Why in the News?

• A recent Delhi-NCR air pollution report tabled in Parliament has highlighted the urgent need to curb vehicular emissions, recommending a comprehensive review of India’s emission standards.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Air Pollution (Parliamentary Panel Recommendations, Need to Strengthen Vehicular Emission, Adoption of Electric Vehicles, Air Purifiers, NAAQS, Stubble Burning, etc.)

Delhi-NCR Air Pollution: Parliamentary Panel Calls for Stronger Standards and Systemic Reforms

• Air pollution in Delhi-NCR continues to be one of India’s most complex environmental challenges, driven by vehicular emissions, industrial activities, stubble burning, and unfavourable meteorological conditions.
• A recent report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change has made several policy recommendations aimed at strengthening India’s regulatory and technological response to deteriorating air quality.
• These recommendations are designed to guide government action, address existing gaps, and protect vulnerable populations.

Need to Strengthen Vehicular Emission Standards

• Vehicular emissions remain a major contributor to Delhi-NCR’s particulate matter and ozone levels.
• The panel has emphasised that a comprehensive review of India’s vehicular emission standards is necessary to align with evolving scientific knowledge and global best practices.
• While acknowledging the government’s push for ethanol blending to enhance energy security, the panel cautioned against unintended environmental impacts.
• Increased nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from ethanol-blended fuels and the problem of evaporative emissions, fuel vapours escaping from vehicles and generating ground-level ozone, require closer scrutiny.
• To mitigate this, the panel recommended adopting more stringent evaporative emission standards, which would require automobile manufacturers to incorporate better emission control systems.
• This is crucial for India’s transition to cleaner fuels and sustainable mobility.

Encouraging Adoption of Electric Vehicles

• The report highlights that while India aims to increase the adoption of EVs, several bottlenecks continue to hinder progress.
• To accelerate EV uptake, the committee suggested a combination of incentives and disincentives:

• Cheaper or free public parking for EVs
• Higher parking rates for petrol and diesel vehicles
• Offering tax incentives on EV loans
• Considering an annual ceiling on the registration of non-electric vehicles in Delhi-NCR

• These measures aim to shift consumer behaviour while simultaneously easing the region’s pollution burden.

Air Purifiers in Schools, Hospitals, and Government Offices

• Children and patients are among the most vulnerable to toxic air. The committee therefore recommended mandatory installation of air purifiers in:

• All public schools in Delhi-NCR
• All public hospitals, especially the critical wards
• All government offices

• It also pointed out that levying GST on air purifiers, devices essential for mitigating public health risks, effectively “monetises a public health failure.”
• The panel suggested abolishing or reducing GST on air purifiers and HEPA filters to increase accessibility.

Upgrading National Ambient Air Quality Standards

• The panel called for the Centre to expedite the revision of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
• These standards, last updated in 2009, need to reflect new scientific research, health data, and WHO benchmarks.
• The committee also recommended installing pollution-cutting devices in all thermal power plants within a 300-km radius of Delhi-NCR.
• This would ensure a significant reduction in SO₂, NOx, and particulate emissions from one of the region’s largest polluting sources.
• Delhi’s PM2.5 levels, the report noted, must fall by 62% to meet India’s air quality norms and by 95% to meet WHO standards, indicating the magnitude of intervention required.

Monitoring Stubble Burning More Effectively

• Stubble burning remains a recurrent seasonal crisis in North India. The panel expressed concern that some farmers are finding ways to evade satellite detection of crop fires.
• To strengthen enforcement, the committee recommended:

• Launch of a high-resolution ISRO satellite dedicated to monitoring farm fires 24×7
• Integration of satellite data with digital farm records for real-time tracking

• This would help the government respond more effectively while also supporting early warning systems and targeted assistance programmes.

Holistic Approach to Air Quality Management

• The report stresses that no single policy can solve the region’s pollution crisis. Instead, a coordinated approach, combining emissions control, technological investment, regulatory reform, and behavioural incentives, is essential.
• By addressing systemic issues in transportation, energy production, agriculture, and urban infrastructure, the recommendations aim to align Delhi-NCR’s air quality management with global best practices.

