Why in news?

The arrest of Ravindra Soni, alleged mastermind of the ₹1,000-crore BlueChip Group scam, highlights how digital footprints are transforming policing in India.

Tracked down in Dehradun after a year on the run, Soni was caught not through traditional surveillance but via a food delivery order.

The case underscores law enforcement’s growing use of everyday digital data—OTPs, delivery logs, and e-commerce histories—to trace suspects, showing how routine online activity now leaves an electronic trail that can unravel even sophisticated criminal networks.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• The BlueChip Scam: How a Global Investment Fraud Unfolded
• Digital Residue as Evidence: A New Tool for Law Enforcement
• Regulatory Changes to Tackle Digital Crime

The BlueChip Scam: How a Global Investment Fraud Unfolded

• Ravindra Soni, in 2021, founded the BlueChip Group, claiming to trade in forex and commodities like gold, oil, and metals. The firm drew investors from India, the UAE, Malaysia, Canada, and Japan.
• By 2024, investigators found the operation to be an elaborate fraud, with the company disappearing along with investors’ money.
• After nearly a year on the run, Soni was traced back to India and arrested in Dehradun on November 30, when police tracked him via a food delivery.
• Authorities allege he ran multiple investment fronts, with the scam’s scale estimated at up to ₹1,000 crore.

Digital Residue as Evidence: A New Tool for Law Enforcement

• Investigators are increasingly using digital residue—data from everyday apps and services—as key evidence.
• In a ₹5,300-crore GST fraud, uncovered in May 2024, seemingly minor data points such as OTPs from food-delivery apps and FASTag alerts helped map suspect movements and expose networks of fake firms and forged tax credits.
• Tracking Evasion Tactics
  • Suspects tried to evade detection by frequently changing phones, SIM cards, and hotel identities, keeping devices switched off except to receive OTPs. This pattern itself became a tell.
  • FASTag toll data was used to trace luxury vehicles along the Delhi–Noida–Lucknow corridor, narrowing locations despite constant digital churn.
• Multi-App Linkages Crack Cyber Rings
  • In October, Delhi Police dismantled a ₹22 lakh cyber-fraud network after a nine-day, 1,800-km operation across four states.
  • WhatsApp data indicated overseas operations from Malaysia, while footprints from Flipkart, Swiggy, and Zomato helped identify suspects despite frequent location changes.
• Legal Pathways for Data Sharing
  • Most apps’ privacy policies permit data sharing with law enforcement when required to investigate or prevent illegal activity or to comply with legal processes—making such digital traces admissible and actionable.
• Beyond Financial Crime: Global Parallels
  • The evidentiary shift isn’t limited to financial cases.
  • In the United States, prosecutors investigating the 2025 Palisades Fire in California used digital evidence to build their case.
  • They cited the suspect’s interactions with ChatGPT, including questions about starting fires and AI-generated images of burning landscapes.
  • These digital records were used to link the accused to the fire, which burned over 23,000 acres and destroyed thousands of homes.

Regulatory Changes to Tackle Digital Crime

• Cybersecurity incidents in India have surged from 10.29 lakh in 2022 to 22.68 lakh in 2024, reflecting the growing scale and sophistication of digital crime.
• The financial impact is also rising, with cyber fraud losses of ₹36.45 lakh reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal by February 2025.
• SIM-to-Device Binding for Messaging Apps
  • To curb misuse of digital platforms, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has directed messaging services like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal to enforce SIM-to-device binding.
  • These apps must remain continuously linked to the SIM used at registration and deny access if the device does not contain that SIM.
• New Legal Basis: Telecommunication Cybersecurity Amendment Rules, 2025
  • The Centre is using powers under the Telecommunication Cybersecurity Amendment Rules, 2025 to regulate digital identifiers more tightly.
  • The rules introduce the concept of a Telecommunication Identifier User Entity (TIUE).
  • A TIUE is any non-telecom entity that uses telecommunication identifiers, such as mobile numbers, to identify users.
  • This means apps that require phone numbers for registration fall within the regulatory scope.
• Possible Expansion Beyond Messaging Apps
  • The current directive targets messaging platforms.
  • However, experts note that the broad TIUE definition could extend to other services, including food delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato, since they also rely on mobile numbers for user onboarding.

Why in news?

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch the LVM-3 rocket carrying its heaviest-ever satellite, BlueBird Block-2 (≈6,100 kg).

The satellite will be placed into a low Earth orbit (LEO) of about 520 km roughly 15 minutes after liftoff.

BlueBird Block-2 will be the largest commercial communications satellite deployed in LEO to date. Designed by AST SpaceMobile, the satellite is part of a constellation aimed at direct-to-mobile connectivity.

Unlike traditional satellites that rely on ground stations, this system will communicate directly with standard smartphones, enabling 4G/5G voice and video calls, messaging, streaming, and data access globally.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• LVM3: India’s Heavy-Lift Launch Vehicle
• ISRO’s Push to Optimise LVM3 Engines
• Significance of LVM3-M6 Mission

LVM3: India’s Heavy-Lift Launch Vehicle

• The Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LMV3) is a three-stage launch vehicle weighing about 640 tonnes and standing 43.5 metres tall.
• Developed over decades, it represents the peak of India’s launch vehicle engineering.
• S200 Solid Strap-On Boosters: Power at Lift-Off
  • The first stage comprises two S200 solid-propellant boosters, among the most powerful solid rockets in use worldwide.
  • They provide the massive thrust needed at lift-off to overcome gravity and pass through Earth’s dense lower atmosphere.
• L110 Liquid Core Stage: Controlled Acceleration
  • After booster separation, the L110 liquid stage takes over, using hypergolic propellants for smooth, controllable thrust.
  • This stage plays a crucial role in shaping the satellite’s trajectory and reflects India’s long-standing expertise in liquid propulsion.
• C25 Cryogenic Upper Stage: Precision and Efficiency
  • The C25 cryogenic stage burns supercooled liquid oxygen and hydrogen stored below –180°C.
  • It is India’s largest and most advanced cryogenic engine, offering high efficiency, longer burn duration, and precise orbit insertion—key to technological self-reliance achieved after decades of effort.

ISRO’s Push to Optimise LVM3 Engines

• ISRO is upgrading the LVM3 to meet human-rating requirements for Gaganyaan and to increase lift capacity for modules of the proposed Bharatiya Antariksh Station.
• This involves adding redundancies for safety and boosting overall performance.
• More Thrust from the Cryogenic Upper Stage
  • ISRO is enhancing the cryogenic upper stage, which provides nearly 50% of the velocity needed for geosynchronous missions.
  • The current C25 stage carries 28,000 kg of propellant and produces 20 tonnes of thrust.
  • The planned C32 stage will carry 32,000 kg of fuel, increasing thrust to 22 tonnes, enabling heavier payloads.
• Switch to a Semi-Cryogenic Second Stage
  • The agency is considering replacing the liquid-propellant second stage with a semi-cryogenic engine using refined kerosene and liquid oxygen.
  • This change would lower costs, improve efficiency, and raise LEO payload capacity from ~8,000 kg to ~10,000 kg, a configuration likely for space-station module launches.
• Bootstrap Reignition for Multi-Orbit Missions
  • To support missions deploying satellites into multiple orbits, ISRO is developing bootstrap reignition for cryogenic engines.
  • This allows the upper stage to restart without external gases (like helium), reducing system mass and increasing payload capability—especially valuable for LEO constellation missions.

Significance of LVM3-M6 Mission

• The LVM3-M6 / BlueBird Block-2 mission is a dedicated commercial launch using ISRO’s LVM3 rocket to deploy the BlueBird Block-2 communication satellite of AST SpaceMobile.
  • It represents the sixth operational flight of the LVM3 launch vehicle.
• This is ISRO’s third commercial mission with the LVM-3, after launching OneWeb satellites in 2022–23.
• With alternatives like SpaceX’s Falcon-9 and European Space Agency’s Ariane-6 available, the launch is a chance for ISRO to prove it can deliver heavy launches at lower cost.
• Expanding the LVM-3’s Role
  • Originally designed for geosynchronous missions (~36,000 km), the LVM-3 has now proven versatile in low Earth orbit (LEO) deployments.
  • This marks the third LEO mission for the vehicle, reflecting its evolution from the earlier GSLV-Mk3.
• Operational Readiness and Turnaround Time
  • The launch follows the CMS-03 mission on November 2, making it the shortest gap between two LVM-3 launches.
  • It tests ISRO’s ability to assemble and execute heavy missions rapidly, a key metric for commercial reliability.
• Record-Breaking Payload
  • At 6,100 kg, the BlueBird payload is ISRO’s heaviest satellite ever placed into orbit, surpassing the cumulative OneWeb payloads (~5,700 kg) to LEO and the 4,410 kg CMS-03 sent to geosynchronous transfer orbit last month.
• Strategic Momentum
  • This is the second year since 2023 that ISRO flies two LVM-3 missions in a single year, underscoring growing cadence, capability, and confidence in India’s heavy-lift launch ecosystem.

