{GS1 – Geo} Tsunami Warning in Japan
- An earthquake is the shaking of the Earth’s surface caused by seismic waves produced by the sudden release of energy from movements in the Earth’s crust or upper mantle.
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About Tsunami
- A tsunami is a series of powerful ocean waves caused by the sudden, large-scale displacement of water, usually in oceans or large lakes.
- The term “tsunami” is a Japanese word meaning “harbour wave.”
- Major Examples: Include the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami caused by a magnitude 9.1–9.3 earthquake near Sumatra, and the 2011 Japan tsunami caused by a magnitude 9.0 undersea quake.
Causes of Tsunamis
- Earthquakes: It is the most common cause (about 80%). Megathrust earthquakes at subduction zones with a magnitude of 7.0 or above mainly trigger tsunamis.
- Landslides: Coastal or submarine landslides can violently displace water, creating large waves near the source that diminish with distance.
- Volcanic Activity: Explosive underwater eruptions or the collapse of volcanic islands can push large water volumes upward, generating tsunamis.
- Other Causes: Large oceanic meteorite impacts or underwater explosions can cause tsunami-like waves.
Characteristics of Tsunami Waves
- Speed: In deep oceans, tsunamis may travel at over 800 km/h, yet appear only as low, broad swells.
- Wavelength: They have extremely long wavelengths, often hundreds of kilometres between crests.
- Shoaling Effect: As they enter shallow water, speed drops, but wave height and force increase dramatically, sometimes surpassing 10m at the shore.
- Wave Train: Tsunamis arrive as a series of waves minutes to hours apart, often preceded by a sudden recession of water from the shore.
Read More > Tsunami | Kamchatka Earthquake & Tsunami
{GS2 – Governance} One Nation One Licence One Payment **
- Context (IE | BS): A DPIIT-led committee released a working paper titled ‘One Nation, One License, One Payment’ proposing a new copyright framework for AI training.
- India would become the first to adopt a statutory licensing model with retrospective royalty obligations if the proposal is implemented.
Key Recommendations
- Blanket License: Introduce a compulsory license permitting AI developers to use all lawfully accessed copyrighted works for training.
- Hybrid Compensation Model: Provide creators with statutory remuneration while ensuring developers non-discriminatory access to training data.
- Centralised Body: Create Copyright Royalties Collective for AI Training (CRCAT), a non-profit body to collect royalties from AI companies and distribute them to rights holders.
- Royalty Rates: Adopt a fair, revenue-based royalty model determined by a government-appointed expert committee to ensure nationwide uniformity.
- Retroactive Payment: Apply royalty payments retrospectively to commercially successful AI systems already trained on copyrighted materials.
- Data disclosure: Mandate AI developers to submit a ‘Sufficiently Detailed Summary’ of all datasets used to ensure transparency.
Need for an AI Royalty Framework for India
- Legal Gap: Addresses the lack of legal exceptions for text-and-data mining or AI training in India; the scope of existing exceptions under the Copyright Act, 1957, remains unclear.
- Fair Compensation: Ensures payment for sectors heavily used in AI training; E.g. India’s publishing industry alone generates ₹8,000+ crore annually, yet receives zero compensation from AI dataset use.
- Level Playing Field: Prevents dominance of large players in licensing; E.g. top AI firms raised $50+ billion globally in 2024, widening the bargaining gap with small Indian creators/startups.
- Digital Sovereignty: Establishes India as a rule-setter in AI governance; E.g., India is home to 1.3 million registered creators, giving global weight to a statutory model.
- Reduced Litigation: Reduces infringement under Section 51 of the Copyright Act, 1957, lowering disputes; E.g. DNPA publishers (48 major Indian news outlets) have filed cases against unlicensed AI training.
Challenges for Implementation
- Global Precedent Risk: No major economy mandates government-fixed rates, raising unpredictability.
- Rate-Setting Complexity: Diverse content sectors complicate pricing; E.g. India has over 20 copyright categories with varying economic values, making uniform rates difficult.
- Institutional Capacity Gaps: CRCAT must manage huge datasets, requiring advanced auditing tools.
- Startup Burden: Royalty and retroactive payments may impact scalability; for example, India’s AI startup ecosystem crossed $1.5 billion in funding in 2024, but margins remain thin for early-stage players.
- Judicial Uncertainty: Rate challenges may clog courts (22,000+ IP-related pending cases in 2023).
