Satellite and emerging communications

Prelims and Mains

Photonics is where India's chip policy meets its network hardware: the parts that carry a signal as light rather than as current. The firms making them here have just organised themselves, because demand from artificial intelligence data centres has arrived before a domestic supply of components has.

• An optical fibre carries light by total internal reflection, because the refractive index of the glass core is higher than that of the cladding.
• An optical transceiver converts electrical signals into light and back, which is where a fibre link meets the electronics at each end.
• Indian firms have formed the India Photonics Association, which says many of the components the industry uses are still imported.
• Photonics fabs are eligible for up to 35 per cent capital support under Semicon 2.0.

Background reading: The Indian Express, 1 Sep 2026: Semicon 2.0: What is India's Rs 1.27 lakh-crore push for chip design? (opens in a new tab)

Prelims and Mains

A vehicle fitted for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication broadcasts what it is doing to the vehicles around it, and listens for the same from them. India has now set the dates on which new vehicles will have to do it.

• The draft Central Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Rules, 2026 would make V2V compulsory in new vehicles made on or after 1 October 2028.
• A vehicle that carries V2V must meet Automotive Industry Standard 230 (AIS-230) from 1 October 2027.
• The mandate covers two and three wheelers, cars, buses and goods vehicles, against 1.83 lakh road deaths in 2025.
• Concerns remain over location data security, band capacity and crashes caused by miscommunication.