Editorial 1 : Hope and Some Caveats

Context: In tech, 2025 should be a year of hope, with some caveats.
 

Introduction: The year 2024 will go down in history as the one when we accepted digital and data privacy as our foundational right.

Key Milestones in Digital Technologies

• Digital Privacy as a Fundamental Right
  • The passing of the historic Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP) put India in league with developed nations that offer the most comprehensive protection to individual and personal data online.
  • The DPDP might not dramatically change how we use the internet, but in the backend, it puts severe limitations and safeguards on how our data is used in our digital transactions.
• Universal Digital Access and Net Neutrality
  • 2024 saw India making strides in digital inclusion, particularly in rural and underserved areas.
  • India offers some of the most affordable internet access globally, driving equitable opportunities.
  • Significance: The coexistence of net neutrality and universal access demonstrates the potential for equitable internet ecosystems.
• Localization of Technologies via Generative AI
  • Addressing the Language Divide: Generative AI has made notable advancements in multi-language translation, bridging India’s linguistic diversity.
  • Opportunities: Greater inclusivity in online spaces enables more users to participate and express themselves.
    • Initiatives like Wikipedia and Open Knowledge collectives benefit from AI-enabled language tools.

Challenges Faced in 2024

• Misinformation: The unsupervised, uncontrolled, and weaponised use of misinformation for political segregation, profiled targeting, inciting hatred, and creating conditions of deep uncertainty were visible throughout the year.
  • Fact-checking communities have been instrumental in countering misinformation, but the problem remains systemic.
  • AI-driven misinformation demands collective human efforts to ensure accountability and truth.
• Generative AI’s Disruptions
  • Generative AI has become the centrepiece of discussions, with both its affordances and disruptions shaping digital futures.
  • While its long-term impact remains unclear, the focus on localization offers hope for inclusive technological growth.

Way Forward: Role of People in Shaping Digital Futures

• Collective Initiatives: Despite the corporatization and consolidation of technologies, collective human initiatives continue to ensure the internet remains free, open, and empathetic.
• Perhaps 2025 would turn out to be the year where we learn to care not only for the people around us, but also those far away facing genocide, violence and hate.

Conclusion

There should be a focus on establishing digital infrastructures, as fundamental rights, offering opportunities and safeties to marginalised and first-time-users to participate in the digital future.

Editorial 2 : A Tryst in Space

Context: ISRO’s SpaDeX mission

Introduction: ISRO has capped 2024, a year of notable achievements by launching the country’s first space docking mission, SpaDeX.
 

About SpaDeX

• Mission Details
  • SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment) was launched using ISRO’s PSLV. (PSLV-C60)
  • It involves two satellites, Chaser and Target, which will execute a series of manoeuvres to achieve docking in Earth’s lower orbit.
  • The operation is expected to last just over a week.
• Significance
  • SpaDeX will put India in an elite group of nations with space docking capabilities (US, Russia, China).
  • Docking is critical for assembling heavy spacecraft and equipment. Example: International Space Station (ISS).
• Future Implications: SpaDeX is pivotal for India’s space ambitions, such as:
  • Manned missions to the Moon.
  • Building and operating the Bharatiya Antariksha Station (India’s space station).
  • Partnerships in global missions requiring docking capabilities.

ISRO’s Transition to Planetary Exploration

• In the last two years, ISRO has transitioned from an agency that placed satellites in orbit, largely for communications, weather prediction and atmospheric surveys, to an institution that leads planetary exploration.
• Milestones Achieved (2023-2024)
  • Chandrayaan-3: Successful Moon mission in 2023.
  • Aditya-1: Launched to study the Sun in 2023.
  • Space Observatory: Established in 2024 to study the polarization of cosmic X-rays.
• Upcoming Missions
  • Venus Orbiter Mission (Approved in 2024): Will study Venus’ surface, atmosphere, and other features.
  • Chandrayaan-4: Will focus on collecting Moon soil and rock samples and returning them to Earth.
  • Gaganyaan: Human Spaceflight Program, India’s first attempt to send humans to space is planned for 2025.
  • Bharatiya Antariksha Station: A modular space station with five components, the first of which will launch in 2028.

Way Forward for SpaDex

• SpaDEx will lay space docking as a foundation.
• Bio-Experiments in Space: SpaDex payloads include incubators for various experiments.
  • One such experiment involves growing cowpea seeds to a two-leaf stage in space.
• It will provide expertise in planetary research.

Conclusion

ISRO’s achievements in 2023 and 2024 signify a transition to a more advanced phase of space exploration. With a focus on docking technology, manned missions, and planetary research, ISRO is setting new benchmarks for Indian and global space science. As ISRO gears up for an ambitious future, it reinforces India’s position as a significant player in space exploration.