Child Rights – POSCO, Child Labour Laws, NAPC, etc.

Online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA).

op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Laws, Institutions & Bodies Constituted For The Vulnerable Sections

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Tackling online child abuse, Challenges and efforts.
Context
- With the increasing popularity of social media platforms, utilisation of education apps and shift to online classes, children these days have a much higher chance of being exposed to harmful content. Hence, the need to secure children’s welfare and safety online is more urgent than ever.
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Online Child Sexual Abuse
- Definition: Online child sexual abuse and exploitation refers to activities such as the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), live streaming sexual assault of minors, obtaining sexually explicit material, exhibitionism and meeting the abuser in-person.
- Psychological harm to children: This poses serious harm to children who experience psychological stress such as anxiety, trauma, and depression.
- Behavioural changes: It can also lead to behavioural changes like drug and alcohol abuse, self-harm, and lower motivation for academics.
- Problems in adult life: It doesn’t end there, as the consequences of online sexual abuse in childhood are far-reaching and may well extend into adulthood bringing forth issues with intimacy and affecting interpersonal relationships.
Challenges in tackling online abuse
- Encryption and anonymity: The rapidly evolving digital landscape and advances in information technology have given rise to better encryption services and the dark net, which provide a safe cover of anonymity to offenders, allowing them to engage in child sexual abuse.
- Pace of response is still slow: Needless to say, the danger and complexity of online abuse has escalated at an alarming rate and needs to be dealt with swiftly. Moreover, the ubiquitous nature of the internet and online interaction has made it so that almost all cases of child sexual abuse feature a virtual aspect. Therefore, a broad perspective and a systems-level approach should be considered when deciding on strategies to tackle online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA).
- Limited capacity of police: Broadly speaking, the main administrative challenges when dealing with OCSEA are limited law enforcement capacities, gaps in legislative framework, and a lack of awareness and urgency around the issue.
- Understaffing of workforce: The workforce in relevant social welfare organisations is understaffed. The need of the hour is close collaboration between non-traditional partners from the industry, government ministries dealing in technological communication, and law enforcement. Provisions should be in place to prevent future cases and safeguard the victims or survivors.
Efforts by India in fighting OCSEA
- Improved mechanism and new tools: India have made a significant effort to tackle the wave of rising OCSEA cases in recent years. Not only has it improved the mechanism for reporting online offences against children, but it has also developed new tools and software to control and remove the presence of CSAM on social media and other platforms.
- Sensitise school and boosting capacity: Efforts have also been made to sensitise schools and boost the technological capacity of law enforcement agencies to further deal with the issue. Although this four-pronged model has shown some promising results, it is surpassed by the exponential rise in cases across the country.
What are steps that can be taken?
- Evaluate and improve the governance systems: It is imperative to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of cross-sectoral governance mechanisms that are set up to systematise the national response to child sexual abuse material.
- Fast tracking the cases: The huge backlog for cases of OCSEA in India must also be fast-tracked. As for prevention, institutionalising the collection of national-level data on CSAM can also assist in strengthening children’s online security. The recent Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology can provide an opportunity to meet this exigency.
- Clear mandate and responsibility of stakeholders: There should be further development of clear mandates and creation of a logical framework of roles and duties of all relevant stakeholders within standard operating procedures for investigation. Continuous dialogue between the industry, government and other collaborators, with a distinct agenda and division of responsibilities is necessary.
- Training of enforcement agency: Industry partners, in particular the IT industry, must be provided with suitable training and awareness of the magnitude of OCSEA, along with proper toolkits and guidance. Promoting a systematic and constant approach to training the judiciary and prosecution on CSAM can prove beneficial, if centred around child-sensitive protocols.
- Reparation for victims: In the same vein, comprehensive remedies or reparations for victims are just as important and need to be handled by a specialised workforce.
- Parental and community training: Basic online safety measures, parental support initiatives and community awareness training can be integrated into existing education programmes for violence prevention, and sensitising the most vulnerable audience. Existing systems must be evaluated by monitoring and documenting their overall effectiveness and accessibility, including assessment of relevant hotlines and portals (checking to see if they are linked to relevant referral systems), and analysing context-specific reasons for limitations.
- Ethical media reporting: Dedicated effort must be made to aid ethical and informed media reporting on relevant cases.
Conclusion
- A collaborative effort of various institutions across the nation is required to build a safer cyberspace. The highest priority is assessment of current OCSEA response systems and reporting mechanisms, stricter implementation of prevention laws, and adequate resources to sustain these efforts. The end goal must be to ensure long-term safeguards for online platforms that allow secure navigation for minors and a disruption of the actions of offenders.
Mains Question

Q. What are the challenges in fight against online child sexual exploitation and abuse? What steps can be taken to tackle OCSEA?