Way Forward
- Adaptive Regulation: Begin with flexible royalty tiers and revise based on market outcomes; E.g. similar to phased tariff adjustments used in India’s telecom sector.
- Tech–Creator Dialogue: Build continuous consultation channels between AI firms and creative sectors to reduce conflicts; E.g., similar to Australia’s bargaining code consultations.
- Support For Startups: Offer concessional royalty slabs or credits; E.g., modelled on MSME support frameworks like Startup India Seed Fund and Digital India Innovation Fund to ease early-stage costs.
- Strengthen CRCAT: Build automated audit engines, royalty calculators, and metadata verification systems for efficient distribution.
{GS2 – Governance} Karnataka Hate Speech Bill, 2025
- Context (IE | TH): Karnataka has introduced the Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, 2025, to create India’s first State-level law explicitly defining hate speech.
Key Provisions of Karnataka Hate Speech Bill, 2025
- Explicit Definition: Covers expressions causing injury, hostility, or disharmony based on religion, caste, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, disability, or place of birth.
- Punishment Range: Imprisonment from 2 to 10 years with fines, based on severity and recurrence.
- Collective Liability: If a crime is linked to an organisation, office-bearers can be held as culprits.
- Online Regulation: The State is empowered to remove or restrict digital content carrying hate speech.
- Suo Motu Action: Enables police to act without a formal complaint in specified circumstances.
India’s Legal Framework Against Hate Speech
- BNS Section 196 (Ex-153A IPC): Penalises promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, language, etc.
- BNS Section 299 (Ex-295A IPC): Punishes deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings.
- BNS Section 353: Penalises statements likely to incite offences against State or disturb public order.
- IT Act 2015 (Section 66A): Previously used for online content, struck down by the Supreme Court (Shreya Singhal Judgement) for being vague and overbroad.
- Tehseen Poonawalla Judgment (2018): Mandated nodal officers to prevent hate crimes and mob violence, especially related to targeted group attacks.
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Challenges in Hate Speech Regulation
- Low Convictions: Only 1 in 5 cases under Sec. 153A result in conviction (20.2%, NCRB).
- Over-criminalisation Risk: 2,000+ arrests annually, but weak evidence collection leads to acquittals.
- Online Escalation: 70% hate speech content originates online/off social media (NCRB).
- Subjective Definition: SC noted (2023) that difficulty in “defining hate speech objectively” leads to misuse.
- Political Influence: Hate speech FIR filings rise by 30–50% before elections (Common Cause study, 2022).
Way Forward
- Clear Definition: Adopt harm-based definitions (incitement + targeting) to avoid vague interpretation. (Law Commission 267th Report).
- Independent Nodal: Create independent nodal authorities outside the police chain for hate speech monitoring. E.g. UK’s Crown Prosecution Service Hate Crime Units.
- Digital Protocols: Mandate 48-hour takedown windows and traceability for repeat hate content pages.
- Evidence Standards: Develop forensic documentation protocols for voice/video hate content to improve conviction. E.g. Delhi Police Cyber Forensics Lab protocols for hate speech.
{GS2 – IR} India–UK Defence Partnership
- Context (IE): India and the UK are deepening defence cooperation through joint exercises and a 10-year Defence Industrial Roadmap signalling a stronger Indo-Pacific partnership.
India–UK Defence Partnership
- Operational Interoperability: Regular high-end exercises strengthen joint warfighting skills and trust; E.g., Ajeya Warrior 2025 trained both armies in complex multi-domain operations in Rajasthan.
- Maritime Cooperation: Shared Indo-Pacific priorities push both navies to coordinate on sea control and air defence; E.g., KONKAN 2025 saw INS Vikrant operate with HMS Prince of Wales.
- Defence Industrial Synergy: Complementary strengths allow co-production. E.g., 10-year Defence Industrial Roadmap supports Make in India while boosting UK defence manufacturing.
- High-Value Defence Deals: Government-to-government agreements boost strategic trust; E.g., the £350-million deal to supply Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM) to the Indian Army.
- Advanced Technology Collaboration: Joint work on emerging propulsion enhances future capabilities; E.g., UK–India cooperation on maritime electric propulsion for Indian naval platforms.
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Potential of India–UK Defence Partnership
- Indo-Pacific Stability: Joint carrier operations and maritime coordination strengthen a rules-based order and deter coercive actions in critical sea lanes.
