Category: ENVIRONMENT

Context:

• In the first such survey of avians conducted in March 2025, a team of forest officials, bird experts, scientists, and conservationists recorded 43 grassland species across Kaziranga’s three wildlife divisions. The survey report marks a milestone in the documentation and protection of grassland-dependent bird species in the Brahmaputra floodplains.

Key findings of the survey:

• The recorded species included the critically endangered Bengal florican, the endangered Finn’s weaver, and the swamp grass babbler.
• Among the remaining 40 species, six were in the vulnerable category — the black-breasted parrotbill, marsh babbler, swamp francolin, Jerdon’s babbler, slender-billed babbler, and bristled grassbird.
• The study is significant because wet grasslands are not very well surveyed in India. Kaziranga’s grassland bird diversity can, thus, be compared in terms of species richness with the dry grasslands of Gujarat and Rajasthan.

About Kaziranga National Park:

• Location: It is located in the State of Assam and covers 42,996 Hectare (ha). It is the single largest undisturbed and representative area in the Brahmaputra Valley floodplain.
• Conservation status: It was declared as a National Park in 1974. It has been declared a tiger reserve since 2007. It has a total tiger reserve area of 1,030 sq km with a core area of 430 sq. km.
• Heritage: It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
• Speciality: It is the home of the world’s most one-horned rhinos. Much of the focus of conservation efforts in Kaziranga are focused on the ‘big four’ species— Rhino, Elephant, Royal Bengal tiger and Asiatic water buffalo.

Source:

• • The Hindu

Category: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Context:

• Health authorities have warned people to avoid visiting patients in hospitals, particularly in Palakkad and Malappuram districts of Kerala, in the wake of an increased Nipah scare.

About Nipah virus:

• Cause: It is caused by an RNA virus from the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus.
• Zoonotic: It can be transmitted from animals to humans and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people.
• Hosts: Nipah virus initially appeared in domestic pigs, dogs, cats, goats, horses, and sheep.
• Fatality: The case fatality rate ranges from 40% to 75%.
• Symptoms: It includes fever, headache, drowsiness, disorientation, mental confusion, coma, and potentially death.
• Diagnosis: It can be diagnosed through real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from bodily fluids and antibody detection via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). 
• Prevention: No vaccines are presently available for humans or animals.

Source:

• • The Hindu

Category: Polity & Governance

Context:

• The Supreme Court on Monday said the right to free speech was increasingly being abused, especially on social media, and called for self-restraint and regulation.

Key highlights about the news:

• A Bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and K.V. Viswanathan said the right to freedom of speech and expression carried with it reasonable restrictions. Using free speech to instigate divisive tendencies, at least on social media, needed to be curbed.
• The court mulled framing guidelines to regulate abusive and divisive social media posts. Expressing concern about vitriolic social media engagements, Justice Viswanathan said only greater fraternity among citizens would reduce mutual hatred.
• “We are not speaking about censorship. But in the interest of fraternity, secularism and dignity of individuals… We will have to go into this beyond this petition,” the Bench said.

About Right to Free Speech:

• • Meaning: It includes the right to express one’s views and opinions at any issue through any medium, e.g. by words of mouth, writing, printing, picture, film, movie etc.
  • Available only to citizens: This right is available only to a citizen of India and not to foreign nationals.
  • Constitutional provision: Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India guarantees the right to freedom of speech and expression to all citizens. This right includes:
    • Expressing opinions and ideas freely.
    • The right to receive and impart information.
    • Freedom of the press.
    • Right to criticize the government and public figures.
  • Reasonable restrictions: This right is, however, not absolute and it allows Government to frame laws to impose reasonable restrictions. Article 19(2) provides for reasonable restrictions on various grounds like:
    • sovereignty and integrity of India
    • security of the State
    • friendly relations with foreign State
    • public order, decency or morality
    • in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence

• Important Judgements:

• • In Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras (1950), Supreme Court (SC) observed that freedom of the press lays at the foundation of all democratic organizations.
  • In Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India (1978), the Supreme Court held that the freedom of speech and expression is not confined to National boundaries.
  • In Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015), Supreme Court held that freedom of thought and expression is fundamental to democracy.

