Category: Government Schemes

Context:

• Recently, nearly 27 lakh workers’ names were removed from the database of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

About MGNREGS:

• Launch: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) was passed by the Indian government in 2005 that guarantees the “right to work” to rural citizens of India.
• Objective: The main objective of the MGNREGS is to provide employment to rural citizens and improve their economic conditions. Under this, the government assures a minimum of 100 days of unskilled manual work to an adult member of an eligible rural household.
• Eligibility Criteria:
  • Citizen of India
  • 18 years of age at the time of application
  • Rural Household
  • Willing to do unskilled work
• Initiative towards right to work: It guarantees 100 days of unskilled employment to all willing rural citizens, at the government-set minimum wage. If work is not assigned within 15 days, the applicant is entitled to receive an unemployment allowance.
• Social Audit: Section 17 of the MGNREGA has mandated a social audit of all the works executed under the MGNREGA.
• Employment near home: The work provided is usually within a 5 km radius of the applicant’s village, with a travel allowance provided for work beyond this radius. Payments are made on a weekly basis and cannot be delayed more than 15 days, with compensation for delays.
• Role of Gram Sabha: Panchayati Raj Institutions take the lead role in planning, implementing, and monitoring the allocated works. Gram Sabhas are given the authority to suggest work and are required to carry out at least half of the work.
• Use of technology: The scheme has introduced several technological tools, such as online registration, electronic fund transfer, and geotagging through mobile apps to make the implementation more transparent and efficient. The National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) App was made mandatory in January 2023. It demands online attendance from employees twice a day
• Integration with other schemes: The scheme has been integrated with other programs such as the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), and the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to achieve better convergence of resources and efforts.

Source:

• The Hindu

Category: History and Culture

Context:

• M.P. education minister apologised for calling Raja Ram Mohan Roy a ‘British agent’ after he accused him of aiding missionaries in religious conversion.

About Raja Ram Mohan Roy:

• Birth: Raja Ram Mohan Roy was born on 22nd May 1772 in Bengal.
• Education: His early education included the study of Persian and Arabic at Patna where he read the Quran, the works of Sufi mystic poets and the Arabic translation of the works of Plato and Aristotle. In Benaras, he studied Sanskrit and read Vedas and Upnishads.
• Professional life: From 1803 to 1814, he worked for East India Company as the personal diwan first of Woodforde and then of Digby. In 1814, he resigned from his job and moved to Calcutta in order to devote his life to religious, social and political reforms.
• Title of Raja: Ram Mohan Roy was given the title of ‘Raja’ by the titular Mughal Emperor of Delhi, Akbar II whose grievances the former was to present before the British king.
• Ideology: Ram Mohan Roy was greatly influenced by western modern thought and stressed on rationalism and modern scientific approach. He believed that religious orthodoxies have become causes of injury to social life instead of tending to the amelioration of the condition of society.
• Literary works: Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s first published work Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhiddin (a gift to deists) published in 1803 exposed irrational religious beliefs and corrupt practices of the Hindus as the belief in revelations, prophets, miracles etc. In Precepts of Jesus (1820), he tried to separate the moral and philosophical message of the New Testament, which he praised, from its miracle stories.
• Institutions: He founded the Atmiya Sabha in 1814, the Calcutta Unitarian Association in 1821, and the Brahmo Sabha in 1828 which later became the Brahmo Samaj.
• Social reforms: He campaigned against the caste system, untouchability and superstitions. He attacked child marriage, the degraded state of widows and demanded the right of inheritance for women. In 1830, he sailed for England to be present there to counteract the possible nullification of the Act banning Sati.
• Educational reforms: Roy did much to disseminate the benefits of modern education to his countrymen. He supported David Hare’s efforts to find the Hindu College in 1817, while Roy’s English school taught mechanics and Voltaire’s philosophy. In 1825, he established Vedanta college where courses in both Indian learning and Western social and physical sciences were offered.
• Political Reforms: Through his writings and activities, he supported the movement for free press in India. When press censorship was relaxed by Lord Hastings in 1819, Ram Mohan found three journals- The Brahmanical Magazine (1821); The Bengali weekly, Samvad Kaumudi (1821); and the Persian weekly, Mirat-ul-Akbar.
• Economic Reforms: Roy condemned oppressive practices of Bengali zamindars and demanded fixation of minimum rents. He also demanded the abolition of taxes on tax-free lands. He called for a reduction of export duties on Indian goods abroad and the abolition of the East India Company’s trading rights.
• Administrative reforms: He demanded the Indianisation of superior services and separation of the executive from judiciary. He demanded equality between Indians and Europeans.

