29 July 2025 : Daily Current Affairs

1. India Has the Highest Number of Slum Clusters in Flood-Prone Areas

Source: Page 15 , The Hindu UPSC IAS Edition

Topic: GS-1 – Urbanization, GS3 – Disaster Management

Context

A study shows India leads globally in number of slum-dwellers living in flood-prone areas, highlighting challenges in risk management for vulnerable urban populations.

Content

Key Findings

• Nearly 158 million slum dwellers in India live within floodplains, a number that surpasses the population of entire large countries such as Russia.

• South Asia, and the Ganga delta in particular, emerge as global hotspots for concentrated vulnerability.

• In total, 33% of informal global settlements (approx. 445 million people across 129 low- and middle-income countries) lie in areas already exposed to flooding; India leads both in absolute numbers and exposure frequency.

Causes

• Socioeconomic Factors: Limited financial means, social vulnerability, and a lack of viable alternatives force poor populations to inhabit unsafe, low-lying floodplains.

• Access to Jobs: Proximity to employment opportunities in urban centers compels people to settle near rivers and in other risk-prone areas.

• Lack of Alternative Housing: Rapid urban expansion driven by both rural-urban migration and birth rates outpaces the creation of affordable, safe housing.

• Urban Growth Patterns: Developers and authorities often focus infrastructure development on more secure, affluent neighborhoods. Flood-prone zones, left underdeveloped and cheaper, attract informal settlements.

Consequences

• Increased Flood Frequency & Intensity: Informal settlements amplify the negative impacts of even minor floods due to inadequate drainage and poor construction.

• Loss of Livelihoods & Homes: Recurrent inundation causes cyclical loss of jobs, housing, and basic services.

• Exacerbated Inequalities: Lower-income communities face disproportionate losses and have less capacity for recovery, deepening urban inequality.

• Pressure on Urban Infrastructure: The concentration of slums in vulnerable areas strains city resources, hampers effective disaster response, and can escalate public health crises after floods.

Policy Concerns

• Infrastructure Bias: Planning and resource allocation often prioritize gated communities and commercial districts, neglecting vulnerable populations in risk zones.

• Human-Centric Adaptation: Current approaches still under-emphasize participation and empowerment of the affected communities.

• Skill-Building: Lack of targeted skill development in sanitation, drainage, and flood-resilient construction perpetuates vulnerability.

• Resilience and City Planning: Inadequate enforcement of zoning laws and insufficient investments in flood mitigation infrastructure in slum areas.

Way Forward

• Integrate Slum and Flood Management: Flood mitigation and slum upgrading must be treated as interconnected agendas, with a focus on SDGs such as eliminating poverty, ensuring clean water and sanitation, and promoting sustainable cities.

• Participatory Urban Planning: Direct collaboration with informal settlement communities can yield more effective disaster preparedness and response.

• Inclusive Resource Allocation: Allocating city budgets and development projects to address the needs of the most at-risk populations.

• Skill Development Initiatives: Building local capacity for waste management, sanitation, and drainage installation can reduce risks and create jobs.

• Resilient Urban Infrastructure: Ensuring robust, climate-adaptive urban development, especially in flood-prone zones, so as not to push the poor further into environmental hazards.

Practice Question:

“Discuss the challenges of urban flood management in India, focusing on the vulnerability of informal settlements. Suggest holistic solutions for risk mitigation and resilience building.” (250 words / 15 marks)

2. Focus on Mass Inclusion, Not Exclusion, SC Tells EC

Source: page 1, The Hindu UPSC IAS Edition

Topic: GS-2 – Polity and Governance

Context

The Supreme Court advised the Election Commission (EC) to prioritize “mass inclusion” in Bihar’s voter list revision, asking the EC to accept Aadhaar and EPIC cards despite concerns about document forgery.

Analysis from UPSC Angle:

• Background: Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar has been controversial, with worries about possible exclusion of legitimate voters due to stringent document proof requirements.

• Court’s Stand: SC emphasized Aadhaar and EPIC have “presumption of correctness” and that focus should be on inclusion rather than widespread exclusion.

• EC’s Concerns: The EC cited document forgery risks, but the court responded that all identity documents can potentially be falsified and case-by-case examination can address outliers.

• Importance of Inclusion: The judiciary underscored the constitutional right to vote and warned against mass disenfranchisement, particularly ahead of elections.

• Way Forward: Encourages robust but flexible verification, vigilance against fraud, and ensuring democratic participation is maximized.

Practice Question:

“Critically analyze the tension between ensuring electoral integrity and maximizing inclusion in India’s voter registration processes. Suggest measures to strike a balance.” (250 words / 15 marks)

3. How the Fair Use Clause is Being Applied to Generative AI

Source: Page 8 & 9, Indian Express Delhi Edition

Topic: GS-2 – Science & Technology, GS3 – Intellectual Property Rights

Context

Recent US court cases have set important precedents on the ‘fair use’ of copyrighted content for AI training, with implications for AI development and copyright law globally.

Key Points for UPSC:

• Key Cases: Anthropic and Meta judgments; both held that transformative use of copyrighted works to train AI models is likely to be considered fair use.

• Legal Tests: Courts examine four factors—purpose (transformative?), nature, amount used, and market impact. High threshold for copyright holders to prove negative market impact.

• Contrast: Thomson Reuters v. Ross Intelligence, where non-transformative AI use was not considered fair use.

• Broader Impact: Implications for Indian policy, balancing between promoting AI innovation and protecting authors’ rights.

• Conclusion: Need for adaptive copyright frameworks to keep up with technological advances and support both innovation and intellectual property.

Practice Question:

“Evaluate the challenges posed by AI model training on copyright-protected materials. Should India adopt similar legal doctrines to US ‘fair use’ in the context of generative AI development?” (150 words / 10 marks)

Check more: 27 July 2025 : Daily Current Affairs