Context: In the last decade, the number of submissions from drugmakers that include an AI or machine-learning component has seen an exponential rise. In January 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed draft guidelineson the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to assess the safety and effectiveness of drugs.
Relevance of the Topic:Mains: Role of AI in Drug-testing- Applications & Limitations.
Limitations of Conventional Testing & Need for AI
Dependence on animal models:
Pharma industries have traditionally used animal models’ response to various compounds to assess whether a drug can proceed to human clinical trials.
But different populations globally respond differently to drugs and diseases according to age, sex, pre-existing medical conditions, and genetic variabilities etc. This range can not be captured by the response of a homogenous, lab-bred animal population.
E.g., Rats can eliminate some drugs from their bodies much faster than humans. For the same dose level, humans need to be exposed to the drug for a longer duration.
High cost and low success rates:
It takes nearly 10 years and over a billion dollars to develop a drug using conventional (animal-based) processes, which have a success rate of only 14%.
Role of AI in drug development:
Limitations of the AI models
Despite the potential to overcome barriers of conventional testing, AI has its own challenges.
Reliability and bias: Use of biased and/or under-representative data of a target population will also compromise the output. An incorrect prediction could have life-threatening implications.
Lack of Transparency: Algorithms of most AI models are not open to independent scrutiny, nor is the data used to train them easily accessible. Hence the models’ performance can not be assessed as required.
Ethical concerns: There is no legal accountability and responsibility arising out of the decisions made by AI (as AI models can self-learn and adapt over time).
Recent developments in AI-driven drug testing:
US: FDA’s draft guidelines focusses on:
Improving the quality and quantity of data used to train the AI model.
Need to continuously monitor AI models for reliability. Encourage the industry to discuss and design appropriate ways toassess their AI models.
Use of AI in the preclinical stage in particular to assess/approve the safety and effectiveness of a drug (or a compound of interest) before starting human clinical trials.
India: New Drugs and Clinical Trials (Amendment) Rules 2023:
It allowed data generated by advanced computational models to be used to assess the safety and efficacy of new drugs, freeing researchers from relying on animal trials alone.
There is a need for convergence of guidelines issued by global regulators that can help harmonise (i) government policy, (ii) manufacturers’ expectations and compliance burden, (iii) researchers’ strategy, and (iv) consumer safety. This will be crucial for utilising AI to develop a more effective and affordable healthcare system.
Context: The share of Gender Budget allocation in the total Union Budget has increased to 8.86% in FY 2025-26 from 6.8% in FY 2024-25. This is the highest allocation in two decades, with ₹4.49 lakh crore spread across 49 Union Ministries and departments. It reflects a strong commitment to create a more supportive and empowering environment for women.
Relevance of the topic:
Prelims: Key trends in Gender Budget.
Mains: Gender budgeting and associated challenges in India.
Key Highlights of Gender Budgeting 2025-26:
1. Increased share of Gender Budget allocation:
Maximum allocation in Part B:
72.75% of the gender budget has been allocated to Part B type of gender budget, followed by Part A and Part C, i.e., 23.5% and 3.75% respectively.
Ministry-wise allocation:
10 Ministries received over 30% of their allocation in the Gender Budget for FY 2025-26.
The Ministry of Women & Child Development received the highest 81.79% allocation, followed by the Department of Rural Development (65.76%), the Department of Food and Public Distribution, and the Department of Health and Family Welfare.
Allocation to new Ministries: Twelve new Ministries/Departments have reported allocations in the GBS 2025-26.
They include: Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Department of Biotechnology, Department of Food & Public Distribution, Department of Financial Services, Department of Fisheries, Department of Land Resources, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Department of Water Resources, RD & GR, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, and Ministry of Railways.
This expansion of gender budgeting into non-conventional sectors reflects the government approach to gender mainstreaming.
2. Inclusion of women as a priority group in the National Development Framework:
The budget sets a holistic vision for Viksit Bharat with ‘zero poverty, universal good quality school education, 100% skilled labour with meaningful employment, 70% women in economic activities, and India as the food basket of the world.
As per the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey, India’s female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) has risen to 42% in 2023-24 from 33% in 2021-22. (the global average is 47% as reported by the International Labour Organisation).
However, a 37% point gap remains when compared to men’s labour force participation of 79%.
