demand for the Tebhaga Peasant Movement in Bengal was for-

    (a) The reduction of the share of the landlords from one-half of the crop to one-third

    (b) The grant of ownership of land to peasants as they were the actual cultivators of the land

    (c) The uprooting of Zamindari system and the end of serfdom

    (d) Writing off all peasant debts

    Patharughat uprising

    • After the British annexation of Assam in 1826, surveys of the vast lands of the state began.
    • On the basis of such surveys, the British began to impose land taxes, much to the resentment of the farmers.
    • In 1893, the British government decided to increase agricultural land tax reportedly by 70- 80 per cent.
    • Up until then the peasants would pay taxes in kind or provide service in lieu of cash.
    • Across Assam, peasants began protesting the move by organising Raij Mels, or peaceful peoples’ conventions.

    The day of the massacre

    • The unarmed peasants were protesting against the increase in land revenue levied by the colonial administration when the military opened fire.
    • Despite these gatherings being democratic, the British perceived them as “breeding grounds for sedition”.
    • On January 28, 1894, when the British officers were refusing to listen to the farmers’ grievances, things heated up.
    • There was a lathi charge, followed by an open firing which killed many of the peasants present.
    • Official records, as mentioned in the Darrang District Gazette, 1905, edited by BC Allen, placed the casualties in the Patharughat incident as 15 killed and 37 wounded.

    Why was the incident significant?

    • The incident was one of the most tragic and inspiring episodes in the saga of the Indian freedom movement.
    • However, it rarely features in the mainstream historical discourse of the freedom struggle.
    • For the larger Assamese community, Patharughat comes second only to the Battle of Saraighat, when the Ahoms defeated the Mughals in 1671.

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  • Digital India Initiatives

    What is EDISON Alliance?

    IOCR | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    The World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced the launch of an Essential Digital Infrastructure and Services Network (EDISON) Alliance.

    The peculiarity of name ‘EDISON Alliance’ creates a hotspot here for prelims.  UPSC may either crate confusion over purpose or parent organization. The alliance is yet to take shape completely; hence there is an ambiguity over its members.

    EDISON Alliance

    • Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF), which describes itself as an international organization for public-private partnership, will serve as the secretariat and platform for the EDISON Alliance.
    • A wider group of ‘Champions Leaders’ will advise and support the Alliance, the WEF said while announcing the launch.
    • Alliance aims to work towards ensuring global and equitable access to the digital economy.
    • Its prime goal is to ensure an unprecedented level of cross-sectoral collaboration between the technology industry and other critical sectors of the economy, according to the WEF.

    Why need such an alliance?

    • Access to digital technologies has enabled many to work, learn and live during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    • However, the pandemic has exposed and exacerbated existing gaps and inequalities in almost half of the global population.
    • Some 3.6 billion people, remain offline and broadband services are too expensive for 50 percent of the population in developed countries, the WEF said.
    • This hampers access to health, education, and economic inclusion.

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  • Wildlife Conservation Efforts

    National Marine Turtle Action Plan

    PIB | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    The Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has launched the National Marine Turtle Action Plan.

    Do you know?

    Most people use the term “turtle” to reference any reptile with a shell on its back, but there are several differences between these two unique creatures. In actual sense tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises.

    Tortoises have more rounded and domed shells where turtles have thinner, more water-dynamic shells.  Turtle shells are more streamlined to aid in swimming. One major key difference is that tortoises spend most of their time on land and turtles are adapted for life spent in water.

    National Marine Turtle Action Plan

    Aim: To strengthen and sustain collective and collaborative sea turtle conservation through the monitoring of key sites and a network of partners in the Indian sub-continent

    Project details

    • The project contains ways and means to not only promote inter-sectoral action for conservation but also guide improved coordination amongst the government, civil society and all relevant stakeholders.
    • It highlights actions to be taken for handling stranded animals on the shore, stranded or entangled animals in the sea or on a boat, reducing threats to marine species and their habitats, rehabilitation, etc.

    Why need such a project?

    • India has rich marine biodiversity along a vast coastline of over 7,500 km.
    • It has significant  nesting  and  feeding  grounds  for  four  species  of  marine  turtles,  namely  leatherback  (Dermochelys  coriacea),  green  (Chelonia  mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys  imbricata)  and  olive  ridley  (Lepidochelys  olivacea)
    • Even though all four species are listed under Schedule I  of the  Indian  Wild  Life  (Protection)  Act,  1972,  their populations in the  Indian waters are under threat.

