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India’s first Law Minister Dr. Ambedkar’s resignation letter missing from records

Dr. BR Ambedkar was India’s first Law Minister after independence. The letter of his resignation is now missing from official records.

Dr Ambedkar as Law Minister

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar served as Independent India’s first law minister.
He was an Indian jurist, economist, politician, and social reforme, who was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1990.
It is believed that Sardar Patel and Mahatma Gandhi proposed Dr. Ambedkar’s name for the post of Law Minister in the Nehru Cabinet.

Why was he selected for the post?

Being father of our Constitution: Sardar Patel, then deputy PM, had a high regard for Dr. Ambedkar’s intellectual abilities and his contributions to the drafting of India’s Constitution.
Political urge for inclusivity: Additionally, Dr. Ambedkar’s role in the Dalit movement and his fight against caste discrimination also made him a significant political figure.
Representation of the marginalized: His appointment as the Law Minister was seen as a symbol of inclusivity and representation of marginalized communities in the government.

Why did Dr. Ambedkar resign?

Political differences with Nehru: He resigned as Law Minister, due to differences with the then PM, Jawaharlal Nehru, over the Hindu Code Bill. He specifically wanted to reform Hindu Personal Laws and not every personal laws in India.
Row over reforming Personal Laws: The bill aimed to reform Hindu personal laws related to marriage, divorce, and inheritance, but Dr. Ambedkar believed that it did not go far enough in granting women’s rights and wanted more radical changes.
Injustice to women: Ambedkar had proposed a more comprehensive set of reforms that would have given women greater rights in matters such as property ownership and inheritance, but his proposals were met with resistance from Nehru and other members of the government.

Efforts to locate his resignation letter

The letter was not found in the National Archives of India and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Maharashtra government has also been unable to locate the letter in its archives.
RTI (Right to Information) requests were also unsuccessful.

Significance of his letter

The missing letter is a matter of concern as it is an important historical document.
Ambedkar’s resignation was a significant event in India’s political history and the reasons behind it are still relevant today.
The letter could shed light on the differences between the visionary Dr. Ambedkar and then mainstream politicians.

India’s first Provisional Government (Constitutionally)

Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India after the country gained independence in 1947.
The members of his first cabinet, which was sworn in on August 15, 1947, were as follows:

Jawaharlal Nehru – Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs
Vallabhbhai Patel – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar – Minister of Law and Member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council
C. Rajagopalachari – Minister of Industry and Supply
John Mathai – Minister of Railways
Liaquat Ali Khan – Minister of Finance
Baldev Singh – Minister of Defence
Sardar Baldev Singh – Minister of Communications
Sardar Swaran Singh – Minister of Works, Mines and Power
Jagjivan Ram – Minister of Labour and Rehabilitation
Dr. Rajendra Prasad – Minister of Food and Agriculture
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad – Minister of Education
Sardar K.M. Panikkar – Minister of States
Rafi Ahmed Kidwai – Minister of Communications (Independent Charge)
Asaf Ali – Minister of Railways (Independent Charge)

It is worth noting that this was a provisional government, and the first general election to form a permanent government was held in 1952.

Note: Azad Hind was not India’s first provisional government. The credit for establishing that – formally known as the ”Hukumat-i-Moktar-i-Hind” – in Kabul on 1st Dec, 1915, goes to Raja Mahendra Pratap and Maulana Barkatullah.

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February 14, 2023

MIIRA: India readies plan to popularise millets on world stage

On the premises of G20, India is planning to propose the launch of a global initiative ‘MIIRA’ to encourage the consumption and production of millets.

What are Millets?

millet

Millets are a group of small-seeded grasses that are commonly cultivated and consumed as staple foods in many parts of the world, including Africa and Asia.
Millets are highly nutritious, gluten-free, and have a low glycemic index, making them an ideal food for people with various dietary requirements and health conditions.
They are cereals such as sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), foxtail millet (kangni/ Italian millet), little millet (kutki), kodo millet, finger millet (ragi/ mandua), proso millet (cheena/ common millet), barnyard millet (sawa/ sanwa/ jhangora), and brown top millet (korale).