Achieving the ambitious target of 70% women’s participation in economic activities by 2047, needs increased investment in skilling, employment, entrepreneurship, access to resources, and social security entitlements.
For this purpose, key initiatives like Skill India Programme, Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission, MGNREGS, PM Employment Generation Programme, PM Vishwakarma, Krishonnati Yojana, have received increased allocations. Approximately 52% of ₹1.24 lakh crore allocations of these funds are directed toward women and girls.
3. Advancing women’s economic participation:
Budget 2025-26 provides a robust foundation for advancing women’s economic participation. New schemes like Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, first-time entrepreneurs’ scheme, sustainable livelihood for urban workers initiative etc. will play a critical role in fostering women’s workforce participation & creation of women entrepreneurs.
As per the government’s Udyam portal, 20.5% of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are women-owned employing about 27 million people.
Reports suggest that establishing 30 million additional women-owned businesses could generate 150-170 million jobs, accounting for over 25% of the job creation needed for India’s working-age population by 2030.
The budget advocates:
Unlocking finance for women-owned enterprises through collateral-free loans, alternative credit scoring models, and targeted financial literacy programmes.
Simplifying documentation requirements, such as delinking Kisan Credit Cards from land ownership, would help women farmers avail loans and credit facilities.
Tracking access and usage of such schemes through gender-disaggregated data to further enhance their effectiveness.
4. Focus on gig workers:
The Budget proposes to formalise gig workers by issuing identity cards and registering them on the e-Shram portal.
This is a significant step as 90% of India’s working women are engaged in the informal sector.
It will empower millions of women by providing them formal identity, access to social security entitlements, and financial inclusion benefits.
5.Gender inclusivity in the technology sector:
The budget aims for establishment of a Centre of Excellence on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the education sector, and has allocated a dedicated ₹600 crore gender budget under the India AI Mission.
This demonstrates the government’s intent to harness AI for social good, and ensure equitable outcomes in the workforce, and promote gender inclusivity in the technology sector.
About Gender Budgeting
Gender budgeting is a strategy that ensures public financial policies, programs and expenditures to promote gender equality.
Components of Gender budgeting- There are three components of the gender budgeting
Part A (100% for women): These are gender-specific expenditures allocated for the schemes directly benefiting women. (E.g., Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, SHE-Box etc.)
Part B (30% to 99% for women): It consists of Pro-women general expenditure that benefits both men and women but special focus on improvement of women’s condition (E.g., MGNREGA ensures wage equality for women).
Part C (less than 30% for women): These are gender-neutral budgeting that impacts all the citizens but may need gender sensitive planning to ensure equal benefits. (E.g., Har Ghar Nal project benefitting women by reducing their time to fetch water).
Benefits of gender budgeting:
Promotes gender equality: It ensures that government resources are allocated to reduce gender disparity. (Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme enhanced enrollment of girls in school)
Enhancing economic empowerment of women: The adequate gender budgeting provides skill development enhancing employment and workforce participation in the workforce. (Mudra yojana and Stand-Up India to promote entrepreneurship among women)
Improves health and social welfare: Budgeting in schemes like Janani Suraksha Yojana has reduced the maternal mortality by promoting institutional deliveries. (Institutional deliveries has been increased to 78%: NFHS-5)
Ensuring women safety and security: Allocation of funds for safety and security of women by providing necessary infrastructure and self-defence training to women. (Nirbhaya fund is used for women’s safety projects like emergency helplines and surveillance in public transport.)
Issues in gender budgeting:
Inadequate allocation: Women constitute about half of the nation’s population but gender budgeting is only 8.86% of the budget.
Skewed allocation: Over 95% of the gender budgeting is done for the 5 ministries only, this limits the scope of implementation of the gender budgeting.
Implementation gap: Many gender-responsive schemes suffer from poor execution due to bureaucratic delay and lack of coordination. (only 37% of Nirbhaya Fund has been utilised since its inception)
Gender neutral schemes overlook women: Needs of women are often overlooked leading to further deprivation of the women. (only 27% of supervisory position in MGNREGA are held by women)
Insufficient monitoring and accountability: There is a lack of clear mechanism that leads to inefficient spending. (Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana’s benefits have reached less than 50% of eligible women as per NITI Aayog : 2023).
By ensuring gender-responsive budgeting, strengthened social protection, and by fostering a labour market which includes both women and men, India can pave the way for women to become key drivers of national growth, ultimately achieving the ambitious target of 70% women in economic activities by 2047.
