About Development Communication and Information Dissemination Scheme:

• It is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• It supports the information dissemination and citizen outreach of Government programmes/ schemes/initiatives.
• It emphasizes on reaching out to the rural, tribal, remote and urban populations across the country.
• Implementation: The scheme is implemented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting through its media units - Central Bureau of Communication (CBC), Press Information Bureau (PIB), and New Media Wing (NMW).

What is Central Bureau of Communication (CBC)?

• It is a unit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• Mandate: It has mandate of providing communication solutions to Ministries, Departments, Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), and autonomous bodies.
• Background: It was set up by the integration of the erstwhile Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP), and Song & Drama Division (S&DD).
• Function: It is engaged in the process of educating people, both rural and urban, about the Government’s policies and programmes to evoke their participation in developmental activities.

About SabhaSaar Initiative:

• It is an AI-enabled voice-to-text meeting summarisation tool.
• It is launched by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
• It has been made available to all States/UTs, and Gram Panchayats are progressively adopting it for routine Gram Sabha and Panchayat meetings.
• The AI model used in SabhaSaar operates on AI and cloud infrastructure provisioned through the India AI Compute Portal under the India AI Mission.
• Features of SabhaSaar Initiative:
  • It leverages the power of AI to generate structured minutes of meetings from gram sabha videos and audio recordings.
  • It will bring uniformity in minutes of the gram sabha meetings across the country.
  • Panchayat officials can use their e-GramSwaraj login credentials to upload video/audio recordings on ‘SabhaSaar’.
  • It is built on Bhashini, an AI-powered language translation platform launched by the government to bridge literacy, language, and digital divides.
  • The tool generates transcription from a video or audio, translates it into a chosen output language and prepares a summary.
  • It enables transcription in all major Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Gujarati, in addition to English.
  • Significance: It is ideal for panchayats, administrative bodies, and rural development projects as it streamlines documentation and empowers stakeholders with instant access to meeting insights.

About White Spot Disease:

• It is a highly contagious viral infection that affects crustaceans such as prawns, yabbies and crabs.
• Causative Agent: It is caused by a virus called as White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV).
• Host range: All decapod crustaceans (order Decapoda), including prawns, lobsters and crabs from marine, brackish or freshwater environments, are considered susceptible to the infection.
• Symptoms: The affected shrimp exhibit anorexia, lethargy, reddish discoloration and presence of circular white spots on the carapace and other exoskeletal parts.
• Transmission: It can be transmitted both horizontally as well as vertically.
  • Vertical transmission: It occurs from infected brood stock to postlarvae.
  • Horizontal transmission: It is through carrier animals or through cannibalism of infected organisms.
• It has been officially reported from Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

About Freshwater Sponge:

• Freshwater sponges are the earliest multicellular eukaryotes.
• They filter large volumes of water and are vital for ecosystem health.
• Habitat: They grow on sturdy submerged objects in clean streams, lakes, and rivers.
• Sponges are filter feeders. They obtain food from the flow of water through their bodies and from symbiotic algae. 
• Appearance: Many freshwater sponges appear green because they contain algae, which live on sponges in a symbiotic relationship.
• Reproduction: They can reproduce sexually or asexually.
  • When small piece is broken off and grow into new sponges.
  • The sponge forms gemmules.
• Ecological Role: They act both as bioindicators and absorbents of toxic metals like arsenic, lead, and cadmium and can be a promising solution for bioremediation.
• They are effective bio indicators for monitoring water quality and pollution levels in estuarine and freshwater ecosystems.

About Kheoni Wildlife Sanctuary:

• Location: It is located in Madhya Pradesh.
• Vegetation: The sanctuary’s habitat consists of dry deciduous forests.
• Fauna: Its wildlife includes jackals, palm civets, Leopards, Sloth bears, Hyenas, Nilgai, and many bird species.
• Flora: Teak, Tendu, Bamboo, Kusum, Kanak Champa, Ber, Karanj, Kaim, Kadamb etc.

Key Facts about Dhole

• It is a wild canid carnivorous species.
• Other Names: Indian wild dog, whistling dog, red wolf, red dog and mountain wolf.
• Habitat: Dholes are animals that inhabit dense jungles, steppes, mountains, scrub forests, and pine forests.
• Distribution of Asiatic Wild Dog
  • They are found throughout Central, Eastern Asia and Southeastern Asia.
  • In India, the Western and Eastern Ghats is a stronghold region for dholes.
• Conservation status of Asiatic Wild Dog
  • IUCN Red List: Endangered
  • CITES: Appendix II
  • Wildlife Protection Act 1972: Schedule II.

