Public Awareness & General Administration
DPDP Act, 2023 and DPDP Rules, 2025
▪ The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) invited public feedback on the Draft Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules, 2025 for implementing the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023.
About Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023?
▪ It is India’s first comprehensive data protection law, offering a legal framework for handling digital personal data, with the goal of safeguarding individual privacy while permitting lawful data processing.
▪ The Act applies to digital personal data processed within India, whether collected digitally or digitized later, and to data processing outside India if done for offering goods or services in India.
Problems in Conduct of Public Elections
16th Census of India
▪ The Government of India has announced that the 16th Census will conclude by March 2027, marking the first digital and caste-based census in Independent India.
▪ A Census is the official enumeration of population, providing vital statistics on demography, economy, and socio-cultural aspects at every administrative level.
▪ Conducted every 10 years under the supervision of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Ministry of Home Affairs.
Features of the Upcoming Census (2026–27):
▪ First Digital Census: Data collection will be done through a mobile application replacing paper schedules.
▪ Caste Enumeration Included: For the first time since Independence, caste data will be
collected alongside SC/ST data.
▪ Self-Enumeration Option: Households with updated National Population Registry details may use an online portal for self-enumeration.
▪ Two-Phase Enumeration:
✓ Phase 1: House-listing and housing schedule
✓ Phase 2: Population enumeration (includes caste data)
