Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023
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Current affairsFarmer ID Scheme: India Creates 11 Crore Digital Farmer IDs Ahead of ScheduleIndia achieved its target of creating 11 crore (110 million) Farmer IDs on 23 October 2026 — five months ahead of the 31 March 2027 deadline — under the Digital Agriculture Mission. The Farmer ID functions as an Aadhaar-linked unique digital identity for farmers, dynamically linked to state land records and crop data, enabling seamless access to government schemes, credit, insurance, and disaster relief. Current affairsRBI Data Centre & Cybersecurity Training Institute Inaugurated in BhubaneswarPrime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Reserve Bank of India's new ₹169-crore Data Centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute in Bhubaneswar, Odisha on 25 October 2026. The data centre has received the Uptime Institute Tier IV certification — the highest global benchmark for data-centre resilience — and will host critical payment and settlement systems. The accompanying Cybersecurity Training Institute will provide specialised training in enterprise computing, AI, and quantum-computing-based cybersecurity. Current affairsWorld Development Report 2026: 'The Promise of Artificial Intelligence' — Key Findings for India and Developing EconomiesUnion Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw launched the World Bank's flagship World Development Report 2026 — titled 'The Promise of Artificial Intelligence' — in New Delhi on 9 October 2026. The report finds that only ~4% of Indian jobs face immediate automation risk (vs one-third in advanced economies), recommends developing nations adopt open-source AI models for local needs, and positions AI as a productivity lever for healthcare, agriculture, and education in low- and middle-income countries. Current affairsWorld Bank India Development Update October 2026: GDP Growth Forecast Raised to 7.1% for FY27, India Among Top 10 in AI ReadinessThe World Bank's India Development Update (October 2026) has raised India's GDP growth forecast for FY2026–27 to 7.1% (from 6.6% in April), citing robust domestic demand and export performance. The report's special focus — "India and Artificial Intelligence: Seizing the Development Opportunity" — ranks India among the top 10 emerging markets in AI readiness and notes that private AI investment in India tripled to USD 4.1 billion in 2025 from USD 1.2 billion in 2024. Current affairsIndia Mobile Congress 2026: 10th Edition Begins at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi — Theme 'Scale Without Boundaries', Focus on 6G, AI and SemiconductorsThe 10th edition of India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2026, Asia's largest digital technology forum, opened on October 7 at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi, under the theme 'Scale Without Boundaries'. Organised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the four-day event spotlights 6G, AI-native networks, semiconductors, quantum communications, and satellite connectivity — with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to inaugurate on October 8. Current affairsIndia's First Free-Space Quantum Key Distribution Link: QNu Labs, BISAG-N and IIT Gandhinagar Demonstrate 5.56 km QKDQNu Labs, in collaboration with BISAG-N (Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics) and IIT Gandhinagar, has demonstrated India's first free-space Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) link over 5.56 km, achieving a quantum bit error rate (QBER) below 5% and a secure key rate of 230–260 bits per second — a foundational step toward India's quantum-secure communication network. Current affairsUIDAI Aadhaar Samvaad 2026: Five New Initiatives Launched on 17th Aadhaar Day in KolkataThe Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) held its annual 'Aadhaar Samvaad' stakeholder conference in Kolkata on September 29, 2026, marking the 17th Aadhaar Day. Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Jitin Prasada was the chief guest at the event, which saw over 600 stakeholders participate. Five new initiatives were unveiled: Face Authentication for the electronic Public Distribution System (ePDS), SWIK Portal 2.0, Sub-AUA/Sub-KUA LITE Framework, a New Token Management System, and a revamped UIDAI website. Current affairsTRAI A2P Regulations 2026: India's First Statutory Definition of Autodialler and Robo-calls, AI-Based Spam EnforcementOn 18 September 2026, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) notified the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026, introducing India's first statutory definitions of Application-to-Person (A2P) calls, autodialler technology, and robo-calls. The regulations also incorporate AI/ML-based spam detection and impose a 5 paise/minute termination charge on A2P calls, strengthening India's Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC) enforcement framework. Current affairsGlobal Fintech Fest 2026: RBI on Tokenisation, Agentic AI, and India's Financial Inclusion Index at 70The Global Fintech Fest 2026, held in Mumbai, brought together policymakers, regulators, and industry leaders under the theme "Potential to Impact: Agentic AI | Tokenisation | Quantum: Trusted, Connected, Global Systems for Inclusive Finance." RBI highlighted tokenisation of financial assets and responsible Agentic AI as the next frontiers of India's fintech evolution. India's Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) rose to 70.0 as of March 2026, up from 67.0 in March 2025. Current affairsInternational Day of Democracy 2026: Deliberative Democracy and the AI Governance ChallengeThe United Nations observes International Day of Democracy on September 15 each year. The 2026 theme is "Raising Hands and Voices — Fostering Agency and Ownership through Deliberative Democracy," highlighting participatory governance models as democratic institutions face challenges from disinformation, AI-driven political manipulation, and declining citizen trust globally. Current affairsPunjab's "Pehchaan" Portal: India's First Digital System for Identifying Unidentified Deceased PersonsPunjab became the first state in India to launch "Pehchaan" — a free, publicly accessible digital portal for identifying unidentified and unclaimed deceased persons in mortuaries. Built on the existing MedLEaPR (Medico-Legal Examination and Post-Mortem Reporting System), it stores photographs, physical descriptions, and identification marks, enabling families to trace missing relatives through police and hospital mortuary records. Current affairsCensus 2027: 40 Questions, First Caste Count Since 1931, and NPR Link — Complete UPSC GuideIndia's 16th Census, scheduled for 2027, was formally notified by Registrar General Mritunjay Kumar Narayan. Its questionnaire carries 40 questions — 14 new or modified from 2011 — including individual caste (jati) enumeration for the first time since 1931, linkage to Aadhaar and NPR, and a first-ever self-enumeration portal in 16 languages. The House Listing phase began April 1, 2026; Population Enumeration is slated for February 2027.
In previous-year questions
- The Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA), 2023, which governs data processing for AI systems in India, established which body as its primary enforcement mechanism?UPSC · Current Affairs
- The Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA), 2023 governs data use within India's AgriStack/Farmer ID ecosystem. This Act was enacted under which entry of the Union List (Seventh Schedule)?UPSC · Current Affairs
- The Unified Farmer Service Interface (UFSI), also called Krishak Saathi, is the API layer of India's AgriStack that allows consent-based access to farmer data. Which legislation primarily governs consent requirements for such data sharing, enacted in 2023?UPSC · Current Affairs