Current Affairs – December 28, 2024

{GS1 – IS – Population} Super-Aged Society

• Context (ANI): South Korea has become a “super-aged” society. 10.24 million people in South Korea are now aged 65 or above, representing 20 % of South Korea’s population.

• This makes South Korea only the second Asian country, after Japan, to become a ‘Super-Aged’ Society.
• The UN classifies countries with more than 7% of the population 65 or older as an “ageing society,” those with over 14% as an “aged society“, and those with more than 20% as a “super-aged” society.

Challenges of Ageing and Super-Aged Society

• Economic Strain: As the population ages, there is increased pressure on pension systems and healthcare services. With fewer working-age individuals contributing to the economy, public finances and social security systems can be strained.
• Healthcare Demand: Older populations typically have higher healthcare needs, leading to increased demand for medical services, long-term care, and specialised healthcare professionals.
• Labour Shortages: With a larger proportion of the population retiring, a shortage of skilled workers can impact productivity and economic growth. This can also lead to increased competition for younger workers and potential wage inflation.
• Infrastructure Needs: Age-friendly infrastructure, such as accessible housing, transportation, and public spaces, becomes increasingly important to accommodate the needs of an ageing population.
• Policy and Planning: Govt needs to develop & implement policies that address the challenges of an ageing population, including retirement age adjustments, healthcare reforms, and support for caregivers.

Government Initiatives for Aging People In India

• National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly (NPHCE): This program aims to provide accessible, affordable, high-quality, long-term, comprehensive, and dedicated care services to the elderly.
• Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY): This scheme provides physical aids and assisted-living devices to senior citizens in the BPL category.
• Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY): This scheme offers an assured return scheme for senior citizens, providing them with financial security.
• Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS): This scheme provides a monthly pension to elderly individuals below the poverty line.
• Elder Line: This toll-free helpline allows senior citizens to address their grievances and obtain information on various services and schemes.
• Senior Citizens Act: This act provides legal protection to senior citizens against abandonment and abuse, ensuring their rights and dignity.
• SACRED Portal: Digital platform providing information on various initiatives available for senior citizens.
• SAGE Project: The Social Awareness and Actions to Neutralize Elders’ Abuse (SAGE) project aims to create awareness and provide support to prevent elder abuse.
• National Policy for Older Persons, 1999: This policy promotes senior citizens’ health, well-being, and independence. It addresses various issues such as financial security, healthcare, shelter, and protection against abuse and exploitation.
• Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007: This act provides a legal framework for the maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens. It mandates that children and heirs provide maintenance to their parents and senior citizens, ensuring their basic needs are met.

Read More > Initiatives for the Aging Population.

{GS2 – IR – Groupings} United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF)

• Context (IE): The UN Secretary-General paid tributes to the Brigadier General Amitabh Jha from India, serving as Deputy Force Commander with the UNDOF at Golan Heights.

• UNDOF was established by Security Council resolution 350 in 1974, following the agreed disengagement of the Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan.
• Its mandate has been renewed every six months. Nepal is the top troop and police contributor to the mission; however, India is the third country to contribute in the top ten.
• Headquarter: Camp Faouar

{GS2 – Polity – IC – Elections} Amendment to Restrict Poll Document Access

• Context (TH | IE): The Centre has amended Rule 93(2)(a) of Conduct of Election Rules 1961 to limit access to certain election-related documents, including electronic records, for privacy & security reasons.
• Conduct of Election Rules, 1961: Governs transparency and election-related processes.

Key Features of the Amendment

• Modified Rule 93: Restricts public access to only those election documents explicitly specified in rules.
  • Pre-Amendment: Allowed access to “all other papers relating to the election.”
  • Post-Amendment: Limits access to “all other papers as specified in these rules.”
• Inclusions: Nomination forms, results, and election account statements remain accessible.
• Exclusions: CCTV footage, webcasting clips and video recordings of polling processes.

Rationale for the Amendment

• Legal Context: Earlier, Punjab and Haryana HC directed in a case to share all election-related documents, including electronic footage, with a petitioner.
• Privacy Concerns: To prevent voter anonymity breaches and footage misuse via AI.
• Sensitive Regions: Focus on Jammu & Kashmir, Naxal-affected zones, where voter safety is critical.

