Content
The Importance of Pax Silica for India
Pax Silica and the Global Tech Economy: Continuities, Shifts, and India’s Choices
Reusable Rockets and the Commercial Space Revolution
Hate Speech as a Constitutional Tort: Constitutional Accountability and Democratic Integrity
Chagos Islands Dispute: Sovereignty, Security, and the Changing Global Order
Darwin’s Bark Spiders: Why Only Females Weave the Toughest Webs
Faster Warming, Faster Breeding: Climate Change and Antarctic Penguins
The importance of Pax Silica for India
Global Economic Context: Continuity and Change
Enduring Structural Continuities
The North–South divide in per capita income, technological capability, and resource consumption continues to define the global economy despite decades of globalisation.
Advanced economies still dominate high-value manufacturing, frontier technologies, and intellectual property, while developing countries remain resource suppliers or low-end manufacturers.
Structural Shifts in Growth Drivers
Semiconductors and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have emerged as core drivers of economic power, productivity, and national security in the 21st century.
Control over critical minerals, especially Rare Earth Elements (REEs), has become central to technological competitiveness and geopolitical influence.
Relevance
GS 2: India’s foreign policy, minilateral groupings, strategic partnerships, and technology diplomacy.
GS 3: Critical minerals, semiconductors, AI, supply-chain resilience, industrial policy, and economic security.
Pax Silica Summit 2025: Origins and Objectives
Background and Timing
On 12 December 2025, the United States convened the inaugural Pax Silica Summit to secure supply chains for semiconductors, AI, and critical minerals.
The term ‘Pax Silica’ symbolically links peace with silicon-based technologies, signalling that trusted technology supply chains are now integral to global stability.
Declared Objectives
According to the Pax Silica Declaration, the initiative aims to:
Reduce coercive dependencies
Secure global semiconductor and AI supply chains
Build trusted digital and manufacturing infrastructure
Membership Composition: Strategic Logic
Core Members and Their Comparative Advantages
United States & Japan: Global leaders in advanced technology, research, and semiconductor design ecosystems.
Australia: Leading exporter of lithium and holder of significant REE reserves, critical for batteries and electronics.
Netherlands: Home to ASML, the world’s sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines.
South Korea: Global manufacturing leader in memory chips (DRAM, NAND).
Singapore: Long-standing semiconductor manufacturing hub integrated with U.S. firms.
Israel: Strength in AI software, defence technologies, and cybersecurity.
United Kingdom: Hosts the third-largest AI market with a strong research and start-up ecosystem.
Qatar and UAE: Possess large sovereign wealth funds and are investing heavily in AI and advanced technology ecosystems.
Observers and Potential Expansion
Canada, EU, OECD, and Taiwan participated as observers, indicating scope for future expansion and institutionalisation.
Countering China: Strategic Rationale
China’s Dominance in REEs
China controls a dominant share of global REE processing, giving it leverage over high-tech supply chains.
In response to U.S. tariff measures, China suspended REE exports to the U.S. and others, weaponising resource dominance.
Impact on India
India faced disruptions in rare-earth magnet imports, affecting automobile and electronics manufacturing.
Supplies resumed only after Indian firms complied with stringent Chinese licensing conditions, including assurances against defence or dual-use applications.
Lessons from the Pandemic
COVID-19 exposed vulnerabilities of single-country-dependent supply chains, accelerating diversification and “friend-shoring” strategies.
India and Supply Chain Resilience Efforts
Existing Initiatives
Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) launched in 2021 with Japan and Australia.
Quad Critical Minerals Initiative launched in 2025 to strengthen supply chains for emerging and critical technologies.
India’s Exclusion and Prospective Entry
Despite participation in similar initiatives, India was not invited to the inaugural Pax Silica Summit.
On 12 January 2026, the new U.S. Ambassador to India indicated that India will soon be invited to join Pax Silica.
What India Brings to Pax Silica ?
Strengths
Strong digital public infrastructure and rapidly expanding AI adoption across enterprises.
Launch of IndiaAI Mission and Semiconductor Mission with substantial public funding.
Growing investments by Indian firms (e.g., Tata Group) and foreign players like Micron in semiconductor manufacturing.
Expanding pipeline of AI start-ups and a large pool of Indian students trained in advanced STEM fields abroad.
Human Capital Advantage
Large number of Indian graduates and PhDs in computer science and engineering trained in the U.S.
Restrictive U.S. visa policies may trigger reverse brain gain, strengthening India’s domestic AI and semiconductor ecosystems.
Strategic Opportunities for India
Technology Ecosystem Scaling
Participation in Pax Silica could help India scale collaborations with Japan, Singapore, Israel, and the U.S.
Opportunity to integrate into trusted semiconductor and AI value chains beyond low-end manufacturing.
Long-Term Strategic Alignment
Given historical India–West collaboration in IT services, India may naturally gravitate towards Pax Silica’s supply chain framework.
Challenges and Risks for India
Developmental and Strategic Asymmetry
Pax Silica members are largely high-income U.S. allies, while India would be the first developing country and non-ally entrant.
This may create an expectation gap on security alignment and policy convergence.
Strategic Autonomy Concerns
India’s foreign policy responses may differ in nuance from U.S. allies, requiring careful balancing to avoid dilution of strategic autonomy.
Industrial Policy Tensions
India will seek to protect its nascent ecosystems through subsidies, government procurement preferences, and calibrated import controls.
Such policies may conflict with prevailing preferences in Washington and some Pax Silica economies.
The Road Ahead: Competing Supply Chain Blocs
Dual Supply Chain World
China is likely to maintain and strengthen its REE export control regime to preserve dominance.
Pax Silica may develop a parallel export regulation and supply chain framework.
Over time, two major REE and tech supply chains—China-led and Pax Silica-led—may dominate the global economy.
India’s Strategic Choice
Given strained India–China economic ties and longstanding collaboration with Western firms, India may tilt towards Pax Silica, while seeking policy space.
India will need sustained dialogue to shape Pax Silica’s evolution in ways compatible with its developmental needs and strategic autonomy.
Strategic Assessment
Pax Silica reflects the geopoliticisation of technology and supply chains, where economic efficiency is subordinated to security and trust.
For India, participation offers technology access and resilience, but requires careful negotiation to avoid strategic and industrial policy constraints.
Reusable Rockets and the Commercial Space Revolution
Global Space Economy: Structural Shift
From State-led to Commercial-led Space
After four decades of government-dominated space exploration, the 21st century marks a transition to private-sector-led space innovation and financing.
The global space economy is projected to exceed USD 1 trillion by 2030, driven by satellite services, launch systems, human spaceflight, and deep-space missions.
Cost and Cadence Transformation
Partial reusability of rockets has reduced cost per kg to orbit by 5–20 times compared to expendable launch vehicles.
Reusability has significantly increased launch cadence, shifting spaceflight from episodic missions to routine operations.
Relevance
GS 3: Science and technology, space technology, innovation ecosystem, private sector role, and strategic industries.
Economics of Space Missions
Human vs Satellite Missions
Human space missions cost 3–5 times more than satellite launches due to life-support systems, safety redundancies, abort mechanisms, and stringent reliability requirements.
Satellite missions are typically one-way, using simpler hardware and software architectures with lower safety margins.
Payload Efficiency Constraints
Rockets face gravity losses and aerodynamic drag during ascent, requiring enormous energy to reach orbital velocity.
The Tsiolkovsky rocket equation highlights a structural limitation: fuel mass increases exponentially with velocity requirements.
Over 90% of a rocket’s launch mass consists of propellant and tankage, leaving less than 4% for payload.
Why Rockets Use Multiple Stages ?
Staging as an Engineering Solution
Staging divides a rocket into sequential propulsion units that are discarded mid-flight to shed dead weight.
This improves the propellant-to-mass ratio of the remaining vehicle, partially overcoming the Tsiolkovsky mass penalty.
Traditional Expendable Architecture
Conventional rockets such as PSLV and LVM-3 use expendable stages that are discarded, usually falling into the ocean after use.
While reliable, expendable systems incur high per-launch costs and low launch frequency.
Reusability: The Game-Changer
SpaceX’s Technological Breakthrough
SpaceX introduced disruptive innovations such as vertical integration, modular design, 3D-printed components, and stage reusability.
The Falcon 9 first stage returns to Earth using retro-propulsion and aerodynamic drag, dissipating kinetic energy during descent.
Demonstrated Success
SpaceX has successfully recovered Falcon 9 first stages over 520 times, establishing operational reliability.
Individual Falcon 9 boosters have been reused more than 30 times, demonstrating economic viability of reuse.
Towards Full Reusability
Next-generation Systems
SpaceX is developing Starship, a fully reusable heavy-lift rocket capable of carrying crew and cargo to Earth orbit, Moon, and Mars.
Fully reusable architecture aims to reduce launch costs to levels comparable with terrestrial transportation systems.
Global Developments
Blue Origin (USA) has demonstrated vertical landing recovery for its New Glenn booster.
China’s commercial space firms, such as LandSpace, are advancing reusable launch vehicles like Zhuque-3.
More than a dozen private companies globally are working on reusable rockets, with at least three pursuing full reusability.
Limits to Reusability
Engineering Constraints
Reusability is limited by material fatigue in engines and fuel tanks caused by thermal cycling, pressure loads, and g-forces.
Cryogenic propellants and combustion heat create microfractures, increasing inspection complexity over time.
Economic Trade-offs
Beyond a point, refurbishment costs and downtime outweigh savings from reuse.
Practical reuse limits are determined by acceptable risk, inspection time, and cost-benefit balance, not engineering feasibility alone.
India’s Position in the Reusable Launch Ecosystem
ISRO’s Ongoing Efforts
ISRO is developing a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) programme featuring a winged spacecraft capable of runway landing.
Another approach involves first-stage recovery using aerodynamic drag and retro-propulsion to land on barges or land.
Technology demonstrations in these domains are currently underway.
Competitive Imperative
In a market where reusability is becoming standard, cost reduction is essential for competitiveness in global launch services.
Future Indian launch vehicles must treat stage recovery and reuse as non-negotiable design drivers.
Design Principles for Future Launch Vehicles
Fewer Stages, Higher Efficiency
Advances in engine efficiency and propellant density allow two-stage systems to perform missions that earlier required three stages.
Optimising energy distribution across stages is crucial for cost-effective design.
Integrated Design Approach
Key considerations include:
High-performance, compact engines
Partial or full stage recovery
Rapid refurbishment cycles
Increased launch cadence
These factors collectively determine economic sustainability of future launch systems.
Strategic Assessment
Reusability has transformed spaceflight from a disposable launch model to a transportation paradigm.
Countries failing to adopt reusable architectures risk technological obsolescence and loss of market share.
For India, timely induction of disruptive launch technologies is essential to remain competitive in the trillion-dollar space economy.
Conclusion
Reusable rockets are redefining access to space, and India’s competitiveness will depend on how decisively it integrates reusability into future launch vehicle design.
Hate Speech as a Constitutional Tort: Constitutional Accountability and Democratic Integrity
Context of the Case
In January 2026, prominent activists, journalists, and religious leaders urged the Supreme Court of India to recognise hate speech as a “constitutional tort”, not merely a law-and-order issue.
Petitioners highlighted the rise in hate speech incidents, particularly at religious congregations, and sought regulatory and accountability mechanisms.
Relevance
GS 1: Social harmony, communal relations, and challenges to fraternity in a diverse society.
