Why in news?

• The Kerala High Court has dismissed a petition by a man who was caught with five cannabis plants on a terrace.
• He argued that since the plants had no “flowering or fruiting tops”, they couldn’t be considered ganja, which is illegal under the NDPS Act.
• The Court rejected this argument, explaining that the law makes a clear distinction:
  • “Ganja” refers only to the flowering tops of the cannabis plant.
  • But the Act separately bans the cultivation of any cannabis plant, regardless of whether it has flowers or not.
• The ruling settles a common misunderstanding — some parts of the cannabis plant may be exempt from the definition of a narcotic drug, but growing the plant itself is always illegal in India.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• How the NDPS Act Defines Cannabis in India?
• Why Bhang Is Legal: The Leaves-and-Seeds Loophole?
• Why Growing Cannabis at Home Is Illegal Even If Bhang Is Legal?
• How the NDPS Act Punishes Cannabis Offences?
• When Cannabis Can Be Grown Legally in India?

How the NDPS Act Defines Cannabis in India?

• Under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985— introduced under strong global pressure — India did not ban every part of the cannabis plant.
• Instead, the law defines “cannabis (hemp)” narrowly:
  • Charas: the resin extracted from the cannabis plant, including hashish oil.
  • Ganja: only the flowering or fruiting tops of the plant.
  • Excluded: the seeds and leaves, as long as they are not accompanied by the tops.
• In short, the law criminalises the intoxicating parts (resin and flowering tops) but not the seeds and leaves by themselves.

Why Bhang Is Legal: The Leaves-and-Seeds Loophole?

• Bhang remains legal in India because the NDPS Act excludes cannabis leaves and seeds from the definition of “cannabis”.
• Since bhang is made from leaves, it is not treated as a narcotic drug, even though other parts of the plant — like the resin (charas) and flowering tops (ganja) — are banned.
• However, bhang isn’t completely unregulated. The NDPS Act leaves its control to state governments, allowing them to regulate or even ban its production and sale.
• As a result:
  • States like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan license bhang shops.
  • Others, like Assam, have banned it under state laws.
• So, bhang is legal not because cannabis is allowed, but because the law treats leaves differently from the intoxicating parts of the plant.

Why Growing Cannabis at Home Is Illegal Even If Bhang Is Legal?

• Although cannabis leaves are not banned under the NDPS Act, growing the plant itself is a crime.
• The Kerala High Court reaffirmed this by pointing to Section 8(b), which clearly bans the cultivation of any cannabis plant unless authorised for medical or scientific use.
• The law defines a “cannabis plant” as any plant of the genus cannabis, without distinguishing between plants with flowers and those without.
• The Court also clarified that “cultivation” includes raising or gardening a plant even in pots, not just farming in fields.

How the NDPS Act Punishes Cannabis Offences?

• The NDPS Act sets different punishments depending on the type and quantity of cannabis involved:
  • Small quantity
    • Ganja: up to 1 kg
    • Charas: up to 100 g
    • Punishment: Up to 1 year in jail, or a ₹10,000 fine, or both.
  • Commercial quantity
    • Ganja: 20 kg or more
    • Charas: 1 kg or more
    • Punishment: 10–20 years rigorous imprisonment + ₹1–2 lakh fine
  • Intermediate quantity (between small and commercial)
    • Punishment: Up to 10 years in jail + ₹1 lakh fine
  • Cultivating cannabis plants (even a few)
    • Punishment: Up to 10 years rigorous imprisonment + ₹1 lakh fine
• In short, penalties rise sharply with quantity — and cultivation itself is treated as a serious offence.

When Cannabis Can Be Grown Legally in India?

• Even though the NDPS Act bans cannabis cultivation, it allows important industrial and medical exceptions.
• Section 14 of the act lets the government permit cultivation specifically for fibre, seeds, horticulture, or medical research.
• Using this provision:
  • Uttarakhand became the first state (in 2018) to license industrial hemp, a low-THC variety of cannabis.
  • Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh have followed with similar permissions.
  • The Union government has granted licences to scientific bodies like CSIR to grow cannabis for medical studies.
• India’s first medical cannabis clinic opened in Bengaluru in 2020, prescribing cannabis-based medicines for certain conditions.
• Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court has been examining a petition challenging the cannabis ban, arguing that the restrictions are outdated and lack scientific basis.

