UPSC Key: Democratising AI, CCI vs WhatsApp, and Sabarimala ruling

Key Points to Ponder:

— What are open-source AI services?

— Why is India promoting this?

— What do you understand from sovereign AI?

— What are the steps taken by India for developing sovereign AI? What are the challenges in achieving this?

— What are the challenges faced by the developing countries as the world is embracing the impact of AI?

— What are the steps needed to be taken to create equity of access for AI to the developing countries?

— Understand the link between AI and energy and how this could be used to generate renewable energy?

Key Takeaways:

— India is expected to reiterate its long standing insistence that AI needs international cooperation and multi-stakeholder engagement across countries. However, such collaboration will take place while respecting national sovereignty.

— In the declaration for the AI Summit that Delhi is currently working on, India may also mention a charter for AI diffusion in a “democratic” way, the official said. This could be a voluntary and non-binding framework, but would focus primarily on “promoting access to foundational AI resources,” while “respecting national laws,” the official said.

— As such, promotion of open-source AI services are also likely to feature in the upcoming Delhi declaration, a signal which counters AI development in the West, where frontier models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini are proprietary services.

— India may endorse the development of a voluntary platform to facilitate exchange of learning, knowledge, and scalable practices to advance AI adoption for social empowerment. It could also recommend the creation of a platform to connect scientific communities and pool AI research capabilities across regions.

— India is also likely to nudge countries to recognise, in the declaration, the development of voluntary and non-binding “Trusted AI Commons,” a collaborative platform consolidating technical resources, tools, benchmarks and best practices that all can access and adapt to their contexts. 

— Along with it, a “Global AI Impact Commons” could also be developed, which would be a voluntary initiative that provides a platform to encourage and enable the adoption, replication, and scale-up of successful AI use cases across regions.

— The official said that the key idea behind why Delhi would push for the democratising narrative is because the government sees AI having the potential to “genuinely uplift all sections of society by enabling individuals to access knowledge, cross-border AI solutions, information, services, opportunities and enhancing participation in social and economic activities”.

— India is also expected to address AI’s growing energy needs and is likely to insert language in the declaration reflecting the importance of developing energy efficient AI systems, and a redoubled focus on renewables to power this effort.

— Noting that the promise of AI would require equipping individuals with relevant skills by expanding AI human resource development, Delhi may also endorse specific initiatives on education, AI workforce development, training of public officials, enhancing public awareness of AI capabilities, increasing AI literacy as well as upgrading vocational and training ecosystems.

From the Front page: Google subsea cables to link India-US, Govt bodies to get frontier AI

— Google will build new subsea cable routes between India, United States and other locations to increase AI connectivity, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said Wednesday.

— Called the ‘America-India Connect’ initiative, the project will establish a new international subsea gateway in Visakhapatnam; three new subsea paths connecting India to Singapore, South Africa and Australia; and four strategic fiber-optic routes to boost network connectivity between the US, India and multiple locations across the Southern Hemisphere. This builds on Google’s ongoing subsea cable projects across the Pacific and Africa, it said in a press release.

— Google announced the $30-million Google.org Impact Challenge: AI for Science, an open call for researchers, nonprofits, and social enterprises in India, and around the world, using AI to achieve scientific breakthroughs.

From the India AI Impact Summit page: From the India AI Impact Summit- “With its strong presence, Europe gives India a vote of ‘AI confidence’

— With Prime Minister Narendra Modi slated to inaugurate the leaders’ segment of the India AI Impact Summit on Thursday, the strong European participation at the event is a major takeaway. Eleven heads of state or government — France, The Netherlands, Spain, Croatia, Greece, Serbia, Slovakia, Estonia, Finland, Swiss Confederation and Liechtenstein – are participating in the Summit.

— Besides two deputy PM-le­vel leaders from the UK and Sweden and 12 ministerial-level dignitaries from Germany, Italy, EU, Portugal, Belgium, Ireland, Austria, Cyprus, Norway, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and one deputy Speaker from Hungary — a total of 26 European nati­ons have been officially represented.