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Climate Change Negotiations – UNFCCC, COP, Other Conventions and Protocols

Orderly path to net zero

op-ed snap | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Net zero
Mains level: India's plans of decarbonization and orderly transition towards net zero
Context
- India’s per capita emissions are relatively low (1.8 tons of CO2e per person), but we are still the world’s third-largest single emitter. India has pledged to get to net zero by 2070. This goal can only be met with urgent actions in this decade, potentially accelerated through India’s recently-assumed G20 presidency.
Current trajectory
- Emissions are set to grow: On its current trajectory, India’s emissions are set to grow from 2.9 GtCO2e a year to 11.8 GtCO2e in 2070.
- Decarbonisation comes with the cost: According to a recent McKinsey report, effective decarbonisation, down to 1.9 GtCO2e by 2070, would require India to spend a total of $7.2 trillion on green initiatives by 2050. This line of sight (LoS) scenario is based on announced policies and expected technology adoption.
- Investment needed: Deeper decarbonisation an accelerated scenario that would reduce emissions to just 0.4 GtCO2e by 2050, or close to net zero would require $12 trillion in total green investments by 2050. Under this scenario, India could create 287 gigatonnes (GT) of carbon space for the world, almost half of the global carbon budget, for an even chance at limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
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Memory shot: Net Zero
- Net zero means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with remaining emissions re-absorbed by oceans/ forests.
- China, US, EU and India contribute 75% of total GHG emissions
- However, per capita GHG emissions for US, EU and China are7,3 and 3 times of India
- India has set target to achieve net zero emissions by 2070.
What India needs to speed up the decarbonization?
- Orderly transition will benefit but the projects are of heavy investments: To take just one example, If India shifted to a predominantly renewable (and hydrogen)-based energy and materials system, it could save as much as $3 trillion in foreign exchange by 2070. While the investment is large, a vast majority of the abatement projects are in the money.
- Investment, regulation and capacity building is necessary: Three-quarters of the buildings, infrastructure, and industrial capacity of India in 2050 is yet to be built. We have a choice to invest in current technologies or to invest futuristically. Futuristic investment will need India to take urgent actions in this decade on regulation, technology development, and on technology adoption to make the right investments.
- Employing the experience in renewable power: In renewable power, the right policies, strong institutions and industrial capabilities built in the last decade are providing India with the base to scale up four to five times in this decade.
- Making electric vehicles competitive in the market: India also has other advantages. For example, its high taxation on automotive fuels translates to an imputed carbon tax of $140 to $240 per tonne of carbon dioxide. This makes electric vehicles competitive against petrol or diesel ones, explaining the recent rapid growth of electric two-wheelers.
Ideas for India’s orderly transition
- Setting up national and structural decarbonisation plans: Set out five-year, 10-year, and 25-year national decarbonisation plans. Policies that enable carbon prices or blending mandates can make the economics viable. Such policies need to be held steady and require coordination across sectors like power, hydrogen and steel. A national decarbonisation plan would enable timely investment decisions.
- Defining a national land use plan and consider using barren lands for renewables: India risks being land-short for its dual goals of growth and decarbonisation. For example, McKinsey estimates that renewable power and forest carbon sinks need 18 million additional hectares of land. India would need to maximise the use of barren land for renewable power, urbanise vertically, improve agricultural productivity, and increase forest density.
- Accelerate compliance with carbon markets: Pricing carbon creates demand signals that accelerate emissions reductions, especially in hard-to-abate sectors. Let’s illustrate this through steel, demand for which could multiply eight times by 2070; right now, much of the new capacity is likely to be added using high-emission coal. With a price on carbon emissions, more expensive green steel becomes competitive against high-emission steel. For example, a carbon price of $50 a ton could make green steel cost competitive by 2030, leading to the possibility of the next 200 million tons of capacity being created through low-emissions technologies.
- Investing in opportunities: Companies can aim to play on the front foot, investing in opportunities like recycling, hydrogen, biomass, electrolysers, rare earths, battery materials and battery making. Some of these opportunities would take time to mature. Meanwhile, companies could invest in opportunities opened up by decarbonisation of other countries, such as exporting green hydrogen derivatives like ammonia.
Conclusion
- To embark on an orderly path to net zero, India needs imagination, realism, determination and a sense of urgency. An orderly transition to net zero could help India decarbonize while creating an engine for growth. We must take steps this decade to set things up, to establish momentum, and to build India right for generations to come.
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Economic Indicators and Various Reports On It- GDP, FD, EODB, WIR etc

Indian economic growth forecast

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

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Indian economic growth estimate and the areas of concern
Context
- The Indian economy is expected to grow at 7 per cent in 2022-23 as per the first advance estimates of national income released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday. This is marginally higher than the RBI’s most recent assessment in the December monetary policy committee meeting, the central bank had lowered its expectation of growth to 6.8 per cent.
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Estimate: Indian economic growth
- As per the latest estimates growth is likely to slow down in later half: Considering that the economy grew by 9.7 per cent in the first half of the financial year (April-September), the latest estimate implies that growth is likely to slow down to 4.5 per cent in the second half of the year (October-March) as the base effect wanes.
- Full year growth estimates India will be fastest growing economy: Notwithstanding that, the full-year growth estimate suggests that India will be one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
Positive signs in the Indian Economy
- Positive medium-term growth prospects: Company and bank balance sheets are healthier, credit growth is rising, and capacity utilisation has increased, all of which augur well for investment activity.
- Positive impact on tourism: The waning of Covid-19 should hopefully have a positive impact on travel, transport and tourism. Construction activity should pick up further with the reduction in housing inventory and almost stable prices over the last decade.
- On inflation India is doing better: On the inflation front, India is doing better than many advanced economies and emerging markets.
Areas of concern
- Private consumption is likely to contract in the second half of the year: While the pace of contraction is expected to be marginal, the slowdown in spending could be due to either the exhaustion of pent-up demand or the lagged impact of a tighter monetary policy.
- Exports growth likely to grow: As per the estimates, exports are likely to grow at almost 12 per cent in the second half of the year. This is at odds with recent data which showed that export growth has actually slowed down considerably as advanced economies have come under pressure.
- Agriculture growth likely to slow down: Agricultural growth is expected to slow down in the second half. As per some analysts this is not in sync with the healthy sowing rates and reservoir levels.
- Manufacturing will go upward: The manufacturing sector, which was almost flat in the first half of the year, is expected to witness an uptick in the second half. It is difficult to reconcile this with the view that both domestic demand and exports are likely to remain subdued, which would in turn impact industrial production.
- Government spending will remain almost flat: Public administration, defence and other services, which largely connotes government spending, is expected to remain more or less flat in the second half. This is odd considering that government consumption expenditure is pegged to grow at 7.2 per cent during the period.
As the data is not yet concrete, estimates made are likely to change
- As the first advance estimates suffer from data limitations, they are based only on seven to eight months of data these are likely to change once more data is available.
- However, they do provide some sense of underlying momentum in economic activities, and are useful in the context of the upcoming Union budget.
- The last budget had assumed a nominal GDP growth of 11.1 per cent. However, as per the latest estimates, nominal GDP is expected to grow at a significantly higher pace of 15.4 per cent.
Conclusion
- Along with trends in tax collections as per which the government’s revenues will surpass budgeted targets by a significant margin, these growth estimates only increase the likelihood of the Centre meeting its budgeted fiscal deficit target for the year.
Mains question