Why in the News?

• Recent analysis of RBI State-wise export data shows that India’s export growth is increasingly concentrated in a few States, exposing structural imbalances in regional development.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• India’s Export Concentration (Overview, Concentration Among Few States, Regional Divergence, Employment Outcomes, Labour Trends, Suggestions, etc.)

Overview of India’s Export Performance

• India’s export numbers appear robust at the national level, even amid a weakening rupee.
• However, a disaggregated view reveals that export growth is not evenly distributed across States.
• According to the RBI Handbook of Statistics on Indian States (2024-25), a small group of States accounts for a disproportionately large share of India’s total exports.
• This pattern challenges the long-held assumption that export expansion naturally leads to broad-based industrialisation and employment growth across regions.

Concentration of Exports Among a Few States

• India’s export geography is increasingly dominated by five States, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh, which together contribute nearly 70% of the national export basket.
• Half a decade ago, their share was around 65%, indicating a steady rise in concentration.
• This trend reflects a core-periphery pattern, where coastal and industrially advanced States integrate more deeply into global supply chains, while large parts of northern and eastern India remain marginalised.
• The rising Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) of export concentration signals growing regional imbalance rather than convergence.
  • The HHI is used by anti-trust agencies that possess the mandate to promote competition. It is calculated by squaring the market share of each producer in the market and then comparing the sum to a scale.

Structural Reasons Behind Regional Divergence

• Several structural factors explain why exports are clustering instead of dispersing:
  • First, global trade conditions have changed. The era of labour-intensive, low-skill manufacturing as a pathway to development is narrowing.
  • Global merchandise trade growth has slowed, and capital now seeks regions with high economic complexity rather than just cheap labour.
  • Second, export-leading States possess dense industrial ecosystems, logistics, skilled labour, supplier networks, and financial depth that reinforce agglomeration.
  • Firms benefit from spatial clustering, making it costly to relocate to less-developed regions.
  • Third, hinterland States suffer from persistent deficits in infrastructure, human capital, and institutional capacity, preventing them from entering complex global value chains.

Shift from Labour-Intensive to Capital-Intensive Exports

• A key insight from the analysis is that India’s export growth is increasingly capital-intensive rather than labour-absorbing.
• Data from the Annual Survey of Industries (2022-23) shows that while fixed capital investment grew by over 10%, employment growth lagged behind at about 7%.
• Fixed capital per worker has risen sharply, indicating capital deepening. As a result, exports generate value without proportionate job creation.
• This breaks the traditional development link where exports absorb surplus labour from agriculture into manufacturing.

Employment Outcomes and Labour Market Trends

• The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) reinforces this concern. Manufacturing’s share in total employment has stagnated around 11.6-12%, despite record export values.
• This suggests a collapse in the employment elasticity of exports.
• Most new export-linked jobs are concentrated in capital-intensive hubs, such as electronics clusters in Tamil Nadu or Noida, rather than dispersed factory employment across the hinterland.
• Wage share in Net Value Added has also declined, indicating that productivity gains accrue more to capital than to workers.

Financial and Institutional Constraints in Hinterland States

• Regional inequality is further deepened by financial asymmetries. Credit-Deposit (CD) ratios in export-leading States often exceed 90%, ensuring local recycling of savings into industry.
• In contrast, States like Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh have CD ratios below 50%, implying capital outflow to already developed regions.
• This creates a vicious cycle: weaker States lose capital, struggle to build industrial capacity, and remain excluded from export growth.

