What to Read in Indian Express Editorial( Topic and Syllabus wise)

EDITORIAL1: AI & copyright law

Context

Generative AI models are trained on internet data, often including copyrighted content without permission. Two U.S. court rulings have favored tech companies, but key legal questions—like whether this use is fair or infringing—remain unresolved.

The issue

• At a very basic level, AI models such as ChatGPT and Gemini identify patterns from massive amounts of data.
• Their ability to generate passages, scenes, videos, and songs in response to prompts depends on the quality of the data they have been trained on.
• At least 21 ongoing U.S. lawsuits accuse tech companies of “theft” for training AI on copyrighted work, while the companies defend their actions as “fair use” for creating transformative models.

Generative AI

• It refers to AI systems capable of creating new data, whether it’s text, images, or code. It is driven by advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs)that have the capability to generate new data, whether it’s text, images, or code.
• The models are trained on massive datasets, often scraped from the open internet.These datasets frequently include copyrighted material, sometimes without the explicit consent of the copyright holders.
• GenAI tools are now being used in mainstream journalism, advertising, entertainment, and education.
• It has raised ethical and legal concerns over whether the use of such data in training AI constitutes fair use or a breach of copyright law.

The Copyright Issues

• AI companies use web scraping methods to train their LLMs on a vast array of data, including both public and copyrighted content.
• In the USA, OpenAI faces similar lawsuits, where it has invoked ‘fair use’ and ‘fair learning in education’ as defences under American copyright law.
• United States has clarified that purely AI-generated works are not eligible for copyright protection.
• It has prompted creators to include ‘substantial human authorship’in AI-assisted works to ensure copyrightability.
• Japan has explicitly stated that AI training using copyrighted data does not infringe copyright as long as it is non-consumptive and for machine learning purposes.

Legal Complexities in India

• India’s copyright framework is significantly different from the US model, as India follows an enumerated exceptions approach, not the flexible US ‘fair use’ test.
• Educational exceptions in India are narrowly defined, confined to classroom use. It limits maneuverability for AI developersand may favor right-holders in litigation.

Way Forward

• Regulatory frameworks need to evolveand ensure that original human creators are respected, credited, and, where appropriate, compensated.
• Copyright law stands at a pivotal moment.By reaffirming the core principles of copyright and ensuring fair treatment of all players in the AI ecosystem, the law can continue to serve its dual purpose—protecting creators while promoting learning and innovation.

 

EDITORIAL2: Deliberately misleading policy

Context

Amid multiple conflicts and a shifting global order, the world is not waiting for India to moralise. It is watching to see if India can lead with balance, wisdom, and strategic resolve.

Current trends in Foreign policy

• In an era of relentless media cycles and performative politics, foreign policy is increasingly becoming a battleground for domestic posturing.
• The danger lies not just in what is said, but in how and why it’s said.
• Moral absolutism is deployed selectively, outrage is amplified when convenient, and silence is deafeningwhen facts challenge the preferred narrative.
• The framing of India’s foreign policy as either morally courageous or morally bankrupt ignores diplomacy’s layered complexities.
• Nations do not operate in binaries. They navigate shades of grey, often balancing principle with pragmatism.
• To cast India’s foreign policy as a betrayal of historical moral commitments is not only reductionist, it is deeply dishonest.

India’s stand on global attacks

• India, as a long-standing victim of terrorism, rightly condemned the Hamas attack on Israel as an act of terror—reflecting its consistent and principled stance against such violence.
• In such cases, moral clarity is essential; hesitation is not nuance, but evasion.
• At the same time, it made clear its support for the Palestinian people— urging humanitarian access to Gaza, calling for the release of hostages, and providing over 65 tonnes of aid.
• Let us not forget: Diplomacy is not Twitter. It is not built for viral outrage. It is about safeguarding interests while promoting peace.
• Condemning terrorism while extending humanitarian support is not a contradiction — it is coherence.

India’s Realist Foreign Policy in West Asia

• What often passes for foreign policy critique today is often a deliberate misreading of strategic imperatives, particularly regarding Iran, Israel, and West Asia.
• Critics often portray Iran as a misunderstood actor, ignoring serious concerns over its nuclear programme.
• The IAEA has reported Iran holds over 400 kg of 60% enriched uranium, close to weapons-grade, and has found traces of uranium at undeclared sites—yet Iran blocks full transparency.
• Comparing this with Israel’s alleged nuclear capability is misleading. Israel never signed the NPT but has not violated IAEA safeguards; Iran is a signatory and repeatedly non-compliant.
• Some romanticise India-Iran ties by citing Tehran’s 1994 support at the UNHRC on Kashmir,ignoring Iran’s current alignment with the OIC, which routinely criticises India. Tehran has echoed calls for restoring rights in J&K, positions India finds problematic.
• Even the Chabahar Port’s development—often cited as a gesture of goodwill—depended. heavily on Indian diplomacy with the U.S. for sanctions waivers
• India’s ties with Iran remain cautious and transactional, based on oil, connectivity, and regional balance—not sentiment.
• India’s ties with Israel, established under P.V. Narasimha Rao, reflect strategic foresight, not betrayal of historical commitments.
• These ties have since matured significantly. Critics of India’s response to the Iran-Israel
• Publicly taking sides in such a volatile conflict would be reckless. India’s foreign policy is grounded in geography, security, and realism.
• In a region fraught with nuclear threats and economic dependencies, pragmatism is not weakness—it is survival.

Conclusion

Foreign policy is not the arena for point-scoring. It demands strategic consistency, institutional memory, and national coherence. What India needs today is clarity without chaos, values without vanity, and vision without vendetta.