CURRENT AFFAIRS 2023

Notes 160 Pages

Union Public Service Commission (Main)

Current Affairs

SJR

Contributed by

Sameedha Javed Rajagopalan

CURRENT AFFAIRS CURRENT AFFAIRS
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MAINS 2023 MAINS 2023
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Contents
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ......................... 4
1. Indo-Pacific Economic Framework
for Prosperity .......................................... 4
2. Abraham Accords and India ............... 5
3. Iran-Saudi Normalisation.................... 6
4. NATO ........................................................... 7
5. Understanding IMF bailouts ............... 8
6. BIMSTEC .................................................. 10
7. AUKUS....................................................... 11
8. G20 ............................................................ 12
ECONOMY ............................................................. 15
1. ONDC ......................................................... 15
2. Internationalisation of Rupees ....... 16
3. Global Minimum Tax ........................... 17
4. Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 ... 18
5. Central Bank Digital Currency
(CBDC) ...................................................... 18
6. Competition (Amendment) Act,
2023 .......................................................... 20
7. Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
(IBC) .......................................................... 20
8. Promotion of Co-operative Banks .. 22
9. Recommendations of 15th Finance
Commission ............................................ 23
10. GST Ruling and Cooperative
federalism ............................................... 26
11. FINANCIAL INCLUSION ..................... 26
12. UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME ............. 27
13. FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS (FTAs)32
14. START-UP ECOSYSTEM .................... 33
15. DE DOLLARIZATION.......................... 35
16. INSURANCE MARKET ........................ 36
17. Government e-Marketplace ........... 38
18. Cooperatives ........................................ 39
Polity and governance .................................... 42
1. Digital Personal Data Protection
Bill, 2023 ................................................. 42
2. National Capital Territory of Delhi
(Amendment) Bill 2023 ..................... 42
3. Safety Net for Farmers ....................... 43
4. Empowering Divyangjan ................... 46
5. Special Initiatives and Schemes for
Women ..................................................... 47
6. Transgender Persons (Protection of
Rights) Act, 2019 .................................. 49
7. Initiatives related to Education ...... 50
8. Leveraging India's Tourism Sector 53
9. Production Linked Incentive
Scheme (PLI) .......................................... 54
10. Child marriage .................................... 55
11. Enforcement Directorate (ED) and
Prevention of Money Laundering
Act,2002 (PMLA) .................................. 56
12. Skill Development ............................. 58
13. PENSION SECTOR IN INDIA ............ 60
14. GST ALLOCATION TO STATES ....... 61
15. FORMALISATION OF LABOUR ....... 63
16. Criminal Procedure Identification
Rules(2022): .......................................... 65
17. Election Commissioner and the
appointment procedure: ................... 67
18. Non Resident Indian Voting: ......... 68
19. Delimitation ........................................ 69
20. Scheduled tribes identification .... 70
21. Revenue generation potential of
ULBs .......................................................... 71
22. Water Use Associations and their
effectiveness .......................................... 73
23. PRAGATI ............................................... 74
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ENVIRONMENT ................................................... 76
1. Nature Based Solutions (NbS).......... 76
2. Nano Urea ............................................... 77
3. Community Reserves .......................... 77
4. Heat waves .............................................. 78
5. Millets ....................................................... 79
6. Soil Degradation ................................... 80
7. Marine protected areas ...................... 82
8. Wildlife (Protection) Amendment
Act, 2022 .................................................. 83
9. Mission LiFE (Lifestyle For
Environment) ........................................ 84
10. UNFCCC (The United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate
Change) .................................................... 85
11. UNCBD .................................................... 87
12. Translocation of animals ................ 89
13. Ramsar Sites in India........................ 90
14. Jal Jeevan Mission .............................. 91
15. Atal Bhujal Yojana ............................. 92
SOCIETY ................................................................ 93
1. Population Related .............................. 93
2. Women in STEM .................................... 95
3. Urban poverty in India: ...................... 96
4. Urbanization .......................................... 98
5. NORTH EASTERN INDIA MILIEU .. 100
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ....................... 103
RENEWABLE ENERGY AND
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES 103
1) Hydrogen as a fuel ............................ 103
2) Biofuels ................................................ 105
SPACE SECTOR ........................................ 107
1) India’s mission to Venus-
Shukrayaan-1 ...................................... 107
2) India’s mission to Mars- Mars
Orbiter Mission .................................. 108
3) India’s mission to moon-
Chandrayaan-3 .................................... 109
4) Artemis Mission ................................. 111
5) India’s mission to Sun- Aditya- L1111
6) Gaganyaan ........................................... 112
7) Sustainability in outer space ........ 113
8) India’s space policy .......................... 115
9) Hanle Space Observatory & Dark
Sky Reserve .......................................... 117
10) International Liquid-Mirror
Telescope (ILMT) ............................... 119
11) Small Satellite Launch Vehicle
(SSLV) ..................................................... 120
12) Black Hole ......................................... 120
13) Gravitational waves and LIGO.... 122
14) Dark Matter and Dark Energy .... 124
HEALTH .............................................................. 125
1) Priorities of the Health Sector ...... 125
2) Mental health policy ......................... 125
3) National Policy for Rare Diseases
2021 ........................................................ 126
4) Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission128
5) Other initiatives related to health129
i) Ayushman Bharat Health
Infrastructure Mission ..................... 129
ii) E-sanjeevani ........................................ 130
6) Genome sequencing and Genome
India Project ........................................ 130
7) Neglected tropical diseases ........... 132
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY .................... 134
1. Decoding modern tech terms ........ 134
i) Metaverse .............................................. 134
ii) Quantum Computing ........................ 134
iii) Artificial Intelligence ..................... 135
2. Web 3.0 .................................................. 137
INDIA’S DEFENSE SECTOR ........................... 139
1) Chief of Defence staff ....................... 139
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2) Integrated Theater Command ..... 139
3) Defence Indigenisation .................. 140
Facts and figures from different reports
and indices ....................................................... 144
1) Climate Change:................................. 144
2) Education............................................. 144
3) Health ................................................... 145
4) Employment ....................................... 145
Diseases and government efforts............. 147
1) Tuberculosis (TB) ............................ 147
2) Malaria ................................................. 147
3) Kala-azar ............................................. 147
4) Measles ................................................. 147
5) Filariasis ............................................... 147
MISCELLANEOUS ............................................. 148
1) Samudrayaan Mission ..................... 148
2) Project-75 ............................................ 149
3) India’s semiconductor Industry... 149
4) Semicon India Programme ............ 151
5) Critical Minerals ................................ 152
6) Antimicrobial Resistance ............... 154
7) Zoonoses .............................................. 155
8) Antifungal Resistance ...................... 156
9) Plastics .................................................. 156
10) CPGRAMS & UMANG ....................... 158

