2 Minute Series_13th December 2025

13^th December 2025

1. United Nations Environment Assembly: Recently, during the 7th United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) in Nairobi, India’s resolution titled “Strengthening the Global Management of Wildfires” was adopted with strong global backing.

• Key Highlights: Resolution recognizes wildfires as a major global environmental challenge, aggravated by climate change and human activities.

• Notes severe impacts on forests, biodiversity, water, soil health, air quality, livelihoods, and national economies.
• Emphasizes wildfire contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and weakening of global carbon sinks.
• Cites UNEP report Spreading Like Wildfire: 14% increase by 2030, 30% by 2050, 50% by 2100
• Recognizes UNEP’s leadership role and the Global Fire Management Hub (FAO–UNEP, 2023) as a key global mechanism.
• Key Provisions of the Resolution: Strengthening international cooperation on early warning systems, risk assessment, and ecosystem monitoring.
  - Supporting national and regional wildfire action plans and resilience strategies.
  - Facilitating access to international finance through multilateral funds and results-based financing mechanisms.

2. Virtual Private Network: Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a strong advisory to Virtual Private Network (VPN) service providers, cautioning them to block websites that leak the personal data of Indian citizens.

• Key Highlights: Advisory cites websites enabling tracking of Indians’ details (name, mobile number, address, email) using leaked data.

• MeitY warned that VPN providers may be held legally liable if they do not block such URLs.
• Liability may arise under the IT Act, 2000, Intermediary Rules, 2021, and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
• Government reiterated that intermediaries have due diligence obligations to prevent hosting or access to privacy-invasive content.
• India has long opposed anonymous internet usage, citing risks of cybercrime.
• In 2022, CERT-In mandated VPN providers to maintain logs of Indian users.
• Major VPN firms (ExpressVPN, NordVPN) refused compliance and shifted “India” servers to Singapore, while using Indian IP blocks.
• VPN services remain accessible to Indian users through routing traffic via other countries.

3. Pax Silica: Recently, India was excluded from the new US-led strategic initiative “Pax Silica” focused on critical minerals and silicon supply chains.

• About Pax Silica: Aims to build a secure, innovation-driven silicon supply chain, spanning critical minerals, energy inputs, semiconductors, AI infrastructure, and logistics.

• Exclusion comes amid an elusive India–US trade deal, despite multiple high-level engagements.
• Initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Netherlands, UK, Israel, UAE, and Australia.
• Pax Silica seeks to reduce coercive dependencies, especially linked to China’s dominance in critical minerals and technology sectors.
• Focus areas include critical minerals, semiconductor design/fabrication/packaging, logistics, computing, and energy grids.
• Experts note India’s limited semiconductor manufacturing and mineral processing capacity as a key reason for exclusion.
• India has strengths in chip design and quartz reserves, but lacks high-grade quartz processing capability.

4. Tapanuli orangutan: Recently, scientists warned that Cyclone Senyar may have pushed the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan closer to extinction.
   

• About Orangutans: The largest tree-dwelling mammals, easily recognised by their distinctive reddish fur.

• Highly arboreal; they spend over 90% of their waking hours in trees.
• Orangutans are extremely intelligent and share 4% genetic similarity with humans, underscoring their conservation importance.
• Found on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the Malaysian and Indonesian regions of Borneo.
• Occupy habitats from lowland peat swamp forests to mountain forests up to 6 km above sea level.
• Species: Three distinct species exist: Bornean orangutan, Sumatran orangutan and Tapanuli orangutan
• Physical features: Long, sparse orange to reddish hair
  - Arms longer than legs, aiding tree movement
  - Grasping hands and feet with long, curved fingers and toes
  - Mature males develop large cheek pads, a unique primate trait
• Lifespan: Can live up to 50 years in the wild.
• Conservation status: All three species are classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

5. National Council of Applied Economic Research: Recently, the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) released a study titled “India’s Employment Prospects: Pathways to Jobs”.

• Key Findings: Skilling and productivity of small enterprises are central to large-scale job creation in India.