Why in news?

The Delhi government has tightened vehicular pollution controls amid severe air quality, bringing renewed focus on Bharat Stage (BS) emission norms. Non-BS VI private vehicles registered outside Delhi have been barred from entering the city.

Fuel stations will now sell fuel only to vehicles with a valid Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC). Non-compliant vehicles face a fine of ₹20,000, while even BS-VI vehicles can be fined ₹10,000 if they lack a valid PUCC.

These measures target emissions from older, more polluting vehicles as part of efforts to curb worsening air pollution in the Capital.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Why Delhi Has Mixed-Standard Vehicles?
• Why Older Vehicles Contribute More to Air Pollution?
• BS VI vs BS IV: What Changed in Emission Standards

Bharat Stage (BS) Emission Norms

• BS emission norms are India’s legally enforced standards to regulate air pollutants emitted by motor vehicles.
• Framed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and implemented by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), these norms are broadly aligned with European emission standards (Euro norms) and apply to all new vehicles manufactured and sold in the country.
• Evolution of Bharat Stage Norms
  • India has progressively tightened vehicular emission standards to address worsening urban air pollution:
    • BS I – Introduced nationwide in 2000
    • BS II – 2001 (Delhi first), nationwide by 2005
    • BS III – Nationwide by 2010
    • BS IV – Nationwide by 2017
    • BS VI – Implemented directly from BS IV in April 2020, skipping BS V
• Pollutants Regulated
• BS norms prescribe upper limits for key vehicular pollutants, including:
  • Carbon Monoxide (CO)
  • Hydrocarbons (HC)
  • Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)
  • Particulate Matter (PM)
• Each successive BS standard tightens these limits significantly.
• Other Features
  • Advanced emission-control technologies, such as:
    • Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF)
    • Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)
    • On-board diagnostics (OBD)
  • More realistic testing aligned closer to real driving conditions.
• Significance of Bharat Stage Norms
  • Public health protection by reducing pollutants linked to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
  • Environmental benefits, including lower smog formation and black carbon emissions.
  • Technological upgradation of India’s automobile industry.
  • Global alignment, improving export competitiveness of Indian vehicles.

Why Delhi Has Mixed-Standard Vehicles?

• Delhi’s mixed BS fleet exists because the Capital adopted stricter norms earlier than the rest of India due to severe air pollution.
• Delhi implemented BS II in 2001, BS III in 2005 and BS IV in 2010—well ahead of national timelines.
• Although BS VI became mandatory nationwide in April 2020, vehicles from other states with older standards continue to enter the city, resulting in a mix of emission norms on Delhi’s roads.

Why Older Vehicles Contribute More to Air Pollution?

• Older vehicles emit significantly higher levels of harmful pollutants because they lack advanced emission-control technologies.
• Diesel vehicles, in particular, release large amounts of nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter, major contributors to smog and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
• They also emit volatile organic compounds that form secondary pollutants in the atmosphere.
• In addition, black carbon from diesel exhaust not only damages public health but also accelerates climate warming, making older vehicles especially polluting.
• Scale of Older, High-Polluting Vehicles in Delhi-NCR
  • A significant share of vehicles in Delhi-NCR remains highly polluting.
  • Government assessments indicate that nearly 37% of vehicles in the region comply only with older Bharat Stage I, II or III norms, making them major contributors to the air quality crisis.

BS VI vs BS IV: What Changed in Emission Standards

• BS VI emission norms impose far tighter pollution limits than BS IV.
• For petrol vehicles, nitrogen oxide (NOx) limits are reduced by about 25%.
• For diesel vehicles, NOx emissions must fall by nearly 68%, while particulate matter (PM) emissions are cut by around 82%.
• BS VI vehicles also run on much cleaner, low-sulphur fuel, enabling advanced emission-control technologies to operate effectively.
• In addition, BS VI introduces more stringent testing procedures, closer to real-world driving conditions, to ensure lower on-road emissions.

Why in news?

