15 September 2023

• Governance: Civil Registration System reform: from 1 October 2023, all births and deaths are to be digitally registered on the Centre's portal under the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023.
• Schemes: PM-DAKSH Yojana training cycles expanded. Skill India Digital launched as a national DPI for skilling.
• International: India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council: Saudi Arabia hosts 2.6 million Indians with India importing approximately 18 per cent of its crude from Riyadh.
• Economy: NABARD partnership with UNDP on DiCRA (Data in Climate Resilient Agriculture) to provide geospatial data to smallholder farmers.

GS area: Governance (civil registration, digitisation)

The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023 mandated that all births and deaths in India be registered digitally on a central portal operated by the Registrar General of India, effective 1 October 2023.

• Earlier framework: the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 required local bodies to maintain paper registers. There was no national digital database.
• What changes: births and deaths must be registered on the Centre's Civil Registration System (CRS) portal. A digital birth certificate will serve as a single authoritative document for educational admissions, driving licences, passports and voter enrolment.
• Registrar General of India: the RGI operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs and is responsible for the census and civil registration in India.
• State-Centre dynamic: civil registration was a state responsibility. The amendment centralises the database while retaining state registration infrastructure.
• Data use: the national birth and death database will link to electoral rolls. Live births will feed into voter roll projections.

Static linkage: governance (civil registration, digitisation), polity (data systems).

GS area: Governance (education, skill development)

Skill India Digital was launched as a Digital Public Infrastructure for skilling, education, employment and entrepreneurship.

• Features: AI-based candidate authentication, digital verifiable credentials (blockchain-backed certificates), a WhatsApp chatbot for course discovery and a demand aggregation marketplace matching learners to employers.
• Ministry: Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
• PMKVY linkage: Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana provides government-funded skill training. Skill India Digital is the platform through which PMKVY and other schemes are accessed digitally.
• Scale target: 300 million skilled workers by 2030.
• Digital credential significance: paper certificates for vocational training are easily forged. Digital verifiable credentials with blockchain backing allow instant verification by employers.

Static linkage: governance (skill development), economy (human capital).

GS area: Economy (agriculture), Environment (climate adaptation)

NABARD and UNDP launched the Data in Climate Resilient Agriculture (DiCRA) initiative, an open-source geospatial dataset platform for smallholder farmers.

• What DiCRA provides: data layers on soil moisture, drought risk, flood vulnerability, temperature trends and crop suitability, overlaid on village-level maps.
• NABARD: the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development provides agricultural credit and rural development finance. It is India's apex rural credit institution.
• Smallholder context: approximately 85 per cent of India's agricultural holdings are smaller than 2 hectares. Smallholders lack access to precision agriculture tools that large farms use.
• Open-source approach: DiCRA data is freely accessible. District agricultural officers, NGOs and insurance companies can use it to design interventions.
• Climate-agriculture link: erratic monsoon, heat stress and shifting pest pressure are already reducing yields. DiCRA helps farmers make informed decisions on crop choice and timing.

Static linkage: economy (agriculture, NABARD), environment (climate adaptation).

GS area: International Relations (India-Saudi Arabia)

The India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council's first meeting produced a framework for expanding bilateral relations across trade, energy, technology and defence.

• Crude oil imports: Saudi Arabia supplies approximately 18 per cent of India's crude oil imports, making it the second-largest supplier after Russia (post-2022 surge). Iraq is also a major supplier.
• Expatriate remittances: 2.6 million Indians in Saudi Arabia send substantial remittances. India's overall remittances were approximately $111 billion in 2022.
• Bilateral trade: India-Saudi trade is approximately $52 billion with a significant deficit on the Indian side due to oil.
• Saudi Vision 2030: Saudi Arabia's economic diversification plan under Crown Prince MBS. It is creating opportunities for Indian companies in infrastructure, logistics and services.
• India for Saudi: India exports pharmaceuticals, textiles, machinery and food products to Saudi Arabia.

Static linkage: international relations (India-Saudi Arabia), economy (energy, diaspora remittances).

GS area: Economy (corporate governance), International Relations (G20)

The G20-OECD Principles of Corporate Governance were revised and endorsed by G20 Leaders at New Delhi. These are the global benchmark for corporate governance standards.

• What the principles cover: a six-chapter framework addressing shareholder rights, institutional investor roles, information disclosure and transparency, board responsibilities and corporate sustainability.
• New addition: sustainability reporting. The 2023 revision mandates that the principles address ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) disclosures more prominently.
• India's SEBI: the Securities and Exchange Board of India aligns Indian corporate governance rules with the OECD principles. SEBI mandates Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reports for the top 1,000 listed companies.
• Significance: in a post-COVID world with rising state-owned enterprise power and short-termism, updated global governance standards affect investment confidence.

Static linkage: economy (corporate governance, SEBI), international organisations (G20, OECD).

• Mercury: a solar system geography note. Mercury completes one orbit around the Sun in 88 Earth days. Its surface temperature ranges from minus 180 degrees Celsius on the night side to 430 degrees Celsius on the day side, due to lack of atmosphere.
• PMUY third phase (2023-26): the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, which provides free LPG connections to Below Poverty Line households, was extended for the period 2023-26 with an additional 75 lakh connections. The scheme was originally launched in 2016.
• India-Saudi West Coast Refinery: the proposed joint refinery project in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra with Saudi Aramco remained stalled due to land acquisition challenges. Completion of the refinery would reduce India's crude-to-fuel processing costs.