20 October 2024

• Aviation: The Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN completed eight years of operations on 21 October. By late 2024, over 600 routes had been operationalised.
• Labour: The eShram platform for unorganised workers was relaunched with enhanced features. Over 30 crore workers are registered.
• Economy: India's UPI infrastructure was approved for introduction in the Maldives as part of digital payment diplomacy.
• Security: India-China patrolling negotiations remained at a sensitive stage ahead of the formal announcement expected in late October.

GS area: Economy (Aviation, Infrastructure)

The Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) completed eight years on 21 October 2024.

• Launch: 21 October 2016 by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• Objective: Connect unserved and underserved airports in smaller cities and remote regions through viability gap funding to airlines. The goal is to make air travel affordable to the common person.
• Viability Gap Funding: Airlines operating on unviable routes receive direct government subsidies to cover the gap between costs and ticket revenue. The cap on ticket prices for UDAN seats ensures affordability.
• Progress: Over 600 routes operationalised. More than 90 airports, airstrips, and heliports connected under the scheme.
• Seat cap: One-hour UDAN flights cap at 2,500 rupees per seat. Half the seats on each flight must be UDAN seats at the capped price.
• State government role: States that receive UDAN connectivity contribute to viability gap funding (typically 20 per cent of the VGF).

Static linkage: Regional aviation, infrastructure schemes, civil aviation policy (Economy and Governance).

GS area: Governance, Economy (Labour)

The eShram portal, India's national database for unorganised workers, was formally relaunched with enhanced integration features.

• Launch: August 26, 2021 under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
• Registered workers: Over 30 crore (300 million) unorganised workers as of October 2024.
• What it does: Creates a universal identity for informal workers (construction labour, domestic workers, street vendors, agricultural labour). The e-SHRAM card has a unique UAN (Universal Account Number).
• Scheme integration: The relaunched portal integrates 12 central welfare schemes on a single platform. Workers can access Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, PM Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana, and other schemes directly.
• Social security for informal workers: India's informal economy employs 90 per cent of its workforce. Most have no access to provident fund, employee insurance, or pension. The eShram database is designed to be the gateway for extending social security.

Static linkage: Informal labour, social security, Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile trinity (Economy and Governance).

GS area: International Relations (Digital Diplomacy, India-Maldives)

India's Unified Payments Interface infrastructure was approved for introduction in the Maldives.

• Strategic significance: Extending UPI to friendly countries serves two purposes: it deepens financial integration between India and its neighbours, and it promotes the Indian payment stack as an alternative to Chinese payment infrastructure in the Indian Ocean region.
• India-Maldives context: Despite political tensions after the election of President Mohamed Muizzu in November 2023, economic and people-to-people ties with India remained strong. UPI in the Maldives would benefit the significant Indian diaspora and the large number of Indian tourists.
• Earlier UPI international adoptions: UPI had been adopted or was in the process of adoption by Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, and several Gulf countries.

Static linkage: Digital payments, India-Maldives relations, Indo-Pacific digital strategy (International Relations and Economy).

GS area: International Relations

Through the week of 20 October, diplomatic sources indicated that India and China were in the final stages of negotiating a patrolling arrangement for Depsang and Demchok.

• Background: Since the Galwan clash of June 2020, Indian and Chinese troops have been in face-off positions at multiple friction points along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
• Progress already made: Disengagement was completed at Galwan Valley, Gogra-Hotsprings, Pangong Tso's north and south banks by 2022. Depsang and Demchok remained unresolved.
• The announcement: A formal patrolling agreement was expected to be announced ahead of the SCO summit where Indian and Chinese leaders were scheduled to meet.
• What "patrolling arrangement" means: Agreed patrol points and frequencies that both sides can conduct without triggering standoffs. It does not resolve the underlying boundary dispute or constitute any movement of the Line of Actual Control.

Static linkage: India-China relations, LAC, Line of Actual Control (International Relations).

GS area: Disaster Management, Geography

October is the peak of the northeast monsoon and the post-monsoon cyclone season in the Bay of Bengal. The India Meteorological Department was monitoring cyclonic systems.

• Cyclone naming in the Indian Ocean: The World Meteorological Organisation and ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) Panel on Tropical Cyclones assigns names to cyclones in the North Indian Ocean. Countries in the region contribute names from a pre-approved list.
• Cyclone Dana: A severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds up to 120 km/h was forming in the Bay of Bengal. Named by Qatar. It was expected to make landfall on the Odisha-West Bengal coast.
• National Disaster Response Force: Deployed to coastal districts of Odisha and West Bengal ahead of landfall.
• Odisha's model: Odisha has consistently been cited as a best-practice state for cyclone preparedness, having drastically reduced casualties from cyclones like Fani (2019) through effective early warning and pre-positioning.

Static linkage: Cyclone formation, IMD, disaster management framework (Disaster Management and Geography).

GS area: Infrastructure, Internal Security (Geography)

The Z-Morh Tunnel connecting Sonamarg to Kangan in Kashmir was soft-opened in February 2024 and was in regular public use by October 2024.

• Length: 6.4 kilometres.
• Altitude: Over 8,500 feet. The tunnel connects a stretch of the Srinagar-Sonmarg highway that is snow-blocked for about six months each year.
• Strategic importance: Sonamarg is a base camp for the Amarnath Yatra and a key tourist destination. The tunnel also provides year-round access for defence logistics along the Srinagar-Ladakh route.
• Builder: APCO Infratech. Part of the broader program to tunnel through snow-prone stretches of Himalayan highways under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Static linkage: Himalayan road connectivity, internal security, J&K infrastructure (Infrastructure and Security).