15 October 2023

• Global Handwashing Day: observed October 15 with UNICEF and WHO highlighting that 3 billion people lack basic handwashing facilities at home.
• Israel-Gaza: Israeli airstrikes and preparations for a ground offensive dominated international news through the weekend.
• India's World Cup momentum: India beat Pakistan on October 14 in Ahmedabad; the win confirmed India as tournament favourites going into the group stage.
• APAAR Card rollout: the Ministry of Education directed states to begin issuing APAAR (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry) student identity cards under NEP 2020.

GS area: Health, Governance, Environment

Global Handwashing Day is observed annually on October 15. It was established by the UN General Assembly in 2008.

• 2023 theme: "Clean Hands are Within Reach."
• Global sanitation gap: about 3 billion people (UNICEF estimate) lack basic handwashing facilities at home. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have the largest gaps.
• India's Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase II: targets all villages for complete sanitation including handwashing infrastructure. ODF (Open Defecation Free) Plus status requires functional household toilets and handwashing stations.
• Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM): aims to provide tap water connection to every rural household by 2024. A functioning tap is also a handwashing asset. Coverage as of 2023: over 14 crore households (about 75 per cent of rural households) have tap connections.
• WASH framework: Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. The SDG 6 target is to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030.
• School sanitation: under Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan, all government schools were required to have separate toilets for boys and girls. The programme is linked to the mid-day meal scheme.
• Hand hygiene and disease: handwashing with soap reduces diarrhoeal diseases by about 40 per cent and respiratory infections by about 20 per cent.

Static linkage: Health, governance, environment.

GS area: Governance, Education

The Ministry of Education directed states to initiate issuance of APAAR (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry) cards to students.

• Full form: Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry.
• What it is: a 12-digit unique student ID under the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) system.
• What it stores: academic qualifications, credit scores, certificates, and co-curricular records from pre-primary through higher education.
• Platform: the EduLocker ecosystem. Certificates are verifiable and digitally stored.
• Registration: via mobile number, Aadhaar, or a password. Parental consent is required for students below 18.
• NEP 2020 link: the ABC system is a pillar of the National Education Policy 2020. It allows students to accumulate academic credits over time, take breaks, and return to complete degrees, making education more flexible.
• Privacy concern: storing Aadhaar-linked academic records centrally raises data privacy questions, particularly as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 is being implemented.

Static linkage: Governance, education.

GS area: International Relations, Disaster Management

India's position on the Israel-Hamas conflict evolved through October 15 as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepened.

• India's dual stance: India condemned the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack; also called for protection of civilian lives and adherence to international humanitarian law.
• International Humanitarian Law (IHL): also called the laws of war. The Geneva Conventions (1949) and their Additional Protocols govern armed conflict. Principles: distinction (between combatants and civilians); proportionality; precaution.
• Principle of distinction: belligerents must distinguish between military targets and civilians. Attacks on civilian infrastructure (hospitals, water supply) are prohibited.
• India's previous position on Palestine: India recognised Palestine in 1988. India is a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and has historically supported Palestinian statehood through a two-state solution.
• UNRWA: the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (established 1949). Provides food aid, education, and healthcare to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

Static linkage: International relations, India's foreign policy.

GS area: Science and Technology

Prime Minister Modi announced India's space exploration targets to ISRO scientists in October 2023.

• 2035 target: establishment of the Bharatiya Antariksha Station (Indian Space Station). ISRO has begun designing a modular station architecture.
• 2040 target: landing an Indian astronaut on the Moon.
• Supporting missions: a series of Chandrayaan missions leading up to a crewed lunar mission; Shukrayaan (Venus orbiter) mission; a Mars landing mission.
• Gaganyaan: India's human spaceflight programme. Aiming for a crewed orbital mission by 2025. Test Vehicle flights were conducted in 2023.
• Private sector: the Indian space sector was opened to private players through IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre), established 2020. Agnikul Cosmos and Skyroot Aerospace are notable private launch vehicle startups.
• New Space India Limited (NSIL): the commercial arm of ISRO for transferring space technologies to industry.

Static linkage: Science and technology.

GS area: Defence, Internal Security

The Territorial Army announced an expansion with new specialist categories.

• Established: 1949.
• Nature: a voluntary part-time military organisation that supplements the regular Army. Officers from civil life can receive commissions in the TA.
• Traditional functions: flood relief, anti-poaching, plantation drives, petroleum supply, oil well fire-fighting.
• New categories added in 2023: Chinese language interpreters (for border personnel meetings along the LAC); cybersecurity experts.
• Converting logistics units: several logistics and transport units of the regular Army are being converted into Territorial Army units to reduce the regular Army's logistical tail.
• Agnipath scheme context: the Agnipath military recruitment scheme (2022) allows four-year short-service service for Agniveers; the Territorial Army offers a potential pathway for some Agniveers after discharge.

Static linkage: Defence.

GS area: International Relations, Defence

The CTBT came back into focus in October 2023 discussions.

• CTBT: Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1996. Prohibits all nuclear explosions, civilian or military.
• Status: not yet in force. Requires ratification by 44 specific countries listed in Annex II (those with nuclear power or research reactors in 1996). Eight of these have not ratified: China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and the United States.
• India's position: India has not signed the CTBT. India argues the treaty does not address nuclear disarmament comprehensively and discriminates between nuclear weapon states and others.
• Precedent: the Limited Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (1963) prohibited tests in the atmosphere, space, and underwater; underground tests were still allowed.
• Post-1996 tests: India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in May 1998 (Pokhran II and Chagai). North Korea conducted six nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017.

Static linkage: International relations, defence.

• Natural rubber (Rubber Board): India's Rubber Board announced targets to expand cultivation in northeast India under the INROAD project, aiming to reduce dependence on Kerala and diversify supply geography.
• Watermeal (ESA experiment): results from the European Space Agency's hypergravity experiment on Wolffia arrhiza (world's smallest flowering plant) were published, showing the plant can survive up to 20x Earth gravity, relevant for future space agriculture research.