First-ever batch of 17 female cadets graduated from the National Defence Academy (NDA) on May 30, 2025, a historic step marking the entry of women into cadet training alongside men, seen as a transformative milestone towards gender-inclusive military leadership and potentially opening paths for future women service chiefs.
Non-medical roles for women in the armed forces began in 1992 via the Women Special Entry Scheme (WSES), inducting women as Short Service Commission (SSC) officers in select branches. This initiated the formal inclusion of women beyond traditional medical roles.
The Supreme Court mandated Permanent Commission (PC) for women in all arms where SSC is permitted in 2020 (Babita Puniya v. Union of India), ruling that denying PC violated Article 14 and constituted unconstitutional sex-based discrimination. This allows women officers to hold command positions.
The Indian Air Force began experimental induction of women in combat roles (fighter pilots) in 2015, institutionalized in 2022. The Navy opened all branches, including submarines and aviation, to women officers from 2022. This signifies significant progress towards full inclusion of women in combat and operational roles.
The Agnipath scheme (2022) includes women recruits in all three Services (Army, Navy, Air Force) at the soldier level, a paradigm shift in recruitment norms beyond the officer cadre.
Key challenges faced by women include cultural/societal bias, limited combat roles in certain Army branches (like Infantry), work-life balance issues, psychological pressures, and infrastructure gaps. These issues affect career progression, representation, and retention.
Addressing these challenges requires equitable, role-specific training, gender sensitization programs, monitoring inclusion progress, promoting role models, adopting international best practices, and improving gender-sensitive infrastructure. This aims to balance operational effectiveness with gender equality for a more inclusive force.
Khichan Menar New Ramsar
Khichan (Phalodi) and Menar (Udaipur) wetlands in Rajasthan have been declared new Ramsar Sites. This is key because it adds to India’s list of globally important wetlands.
India now has a total of 91 Ramsar Sites, which is the highest number in Asia. This highlights India’s significant commitment to wetland conservation on a global scale.
Khichan is notable for hosting thousands of migratory Demoiselle cranes. This makes it a crucial site for bird migration and biodiversity conservation.
Menar, also known as ‘Bird Village’, is recognized for its successful community-led bird conservation efforts. This demonstrates the importance of local participation in environmental protection.
Rajasthan now has 4 Ramsar Sites, including the previously listed Sambhar Lake and Keoladeo Ghana National Park. This increases the state’s contribution to national wetland conservation efforts.
Wetlands are ecologically significant areas, defined as transition zones between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, crucial for biodiversity and hydrological cycles. Their protection is vital for ecological balance.
The Ramsar Convention provides a global framework for wetland conservation. India’s participation since 1982 underscores its commitment to international environmental agreements.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the additions as “Great news!” reflecting the government’s focus on environmental conservation and linking it to public participation, highlighting the political significance and broad support for these actions.
Exposomics: Env Health
Exposomics comprehensively studies the totality of environmental exposures throughout a lifetime. Why: It offers a holistic view, moving beyond single factors to understand complex interactions affecting health.
It considers both External factors like pollutants, diet, and lifestyle, and Internal factors such as inflammation and the gut microbiome. Why: These factors interact and cumulatively impact disease risk.
The approach captures multiple exposures across an individual’s entire life course. Why: This emphasizes cumulative and synergistic effects often missed in studies focusing on limited exposures at a specific time.
It is Discovery-Driven, employing high-throughput tools like mass spectrometry. Why: This helps identify previously unknown environmental risk factors and biomarkers.
Exposomics links environmental exposures to molecular-level biological changes (e.g., gene expression, metabolomics). Why: This supports personalized medicine and early disease detection by showing how exposures translate into biological responses.
It has significant Public Health Relevance. Why: It improves the understanding of environmental origins of chronic diseases, facilitating better risk assessments, interventions, and prevention strategies.
The field informs policy and societal impact. Why: It provides evidence for developing targeted environmental health regulations and public health programs.
Exposomics marks a transformative shift from traditional environmental health studies. Why: It offers a holistic, dynamic, and personalized framework for understanding and preventing environmentally influenced diseases.