— Besides AI, the other focus area of the PM’s bilateral talks with European leaders was the FTA between India and the 27-nation EU and how it would act as a strong catalyst to shore up bilateral trade and investments.

— The EU leaders and their representatives, in official talks, have conveyed their unanimous support to the early implementation of the India-EU FTA. They have assured their support for its early ratification in the European Council and European Parliament, officials said.

— According to them, France is playing a key role in AI governance and applications. PM Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron co-chaired the AI Action Summit in Paris in February 2025.In recent diplomatic engagements, officials said that Europe has given an “unambiguous vote of confidence” in the “vitality” of the India-Europe Strategic Partnership – anchored in AI, digital innovation, strategic cooperation, economic growth and shared global priorities.

Do You Know:

— During his speech at the India-AI Impact Summit Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed countries and companies that consider AI a strategic asset and develop the technology “confidentially”. He called for the development of open-source systems.

— The PM’s comments come a day after senior White House Policy Advisor on artificial intelligence (AI) Sriram Krishnan Wednesday said the US expects its allies, including India, to build their AI solutions on top of America’s AI stack.

— With numerous nations across the Middle East and beyond scrambling to establish their own sovereign AI ecosystems, investing billions in infrastructure and cutting-edge models, one critical question surfaces – why do so many of these mega projects never reach production?

— Ruchir Puri, Chief Scientist and Vice President at IBM Research, in a fireside chat with Mike Butcher, founder of Pathfounders, shared three fundamental organisational issues that most governments continue to underestimate.

— Speaking at the session, Puri identified what he calls the “most often observed failure modes” in sovereign AI deployments. First and foremost is the lack of organisation around data.

— The second failure mode, according to the scientist, is a mismatch between expectations and capabilities. “The expectations are here, the delivery is there,” Puri noted, emphasising the need for projects that are “not too big, not too small – targeted the right way.” 

— Perhaps most critically, Puri highlighted what he calls “friction in skills” and the underappreciated aspect of culture. “Culture is one of the most important aspects of rolling out new technologies,” he stressed. “You need to bring your workforce along with you. You cannot just shove something down their throat. It doesn’t work like that.”

— To understand why these failures matter so acutely, it’s important to comprehend what sovereign AI actually means. Puri defined Sovereign AI as “controlling your future – from infrastructure all the way up to your applications.” This comprehensive approach encompasses security, compliance, and governance, creating what he calls a “control plane that allows you to control your destiny.”

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Why do sovereign AI projects fail? IBM’s chief scientist Ruchir Puri on the pitfalls governments face

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(1) With the present state of development, Artificial Intelligence can effectively do which of the following? (UPSC CSE 2020)

1. Bring down electricity consumption in industrial units

2. Create meaningful short stories and songs

3. Disease diagnosis

4. Text-to-Speech Conversion

5. Wireless transmission of electrical energy

Select the correct answer using the code given below: 

(a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only 

(b) 1, 3 and 4 only

(c) 2, 4 and 5 only 

(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Introduce the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI). How does AI help clinical diagnosis? Do you perceive any threat to privacy of the individual in the use of AI in healthcare? (UPSC CSE 2023)

 

NATION

EU opens legal gateway office in Delhi; Jaishankar says ‘mobility with purpose’

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies-II, III: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests, Effects of liberalisation on the economy.

What’s the ongoing story: India’s recent international engagements reflect a consistent belief that global challenges require connected societies and cooperative solutions, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday, on the day the first European Legal Gateway Office opened in New Delhi. “Talent mobility, when responsibly promoted, is part of that solution,” he noted.

Key Points to Ponder:

— Know about the European Union (EU) in detail.

— How have India-EU relations evolved?

— What are the key takeaways of the 16th EU-India Summit?

— What are the deals recently signed between India and the EU?

— Read about the India‑EU Comprehensive Framework of Cooperation on Mobility.

