17 November 2024

• Health: Thailand Sacbrood Virus devastated 90 per cent of Asiatic honeybee colonies in South India in 1991-92 and re-emerged in Telangana in 2021.
• Governance: The Network Readiness Index 2024 placed India at 49th rank, up from 60th in 2023. India is first globally in AI scientific publications.
• Defence: Hypersonic missile tests globally placed countries with Mach 6-plus missiles in a select strategic club. India's DRDO is developing such a capability.
• Environment: COP29 discussions in Baku continued around the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance.

GS area: Agriculture, Science and Technology

The Thai Sacbrood Virus, which devastated Asiatic honeybee colonies in South India in the 1990s, re-emerged in Telangana in 2021.

• Impact in 1991-92: The virus wiped out 90 per cent of Asiatic honeybee (Apis cerana) colonies across South India.
• Mechanism: The virus kills bee larvae by preventing them from pupating. A colony with dead larvae cannot replenish its workforce and collapses.
• Spread: Through pathogen spillover from managed colonies (Apis mellifera, the European honeybee introduced for commercial beekeeping) to wild Apis cerana colonies.
• Agricultural impact: Honeybees are critical pollinators for vegetables, fruits and oilseeds. Colony collapse disrupts food production.
• Telangana re-emergence (2021): Raised alarm about whether natural immunity developed after the 1990s outbreak is being lost.
• PM Matsya Sampada Yojana: India's fisheries scheme includes components for beekeeping as an allied activity supporting rural livelihoods.

Static linkage: Agriculture, biodiversity, food security.

GS area: Governance, Economy

India improved its global digital competitiveness ranking significantly.

• Rank: 49th in 2024, up from 60th in 2023.
• Score: Rose from 49.93 to 53.63.
• Top performance: India ranked 1st globally in AI scientific publications, AI talent concentration and ICT services exports.
• Position among income groups: 2nd among lower-middle-income countries.
• Network Readiness Index: Published by the Portulans Institute. Measures how well economies use ICT for development across 134 economies.
• India's digital infrastructure: 5G coverage in 98 per cent of districts. JioFibre and BSNL fibre broadband expanding.

Static linkage: Digital India, ICT policy, technology governance.

GS area: Defence, Science and Technology

Global hypersonic missile tests placed the technology in strategic focus.

• Definition: Missiles travelling at Mach 5 or above (5 times the speed of sound). Hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) can manoeuvre in flight, making them harder to intercept.
• DRDO's programme: India is developing a long-range hypersonic missile with a range over 1,500 km and a speed of Mach 6. It carries multi-payload capability.
• Strategic club: The US, Russia, China and now India are at various stages of hypersonic development. Russia used hypersonic missiles in Ukraine.
• Defence challenge: Existing missile defence systems (Patriot, S-400) are designed for ballistic trajectories. Manoeuvring hypersonic vehicles challenge these systems.
• India's S-400: India acquired the Russian S-400 Triumf air defence system. Its deployment in multiple squadrons enhances layered air defence.

Static linkage: Defence technology, strategic deterrence, arms race.

GS area: Environment, International Relations

Negotiations at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan centred on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG).

• NCQG: Successor to the 2009 Copenhagen $100 billion annual climate finance pledge. The new goal covers 2025 onwards.
• Developing countries' demand: At least $1 trillion annually from developed countries.
• Developed countries' position: A much lower floor, with private finance counted alongside public flows.
• India's position: Insisted on the new goal being primarily grant-based public finance rather than loans or private equity.
• Outcome (reached 22 November): The final COP29 deal set $300 billion annually by 2035 from developed nations and a broader mobilisation goal of $1.3 trillion.
• CDRI: Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure. India's initiative, promoted at COP meetings to fund resilient infrastructure.

Static linkage: Climate change, international negotiations, UNFCCC.

GS area: International Relations

India's engagement with CARICOM deepened at the India-CARICOM Summit hosted during PM Modi's Guyana visit.

• Summit location: Georgetown, Guyana.
• Seven-pillar framework: India announced cooperation in IT, healthcare, agriculture, education, cricket, renewable energy and cultural exchange.
• IT scholarships: 1,000 scholarships for CARICOM nationals.
• ISA invitation: India invited CARICOM states to join the International Solar Alliance.
• Strategic context: CARICOM states have significant Indian-origin populations (particularly in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname). They are also UN vote banks.
• India-Guyana: Guyana recently discovered significant offshore oil reserves. India's ONGC Videsh is seeking a role.

Static linkage: India's neighbourhood and extended neighbourhood, multilateral diplomacy.

• Willingdon Island: Constructed in the 1920s off Kochi, named after Viceroy Lord Willingdon. Houses the Kochi Naval Base and the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology. Container operations shifted to Vallarpadam island post-2011. Now being evaluated for cold storage and tourism development.
• Panchachuli mountain range: Five snow-capped peaks in the Kumaon Himalayas, Uttarakhand. Height range: 6,334 to 6,904 metres. Named after the Pandavas' "five chulis" (cooking hearths) from mythology. Panchchuli II was first scaled on 26 May 1973 by an ITBP team.
• Exercise Poorvi Prahar: Tri-services joint exercise in Arunachal Pradesh (10 to 18 November 2024). Tested swarm drones, loitering munitions, M777 Howitzers and Chinook helicopters in multi-domain operations.