Category: Polity & Governance

Context:

• The Union government on 14th July cleared the transfers and appointments of Chief Justices and judges of several High Courts across the country. Union Law and Justice Minister wrote on X that the appointments or transfers of judges were cleared by the President in exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India.

About appointment of judges in HCs and SC:

• Constitutional provision: The Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President under clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution.
• Convention: Judges of the higher judiciary are appointed through the collegium system. The term “collegium” is not mentioned in the Indian Constitution but has been established through judicial pronouncements.
• Salaries and allowances: Salaries, allowances, privileges, leave, and pension of Supreme Court judges are determined by Parliament. The Salaries, Pension, and Allowances of the Supreme Court Judges are charged upon the Consolidated Fund of India.
• Post-retirement Restrictions: After retirement, a judge of the Supreme Court is prohibited from practicing law in any court in India or pleading before any government authority.

Evolution of Collegium System:

• First Judges Case (1981):

• • • It declared that the “primacy” of the CJI’s (Chief Justice of India) recommendation on judicial appointments and transfers can be refused for “cogent reasons.”

• Second Judges Case (1993):

• • • It introduced the Collegium system, holding that “consultation” really meant “concurrence”. It added that it was not the CJI’s individual opinion, but an institutional opinion formed in consultation with the two senior-most judges in the Supreme Court.

• Third Judges Case (1998):

• • SC on the President’s reference (Article 143) expanded the Collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI and four of his senior-most colleagues.

Source:

• The Hindu

Category: Polity & Governance

Context:

• Nearly four years after introducing the digital attendance system for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme workers and three years after making it mandatory, the Union government has discovered a whole range of ways the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) platform used for the purpose is being “misused” and has now added four layers of analog monitoring to plug the gaps.

Key highlights about the news:

• Under the NMMS, geo-tagged photographs of the workers are to be uploaded twice a day — first when they arrive for work and then at the end of their shift. Only exception for the second round of photographing is offered at sites with 20 or below workers.
• The other significant change is that the government now allows for editing the muster rolls before making the wage bill. So far, this could be done only at the District Collector’s level, who also took action in case of complaints.
• The Ministry has directed the States to ensure that these photographs and attendance of workers is verified at gram panchayat, block, district and State level. At gram panchayat level, they want 100% verification of the present workers. The percentage of physical verification of the uploaded photographs of workers reduces at different levels.

About MGNREGA:

• Launch: MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) is one of the largest work guarantee programmes in the world launched in 2005 by the Ministry of Rural development.
• Objective: The primary objective of the scheme is to guarantee 100 days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work.
• Other requirements: At least one-third of beneficiaries have to be women. Wages must be paid according to the statutory minimum wages specified for agricultural labourers in the state under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
• Step towards Right to work: The most important part of MGNREGA’s design is its legally-backed guarantee for any rural adult to get work within 15 days of demanding it, failing which an ‘unemployment allowance’ must be given.
• Role of Gram Sabha: Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) play an important role in planning and implementing these works. The Act mandates Gram sabhas to recommend the works that are to be undertaken and at least 50% of the works must be executed by them.

Source:

• • The Hindu

Introduction (Context)

Despite India producing one of the world’s largest pools of women STEM graduates, their representation in the STEM workforce remains disproportionately low. This paradox highlights the deeper challenges of translating educational gains into meaningful employment for women.

Key data:

• 43% of India’s STEM graduates are women, yet women represent only 27% of the STEM workforce, limiting women’s access to career opportunities offered by the STEM sector.
• According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2023-24, India’s overall female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) has risen to 41.7%.
• The increase is sharper for rural women (47.6%) than in urban areas (25.4%), reflecting barriers in formal employment, workplace safety, and societal expectations. 
• According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2021), only 31.5% of researchers worldwide are women. This education-employment gap reflects systemic barriers that industry is uniquely positioned to address. 
• According to estimates by the McKinsey Global Institute, enabling 68 million more women to participate in India’s workforce could boost India’s GDP by up to $700 billion by 2025.
• Similarly, the World Bank suggests that achieving a 50% female workforce participation rate could elevate GDP growth by 1%.