— What is the significance of establishment of the first European Legal Gateway Office in India?

— What are the challenges in India-EU relations?

Key Takeaways:

— The launch took place in the presence of Henna Virkkunen, EU Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, and representatives of various EU Member States. It is the EU’s first such office in a partner country and will help Indian students, researchers and professionals in the ICT sector with clear and reliable information on mobility pathways and skills and qualification requirements across all 27 member states.

— The European Legal Gateway Office in India will operate through a Support Office in the EU and a digital tool that will function as a one-stop hub for clear and reliable information on work, study, and research mobility opportunities, said a statement issued by the Delegation of the European Union to India and Bhutan on Wednesday.

— The pilot was announced at the 16th EU-India Summit held on January 27 in New Delhi by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and also figured in the joint statement on the new EU-India Strategic Agenda.

— Jaishankar said the adoption of the 2030 strategic agenda opens up “a new chapter in our ties – towards mutual prosperity, security and sustainability, and in that, we recognise the key role of talent, skills and knowledge”. During the summit, the two sides had signed the Comprehensive Framework for Cooperation on Mobility, and the Legal Gateway Office has been opened in line with that.

Do You Know:

— The European Union is a group of 27 countries in Europe. The relationship between India and the EU is based on shared values and principles such as democracy, rule of law, rules based international order and multilateralism. The ties are multifaceted and cover a broad spectrum of topics including trade, investment, climate change, science and technology, digital, connectivity and agriculture. 

— During the 16th India-EU summit, both sides signed a mobility pact aimed at easing the movement of Indian students, workers and professionals across 27 EU member countries. 

— Under the new framework for mobility, the EU has committed to “an uncapped mobility for Indian students”, according to officials, allowing Indians greater ease to travel, study and work across EU states. There are already around 1.20 lakh Indian students across the EU, with Germany clocking in around 50,000, making Indian students the largest group of international students in the country.

— The European Legal Gate­way Office in India is the first of its kind in a partner country and is aimed to facilitate safe, legal and well-informed migration and mobility from India to EU member states in the information & communication technology sector. It will also support EU-based employers and higher education institutions in engaging with Indian talent.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍UPSC Issue at a Glance | India and EU seal the deal: Trade, Mobility, Security—and major takeaways

📍Mobility pact eases options for Indian students, workers

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(2) Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2023)

The ‘Stability and Growth Pact’ of the European Union is a treaty that:

1. limits the levels of the budgetary deficit of the countries of the European Union

2. makes the countries of the European Union to share their infrastructure facilities

3. enables the countries of the European Union to share their technologies

How many of the above statements are correct

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

 

EXPLAINED

Nicobar project’s strategic & ecological consequences

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc; Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

What’s the ongoing story: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Monday cleared the way for the government’s Rs 81,000-crore Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project, noting its “strategic importance” and observing that there were “adequate safeguards” in the project’s environmental clearance.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is the Great Nicobar Island Project?

— What is the significance of this project?

— What are the concerns related to the project?

— What are the strategic significance of Andaman and Nicobar?

— What is the debate about development and environment protection?

— What is the process of environment clearance, from Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) to approval of the project?

— Know about the IUCN status of these species: leatherback sea turtle, the Nicobar megapode, saltwater crocodiles, robber crab, and Nicobar macaque. 

Key Takeaways:

— The tribunal’s order is significant as it will likely act as a reference point for future projects of strategic importance that are planned in ecologically sensitive areas.

— It also casts a fresh spotlight on the 166-sq km project to create a strategic and economic hub that will require the diversion of 130 sq km of forest land and the felling of almost a million trees.

— Great Nicobar Island covers 910 sq km and is home to India’s southernmost location, Indira Point.

— This goal rests on four pillars: An integrated township that will include defence facilities, a transshipment port, a civil and military airport, and a 450-MVA gas and solar power-based plant.

— Initially driven by NITI Aayog, the project’s implementing agency is now the Andaman and Nicobar Island Integrated Development Corp Ltd (ANIIDCO).

