Why in news?

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has approved the ₹81,000-crore Great Nicobar infrastructure project, citing its strategic importance and finding that adequate environmental safeguards are in place.

The decision is significant as it may serve as a precedent for future strategically important projects in ecologically sensitive regions.

The 166 sq km mega project aims to develop Great Nicobar into a strategic and economic hub. However, it involves diversion of about 130 sq km of forest land and the felling of nearly one million trees, raising environmental concerns.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Overview of the Great Nicobar Project
• Strategic Significance of the Great Nicobar Project

Overview of the Great Nicobar Project

• Great Nicobar Island, spanning 910 sq km and home to India’s southernmost point, Indira Point, is set to be developed as a major economic and defence hub.
• The project aims to transform the island into a strategic gateway in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Four Core Components of the Project
  • 
  • Integrated Township
    • Covers around 149 sq km.
    • Will include residential, commercial, tourism, logistics, and defence facilities.
    • Designed to anchor long-term economic and strategic activity on the island.
  • Transshipment Port
    • Proposed at Galathea Bay, on the southern tip.
    • Intended to position India as a key maritime logistics hub.
    • Located in an ecologically sensitive area, known for Leatherback turtle nesting sites and the Galathea River outflow.
  • Civil and Military Airport
    • Dual-use international airport proposed east of the port.
    • Will be the second air facility after INS Baaz Naval Air Station.
    • Requires acquisition of 4.2 sq km of land, affecting 379 families.
  • Power Plant
    • A 450-MVA gas and solar-based plant.
    • Occupies around 0.39 sq km.
    • Intended to ensure reliable energy supply for the township and associated infrastructure.
  • Land Use and Environmental Footprint
    • Total project area: 166 sq km.
    • Forest diversion: Significant portions of ecologically sensitive land.
    • Land reclamation planned:
      • 2.98 sq km for the port
      • 1.94 sq km for the airport
    • Estimated material requirement: 33.35 million cubic metres, including cement, rocks, sand, and steel.
  • Implementation and Governance
    • Initially conceptualised by NITI Aayog.
    • Now being implemented by the Andaman and Nicobar Island Integrated Development Corporation Ltd (ANIIDCO).
    • Pre-feasibility study prepared in 2021 by AECOM India Pvt Ltd.

Strategic Significance of the Great Nicobar Project

• The Centre’s push for the Great Nicobar project is anchored in three strategic drivers: geopolitics, maritime trade ambitions, and geographic advantage.
• Geopolitical and Maritime Advantage
  • Great Nicobar is India’s closest territory to the Malacca Strait, a critical maritime chokepoint connecting the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
  • Around 94,000 ships pass through the Strait annually.
  • It accounts for nearly 30% of global traded goods and about one-third of the world’s maritime oil trade.
  • This location gives India a strategic vantage point in Indo-Pacific maritime dynamics.
• Transshipment Hub Ambition
  • Expanding India’s Port Capacity
    • The proposed Galathea Bay transshipment port will transfer cargo from large vessels to smaller ones for onward distribution.
    • India currently has only one operational transshipment port at Vizhinjam, Kerala.
  • Competing with Regional Giants
    • The Nicobar port aims to compete with:
      • Colombo and Hambantota (Sri Lanka)
      • Port Klang (Malaysia)
      • Port of Singapore
  • Projected Capacity
  • Estimated to handle 14.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) annually — roughly 14 million standard containers.
• Strengthening Defence Infrastructure
  • Existing Military Presence
    • The Andaman and Nicobar Command, India’s only tri-services command, has been operational in Port Blair since 2001.
    • INS Baaz Naval Air Station is located at Campbell Bay, near the proposed township.
  • Integrated Defence Development
    • The Great Nicobar project includes defence infrastructure in its first construction phase.
    • Ongoing upgrades across the islands include improved airfields, jetties, storage facilities, and surveillance systems.