Q. As per the first advance estimates of national income released by the National Statistical Office, Indian economy is expected to grow at 7 per cent in 2022-23. In light of this discuss some of the latest projections and the areas of concern for Indian economic growth.

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Citizenship and Related Issues

Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) and their concerns

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

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas and its theme and related facts
Mains level: Overseas citizens of India, and their concerns
Context
- Government will observe the 17th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The day is meant to celebrate the contributions of India’s diaspora. The theme for this year’s event is, “Diaspora: Reliable Partners for India’s Progress in Amrit Kaal”.
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Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas
- Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (Non-Resident Indian Day) is a celebratory day observed (starting in 2003) on 9 January by the Republic of India to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community towards the development of India. The day commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to Mumbai on 9 January 1915.
Who are the Overseas Citizens of India (OCI)?
- OCI are not citizens: Overseas Citizenship of India is a form of permanent residency available to people of Indian origin and their spouses which allows them to live and work in India indefinitely. Despite its name, OCI status is not citizenship and does not grant the right to vote in Indian elections or hold public office.
- It can be revoked: The Indian government can revoke OCI status in a wide variety of circumstances. As of 2020, there are 6 million holders of OCI cards among the Indian Overseas diaspora.
What are the concerns of OCI/NRI persons?
- Scheme for dual citizenship: Originally conceptualised in 2003 by the then NDA government led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the OCI scheme was envisaged as a dual-citizenship project.
- All rights of citizen of India: OCIs would enjoy all rights as normal citizens except the right to hold public office and cast their vote.
- Citizenship to OCI from certain countries: The Vajpayee government introduced the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2003 in Parliament. The statement accompanying the Bill, that was passed by Parliament in December that year clearly stated that it was meant to provide dual citizenship to persons of Indian origin from certain countries.
- Present government Downgraded OCI status: Nearly two decades later, the Union Home Ministry is downgrading the OCI scheme from dual-citizenship to virtually a residency permit scheme. The ministry’s statements in circulars and courts declaring that OCIs are not Indian citizens and that they would not enjoy any fundamental rights under the Indian Constitution have been particularly disheartening.
What are the ambiguities about the downgrading of OCI status?
- Confusion over rights: There is considerable legal confusion about the status of OCIs. Can they practice certain professions like journalism without prior government permission? Do contributions by OCIs residing in India to charities/schools violate the country’s laws?
- Problem in donation: During the pandemic, resident OCIs had to ensure their donations went only to NGOs that had FCRA clearance. As a result, many local level initiatives could not be supported with their monetary contributions.
- Confusion over the status: Very often OCIs have been confronted with remarks, including at courts, that we are foreigners in India. Unlike several other countries, the Indian Constitution does not have exhaustive provisions on citizenship.
Making a case of citizenship for OCI
- Vasudaiva kutumbakam philosophy: The Government of India announced that India’s Presidency of G20 will be grounded in the principles of “Vasudaiva kutumbakam” wherein the entire world is considered as one family.
- Push to Mobility for diaspora: Hopefully such political homilies are reflected in the way the government thinks about the idea of citizenship in relation to the increasingly mobile Indian diaspora.
- Injustice to people born in India: Clearly, an elemental question is whether it is proper to cancel the citizenship of people born in the country, and who have continued engagement with it, merely because they have acquired foreign citizenship. No other progressive democracy does that today, even though most countries had similar laws when India enacted the Citizenship Act, 1955.
- Removing the outdated laws: In a recent address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised Chief Secretaries of states and Union Territories to focus on quality of service over outdated laws and rules, to achieve the goal of making India a developed country by 2047. Realising the essence of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003 is in the spirit of the PM’s directive.
Conclusion
- OCI contribute immensely to India at home and abroad. But granting a citizenship to Overseas citizens of India will create structural asymmetry in economic, social, political life of ordinary people of India. It will open the flood gates for demand for dual citizenships from other sections of diaspora.
Mains Question