Advantages

• Institutional Reforms: Amendment clarifies the scope of accessible election documents.
• Protects voter identity and ensures confidentiality in sensitive areas.
• Prevents misuse of polling footage with advanced AI technologies.

Limitations

• Potential Legal Battles: Likely court challenges to balance privacy with public access.
• Reduces public oversight on key election documents, impacting transparency.
• Raises concerns among RTI activists about restricted access to critical election data.
• Faces criticism for being regressive for democratic accountability.
• Sparks political allegations of undermining electoral integrity.

Way Forward

• Balancing Security and Transparency: Introduce mechanisms to allow selective access, ensuring voter safety without compromising transparency.
• Outcome-Based Transparency: Provide anonymised data for research & public accountability.
• Strengthened Oversight: Encourage institutional reforms to build trust in the electoral process while ensuring data protection.

{GS3 – Envi – Species} Conservation Gaps for Captive Elephants

• Context (TH): Ambiguities in the Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules 2024 risk enabling the illegal trade and exploitation of elephants in India.

Need for Regulations on Captive Elephants

• Conservation: India houses the largest population of Asian elephants, vital for biodiversity.
• Prevention of Exploitation: To curb illegal captures and commercial misuse of elephants.
• Welfare and Protection: Ensures humane treatment of elephants and prevents cruelty.
• Weak Enforcement: Inadequate adherence to genetic profiling and documentation requirements.
• Limited Oversight: Forest officials face resource constraints for thorough monitoring.
• Commercial Vs. Conservation Interests: Economic incentives overshadow conservation priorities.

Issues with the Captive Elephant Rules, 2024

• Loopholes in Ownership Transfer: Allows commercial transactions disguised as maintenance.
• Flexible Transport Provisions: Lack of strict justification for elephant transfers leads to exploitation.
• Microchip Reuse: Microchips from deceased elephants are reused, facilitating illegal captures.
• No Post-Mortem Protocols: Absence of mandatory post-mortem reporting or microchip destruction upon elephant deaths.
• Legalisation of Captive Births: Recognition of calves born in captivity perpetuates elephant exploitation.
• Lack of Birth Control: No mandates for non-invasive birth control increase captive elephant populations.
• Cross-State Exploitation: Elephants leased or “gifted” for tourism, religious or ceremonial purposes commodify the species.
• Weak Wildlife Protection Amendments: Permissive exemptions in the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 prioritise traditions over conservation.

Way Forward

• Ban Calf Ownership: Prohibit ownership of elephants born through captive breeding.
• Prohibit Commercial Transfers: Enforce rules against ownership or transfer for commercial purposes.
• Microchip Destruction: Mandate post-mortem destruction of microchips under official supervision.
• Regulate Captive Breeding: Implement humane, non-invasive birth control measures.
• Use Robotic Elephants: Promote robotic alternatives for rituals and tourism.
• Adopt Eco-Friendly Practices: Engage communities and temple committees in conservation efforts.

• Digitize Monitoring: Make genetic profiling and electronic monitoring mandatory for captive elephants.
• Ownership Audits: Conduct independent audits of ownership & transfer records to ensure transparency.

Also refer to Asian Elephant, Initiatives for Elephant Conservation.

{GS3 – S&T – Space} Parker Solar Probe

• Context (TH): NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (PSP) made its record-breaking closest approach to the solar surface.

Source: NASA

• PSP is studying the Sun’s atmosphere. It has instruments to measure solar wind plasma environment.
• The spacecraft travels up to 692,000 km per hour, making it the fastest human-made object ever built. It endures extreme temperatures at 982 degrees Celsius.
• It is a car-sized robotic spacecraft launched in 2018 named after American solar astrophysicist Eugene Newman Parker, the first scientist to describe solar wind in 1958.
• It helps to understand that why the Sun’s outer atmosphere is hundreds of times hotter than its surface and to trace the origin of the solar wind ( continuous flow of charged particles emanating from the Sun).
• Instruments: FIELDS experiment, Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun (ISIS), Wide Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR), and Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP). These instruments collect data on the Sun’s magnetic fields, plasma, and energetic particles.

{Prelims – In News} Project CoS-it-FloWS

• Context (IE | DTE): Project CoS-it-FloWS initiative launched to deal with extreme events in Kerala.