GS 2: Fundamental Rights, Supreme Court jurisprudence, constitutional torts, governance and rule of law.
GS 3: Internal security implications of hate speech and its linkage with communal violence.
What is a Constitutional Tort?
Conceptual Meaning
A constitutional tort is a judicially evolved remedy where the State is held vicariously liable for actions or omissions of its agents that violate fundamental rights.
It moves beyond criminal prosecution to public law compensation and accountability, rooted in Articles 14, 19, and 21.
Judicial Evolution in India
Recognised through landmark cases such as:
Rudul Sah v. State of Bihar (1983)
Nilabati Behera v. State of Odisha (1993)
D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal (1997)
Courts held that monetary compensation can be awarded for State failure to protect constitutional rights.
Why Hate Speech is Argued as a Constitutional Tort ?
Discriminatory Character of Hate Speech
Petitioners argued that hate speech is inherently discriminatory, targeting individuals or groups based on religion, caste, ethnicity, or identity.
Such speech violates:
Article 14 (Equality before law)
Article 15 (Non-discrimination)
Article 21 (Dignity and life)
Beyond Law and Order Paradigm
Treating hate speech as a routine policing issue reduces it to crowd control or preventive detention, ignoring its systemic and structural harm.
Petitioners stressed that hate speech erodes constitutional morality, not just public order.
Failure of Existing Legal and Administrative Framework
Supreme Court’s 2022 Directions
In October 21, 2022, the Supreme Court directed States to:
Register suo motu FIRs against hate speech that incites communal violence
Act irrespective of religion or political affiliation of offenders
Ground-Level Non-Compliance
Petitioners cited persistent inaction by police despite prior knowledge of habitual offenders and recurring hate-speech events.
Common administrative failures include:
Refusal to register FIRs
Invocation of weaker penal provisions
Delayed investigations
Hate Speech and Hate Crimes: Empirical Link
Causal Relationship
Petitioners argued a direct correlation between hate speech and hate crimes, where incendiary public speeches often precede:
Mob violence
Communal riots
Targeted attacks
Constitutional Implications
Failure to prevent hate speech despite foreseeability constitutes State negligence, engaging vicarious liability under constitutional tort doctrine.
Governance and Federal Accountability Issues
Police as a State Subject
Public order and police fall under the State List, but constitutional rights impose non-negotiable obligations on States.
Repeated inaction suggests institutional complicity or abdication of constitutional duty.
Need for Judicial Oversight
Petitioners urged continued Supreme Court monitoring, arguing that mere advisory directions lack enforceability.
Ethical and Democratic Dimensions
Impact on Constitutional Morality
Hate speech undermines the values of fraternity, secularism, and dignity, enshrined in the Preamble.
Normalisation of hate corrodes democratic discourse and legitimises exclusion.
Free Speech vs Harm Principle
While Article 19(1)(a) protects free speech, Article 19(2) permits reasonable restrictions to prevent:
Public disorder
Incitement to violence
Harm to social harmony
Hate speech falls squarely within constitutionally permissible restrictions.
Arguments Against Overreach (Counterview)
Expanding constitutional tort doctrine may:
Increase judicial overreach into executive functions
Create chilling effects on legitimate speech
Raise concerns of subjective interpretation
Hence, safeguards and clear doctrinal thresholds would be necessary.
Way Forward
Legal and Institutional Measures
Develop clear judicial standards to identify hate speech triggering constitutional tort liability.
Fix personal accountability of supervisory police officers for non-compliance with court directions.
Preventive and Structural Reforms
Mandatory videography and prior permission for large religious congregations with history of hate speech.
Independent monitoring mechanisms under State Human Rights Commissions.
Strengthening Constitutional Culture
Training law enforcement in constitutional values and hate-crime sensitivity.
Reaffirmation of fraternity and dignity as enforceable constitutional norms.
Chagos Islands Dispute
Context and Recent Trigger
U.S. President Donald Trump criticised the UK’s decision to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, citing strategic and security concerns.
The UK government has defended the move, stating that a deal is being finalised to transfer sovereignty to Mauritius by May 2026, while retaining the Diego Garcia military base on lease for at least 99 years.
Chagos Islands: Strategic and Historical Background
Geographic and Strategic Significance
The Chagos Archipelago is located in the central Indian Ocean, astride major sea lanes connecting Africa, West Asia, and the Indo-Pacific.
Diego Garcia, the largest island, hosts a U.S.–UK military base, critical for operations in the Middle East, Indo-Pacific, and Africa.
Colonial Legacy
The UK separated Chagos from Mauritius in 1965, three years before Mauritius gained independence in 1968, creating the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).
Between 1967–1973, over 1,500–2,000 Chagossians were forcibly evicted to enable the U.S. military base—raising serious human rights concerns.
Relevance
GS 2: International law, ICJ opinions, UN system, sovereignty disputes, and India’s foreign policy principles.
Legal and Diplomatic Developments
International Court of Justice (ICJ) Opinion, 2019
The ICJ (2019) held that:
The decolonisation of Mauritius was not lawfully completed.
The UK is under an obligation to end its administration of Chagos as rapidly as possible.
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution
Following the ICJ opinion, the UNGA voted overwhelmingly demanding that the UK withdraw from Chagos within six months.
Though advisory, the opinion strengthened Mauritius’ diplomatic and legal position.
The UK–Mauritius Deal (Proposed)
Key Features
Sovereignty over Chagos to be transferred to Mauritius.
Diego Garcia base to remain under UK–US control via a long-term lease (≈99 years).
Guarantees for continued military access for the U.S. and UK.
UK’s Rationale
Aims to:
Comply with international legal obligations.
Reduce diplomatic isolation in the UN.
Secure long-term legitimacy of the Diego Garcia base.
Implications for India and the Indian Ocean Region
Decolonisation and Global South Solidarity
The issue resonates with India’s long-standing support for decolonisation and territorial integrity, consistent with its stance at the UN.
Strengthens Global South demands for post-colonial justice.
Indian Ocean Security Architecture
Diego Garcia remains central to:
Indo-Pacific security.
Freedom of navigation.
Counter-terror and logistics operations.
Stability in Chagos supports India’s interest in a stable, rules-based Indian Ocean Region.
Broader Global Order Implications
Rules vs Power
The Chagos case illustrates tension between:
International law and decolonisation norms, and
Great-power security imperatives.
Precedent Setting
Compliance with ICJ opinions reinforces international legal institutions.
Defiance risks accelerating erosion of the rules-based order.
Way Forward
Balanced Resolution
Sovereignty transfer with binding security guarantees offers a middle path reconciling law and strategy.
Human-Centric Approach
Address Chagossian resettlement, compensation, and dignity as integral to any final settlement.
Multilateral Transparency
Greater engagement with UN mechanisms and regional stakeholders to ensure long-term legitimacy.
Darwin’s Bark Spiders (Caerostris darwini)
Relevance
GS 3: Biodiversity and adaptation in unique ecosystems.
GS 3: Science and technology, evolutionary biology, biomaterials, and bio-inspired innovation.
Species & Habitat: Darwin’s bark spider is endemic to Madagascar and is known for building the largest orb webs recorded, often spanning up to 25 metres across rivers and lakes.
Record-breaking Silk: Its dragline silk has a tensile strength of ~1.6 GPa, making it the toughest biological material ever tested, around three times stronger than iron and tougher than steel.
Key Scientific Finding: Only large adult females produce this ultra-tough silk; silk from males and juveniles is significantly weaker and mechanically indistinguishable across sexes and ages.
Reason for Female-only Tough Silk:
Adult females are 3–5 times larger than males, facing stronger evolutionary pressure to support massive webs.
