Mains Factly September 2023

GS 1

Geography

• At least 100 million hectares of healthy & productive land were degraded every year between 2015 & 2019, the UN body pointed out. This added up to 420 million hectares (4.2 million square km) slightly over the combined area of 5 Central Asian Nations: – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan & Uzbekistan
• 2023 study by researchers at the University of Maryland found 3 million more hectares of tree cover loss per year due to fires compared to 2001
• According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, an estimated 34 per cent of global stocks are overfished compared with 10 per cent in 1974, indicating exploitation taking place at a pace where the fish population cannot replenish itself. Declining fish stocks threaten to worsen poverty and endanger coastal communities that rely on fishing. Roughly 39 million people depend on capture fisheries for their livelihood, per available data India faces a severe problem of land degradation, or soil becoming unfit for cultivation. About 29% or about 96.4 million hectares are considered degraded.

Population

• India ageing, elderly to make up 20% of population by 2050: UNFPA report
• Report title: India Ageing Report 2023
• Published by: United Nations Population Fund, India (UNFPA)
• The report used data from the 2011 Census, the 2017-18 Longitudinal Ageing Survey in India (LASI) conducted by the Health Ministry, population projections of the Government of India and the World Population Projection 2022 report, among other sources.
• Decadal growth rate of the elderly population of India is 41%.
• The percentage of elderly population in the country is projected to double to over 20% of total population by 2050.

Key findings of the report:

Over 40% poorest:

• More than 40% of the elderly in India are in the poorest wealth quintile, with about 18.7% of them living without an income. This may affect their quality of life and healthcare utilization.
• The population of people aged 80+ years will grow at a rate of around 279% between 2022 and 2050 with a “predominance of widowed and highly dependent very old women” – a finding in line with the pattern across several nations.
• Women had higher life expectancy at the age of 60 and at the 80 compared to men — with variations across States and Union Territories.

Higher life expectancy:

• Life expectancy of women at 60 years is greater than 20 years in States such as Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, raising concerns about their social and economic well-being.
• The sex ratio (females per 1,000 males) among the elderly has been climbing steadily since 1991, with the ratio in the general population stagnating. Between 2011 and 2021, the ratio increased in India as a whole and across all regions, barring the Union Territories and western India.
• In the northeast and the east, while the sex ratio of the elderly increased, it remained below 1,000 in both years

GS 2

Public Health

• In 2021, India reported 1,64,033 deaths by suicide of which 41 percent were young persons below 30 years. Research shows, every death by suicide impacts about 60 people affected by the loss of a loved one, and more than 20 attempt suicide.
• Pendency of Court Cases

GS  3

Biodiversity

• The Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control quantifies that of the more than 37, 000 alien species identified across the world, arround 3500 are invasive. Of the 37, 000, six percent of the plants, 22 percent of the invertebrates, 14 percent of the vertebrates & 11 percent of microbes are invasive. Invasive alien species are a key driver of biodiversity loss & under Target 6 of the ambitious Kunming – Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), the world has to prevent & reduce the rate of introduction & establishment of invasive alien species by at least 50 percent by 2030
• A team of 86 researchers from 49 countries a 4-year assessment of the global impacts of some 3500 harmful invasive species, finding that economic costs now total at least $423 billion every year, with the alien invaders playing a key role in 60% of recorded plant & animal extinctions

Climate Change

• The African Continent of more than 1.3 billion people is losing 5% to 15% of its gross domestic product growth every year to the wide spread impacts of climate change, according to Ruto

E Waste

• E-waste management is largely informal in India as in the case of recycling. “Roughly 90% of collection & 70% of the recycling are managed by a very competitive informal sector”

Gig Economy

• According to industry research, consumer spending in India is expected to surpass $4 trillion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of about 10 percent. Moreover, the overall e-commerce e-tail ecosystem’s GMV also grew by 22 percent to reach $60 billion in FY23. According to industry reports, it is anticipated that India’s gig workforce will reach 2.35 crore by 2029-30, which clearly indicates the growing demand for this talent pool

Trade Relations

Food Processing Sector

• India’s food processing sector is expected to generate 9 million jobs by 2024 & by 2030 India’s house-hold consumption would quadruple, making it the world’s 5^th largest consumer of food & food technology. The sector significantly contributes to India’s economy, accounting for 13% of exports & 6% of industrial investment. He added that India’s Food Processing Sector was aiming to double its GDP contribution from 8% too 20% by 2030.

Financial Inclusion

• India has used digital public infrastructure to achieve 80% financial inclusion in 6 years: World Bank. The World Bank Report is part of the G20’s Financial Inclusion Action Plan for 2024-2026, shaped under India’s presidency

Waterways

• Today, river waterways may constitute less than 2 per cent of total cargo movement

Digital Economy

• India’s digital economy is expected to contribute more than 20 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2026, the digital economy has gone from contributing 4-4.5 per cent of the total GDP in 2014, to 11 per cent of the total GDP, at present

Pension System

• Pension outgo may rise to over `17 lakh crore under OPS as against `4 lakh cr for NPS

Logistics Sector

• Logistics sector will add 10 m jobs by 2027

Agriculture

• The monsoon is critical for India’s economy as 51% of India’s farmed area accounting for 40% of production is rain-fed. As many as 47% of the country’s population is dependent on agriculture for livelihood.

GS 4 (Ethics)

• Ethics case study and example

Civil services Conduct Rules:

• Rinku Dugga, a 1994-batch AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre officer, was posted as Principal Secretary, Indigenous Affairs in Arunachal Pradesh.
• She and her husband Sanjeev Khirwar, who is also a 1994-batch IAS officer and is currently posted in Ladakh, were transferred out of Delhi last year following a newspaper report that they emptied a stadium of athletes to walk their dog.
• Dugga has been retired compulsorily under the Fundamental Rules (FR) 56(j), Rule 48 of Central Civil Services (CCS) Pension Rules, 1972 after an assessment of her service record, the sources said.
• The government has the right to retire any government servant -if it is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to do so

Source: IAS officer Rinku Dugga, who emptied Delhi stadium to walk dog, compulsorily retired by government – The Hindu

Negligence and Poor quality of service:

Woman electrocuted at New Delhi Railway Station, ‘negligence of concerned authority,’ blames father

Source: Woman electrocuted at New Delhi Railway Station, ‘negligence of concerned authority,’ blames father | Mint (livemint.com)