Why in News?

• On Audit Diwas (16 November), Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) K. Sanjay Murthy outlined an expanded set of national audit priorities.
• Audit Diwas commemorates the appointment of India’s first Auditor-General in 1860, marking the institution’s 166th year.
• The shift aligns with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 and evolving governance challenges.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Key Audit Focus Areas Announced by the CAG
• Digital Transformation Initiatives of the CAG
• Significance of Auditing Highlighted by the Vice-President
• Challenges
• Way Forward
• Conclusion

Key Audit Focus Areas Announced by the CAG:

• Urban governance audit - Reinvigorated audits of Urban Local Governments (ULBs):
  • Rationale: Over 50% of India’s population will be urban by 2047.
  • Coverage: 101 major cities will be covered under the theme “Ease of Living”.
  • Parameters to be assessed: Infrastructure availability, environmental sustainability, service delivery efficiency, local economic growth.
  • Impact: Audit insights to affect over 40 crore urban citizens and guide urban policy reforms.
• MSME sector audit - Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs:
  • Significance of MSMEs: MSMEs contribute significantly to employment generation, exports, regional economic growth.
  • Focus of audit: Paperless, faceless processes; ease of interface with government systems; efficiency of grievance-redressal mechanisms.
  • Objective: Identify procedural bottlenecks and strengthen MSME competitiveness.
• Foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) audit:
  • Human capital development is considered essential for the developed nation goal.
  • Pan-India assessment of early-grade learning outcomes, implementation of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Mission.
  • Importance: Strong FLN outcomes are sine-qua-non for Viksit Bharat 2047 and align with NEP 2020.
• Audit of multimodal logistics and Indian railways (under PM Gati Shakti framework):
  • A comprehensive cross-sectoral review of port connectivity, railways and freight corridors, logistics terminals, and inter-agency coordination.
  • Aim: To evaluate readiness for seamless multimodal transport and reduction of logistics costs.
  • Includes extensive consultations with the Ministry of Railways, port authorities, private freight operators.

Digital Transformation Initiatives of the CAG:

• CAG-Connect portal: It provides a real-time digital ecosystem linking 10 lakh auditee entities with audit offices. It ensures traceability, transparency, and efficient audit workflows
• Development of CAG-LLM (Large Language Model): An indigenous AI-driven LLM designed to -
  • Unlock institutional knowledge from decades of audits.
  • Process over 20,000 inspection reports annually.
  • Enable smarter, data-driven audits.
• Capacity building and future-ready audit workforce: Partnership with IIT Madras for training in data science, Artificial Intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, IT auditing. Till now around 250 officers are trained, and the target is to train 5,000 officers in 5 years.

Significance of Auditing Highlighted by the Vice-President:

• Vice-President C P Radhakrishnan, who inaugurated the Audit Diwas celebrations, highlighted CAG’s role in promoting transparency, accountability and good governance in the management of public resources.
• He commended the institution’s significant strides in transforming audit processes to act as a facilitator of good governance and to strengthen executive accountability.
• He emphasised that audit was no longer a retrospective exercise but a forward-looking instrument of reform, foresight, and innovation.
• He expressed confidence in the CAG’s role as a trusted partner in the Government’s pursuit of holistic development across the economic, social, technological, environmental, and institutional spheres.

Challenges:

• Data gaps and poor digital readiness among ULBs and MSME departments.
• Coordination issues in multimodal logistics across multiple agencies.
• Ensuring cybersecurity and privacy with digital audit tools.
• Integration of AI systems like CAG-LLM into traditional audit workflows.
• Standardising frameworks for measuring Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business across states.

Way Forward:

• Strengthen digital capabilities of states, ULBs, and MSME agencies.
• Institutionalise AI-supported auditing and data analytics.
• Expand audits to include climate resilience, smart city projects, and social sector delivery.
• Enhance stakeholder consultations for the multimodal transport audit.
• Promote inter-ministerial coordination for PM Gati Shakti evaluations.
• Build workforce capacity through continuous training and certification.