• India has signed a trade deal with Oman to expand export opportunities in West Asia amid growing trade barriers in the US and EU, including tariffs and carbon taxes.
• The signing of the India-Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) aligns with India’s strategy of accelerating free trade agreements to diversify markets as uncertainty persists over a US trade deal. 
• The deal gains added significance as negotiations with the broader Gulf Cooperation Council stalled, making Oman the second GCC member, after the UAE, to conclude a trade agreement with India.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Strategic Context of the CEPA
• India–Oman CEPA: Key Features
• India–Oman Trade: Strategic Gateway and Market Access

Strategic Context of the CEPA

• Oman’s first FTA in nearly two decades.
• India’s second comprehensive Gulf FTA, after the UAE (2022).
  • India’s sixth free trade pact in the past five years, following deals with Mauritius, the UAE, Australia, the EFTA bloc and the UK. 
• Bilateral trade at around $10.5 billion, dominated by energy imports.
• The agreement focuses on durable economic integration, not short-term trade spikes.

India–Oman CEPA: Key Features

• Recently, India and Oman signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), in Muscat.
• Under this agreement, Oman will grant duty-free access on 98.08% of tariff lines, covering 99.38% of India’s exports to Oman.
• India will liberalise tariffs on 77.79% of its tariff lines, covering 94.81% of imports from Oman.
• Oman’s strategic location positions it as a hub for: Wider GCC markets; Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Africa.
• Oman already has duty-free access to the US under its FTA, enhancing indirect opportunities.
• Market Access and Tariff Liberalisation
  • For Indian Exports
    • Full tariff elimination for labour-intensive sectors, including:
      • Gems & jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear
      • Sports goods, plastics, furniture
      • Agriculture and food products
      • Engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automobiles
    • Expected to boost MSMEs, artisans, women-led enterprises, and employment.
  • Sensitive Products Excluded by India
    • Agricultural products (dairy, tea, coffee, rubber, tobacco)
    • Gold and silver bullion, jewellery
    • Certain labour-intensive items like footwear and sports goods
    • Scrap of several base metals
• Enhanced Mobility of Professionals (Mode 4)
  • This is a major highlight of the CEPA.
  • Intra-Corporate Transferees quota increased from 20% to 50%.
  • Contractual Service Suppliers’ stay extended: From 90 days → 2 years, extendable by another 2 years.
  • More liberal entry and stay for skilled professionals in:
    • Accountancy, taxation, architecture
    • Medical and allied services
• Boost to the Services Sector
  • Oman offers substantial commitments across key services, including:
    • Computer and IT services
    • Business and professional services
    • Audio-visual services
    • R&D, education, and health services
  • CEPA allows 100% FDI by Indian companies in major services sectors in Oman via commercial presence.
  • Future discussions agreed on social security coordination, once Oman’s contributory system is operational.

India–Oman Trade: Strategic Gateway and Market Access

• Oman, though smaller and less diversified than the UAE, holds strategic importance for India as a trade hub connecting West Asia and Africa.
• With annual imports of about $40 billion, Oman relies heavily on imported machinery while remaining a major energy exporter.
• India exported $4.06 billion worth of merchandise to Oman in 2024-25, which made up 0.93% of India’s total exports that year.
• It imported $6.5 billion worth of goods from Oman, comprising 0.91% of India’s total imports in 2024-25.
• Export Opportunities for India
  • Indian exports to Oman have doubled over the past five years.
  • Key exports include machinery and parts, aircraft, rice, iron and steel articles, beauty and personal care products, ceramics, and petroleum products such as naphtha and petrol.
  • Zero-duty access on 98% of Oman’s tariff lines under the CEPA is expected to boost competitiveness, especially for industrial goods, though sustained growth will depend on quality upgrades and product differentiation.
• Oman’s Trade Profile and Energy Linkages
  • Oman’s main exports include crude oil, LNG, fertilisers, and chemical inputs like methanol and anhydrous ammonia—critical for India’s energy and industrial sectors and already subject to low tariffs under existing FTAs.
  • Oman also has a US FTA (since 2009), enabling duty-free access for many products into the American market.
• Services Trade and Professional Mobility
  • India stands to gain significantly in services. Oman’s global services imports total $12.52 billion, with India holding a 5.31% share.
  • The CEPA includes strong commitments across IT, business and professional services, R&D, education, health, and audio-visual sectors.
• Petroleum and Mineral-Based Trade
  • India’s Exports to Oman
    • Petroleum products: 35.1%
    • Processed minerals: 9.2%
    • Aircraft and parts, cosmetics, basmati rice together form major shares.
• India’s Imports from Oman
  • Crude oil and petroleum gases: 38%
  • Fertilisers: 16.3%
  • Acyclic alcohols and ammonia are key imports.
  • Over two-thirds of imports concentrated in energy and fertiliser-related products.

