30 July 2023

• Health: The National Health Authority launched 100 ABDM Microsites to accelerate Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission enrolment.
• Environment: The G20 Environment Ministers met in Chennai, with the RECEIC (circular economy coalition) formally adopted and land degradation targets discussed.
• Agriculture: PM Modi distributed the 14th instalment of PM-KISAN (2,000 rupees per farmer) from Rajasthan, reaching approximately 8.5 crore beneficiaries.
• Energy: Urea Gold, the new sulphur-coated urea, was commercially launched at the Rajasthan event; one Urea Gold bag replaces approximately 1.33 bags of conventional urea.
• Infrastructure: The Hirasar Greenfield Airport in Rajkot, Gujarat was inaugurated, the first new airport in India built as a greenfield facility under the UDAN scheme.

GS area: Governance, Health, Science and Technology

The National Health Authority (NHA) launched 100 ABDM Microsites to drive enrolment in the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission in underserved areas.

• Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM): Launched in September 2021, it creates a digital health ecosystem for India. Citizens receive an ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) number, a unique 14-digit health identifier. Health records can be linked and shared digitally across facilities.
• ABHA number: Enables patients to maintain a longitudinal health record that travels with them across hospitals, both public and private. Consent-based sharing.
• What a Microsite is: A cluster of healthcare facilities, diagnostic labs, pharmacies, and insurance desks concentrated in a defined geography, all digitally connected and actively enrolling beneficiaries in ABDM. Microsites are used to create density of adoption in one area rather than scattered enrolments.
• Progress by 2023: Over 400 million ABHA numbers created by mid-2023, but active digital linking of health records lagged behind enrolment numbers.

Static linkage: Digital India, health governance, Ayushman Bharat.

GS area: Environment, International Relations

G20 Environment Ministers met in Chennai on July 28-29, 2023. It was one of the last senior ministerials before the Leaders' Summit in September 2023.

• Key outcome: Ministers reached consensus on the Voluntary Framework for Global Mobilisation against Land Degradation, aligning G20 with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification targets.
• RECEIC (again): The formal launch of the Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Industry Coalition was part of the ministerial outcome documents.
• Plastic pollution: Ministers discussed the global treaty on plastic pollution currently under negotiation (Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, INC process). G20 countries account for the majority of global plastic production and consumption.
• Biodiversity finance: Discussion of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's financing targets (30x30 target: protecting 30 per cent of land and ocean by 2030).
• India's environment diplomacy: India has positioned itself as a bridge between the G7 (developed country) and G77 (developing country) positions on climate finance and loss and damage, consistent with its Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) campaign.

Static linkage: G20, biodiversity, climate diplomacy.

GS area: Economy, Agriculture, Government schemes

PM Modi distributed the 14th instalment of PM-KISAN from a programme in Sikar, Rajasthan.

• PM-KISAN overview: Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi was launched in February 2019. Provides 6,000 rupees per year to farmer families owning cultivable land, in three equal instalments of 2,000 rupees each.
• Coverage: Approximately 8.5 crore (85 million) farmer families received the 14th instalment. Total outlay over six years has exceeded 2.5 lakh crore rupees.
• Direct Benefit Transfer: PM-KISAN uses DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) to credit the amount directly to the bank account linked to the farmer's Aadhaar number.
• Exclusions: Institutional landholders; families with members who have held constitutional positions, retired government employees earning above 10,000 rupees per month, income-tax payers, and professionals (doctors, lawyers, engineers).
• KCC (Kisan Credit Card) linkage: PM-KISAN beneficiaries are eligible for Kisan Credit Cards at preferential interest rates (4 per cent with interest subvention).

Static linkage: Agriculture, government schemes, DBT.

GS area: Economy, Infrastructure, Governance

The Hirasar Greenfield Airport near Rajkot in Gujarat was inaugurated. It is one of the first airports developed as a greenfield facility under the UDAN scheme framework.

• Hirasar location: The new airport is located at Hirasar near Rajkot in Saurashtra, Gujarat. It replaces the older Rajkot Airport (which had runway constraints).
• UDAN scheme: Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik, a regional connectivity scheme launched in 2017. Provides viability gap funding to airlines to fly on otherwise unviable routes, connecting tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
• Greenfield airports policy: India's Greenfield Airports Policy 2008 defines criteria for approving new airports. Greenfield airports require separate environmental and aviation clearances from the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• India's airport expansion: India had 74 operational airports in 2014; the number has grown to approximately 150 by mid-2023, with plans to reach 220 by 2025.

Static linkage: Infrastructure, transport, UDAN.

GS area: Agriculture, Science and Technology, Economy

Urea Gold, a sulphur-coated slow-release urea, was officially launched at scale after successful trials.

• What Urea Gold is: A modified urea in which each granule is coated with sulphur. The coating slows the release of nitrogen, reducing losses due to leaching and volatilisation.
• Efficiency gain: One 45-kg bag of Urea Gold delivers nitrogen equivalent to approximately 60 kg of conventional urea, a saving of approximately 33 per cent by weight.
• Sulphur deficiency: A majority of Indian soils are sulphur-deficient, particularly in intensive cultivation zones of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Urea Gold addresses both nitrogen requirements and sulphur deficiency simultaneously.
• Soil health context: The Soil Health Card scheme, launched 2015, was designed to give farmers personalised fertiliser recommendations. Urea Gold is one of several innovations targeting more efficient nutrient use.
• Production: Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) was among the first to produce Urea Gold domestically.

Static linkage: Agriculture, fertiliser policy, soil health.

GS area: Economy, Science and Technology

SemiconIndia 2023, the Government of India's flagship semiconductor investment summit, was held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

• India Semiconductor Mission (ISM): Established under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to attract semiconductor fab, OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Testing), and design investments to India.
• 10 billion dollar incentive package: India's semiconductor incentive programme provides up to 50 per cent of project cost as a financial support for approved semiconductor fabs, OSAT facilities, and compound semiconductor plants.
• Companies approached: Micron Technology announced an OSAT facility in Sanand, Gujarat, backed by central and state government incentives. Foxconn (later withdrawn partnership) and Vedanta also announced plans.
• India's position: India has no operating silicon wafer fab. The ISM aims to change this by 2026. India does have significant semiconductor design strengths: approximately 20 per cent of the world's chip design engineers are Indian.

Static linkage: Technology, Make in India, electronics manufacturing.

• International Tiger Day (July 29): Observed while results of the All India Tiger Estimation 2022 were announced the next day (July 29, 2023 by PM Modi). The count showed 3,682 tigers, global highest.
• National Health Authority: The NHA is the apex body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for implementing Ayushman Bharat. It also implements PM-JAY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana), the health insurance component.
• India's UDAN routes: Of 479 routes awarded under UDAN 1 through 4, 225 had ceased operations as of July 2023, and 128 had stopped before completing the mandatory three-year operating period.
• G20 LiFE initiative: Launched by PM Modi at COP26 in Glasgow (2021), LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) is India's campaign promoting sustainable consumption habits as an individual and societal responsibility.