1. BRAZIL GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY (GEF) MEET

TAG: GS 3: ENVIRONMENT

THE CONTEXT: At the 64th Global Environment Facility (GEF) council meeting in Brazil, the governing body approved the disbursement of $1.4 billion to accelerate efforts to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution crises. Over half a billion dollars set aside for work on biodiversity.

EXPLANATION:

• Adequate funds are needed to meet the 4 goals & 23 targets set under the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework by 2030.
• Of this, $653 million has been set aside for biodiversity and this would be used to help countries update their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, biodiversity programmes and meet the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) agreed in December.
• This is the second work program of the GEF-8 funding period, which runs from 2022 and 2026.
• The funding package includes support for 136 countries and has a significant focus on action to address species and habitat loss, in line with the GBF.
• Keeping this in mind, 47 per cent of the funds have been earmarked for work on biodiversity, followed by 16 per cent for climate change, 12 per cent for land degradation, 11 per cent for international waters and 6 per cent for chemicals and waste.
• The Latin America and the Caribbean region is getting the most of the funds, followed by the Africa region. Out of the 18 implementing agencies for GEF; the United Nations Development Programme is getting the maximum funds followed by the UN Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
• At the 15th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, it was decided that a new trust fund, GBF, would be put in place to run the projects under the framework.
• Approval to establish the GBF fund with the objective to ratify it at the upcoming GEF Assembly in August 2023 will now ensure “adequacy, predictability and timely flow of funds” in the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework.
• Adequate funds are needed as there are merely eight years to meet the four goals and 23 targets set under the Framework.

 Global Environment Facility (GEF):

• Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a family of funds dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, and strains on land and ocean health.
• Its grants, blended financing, and policy support helps developing countries address their biggest environmental priorities and adhere to international environmental conventions.
• Over the past three decades, the GEF has provided more than $22 billion and mobilized $120 billion in co-financing for more than 5,000 national and regional projects.
• GEF funds are available to developing countries seeking to meet the objectives of international environmental agreements.
• Support is provided to government agencies, civil society organizations, private sector companies, research institutions, and other partners to implement projects and programs related to environmental conservation, protection, and renewal.
• The GEF’s governing structure is organized around an Assembly, Council, Secretariat, 18 implementing agencies, a Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel, and the Independent Evaluation Office.
• The Council, the GEF’s main governing body, comprises 32 members appointed by constituencies of member countries.

2. NEW CERTIFICATION SCHEME FOR ANTIBIOTICS MANUFACTURING

TAG: GS 2: HEALTH ISSUES

THE CONTEXT: A new certification scheme to promote responsible antibiotics manufacturing was launched in India on June 26, 2023, by British Standards Institute (BSI) and AMR Industry Alliance.

EXPLANATION:

• In 2022, The AMR Industry Alliance and BSI came up with a set of Antibiotic Manufacturing Standards and launched the certification to ensure their implementation.
• AMR Industry Alliance, one of the largest private sector coalitions that provide long-term solutions to antimicrobial resistance, engaged BSI, a business improvement and standards company, to provide expert services for the development of this standard.
• Responsible antibiotic production is critical to encouraging sustainable drug production.
• This also addresses growing environmental concerns about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by limiting the release of antibiotic residues into waterways through industrial waste, which contributes significantly to AMR, particularly the environmental aspect of it.
• Antibiotic residues enter waterways from various sources, including hospital wastewater, farms, sewage systems and others. While antibiotic overuse in humans and animals is considered the primary cause of AMR, the environmental aspect of AMR is gaining global attention.
• The certification is the first of its kind, with a third-party validation process, to monitor environmental concerns in the antibiotic manufacturing process. The certification helps in determining whether environmental and waste control procedures are in place throughout the manufacturing process.
• This intends to ensure that the concentration of antibiotics in waste streams is below a threshold that does not result in the emergence of AMR in the environment. During the development of this certification, several manufacturers have expressed their willingness to self-regulate the processes.
• A manufacturer should provide effective environmental management and a wastewater treatment system that minimises the discharges of active pharmaceutical ingredients to obtain certification. The certificate, once issued, is valid for three years. Annual surveillance is carried out to ensure ongoing maintenance.
• Antibiotic concentration at the release point must be less than the predicted no-effect concentration the level at which the chemical has no toxic effect and will not promote AMR to meet the certification standard.
• Waste should be minimised and strictly controlled every time production is run, so we want to create a robust environmental management system,” said Steve Brooks, an advisor to the AMR Industry Alliance.

ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE (AMR):

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi.
• AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. As a result, the medicines become ineffective and infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others.
• Antimicrobials – including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics – are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants. Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”.
• Increased use and misuse of antimicrobials and other microbial stressors, such as pollution, create favourable conditions for microorganisms to develop resistance both in humans and the environment.
• Bacteria in water, soil and air for example, can acquire resistance following contact with resistant microorganisms. Human exposure to AMR in the environment can occur through contact with polluted waters, contaminated food, inhalation of fungal spores, and other pathways that contain antimicrobial resistant microorganisms.

What is the impact of AMR?

• The World Health Organization (WHO) lists AMR among top 10 threats for global health. Antimicrobial resistance threatens human and animal health and welfare, the environment, food and nutrition security and safety, economic development, and equity within societies.
• Antimicrobial resistance in mycobacterium tuberculosis, malaria parasites, viruses, and HIV is becoming a reality that could increase human suffering.
• It could also deal a huge blow to the world economy due to productivity losses, increased healthcare costs and a rise in poverty. Even if it is a global crisis, poverty, lack of sanitation and poor hygiene make AMR worse. Also, AMR disproportionately impacts Low-Income Countries and Lower-Middle-Income Countries. AMR is thus an equity issue too.

Management and response to AMR:

• Environment plays a key role in development, transmission and spread of AMR. Therefore, the response must be based on a One Health approach, recognizing that humans, animals, plants and environment are interconnected and indivisible, at the global, regional, and local levels from all sectors, stakeholders, and institutions.
• Prevention is at the core of the action needed to halt the emergence of AMR and environment is a key part of the solution

3. US INDIA DIGITAL TRADE

TAG: GS 2: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

THE CONTEXT: U.S. industry body CCIA backed by the likes of Google and Meta has flagged India’s “protectionist” approach to US digital services providers while also describing a set of other policies as trade barriers.

EXPLANATION:

• During Prime Minister’s U.S. state visit, cooperation on technology emerged as a prominent talking point and yielded some of the most substantive outcomes.
• However, digital trade is also the area where some of the biggest U.S. tech companies have recently flagged multiple policy hurdles, including “India’s patently protectionist posture”.
• Earlier this year, the Washington D.C.-headquartered Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), with members like Amazon, Google, Meta, Intel, and Yahoo, flagged 20 policy barriers to trading with India in a note titled “Key threats to digital trade 2023”.

What is the current status of India-U.S. technology trade?

• Notably, in FY2023, the U.S. emerged as India’s biggest overall trading partner with a 7.65% increase in bilateral trade to $128.55 billion in 2022-23. However, digital or technology services did not emerge as one of the sectors at the forefront of bilateral trade.
• The CCIA points out in its report that “despite the strength of the U.S. digital services export sector and enormous growth potential of the online services market in India, the U.S. ran a $27 billion deficit in trade in digital services with India in 2020”.
• In the recent past, however, the two countries have been ramping up their tech partnership through moves like the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET).
• Under the iCET, India and the U.S. agreed to cooperate on critical and emerging technologies in areas including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors and wireless telecommunication.
• Additionally, under the iCET, India and the U.S. also established a Strategic Trade Dialogue with a focus on addressing regulatory barriers and aligning export controls for smoother trade and “deeper cooperation” in critical areas.
• The joint statement released on the first day of PM’s visit, also mentions the ambitious MoU signed between the two states on the Semiconductor Supply Chain and Innovation Partnership, which includes a combined investment valued at $2.75 billion.
• On the telecommunications front, the two leaders launched two Joint Task Forces to focus on the Open RAN network and research and development in 5G/6G technologies.
• Besides, the two countries are bullish on future tech such as AI and Quantum Computing, having put in place the Quantum Coordination Mechanism and a joint fund for the commercialization of Artificial Intelligence

What taxation measures has the CCIA raised concerns about?

• One of the taxation tools that U.S. tech firms have long taken exception to is the expanded version of the “equalisation levy” that India charges on digital services.
• India in 2016, with the goal of “equalising the playing field” between resident service suppliers and non-resident suppliers of digital services imposed a unilateral measure to levy a 6% tax on specific services received or receivable by a non-resident not having a permanent establishment in India, from a resident in India who carries out business.
• In 2020, the Centre came out with the ‘Equalisation Levy 2.0’, which imposes a 2% tax on gross revenues received by a non-resident “e-commerce operator” from the provision of ‘e-commerce supply or service’ to Indian residents or non-resident companies having a permanent establishment in India.
• The equalisation levy, when it was first introduced in 2016, led to double taxation and further complicated the taxation framework. Besides, it also raised questions of constitutional validity and compliance with international obligations.
• The 2020 amendment again led the levy to become sweeping and vague in its scope. Further, in 2021, instead of introducing an amendment, the government issued a “clarification” to say that the expression ‘e-commerce supply or service’, inter alia, includes the online sale of goods or the online provision of services or facilitation of the online sale of goods or provision of services.
• The CCIA argues that the government decided to put the levies in place and continue their imposition unilaterally even as 135 other countries await clarity on an Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) agreement to overhaul the global tax system. This deal would ask countries to remove all digital services tax and other similar measures and to commit to not introduce such measures in the future.

What about India’s IT Rules 2021?

• The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, has been flagged by the consortium of foreign tech firms under the some of the most “problematic policies”.
• The IT Rules place compliance burden on social media intermediaries (SMIs) and platforms with five million registered users or more, which means several U.S. firms end up falling under the ambit.
• Some points of concern raised are the “impractical compliance deadlines and content take-down” protocols — the IT Rules require intermediaries to take down content within 24 hours upon receiving a government or court order. The platforms are also required to appoint a local compliance officer.
• Moreover, with the amendments made to the Rules late last year, SMIs are now obligated to remove, within 72 hours, information or a communication link in relation to the six stipulated prohibited categories of content as and when a complaint arises.
• There is also major criticism against the government’s institution of the three-member Grievance Appellate Committees (GAC), which will hear user complaints about the decisions of SMIs regarding their content-related issues and have the power to reverse those decisions.
• Additionally, in January 2023, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) added another layer of compliance, requiring platforms to make reasonable efforts to prevent the publication of content fact-checked as fake or false by the Press Information Bureau (PIB).

What are the criticisms of the new draft of the data protection law?

• India, with more than 759 million active internet users representing more than 50% of its population is a gold mine for data.
• The country is also planning to become a hub for data processing, wanting to host data centres and cloud service providers.
• This means that India’s policy on the flow of data across borders will impact the same on a global level, as was seen with the European Union’s landmark General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
• While there are various arguments in favour of data localisation requirements by governments, such requirements also tend to significantly increase operating costs of companies and can be seen as discriminatory by foreign companies.

4. SUGAR SUBSIDIES AT WTO

TAG: GS 3: ECONOMY

THE CONTEXT: India is expected to negotiate with Brazil to resolve a long-standing dispute about sugar subsidies accorded by India. Brazil had submitted a complaint in 2019.

EXPLANATION:

• Ministry of Commerce and Industry is coordinating with the concerned departments to arrive at possible alternatives. The same approach has been adopted with other complainants in the dispute.
• Back in 2019, the South American nation had submitted a complaint against India alleging that the latter’s according of sugar subsidies was inconsistent with global trade rules.
• In February 2019, Brazil, Australia and Guatemala sought consultations with India, concerned about domestic support measures to agricultural producers of sugarcane and sugar.
• They alleged that India for five years, from 2014-15 to 2018-19, provided domestic support in excess of the permissible 10% of the total value of production thus, inconsistent with the norms laid out under the organisation’s Agreement on Agriculture.
• The countries argued that the minimum prices of sugarcane and sugar, specifically fair and remunerative prices (FRP) alongside specific states enforcing higher minimum prices, incentivised Indian sugarcane farmers. This led to increased domestic production of sugarcane and sugar.
• It contended that with production exceeding domestic demand, and ensuing increases in sugar stocks, the government also intervened in the market with assistance programmes, thereby facilitating lowered prices for the commodity in the global market.
• The complainant also argued against India’s mill-specific Minimum Indicative Export Quota (MIEQ) wherein sugar mills must export an allocated amount of sugar by the end of each season (October-September).
• It alleged that certain support measures were dependent on compliance with the MIEQ, or otherwise dependent on export performance. MIEQ allocates the minimum quantity of sugar which must be exported and distributes that quantity among individual sugar mills operating in India.
• India is the second-largest producer of sugar in the world behind Brazil, which also is the largest exporter.
• WTO constituted a panel to study the allegations in October 2019, which submitted its report in December 2021.

