GK One-Liners

What: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Gyan Bharatam Mission 2025 with ₹60 crore funding to digitize and preserve over one crore (10 million) ancient manuscripts housed in libraries, museums, universities, monasteries, and private collections across India. The mission establishes a National Digital Repository making these invaluable texts—written in Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, Persian, Arabic, Tamil, and other classical languages—accessible to researchers, scholars, and the public worldwide through online platforms. India possesses one of the world’s largest collections of ancient manuscripts covering philosophy, science, mathematics, medicine (Ayurveda), astronomy, linguistics, and literature, but many are deteriorating due to age, climate, and inadequate preservation conditions.

How: Implementation involves systematic cataloguing of manuscripts scattered across thousands of locations, high-resolution digital scanning using specialized equipment preventing damage to fragile palm-leaf and paper texts, optical character recognition (OCR) for searchable text conversion, metadata creation documenting manuscript details (author, date, language, subject), and cloud-based repository infrastructure enabling global access. The mission partners with institutions like the National Mission for Manuscripts (Ministry of Culture), Indian Institute of Science for developing preservation technologies, and international collaborators for expertise in manuscript conservation. Digitization not only preserves deteriorating originals but democratizes access—researchers worldwide can study texts previously requiring physical travel to specific libraries, accelerating scholarly work and reviving knowledge systems.

Why: This is crucial for UPSC Mains GS I (Indian Heritage and Culture) and questions on cultural preservation. Topics include the significance of manuscript preservation for understanding India’s intellectual traditions—many scientific discoveries predating European Renaissance are documented in these texts, the role of digital technology in cultural conservation versus concerns about digital divide limiting access for traditional scholars without technology literacy, how digitization supports Prime Minister’s emphasis on connecting with India’s cultural roots and ancient knowledge systems, challenges of copyright and intellectual property when digitizing privately owned manuscripts, and the broader vision of positioning India as a global knowledge hub by making its textual heritage accessible supporting research, translation projects, and integration of traditional knowledge with contemporary science.

What: Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, will establish India’s first Hindi-medium medical college offering MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) education beginning from the 2027-28 academic session with an initial intake of 50 students. The institution will provide complete medical education including textbooks, lectures, examinations, and clinical training in Hindi, translating standard medical curricula currently taught in English into Hindi while maintaining alignment with National Medical Commission (NMC) standards. This represents a significant shift in Indian medical education which has been predominantly English-medium since colonial times, despite students from Hindi heartland states often struggling with English proficiency affecting comprehension and performance.

How: Establishing Hindi-medium medical education requires creating comprehensive teaching materials—translating anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and clinical medicine textbooks into Hindi while ensuring terminological accuracy and consistency; developing Hindi medical dictionaries standardizing translations of technical terms; training faculty to deliver lectures effectively in Hindi; and obtaining NMC approval ensuring curriculum equivalence with English-medium institutions for degree recognition and medical licensing. The initiative builds on Madhya Pradesh’s experience with technical education in Hindi and the National Education Policy 2020’s emphasis on mother-tongue instruction. Students will still learn English medical terminology alongside Hindi to enable communication with patients from diverse linguistic backgrounds and access international medical literature.

Why: This is relevant for UPSC Mains GS II (Education Policy, Language Policy) and questions on inclusive education. Topics include the debate over medium of instruction—proponents argue Hindi education improves comprehension, retention, and confidence for students from Hindi-speaking regions who constitute majority of India’s population, while critics raise concerns about limiting career mobility (international medical practice requires English), reducing access to latest research published predominantly in English, and potential quality concerns if translated materials lack precision; NEP 2020’s emphasis on multilingual education allowing mother-tongue instruction till higher education; the challenge of creating standardized medical terminology in Indian languages preventing confusion when multiple translations exist; and balancing linguistic accessibility against ensuring medical graduates possess communication skills needed for diverse patient populations and professional contexts beyond Hindi-speaking regions.

What: Indian chess player Divya Deshmukh won the 2025 FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup, defeating compatriot Koneru Humpy in an all-Indian final. This victory earned Deshmukh the Grandmaster (GM) title, making her India’s 88th Grandmaster and among the youngest women to achieve this prestigious distinction. The Women’s World Cup is a knockout tournament organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) bringing together the world’s top female players, with the champion qualifying for the Women’s Candidates Tournament that determines the challenger for the Women’s World Championship title.

How: Earning the GM title requires achieving three GM norms (strong performances against titled players in FIDE-rated tournaments) and maintaining a FIDE rating above 2500. Deshmukh’s World Cup victory demonstrates exceptional preparation, tactical sharpness, endgame technique, and psychological resilience through multiple rounds of intense competition. India’s chess success stems from systematic training infrastructure including the Viswanathan Anand Chess Academy, government support through Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) funding international coaching and tournament participation, strong tradition of chess culture particularly in Tamil Nadu, and increasing participation among women players breaking gender barriers in a traditionally male-dominated sport.

Why: This is important for UPSC Prelims (Sports Current Affairs) and questions on India’s sporting achievements. Topics include India’s emergence as a chess superpower with the world’s third-largest GM population after Russia and USA, the role of Viswanathan Anand’s success inspiring a generation of players and establishing chess ecosystem, government initiatives supporting Olympic and non-Olympic sports through schemes like Khelo India and TOPS, the significance of women’s achievements in chess challenging gender stereotypes and creating role models, the sport’s cognitive benefits making it valuable for educational integration, and how chess differs from other sports requiring minimal infrastructure investment yet yielding international recognition and soft power benefits for India.