What is MIIRA?

“MIIRA” or Millet International Initiative for Research and Awareness will be aimed at coordinating millet research programmes at the international level.
For MIIRA to take off, India will contribute the “seed money” while each G20 member will later have to contribute to its budget in the form of a membership fee.
The secretariat will be in Delhi, the sources said, adding that this will, with India being a major producer of millets, ensure a flow of investment from the country’s industry and research bodies.
It is in line with the UN declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets and the Centre’s plan to make India a global hub for millets.
It is launched keeping in mind the nutritional value and the climate-resilient nature of millets.

Key objectives

MIIRA will aim to connect millet research organisations across the world while also supporting research on millet crops.
Besides setting up a web platform to connect researchers and holding international research conferences, the plan is also to promote millet consumption by raising awareness.

Ecological significance of millets

Drought resistance: Millets are drought-resistant crops, which means that they can grow in areas with low rainfall and are less susceptible to the effects of drought. This makes them an ideal crop for farmers in regions that are prone to drought and other climate-related risks.
Soil health: Millets have shallow roots and can grow in poor soil, which means that they can be cultivated in marginal lands that are unsuitable for other crops. Millets also improve soil health by enhancing soil organic matter, reducing soil erosion, and improving soil structure and fertility.
Low carbon footprint: Millets have a low carbon footprint compared to other crops because they require less water, fertilizer, and pesticides. They are also less energy-intensive to produce and transport.
Resilience to climate change: Millets are known for their resilience to climate change and extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts. By promoting the cultivation and consumption of millets, countries can build resilience to the impacts of climate change and ensure food security in the face of these challenges.
Biodiversity conservation: Millets are often grown in mixed cropping systems, which promote biodiversity and can help conserve natural resources. The cultivation of millets also supports the conservation of traditional knowledge and local agricultural practices, which can be important for the resilience of rural communities in the face of climate change.

Recent initiatives to promote Millets

Finance Minister described various types of millets as ‘Shree Anna’ in her budget speech.
To make India a global hub for Shree Anna, the Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad will be supported as the Centre of Excellence.
In 2018, the Agriculture Ministry declared some millets as ‘Nutri Cereals’ for their “high nutritive value”.

How popular are millets globally?

Now grown in more than 130 countries, millets are the traditional food for more than half a billion people in Asia and Africa.
Gobally, jowar is the most widely grown millet crop; its major producers are the US, China, Australia, India, Argentina, Nigeria, and Sudan.
Bajra, another major millet crop, is mainly grown in some African countries and India, where millets are mainly a kharif crop.

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February 14, 2023

Central agencies gear up for FATF mutual evaluations
Central agencies, including the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), have begun preparations for the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) mutual evaluation process of India.

What is the news?
- India is due to undergo the mutual evaluation process in the second half of 2022, which will assess the country’s compliance with international anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing standards.
What is FATF?
- FATF is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering.
- The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris.
- It holds three Plenary meetings in the course of each of its 12-month rotating presidencies.
- As of 2019, FATF consisted of 37 member jurisdictions.
India’s say in FATF
- India became an Observer at FATF in 2006. Since then, it had been working towards full-fledged membership.
- On June 25, 2010, India was taken in as the 34th country member of FATF.
What is FATF’s mutual evaluation process?
- The mutual evaluation process is a review of a country’s legal and institutional framework to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as its implementation of measures to prevent these crimes.
- During the process, the FATF assesses a country’s compliance with its 40 recommendations on anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing, as well as the level of effectiveness of these measures in practice.
- The outcome of the mutual evaluation is a report that highlights a country’s strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement, and assigns a rating based on the level of compliance and effectiveness.
How will FATF evaluate India?
- The FATF’s evaluation will cover a wide range of areas, including India’s legal framework, regulatory system, law enforcement efforts, and international cooperation.
- Central agencies have been working to ensure that India’s anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing laws are in line with international standards, and that their implementation is effective.
Significance of this evaluation
- The outcome of the evaluation will be a report that highlights India’s strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement, and assigns a rating based on the level of compliance and effectiveness.
- The mutual evaluation process is an important tool in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
- Its outcome can have significant implications for a country’s access to international financial markets and its reputation in the global community.
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February 14, 2023
Geo-heritage Sites and Geo-relics Bill, 2022
The draft Geo-heritage Sites and Geo-relics (Preservation and Maintenance) Bill, 2022, aimed at protecting India’s geological heritage that includes fossils, sedimentary rocks, natural structures, has raised alarm in India’s geo-sciences and palaeontology community.