Conclusion:

• The CAG’s renewed audit priorities reflect a major shift towards proactive, real-time, future-ready auditing.
• By leveraging technology, strengthening institutional capacity, the CAG aims to significantly enhance transparency, accountability, and governance effectiveness in India's path toward Viksit Bharat 2047.

Why in the News?

• The global precision medicine market is expanding rapidly, projected to cross $22 billion by 2027, with India emerging as a key player.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Precision Biotherapeutics (Concept, Key Technologies, Global Landscape, India’s Position, Opportunities for Growth)

Precision Biotherapeutics

• Precision biotherapeutics refers to medical interventions optimised for a patient’s specific genetic or molecular profile, rather than relying on generalised population-level data.
• This approach allows for early diagnosis, personalised treatment, and fewer adverse effects.
• Key technologies shaping this field include:

• Genomic and Proteomic Analysis: Decoding individual genetic and protein signatures to identify disease-causing mutations.
• Gene Editing Therapies: Tools like CRISPR-Cas9 modify defective genes to correct underlying causes of disorders such as thalassemia and sickle-cell anaemia.
• mRNA and Nucleic Acid Therapeutics: These therapies, popularised during the COVID-19 pandemic, use RNA molecules to instruct cells to produce or suppress specific proteins.
• Monoclonal Antibodies and Biologics: Laboratory-engineered molecules that precisely target disease-related proteins, used in treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and autoimmune diseases.
• AI-Driven Drug Discovery: Machine learning models analyse vast datasets to predict molecule interactions, accelerating the discovery of new drugs.

• Together, these technologies represent a shift from symptom management to disease correction at the molecular level, offering transformative potential for chronic and genetic illnesses.

The Global Precision Medicine Landscape

• The precision medicine industry has seen exponential growth over the past decade.
• According to Precedence Research, the global market, valued at approximately $12 billion in 2023, is expected to surpass $22 billion by 2027.
• Key drivers of this growth include:

• Advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) and gene editing technologies.
• Rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders.
• Integration of AI and big data analytics in clinical decision-making.
• Increased investment from pharmaceutical and biotech companies in personalised drug development.

• The United States, Europe, and China currently lead global innovation in precision medicine.
• However, developing economies like India and Brazil are fast emerging as competitive hubs due to their cost advantage, skilled workforce, and growing genomic research infrastructure.

India’s Position in the Precision Medicine Ecosystem

• India contributes nearly 65% of deaths from non-communicable diseases, underscoring the need for advanced diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
• The country’s diverse genetic landscape, one of the most complex in the world, makes it an ideal testing ground for precision biotherapeutics.
• Research and Institutional Strength
  • The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has identified precision biotherapeutics as one of six focus areas under its Biotechnology for Economy, Environment, and Employment (BioE3)
• Genomic Initiatives and Localisation
  • Projects like GenomeIndia and IndiGen are building reference genomic databases representing India’s vast population diversity.
  • Such datasets enable customisation of global drug molecules to Indian genetic profiles, addressing the common issue where foreign-developed drugs show reduced efficacy among Indian patients.
• Challenges Hindering India’s Precision Medicine Growth

• Regulatory Gaps: There is no unified framework governing gene and cell therapies. Current regulations are fragmented and unclear on therapeutic use.
• High Cost and Limited Access: Advanced biotherapeutics remain affordable only to urban elite, with costs running into lakhs per treatment.
• Manufacturing Bottlenecks: India lacks large-scale facilities for biologics and cell-based therapies, forcing dependence on imports.
• Ethical and Data Privacy Concerns: Genomic data, if not protected by robust data protection laws and consent frameworks, risks misuse and discrimination.
• Addressing these gaps is crucial for India to emerge as a trusted global leader in affordable precision healthcare.

Opportunities for Growth

• India’s advantages lie in its cost-effective research environment, data analytics capabilities, and biotechnology talent pool.
• By fostering public-private partnerships, strengthening biomanufacturing infrastructure, and creating ethical genomic data-sharing frameworks, India can:

• Localise global therapies at lower costs.
• Expand precision medicine access to rural populations.
• Attract international investment in R&D and clinical trials.

• Collaborations with global institutions, coupled with government support under ‘Make in India’ for Biotech, could position India as a global hub for precision therapeutics in the next decade.