• It is a community-based flood forecast and early warning system in Kerala that uses data from rain gauges to help with disaster planning. It was launched in the Periyar and Chalakudy river basins.
• It aims to improve flood disaster preparedness, mitigation, rescue, & rehabilitation in river basins.
• The project involves community volunteers who operate rain gauges and collect daily data from 100 rain gauges in the river basin. A mobile app called “Gather” transmits this data.
• The project uses local knowledge and community-based communication channels like WhatsApp groups to enhance coordination.

{Prelims – In News} US Fed’s Dot Plot

• Context (MC): The US Federal Reserve cuts the key lending rate. Following the announcement, all eyes were on the US Fed’s dot plot to look for signals on the next rate cut.

• The dot plot is a graph that uses dots to indicate how often a particular value occurs. The chart’s scale is fairly simple and represents small data sets.
• The Federal Reserve’s dot plot indicates what the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members believe should be the appropriate interest rate over various periods.
• It is updated quarterly and records each Fed official’s projection for the central bank’s key short-term interest rate, the federal funds rate.

Source: MC

{Prelims – PIN} Key Contributions of Former PM Manmohan Singh

• Context (IE | IE | BS): Late Manmohan Singh, an economist-turned-PM, was pivotal in steering India through major economic and social transformations.

1991 Economic Liberalization

• Structural Reforms: As Finance Minister during the BoP Crisis, Singh introduced reforms, including the abolition of licence raj, reduced tariffs, and opened the economy to private and foreign investment.

• Impact: These reforms began India’s liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation (LPG) era, laying the foundation for sustained economic growth.

Indo-US Civil Nuclear Deal

• Pioneered the civil nuclear agreement in 2008, ensuring India’s access to civilian nuclear technology and fuel despite global nuclear non-proliferation restrictions.

• Challenges: Endangered his government as the Left parties withdrew support, leading to a no-confidence motion, which he survived.
• Outcome: India gained a Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) waiver, bolstering energy security and international standing.

Landmark Social Legislations

• Right to Information Act (2005): Empowered citizens to access public authority records, ensuring transparency and accountability.
• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (2006): Ensured 100 days of wage employment annually for rural households.
• Right to Education Act (2009): Mandated free and compulsory education for children aged 6-14 years.
• National Food Security Act (2013): Subsidized food grains for 75% of rural & 50% of urban populations.

Institutional Reforms and Governance

• RTI Act: Strengthened institutional checks and balances by promoting governmental transparency.
• Unique ID (Aadhaar): Appointed Nandan Nilekani for Aadhaar implementation, laying the foundation for digital payments and welfare schemes.

Leadership During the 2008 Global Economic Crisis

• Stimulus Packages: Packages worth ₹1.86 lakh crore (3.5% of GDP) to revive economic activity.
• Monetary Measures: RBI infused ₹5.6 lakh crore (9% of GDP) to ease liquidity constraints.
• Economic Rebound: GDP growth rebounded from 6.7% in 2008-09 to 8.5% in 2009-10.

Initiatives for Minority Welfare

• Sachar Committee: Studied the socio-economic conditions of Muslims and suggested inclusive policies.
• Ranganath Mishra Committee: Recommended SC status for Dalit converts to Islam.
• Focused Policies: Advocated for equitable resource allocation & upliftment of minorities, espl. Muslims.

Leadership Style

• Ethical Governance: Personal and professional integrity, refraining from using office for personal gain.
• Collaborative Leadership: Fostered inclusive decision-making and listened to criticism constructively, ensuring innovative policy deliberations.

{Prelims – PIN} M.T. Vasudevan Nair

• Context (IE): M.T. Vasudevan Nair, a renowned Indian writer and scriptwriter who was particularly celebrated in Malayalam literature and cinema, has passed away.

• His novel Naalukettu (The Ancestral House) changed Malayalam literature by depicting the decline of matrilineal joint-family systems and made him a literary icon.
• As a filmmaker his directorial debut Nirmalyam won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film.
• He Won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award (twice) and the Jnanpith Award (1995).
• His works were often translated into English, and he was also honoured with the title of Doctor of Letters by both the University of Calicut and Mahatma Gandhi University.