Tough silk evolved primarily to structurally support huge webs, not to catch specific prey.
Energy–Efficiency Trade-off:
Producing high-performance silk is metabolically expensive, requiring costly proteins like proline.
Females therefore produce less silk overall, rebuild webs more slowly, and invest in quality over quantity.
Web Architecture Strategy:
Female webs are sparser, with wider gaps and fewer threads, but each thread absorbs very high mechanical strain.
Males and juveniles spin denser webs using cheaper, weaker silk.
Genetic vs Adaptive Traits:
Elasticity of silk is genetically conserved across all individuals.
Extreme toughness is selectively “switched on” in large females based on body size and ecological demand.
Evolutionary Significance:
Demonstrates sex-specific adaptive evolution, where costly biological materials are produced only when they provide clear survival advantages.
Faster Warming, Faster Breeding: Climate Change and Antarctic Penguins
Context and Key Finding
A recent study reports that three Antarctic penguin species are breeding about two weeks earlier compared to a decade ago.
This phenological shift coincides with a ~3°C rise in Antarctic temperatures between 2012 and 2022, highlighting rapid climate impacts in polar ecosystems.
The findings are based on remote-controlled photographic monitoring of penguin colonies from 2010–2021.
Relevance
GS 1: Climate change impacts on polar regions and global environmental systems.
GS 3: Climate change, biodiversity loss, ecosystem disruption, and environmental conservation.
Penguin Species Affected
Species Showing Early Breeding
Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)
Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua)
Chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus)
These species showed a ~14-day advancement in breeding timing, one of the fastest documented shifts among vertebrates.
Why Timing Matters in Penguin Life Cycles ?
Dependence on Environmental Synchrony
Penguins rely on precise alignment between:
Breeding timing
Food availability (krill, plankton, fish)
Ice conditions and sea productivity
Breeding too early or too late can reduce chick survival, as food availability peaks are narrow and climate-sensitive.
Comparison with Other Vertebrates
Most vertebrates show similar phenological shifts over ~75 years, whereas Antarctic penguins have exhibited this shift in just 10 years.
Role of Antarctic Warming
Temperature Trends
The Antarctic Peninsula is among the fastest-warming regions on Earth, with warming rates exceeding the global average.
Western Antarctica has warmed significantly, altering:
Sea-ice duration
Snow melt timing
Marine productivity cycles
Differential Species Response
Gentoo penguins are more adaptable and benefit from reduced ice and diversified diets.
Adélie and Chinstrap penguins are more ice-dependent and specialised, making them more vulnerable to ecosystem shifts.
Food Web Changes and Competition
Krill and Plankton Dynamics
Warming waters and changing ice conditions affect krill abundance, the primary food source for many penguin species.
Climate-driven plankton changes have:
Increased food for some species (e.g., Gentoo)
Reduced predictability for specialist feeders (Adélie, Chinstrap)
Interspecies Competition
Gentoo penguins have expanded southward and now:
Breed earlier
Compete aggressively for nesting sites
Displace Adélie penguins from traditional habitats
Observed Ecological Consequences
Population Trends
Chinstrap penguin populations are declining globally, linked to food stress and habitat change.
Adélie penguins show mixed trends—some colonies declining, others adapting locally.
Gentoo penguins are increasing in number and range, benefiting from warmer conditions.
Chick Survival Risks
Earlier breeding does not automatically imply higher success.
If food availability shifts faster than breeding adaptation, phenological mismatch may reduce chick growth and survival.
Broader Climate Change Signals
Indicator Species
Penguins act as sentinel species, reflecting broader changes in Antarctic marine ecosystems.
Rapid breeding shifts indicate ecosystem-level stress, not isolated behavioural change.
Future Projections
Climate models suggest continued acceleration of Antarctic warming, increasing risks of:
Further phenological disruption
Loss of ice-dependent species
Ecosystem restructuring