General Studies Paper -2 

Context: The expansion of Universal health coverage will be complex, but data and digital technology can smoothen the way.

Universal Health Coverage

• Meaning:
  • Universal health coverage (UHC) means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship.
  • It covers the full continuum of essential health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care across the life course.
• SDG target:
  • Achieving UHC is one of the targets the nations of the world set when they adopted the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015.
• UHC in India:
  • Currently, India aims to attain UHC through the expansion of the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), the flagship publicly financed health insurance (PFHI) scheme of the Union government.

Challenges

• Off-track progress:
  • The world is off track to make significant progress towards universal health coverage (Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 3.8) by 2030.
• Stagnation:
  • Improvements to health services coverage have stagnated since 2015, and the proportion of the population that faced catastrophic levels of out-of-pocket health spending increased continuously since 2000.
  • This global pattern is consistent across all regions and the majority of countries.
• Shortage of manpower:
  • Many Western and Central Asian nations today are staring at acute shortages of manpower in healthcare.
• Disruption due to pandemic:
  • The COVID-19 pandemic further disrupted essential services in 92% of countries at the height of the pandemic in 2021. In 2022, 84% of countries still reported disruptions.
• Increasing poor and non-poor gap:
  • A greater proportion of disposable incomes is taken away from a poor household as compared to a non-poor one, further broadening the gap between the two.
    • If sickness hits a working member of the household, she/he must often withdraw from active employment and their main source of income dries up at the time when they urgently need more money for treatment.
    • Households have to often sell or mortgage their productive assets, such as land and cattle, to cover the treatment costs.
    • This further reduces their capacity to bounce back.
  • According to the WHO, 55 million people fall into poverty or deeper poverty every year due to catastrophic expenditures on health.
• Lesser spending than the Lower and Middle-Income Countries:
  • India currently spends about Rs 8 lakh crore or about 3.2 percent of its GDP on health.
  • This is much lower than the average health spending share of the GDP — at around 5.2 percent of the Lower and Middle Income Countries (LMIC).
  • Comparing the data:
    • Of this, the government (Centre and states put together) spends about roughly 1.1 percent of the GDP.
    • Contrast this with the government health expenditure in countries like China (3 percent), Thailand (2.7 percent), Vietnam (2.7 percent) and Sri Lanka (1.4 percent).

Suggestions

• Global Initiative on Digital Health:
  • It is here that India’s leadership in digital health becomes significant. Under India’s G20 presidency, the WHO has launched a Global Initiative on Digital Health aiming to marshal investments into digital health and facilitate regional and international exchange and reporting on health.
• Role of India’s Digital Health journey:
  • India’s own indigenous digital health movement, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, preceded this initiative and is steadily gathering steam.
  • Digital health must be seen as a tool for effectively managing the inevitably complex nature of UHC expansion.
  • Here, it will have a wide-ranging role to play, right from helping administer diverse contracts to implementing terms for value-based provider reimbursement and incentives.
    • A robust digital and data infrastructure can address most of the challenges.
• Role of AI:
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming health care worldwide, and India has the potential to be at the forefront of this revolution.
  • Diagnostics: One of the key areas where AI can make a significant impact is in diagnostics.
    • AI-powered tools can enhance the accuracy and efficiency of medical diagnoses, leading to faster treatment decisions and better patient outcomes.
  • Predictions & preventions: Additionally, AI can help predict disease outbreaks, analyse health-care data, and optimise treatment plans, expediting health-care procedures, and revolutionising drug discovery ultimately making health care more personalised and effective.
• Need of Spreading the digital and data infrastructure:
  • India is not alone in this journey. Many low- and middle-income countries are also looking to build on their existing systems to expand UHC for their citizens.
  • The Indian example could be instructive for them in terms of policy lessons.
  • Pervasive staff shortages in the West and initiatives such as ‘Heal in India’ could accelerate the medical brain drain even as we suffer major staff shortages of our own.
• Need of Private sector participation:
  • The public sector cannot be the only solution for universal health coverage in India.
  • Expanding PFHIs would entail bringing a large chunk of the private sector under the public fold.
  • Multifaceted nature of modern health challenges require multilateral and synergistic coalitions involving both the public and private sectors.
• WHO’s recommendations:
  • To build back better, WHO’s recommendation is to reorient health systems using a primary health care (PHC) approach.
  • Most (90%) of essential UHC interventions can be delivered through a PHC approach, potentially saving 60 million lives and increasing average global life expectancy by 3.7 years by 2030.

