Highlights
- Polity: demand for a separate "Greater Tipraland" state from Tripura's TIPRA Motha party. The broader debate on creating smaller states in India was examined.
- Health policy: organ transplant policy revised. Age cap of 65 years for receiving organs removed. India ranks third globally in transplant numbers.
- R&D: India ranked 16th globally in R&D investment. Only 24 Indian firms appear in the global top 2,500 R&D investors. Private corporate R&D is only 1 per cent of revenue in software firms versus 8 per cent in China.
- Governance: Vibrant Villages Programme: development scheme covering border blocks in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Rajasthan.
1. Demand for smaller states: arguments and commissions
GS area: Polity (states reorganisation)
The TIPRA Motha party's demand for a "Greater Tipraland" state for tribal communities of Tripura re-opened the debate on creating smaller states:
- TIPRA Motha demand: a separate state encompassing tribal areas of Tripura to protect tribal identity, land rights and culture.
- Arguments for smaller states:
- Improved local governance through closer accountability between elected representatives and citizens.
- Greater economic efficiency with specialised administration.
- Better representation for marginalised communities.
- Arguments against smaller states:
- Increased inter-state river disputes, resource conflicts, and boundary disputes.
- Higher administrative costs (separate capital infrastructure, bureaucracy).
- Does not automatically guarantee better governance (small states have underperformed in some cases).
- Commissions on state reorganisation:
- Dhar Commission (1948): recommended linguistic criteria should not be the sole basis for states.
- JVP Committee (1949): Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Opposed linguistic states but acknowledged public sentiment.
- States Reorganisation Commission (Fazl Ali Commission, 1953-55): recommended linguistic states. Led to the States Reorganisation Act 1956.
- Since 1956: Nagaland (1963), Haryana (1966), Meghalaya (1972), Sikkim (1975), Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh (1987), Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand (2000), and Telangana (2014).
Static linkage: Polity (state reorganisation, Centre-state relations, federalism).
2. Organ donation policy: age cap removed
GS area: Health, Governance
India revised its organ transplant policy:
- Age cap removed: the previous policy limited organ recipients to under 65 years of age. The restriction has been removed, opening transplants to elderly patients.
- NOTTO: National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation. Maintains India's centralised database of donors and recipients. Issues a Unique ID for each transplant.
- One Nation One Policy: the revised framework standardises transplant protocols across states.
- India's transplant ranking: third globally in organ transplant numbers (after the US and China). But donation rates remain low.
- Donation rate: 52 per million population in 2022 (deceased donors). India's rate is far below Spain (46 per million, but high for Europe), the US (45 per million), and European averages. India's rate is typically expressed as donors per million, where India remains below 1 per million for deceased donation, while some figures include living donors.
- 18 per cent: of 2022 transplants in India used organs from deceased donors. The rest used living (related) donors.
Static linkage: Health (organ donation, NOTTO, health governance).
3. India's R&D deficit
GS area: Economy, Science and Technology
India's research and development investment gap is a recurring UPSC concern:
- Global rank: 16th in total R&D investment (below Israel, South Korea, Germany and many others).
- As a share of GDP: 0.7 per cent. The world average is 1.8 per cent. The US is above 3 per cent. China is at 2.4 per cent.
- Corporate investment: Indian software firms invest approximately 1 per cent of revenue in R&D, versus 8 per cent in Chinese equivalents. Only 24 Indian firms appear in the global top 2,500 R&D investors.
- Public sector dominance: unlike most innovative economies, India's R&D spending is dominated by government-funded laboratories (DRDO, CSIR, ICMR, ICAR). Private sector contribution is below 37 per cent, versus over 66 per cent in leading economies.
- Budget 2023-24 response: three AI Centres of Excellence, National Data Governance Policy, and increased allocation to DRDO.
- The measurement problem: tracking firms (NSTMIS relies on DSIR-recognised units) may undercount actual R&D through incomplete registration.
Static linkage: Economy (R&D, innovation, science policy).
4. Vibrant Villages Programme
GS area: Governance, Internal Security
The Vibrant Villages Programme was a Budget 2022-23 announcement for development of border villages:
- Coverage: 46 blocks in 4 states and 1 UT along India's northern land border: Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Ladakh.
- Target villages: 2,967 villages in 19 districts.
- Objective: reverse migration from border villages, improve infrastructure, and maintain a presence of civilian population near the international border.
- Strategic rationale: border villages serve as force multipliers for military and paramilitary by providing intelligence, shelter, and civilian legitimacy for territorial claims.
- Overlap with Aspirational Districts: some Vibrant Village blocks overlap with districts under the Aspirational Districts Programme.
Static linkage: Governance (border development, internal security, federalism).
5. Thwaites Glacier: the "Doomsday Glacier"
GS area: Environment
The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica received attention as a potential trigger for catastrophic sea-level rise:
- Location: West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Width: approximately 120 km. One of the largest glaciers on Earth.
- Contribution to sea-level rise: currently contributes approximately 4 per cent of global annual sea-level rise.
- Risk: the glacier's ice shelf (the floating portion at its seaward edge) is cracking from beneath. If the ice shelf collapses, it could destabilise the wider West Antarctic Ice Sheet, potentially adding 3 to 5 metres to global sea levels over centuries.
- "Doomsday Glacier" moniker: reflects the potentially irreversible and catastrophic nature of its collapse.
- Ocean warming: warmer circumpolar deep water is melting the glacier from below, accelerating the retreat of the grounding line (where the glacier meets the seafloor).
Static linkage: Environment (climate change, polar regions, sea-level rise).
6. Cadaver organ transplant: the Transplantation of Human Organs Act
GS area: Health, Governance
Additional context for the organ donation policy revision:
- Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act 1994 (THOTA): the primary law. Defines brain death as legal death for purposes of organ donation. Permits removal of organs from brain-dead patients with family consent.
- Brain death: irreversible cessation of all brain functions including the brain stem. Distinct from cardiac death (heart stops). Brain death requires certification by a team of doctors.
- THOTA amendment 2011: expanded the list of near relatives who can consent, and allowed swapping of organs between families in exchange donations (swap transplants).
Static linkage: Health (organ donation, THOTA, bioethics).
7. Briefly noted
- Lavani: Maharashtra's folk dance form. The word derives from "lavanya" meaning beauty. Features quick footwork and expressive gestures. Performed traditionally by women. Relevant to arts and culture questions.
- Mammatus clouds: pouch-like formations that hang beneath cumulonimbus clouds. Form due to turbulence in the lower part of the cloud. Precede or follow severe thunderstorms.
- Payment aggregators: entities that facilitate e-commerce payments. RBI has set a minimum net worth of Rs 15 crore for payment aggregators. Distinct from payment gateways (which only provide technology, not settle funds).
Practice MCQs