Rethinking Exports as a Development Metric

• The evidence suggests a structural shift; exports are no longer a driver of development but an outcome of prior development.
• States do not export their way into prosperity; they export because they already possess industrial and institutional strength.
• This raises important policy questions. Treating export growth as a proxy for inclusive development risks overlooking employment generation, regional equity, and human capital outcomes.

Context:

• India’s nuclear power programme has long suffered from policy uncertainty, liability bottlenecks, and investor hesitation, especially after the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010.
• In this backdrop, Parliament has passed the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill.
• It aims to reset India’s nuclear governance framework and align it with global nuclear commerce norms while strengthening energy security and decarbonisation goals.

Why the SHANTI Bill Matters?

• Nuclear power is a clean, reliable baseload energy source, crucial for India’s net-zero ambitions.
• India targets 100 GW of nuclear power by 2047, requiring large-scale investment, global collaboration, and regulatory credibility.
• The SHANTI Bill represents India’s “second chance” to emerge as a credible nuclear energy leader.

Key Features of the SHANTI Bill:

• Legislative reset:
  • Replaces the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 with a single, integrated legal framework.
  • Seeks to harmonise Indian law with global nuclear liability regimes.
• Balanced public–private participation (PPP):
  • Allows involvement of both public and private sectors, but maintains a state-led system. Foreign-incorporated companies excluded as licensees.
  • Sensitive stages such as fuel cycle, enrichment, reprocessing, spent fuel management remain exclusively with the central government.
  • This balanced PPP is termed as a cautious expansion strategy.
• Regulatory architecture and safety:
  • Licensing: Retained by the government.
  • Safety authorization: Assigned to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) with enhanced statutory powers, stronger radiation safety norms, mandatory public outreach, and improved emergency preparedness.
  • It ensures independent regulators, nuclear safety, institutional capacity.
• Nuclear liability framework – The core reform:
  • Operator-centric liability: Aligns with global practice where primary liability rests with the operator. Limits operator liability to 300 million SDR (Special Drawing Rights).
  • Curtailment of supplier liability:
    • Operator’s right of recourse limited to contractual terms, intentional wrongdoing, etc.
    • It shifts a share of responsibility beyond the operator’s cap to the central government through a Nuclear Liability Fund.
    • It points to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) for supplementary funds if claims exceed that level.
    • This indicates a shift from the expansive supplier liability introduced in 2010.
• State as insurer of last resort:
• Terrorism recognised as a sovereign risk.
• The state assumes liability in extreme cases.
• Ensures victims are not left uncompensated after catastrophic events, assuring last-resort liability of the state.
• Graded liability and transparency:
  • Liability graded according to the nature of installation, risk profile.
  • No category allowed below a minimum threshold without regulator-certified rationale.
  • Annual public disclosure on liability and compensation financing.
• Victim-centric compensation:
  • Expanded definition of nuclear damage: long-term health impacts, environmental degradation, loss of livelihood and income, and preventive measures.
  • Claims pathway with timelines, faster disbursement via dedicated funds - establishing the principle of speed of compensation equals justice.
• Intellectual property (IP) reforms:
  • Creation of a special nuclear inventions regime.
  • Amendments to patent laws to encourage nuclear energy–related innovations, safety software, radiation applications, robotics and specialised manufacturing.
  • Impact: Strengthens domestic nuclear supply chains and skilled employment.

Challenges and Concerns:

• Political and moral insensitivities: Dilution of supplier liability may be criticised as pro-corporate, diluting victim justice and a strong emotional legacy of the Bhopal disaster.
• Weak institutional capacity: AERB needs more specialised inspectors, faster rule-making ability, and strong enforcement credibility.
• Public trust deficit: Nuclear safety concerns, limited public understanding of liability mechanisms.

Way Forward:

• Capacity building and public engagement:
  • Strengthen AERB autonomy and staffing.
  • Build insurance and reinsurance capacity.
  • Enhance public communication and transparency.
• Use SHANTI as a platform to:
  • Deepen India–US civil nuclear cooperation.
  • Diversify nuclear partnerships beyond single suppliers.
  • Integrate nuclear energy firmly into India’s climate strategy.

