31 July 2024

• Public Health: Drowning killed approximately 80 people per day in India in 2022 (NCRB). WHO declared drowning a major preventable cause of death. India lacks a national drowning prevention policy.
• Economy: RBI's Report on Currency and Finance 2023-24 themed on the "Digital Revolution."
• Environment: Mangroves 2024 report highlighted India-specific threats from shrimp aquaculture. India's mangrove restoration targets under MISHTI.
• Education: NCERT's Bagless Day scheme for classes 6 to 8 was notified with a minimum of 10 bagless days per year.

GS area: Social Justice, Governance, Disaster Management

The World Health Organization identified drowning as one of the top causes of unintentional injury death globally. India accounts for a disproportionately large share.

• India's burden: NCRB data for 2022 records 36,093 deaths by drowning in India, or approximately 99 per day. This represents 7.4 per cent of all accidental deaths.
• WHO global data: Approximately 2,36,000 drowning deaths per year globally. 90 per cent of drowning deaths occur in low and middle-income countries. Children under 14 years are the most vulnerable group.
• Preventable causes: Most drowning deaths happen in open natural water bodies (rivers, ponds, seas). Alcohol use is a risk factor for adult drowning. Lack of swimming ability is the single biggest risk factor.
• India's infrastructure gap: India has approximately 500 public swimming pools for 1.4 billion people. China has over 10,000. The gap is most acute in rural areas.
• Policy gap: India has no dedicated national drowning prevention policy. NDMA guidelines focus on flood disaster response, not preventive swimmer education.
• WHO recommendations: Fencing around water bodies, swimming education, safe water transportation, rescue training for lifeguards, and community awareness programmes.

Static linkage: Preventable mortality (Public Health), disaster management, NDMA.

GS area: Economy, Science and Technology

The Reserve Bank of India's annual Report on Currency and Finance (RCF) for 2023-24 was themed "Digital Revolution."

• Scope of the report: The RCF is a research publication (not a policy statement). It provides thematic analysis of the Indian economy. Earlier themes include "Towards a Greener Cleaner India" (2022-23) and "Economic Recovery and Health Pandemics" (2021-22).
• Digital payment growth: UPI processed 131 billion transactions worth 200 trillion rupees in FY2023-24. India's digital payment volume accounts for 46 per cent of global real-time payments.
• Financial inclusion: Jan Dhan accounts reached 51.91 crore with total deposits exceeding 2.26 lakh crore rupees (2024).
• Unified Lending Interface: RBI proposed a Unified Lending Interface (ULI) to do for credit what UPI did for payments, using consented data from multiple sources for faster loan appraisal.
• CBDC: India's Central Bank Digital Currency (e-Rupee) pilot covered retail (launched December 2022) and wholesale segments. Adoption remained limited in 2023-24.
• Digital divide concern: 52 per cent of India's rural households accessed the internet in 2022. The digital economy's benefits remain skewed toward urban, educated populations.

Static linkage: Digital economy (Economy/S&T), RBI functions, financial inclusion.

GS area: Environment, Social Justice

Parliamentary data and civil society reports in July 2024 highlighted the scale of displacement of tribal and forest-dwelling communities due to Project Tiger.

• Project Tiger: Launched in 1973 under PM Indira Gandhi. Initially 9 reserves. Grown to 55 tiger reserves covering 78,135 sq km as of 2024.
• Displacement: Between 1973 and the mid-2000s, approximately 5.5 lakh tribals and forest-dwelling persons were displaced without rehabilitation. This represents a 967 per cent increase in area closed to human habitation since Project Tiger's launch.
• Forest Rights Act 2006: Enacted to grant land and livelihood rights to traditional forest dwellers. However, the Act has been partially implemented. Many communities inside tiger reserve buffer zones have not received land titles.
• Critical Wildlife Habitat: The Wildlife Protection Act (as amended in 2006) allows state governments to declare core areas as Critical Wildlife Habitats where no human habitation is permitted. This is the legal basis for fresh relocations.
• Consent requirement: The FRA mandates that relocation can happen only with the free, prior, and informed consent of the affected gram sabha. Forced relocation violates both FRA and PESA.
• Tiger population: India's tiger count in 2023 was estimated at 3,682, up from 1,411 in 2006. India has 70 per cent of the global wild tiger population.

Static linkage: Wildlife conservation (Environment), tribal rights (Social Justice), FRA.

GS area: Environment, Biodiversity

The Western Hoolock Gibbon (Hoolock hoolock) faces severe habitat loss from oil and gas operations in Assam's Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary.

• Classification: India's only ape. Hoolock gibbons are the most vocal primates in India. Listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
• Population: Estimated 12,000 Western Hoolock Gibbons remaining in India. Present in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary: The only sanctuary in India dedicated to gibbons. Located in Jorhat, Assam. Area of 20.98 sq km. Oil India Limited operates wells within and adjacent to the sanctuary, causing noise, habitat fragmentation, and fire risks.
• Conservation concern: Gibbons are highly sensitive to forest fragmentation. They are canopy-dwelling animals and will not cross gaps. Even a single road through the forest can split a population into non-interacting subgroups.
• Legal framework: Wildlife Protection Act 1972 Schedule I (highest protection). Oil and gas operations in the sanctuary pre-date the sanctuary's declaration, creating a legal and administrative conflict.

Static linkage: Biodiversity (Environment), Schedule I species, northeastern India.

GS area: Economy, Environment, Science and Technology

Uttar Pradesh approved a 1,200 MW pumped storage hydropower (PSH) project in Sonbhadra district.

• How pumped storage works: Off-peak electricity (when demand is low and renewable supply is high) is used to pump water uphill from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir. During peak demand, water is released downhill through turbines to generate electricity. It acts as a giant mechanical battery.
• Global significance: Pumped storage is the world's largest form of energy storage at 97 per cent of grid-scale storage capacity globally.
• India's context: India's installed PSH capacity is approximately 4,000 MW. The government targets 18,800 MW of new PSH by 2032 to support integration of solar and wind power.
• Sonbhadra location: Sonbhadra has coal mines (thermal power) and existing water bodies. The PSH project will complement the transition from coal to renewable energy in the region.
• Pumped hydro efficiency: Round-trip efficiency of 70 to 85 per cent. Compared to lithium-ion batteries (90 per cent+), PSH is slightly less efficient per unit but can store vastly more energy at much lower cost at scale.

Static linkage: Renewable energy storage (Economy/Environment), energy transition.

GS area: Governance, Education

NCERT notified the Bagless Day scheme for classes 6 to 8, mandating at least 10 bagless days per school year.

• Purpose: National Education Policy 2020 recommended bagless days to reduce stress, promote experiential learning, and allow students to engage in arts, crafts, sports, and community activities.
• Activities: Students visit local artisans, farmers, and skill centres. Vocational exposure at an early age. Eco-clubs and nature activities.
• Heavy bag problem: Studies indicate schoolchildren carry bags weighing 45 per cent of their body weight. Chronic heavy backpacks cause musculoskeletal strain in children.
• NEP 2020 linkage: NEP 2020 called for a complete shift from rote learning to competency-based education. Bagless days are a structural tool to change the culture of learning.
• Implementation authority: State education departments are responsible for enforcing the scheme in government schools. Private schools are encouraged to comply.