Context: The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid space telescope has discovered a rare ring of light (known as an Einstein ring) around a galaxy nearly 590 million light-years away from Earth.
Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Einstein Ring; Gravitational lensing; Euclid space telescope.
What is an Einstein Ring?
An Einstein ring is a ring of light around a form of dark matter, galaxy or cluster of galaxies. It is an example of strong gravitational lensing.
Gravitational lensing is a phenomenon which occurs when a massive celestial object (such as a galaxy, cluster of galaxies or black hole) creates a strong gravitational field which distorts and amplifies the light (causes the light to bend/curve)from a distant object positioned directly behind it.
The object causing the light to curve is called a gravitational lens.
Gravitational lensing can result in several types of image configurations, including an Einstein ring.
Discovery of the recent Einstein Ring:
The Einstein ring was discovered around NGC 6505, a galaxy that was first found in the 19th Century & is nearly 590 million light-years away from Earth.
NGC 6505 acted as the gravitational lens. It distorted and amplified the light coming from a distant unnamed galaxy, located 4.42 billion light-years away.
A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, which is 9.46 trillion kilometres.
The photos taken by Euclid show a bright ball of light in the centre with a bright, cloudy ring around it.
Rarity of Einstein Rings:
Einstein rings are named after mathematician and physicist Albert Einstein, whose general theory of relativity predicted that light could bend and brighten around objects across the cosmos.
The first Einstein ring was discovered in 1987, and since then, several more have been discovered.
Notably, they are extremely rare — less than 1% of galaxies have an Einstein ring.
Einstein rings are not visible to the naked eye, and can be observed only through space telescopes such as Euclid.
Why do scientists study Einstein Rings?
Probing dark matter:
These rings help scientists investigate dark matter which has never been detected. Dark matter and dark energy together make up 95% of the universe.
This dark matter does not interact with light, but it does have a gravitational effect. Gravitational lensing thus allows us to indirectly detect dark matter.
Studying distant galaxies:
Einstein rings enable scientists to learn about distant galaxies, which otherwise might not be visible.
Expansion of Universe:
They can also provide information about the expansion of the universe as the space between the Earth and other galaxies — both in the foreground and the background — is stretching.
About Euclid Space Telescope:
The Euclid Space Telescope was launched in 2023 from Cape Canaveral in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket by the European Space Agency (ESA).
The telescope is stationed 1.5 million km away from the Earth at the Lagrangian Point 2.
It will observe the shapes, distances, and motions of billions of galaxies spanning over 10 billion light-years over the next six years.
Objective:
To create the largest cosmic 3D map of the universe to better understand the distribution of dark matter and reveal the influence of dark energy in the early universe.
To understand the evolution of the Universe by looking at the light emitted from galaxies 10 billion years ago.
Context: The Centre has launched the next phase of its flagship UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme. UDAN 5.5 intends to promote last-mile connectivity in remote regions, hilly areas, and island territories.
Relevance of the Topic:Prelims: Key facts about UDAN Scheme.
About UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) Scheme:
Launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation for regional airport development and regional connectivity enhancement. It is a part of the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016.
Objectives:
To improve the air connectivity to remote and regional areas of India.
To make flights accessible and affordable in tier-2 and tier-3 towns.
Key Features of UDAN scheme:
Under the scheme, airlines have to cap airfares for 50% of the total seats at Rs. 2,500per hour of flight. This would be achieved through:
A financial stimulus in the form of concessions from Central and State governments and airport operators.
Viability Gap Funding (VGF): A government grant provided to the airlines to bridge the gap between the cost of operations and expected revenue.
Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF): created to meet the viability gap funding requirements under the scheme.
The partner State Governments would contribute a 20% share to this fund.
UTs and NER states shall contribute only 10%.
UDAN created a framework based on the need and led to the formulation of:
Lifeline UDAN: for transportation of medical cargo during pandemic.
Krishi UDAN: value realization of agriculture products especially in Northeastern Region {NER} and tribal districts.
International UDAN routesfor NER to explore International Connectivity from/to Guwahati and Imphal.
Previous Phases of the Scheme
Phase 1:
Launched in 2017
Objective: Connect underserved and unserved airports in the country.
Phase 2:
Launched in 2018
Aim: Expand air connectivity to more remote and inaccessible parts of the country.