Geo-heritage Sites and Geo-relics Bill, 2022

Objectives
- Protect and preserve the geo-heritage sites and geo-relics of national importance in India.
- Empower the central government to identify, declare, acquire, preserve, and maintain geo-heritage sites and geo-relics.
- Ensure that the valuable geological specimens and formations are not damaged or destroyed by human activity or natural disasters.
- Promote research, education, and awareness about the significance and value of geo-heritage sites and geo-relics.
- Provide a legal framework for the protection and management of geo-heritage sites and geo-relics, to ensure their long-term preservation and maintenance.
Key Features
- Declaration of geoheritage sites: The central government may declare a site as a geoheritage site of national importance. Geoheritage sites must contain features of geological significance, such as geo-relics or natural rock sculptures. Geo-relics are movable relics such as fossils or meteorites.
- Protection of geoheritage sites: The draft Bill empowers the central government to acquire, preserve, and maintain geoheritage sites. The Director General of the Geological Survey of India will be given powers for this purpose, such as surveying and excavation. Construction on these sites will be prohibited. However, it may be authorised by the Director General to preserve the site or to repair a structure that predates the declaration of the site.
- Protection of geo-relics: The central government may declare that a geo-relic cannot be moved from its site, by notification, unless permitted by the Director General. The Director General may direct the acquisition of a geo-relic to protect it.
- Offences and penalties: Offences under the Bill include (i) destruction or misuse of a geoheritage site, (ii) illegal construction, and (iii) damaging or illegally moving a geo-relic. These offences are punishable with a fine of up to five lakh rupees or imprisonment of up to six months, or both.
Issues raised with this legislation
- Narrow definition of “geo-relics”: The bill defines “geo-relics” as movable geological specimens, but does not include other important geological features, such as geological formations or landscapes.
- No academic participation: The bill gives exclusive powers to the Geological Survey of India (GSI) for identifying, declaring, acquiring, preserving, and maintaining geo-heritage sites and geo-relics, without any role for state geological departments or universities.
- Excessive powers vested to GSI: Experts have criticized the draft bill for vesting exclusive powers in the GSI, without any role for state geological departments or universities. The GSI will be responsible for identifying, declaring, acquiring, preserving, and maintaining geo-heritage sites and geo-relics.
- Lack of public participation: The bill has been criticized for lacking any legal framework for the involvement of local communities or civil society organizations in the protection and management of geo-heritage sites.
- Lacks transparency: The bill has been criticized for lacking transparency and public consultation, with some experts suggesting that it should be redrafted to ensure a more participatory and inclusive approach to the protection and management of geo-heritage sites.
Way forward
- Inclusion of state geological departments and universities: The bill should include the participation of state geological departments and universities in the identification, declaration, acquisition, preservation, and maintenance of geo-heritage sites and geo-relics.
- Public participation: The bill should be amended to include a legal framework for the participation of local communities and civil society organizations in the protection and management of geo-heritage sites.
- Accountability and oversight: The bill should be revised to include provisions for greater accountability and oversight of the GSI, to ensure that its powers are not misused or abused.
- Expanded definition of “geo-relics”: The bill should be amended to include a broader definition of “geo-relics” that encompasses a wider range of important geological features.
- Wider consultation: The drafting and implementation of the bill should be made more transparent and inclusive, with greater consultation with all stakeholders to ensure that their interests are adequately represented.
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February 14, 2023
1st Saudi Women to space via Axiom-2 Mission
Central idea: Saudi Arabia will send its first-ever woman astronaut on the US-led Axiom 2 space mission later this year, in the latest move to revamp the kingdom’s ultra-conservative image.