Context

• India’s reported 8.2% GDP growth in the second quarter generated widespread optimism and celebratory media coverage.
• However, this enthusiasm coincided with a critical development: the International Monetary Fund (IMF) assigned India’s national accounts statistics a ‘C’ grade, the second lowest possible.
• This assessment raised serious concerns about the credibility and reliability of India’s GDP and Gross Value Added (GVA) estimates.
• The limited media attention given to this issue underscores both statistical weaknesses and failures in economic journalism, warranting closer examination.

IMF’s Assessment of India’s National Accounts

• What the ‘C’ Grade Indicate?
  • The IMF’s grading reflects the quality, consistency, and transparency of national economic data.
  • India’s ‘C’ grade indicates significant deficiencies in data compilation and methodology, casting doubt on headline growth figures.
  • When strong growth numbers coexist with low data credibility, economic performance becomes difficult to interpret accurately.
• Media Response to the IMF Report
  • Despite the seriousness of the IMF’s evaluation, most mainstream and financial newspapers offered minimal coverage.
  • Only limited reporting brought the issue to public attention, while many outlets either ignored it or relegated it to less visible pages.
  • This lack of prominence prevented informed public debate and reinforced a one-sided growth narrative.

Methodological Issues in GDP Estimation

• Reliance on the Organised Sector as a Proxy
  • A central concern lies in India’s method of estimating the unorganised sector.
  • Growth in the informal economy is calculated using organised sector data as a proxy, despite the unorganised sector, excluding agriculture, accounting for around 30% of GDP.
  • Estimating such a large segment indirectly raises serious questions about accuracy and reliability.
• Divergence Between Organised and Unorganised Sectors
  • This proxy-based approach assumes that organised and unorganised sectors move in the same direction.
  • However, this assumption fails during periods of disruption. Events such as demonetisation, the introduction of GST, and the COVID-19 pandemic affected the two sectors very differently.
  • While the organised sector expanded or recovered, the unorganised sector contracted sharply, resulting in systematic overestimation of economic growth.

Challenges in Quarterly GDP Estimates

• Dependence on Assumptions and Historical Trends
  • Quarterly GDP estimates face additional limitations due to the absence of comprehensive high-frequency data.
  • As a result, calculations rely heavily on assumptions, past trends, and historical relationships rather than real-time information.
  • During periods of structural change, these assumptions become increasingly unreliable.
• Implications for Reported Growth Rates
  • The celebrated 8.2% quarterly growth figure must therefore be viewed cautiously.
  • Given the methodological constraints and data gaps, quarterly estimates may reflect statistical modelling rather than actual economic conditions, especially in the informal sector.

Can the IMF’s Concerns Be Resolved?

• Limits of Methodological Revisions
  • Efforts are underway to update the GDP base year and revise estimation methods, but such technical changes alone cannot address deeper structural problems.
  • The lack of direct, reliable data on the unorganised sector remains a fundamental weakness in India’s national accounts system.
• A Pessimistic Expert Assessment
  • Expert assessments suggest that fully resolving the IMF’s concerns is unlikely in the near future.
  • The challenges are systemic, rooted in data collection capacity rather than merely calculation techniques.

The Role of the Media in Economic Understanding

• Media as an Informational Gatekeeper
  • The media plays a crucial role in shaping public understanding of economic performance.
  • By downplaying or ignoring critical evaluations, it limits the public’s ability to interpret growth figures critically and independently.
• Consequences of Media Silence
  • This selective reporting results in an uninformed public and weakened accountability.
  • When methodological flaws are sidelined, policymakers face less scrutiny, and economic narratives remain incomplete.

Conclusion

• The IMF’s low grading of India’s national accounts highlights serious weaknesses in GDP estimation, particularly concerning the unorganised sector and quarterly data compilation.
• While headline growth figures may appear strong, their credibility is undermined by methodological limitations and inadequate data.
• The media’s failure to engage meaningfully with these issues further compounds the problem.
• Sustainable and credible economic assessment requires transparent statistical practices and responsible journalism, without which growth narratives risk becoming misleading rather than informative.

Why in news?

India’s resolution on “Strengthening the Global Management of Wildfires” was adopted at the 7th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) in Nairobi.