— The transshipment port will be located on the southern tip of Great Nicobar at Galathea Bay, an ecologically important area that is home to the nesting sites of Leatherback turtles, and where the Galathea River drains into the sea.

— The Centre’s push for the project appears to be driven by three key factors: geopolitics, maritime trade and geographic advantage.

— The Great Nicobar island is India’s closest territory to the Malacca Strait, a narrow maritime choke point linking the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. This trade route sees 94,000 ships pass through it annually, according to the World Economic Forum. It accounts for an estimated 30% of all traded goods globally and a third of the world’s maritime oil trade.

— Transshipment ports are equipped to transfer cargo containers from larger to smaller vessels before they head to their eventual destination. India has only one operational transshipment port at Vizhinjam in Kerala, on the west coast.

— The port at Galathea Bay will thus contest for a share of the maritime trade pie with Sri Lanka’s Colombo and Hambantota ports, Malaysia’s Port Klang, and the Port of Singapore.

— Great Nicobar is an ecologically rich, remote and sparsely populated island. The mega project will severely affect its forests, wildlife and indigenous communities.

— To begin with, the infrastructure construction will lead to the felling of over a million trees through the diversion of 130 sq km of pristine forest. The Nicobar group of islands are part of the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot.

— The entire Great Nicobar Island, excluding its revenue land, is part of the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve. The island is home to littoral or coastal wetland forests, mixed evergreen and evergreen hill forests. 

— The Galathea Bay wildlife sanctuary and a megapode wildlife sanctuary were denotified for the project. The Nicobar megapode is a ground-dwelling bird found only on the Nicobar group of islands and the project area will affect its nesting mounds.

— The environmental clearance document itself acknowledges the impact of the port on leatherback turtle nesting sites in Galathea Bay. It has said that no activity shall be undertaken on the island’s western parts as they are likely to be used by the turtles as alternative sites.

— To mitigate the denotification of wildlife habitats, the Andaman and Nicobar administration was asked to notify a leatherback turtle sanctuary on Little Nicobar Island, a Megapode sanctuary on Menchal Island and a coral sanctuary covering the entire Meroe Island.

— The project will also affect the forests and tribal reserves used by the indigenous Shompen and Nicobarese community. The Shompen are hunter-gatherers numbering around 250, and are not exposed to regular contact with the outside world. Researchers have expressed fears over their health.

Do You Know:

— The government has positioned the Great Nicobar project as a model for combining economic growth and strategic development. It has emphasised that the project has been planned with careful consideration of environmental and social concerns. For this, an Environmental Impact assessment has been conducted to evaluate possible risks and to propose measures to minimise ecological damage. 

— The institutions, such as the Indian Institute of Technology, the National Institute of Ocean Technology, have been consulted to ensure scientific credibility. Also, out of the island’s vast area, only 166 square kilometers have been allocated for the project. For this, a few villages may be relocated. 

— In response to the concerns about forest loss, a compensatory afforestation plan has been adopted. This involves planting trees in the Aravali Mountain range, one of India’s oldest and most degraded mountain ranges, with the aim of restoring its ecological balance. 

— The government has also announced conservation measures for the species like Nicobar megapode, saltwater crocodiles and coral reef systems, which are more vulnerable to the impact of projects. However, critics argue that the efforts are half-hearted and are not based on scientific studies. 

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Knowledge Nugget: Nicobar mega project – Why it matters for your UPSC exam

📍How Great Nicobar project reignites the environment vs development debate

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(3) Which one of the following pairs of islands is separated from each other by the ‘Ten Degree Channel’? (UPSC CSE 2014)

(a) Andaman and Nicobar

(b) Nicobar and Sumatra

(c) Maldives and Lakshadweep

(d) Sumatra and Java

(4) In which one of the following places is the Shompen tribe found? (UPSC CSE 2009)

(a) Nilgiri Hills

(b) Nicobar Islands

(c) Spiti Valley

(d) Lakshadweep Islands

When SC reviews 2018 Sabarimala ruling, the issues on the table

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national importance, Indian Polity & Governance – Constitution, Rights Issues, etc.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.