- Counter-Terror & Intelligence: Deeper information-sharing and joint training enhance India–UK capability to tackle cross-border terrorism and emerging hybrid threats.
- Resilient Supply Chains: Defence-industrial collaboration reduces dependence on single-source suppliers and supports secure, diversified global defence ecosystems.
- Humanitarian Operations: Combined expertise in logistics, airlift, and disaster relief boosts joint response capacity for regional crises, from evacuations to natural disasters.
- Emerging Tech Governance: Cooperation in cyber, AI-enabled defence systems, and space domain awareness helps shape global norms for responsible military technology use.
Read More > India-UK Bilateral Talks
{GS3 – Envi} New Findings on Plastic Pollution
- Context (DTE): The Pew Charitable Trusts released the “Breaking the Plastic Wave 2025” report to assess rising plastic pollution impacts and propose system-wide solutions.
Key Findings of the Study
Plastic Production
- Growth: Global plastic pollution will more than double from 130 Mt in 2025 to 280 Mt by 2040.
- Output: Annual primary plastic production will rise 52% by 2040, increasing twice as fast as waste-management capacity.
- Waste Gap: The global share of uncollected plastic waste will nearly double from 19% in 2025 to 34% by 2040.
Health Impacts
- Health Burden: Plastic-related health impacts are projected to increase by 75% by 2040.
- Costs Burden: Annual costs of health effects from plastic chemicals have exceeded US$1.5 trillion.
- Toxic Chemicals: Of the ~16,000 chemicals used in plastics, at least 25% are harmful to human health.
Climate & Microplastic
- Emission Surge: Greenhouse gas emissions from the plastic system will rise 58%, reaching 4.2 Gt CO₂-equivalent by 2040.
- If treated as a country, the plastic industry would become the world’s third-largest emitter.
- Microplastic: Pollution from microplastics is expected to increase by more than 50% by 2040.
- Major Sources: Microplastics account for 13% of plastic pollution in 2025, mainly from tyre wear and paint, agriculture, and recycling.
- Reduce virgin plastic production and shift toward reuse and refill systems.
- Mandate strict design standards to remove hazardous chemical additives from the supply chain.
- Expand collection and sorting systems in the Global South.
- Extend regulations beyond packaging to agriculture, construction, automotive and microplastics.
{Prelims – A&C} UNESCO Recognises Deepavali as Intangible Cultural Heritage*
- Context (TH | PIB): UNESCO inscribed Deepavali on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity during the 20th ICH Committee session hosted at New Delhi’s Red Fort.
- Deepavali becomes India’s 16th element on UNESCO’s ICH list, following recent additions such as Kumbh Mela (2017), Kolkata Durga Puja (2021) and Garba of Gujarat (2023).
- UNESCO: UN specialised agency (est. 1945) promoting cooperation in education, science, & culture; headquartered in Paris, with 194 members (India a founding member) and 12 associate members.
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About Deepavali
- Origins: A 2,500-year-old Indian festival with roots in ancient harvest celebrations, later assimilated into multiple religious traditions across regions.
- Hindu Traditions: Marks Rama’s return to Ayodhya, Lakshmi’s birth, Krishna’s defeat of Narakasura, and the Pandavas’ return – symbolising victory of light, dharma and renewal.
- Other Religions: Observed as Mahavira’s Nirvana (Jainism), Bandi Chhor Divas marking Guru Hargobind’s release (Sikhism), and Tihar/Newar Buddhist observances in Nepal.
- Cultural Practices: Celebrated over five days (Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj) with diyas, pujas, home decoration, gifting, and region-specific rituals across India and Nepal.
- Deepavali drives major economic activity across textiles, gold, handicrafts, fire crackers and e-commerce; increasingly observed globally with official recognition in several countries.
About 20th UNESCO ICH Committee Session
- India is hosting the 20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage from 8-13 December 2025 at the Red Fort, New Delhi.
- Agenda: Examine new nominations for inscription, assess safeguarding reports, review listed elements, decide on international assistance, and discuss best practices for safeguarding “living heritage.”
- Participation: Involves 800+ delegates from 180+ countries, including Committee members, UNESCO officials, experts, accredited NGOs and ICH practitioners.
- Significance: Enhances India’s cultural diplomacy and soft power, showcases national heritage, strengthens cooperation with UNESCO, and positions India as a leader in global heritage discourse.
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Read More > UNESCO World Heritage Sites
{Prelims – Geo} Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) *
- Context (NW): Meteorologists have warned that a Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) event might occur in December 2025.
- SSW is a rapid rise in temperature of up to 50°C within a few days in the stratosphere.
- It is triggered by Rossby waves rising upward from the troposphere that dissipate in the stratosphere, transferring energy and momentum.
- This weakens the strong, circulating polar winds called the polar vortex; as the air stops spinning, it compresses due to deceleration, and heats up significantly.
- The warmed air mass in the stratosphere then spreads downward, disrupting the jet stream and letting cold Arctic air spill into the mid-latitudes.
- Surface Impact: It causes prolonged cold spells, snowstorms, and unusual weather in North America, Europe, and Asia, with effects appearing after 1 to 3 weeks.
- The polar vortex is a year-round low-pressure, cold-air region around the poles, which becomes strongest in winter. “Vortex” refers to the anticlockwise airflow that keeps colder air near the Poles.
- Rossby waves are large-scale bends in high-altitude winds and ocean currents caused by Earth’s rotation and variations in Coriolis forces.
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Read More > Polar Vortex & Ozone Hole
{Prelims – Eco} Hindu Rate of Growth
- Context (IE): PM Modi criticised the phrase “Hindu rate of growth” for unfairly linking India’s past economic stagnation to Hindu culture.
- The term “Hindu rate of growth” describes India’s slow real GDP growth of about 3.5% per year from the 1950s to the 1980s.
- It refers to long-term real GDP growth and is not connected to religion-based economic behaviour in macroeconomic models.
- The term was introduced by Indian economist Professor Raj Krishna in 1978.
- He used it as a ‘polemical device’ to highlight the meagre growth that remained stable despite political upheavals, wars, and crises, indicating institutional stagnation.
- Economic Setting: The period featured a mixed economy with significant state control over key industries and a widespread system of permits and licences (‘License Raj’).
- Breakaway Phase: Selective deregulation in the 1980s raised growth to around 5.8%, and the 1991 liberalisation shifted India onto a sustained higher-growth path.
- GDP is the total value of all final goods & services produced within a country during a specific period.
- Real GDP is the inflation-adjusted value of all final goods and services produced within a country, calculated using the prices from a fixed base year.
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{Prelims – IR} Interpol Blue Corner Notice
- Context (ET): After the Goa nightclub fire that killed 25 people, Interpol issued a Blue Corner Notice within 48 hours to help track the missing owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane establishment.
About Interpol
- It is an international organisation that facilitates cooperation and collaboration among law enforcement agencies from different countries to combat transnational crime.
- It is the world’s largest international police organisation, established in 1923.
- It is headquartered in Lyon, France.
- It has 196 member countries (including India).
- It is headed by the Secretary-General, appointed by the General Assembly.
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About Interpol Blue Corner Notice
- Purpose: Collects information on a person’s identity or location connected to a criminal investigation.
- Request Mechanism: Issued by Interpol’s General Secretariat after a request from a member country’s National Central Bureau (NCB).
- Non-Arrest Notice: Unlike a Red Notice, it does not seek arrest, only intelligence collection.
Other Interpol Notices
- Red Notice: Locate and arrest wanted individuals for prosecution/sentence.
- Yellow Notice: Trace missing persons, especially children.
- Black Notice: Identify unidentified bodies.
- Green Notice: Warn about habitual offenders who may pose threats.
- Orange Notice: Warn of dangerous persons, objects, or events to public safety.
- Purple Notice: Share crime methods, tools, concealment techniques.
- Silver Notice (Pilot): Trace assets linked to criminal activity.
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{Prelims – S&T} Cosmic Filaments *
- Context (TH): Researchers have recently identified a cosmic filament approximately 50 million light-years long that contains at least 14 galaxies.
- Uniqueness: The galaxies were spinning in the same direction as the filament, in a coordinated motion that current models did not predict.
- Significance: The discovery indicates that ‘cosmic-web’ structures strongly influence how galaxies gain angular momentum and develop.
- The cosmic web is the large-scale structure of the universe, a vast, intricate network that shows how matter organises itself across billions of light-years.
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About Cosmic Filaments
- Cosmic filaments are extensive, thread-like structures that link galaxy clusters, creating the vast cosmic web network.
- They are the universe’s largest known structures, often extending hundreds of millions of light-years.
- Composition: They mainly consist of invisible dark matter, intergalactic gas, and galaxies.
