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  news of 01-01-2025 1.  ‘India’s tiger population rose 30% over two decades, recovery boosted by strong legislative framework’  Anew study found that the tiger population in India had increased by 30% over the past two decades.   The study, published in Science, was led by senior scientist Yadvendradev Jhala and colleagues.  It explored the socio-ecological factors that had enabled tiger recovery and persistence despite high human densities and economic challenges amid rapid urbanisation.  “ This demonstrates the remarkable success achieved through a meticulous balance of scientific strategies and a strategic blend of land-sharing and land sparing ,” the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) said.   It added that despite harbouring the highest human population residing in economically diverse regions, India has achieved significant success in conserving wildlife, even as global wildlife populations have declined...

1.    RIGHT TO PRIVACY & RIGHT TO DISSENT  core values of the Constitution founder in a deep ethical and moral crisis, vs. trapped as we are in reductionist, mechanical readings of the constitutional value of personal liberty and human dignity.  right to personal liberty, which is a core constituent of an idea of justice.  Reinstating dissent as constitutional ethic The Supreme Court of India reinstated Justice S. Fazl Ali’s dissenting opinion in A.K. Gopalan vs State of Madras, unanimously in Puttaswamy vs Union of India(2017), a case about the fundamental right to privacy.  The preventive detention of the communist leader, A.K. Gopalan, by the government of independent India and the Supreme Court’s majority ruling on constitutional interpretation in that case, in the inaugural year of the Constitution, (1950), have now been effectively declared as a judicial wrong.  The resurrection of this dissent (which, in effect, upheld Gop...

INDIA AND GLOBAL , ASIAN GEOPOLITICS IN 2025 AND AHEAD [GS-2] Q. It is among the leading nations in the world when it comes to economic growth and political stability.  Q. India today projects an atmosphere of peace, which is seemingly out of place in a world that is undergoing a profound shift in its economic and geo-political landscape.  Q.  India is today privy to the rise of new economic and political groupings.   Q. The year 2024 was a period of pronounced political uncertainty across the globe. Much of the world was a mute witness to the multiple and concurrent conflicts that threaten peace and stability today.  Q. The year 2025 seems poised to bring in a host of fresh troubles that will require deft handling on the part of India’s policymakers. Q.  be wise for India’s leaders to heed the message contained in an  ancient Chinese  saying that says  ‘the wind sweeping through the tower heralds a rising storm in the mo...

    The Indian Space Research Organisation  launched  the PSLV C60/SpaDeX mission   The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle  lifted  from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.   The space agency, for the first time, will be at tempting the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX), which will demonstrate in space docking using two small spacecraft.   According to the ISRO, SpaDeX is designed to develop and demonstrate the technology needed for spacecraft rendezvous, docking, and undocking using two small satellites.   “SpaDeX will serve as a miles tone in advancing India’s capabilities in space docking, a critical technology for future space missions, including satellite servicing, space station operations, and interplanetary missions,”.  The demonstration of this technology is essential for futuristic missions such as:-     1.   sending an Indian astranaut on the moon,      2. sa...

 AI SURVEILLANCE  Q:- explores the legal frameworks, gaps, and concerns surrounding AI surveillance in India and how they intersect with constitutional rights, particularly the right to privacy.   In 2019, the Indian government made headlines by announcing its intention to create the world’s largest facial recognition system for policing.  Over the next five years, this ambition has materialised with Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered surveillance systems being deployed across railway stations and the Delhi Police preparing to use AI for crime patrols.  The latest plans include launching 50 AI-powered satellites, further intensifying India’s surveillance infrastructure.    While technological integration in law enforcement is commendable, it raises substantial legal and constitutional concerns.   The use of AI for surveillance has global parallels, often resulting in “dragnet surveillance”, a term that refers to indiscriminate dat...