What’s the ongoing story: The Supreme Court on Monday (February 16) said a nine-judge Constitution Bench will start hearing the review petitions on April 7 regarding its 2018 verdict allowing young women entry to the Sabarimala Dharma Sastha Temple. A three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said the CJI will notify the composition of the bench separately through an administrative order.

Key Points to Ponder:

— Know about the Sabarimala Temple.

— What was the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Sabarimala temple case?

— What are the constitutional provisions related to religious freedom?

— Know Articles 14, 15, 25 and 51A(e) of the Constitution of India.

— What is the “Essential Religious Practices” doctrine?

— How has the doctrine of essentiality been used in subsequent years?

— How does essentiality square up against religious freedom?

— How does Essential Religious Practices balance the right to freedom of religion and other fundamental rights?

Key Takeaways:

— The implementation of the 2018 verdict during the temple’s 41-day pilgrimage season that year drew severe public backlash and cost the ruling CPI(M) dearly in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The state government is weighing its prospects in the apex court, even as it maintains its position as established in its 2017 affidavit permitting entry to women of all ages.

— While the temple has enforced a ban on female pilgrims aged 10 to 50 years, the first legal challenge was mounted in 1990 by S Mahendran of Kottayam in the Kerala High Court. He claimed that young women in the objectionable age group were trekking to the temple and offering prayers there.

— In 1991, the HC ruled that the age restrictions on women’s entry are in accordance with tradition and do not violate fundamental rights. It also directed the Travancore Devaswom Board, which oversees the temple’s administration, to bar entry to women of menstruating age.

— In 2006, the Indian Young Lawyers Association petitioned the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution, challenging the entry ban directed by the state government, the Devaswom Board, and the Sabarimala Chief Tantri (head priest). The petitioner sought to declare Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965 as unconstitutional, in violation of Articles 14, 15, 25 and 51A(e) of the Constitution of India.

— On September 28, 2018, a five-judge bench of the court, by a 4:1 majority, removed the age restrictions on women’s entry to the hill shrine in Kerala. It struck down as unconstitutional Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship Rules, 1965, which allowed the exclusion of women on the grounds of custom.

— This verdict was heavily criticised, with several organisations and stakeholders affiliated with the temple filing review petitions.

— Ahead of the temple’s annual pilgrimage season in 2019, the court said that its 2018 verdict may impinge on the affairs of other religions, and referred the matter to a larger bench of at least seven judges. However, it did not stay its 2018 verdict in the matter.

— In 2020, a nine-judge bench headed by then Chief Justice of India S A Bobde held the petitions seeking a review of this verdict as maintainable, and presented seven questions for the Constitution Bench to review.

Do You Know:

— The doctrine of “essentiality” was invented by a seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in the ‘Shirur Mutt’ case in 1954. The court held that the term “religion” will cover all rituals and practices “integral” to a religion, and took upon itself the responsibility of determining the essential and non-essential practices of a religion.

— The Sabarimala Temple is located atop a hill, 3000 metres above the sea level, at Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. One has to trek upwards from Pamba, the base of the hill, to reach the temple. The temple is administered by the Travancore Devaswom Board, an autonomous authority under the state government which manages numerous other Hindu shrines in the state as well. The Thazhamon Madom is identified as the main family of priests who look after the temple.

— Unlike other Hindu temples in the state, Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha temple is not open year-round. It opens for devotees to offer prayers for the first five days of every month in the Malayalam calendar, as well as during the annual ‘mandalam’ and ‘makaravilakku’ festivals between mid-November to mid-January.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍What is the ‘essentiality’ test in religious practice?