Context

• The Supreme Court recently issued notice in a case involving a woman accused of penetrative sexual assault under Section 3 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
• This decision has reignited debate on whether the law applies equally to all genders.
• While the petitioner asserts that the Act is gender-specific, a comprehensive examination shows that POCSO is inherently gender-neutral.

Interpretation of the Supreme Court’s Judgement: A Gender-Neutral Reading of Section 3

• The General Clauses Act and Gendered Pronouns
  • The petition argues that Section 3 applies only to male offenders because it uses the pronoun
  • However, Section 13(1) of the General Clauses Act (GCA), 1897 states that words importing the masculine gender shall be taken to include females.
  • Since the POCSO Act does not explicitly restrict perpetrators to men, the law must be read in a gender-neutral manner.
• Breadth of Acts Defined Under Section 3
  • Section 3 defines penetrative sexual assault in a manner that encompasses:
    • Digital penetration
    • Object penetration
    • Oral penetration
  • Acts where a person induces the child to perform sexual acts with themselves or others.
  • These are offences that can be committed by individuals of any gender, reinforcing that the statute’s construction is gender-inclusive.

Legislative Intent: Evidence of Deliberate Neutrality

• Government Clarifications
  • The Ministry of Women and Child Development has repeatedly affirmed that POCSO is a gender-neutral Act.
  • These official responses demonstrate a clear legislative intention.
• The 2019 Amendment’s Statement of Objects and Reasons
  • When the POCSO Amendment Bill (2019) was introduced, it explicitly described the Act as gender-neutral, leaving little room for restrictive interpretations.
• Why Gender-Specific Interpretation Would Be Incorrect?
  • While one parliamentary reply emphasised that the Act protects boys also, this cannot be misread to imply that only victims are gender-neutral while perpetrators are not.
  • For comparison, Section 63 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 (erstwhile IPC Section 375) uses the explicitly gendered terms a man and a woman.
  • The absence of such language in POCSO reflects a deliberate legislative choice to ensure broad applicability.

Normative Justifications: Upholding the Law’s Protective Purpose

• Recognising Diverse Forms of Abuse
  • In Sakshi v. Union of India (2004), the Supreme Court observed that child sexual abuse includes a wide range of sexual conduct, many of which do not depend on the perpetrator’s gender.
• Acknowledging Female Perpetration
  • Although most reported cases involve male perpetrators, research shows that women can and do commit sexual offences against children.
  • A gender-specific reading would make such experiences invisible and deny certain victims justice.
• Protecting Children Above All
  • The central purpose of POCSO is to safeguard children from sexual abuse, irrespective of the sex or gender identity of the offender.
  • A gender-neutral interpretation ensures no gaps in protection and no category of offender escapes accountability.

Conclusion

• A holistic analysis of the statute, its legislative history, and its protective intent demonstrates that the POCSO Act is designed to be gender-neutral.
• Interpreting Section 3 to apply only to male offenders would contradict both the letter and spirit of the law.
• To fulfil its core objective, comprehensive protection of children, the Act must continue to be applied irrespective of the perpetrator’s gender.

Context

• Each winter, as a grey haze descends upon Delhi and air pollution reaches severe levels, the city returns to a predictable yet devastating cycle.
• Schools close, flights are cancelled, and citizens don masks as the Air Quality Index (AQI) breaches 400.
• Yet this recurring crisis is treated as a seasonal inconvenience rather than a chronic public-health emergency and a deep structural failure.

Structural Roots of a Persistent Crisis

• Despite repeated round tables, expert meetings, and policy discussions, progress remains minimal.
• Long-term exposure to Delhi’s toxic air can reduce life expectancy by up to 10 years, while air pollution costs the country 1.36% of its GDP, over $36 billion annually.
• Instead of long-term solutions, governments often resort to short-term fixes such as cloud-seeding or air purifiers in offices.
• Delhi’s geographical position, a basin flanked by the Aravalli hills, creates natural barriers to air dispersal.
• Winter’s temperature inversion and low wind speeds trap pollutants close to the surface, turning the city into a bowl of poison.
• While similar meteorological issues once afflicted Los Angeles, that city responded with aggressive policy reforms and technological innovation, an approach Delhi has yet to mirror.

