21 September 2023

• Polity: Rajya Sabha passed the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women's Reservation Bill) unanimously with 214 votes in favour and zero against.
• Azerbaijan: Military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh resumed. Azerbaijan launched military operations; the Armenian population of the enclave began mass exodus.
• Health: WHO report on hypertension: approximately 46 per cent of adults with hypertension are unaware of their condition globally.
• Governance: Old Pension Scheme revival cautioned by RBI as fiscally unsustainable for states.

GS area: Polity (Parliament, constitutional amendment)

The Rajya Sabha passed the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, 2023 on 21 September with 214 votes in favour and zero against. President Droupadi Murmu gave assent on 29 September 2023.

• Rajya Sabha majority: the special majority for constitutional amendments in the Rajya Sabha is the same as Lok Sabha: more than half total membership and two-thirds of present and voting. With 214-0, both conditions were met easily.
• What follows passage: the Bill, now law, inserts Articles 330A and 332A. The reservation cannot be operationalised until after the next census and delimitation exercise.
• Delimitation Commission: an independent body constituted under the Delimitation Act. Its orders are final and cannot be challenged in court. The previous delimitation was based on the 2001 Census; the next will be based on the census following the 2023 Act.
• 15-year duration: the reservation will remain for 15 years from its commencement, after which Parliament may extend it by law.
• Rotation of reserved seats: reserved constituencies will be rotated after each delimitation exercise, so no constituency is permanently reserved.

Static linkage: polity (Parliament, constitutional amendment, delimitation).

GS area: International Relations (Caucasus, conflict)

Azerbaijan launched military operations on 19-20 September 2023 in Nagorno-Karabakh, breaking the November 2020 ceasefire and ending the Armenian enclave's self-governance.

• Background: Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but had a majority ethnic Armenian population and was administered by the Republic of Artsakh since the 1994 ceasefire.
• 2020 war: Azerbaijan, with Turkish military support, defeated Armenian forces and regained significant territory in a 44-day war. Russia brokered the ceasefire and deployed peacekeepers.
• 2023 offensive: Azerbaijan resumed military operations citing alleged Armenian violations. Within 24 hours, the self-declared Artsakh Republic agreed to surrender. The ethnic Armenian government agreed to dissolve.
• Ethnic exodus: within days of the surrender, nearly all of Nagorno-Karabakh's roughly 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled to Armenia, creating a humanitarian crisis.
• Geopolitical context: Russia's reduced capacity due to the Ukraine war weakened its role as a security guarantor for Armenia. Turkey backed Azerbaijan. India sold arms to Armenia.

Static linkage: international relations (Caucasus, ethnic conflict, geopolitics), geography (Transcaucasia).

GS area: Health, Society

The World Health Organisation released its first global report on hypertension. The data on awareness and treatment gaps is prelims-relevant.

• Global burden: 1.28 billion adults aged 30-79 worldwide have hypertension. Of these, 46 per cent are unaware of their condition.
• Treatment gap: only 21 per cent of adults with hypertension have it under control.
• India's hypertension burden: India has approximately 200 million hypertensives. It is a leading risk factor for stroke, heart attack and kidney disease.
• High-income versus low-income: control rates are much higher in high-income countries (32 per cent) versus low- and middle-income countries (under 20 per cent). India falls in the LMIC category.
• Government response: India's Hypertension Control Initiative, a programme under the National Health Mission, focuses on screening, treatment and follow-up at primary health centres.
• Cardiovascular disease burden: cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in India, accounting for about 28 per cent of all deaths.

Static linkage: health (non-communicable diseases, public health), governance (NHM).

GS area: Health, Environment, Governance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of microorganisms to resist the effects of drugs, rendering standard treatments ineffective.

• Scale: AMR directly caused 1.27 million deaths globally in 2019, according to a Lancet study. It is projected to cause 10 million annual deaths by 2050.
• One Health approach: addresses AMR across human health, animal health and environmental health simultaneously, recognising that antibiotic use in agriculture drives resistance in human pathogens.
• ESKAPE pathogens: six antibiotic-resistant bacteria most responsible for hospital infections: Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter species.
• India's problem: India is one of the highest consumers of antibiotics globally due to over-the-counter availability without prescription. The WHO has called for prescription requirements.
• India's action plan: the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (2017-2021) and subsequent strategies address AMR through a One Health lens.

Static linkage: health (antimicrobial resistance, One Health), governance.

GS area: Environment (resources), Economy (agriculture)

Phosphorus is the second most important agricultural input after nitrogen. India imports almost all of its phosphate rock and processed phosphorus fertilisers.

• Source concentration: Morocco holds approximately 70 per cent of world phosphate rock reserves. China, Egypt and Algeria are other significant holders.
• Non-substitutable: unlike nitrogen (which can be produced by the Haber-Bosch process from atmospheric nitrogen), there is no substitute for phosphorus in food production. Depleted soils cannot grow adequate crops.
• Circular approach: phosphorus recovery from sewage (where it concentrates) and food waste is the long-term solution.
• Import dependency: India imports phosphate rock from Morocco, Saudi Arabia and other sources to manufacture diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser. Import disruptions would directly affect agricultural production.
• Fertiliser subsidy: India heavily subsidises phosphatic fertilisers. The subsidy budget runs into tens of thousands of crore rupees annually.

Static linkage: economy (agriculture, fertilisers), environment (resource security).

GS area: Polity (inter-state water disputes), Geography

The Cauvery Water Management Authority was under court scrutiny for its handling of the 2023 kharif season water release dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

• Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal: set up under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956. Its 2007 final award allocated: Tamil Nadu 419 TMC (net), Karnataka 270 TMC (net), Kerala 30 TMC and Puducherry 7 TMC per year. The Supreme Court modified these in 2018.
• CWMA: established in 2018 per Supreme Court direction to implement the award. Both states have disputed the authority's decisions repeatedly.
• Kharif 2023: Karnataka argued poor monsoon meant it could not meet Tamil Nadu's entitlement. Tamil Nadu argued shortage must be shared proportionately. The Supreme Court directed Karnataka to release water.
• Political sensitivity: the Cauvery dispute has electoral consequences in both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Political leaders are reluctant to implement court orders that appear to disadvantage their states.

Static linkage: polity (inter-state water disputes, CWMA), geography (rivers, Cauvery basin).

• Paryushan 2023: a major Jain festival of forgiveness, fasting and spiritual reflection. Paryushan runs for eight days (Shvetambara tradition) and ten days (Digambara tradition, called Dashalakshana). Observers seek forgiveness from all living beings.
• Antimicrobial resistance and agriculture: approximately 73 per cent of antimicrobials globally are used in animal agriculture, making livestock a major AMR driver. This is why the One Health approach integrates veterinary and human medicine.
• National Higher Education Qualifications Framework: introduced to standardise degree levels and allow credit portability across institutions and countries. Implementation gaps at state universities were flagged.