Q. What are problems of Overseas Citizens of India? Discuss why OCI deserve the better status in India?

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Antibiotics Resistance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR): The silent health catastrophe

op-ed snap | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
Mains level: Antimicrobial resistance, challenges and preventive measures
Context
- Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), often also called antibiotic resistance, is a global health challenge and a looming public health crisis. The WHO has declared it as one of the top 10 health threats facing humanity.
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What is antimicrobial resistance (AMR)?
- AMR is the ability of a microorganism (like bacteria, viruses, and some parasites) to stop and survive exposure to an antimicrobial (such as antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials) from working against it. As a result, standard treatments become ineffective, infections persist and may spread to others.
How AMR occurs?
- Improper use of antimicrobials: Antimicrobials, chemicals or molecules that kill harmful bugs, are the backbone of modern medicine. Improperly used antimicrobials create selective pressure on bugs.
- Resilient bugs survive the exposure to antimicrobials: The bugs most vulnerable to the drugs die quickly, while the most resilient ones survive, replicate and become superbugs. AMR occurs when superbugs develop and antimicrobials stop working.
- For example: Microorganisms (bugs) are everywhere with some being helpful like the yoghurt-making lactobacillus and some being harmful like the typhoid-causing salmonella.
What are superbugs?
- Microorganisms that become resistant to most antimicrobials are often referred to as superbugs.
- Superbugs makes medical procedures such as organ transplantation, cancer chemotherapy, and other major surgeries very risky.
Interesting fact
- Research has shown that the use of certain types of antimicrobials in animal feed can lead to the development of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in food-producing animals.
- These resistant bacteria can then be transmitted to humans through the food supply, leading to the spread of AMR.
Prescription to reduce and potentially reverse AMR
- The first prescription is prevention: Disease prevention and wellness are key to public health and thus preventing infections whenever and wherever possible is equivalent to averting resistance. We need to spearhead sanitation drives, ensure a clean water supply and support hospital-driven infection-control programmes.
- Judicious prescription of antimicrobials: Reducing AMR also requires prescribing antimicrobials judiciously and only when they are absolutely needed.
- Effective coordination and management: There is also a need for more cohesion within management strategies. Coordination across the animal industry and environmental sectors to prevent the unnecessary use of antibiotics in farms these nurtures drug-resistant organisms in our food supply is necessary.
- Robust surveillance systems to detect resistant pathogens of all kinds: Other prescription closely connected with prevention is the development of robust surveillance systems that allow us to detect resistant pathogens of all kinds in the environment and hospitals that would eventually allow containment.
- Heavy investment in research and development: There is an urgent need for a strong pipeline of new antibiotics; an essential component in restoring the balance and ensuring that we have new tools in the fight against AMR. Bringing a new antibiotic from basic research through clinical trials takes more than a decade and requires upward of $1 billion. So there is need to invest heavily in research and development through both government and private funding.
- New financial incentives to make it profitable keeping in mind the social value: Profits on these drugs are negligible. Hence, there is need to formulate new types of financial incentives to measure return on investment and measure profitability by the social value of the antibiotic, breaking the conventional link between sales and profits.
- Bringing in the collective moral vision: Last but not least, we need to bring a collective moral vision to AMR and start thinking of antibiotic/antimicrobial drugs as limited resources that should be available to all.
Conclusion
- Although seemingly distant and abstract, AMR is in the air and potentially catastrophic for those burdened by it. The success of modern medicine, women’s health, infectious diseases, surgery and cancer would be at increased risk for lack of working antimicrobials. The cost of AMR to the economy is significant and it is critical to develop policies and implement them through a holistic One Health approach.
Mains question

Q. What is Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)? Given that AMR is an impending health disaster, discuss what measures can be taken to reduce AMR?

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Judicial Pendency

Government Litigation

op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Executive & Judiciary

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Problem of pendency of cases and the role of the Government
Context
- Much has been said about why we have a staggeringly high number of cases that constitute pendency or cases that are undecided in the court system. Pendency or cases pending in courts have been a source of agony for litigants, lawyers and judges alike. In 2018, the Law Commission of India, in its 230th report, noted that the government is the biggest litigant in the system.
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Ratio: Number of Judges serving the population
- India has 21 judges for every million people: India has a terribly low number of judges serving a very large population to be more precise, India has about 21 judges for every million people, as the government recently informed the Rajya Sabha.
- Comparatively in China: China has about 159 judges for every million people.
What is cause of concern for the government?
- Pendency impacts governance and weakens law and order: It is a cause of concern for the government since an arduous dispute resolution system adversely impacts governance and weakens law and order in any country.
- Government is the largest litigant: Our government has been seized by the burdens of the justice system for long, and is acutely aware of its own role in contributing to the number of cases that enter the courts and remain to be decided.
Efforts taken by the Government to reduce its litigation
- Government is well aware: The government has been cognisant of its role in contributing to litigation simply by being the biggest litigator in the courts.
- Action plan in response to large number of Government litigation: On June 13, 2017, the department of justice of the Government of India, released an Action Plan to reduce Government Litigation. The action plan was in response to the fact that 46 per cent of the total pending cases in the court system pertains to the government.
- Legal Information Management Briefing System (LIMBS): In 2015, they started the rather aptly named LIMBS project that intends to connect 55 ministries and their departments for litigation management. Aptly named, for it seeks to connect the various limbs of governance of our state. As on January 3, LIMBS shows that there are 6,20,000 cases involving the government pending before the court system.
- National Litigation Policy (NLP), 2010: The status report to the NLP, 2010, was prepared because it is based on the recognition that the government and its various agencies are the predominant litigants in the courts and tribunals in the country. And, hence, it aimed to transform the government into an efficient and responsible litigant.
Is all its litigation is initiated by the government?
- To be fair to the government, not all its litigation is initiated by it.
- For instance, the government is the catalyst in inter-departmental litigation (between wings of the government) and routine appeals in service matters.
- However, citizens trigger writ jurisdiction of the courts and file appeals in criminal cases. These also constitute a segment of cases involving the government being heard at various high courts and the Supreme Court.
- So, while the government can control some of the litigation it is involved in, it is not the catalyst in certain classes of cases that involve it.
Way ahead
- Insights provided by the Vidhi Centre: The Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy in its report on Government Litigation published in 2018, provides great insights into where the government can and cannot control the litigation it is party to.
- Where Government control its litigation: For instance, the government’s 2010 National Litigation Policy (NLP) recognises that service matters should not be normally appealed and only cases which involve questions of constitutional interpretation should be pursued all the way till the Supreme Court. The government should implement this reform suggested by its own policymakers.
- Reasons to reduce the litigation: There are many good reasons to reduce litigation that involves the government. Reducing the burden on the courts is a prime reason. As Vidhi 2018 notes, the costs involved in pursuing litigation eat into public funds. And a court battle between the individual and the state is also a battle of unequals.
Conclusion
- What we need to address the overburdened court system is for the largest litigant to use the court system more efficiently and cautiously. This would be a tremendous start to addressing the problem of pendency. Appointing more judges would be a massive step to helping more dispute resolution as well.
Mains question