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

How is the Indian concept of secularism different from the western model of secularism? Discuss. (UPSC CSE 2016)

 

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

CCI vs WhatsApp is a pivotal battle in regulatory evolution

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national importance, Indian Polity & Governance – Constitution, Rights Issues, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

What’s the ongoing story: Gaurav Jakhu, Payal Malik and Maria Khan write- “Digitalisation of markets has resulted in consumer data being continuously extracted from individuals’ online activities. Cross-market data use generates privacy harms and may also reinforce data-driven market power through targeted advertising, and reduction of consumer surplus by employing personalised pricing.”

Key Points to Ponder:

— What are the key features of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023?

— What is the right of privacy?

— What are the concerns associated with WhatsApp’s privacy policy?

— How is the commercial exploitation of user data a big challenge?

— What challenges do digital monopolies pose to consumer rights and fair competition?

— What are the laws related to data governance in India?

— What measures should be taken to ensure data privacy?

— Read about the Competition Commission of India and National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.

— What data protection laws are implemented in other countries?

Key Takeaways:

— “Regulatory authorities have focused on strengthening users’ rights over personal data. India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 does so through informed consent and rights to access, correct, and erase data. However, the consumer control approach has shortcomings: The equilibrium level of data collection can still be socially excessive, and users may not be able to exercise privacy choices effectively.”

— “To be clear, excessive data extraction is a structural phenomenon driven by network effects and the bottleneck position of digital platforms that may create competition and societal harms. Against this backdrop, India’s competition regulator, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), took cognisance of the competition harm in WhatsApp’s 2021 policy update.”

— “The regulator observed that WhatsApp’s privacy policy update imposed a “take it or leave it” condition on users, essentially an adhesion contract, by preconditioning access on sharing of WhatsApp data with all Meta-affiliated companies. The policy update left users with no meaningful choice. The CCI imposed a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore and issued remedies including a five-year ban on data sharing by WhatsApp for advertising purposes, transparency with respect to data sharing, and the provision of an opt-out mechanism.”

— “The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) upheld the CCI’s decisions on the penalty and the opt-out mechanism, but overturned the ban on data sharing for advertising purposes. The Supreme Court in a recent hearing has challenged the relief granted by NCLAT and questioned the effectiveness of WhatsApp’s opt-out framework.”

— “Whether it is the Court’s recent observation that the consent mechanism is an agreement between “lion and lamb”, or the NCLAT ruling — which partially upheld the CCI’s decision — this marks a watershed moment in India’s digital governance. The decision signals a paradigm shift in the Indian antitrust architecture as it has made privacy and data-related aspects integral to competition law enforcement.”

—  “When a dominant platform controls essential digital infrastructure, then the notion of consent warrants deeper scrutiny. The CCI’s directives to WhatsApp and Meta not to make WhatsApp access conditional on data sharing attempts to protect competition.”

— “Dominant firms do not always clearly disclose the extent and type of data collected, its purpose and use. This puts the firm in a unique position to gather information, far beyond what is necessary to provide the service. Compromised privacy practice is both exploitative and exclusionary. The regulator’s directives have clearly gone beyond consent and data protection, and attempt to mitigate data-driven market power. It has redesigned not just how users consent but has also reshaped how digital firms operate. NCLAT, however, limited the remedies to the core issue of exploitation by restoring user choice, but did not address the entrenchment question.”

— “A recent policy brief (‘Economics of data-driven markets’, ICRIER) emphasises that regulation should move beyond consent-only frameworks and address data extractivism when network effects are strong and datasets unique or accumulated through entrenched intermediation. The CCI-WhatsApp battle is clearly a pivotal chapter in India’s regulatory evolution as it blends data governance and competition policy, with the court now considering the matter through a rent-seeking lens.”