Backed by broad support from Member States, the move underscores global acknowledgement of the growing wildfire threat and the need for coordinated international action.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• UN Environment Assembly (UNEA): An Overview
• Wildfires as a Growing Global Environmental Risk
• Towards Integrated Fire Management
• Other Highlights of UNEA-7

UN Environment Assembly (UNEA): An Overview

• UNEA is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on environmental matters.
• It provides a global platform for addressing pressing environmental challenges.
• UNEA was established in 2012 following the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) held in Brazil, as part of efforts to strengthen global environmental governance.
• Membership and Participation
  • UNEA has universal membership, comprising all 193 UN Member States, with active participation from major groups and stakeholders.
  • It convenes every two years in Nairobi, Kenya, bringing together environment ministers from across the world.
• Functions and Mandate
  • UNEA:
    • Sets the global environmental agenda
    • Provides overarching policy guidance and responses to emerging environmental issues
    • Reviews policies, facilitates dialogue, and promotes exchange of experiences
    • Defines the strategic direction of UNEP
    • Encourages partnerships and mobilises resources for environmental goals
• UNEA-7 (2025) Session
  • The seventh session of UNEA (2025) is being held in Nairobi, Kenya, under the theme: “Advancing sustainable solutions for a resilient planet.”

Wildfires as a Growing Global Environmental Risk

• India highlighted that wildfires have evolved from seasonal events into frequent and prolonged disasters worldwide.
• Climate change, rising temperatures, extended droughts, and human activities are driving increases in their scale and intensity, causing widespread ecological and economic damage.
• Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts
  • Each year, millions of hectares are affected by fires, leading to the loss of forests and biodiversity, degradation of water and soil health, deterioration of air quality, and disruption of livelihoods.
  • Wildfires also emit large volumes of greenhouse gases, weaken carbon sinks, and severely impact forest-dependent communities and national economies.
• Scientific Warnings and Need for Proactive Action
  • Citing UNEP’s Spreading Like Wildfire report, India noted projections that wildfires could increase by 14% by 2030, 30% by 2050, and 50% by 2100 if current trends persist.
  • These findings underline wildfires as a long-term, climate-driven global risk requiring coordinated international action and a shift from reactive response to proactive prevention.

Towards Integrated Fire Management

• India emphasised a global transition towards Integrated Fire Management, focusing on early-warning systems, risk mapping, satellite-based monitoring, and the involvement of local communities and frontline personnel.
• UNEP’s role in supporting adaptation, ecosystem restoration, and strategy development was underscored, along with the importance of the Global Fire Management Hub established by FAO and UNEP in 2023.
• Key Provisions of the Resolution
  • The resolution calls for:
    • Stronger international cooperation on early-warning systems, risk assessment tools, ecosystem monitoring, and community-based alerts.
    • Enhanced regional and global collaboration for prevention, recovery, and ecosystem restoration.
    • Knowledge sharing and capacity building through best-practice platforms and training programmes.
    • Support for national and regional action plans on integrated fire management and wildfire resilience.
    • Improved access to international finance, including assistance in project preparation for multilateral and results-based funding mechanisms.

Other Highlights of UNEA-7

• The seventh session of UNEA ended in Nairobi with the adoption of 11 resolutions.
• This marked both strong multilateral environmental commitments and sharp political disagreements, most notably the United States’ withdrawal from all resolution negotiations.
• Wide Range of Environmental Issues Addressed
  • Alongside the wildfire resolution, UNEA-7 adopted decisions on:
    • coral reef protection,
    • minerals and metals governance,
    • sargassum management,
    • chemicals and waste,
    • antimicrobial resistance,
    • AI sustainability,
    • glacier and cryosphere protection,
    • youth participation, and
    • coordination among multilateral environmental agreements.
  • With Jamaica set to assume the Presidency for UNEA-8, member states emphasised the need to rebuild trust, strengthen multilateral cooperation, and sustain momentum in the face of escalating global environmental crises.
• US Withdrawal Casts a Shadow Over the Assembly
  • Despite broad consensus on several issues, UNEA-7 was overshadowed by the US decision to disengage from negotiations.
  • Washington criticised resolutions for including contentious language and themes beyond UNEA’s environmental mandate, disassociated itself from all adopted outcomes, and signalled a review of its participation in global environmental bodies.
  • Diplomats described the US stance as a setback for collective environmental ambition.
  • Several delegates warned that disengagement could undermine progress on chemicals management, biodiversity loss linked to climate change, and environmental finance.

Why in news?

The World Inequality Report 2026 highlights stark and widening global disparities. It shows that the top 10% of income earners receive more than the remaining 90% combined, while the poorest half earns under 10% of global income.