Axiom Mission 2
- Axiom Mission 2 is a private spaceflight mission organized by Axiom Space, a Houston-based aerospace company.
- The mission is scheduled to launch in 2023 and aims to send four private individuals on a 10-day trip to the International Space Station (ISS).
- Rayyana Barnawi will join fellow Saudi male astronaut Ali Al-Qarni on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) during the second quarter of 2023.
- The mission is the second private crewed flight to the ISS, following the Inspiration4 mission by SpaceX.
- The crew is expected to undergo months of training, including simulations, physical conditioning, and emergency procedures.
- The mission is part of Axiom Space’s plan to establish a private space station attached to the ISS, which is expected to be launched in 2024.
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February 14, 2023
Role of regulators in the Stock Market
Context
- On 25 January, US-based Hindenburg Research put out a tweet, talking about a negative report on the Adani Group that it had published. The report made many allegations against the group which triggered a fall in the price of their listed stocks.
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Just think of this situation
- A research report is released by a global firm that is also a short seller (that is, one who sells shares that it does not own, but buys them back at a lower price once the price falls).
- The report outlines areas of concern in a company that is listed in another jurisdiction. The issues raised could relate to the firm’s accounting or market practices.
- The report is released, quite curiously, before the company is going in for an equity issuance.
What happens after the news?
- Panic sale: As equity markets run on sentiments, such news leads to a panic sale and the share price of the company comes down sharply.
- Widespread uncertainty: The market sees investor wealth eroding sharply, leading to widespread uncertainty, as this is how contagions progress.
- Outrage: Denials are issued by the concerned company while the short seller stands firm on its views. However, shareholders have seen an erosion in their wealth and there is outrage everywhere.
In such a situation, what can the regulator do?
- Policies and system in place to put verified facts in public domain: It is for regulators in other jurisdictions to have policies/systems in place for verified facts to be put in the public domain.
- In the current context: The Securities and Exchange Commission of the US would matter and if the broker complied with its rules, then there is nothing to stop their views from being aired in a globalised world. This is why it is said that if any company opts for listing in overseas markets, there is more reason to ensure that its accounts are in place and there are no deviations from best practices.
What can regulators do to protect investors?
- It is necessary to understand that when share prices tumble: Only when someone sells the shares that have declined in value will a loss be actually incurred. This is the first point that ordinary investors need to keep in mind. While the media will talk of the loss of value and wealth, it is notional for those shareholders who don’t sell. And stock prices will return to their equilibrium once the storm passes.
- There is a need to have a wide market intelligence network: A special division that continuously analyses the messaging about Indian companies across the world. Given that such reports do not come up without signals being sent along the way, monitoring of views on companies listed overseas would be essential.
- While citing financial accounting irregularities need to be looked into: the accounting and auditing firms need to take on more responsibility to ensure that the Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) are followed for overseas-listed firms. They will have to be made partners in any such crisis in terms of taking ownership and clarifying the same.
- Detecting price manipulation: Price manipulation, for instance, is one practice that has always been a concern for regulators. And it takes a lot of experience to detect it. Thus exchanges need to ensure that their market watch and surveillance practices are robust. This is where trading patterns can show if there has been market manipulation.
- Restoring assurance and sanity in the market: It is necessary that investors have some assurance from the regulator, which may be needed to restore sanity in the markets. However, this should be an immediate and time-bound investigation which looks at the allegations or the shortcomings of the report.
- Investing derivative segments too: As a corollary, the regulator needs to investigate the derivative segment too and probably talk to other regulators to analyse how the short positions have been created and whether they were in order. This will mean being in touch with other regulators, especially the SEC which regulates the jurisdiction for most overseas listings.
