28 December 2024

• Economy: SAEU (South Asian Economic Union) prospects remained dim: SAARC intra-regional trade is below 5 per cent of total trade, the lowest of any regional bloc.
• Polity: Election Commission data from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections showed 10.58 lakh rejected votes, highlighting ballot paper integrity issues.
• International Relations: The UN Security Council passed resolution 2767, establishing the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) to replace ATMIS.
• Environment: Sea Otters were highlighted as a keystone species after a study on their role in seagrass carbon sequestration.

GS area: International Relations, Economy

Data released by the Asian Development Bank's South Asia economic monitoring confirmed that SAARC intra-regional trade remains below 5 per cent of member countries' total trade.

• SAARC background: South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Founded: 8 December 1985, Dhaka. Members: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
• SAFTA: South Asian Free Trade Area. Operational since 2006. Designed to reduce tariffs to 0-5 per cent. Progress is patchy.
• Intra-regional trade: At 5 per cent (or below), SAARC has the lowest intra-regional trade share of any regional bloc globally. ASEAN's share is about 25 per cent; EU's about 60 per cent.
• India-Pakistan blockage: Bilateral trade is minimal due to political tensions. India revoked Pakistan's MFN status after the 2019 Pulwama attack. Pakistan-India land trade through Attari-Wagah was suspended.
• India's bilateral trade: India accounts for about 75 per cent of SAARC's total GDP. It has bilateral FTAs with Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan. These have partly substituted for SAARC-level integration.
• BIMSTEC alternative: Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. Includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand. Does not include Pakistan. India has increasingly favoured BIMSTEC.

Static linkage: International relations (SAARC, BIMSTEC, regional integration, trade blocs).

GS area: Polity, Governance

The Election Commission of India released post-election statistics showing 10.58 lakh rejected votes in the 2024 general election.

• Rejected votes: Ballot papers rejected during counting because they are improperly marked, torn, or do not show a clear intent. This applies to paper ballots in the few constituencies still using them, and to VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) slips in electronic voting.
• 2024 data: 10.58 lakh votes (approximately 1.06 million) were rejected out of about 64 crore valid votes cast. This is a small percentage but matters in close contests.
• EVM context: Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) largely eliminate rejected votes, as the machine itself prevents double voting or ambiguous marks. Rejected votes are more common in postal ballots.
• Postal ballot significance: Military personnel, election duty officials, senior citizens (above 85) and persons with disabilities can vote by postal ballot. Postal ballots are paper-based and more prone to rejection.
• Proxy voting: Overseas Indian citizens (PIOs/OCIs) do not have the right to vote by proxy or postal ballot; they must return to India to vote in person.

Static linkage: Polity (elections, EVM, postal ballot, Election Commission).

GS area: International Relations, Security

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2767 (December 2024), establishing the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) to succeed ATMIS.

• ATMIS: African Union Transition Mission in Somalia. Replaced AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia, 2007-2022). ATMIS was mandated from April 2022 to December 2024.
• AUSSOM: To be operational from January 2025. Expected troop strength: about 12,000 AU personnel from Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and Burundi. Financed partly by the UN and partly by the AU.
• Somalia context: Al-Shabaab (al-Qaeda affiliate) controls large rural areas. The Somali Federal Government controls Mogadishu and some coastal cities.
• Al-Shabaab: Emerged after the collapse of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in 2006. Uses asymmetric warfare, suicide bombings and targeted assassinations. Funds itself through taxation in controlled territories and maritime piracy.
• India-Somalia ties: India has contributed to anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean (Operation Sankalp in the Gulf of Aden). No direct troops in AU missions.

Static linkage: International relations (UN Security Council, AU, Somalia, peacekeeping).

GS area: Environment

A new study published in Nature Communications found that sea otter recovery in Monterey Bay, California, significantly enhanced seagrass carbon sequestration.

• Sea otter: Scientific name Enhydra lutris. Marine mammal in the family Mustelidae (along with otters, weasels and badgers). Found along the North Pacific coasts (Alaska, British Columbia, California, Japan, Russia).
• Keystone species definition: A species whose impact on its ecosystem is disproportionately large relative to its abundance. Remove the keystone, and the ecosystem changes fundamentally.
• Sea otter as keystone: Sea otters eat sea urchins. Sea urchins, if unchecked, overgraze kelp and seagrass beds. With otters present, urchin populations are controlled, allowing kelp and seagrass to flourish.
• Carbon sequestration: Seagrass beds are significant blue carbon sinks. Monterey Bay seagrass beds store several times more carbon per area than terrestrial forests.
• IUCN status: Endangered.
• India's keystone species examples: Tiger (apex predator regulating prey populations), Snow Leopard, Asian Elephant (ecosystem engineer), Gharial (indicator species for river health).

Static linkage: Environment (keystone species, blue carbon, marine ecology, IUCN).

GS area: Polity, Governance

The PM CARES Fund released its annual report showing disbursements of 912 crore rupees for FY 2022-23.

• PM CARES Fund: Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund. Created by trust deed in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Legal status: A public charitable trust, NOT a government fund in the strict sense. This classification means it is not audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
• Controversy: RTI applications have been denied on grounds that PM CARES is not a "public authority" under the RTI Act. The Supreme Court declined to transfer PM CARES funds to the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF).
• NDRF comparison: The National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and National Disaster Management Fund (NDMF) are statutory funds under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. They are audited by the CAG.
• Disbursements: COVID-19 relief (ventilators, vaccines, migrants), vaccine procurement, COVID care infrastructure.

Static linkage: Polity (transparency, RTI, CAG, disaster management, PM CARES).

GS area: Economy, Agriculture

The evaluation of the Operation Greens Mission showed mixed outcomes. About 34 per cent of the allocated budget was actually utilised.

• Operation Greens: Launched in 2018-19. Extended from Tomato, Onion and Potato (TOP) to all fruits and vegetables (TOTAL) during COVID.
• Objective: Reduce price volatility and supply chain losses for perishable crops. Support FPOs (Farmer Producer Organisations), logistics and processing.
• Mechanism: 50 per cent subsidy on transportation and cold storage for TOP/TOTAL crops during glut periods.
• Criticism: Low utilisation (34 per cent of budget) reflects implementation gaps: FPOs not sufficiently organized, cold chain infrastructure absent in key production regions, subsidy documentation too complex.
• FPO definition: Farmer Producer Organisation. A collective of farmers registered as a company or cooperative. Eligible for NABARD credit, equity grants and market linkages under the FPO scheme (10,000 FPOs targeted by 2027-28).

Static linkage: Economy (agriculture, horticulture, FPO, cold chain, government schemes).

• Greenland's strategic significance: Greenland (autonomous territory of Denmark) was in the news following statements by US politicians about its strategic value. It lies astride Arctic shipping lanes and has significant untapped mineral resources including rare earth elements and uranium. US purchased the Danish West Indies (now US Virgin Islands) from Denmark in 1917 but a proposed 1946 Greenland purchase was rejected by Denmark.
• SIMBEX: The India-Singapore bilateral naval exercise (SIMBEX) was held in December 2024 in the South China Sea. SIMBEX is one of India's longest-running naval exercises with a foreign partner, started in 1994.