Way Ahead

• It will be imperative that national interests don’t lose ground to international ambitions and that digital technologies are leveraged to create non-competing solutions that are mindful of the Global South.
• Countries need to build on their existing systems, overlaying reforms and best practices incrementally.
• With concerted efforts and a commitment to excellence, a healthier and more prosperous India can be built for generations to come.

General Studies Paper-2 

Context: Recently India’s External Affairs Minister said that India’s relations with Maldives rest on the twin important pillars of ‘mutual interests’ and ‘reciprocal sensitivity’.

Background

• The undiplomatic words used by ministers in Maldives against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular and Indians in general has deteriorated the relations between both the nations.
• The new government led by President Mohamed Muizzu asked India to withdraw military personnel and chose China for one of his first overseas visits.

Significance of Maldives for India

• Trade Route: Situated along crucial maritime trade routes between the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Malacca, the Maldives acts as a “toll gate” for nearly half of India’s external trade and 80% of its energy imports.
• Strategic Location: The Maldives is strategically located in the Indian Ocean, and its stability and security are of interest to India.
• Counterbalancing China: Maldives presents an opportunity for India to counterbalance China’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean, fostering regional balance of power.
• Economic partnership: India is one of the biggest investors and tourism markets for the Maldives, with significant trade and infrastructure projects underway.
• Defense and Security Cooperation: Since 1988, defense and security has been a major area of cooperation between India and Maldives.
  • A comprehensive Action Plan for Defence was also signed in 2016 to consolidate defense partnership.
  • Estimates suggest that almost 70 percent of Maldives’ defense training is done by India — either on the islands or in India’s elite military academies.

Significance of India for Maldives

• Essential Commodities: India supplies Maldives with its everyday essentials: rice, spices, fruits, vegetables, poultry, medicines and life-saving drugs.
• Education: Every year, Maldivian students come to Indian higher educational institutions.
• Economic dependence: Of the Rs 50 crore total trade between India and Maldives in 2022, Rs 49 crore was India’s exports to Maldives. India emerged as Maldives’ second largest trade partner in 2022.
• Disaster Relief Assistance: When a tsunami struck the islands in 2004, India was the first to send in help.
  • In 2014 Male had a drinking water crisis as the major desalination plant broke down, India overnight airlifted drinking water to the islands.
  • During the Covid-19 pandemic, India sent essential medicines, masks, gloves, PPE kits and vaccines for the island country.

Challenges in Relations

• Domestic turmoil in the Maldives: Recent political upheavals and changes in government have created uncertainty and complicated long-term cooperation projects.
• Chinese Influence: China’s growing economic presence in the Maldives, evidenced by investments in infrastructure projects and debt-trap diplomacy, is perceived as a challenge to India’s strategic interests in the region.
• Military ambitions: Chinese naval expansion and potential military ambitions in the Indian Ocean with the active support from Maldives has raised concerns for India.
• Trade imbalance: The significant trade imbalance between India and the Maldives could lead to resentment and calls for diversifying trade partnerships.

Way Ahead

• The evolution of India-Maldives relations reflects a combination of geopolitical dynamics, changes in leadership, and shared regional interests.
• India is steadfast in its commitments towards Maldives and has always walked the extra mile towards building relations.

By acknowledging and addressing the ongoing issues, India and Maldives can navigate the complexities of their relationship and build a stronger, more resilient, and mutually beneficial partnership for the future

General Studies Paper-3

Context-The recently published HDI report and a paper published by the World Inequality Lab in March 2024 reports do not reveal very encouraging trends for India. Thus, the article highlights the need for an alternate growth strategy that accords primacy to human development and converts it as a route to accelerate growth.

What is the performance of India in various development reports?

