29 March 2025

• Disaster: Operation Brahma was launched after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar near Mandalay.
• Environment: India's second National Gene Bank was announced in Union Budget 2025-26 to protect crop genetic diversity.
• Security: India's first First-Person View (FPV) kamikaze drone unit was operationalised by the Fleur-De-Lis Brigade.
• Governance: Section 44(3) of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act raised conflicts with the RTI Act.
• Ecology: Kasampatty Sacred Grove in Tamil Nadu's Dindigul district was designated as India's second Biodiversity Heritage Site.

GS area: International Relations (HADR), Disaster Management

A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar on March 28-29, 2025, near Mandalay. India launched Operation Brahma.

• Epicentre: Near Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city. Depth: about 10 km.
• Casualties: Over 3,000 deaths reported initially. Large-scale building collapse in Mandalay.
• India's response: Indian Air Force C-17 and C-130 transported NDRF teams, doctors and relief material. Indian Navy pre-positioned ships.
• Operation Brahma: India's HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief) operation for Myanmar. Named to reflect the Hindu-Buddhist cultural links between the two nations.
• Myanmar-India ties: India shares a 1,640 km border with Myanmar. Part of India's Neighbourhood First policy.
• Seismology: The Myanmar subduction zone (Burma Plate-Indian Plate boundary) is seismically active. Mandalay sits on the Sagaing Fault.

Static linkage: International relations (India-Myanmar), disaster management.

GS area: Environment (Biodiversity), Economy (Agriculture)

India announced the establishment of a second National Gene Bank (NGB) in the Union Budget 2025-26 for long-term conservation of plant genetic resources.

• First NGB: National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), Pusa, New Delhi. Holds 4.71 lakh accessions.
• Second NGB: To be built as a backup facility. Location: not yet finalized. Modelled on the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Norway).
• Types of storage: Seed bank (dry, cold storage for orthodox seeds), field gene bank (for vegetatively propagated crops like banana, sugarcane) and cryopreservation (tissue culture at -196°C).
• Significance: A single-location vulnerability. India's main gene bank at Pusa could be affected by fire, flood or power failure.
• FAO Treaty: ITPGRFA obligation to maintain national collections and share germplasm for food security.

Static linkage: Environment (biodiversity), economy (agriculture).

GS area: Science and Technology (Defence)

India operationalised its first domestic First-Person View (FPV) kamikaze drone capability through the Fleur-De-Lis Brigade.

• FPV drone: A small, low-cost drone fitted with explosive payload, controlled by an operator using a video headset (first-person view). A one-way attack drone.
• Cost: About 1.4 lakh rupees per unit (compared to millions for conventional guided missiles).
• Fleur-De-Lis Brigade: Indian Army unit (Assam-based) that was the first to induct FPV drones.
• Ukraine lesson: FPV drones have been used extensively in the Ukraine-Russia war, showing that cheap, mass-produced drones can neutralise expensive armoured systems.
• Indian production: Developed by Indian start-ups under the iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) programme.
• iDEX: Launched by the Ministry of Defence to engage start-ups in defence innovation.

Static linkage: Science and technology (defence, drones).

GS area: Polity (Governance, Digital Rights)

Section 44(3) of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 amends the RTI Act's Section 8(1)(j), raising transparency concerns.

• Section 8(1)(j), RTI Act: Currently exempts personal information from disclosure only where it has "no relationship to any public activity" or would "cause unwarranted invasion of privacy."
• Section 44(3), DPDP Act: Replaces the above with a blanket exemption for any personal information about third parties, effectively strengthening privacy over transparency.
• Concern: Activists argue this will prevent disclosure of personal details about public officials acting in public capacity.
• Right to Privacy (Justice Puttaswamy case, 2017): Recognised as a fundamental right under Article 21. But not absolute.
• RTI Act, 2005: Enacted to promote transparency. The amendment narrows its scope in favour of privacy.
• Balance: The conflict between privacy (DPDP) and transparency (RTI) is a central governance challenge.

Static linkage: Polity (governance, digital rights, RTI).

GS area: Science and Technology (AI), Governance

A report on India's AI readiness showed only 38 per cent of rural schools have computer labs; AI literacy remains urban-centric.

• AI Literacy report: Only 38 per cent of rural schools have computer labs (UDISE+ 2023).
• India's AI opportunity: A McKinsey estimate projected AI could add 1 trillion US dollars to India's economy by 2035.
• PM-e-Vidya: Under NIPUN Bharat and NEP 2020. Provides digital content for students.
• Atal Tinkering Labs: Set up in schools to promote innovation, coding and AI awareness. 10,000-plus labs targeted.
• NASCOM-NIELIT AI training: Certificate programmes in AI for rural youth.
• Gender gap: Only 28 per cent of India's STEM graduates are women; the AI workforce gap is higher.

Static linkage: Science and technology (AI), governance.

GS area: Environment (Biodiversity), Governance

Kasampatty Sacred Grove in Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu, was designated as India's second Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) in Tamil Nadu.

• Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS): Declared under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 by State Biodiversity Boards.
• First BHS in Tamil Nadu: Arittapatti village (2022), Madurai district (first BHS in Tamil Nadu).
• Kasampatty: Sacred grove in Dindigul district. Dense native tree cover with traditionally protected status.
• Sacred groves (Kavu/Kovil kadukadu): Traditional community-conserved areas in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other states. Often associated with a deity. Hunting and tree-felling are taboo.
• Significance: Sacred groves are among the oldest in-situ conservation mechanisms in India.
• National Biodiversity Authority: Apex body under the Biological Diversity Act.

Static linkage: Environment (biodiversity, sacred groves).

GS area: Environment (Marine Fisheries), Governance

India reaffirmed its 2017 ban on light fishing (using bright LED lights to attract fish at night) within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

• Light fishing: Deploying high-wattage lights on boats to attract marine organisms at night for mass harvesting.
• Ban: Notified in 2017. Applies to all vessels in India's EEZ (200 nautical miles from baseline).
• EEZ under UNCLOS: India has sovereign rights over living and non-living resources in its 200 nm EEZ.
• Enforcement: Indian Coast Guard and Fisheries Survey of India (FSI) patrol and monitor.
• Ecosystem impact: Light fishing disrupts the marine food web. Indiscriminate harvesting of juveniles reduces breeding populations.
• Marine Fisheries Regulation and Management Act (proposed): A long-pending national marine fisheries law to create a unified regulatory framework.

Static linkage: Environment (marine fisheries), governance.

• Heatwave 2024 review: A Ministry of Health review of heatwave deaths in 2024 counted 733 confirmed deaths across 17 states, with 10 to 12 peak heatwave days in North West India.
• Ministry of Cooperation audit: A CAG performance audit found the Ministry of Cooperation underutilised 689 crore rupees of its 2022-23 allocation for cooperative development.