Conclusion:

• The SHANTI Bill does not claim perfection, but it offers credibility, clarity, and convergence with global norms—three essentials for scaling nuclear energy.
• By balancing safety, liability, innovation, and investment, SHANTI provides India with an opportunity to move from prolonged debate to delivery, transforming India from a cautious nuclear outlier into a reliable global nuclear builder.

Context

• Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India in early December for the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit drew intense international attention.
• While India viewed the visit as part of a long-standing bilateral process, the West saw it through the prism of the Russia-Ukraine war and the diplomatic boycott imposed on Moscow since 2022.
• The visit ultimately reaffirmed India’s commitment to strategic autonomy, while revealing both continuity and subtle recalibration in India–Russia ties.

Historical Foundations of a Strategic Partnership

• India–Russia relations are anchored in deep historical trust and shared strategic interests.
• Meetings between leaders of the two countries have often reshaped regional geopolitics, most notably the 1971 India-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation.
• That agreement decisively altered South Asia’s strategic balance, enabling India’s victory over Pakistan and the emergence of Bangladesh.
• Beyond landmark treaties, symbolic and substantive gestures have sustained mutual confidence, such as President Putin’s 2009 decision to waive penalties to facilitate India’s acquisition of its second aircraft carrier.
• Over decades, Russia’s consistent support, especially during periods when the West aligned with Pakistan, cemented a relationship based on mutual accommodation and reliability.
• Since the Gorbachev era and under President Putin’s long tenure, successive Indian Prime Ministers have strengthened this partnership.

Ukraine, the West, and India’s Strategic Autonomy

• The Russia-Ukraine conflict posed a critical test for India-Russia relations.
• India maintained neutrality and refused to align with Western efforts to isolate Russia, a stance that has caused persistent friction with the U.S. and the European Union.
• Against this backdrop, President Putin’s visit acquired heightened symbolic significance.
• Western expectations that global political shifts, U.S. tariffs on Indian purchases of Russian oil, and diplomatic pressure might weaken India-Russia ties were not borne out.
• The warmth displayed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Putin, coupled with extensive media coverage, underscored continuity rather than divergence.

The Joint Statement: Continuity with Subtle Nuances

• The Joint Statement issued after the summit reaffirmed the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership, marking 25 years of formal strategic cooperation.
• It reiterated mutual trust, respect for core national interests, and the intention to strengthen traditional areas while exploring new avenues.
• Particular emphasis was placed on connectivity initiatives, including the Northern Sea Route through the Arctic and the Chennai-Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor, alongside enhanced technological and industrial cooperation.
• The optics of the visit-public warmth, coordinated messaging, and expanded cooperation-were widely viewed as successful.

Defence Ties: An Enduring but Questioned Pillar

• Despite these affirmations, the conspicuous absence of defence cooperation from the Joint Statement was striking.
• Defence has historically been the bedrock of India-Russia relations, especially during the Putin era.
• Whether this silence reflects deliberate diplomatic caution or a gradual shift in priorities remains open to interpretation.
• Nevertheless, defence cooperation remains central to India’s security architecture.
• Russia has been India’s most consistent and reliable supplier of advanced military systems, spanning land, sea, and air domains.
• Critical platforms include the S-400 air and missile defence system, the jointly developed BrahMos missile, Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft, T-90 tanks, and transport helicopters.
• These systems continue to form the core of India’s defence capabilities and have significantly enhanced operational effectiveness in recent conflicts.

Western Contradictions and Strategic Realities

• A shift away from Russia towards Western defence sources carries significant strategic risks. Western partners have historically proven inconsistent, particularly in South Asia.
• This concern is reinforced by recent U.S. decisions to approve major upgrade and sustainment packages for Pakistan’s F-16 fighter fleet, even as Washington publicly characterises U.S.-India ties as the defining relationship of the century.
• Such contradictions reinforce India’s strategic scepticism and highlight why Russia continues to be viewed as a trusted long-term partner.

Conclusion

• President Putin’s visit demonstrated the resilience and adaptability of India-Russia relations amid global turbulence.
• While the partnership remains robust and symbolically strong, the muted emphasis on defence suggests nuanced recalibration rather than rupture.
• India’s foreign policy continues to prioritise strategic autonomy, reliable partnerships, and long-term national interest, resisting pressure to conform to transient geopolitical alignments.

