Current Affairs – August 03-04, 2025

{GS2 – Polity – IC – Elections} Green Election

Context (TP): A successful green election model demonstrating low-waste, climate-conscious polling has prompted calls for nationwide replication by the Election Commission of India.

A Green Election refers to an environmentally sustainable electoral process that minimises ecological impact by reducing plastic use, promoting biodegradable materials, and encouraging eco-friendly practices in all stages of election management.

Key Pillars of a Green Election Framework

Transitioning to green elections requires modular reforms in material, mobility, and messaging.
Biodegradable Material: Use compostable booths, banners, and furnishings to eliminate plastic waste.
Waste Segregation: Ensure three-bin waste management at all polling and counting centres.
Green Booths: Construct booths using recyclable, reusable, and low-emission construction materials.
Digital Outreach: Encourage social media campaigning over physical posters and printed materials.
Public Transport Use: Promote carpooling and mass transit for voters and campaign workers.
Green Incentives: Offer saplings to voters as symbolic rewards for sustainable participation.

India: Kerala banned single-use plastic in elections, Goa used biodegradable booths, and Punjab set up green booths with sapling distribution, marking a shift toward eco-friendly electoral practices.
Global: Sri Lanka ran a carbon-audited, fully offset election campaign, while Estonia’s e-voting model reduced carbon emissions and increased voter engagement.

{GS2 – Vulnerable Sections – Elderly} Kerala’s Draft Policy for Elder Persons

Context (IE): Kerala, undergoing India’s fastest demographic ageing, released a draft policy ensuring institutional care, legal safeguards, and decentralised elder support.

About the Draft State Policy for Elder Persons

Policy Integration: The policy mainstreams elderly issues into State plans and institutional frameworks.
Focus Areas: Prioritizes integrated care, social justice, and institutional elder support systems.
Legal Expansion: Proposes a state-level law exceeding national elder welfare provisions.
Budget Allocation: Reserves 5% state budget, 10% local funds, plus a property tax cess.
Monitoring Tools: Applies community audits and digital tracking for elder service delivery.
Trained Cadre: Deploys dedicated elder-care officers in each local government body.
Oversight Bodies: Constitutes the Vayojana Commission and Council for policy oversight and advice.
Peer Networks: Forms local elder groups for psychosocial care and mutual peer support.
Care Planning: Mandates annual status reports and individual care plans by local governments.
Disaster Inclusion: Establishes one-stop elder centres and geo-tags homes for disaster safety.

Read More> India’s Elderly Population

Context (TP): Aryabhatta College’s Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) initiative reflects NEP 2020’s thrust on integrating traditional Indian knowledge into higher education through scientific methods.

About Indian Knowledge Systems

It was introduced by the Ministry of Education (MoE) under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Aim: To revive and integrate India’s ancient intellectual traditions into modern education.
IKS Centre: Over 50 government-funded Indian Knowledge Systems centres have been established.
Functions:
- Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Coordinate and promote interdisciplinary IKS research across national & international institutions.
- Group Formation: Establish & mentor subject-specific research groups comprising scholars from diverse institutions.
- Knowledge Dissemination: Promote popularisation schemes for Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS).
- Funding Support: Facilitate funding avenues for IKS-related research projects & academic initiatives.
- Policy Advocacy: Make policy recommendations for Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) promotion.

Suggestions for Improvement

Academic Integrity: Mandate evidence-based research & peer-review to uphold academic integrity and counter pseudoscience.
Knowledge Pluralism: Incorporate Buddhist, Jain, tribal, & regional traditions alongside Vedic sources.
Curricular Integration: Introduce IKS as optional, interdisciplinary courses complementing modern disciplines to ensure voluntary engagement.
Learning Accessibility: Develop multilingual, digital teaching aids and train educators through FDPs for effective classroom implementation.
Maintain Transparency: Clarify that IKS is academically driven, and engage openly with critics to build trust and credibility.
Course Evaluation: Use feedback, audits, and external reviews to improve IKS course quality & relevance continuously.