Do You Know:

— In August, 2017, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India in K. Puttaswamy v. Union of India Case ruled unanimously that  “the right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution”.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Stop sharing user data or opt out of country: SC to WhatsApp, Meta

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(5) Which of the following adopted a law on data protection and privacy for its citizens known as General Data Protection Regulation’ in April 2016 and started implementation of it from 25th May, 2018? (UPSC CSE 2019)

(a) Australia

(b) Canada

(c) The European Union

(d) The United States of America

(6) ‘Right to Privacy’ is protected under which Article of the Constitution of India? (UPSC CSE 2021)

(a) Article 15

(b) Article 19

(c) Article 21

(d) Article 29

We need a more integrated education imagination. Budget recognises that

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources

What’s the ongoing story: Somak Raychaudhury writes: Budgets are often read as lists: New institutions announced, capacities expanded, and allocations increased. Yet, the true measure of an education budget lies not in what it builds, but in what it enables in principle, on intellectual and social grounds. 

Key Points to Ponder:

— The relationship between education and employment can no longer be viewed as linear or static. Elaborate.

— What are the steps taken by the government to promote female education in India?

— What is the Budget allocation to the education sector in India?

— What are the major features of the National Education Policy, 2020?

— Women in tier 2-3 regions continue to face structural barriers in STEM. What steps need to be taken to address these issues?

— What are the constitutional provisions related to education in India?

— What are the challenges faced by the higher education sector in India?

— What are the steps taken by the government?

Key Takeaways:

— The Union Budget 2026–27, with its emphasis on design education, STEM access, university-industry linkage, and focus on scientific infrastructure, shows a clear intent: India’s future competitiveness will depend less on scale alone and more on the quality and coherence of its educational ecosystem.

— In ancient Nalanda, for example, the university had no divisions between subjects. Everybody had to learn some basic subjects such as Astronomy, Law, Literature, Theology, and Mathematics. Several strands of this year’s Budget, taken together, gesture towards such a vision.

— The continued emphasis on future-ready skills, interdisciplinary learning, and innovation-led education acknowledges that technical proficiency alone is insufficient in an AI-rich world. As machines become better at recognising and interpreting patterns, human value increasingly resides in areas such as critical thinking, creativity, contextual judgement, and the ability to integrate insights across disciplines.

— The Budget also recognises that the relationship between education and employment can no longer be viewed as linear or static. The announcement of a high-powered standing committee is a timely step to examine the links between education, employment, and enterprise, particularly in the context of the services sector and emerging technologies

— Nonetheless, women in tier 2-3 regions continue to face structural barriers in STEM. Investments aimed at improving participation, particularly of young women in STEM-intensive institutions, address a structural weakness in India’s talent pipeline. 

— Diversity in classrooms is a driver of better science, better design, and better decision-making. When students from varied backgrounds encounter one another, they challenge assumptions, widen perspectives, and enrich the learning environment in ways no curriculum reform can achieve on its own.

— The Budget’s attention to design education and creative capabilities, especially in the eastern region, is also noteworthy. The Indian design industry is expanding rapidly, and yet there is a shortage of designers.

— Such thinking requires empathy as much as engineering, imagination as much as analysis. By recognising design as central to national capacity-building, policy is showing a clear commitment to democratising access and strengthening talent pipelines in next-generation fields.

— Most importantly, the Budget’s focus on building scientific infrastructure, particularly in astronomy, plays a transformative role. Investments in upgrading the Himalayan Chandra Telescope and advancing plans for the National Large Optical Telescope in Ladakh mark a long-awaited moment for India’s astronomical community.

— Just as the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission captured the imagination of students across India — making astrophysics a visible and viable career path — and as the country prepares for its first human spaceflight mission under Gaganyaan, the installation of these telescopes can play a similarly catalytic role.

— What ties these diverse initiatives together is the possibility of a more integrated educational imagination. Universities must break down the walls between traditional subject categories and function as spaces where engineers learn to think ethically, scientists engage with History and Philosophy, designers grapple with social realities, and students learn to communicate across differences.

— The progressive outlook provided by the National Education Policy, 2020 gave a clear direction for higher education institutions to pivot towards a more future-looking, interdisciplinary mode of education system. 