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INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Indo-Pacific Economic
Framework for Prosperity
Introduction
 In 2022, United States President Joe
Biden launched a new Asia-Pacific
trade initiative known as the Indo-
Pacific Economic Framework for
Prosperity (IPEF) in Tokyo.
 The framework includes 14 countries
— Australia, Brunei, India,
Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of
Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,
Vietnam, Fiji and the United States.
 Together, the participants account for
about 40 percent of global GDP and
there are other countries that could
join the initiative.
What would IPEF do?
 IPEF is neither an agreement nor a
trade bloc, but a framework.
 It seeks to strengthen economic
partnership among participating
countries with the objective of
enhancing resilience, sustainability,
inclusiveness, economic growth,
fairness and competitiveness in the
region.
 IPEF foresees integrating partners
through agreed standards in four
key pillars: fair and resilient trade,
supply chain resiliency, clean
energy decarbonisation, and tax
and anti-corruption - to deepen
economic engagement in the region.
 The primary objective of the IPEF is to
ensure a high degree of regulatory
coherence and to make market access
contingent upon realisation of
regulatory standards.
Significance
 The IPEF is part of the U.S.’s more
than a decade old “Pivot to Asia”
programme, re-imagining the Indo-
Pacific as a geographic construct
including America.
 The Quad, consisting India,
Australia, Japan and the U.S., is part
of the same pitch made by the U.S.
administration.
 IPEF is intended to offer US allies an
alternative to China’s growing
commercial presence across the Asia-
Pacific.
 The IPEF’s non-specific and flexible
nature also suits India, which has
held strong views on a range of issues
like labour standards, environmental
restrictions on fossil fuels, and data
localisation.
 India’s inclusion also comes from a
geopolitical need to counter China’s
virtual control over Asian trade.
India’s Engagement
 India has chosen to stay out of the
Trade Policy Pillar - which deals with
issues pertaining to labour,
environment, digital, and agriculture -
at the IPEF.
 IPEF has four pillars — trade, supply
chain, tax and anti corruption and
clean energy. The forum gives
flexibility to the 14 member countries
to choose which pillar/s they want to
be part of.
 While India has not joined the trade
pillar, it is engaging in three other
areas. India’s concerns are regarding
issues like linking environment and
labour to trade and having binding
commitments about the same.
How does IPEF benefit India?
 The IPEF grouping would provide
various benefits to India, including a
potential shift of production centres
in critical sectors and mitigating risks
of economic disruptions from
supply chain shocks.
 The other benefits include
o supply chain diversification,
o mobilisation of investments,
o deeper integration of India
in global value chains,
o support to MSMEs and
o creation of a seamless
regional trade ecosystem,
which would facilitate the flow
of Indian products.
 The agreement would help India to
reduce its dependence on China.