What did the WTO conclude?  

• The multilateral trade organisation held that India was acting inconsistently with its obligations under Article 7.2 (b) of the Agreements on Agriculture (AoA) as far the domestic support was concerned. This article stipulates that members cannot provide support in excess of the relevant de minimis standards.
• It held that the ‘price support’ would entail “assistance from a government or other official body in maintaining prices at a certain level regardless of supply or demand.” In FRP, while the prices may appear to be paid by the mills, they are set by the government, it said.
• The WTO asked India to withdraw its exports subsidies within 120 days from the circulation of the report. It also sought that the country withdraw the proscribed subsidies (as per the multilateral organisation’s rules) meant for production assistance, buffer stock, marketing and transportation along with the duty-free import authorisation (DFIA) scheme.
• The report concluded that India was providing “lump sum assistance” for expenses emanating on account of sugar towards maximum admissible export quality or MAEQ (which works as a marketing assistance listing upper limit for exports) of sugar mills for the sugar season 2019-20. It broadly covered marketing including handling, quality upgradation, debagging and re-bagging and other processing costs.

What was India’s defence?  

• Following the report in December 2021, the Indian government stated the panel had made “certain erroneous findings” about the schemes meant to support sugarcane producers and exports. It held the findings of the panel were “completely unacceptable to India”, adding, “The panel’s findings are unreasoned and not supported by the WTO rules.
• It contended that FRP and state-advised prices do not constitute ‘applied administrative prices’, that is, prices for agricultural products determined by administrative actions of the government and not market forces.
• It was before the consultations that India had argued that market price support could only exist when the government or its agents pay or procure the product. Thus, it would be incorrect to conclude that India provided any market price support to sugarcane producers, it said.

Agreements on Agriculture (AoA)

• The domestic support systems in agriculture are governed by the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), which entered into force in 1995 and was negotiated during the Uruguay Round (1986-1994).
• The long-term goal of the AoA is to establish a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system and to initiate a reform process through the negotiations of commitments on support and protection, and through the establishment of strengthened and more operationally effective rules and discipline.

5. MINERALS SECURITY PARTNERSHIP

TAG: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

THE CONTEXT: India joins the critical minerals club. India’s inclusion in the partnership will help its transition to clean energy & pave way for other countries to be part of the critical minerals club.

EXPLANATION:

• India became a part of the coveted critical minerals club the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP) headed by the United States.
• MSP is a strategic grouping of 13 member states including Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, US, the European Union, Italy and now India.
• It aims to catalyse public and private investment in critical mineral supply chains globally.
• The proposal to onboard India comes after strong diplomatic engagements and push for joining the strategic partnership to secure and build a resilient supply chain for critical minerals.
• India is already a member of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development, which supports the advancement of good mining governance.
• India’s inclusion in the club is vital for India to fulfill its ambition of shifting towards sustainable mobility through large, reliable fleets of electric public and private transport. Securing the supply chain of critical minerals will also provide the country with the necessary push towards a concerted indigenous electronics and semiconductor manufacturing.
• The inclusion will also pave the way for equitable sharing of resources across the globe. The MSP is elitist in its very idea of formation and induction of members. Countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, the Democratic Republic of Congo, which have abundant reserves of critical minerals are not part of this strategic grouping formed by US.
• The diplomatic strength India possesses can create space for other countries to be part of the partnership and reduce their dependence on China by building a robust and reliable supply chain of raw materials needed for the clean energy transition, something that many economies across the world have been hoping for.
• With heavy demand and the supply chain irregularities across the global mineral markets, various strategic groupings or international agreements have been started by major players to foster international partnerships, and to ensure a reliable and secure supply chain. Due to geopolitical uncertainties, unfavourable rising of prices, COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war have resulted in the supply chain disruptions across the globe for these critical minerals.
• Over the past decade, the G7 and G20 member countries, including US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia have declared their critical minerals lists and are also the part of several bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral agreements, specifically for the governance involving critical minerals and their strategic importance.
• Cobalt, graphite, lithium, manganese, nickel and rare earth elements are these common strategic mineral resources that are demand-intensive due to their strategic uses in wind turbines, batteries of electric vehicles and other critical emerging technologies for green transition.
• Recently, the US and the UK signed the Atlantic Declaration to begin negotiations on a critical minerals agreement, which would allow some UK firms to access tax credits available under the US Inflation Reduction Act.
• With India pushing for an indigenous development of emerging technologies in the clean energy sector, scaling up the manufacturing of the technologies, including solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles will result in significant demand for and dependence on the supply of a range of minerals for the foreseeable future.
• India and Australia have already signed the Critical Minerals Investment Partnership — a major milestone in working towards investment in critical minerals projects to develop supply chains between the two countries.
• Investments under the partnership will seek to build new supply chains underpinned by critical minerals processed in Australia that will help India’s plans to lower emissions from its electricity network and become a global manufacturing hub, including for electric vehicles.
• India’s entry into MSP will foster several bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral agreements, specifically for the governance involving critical minerals and their strategic importance among the member countries.

[WpProQuiz 496]

1. Choose good now, bad can wait READ MORE
2. Happiness is not a destination READ MORE

1. Indian Ocean Dipole: What is it, how it can limit El Nino effects READ MORE
2. Congo: World’s 2nd-largest rainforest continues to vanish with half a million hectares lost in 2022, says report READ MORE

1. Focus on reducing demand for drugs through awareness drives READ MORE
2. Science, humanities and the market forces READ MORE

1. Centre’s Delhi Ordinance disregards constitutional morality. Ambedkar and SC concur READ MORE
2. Why Uniform Civil Code divides politics & people READ MORE
3. Courts and law enforcement must combat hate together READ MORE
4. Collective action can curb the drug menace READ MORE
5. Time to act on police reforms READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. New deadline for Aadhaar-based rural jobs scheme wages READ MORE  
2. Seven products from U.P. get GI tag READ MORE
3. Q4 current account deficit narrows to $1.3 billion as trade deficit shrinks READ MORE
4. Netanyahu’s security risks mount as violence spirals in West Bank READ MORE
5. Sri Lanka will not be used as a base against India: Ranil READ MORE
6. Centre planning new Bill on stray dog issue READ MORE
7. Elections to 10 Rajya Sabha seats on July 24 READ MORE
8. Brazil GEF meet: Over half a billion dollars set aside for work on biodiversity READ MORE
9. Minerals Security Partnership: India joins the critical minerals club. Here’s why this is important READ MORE

Main Exam

GS Paper- 1

1. Indian Ocean Dipole: What is it, how it can limit El Nino effects READ MORE
2. Congo: World’s 2nd-largest rainforest continues to vanish with half a million hectares lost in 2022, says report READ MORE
3. Focus on reducing demand for drugs through awareness drives READ MORE
4. Science, humanities and the market forces READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Centre’s Delhi Ordinance disregards constitutional morality. Ambedkar and SC concur READ MORE
2. Why Uniform Civil Code divides politics & people READ MORE
3. Courts and law enforcement must combat hate together READ MORE
4. Collective action can curb the drug menace READ MORE
5. Time to act on police reforms READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. A model for quality and inclusive education READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Explained | Why are U.S. tech firms sceptical about digital trade with India? READ MORE
2. Tracing the arc of American ‘exception-ism’ for India READ MORE
3. Strategic high: On India-U.S. ties and strategic cooperation READ MORE
4. India-US relations: heading north

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Equip SMEs with a robust export policy READ MORE
2. Saving Banks~II READ MORE
3. DC Edit | RBI 4% inflation goal laudable READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Marshall Islands, a nation at the heart of global shipping, fights for climate justice READ MORE
2. SRSB makes push to achieve SDGs READ MORE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Jailbreaking generative AI READ MORE

SECURITY

1. Manipur peace process needs to be accelerated READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. Transforming India’s disaster management READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Choose good now, bad can wait READ MORE
2. Happiness is not a destination READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Do you agree with this view that EWS judgement undermines the Constitutional code of equality? Analyse your view.
2. A measure of an economy’s competitiveness derives from its human capital. India’s done well to surpass most countries in economic size but henceforth, intellectual capital will be critical in boosting per capita GDP. Critically comment.
3. Recent developments in India-Africa relations provide an opportunity to build on common ground and expand it into new areas and Egypt can play a critical role in it. Comment.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God.
• Food and grocery delivery apps keep a constant watch over their delivery partners. In this online slavery, these partners have no control or liberty over their basic rights.
• The pandemic has made it clear that virtual learning is here to stay. In the West, the big question is whether it will dilute the quality of the college experience and education. In India, which grapples with digital divide, the question remains whether this will reach most people at all.
• Alternative sources of knowledge and learning are posing challenges to the traditional mission of universities, including online and for-profit universities, non-profits.
• There is much value in defining constitutional morality as a paramount reverence of forms and procedures; however, a mere reverence of procedure is insufficient, as evidenced by the judiciary slowly occupying a more and more powerful position within the State structure.
• The US and India’s collaborations to promote solutions around digital infrastructures will continue to undermine the human rights of people in the Global South. In the case of India too, the government has consistently promised to bring privacy legislation, but has failed to uphold Indian fundamental rights.
• This model of digital identity-based development is gonna make a lot of people invested in this project rich, especially the institutions promoting this project.
• A crisis offers us a rare window of opportunity to implement reforms ~ it is a terrible thing to waste. The temptation will be to overregulate, as we have previously done. This creates a perverse dynamic… Perhaps rather than swinging maniacally between too much and too little regulation, it would be better to think of cycle-proof regulation.
• In a developing country, it is not enough to provide recognition for production. The production itself must be increased with the adoption of improved technology.
• Among the many challenges DM authorities face for the future is the strengthening of the district-level system, professionalisation of disaster management through a cadre of professionals, knowledge capture and management, and a more disaggregated early warning system.
• A measure of an economy’s competitiveness derives from its human capital. India’s done well to surpass most countries in economic size but henceforth intellectual capital will be critical in boosting per capita GDP.

50-WORD TALK

• PM Modi’s heady, historic US trip has now turned into an embarrassing tit-for-tat. The WSJ reporter asked a question, Modi answered, as press conferences go. From the White House statement condemning her harassment to Obama — what should have been a week of celebrating outcomes is now a week of outraging.
• Failure of credit bureaus to maintain up-to-date records deserves exemplary punishment by RBI, not just small fines. It’s inexcusable that these agencies failed to update records even when customers complained. In this credit data lies the reputation and credit-worthiness of people. The management of it requires utmost care and professionalism.

Things to Remember:

• For prelims-related news try to understand the context of the news and relate with its concepts so that it will be easier for you to answer (or eliminate) from given options.
• Whenever any international place will be in news, you should do map work (marking those areas in maps and exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers, etc. same applies to the national places.)
• For economy-related news (banking, agriculture, etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related to various economic aspects, for example, if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing price rises, shortage of essential supplies, banking rates, etc.
• For main exam-related topics, you should focus on the various dimensions of the given topic, the most important topics which occur frequently and are important from the mains point of view will be covered in ED.
• Try to use the given content in your answer. Regular use of this content will bring more enrichment to your writing.

1. NEW GUIDELINES ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED INSECTS

TAG:  PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the Department of Biotechnology issued the ‘Guidelines for Genetically Engineered Insects. They provide procedural roadmaps for those interested in creating GE insects.

EXPLANATION:

• India’s bioeconomy contributes 2.6% to the GDP.
• In April 2023, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) released its ‘Bioeconomy Report 2022’ report, envisioning this contribution to be closer to 5% by 2030.
• This ambitious leap of $220 billion in eight years will require aggressive investment and policy support. .
• Along with more money, policies that enable risk-taking appetite within Indian scientists will be required to create an ecosystem of innovation and industrial action.
• Despite a slight uptick during COVID-19, when DBT led the vaccine and diagnostics efforts, funding hasn’t returned to the pre-pandemic level. The current allocation is also only 0.0001% of India’s GDP, and it needs to be significantly revised if biotechnology is to be of any serious consequence for the economy.

Issues:

Uncertainty of purpose:

• The guidelines note that GE insects are becoming globally available and are intended to help Indian researchers navigate regulatory requirements.
• However, the guidelines don’t specify the purposes for which GE insects may be approved in India or how the DBT, as a promoter of biotechnology, envisions their use.
• The guidelines only provide regulatory procedures for R&D on insects with some beneficial applications.
• The emphasis of using GE insects appears to be on uplifting the standard of living by reducing disease burden, enabling food security and conserving the environment.
• The guidelines which are more procedural in nature than indicative of governmental policy set out forms and instructions for using GE insects of various types.
• The approval for these experiments comes under the broad ambit of the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation, a body under the DBT.
• The guidelines have been harmonised to guidance from the World Health Organisation on GE mosquitoes.
• GE mosquitoes represent the most advanced application for this technology yet the guidelines seem to downplay the economic opportunities that such insects provide.
• Engineering honey bees to make better-quality and/or quantities of honey will help reduce imports and also maybe facilitate exports.
• Similarly, GE silkworms may be used to produce finer and/or cheaper silk, affecting prices and boosting sales. But the guidelines and policy are both quiet on how GE insects can benefit the bioeconomy and for which purposes the government might approve the insects’ release.

Uncertainty for researchers

• The guidelines are applicable only to research and not to confined trials or deployment. That is, once the insects are ‘made’ and tested in the laboratory, researchers can conduct trials with them on the approval of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), of the Union Environment Ministry.
• Government authorities will also have to closely follow the deployment of these insects. Once deployed, GE insects can’t be recalled, and unlike genetically modified foods, they are not amenable to individual consumer choice.
• So wider community engagement and monitoring of the impact of GE will be required. The nature of the technology products – i.e. mosquitoes, honey bees, etc. – also make their private use difficult.
• In any case, the government will be the primary buyer in many cases, such as ‘GE mosquitoes for disease alleviation’ or ‘honey bees for increased pollination’.
• On the other hand, as honey bees populations decrease, genetically edited honey bees which live longer, might be of use in India.
• On a related note, the guidelines define GE insects by their risk group and not by the end product.

Uncertainty of ambit

• The guidelines offer standard operating procedures for GE mosquitoes, crop pests, and beneficial insects but what ‘beneficial’ means, in the context of GE insects, is not clear.
• The lack of clarity about the insects and the modifications to them that are deemed ‘beneficial’ will impede funders and scientists from investing in this research. In a country with low public as well as private funding, the absence of a precise stance to identify and  promote research priorities hampers progress.
• Other gene-editing guidelines contain similar ambiguity, such as the National Guidelines for Gene Therapy Product Development and Clinical Trials. They identify a gene-therapy product as “any entity which includes a nucleic acid component being delivered by various means for therapeutic benefit”. But they don’t “define therapeutic benefit”, creating confusion on which gene therapy products will actually be permitted.
• Further, genetic engineering can also be used to unintentionally generate malicious products. In 2016, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency floated an ‘Insect Allies’ programme with the idea of creating insect vectors to deliver gene-editing components to plants that are threatened by pests. Scientists quickly pointed out that this application could also be used to create bioweapons. Similarly, the new guidelines don’t sufficiently account for more dangerous possibilities.

2. CENTRE FOR SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT (CSE) REPORT ON EMISSION

TAG: GS 3: ENVIRONMENT

THE CONTEXT: As of April 2023, however, only 5 per cent of the country’s installed coal-based thermal power generation capacities had the FGD mechanism in place, according to a new report by Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

EXPLANATION:

• Emission reduction has been the unequivocally accepted pathway for limiting global warming.  But despite ambitious targets, one of the most polluting sectors of India coal-based thermal power generation  was found to be brazenly flouting emission norms and not doing the bare minimum required to reduce their environmental footprint.
• A case in point is the poor implementation of the sulphur dioxide emissions regulations issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in 2015.
• The ministry made it mandatory for thermal power plants to instal a flue gas de-sulfurization (FGD) system to remove sulphur dioxide from their exhaust.
• Moreover, 17 per cent of the overall coal power capacity was still at very initial stages of compliance.
• The organisation analysed the updated status of FGD systems in thermal power plants from data released by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the technical arm of the Union Ministry of Power.
• The findings for eastern India were abysmal as no plant in the region was found to be compliant of SO2 emissions norms.
• Maharashtra has the highest capacity complying with the norms, followed by Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Tamil Nadu, showed the analysis.
• Only 0.81 GW of the 32.63 GW newly commissioned capacity is complying with the norms, the researchers found.
• Just 57 per cent of the capacity within 10 kilometres of Delhi-NCR or million-plus cities will be able to meet the deadline, based on the analysis. Around 11 per cent of the capacity within 10 km radius of critically polluted areas is unlikely to meet the deadline.
• Around 13 gigawatts of the installed capacity is now likely to comply because of the extension in deadline, the report noted.
• None of the plants that have installed FGDs or are reported to be complying with SOx norms are state-owned, the analysts found.
• The latest National Electricity Plan (NEP) for 2022-32 cited various factors that may have delayed the implementation of the norms: The sector’s dependency on the external market for some FGD components, novelty of the technology for the Indian market and the COVID-19 pandemic.

National Electricity Plan:

• The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has notified the National Electricity Plan (NEP) for the period of 2022-32.
• The plan document, which was released on May 31, 2023, includes a review of the last five years (2017-22), a detailed plan for the next five years (2022-27), and the prospective plan for the next five years (2027-32).

Peak demand

• According to the NEP document, the projected All-India peak electricity demand and electrical energy requirement are 277.2 GW and 1,907.8 BU for FY27 and 366.4 GW and 2473.8 BU for FY32, as per 20th Electric Power Survey (EPS) Demand projections.
• The energy requirement & peak demand are inclusive of the impact due to increased adoption of electric vehicles, installation of solar rooftops, production of green hydrogen, Saubhagya scheme, etc, a government release said.

Generation Capacity

• Based on generation planning studies carried out under the purview of preparation of the National Electricity Plan for the period of 2022-27, the likely installed power generation capacity for FY27 is 609,591 MW, and that for FY32 is 900,422 MW.
• The projection of total capacity addition is in line with the target of the country to achieve a non-fossil-based installed capacity of around 500 GW by the year 2029-30.
• NEP envisages that the share of non-fossil-based capacity is likely to increase to 57.4 percent by the end of FY27 and may further increase to 68.4 percent by the end of FY23, from around 42.5 percent as on April 2023.
• The average PLF of the total installed coal capacity of 235.1 GW is likely to be about 58.4 percent in 2026-27and that of 259.6 GW of coal-based capacity is likely to be about 58.7 percent in 2031-32.
• The project battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity is projected at 8,680 mw for FY27. For FY32, the estimated figure is 47,244 MW. BESS capacity is based on four-hour storage. The corresponding power available would therefore be 34,720 MWh and 236,220 MWh, respectively.
• The domestic coal requirement has been estimated to be 866.4 million tonnes for FY276 and 1025.8 million tonnes for FY32 and an estimated requirement of 28.9 million tonnes of coal imports for the plants designed to run on imported coal.

3. FLASH FLOODS

TAG: GS 1: GEOGRAPHY

THE CONTEXT: Recently, Flash floods have led to landslides in parts of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. The Chandigarh-Manali highway was blocked following flash floods and landslides since in parts of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Flash floods were witnessed in Khotinallah near Aut (in HP) on the Pandoh–Kullu stretch due to a heavy downpour and the commuters have been stranded as a result.

EXPLANATION:

• Flash floods refers to a flood situation, but one that occurs in a much shorter span of time, under six hours, and is a highly localised phenomenon.
• The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) added that there was no warning for flash floods. But flash floods are not simply a situation of excessive rains, there are certain criteria for terming rains as such.
• Excessive or continuous rainfall over a period of days, or during particular seasons, can lead to stagnation of water and cause flooding.
• Flash floods refer to such a situation, but occurring in a much shorter span of time, and are highly localised.
• For instance, the US’s meteorological agency, the National Weather Service, says flash floods are caused when rainfall creates flooding in less than 6 hours. It adds that flash floods can also be caused by factors apart from rainfall, like when water goes beyond the levels of a dam.
• In India, flash floods are often associated with cloudbursts – sudden, intense rainfall in a short period of time. Himalayan states further face the challenge of overflowing glacial lakes, formed due to the melting of glaciers, and their numbers have been increasing in the last few years.
• Frequently, flash floods are accompanied by landslides, which are sudden movements of rock, boulders, earth or debris down a slope. It is common in mountainous terrains, where there are conditions created for it in terms of the soil, rock, geology and slope.
• Natural causes that trigger landslides include heavy rainfall, earthquakes, snowmelting and undercutting of slopes due to Landslides can also be caused by human activities, such as excavation, cutting of hills and trees, excessive infrastructure development, and overgrazing by cattle. India is one of the countries most likely to face landslides.
• Flash flooding commonly happens more where rivers are narrow and steep, so they flow more They can occur in urban areas located near small rivers, since hard surfaces such as roads and concrete do not allow the water to absorb into the ground.

How common are flash floods and floods?

• According to government data from a project by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, India is the worst flood-affected country in the world, after Bangladesh, and accounts for one-fifth of the global death count due to floods. Flash floods have been commonly witnessed in cities like Chennai and Mumbai. Depression and cyclonic storms in the coastal areas of Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and others also cause flash floods.
• Further, data from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) states that one of the reasons for flood situations occurring so frequently is that nearly 75 per cent of the total Indian rainfall is concentrated over a short monsoon season of four months (June to September).
• As a result, the rivers witness a heavy discharge during these months. About 40 million hectares of land in the country are liable to floods according to the National Flood Commission, and an average of 18.6 million hectares of land are affected annually.
• Flash floods may in the future, begin to take place after wildfires that have been taking place more frequently. This is because wildfires destroy forests and other vegetation, which in turn weakens the soil and makes it less permeable for water to seep through.

4. GLOBAL LIVEABILITY INDEX 2023

TAG: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

THE CONTEXT: The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has recently unveiled its highly anticipated list of the ‘Most Liveable Cities in the World 2023’.

EXPLANATION:

• The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has recently unveiled its highly anticipated list of the ‘Most Liveable Cities in the World 2023’.
• Through an evaluation of five metrics, including healthcare, culture, environment, education, and stability, this ranking offers insights into the cities that excel in providing an exceptional quality of life.
• This year, the index covered 172 cities and for the second year in a row, Vienna, Austria, has been named the best city to live in the world.
• The Global Liveability Index 2023 attributed Vienna’s success to its “unsurpassed combination of stability, good infrastructure, strong education and healthcare services, and plenty of culture and entertainment.”
• Denmark’s capital Copenhagen also retained its second-place position in the list. Following it are two Australian cities, Melbourne and Sydney, respectively. “The Australian cities, which bounced up and down the rankings during the pandemic, are now in third and fourth place.
• They have seen their scores in the healthcare category improve since last year when they were still affected by Covid waves that stressed their healthcare systems.
• Three Canadian cities Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto also made it to the top ten list. From Asia, Japan’s Osaka was ranked number 10 in the rankings.
• According to EIU, the index rose last year to reach a 15-year high as the world recovered from the pandemic. The average index score is now 76.2 out of 100, up from 73.2 a year ago.
• Despite overall growth in the index score, stability saw a marginal decline.
• It is because of instances of civil unrest in many cities amid a cost-of-living crisis and an uptick in crimes in some cities. The EIU added that those in Western Europe in particular, have slipped in rankings due to increased instances of workers’ strikes failing to “match gains” made by cities in Asia and the Middle East.

List of the top 10 cities in the world in 2023:

1. Vienna, Austria
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Melbourne, Australia
4. Sydney, Australia
5. Vancouver, Canada
6. Zurich, Switzerland
7. Calgary, Canada
8. Geneva, Switzerland
9. Toronto, Canada
10. Osaka, Japan

5. MEDICINES PATENT POOL (MPP)

TAG: GS 2: HEALTH ISSUES

THE CONTEXT: In a move that would make certain cancer drugs more accessible and cheaper for patients, the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) signed sub-licence agreements with three India-based companies, Eugia, Hetero and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, along with Indonesian firm BrightGene to manufacture generic versions of Novartis’ cancer treatment drug Nilotinib. The drug is used for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), a type of blood-cell cancer.

EXPLANATION:

• These are the first sub-licence agreements that MPP has signed for a cancer treatment drug and are the result of a licence agreement signed between MPP and Novartis Pharma AG in October 2022 for their patented cancer medicine. Nilotinib is sold under the brand name Tasigna and marketed worldwide by Novartis.
• According to information released by MPP, a United Nations-backed group working to increase access to, and facilitate the development of, life-saving medicines for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the selected manufacturers can manufacture generic versions of Nilotinib in India and seven middle-income countries and supply it in 44 territories included in the licence through a non-exclusive licence agreement, subject to local regulatory authorisation.
• The licence includes the opportunity to develop and supply generic versions of Nilotinib in seven middle-income countries, namely Egypt, Guatemala, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Tunisia, where patents on the product are pending or in force.
• In 2020, the World Health Organization reported that more than 3.5 million new cancer cases were diagnosed in LMICs and premature deaths from cancer in these countries will rise from 2.3 million to 4 million in the next 20 years.
• MPP, said that they have worked with the four generic manufacturers to develop generic Nilotinib and bring an affordable treatment option to people diagnosed with CML in the selected countries.
• Voluntary licensing is a truly impactful way of delivering affordable treatments to tackle the ever-rising burden of cancer in LMICs.
• President of Global Health and Sustainability added that great gains have been seen in cancer survival in the richest countries over the last decade.
• Through ‘public-private partnerships’, it aims to address barriers to healthcare and expand access to innovative treatment solutions for the long-term for as many people as possible regardless of location or socio-economic situation.

Medicines Patent Pool:

• The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) is a United Nations-backed public health organisation working to increase access to, and facilitate the development of, life-saving medicines for low- and middle-income countries.
• Through its innovative business model, MPP partners with civil society, governments, international organisations, industry, patient groups, and other stakeholders, to prioritise and license needed medicines and pool intellectual property to encourage generic manufacture and the development of new formulations.
• MPP has signed agreements with 18 patent holders for 14 HIV antiretrovirals, one HIV technology platform, three hepatitis C direct-acting antivirals, a tuberculosis treatment, a cancer treatment, four long-acting technologies, three oral antiviral treatments for COVID-19 and 12 COVID-19 technologies.
• MPP was founded by Unitaid, which continues to be MPP’s main funder. MPP’s work on access to essential medicines is also funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). MPP’s activities in COVID-19 are undertaken with the financial support of the Japanese Government, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the German Agency for International Cooperation, and SDC.

1. Harmonising panch-koshas for abiding anand READ MORE
2. Prone to pleasures READ MORE
3. Get the basics right, excellence follows: Sometimes cosmetics override the basics READ MORE

1. Hundreds stranded as flash flood, landslips disrupt Himachal highways READ MORE
2. A June with extremes in temperature READ MORE

1. Focus on reducing demand for drugs through awareness drives READ MORE
2. Science, humanities and the market forces READ MORE
3. School absences as an early warning system READ MORE
4. Learning to qualify: NEP frameworks overemphasise outcome-based learning while ignoring subjective factors of education READ MORE
5. NFHS Data Reveals Worrying Levels of Malnutrition Among Children in ‘Prosperous’ Gujarat READ MORE

1. Road Ahead to Save India’s Democracy READ MORE
2. Do the ends justify the means? Amending Dr Ambedkar’s constitutional morality to fit a system that has forsaken it READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. For MBBS admissions, NMC withdraws Graduate Medical Education Regulations 2023 ; Check major details READ MORE  
2. The 400 million-year-old fossil changing our understanding of mathematical patterns in nature READ MORE
3. Wagner mutiny shows Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a ‘strategic mistake’: NATO chief READ MORE
4. New Constitution Bench to hear 4 cases READ MORE
5. NHRC sends notice to Maharashtra over torture of 11 workers READ MORE
6. In 10 years of Meitei ST demand, repeated pleas to state, Centre READ MORE
7. ExplainSpeaking: What is Greedflation? Does India also have it? READ MORE
8. US beekeepers fight to replenish honeybee colonies amid high death rates READ MORE
9. World Drug Day: 20 Important Judgments On The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act READ MORE

Main Exam

GS Paper- 1

1. Hundreds stranded as flash flood, landslips disrupt Himachal highways READ MORE
2. A June with extremes in temperature READ MORE
3. Focus on reducing demand for drugs through awareness drives READ MORE
4. Science, humanities and the market forces READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Road Ahead to Save India’s Democracy READ MORE
2. Do the ends justify the means? Amending Dr Ambedkar’s constitutional morality to fit a system that has forsaken it READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. School absences as an early warning system READ MORE
2. Learning to qualify: NEP frameworks overemphasise outcome-based learning while ignoring subjective factors of education READ MORE
3. NFHS Data Reveals Worrying Levels of Malnutrition Among Children in ‘Prosperous’ Gujarat READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. A grand revival: on India-Egypt ties- India and Egypt have re-established close ties in recent years READ MORE
2. Why the country’s boycott of G20 meet in Srinagar must not affect bilateral ties READ MORE
3. Indo-US: Take 2 READ MORE
4. View: In US-China, India-China matrices, competition is the new conflict READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Laying the foundation for a future-ready digital India READ MORE
2. Saving Banks~II READ MORE
3. DC Edit | RBI 4% inflation goal laudable READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Two things that can help us tackle climate change READ MORE
2. Examine patterns in the erratic monsoon READ MORE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Jailbreaking generative AI READ MORE

SECURITY

1. Manipur peace process needs to be accelerated READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. Transforming India’s disaster management READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Harmonising panch-koshas for abiding anand READ MORE
2. Prone to pleasures READ MORE
3. Get the basics right, excellence follows: Sometimes cosmetics override the basics READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Do you agree with this view that EWS judgement undermines the Constitutional code of equality? Analyse your view.
2. A measure of an economy’s competitiveness derives from its human capital. India’s done well to surpass most countries in economic size but henceforth, intellectual capital will be critical in boosting per capita GDP. Critically comment.
3. Recent developments in India-Africa relations provide an opportunity to build on common ground and expand it into new areas and Egypt can play a critical role in it. Comment.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God.
• Food and grocery delivery apps keep a constant watch over their delivery partners. In this online slavery, these partners have no control or liberty over their basic rights.
• The pandemic has made it clear that virtual learning is here to stay. In the West, the big question is whether it will dilute the quality of the college experience and education. In India, which grapples with digital divide, the question remains whether this will reach most people at all.
• Alternative sources of knowledge and learning are posing challenges to the traditional mission of universities, including online and for-profit universities, non-profits.
• There is much value in defining constitutional morality as a paramount reverence of forms and procedures; however, a mere reverence of procedure is insufficient, as evidenced by the judiciary slowly occupying a more and more powerful position within the State structure.
• The US and India’s collaborations to promote solutions around digital infrastructures will continue to undermine the human rights of people in the Global South. In the case of India too, the government has consistently promised to bring privacy legislation, but has failed to uphold Indian fundamental rights.
• This model of digital identity-based development is gonna make a lot of people invested in this project rich, especially the institutions promoting this project.
• A crisis offers us a rare window of opportunity to implement reforms ~ it is a terrible thing to waste. The temptation will be to overregulate, as we have previously done. This creates a perverse dynamic… Perhaps rather than swinging maniacally between too much and too little regulation, it would be better to think of cycle-proof regulation.
• In a developing country, it is not enough to provide recognition for production. The production itself must be increased with the adoption of improved technology.
• Among the many challenges DM authorities face for the future is the strengthening of the district-level system, professionalisation of disaster management through a cadre of professionals, knowledge capture and management, and a more disaggregated early warning system.
• A measure of an economy’s competitiveness derives from its human capital. India’s done well to surpass most countries in economic size but henceforth intellectual capital will be critical in boosting per capita GDP.

50-WORD TALK

• The release of terrorists to a mob in Manipur—among them, the commander of an ambush which claimed the lives of 18 soldiers—is a complete abdication of responsibility. From Kashmir to Chhattisgarh, Indian forces have confronted similar situations with lethal force when needed. To back down surrenders state authority.
• While the basic structure doctrine developed by the Supreme Court has acted as a safeguard against clear violations of the constitutional form, the Supreme Court’s departure from Dr Ambedkar’s vision of constitutional morality has rendered even this doctrine incapable of protecting constitutional morality from the consequences of constitutional amendments.

Things to Remember:

• For prelims-related news try to understand the context of the news and relate with its concepts so that it will be easier for you to answer (or eliminate) from given options.
• Whenever any international place will be in news, you should do map work (marking those areas in maps and exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers, etc. same applies to the national places.)
• For economy-related news (banking, agriculture, etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related to various economic aspects, for example, if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing price rises, shortage of essential supplies, banking rates, etc.
• For main exam-related topics, you should focus on the various dimensions of the given topic, the most important topics which occur frequently and are important from the mains point of view will be covered in ED.
• Try to use the given content in your answer. Regular use of this content will bring more enrichment to your writing.

[WpProQuiz 495]

1. THE ARTEMIS ACCORDS

TAG: GS 3: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

THE CONTEXT: India has signed the Artemis Accords. The Accords are non-binding guidelines that underpin the Artemis programme, an ambitious project to return humans to the Moon.

EXPLANATION:

• The Artemis Accords are a set of non-binding guidelines that underpin the Artemis programme, an ambitious U.S.-led project to return humans to the Moon, this time permanently.
• The project plan includes a base on the lunar surface, multiple spacecraft to ferry humans and cargo, a small orbiting space station called the ‘Lunar Gateway’, and a constellation of satellites to help with navigation and communication.
• Artemis mirrors a Chinese-Russian plan for an ‘International Lunar Research Station’ (ILRS).
• Proponents of lunar exploration often cite the primordial human urge to explore, the supposed commercial windfalls from celestial mining, and the need to inspire younger generations. Such exhortations often overlook the more immediate and more proximate motivations.
• The ten principles listed in the Artemis Accords support an America-friendly interpretation of space law. In return for signing on, states get to participate in the Artemis programme, which can, in theory at least, bring both prestige and technological benefits.

Laws and the Moon

• Modern space law is a tent erected on four international agreements, headlined by the Outer Space Treaty. These agreements cover critical issues like the peaceful use of space, registration, and liability, and were struck between 1967 and 1976, a period roughly coinciding with both the original Space Race and Cold War detente. The ten principles of the Artemis Accords are generally in consonance with these agreements.
• A fifth treaty, the Moon Agreement, was introduced in 1979 but found no takers among the major spacefaring states of that time, including the U.S. and the Soviet Union. India joined a handful of other countries in signing the Moon Agreement, though it did not ratify it.
• A key provision in the Artemis Accords allows for actors to extract and utilise space resources. Experts have often interpreted this as being at odds with the Moon Agreement – which asks for the gains from commercial exploitation of the Moon’s resources to be equitably distributed.
• Artemis signatories like Australia and France have also signed the Moon Agreement.

Indian and Artemis Accords:

• The Artemis Accords came into being in 2020, just as India was beginning the process of opening up its own space sector to private players. While India being a signatory to the Moon Agreement may have initially given its diplomats pause, the cases of Australia and France are undoubtedly reassuring.
• India was also likely concerned that the Artemis Accords were an informal set of guidelines or norms rather than a legally-binding instrument. India has historically preferred formal law over informal guidelines because it believes laws foster better compliance among adherents regardless of their relative power in the international system.
• India feared that norms set by great powers are designed to maximise their own freedom of action while constraining less powerful states like India. That India now accepts Artemis norms set by the U.S. suggests a subtle shift in its diplomatic practice.

2. CLIMATE SHIFT INDEX

TAG: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

THE CONTEXT: Climate change made the recent heatwave in Uttar Pradesh at least two times more likely, as per the Climate Shift Index, which quantifies the impact of climate change on local weather in real time

EXPLANATION:

Links between climate change and temperatures:

• Climate change caused by global warming due to increased carbon emissions in the atmosphere can cause extreme weather events. Heat waves are one of them.
• As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a heat wave “is a condition of air temperature which becomes fatal to [the] human body when exposed [to it]”. The IMD defines a heat wave as occurring if temperatures depart by 4.5°C to 6.4°C more than normal (above different temperature levels for hills and plains), and a severe heat wave when the temperature rises to more than 6.4°C.
• The duration of heatwaves in India increased by about 2.5 days between 1961 and 2021 due to global warming, as per a report released by the IMD.