1. Human Development Index-
   1. According to the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report 2023-24, India ranked 134 out of 193 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) in 2022.This is a marginal improvement from its rank of 135 in 2021.
   2. India’s HDI value increased from 0.633 in 2021 to 0.644 in 2022, placing it in the medium human development category. However, India still lags behind neighboring countries like Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and China in terms of HDI.
   3. When adjusted for inequality, India’s loss in HDI is 31.1%, higher than Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.
2. Gender Inequality Index –
   1. India improved its ranking from 122 out of 191 countries in 2021 to 108 out of 193 countries in 2022. However, India has one of the largest gender gaps in labor force participation, with a 47.8% difference between women (28.3%) and men (76.1%).

What is the status of income and wealth Inequality in India?

1. According to the World Inequality Lab study, the bottom 50% of India’s population received only 15% of the national income in 2022-23. The top 1% earned an average of 5.3 million rupees, 23 times the average Indian income of 0.23 million rupees.
2. The richest 10,000 individuals (out of 920 million Indian adults) earned an average of 480 million rupees, which is 2,069 times the average Indian income.

What are its implications?

1. This stark income inequality has implications for aggregate demand, consumption, and human welfare.
2. During 2014-2022, the incomes of the middle 40% of the income distribution has grown slower than the bottom 50%. This indicates a reduction in the size of the ‘middle class’.
3. When growth mostly benefits the wealthy, economic division speeds up. This leads to the emergence of two classes-Have and Have not.

What is the status of household debt and savings in India?

1. Household debt levels in India reached a record high of 40% of GDP by December 2023, while net financial savings plunged to 5.2% of GDP.
2. Annual borrowings of households surged to 5.8% of GDP in 2022-23, the second-highest level in independent India.

Way forward

1. Considering the inadequate human development, significant inequality, minimal savings, and substantial debt, there’s a necessity for an alternative approach to growth that prioritizes enhancing human development.
2. This approach needs strong political commitment and long-term vision, looking beyond immediate electoral benefits.  As a first step, the narrative of development needs to be recast.

General Studies Paper-2 

Context – The Supreme Court can resolve the longstanding conflict between fundamental rights and DPSPs in Property Owners Association vs State of Maharashtra case by providing clarity on Article 31C’s validity and adherence to the Constitution’s basic structure. The concept of democracy as a governing method and a core societal value

What are the key questions raised in the case of Property Owners Association vs State of Maharashtra?

1. The interpretation of the term “material resources of the community” as mentioned in Article 39(b) of the Constitution.
2. Whether laws enacted to achieve the objective set forth in Article 39(b) are immunized from legal challenges based on fundamental rights to equality and liberty. This question also highlights a conflict between Part III of the Constitution, which outlines fundamental rights, and Part IV, which lists Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP).

• NOTE-Article 39(b)-It places an obligation on the state to create policy towards securing “the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good”.
• What has been the history of conflict between fundamental rights and Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP)?
• This tension between the two has existed throughout India’s history. However,it has become particularly intense in the 1970s when amendments were made to exempt certain laws from judicial review.

1. Constitutional Provisions and Earlier Judicial Interpretations-
   1. At its inception, the Constitution’s bare text was clear enough. Article 13 stated that any law violating a fundamental right would be invalid. In contrast, Article 37 stated that Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) wouldn’t be enforceable in court.
   2. In its early judgments, the Supreme Court clarified the hierarchy between fundamental rights and DPSPs. In Mohd. Hanif Quareshi vs State of Bihar (1958), the Chief Justice stated that the state should implement DPSPs without abridging fundamental rights.
2. Introduction of Article 31(C)– The 25th amendment introduced Article 31C to protect laws enacted to fulfill Article 39(b) and (c) from challenges under Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution. This provision aimed to exempt legislation promoting the common good from fundamental rights scrutiny.
3. Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala (1973)– The court upheld the validity of Article 31C but made it subject to judicial review.
4. 42nd Constitutional Amendment– Parliament brought the 42nd Amendment Act in 1976, which extended the scope of the Article 31C by including within its purview any law to implement any of the DPSPs specified in Part IV of the constitutional and not merely Article 39 (b) or (c).
5. Minerva Mills vs Union of India (1980)– 42nd CAA was subsequently challenged in this case. The court declared the amendment unconstitutional. The Court found that while DPSPs provided the ends of governance, fundamental rights constituted the means to such ends.
6. Waman Rao vs Union of India– The court upheld the validity of Article 31C by arguing that laws aligned with Articles 39(b) and (c) wouldn’t violate rights under Articles 14 and 19.

