UPSC Mains Current Affairs for 11 July 2026

OTT Content Regulation: Understanding India’s Parallel Regimes for Films and Streaming Platform

July 11, 2026

OTT Content Regulation Latest News

The film Satluj, based on the life of rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, premiered on ZEE5, after being stuck for nearly three years over certification issues.
Just two days later, it was taken off the platform in India, though it remains available internationally. Government sources cited "security concerns," and an Inter-Departmental Committee under the IT Rules, 2021 has been set up to examine the matter.
The episode has spotlighted India's two separate regulatory regimes: the Cinematograph Act for theatres and the IT Rules for streaming platforms.

Background: Why Was Satluj Banned

The film chronicles the life and death of Jaswant Singh Khalra, an Amritsar-based activist who investigated the alleged illegal cremation of thousands of unidentified bodies by police during Punjab's militancy years.
He was abducted and killed in 1995, a case in which several police officials were convicted.
Originally titled Ghallughara, the film was renamed Punjab '95 after CBFC scrutiny, when the board demanded 127 cuts for theatrical release.
The makers refused, so the film never reached cinemas. It later arrived on OTT, without cuts, under the new title Satluj.
The makers had also challenged the CBFC's objections in the Bombay High Court in 2023 but later withdrew the petition.

How CBFC Certification Works

Theatrical releases are governed by the Cinematograph Act, 1952.
Under Section 4, anyone wishing to publicly exhibit a film must obtain certification from the CBFC, a statutory body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- Screening uncertified films in cinemas is a criminal offence.
The CBFC certifies films as U (unrestricted), UA (unrestricted with parental guidance), A (adults only), and S (restricted to specialised audiences).
The Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023 split the UA category into age-based sub-categories and made certificates perpetually valid, removing the earlier 10-year limit.
The Act allows the CBFC to refuse certification or demand cuts if a film threatens India's sovereignty and integrity, state security, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency, morality, or involves defamation or contempt of court.
- These mirror the "reasonable restrictions" under Article 19(2) of the Constitution.
Until 2021, filmmakers could appeal CBFC decisions before a dedicated tribunal (FCAT).
- Tribunal rationalisation reforms abolished FCAT and shifted its functions to High Courts, making appeals slower and costlier for time-sensitive releases, and removing specialised judicial expertise in cinema matters.

How Streaming Platforms Are Regulated

OTT platforms historically operated with minimal oversight since the Cinematograph Act covers only public exhibition, not private viewing.
- In 2019, the Karnataka High Court dismissed a plea to bring OTT content under the Cinematograph Act, distinguishing public exhibition from private streaming.
OTT content is instead regulated under Part III of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
These rules prescribe a code of ethics and a three-tier grievance redressal structure: self-regulation by publishers, self-regulatory bodies, and government oversight via the Information & Broadcasting Ministry.
This framework is currently under challenge, with the Bombay and Madras High Courts staying the provision.
The 2023 Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, which sought to classify OTT platforms as broadcasting services, was later withdrawn.
In Satluj's case, the government invoked its takedown power under Section 69A of the IT Act.

Understanding Section 69A

Section 69A empowers the government to block content, exercised through the IT (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009.
The government must record reasons for blocking in writing, and a designated Review Committee examines whether such orders comply with Section 69A.
In this case, the I&B Ministry constituted a high-level Inter-Departmental Committee under Rule 14 of the IT Rules to examine the film's content.
The committee can recommend a warning, an apology or disclaimer, reclassification or modification of content, or complete deletion and blocking under Section 69A.

Conclusion

The Satluj episode reveals a regulatory gap: filmmakers can bypass strict CBFC theatrical scrutiny via OTT, but face parallel, less-defined IT Rules oversight instead.
This highlights the need for a coherent, rights-respecting framework governing content across both platforms, balancing free expression with genuine security concerns.

Source: IE | TH

OTT Content Regulation FAQs

Q1: Why has the Satluj case intensified the debate on OTT Content Regulation?

Ans: The Satluj case exposed differences between theatrical film certification and OTT oversight, highlighting inconsistencies in India's evolving OTT Content Regulation framework.

Q2: How does OTT Content Regulation differ from film certification in India?