Environmental and Social Concerns in Great Nicobar

• The Great Nicobar mega project has triggered significant ecological and social concerns due to its scale and location in a fragile island ecosystem.
• Large-Scale Forest Diversion
  • The project involves diversion of 130 sq km of pristine forest and felling of over one million trees.
  • The Nicobar Islands are part of the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, one of the world’s richest ecological zones.
• Biosphere and Wildlife Concerns
  • Almost the entire island falls under the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve.
  • It hosts littoral forests, evergreen hill forests, and coastal wetlands.
  • The Galathea Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and a megapode sanctuary were denotified for the project.
  • The endemic Nicobar megapode, a ground-dwelling bird, faces habitat loss.
• Impact on Leatherback Turtles
  • Galathea Bay is a key nesting site for leatherback turtles.
  • The environmental clearance acknowledges potential damage.
  • As mitigation, authorities proposed new sanctuaries on Little Nicobar, Menchal Island, and Meroe Island.
• Impact on Indigenous Communities
  • Shompen Tribe - The Shompen, a semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer group of about 250 people, inhabit interior forests.
    • Limited contact with outsiders makes them highly vulnerable to disease and disruption.
  • Nicobarese Community - The Nicobarese live mainly in Campbell Bay settlements such as Rajiv Nagar and New Chingenh. Many were displaced by the 2004 tsunami.
    • Their long-standing demand to return to pre-tsunami villages remains unresolved.
  • Tribal Governance Concerns - The tribal council has alleged pressure to surrender land claims. It previously withdrew consent for denotification of tribal reserves, citing lack of transparency about the project’s scale.
  • Demographic Transformation - The island’s population, currently around 8,500, is projected to rise to 6.5 lakh by 2050. Such a sharp increase could fundamentally alter the island’s ecological balance and social fabric.

Why in news?

The Supreme Court has scheduled hearings from April 7 before a nine-judge Constitution Bench to consider review petitions against its 2018 verdict that allowed women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala Dharma Sastha Temple.

The 2018 judgment had sparked widespread protests during the temple’s 41-day pilgrimage season and became a politically sensitive issue in Kerala.

While the Kerala government continues to support women’s entry, as stated in its 2017 affidavit, it is closely watching developments in the apex court. The review hearings are set against the backdrop of upcoming Assembly elections, adding renewed political and social significance to the case.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Sabarimala Temple: Overview and Traditions
• 1990–91: Kerala High Court Upholds Women’s Entry Ban
• Supreme Court Intervention in the Sabarimala Case

Sabarimala Temple: Overview and Traditions

• Location: Sabarimala Temple is situated in the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghats of Kerala and is one of South India’s most prominent pilgrimage centres.
• Deity: The temple is dedicated to Lord Ayyappa, believed to be the son of Lord Shiva and Mohini (the female avatar of Lord Vishnu).
• Unique Practice: Devotees observe a strict 41-day penance (vratham) before the pilgrimage, renouncing worldly comforts and following spiritual discipline.
• Celibate Deity Belief: Lord Ayyappa is worshipped as a celibate (Naishtika Brahmachari) deity.
• Entry Restriction (Customary): Traditionally, women between 10 and 50 years (considered menstruating age) were barred from entry, citing the belief in preserving the deity’s celibacy.

1990–91: Kerala High Court Upholds Women’s Entry Ban

• The first legal challenge to the Sabarimala entry restriction came in 1990, when a petitioner approached the Kerala High Court alleging that women aged 10 to 50 were visiting the temple in violation of custom.
• In 1991, the High Court upheld the ban, ruling that the restriction was consistent with longstanding tradition and did not violate fundamental rights.
• It also directed the Travancore Devaswom Board to strictly enforce the prohibition on women of menstruating age entering the temple.

Supreme Court Intervention in the Sabarimala Case

• In 2006, the Indian Young Lawyers Association moved the Supreme Court under Article 32, challenging the ban on women aged 10–50 entering the Sabarimala temple.
• The petition sought to strike down Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship Rules, 1965, arguing it violated:
  • constitutional guarantees of equality (Articles 14 and 15),
  • religious freedom (Article 25), and
  • the duty to renounce practices derogatory to women (Article 51A(e)).
• 2018: Landmark 4:1 Verdict
  • In September 2018, a five-judge Constitution Bench, by a 4:1 majority, ruled that the exclusion of women based on age was unconstitutional.
  • The court struck down Rule 3(b), holding that custom cannot override fundamental rights.
  • The decision triggered widespread protests and multiple review petitions from temple-affiliated groups and stakeholders.
• 2019: Reference to Larger Bench
  • Ahead of the 2019 pilgrimage season, the Supreme Court observed that its verdict could have implications for other religious practices.
  • It referred the broader constitutional questions to a larger bench of at least seven judges but declined to stay the 2018 judgment.
• 2020: Review Petitions Held Maintainable
  • In 2020, a nine-judge bench led by then CJI S A Bobde held that the review petitions were maintainable.
  • The bench framed seven constitutional questions for consideration by a Constitution Bench, setting the stage for further judicial examination of the issue.

