12 September 2023

• International: The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor was elaborated in detail after the G20 announcement, with attention to its railway and infrastructure components.
• Science: Project Samudrayaan's Matsya 6000 deep-sea submersible was highlighted alongside India's plans for polymetallic nodule extraction.
• Economy: Cotton production data showed a decline from a peak of 398 lakh bales in 2013-14 to 343 lakh bales in 2022-23, attributed to Pink Bollworm resistance to Bt cotton.
• History: The ancient Red Sea trade route linking India with Rome was discussed in relation to archaeology of the period.

GS area: International Relations (connectivity, economy)

Post-G20, the structural details of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) received detailed coverage. The corridor has two legs.

• Eastern leg: a rail link from Indian ports (Mumbai and Mundra under consideration) to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Container ships would cross to Gulf ports, then goods would transfer to rail.
• Northern leg: rail from Saudi Arabia and UAE through Jordan and Israel (pre-Gaza conflict, now complicated) to European ports.
• Infrastructure types: standard-gauge railway, undersea data cable, clean hydrogen pipeline and cross-border electricity cable.
• Trade efficiency gain: the corridor aims to cut India-Europe cargo transit time by 40 per cent compared to the Suez Canal route.
• Funding model: unlike China's BRI, IMEC is envisaged as a commercial and government partnership without concessional debt. The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), the G7's BRI alternative, will fund elements.
• Complication: the October 2023 Gaza conflict disrupted plans for the Israeli section. The corridor's viability came under question by end-2023.

Static linkage: international relations (connectivity, BRI alternatives), economic geography.

GS area: Economy (agriculture), Science and Technology

India's cotton production peaked at 398 lakh bales in 2013-14. By 2022-23, it had fallen to 343 lakh bales. The primary cause is the development of resistance to Bt toxins by the Pink Bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella).

• Bt cotton: cotton that expresses toxins from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). These toxins kill caterpillar pests, primarily bollworm species, without affecting non-target insects.
• Resistance mechanism: repeated exposure to Bt toxins led Pink Bollworm populations to evolve resistance, first observed around 2014 in Gujarat. Resistance has since spread to other cotton states.
• Mating disruption technology: PBKnot and SPLAT products use synthetic sex pheromones to confuse male moths, preventing mating without pesticides. These are the recommended alternatives.
• India's cotton sector: India is the world's largest cotton producer by area and the second largest by production. Cotton supports roughly six million farmers and millions more in the textile industry.
• Herbicide Tolerant Bt cotton: applications to approve HT-Bt cotton are pending before the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee. The technology would address a different pest problem (weed control) but remains controversial.

Static linkage: economy (agriculture, biotechnology), science.

GS area: Science and Technology (institutions, awards)

The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes for 2022 were announced, awarded to 12 scientists. No women were among the recipients, continuing a long-standing pattern of gender exclusion from India's top science prize.

• What the SSB Prize is: awarded annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). It recognises outstanding contributions in science and technology to scientists below 45 years of age.
• CSIR: the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, established in 1942, comprises 37 national laboratories. It is one of the world's largest publicly funded R&D organisations.
• Gender gap: only 19 women have received the SSB Prize since 1957, out of several hundred laureates. The structural barriers include fewer women in senior research positions and the age cap which disadvantages those who took career breaks.
• Nominations: the prize covers seven science disciplines and is considered the highest science recognition in India.

Static linkage: science and technology (institutions, CSIR), governance (gender in science).

GS area: Environment (climate finance)

The UN Global Stocktake's financial chapter noted that implementing pre-2030 Nationally Determined Contributions would require approximately $6 trillion in developing country resources and multilateral bank lending.

• NDC finance gap: the gap between what developing countries need to meet their NDC targets and what international climate finance currently provides is estimated at $3-4 trillion through 2030.
• Developed country pledge: the $100 billion per year climate finance pledge made by developed countries at Copenhagen (2009) was not met until 2022. Developing countries view this track record with scepticism.
• Loss and damage fund: a fund to compensate vulnerable nations for climate damages beyond adaptation was agreed at COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh (2022). Capitalisation remains minimal.
• Multilateral Development Bank reform: the G20 called for MDBs to expand their lending capacity by $200 billion, partly by changing how they calculate risk.

Static linkage: environment (climate finance, NDC, UNFCCC), international organisations.

GS area: Governance (education technology)

State-level Vidya Samiksha Kendras (VSKs) function as data hubs that aggregate school performance data and enable real-time analytics for education administrators.

• What VSKs do: collect data on teacher attendance, student enrolment, learning outcomes, infrastructure and scheme implementation at the district and school level.
• Technology platform: runs on C-Qube, an open-source data pipeline developed by the Ministry of Education for education analytics.
• API integration plan: the long-term plan is for VSKs to automatically collect data from other government systems (UDISE+, Poshan Tracker) through API calls, reducing manual reporting.
• NEP 2020 linkage: the National Education Policy 2020 calls for evidence-based school improvement. VSKs are the data backbone for this.

Static linkage: governance (education technology, NEP 2020), economy (data systems).

• Central Empowered Committee: a new permanent body replaced an ad hoc expert panel (2002-2023) that had advised courts on forest and environmental cases. The new CEC chairs require 25 or more years of experience in forestry or environment. Maximum tenure is three years.
• Tourism Goa Roadmap: the G20 Tourism Ministers' Meeting in Goa produced a roadmap with five priorities (Green Tourism, Digitalisation, Skills, MSMEs, Destination Management) that was formally endorsed by G20 Leaders in New Delhi.
• Moodbidri, Karnataka: a site in Dakshina Kannada district yielded terracotta figurines dated to 800-700 BCE, associated with the Bhoota cult tradition of coastal Karnataka.