What are the consequences of legal ambiguity surrounding Article 31C?

1. Potential for Abuse: Critics argue that Article 31C, as amended, gives excessive power to the legislature, enabling it to enact laws that could infringe upon fundamental rights under the guise of achieving the objectives of the Directive Principles. In other words, it places certain laws above fundamental rights. For instance, a law nationalizing the printing press, purportedly for the common good, could suppress free speech.
2. Judicial Responses and Uncertainties: The Supreme Court has struggled with Article 31C’s implications, as seen in the Minerva Mills case (1980) and the Waman Rao judgment.

• For ex-in Minerva Mill case, there some of the questions were not answered like- Has Article 31C reverted to its original version from the 25th amendment, minus the parts invalidated by the majority in Kesavananda? Or is it in a limbo where its validity is uncertain?
• These rulings questioned the amendment’s alignment with the Constitution’s basic structure. But did not conclusively resolve the tensions between Directive Principles and Fundamental Rights.
• This ongoing ambiguity has led to a persistent conflict between fundamental rights and Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP). The Court now has an opportunity in the Property Owners case to address this conflict and strengthen the Constitution’s core principles.

General Studies Paper-3

Context: The role of tech is in providing data-driven insights into the nature and intensity of heat stress in urban heat islands.

Tech Innovations for Monitoring Weather and Heat Risks

• In India, several tech innovations have enhanced weather and heat risk monitoring.
  • There is the soft infrastructure of remote sensing satellites which provide data for tracking weather patterns, land surface temperatures and urban heat islands.
  • Hard infrastructure sensors are deployed in cities to gather real-time data on several parameters like temperature, humidity, precipitation and air quality.
• Challenges: India’s tech adoption in weather and heat risk monitoring is improving but is not at par with other developed countries.
  • The leading Indian cities have seven to eight India Meteorological Development weather stations on an average, a comparable city like San Francisco would have more than 100 weather monitoring stations.
  • Data: India focuses more on water risk and security and hence have more granular data on precipitation, while heat is not a consistent part of the monitoring process.
    • In developed economies, weather tracking is done by a variety of actors, from academic and research institutions to government bodies to the private sector. All of this rich data provides a much more nuanced understanding of scenarios.

What is an Urban Heat Island?

• An Urban Heat Island (UHI) is an area in which the temperature is higher than in surrounding rural areas due to human activities and infrastructure.

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

• Urban heat islands could lead to temperature differences of up to six degrees centigrade within a given area or neighbourhood.
• Urban heat islands result from complex interactions between built environments, natural factors, and human activities.

Factors Responsible for Urban Heat Islands

• Built Environment: The materials used in urban construction, such as concrete and asphalt, absorb and retain heat, raising local temperatures.
• Reduced Vegetation: Urban areas typically have fewer trees and green spaces compared to rural areas, which reduces the cooling effect of shade and transpiration.
• Human Activities: Activities like transportation, industry, and energy consumption release heat into the environment, further elevating temperatures.
• Altered Surface Characteristics: Urbanization often involves replacing natural surfaces with artificial ones, which alters the surface reflectivity (albedo) and thermal properties, contributing to increased heat absorption.
• Ecological Factors: According to a 2014 Indian Institute of Science report, the ideal tree-human ratio should be seven trees for every person. The lack of trees increases the risk of exposure to higher temperatures.
  • In Indian cities there are places with such poor density of trees as one tree for 50 people.
  • Also the lack of water bodies can add to the heat effect.