Context:

• As the AI Impact Summit unfolds in Delhi, global leaders and technology experts are debating how artificial intelligence should be governed at a time marked by both opportunity and uncertainty.
• The central challenge is finding a model that promotes innovation while addressing the known and emerging risks of AI.
• India, as host, has positioned itself as offering a “Third Way” in AI governance.
• Unlike the European Union’s compliance-heavy regulatory framework, the United States’ largely market-driven approach, or China’s state-centric model, India seeks a path tailored to the realities of the global majority.
• The aim is to enable broader participation in AI markets while crafting governance mechanisms suited to diverse economic and policy contexts.
• This article highlights India’s emerging “Third Way” for AI governance, positioned between the European Union’s compliance-heavy model, the United States’ market-led approach, and China’s state-centric system.

India’s Distinct AI Governance Model

• Beyond Regulation: A Governance Framework
  • In November 2025, India released its AI governance guidelines, designed not merely as a regulatory tool but as a broader governance framework.
  • As noted by experts, the framework extends beyond risk mitigation to include adoption, diffusion, diplomacy, and capacity-building.
  • Rather than introducing standalone AI legislation, it works within existing legal structures, aiming to remain agile and adaptable as the technology evolves.
  • The framework prioritises inclusive AI deployment in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, education, and public administration, translating high-level principles into practical guidance while allowing room for future refinement.
• Early Regulatory Steps
  • India has already begun implementing this approach. Amendments to the IT Rules now require platforms to label AI-generated content and enforce a three-hour takedown window for harmful material.
  • This marks one of the first government-mandated AI disclosure requirements globally.
  • However, ensuring effective enforcement—particularly against large technology platforms—while safeguarding democratic norms and human rights will require international coordination.
• Implications for the Global South
  • The concentration of AI investment among a few private actors in the Global North has created structural imbalances in access and governance.
  • Many countries remain dependent on proprietary AI systems, which may not align with local economic or social priorities.
  • India’s model, grounded in strategic autonomy and public-private collaboration, offers an alternative.
  • It advocates for shared research infrastructure, safety evaluation frameworks, and collaborative risk assessment among middle powers.
• A Coordinating Role for India
  • Given its scale, digital infrastructure experience, and growing AI ecosystem, India is positioned to convene cooperation across the Global South.
  • By promoting collaborative governance and inclusive AI development, it seeks to create a pathway that balances innovation, sovereignty, and equitable growth.

Bridging the Gaps in India’s AI Governance Model

• The Missing Human-Centric Safeguards
  • While India’s AI governance framework emphasises innovation and adoption, critics highlight a critical gap: insufficient protection for workers displaced by automation.
  • A governance model that accelerates AI diffusion without ensuring labour safeguards, transparency standards, accountability mechanisms, and whistleblower protections risks deepening inequality rather than addressing it.
  • Inclusive AI must extend beyond infrastructure and innovation to protect those most vulnerable to technological disruption.
• Need for Minimum Global Standards
  • Effective coordination requires shared minimum safeguards—mandated transparency from AI developers, accountability frameworks, and protections for affected communities.
  • Without these foundational principles, even well-intentioned international collaboration may falter. Governance must balance strategic autonomy with enforceable human-rights safeguards.
• AI Impact Summit: A Strategic Opportunity
  • The AI Impact Summit offers India a platform to demonstrate what equitable AI governance can look like.
  • By fostering robust public-private partnerships across the technology stack and distributing gains more fairly, India can position itself as a hub for agile, middle-power collaboration in AI governance.
• A Defining Moment for the ‘Third Way’
  • The coming year will test whether India can successfully integrate innovation, national security, and human welfare.
  • If these gaps are addressed, India’s “Third Way” could emerge as a credible global model; if not, governance weaknesses may undermine its ambition.

Context

• The rapid development of artificial intelligence has reignited an old legal debate: the role of copyright in promoting creativity and access to knowledge.
• Originally intended to encourage learning and artistic production, modern copyright law has expanded into a powerful monopoly that increasingly restricts innovation, accessibility, and technological progress.
• Through historical analysis, real-world examples, and contemporary technological concerns, it becomes clear that rigid copyright regimes, particularly in the age of AI, obstruct rather than promote creativity.
• Reforming copyright law to include flexible exceptions, especially for accessibility and data analysis, is therefore essential.