Source:

• The Hindu

Category: Geography

Context:

• A China Coast Guard ship formation passed through the waters of the Senkaku Islands on a “rights enforcement patrol.”

About Senkaku Islands:

• Location: The Senkaku Islands are an uninhabited group of islands situated in the East China Sea, approximately 90 nautical miles north from the Yaeyama Islands in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture and 120 nautical miles northeast of the island of Taiwan. 
• Different names: They are also known as the Diaoyu Islands in mainland China, the Diaoyutai Islands in Taiwan, and the Pinnacle Islands by other observers.
• Group of islands: The islands comprise Uotsuri Island, Kuba Island, Taisho Island (also called Kumeakashima Island), Kitakojima Island, Minamikojima Island,Tobise Island,Okinokitaiwa Island, and Okinominamiiwa Island. 
• Area: The total land area of all the islands is roughly 6.3 square kilometers, with the largest, Uotsuri Island, being some 3.6 square kilometers in size.
• Composition: They consist of conglomerate sandstone (alternate layers of sandstone and conglomerate in some parts), tuff, andesite, andesitic lava, coral outcroppings elevated above sea level during the Holocene era, and other rocky material. 
• Dispute: The islands are the focus of a territorial dispute between Japan and China and between Japan and Taiwan.
• Administration: They were never administered by any other country before Japan incorporated them into its territory in 1895. Currently, Japan administers and controls the Senkaku Islands as part of the city of Ishigaki in Okinawa Prefecture.

Source:

• The Hindu

Topic: Science and Technology

Context:

• Blue Origin has successfully launched Nasa’s highly anticipated Escapade mission to Mars, marking a historic day for the future of multi-planetary exploration.

About Escapade Mission:

• Nomenclature: The ESCAPADE stands for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers.
• Objective: This mission is the first coordinated multi-spacecraft orbital science mission to Mars. Its twin orbiters are known as Blue and Gold which will take simultaneous observations from different locations around Mars.
• Part of NASA’s program: It is part of NASA’s SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration) program.
• Management: The ESCAPADE mission is managed by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, with key partners Rocket Lab, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Advanced Space LLC, and Blue Origin.
• Use of ‘launch and loiter’ strategy: This mission has chosen ‘launch and loiter’ strategy. It means the satellites will launch from Earth toward the Lagrange 2 Point (L2), a point in space where the balance of Earth and Sun’s gravitational pull ensures that a spacecraft stays put. The spacecraft will stay loiter at L2 until the apt window for Mars travel opens up, and then it will move toward Mars in late 2026.
• Reveal critical information about Mars: It will reveal the planet’s real-time response to space weather and how the Martian magnetosphere changes over time. These spacecraft will travel to Mars to study the interaction between solar wind, streams of charged particles from the Sun, and the Martian magnetic field.
• Opens new gateways for future human explorations: Understanding how solar wind strips Mars of its atmosphere is critical for planetary science and future human exploration.

Source:

• India Today

Category: Defence and Security

Context:

• The Ministry of Defence has signed a ₹2,095.70 crore contract with BDL to procure INVAR anti-tank missiles.

About INVAR Missile:

• Nature: It is an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) designed to be launched from tank platforms. 
• Construction: The Invar missile is built by Rosoboronexport of Russia, and it is produced under license in India by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).
• Capability: The Invar missile, capable of being fired from the barrel of T-90 tanks, has been in active deployment by Indian forces and is known for its long-range precision strike capability. The missile can neutralise adversaries tanks fitted with Explosive Reactive Armour Protection.
• Range: It has a calibre of 125 mm and a range of 5000 m.
• Resistant to electronic jamming: The missile uses semi-automatic laser beam-riding guidance, making it resistant to electronic jamming.
• Can destroy moving targets: It can destroy both stationary and moving targets traveling at speeds up to 70 kilometres per hour. The missile is fired through the tank’s main gun barrel and guided to the target by the gunner using the vehicle’s integrated fire-control optics.
• Structure: Weighing 17.2 kilograms with a length of 695 millimetres, the Invar features a tandem warhead specifically designed to defeat explosive reactive armour, a defensive system commonly fitted to modern battle tanks. Other technical features include a length of 695 mm (missile) and 395 mm (throwing device).

