2 November 2023

• International Relations: Maldives president-elect Mohamed Muizzu sought removal of Indian military personnel, signalling a tilt away from India's traditional influence.
• Environment: A UN report showed 27 of 31 Indian aquifers are being depleted faster than they recharge, with India accounting for a quarter of global groundwater withdrawal.
• Connectivity: India inaugurated the 12-km Agartala-Akhaura railway link with Bangladesh.
• Science: IIT Bombay researchers developed carbon nanoflorets capable of converting sunlight into thermal energy at a rate that vaporises five litres of water per hour from one square metre.
• Health: An ICMR analysis showed India was unlikely to meet the WHO target of a 25 per cent reduction in NCD mortality by 2025.

GS area: International Relations

Mohamed Muizzu won the Maldives presidential election running partly on an "India Out" campaign. He has sought the removal of the 75 Indian military personnel stationed in the archipelago.

• India's engagement: India committed over one billion dollars to Maldives socio-economic development in recent years. India is the closest large neighbour and provides coast guard assistance and medical evacuation.
• Colombo Security Conclave: a regional maritime security grouping comprising India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Mauritius. Muizzu's stance complicates India's position in this forum.
• China angle: China pursues a "String of Pearls" strategy of port influence in the Indian Ocean. A weakened Indian presence in Maldives is a gain for that strategy.
• 2018 precedent: Maldives cancelled a 511 million dollar contract with GMR for Ibrahim Nasir International Airport. Investor confidence and contract sanctity have been issues before.
• Jihadist concern: radicalisation among some Maldivian nationals is a long-standing security concern for both India and the island's own government.

The lesson for India's neighbourhood policy is that economic engagement and security partnerships do not automatically translate into political alignment when domestic politics shifts.

Static linkage: India's neighbourhood policy (International Relations).

GS area: Environment (Water Resources)

A UN report on groundwater extraction released this week showed that 27 of India's 31 major aquifer systems are being depleted faster than they recharge. India accounts for about one-quarter of all global groundwater withdrawal.

• 87 per cent for irrigation: nearly all groundwater use in India goes to agriculture. Flood irrigation of paddy, sugarcane and wheat drives extraction.
• Overexploited units: 14 per cent of groundwater assessment units in India are classified as overexploited and 4 per cent as critical. Punjab has 78 per cent of its wells in the overexploited category.
• Central Ground Water Authority: established 1986 under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. It regulates extraction through no-objection certificates in over-exploited areas.
• Atal Bhujal Yojana (2019): a World Bank-assisted scheme focused on community-led groundwater management in seven water-stressed states. It uses data from 8,353 monitoring stations.
• Jal Shakti Abhiyan: covers 256 water-stressed districts for water conservation campaigns and infrastructure creation.
• Article 21 angle: the Supreme Court has read the right to clean water into the right to life under Article 21.

Static linkage: Water resources (Environment, Indian Geography).

GS area: International Relations (Infrastructure Connectivity)

India inaugurated the 12-km Agartala-Akhaura railway link, entirely funded by India through the Ministry of Development of North East Region and the Ministry of External Affairs. The link reduces travel time between Agartala and Kolkata from 31 hours to 10 hours by cutting the distance through Bangladesh.

• Strategic value: gives Tripura and other northeastern states rail access that bypasses the narrow Siliguri corridor.
• Other India-Bangladesh rail connections: Bandhan Express (Kolkata to Khulna, since 2017), Maitree Express (Kolkata to Dhaka Cantonment, since 2008), Mitali Express (Siliguri-Dhaka, announced 2021).
• Act East policy: this link is a concrete output of India's Act East policy connecting the northeast with Southeast Asia through Bangladesh.

Static linkage: India-Bangladesh relations (International Relations), North East India (Indian Geography).

GS area: Science and Technology

Researchers at IIT Bombay developed carbon nanoflorets that absorb infrared, visible and ultraviolet radiation and convert sunlight into thermal energy. One square metre of the coating can vaporise five litres of water per hour, outperforming commercial solar stills.

• Applications: sustainable water heating, medical sterilisation, construction heating.
• Why it matters: solar stills currently used for desalination are inefficient in diffuse light. Nanoflorets work across the full solar spectrum.

Static linkage: Science and Technology (solar energy, materials science).

GS area: Health (Social Issues)

An ICMR analysis showed India was unlikely to meet the WHO target of reducing premature NCD mortality by 25 per cent between 2010 and 2025. NCDs accounted for 22 per cent of premature deaths in 2019. The four major NCDs are cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. The four risk factors are tobacco, alcohol, physical inactivity and unhealthy diets.

• NCD Alliance framework: prevention programmes focus on reducing the four behavioural risk factors through policy (taxes, bans, labelling) and services.
• India's situation: tobacco control has improved with the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act and graphical warnings. But processed food regulation lags.

Static linkage: Public health (Society, Government schemes).

GS area: International Relations (Technology)

India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on semiconductor supply chains. The partnership aligns with the India-Japan Digital Partnership and encourages both government-to-government and business-to-business cooperation.

• Why semiconductors: global supply chain disruptions during COVID-19 exposed the risk of concentration in Taiwan, South Korea and China.
• India's chip goals: India approved a 76,000 crore rupee incentive scheme in February 2023 for semiconductor fabrication. The first Tata-PSMC facility in Gujarat is the anchor project.

Static linkage: India-Japan relations (International Relations), Science and Technology.

• BIS charging standard IS 17017: the Bureau of Indian Standards approved an indigenous AC/DC combined charging connector standard for light electric vehicles. It is the world's first such standard for two-wheelers, three-wheelers and microcars, enabling interoperable charging networks.
• Venus plate tectonics: a study using atmospheric data and computer modelling suggests Venus may have had Earth-like plate tectonics between 4.5 and 3.5 billion years ago, implying possible early microbial life conditions.