Climate Shift Index:

• Researchers at Climate Central, a US-based climate research and communications group, found that the three-day extreme heat event over parts of UP from June 14 to June 16 was made at least two times more likely by climate change.
• Climate Shift Index (CSI), developed by Climate Central, that uses a categorical five-point scale to show how climate change makes daily average temperatures more or less likely around the world.
• Currently, the index includes more than 1,000 cities and the online real-time map can also reveal changes across regions around cities.
• CSI levels over 1 indicate a clear climate change signal, while levels between 2 and 5 mean that climate change made those temperatures between two and five times more likely. Per the team, the methodology used to calculate the CSI is based on peer-reviewed science.
• A CSI of 4 means that the day’s temperature was made at least four times more likely than it would have been without the influence of climate change

Lapses in heat plan implementation:

• Heat action plans are documents that list preparatory, adaptive and responsive measures for government departments to tackle the heat and its impacts. UP is one of the 18 states to have a state-level heat action plan, per a recent report that analysed 37 heat action plans at the city, district and state levels.
• The state developed its heat action plan in 2022. The 2023 Heat Action Plan is being updated with the institutional collaboration of IIPH-Gandhinagar and UNICEF, as per a report.
• UP’s standard operating procedure for heat waves identifies heatwave responses, including related preparedness and actions at the district level. It includes operating procedures to undertake these response actions. It also lists the lead and support agencies responsible for heatwave response actions.
• The combination of extreme heat and humidity during heat waves is particularly dangerous for humans, and even more so in urban contexts where the ‘heat island’ effect can further increase temperatures.

3. THE ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY REGULATIONS

TAG: GS 2: HEALTH ISSUES

THE CONTEXT: Earlier this year the Health Ministry notified the Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulations (ART), 2023, which are aimed at providing donors and patients with better medical care and security. But the new provisions have pushed up the already sky-high medical costs and are proving to be a challenge for treating doctors and couples wanting to have children through ART because of the restricted and limited resource availability in terms of donors, according to industry insiders.

EXPLANATION:

• The new ART provisions impose restrictions on the number of times a donor, male or female can donate (sperm/oocyte) in their lifetime, and specifies age limits for donors.
• The provision states that an oocyte donor should be an ever-married (persons who have been married at least once in their lives) woman having at least one living child of her own (minimum three years of age).
• She can donate oocyte only once in her lifetime and not more than seven oocytes can be retrieved. Also, an ART bank cannot supply gamete (reproductive cell) of a single donor to more than one commissioning couple (couple seeking services).
• Additionally, parties seeking ART services will be required to provide insurance coverage in the favour of the oocyte donor (for any loss, damage, or death of the donor). A clinic is prohibited from offering to provide a child of pre-determined sex. Also checking for genetic diseases before the embryo implantation is needed.
• Overall, the new ART laws restricting the number of donation attempts “have the potential to increase costs and create challenges for couples relying on assisted reproductive techniques.

THE ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY REGULATIONS:

• India’s convoluted and long tryst with assisted reproductive technology (ART) began in 1978 with the birth of India’s first test-tube baby in Kolkata.
• The industry grew exponentially, albeit without any congruent regulatory or legal framework to govern it.
• The legislative vacuum was attempted to be filled by the Indian Council of Medical research (ICMR) in 2005 with the issuance of the National Guidelines for Accreditation, Supervision and Regulation of ART Clinics in India – the first ever national guidelines for laying down standards of conduct for surrogacy in India.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs has also periodically issued guidelines for regulating surrogacy. In 2009, the Law Commission in its 228th report recommended the enactment of legislation to facilitate the correct use of ART and legalization of surrogacy.
• It is in this backdrop that Parliament on December 8, 2021 passed the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021. The Act aims at the regulation and supervision of ART clinics and assisted reproductive technology banks, prevention of misuse, and safe and ethical practice of ART services.
• Right alongside this Act comes the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, which only recognises altruistic surrogacy as legal. While the Acts finally regulate the industry, they also bring in a number of concerns to the legal domain-including rights, scientific advances, cross-border surrogacies, obligations as well as ethical dilemmas.

Important highlights of the ART Act:

• Under the Act, every ART clinic and bank must be registered under the National Registry of Banks and Clinics of India. This Registry, comprising scientific and technical staff, will be a central database for all facilities providing ART services in India.
• State governments are required to appoint authorities to facilitate the registration process. No person/clinic/bank shall render ART procedures unless they are registered with the Registry.
• The Act also provides for setting up of a National Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board, which shall lay down a Code of Conduct to be observed by persons working at ART clinics and banks and also set minimum standards of physical infrastructure, laboratory and diagnostic equipment and expert manpower to be employed by clinics and banks. The Board shall also supervise the functioning of the Registry.
• Additionally, the Act also lays down the duties to be performed by ART banks and clinics, which include ensuring that the commissioning couple, woman and donor are eligible to avail ART services; requiring clinics to obtain donors’ gametes from banks which shall ensure that the donor has been tested for diseases; providing counselling services to commissioning couples and woman about the implications of ART; and rights of the child.
• A duty is imposed on the clinics and banks to keep the information of commissioning couples and women confidential and to maintain a grievance redressal cell. The Act also empowers the Central government to make rules to carry out the provisions of the Act as and when the need may arise.
• Further, the Act provides for stringent punishment in the event of contravention of its provisions. First-time offenders may be liable to pay a fine between ₹5 lakh and ₹10 lakh, and for subsequent contraventions, the offender may be sentenced to imprisonment of 8 to 12 years and may also be liable to pay a fine of ₹10 to 12 lakh. Operators of clinics or banks offering or advertising sex selective ART may face imprisonment of 5 to 10 years or would also be liable to pay a fine of ₹10 to 25 lakh, or both.

Shortcomings of the ART Act:

• While the Act is a decisive and considerable step towards curbing the menace of illegal and unregulated ART clinics and towards safeguarding donors and women undergoing ART from the health implications faced due to unsafe and illegal procedures, it falls short of addressing some serious concerns.
• First and foremost, the Act excludes unmarried men, divorced men, widowed men, unmarried yet cohabiting heterosexual couples, trans persons and homosexual couples (whether married or cohabiting) from availing ART services. This exclusion is relevant as the Surrogacy Act also excludes above said persons from taking recourse to surrogacy as a method of reproduction.
• The Act is also limited to those commissioning couples who are infertile – those who have been unable to conceive after one year of unprotected coitus. Thus, it is limited in its application and significantly reduces the reproductive choices of those excluded. Third, the prices of the services are not regulated; this can certainly be remedied with simple directives.

4. PARIS FINANCE MEET

TAG: GS 3: ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

THE CONTEXT: Recently, Summit for a New Global Financing Pact concluded in Paris. The first of its kind, the conference was spearheaded by President of France, and had several leaders from the developing world, as well as European heads of state in attendance. The Summit took on the monumental task of addressing the lack of money flowing to poor and vulnerable countries as they battle “a cocktail of interconnected crises” as Prime Minister of Ethiopia framed it poverty, debt, inflation triggered due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and increasing climate impacts.

EXPLANATION:

• To begin with, countries of the South are in a debt crisis and are facing pressure to decarbonise their economies without adequate climate finance flowing in.
• “African countries are facing an unprecedented funding squeeze. Public and private debt has reached new heights. Inflation in almost all commodities has risen sharply, and today daily meals are the biggest issue for many Africans.

Clear demands:

• Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) have been at the center of the discussion on financial systems reform, and Indian Finance Minister pointed out that they are “being asked by non-borrowing shareholders to address transboundary challenges alongside their core development mandate”.
• Thus, the pressure on MDBs’ resources will increase manifold, and the G20 Capital Adequacy Framework recommendations, while welcomed, are still not enough due to the scale and scope of development challenges.
• This reveals the politics at the core of the MDB reform discussion, where developed countries want to squeeze more out of existing MDB resources while simultaneously adding on climate as a part of their mandate.
• More concessional and grant financing is needed, while there is a call for reduction of debt levels in developing countries particularly debt cancellations for least developed countries.
• It also emphasised that while private sector money can be unlocked, it cannot replace long-term development money. The latter is needed to help middle-income countries access concessional finance as well.
• South African President laid out his views on Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETP)  a deal that his country is currently struggling to implement.
• Such plans must consider each country’s circumstances, the needs of workers and communities, and developmental goals to address poverty and unemployment.

What was announced?

• This was not a ‘pledging’ conference, but some announcements were unveiled, perhaps in an effort to address the thorny trust erosion issue.

1. MDBs: A contentious MDB Vision Statement document did not get full consensus at the Summit, and the Summit’s synthesis document mentions that “30 countries, in the presence of 8 Multilateral Development Banks” endorsed it.

It was however announced that an additional lending capacity of $200 billion would be unlocked for emerging economies. The World Bank announced disaster clauses for debt deals, that would suspend debt payment in the case of extreme weather events.

New World Bank head also unveiled a ‘Private Sector Investment Lab’ with the aim to “develop and rapidly scale solutions that address the barriers that are preventing the private sector from investing  at scale  in emerging markets and developing countries, with a specific focus on renewable energy and energy infrastructure”.

2. Special Drawing Rights: IMF Head announced that 100 billion in SDRs for vulnerable countries has been met. Some experts were quick to point out that 20 billion worth of SDRs are yet to pass through the US Congress. The US being the biggest quota holder of SDRs. The ‘recycling’ of SDRs from rich countries whose central banks do not need the cushioning, to poor countries who need them or MDBs who can channel them, has been proposed by many as means to expand the amount of concessional finance to developing countries
3. A new JETP: A new 2.5 billion Euro JETP deal was announced for Senegal, with a consortium of countries comprising of Germany, France, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, with the goal of increasing the share of renewable energy in installed capacity to 40 per cent of Senegal’s electricity mix by 2030.
4. Debt: It was announced that Zambia reached a $6.3 billion debt restructuring deal in debt owed to other governments including China. Colombian and Kenya President also proposed a Global Expert Review on Debt, Nature and Climate to “assess the impact of debt on low- and medium-income countries capacity to preserve nature, adapt to climate change and decarbonise their economies”.
5. Climate finance goal: It was suggested that the long overdue $100 billion climate finance goal will be delivered this year, something that was also alluded to at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue. The Paris Summit’s synthesis document mentions that this “should be further supported by confirmed figures provided by contributors and reported by the OECD”.
6. Carbon markets: The EU unveiled a call to action on ‘Paris Aligned Carbon Markets’ with the goal of covering at least 60 per cent of global emissions with carbon pricing mechanisms (compared to four per cent today) and allocating a proportion of the revenues to climate finance.
7. Polluter taxes: Momentum on polluter taxes accelerated at the Summit, with many groups supporting a tax on shipping emissions. More traction is expected on this issue at the International Maritime Organisation meeting.

5. MQ-9B DRONES

TAG: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

THE CONTEXT: U.S President and Prime Minister welcomed India’s plans to procure General Atomics MQ-9B High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial vehicles (UAV. This sets the stage for the acquisition of 31 of these armed UAVs, 15 Sea Guardians for the Indian Navy and 16 Sky Guardians  eight each for the Indian Army and Air Force.

EXPLANATION:

• MQ-9Bs, which will be assembled in India, will enhance the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of India’s armed forces across domains.
• As part of this plan, General Atomics will also establish a Comprehensive Global Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India in support of India’s long-term goals to boost indigenous defence capabilities.
• The procurement process has commenced with the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister according the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN).
• India is negotiating to increase the indigenous content under the deal. “The current indigenous content proposed is 8-9% while India is hoping it can be increased upto 15-20%. Discussions are underway.

What do the UAV’s bring in terms of capability?

• The MQ-9B has two variants the SkyGuardian and the SeaGuardian, its maritime variant.
• The MQ-9B is designed to fly over the horizon via satellite for up to 40 hours, depending on configuration, in all types of weather and safely integrate into civil airspace, according to its manufacturer.
• For instance, the SeaGuardian configuration can include a 360-degree surface-search maritime radar, automatic identification system, sonobuoy monitoring system, and sonobuoy dispensers for persistent anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions.
• According to General Atomics, the MQ-9B can provide roughly 80% of the capability of a large human-flown maritime patrol aircraft at about 20% of its cost per hour.
• For the Army and Air Force, the MQ-9Bs can provide round-the-clock surveillance looking far beyond the borders. It also seamlessly integrates with other U.S.-origin platforms that India operates, the P-8Is, AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, MH-60R multi-role helicopters among others expanding MQ-9B’s multi-domain mission set.

What UAVs are already in service?