- Audit firms can be employed to flag off the concerns: The regulator should insist that all overseas listed companies have regular investor calls with stakeholders where meetings are recorded and transmitted back home for special teams to examine so that there is a sense of how potential investors feel about the companies.
Conclusion
- In the cases of overseas reports, investors must have some assurance from the regulator, which can restore sanity in the markets. But investors also need to be proactive when investing. Those who are more active investors would perhaps need to be aware of developments in the companies that they have invested in.
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February 13, 2023
Budget and the Digital Governance
Context
- 2023 promises to be a landmark year for technology and digitisation in India. The Union Budget indicates growing prioritisation of these areas. For instance, the Digital India programme has been allotted Rs 4,795.24 crore, the allocation to the Ministry of Electronics and IT has nearly doubled, and there is a 1,000 per cent increase in the funding for the Artificial Intelligence and Digital Intelligence Unit. But something crucial is amiss.
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What is the issue?
- Budget has deep discord between pace of the digitisation and legal policy: Many of the initiatives announced with the budget reinforce the deep discord between the pace of digitisation efforts, and the implementation of effective legal frameworks to strengthen privacy and cybersecurity.
What is Anonymised data?
- Anonymised data includes data that does not contain Personally Identifiable Information (PII) like name, age, phone number, address, etc., or data from which PII has been removed.
Analysis: Privacy deficit in India
- New National Data Governance Policy: A new National Data Governance Policy is going to be introduced to enable access to anonymised data. However, several studies have demonstrated the ease with which anonymised data can be reverse-engineered to identify individuals. Current anonymisation techniques are inadequate and do not guarantee privacy protection.
- For instance: A study in 2019 was able to accurately reidentify 99.98 per cent of Americans in an anonymised dataset, including information held by the US government on more than 11 million people.
- Shortfall in Draft Digital Data Protection Bill, 2022: The current Draft Digital Data Protection Bill, 2022, falls short and fails to incorporate safeguards from previous rounds of consultations and even earlier iterations of the Bill.
- For instance: The 2021 draft imposed a penalty for the intentional reidentification of an individual’s anonymized personal information. This provision has been done away with, amplifying concerns around insufficient limitations and safeguards for privacy.
- No effective legislative safeguards to prevent access to personal information: The budget also proposes privacy-invasive changes to the Income Tax search and seizure provisions in view of the increased use of technology and digitization. IT officials could seek the assistance of experts to access digital devices and encrypted data. Such broad authorizations are bound to increase the scope for arbitrariness and misuse.
What issues need to be addressed for expanding the scope of DigiLocker?
- The budget proposes expanding the scope of DigiLocker. For this measure to truly serve the objective of “Trust Based Governance”, two issues need to be addressed:
- Strengthening of the cybersecurity infrastructure: Strengthening of the cybersecurity infrastructure, including implementation of the long-awaited National Cyber Security Strategy, to inspire people’s trust, and potentially avert situations like the one in 2020 where 3.8 crore DigiLocker accounts were compromised.
- Preventing scope creep of Aadhaar: Prevent the continuing scope creep of Aadhaar, which is increasingly being made mandatory not only to avail services and benefits but also to exercise fundamental rights such as voting. The negative human rights impact of the forced, widespread use of Aadhaar has been well-documented.
Did you know?
- DigiLocker, a government-run cloud-based platform for storing, sharing, and verifying documents and certificates, to make it a one-stop solution of reconciliation and updating of identity and addresses with Aadhaar as foundational identity.
Conclusion
- The World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2023 finds that data privacy and cybersecurity regulations are effective for reducing cyber risks. Many new laws have been assured this year on data protection, telecom, internet governance and cybersecurity. As the country kickstarts its G20 presidency and prepares to be a leader in this space, we would do well to prioritise the development of exemplary, rights-respecting privacy and cybersecurity regimes.
Mains question

