19 December 2023

• Arctic: NOAA's Arctic Report Card 2023 confirmed that the Arctic is warming four times faster than the global average. The 2023 Arctic summer was the warmest on record.
• Kashi Tamil Sangamam: PM Modi inaugurated the second edition in Varanasi, celebrating the cultural bridge between Kashi and Tamil Nadu.
• Para Games: The inaugural Khelo India Para Games closed in Delhi with Haryana topping the medals table with 40 gold medals.
• COVID variant: JN.1 spread to additional states as the health ministry issued precautionary advisories.

GS area: Environment, Geography

NOAA's annual Arctic Report Card 2023 presented updated data on polar warming:

• Warming rate: The Arctic is warming approximately four times faster than the global average. The earlier consensus was "twice as fast"; recent measurements have pushed the estimate to four times.
• 2023 summer: The warmest Arctic summer on record since 1900.
• Salmon collapse: Chinook salmon populations were 81 per cent below the 30-year mean. Chum salmon were 92 per cent below average. These collapses are attributed to warming ocean temperatures.
• Canada wildfires: Canada's 2023 wildfire season burned over 10 million acres in the Northwest Territories, partly linked to Arctic warming extending fire-prone conditions.
• Greenland ice sheet: Lost approximately 350 trillion pounds of mass between August 2022 and September 2023.
• India's Arctic engagement: India signed the Svalbard Treaty in February 1920. India began an Arctic research programme in 2007 and established the Himadri research station at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard.

Static linkage: Climate change, physical geography, polar regions, India's science diplomacy.

GS area: Science and Technology, International Relations

India's Arctic scientific engagement centres on Ny-Ålesund in the Svalbard archipelago:

• Svalbard Treaty (1920): Signed at Spitsbergen. India signed in February 1920. The treaty gives signatory nations rights to conduct scientific research and certain commercial activities on Svalbard while Norway has sovereignty.
• Himadri station: Established at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, in 2008. India's permanent Arctic research facility.
• Research focus: Glaciology, atmosphere chemistry, climate patterns, and polar biodiversity.
• First winter expedition: India launched its first year-round Arctic winter expedition, which is more scientifically challenging than summer-only programmes.
• National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR): Based in Goa, manages India's polar programmes including both Arctic and Antarctic operations.

Static linkage: India's science diplomacy, international treaties, polar geography.

GS area: Sports, Governance

The inaugural edition of the Khelo India Para Games closed in Delhi:

• Results: Haryana topped the medals table with 105 medals including 40 gold.
• Runners-up: Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• Khelo India programme: Launched in 2017, it covers multiple sub-competitions including Khelo India Youth Games, Khelo India University Games, Khelo India Winter Games, and now the Khelo India Para Games.
• Administration: Sports Authority of India under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
• Para sports: Broadly covers sports for athletes with physical, visual, hearing, and intellectual impairments.

Static linkage: Sports governance, disability rights, social inclusion.

GS area: Health, International Relations

WHO added Noma (cancrum oris) to its list of neglected tropical diseases:

• Noma: A gangrenous disease that begins as a mouth ulcer in malnourished children aged 2 to 6, progressing to severe facial disfigurement if untreated.
• Mortality: About 90 per cent without treatment.
• Cause: Linked to poverty, malnutrition, poor oral hygiene, and compromised immune systems. Fusobacterium necrophorum is the principal bacterium involved.
• Affected region: Sub-Saharan Africa primarily, though cases occur in parts of South and Southeast Asia.
• Why WHO listing matters: Inclusion in the neglected tropical diseases list unlocks coordinated research, funding, and drug donation programmes that would otherwise not be available.

Static linkage: Global health, WHO, poverty and disease.

GS area: Health

The JN.1 subvariant of Omicron continued to spread beyond Kerala:

• Spread: By 19 December, cases had been reported in additional states including Karnataka and Maharashtra.
• WHO tracking: WHO classified JN.1 as a variant of interest globally for its faster spread and immune evasion characteristics.
• Symptoms: Mild for most; fever, runny nose, sore throat, headache, mild gastrointestinal distress.
• India's surveillance system: INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium) coordinates real-time genomic surveillance of COVID variants.

Static linkage: Public health, pandemic governance, biotechnology.

GS area: Polity, Governance

The Rajya Sabha's Committee on Subordinate Legislation highlighted persistent delays in rule-making:

• Statutory deadline: Most enabling acts require rules to be framed within 6 months of enactment.
• Pattern: Ministries routinely delay beyond the deadline. Examples include the National Food Security Act 2013 and Wakf Act 2013.
• Parliamentary oversight: The Committee on Subordinate Legislation is empowered to call for rules and examine whether they are consistent with the parent act.

Static linkage: Polity, administrative law, parliamentary oversight.

• Sierra Leone coup attempt: A coup attempt in Sierra Leone on 26 November 2023 reflected the country's political instability. Sierra Leone is a West African nation bordering Liberia and Guinea. Capital: Freetown. Sierra Leone is a member of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States).
• Argentina and BRICS: The newly elected Argentine President Javier Milei formally rejected Argentina's invitation to join BRICS from January 2024, citing alignment with the United States and Israel over BRICS founding members Russia and China.