Challenges faced by Women

• Deep-rooted societal notions such as “mechanical means masculine” and “coding isn’t for girls” deter girls from pursuing or sustaining STEM careers, creating self-doubt and limiting aspirations
• Women face concerns around workplace safety, lack of equitable pay, and inadequate policies to support life transitions such as marriage, childbirth, and caregiving, resulting in career breaks or exits from STEM fields.
• Families often lack exposure to diverse STEM career opportunities, discouraging girls from pursuing technical education or supporting their employment away from home.

Government vision and STEM skilling

• The New Education Policy aims to integrate STEM education with skills training, life skills, and critical thinking from early schooling to higher education.
• The Government’s renewed focus on revitalising Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and expanding vocational skilling is bringing high-quality technical education and training closer to villages and small towns, ensuring broader access for youth across rural India.
• The share of the gender budget increased from 6.8% in 2024-25 to 8.8% in 2025-26, with an allocation of ₹4.49 lakh crore. This increase supports targeted programmes for women’s education, skilling, entrepreneurship, and safety, reflecting a stronger commitment to gender-responsive budgeting.
• Further, the Union Budget 2025-26 introduced term loans for women entrepreneurs, new National Skill Training Institutes, and investments in technology-driven skilling. 

However, government policy alone cannot bridge the education-employment gap. Industry must transform from passive recruiter to active enabler of women’s career transitions.

Example – UN Women’s WeSTEM Programme:
Implemented with Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat Governments and supported by the Micron Foundation, this initiative focuses on:

• Providing skills training aligned with industry needs.
• Bridging talent gaps through placement-linked courses.
• Engaging families and community leaders to build acceptance.
• Conducting workplace safety sessions.
• Introducing women role models in classrooms to inspire girls.

Industries need to move beyond merely hiring women to actively nurturing their careers through mentorship, flexible policies, and skill upgradation.

Way forward

• Industry partnerships with educational institutions can bridge the education-employment gap by aligning skills with market needs.
• Form Mentorship networks that link professionals with students and provide guidance, exposure, and career clarity for women in STEM.
• Workplace policies that accommodate life transitions (marriage, childbirth, caregiving) and ensure safety are crucial to retaining women in STEM careers.

Conclusion

By equipping women and girls with the skills and training needed to succeed in STEM fields, we can create a more inclusive and robust society. When a woman earns, her voice and impact echoes across dinner tables, shop floors, policy rooms and entire industries. And in that voice lies the blueprint of a future ready India.

Mains Practice Question

Q Despite a high proportion of women STEM graduates, India continues to witness low female representation in STEM employment. Critically examine the factors responsible for this paradox. Suggest policy and industry measures to bridge this gap and leverage women’s potential for national development.” (250 words, 15 marks)

Introduction (Context)

Denmark has proposed extending copyright protections to individuals’ facial features, appearance, and voice to avoid the misuse of Deepfake.

What is Deepfake?

• Deepfakes are a form of synthetic media which depict believable and realistic videos, pictures, or audio of events that never happened — they show real people doing or saying things that they never did or said.
• The volume of deepfake content online has risen dramatically in recent years, and deepfakes have become increasingly difficult to spot.

How does Deepfake work?

• Deepfake uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create fake photos, videos, or audio that look and sound real.
• It mainly uses Generative Adversarial Networks, which is a type of AI that learns patterns from large amounts of data.
• The goal of GAN is to create new data instances that resemble a given training dataset. They consist of two neural networks, a generator and a discriminator, that compete against each other in a “game” to produce increasingly realistic data.

Key Data

• NASSCOM (2024): India saw a 400% rise in reported deepfake crimes between 2022-24.
• Europol predicts 90% of online content could be synthetically generated by 2026.

Uses of Deepfakes:

• Entertainment: Deepfake technology can be used in the film and entertainment industry for special effects and digital enhancements.
• Virtual Assistants and Avatars: AI-generated avatars can be employed as virtual assistants for advertising/marketing, providing a more engaging and interactive user experience.
• Education and Training: Deepfakes can be utilized for educational purposes, creating realistic simulations and training scenarios for various professions, such as healthcare, law enforcement, and customer service.
• Dubbing and Localization: Deepfake technology can assist in dubbing content into different languages while preserving the natural lip movements and facial expressions of the original actors.
• Accessibility: Deepfakes can be used to improve accessibility for individuals with disabilities. For example, a sign language interpreter’s movements could be replicated using deepfake technology to make content more accessible for the deaf community.