Q. Pendency of cases haunts Indian judiciary for a very long time. While there are multiple reasons for pendency, it is said that Government is the largest Litigant discuss. Enlist what efforts are taken by the government to reduce its litigation?

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Indian Navy Updates

Underwater combat drones: Indian Navy’s readiness

op-ed snap | Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields,Border Area Security Challenges

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Deployment of AI powered underwater drones and associated challenges
Context
- India is on a drive to induct unmanned combat systems into the military. Months after the Indian Army announced the induction of swarm drones into its mechanized forces, the Navy chief, Admiral R Hari Kumar, reiterated the importance of autonomous systems in creating a future-proof Indian Navy (IN).
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Indian Navy’s expanding surveillance and reasons for doing so
- The IN, indeed, has been on a mission to expand surveillance in India’s near-seas: Two years after it leased MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones from the US, the navy, in July 2022, released an unclassified version of its unmanned roadmap for the induction of remote autonomous platforms including undersea vehicles.
- Maritime deterrence in the Eastern Indian Ocean: A key driver for the enterprise is underwater domain awareness, deemed an increasingly vital component of maritime deterrence in the Eastern Indian Ocean.
- Chinas undersea presence in the Indian ocean: In the aftermath of the conflict in Ladakh in June 2020, there is a growing sense among Indian experts and military planners that China’s undersea presence in the Indian Ocean is on the cusp of crossing a critical threshold.
- Recent reports of sighting of Chinese drones in the waters of Indonesia: Recent reports of the sighting of Chinese drones in the waters off Indonesian islands suggest the Peoples Liberation Army Navy has been studying the operating environment of the Indian Ocean.
- China already deployed vessels around Andaman in the name of research: Already, there has been a rise in the deployment of Chinese research and survey vessels in the waters around India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- Recognizing the threat, Indian Navy sought acquire to own AUV: Ever more alive to the dangers posed by foreign undersea presence in Indian waters, the IN sought to acquire its own autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with twin surveillance and strike capabilities.
Analysis: The navy’s interest in armed underwater drones
- Underwater vehicles never viewed as warfighting assets: Despite being widely used in underwater search and exploration, underwater vehicles have never quite been viewed as warfighting assets by India’s military establishment.
- Never sought deploying underwater drones in combat roles: Notwithstanding the AUVs’ utility in tasks such as mine detection and ship survey, India’s naval planners have traditionally desisted from deploying undersea drones in a combat role.
- Acknowledging war fighting capabilities and need of the hour: Indian analysts and decision-makers seem to be belatedly acknowledging the warfighting abilities of underwater autonomous platforms powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
- Getting ready for the new era warfare: With the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) shaping a new era in warfare, Indian observers are beginning to recognise the likely impact of disruptive technologies on the maritime domain. AI powered by deep learning, data analytics, and cloud computing, many say, is poised to alter the maritime battlefront, potentially triggering a revolution in naval affairs in India.
Challenges to harness the disruptive technologies in maritime combat
- Ethical paradox: There is an ethical paradox that typifies artificially intelligent combat systems.
- Imported AI tech algorithms cannot be under user control: Despite rendering warfare more deadly, AI compromises the control, safety, and accountability of weapon systems it also enhances the risk of shared liability between networked systems, particularly when weapon algorithms are sourced from abroad, and when the satellite and link systems that enable combat solutions are not under the control of the user.
- Predisposition of data in AI can undermine the decision making: AI is characterised by a predisposition to certain kinds of data. Biases in the collection of data, in the set of instructions for data analysis, and in the selection of probabilistic outcomes muddle rational decision-making, undermining confidence in automated combat solutions.
- The doctrinal paradox is equally troubling: There is no easy way of incorporating AI-fuelled warfighting approaches into doctrine, particularly when many technologies are in a nascent stage of development, and there is little clarity about how effective AI could be in combat.
- Capacity limitation that restricts the development of AI: While technology absorption in the navy has matured in certain areas over a period of time, a large gap still exists in the development of critical technologies, which are system engineering, airborne and underwater sensors, weapon systems, and hi-tech components.
The critics of AI in warfare
- Technology without comprehensive testing is risky: That fielding nascent technologies without comprehensive testing puts both military personnel and civilians at risk.
- Probabilistic assessment by computers not always provide optimal solution: A system of targeting human beings based on probabilistic assessments by computers that act merely on machine-learned experiences, is problematic because the computer neither has access to all relevant data to make an informed decision nor recognizes that it needs more information to come up with an optimal solution.
- Shaping policy to account for AI is challenging: That is because military doctrine is premised on a traditional understanding of conflict. If war is a normative construct, then there are rules and codes to be followed, and ethical standards to be met.
- AI could be inconsistent with the laws of war: What is more, AI seemingly automates weapon systems in ways that are inconsistent with the laws of war.
Legality issues of underwater combat drones
- Status by UNCLOS is not yet clear: It is not yet clear if unmanned maritime systems enjoy the status of ships under the UN convention of the laws of the sea; even if they do, it is unlikely that they can be classified as warships.
Way ahead
- Notwithstanding the announcement of multiple AI projects, the navy remains focused on using AI in noncombat activities such as training, logistics, inventory management, maritime domain awareness, and predictive maintenance.
- India’s maritime managers recognize that the IN is still at a place on its evolutionary curve where incorporating AI in combat systems could prove risky. An incremental approach, many believe, is the best way forward.
Conclusion
- It is worth acknowledging that AI in warfare is not just a matter of combat effectiveness but also of warfighting ethics. AI-infused unmanned systems on the maritime battlefront pose a degree of danger, making it incumbent upon the military to deploy its assets in ways that are consistent with national and international law. India’s naval leadership would do well if it takes careful and calculated steps in developing AI-powered underwater systems.
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Innovations in Sciences, IT, Computers, Robotics and Nanotechnology

