26 July 2024

• Sports: Paris Olympics 2024 opened with an unprecedented ceremony on the River Seine. India's 117-athlete contingent was flagged by PV Sindhu and Sharath Kamal.
• Economy: Twelve plug-and-play industrial parks under NICDP. Bharat Small Reactors opened to private sector partnership.
• Defence: Triput-class frigates: Goa Shipyard building two P1135.6 stealth frigates under Russian technology transfer.
• Environment: Right to be Forgotten recognised by the Supreme Court as part of the right to privacy under Article 21.

GS area: International Relations, Sports

The 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games officially opened on 26 July 2024. For the first time in Olympic history, the opening ceremony was held on a river rather than in a stadium.

• Venue: Athletes paraded on 90 boats along a 6 km stretch of the River Seine from the Austerlitz bridge to the Trocadero. Around 6,800 athletes from 206 delegations participated.
• India's contingent: 117 athletes (84th in the parade order). Flag bearers: PV Sindhu (two-time Olympic medallist, badminton) and Sharath Kamal (four-time Olympian, table tennis). Attire: men in kurta bundi sets, women in saris designed by Tarun Tahiliani.
• Shared boat: India shared its boat with Indonesia and Iran.
• Paris as host: Paris is hosting the Olympics for the third time (also 1900 and 1924). The city is celebrating the centenary of its 1924 Games.
• Sustainability angle: Paris 2024 targeted 1.75 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, 50 per cent less than typical games. Ninety-five per cent of events used existing or temporary venues.
• Neeraj Chopra: The defending javelin gold medallist had not yet arrived in Paris at the time of the ceremony.

Static linkage: Olympic Games (Sports/IR), India's sporting achievements.

GS area: Economy, Infrastructure

The Budget 2024-25 announced 12 investment-ready industrial parks under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme.

• Plug and play definition: Parks with pre-built utilities (power, water, drainage, roads, warehousing) so companies can begin production quickly.
• NICDP corridors: Four major corridors at various stages: Delhi-Mumbai (DMIC), Chennai-Bengaluru (CBIC), East Coast Economic Corridor, and Odisha Economic Corridor.
• Total approved projects: 11 corridors with 32 projects in four phases across the country.
• Goal: Increase manufacturing's share of GDP from 17 per cent to 25 per cent (National Manufacturing Policy target).
• Special Economic Zones comparison: Unlike SEZs (which offered tax benefits), industrial corridor parks focus on world-class physical infrastructure.
• NICDIT: National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust is the implementing body.

Static linkage: Industrial corridors (Economy), Atmanirbhar Bharat.

GS area: Science and Technology, Energy

The Budget 2024-25 proposal for Bharat Small Reactors was the most significant change to India's nuclear governance since the Atomic Energy Act 1962.

• Private sector role: Private companies can now form joint ventures with the government (likely through NPCIL) to develop and operate BSRs.
• Technology basis: India's PHWR technology (natural uranium fuel, heavy water moderation). Internationally proven design basis.
• Capacity: Up to 300 MW per reactor unit.
• Global SMR race: Russia, USA, Canada, South Korea, Argentina, and China are all at advanced stages of SMR development. India's entry signals its intent to become a player in the global nuclear energy market.
• Regulatory framework: Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) will need to adapt its safety framework to smaller modular designs.
• Strategic context: With coal power facing environmental pressure and renewables needing storage solutions, nuclear provides baseload zero-carbon electricity.

Static linkage: Nuclear energy policy (S&T/Economy), energy mix.

GS area: Environment, Geography

300 reef modules were deployed off the Rameshwaram coast in Tamil Nadu to create artificial reefs.

• Location: 3 nautical miles offshore at 6 metres depth.
• Technology: Biorock technology uses low-voltage electrical current to precipitate calcium carbonate from seawater onto steel frames. This creates hard substrate on which corals and other marine organisms settle.
• Benefits: Creates habitat for fish and marine invertebrates. Supports sustainable fishing for 8 surrounding villages. Absorbs CO2 through carbonate formation.
• Rameshwaram ecology: The Gulf of Mannar (between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka) is one of India's richest marine biodiversity zones. The Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park was India's first marine protected area.

Static linkage: Marine biodiversity (Environment), Gulf of Mannar.

GS area: Polity, Science and Technology

The Supreme Court is examining the "right to be forgotten" as a component of the right to privacy under Article 21.

• Concept: The right to be forgotten allows individuals to request removal of personal information (photographs, court judgments, news reports) from online platforms and public records.
• India's status: No explicit statutory provision. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 (DPDPA) contains related provisions on data erasure but does not fully codify the right to be forgotten.
• Puttaswamy judgment (2017): The nine-judge Bench that unanimously held privacy a fundamental right under Article 21 acknowledged the right to be forgotten as one dimension of privacy.
• EU precedent: The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) contains a strong right to erasure. The landmark Google Spain case (2014) established the right against search engines.

Static linkage: Right to privacy (Polity), data protection law (S&T).

• Triput-class frigates: Goa Shipyard Limited is building two P1135.6 stealth frigates under Russian technology transfer. The P1135.6 design is an advanced stealth frigate. The Russian-built Tushil was expected for delivery in September 2024 and Tamal in February 2025.
• Project Cheetah update: Banni grassland in southern Kutch, Gujarat, is being prepared for potential cheetah habitat expansion. Chital (spotted deer) are being introduced to establish a prey base. No leopards are present in Banni, making it suitable for cheetah.
• Golan Heights attack: An Israeli airstrike followed a rocket attack on Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 people, mostly children. The Golan Heights is a plateau seized by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and effectively annexed by Israel in 1981.