Source:

• News on AIR

(UPSC GS Paper II – “Mechanisms for protection of vulnerable sections”)

Context (Introduction)

A Supreme Court notice in a case involving an alleged female perpetrator of penetrative sexual assault has reopened debate on whether the POCSO Act — India’s primary child-protection law — is gender-neutral in prosecuting both victims and offenders.

Main Arguments 

• Statutory Interpretation Favors Inclusion

• Section 3 uses the pronoun “he”, but Section 13(1) of the General Clauses Act (1897) clarifies that masculine words include females unless context dictates otherwise. 

• The broad definition of penetrative sexual assault — including digital, object-based, and oral penetration — clearly enables prosecution of women as potential offenders. 

• The inclusion of acts where a person makes a child perform penetration further strengthens this gender-neutral reading.

• Legislative Intent Unambiguously Confirms Neutrality

• • • Parliamentary records consistently reflect gender neutrality. The Ministry of Women and Child Development (Lok Sabha, 20 December 2024) and the 2019 Amendment Bill’s Statement of Objects and Reasons explicitly describe POCSO as gender-neutral. 
    • In contrast, Section 63 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (2023) clearly limits rape to a male perpetrator and female victim. The fact that POCSO avoids such gendered language indicates a deliberate legislative choice.

• Normative and Judicial Logic Require Neutral Protection

• • The Supreme Court in Sakshi vs Union of India (2004) recognised that child sexual abuse spans a wide spectrum beyond penile-vaginal intercourse. 
  • Abuse stems from power, trust, and vulnerability, not gender alone. Survivor accounts and research affirm that women can also perpetrate abuse. 
  • A gender-specific interpretation would conceal these experiences and deny justice to certain victims, undermining the Act’s protective purpose.

Criticisms and Drawbacks Identified

• Ambiguity from Masculine Pronouns: Use of “he” in statutory text triggers avoidable interpretive disputes despite the GC Act’s clear rule.

• Inconsistent Official Communication: Some earlier Parliamentary replies emphasised gender neutrality only for victims, inadvertently creating confusion over perpetrators.

• Social Biases Limit Recognition: Deep-rooted notions that women cannot commit sexual offences hinder reporting, investigation, and acknowledgement of abuse against boys.

• Limited Jurisprudence: Few POCSO cases have involved female offenders, resulting in sparse judicial precedent and uncertainty in enforcement.

• Doctrinal Overlap with BNS: The coexistence of a gender-specific rape definition in the BNS and a gender-neutral penetrative assault definition in POCSO risks interpretive inconsistency in similar factual situations involving minors.

Reforms and Strengthening Measures

• Clarify Statutory Language: Amend Section 3 to replace pronouns with gender-neutral terms (“person”), eliminating reliance on interpretive rules.

• Ensure Consistent Government Messaging: Uniform Ministry clarifications and FAQs should emphasise that gender neutrality applies to both victims and perpetrators.

• Sensitise Law-Enforcement and Judiciary: Training modules must address non-traditional abuse patterns and empower officials to handle cases involving female offenders without bias.

• Improve Research and Documentation: Systematic studies on abuse by women and non-conforming offenders can inform policy design and correct societal misconceptions.

• Harmonise POCSO with the BNS: A clarificatory amendment or authoritative Supreme Court ruling can ensure coherent interpretation between POCSO and BNS, avoiding doctrinal conflict.

Conclusion

The POCSO Act was consciously drafted as a gender-neutral framework to protect all children from diverse forms of sexual harm. Upholding this neutrality best aligns with its text, legislative intent, and protective purpose. Clear statutory language, consistent official communication, and informed judicial interpretation can ensure equal justice for every child, regardless of the gender of the offender.

Mains Question

1. Evaluate the POCSO Act’s overall design in ensuring justice for all child victims irrespective of the gender of the offender. (250 words, 15 marks)

Source: The Hindu

(UPSC GS Paper III – “Science & Technology: Biotechnology, Health and Disease Prevention”)

Context (Introduction)

The rise of precision biotherapeutics—therapies tailored to a person’s genetic and molecular profile—is reshaping global healthcare. As the global precision medicine market grows rapidly, India’s genetic diversity, research base, and biotech ecosystem present unique opportunities and challenges.