Q. For the potential of anonymised data to be unleashed without jeopardising people’s privacy, India first needs a robust data protection law. Discuss.

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February 13, 2023
India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)
Context
- Public infrastructure has been a cornerstone of human progress. The monopolisation of public infrastructure, which plagued previous generations, has manifested itself in the centralised nature of today’s digital infrastructure. Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) can fulfil this need, though it faces several challenges.
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What is the issue?
- There is a disturbing trend of the weaponization of data and technology or Digital Colonisation (Hicks, 2019) resulting in a loss of agency, sovereignty and privacy.
- Therefore, proactively deliberating on how to build good DPI is key to avoiding such challenges.
What Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is and what it does?
- Three foundational sets DPIs mediate the flow of people, money and information.
- First, the flow of people through a digital ID System.
- Second, the flow of money through a real-time fast payment system.
- Third, the flow of personal information through a consent-based data sharing system to actualise the benefits of DPIs and to empower the citizen with a real ability to control data.
- These three sets become the foundation for developing an effective DPI ecosystem.
DPI in India
- India, first country to develop all three foundational DPIs: India through India Stack became the first country to develop all three foundational DPIs digital identity (Aadhar), real-time fast payment (UPI) and a platform to safely share personal data without compromising privacy (Account Aggregator built on the Data Empowerment Protection Architecture or DEPA)
- Techno-legal regulatory frameworks in India: Techno-legal regulatory frameworks are used to achieve policy objectives through public-technology design.
- For example: India’s DEPA offers technological tools for people to invoke the rights made available to them under applicable privacy laws. Framed differently, this techno-legal governance regime embeds data protection principles into a public-technology stack.
- DPI most feasible model: DPI has emerged as the most feasible model due to its low cost, interoperability and scalable design, and because of its safeguards against monopolies and digital colonisation.
Do you know “India Stack”?
- India Stack is a set of (application programming interface) APIs that allows governments, businesses, startups and developers to utilize a unique digital Infrastructure to solve India’s hard problems towards presence-less, paperless, and cashless service delivery.
- The Open API team at iSPIRT has been a pro-bono partner in the development, evolution, and evangelization of these APIs and systems.
How DPIs constitute the backbone of a country’s digital infrastructure?
- Facilitate seamless public service delivery: These layers interface with each other to create an ecosystem that facilitates seamless public service delivery and allows businesses to design novel solutions on top of the DPI layers.
- Enables the creation of Open Networks as not seen before: India is now developing such open networks for credit (Open Credit Enablement Network), commerce (Open Network for Digital Commerce), Open Health Services Network (UHI) and many more.
- Generate network effects: When DPIs are integrated, they can generate network effects to create these open networks for various sectors.
For India’s DPI success to become a worldwide revolution, three types of institutions must be built
- An independent DPI steward institution: It is important to have a governance structure that is agile and responsive. A multiparty governance process through independent DPI institutions will be accountable to a broad range of stakeholders rather than be controlled by a single entity or group. This can build trust and confidence in DPI. India has created the Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP), adopted by nine nations and with already more than 76 million active users.
- Need to develop global standards through a multilateral dialogue led by India: If standards originating from developed nations were transplanted to an emerging economies’ context without deferring to their developmental concerns, smaller countries would simply be captive to dominant technology players. Additionally, without these standards, Big Tech would likely engage in regulatory arbitrage to concentrate power.
- Sustainable financing models: Finally, we need to develop sustainable financing models for developing DPI for the world. Currently backed by philanthropic funding, such models are at risk of becoming a tool of philanthropic competition and positioning.
Notes for answer writing
- In the twenty-first-century, technological innovation has created a tempest of ideological, geographical and economic implications that pose new challenges.
- The monopolisation of public infrastructure, which plagued previous generations, has manifested itself in the centralised nature of today’s digital infrastructure.
- It is increasingly evident that the world needs a third type of public infrastructure, following modes of transport such as ports and roads, and lines of communication such as telegraph or telecom but with open, democratic principles built in.
- Built on top of public infrastructure, democratic countries with largely free markets have fostered public and private innovation and, therefore, generated considerable value creation in societies.
- However, like in the case of physical infrastructure, it is important that DPIs not succumb to monopolisation, authoritarianism and digital colonisation.
Conclusion
- The world needs a new playbook for digital infrastructure that mediates the flow of people, money and information. This will facilitate countries looking to digitally empower their citizens. They can then rapidly build platforms that address the specific needs of people, while ensuring people are able to trust and use the platform – without fear of exclusion or exploitation.
Mains question

Q. What Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is and what it does? What can be done for India’s DPI success to become a worldwide revolution?