IMEC
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is a strategic project designed to link India with Europe via the Middle East, enhancing trade, digital, and energy connectivity and is viewed as a counterweight to China’s BRI.
A senior Indian official warned that rising tensions and instability in West Asia, involving countries like Israel, Palestine, and Iran, could delay IMEC’s implementation.
Ongoing regional unrest creates uncertainty, impacting confidence needed for significant infrastructure investments crucial for IMEC’s progress.
Delayed rollout could disrupt India’s trade routes and supply chain connectivity with the Middle East and Europe.
A delay is also seen as a strategic setback for India’s aim of expanding its regional influence and diversifying global supply chains.
Investor confidence in the project may weaken amid the persistent instability in the region.
India continues to support IMEC and engages diplomatically with partners, stressing that regional peace and stability are essential conditions for the corridor’s development.
India is monitoring the situation and actively pursuing diplomatic measures to de-escalate tensions.
DPDP Act & Rules
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology sought public feedback on Draft Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules, 2025 for implementing the DPDP Act, 2023.
Stakeholder feedback is under review, and final rules are expected to be enforced soon, making the framework’s effectiveness topical.
The DPDP Act, 2023 is India’s first comprehensive data protection law, establishing a legal framework for handling digital personal data to safeguard individual privacy while allowing lawful data processing, enacted after the Supreme Court recognized privacy as a fundamental right.
The Act applies to digital personal data processed in India or for offering goods/services in India.
Personal data processing requires the Data Principal’s consent for a lawful purpose, with special provisions for children (<18) requiring verifiable parental consent and prohibiting harmful processing/advertising.
Data Principals have rights including access, correction, deletion, and grievance redressal, alongside a duty to avoid false complaints.
Data Fiduciaries must ensure data accuracy, implement security measures, notify breaches, and erase data once its purpose is fulfilled. Significant Data Fiduciaries have additional duties like appointing a Data Protection Officer.
Exemptions exist for specified agencies (security, public order), research, startups, and legal/judicial functions.
The Act establishes the Data Protection Board of India (DPBI) to monitor compliance, impose penalties, and handle grievances.
Key provisions in the Draft DPDP Rules, 2025 detail implementation, allowing government-approved data transfer outside India, setting data retention limits, prescribing a digital-first approach for DPBI and grievance redressal, defining graded responsibilities for fiduciaries (including startups/MSMEs), and outlining requirements for Consent Managers (Indian company, min Rs 2 cr net worth).
Concerns include excessive state exemptions, absence of certain data rights like portability, potentially unrestricted cross-border data flow depending on government discretion, and lack of explicit harm prevention measures.
The Act forms India’s first comprehensive framework; the Rules aim to enhance compliance and digital redressal, aligning with global standards while addressing local needs, with the institutional independence of the DPBI being vital.
India EV Policy Update
India introduced a new EV policy offering 15% import duty on fully built EVs. Why: Aims to attract global manufacturers and encourage local production setup.
Condition: Manufacturers must invest a minimum of ₹4,150 crore in India over 3 years. Why: Ensures significant foreign investment into the domestic EV manufacturing ecosystem.
Policy requires increasing domestic value addition (DVA): 25% within 3 years and 50% by the 5th year. Why: To build local supply chains and reduce reliance on imported components, fostering indigenous manufacturing.
Allows importing up to 8,000 fully built units per year per manufacturer for 5 years at the concessional duty. Why: Provides companies limited market access to build demand while they establish local manufacturing capabilities.
A key gap identified is the lack of a clear mandate for technology transfer. Why: Without mandatory technology sharing, India risks long-term dependence on foreign technology, particularly for advanced components like batteries and powertrains, potentially limiting its growth as a technology hub.
The policy is part of India’s broader efforts (like FAME and PLI schemes) to promote EVs, but specifically targets attracting major global passenger car manufacturers to set up significant local operations. Why: Aims for a targeted approach to scale up high-value manufacturing in the passenger EV segment.
Lady’s-Slipper
Lady’s-Slipper Orchid, once thought extinct in the UK, has been spotted growing naturally in the wild in England again after being rediscovered in 1930.