Concerns

• Health Risks: Elevated temperatures in urban areas lead to heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion and heatstroke, particularly among vulnerable populations like the elderly, children, and individuals with pre-existing health conditions.
• Energy Consumption: Higher temperatures in urban areas lead to increased demand for cooling, which escalates energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions.
• Water Management: UHIs disrupt local water cycles by altering evaporation rates and reducing groundwater recharge.
• Social Inequity: Vulnerable populations, including low-income communities and people living in inadequate housing, are often disproportionately affected by UHIs due to limited access to cooling resources and healthcare services.

Suggestions

• Increasing Vegetation: Planting trees and creating green spaces can help reduce the urban heat island effect by providing shade and evaporative cooling.
• Cool Roofs: Using materials with high solar reflectance on roofs can reduce heat absorption and lower surface temperatures. White or reflective roofing materials can significantly decrease the amount of heat absorbed by buildings.
• Urban Planning and Design: Incorporating UHI mitigation strategies into urban planning and design can help create cooler and more livable cities.
  • This includes designing streetscapes with wider sidewalks, shade structures, and strategic placement of buildings to maximize shade and airflow.
• Water Bodies and Fountains: Incorporating water bodies such as ponds, lakes, and fountains into urban areas can help cool the surrounding environment through evaporative cooling and creating microclimates.
• Community Engagement and Education: Educating residents about the urban heat island effect and ways to mitigate it can foster community involvement in UHI reduction efforts.

Way Ahead

• The role of tech is in providing data-driven insights into the nature and intensity of heat stress, providing early warning, and at the mitigation end look at the larger gamut of materials and coming up with ‘cooler’ materials.

But more importantly, the urban heat islands issue is an urban design and development issue, which needs to be looked at from a bigger lens of economic policy, city management and sustainable living in cities.

General Studies Paper-2

Context: Hamas announced its acceptance of a ceasefire proposal put forth by Egypt and Qatar, signaling a potential breakthrough in the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict.

About

• The proposal includes a three-stage truce, each phase lasting 42 days.
• It includes a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a return of displaced Palestinians to their homes as well as an exchange of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners.

What is Hamas?

• Hamas is the largest Palestinian militant Islamist group and one of the two major political parties in the region.
• Currently, it governs more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
• Foundation: The group was founded in the late 1980s, after the beginning of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
• Hamas as a whole, or in some cases its military wing, is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and other countries.

Israel Palestine Conflict

• It is a decades long dispute between Israel and Palestine that began in the middle of the twentieth century when the Jews from various parts of the world were granted the homeland in present-day Israel by Britain.
• It is one of the world’s longest conflicts where Israel has occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip which the Palestine state claims.
• Numerous attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the peace process by various groups of countries and the United Nation.
• With time, the countries around have normalized the ties with Israel through the Abraham Accord, Oslo Accord, etc.
• But the deadlock still persists and the world community is persistent in its effort to attain the two-state solution.

Present Conflict

• Backdrop of the recent attack: Hamas’s attack follows months of rising violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with stepped-up Israeli raids, Palestinian street attacks and assaults by Jewish settlers on Palestinian villages.
• Issue over Jerusalem: Israel considers the whole of Jerusalem as its capital and not just a part of it. But Palestinians don’t agree with that and rather want it to be their capital of future independent Palestine.

Way Ahead

• Peace based on a “two-state solution” is much needed with the help of international organizations and can only be achieved from Israel-Palestine talks.
• Israel said the deal did not meet its “core demands” and its War Cabinet has decided to continue the Rafah operation. However it would send negotiators to Egypt to work on a deal.

General Studies Paper-3

Context: Techniques within carbon farming can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

About

• Carbon farming, also known as carbon sequestration farming or regenerative agriculture, refers to a set of agricultural practices designed to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in the soil or biomass.
  • The goal is to mitigate climate change by reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
• Regions with long growing seasons, sufficient rainfall, and substantial irrigation are best suited to practise carbon farming because they provide the best conditions in which to sequester carbon, through vegetation growth.