Accessibility and the Right to Read

• The human impact of strict copyright laws is most visible in the struggle of visually impaired readers.
• For years, individuals could not legally obtain accessible-format books across borders, even when sighted readers could freely purchase the same works.
• The Marrakesh Treaty, achieved after sustained advocacy by disability rights groups, addressed this injustice by allowing accessible book formats and cross-border exchange.
• This episode reveals a deeper problem: copyright industries often resist exceptions even when they prevent disabled individuals from accessing knowledge.
• The conflict was not about economic loss but about control.
• The struggle for accessible books demonstrates that copyright can function not merely as a legal protection but as a barrier to fundamental rights such as education and information access.

The Historical Expansion of Copyright

• Historical Context
  • Understanding this issue requires historical perspective. Copyright law is relatively recent compared to art and literature.
  • The 1710 Statute of Anne granted authors a limited 14-year monopoly, conditional on registration and public distribution through libraries.
  • The purpose was clear: encourage learning while ensuring knowledge eventually entered the public domain.
• Modern Copyright Law
  • Modern copyright law is dramatically different. Protection now arises automatically upon creation and lasts for the author’s lifetime plus seventy years after death.
  • Even trivial materials such as social media posts receive extensive legal protection.
  • Consequently, the public domain, once the default, has become the exception.
  • This transformation has produced what scholars call copyright maximalism, where protection is expanded regardless of public cost.
  • The result is a system that prioritises control over dissemination of knowledge.

Artificial Intelligence and Data Use

• The problem becomes more urgent with artificial intelligence. AI models require vast datasets, and language models in particular depend on analysing large volumes of text.
• Copyright law, however, treats machine data analysis as equivalent to human reading and this equivalence is flawed.
• AI systems do not read works for enjoyment or expression; they process statistical patterns.
• Many jurisdictions recognise this distinction. Countries such as Japan, Singapore, and members of the European Union permit text and data mining because it does not substitute for the original work.
• Japan’s law explicitly allows uses that do not involve experiencing the ideas or emotions of a work.
• Without similar provisions, legal uncertainty surrounds AI development.
• In several countries, even web search engines technically violate copyright because they must copy webpages to index them. Such restrictions hinder technological progress and research.

The Path Forward

• Addressing the Concerns of the Impact of AI on Creativity, Employment, and Technological Change
  • Critics argue that AI threatens creative professions, however, copyright law is designed to encourage creativity, not to preserve specific occupations.
  • History shows that technological change always reshapes labour markets.
  • Photography reduced portrait painting but expanded visual art. Automation eliminated telegraph operators and typesetters but created new professions.
  • The impact of AI on creative industries remains uncertain, and social policies such as public arts funding may be necessary.
  • Yet these concerns should not be addressed by restricting learning or data analysis through copyright law.
• Toward Balanced Reform
  • Rather than abolishing copyright, reform should restore balance. Laws should encourage contributions to the commons, such as open-source datasets and publicly accessible AI models.
  • Governments can curate public datasets and protect them from infringement claims when used for research and open innovation.
  • Flexible exceptions, similar to fair use or text-and-data mining provisions, would allow accessibility technologies, research tools, and AI systems to operate legally while still protecting commercial exploitation of creative works.
  • This approach aligns copyright with its original objective: focusing on knowledge creation and dissemination.

Conclusion

• Copyright law was established to promote creativity and public learning, yet its modern expansion often prevents both.
• From restricting accessible books for the visually impaired to creating legal uncertainty for AI research, rigid copyright regimes hinder innovation and access to knowledge.
• Artificial intelligence has exposed the limitations of current law, revealing the urgent need for reform.
• By adopting flexible exceptions and encouraging shared knowledge resources, societies can ensure that copyright once again serves its true purpose, advancing creativity, technology, and human understanding rather than obstructing them.

About Shahpur Kandi Dam Project:

• It is located on the Ravi River in Pathankot district, Punjab, downstream from the existing Ranjit Sagar Dam.
• The water released by Ranjit Sagar Dam is utilized for generating power from this project.
• Declared a national project in 2008, the dam is being built with Punjab contributing 80 percent and the Centre funding the remaining 20 percent.
  • It is constructed by the irrigation department of the Government of Punjab.