Main Arguments 

• What Are Precision Biotherapeutics?

• • • Precision biotherapeutics involve treatments designed around an individual’s genetic, molecular, and cellular signatures, enabling direct correction of disease causes rather than symptom management. 
    • Technologies underpinning this field include genomic and proteomic analysis, gene editing (CRISPR), mRNA and nucleic acid therapeutics, monoclonal antibodies, advanced biologics, and AI-driven drug discovery, which predicts therapeutic efficacy using molecular datasets.

• Why India Needs Precision Approaches

• • • Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and diabetes account for nearly 65% of deaths in India. India’s vast genetic diversity complicates treatment responses, and drugs developed in other populations may show reduced effectiveness. 
    • Programmes like GenomeIndia and IndiGen can tailor therapies to local genetic variations, shifting India’s health system towards predictive, preventive, and personalised care.

• India’s Current Capacities

• • • The Department of Biotechnology has prioritised precision biotherapeutics under the Biotechnology for Economy, Environment, and Employment policy. 
    • Leading institutions—including IGIB, NIBMG, and THSTI—are mapping genetic diversity and disease susceptibility. Private-sector activity is rising:
  • Biocon Biologics, Dr. Reddy’s Labs – biosimilars, monoclonal antibodies
    • Immuneel Therapeutics – immuno-oncology
    • Bugworks – next-generation antibiotics
    • Akrivia Biosciences, 4baseCare, miBiome – precision diagnostics and oncology solutions
    • ImmunoACT – India’s first CAR-T therapy
    • Collectively, these represent a growing ecosystem aligned with global trends.

• Global Market Landscape

• • The global precision medicine market is projected to exceed $22 billion by 2027. Rising chronic diseases, gene therapies, and personalised drug development are key growth drivers. 
  • India, with its skilled manpower, AI and data analytics capabilities, and low-cost R&D environment, can emerge as a global hub for affordable precision biotherapeutics.

Criticisms / Drawbacks 

• Regulatory Ambiguity: India lacks a clear regulatory framework for gene editing, cell therapies, and emerging biologics. Guidelines restrict therapeutic use but do not define therapeutic scope, creating uncertainty for innovators.

• Limited Manufacturing Capacity: Biologics and advanced therapies require high-end manufacturing, but India’s capabilities in viral vectors, plasmid DNA, and cell-processing remain limited, increasing dependence on imports.

• High Costs and Low Access: Precision drugs are prohibitively priced, accessible mostly to affluent urban populations, and out of reach for most Indians, widening health inequities.

• Ethical and Privacy Concerns: Large-scale genomic datasets raise unresolved issues of data security, consent, discrimination, and potential misuse without a stringent data protection ecosystem.

• Uneven Clinical Translation: Many innovations remain stuck in research stages due to gaps in clinical trials infrastructure, biopharma investments, and technology transfer.

Reforms and Way Forward

• Establish a Clear, Modern Regulatory Architecture: Develop specific guidelines for gene editing, cell therapies, RNA therapeutics, and AI-driven drug discovery. A unified regulatory pathway under CDSCO/DBT is essential.

• Expand Manufacturing and R&D Capacity: Build GMP-compliant biologics facilities, support domestic production of vectors and CAR-T components, and promote tech-transfer hubs.

• Enhance Genomic Literacy and Data Governance; Adopt strong data protection laws, consent frameworks, and ethical review mechanisms for genomic research, ensuring public trust.

• Incentivise Affordable Precision Innovations: Use public–private partnerships, viability-gap funding, and innovation grants to drive down costs and expand access, particularly for NCD-related therapies.

• Integrate Precision Medicine into Public Health: Embed genetic screening and precision diagnostics into NCD programmes, using the IndiGen and GenomeIndia datasets to develop Indian population-specific therapies.

Conclusion

Precision biotherapeutics represent a transformative shift from symptomatic treatment to cause-correcting interventions. With its genetic diversity, scientific base, and cost advantage, India can position itself as a global leader in affordable precision medicine—provided regulatory clarity, manufacturing capacity, and ethical safeguards evolve in tandem.

Mains Question

1. “Evaluate the potential of precision biotherapeutics in transforming India’s NCD landscape. What regulatory and ethical challenges must be addressed to realise this opportunity? (250 words, 15 marks)

Source: The Hindu