Biosecurity Threat in India | Ministry of Home Affairs Guidelines on Vande Mataram | Corruption Perceptions Index | India’s First Musical Road

Biosecurity Threat in India

Health

Context

• In 2025, the Gujarat ATS uncovered an alleged ricin-based bioterror plot, marking India’s first suspected ricin-linked bioterror case with possible international links.

Biological Weapons

• Biological weapons use pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi) or toxins (like ricin, botulinum toxin) to cause disease or death in humans, animals, or crop
• They are classified as Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) due to their potential for large-scale harm.

India’s Existing Biosecurity Architecture

• The Department of Biotechnology oversees research governance and safety frameworks for labs.
• The Plant Quarantine Organisation of India regulates agricultural imports and exports.
• The National Disaster Management Authority has issued detailed guidelines for the management of biological disasters.

Key legal instruments include:

• The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, governing hazardous microorganisms and genetically modified organisms.
• The Weapons of Mass Destruction and Their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005, which criminalises biological weapons.
• The Biosafety Rules, 1989, and guidelines issued in 2017 for recombinant DNA research and biocontainment.

International Measures

Biological Weapons Convention (BMC):

• It entered into force in 1975
• It prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons.
• It was the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Chemical Weapons Convention

• Mandate – It is an international treaty aimed at eliminating the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and their precursors.
• Adoption and Enforcement – The Treaty was adopted on September 3, 1992, and entered into force on April 29, 1997.
• Member countries – It currently has 193 member states.
• Legally binding – It makes it mandatory to destroy old and abandoned chemical weapons.
• India’s ratification – India signed the treaty in January 1

Australia Group:

• The Australia Group is an informal forum of countries that seeks to prevent the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons.

Ministry of Home Affairs Guidelines on Vande Mataram

Polity and Governance

Context

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued guidelines directing that the national song Vande Mataram be sung/ played before the national anthem when both are played at official events.

Key Guidelines

Occasions for Playing or Singing:

• Arrival and departure of the President at formal State functions.
• Before and after Presidential addresses to the nation.
• Arrival and departure of Governors/Lieutenant Governors at State functions.
• When the National Flag is brought on parade.
• Other occasions specified by the Government of India.
• Protocol: The official version of approximately 3 minutes and 10 seconds shall be used.
• All six stanzas of Vande Mataram, including the four stanzas that were set aside by the Congress Working Committee in 1937, will be played.

Constitutional and Legal Framework

• Status of National Symbols: On 24 January 1950, the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram were adopted as India’s National Song.
• While the Constitution does not explicitly define “National Song,” its recognition flows from Constituent Assembly discussions and executive practice.
• Article 51A(a) Fundamental Duties: Mandates every citizen to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem.
• Vande Mataram is not explicitly protected by any constitutional provision.

Additional information – Vande Mataram

• Vande Mataram was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in Sanskrit and first appeared in the novel Anandamath in 1882.
• Anandamath is set against the backdrop of the 1769–73 Bengal famine and the Sanyasi Rebellion.
• First sung by Rabindranath Tagore at the 1896 Indian National Congress session gave it national exposure.
• During the Swadeshi Movement of 1905, Vande Mataram emerged as the anthem of civil resistance.
• Vande Mataram, as a political slogan, was first used on 7 August 1905.

Corruption Perceptions Index

Governance

Context

• Transparency International recently published 2025 Corruption Perception Index (CPI).

Corruption Perceptions Index

• Published by – Transparency International
• Objective – It measures levels of public sector corruption in 182 countries.
• Methodology: It uses a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
• Best performing countries: Denmark (89) followed by Finland (88) and Singapore (84).
• Worst Performing Countries: South Sudan and Somalia
• India’s Performance: In 2025, India ranked 91st globally on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), scoring 39 out of 100, which is a slight improvement from the previous year.

India’s First Musical Road

Government Initiative

Context

• Mumbai’s Coastal Road has introduced India’s first musical road

India’s First Musical Road

• A 500-metre stretch between Nariman Point and Worli, named Sangeet Marg, plays the Oscar-winning song “Jai Ho” when vehicles travel at a speed of 60–80 km per hour.
• The concept uses specially engineered rumble strips carved into the asphalt at precise intervals.
• As vehicles move over these grooves, vibrations are generated due to friction between the tyres and the road surface.
• These vibrations create sound waves that combine to reproduce the melody, which can be heard by passengers inside the vehicle.
• The concept is based on Hungarian technology and has previously been implemented in countries such as Hungary, Japan, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates.