11 October 2024

• International Relations: PM Modi attended the 21st ASEAN-India Summit in Vientiane, Laos. He announced a 10-point programme including ASEAN-India Tourism Year 2025.
• Nobel Literature: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2024 was awarded to South Korean author Han Kang for her intense prose exploring historical trauma.
• Rural Economy: The NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey 2021-22 found average monthly rural income rose from 8,059 rupees to 12,698 rupees. Insurance coverage jumped from 25.5 per cent to 80.3 per cent.
• Maritime: India's first National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal, Gujarat, was described as the world's largest maritime museum under construction.

GS area: International Relations (ASEAN, Indo-Pacific)

The 21st ASEAN-India Summit was held in Vientiane, Laos. India and ASEAN together constitute a partnership that covers over 1.9 billion people and trade exceeding 130 billion dollars annually.

• Tourism Year 2025: India proposed 2025 as the ASEAN-India Tourism Year with a 5 million dollar allocation for promotion and cultural exchange activities.
• Youth and education: Youth summits, startup festivals, and expansion of scholarships at Nalanda University.
• Trade review: Both sides agreed to complete a review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement by 2025. India has sought better access for its services sector in ASEAN markets and a rebalancing of the merchandise trade deficit.
• Disaster resilience: A 5 million dollar fund for disaster risk reduction and climate resilience.
• Cyber policy: A new cyber policy dialogue framework between India and ASEAN.
• Key challenges for ASEAN: South China Sea territorial disputes (China claims most of it under the nine-dash line), Myanmar's military-led instability after the 2021 coup, and heavy dependence on Chinese infrastructure finance.

Static linkage: India's Act East Policy, Indo-Pacific geopolitics (International Relations).

GS area: Culture, Current Events

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2024 was awarded to Han Kang of South Korea.

• Citation: "For her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life."
• Notable works: The Vegetarian (Man Booker International Prize, 2016), Human Acts (about the 1980 Gwangju Massacre), and Greek Lessons.
• Significance for Asia: Han Kang is the first South Korean and the first East Asian woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her work confronts painful episodes of South Korean history including state violence against civilians.
• The Gwangju Massacre (1980): Referenced in Human Acts. Hundreds of civilians were killed when South Korea's military government suppressed a pro-democracy uprising in the city of Gwangju. Han Kang writes about the aftermath through multiple perspectives.

Static linkage: International prizes, global literature, Korean history (Culture and International Relations).

GS area: Economy (Rural Development, Financial Inclusion)

NABARD released the All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey for 2021-22, the second such survey (the first was in 2016-17).

• Income: Average monthly household income for rural India rose 57.6 per cent: from 8,059 rupees in 2016-17 to 12,698 rupees in 2021-22. Agricultural household income rose from 8,931 to 13,661 rupees.
• Financial savings: The share of households with financial savings rose from 50.6 per cent to 66 per cent.
• Insurance coverage: The most striking jump: coverage rose from 25.5 per cent to 80.3 per cent of rural households. This reflects the rollout of PM Fasal Bima Yojana, PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, and Ayushman Bharat.
• Kisan Credit Card: 44 per cent of agricultural households have a KCC, up from lower levels in the previous survey.
• Financial literacy: Rose from 33.9 per cent to 51.3 per cent.

Static linkage: NABARD, rural credit, financial inclusion (Economy).

GS area: History (Indus Valley), Governance (Tourism)

India's National Maritime Heritage Complex is being built at Lothal in Gujarat.

• Site: Lothal is an Indus Valley Civilisation site dating to around 2,200 BC. It contained what archaeologists consider the world's oldest known dockyard, built to facilitate maritime trade.
• Scale of the complex: It is designed to be the world's largest maritime museum complex once complete.
• Employment: Projected to create roughly 22,000 jobs in the area.
• Significance for UPSC: Lothal is a standard IVC site question. Its dockyard is the distinctive feature that separates it from other major IVC sites like Mohenjodaro and Harappa, which are inland.

Static linkage: Indus Valley Civilisation, Lothal archaeology (History and Culture).

GS area: Environment (Climate Change)

A scientific report released in October 2024 found that Antarctica is warming at 0.22 to 0.32 degrees Celsius per decade.

• Rate comparison: This is roughly double the global average warming rate. The Antarctic Peninsula is warming five times faster than the global average.
• Vegetation change: Vegetation cover in Antarctica increased from less than 1 square kilometre in 1986 to 12 square kilometres by 2021, a fourteen-fold increase. Warming is making previously ice-covered land habitable for mosses and lichens.
• Ecological risk: Non-native invasive species could colonise newly exposed land. The loss of ice also reduces the area's albedo (reflectivity), creating a positive feedback loop that accelerates further warming.
• Sea ice implications: Reduced Antarctic sea ice affects ocean circulation, salinity gradients, and the global heat distribution system.

Static linkage: Climate change, polar regions, albedo effect (Environment).

GS area: Science and Technology (Biomedical)

Researchers identified the Tyrosyl-DNA Phosphodiesterase 1 (TDP1) enzyme as a critical target for overcoming drug resistance in cancer.

• Role of TDP1: The enzyme repairs DNA damage during cell division. Cancer cells often have elevated TDP1 activity, which allows them to survive chemotherapy that would otherwise destroy them.
• Mechanism: TDP1 is activated during cell division by a protein called CDK1. Combining a CDK1 inhibitor with existing cancer drugs may prevent cancer cells from repairing themselves after chemotherapy.
• Relevance: Drug resistance is the primary reason why many cancers eventually stop responding to treatment. Identifying enzymes like TDP1 that cancers use to resist therapy opens new avenues for treatment design.

Static linkage: Cancer research, biotechnology (Science and Technology).

• Karanpura Coalfield: Located in Ramgarh district, Jharkhand. Holds 5,757.85 million tonnes of coal reserves. Recent exploration in the Eastern Sirka region identified high hydrocarbon generation potential including coal bed methane and shale gas.
• Yuva Sangam Initiative: Phase 5 registration portal launched. Part of the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat programme. Open to youth aged 18 to 30 (students, NSS/NYKS volunteers). Focus on cross-state cultural exchange.