Ans: OTT Content Regulation operates under the IT Rules, 2021, whereas theatrical films require prior certification under the Cinematograph Act, 1952.

Q3: What role does Section 69A play in OTT Content Regulation?

Ans: Section 69A empowers the government to block online content on specified grounds, making it a key enforcement mechanism within India's OTT Content Regulation regime.

Q4: Why is OTT Content Regulation facing legal challenges?

Ans: OTT Content Regulation has been challenged over concerns relating to excessive executive oversight, free speech, procedural safeguards and constitutional protections under Article 19.

Q5: What reforms are needed in India's OTT Content Regulation framework?

Ans: India's OTT Content Regulation requires a transparent, rights-based and technology-neutral framework that balances creative freedom, public interest and national security.

Towards a Robust Landslide Early Warning System in India

July 11, 2026

Landslide Early Warning System Latest News

Recent landslides in the Western Ghats (that struck the under-construction twin tunnel project in Wayanad, Kerala) and other parts of India have renewed focus on the urgent need for effective landslide early warning systems (LEWS).
Experts argue that scientific forecasting, coupled with timely evacuation, can significantly reduce casualties in highly vulnerable regions such as the Western Ghats and the Himalayas.

Why Early Warning Systems Matter

Landslides are predictable to a considerable extent, particularly in identified high-risk zones.
Early warning systems enable timely evacuation, reducing loss of life and property.
Countries such as Switzerland have successfully prevented casualties through advance warnings and planned evacuations.
In India, the 2024 Munnar landslides (Kerala) demonstrated the effectiveness of an early warning system, where evacuations based on scientific advice prevented fatalities.
India's landslide vulnerability:
- According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), around 13% of India's landmass (0.42 million sq km) is prone to landslides.
- The Himalayan region and the Western Ghats are the most vulnerable zones.
- Highly vulnerable regions: Tehri Garhwal and Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand), Mandi and Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), Aizawl region (Mizoram), and parts of Manipur.
- Relatively less vulnerable:
  - Sikkim, despite frequent attention, has comparatively lower vulnerability because road networks are less extensive.
  - Reduced mountain cutting and slope disturbance improve geological stability.

Major Approaches to Landslide Forecasting

Sensor-based monitoring system:
- Developed by research groups such as Amrita University, this method involves installing sensors at high-risk slopes.
- Key instruments: Tilt meters, pressure gauges, accelerometers, ground movement and vibration sensors.
- Working mechanism:
  - Sensors continuously monitor slope stability.
  - When readings exceed predefined safety thresholds, warnings are issued to local authorities for evacuation.
- Advantages: Scientifically robust and highly accurate. Provides sufficient lead time for evacuation. Successfully tested in Kerala.
- Limitations: Monitors only the instrumented slope. Cannot predict landslides on nearby, unmonitored slopes. Installation and maintenance involve significant costs.
Probabilistic forecasting model:
- Developed by IIT Mandi, this approach predicts landslide probability across large regions.
- Methodology:
  - Uses satellite-based mapping of historical landslides.
  - Integrates localised rainfall forecasts, soil characteristics, rock stability, slope gradient, and population density.
  - Employs 7–10 rainfall-derived parameters for each location.
- Validation: Successfully validated against around 80 actual landslides in the Himalayan region.
- Advantages: Covers extensive geographical areas, including remote locations. Identifies multiple vulnerable sites simultaneously.
- Limitations:
  - Dependent on high-resolution rainfall forecasts.
  - Current rainfall predictions are available only one day in advance, limiting lead time.
  - Improved forecasts from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) could significantly enhance predictive capability.

Towards a Comprehensive National Landslide Warning System

Experts believe India can develop an effective nationwide LEWS within two years, provided adequate resources and institutional support are available.
Priority actions: Identify high-frequency, high-impact landslide zones. Prepare detailed hazard zonation and risk maps. Install sensor networks at the most vulnerable locations.
Integrate: Satellite monitoring, sensor-based observations, high-resolution weather forecasting, and GIS and remote sensing technologies.
Strengthen coordination: Among IMD, NDMA, Geological Survey of India (GSI), State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs), and local administrations.