— With a young population and growing global influence, India can redefine what educational excellence looks like in an AI world, while charting a credible path towards the Viksit Bharat mission. 

— The Budget gestures towards this possibility by recognising that education, science, design, and inclusion are deeply interconnected. The task ahead is to ensure that these strands are woven into a coherent whole — one that prepares students not just to participate in the future, but to shape it thoughtfully and responsibly.

Do You Know:

— The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, is the third national education policy of the country adopted after the recommendations from a committee headed by Dr. K. Kasturirangan. The First NEP came in 1968 and the second in 1986. It is a comprehensive framework to guide the development of education in the country.

— Since 2005, the NGO Pratham has released the Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) to measure basic reading and arithmetic levels among school children, attendance in school, and other indicators.

— The 2024 survey, which was released in January 2025, recorded major gains in the share of children of the pre-primary age group (3 to 5 years) enrolled in some kind of institution (LKG/UKG/Anganwadi/others).

— There were substantial increases in reading and arithmetic levels – an encouraging development after the learning losses during the Covid-19 pandemic. This was also the first full-length ASER survey to record digital literacy among older children (15 and 16 years). Keeping with recent trends, the percentage of children in this age group not enrolled in school has gone down (around 7% today).

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Knowledge Nugget | NCERT School Survey: A must know for UPSC current affairs

📍ASER 2024: With increasing preschool enrollment, road ahead for early childhood education

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(7) Which of the following provisions of the Constitution does India have a bearing on Education? (UPSC CSE 2012)

1. Directive Principles of State Policy

2. Rural and Urban Local Bodies

3. Fifth Schedule

4. Sixth Schedule

5. Seventh Schedule

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3, 4 and 5 only

(c) 1, 2 and 5 only

(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

How have digital initiatives in India contributed to the functioning of the education system in the country? Elaborate on your answer. (UPSC CSE 2020)

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Maharashtra’s 5% Muslim quota: Legally greenlit, never availed of	With the Maharashtra government formally withdrawing the last administrative framework linked to the 2014 Muslim quota, the legal battle that once defined the policy returns to the spotlight. In November 2014, the Bombay High Court had partly upheld the 5% reservation for 50 specified Muslim communities. A look at the legal history of that decision explains how the issue unfolded, who challenged it, and what the court actually said in favour of Muslim reservation. The policy traced its origins to a series of reports documenting the socio-economic and educational marginalisation of Muslims, both nationally and within Maharashtra. The 2006 Sachar Committee report concluded that Muslims in India lagged behind most other communities on key educational and economic indicators. In Maharashtra, a state-appointed study group headed by Dr Mehmood-ur-Rehman found severe educational backwardness, low representation in public services and high dropout rates among sections of the Muslim population.
Can’t have AI Impact if you shrink right to information	Nikhil Dey and Apar Gupta write- “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Global AI-India Impact Summit, running from February 16th to 20th, with the lofty slogan, “Shaping AI for Humanity, Inclusive Growth, and a Sustainable Future.” Yet, beneath the fanfare of what is essentially a corporate-government meeting and promotion for startups, a more disturbing reality is unfolding. At a time when India stands at the crossroads of mandating how information is accessed, processed, and used, the very regime meant to empower citizens has been dismantled. The summit, ostensibly about “humanity,” is taking place in the shadow of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA), a law that has fundamentally undermined the Right to Information (RTI) and comprehensively failed to protect the right to privacy. India’s information regime invites a fundamental question: What information can be accessed, processed, and used by citizens, rulers, and the commercial sector? At the heart of this question is a simple and constitutional precept — citizens have fundamental rights of their own data, which includes public data, both individual and collective. The collective ownership of information affecting public activity and interest requires strong provisions for the right to information. The need to protect information whose disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy mandates a careful balance between the Right to Information and the Right to Privacy. Groups and experts working in both domains have advocated such a balance.

 

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

1. (b)   2. (a)   3. (a)   4. (b)   5. (c)   6. (c)   7. (d)

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