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  • G20 : Economic Cooperation ahead

    What is the G20 Common Framework?

    Prelims Only | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Important International Institutions

    Chad has become the first country to officially request a debt restructuring under a new common framework “G20 Common Framework” introduced by China and other Group of 20 countries last year with the help of the Paris Club.

    What is G20 Common Framework?

    • G20 Common Framework is the Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI).
    • It was announced in November 2020 to deal with the issue of unsustainable debts faced by various countries as an impact of COVID-19.

    What is the news?

    • This official request of Chad for debt restructuring under the G20 common framework was notified by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
    • The creditors will now soon begin discussions on the first test of the new framework.
    • The creditors will also ask China and other private-sector creditors to participate as agreed last year.
    • A new four-year programme of Chad worth about $560 million under the Extended Credit and Extended Fund facilities was announced by IMF.
    • Chad is under high debt like many other African countries.

    Significance of the move

    • This is the first time that a country has requested debt restructuring under the framework and the investors will now look at how the framework can work.
    • Participation in China is also a question. Last year, G20 Common Framework brought non-members of the Paris Club- India, China, and Turkey to join the framework.

    Back2Basics: Paris Club

    • Paris Club is a club or group of officials from major creditor countries.
    • It was established in the year 1956.
    • It aims to find sustainable solutions to the difficulties faced by debtor countries in payments.

     

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  • Innovations in Sciences, IT, Computers, Robotics and Nanotechnology

    Emphasising self-reliance in science

    | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    The article discusses the features in the fifth Science, Technology and Innovation policy and also suggests the areas that needs attention.

    Draft Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy

    • The new policy envisages technological self-reliance and aims to position India among the top three scientific superpowers.
    • For that to happen, the draft policy says, we need to attract our best minds to remain in India by developing a people-centric science, technology, and innovation ecosystem.
    • It aims at doubling private sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development every five years.

    Following are the highlights of the policy

    1) Funding issue

    • Raising our R&D investment in science (about 0.6% now) to 2% of the GDP has been a national goal for a while.
    • Despite strong recommendations in the past by several scientific bodies and leading scientists and policymakers, we are still well short of that goal.
    • The 2020 draft policy blames this on “inadequate private sector investment” and adds that “a robust cohesive financial landscape remains at the core of creating an STI-driven Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
    • Government is trying to shift the responsibility of financing R&D to different agencies such as the States, private enterprises, and foreign multinational companies.
    • But it is doubtful if the various funding models that are presented are workable or practical, especially during a pandemic.
    • Private sector cannot be expected to pay for basic research as return on investment in basic research takes too long from a private sector perspective.
    • The fact is that basic science research in India is suffering from the lack of adequate funding despite grand proclamations.
    • We need to implement the self-financing revenue model proposed in the Dehradun Declaration for the CSIR labs back in 2015.

    2) A decentralized institutional mechanism

    • Policymakers are considering alternative mechanisms of governance of the financial landscape.
    • The issue of the administrative burdens of researchers and the problem of journal paywalls is also being considered.
    • Policymakers are also exploring international best practices of grant management.
    • The draft policy visualises a decentralized institutional mechanism for a robust STI Governance.
    • This intention is in fact defeated in the document itself, where several new authorities, observatories and centres have been proposed.
    • Decentralisation of administrative architecture is essential, but we need to explore the practical option of providing more autonomy to research and academic centres for financial management.

    3) Steps to tackle the discrimination

    • The number of suicides of students is on the increase in the IITs.
    •  In 2019, more than 2,400 students dropped out from the 23 IITs in just two years, over half of them belonging to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes.
    • Caste discrimination could be one of the reasons for these tendencies.
    • As a part of inculcating an inclusive culture in academia, the document promises to tackle discriminations “based on gender, caste, religion, geography, language, disability and other exclusions and inequalities”.
    • It mentions more representation of women and the LGBTQ community.

    Way forward

    • The document should prioritise important issues and amplify first the problems which have cultural and administrative dimensions.
    • The document does not mention how to stem the rot within, although it speaks extensively about science communication and scientific temperament.
    • There is need to facilitate an environment that encourages a mindset that constantly challenges conventional wisdom as well as open-minded inquiry among the students.

