28 November 2023

• Governance: All 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in Uttarakhand since 12 November 2023 were rescued on 28 November, the 17th day of the operation.
• Polity: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Cabinet passed a resolution demanding Special Category Status for Bihar, to be sent to the Centre.
• Science: Rat-hole mining, the technique that finally extracted the trapped workers in Silkyara, was banned by the National Green Tribunal in 2014 but is used in informal coal and mineral extraction.
• International Relations: Argentina's new President Javier Milei announced plans to cancel its membership in the BRICS grouping, reversing the previous government's decision to join.
• Science: Generic drugs for four rare diseases, approved at a fraction of branded costs, were underway for distribution through Jan Aushadhi Kendras.

GS area: Governance (Disaster Management, Infrastructure)

All 41 workers trapped in the partially collapsed Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand, were rescued on 28 November 2023, the 17th day after a landslide triggered the collapse on 12 November.

• The tunnel: part of the Char Dham All-Weather Connectivity Project, connecting Silkyara and Barkot in Uttarkashi. A 4.5-km tunnel under construction. The collapse occurred at a section approximately 270 metres from the entrance.
• Rescue timeline: rubble was cleared through a 57-metre pipe drilled through debris. Augering machines brought in from multiple agencies repeatedly malfunctioned. Manual rat-hole mining through the final 10-12 metres broke through on 28 November.
• Rat-hole mining: a technique of manually digging narrow horizontal passages (like a rat's burrow) in coal or mineral seams. NGT banned it in Meghalaya's coal mines in 2014 due to safety hazards and environmental damage. In Silkyara, it was used as a manual drilling method to break through the remaining rock and rubble.
• Agencies involved: NDRF (National Disaster Response Force), SDRF (State Disaster Response Force), BRO (Border Roads Organisation), NHIDCL (National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation), ONGC (drilling equipment), THDC (project owner), and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
• Workers' origin: many were migrant labourers from Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Odisha and other states.

Static linkage: Governance (Disaster Management, Infrastructure, Internal Security).

GS area: Economy (Fiscal Federalism, State Finance)

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Cabinet passed a resolution demanding Special Category Status (SCS) for Bihar. SCS was historically granted to states with difficult terrain, low economic base or strategic international borders.

• What SCS provides: in the 12th Finance Commission era, SCS states received 30 per cent of centrally-sponsored scheme funds with 90 per cent Centre funding and 10 per cent state funding. Non-SCS states bear 40 per cent or more of scheme costs.
• Current SCS states: 11 states have SCS, including all eight North-Eastern states, Jammu and Kashmir (as Union Territory it no longer applies), Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. The Finance Commission no longer recommends SCS; the concept has been subsumed into the new formula-based devolution.
• 14th Finance Commission (2015): increased states' share in central taxes from 32 per cent to 42 per cent. This effectively reduced the case for SCS, as the formula was designed to compensate states with higher fiscal needs.
• Bihar's case: Bihar argues it has low per-capita income, a large population dependent on agriculture, and a historically poor fiscal position. Critics argue SCS was never meant for large, densely populated states.
• NDC abolition: the National Development Council, which used to decide SCS, was dissolved in 2014 when the Planning Commission was replaced by NITI Aayog.

Static linkage: Economy (Fiscal Federalism, Finance Commission, State Finance).

GS area: Environment (Mining, Governance)

Rat-hole mining is manual mining in which workers dig narrow horizontal tunnels through coal or mineral seams, often at great depth. The National Green Tribunal banned it in Meghalaya's coal mines in 2014 because the mines were unregulated, unsafe and caused acid mine drainage into rivers.

• How it works: narrow horizontal tunnels ("rat holes") are dug along a coal seam. A vertical shaft is sunk to the coal level. Workers enter and use hand tools to extract coal.
• Environmental damage: the coal seams in Meghalaya contain pyrite. When exposed to water and air, pyrite oxidises to form sulphuric acid, creating acid mine drainage that has severely polluted rivers in the Jaintia Hills district.
• NGT 2014 ban: the ban applied to unregulated rat-hole mining in Meghalaya. Coal is a state subject under Schedule VII, List II, but mining regulation under the Mines Act 1952 is a central subject.
• Silkyara application: the technique was adapted for rescue because conventional horizontal drilling machines failed to break through the final metres of rock. Local rat-hole miners from Uttarkashi completed the passage manually, and 41 workers crawled out through the pipe.

Static linkage: Environment (Mining, Governance), Disaster Management.

GS area: International Relations (Geopolitics, Economy)

Argentina's President-elect Javier Milei announced that Argentina would not join BRICS, reversing the previous government's decision. Argentina had been invited to join BRICS from January 2024 at the 2023 Johannesburg BRICS Summit.

• BRICS expansion: the 2023 Johannesburg BRICS Summit invited six new members: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE. From January 2024, BRICS became BRICS+ with five new joiners (Argentina declined).
• Milei's rationale: he is ideologically opposed to China and Brazil-led multilateral groupings. He has expressed a preference for alignment with the USA and Israel.
• Implications: Argentina's withdrawal reduces BRICS's economic weight. Argentina was included partly for its lithium and soya production.
• BRICS current members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa + Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE (from 2024).

Static linkage: International Relations (Multilateralism, BRICS, South America).

GS area: Economy (Infrastructure, Governance)

NHIDCL, the project owner for the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel, is a special purpose vehicle for highway development in North-Eastern India and other strategically sensitive border areas.

• Established: 2014. Under Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
• Mandate: construction, operation and maintenance of national highways and infrastructure in the North-East and border states, where the terrain makes standard NHAI operations impractical.
• Distinction from NHAI: NHAI (National Highways Authority of India, established 1988) handles the bulk of national highway development. NHIDCL has a focused mandate in strategic border and North-East areas.
• Char Dham Project: a 900-km all-weather road connectivity project covering four Himalayan shrines: Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. The Silkyara tunnel is part of this project.

Static linkage: Economy (Infrastructure), Indian Geography (Himalayas, North-East).

• Napoleon's Egypt Expedition (1798): bicentenary references circulated in academic journals. The expedition led to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone (which enabled decipherment of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics), laying the foundation of modern Egyptology. The expedition itself was a military failure.
• Green leaf volatiles in agriculture: researchers demonstrated that synthetic GLVs applied to crops can prime plant defences and attract beneficial insects, offering a potential alternative to certain classes of pesticides.