Common Techniques used in Carbon Farming

• Cover cropping: Planting cover crops like legumes or grasses during fallow periods helps to protect and enrich the soil, promoting carbon storage.
• No-till farming: Avoiding or minimizing tillage helps to preserve soil structure and organic matter, preventing carbon loss from the soil.
• Agroforestry: Integrating trees and shrubs into agricultural landscapes not only sequesters carbon but also provides additional ecosystem services such as shade, windbreaks, and habitat for wildlife.
• Biochar: Biochar is a type of charcoal produced from organic materials like agricultural waste. When added to soil, biochar can enhance fertility and carbon sequestration.
• Perennial crops: Planting perennial crops instead of annuals helps to minimize soil disturbance and increase carbon storage over time.
• Integrated nutrient management practices promote soil fertility and reduce emissions by using organic fertilizers and compost.
• Livestock management strategies including rotational grazing, optimising feed quality, and managing animal waste can reduce methane emissions and increase the amount of carbon stored away in pasture lands.

Significance

• Climate Change Mitigation: By increasing carbon storage in agricultural lands, carbon farming helps mitigate climate change by reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
• Soil Health Improvement: Many carbon farming practices, such as cover cropping, crop rotation, and no-till farming, enhance soil health and fertility.
• Biodiversity Conservation: Carbon farming methods often prioritize the preservation and restoration of natural habitats within agricultural landscapes.
  • These practices provide crucial habitat for native species, support pollinators, and enhance overall biodiversity, contributing to ecosystem resilience.
• Resilience to Climate Change: Climate-resilient agriculture practices, such as agroforestry and diversified cropping systems promoted within carbon farming, help farmers adapt to the impacts of climate change.

What are the Opportunities in India?

• Agro-Ecological Practices: Grassroots initiatives and pioneering agrarian research in India are demonstrating the viability of organic farming to sequester carbon.
  • In this regard, agro-ecological practices in India could yield significant economic benefits, with the potential to generate $63 billion in value from approximately 170 million hectares of arable land.
  • This estimate includes an annual payment of around ₹5,000-6,000 per acre for farmers to provide climate services by adopting sustainable agricultural practices.
• Topography of India: Regions with extensive agricultural land, such as the Indo-Gangetic plains and the Deccan Plateau, are well suited to adopt carbon farming whereas the mountainous terrain of the Himalayan region is less so.
  • Coastal areas are prone to salinisation and have limited access to resources, thus limited the adoption of traditional farming practices.
  • Carbon credit systems can incentivise farmers by providing additional income through environmental services.
  • Studies have shown agricultural soils can absorb 3-8 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent every year over 20-30 years.
  • This capacity can bridge the gap between feasible emissions reductions and the indispensable stabilisation of the climate.
  • So carbon farming could also be a sustainable strategy to mitigate climate change and enhance food security in India.

Challenges to Carbon Farming

• Dependent on Other Factors: Carbon farming effectiveness varies depending on multiple factors — geographical location, soil type, crop selection, water availability, biodiversity, and farm size and scale.
  • It can be challenging in hot and dry areas where the availability of water is limited, and prioritised for drinking and washing needs.
  • Limited water availability can hinder the growth of plants, thus restricting the potential for sequestration through photosynthesis
  • Selecting which plants to grow also becomes crucial because not all species trap and store carbon in the same amounts or in an equally effective manner.
  • Fast-growing trees and deep-rooted perennial grasses tend to be better at this task — but on the flip side, these types of plants may not be well-suited to arid environments.
• Financial Assistance: Adoption of carbon farming practices require financial assistance for farmers to overcome the costs of implementing them.
  • In the context of developing countries like India, small-scale farmers lack the resources to invest in sustainable land management practices and environmental services.

Conclusion

• Scaling up Carbon Farming requires concerted efforts to address several challenges, including limited awareness, inadequate policy support, technological barriers, and an enabling adoption environment.
• Yet promoting carbon farming is in India’s interests — to mitigate climate change while improving soil health, enhancing biodiversity, and creating economic opportunities for its adopters.
• In sum, while carbon farming holds promise as a mitigation strategy, addressing these challenges is essential to realise its full potential in combating climate change.

General Studies Paper-3

Context: The India Employment Report 2024, analyzes job trends over 22 years using surveys. It highlights improvements in job quality, higher female job participation, recovery after COVID-19, and challenges like youth unemployment, informal jobs, and the need for better education and job policies. Key finding and recommendations of the India Employment Report 2024

What improvements are noted in the job market?