Challenges and Way Forward

Absence: Of comprehensive mapping of high-risk landslide hotspots. Develop an integrated National Landslide Early Warning System combining sensor-based monitoring with probabilistic forecasting models.
Limited deployment of sensor networks: Expand landslide susceptibility mapping using remote sensing, GIS and AI-based analytics.
Dependence on short-term rainfall forecasts: Accelerate development of high-resolution rainfall forecasting by IMD.
High costs of monitoring infrastructure: Prioritise vulnerable infrastructure, transport corridors and densely populated hill settlements.
Need: For greater inter-agency coordination and sustained investment. Promote community awareness, evacuation drills and local disaster preparedness.

Conclusion

With climate change increasing the frequency of extreme rainfall events, landslides are becoming a growing disaster risk in India.
A combination of above suggestions can transform landslide management from reactive relief to proactive risk reduction, saving lives and protecting critical infrastructure.

Source: IE

Landslide Early Warning System FAQs

Q1: How can a comprehensive Landslide Early Warning System (LEWS) reduce disaster risk in India?

Ans: It enables timely forecasting, evacuation and risk-informed planning, thereby minimizing casualties and economic losses.

Q2: What are the sensor-based and probabilistic approaches to landslide forecasting?

Ans: Sensor-based systems provide accurate site-specific warnings, whereas probabilistic models forecast landslide risks over larger areas using rainfall.

Q3: What are the key challenges in developing an effective landslide early warning system?

Ans: Inadequate hazard mapping, limited sensor deployment, short-range rainfall forecasts, high costs and poor inter-agency coordination.

Q4: Why are the Himalayan and the Western Ghats regions particularly vulnerable to landslides?

Ans: Due to fragile geology, steep slopes, intense rainfall and growing human interventions.

Q5: What measures are required to strengthen landslide disaster preparedness?

Ans: India should integrate hazard zonation, sensor networks, satellite monitoring, high-resolution weather forecasting, etc.

Prambanan Temple Restoration: India’s Cultural Diplomacy Through Heritage Conservation

July 11, 2026

Prambanan Temple Restoration Latest News

During his three-day visit to Indonesia, PM Modi announced that India will help restore the iconic Prambanan Temple in Yogyakarta, calling it a symbol of shared cultural heritage between the two nations.
During his recent trip to Indonesia, PM Modi visited the temple along with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, and jointly launched the India-supported conservation project.
This came amid a broader visit in which over 20 agreements were signed covering defence, maritime cooperation, critical minerals, technology, digital payments, and education.

Origins: A Hindu Temple Born from Dynastic Rivalry

Prambanan's history is rooted in the political and religious contest between two Javanese dynasties.
The Sanjaya dynasty, associated with the revival of Shaivite Hinduism, ruled the Mataram Kingdom in Central Java during the 8th and 9th centuries.
Its authority was challenged by the Sailendra dynasty, a powerful Buddhist royal house under which Javanese art and architecture flourished.
Following the reign of Sailendra ruler Samaratungga, Rakai Pikatan of the Sanjaya dynasty married Samaratungga's daughter and ruled between 842-856 CE.
He is credited with commissioning Prambanan as a grand Hindu sanctuary, marking the Sanjaya dynasty's return to power after nearly a century of Buddhist dominance.
Inscriptions record the temple's consecration in 856 CE.

Architecture and Design

Prambanan, built in the 9th century, is Indonesia's largest Hindu temple complex, located near the Buddhist Borobudur temple.
Rather than a single structure, it is a complex built across the reigns of two kings, Rakai Pikatan and Rakai Balitung, originally comprising 240 large and small temples dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma.
The complex follows a design of three concentric squares, with the innermost square housing 16 temples.
The most significant is the 47-metre central Shiva temple, flanked by the Brahma temple to the north and the Vishnu temple to the south.
The Shiva temple's interior has four chambers: the main eastern chamber houses a Shiva statue, while the other three house statues of Durga (his wife, also called Loro Jonggrang locally), Agastya (his teacher), and Ganesh (his son).
The complex's walls are carved with scenes from the Ramayana.

