2 April 2024

• International Relations: India's investments in Africa cross 98 billion dollars and the African Union is now a G20 member under India's presidency.
• Intellectual Property: India grants GI tags to sixty new products in a single batch, the largest such grant at one time.
• Energy: The first-ever Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels draws thirty-plus countries including India.
• Science: India plans atomic clock installations in three new cities by June 2024, strengthening timekeeping infrastructure.
• Wildlife: Kerala's captive elephant population of 407 undergoes fresh genetic profiling under the Wildlife Institute of India.

GS area: International Relations

India's engagement with Africa has grown substantially and the African Union's entry into the G20 under India's 2023 presidency added institutional weight to the relationship.

Key facts:

• Trade: India-Africa bilateral trade stands at 100 billion dollars.
• Investment: Indian investments in Africa exceed 98 billion dollars (2023).
• Mineral stakes: Africa holds approximately 30 per cent of the world's critical mineral reserves. India's industrial and defence ambitions make this particularly relevant.
• ITEC Programme: India's technical and economic cooperation programme provides training and capacity-building to African nations.
• Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC): A joint India-Japan initiative to develop quality infrastructure across Asia and Africa.
• India-Africa Defence Dialogue (IADD): A defence-ministers-level platform for security cooperation.
• Pan African e-Network Project: Established fibre-optic and satellite connectivity between Indian institutions and Africa.
• International Solar Alliance: 38 African countries are members.

Static linkage: India's foreign policy, South-South cooperation, critical minerals.

GS area: Intellectual Property Rights, Economy

The Geographical Indications Registry granted GI tags to sixty products at one time, the largest batch in India's GI history.

Key facts:

• Governing Act: Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
• Registrar: The Registrar of Geographical Indications, under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
• Validity: A GI registration is valid for ten years and is renewable.
• Total tagged products: India now has approximately 635 GI-tagged products.
• First GI tag: Darjeeling tea received India's first GI tag two decades ago.
• Products tagged in this batch:
  • Assam: Asharikandi Terracotta craft, Jaapi (traditional bamboo headgear), Bodo Eri Silk.
  • Varanasi: Banaras Tabla, Banaras Shehnai, Lal Peda.
  • Tripura: Pachra-Rignai traditional dress.
  • Meghalaya: Garo Textiles, Lyrnai Pottery.

A GI tag certifies that a product possesses qualities, reputation, or characteristics attributable to its geographical origin. It cannot be transferred or licensed to a producer outside that region.

Static linkage: intellectual property, Indian arts and crafts, trade policy.

GS area: Energy, International Relations

Thirty-plus countries met in Brussels for the first-ever Nuclear Energy Summit. Nuclear power produces 25 per cent of global low-carbon electricity and is being revisited as a climate solution.

Key facts:

• IAEA Atoms4NetZero programme: Supports countries using nuclear energy to achieve net-zero targets. The IAEA was founded in 1957 and is headquartered in Vienna.
• Small Modular Reactors (SMRs): Reactors with a capacity of up to 300 MW(e). They can be factory-built and deployed more flexibly than large reactors.
• India's nuclear status:
  • Nuclear energy currently contributes about 3 per cent of India's electricity.
  • India operates 23 reactors producing 7,480 MW.
  • Ten more are under construction.
  • Projected capacity by 2031-32: 22,480 MW.
  • The dominant type is Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs).
• KAPP-3: India's first 700 MWe PHWR began supplying power in 2021.
• Bhavni project: A planned thorium-based reactor using Uranium-233.
• Kamini: India's existing experimental thorium-based reactor, operational at Kalpakkam.

Static linkage: energy policy, international organisations, science and technology.

GS area: Science and Technology

India plans to install new atomic clocks in Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, and Hyderabad by June 2024, strengthening the infrastructure behind Indian Standard Time.

Key facts:

• Atomic clocks: The most accurate timekeeping devices ever built. Advanced versions lose one second every 300 billion years.
• Inventor: The first atomic clock was built by Louise Essen in 1955.
• Existing Indian clocks: Maintained at CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi; also in Faridabad and Ahmedabad.
• Indian Standard Time (IST): Adopted on 1 September 1947. Based on the 82.5-degree East meridian, which passes near Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. IST is 5.5 hours ahead of GMT.
• Countries with indigenous atomic clocks: The United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea. India is developing its indigenous capability.
• Kargil War lesson: In 1999 the United States disabled GPS access for the Indian Army. That experience prompted India to invest in its own positioning and timekeeping infrastructure.

Static linkage: science and technology, Indian geography (time zones).

GS area: Environment and Ecology, Wildlife

The Wildlife Institute of India has begun fresh genetic profiling of Kerala's captive elephant population using blood and dung samples.

Key facts:

• Kerala captive elephant population: 407 animals.
• Annual deaths: Approximately 25 per year.
• Previous profiling: Completed in 2019.
• Method: Blood and dung samples collected using forensic kits.
• Database content: Photographs, physical details, and genetic features for each animal.
• Gaja Suchana app: A multi-state digital monitoring platform for captive elephants.
• Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules, 2024: New rules to regulate transfers and prevent illegal movement of captive elephants.

Static linkage: wildlife protection, biodiversity, Kerala.

GS area: International Relations, Polity

Katchatheevu re-entered political debate during the Lok Sabha election campaign.

Key facts:

• Location: In the Palk Strait, approximately 20 km from Rameswaram on the Tamil Nadu coast.
• Transfer: India transferred the island to Sri Lanka through an agreement signed in June 1974 between Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike.
• 1974 agreement: Indian fishermen were permitted to fish in the waters, dry their nets on the island, and attend the annual festival at St Anthony's Church.
• 1976 agreement: Defined the maritime boundary and exclusive economic zones. Indian fishermen lost the explicit right to fish in Sri Lankan waters under this agreement.
• Constitutional argument: Critics contend that ceding territory required a constitutional amendment under Article 3 and was therefore invalid. The government's position is that no Indian territory was ceded because the island had never been formally part of India.
• St Anthony's Church: An annual festival here still draws pilgrims from both countries.

Static linkage: India-Sri Lanka relations, maritime boundaries, federalism.

GS area: Environment, Health

A highly pathogenic strain of H5N1 bird flu has spread to over 80 countries since 2020 and has now reached Antarctica.

Key facts:

• Origin: H5N1 first appeared in China in 1996. The current highly pathogenic strain emerged in Europe in 2020.
• Human mortality rate: Approximately 60 per cent in confirmed human cases.
• Transmission: Primary route is close contact with infected birds or contaminated environments. Human-to-human transmission remains rare.
• Scale: Hundreds of millions of poultry and millions of wild birds have died. Marine mammals including California sea lions have also been affected.
• California condors: Listed as a critically endangered species, these birds have been severely affected by the current outbreak.
• Antarctica: The virus reached Antarctica in 2024, threatening penguin colonies.
• Climate link: Climate change influences migratory bird routes and brings wild birds into new contact zones, accelerating spread.

Static linkage: biodiversity, public health, wildlife.

• USSD call forwarding ban: The Department of Telecom directed mobile operators to halt USSD-based call forwarding from 15 April 2024. USSD codes (beginning with * or # and ending with #) were being exploited to divert calls and commit fraud.
• Genetic profiling helps fight trafficking: Identifying individual captive elephants through DNA prevents illegal capture of wild animals sold as domesticated ones.