Pre COVID-19 Improvements

• From 2000 to 2019, there was a significant shift from agricultural jobs to non-farm sectors, indicating economic progress.
• A steady increase in regular employment was noted, with a decrease in unorganized sector jobs.

During COVID-19 Changes

• Temporary halt in the growth of regular employment and rise in unorganized sector jobs.
• A significant 9% yearly increase in farming jobs during the pandemic.
• Non-farm jobs also increased by more than 2.6%, surpassing growth rates from 2012 to 2019.

Post COVID-19 Recovery

• Recovery in regular and casual wages, with casual wages increasing even more from 2019 to 2022.
• Decrease in unemployment rates from 6% in 2018 to 3.2% in 2023.
• Female workforce participation rose significantly, from 24.5% in 2019 to 37% in 2023.

What are the current employment challenges?

• High Agricultural Employment: About 46.6% of workers are still employed in agriculture as of 2022, a slight increase from 42.4% in 2019, indicating a need to boost non-farm employment.
• Skill and Job Mismatch: The increasing capital and skill intensity of jobs has led to a surplus of unskilled and semi-skilled workers, despite higher educational attainments.
• Low Women’s Participation: Women remain primarily in less remunerative agricultural roles, and the labor market demands more diverse job opportunities for them in non-farm sectors.
• Youth Unemployment: Educated youth face high unemployment rates, with 28% of graduates unemployed in 2022, showcasing a significant mismatch between education levels and job opportunities.
• NEET Challenges: Around 28% of youth were not in employment, education, and training (NEET) in 2022, with females disproportionately affected, highlighting a critical area for policy intervention.

What are the key recommendations of the India Employment Report 2024?

1. Boosting production to create more jobs, focusing on labor-intensive manufacturing, services, and agriculture;
2. Enhancing job quality;
3. Addressing labor market disparities, especially by increasing women’s employment and formulating effective strategies for NEET;
4. Improving training systems and labor market policies to better match job supply and demand, with significant private sector involvement; and
5. Developing accurate statistics to understand labor market changes due to rapid technological advances.

General Studies Paper-2

Context: India’s recent economic success, solid momentum, and promising prospects are making the country more influential

About India’s Global Rise

• India’s aggregate power has grown over the past two decades — evident in robust economic growth, military capabilities, and a largely young demography.
• Its inclusion in key global institutions such as the G-20, as an invitee at G-7 meetings, and active participation in multilateral groups such as the Quad, BRICS, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation further highlight its geopolitical significance and its powerful presence globally, even if it is not a member of the United Nations Security Council.
• India’s global rise is also aided by growing international attention on the Indo-Pacific, a theatre that is pivotal to global strategic stability, where India has a central position, geographically and otherwise.
• A major reason why the United States and its allies are keen to accommodate India’s global interests including in order to push back China in the region.

Emerging Challenges

• India’s influence is declining in South Asia.
  • When compared to India’s influence in the region during the Cold War or in comparison to China’s influence in the region today,
• Its waning regional influence is caused by diminishing relative power (vis-à-vis China), loss of primacy in South Asia, and fundamental changes in South Asian geopolitics.
• The arrival of China in South Asia, the withdrawal of the U.S. from the region, and India’s tilt to the Indo-Pacific have shifted the regional balance of power in Beijing’s favour.
• India’s regional decline is a product of the dynamics of comparative power, and geopolitical choices made by the region’s smaller powers.
  • India’s smaller neighbours seem to find China as a useful hedge against India, for the moment at least.
• China’s rise will, therefore, mean that India may no longer be the most consequential power in the region.