{GS3 – IE – Employment} Education-Employment Paradox

Context (TH): India faces a growing education-employment paradox, with expanding education not resulting in proportional jobs, highlighting systemic policy mismatches.

Education–Employment Disconnect

Regional Gaps: Despite similar enrollment levels, employability outcomes differ widely across states.
Kerala Paradox:
- 100% literacy & gender parity, yet 42.3% graduate unemployment (highest in India).
- 70% of higher education in general streams is misaligned with market needs.
- Less than 10% of institutions offer STEM/vocational programs (NAS 2021).
- Over 2.1 million Keralites work abroad, indicating domestic job deficits.
Bihar: Graduate unemployment at 33.9%; only 25.7% of youth (18–23) enrolled in higher education.
Uttar Pradesh: Low school completion; weak industry–academia collaboration.
Tamil Nadu: Graduate unemployment at 23.4%, lowest among major states; strong polytechnic, vocational, and industry linkages (NSDC 2022).
Karnataka: Public–private training initiatives support market-relevant soft and hard skills.

Issues Concerning Employability in Current Policy Frameworks

Low Skilling Rate: Only 17% youth receive formal vocational training (NSDC 2022); far below the global peer average.
Accreditation Deficit: 60% of private colleges lack NAAC recognition, impacting quality (UGC).
NEP Rollout Issues: Kerala’s delayed four-year UG rollout reflects weak NEP 2020 implementation.
Counselling Gap: According to NCERT’s NAS 2021, only 13% of schools provide formal career guidance.
Opaque R&D Schemes: Missions like National Quantum, i-Hub, and i-STEM lack public audits, outcome data, and transparency in progress.

Policy Redirection for Education–Employability Alignment

Career Counselling: Use models like Delhi’s Desh Ke Mentor to institutionalise early career guidance.
Vocational–Academic integration: Implement Germany’s Berufsschule and Singapore’s ITE models.
Placement Metrics: Add job outcome data to college accreditation and rankings (Tamil Nadu model).
Curriculum–Skill Linkage: Gujarat’s Skill India–Samagra Shiksha pilot demonstrates how NSDC and MoE can incorporate skilling into formal education pathways.
Skills Registry: A national tracker like NASSCOM’s registry can map degree-to-job outcomes effectively.

{GS3 – IE – Industry} Towards Industrial Self-Reliance

Context (FE): India’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat & Viksit Bharat@2047 goals are driving self-reliance in heavy industries & automobiles through sustainable initiatives led by the Ministry of Heavy Industries.

Key Initiatives Promoting Self-Reliance

Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes

Automobile Components: ₹25,938 crore allocated (FY23-FY27) to boost domestic production of Advanced Automotive Technology (AAT) with 6 OEMs & 7 component makers achieving over 50% value addition.
Advanced Chemistry Cell: ₹18,100 crore under ACC to localise EV battery manufacturing, cut imports & ensure affordable, quality supply.

Electric Vehicle Push

FAME I & II: Encouraged EV adoption and built early infrastructure.
PM E-DRIVE (2024): Comprehensive support for electric 2Ws, 3Ws, buses, trucks, ambulances; modernises testing and certification.
NITI Aayog Projection: 70% commercial cars, 30% private cars, 40% buses, and 80% two/three-wheelers will be electric by 2030.

Capital Goods Sector

Competitiveness Enhancement Scheme: Initiated In 2014, under the Ministry of Heavy Industries, it was scaled up in 2022 with ₹1,207 crore.
- Supports MSMEs via Samarth centres and advanced skilling while industry growth is from ₹1.59 lakh crore (FY15) to ₹3.84 lakh crore (FY25).
- Sub-sectors such as machine tools, textile machinery, and heavy construction equipment have tripled in output.

Indigenous Rare Earth Magnet Production

Focused on reducing import dependence for EV motors, wind turbines, & electronics, supported through R&D and strategic collaborations.

Innovation Acceleration

CAMRAS programme (IISc Bengaluru): Catalysing robotics, defence, space, and green tech development through public-private partnerships.

Impact of India’s Automotive Shift

Global Rank: India becomes the 3^rd largest automobile market, overtaking Japan.
EV Surge: Sales rose from 2,343 (FY15) to 19.67 lakh (FY25), driven by FAME and state policies.
Energy & Environment: Reduces oil imports & supports Net Zero 2070 targets through cleaner mobility.
Industrial Growth: Strengthens EV supply chains, including batteries, semiconductors, & charging infra.
Export Push: Boosts India’s role as a global hub for EVs and auto components.
Job Creation: Expands employment in R&D, manufacturing, and green mobility sectors.

{GS3 – Envi – Issues} Bird Mortality Crisis in India’s Wind Energy Hub

Context (TH): Recently, Nature Scientific Reports revealed that wind farms in Rajasthan’s Thar Desert have the highest bird mortality rates globally.

Key Findings

Alarming Mortality: Around 4,464 bird deaths per 1,000 sq. km annually, with an average of 1.24 deaths per turbine per month in the Thar region.
Contributing Factors: Thar’s location on the Central Asian Flyway, poor turbine design, collision with power lines, and high-density raptor population (E.g., Eagles and Kites).
Species Vulnerability: Large raptors are especially at risk due to their low flight agility, slow reproductive rates, and long lifespans.

Suggested Mitigation Measures

Blade Visibility Enhancement: Painting one turbine blade black to reduce collisions.
Timed Shutdowns: Halting turbine operations during peak bird migration periods.
Eco-sensitive Planning: Avoiding wind farm development in biodiversity hotspots and critical flyway zones.

India’s Wind Energy

Installed Capacity: India’s wind energy capacity stands at 51.3 GW as of mid-2025 (MNRE).
Estimated Potential: According to the National Institute of Wind Energy, India has a gross wind potential of 1163.9 GW at a hub height of 150 meters.
Offshore Wind Target: Under its Offshore Wind Policy, India aims to install 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 (MNRE).

{GS3 – S&T – Cybersecurity} Bharat NCX 2025

Context (PIB): Recently, the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) organised the Bharat National Cybersecurity Exercise 2025, a significant initiative to bolster India’s cyber defence.

The NSCS is India’s top body for formulating & coordinating national security and strategic policies. It functions under the National Security Council (NSC), chaired by the Prime Minister and led by the National Security Advisor (NSA).

Key Highlights

Focus Areas: Security of Industrial Control Systems (ICS), AI-driven threats such as adversarial AI attacks and deepfake manipulation.
Core Modules: Security Operations Centres (SOC), Application Programming Interface (API) Security, Reverse Engineering & Malware Analysis (REMA), Digital Forensics & Incident Response (DFIR).
Stratex (Strategic Exercise): Simulated national-level cyber crises to boost inter-agency coordination, real-time response and threat containment.
Startup Exhibition: Showcased cybersecurity innovations and enabled knowledge-sharing among Chief Information Security Officers, promoting homegrown resilience.

Significance

Boosted readiness to counter cyber threats in critical sectors like energy, defence, & communication.
Promoted public-private-academic collaboration to strengthen the cybersecurity ecosystem.
Advanced digital sovereignty through secure, self-reliant infrastructure under Digital India.

Read More > Cybersecurity in India

{Prelims – Envi – Species} New Antlion Species from Kerala

Context (TH): Three antlion species were recorded for the first time in Kerala’s Western Ghats, marking a significant ecological extension of typically dry-zone species into humid forest habitats.

About Antlion

Nocturnal Insects: Antlions are weak-flying insects active at night in arid ecosystems.
Morphological Traits: Adults have long antennae and exhibit vertical, fluttering wing movement.
Larval Pit Trap: Larvae dig conical sand pits to trap ants and other prey, inspiring the name ‘antlion’.
Habitat Preference: Prefer loose, dry sandy soils suitable for larval pit construction.
Ecological Indicator: Presence signals undisturbed, well-drained, arid or semi-arid ecosystems.
Global Range: Inhabit dry tropical and subtropical zones across all major continents.
Indian Spread: Common in arid regions of Rajasthan and peninsular semi-arid zones.

