25 January 2023

• Economy: Oxfam India report: India now has 166 billionaires. Top 30 per cent of earners hold 90 per cent of national wealth.
• Economy: The Ken-Betwa River Interlinking Project (44,605 crore rupees) drew environmental concern for routing the Daudhan Dam within Panna Tiger Reserve.
• Health: Trans-fat consumption causes up to 500,000 coronary deaths annually worldwide. FSSAI capped trans-fat at 2 per cent by mass in India from January 2022.
• Architecture: B.V. Doshi, the first Indian architect to win the Pritzker Prize (2018), passed away on 24 January 2023.

GS area: Environment, Geography, Economy

The Ken-Betwa River Interlinking Project is the first project under the National River Interlinking Programme. It aims to transfer water from the Ken River (surplus basin) to the Betwa River (deficit basin) in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

• Cost: 44,605 crore rupees, with funding shared between the Centre and the two states.
• Benefit: Expected to irrigate 6.3 lakh hectares in the Bundelkhand region, one of India's most drought-prone areas.
• Daudhan Dam: The project's main structure. It falls within the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, requiring diversion of forest land inside a protected area.
• Ecological concerns: The project threatens the critically endangered Gangetic gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), the Golden Mahseer fish, and endangered vultures that nest in rocky outcrops in the area.
• Legal issue: Section 35(6) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 prohibits destruction of habitat inside a national park. The project's proponents argue a government order can override this provision; wildlife experts disagree.
• Interlinking background: The National Perspective Plan for river interlinking proposes 30 links (16 peninsular, 14 Himalayan). Ken-Betwa is the first to reach implementation.

Static linkage: Geography (river systems), environment, economy (GS Papers 1, 2, and 3).

GS area: Health, Governance

Trans-fatty acids (TFAs) found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are associated with a significantly elevated risk of coronary artery disease.

• Global burden: About 5 billion people remain exposed to industrially produced trans-fat. The WHO estimates trans-fat causes up to 500,000 annual coronary deaths.
• FSSAI regulation: India's Food Safety and Standards Authority set a maximum of 2 per cent trans-fat by mass in oils and fats effective from January 2022. This aligns with WHO's REPLACE strategy.
• WHO REPLACE: A six-element action package targeting global elimination of industrial trans-fat by 2023: Review, Promote alternatives, Legislate, Assess, Create awareness, Enforce.
• Naturally occurring TFA: Small amounts occur naturally in meat and dairy from ruminant animals. FSSAI's regulation targets industrially produced trans-fat only.

Static linkage: Public health, food regulation (GS Paper 3).

GS area: Art and Culture, Modern History

Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, India's first and only Pritzker Architecture Prize winner, passed away on 24 January 2023 at the age of 95.

• Pritzker Prize: The highest honour in architecture, considered the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for the profession. Awarded by the Hyatt Foundation since 1979.
• Doshi's work: Designed the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore campus, the Amdavad ni Gufa (underground gallery) in Ahmedabad, and the Aranya Housing project in Indore, a landmark in low-income housing design.
• Influence: Worked under Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn before establishing his own practice. Synthesised modern architecture with Indian traditions, climate and context.
• Aranya project: Designed in 1989. Gave 80,000 residents a bare plot with basic infrastructure, allowing them to build their own homes. An early example of participatory housing design.

Static linkage: Art and culture (GS Paper 1).

GS area: Economy, Society

Oxfam India's report released at Davos highlighted extreme wealth concentration in India.

• Billionaire count: India had 166 billionaires in January 2023, up from 106 in 2020.
• Wealth share: Top 30 per cent of earners hold 90 per cent of national wealth. The bottom 50 per cent hold only 3 per cent.
• Tax policy: Corporate tax was reduced from 30 to 25.17 per cent, which Oxfam calculated cost the exchequer 1.03 lakh crore rupees in forgone revenue.
• Indirect tax burden: The bottom 50 per cent pay 6 times more indirect tax as a proportion of income than the top 10 per cent under India's GST structure.
• Policy recommendation: Wealth tax and windfall profits tax on corporations that benefited disproportionately from the pandemic.

Static linkage: Inequality, taxation (GS Papers 1 and 3).

GS area: Science and Technology, Governance

India's digital public infrastructure (India Stack) was being adopted by 7 countries in January 2023, reflecting the global relevance of India's model.

• India Stack components: Aadhaar (digital identity), DigiLocker (document wallet), UPI (payment system), CoWIN (health credential management), MOSIP (open-source identity platform), OCEN (open credit enablement network).
• UPI international expansion: UPI accepted in Singapore, Australia, Canada, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, UAE, UK, USA, Saudi Arabia.
• MOSIP: The Modular Open Source Identity Platform, developed in India, was being adopted by multiple developing countries for national ID systems.
• Policy significance: India's experience of building scalable, interoperable digital public goods offers a replicable model for low- and middle-income countries. This is a distinct form of Indian soft power.

Static linkage: Technology, governance (GS Papers 2 and 3).

• WEF Global Economic Report 2023: Global growth forecast for 2023 at 1.9 per cent (a different lower estimate from the World Bank's 1.7 per cent). South Asia projected at 4.8 per cent growth. Two different institutions, two slightly different numbers.
• NARCL: National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited acquired Jaypee Infratech as its first stressed asset resolution. The 15:85 cash-to-Security-Receipts model is the operational framework.
• Sankhya Sagar Wetland (MP): A Ramsar site near Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh threatened by invasive water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). India has 75 Ramsar sites.