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February 13, 2023
India-US Space Cooperation
Context
- India and the United States agreeing to advance space collaboration in several areas, under the ‘initiative on critical and emerging technology’ umbrella, including human space exploration and commercial space partnership, comes at a crucial time for both countries. This follows from the eighth meeting of the U.S.-India Civil Space Joint Working Group (CSJWG), that was held on January 30-31, 2023.
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Limiting factors in India-U.S. space cooperation
- Mismatch in the two nations interests in outer space: The first structural factor that limits long-term India-U.S. space cooperation is the mismatch in the two nations interests in outer space.
- American ambitions beyond earth orbits: Although the U.S. and its partners stress the importance of maintaining capabilities in low-earth orbit, their ambitions are firmly set on the moon.
- India’s current focus is on increasing its satellite launch capabilities: India’s scientific community focuses on building the nation’s capability in and under earth orbits. The Gaganyaan human space flight programme hopes to sustain India’s human presence in space for the long term. This is not to say that India does not aim for the moon, Mars or beyond. But India’s top priority is to substantially increase its satellite and launch capabilities in earth orbits and catch up with other spacefaring nations such as China.
- The asymmetry in capabilities: The U.S. has the highest number of registered satellites in space. It also has a range of launch vehicles serving both commercial and national-security needs.
- Private sector, for instance: Private entity SpaceX, for example, managed to achieve a record 61 launches in 2022, far higher than the number of launches undertaken by any other commercial entity or country. The American private sector has also assumed the challenge of replacing the International Space Station by 2030 with many smaller stations.
- The greatest challenge for India here is lack of capacity: The country has just over 60 satellites in orbit and cannot undertake double-digit launches annually. The Indian government also opened the space industry to the private sector only in 2020. Since the U.S. already has an extensive network of partners for space cooperation, it has few technical incentives to cooperate with India.
- Disagreements on govern space activities: Compounding these problems are disagreements on how best to govern space activities on the moon and other celestial bodies. Even though countries have a mindset to collaborate, the structural factors overpower diplomatic incentives to pursue long-term cooperation.
Have you read about “NISAR”?
- NISAR has been built by space agencies of the US and India under a partnership agreement signed in 2014.
- The 2,800 kilograms satellite consists of both L-band and S-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instruments, which makes it a dual-frequency imaging radar satellite.
- While NASA has provided the L-band radar, GPS, a high-capacity solid-state recorder to store data, and a payload data subsystem, ISRO has provided the S-band radar, the GSLV launch system and spacecraft.
- Another important component of the satellite is its large 39-foot stationary antenna reflector.
- Made of a gold-plated wire mesh, the reflector will be used to focus the radar signals emitted and received by the upward-facing feed on the instrument structure.
Some novel solutions
- Sustained engagement: The standard solution to induce long-term cooperation is to sustain the engagement between academics, the private sector and state-led entities in the two countries. Sustained engagement could also take the form of collaborating on highly specialised projects such as the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission.
- Cooperation and collaboration between state and private entities: One form of cooperation is a partnership between state and private entities; or, as agreed in the most recent meeting, a convention of American and Indian aerospace companies to advance collaboration under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme. Such an arrangement could be taken further.
- Reducing dependence: India could send its astronauts to train at American private companies. This could help India reduce its dependence on Russia while ISRO builds its own astronaut training centre.
- Government-owned New Space India Limited: Another novel arrangement could be a consortium led by the government-owned New Space India Limited which involves private companies in the U.S. This setup could accelerate India’s human spaceflight programme and give the U.S. an opportunity to accommodate Indian interests in earth orbits.
Conclusion
- The US and India have taken significant strides in advancing the private space sector. Together, these endeavors have the capability to shape and impact U.S. and Indian space policies and programmes over the next decade.
Mains question

Q. The US and India have taken significant strides in space cooperation. Discuss the limiting factors and suggest probable solutions.

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