17 September 2024

• Economy: Jute production projected to decline 20 per cent due to floods in West Bengal and Assam; India produces 70 per cent of world jute goods.
• International: Operation Sadbhav: India provided humanitarian assistance to Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar after Typhoon Yagi.
• Technology: The MVA-BN vaccine became the first WHO-prequalified vaccine against mpox.
• Science: The Integrated Ocean Energy Atlas was launched by INCOIS, mapping India's EEZ for six types of ocean energy.

GS area: Economy (agriculture), Geography

India's jute production was projected to decline by approximately 20 per cent due to severe floods in West Bengal and Assam.

Key facts:

• India's share: India produces approximately 70 per cent of world jute goods. It is the world's largest jute producer and exporter.
• West Bengal's contribution: Approximately 73 per cent of India's total jute production. West Bengal accounts for most of the country's jute cultivation.
• Employment: Directly employs approximately 0.37 million workers in jute mills.
• Domestic consumption: Around 90 per cent of India's jute production is consumed domestically (primarily for jute bags, sacking and Hessian cloth).
• Export potential: Could reach Rs 4,500 crore annually (was Rs 3,000 crore in 2023-24).
• Crop requirements: Jute requires temperatures of 25-35°C, rainfall of 150-250 cm and well-drained alluvial soil. The Ganga delta region is ideal.
• Jute Packaging Materials Act: Mandates use of jute packaging for specified commodities including food grains and sugar. This maintains domestic demand.
• Key challenges: Declining cultivation area (fell 1.7 lakh hectares between 2013-14 and 2021-22). Competition from synthetic substitutes (polypropylene bags). Over 80 per cent of raw jute is of poor quality.

Static linkage: Jute industry, agricultural geography, Northeast India.

GS area: International Relations, Disaster management

India launched Operation Sadbhav to provide humanitarian assistance to countries affected by Typhoon Yagi.

Key facts:

• Typhoon Yagi: Asia's most powerful cyclone in 2024. Struck Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar in early September 2024. The Hanoi region and North Vietnam were severely affected, with millions displaced.
• India's aid:
  • $1 million in aid to Vietnam.
  • $100,000 in aid to Laos.
  • Indian Navy and Air Force ships and aircraft deployed for relief.
  • Relief items: food, clothing, medicines, water purification equipment.
• Policy framework: Operation Sadbhav sits within India's Act East Policy and the broader commitment to "Neighbourhood First" expanded to Southeast Asia.
• India as first responder: India has positioned itself as a first responder to disasters in the Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific region. Previous operations include assistance during Nepal earthquake (2015) and Sri Lanka floods.

Static linkage: Act East Policy, HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief), India-Southeast Asia relations.

GS area: Health, Governance

The MVA-BN vaccine (developed by Bavarian Nordic) became the first vaccine prequalified by the WHO against mpox.

Key facts:

• Efficacy: 76 per cent with a single dose; 82 per cent with two doses.
• Storage: Can be stored at 2-8°C for up to eight weeks. This is important for deployment in low-resource settings.
• Target population: Adults over 18 years. Approved for adults at high risk (healthcare workers, contacts of confirmed cases, men who have sex with men at high risk).
• Mpox (monkeypox): A viral zoonosis caused by the Mpox virus (Orthopoxvirus genus). Originally endemic in Central and West Africa. The 2022 global outbreak led WHO to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). A second PHEIC was declared in 2024 due to a new clade (Clade Ib) spreading in eastern DRC.
• WHO prequalification: A WHO process certifying that a medicine meets quality, safety and efficacy standards, enabling procurement by UN agencies and low-income countries at accessible prices.

Static linkage: Vaccine governance, WHO, zoonotic diseases, public health emergency.

GS area: Science and Technology, Economy (energy)

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) launched the Integrated Ocean Energy Atlas for India.

Key facts:

• Coverage: India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ, 200 nautical miles from baselines).
• Six energy types mapped: Solar energy, wind energy, wave energy, tidal energy, ocean currents and Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC).
• Data provided: Annual, monthly and daily energy estimates via a WebGIS interface.
• Ministry: Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
• INCOIS: Located in Hyderabad. Provides ocean state forecasts, tsunami warnings and fishery advisory services in addition to the new energy atlas.
• OTEC significance: Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion exploits the temperature difference between warm surface water and cold deep water. India's tropical coastline (especially Lakshadweep and Andamans) has high OTEC potential.
• Wave and tidal energy: India has significant wave energy potential along the west coast (Gujarat) and tidal energy in the Gulf of Khambhat.

Static linkage: Ocean energy, marine governance, renewable energy, EEZ.

GS area: Economy (start-ups), Governance

The DPIIT's BHASKAR (Bharat Startup Knowledge Access Registry) was detailed in operational coverage.

• Features: Personalised IDs for every startup, investor and mentor; one-stop portal linking India's startup ecosystem stakeholders.
• Ecosystem scale: India has over 1.18 lakh DPIIT-recognised startups. Over 100 unicorns. Third-largest startup ecosystem globally after the US and China.
• DPIIT's Startup India: Launched January 2016. Provides tax exemptions under Section 80-IAC, Fund of Funds (Rs 10,000 crore corpus), Startup India seed fund and exemption from labour inspections.
• Strategic goal: BHASKAR centralises data on the startup ecosystem to improve policy decisions and investor matching.

Static linkage: Startup India, DPIIT, unicorn economy.

GS area: Culture (tribal communities), Health

The Irula tribe of Tamil Nadu supplies approximately 80 per cent of India's anti-snake venom, yet struggles with poverty.

Key facts:

• Location: Primarily the Nilgiris district and surrounding areas of Tamil Nadu. Also found in parts of Karnataka and Kerala.
• Classification: Listed as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).
• Anthropological background: Considered one of India's oldest tribal communities. Negrito racial origin.
• Language: Irula language, written in the Tamil script. Belongs to the Dravidian family.
• Anti-snake venom contribution: The Irula Snake Catchers' Co-operative extracts venom from cobras, Russell's vipers, saw-scaled vipers and common kraits. These four species cause most snakebite deaths in India. The venom is sold to manufacturers of anti-venom serum (polyvalent anti-venom).
• India's snakebite burden: India accounts for over 50,000 snakebite deaths annually, the highest in the world.
• Irula paradox: Despite their critical public health contribution, the Irula community lacks basic healthcare, education and economic security.

Static linkage: Tribal communities, public health, snakebite prevention.

• Signal modulation (FM vs AM): Frequency Modulation (FM) encodes audio by varying the frequency of the carrier wave. Amplitude Modulation (AM) varies the wave height. FM offers better sound quality but shorter range. Digital broadcasting is replacing both as standards shift globally.
• GCI 2024 Cybersecurity Assessment: The Global Cybersecurity Index placed India among 46 Tier-1 countries. India's cybersecurity framework includes five pillars: legal, technical, organisational, capacity building and cooperation.
• RBI sustainable agriculture finance: RBI data showed the Southern region receives 47 per cent of agri-finance while the Northeast receives only 0.76 per cent. Non-institutional credit sources still account for 23 per cent of farm financing.