14 September 2024

• Health: The Cabinet extended Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY health cover to all citizens aged 70 and above, adding 6 crore senior beneficiaries.
• Energy: The government outlined its green hydrogen hub vision with an Rs 8-lakh-crore investment target and 6 lakh jobs by 2030.
• Technology: AI-powered primary care was proposed as a national healthcare goal, with ambitions to reach every Indian within five years.
• Culture: Great Stupa of Sanchi's East Gate replica at Berlin's Humboldt Forum drew attention to India's Buddhist heritage diplomacy.

GS area: Governance (health schemes), Social justice

The Union Cabinet approved extending Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) to all citizens aged 70 and above, regardless of their income.

Key details of the extension:

• Eligibility: All Indian citizens aged 70 or above. No income test.
• Beneficiaries: Approximately 6 crore senior citizens newly covered.
• Coverage amount: Rs 5 lakh per year on a family basis for those not already under AB PM-JAY. For those already enrolled in AB PM-JAY, an additional top-up of Rs 5 lakh specific to the senior citizen.
• Distinct card: A separate AB PM-JAY card is issued for senior citizens under this extension.
• Implementation ministry: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Original AB PM-JAY:

• Launched in 2018 under Ayushman Bharat.
• Covers economically vulnerable families (bottom 40 per cent by Socio-Economic Caste Census data).
• Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation.
• Over 30,000 empanelled hospitals (government and private).
• World's largest government-funded health insurance programme.

Related schemes for elderly:

• Atal Vayo Abhyuday Yojana (AVYAY): Umbrella scheme for older persons' welfare.
• SAGE (Senior Care Ageing Growth Engine) portal: Marketplace for elderly care products and services.
• SACRED portal: Job platform for senior citizens.
• Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana: Pension scheme for 60+ with guaranteed returns.

Static linkage: Ayushman Bharat, health financing, ageing population, social security.

GS area: Economy (energy), Environment

The government's Green Hydrogen Hub vision outlined investment targets and institutional framework as part of the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM).

Key facts:

• Definition: Green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water using renewable electricity. It is considered "green" because the process emits no carbon dioxide (unlike grey hydrogen from natural gas or brown hydrogen from coal).
• Emissions threshold: Hydrogen qualifies as green if lifecycle emissions are 2 kg of CO2 or less per kg of hydrogen produced.
• National Green Hydrogen Mission target: 5 million metric tonnes (MMT) of green hydrogen production by 2030.
• Investment target: Rs 8 lakh crore overall. The $100 billion investment target by 2030 includes private sector participation.
• Jobs target: 6 lakh jobs by 2030.
• Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE): The nodal agency for green hydrogen certification under the mission.
• Key projects:
  • Oil India: India's first 99 per cent pure green hydrogen plant at Jorhat, Assam.
  • NTPC: Green hydrogen blending in Piped Natural Gas (PNG) network at Kawas, Surat.
  • PNGRB has approved 5 per cent hydrogen blending (scalable to 20 per cent).
• PLI for electrolysers: Rs 15,000-crore PLI scheme for domestic electrolyser manufacturing.

Static linkage: Energy transition, renewable energy, Atmanirbhar Bharat in energy.

GS area: History (ancient), Culture

India's External Affairs Minister visited the replica of the East Gate of the Great Stupa of Sanchi at Berlin's Humboldt Forum in September 2024. This brought attention to Sanchi's history and its role in India's cultural diplomacy.

Key facts:

• Original commission: The Great Stupa at Sanchi was originally constructed during the reign of Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE. His wife Devi, who was from Vidisha (near Sanchi), supervised the original construction.
• Expansion: The four ornately carved toranas (gateways) were added in the 1st century BCE during the Satavahana dynasty period, supported by the Vidisha merchant community.
• Architecture: A large hemispherical dome (anda) enclosing the Buddha's relics. The toranas face the four cardinal directions. Their carvings depict Jataka Tales and scenes from the Buddha's life.
• UNESCO status: Sanchi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (listed 1989).
• Humboldt Forum: A major cultural institution in Berlin that houses collections from various civilisations.
• Buddhist heritage diplomacy: India has been using its Buddhist heritage to build soft power, particularly in Southeast Asia and among nations with significant Buddhist populations.

Static linkage: Mauryan architecture, Buddhist sites, India's soft power.

GS area: Governance (transport), International Relations

India hosted the 2nd Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation, producing the Delhi Declaration.

Key facts:

• Host: Ministry of Civil Aviation in partnership with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
• Participants: 29 countries with ministers and representatives from international organisations.
• Delhi Declaration outcomes: Framework for enhanced regional cooperation; addressing emerging challenges in aviation (safety, sustainability, digitisation).
• Female pilots: India cited the fact that 15 per cent of its commercial pilots are women, compared to 5 per cent globally, as evidence of inclusion in aviation.
• ICAO: Specialised UN agency. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Governs international civil aviation standards and recommended practices (SARPs).
• India's aviation growth: India is projected to become the world's third-largest aviation market by 2030.

Static linkage: International aviation governance, ICAO, India's aviation sector.

GS area: Governance (language, education)

The Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT) was highlighted for its alignment with NEP 2020 goals.

Key facts:

• Established: 1961, under the Ministry of Education.
• Mandate: Standardise scientific and technical terminology in Indian languages to make higher education and science accessible in regional languages.
• Outputs: Bilingual, trilingual and multilingual glossaries and dictionaries. The 'Shabd' website (launched March 2024) hosts 322 glossaries with over 18 million headwords.
• NEP 2020 alignment: NEP mandates that engineering and medicine be taught in regional languages. CSTT's terminology work is essential infrastructure for this shift.
• AI integration: CSTT is incorporating AI tools to accelerate the creation and validation of technical terminology.

Static linkage: Language policy, NEP 2020, scientific education.

GS area: Polity (comparative), Governance

Mexico became the first country in the world to approve popular elections for judges at all levels, including Supreme Court justices.

Key facts:

• Scale: Approximately 1,600 judges across Mexico face election, including all nine Supreme Court justices.
• Elections planned: 2025 or 2027 for lower courts and 2025 for the Supreme Court.
• Champion: Outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pushed through the constitutional amendment.
• Rationale: Critics of the judiciary argued it served elite interests. Popular elections are presented as democratisation.
• Concerns: Risk of criminal organisation influence over elections. Mexico's drug cartel penetration of politics makes judicial independence especially vulnerable.
• India's contrast: India's collegium system, while facing criticism for opacity, insulates judges from electoral pressures.

Static linkage: Comparative judicial systems, independence of judiciary.

• Rangeen Machhli App: Developed by ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIFA) for ornamental fisheries. Supports eight Indian languages. Funded under PM Matsya Sampada Yojana.
• AI-powered primary care: The government's ambition to provide AI-powered primary care access to every Indian within five years raises questions about data privacy, algorithmic bias in health decisions and the absence of human empathy in AI diagnosis.