Daily Current Affairs | April 11-12 2025

1) Deep-Tech Start-up Ecosystem

• Commerce Minister sharply criticized the Indian startup ecosystem for being focused on consumer-centric ventures like food delivery apps, calling for a shift toward deep-tech innovation.

• Deep-Tech - These are businesses built on scientific discoveries and engineering innovations, often addressing complex challenges with solutions requiring significant R&D and technical expertise. Examples - AI, life sciences, agriculture, aerospace, and clean energy.

India’s Advantages

• India ha 3rd largest start-up ecosystem in the world with over 100 unicorns.

• India has a rich base of tech-savvy youth and engineers, with over 65% of the population under 35.

• Availability of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) like UPI, Aadhaar, and BharatNet have laid a digital foundation for startups to thrive.

Issues in Indian Start-up Ecosystem

• Consumer Centric - Most unicorns are not deep-tech but focus on short-cycle consumer ventures like quick commerce and food delivery. They rely more on B2C efficiency and customer acquisition, rather than deep-tech investments / R&D.

• Low Funding for Deep-Tech - Startups in AI, quantum, or space-tech get a fraction of funding compared to China or the US.

• Academia-Industry Linkage - Poor R&D infrastructure and limited collaboration between universities and startups. Indian universities rarely feature in global innovation or patent rankings.

• Risk Averse VCs - Indian VCs seek quick returns and avoid long-gestation tech projects.

• Less Regulatory Support from the Government.

2) Jyotiba Phule

• April 11 marks the 198th birth anniversary of Jyotiba Govindrao Phule, a famous social reformer from Maharashtra in 19th century who fought against caste discrimination and gender inequality.

• He is revered as the “Father of the Indian Social Revolution”, as he worked for the upliftment of Dalits, women, farmers, and labourers.

• He was the first leader to use the term “Dalit” for the oppressed castes and laid the foundation for anti-caste movements in India.

About Jyotiba

• He was born on April 11, 1827, in Pune, Maharashtra, in the Mali (gardener) caste.

• He married Savitribai Phule in 1840, who later became India’s first female teacher.

• He founded Satyashodhak Samaj(1873) that promoted inter-caste marriages, non-Brahmin priesthood, and mass education.

His Contributions

• Women Education - He advocated universal, compulsory, and practical education for all, especially for women and backward castes. He founded India’s first school for girls in Pune (1848).

• Social Reform - Started Satyashodhak Samaj, opposed caste discrimination and promoted widow remarriage, anti-infanticide centres, and Hindu orphanages.

• Agricultural Reform - Wrote Shetkaryacha Asud (Farmer’s Whip), highlighting agrarian distress, promoted agricultural education and economic empowerment of farmers.

• Public Life - Served as a municipal member in Pune, Co-founded Bombay Millhands Association with Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, Opposed the filtration theory in education and submitted recommendations to the Hunter Commission (1882).

• Authored - Gulamgiri, Shetkaryacha Asud, Sarvajanik Satyadharma Pustak and Din Bandhu Newspaper.

3) Malabar Grey Hornbill

• A research team from Kerala won the prestigious Future Conservationist Award by the Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) for their community-based conservation project aimed at protecting the Malabar Grey Hornbill.

• Conservation Leadership Programme - It is a partnership of a global partnership of Fauna & Flora International, BirdLife International, and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

About this Species

• The Malabar gray hornbill is a hornbill endemic to the Western Ghats and associated hills of southern India like Nilgiris and Annamalai.

• Habitat - Dense Evergreen Forests and rubber, arecanut or coffee plantations.

• Conservation Status - IUCN Red List (Vulnerable) and Wildlife Protection Act (Schedule IV)

Conservation Efforts

• The Tamil Nadu government recently launched the Hornbill Conservation Initiative to safeguard the habitats of four threatened hornbill species in the Western Ghats, including the Malabar Grey Hornbill.

• Other Hornbill Species Protected by this Initiative - Malabar Pied Hornbill, Indian Grey Hornbill, and Great Hornbill.

• Purpose of this Initiative -

  • Protect and restore nesting habitats of hornbills;

  • Involve private landowners by recognising them as ‘Hornbill Protectors’; and

  • Establish a Centre of Excellence for hornbill conservation, research, and community engagement.

4) Blue Category Industries

• Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has carved a new category of industries called the ‘blue category’ industries based on the Essential Environmental Services (EES) for managing the pollution due to anthropogenic activities.

• These Essential Environment Services (EES) include composting, biogas, material recovery facilities and sewage treatment plants, and also includes waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration which is the process of burning unsegregated municipal solid waste (MSW) to produce dirty electricity.

• The last inclusion has been deemed quite controversial.

Colour Coding of Industries

• This categorisation was introduced by MoEFCC for facilitating decisions related to location of industries and formulation of industrial norms.

• Criteria for Categorisation - Pollution Index (PI), which is based on effluents, emissions, hazardous wastes generate and consumption of resources.

• PI score ranges from 0-100.

• 0 to 20 (White), 21-40(Green), 41-59(Orange) & 60-100(Red).

About Blue Category

• The coloured categorisation of Industries was launched under the ‘Re-categorisation of Industries’ framework in 2016, under Environment Protection Act, 1986.

• CPCB and SPCBs have authority to classify industries.

• The Blue Category was introduced by the CPCB to classify sectors that are essential for environmental management but are relatively low on pollution.

• These are expected to align with Circular Economy goals.

• Criteria for Blue Category :

  • No generation of hazardous waste or toxic emissions.

  • Must promote circular economy (reuse, recycle, resource efficiency).

  • Must align with Sustainable Waste Management Rules, 2016.

5) Thorium-based Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)

• MAHAGENCO (Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Ltd) signed a MoU with Russia's state-owned company ROSATOM for the development of a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) based on thorium fuel.

• SMR - A Small Modular Reactor (SMR) is a compact, scalable nuclear reactor designed for safe, efficient, and flexible power generation.

• Thorium - Thorium-232 is a fertile material that generates Uranium-233 nuclear fuel through transmutation.

Key Features

• Design - SMRs are built in small units, allowing phased and cost-effective deployment, especially in remote regions.

• Safety System - Shuts down automatically in emergencies, reducing accident risks.

• Fuel - Uses Th-232 which is transmutated to U-233 to produce nuclear energy.

• Follows regulatory guidelines of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)

Benefits

• Fuel Abundance - India has 25% of world’s thorium, mainly in monazite sands of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This reduces India’s import dependence for Uranium on other countries.

• Clean Energy - Can provide electricity to off-grid or underserved areas in a clean and reliable way, without emitting Green House Gases (GHGs).

• Less Nuclear Waste - SMRs are designed to produce less nuclear waste compared to conventional uranium reactors.

• Energy Security - It enhances India’s long-term fuel security due to abundance of Thorium.