Known for its distinctive slipper-shaped labellum which helps trap insects for pollination.
Belongs to the Cypripedioideae subfamily of orchids.
Found globally in Europe, Asia, and North America, including in India’s Himalayan and Northeast hills.
Typically grows in moist, shady boreal/temperate forests and alpine zones, requiring specific soil and fungal conditions.
Threatened by overcollection, medicinal use, habitat loss, and difficulty in cultivation.
Conservation efforts in India include in-situ/ex-situ conservation, tissue culture, and habitat restoration led by BSI.
Listed under CITES Appendix I & II, IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered/Endangered, and India’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 Schedule III.
Iron Pollution: Ocean Cycle
Industrial iron pollution significantly disrupts ocean nutrient cycles. Why: It leads to depletion of essential nutrients in the ocean.
Human activity releases iron, boosting spring phytoplankton blooms but accelerating overall nutrient loss. Why: This rapid nutrient use and subsequent scarcity destabilize the marine ecosystem base.
Accelerated nutrient depletion threatens the entire marine food chain, from zooplankton to whales. Why: Marine life depends on these nutrients, putting species unable to adapt at risk.
Excess nutrients from pollution can trigger toxic harmful algal blooms (HABs). Why: HABs damage marine life and can be harmful to humans.
The problem of ocean nutrient depletion is worsened by climate change. Why: It adds further stress to already disrupted marine ecosystems.
Industrial emissions, including from sectors like iron and steel, are sources of this pollution. Why: These industries release pollutants that contribute excess iron to the environment.
India’s First M LLM
Launched by Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh at the BharatGen Summit 2025, signifying its official unveiling as a major national AI project.
It is India’s first indigenously developed, government-funded Multimodal Large Language Model (LLM), important as it highlights domestic innovation and strategic national investment in AI.
Operates in 22 Indian languages and is trained on diverse data types (text, images, audio, video), enabling widespread use across India’s linguistic landscape and interpretation of complex, real-world information.
Developed under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) by the TIH Foundation at IIT Bombay, indicating a collaborative, structured approach driven by a government mission.
Aims to create AI that is ethical, inclusive, multilingual, and deeply rooted in Indian values, focusing on providing region-specific solutions in sectors like healthcare (including AI doctors speaking native languages for telemedicine), agriculture, education, and governance, aligning AI development with national needs and values.
Positioned as a “national mission” aligning with the vision of “India’s Techade”, underscoring its strategic importance for fostering both innovation and inclusion across the country.
BESS: India’s Green Pillar
Grid Stability and Reliability: BESS balances the grid by storing intermittent solar/wind energy and releasing it during shortfalls, smoothing fluctuations and enhancing reliability.
Supporting Renewable Expansion: Government mandates for co-located storage with new solar projects ensure grid resilience necessary for higher renewable energy integration.
Declining Costs: Significant drops in lithium-ion battery prices and tariffs are making BESS more affordable and competitive with conventional power sources.
Policy and Regulatory Support: Measures like Energy Storage Obligations requiring increased storage from renewables and Viability Gap Funding reducing upfront costs are driving deployment and investment.
Utility-Scale and Urban Use: Operational standalone BESS improves power quality, benefiting consumers, and plans are underway to integrate storage with urban EV infrastructure.
Projected Growth: India requires substantial BESS capacity (47 GW/236 GWh by 2031–32) to support its large future solar and wind targets, indicating the scale and urgency.
Investments and Innovation: Rising domestic battery manufacturing and advanced tech development, supported by policies and private sector, are accelerating growth.
Broader Impact: Widespread BESS adoption can delay costly grid upgrades, improve energy security, and support a shift to a resilient, modern power system.
Eco Textiles
India, as a major textile producer and exporter aiming for $350 billion by 2030 and 35 million jobs, must adopt sustainability (regenerative farming, traceability, circularity). This is because traditional strategies are insufficient against geopolitical tensions, climate vulnerability, and shifting consumer demands for ethical sourcing, making sustainability the new competitive advantage needed for growth.
Regenerative farming is crucial as it improves soil health, biodiversity, and climate resilience. Successful pilots show higher yields, reduced chemical costs, and better incomes for farmers, supporting rural livelihoods and ensuring product sustainability compliance required in global markets.