    Consider the question “As India aspires to be the scientific superpower, suggest the areas which the new Science, Technology and Innovation policy should focus on”

    Conclusion

    With the advent of new disruptive technologies, global competitiveness will be increasingly determined by the quality of science and technology, which in turn will depend on raising the standard of Indian research/education centres and on the volume of R&D spending. India has no time to waste.

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  • Government Budgets

    Need for expansionary fiscal stance in the Budget

    | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Government Budgeting

    The article highlights the issues with the system of Budget presentation and suggest the areas to focus on.

    Issues with expenditure and revenue estimates

    • Experience shows revenues being much less than the Budget projections: each year, this mistake is repeated and even amplified.
    • The expenditure estimates are even more disingenuous because they understate the actual expenditures that should be counted.
    • This concern has been repeatedly brought up by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
    • A CAG report in 2018 identified at least three methods of reducing the stated expenditure:
    • 1) Not paying for the full fertilizer subsidy.
    • 2) Not paying the central government’s dues to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for the food subsidy, and forcing the FCI to borrow from the market.
    • 3) Using other special purpose vehicles to pay for infrastructure investment, like the Long Term Irrigation Fund.
    • In 2017-18, just those three items amounted to ₹1,29,446 crore or 1.8% of GDP.
    • These strategies are problematic because they are non-transparent and they also force other agencies (like State governments and public sector enterprises) to go in for expensive commercial borrowing.

    What CGA data reveals

    • The data from the Controller General of Accounts show that between April and November 2020, revenues of the central government predictably collapsed, by around 18%, or ₹181,372 crores, compared to the same period of the previous year.
    • But despite that, expenditures should have gone up, because the lockdown-induced collapse in an economic activity meant that public spending would be the only thing keeping the economy afloat.
    • In three rounds of stimulus packages government claimed to inject amounts of ₹1.7-lakh crore in March, ₹20-lakh crore in May, and then ₹2.65-lakh crore in November
    •  However, the public accounts show that the total spending of the central government increased by only ₹86,301 crores.
    • That was only a 4.6% increase — not even enough to keep pace with inflation.
    • In other words, the central government reduced its real spending over the period of the pandemic and economic crisis.
    • This fiscal stance obviously affects people and also adds to contractionary tendencies in the economy, and prolongs the severe demand recession.
    • Policies that destroy informal economic activities eventually come to harm the formal enterprises as well.

    Consider the question “There has been growing concerns that expenditure estimates presented in our Budget fail to represent the actual expenditure of the government. What are the reasons for that and how it could affect the reliability of government finances?”

    Conclusion

    The Budget this year needs to focus on moving to a more expansionary fiscal stance that prioritizes employment generation and public service provision.

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  • Government Budgets

    Keep the wheels of economic recovery turning

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    Ahead of the Budget, the article discusses the status of Indian economy and suggests the measures to be adopted in the budget to speed up the recovery.

    Estimates of damages and signs of economic recovery

    • The first advance estimates of national income published on January 7 project a contraction of 7.7% for real GDP.
    • The Q2 GDP estimates published by the National Statistical Office had suggested an economic recovery in India.
    • An improvement in the rate of contraction from 23.9% in Q1 to 7.5% in Q2 was seen as the beginning of a sustained recovery.
    • The Ministry of Finance, in its Monthly Economic Review highlighted it as signifying a ‘V’ shaped recovery and as a reflection of the resilience and robustness of the Indian economy.
    • The Monetary Policy Statement of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released on December 4, 2020 also projects positive growth in the remaining quarters of the financial year.

    State of the economy before pandemic

    • Growth rate of the economy had collapsed from 8.2% in Q4 of 2017-18 to a mere 3.1% in Q4 of 2019-20, sliding continuously for eight quarters.
    • The policy stance against this backdrop was premised on the hope that private corporate investment will pick up momentum sooner than later.
    • The RBI did the heavy lifting through five consecutive lowering of repo rate along with liquidity infusion programmes.
    • However, monetary-fiscal linkages are crucial to catalyse the demand.