Wealth inequality is even sharper, with the top 10% owning about 75% of global wealth and the bottom 50% holding just 2%.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Deep Regional Divides in Income Levels
• Inequality Debates Miss the Core Issue
• Public Investment: The Strongest Equaliser
• Education as a Pathway to Reducing Inequality
• The Nexus between Inequality, Education and Growth
• Conclusion

Deep Regional Divides in Income Levels

• Global averages mask vast regional inequalities. The world is divided into income tiers:
  • High-income regions: North America & Oceania, Europe
  • Middle-income regions: Russia & Central Asia, East Asia, Middle East & North Africa
  • Low-income, populous regions: Latin America, South & Southeast Asia (including India), Sub-Saharan Africa
• Even after adjusting for price differences, income gaps remain extreme.
• An average person in North America & Oceania earns about 13 times more than someone in Sub-Saharan Africa and three times the global average.
• Daily average income stands at around €125 in North America & Oceania versus €10 in Sub-Saharan Africa — and many earn far less than these averages.

Inequality Debates Miss the Core Issue

• Discussions often get stuck on whether inequality exists or how severe it is, diverting attention from more critical questions — especially which policies can actually reduce inequality.
• This distraction prevents meaningful engagement with solutions.

Public Investment: The Strongest Equaliser

• The report identifies public investment in education and health as the most powerful tool to reduce inequality.
• Free, high-quality schools, universal healthcare, childcare, and nutrition programs help narrow early-life gaps, promote lifelong learning, and ensure that opportunity depends on talent and effort rather than background.
• Education Spending: A 1-to-41 Gap Across Regions
  • Public education expenditure varies dramatically by region.
  • In 2025, average government spending per school-age individual (ages 0–24) ranged from €220 in Sub-Saharan Africa to €9,025 in North America & Oceania (PPP, 2025 prices).
  • This represents an almost 1:41 gap, underlining how unequal public investment reinforces global inequality.

The Nexus between Inequality, Education and Growth

• The Inequality–Education–Growth Nexus describes a critical relationship where these three factors reinforce one another.
• High economic inequality creates a vicious cycle
  • Poor families face credit constraints, limiting investment in quality education for their children.
  • This leads to educational inequality and an inefficient allocation of human capital across the workforce.
  • The result is lower aggregate productivity, slower innovation, and ultimately, dampened long-term economic growth.
  • Conversely, promoting educational equity for all fuels a virtuous cycle, raising the entire nation's skill level, boosting productivity, and generating inclusive, sustained economic growth that helps reduce inequality over time.

Education as a Pathway to Reducing Inequality

• Education is widely recognised as a key tool for reducing economic, social, and environmental inequalities.
• SDG 4 reflects the global commitment to “leave no one behind.” While access to education has expanded, gains have largely benefited the least marginalised, leaving deep inequalities unresolved.
• Instead of fostering social mobility and cohesion, many education systems are reinforcing existing fault lines.
• Marginalised communities remain underserved due to gaps in funding, weak data systems, and exclusionary practices, limiting their access to broader social and economic opportunities.

Conclusion

• Inequality is not only about income and wealth distribution but also about who gets access to quality public services.
• Without substantial and equitable public investment — especially in education — global and national inequalities will continue to widen rather than narrow.

Context:

• India has long viewed the oceans as central to global equity and its own future.
• During the negotiation of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), it stood with vulnerable island states to uphold the seabed as the “common heritage of mankind,” reflecting a principled commitment to fairness.
• This stance built on Jawaharlal Nehru’s early recognition of the ocean’s importance to India’s security and prosperity.
• Today, as climate change, rising sea levels, and overfishing place unprecedented stress on marine ecosystems—especially in the highly vulnerable Indian Ocean—India again faces a historic responsibility.
• The challenge now is to lead in practice, transforming the Indian Ocean into a space of sustainability, innovation, and resilience rather than competition.
• This article highlights India’s historic responsibility and emerging opportunity to transform the Indian Ocean into the cradle of a new blue economy—anchored in sustainability, resilience, equity, and cooperative regional leadership.