Human Choices That Intensify the Problem

• Human activity worsens the crisis significantly. Delhi NCR’s 3.3 crore vehicles, many diesel-powered and poorly regulated, continuously release nitrogen oxides and PM2.5.
• Enforcement of BS-VI norms remains inadequate. Construction contributes nearly 27% of PM2.5 pollution, with dust-control norms routinely violated.
• Industries in neighbouring states emit sulphur dioxide and other toxins, often using outdated technologies.
• Meanwhile, stubble-burning in Punjab and Haryana, despite subsidies and court orders, remains widespread because farmers lack economically viable alternatives.
• Seasonal activities such as Deepavali firecrackers and open waste burning create further dangerous spikes.
• Delhi's air crisis is thus a wicked problem, multifaceted, cross-cutting, and politically entangled, requiring more than isolated interventions.

A Rare Window of Political Alignment

• For the first time, Delhi and the surrounding NCR states, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, are governed by the same political party as the central government.
• This is a unique chance to eliminate intergovernmental friction and launch a joint Clean Air Mission with scientific expertise, coordinated enforcement, and shared accountability.
• Global models offer clear guidance. London implemented an Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), modernised transport, and improved building efficiency.
• Los Angeles enforced strict vehicle-emission standards and promoted clean fuel technologies.
• Beijing’s airpocalypse led to sweeping reforms: relocating industries, banning coal, and deploying real-time monitoring, achieving a 35% reduction in PM2.5 levels in five years.
• Delhi must adopt its own Unified Airshed Management Plan, treating the NCR as one pollution zone, with real-time public dashboards, electrified public transport, and strict dust and waste regulations.
• Farmers need scaled-up access to Happy Seeders and bio-decomposers to make stubble management economically feasible.

Beyond Policy: The Behavioural Dimension

• Air pollution is not only a governance issue but a behavioural challenge.
• Citizens must recognise that clean air is a shared responsibility. Awareness campaigns, school programmes, and community initiatives can shift mindsets and build a culture of accountability.

Conclusion

• Delhi’s air crisis is not an act of nature; it is the result of policy inertia, fragmented governance, and collective choices.
• Treating it as a temporary winter nuisance guarantees ongoing illness, economic damage, and environmental decline.
• But confronting it as a structural problem with sustained, coordinated action offers a path forward.
• Delhi can breathe again, but only if we embrace the urgency, political will, and public commitment needed to rewrite this narrative; the real question is no longer what must be done, but whether we will finally act.

About Air-Sol Moyenne Portée-Renove (ASMPA-R):

• It is the newest version of the ASMP family of medium‐range, supersonic, nuclear‐capable cruise missiles.
• It was developed by France.
• It is integral to France’s nuclear deterrence, forming a key part of the air-based component of its nuclear triad.
• Features:
  • It retains a ramjet architecture, with dual air intakes along the body, enabling sustained supersonic flight at speeds around Mach 3.
  • It has a range of roughly 600 kilometres.
  • The warhead is understood to be the Tête Nucléaire Aéroportée (TNA) design.
  • TNA is a so-called ‘dial-a-yield’ design with reported yield settings ranging from a minimum of 100 kilotons to a maximum of 300 kilotons.

About Maram Naga Tribe:

• The Maram Naga tribe belongs to the Naga ethnic group, inhabiting the Northeastern part of India as well as the Western part of Myanmar.
• The Maram habitat falls under the Senapati district of Manipur.
• The Marams are surrounded by other Naga tribes in all directions.
• They are considered to be a part of the Tibeto-Burman family of the Mongoloid race.
• Language:
  • Linguistically, they belong to the sub-family of the Sino-Tibetan family.
  • The people speak the Maram language. There are some variations in the way the dialect is spoken, corresponding with geographical location.
  • They use Roman script in writing their language.
• Occupation:
  • Agriculture is the main occupation of the people.
  • Shifting cultivation is the main cultivation practiced by them. They are also involved in wet cultivation.
  • Hunting is the secondary occupation of Maram tribes.
• Beliefs:
  • Maram tribes are the worshippers of supernatural benevolent and malevolent beings.
  • The two major festivals of the Marams are Punghi (celebrated in July) and Kanghi (in December).
  • The tribe also celebrates a unique festival called Mangkang around April every year, dedicated to the women folks.