Way Forward for India

• India must revisit some of its traditional conceptions of the region, ‘modernise’ its primacy in South Asia, and take proactive and imaginative policy steps to meet the China challenge in the region.
• First of all, India must accept the reality that the region, the neighbours and the region’s geopolitics have fundamentally changed over the decade-and-a-half at the least.
• India must focus on its strengths rather than trying to match the might of the People’s Republic of China in every respect
  • Fashioning a new engagement with the region that reflects India’s traditional strengths and the region’s changed realities is essential.
  • Reclaiming Buddhist heritage is one such example.
• India’s continental strategy is replete with challenges whereas its maritime space has an abundance of opportunities for enhancing trade, joining minilateralism, and creating new issue-based coalitions, among others.
  • India must use its maritime (Indo-Pacific) advantages to cater to its many continental handicaps.
  • Doing so could involve including India’s smaller South Asian neighbours to the Indo-Pacific strategic conversations.
• India and its partners (the U.S., Japan, Australia, the European Union, and others) must find ways of engaging and partnering with Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Bangladesh as part of their larger Indo-Pacific strategy.
  • New Delhi should make creative uses of its soft power to retain its influence in the region.
• One way to do that is to actively encourage informal contacts between political and civil society actors in India and those in other South Asian countries.
• There is a desire to join hands with external friendly partners both in the Indian Ocean and South Asia so as to deal with the region’s common challenges.
  • This openness in New Delhi, and the desire of the external actors to engage the region, must be utilised to address the difficulties arising out of New Delhi’s regional decline.

General Studies Paper -2 

Context: The United Nations summit on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was held in New York recently. It assessed progress towards achieving the 17 SDGs and 169 specific targets set by the agenda-2030, adopted in 2015. The article highlights the slow progress and challenges in achieving SGGs.

What are SDGs?

• SDGs stand for Sustainable Development Goals. They are a set of 17 global objectives established by the United Nations in 2015 as part of the agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.
• Coverage-These goals cover a wide range of social, economic, and environmental issues, aiming to address the world’s most pressing challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace, and justice.
• Nature-The SDG programme is internationally non-binding. However, all countries have committed to work towards these goals.

What has been the overall progress towards achieving the SDGs?

1. Slow Progress– Reports indicate that progress has been slow and off track. While there were some improvements between 2015 and 2019, they were largely inadequate to meet the goals.
2. Impact of Covid-19-The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global crises have significantly impeded progress.
3. Lack of adequate attention to environmental goals– Not enough focus has been attached to goals about the environment and protecting biodiversity. This slow progress is worrying because it goes against the idea that all the SDGs are connected and cannot be separated. It also puts the environment at risk of getting worse in a faster manner.

What are key areas that require urgent action?

The UN SDG Report 2023 identified five key areas for urgent action: –

1. Commitment of governments to seven years of accelerated, sustained, and transformative actions to deliver on SDG promises.
2. Concrete, integrated, and targeted policies and actions to eradicate poverty, reduce inequality, and end the war on nature, with a focus on advancing women’s and girls’ rights and empowering the vulnerable.
3. Strengthening national and subnational capacity, accountability, and public institutions to deliver accelerated progress.
4. Recommitment of the international community to deliver and mobilize resources to assist developing nations.
5. Continued strengthening of the UN development system.

What is the impact of this slow progress?

1. If the current pattern persists, it will result in a faster decline in environmental quality. This contradicts the aim of moving towards sustainability.
2. The SDGs have not been sufficient in making much political difference at the national or local level, except discussions and some small changes in rules and institutions. It suggests that setting global goals does not directly impact politics on local or national levels.

 What are the suggestions given by 2019 report ‘Future is Now’ for accelerating SDG implementation?

1. Systematic Approach to Achieving the 2030 Agenda –It highlights how the 2030 Agenda can truly change things by using a systematic approach. This implies finding a balance between different results and ensuring that actions help achieve several SDGs at the same time
2. Selecting Priority Areas-It recommends choosing the most suitable starting points based on local needs and regional or national priorities. Then, it suggests using four key tools-governance, economy and money, actions by individuals and groups, and science and technology.
3. Collaborative Partnership for Global Sustainable Development -People in these sectors must collaborate and build new partnerships to develop and execute sustainable development plans that suit each country’s unique needs and priorities. This will help make big changes globally.

Conclusion– In 2024, many countries around the world will have elections, involving 64 nations and nearly half of the world’s population. It’s important for the new governments to think about sustainability and align their national policies accordingly.