Newly Recorded Antlion Species

Indopalpares pardus: India’s largest antlion; leopard-like wings offer effective camouflage.
Palpares contrarius: Identified by rare wing venation unique to the Palparinae antlion group.
Stenares harpyia: Large-bodied antlion with clubbed antennae and slow, moth-like flight.

Range Extension: Represents expansion of dry-zone antlions into humid Western Ghats habitat.

Credit: TH

{Prelims – In News} National Waterway 57

Context (PIB): Recently, National Waterway-57 on the Kopili River in Assam was operationalised with the first cargo trial run between Chandrapur (Kamrup) and Hatsingimari (South Salmara).

About National Waterway 57

Geographic Location: NW-57 spans 46 km entirely along Assam’s Kopili River.
Nodal Agency: It is managed by IWAI under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways.
Objective: It supports intra-state water freight in line with the goals of Maritime India Vision 2030.

Significance

Regional Revival: It revives Assam’s inland waterways and boosts economic activity.
Modal Shift: Promotes freight transition from roads to waterways, reducing emissions and congestion.
Network Expansion: NW-57 operationalised 1,168 km of cargo routes in Assam across four waterways.
- These include NW-2 (Brahmaputra), NW-16 (Barak), NW-31 (Dhansiri), and NW-57 (Kopili).

About the Kopili River

The Kopili is an interstate river flowing through Meghalaya and Assam.
Origin: Rises in the Saipung Reserve Forest, located in the Borail Range of Meghalaya, at an elevation of about 1,525 metres.
Joins Brahmaputra: It is a south-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra.
Drainage Basin: It drains parts of North Cachar Hills, Karbi Anglong, Nagaon, and Morigaon.
Endemic Flora: The valley harbours Carissa kopilii, a rare plant species.

Read More > Inland Waterways

{Prelims – In News} Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign

Context (PIB): The Ministry of Tourism recently announced that 30 e-tourist visas have been issued under the Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign.

About Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign

The Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Tourism launched in 2024 to engage the global Indian diaspora in promoting tourism to India.
Objective: Promote Indian destinations, heritage sites, and products globally to boost global tourism share and foster cultural goodwill through the diaspora.
e-Visa Provision: One lakh free e-visas will be issued to eligible foreign nominees.
Diaspora Role: OCI cardholders serve as tourism ambassadors and can nominate five foreigners.
Registration: A dedicated portal enables nomination and tracking of referred tourists.

Overseas Citizens of India are foreign nationals of Indian origin with lifelong visa-free entry and residency rights, but they cannot vote or hold constitutional positions.

{Prelims – In News} BlueBird Communications Satellite

Context (TH): ISRO is set to launch the Block-2 BlueBird communications satellite aboard LVM3, following the successful deployment of the NISAR satellite.

Block-2 is the upgraded version of BlueBird satellites. Block-1 BlueBird satellites were launched in 2024 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
LVM3 (formerly GSLV Mk III) is ISRO’s heaviest three-stage medium-lift launch vehicle for geostationary and crewed missions.

About BlueBird Satellite

BlueBird is an advanced American communications satellite developed by AST SpaceMobile.
Launch Site: It will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
Design: It weighs 6,500 kg with a 64 m² antenna for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) operations.
Data Capability: It supports 40 MHz bandwidth with peak transmission speeds up to 120 Mbps.
Application: It enables space-based broadband access and voice calls for smartphones.

ISRO’s Upcoming Missions

Uncrewed Missions: The First of the three uncrewed test missions is scheduled in December 2025.
Gaganyaan Mission: Human-rated LVM3 is tested; orbital module is in an advanced stage.
Indian Space Station: Commissioning begins in 2028 and is expected to be completed by 2035.