Context:

• Human development is closely linked to rising energy consumption. Earl Cook’s 1971 Scientific American study showed that as societies evolved—from primitive to digital stages—their energy needs expanded steadily.
• Today’s digital economy adds new, significant energy demands.
• This article highlights how India’s pursuit of higher human development is inseparable from a massive expansion and decarbonisation of energy supply, placing nuclear power—and the SHANTI Bill, 2025—at the centre of its long-term development strategy.

Energy Growth Required for India’s Human Development Goals

• Human Development Index (HDI) closely correlates with per capita Final Energy Consumption (FEC), linking development outcomes with energy availability.
• As a G20-member aspiring to an HDI of 0.9 or higher, India would need to generate around 24,000 TWh of energy annually, even after accounting for improvements in energy efficiency and electrification.
• Of this, about 60% would be used as electricity, while the remaining would go into hydrogen production via electrolysers, essential for decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, fertilisers and plastics.
• If alternative low-energy hydrogen production methods mature, electricity demand could reduce.
• India’s electricity generation in 2023-24 was about 1,950 TWh, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ~4.8% in recent years. At this pace, reaching 24,000 TWh would take four to five decades.
• However, two major challenges
  • First, India must decarbonise its energy mix while scaling generation.
  • Second, electrification of end uses must expand sharply, as electricity currently accounts for only about 22% of FEC.
• Achieving development goals therefore requires not just higher generation, but a transition away from fossil fuels towards hydro, nuclear, solar and wind power, alongside systemic energy redesign.

Nuclear Power and India’s Decarbonised Energy Mix

• Limits of Renewable Energy Sources
  • India’s hydro and wind potential is inherently limited, while high population density restricts the availability of land for large-scale solar photovoltaic deployment.
  • Although hydro, solar and wind must be fully utilised, their combined potential is insufficient to meet the energy levels required for India to achieve an HDI above 0.9.
  • As a result, nuclear power must be significantly expanded, and fossil fuels will remain necessary in the interim.
• Need for Reliable Baseload Power
  • Solar and wind are intermittent energy sources, with output varying by time of day and season.
  • Large-scale electricity storage to balance this variability is costly and often economically unviable, especially for seasonal fluctuations.
  • To ensure affordable and reliable power, India’s energy mix requires baseload generation that is independent of weather or time.
  • Nuclear power plants provide stable baseload electricity, making them essential for a decarbonised system.
• Indigenous Nuclear Capability
  • India has built strong indigenous capacity across the nuclear energy supply chain.
  • While uranium must be imported due to limited domestic reserves, the country has developed technologies for fuel fabrication, heavy water production, and equipment manufacturing.
  • The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) has mastered the design and operation of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), including the 700 MW class.
• Expansion of Nuclear Power
  • Currently, three 700 MW PHWR units are operational, a fourth is nearing completion, and two more are under advanced construction.
  • In 2017, the government approved the construction of 10 additional 700 MW PHWRs, with work progressing steadily, signalling a major scale-up of nuclear capacity.
• Safety, Regulation and Waste Management
  • India established a nuclear regulatory body in the 1980s with robust oversight capabilities.
  • The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has developed technologies for reprocessing spent fuel and managing nuclear waste.
  • Together, these efforts make nuclear power a technically feasible, safe, and cost-effective pillar of India’s long-term decarbonised energy strategy.

The SHANTI Bill, 2025: A New Push for Nuclear Energy

• Ambitious Nuclear Expansion Target
  • Building on recent successes in nuclear power, the Union government has set a target of 100 GW of installed nuclear capacity by mid-century.
  • It is planning for a major expansion of the sector to support long-term development and decarbonisation goals.
• Consolidated Legal Framework
  • Parliament has passed the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, 2025.
  • It is an overarching legislation that consolidates and harmonises provisions of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010.
• Regulatory and Safety Provisions
  • The Bill provides continuity in regulation by stating that the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) “shall be deemed to have been constituted under this Act.”
  • It clearly assigns the primary responsibility for safety, security and safeguards to the licensee of the nuclear facility, strengthening accountability.
• Strategic Significance
  • With its ambitious capacity target and streamlined legal framework, the SHANTI Bill represents a bold policy step.
  • Such decisive measures, coupled with long-term vision, are viewed as essential for India’s transition to a developed, energy-secure and low-carbon economy.

