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

Editorial 1 : Work in the Machine Age

Context: Artificial Intelligence and work   

India’s Employment Crisis

• Visible Crisis
  1. Youth Unemployment: Over 80% of unemployed Indians are youth, despite most having secondary or higher education.
  2. Disengagement: 1 in 3 young Indians is neither working nor learning.
  3. Job Creation Gap: India needs to create 90 million new jobs by 2030, many in fields that do not yet exist.
• Invisible Crisis
  1. Nature of Work Transformation: AI, automation, and data-driven systems are reshaping industries across all skill levels (low-wage workers to high-skilled professionals).
  2. Universal Vulnerability: No sector is immune whether creative, analytical, and technical roles (e.g. programmers, artists) face disruption.

 

Artificial Intelligence (AI’s) Transformative Impact on Work

• Historical vs. AI-Driven Disruption
  1. Past Innovations: Affected primarily low-skill blue-collar jobs (steam engines) and later white-collar roles (digital tools).
  2. AI Era: Threatens all professions, including high-skill roles, due to generative AI and automation.
• Risk Categories
  1. High Replaceability: Both high-skill (e.g. data entry, routine coding) and low-skill jobs (e.g. manual labour) are at risk.
  2. Durable Edge: Lies in continuous learning and adaptability to new tools.

 

Core Competencies for the Future Workforce

• Foundational Capabilities
  1. Technology Literacy: Understanding machine operations, digital systems, and automation tools.
  2. Data Literacy: Ability to interpret, analyse, and act on data for decision-making.
• Human-Centric Skills
  1. Irreplaceable Traits: Empathy, creativity, cultural agility, and contextual reasoning.
  2. Adaptive Thinking: Ability to transfer insights across domains and innovate.

 

Educational Reforms to Address the Crisis

• Humanics Framework
  1. Technical Ability: Working with AI/robotics to augment productivity.
  2. Data Discipline: Navigating algorithmic decision-making and strategic problem-solving.
  3. Human Discipline: Leveraging skills machines cannot replicate (e.g. empathy, leadership).
• Micro-Credentials and Lifelong Learning
  1. Modular Learning: Short, stackable certifications (e.g. data visualization for policy students, AI-assisted research for historians).
  2. Lifelong Re-Skilling: Affordable, agile learning pathways to adapt to evolving job roles.

 

Way Forward: Recommendations

• Curriculum Integration: Embed tech and data literacy across all education levels (schools to colleges).
• Educator Training: Shift teachers’ roles from content delivery to facilitators of future-ready skills.
• Interdisciplinary Approach: Encourage tech application in diverse fields (arts, healthcare, agriculture).
• Equity Focus: Ensure accessible, equitable upskilling opportunities for all demographics.

 

Conclusion: Time is right to build a workforce of problem-solvers, creators, and adaptive thinkers, not just AI engineers. By aligning education with artificial intelligence, India can transform its employment crisis into an opportunity for leadership in the AI-driven future.

 

Editorial 2 : Let’s Break a Silence

Context: Addiction challenges in the youth.   

Introduction: There are evolving challenges of motherhood in the modern era, focusing on raising resilient children in a world threatened by addictive substances like e-cigarettes. Adolescence is a critical phase of vulnerability and, societal and policy actions required to combat nicotine addiction.

 

Challenges of Modern Motherhood

• Primary Concern: Raising "good citizens" (resilient, kind, mentally sound individuals) in a complex world.
• Secondary Struggles
  1. Balancing career and family responsibilities.
  2. Managing adolescent transitions (emotional, social, and behavioural changes).
  3. Coping with intellectual disabilities in children, whether congenital or acquired through preventable causes like addiction.

 

Adolescence: A Critical Phase

• Vulnerabilities
  1. Physical, emotional, and social transitions.
  2. Exposure to peer pressure, substance abuse, and mental health issues.
• Impact on Mothers
  1. Emotional strain from guiding children through behavioural changes.
  2. Need to provide support while managing societal expectations.

 

Threat of Vaping and Modern Vices

• Marketing Tactics
  1. Vapes/e-cigarettes are portrayed as safe, sleek and fashionable.
  2. Use of child-friendly flavours, social media influencers, and tech-driven designs (e.g. candy-coloured pens, odourless nicotine pouches).
• Health Consequences
  1. Short-term: Lung damage (e.g. Thailand’s zombie cigarettes with synthetic cannabinoids).
  2. Long-term: Cognitive decline, addiction, and learning disabilities.
  3. Prenatal Risks: Nicotine exposure during pregnancy linked to impaired foetal brain development.

 

Case Studies

• India
  1. Widespread vaping among school children despite bans.
  2. Grassroots movements like Mothers Against Vaping raising awareness.
• Thailand: Tragic case of a 12-year-old girl with near-total lung failure after prolonged vaping.
• Global Data: Synthetic drugs (e.g. AB-PINACA) in e-cigarettes pose life-threatening risks.

 

Societal and Policy Responses

• India’s Proactive Measures
  1. Ban on e-cigarettes (unlike Europe/Asia facing misuse).
  2. Resistance against global market pressures to relax regulations.
• Advocacy Priorities
  1. Promote innovation in healthcare/education, not nicotine delivery.
  2. Protect India’s future as it becomes the largest consumer market by 2027.

 

Way Forward: Role of Stakeholders

• Mothers: Advocate for awareness and preventive education.
• Educators: Address peer pressure and addiction risks in schools.
• Policymakers: Uphold strict regulations against vaping products.
• Citizens: Reject silence and prioritize societal well-being over corporate interests.

 

Conclusion: It is the collective responsibility of all stakeholders to safeguard future generations from addiction-driven crises. There is a need to combine emotional narratives with data-driven arguments to advocate for sustained vigilance against vaping and other modern threats.