NEWS:Amid India-Pak. tension, Air Force chief meets PM

GS-2: International Relations — India-Pakistan Relations, National Security Strategy

• Following the Pahalgam terror attack, top Indian security officials including the Air Force Chief, Navy Chief, and others briefed Prime Minister Modi on retaliatory options.
• India has reportedly initiated control of water flow from the Baglihar and Kishanganga dams — actions tied to the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).
• Pakistan responded by banning Indian-flagged ships and halting trade of Indian goods at its ports.

• Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh met the PM amid rising tensions and cross-border ceasefire violations.
• This follows the PM’s earlier statement granting the military “complete operational freedom”.
• The urgency is heightened by recent infiltration and small arms fire across the LoC.

Indus Waters Treaty & Water Leverage

• India is said to be regulating flow from:
  • Baglihar Dam on Chenab
  • Kishanganga Dam on Jhelum
• However, due to treaty constraints, India cannot unilaterally store or block water beyond a certain limit.
• These measures are seen as symbolic but strategic signalling of India’s intent.

Baglihar Dam:

• Location: Jammu & Kashmir (Ramban district).
• River: Chenab.
• Controversy: Pakistan raised concerns about the dam’s design and impact on water flow, leading to arbitration.
• Significance: The Baglihar Dam is a run-of-the-river hydro-power plant on the Chenab River, allowing India to regulate water flow.
• Recent Developments: India has temporarily restricted water flow from Baglihar in response to the Pahalgam terror attack and as part of a wider diplomatic offensive against Pakistan.

Kishanganga Dam (Neelum Dam):

• Location: Jammu & Kashmir (Gurez Valley).
• River: Kishanganga/Neelum (a tributary of the Jhelum).
• Controversy: Pakistan claims the dam violates the Indus Water Treaty by diverting water, a claim denied by India.
• Significance: The Kishanganga dam project, also known as the Neelum-Jhelum Project, is a hydroelectric dam on a tributary of the Jhelum River, which flows into Pakistan.
• Recent Developments: India is considering similar actions at the Kishanganga dam, restricting water flow, alongside the Baglihar Dam.

NEWS:From ploughs to panels, cultivating a solar-powered future for farmers

GS-3: Agriculture — Agri-tech, sustainable farming

• India’s focus on PM-KUSUM could incorporate APVs to support smallholder farmers with both energy and income security.
• Germany mandates 66% crop coverage under solar installations; similar land use efficiency models are absent in India.

• Agrivoltaics (APVs) is the practice of co-locating solar photovoltaic (PV) panels with agriculture, enabling dual land use.

• Agrivoltaic System:
  • Agrivoltaic systems, also known as agri-voltaic systems or “solar-farming”, are a new technology that allows farmers to produce electricity while growing their crops.
  • In this system, solar panels are installed on agricultural land using photo-voltaic (PV) technology .
  • This technology was first introduced by Adolf Goetzberger and Armin Zastrow in 1981.
    • Its prototype was developed in Japan in 2004 and after several trials, it was implemented in East Africa in 2022.
  • Presently it is being used successfully in countries like India, America, France, Britain and Germany.
    • However, this technology is still in its initial stages in India.
• Funding from ADB:
  • The Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance has approved the technical assistance proposal of the State Government titled “Demonstration of Agrivoltaic Projects in Uttar Pradesh”.
  • Under this, technical assistance of USD 0.50 million (about Rs 4.15 crore) has been approved from the Asian Development Bank ( ADB) .
  • Uttar Pradesh has become the first state in the country to receive this type of financial assistance from ADB.

NEWS:Genome-edited seeds to mark beginning of second Green Revolution: Chouhan

GS-3: Science and Technology — Genome editing, sustainable technologies

• Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced development of two genome-edited rice varieties in India.
• These seeds are expected to boost production while reducing irrigation needs and greenhouse gas emissions.
• Chouhan linked this advancement to the start of a “Second Green Revolution” driven by modern biotechnology.
• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) played a key role in the development.

Genetically Modified Crops

• Conventional plant breeding involves crossing species of the same genus to provide the offspring with the desired traits of both parents.
• The GM plants that have usually come for such scrutiny are those that involve transgenic technology or introducing a gene from a different species into a plant, for instance BT-cotton, where a gene from soil bacterium is used to protect a plant from pest attack.

• GM crop allowed in India:
  • Bt cotton, the only GM crop that is allowed in India, has two alien genes from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that allows the crop to develop a protein toxic to the common pest pink bollworm.
  • On the other hand, Bt cotton is derived with the insertion of an additional gene, from another soil bacterium, which allows the plant to resist the common herbicide glyphosate.
• Bt Brinjal:
  • In Bt brinjal, a gene allows the plant to resist attacks of fruit and shoot borer.
• DMH 11 Mustard:
  • In DMH-11 mustard, developed by Deepak Pental and colleagues in the South Campus of the University of Delhi, genetic modification allows cross-pollination in a crop that self-pollinates in nature.

NEWS:Can ChatGPT’s Shopify deal hurt Google’s search business

GS-3: Indian Economy — E-commerce, market structure, and digital disruption

• OpenAI is integrating ChatGPT with Shopify, enabling in-chat product discovery, recommendation, and purchase — potentially disrupting the search-to-shop model.
• This could bypass traditional search engines like Google, threatening its ad-driven business model.
• Experts consider this a major shift in digital commerce, akin to the introduction of web search or app stores.

ChatGPT:

• The tool has been developed by OpenAI, a research institute founded in 2015.
• This tool ‘knew’ every topic under the sun; it could answer questions and carry on a conversation.
• This tool interacts with humans in natural language and is impressive because aside from answering general queries, it has many other functions.
• ChatGPT is much more than a chat bot.
  • For example, you can ask it to write a program or even a simple software application.
• It can also do creative tasks such as writing a story. It can explain scientific concepts and answer any question that needs factual answers.

OpenAI:

• OpenAI is a research institute and company that focuses on developing artificial intelligence technology in a responsible and safe way.
• It was founded in 2015 by a group of entrepreneurs and researchers, including Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Greg Brockman.

Mains Question:
“Discuss the role of genome editing in Indian agriculture. How can it contribute to a second Green Revolution while addressing climate change and sustainability?”