• The Indian Navy has leased two MQ-9As from General Atomics with the maiden flight taking place on November 21, 2020. In their two years of operation till November 2022, they had completed 10,000 flight hours, and “helped the Indian Navy to cover over 14 million square miles of operating area”, General Atomics has announced.
• At Aero India in Bengaluru in February 2023, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and General Atomics announced that the turbo-propeller engines which power the MQ-9B will be supported by HAL’s engine division for the Indian market. “The companies are looking to formulate a comprehensive engine MRO programme for upcoming HALE Remotely Piloted Aircraft projects,” a joint statement said.
• The MQ-9 is a significant technological leap from the original RQ-1/MQ-1Predator that heralded the arrival of long endurance armed drones at the end of the twentieth century. Armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, the Predator became a symbol of the U.S. war on terror after the 9/11 attacks, with their extensive employment in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan in the early 2000s. The RQ-1 Predator, which was first flown by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) in 1995, was retired in 2018 and replaced by the MQ-9 Reaper.
• According to the USAF, the Reaper is employed primarily as an intelligence-collection asset and secondarily against dynamic execution targets. “Given its significant loiter time, wide-range sensors, multi-mode communications suite, and precision weapons, it provides a unique capability to perform strike, coordination, and reconnaissance against high-value, fleeting, and time-sensitive targets.”
• According to the USAF, the Reaper is employed primarily as an intelligence-collection asset and secondarily against dynamic execution targets.

1. Ethical issuesSynthetic embryo science needs guidelines READ MORE
2. Inspirational experienceA life altering message can be delivered to one person has stayed with me all these years READ MORE
3. Discovering your self in a looking glass READ MORE
4. Piloting the psyche READ MORE

1. How can technology help in recycling and replenishing water sources? READ MORE
2. Extreme weather events led to 12 million displacements of children in 2022, estimates UNICEF READ MORE

1. Bridging the gap: On India and Gender Gap Report READ MORE
2. Learning to qualify: NEP frameworks overemphasise outcome-based learning while ignoring subjective factors of education READ MORE

1. Judicial restraint READ MORE
2. CoWIN Data Leak Is a Sign India Needs to Rethink its Digital Public Infrastructure Strategy READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. How prokaryotes led to eukaryotes READ MORE  
2. The role of the Y chromosome in cancer outcomes studied READ MORE
3. Indian-made mRNA vaccine priced at ₹2,292, will be available as a booster dose READ MORE
4. New ART regulations push up cost of treatment, limit conception opportunities READ MORE
5. Tamil Nadu idol wing steps up efforts to retrieve 16 idols from the U.S. READ MORE
6. Did climate change really make U.P.’s deadly heatwave twice as likely? READ MORE
7. Vikram, Pragyan to return for another tryst with the moon READ MORE
8. Pricing, terms of MQ-9B drone deal with U.S. yet to be finalised, says govt. READ MORE
9. Vande Bharat train to be introduced from Saharanpur to Prayagraj, says Vaishnaw READ MORE

Main Exam

GS Paper- 1

1. How can technology help in recycling and replenishing water sources? READ MORE
2. Extreme weather events led to 12 million displacements of children in 2022, estimates UNICEF READ MORE
3. Bridging the gap: On India and Gender Gap Report READ MORE
4. Kuki-Meitei conflict is more than just an ethnic clash READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Judicial restraint READ MORE
2. CoWIN Data Leak Is a Sign India Needs to Rethink its Digital Public Infrastructure Strategy READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. Learning to qualify: NEP frameworks overemphasise outcome-based learning while ignoring subjective factors of education READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Outreach to diaspora and statesmanship READ MORE
2. The united States of India READ MORE
3. Ashok Gulati writes on the US and India: Old friends in a changing world READ MORE
4. Win-win for US-India trade READ MORE
5. India-US bonhomie: Talks go beyond military concerns READ MORE
6. Focus on neighbourhood at the core of India’s foreign policy READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Startups must iron out governance issues READ MORE
2. Saving Banks~I READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Sustainable fishing to offset climate change impacts READ MORE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Jailbreaking generative AI READ MORE

SECURITY

1. Need to understand data both as a strength and vulnerability READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. Social connectedness vital to survive climate disasters READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Ethical issuesSynthetic embryo science needs guidelines READ MORE
2. Inspirational experienceA life altering message can be delivered to one person has stayed with me all these years READ MORE
3. Discovering your self in a looking glass READ MORE
4. Piloting the psyche READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. The technological aspects India and the USA is a new era of India-US relationship but both countries will have to travel together given changing geopolitics surrounding China and Russia. Critically comment.
2. Sustainable tourism cannot be seen only through the prism of tourism-specific policies; it requires a holistic understanding of the ecology and the people who are dependent upon this ecosystem. In the light of the statement discuss the pros and cons of the Blue Flag certification.
3. A NATO overreach to the Asia-Pacific poses a major challenge to India’s much-touted “strategic autonomy”. Evaluate.
4. What do you understand by the concept “ethical legalism? In what situation, an legal action can be considered an ethical action?

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Violence, even well-intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.
• While the flexibility to accelerate should always be present, India must specify a streamlined regulatory process that weeds out non-essential steps but is hawk-eyed on safety and adverse reactions from new drugs and vaccines.
• The underperformance of India- Egypt bilateral ties is not due to a lack of bilateral institutional mechanisms, but their efficacy and sense of purpose.
• The Law Commission of India should aim to eliminate only those practices that do not meet the benchmarks set by the Constitution of India.
• When it comes to the Global South, it is India that nations look up to; it is this nation that millions would like to see as a proponent of their demands.
• Sedition laws need to be viewed in light of their political, and not merely legal, uses and abuses.
• Personal laws are mixed up with religions and their varying practices and cover a range of issues like divorce, succession, inheritance, adoption and guardianship.
• Mere existence of difference does not imply discrimination, but is indicative of a robust democracy.
• A NATO overreach to the Asia-Pacific will pose a major challenge to New Delhi’s much-touted “strategic autonomy”. The push to transform Quad into a security alliance focusing on China will also have the same effect.
• Although an Asian NATO remains a pie in the sky for now, an extended war over Ukraine will force India and the Asia-Pacific nations to bear the brunt of increasing big-power rivalry in the region.

Essay topic

• Take the diplomacy out of war and the thing would fall flat in a week.

50-WORD TALK

• Failure of authorities to arrest men hired by a British teacher to make violent pornographic clips using Indian children demonstrates the low priority police give to crimes involving powerless victims. Matthew Smith was arrested in November and convicted this week—but police in India have not even filed an FIR.
• Our epidemiological history has taught us that respiratory viruses (the ones which spread through coughing, sneezing, and talking) emerging from reservoirs in the wild, jumping over the species barrier to infect humans, and then sweeping the globe before settling into an endemic behaviour can cause outbreaks that can result in significant mortality and morbidity. Examples include the 1957 flu pandemic caused by an A/H2N2 influenza virus, the 1968 flu pandemic from an A/H3N2 influenza virus, and the 2009 “swine flu” pandemic, from an A/H1N1 influenza virus.

Things to Remember:

• For prelims-related news try to understand the context of the news and relate with its concepts so that it will be easier for you to answer (or eliminate) from given options.
• Whenever any international place will be in news, you should do map work (marking those areas in maps and exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers, etc. same applies to the national places.)
• For economy-related news (banking, agriculture, etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related to various economic aspects, for example, if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing price rises, shortage of essential supplies, banking rates, etc.
• For main exam-related topics, you should focus on the various dimensions of the given topic, the most important topics which occur frequently and are important from the mains point of view will be covered in ED.
• Try to use the given content in your answer. Regular use of this content will bring more enrichment to your writing.

[WpProQuiz 494]

THE CONTEXT: India is entering the Amrit Kal with better-equipped schools, affordable healthcare, increasing formal employment, empowered women’s collectives, and far-reaching access to basic amenities such as sanitation, drinking water and electricity. This Chapter presents emerging evidence of the achievements on these fronts. It reviews the progress on the social infrastructure front and the enhancement of employment opportunities in the country.

SOCIAL SECTOR EXPENDITURE KEEPING PACE WITH GROWING IMPORTANCE OF THE SECTOR

• The Government’s spending on social services has shown a rising trend since FY16 with a focus on many aspects of the social well-being of citizens of the country.
• The share of expenditure on social services in the total expenditure of the Government has been around 25 per cent from FY18 to FY20. It increased to 26.6 per cent in FY23 (BE).

• The share of expenditure on health in the total expenditure on social services, has increased from 21 per cent in FY19 to 26 per cent in FY23 (BE).

IMPROVING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT PARAMETERS

• According to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report, 90 per cent of countries have registered a reduction in their Human Development Index (HDI) value in 2020 or 2021, indicating that human development across the world has stalled for the first time in 32 years.
• India ranked 132 out of 191 countries and territories in the 2021/2022 HDI report. India’s HDI value of 0.633 in 2021 places the country in the medium human development category, lower than its value of 0.645 in 2019.
• However, India’s HDI value continues to exceed South Asia’s average human development. It has been steadily increasing and moving towards the world average since 1990 due to priority placed on investment in social infrastructure, including ensuring universal health and education.
• On the parameter of gender inequality, India’s Gender Inequality Index (GII) value is 0.490 in 2021 and is ranked 122. This score is better than that of the South Asian region.

UNDP Multidimensional Poverty Index 2022

• Multidimensional poverty measures are used to create a more comprehensive picture. It reveals who is poor and how they are poor, and the range of different deprivations experienced by them.
• The 2022 report of the UNDP on MPI was released in October 2022 and covers 111 developing countries.

TRANSFORMATION OF ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS PROGRAMME

• The Government of India launched the ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ (Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP)) initiative in January 2018 with a vision of a New India by 2022 wherein the focus is to raise living standards of its citizens and ensuring inclusive growth of all in the burgeoning economy.
• Aspirational Districts (ADs) across 28 States/UTs have been identified by NITI Aayog based upon composite indicators ranging from health and nutrition, education, agriculture, and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development, and basic infrastructure which have an impact on HDI.
• The Aspirational Districts Programme has emerged as a template for good governance, especially in remote and difficult areas.
• At present, two programmes have been conceptualized along the lines of ADP design, one is ‘Mission Utkarsh’ and the other is ‘Aspirational Blocks Programme’ (ABP).

PROGRESSING LABOUR REFORM MEASURES

• In 2019 and 2020, 29 Central Labour Laws were amalgamated, rationalized, and simplified into four Labour Codes, viz., the Code on Wages, 2019 (August 2019), the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020, and the Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020 (September 2020).
• The new laws are in tune with the changing labour market trends and, at the same time, accommodate the minimum wage requirement and welfare needs of the unorganized sector workers, including the self-employed and migrant workers, within the legislation framework.
• Rules made under the Codes have been entrusted to Central Government, State Government and at appropriate level.

e-Shram portal

• Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) has developed eShram portal for creating a National database of unorganized workers, which is verified with Aadhaar.
• As on 31 December 2022, total over 28.5 crore unorganized workers have been registered on eShram portal.

AADHAAR: THE MANY ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE UNIQUE IDENTITY

Achievements of Aadhaar

• Aadhaar is an essential tool for social delivery by the State. 318 Central schemes and over 720 state DBT schemes are notified under section 7 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, and all these schemes use Aadhaar for targeted delivery of financial services, subsidies, and benefits. Aadhaar is the foundation of India’s digital integration.

• JAM (Jan-Dhan, Aadhaar, and Mobile) trinity, combined with the power of DBT, has brought the marginalized sections of society into the formal financial system, revolutionizing the path of transparent and accountable governance by empowering the people.

• Aadhaar played a vital role in developing the Co-WIN platform and in the transparent administration of over 2 billion vaccine doses.

IMPROVING EMPLOYMENT TRENDS

• Labour markets have recovered beyond pre-Covid levels, in both urban and rural areas, with unemployment rates falling from 5.8 per cent in 2018-19 to 4.2 per cent in 2020-21, and a noticeable rise in rural FLFPR from 19.7 per cent in 2018-19 to 27.7 per cent in 2020-21.
• More recent urban employment data shows progress beyond pre-pandemic levels as the unemployment rate declined from 8.3 per cent in July-September 2019 to 7.2 per cent in July-September 2022.

SUPPLY SIDE OF EMPLOYMENT

• The labour force participation rate (LFPR), worker population ratio (WPR) and unemployment rate (UR) in PLFS 2020-21(July-June) have improved for both males and females in both rural and urban areas compared to PLFS 2019-20 and 2018-19.

• Quarterly urban unemployment rate declined from pre-pandemic level of 8.3 per cent in July-September 2019 to 7.2 per cent in July-September 2022, accompanied by a rise in LFPR from 47.3 per cent to 47.9 per cent during the same period, as discussed in paraghaphs 6.33 and 6.34.
• The share of self-employed increased and that of regular wage/salaried workers declined in 2020-21 vis-à-vis 2019-20, driven by trend in both rural and urban areas. The share of casual labour declined slightly, driven by rural areas.