Traceability solutions are essential for building consumer trust (37% care) and ensuring ethical practices across the supply chain. Initiatives like Kasturi Cotton and tech solutions are driven by trade negotiations and standards, which require authenticated, environmentally conscious products for market access.
Product circularity is vital for reducing textile waste, where India contributes 8.5% globally. By focusing on longer lifecycles and waste reuse, it drives innovation, creates jobs, and improves resource efficiency, aligning with national development goals like Viksit Bharat.
Despite the push, challenges include fragmented implementation, low awareness among small manufacturers, and limited infrastructure. Addressing these through scaling practices, technology investment, R&D support, and policy alignment with green standards is necessary to achieve global leadership.
Rajasthan Ramsar Sites
Two wetlands in Rajasthan, Khichan (Phalodi) and Menar (Udaipur), have been added to the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.
This designation increases India’s total Ramsar Sites to 91 and Rajasthan’s count to 4 (the others being Sambhar Salt Lake and Keoladeo Ghana National Park).
Why it’s news: The Ramsar recognition highlights these sites as critical ecosystems.
Menar is significant for its community-driven conservation model and rich bird diversity, particularly migratory species.
Khichan is globally known for hosting thousands of Demoiselle Cranes and is an excellent example of local ecological stewardship.
The Ramsar listing acknowledges wetlands’ vital roles in supporting biodiversity, regulating floods, recharging groundwater, and purifying water.
It reinforces India’s position as a leader in wetland conservation in Asia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the addition as great news and a testament to India’s environmental conservation efforts, powered by public participation.
Union Minister Bhupender Yadav announced the update, attributing it to the PM’s focus on environmental preservation.
World Env Day 2025
World Environment Day (WED) 2025 is being celebrated on 5th June, with South Korea (Republic of Korea) serving as the global host.
The event is in the news because it highlights urgent global environmental issues, particularly focusing on its theme: “Beat Plastic Pollution”.
The theme aims to raise global awareness about the significant production, use, and disposal of plastics and promote solutions like refusing, reducing, reusing, and recycling plastic to tackle the crisis.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) leads WED, which was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 at the Stockholm Conference, a landmark event for the global environmental movement that recognized the right to a clean environment.
Plastic pollution is a major concern because it contributes to pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change, with millions of tonnes entering water bodies and polluting soil annually, incurring high economic costs globally.
As part of the WED events, India’s Prime Minister will plant a Banyan sapling under the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ initiative, linked to the ‘Aravalli Green Wall project’, showcasing national environmental efforts.
The focus on plastic pollution is critical due to issues like high global consumption, poor waste management, and the dominance of single-use plastics, which harm ecosystems, wildlife, public health, and economies worldwide.
Environmental Exposomics
Exposomics is a new approach studying all environmental exposures over a lifetime and their health impact, moving beyond assessing single risk factors traditionally. Why: It offers a comprehensive understanding of disease causes, complementing genomics.
It uses advanced methods like wearable sensors, untargeted biomonitoring, organs-on-chip, AI, and big data platforms to integrate complex exposure data. Why: Enables detailed measurement and analysis of the ‘exposome’ for better environment-health mapping (EWAS).
Exposomics improves upon current Global Burden of Disease studies by including crucial environmental factors often missed, such as microplastics, chemical mixtures, environmental noise, psycho-social stress, and specific climate change impacts. Why: Addresses data gaps in traditional assessments, providing a more complete picture of environmental health risks.
Exposomics is particularly relevant for India due to its large, complex, and under-monitored environmental challenges, fragmented surveillance, and significant environmental disease burden (e.g., NCDs linked to OEH risks, lead exposure impacting children). Why: Offers a pathway for India to develop data-driven, integrated prevention strategies and precision public health interventions.
Adopting exposomics requires developing harmonized data repositories, investing in surveillance infrastructure (real-time monitoring, biomonitoring labs), mainstreaming environmental factors in public health programs, and promoting interdisciplinary research and training. Why: These steps are necessary to translate exposomic science into effective policy and public health action.