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2. Abraham Accords and India
Introduction
 The Abraham Accords, which refers
to the collective agreement between
the United States (US), the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel,
was signed in 2020.
 These Accords were later extended
to the countries of Sudan, Bahrain
and Morocco and marks the first
normalisation of ties between
Israel and an Arab country since
Jordan in 1994.
 The declaration of the Accords states
that the significance of
strengthening and maintaining
peace in West Asia is upheld and
recognised. The Accords also pursue
an end to conflict and radicalisation
and calls attention to art, medicine,
science and commerce and its role in
bringing countries together.
 It finally states that it seeks to
expand friendly relations between
Israel and its neighbours in the
spirit of a shared commitment to a
better future.
The challenges of the Abraham Accords
 The Abraham Accords, though
geopolitically transformational, are
not without their drawbacks, the
most prominent of which is the
Palestinian cause.
 Despite the violence that has
persisted after the Accords, the new
ties remain unaltered indicating that
Arab-Israeli ties have adopted a
different trajectory and are slowly
becoming independent of the Israeli-
Palestine conflict.
 Additionally, this further
exacerbates the divide with other
nations such as Qatar and Turkey.
India and the Abraham Accords
 Although India officially welcomed
the Abraham Accords, it reiterated its
“traditional support” for the two-
state solution, thus reiterating its
stance on the Palestinian cause.
 The Abraham Accords provides the
atmospherics for India to foster
stronger ties with Arabs countries
as well as Israel. As a result, some
agreements have been signed
between India and the members of
the Accords.
 In 2021, the Foreign Affairs Ministers
from the four countries, the UAE, US,
Israel and India virtually met and
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discussed potential partnerships and
cooperation. This grouping was
unofficially described as the “West
Asian Quad” and the “Indo-
Abrahamic construct”.
 These four countries have also
formed a quadrilateral grouping
known as I2U2. The I2U2 Group will
focus on joint investments in water,
energy, transportation, space, health,
and food security.
 I2U2 partners will mobilise private
sector capital and expertise to help
modernize infrastructure, decarbonise
industries, improve public health, and
promote the development of green
technologies.
 By embedding India—a key trade
partner with the Middle East—
deeper in the diplomatic and
commercial architecture of the
region, the Abraham Accords pave
the way for more trade and
economic growth.
 The Accords have paved the way for
greater regional and multinational
cooperation through major
commercial collaborations between
companies from the UAE, Israel,
Bahrain and the United States with the
Indian private sector.
Conclusion
 India is poised to gain from the
Abraham Accords—and so is the
world. They can help advance New
Delhi’s foreign policy goals, and
fortify its role on the global stage.
 They can also contribute to regional
and global growth and stability by
bringing together major economic
players to pursue trade and
investment opportunities, and to
partner on delivering key public
goods, from clean energy
technologies to pandemic vaccines.