Quarterly PLFS for urban areas

• An improvement in all the key labour market indicators in the quarter ending September 2022 both sequentially and over the last year. The labour participation rate increased to 47.9 per cent in July-September 2022 from 46.9 per cent a year ago

DEMAND SIDE OF EMPLOYMENT

• The estimated total employment in the nine selected sectors according to the fourth round of QES (January to March 2022) stood at 3.2 crore, which is nearly ten lakh higher than the estimated employment from the first round of QES (April-June 2021).

FORMAL EMPLOYMENT

• EPFO data indicates a consistent YoY increase in payroll addition, pointing towards improved formalization as economic activities picked up. The net addition in EPF subscriptions during FY22 was 58.7 per cent higher than in FY21 and 55.7 per cent higher than that in the pre-pandemic year 2019. In FY23, net average monthly subscribers added under EPFO increased from 8.8 lakh in April-November 2021 to 13.2 lakh in April-November 2022.

DEMAND FOR WORK UNDER MGNREGS

• The number of persons demanding work under MGNREGS was seen to be trending around pre-pandemic levels from July to November 2022.
• In FY23, as on 24 January 2023, 6.49 crore households demanded employment under MGNREGS, and 6.48 crore households were offered employment out of which 5.7 crore availed employment.

THE TREND IN RURAL WAGES

• Nominal rural wages have increased at a steady positive rate during FY23 (till November 2022). In agriculture, the YoY rate of growth of nominal wage rates in agriculture was 5.1 per cent for men and 7.5 per cent for women, during the period April-November 2022.

ENSURING QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL

• The NEP 2020 was laid down as the first education policy of the 21st century, aiming to address the many growing developmental imperatives of the country.
• This includes regulation and governance, creation of a new system that is aligned with the aspirational goals of 21st century-education, including SDG4, while building upon India’s traditions and value systems.
• It provides for nurturing all-around development and skill acquisition by youth in an inclusive, accessible, and multilingual set-up.

SCHOOL ENROLMENT

• The year FY22 saw improvement in Gross Enrolment Ratios (GER) in schools and improvement in gender parity. GER in the primary-enrolment in class I to V as a percentage of the population in age 6 to 10 years – for girls as well as boys have improved in FY22.

SCHOOL DROP-OUT

• School dropout rates at all levels have witnessed a steady decline in recent years. The decline is for both girls and boys.
• The schemes such as Samagra Shiksha, RTE Act, improvement in school infrastructure and facilities, residential hostel buildings, availability of teachers, regular training of teachers, free textbooks, uniforms for children, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya and the PM POSHAN Scheme play an important role in enhancing enrolment and retention of children in schools.

HIGHER EDUCATION

• The total enrolment in higher education has increased to nearly 4.1 crore in FY21 from 3.9 crore in FY20. Since FY15, there has been an increase of around 72 lakh in enrolment (21 per cent). The female enrolment has increased to 2.0 crore in FY21 from 1.9 crore in FY20.

Initiatives for higher education

• Research & Development Cell (RDC) in Higher Education Institutions (HEI)
• Guidelines for pursuing two academic programmes simultaneously
• Interest subsidy on education loan

EQUIPPING THE WORKFORCE WITH EMPLOYABLE SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE IN MISSION

• Skill development is aimed at the removal of the disconnect between demand and supply of skilled manpower, building vocational and technical training framework, skill up-gradation, and building of new skills, and innovative thinking not only for existing jobs but also jobs of the future.
• In order to address the incremental manpower requirement and to empower youth with adequate skills, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) was created in 2014 and Skill India Mission was launched in 2015.

• The Skill India Mission focuses on skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling through short term and long term training programmes. Under the Mission, the government, through more than 20 Central Ministries/Departments, is implementing various skill development schemes across the country.

QUALITY AND AFFORDABLE HEALTH FOR ALL

Ensuring the provision of quality health facilities to citizens is an important priority for the Government. Towards this objective, multidimensional initiatives have been launched and carried forward for better overall health of the citizens.

• With concerted efforts made under the Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child, Adolescent Health Plus Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) strategy, India has made considerable progress in improving the health status of both mothers and children.
• As per the Sample Registration System (SRS) data, India has successfully achieved the major milestone to bring the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to below 100 per lakh live births by 2020 (laid down in National Health Policy 2017) by bringing it down to 97 per lakh live births in 2018-20 from 130 per lakh live births in 2014-16.
• Eight states have already achieved the SDG target to reduce MMR to less than 70 per lakh live births by 2030. These include Kerala (19), Maharashtra (33), Telangana (43) Andhra Pradesh (45), Tamil Nadu (54), Jharkhand (56), Gujarat (57), and Karnataka (69).
• Following a steady downward trend, Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Under Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) and Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) have further declined as a result of countrywide efforts towards increasing health service coverage through strengthening of service delivery; quality assurance; RMNCAH+N; human resources, community processes; information and knowledge; drugs and diagnostics, and supply chain management, etc.

HEALTH EXPENDITURE ESTIMATES

• The NHA estimates for FY19 show that there has been an increase in the share of Government Health Expenditure (GHE) in the total GDP from 1.2 per cent in FY14 to 1.3 per cent in FY19.
• Overall, for FY19, THE for India is estimated to be `5,96,440 crore (3.2 per cent of GDP and `4,470 per capita).
• The social security expenditure on health, which includes the social health insurance programme, government-financed health insurance schemes, and medical reimbursements made to government employees, has increased from 6 per cent in FY14 to 9.6 per cent in FY19.

Rural health care – strengthening of infrastructure and human resource

• The recent health sector reforms in India have laid emphasis on strengthening health infrastructure as well as human resource in the public sector system.
• This can be observed in the rise in the number of Sub-centres (SCs), Primary Health Centres (PHCs), and Community Health Centres (CHCs) in rural areas, along with the rise in doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel over time.

PROGRESS UNDER MAJOR GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES FOR HEALTH

Immunization

• To reinforce universal immunization, Mission Indradhanush (MI) was launched in December 2014 with the aim to rapidly increase full immunization coverage of children to 90 per cent and sustain it thereafter.

eSanjeevani (Tele-medicine)

• At present, eSanjeevani is operational in all states and UTs across India. As of 17 January 2923, 1,12,553 HWCs in rural areas and 15,465 Hubs at tertiary level hospitals, and medical colleges in the states have been enabled in the eSanjeevani.

NATIONAL COVID-19 VACCINATION PROGRAMME

• More than 220 crore COVID vaccine doses administered as on 06 January, 2023.
• 97 per cent of eligible beneficiaries have already received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine and around 90 per cent of eligible beneficiaries have received both the doses. Vaccination for the age group 12-14 years was started on 16 March 2022, followed by the precautionary dose for the age group 18-59 years starting from 10 April 2022.

AYUSHMAN BHARAT

• Nearly 22 crore beneficiaries have been verified under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme as on 04 January, 2023. Over 1.54 lakh Health and Wellness Centres have been operationalized across the country under Ayushman Bharat.

THE CONCLUSION AND THE WAY FORWARD

• Today, India is moving towards the attainment of the UN SDGs. While doing so, it is cognisant of the fact that for equitable development, a country as vast and diverse as India requires the implementation of broad-based inclusive social policies, supported by adequate and commensurate financial resources. Thus, the character and contour of such an approach to development presents a unique set of challenges which is consistently being addressed in the form of mindful reforms.
• Ensuring that intended outcomes of social sector development schemes reach the intended, involvement of the grassroot level of governance is imperative and is being actively pursued.
• Technology has been a great enabler in ensuring the last-mile connectivity of government schemes to the targeted citizens. It has revolutionized the delivery of services while ensuring transparency and accountability. It needs to be harnessed further to help the government attain the lofty SDGs on the social front.
• As India marches ahead, the ground lost as regards social sector improvements due to the pandemic, has largely been recouped, powered by prompt policymaking and efficient implementation interwoven with technology.
• Going forward with the vision of ‘Minimum Government; Maximum Governance’, further developments will hold the key to attaining more equitable economic growth.
• Evident ones include stepping up learning outcomes through digital and teaching interventions in schools, enhancing the role of community workers in healthcare, pushing SHGs through better product design and upscaling enterprises.
• Further, channelizing women’s economic potential through ecosystem services such as affordable market alternatives for care work, safe transportation and lodging, and long-term counselling support, can help capitalize the gender dividend for the country’s future economic and social development.

1. RESERVE BANK OF INDIA (RELIEF MEASURES BY BANKS IN AREAS AFFECTED BY NATURAL CALAMITIES) DIRECTIONS, 2018

TAG: GS 3: ECONOMY

THE CONTEXT: The Manipur government has declared that the whole State of Manipur has been affected by riots and violence, impacting the economic activities and livelihood of majority of the general public.  To provide relief to the affected people and businesses, the State government has invoked a rarely used Reserve Bank of India (RBI) provision pertaining to restructuring and rescheduling of loans. It provides relief to borrowers when economic activity comes to a halt and offers moratorium on repayment of loans.

EXPLANATION:

• The guidelines have so far been mostly invoked in areas affected by natural calamities and not for a law and order situation in the recent past.
• Manipur is in the grip of ethnic violence between the tribal Kuki-Zo and the Meitei communities. Internet remains suspended in the State and curfew has been imposed in several districts, more than 50 days since the violence started.
• Recently, reports were received from several Deputy Commissioners that many properties and businesses of residents have been affected either directly or indirectly due to the present law and order situation in the State.
• Due to this, the borrowers who had taken loans are not in a position to repay them and requested SLBC [State Level Bankers’ Committee] to extend relief to the affected persons.
• The order said chapter No. 7 of the “Reserve Bank of India (Relief Measures by Banks in Areas Affected by Natural Calamities) Directions, 2018”, related to “Riots and Disturbances”, applies to the State.
• Therefore, the Governor of Manipur hereby declares that the whole State of Manipur is being affected by violences/riots leading to economic activities and livelihood of the majority of the general public being affected,” and relief measures may be taken up under the RBI’s guidelines.

Reserve Bank of India (Relief Measures by Banks in Areas Affected by Natural Calamities) Directions, 2018

• It has been issued to banks in regard to matters relating to relief measures to be provided in areas affected by natural calamity.
• The provisions of these Directions shall apply to every Scheduled Commercial Bank (including Small Finance Banks (SFBs) and excluding Regional Rural Banks (RRBs)) licensed to operate in India by Reserve Bank of India.
• The developmental role assigned to the commercial banks including Small Finance Banks warrant their active support in reviving the economic activities of those affected by the occurrence of a natural calamity.
• In terms of the National Disaster Management Framework, there are two funds constituted viz. National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for providing relief in the affected areas.
• This framework currently recognizes 12 types of natural calamities viz. cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloud burst, pest attack and cold wave/frost.
• Out of these 12, for 4 calamities i.e. drought, hailstorms, pest attack and cold wave/frost, the Ministry of Agriculture is the nodal point and for the remaining 8, the Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal ministry to make the necessary administrative arrangements.
• The role of the scheduled commercial banks including Small Finance Banks (SFBs) is to provide relief measure through rescheduling existing loans and sanctioning fresh loans as per the emerging requirement of the borrowers.
• To enable banks to take uniform and concerted action expeditiously, these directions are issued covering four aspects viz. Institutional Framework, Restructuring of Existing Loans, Providing Fresh Loans and Other Ancillary Relief Measures.

Institutional framework:

• All Divisional/Zonal Offices and branches of Scheduled Commercial/Small Finance banks should be familiar with these standing instructions.
• These standing instructions will immediately come to force after the district/state authorities put in place the requisite declaration.
• It is essential that these instructions should also be made available to the State Government authorities and all the District Collectors so that all concerned are aware about the action that should be taken by the concerned authorities in the affected area.
• The Divisional/Zonal Managers of scheduled commercial/SF banks must be vested with certain discretionary powers to avoid the need to seek fresh approval from their Central Office regarding the line of action decided by the District Consultative Committee/State Level Bankers’ Committee.

Declaration of Natural Calamity:

• It is recognised that declaration of a natural calamity is in the domain of the Sovereign (Central / State Governments).
• The inputs received from the State Governments reveal that there are no uniform procedures being followed for declaration of natural calamity and issue of declarations / certificates.
• These declarations/certificates are called by different names such as Annewari, Paisewari, Girdawari, etc. in different States.
• Nevertheless, the common thread to extend relief measures including reschedulement of loans by banks, is that the crop loss assessed should be 33% or more.
• For assessing this loss, while some States are conducting crop cutting experiments to determine the loss in crop yield, some others are relying on the eye estimates/visual impressions.
• In both the cases, however, DCCs/SLBC have to satisfy themselves fully that the crop loss has been 33% or more before acting on these pronouncements.