India’s Blue Ocean Strategy: A New Vision for the Indian Ocean

• India’s proposed Blue Ocean Strategy rests on three core pillars—stewardship, resilience, and inclusive growth.
• This is aimed at transforming the Indian Ocean into a zone of cooperation and sustainability rather than rivalry.
• Stewardship of the Ocean Commons
  • India should reinforce the idea of the Indian Ocean as a shared global commons.
  • By promoting ecosystem restoration, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable fisheries, India can lead cooperative ocean governance and discourage competitive exploitation.
• Building Climate Resilience
  • With climate risks intensifying, India can champion resilience by creating a Regional Resilience and Ocean Innovation Hub.
  • Such a platform would enhance ocean monitoring, early-warning systems, and technology transfer to vulnerable island and African coastal states.
• Promoting Inclusive and Green Growth
  • Sectors like green shipping, offshore renewables, sustainable aquaculture, and marine biotechnology offer climate-compatible growth opportunities.
  • Unlocking this potential requires long-term investment and coordinated regional action.

Global Finance Turning Blue

• Recent global initiatives signal rising financial commitment to ocean action.
• Forums like Blue Economy and Finance Forum (BEFF) 2025 and COP30 have mobilised tens of billions of dollars for blue economy projects, bringing oceans firmly into climate finance priorities.
  • At the 2025 BEFF in Monaco, stakeholders showcased a €25 billion pipeline of ocean investments and announced €8.7 billion in new commitments, evenly split between public and private sources.
  • Public development banks, through the Finance in Common Ocean Coalition, pledged $7.5 billion annually, while the Development Bank of Latin America raised its blue economy target to $2.5 billion by 2030.
  • This push was reinforced at COP30 in Belém, where Brazil launched the One Ocean Partnership, committing to mobilise $20 billion for ocean action by 2030.
• India should capitalise on this momentum by establishing an Indian Ocean Blue Fund.
• Seeded by India and supported by development banks, philanthropy, and private investors, it could convert global pledges into tangible regional projects.

Security Through Sustainability in the Indian Ocean

• Debates on the Indian Ocean often focus on naval power and strategic competition, but true ocean security begins with protecting ecosystems and addressing climate threats.
• Challenges such as illegal fishing, coral degradation, and rising storm intensity undermine livelihoods and regional stability.
• India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) doctrine reframes maritime security around sustainability, cooperation, and shared prosperity.
• By integrating environmental stewardship with maritime awareness, disaster response, and regional collaboration, India can promote a vision of responsibility over rivalry — positioning the Indian Ocean as a global model of sustainable and cooperative security.

India’s Enduring Environmental Vision

• India’s commitment to balancing development and environmental protection dates back to 1972, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi warned against impoverishing either people or nature — a principle that remains deeply relevant today.
• Recent forums such as COP30 in Belém and the G-20 Summit in Johannesburg have underscored the central role of marine and terrestrial ecosystems in climate stability, sustainable development, and resilience, while emphasising equity and finance for developing countries.
• Momentum is Building
  • With the outcomes of the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, COP30 in Belém, and the entry into force of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, 2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for ocean governance.
  • India’s potential ratification of BBNJ offers a chance to lead through innovations like green shipping corridors, blue bonds, inclusive technology transfer, and well-governed ocean carbon solutions.

India’s Opportunity to Lead the Indian Ocean Region

• India’s ocean diplomacy legacy gives it credibility, while its future ambitions confer responsibility.
• Through platforms like the Indian Ocean Rim Association, India can help shape a sustainable and just blue economy for the region.
• The challenge ahead is to translate vision into finance, partnerships, and lasting institutions.
• By leading with ambition, humility, and inclusivity, India can show that cooperation and solidarity in ocean governance can prevail over rivalry — and that the Indian Ocean can anchor a new, sustainable global future.

Context:

• India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem has historically been constrained by an overbearing regulatory framework shaped by statist interventions in 1956, 1967 and 1976.
• While the 1991 economic reforms partially restored trust between the state and markets, deregulation remains incomplete.
• The proposed Jan Vishwas Siddhant seeks to shift India from a permission-based regulatory regime to a trust-based governance model, with deep implications for entrepreneurship, job creation, and economic growth.

Core Argument:

• Entrepreneurship is inherently permissionless, protected under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.
• However, India’s regulatory “cholesterol” has created systemic barriers that prevent firms from scaling, leading to a predominance of dwarfs rather than babies in India’s enterprise ecosystem.