Green Hydrogen Mission: India in the right bus in the right direction

op-ed snap | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Green hydrogen and its applications
Mains level: National Green Hydrogen mission
Context
- As countries work on reducing their dependence on fossil fuels due to climate change considerations, a race is currently on to secure the energy sources of the future. Green hydrogen, produced through a clean process, is rightly seen as the most dependable source of energy of the future.
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Highlights: India’s efforts towards clean energy transition and the challenges
- Seasonality challenge for solar and Wind energy: Solar and wind energy have almost been tamed, but their intermittency and seasonality continue to be a challenge.
- High cost of nuclear energy: The Nuclear energy has been in use for several decades now, but its cost remains a constraint.
- Electric vehicles are still not convenient: Even though electric vehicles are fast gaining in popularity, the convenience of petrol or diesel is still missing.
- The government approval to the National Green Hydrogen Mission: recently government approved National green hydrogen Mission a keenly-awaited decision. The nearly Rs 20,000 crore mission is aimed at building domestic capabilities in developing technologies to produce hydrogen, an element that is readily available in nature but never alone, because of which it requires segregation.
What is Green Hydrogen?
- Clean and no harmful gas emission: The Green hydrogen is the one produced with no harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
- Produced by electrolysis of water: It is made by using clean electricity from surplus renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind power, to electrolyse water. Electrolysers use an electrochemical reaction to split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, emitting zero-carbon dioxide in the process.
- Energy intensive process: It is an energy-intensive process for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable power to achieve this.
Analysis: Green Hydrogen most dependable source of energy of the future
- Energy of the future: The Green hydrogen, produced through a clean process, is rightly seen as the most dependable source of energy of the future.
- Fuel for vehicles or to generate electricity: It can be used to generate electricity or as fuel in industries or vehicles.
- Not yet cost effective: Even though the technology to produce hydrogen in an emission-free manner is not yet mature or cost-effective, it features prominently in several countries’ strategies to achieve net-zero emission status by the middle of this century.
- Production is expensive: The green hydrogen currently makes up a small percentage of the overall hydrogen, because production is expensive. The current cost of green hydrogen in India is ₹300 to ₹400 per kg.
Late entry in Solar energy: a lesson to be remembered
- Green hydrogen is still in a nascent stage: Efforts to harness the energy of hydrogen in a clean and affordable manner have been stepped up significantly in the last few years. In many ways, green hydrogen is where solar energy was 10-12 years ago.
- Technology was available but not economical: The technology to harness the energy was available, but wasn’t economical. Then, dramatically, in a period of less than five years, a combination of technology improvement and massive demand in countries like China saw the prices of solar photovoltaic cells come down by 80-90 per cent, suddenly making solar energy an extremely attractive proposition.
- India’s entry in solar revolution was a little late: India joined the solar revolution a little late, after the prices had come down. And while India is now one of the biggest players in solar energy, most of the raw materials and components are imported.
- The big concern: There are already concerns that inability to develop domestic capabilities in solar manufacturing will only result in India moving from one kind of dependency oil imports to another.
National hydrogen mission: India’s efforts in right direction
- Early entry in Hydrogen energy: With the hydrogen mission, India is making a relatively early entry into a still nascent technology domain.
- Emphasis on developing domestic manufacturing capabilities: It is reassuring to see that the bulk of the financial allocation for the mission is geared towards developing domestic manufacturing of electrolysers, the equipment in which hydrogen is separated from water molecules, and the production of hydrogen.
- Allocation of funds for R&D, a move in right direction: A substantial part of the money has been earmarked for R&D activities with the aim of developing globally competitive technologies.
Conclusion
- With the much-needed hydrogen mission, India is making a relatively early entry into a still nascent technology domain. It is important not to miss the bus like the solar revolution this time. For now, the government seems to be moving in the right direction.
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Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