Applicability of the guidelines in case of riots and disturbances:

• Whenever RBI advises the banks to extend rehabilitation assistance to the riot/ disturbance affected persons, the aforesaid guidelines may broadly be followed by banks for the purpose.
• It should, however, be ensured that only genuine persons, duly identified by the State Administration as having been affected by the riots/ disturbances, are provided assistance as per the guidelines.
• In the event of large scale riots where most parts of the State/Area are affected and the State Administration is not in a position to identify the riot/disturbance affected persons and subject to SLBC’s specific decision, the onus of identifying ‘genuine persons’ will rest with banks.
• If the DCC is satisfied that there has been extensive loss to life and property on account of the riots/ disturbances, the relief as per the above guidelines may be extended to the people affected by the riots/ disturbances. In certain cases, where there are no District Consultative Committees, the District Collector may request the convener of the State Level Bankers’ Committee of the State to convene a meeting of the bankers to consider extension of relief to the affected persons. The report submitted by the Collector and the decision thereon of DCC/ SLBC may be recorded and should form a part of the minutes of the meeting. A copy of the proceedings of the meeting may be forwarded to the concerned Regional Office of the Reserve Bank of India.

2. LAB-GROWN MEAT

TAG: GS 3: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

THE CONTEXT: Recently, two California-based companies were cleared to make and sell cell-cultivated chicken in the country in what is being hailed by stakeholders in the concept as a major step forward for reducing the carbon emissions associated with the food industry worldwide.

EXPLANATION:

• Cell-cultivated chicken” that’s the official name of chicken meat that is grown in a laboratory for human consumption.
• The two companies, Good Meat and Upside Foods, have received the U.S. government’s approval to make and sell their cell-cultivated chicken.
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration was involved in the regulatory process but didn’t technically approve the products because the process doesn’t require an approval.
• In such cases, a company in question is required to conduct a safety assessment of its own facilities and the veracity of its production process. Sometimes, in order to boost consumer and investor confidence, it may consult with the FDA.
• At the end of this process, if the FDA is satisfied by the company’s submissions, it will send a “no questions” letter, signalling the regulatory body’s tacit approval.
• S. Department of Agriculture finalised the label “cell-cultivated chicken” for the product being sold, and provided a ‘grant of inspection’, which is required to operate production facilities.

What is cell-cultivated chicken?

• To make cell-cultivated meat, these two companies isolate the cells that make up this meat, and put them in a setting where they have all the resources they need to grow and make more copies of themselves. These resources are typically nutrients, fats, carbohydrates, amino acids, the right temperature, etc.
• The ‘setting’ in which this process transpires is often a bioreactor (also known as a ‘cultivator’), a sensor-fit device – like a container – that has been designed to support a particular biological environment. Because of the techniques involved, producing meat in this way is also called cellular agriculture.
• Once these cells have become sufficiently large in number, which takes around two to three weeks in Upside’s process, they resemble a mass of minced meat. They are collected and then processed, with additives to improve their texture and/or appearance, and are destined for various recipes.

Why was cell-cultivated meat created?

• Its proponents have advanced the following arguments in favour of developing lab-grown meat: emissions, land use, prevention of animal slaughter, food security, and customisation.
• The first two are related to climate mitigation. The FAO has estimated that global livestock is responsible for 14.5% of all anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions.
• Of this, the production of beef as a commodity accounted for 41%, whereas chicken meat and eggs accounted for 8%.

What are the challenges?

• Consumer acceptance Perfectly substituting animal meat with alternative meat requires the latter to match the former’s taste, texture, and appearance, and cost. Researchers have achieved some success on these counts but it remains a work in progress, especially as more meats acquire alternative counterparts.
• For the cellular cultivation process, researchers require high quality cells to begin with (plus information about how different cell types contribute to the ‘meat’), a suitable growth-medium in which the cells can be cultured, plus other resources required to maintain the quality of the final product.

3. THE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR INTEGRATED MOUNTAIN DEVELOPMENT (ICIMOD)

TAG: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

THE CONTEXT: A new report released by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) warned Rivers in eastern and northeastern India including the Brahmaputra, Ganga and Teesta will, like their counterparts in the rest of the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH), see a rapid increase in stream flow followed by water scarcity.

EXPLANATION:

• The report Water, ice, society, and ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya pointed out that glaciers in the HKH region “can lose up to 80 per cent of their current volume by the end of the century (with) Himalayan glaciers disappeared 65 percent faster in the 2010s than in previous decade”.
• As a consequence, major rivers in the Himalayas including those in eastern and northeastern India are set to suffer.
• The report also observes that “floods and landslides are projected to increase over the coming decades” and warns that the effects on fragile mountain habitats may turn out to be “particularly acute”.
• The Eastern Himalayas will be affected as well (like the western part of the range), with rivers like Brahmaputra and Teesta getting their base flow from glacial melt reduced in the long-run.
• United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier pointed out that the flow in major Himalayan rivers including the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra, all critical for India, may get significantly reduced as glaciers and ice sheets are expected to recede in the future due to global warming.
• As glaciers and ice sheets continue to recede over the coming decades, major Himalayan rivers like the Indus, the Ganges, and Brahmaputra will feel the impact seeing their flows reduced.
• The Eastern Ganga Region (ERG) with its development deficit context and low capacity is already becoming a crucible of hazards: Erratic and extreme rainfall, extreme floods and landslides, droughts, low flows, and scorching wet bulb heat.
• Eastern Himalayas, also called lesser Himalayas, have less glaciers compared to their western counterparts. Hence, rivers in the region get less contribution from such glaciers; and are less likely to be affected overall.
• Still, climate change can impact rivers if the snow and glacial meltwater get reduced in the region during March, which is the dominant contribution during that time.
• Tributaries play a major role in augmenting the flow of rivers in the region; and hence glacial melting impacts would be less compared to the western part of Himalayas.
• There is an immediate increase in water flow in major rivers due to melting; followed by long term water scarcity.
• The HKH region, harbours the highest mountain ranges in the world. It also contains the largest volume of ice on earth outside of the polar areas and is called “Asia’s water tower”.
• It added that “ice and snow in the Hindu Kush Himalaya are an important source of water for 12 rivers that flow through 16 countries in Asia, providing freshwater and other vital ecosystem services to 240 million people in the mountains and a further 1.65 billion downstream”.
• This report is important but the time has come to go beyond generalised reports and become specific. For example, it would have been great if the report could have told which areas of Himalayas are expected to be affected how much, so that specific combative strategies can be formulated,” expressed a senior water expert of South Asia.

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD):

• ICIMOD is an intergovernmental knowledge and learning centre that develops and shares research, information, and innovations to empower people in the eight regional member countries of the HKH – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan.
• It serve the region through information and knowledge generation and sharing to find innovative solutions to critical mountain problems.
• It bridge science with policies and on-the-ground practices.
• It provide a regional platform where experts, planners, policy makers, and practitioners can exchange ideas and perspectives towards the achievement of sustainable mountain development.
• It facilitate knowledge exchange across the region, help customize international knowledge and tailor it to the region’s needs, and bring regional issues to the global stage

4. ONE DISTRICT ONE PRODUCT(ODOP)

TAG: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

THE CONTEXT: Centre allocates 145 Crores rupees to Nagaland for the purpose of Unity Mall in Dimapur. Efforts such as Krishi UDAN scheme, expanding railway connectivity to be undertaken to improve logistics facilities for ODOP products from Nagaland.

EXPLANATION:

• ODOP Sampark event was organized to create awareness regarding the efforts of DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Govt of India through its two flagship Initiative One District One Product (ODOP) and PM Gati Shakti (Logistics).
• Organic certification will play major role in insuring better access for Indian products in foreign markets and help gain better prices for farmers.
• The documentation for the organic certification for over 15 chili farmers from Kohima was done during the workshop and the remaining will be completed soon after the verification of their documents.
• Efforts will be undertaken to improve the logistics facilities for ODOP products from Nagaland like chili, turmeric, kiwi, pineapple, etc, through the Krishi UDAN scheme, expanding railway connectivity, etc.
• The One District One Product Awards have been instituted by DPIIT to acknowledge the extraordinary work done by States/ UTs, Districts, and Indian Missions Abroad, for the economic development of the State and contribute towards the realization of the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat through the ODOP approach.  The Awards will be launched on 25th June 2023 in the Rashtriya Puraskar Portal.
• PM GatiShakti is a transformative approach which was launched on October 13th, 2021 by the Hon’ble Prime Minister for planning & building Next Generation Infrastructure in the country, thereby promoting multimodal logistics connectivity to improve both Ease of Living as well as Ease of Doing Business.

 ODOP:

• The ODOP initiative is a visionary program aligned with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of fostering inclusive development across all districts of India.
• The objective is to identify and promote a distinct product from each district, thereby creating a niche identity for them. By focusing on these chosen products, ODOP aims to drive holistic socio-economic growth and improve market accessibility.
• Over 1000 products have been selected from all 761 districts of the country. The products are selected by the State Government in consultation with district administration.
• The ODOP initiative covers a wide range of products spanning textiles, agricultural produce, processed goods, pharmaceuticals, and industrial items. The aim is to promote and harness the diverse expertise present in different sectors and communities across the country.
• By identifying and addressing challenges throughout the supply chain, enhancing market reach, and providing dedicated support to producers, ODOP aims to transform districts into prominent market hubs for their chosen products.
• Through this comprehensive approach, ODOP is set to empower districts, promote entrepreneurship, and contribute to the overall economic growth and prosperity of the nation.

5. PRADHAN MANTRI MATSYA SAMPADA YOJANA

TAG: SCHEMES

THE CONTEXT: Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana Review Meeting for North Eastern Region Review meeting focuses around State Annual Action Plan 2023-24, utilisation of central funds, release of State share, SNA related issues.

EXPLANATION:

• Fisheries sector plays an important role in the Indian economy.
• It contributes to the national income, exports, food and nutritional security as well as the employment generation. The sector provides livelihood for more than 2.8 crore fishers and fish farmers at primary level and several more along the fisheries value chain.
• It is also a major source of income for a large proportion of the country’s economically disadvantaged population.
• As PMMSY enters its fourth year of implementation, the Department plans to expedite the pace of implementation.
• It is pertinent to note that no such specific allocation has been done for NER states before 2014. The sanctioned activities comprised of new ponds, integrated fish farming, ornamental fisheries, biofloc, RAS, hatcheries, brood banks, feed mills, etc.

Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana

• The Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) aims to enhance fish production to 220 lakh metric tons by 2024-25 from 137.58 lakh metric tons in 2018-19 at an average annual growth rate of about 9%.
• “PMMSY – A scheme to bring about Blue Revolution through sustainable and responsible development of fisheries sector in India.
• PMMSY will create a conducive environment for private sector participation, development of entrepreneurship, business models, promotion of ease of doing business, innovations and innovative project activities including start-ups, incubators etc. in fisheries sector. T
• PMMSY being a fisher centric umbrella scheme, fishers, fish farmers, fish workers and fish vendors are the key stakeholders in the developmental activities envisaged and enhancement of their socio-economic status is one the core objectives of this scheme.
• The Fisheries Minister said that about 42% of the total estimated investment of the PMMSY is earmarked for creation and upgradation of fisheries infrastructure facilities. Focus areas include Fishing Harbours and Landing Centers, Post-harvest and Cold Chain Infrastructure, Fish Markets and Marketing Infrastructure, Integrated Modern Coastal Fishing Villages and Development of Deep-sea Fishing.
• Besides creating critical fisheries infrastructure by attracting private investments in fisheries sector, the scheme plans to reduce post-harvest losses from the present high of 25% to about 10% by modernizing and strengthening value chain.
• Under the Swath Sagar plan, activities envisaged with a view to modernize the fisheries sector include promotion of Bio-toilets, Insurance coverage for fishing vessels, Fisheries Management Plans, E-Trading/Marketing, Fishers and resources survey and creation of National IT-based databases.
• Government will register “Sagar Mitra” and encourage formation of Fish Farmers Producer Organizations (FFPOs) to help achieve the PMMSY goals. Fisheries Extension Services Centers will be set up in private space to create job opportunities to young professionals.