• Recent employment growth driven mainly by self-employment, not expansion of formal skilled jobs.
• Majority of small and unincorporated enterprises operate at subsistence-level productivity with low capital and technology use.
• Strengthening jobs in labour-intensive manufacturing and services can sustain ~8% GDP growth, aligned with Viksit Bharat vision.
• Increasing the skilled workforce by 12 percentage points could raise employment in labour-intensive sectors by over 13% by 2030.
• A 9%-point rise in formally skilled workers could generate 3 million jobs by 2030.
• Enterprises using digital technologies hire 78% more workers than non-digital firms.
• India’s workforce needs upskilling, especially with AI and emerging technologies.
• Global context: India is set to become the 3rd largest economy, but low per capita GDP underscores need for inclusive employment growth.
• High job-multiplier sectors:
  - Manufacturing: Textiles, garments, footwear, food processing (53% job growth potential)
  - Services: Trade, hotels, tourism, education, health (up to 79% job growth potential)

6. MGNREGA: Recently, the Union government proposed a major restructuring of MGNREGA, with plans to extend guaranteed employment to 125 days and rechristen the scheme as the Pujya Bapu Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

• Key Highlights: Despite 100-day guarantee, average employment per household in FY25 was only ~50 days. Proposal linked to continuation of the scheme under the 16th Finance Commission, effective from April 1, 2026.

• Several states have long demanded raising the 100-day ceiling, but extra days must be state-funded.
• In 2024–25, of 290 crore person-days, only 35 crore were generated using state funds.
• De facto cap of 100 days exists due to software restrictions unless states make special requests.
• Existing provisions already allow: 150 days for certain ST households in forest areas and additional 50 days in drought or disaster-notified areas
• Since inception (2005), MGNREGA has generated 4,800 crore person-days with expenditure of ₹11.70 lakh crore.

7. Census 2027: Recently, the Union Cabinet cleared Census 2027, allocating ₹11,700 crore and introducing a digital, inclusive census with caste enumeration.

• About Census: To be conducted in two phases: House listing & Housing Census: April–September 2026 and Population Enumeration: February 2027

• First fully digital Census in India using mobile applications (Android & iOS).
• Census Management & Monitoring System (CMMS) portal for real-time monitoring.
• Introduction of House listing Block (HLB) Creator web map application for field management.
• Self-enumeration option to be provided to citizens.
• User-friendly data dissemination with click-based access for policymakers.
• Introduction of Census-as-a-Service (CaaS) for machine-readable, actionable data delivery.
• Caste enumeration included in Census 2027 (Population Enumeration phase).
• Census to cover entire population of India with household-level enumeration.
• Estimated employment generation of ~1.02 crore man-days through technical and field roles.
• Data dissemination planned up to village/ward level with advanced visualization tools.
• Census governed under Census Act, 1948 and Census Rules, 1990.

8. Market Access for Artisans: Recently, the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MoMSME) signed an MoU with Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd. to enhance market access for artisans under the PM Vishwakarma Scheme.

• Key Highlights: Enable artisans to access online markets, enhance product visibility and expand customer reach across India.

• PM Vishwakarma Scheme: Launched on 17 September 2023 to provide end-to-end support to traditional artisans.
• Scheme focus areas: Skill training, modern toolkits, quality improvement, market linkage, credit access and preservation of guru–shishya parampara.
• Artisan coverage: Includes trades such as carpentry, pottery, metalsmithing, goldsmithing, tailoring, sculpture, locksmithing, basket and coir making, toy making, garland making, cobbler work and related crafts.
• Role of Amazon: Facilitate onboarding of eligible Vishwakarma artisans onto its online marketplace.
• Role of MSME Ministry: Assist artisans in approvals, registrations and regulatory clearances as per existing norms.
• Karigar initiative: Partnership to enhance visibility of handmade products through Amazon Karigar, promoting digitisation of artisans.

9. Vertical Air Movements: Recently, Indian scientists uncovered how vertical air movements over the Himalayas influence the Indian monsoon system.

• Key Findings: This can significantly improve monsoon prediction, benefiting agriculture, water management, disaster preparedness and air quality assessment in South Asia.

• Study fills a key gap by using direct measurements, unlike earlier indirect satellite/balloon data.
• First long-term, high-resolution observations conducted during the Asian Summer Monsoon (ASM).
• Measurements taken within the Asian Summer Monsoon Anticyclone (ASMA) over the central Himalayas.
• Used indigenous Stratosphere–Troposphere (ST) Radar, detecting vertical winds as low as 5 cm/s.
• Two years of continuous, all-weather data ensured high accuracy.
• Discovered a persistent descending air layer at 10–11 km, previously unknown.
• Revealed complex vertical circulation with alternating rising and sinking air.
• Identified a two-step air transport process from troposphere to stratosphere.
• Enhances understanding of pollutant and greenhouse gas transport and air quality.