Decline and Rediscovery

Around 929-930 CE, the Mataram Kingdom's political centre shifted to East Java, a move linked to both the eruption of Mount Merapi and political-economic factors.
As Central Java was abandoned, Prambanan fell into disuse and was gradually buried under vegetation and volcanic debris.
Its rediscovery by outsiders is debated. A 15th-century Javanese court poet may have described the ruins in his writings.
Later, Dutch East India Company official C.A. Lons documented the ruins during a visit in 1733.
Thomas Stamford Raffles, Lieutenant-Governor of Java during the British interregnum (1811-16), took a keen interest in cataloguing Central Java's monuments in the 19th century.
Restoration efforts, begun in 1918, were repeatedly interrupted by the Second World War and Indonesia's independence struggle, with the main temple's reconstruction finally completed in 1953 and inaugurated by Indonesia's first president, Soekarno.

A Symbol of Religious Harmony

Prambanan reflects the coexistence of Hinduism and Buddhism in ancient Java.
The marriage between the Hindu ruler Rakai Pikatan and a Buddhist princess is seen as symbolic of this harmony, echoed architecturally in a Buddhist stupa-like element atop the temple's superstructure.
Several Buddhist temples, including Candi Sewu, Bubrah, and Lumbung, were built in the same era around Prambanan, reinforcing this shared religious landscape.
In modern Indonesian usage, the word "candi" refers to any ancient Hindu or Buddhist shrine.

Heritage Recognition

The Prambanan Temple Compounds were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1991, recognised for their remarkable cultural value and architecture.
The site was further designated a National Cultural Property in 1998, with a national law in 2010 supporting its protection and conservation.
Today, Prambanan remains both a popular tourist destination and an active place of Hindu worship, with the Ramayana ballet performed at an open-air theatre on full moon evenings from May to October.

India's Role in Restoration

New Delhi's assistance for Prambanan's conservation will be carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
An ASI team surveyed the site in March 2026 and determined that restoration would use the anastylosis technique, reassembling structures using original stones found on location.

Part of a Broader Pattern: India's Heritage Diplomacy

The Prambanan initiative fits into India's sustained strategy of restoring shared cultural heritage across Asia:
- Vietnam (2014): MoU to restore the UNESCO-listed Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary, a Shaivite temple complex built between the 4th and 13th centuries as the religious hub of the Champa kingdom.
- Myanmar (2017): MoU to restore monuments in the Bagan Archaeological Zone damaged by the 2016 earthquake.
- Cambodia: Major Indian role in conserving the Angkor Wat complex.
- Laos (2024): India completed restoration of the 1,000-year-old Vat Phou Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva.
- Sri Lanka and Bangladesh: Additional conservation projects undertaken by the Indian govt.

Conclusion

The Prambanan restoration exemplifies India's use of shared civilisational heritage as a tool of soft power and diplomacy.
Beyond preserving a UNESCO site, it strengthens India-Indonesia ties and reflects New Delhi's consistent strategy of leveraging cultural connect across South and Southeast Asia to build lasting regional partnerships.

Source: IE | FP

Prambanan Temple Restoration FAQs

Q1: Why is the Prambanan Temple Restoration significant for India?

Ans: The Prambanan Temple Restoration strengthens India's cultural diplomacy by preserving shared civilisational heritage while deepening strategic and people-to-people ties with Indonesia.

Q2: What restoration technique will be used in the Prambanan Temple Restoration project?

Ans: The Prambanan Temple Restoration will use the anastylosis technique, reassembling original stones to conserve the monument while maintaining its historical authenticity.

Q3: How does the Prambanan Temple Restoration reflect India's soft power strategy?

Ans: The Prambanan Temple Restoration demonstrates India's use of heritage conservation to enhance regional goodwill, strengthen diplomatic partnerships and promote shared cultural traditions.

Q4: Why is the Prambanan Temple Restoration important from a heritage perspective?

Ans: The Prambanan Temple Restoration protects a UNESCO World Heritage Site, preserves Hindu architectural heritage and reinforces the historical links between India and Southeast Asia.

Q5: How does the Prambanan Temple Restoration fit into India's broader heritage diplomacy?

Ans: The Prambanan Temple Restoration complements India's conservation projects in Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Sri Lanka, reinforcing its cultural leadership across Asia.