17 January 2023

• Environment: Weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) emerged as a major climate risk; Indian Ocean warming is contributing to the disruption.
• Health: India's cancer burden: one in nine Indians develops cancer in a lifetime. Rural-urban disparity in radiotherapy access is severe.
• Diplomacy: India launched the Voice of Global South Summit, announcing three new South-South cooperation initiatives.
• Inland waterways: MV Ganga Vilas was flagged off on 13 January; national waterways connectivity and the India-Bangladesh transit protocol were in focus.

GS area: Geography, Environment

The World Social Report 2023 and climate research highlighted a critical concern: the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) has weakened to an exceptional degree over the last 150 years, influenced partly by Indian Ocean warming.

• Global Overturning Circulation (GOC): The system of ocean currents that transports heat from the tropics to the poles and redistributes nutrients. It is the ocean's "conveyor belt."
• AMOC: The Atlantic component. Carries warm surface water northward to the North Atlantic, where it cools, sinks and returns southward as cold deep water.
• Weakening: Scientific studies found that AMOC is at its weakest point in 1,000 years. Causes include global warming, melting of Arctic sea ice (reducing seawater salinity and density), and increased freshwater input.
• Indian Ocean connection: Warming of the Indian Ocean increases evaporation and precipitation, which adds freshwater to the North Atlantic via altered atmospheric circulation, further weakening AMOC.
• Consequences: A collapsed or severely weakened AMOC would cause severe cooling in northern Europe, disrupt monsoon patterns in Asia and Africa, and raise sea levels on the US East Coast.

Static linkage: Climatology, ocean currents, Indian Ocean (GS Papers 1 and 3).

GS area: International Relations

India hosted the inaugural Voice of Global South Summit as part of its G20 presidency. It was held virtually and brought together over 100 developing countries.

• Theme: "Unity of Voice, Unity of Purpose."
• Purpose: To aggregate developing nations' concerns and priorities before India presents them at G20 forums dominated by wealthy nations.
• Three new initiatives announced: Aarogya Maitri (India will provide essential medical supplies to any developing country facing a humanitarian disaster), Global South Scholarships (for students from developing countries to study in India), and a Young Diplomats Forum.
• Context: India positions itself as a voice for the developing world, drawing on its Non-Aligned Movement legacy and its experience of development challenges.
• G20 presidency: India's presidency (December 2022 to November 2023) centred on the theme "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam."

Static linkage: India's foreign policy, multilateralism (GS Paper 2).

GS area: Health, Society

A report on cancer in India drew attention to the rising burden and the infrastructure gap.

• Incidence: One in nine Indians is expected to develop cancer in a lifetime. One in 29 women faces breast cancer; one in 68 men faces lung cancer.
• Infrastructure gap: India has about 700 radiotherapy machines against the WHO-recommended 1,400. The gap is severe in rural areas where primary health infrastructure is also weak.
• Progress: Cervical cancer rates fell from 45 per 100,000 women to 10 per 100,000 over the last 50 years, driven by later marriages, improved hygiene and HPV vaccination.
• Rising concern: Breast cancer rates are rising in urban centres. In Hyderabad, the incidence is about 45 per 100,000 women.
• Treatment improvement: Five-year survival rates for pancreatic cancer rose from 3 to 6 per cent, prostate cancer from 60 to 100 per cent, and breast cancer from 50 to 90 per cent globally over the past decades.

Static linkage: Health policy, social justice (GS Papers 2 and 3).

GS area: Economy (transport), Geography

MV Ganga Vilas's flag-off from Varanasi on 13 January 2023 and its transit through Bangladesh placed inland waterway connectivity in the spotlight.

• India's national waterways: 111 declared; 13 operational. The original three (NW-1, NW-2, NW-3) were from 1986. The National Waterways Act, 2016 declared 106 additional waterways.
• Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI): The statutory body under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways that develops and regulates national waterways.
• Bangladesh transit: India-Bangladesh Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade enables use of Bangladesh's rivers for cargo and passenger movement between India's northeast and the rest of the country.
• Varuna 2023: The 21st edition of the India-France bilateral naval exercise was conducted on the Western Seaboard in January 2023.

Static linkage: Infrastructure, India-Bangladesh relations (GS Papers 2 and 3).

GS area: Economy (financial inclusion)

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) serve as the primary formal credit channel for India's unbanked population, covering about 6 crore borrowers.

• Definition: Financial companies providing small loans (below 1 lakh rupees) primarily to low-income borrowers without conventional collateral. RBI regulates them as a category of Non-Banking Financial Companies.
• Origin: MFIs emerged in India in the 1990s, modelled partly on Bangladesh's Grameen Bank (Muhammad Yunus).
• Women: 95 per cent of MFI credit is extended to women or disabled persons.
• Benefits: Poverty alleviation through access to credit, building a savings culture, and serving as channels for government scheme delivery.
• Challenges: Cyclical over-indebtedness (multiple MFI loans), interest rates that remain high relative to bank lending rates, and past episodes of aggressive collection practices.
• RBI regulation: A 2022 RBI regulation capped total loan obligations of MFI borrowers at 50 per cent of household income.

Static linkage: Financial inclusion, economy (GS Paper 3).

• Shukrayaan postponed: India's Venus orbiter mission (Shukrayaan) was postponed from the earlier 2024 target to 2031. The mission will study Venus's atmosphere, surface and geology.
• VARUNA 2023: 21st edition of the India-France bilateral naval exercise on the Western Seaboard, reflecting the growing India-France strategic partnership.
• Asian Waterbird Census 2023: Conducted 7-22 January, counting migratory and resident waterbirds across Asia. India's data feeds into global wetland conservation planning.