Why in the News?

• In December 2025, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) announced the launch of DHRUV64, a fully indigenous microprocessor developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).
• The processor is projected as a critical milestone in India’s efforts to build a domestic semiconductor and processor ecosystem and reduce dependence on imported chip technologies.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• India’s Semiconductor Challenge
• About DHRUV64 (Introduction, Significance, Role, Concerns, Way Forward, etc.)

Background: India and the Semiconductor Challenge

• India is one of the world’s largest consumers of electronic devices and processors, yet it remains heavily dependent on foreign-designed chips and global supply chains.
• Microprocessors form the core of modern digital infrastructure, powering telecommunications, industrial automation, defence systems, automobiles, and consumer electronics.
• Dependence on imported processors exposes India to supply disruptions, export controls, and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
• Recognising this strategic vulnerability, the Government of India has consistently pushed for “homegrown processor technology” as part of its broader vision of technological sovereignty and digital resilience.

About DHRUV64

• DHRUV64 is a 64-bit, dual-core general-purpose microprocessor developed by C-DAC under MeitY’s Microprocessor Development Programme.
• Operating at a clock speed of 1 GHz, it is designed to strike a balance between computational capability and energy efficiency.
• Unlike simple microcontrollers used for basic sensing tasks, DHRUV64 is capable of running modern operating systems and handling more complex workloads.
• Its intended applications range from consumer electronics to industrial automation and embedded systems, where reliability and integration matter more than peak computing power.

Technical Significance of the Processor

• From a technological perspective, DHRUV64 does not compete with high-end smartphone or laptop processors that feature multiple cores, advanced GPUs, and high clock speeds.
• Instead, it targets sectors such as telecommunications equipment, industrial controllers, routers, and automotive modules, where stable performance, long lifecycle support, and secure architectures are crucial.
• Such sectors value hardware-software integration and predictable behaviour rather than raw speed.
• This makes DHRUV64 relevant for strategic and infrastructure-related applications rather than mass consumer devices.

Role of RISC-V and the DIR-V Programme

• A key feature of DHRUV64 is that it is based on the RISC-V instruction set architecture.
  • RISC-V is an open-source instruction set, meaning that its design rules are publicly available and can be used without paying licensing fees.
• This openness allows countries like India to design processors without dependence on proprietary architectures controlled by foreign companies.
• RISC-V is also modular, enabling designers to customise processors for specific tasks such as security, performance, or energy efficiency.
• DHRUV64 is part of the Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) programme, which aims to develop a portfolio of indigenous processors for civilian, industrial, and strategic uses.
• Earlier processors under this ecosystem include SHAKTI (IIT-Madras), AJIT (IIT-Bombay), VIKRAM (ISRO-SCL), and THEJAS processors developed by C-DAC.

Concerns and Information Gaps

• Despite its strategic importance, MeitY’s announcement leaves several critical questions unanswered.
• The government has not provided detailed performance benchmarks, memory architecture details, or power efficiency metrics, which are essential for industrial adoption.
• There is also limited clarity on fabrication details, such as the manufacturing foundry, process node, yields, and long-term reliability.
• Additionally, the term “fully indigenous” remains ambiguous, as it can refer to different aspects such as design, toolchains, fabrication, or ownership of intellectual property.
• The absence of a clear deployment roadmap, operating system support, and government procurement plans may slow industry adoption in the short term.

Way Forward for India’s Chip Ecosystem

• DHRUV64 must be viewed as a foundational step rather than a finished solution.
• Its success will depend on the creation of a supporting ecosystem that includes developer boards, software tools, skilled manpower, and anchor government demand.
• Complementary initiatives such as Chips to Startup Programme, Design Linked Incentive Scheme, and the India Semiconductor Mission are critical to building fabrication capacity, nurturing startups, and expanding semiconductor talent in India.
• The long-term goal is to enable Indian consumers and industries to adopt indigenous processors without compromising on cost, security, or reliability.