Current Affairs 17 December 2025
Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025 introduced in Lok Sabha
- It provides for repealing University Grants Commission(UGC) Act, 1956, All India Council for Technical Education(AICTE) Act, 1987 and National Council for Teacher Education(NCTE) Act, 1993.
- Constitution of Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA): New umbrella commission to regulate higher education in India, replacing existing bodies like the UGC, AICTE, and NCTE.
- President and Members of the Commission (not more than 12), other than the ex officio Members and Member Secretary of the Commission, shall be appointed by President of India.
- Coverage: All higher educational institutions under the purview of the Ministry of Education, UGC, AICTE, NCTE etc. will be under the purview of VBSA for determination of standards.
- Formation of three Councils under VBSA: Viksit Bharat Shiksha Viniyaman Parishad (Regulatory Council), Viksit Bharat Shiksha Gunvatta Parishad (Accreditation Council) and Viksit Bharat Shiksha Manak Parishad (Standards Council).
- Council of Architecture (CoA): Established under the Architects Act, 1972 shall function as a Professional Standard Setting Body (PSSB) as envisioned in the NEP, 2020.
Petra & Ellora Caves
- India and Jordan signed a twinning agreement between UNESCO Heritage sites of Petra & Ellora Caves renowned for their rock cut architecture.
- About Ellora caves
- Location – Charanandri hills, Maharashtra near Elaganga river
- Origin – Carved between 600-1000 CE predominantly by the Rashtrakuta and yadava dynasty.
- Architecture – Rock cut caves carved into basalt cliffs from top to down
- Religion – Houses Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain monuments side-by-side, illustrating the religious tolerance
- It also houses mural paintings related to all 3 religions.
Central Information Commission(CIC)
- Recently Raj Goyal assumed the charge as Chief Information Commissioner.
- About CIC
- Genesis: Statutory body under Right to Information Act, 2005
- Composition: Headed by a Chief Information Commissioner and can have up to 10 ICs.
- Function: To receive and inquire into complaints from any citizen regarding RTI act, etc.
- Appointment: CICs And ICs are appointed by President on recommendation of a committee consisting of
- PM (Chairperson)
- Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha
- Union Cabinet Minister nominated by PM.
- RTI (Amendment) Act, 2019: Terms of office, salaries, allowances, and other conditions of service shall be determined by the central government.
Cho La and Dok La Passes
- Chola and Dok La passes in Sikkim are opened for battlefield tourism under the Bharat Rannbhoomi Darshan initiative.
- Bharat Ranbhoomi Darshan is a joint initiative of Indian Army and Ministry of Tourism, for citizens to visit historic war zones and sites of military significance.
- About the Passes
- Cho La Pass
- Location: Chola range of Eastern Himalayas, 17782 ft. above the sea.
- Nathu La and Jelep La passes are also situated in Chola range.
- Connects Sikkim and Chumbi Valley.
- It was site of 1967 Indo-China skirmishes.
- Doka La (Doklam) Pass
- Location: East Sikkim, on the edge of the Doklam plateau, near the tri-junction of India, Bhutan, and China.
- It was the site of the 2017 border standoff between India and China.
DHRUV64
- It is first 1.0 GHz, 64-bit dual-core first fully indigenous microprocessor.
- Microprocessors are the brains of modern electronic devices such as mobiles, computers, etc.
- Developed by: The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under the Microprocessor Development Programme (MDP).
- Other microprocessors developed by India: SHAKTI (2018, IIT Madras), AJIT (2018, IIT Bombay), VIKRAM (2025, ISRO–SCL), and THEJAS64 (2025, C-DAC).
- The next-generation Dhanush and Dhanush+ processors are under development.
- Significance: India consumes around 20% of all the microprocessors manufactured globally.
Copyright Act, 1957
- About: Copyright is a legal right in India that protects original works like literature, art, music, films, and computer programs.
- It safeguards the expression of ideas, granting the owner exclusive rights to adapt, reproduce, publish, translate, and communicate the work to the public.
- Key Sections: Section 2 defines the types of works covered under copyright e.g., literary works (2(o)) and dramatic works (2(h)).
- Section 13 extends copyright protection to literary, musical, dramatic works, cinematographic films, and sound recordings.
- Section 14 grants the owner exclusive rights to adapt, reproduce, publish, translate, and communicate the work, which cannot be exercised without the owner’s permission.
- Judicial Interpretation on Copyrighted Material:
- Mr. Dattatray Bapu Dighe v. The State of Maharashtra (2024): The Bombay High Court ruled copyright registration is not mandatory for initiating infringement action; the copyright exists automatically upon creation of the content.
- Star India Pvt. Ltd v. Magicwin.Games (2024): The Delhi High Court emphasized proactive legal action to counter the “hydra-headed” issue of digital piracy, where blocked sites resurface. It permanently barred such rogue websites and entities from unauthorized hosting or streaming of content with exclusive rights.
- India TV v. Yashraj Films (2012): The Delhi HC held that small amounts of usage of songs does not amount to copyright infringement.
- Oxford v. Rameshwari Photocopy Services (2016): The Delhi HC ruled that photocopying book excerpts for educational use was fair dealing (does not amount to infringement), affirming access to knowledge and public interest as guiding principles.
- Global Views on AI-Generated Content
- United States: Copyright requires substantial human creativity (Thaler v. Perlmutter, 2023). Purely AI-generated works are not protected.
- European Union: The AI Act (2024) mandates training data transparency. A new sui generis right for AI outputs is under debate, as the current 2019 Copyright Directive lacks specific rules.
- China: The Beijing Internet Court has recognized AI-generated images as protected art, emphasizing the “originality” and intellectual contribution of the human creator.
- United Kingdom: Section 9(3) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 grants copyright for computer-generated works without a human author, assigning it to the person making the “necessary arrangements.” Such works lack moral rights, and the provision is rarely applied due to legal ambiguities.