- Formation: Gravity initially compressed matter into sheets, which then further collapsed at their intersections to form long, thin filaments.
- Structural Role: They form the backbone of the universe’s structure and act as cosmic highways that channel pristine gas and smaller galaxies from surrounding voids toward dense clusters.
- Significance: Filaments govern galaxy formation and growth; they impact galaxy structure, spin, and star-formation rates.
{Prelims – S&T} Biostimulants
- Context (DTE): Biostimulants are gaining policy and regulatory focus in India as a sustainable alternative to chemical-intensive farming.
About Biostimulants
- Biostimulants are natural or biologically derived substances or microorganisms that enhance plant growth, nutrient uptake and stress tolerance without supplying chemical fertilisers.
- Unlike traditional fertilisers, they do not directly provide nutrients; instead, they improve the nutrient uptake efficiency of the plants and boost plant metabolism.
- Sourced from seaweed extracts, humic and fulvic acids, protein hydrolysates, microbes, amino acids, and botanical extracts, commonly applied through foliar spraying.
- Regulated under the Fertiliser Control Order (1985) since 2021, with only notified products in Schedule VI permitted; oversight provided by the Central Biostimulants Committee.
Read More About > Biostimulants
{Prelims – Exercise} Military Exercise SURYAKIRAN
- Context (TH): India and Nepal concluded their joint military exercise SURYAKIRAN in Uttarakhand.
About Exercise SURYAKIRAN
- Initiated in 2011, it is an annual India-Nepal Army bilateral exercise held alternately in India and Nepal; the 19th edition (2025) was hosted at Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand.
- Trains both armies in sub-conventional operations, United Nations Chapter VII counter-terrorism tasks, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), and battalion-level drills in jungle & mountain.
- Uses Unmanned Aerial Systems, drone-based Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), AI-enabled tools and unmanned logistics platforms to enhance joint operational capability.
Read More > Major Military Exercises of India
{Prelims – In News} Counting Migrants in Census 2027
- Context (TH): The Census 2027 will use the de facto method to record migration data for each individual, based on their place of birth and last residence.
- An individual is identified as a migrant when their current location differs from their last residence.
- The Census will record the duration of stay at the current residence and the reasons for migration.
- The Census 2027 questionnaire will also add new categories to record migration related to climate change and natural disasters.
About Census 2027
- Census 2027 will be India’s first fully digital census, using mobile applications for data collection, replacing traditional paper-based forms.
- It will be conducted in two phases –
- House Listing and Housing Census: This phase lists all structures and households, recording details about housing conditions and essential amenities.
- Population Enumeration: Enumerators will visit each household to collect demographic, social, and economic data, including detailed migration information.
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Read More > Census 2027 | National Migration Survey 2026
{Prelims – In News} International Air Transport Association
- Context (TH): The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says India’s revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms are more restrictive than global standards.
- India’s phased rollout of the new FDTL norms caused major disruptions, including IndiGo’s large-scale cancellations and a 10% cut in its winter schedule to stabilise operations.
About IATA
- A global non-governmental trade association representing the airline industry; founded in 1945 in Havana, Cuba, succeeding the 1919 International Air Traffic Association.
- Structure: Headquarters in Montreal, Canada, with executive offices in Geneva, Switzerland; represents 317+ airlines from 120+ countries covering ~82% of global air traffic.
- Mandate: Advocates airline interests for fair regulation, reduced operational charges and harmonised global frameworks for aviation safety, efficiency and industry governance.
- It organises the World Air Transport Summit (WATS) annually on Sustainable Aviation Fuel, connectivity, decarbonisation, airport infrastructure and financing for green aviation transitions.
Read More > India’s Aviation Sector
{Prelims – In News} Bharat Ranbhoomi Darshan
- Context (NOA): Sikkim is hosting a supercar rally under Bharat Ranbhoomi Darshan initiative, covering key border routes to promote battlefield and border tourism.
About Bharat Ranbhoomi Darshan
- A digital platform (mobile app + web portal) developed by the Ministry of Defence with the Ministry of Tourism to enable public access to India’s historic battlefields and border sites.
- Covers 77 sites along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and Line of Control (LoC) such as Galwan Valley, Doklam, Longewala and Nathu La, previously restricted due to security sensitivity.
- Aims to boost border tourism and awareness of military history while offering virtual tours, key historical content, route details, and a single-window permit system for restricted border sites.
Read More > Siachen – The Highest Battlefield in the World