    Crucial role played by the RBI

    • While being cautious of inflation, the RBI has decided to continue the accommodative stance in its latest monetary policy to support growth.
    • The CPI inflation after crossing 7% has cooled off to 4.6% in December.
    • Still, the real interest rates remain very low.
    • The efficacy of the new monetary framework (NMF) — the agreement between the RBI and Government of India in February 2016 to adopt inflation targeting in India — will be reviewed in March 2021, and we flag the need for revising the framework.
    • The RBI is continuing its liquidity infusion programmes including the on-tap Targeted Long Term Repo Operations (TLTRO).
    • This programme announced on October 9, 2020 for five stressed sectors has been extended to 26 stressed sectors notified under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS 2.0).
    • The RBI is also continuing its ‘operation twist’  with Open Market Operations (OMO) of ₹10,000 crore scheduled for December 17, 2020.
    • Nevertheless, the RBI Governor has rightly pointed out that the signs of recovery are far from being broad-based.

    Stimulus for targeted state intervention

    • According to the International Monetary Fund’s Fiscal Monitor Database of Country Fiscal Measures, the fiscal stimulus for India is 1.8% of GDP.
    • The IMF, in its Fiscal Monitor, highlights the need to scale up public investment to ensure successful reopening, boost growth and prepare economies for the future.
    • What we need is stimulus not based on “business cycle” but from the perspective of much needed targeted state interventions in public health, education, agriculture and physical infrastructure, and to redress widening inequalities.
    • As private final consumption expenditure is sluggish, contracting 26.7% and 11% in Q1 and Q2, respectively, a “fiscal dominance” is expected in India for sustained economic recovery.
    • However, India cannot afford fiscal stimulus at the rates of advanced economies, due to a lack of fiscal space.

    Way forward

    • Plummeting private corporate investment in India is a matter of concern.
    • The fear of financial crowding out emanating from high fiscal deficit is misplaced in the context of India.
    • Economic recovery will be determined by the degree of containment of the pandemic and the sustained macroeconomic policies.
    •  Any abrupt withdrawal of ongoing economic policy support, both by the monetary and fiscal authorities, will be detrimental to growth in times of the pandemic.
    • The fiscal rules at the national and subnational government levels need to be made flexible.

    Consider the question “Recovery of Indian economy battered by the pandemic has not been complete. Suggest the fiscal measure to be adopted by the government to speed up the recovery.”

    Conclusion

    The fiscal stimulus needs to continue in FY 2021-22 to speed up India’s recovery along with the measures suggested above.

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  • The right of life and environment

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Indian Constitution – historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

    The article highlights how climate change impacts the constitutional values and promises by affecting the vulnerable disproportionately and suggest the distinctly Indian paradigm of development.

    How democratic values are threatened by climate change

    • Over the last seven decades, India has made distinct progress, but many core development challenges persist and we are yet to fulfill our constitutional promise.
    • Climate change will only exacerbate existing inequalities through a range of cascading and coinciding crises.
    • These words from the Preamble — justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity — serve as reminders of the daunting path to achieving social democracy, especially in a warming world.
    • B R Ambedkar had said that to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact it was essential not to be content with mere political democracy but to strive for social democracy as well.

    How climate change affects democratic values

    • Climate change is profoundly unjust.
    •  It will increasingly impinge upon our freedom of movement, and that it could deny equality of status and opportunity to millions of disadvantaged citizens like the forest-dwelling communities who have contributed least to the crisis and yet stand to be hit the hardest.
    • The evidence is clear that unless we rapidly move to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, vast swathes of India could be inhospitable due to floods, droughts, heatwaves, and increasingly erratic and unpredictable monsoon rains.

    Call for action against climate change

    • The fraternity can particularly serve as a call to action for the powerful to direct their resources towards shaping India’s response to climate change and “assuring the dignity of the individual”, as framed in the Preamble.
    • Indian business and philanthropy can play a key role in building resilience by encouraging innovation, complementing the role of the state, and securing citizens’ legislated rights.
    • Climate philanthropy can help develop and pilot new solutions and inspire ambitious political action.
    • A plethora of opportunities are currently on the margins but could become mainstream drivers for the three key pillars of jobs, growth, and sustainability.
    • A distinctly Indian, climate-friendly development paradigm powered by clean energy could play an integral role in fostering social and economic justice by uplifting millions of Indians.
    • Our nation’s welfare depends on healing the broken relationship between a broken economy and a broken ecology.