Digital healthcare Services

op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Ayushman Bharat, UHC, ABHA etc
Mains level: Digital public goods, Success of Ayushman Bharat and India's G20 presidency.
Context
- India leveraged information and communications technologies (ICTs) during the pandemic. Digital health solutions played a crucial role in bridging the gap in healthcare delivery as systems moved online to accommodate contactless care.
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India’s spectacular demonstration of digital public good (DPG) so far
- Aadhar and UPI are like the building blocks of DPG: India has demonstrated its digital prowess by building digital public goods the digital identity system Aadhaar, the DPGs built on top of Aadhaar and the Unified Payments Interface.
- Aadhar for PDS and UPI for payments: While Aadhaar has become central to India’s public service delivery architecture, UPI has transformed how payments are made.
- One of the largest internet users: Our digital public infrastructure has reached the last mile, enabled by 1.2 billion wireless connections and 800 million internet users.
- Some examples of DPGs developed during the pandemic: For instance, the Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) and the Aarogya Setu application. CoWIN propelled India to adopt a completely digital approach to its vaccination strategy. Aarogya Setu provided real-time data on active cases and containment zones to help citizens assess risk in their areas.
- Increasing use of Telemedicine platforms: Telemedicine platforms saw a steep increase in user acquisitions, as 85 per cent of physicians used teleconsultations during the pandemic, underscoring the need to better incorporate cutting-edge digital technologies into healthcare services.
Acknowledging the current need?
- Although the impact of the pandemic on health services put the spotlight on the benefits of digital innovation and technology-enabled solutions, private entities, health technology players, and the public sector have been driving digitisation in the sector for some time now.
- It has become clear that a comprehensive digital healthcare ecosystem is necessary to bring together existing siloed efforts and move toward proactive, holistic, and citizen-centric healthcare.
Government efforts in this direction?
- Shared public goods for healthcare: Recognising this need, the government has created shared public goods for healthcare and developed a framework for a nationwide digital health system. This brought healthcare to a turning point in India.
- Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM): The PM launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission on September 27, 2021, under the aegis of the National Health Authority. Within a year of its launch, ABDM has established a robust framework to provide accessible, affordable, and equitable healthcare through digital highways. The ABDM has implemented vital building blocks to unite all stakeholders in the digital healthcare ecosystem.
- The Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA): ABHA creates a standard identifier for patients across healthcare providers. With the ABHA and its associated Personal Health Record (PHR) app, citizens can link, store, and share their health records to access healthcare services with autonomy and consent. With more than 300 million ABHAs and 50 million health records linked, the mission is growing at a massive rate.
- The Health Facility Registry (HFR) and the Health Professional Registries (HPR) for central digital health information: HFR and HPR accounts provide verified digital identities to large and small public and private health facilities and professionals. This enables them to connect to a central digital ecosystem while serving as a single source for verified healthcare provider-related information. HFR and HPR improve the discovery of healthcare facilities and help health professionals build an online presence and offer services more effectively. The
- Drug registry for centralised repository of approved drugs: It is a crucial building block designed to create a single, up-to-date, centralised repository of all approved drugs across all systems of medicine.
- Unified Health Interface (UHI) enables a connect between healthcare providers with end users: It aims to strengthen the health sector by enabling all healthcare service providers and end-user applications to interact with each other on its network. This will provide a seamless experience for service discovery, appointment booking, teleconsultations, ambulance access, and more. The UHI is based on open network protocols and can address the current challenge of different digital solutions being unable to communicate with each other.
What the government is planning next in this domain?
- To give UHI the necessary push, the government is repurposing Aarogya Setu and CoWIN: Aarogya Setu is being transformed into a general health and wellness application. At the same time, CoWIN will be plugged with a lite Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) for small clinics, to bring digitisation to the masses.
- Addressing well the patient registration process at the hospital counters: Another use-case of ABDM is scan and share, which uses a QR code-based token system to manage queues at hospital counters. It uses the foundational elements of ABHA and PHR to streamline the outpatient registration process in large hospitals
- Expanding healthcare digital initiative worldwide: The government is also planning to expand its digital initiatives in the healthcare sector with Heal by India, making India’s healthcare professionals’ services available worldwide.
- Platform for organ donation: Additionally, a platform is being developed to automate the allocation of deceased organ and tissue donations, making the process faster and more transparent.
Way ahead
- Digitise insurance claim settlement process: With the implementation of digital solutions, the next step is to digitise and automate the insurance claim settlement process through the Health Claim Exchange platform.
- Making claim settlement process inexpensive and transparent: There is need to make claim-related information verifiable, auditable, traceable and interoperable among various entities, enabling claim processing to become inexpensive, transparent and carried out in real time.
- Bringing together global efforts for digital health: India assumes the G20 presidency this year. The G20 Global Initiative on Digital Health calls for the creation of an institutional framework for a connected health ecosystem to bring together global efforts for digital health.
- Accelerating UHC by scaling up the technologies: It also calls for the scaling-up of technologies such as global DPGs to accelerate Universal Health Coverage.
Conclusion
- The ABDM has proven to be a valuable asset and its adoption across states has been accelerated by the National Health Authority. It aims to build the foundation for a sustainable digital public infrastructure for health, enabling India to achieve universal health coverage. The mission embodies G20’s theme of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” or “One Earth. One Family. One Future”
Mains question

Q. India has demonstrated spectacular success in digital public goods, specifically in Digital health. Discuss how the government efforts are taking shape in this direction and suggest a way ahead in short.