Phase 3:
Launched in November 2018
Focus: Enhancing air connectivity to hilly and remote regions of the country.
Phase 4:
Launched in December 2019
Focus: Connecting islands and other remote areas of the country.
Phase 5:
Launched in 2023
Focus on Category-2 (20-80 seats) and Category-3 (>80 seats) aircrafts.
No restriction on the distance between the origin and the destination of the flight.
VGF to be provided will be capped at 600 km stage length for both Priority and Non-Priority area.
Earlier capped at 500 km.
The Latest phase: UDAN 5.5
UDAN 5.5 intends to promote last-mile connectivity in remote regions, hilly areas, and island territories.
Focus: Routes that will be serviced exclusively with sea-planes, choppers, and small aircraft with a seating capacity of less than 20 passengers.
Operators will get a chance to chart seaplane routes between 80 water bodies, which include waterdromes, ponds, and dams.
Around 400 helipads are also included in the scheme for operators to map out chopper routes.
Allows the participation of operators of aircraft in categories such as:
Category ‘1A’: seat less than nine passengers.
Category ‘1’: less than 20 passengers.
Achievements under UDAN Scheme:
Expanded air connectivity:
UDAN has provided air connectivity to more than 29 States/ UTs across the country.
It has provided a fair amount of air connectivity to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities at affordable airfares and has transformed the way travelling was done earlier.
Facilitated the travel of around 1.5 crore passengers across more than 2.8 lakh flights.
Increased routes:
Operationalised 619 routes, including helicopter routes.
Increasing airports:
The number of operational airports in the country has doubled from 74 in 2014 to more than 157 in 2024.
Reaching the last-mile:
68 underserved/unserved destinations which include 58 Airports, 8 Heliports & 2 Water Aerodromes have been connected under UDAN scheme.
The new scheme has attracted players who want to start seaplane services across the Andaman and Nicobar island chain, among other potential routes.
Scope for further development under UDAN:
Present Situation:
At present, there are no seaplane services in India.
The number of small aircraft in the A1 category number is less than 20.
Over the next five years, Industry estimates forecast:
Context: Sixty countries, including India, China, Brazil, France, and Australia, signed a joint statement on “Inclusive and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence for Peopleand the Planet” atthe AIAction Summit in Paris, 2025.
Relevance of the topic:
Prelims: AI Action Summit 2025
Mains: AI Regulations- Different approaches, Challenges, Initiatives
AI Action Summit 2025
Held in Paris, France. Co-chaired by India and France.
Focus on: Inclusive and Sustainable AI development.
60 countries signed the joint statement, including India, China, Brazil, France, Canada and Australia.
The United States and United Kingdomwere non-signatories.
Provisions of Joint Statement:
Ensuring accessibility, trust, and safety in AI deployment.
Promoting AI for industrial growth and labour market development.
Encouraging global collaboration in AI innovation.
Building AI capacity in developing countries.
AI should be human-centric, ethical, safe, secure, and trustworthy.
Challenges in global AI governance
Front runners monopoly: US and China are shaping the AI governance discourse, potentially sidelining the specific needs of the Global South.
U.S. stance: Prioritizes AI innovation and deregulation over global ethical frameworks.
Potential conflict: between the European regulatory approach and the U.S. free-market approach.
Different governing models: Diverging AI governance models impact international cooperation on AI standards.
Resource gap: There is a significant resource gap between developed and developing countries, which affects their ability to advance in AI.
India’s Role in AI Governance
Leadership in AI Policy Development:
India’s co-chairing of the AI Action summit highlights its growing global AI leadership.
Active Participation in Global Forums:
India is actively engaged in global platforms like the UN, G-20, and Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI).
India emphasizes equitable AI access and governance for developing countries.
Advocacy for Fair AI Governance:
India has raised concerns about equitable access to AI resources, including data, infrastructure, and knowledge-sharing mechanisms.
Recent Achievements:
India’s leadership in the G-20New Delhi Leaders Declaration and GPAI emphasized fair AI benefits and risk mitigation.
Inclusive Global AI Governance:
India is pushing for an AI governance model that includes marginalized voices from the Global South, focusing on fairness, human rights, and diverse global perspectives.
India’s AI Policies and Initiatives
National Strategy for AI - NITI Aayog’s AI for All:
India’s first comprehensive AI strategy, focusing on social inclusion, innovation, and governance.