About Defence Acquisition Council (DAC):

• It is the highest decision-making body of the Defence Ministry on procurement.
• The main objective of the DAC is to ensure expeditious procurement of the approved requirements of the armed forces in terms of capabilities sought and time frame prescribed by optimally utilizing the allocated budgetary resources.
• Formation: It was formed after the Group of Minister’s recommendations on ‘Reforming the National Security System’, in 2001, post-Kargil War (1999).
• Composition:
  • The Defence Minister is the chairman of DAC.
  • Its members include Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force.
• Functions:
  • Give in principle approval of a 15-year Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan (LTIPP) for defence forces.
  • Accord of acceptance of necessity to acquisition proposals.
  • Categorisation of the acquisition proposals relating to ‘Buy’, ‘Buy & Make’, and ‘Make’.
  • Look into issues relating to single vendor clearance.
  • Take decisions regarding ‘offset’ provisions in respect of acquisition proposals above Rs 300 crore.
  • Take decisions regarding the Transfer of Technology under the ‘Buy & Make’ category of acquisition proposals.
  • Field trial evaluation

About Lake Victoria:

• It is the largest lake in Africa.
• It lies mainly in Tanzania and Uganda but also borders Kenya.
  • It is also called Victoria Nyanza in Kenya, Nalubaale in Uganda, and Ukerewe in Tanzania.
• It is crossed by the equator.
• After Lake Superior in North America, it is the second-largest freshwater lake on Earth.
• It is the world’s largest tropical lake.
• The Kagera River is the major river that empties into the lake.
• It is the chief reservoir of the Nile River.
• The lake supports the largest freshwater fishery in the world.

About Charax Spasinou:

• It was an ancient port city located at the confluence of the Tigris and Choaspes rivers, near the modern border of Iraq and Iran.
• Founded during the Hellenistic period, it was initially established by Alexander the Great.
• It was reportedly founded in 324 BCE.
• The city was later rebuilt by Hyspaosines, who became its first king and is recognized for founding the kingdom of Characene with Charax Spasinou as its capital.
• Due to its favourable location, Charax became a very important harbour in the Persian Gulf area and a major trading point between Mesopotamia (a region in the Middle East) and India.
• The city was home to a succession of local rulers who minted coins from the late second century BC to the third century AD.
• Charax's prominence waned around AD 224–28 with the rise of the Sassanian Empire, marking the end of Characene's political significance.

About Alpheus madhusoodanai:

• It is a new species of pistol shrimp, also known as snapping shrimp.
• It was discovered from Kochi backwaters, Kerala.
• It belongs to the family Alpheidae.
• It is the first alpheid shrimp species to be recorded from an estuary in the region.
• It has a burrowing tendency and contributes to the health of mangrove ecosystems by releasing toxic gases trapped in swampy soil.

Key Facts about Pistol Shrimp:

• The pistol shrimp, also known as the snapping shrimp, possesses an extraordinary weapon — an oversized claw that can “fire” underwater bullets made of bubbles.
• These aren’t ordinary bubbles — they’re created through a process called sonoluminescence, “in which water is energised with specific vibrations causing emission of light through bubbles.
  • The resulting temperatures can reach an astounding 4,400°C — nearly as hot as the surface of the sun.
• The sounds produced when the pistols of these shrimps are fired are among the loudest sounds that can be heard in the oceans.
• The pistol shrimp primarily uses this powerful weapon to catch prey.
• When hunting, it hides in its burrow, waiting for prey to come within range before firing its claw with remarkable speed and precision.
• There are hundreds of species found all over the world, but most species are found in reefs and seagrass beds in temperate and tropical regions.

About France:

• It is a country located in North Western Europe.
• Bordering countries: It is bordered by 7 countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Andorra.
• Surrounding Water bodies: It is bounded by the Bay of Biscay (North Atlantic Ocean) in the west; by the English Channel in the northwest and by the Mediterranean Sea in the
  • It has 5 overseas regions namely: Guadeloupe, Guyane (French Guiana), La Réunion (Réunion), Martinique and Mayotte.
• Capital City: Paris
• Geographical Features of France:
  • Climate: The climate in mainland France is temperate, with quite significant regional differences.
  • Major Rivers: Loire (drains into Atlantic Ocean), Seine (drains into English channel).
  • Major Mountains: Alps (southern France), Jura Mountains (north of Alps), Pyrenees (forms border with Spain).
  • Natural Resources: Coal, iron ore, bauxite, zinc, uranium, antimony, arsenic, potash, feldspar, fluorspar, gypsum.