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Freedom of Speech – Defamation, Sedition, etc.

Free speech of Ministers, restrictions and the opinion of the court

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

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Freedom of speech and restrivtions
Mains level: Freedom of speech, political free speech, And Hate speech
Context
- A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously and rightly ruled out any additional curbs on free speech by ministers. It said, like other citizens, they are guaranteed the right to freedom of expression under Article 19(1) (a), governed by the reasonable restrictions laid out in Article 19(2) and those are enough.
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What is the issue of freedom of speech to Ministers?
- Scope: Ministers and lawmakers enjoy the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1) of the Constitution as other citizens and additional restrictions cannot be imposed to curb their right to free speech.
- Restrictions: A five-judge Constitution bench held that curbs on free speech cannot extend beyond what is prescribed under Article 19(2) of the Constitution imposes reasonable restrictions and applies equally on all citizens.
What the court said?
- Rights are not residual privileges: Court said that the role of the court is to protect fundamental rights limited by lawful restrictions and not to protect restrictions and make the rights residual privileges.
- Distinction on government’s responsibility and remarks by individual minister: The ruling also made a valid distinction on the government’s vicarious responsibility for ill-judged or hateful remarks made by its individual ministers, the flow of stream in collective responsibility is from the Council of Ministers to the individual ministers. The flow is not on the reverse, namely from the individual ministers to the Council of Ministers.
- Clarification on the concept of collective responsibility: It is not possible to extend the concept of collective responsibility, it said, to “any and every statement orally made by a Minister outside the House of the People/Legislative Assembly”.
- Public functionaries should be more responsible while they speak: Even while agreeing with the majority ruling, however, it is possible to underline the concern articulated in the minority judgment over a hateful public discourse “hate speech, whatever its content may be, denies human beings the right to dignity”. And to agree with it when it speaks of the special duty of public functionaries and other persons of influence to be more responsible and restrained in their speech, to “understand and measure their words”.
What is ‘Hate Speech’?
- There is no specific legal definition of ‘hate speech’.
- The Law Commission of India, in its 267th Report, says: “Hate speech generally is an incitement to hatred primarily against a group of persons defined in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief and the like.
- Thus, hate speech is any word written or spoken, signs, visible representations within the hearing or sight of a person with the intention to cause fear or alarm, or incitement to violence.
- In general, hate speech is considered a limitation on free speech that seeks to prevent or bar speech that exposes a person or a group or section of society to hate, violence, ridicule or indignity
Brief Analysis: Hate speech by Ministers
- Problem is real but primarily political: The problem of hate speech by ministers and others belonging to the party in power is real, but it is primarily political.
- Solution is not in new law as, there are enough provisions to deal with it: The solution is not for the court to draw a new line, or even, as the minority judgment proposed, for Parliament to make another law. There are enough provisions in the statute book to deal with speech that promotes enmity and violence or results in cramping the freedoms of others.
- Legal provisions can be weaponised so what is needed is a political resolve: What is missing is the political resolve and will of governments to act on instances of hate speech, especially when they involve one of their own, and there are no legal shortcuts to make up for that absence. In fact, the same legal provisions that are designed to curb hate speech can be twisted and turned and weaponised by governments against citizens who dissent and disagree.
Conclusion
- The problem of hate speech by ministers and others associated with the party in power is real, but it is primarily political. The solution lies not in making new laws, but in individual responsibility and collective political resolve.
Mains question

Q. How do you understand hate speech? Do ministers and MLAs have freedom of speech? Discuss the recent court ruling on free speech restrictions on ministers.

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Type: op-ed snap

Context

Online Child Sexual Abuse

Efforts by India in fighting OCSEA

What are steps that can be taken?

Conclusion

Context

Current trajectory

Memory shot: Net Zero

What India needs to speed up the decarbonization?

Conclusion

Context

Estimate: Indian economic growth

Positive signs in the Indian Economy

Areas of concern

Conclusion

Context

Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas

Who are the Overseas Citizens of India (OCI)?

What are the ambiguities about the downgrading of OCI status?

Making a case of citizenship for OCI

Conclusion

Context

What is antimicrobial resistance (AMR)?

How AMR occurs?

What are superbugs?

Interesting fact

Conclusion

Context

Ratio: Number of Judges serving the population

What is cause of concern for the government?

Is all its litigation is initiated by the government?

Way ahead

Conclusion

Context

Indian Navy’s expanding surveillance and reasons for doing so

Challenges to harness the disruptive technologies in maritime combat

The critics of AI in warfare

Legality issues of underwater combat drones

Way ahead

Conclusion

Context

Highlights: India’s efforts towards clean energy transition and the challenges

What is Green Hydrogen?

Analysis: Green Hydrogen most dependable source of energy of the future

Late entry in Solar energy: a lesson to be remembered

Conclusion

Context

India’s spectacular demonstration of digital public good (DPG) so far

Acknowledging the current need?

Government efforts in this direction?

Way ahead

Conclusion

Context

What is the issue of freedom of speech to Ministers?

What is ‘Hate Speech’?

Brief Analysis: Hate speech by Ministers