    Constitutional mandate to protect the environment

    • The right to life enshrined in Article 21 is increasingly interpreted as a right to environment.
    • When this is read together with Articles 48A and 51A(g), there is a clear constitutional mandate to protect the environment that will only grow more important in the coming decades for citizens and the executive, legislature, and judiciary.
    • Central to these considerations is the need for a uniquely Indian climate narrative, one that is both by and for Indians.

    Consider the question “Our constitutional values must guide us to a distinctly Indian, climate-friendly development paradigm to fulfil the constitutional commitment to its citizens. Comment.”

    Conclusion

    India can build its own pathway to become a climate leader aiming to secure a future where both people and nature can thrive. Much of this work can be rooted in the constitutional framework that binds together millions of Indians despite their myriad differences — a framework that is progressive in scope and ambitious in vision.

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  • Back in news: DNA Bill, 2019

    Bills/Act/Laws | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

    Noted Parliamentarians have filed a dissent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee’s report on DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill 2019.

    Q. A statutory protection for private data is necessary for the enforcement of DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019. Critically analyse.

    What is the news?

    • The finalized Draft Report recognizes the potential dangers of indexing the DNA profiles of non- convicts, especially convicts and suspects, it has still retained these objectionable provisions.
    • These MPs have claimed that the Bill does not take into account public concerns over privacy violations and targets Dalit, Muslims and Adivasis by way of DNA sample collection.
    • The fear is that the law could be used for caste or community-based profiling.

    Other issues

    • The bill would not be a panacea to the problems of an inadequate criminal justice system, the MPs stressed.
    • He flagged the example of the United Kingdom, where the number of crimes solved by DNA evidence had been reducing even though the number of profiles in the system was going up.

    DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019

    • The primary intended purpose for the enactment of the bill is for expanding the application of DNA-based forensic technologies to support and strengthen the justice delivery system of the country.
    • The utility of DNA based technologies for solving crimes, and identifying missing persons, is well recognized across the world.
    • Other aims include Speedier justice delivery and an Increased conviction rate.
    • Bill’s provisions will enable the cross-matching between persons reported missing and unidentified dead bodies found in various parts of the country, and also for establishing the identity of victims in mass disasters.
    • By providing for the mandatory accreditation and regulation of DNA laboratories, the Bill seeks to ensure the data remain protected from misuse or abuse in terms of the privacy rights of our citizens.
    • The Bill has two major components: the DNA databanks and the DNA Regulatory Board.

    Criticisms of the Bill

    Matter of Consent

    • Written consent is required from everyone for their DNA samples to be collected, processed, and included in the database except for those who have committed crimes with a punishment of 7+ years or death.
    • However, similarly, specific instruction is missing for the collection of DNA samples for civil matters.
    • Such matters include parentage disputes, emigration or immigration, and transplantation of human organs.
    • The Bill also doesn’t state that the consent has to be voluntary.

    Civil Disputes

    • It is not clear if DNA samples collected to resolve civil disputes will also be stored in the databank (regional or national), although there is no index specific for the same.
    • If they will be stored, then the problem cascades because the Bill also does not provide for information, consent, and appeals.
    • If a person’s DNA data has entered the databank, there is no process specified by which they can have it removed.
    • All of these issues together could violate the right to privacy.

    The authenticity of DNA Labs

    • There’s also the question of whether the DNA labs accredited by the Regulatory Board are allowed to store copies of the samples they analyze.
    • And if so, how the owners of those samples can ensure the data is safe or needs to be removed from their own indices.
    • It’s unclear if the Regulatory Board will oversee other tests performed at the accredited labs.
    • This could become necessary because, unlike one’s biometric data or PAN number, the human genome contains lots of information about every individual.

    Overreaching access to identity

    • So a test undertaken to ascertain a person’s identity by analyzing her DNA will in the process also reveal a lot of other things about that person, including information about their ancestry i.e. information that the individual has a right to keep private.
    • The Bill does not specify which parts of an individual’s DNA can be analyzed to ascertain their identity.
    • The more parts are subjected to analysis, the more conclusively a person’s identity can be established.
    • But this can’t be used as a license to parse more than is necessary because then the DNA lab is also likely to reveal more information than it has the right to seek.

    The way forward: Data protection

    • The bill can become oppressive without a robust data protection law.
    • Statutory protection for private data is critical because it provides a mechanism for enforcement of rights, grievance redressal, and independent oversight.
    • When the data being collected is as sensitive as DNA, it requires additional protection.

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