11 February 2025

• AI governance: Paris AI Summit held in France. Third global AI safety summit. India co-chaired with emphasis on Global South.
• Health: Lymphatic Filariasis elimination target set for 2027. Triple Drug Therapy announced for 111 endemic districts.
• Agriculture: Revised Market Intervention Scheme raises procurement limit from 20 to 25 per cent of production.
• Defence: India-UK agreement on laser-beam-riding STARStreak MANPADS and ASRAAM missile assembly facility in Hyderabad.

GS area: Science and Technology, International Relations

The third global AI safety summit was held in France:

• Summit sequence: UK (2023) → South Korea (2024) → France (2025).
• India's role: Co-chaired the summit with emphasis on ensuring Global South representation in AI governance frameworks.
• Key challenges discussed: AI development concentrated in a few large technology companies; regulatory divergence between the US, EU and China; risk of AI widening the digital divide between developed and developing nations.
• Focus areas: AI safety, ethics, governance, innovation and economic impact on employment.

AI safety summits are part of a new form of multilateral governance emerging outside established treaty bodies. India's co-chairship signals its ambition to shape AI norms rather than merely adapt to them.

Static linkage: Science and technology governance, international relations.

GS area: Economy (agriculture), Government schemes

The government revised the MIS guidelines for TOP crops (Tomato, Onion, Potato):

• Procurement limit raised: From 20 per cent to 25 per cent of total production in an affected state.
• New option: Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to farmers instead of physical procurement.
• Expanded procurement agencies: FPOs (Farmer Producer Organisations), FPCs (Farmer Producer Companies), state-nominated agencies, NAFED and NCCF can now all procure.
• Cost coverage: Central government reimburses transport and storage costs between states.

The MIS is activated when market prices fall significantly below the cost of production for perishable agricultural commodities. It is distinct from the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system, which is announced in advance and covers cereals and pulses.

Static linkage: Agriculture (Indian economy, government schemes).

GS area: Health, Science and Technology

India's target is to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) by 2027:

• Endemic coverage: 111 districts across 13 states.
• Causative agents: Three parasitic worms: Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi and Brugia timori.
• Transmission: Mosquito-borne (Anopheles, Culex and Aedes species).
• Treatment protocol: Triple Drug Therapy combining DEC (Diethylcarbamazine), Albendazole and Ivermectin. Called IDA (Ivermectin, DEC, Albendazole) therapy.
• Surgical support: Hydrocelectomy (removal of fluid-filled scrotal swelling) covered under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY for affected patients.

LF causes elephantiasis (extreme limb swelling) and hydrocele (scrotal swelling in males). It is the world's second-leading cause of disability due to a parasitic infection.

Static linkage: Health and disease (science and technology).

GS area: International Relations (defence)

Two specific systems came under agreement:

• STARStreak MANPADS: A laser beam-riding man-portable air defence missile supplied through Thales UK in partnership with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).
• ASRAAM: Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile. An assembly centre is being established in Hyderabad through a partnership between MBDA UK and Indian industry.
• Maritime technology: Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP) systems for the Indian Navy, developed with GE Vernova and BHEL.

MANPADS are man-portable surface-to-air missiles. They can be shoulder-fired by a single soldier. Their spread to non-state actors is a proliferation concern tracked by international export control regimes.

Static linkage: Defence technology, international relations.

GS area: Science and Technology

India achieved its first successful cross-blood-group kidney transplant involving a patient with the Bombay Blood Group:

• Scientific designation: hh phenotype.
• Discovery: 1952 by Dr Y.M. Bhende in Mumbai.
• Rarity: Approximately 1 in 10,000 in India; 1 in a million globally.
• Unique characteristic: Lacks the H antigen, which is the precursor for both A and B antigens. Because of this absence, a person with the Bombay blood group can only receive blood from another Bombay blood group donor.
• Clinical challenge: The extreme rarity of compatible donors makes transfusion and organ transplantation in emergencies life-threatening.

Static linkage: Science and technology (medicine).

GS area: Environment (rivers, wildlife)

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) warned that the Morand-Ganjal Irrigation Project in Madhya Pradesh risks submerging parts of the Satpura and Melghat Tiger Reserves:

• Location: Hoshangabad, Betul, Harda and Khandwa districts.
• Rivers involved: Morand and Ganjal, both tributaries of the Narmada.
• Wildlife at risk: Bengal tigers, leopards, sloth bears and Indian bison (Gaur) in the affected tiger reserve corridors.

The Narmada River flows westward through Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat before draining into the Gulf of Khambhat. It originates at Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh.

Static linkage: Environment and rivers (geography, biodiversity).

• NITI Aayog higher education report: States spending the lowest share of GSDP on higher education: Telangana (0.18%), Gujarat (0.23%), Rajasthan (0.23%). Highest spenders: Jammu and Kashmir (8.11%), Manipur (7.25%), Meghalaya (6.64%). National target under NEP 2020: 6 per cent of GDP.
• DEI policies (US): President Trump revoked Biden-era Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies. In India, the reservation system operates under Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution; there is no direct DEI statutory framework.
• Ramakrishna Beach, Visakhapatnam: Reported black sand pollution from suspected sewage discharge. Managed by VUDA (Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority).