17 January 2024

• Economy: the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code's performance review showed recovery rates improving from 23 per cent (pre-IBC) to 43 per cent. India's global insolvency ranking improved from 136th to 52nd in the first three years.
• Energy: India and Argentina's CAMYEN SE signed an agreement for KABIL to explore five lithium brine blocks in Catamarca province.
• Welfare: India's Multidimensional Poverty Index showed over 24 crore Indians exiting poverty in nine years, with the headcount ratio falling from 29 per cent to 11 per cent.
• Meteorology: the India Meteorological Department celebrated 150 years of establishment.

GS area: Economy, Governance (financial regulation)

A review of the IBC's performance since its enactment in 2016 showed significant improvements in India's insolvency resolution ecosystem.

• Recovery rate improvement: pre-IBC recovery was 23 per cent of outstanding claims. Under IBC it rose to 43 per cent.
• Bank NPA decline: the gross non-performing asset ratio of scheduled commercial banks fell from 14.8 per cent in September 2018 to 3.2 per cent in September 2023.
• Global ranking: India moved from 136th to 52nd globally on the ease of resolving insolvency in the first three years after IBC.
• NCLT challenges: the National Company Law Tribunal, which adjudicates IBC cases, has only 16 benches and 20 members. Average resolution takes about 867 days against the statutory goal of 180 days. Only 15 per cent of admitted cases resulted in resolution plans.
• IBC replaces: the old Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985; the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act; and winding-up provisions of company law.

Static linkage: financial regulation, NCLT, banking sector.

GS area: Economy (critical minerals), International Relations

KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Limited) signed an agreement with Argentina's CAMYEN SE to explore five lithium brine blocks in Catamarca province, covering about 15,703 hectares. This was the first overseas lithium exploration project by an Indian government company.

• KABIL: a joint venture between NALCO, MECL, and HCL under the Ministry of Mines. Its mandate is to acquire critical mineral assets abroad.
• Argentina's lithium: Argentina holds the world's third-largest lithium reserves. It is part of the "Lithium Triangle" along with Chile and Bolivia, which together hold about 60 per cent of global lithium reserves.
• Why lithium matters: lithium is the key component of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and energy storage. India imports almost all its lithium.
• India's domestic reserves: India has significant lithium deposits in Jammu (Reasi district), identified by the Geological Survey of India in 2023.

Static linkage: critical minerals, electric vehicles, India's mineral policy.

GS area: Economy, Society (poverty)

India's MPI report showed over 24 crore Indians escaping multidimensional poverty between 2013-14 and 2022-23.

• MPI: the Multidimensional Poverty Index measures poverty across 12 indicators in three dimensions: health, education, and living standards. It is published by NITI Aayog.
• Methodology: uses the Alkire-Foster methodology. A person is counted as poor if deprived in a weighted 33 per cent or more of the indicators.
• Headcount change: poverty headcount ratio fell from 29 per cent in 2013-14 to 11 per cent in 2022-23.
• SDG alignment: India is expected to meet SDG Target 1.2 (halving poverty) well before 2030.

Static linkage: poverty measurement, SDGs, welfare policy.

GS area: Science and Technology (meteorology)

The India Meteorological Department celebrated its 150th anniversary. The IMD was established in 1875.

• Parent ministry: Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• Functions: weather forecasting, climate monitoring, seismology, and hydrology.
• INSAT satellites used for weather: INSAT 3D and 3DR provide continuous weather monitoring from geostationary orbit at 82° and 74° East respectively. The INSAT 3DS was scheduled for launch in February 2024.

Static linkage: meteorology, earth sciences.

• Sagar Island (Gangasagar Mela): the 2024 Gangasagar Mela on Sagar Island at the mouth of the Hugli River drew 10 million pilgrims. About 6 million performed ritual bathing. Sagar Island is home to the Kapil Muni temple and is the second-largest Hindu congregation after the Kumbh Mela.
• Vulture restaurant in Jharkhand: Koderma district established a designated feeding site providing diclofenac-free carcasses for vultures. India's vulture populations crashed due to diclofenac (a veterinary painkiller) toxicity. India hosts nine vulture species. Four are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act.
• Punganur cattle: Andhra Pradesh launched "Mission Punganur" to conserve the Punganur breed, the world's shortest-humped cattle at 70-90 cm tall. Native to Chittoor district.