Six Pathologies of India’s Regulatory Framework:

• Prior approval raj:
  • Excessive ex-ante approvals (based on forecast rather than actual results) undermine innovation. Entrepreneurs face almost 500 central and over 3,200 state-level approvals.
  • It contradicts the constitutional idea of freedom to practice any profession or business.
• Instrument proliferation:
  • Beyond Acts and Rules, the state uses notifications, circulars, guidelines, SOPs, FAQs, office orders, etc.
  • Over 12,000 estimated non-law, non-rule instruments affecting employers, and creates opacity, uncertainty, and compliance overload.
• Compliance blind spot:
  • Compliance is legally enforceable “shall” obligations, not guidance.
  • Policymakers focus on laws, ignoring cumulative compliance burden. For example, 2025 began with over 69,000 compliances.
  • Though labour codes reduced labour compliances by 75%, replication is pending.
• Enforcing the unenforceable:
  • Unenforceable laws breed corruption, discretion, and implementation gaps. Example, one inspector checking 3.3 lakh weight and measuring instruments.
  • It violates constitutional wisdom distinguishing Fundamental Rights from Directive Principles.
• Process as punishment:
  • Criminal provisions rarely lead to conviction but are used as threats.
  • It results in judicial backlog, regulatory harassment. Example: Cheque bounce criminalisation - constitute 43 lakh cases and 10% of court pendency.
• No single source of truth: Absence of a unified, live database of obligations. Entrepreneurs face unverifiable and outdated compliance demands, encouraging rent-seeking and corruption.

Jan Vishwas Siddhant - Key Features:

• Trust-based deregulation - “Everything is permitted till prohibited”: All licences outside the four areas of national security, public safety, human health and environment will be converted to perpetual self-registration.
• Risk-based and third-party inspections: Random, data-driven inspections to reduce inspector discretion.
• Decriminalisation and proportionality: Apply DPIIT decriminalisation principles across all laws. Replace jail terms with civil penalties where appropriate.
• Regulatory predictability: Mandatory consultations, adequate transition periods, annual fixed date for regulatory changes (e.g., January 1).
• Digitisation and legal clarity: Filings will be digitised, and regulatory instruments with penal provisions will be restricted to laws and rules.
• Single source of truth:
  • IndiaCode will become the live database with all Acts and rules, and after integration with e-gazette, a single source of truth for all obligations.
  • An annual regulatory impact assessment framework by all central ministries will lead to annual reports on compliance and punishment.

Challenges and Way Forward:

• Resistance from entrenched bureaucratic structures: Strengthen civil service performance management.
• Capacity constraints in risk-based regulation: Shift regulatory focus from micro-specification to outcomes.
• Need for coordination between Centre and States: Promote cooperative federalism in regulatory reforms.
• Ensuring accountability without over-regulation: Replicate labour law compliance rationalisation across sectors.

Conclusion:

• The Jan Vishwas Siddhant represents a paradigm shift from ruling to governing, and from praja (subjects) to nagrik (citizens).
• By freeing entrepreneurs from ijaazat and empowering them to focus on koshish, India can unlock non-farm job creation, firm scaling, and global competitiveness.
• Entrepreneurship thrives not on the absence of the state, but on a credible, minimal, and trust-based state—a necessary condition for India’s aspirations of mass prosperity and global power.

About Sanchar Mitra Scheme:

• It is a youth-oriented initiative by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications.
• It is aimed at harnessing the energy and potential of young students to spread awareness about safe digital behaviour.
• Under this scheme, student volunteers, named as Sanchar Mitra, will raise public awareness about mobile safety, telecom fraud prevention, and government digital initiatives.
• They will conduct outreach in communities, schools, and public spaces to educate citizens on responsible and secure use of telecom services.
• This scheme is open to students from those technical institutes that have active telecom, electronics, computers, cybersecurity, or similar programs and have agreed to participate in the scheme.
• Sanchar Mitras will receive necessary training from experts and from the National Communications Academy-Technology (NCA-T).
  • The Sanchar Mitras will receive various training on subjects like cybersecurity, emerging technologies in the telecom sector, telecom policies and regulations, etc.
• The scheme offers top performers,
  • access, on a best-effort basis, to research and development (R&D) projects and telecom start-ups;
  • involvement in policy and standards work;
  • participation in field surveys and DoT initiatives;
  • exposure to national conferences and events.
• Recognition and incentives will be coordinated through DoT units, leveraging existing resources and partnerships.
• The scheme has been implemented across all states/UTs through the licensed service area (LSA) field offices of DoT.