Context

• The Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 marks a significant reform in India’s rural employment and livelihood framework.
• By expanding the statutory employment guarantee from 100 to 125 days and restructuring implementation around planning, convergence, and accountability, the Act seeks to strengthen rural livelihoods while enhancing long-term productivity.
• Criticism that the reform weakens employment rights, undermines decentralisation, or signals fiscal withdrawal rests on a flawed assumption that welfare and development are competing objectives.
• The Act is grounded in the principle that welfare and development are mutually reinforcing, and embeds this understanding within its statutory and institutional design.

Key Features of the VB- G RAM G Act

• Strengthening the Statutory Right to Employment
  • A key feature of the Act is the expansion of the guaranteed employment entitlement from 100 to 125 days, reinforcing the legal right to work.
  • The Act also strengthens enforceability by removing procedural dis-entitlement clauses that previously rendered unemployment allowances ineffective.
  • Time-bound grievance redress mechanisms have been reinforced, addressing the gap between statutory promise and lived reality.
  • The employment guarantee remains statutory, justiciable, and substantively stronger than before.
• Demand-Based Employment and Participatory Planning
  • The Act retains the demand-driven nature of employment, with workers continuing to initiate requests for work.
  • The reform lies in anticipatory, participatory village-level planning, ensuring that employment is available when demanded rather than being denied due to administrative unpreparedness.
  • Planning operationalises demand instead of replacing it, shifting the framework from reactive distress response to proactive livelihood assurance.
• Decentralisation and Institutional Architecture
  • Decentralisation remains central to the Act’s architecture. Gram panchayats continue as the primary planning and implementing authorities, while gram sabhas retain approval powers over local plans.
  • The introduction of Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans institutionalises decentralised planning rather than diluting it.
  • Aggregation of plans at higher administrative levels enables coordination, convergence, and visibility, while decision-making authority remains local. Centralisation is limited to coherence, not control.
• Consultation and Cooperative Federalism
  • The Act reflects the principles of cooperative federalism, having been shaped through extensive consultations with State governments, technical workshops, and multi-stakeholder discussions.
  • Key design elements, such as structured village planning, convergence mechanisms, and digital governance, are informed by State-level feedback and implementation experience.
  • States are positioned as development partners, not merely implementing agencies.

Fiscal Commitment and Addressing Structural Weakness

• Fiscal Commitment and Equity in Allocation
  • Claims of fiscal withdrawal are inconsistent with budgetary trends. Central allocations have increased to nearly ₹95,000 crore, demonstrating sustained fiscal commitment.
  • The 60:40 funding model, with a 90:10 ratio for northeastern and Himalayan States and Jammu and Kashmir, follows established norms.
  • Rule-based, normative allocation ensures equity, while flexibility provisions allow States to seek relaxations during natural disasters or extraordinary circumstances, balancing accountability with responsiveness.
• Addressing Structural Weaknesses of Earlier Frameworks
  • Implementation experience under earlier frameworks revealed episodic employment, weak enforceability of unemployment allowances, fragmented asset creation, and vulnerability to corruption and duplication.
  • These weaknesses became evident during droughts, migration surges, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The Act responds by integrating livelihood security with durable asset creation, agricultural stability, and productivity enhancement, treating income support and development outcomes as a continuum.

Comparative Perspective: Lessons from the UPA Era

• Wage freezes ignored inflation, budgetary allocations declined despite rising demand, and worker participation fell.
• Delayed fund releases and administrative apathy weakened the employment guarantee.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General’s 2013 report documented widespread corruption, including fake job cards, financial irregularities, delayed wages, and poor record-keeping, particularly in States with high rural poverty.
• These failures underscored the necessity of structural correction rather than policy stagnation.

Conclusion

• The Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 represents renewal, not retreat, in India’s rural welfare framework.
• By expanding entitlements, strengthening enforceability, institutionalising decentralised planning, and enhancing fiscal and administrative coherence, the Act integrates welfare and development into a unified statutory model.
• Income support and productivity enhancement are treated as interdependent goals, laying the foundation for a resilient, self-reliant rural economy grounded in enforceable rights, cooperative federalism, and sustainable development.

About Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI):

• It was launched by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT’s) Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU).
• It is a risk-based metric that classifies mobile numbers into three categories: Medium, High, and Very High Risk based on their likelihood of involvement in financial fraud.
• The classification draws from a comprehensive analysis using inputs from various platforms, including the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre’s National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), DoT’s Chakshu platform, and intelligence shared by banks and financial institutions.
• By flagging high-risk numbers early, the tool enables banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), and UPI service providers to take appropriate measures for customer protection and transaction validation.
• How Advance Notification Helps Prevent Fraud?
  • The DoT’s Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU) regularly disseminates the Mobile Number Revocation List (MNRL), which details mobile numbers disconnected due to involvement in cybercrime, failed verification, or exceeding permissible usage limits.
  • These numbers often surface in financial fraud activities.
  • Given that fraudulent mobile numbers are often short-lived and verification processes can take time, a preemptive indicator such as the FRI becomes highly effective.
  • Thus, as soon as a suspected mobile number is flagged by a stakeholder, it undergoes multidimensional analysis, and classifies it into Medium, High, or Very High financial risk associated with it.
  • It then shares this assessment about the number immediately with all stakeholders through DoT’s Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP).
  • Banks and financial institutions can use FRI in real time to take preventive measures such as declining suspicious transactions, issuing alerts or warnings to customers, and delaying transactions flagged as high risk.

About Paliyar Tribe:

• They are an indigenous tribal community primarily found in the hilly regions of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
• They are and have been known by multiple names, such as the Paliyans, Pazhaiyarares, and Panaiyars.
• Historically, the Paliyars were spread all over the Dindigul district and the Sirumalai Palani hills, adjacent to the Western Ghats.
• As they inhabited the Palani hills, they were known as Panaiyars.
• Language: They primarily speak a dialect related to Tamil, reflecting their Dravidian linguistic heritage.
• Occupation:
  • Traditionally, the Paliyars were hunters and gatherers, residing in the forests of the Western Ghats.
  • Presently, they have transformed into traders of forest products, food cultivators, and beekeepers, with some working intermittently as wage labourers, mostly on plantations.
• They are recognized for their extensive knowledge and traditional practices pertaining to the use of medicinal plants.
• Palliyars have small communities called kudis, sometimes living in caves or mud shelters.
• The Paliyar tribes never burned the dead bodies. They had the customary practice of burying the dead bodies in an area near to their residential area on the western side.
• Their festivals involve nature-based rituals, dancing, and music.
• They have a special ceremony to invoke rain and protect the forest spirits.

About Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti:

• He was a very important Sufi saint.
• People often call him Gharīb Nawāz, which means 'Benefactor of the Poor'.
• A follower of Sunni Hanafi theology, he became the disciple of Hazrat Khwaja Usman Harooni, who later declared him his spiritual successor.
• He came to India around the year 1192 AD. He finally settled in the city of Ajmer during the reign of Sultan Iltutmish in Delhi and Prithviraj Chauhan in Ajmer.
• He is famous for bringing the Chishti Order of Sufism to India.
• He preached love, tolerance, charity, and detachment from materialism, and established a Khanqah in Ajmer to serve the poor.
• His tomb is known as the Dargah Sharif, or the Ajmer Sharif Dargah.
  • The architectural style of Dargah Sharif purely reflects the Mughal style of architecture.
  • All Mughal rulers from Humayun to Shah Jahan have made modifications in the structure.

The Chishti Order's Beliefs:

• The Chishti Order is a group within Sufism.
  • Sufism is a way of life in Islam that focuses on finding a deeper, more personal connection with God.
• The Chishti Order was started by a saint named Abu Ishaq Shami in Chisht, a town in Afghanistan.
• The Chishti Order is mostly followed in Afghanistan and South Asia.
• Moinuddin Chishti brought this order to India.
• The Chishti Order teaches several important things:
  • Love for all people.
  • Helping the poor and needy.
  • Living a simple life.
  • Being tolerant and peaceful.
  • Listening to spiritual music, called Qawwali, to feel closer to God.