Threats

Deepfakes pose several threats, ranging from potential misuse to broader societal and security concerns. Some of the key threats associated with deepfakes include:

• Misinformation and Fake News: Deepfakes can be used to create deceptive videos or audio recordings, contributing to the spread of misinformation and fake news, making it challenging to discern truth from fiction.
• Privacy Concerns: Deepfakes can violate individuals’ privacy by superimposing their faces onto explicit or compromising content without consent, leading to personal and professional consequences.
• Identity Theft: Deepfake technology poses a risk of identity theft by creating convincing fake videos or audio recordings impersonating individuals. This raises concerns about identity theft, privacy violations, and potential harm to an individual’s personal and professional reputation.
• Cybersecurity Risks: The creation and distribution of deepfake content can be facilitated by cybercriminals, leading to increased risks of cyberattacks, including phishing, social engineering, and other malicious activities.
• Reputation Damage: Deepfakes could be used to manipulate content related to businesses, celebrities, politicians causing reputational damage, financial losses, and legal consequences.
• National Security Concerns: Deepfakes could be leveraged for spaying or to create fake videos depicting political leaders making statements or engaging in activities that never occurred, potentially leading to diplomatic tensions or security issues.
• Erosion of Trust: As deepfake technology becomes more sophisticated, there is a risk of eroding public trust in media and information sources. People may become skeptical of the authenticity of videos and audio recordings, impacting trust in journalism and media outlets.
• Social Engineering and Scams: Deepfakes can be used in social engineering attacks, where attackers manipulate individuals into taking actions based on deceptive content. This could include financial scams, fraudulent activities, or other forms of exploitation.
• Legal and Ethical Challenges: The use of deepfakes raises complex legal and ethical questions. Determining responsibility, accountability, and legal consequences for the creation and dissemination of deepfake content can be challenging.

Steps taken by Denmark

• Denmark has proposed the bill that gives people “the right to your own voice, your own facial features, and no one can copy that without your consent”.
• The Bill introduces three new forms of protection against deepfakes:

• Imitation protection, which bars others from publicly sharing realistic digital recreations of a person’s physical traits, like facial features and voice;
• Performance protection, that covers artistic performances such as non-verbal or improvised acts that may not meet the usual copyright thresholds; and
• Protection for performing artists, specifically targeting digital mimicry of musicians, actors, performers, etc.
• The most notable here is the protection extended to ordinary individuals. 

• The proposed Section 73(a) makes it illegal to share realistic deepfakes mimicking a person’s appearance, voice, or characteristics for up to 50 years after their death.
• The Bill proposes a kind of consent-based protection: deepfake content can only be shared with the permission of the individual impersonated in it. It is the responsibility of the person sharing the content to prove that consent was obtained, and this consent can also be withdrawn at any time.
• The Bill also makes online platforms responsible for taking down deep fakes, and proposes heavy penalties if they fail to do so.

Legal Framework in India

Indian courts have thus far resorted to concepts of privacy, defamation, and publicity rights when dealing with deepfakes. Notably, the Delhi High Court extended protections against unauthorised use of their likenesses to actors Amitabh Bachchan in 2022 and Anil Kapoor in 2023.

Laws are:

• IT Act 2000: No specific mention, but deepfakes may be prosecuted under:

• Section 66E: Violation of privacy.
• Section 67: Obscene content.
• Section 469 IPC: Forgery for harming reputation.

• Proposed Digital India Act 2025: Plans to define and regulate AI-generated content, including deepfakes.

Way Forward

• Define deepfake legally and penalise malicious usage.
• Develop AI tools for detection and watermarking of authentic content.
• Public education on verifying digital content.
• Promote responsible AI development with safeguards against misuse.

Conclusion

Deepfake technology is a double-edged sword. While it holds potential for creative industries, its misuse poses serious threats to society, governance, and security. India needs a robust legal, technological, and ethical framework to address deepfake challenges effectively.

Mains Practice Question

Q Deepfake technology is both an innovation and a threat. Discuss the challenges posed by deepfake content to society and governance in India, and suggest measures to mitigate its misuse. (250 words, 15 marks)