What: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to launch three additional NavIC navigation satellites—NVS-03, NVS-04, and NVS-05—by 2026 to enhance the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system’s accuracy, coverage, and reliability. NavIC is India’s indigenous regional satellite navigation system providing position, navigation, and timing (PNT) services over the Indian subcontinent and surrounding regions extending approximately 1,500 kilometers from Indian boundaries. The expanded constellation will improve service availability, reduce signal blockage in urban environments, and support growing civilian and military applications requiring precise positioning.

How: NavIC currently operates with a constellation of satellites in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) and Geosynchronous Orbits (GSO), providing dual-frequency signals enabling accuracy better than 10 meters for civilian use and encrypted services for strategic applications. The new-generation NVS satellites feature enhanced atomic clocks for improved timing precision, L1 band signals for civilian mass-market devices (smartphones, vehicles), L5 band for safety-critical applications (aviation, maritime), and inter-satellite ranging capabilities. Applications span transportation (vehicle tracking, fleet management), agriculture (precision farming using geo-tagged data), disaster management (coordinate-based emergency response), power grid synchronization, banking transaction timestamping, and military operations requiring indigenous positioning independent of foreign systems like GPS.

Why: This is crucial for UPSC Mains GS III (Science & Technology, Strategic Autonomy) and questions on space applications. Topics include the strategic importance of indigenous navigation systems—GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou are controlled by USA, Russia, EU, and China respectively, creating dependencies during conflicts as seen when USA denied GPS access to Indian military during Kargil War; NavIC’s civilian applications driving economic value through precision agriculture, logistics optimization, and location-based services; challenges of achieving global competitiveness when GPS dominates smartphone chipsets and user familiarity; and ISRO’s broader vision of comprehensive space-based services including communication (GSAT), earth observation (Cartosat, Resourcesat), and navigation supporting national development, disaster management, and defense requirements.

What: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued unique identification numbers to over 8,700 DJI (Da-Jiang Innovations) drones through the DigitalSky portal despite the Indian government’s ban on procurement of Chinese drones introduced in 2021 citing security concerns. DJI is a Chinese company dominating the global commercial drone market with approximately 70% market share, known for consumer and professional drones widely used for photography, surveillance, agriculture, and infrastructure inspection. The registrations apply to drones already in India before the ban, requiring compliance with drone regulations including no-fly zone restrictions, altitude limits, and operational permissions.

How: India’s drone regulatory framework under Drone Rules 2021 mandates registration of all unmanned aerial systems through the DigitalSky portal, a digital platform managing drone operations including operator registration, drone certification, flight permission requests, and airspace coordination. The DGCA issues Unique Identification Numbers (UIN) for drones above specified weight thresholds, linking each drone to an operator and enabling tracking for security and safety. The Chinese drone ban prohibits government agencies and critical infrastructure operators from procuring new Chinese drones due to data security concerns—drones collect visual, thermal, and location data that could potentially be transmitted to Chinese servers, but existing privately-owned drones can continue operating under strict regulations including data localization requirements and restrictions near sensitive areas.

Why: This is relevant for UPSC Mains GS III (Internal Security, Technology Policy) and questions on technology sovereignty. Topics include balancing security concerns against practical realities—DJI drones are technologically superior and cost-effective compared to alternatives making immediate replacement difficult for existing users, the government’s effort to build indigenous drone manufacturing through PLI schemes and startup support yet domestic capabilities remain nascent, data sovereignty concerns around Chinese technology products (smartphones, telecom equipment, drones) potentially enabling surveillance or data exfiltration, the challenge of implementing technology bans when alternatives are limited or expensive, and broader tech policy questions about managing dependencies on foreign technology while developing domestic capabilities without disrupting existing commercial activities relying on such systems.

What: Global Tiger Day is observed annually on July 29 to raise awareness about tiger conservation and the urgent need to protect wild tiger populations facing threats from habitat loss, poaching for illegal wildlife trade (tiger skins, bones used in traditional medicine), human-wildlife conflict, and prey depletion. The day commemorates the 2010 St. Petersburg Tiger Summit where 13 tiger-range countries committed to the TX2 goal of doubling wild tiger populations by 2022. India hosts approximately 75% of the world’s wild tigers with population estimated at 3,682 (2022 census) up from 1,411 in 2006, demonstrating successful conservation despite persistent challenges.

How: India’s tiger conservation operates through Project Tiger (launched 1973) establishing dedicated tiger reserves with core and buffer zones, anti-poaching measures including specialized Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, habitat restoration connecting fragmented forests through wildlife corridors, relocation of villages from core areas reducing human-wildlife conflict while providing rehabilitation packages, technology integration using camera traps for population monitoring and drone surveillance for patrolling, and community participation through eco-development committees engaging local populations in conservation while providing livelihood alternatives to forest dependence. Legal protection under Wildlife Protection Act 1972 prohibits tiger hunting and trade, with stringent penalties for violations.

Why: This is important for UPSC Mains GS III (Environment & Biodiversity) and questions on flagship species conservation. Topics include the ecological significance of tigers as apex predators—their presence indicates healthy forest ecosystems supporting prey populations and biodiversity, the economic value of tiger conservation through wildlife tourism generating revenues and employment (tiger reserves attract significant domestic and international tourists), challenges of balancing conservation with development when tiger habitats overlap with infrastructure projects, tribal rights, and agricultural expansion, the human dimension including compensation for livestock losses, managing man-animal conflict, and ensuring local communities benefit from conservation rather than bearing all costs, and India’s leadership in global tiger conservation demonstrating soft power while maintaining biodiversity heritage.