About National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM):

• It was launched in 2015 by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for restoring and preserving the film heritage of India.
• Implementation Agency: National Film Archive of India, Pune.
• Objectives:
  • Condition assessment of film reels to ascertain the remaining life of the film.
  • 2K/4K picture and sound restoration of landmark films of India and recording of new picture and sound inter-negatives of each film.
  • Digitization of films.
  • Construction of archival and preservation facilities called vaults.
  • Training and workshops for in-house capacity building.
  • Web-based end-to-end IT solution.

Key Facts about National Film Archive of India (NFAI):

• It was established in February 1964 as a media unit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.
• Its primary objective is to acquire and preserve Indian cinematic heritage.
• This includes preservation of film and non-film material, including but not limited to celluloid, stills, glass slides, posters, lobby cards, scripts, and song booklets.
• Beyond safeguarding celluloid history, the NFAI actively promotes Indian cinema.
  • They organize screenings, film appreciation courses, and research programs, fostering a deeper understanding of Indian film culture.
• It is headquartered in Pune with regional centers in Bangalore, Kolkata, and Trivandrum.
• It has been a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) since 1969.

About Agentic AI:

• Agentic AI is an advanced form of artificial intelligence focused on autonomous decision-making and action.
• It consists of AI agents—machine learning models that mimic human decision-making to solve problems in real time.
• Unlike traditional AI, which primarily responds to commands or analyzes data, agentic AI can set goals, plan, and execute tasks with minimal human intervention.
• "Agentic" indicates agency — the ability of these systems to act independently, but in a goal-driven manner.
• At its core, this technology is built on several key components:
  • Perception: Agentic AI starts by gathering information from its surroundings and different sources, such as sensors, databases, and user interfaces.
  • Reasoning: Using a large language model (LLM), agentic AI analyzes the gathered data to understand the context, identify relevant information, and formulate potential solutions.
  • Planning: The AI then uses the information it gathered to develop a plan. This involves setting goals, breaking them down into smaller steps, and figuring out the best way to achieve them.
  • Action: Based on its plan, the AI takes action. This could involve performing tasks, making decisions, or interacting with other systems.
  • Reflection: After taking action, the AI learns from the results. It evaluates whether its actions were successful and uses this feedback to adjust its plans and actions in the future.
• Agentic AI builds on generative AI (GenAI) techniques by using large language models (LLMs) to function in dynamic environments.
• While generative models focus on creating content based on learned patterns, agentic AI extends this capability by applying generative outputs toward specific goals.
• For example, a generative AI model like OpenAI’s ChatGPT might produce text, images, or code, but an agentic AI system can use that generated content to complete complex tasks autonomously by calling external tools.

About Pallas's Gull:

• Pallas's Gull, also called the Great Black-headed Gull, is a large bird species.
• It is the world's largest black-headed gull and the third-largest species of gull in the world.
• It belongs to the family Laridae.
• Scientific Name: Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus
• Distribution:
  • It breeds in colonies in marshes and islands from southern Russia to Mongolia.
  • It is migratory, wintering in the Mediterranean Sea, the Arabian Peninsula, and India.
• Habitat: It prefers wetlands, salt lakes, lagoons, and slow-flowing rivers.
• Features:
  • It measures 55–72 cm in length with a 142 to 170 cm wingspan.
  • Summer adults are unmistakable, since no other gull of this size has a black hood.
  • The adults have grey wings and back, with conspicuous white "mirrors" at the wing tips.
  • The legs are yellow, and the bill is orangey-yellow with a red tip.
  • In all other plumages, a dark mask through the eye indicates the vestiges of the hood.
  • Pallas's Gulls feed on fish, including dead fish. They also prey upon insects, crustaceans, reptiles, other birds, and small mammals.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Key Facts about Udhwa Lake Bird Sanctuary:

• It is located in the Sahebganj district of Jharkhand.
• It is the state's only bird sanctuary.
• It comprises two interconnected wetlands, Pataura Lake and Berhale Lake, which are part of the Ganga River floodplain and surrounded by the Rajmahal Hills.
• It was declared a Ramsar Site in 2025.
• It supports a diverse ecosystem with over 146 species of birds, including endangered ones like the band-tailed fish eagle, lesser adjutant stork, and common pochard.
• It also hosts a variety of aquatic plants, fish, reptiles, and mammals, such as fishing cats and otters.
• The sanctuary is an important habitat within the Central Asian flyway, attracting migratory birds during the winter.