3. Iran-Saudi Normalisation
Introduction
 In March 2023, Saudi Arabia and
Iran signed an agreement in Beijing,
China, to re-establish diplomatic
ties, respect each other’s
sovereignty and maintain non-
interference in the other’s domestic
affairs.
 The agreement came after months of
deliberations and four days of talks
mediated by China.
Saudi-Iran Ties
 This agreement ends seven years of
diplomatic estrangement between
the two Gulf neighbours.
 During this period, they have
confronted each other in proxy wars
in Syria and Yemen, carried out
media campaigns of extraordinary
mutual hostility, often on sectarian
basis, and have on occasion come
close to direct conflict, particularly
in 2019 when suspected Iranian
agents attacked Saudi oil facilities.
 Iran and Saudi Arabia operate on
opposite sides of many conflicts in
the Middle East; thus, many believe
that this normalization will
contribute to peace efforts.
 The positive impact of the agreement
would be felt in Lebanon, Yemen,
Syria, and the region.
Strategic Significance of the Agreement
 The agreement has confirmed that
the Arab states are prepared to
pursue their interests without
United States involvement.
 This was largely the result of
increasing regional
disenchantment with the U.S. as a
security-provider, alongside strong
messages from Washington that it
was less enthusiastic about being the
regional security-guarantor. The
U.S.’s military failures in Iraq and
Afghanistan contributed to its loss
of credibility among its regional
allies.
 What regional states are seeking is
not to disengage from the U.S. but to
broaden their options and build
alternative relationships to suit
their interests.
China’s Role
 China is an attractive partner. It has
substantial energy, trade, investment
and technology-related ties with
West Asia: it is the region’s largest
buyer of crude oil, a major trade and
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investment partner, and is also
rapidly expanding its role as a
technology-provider in most
countries.
 West Asia is also crucial for the
realisation of China’s Belt and Road
Initiative (BRI), with regional states
being important for logistical
connectivity, and investment,
consultancy and contracting
partnerships.
 China is looking at greater political
involvement with the region on the
basis of “quasi-mediation
diplomacy” to promote its broad
commercial, diplomatic and political
interests rather than its hard security
concerns.
Challenges for India
 China has affirmed that its role in
West Asian affairs is likely to get
more active and substantial. This
poses challenges for Indian
diplomacy.
 However, recognising that the
management of its ties with China
remains its diplomatic priority, India
will need to engage with China in
West Asia where they have a broad
gamut of shared interests in energy
security, free and open sea lanes,
logistical connectivity, and, above all,
regional stability. Here, they can
work together to further mutual and
regional interests.

4. NATO
About NATO
 Formed in 1949 with the signing of
the Washington Treaty, NATO is a
security alliance of 30 countries
from North America and Europe.
 Established in the Cold War as a
bulwark against Soviet aggression,
NATO’s fundamental goal is to
safeguard the freedom and security of
all its members by political and
military means.
 Article 5 of the Washington Treaty
states that an attack against one Ally is
an attack against all — is at the core of
the Alliance, a promise of collective
defence.
o Article 5 has been invoked
only once in NATO history. It
happened after the September
11 attacks on the United
States in 2001, which led the
alliance into Afghanistan.
 A “NATO decision” is the expression
of the collective will of all 30 member
countries since all decisions are taken
by consensus.
 At present, NATO has 31 members. In
1949, there were 12 founding
members of the Alliance: Belgium,
Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland,
Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom
and the United States. The other
member countries are: Greece and
Turkey (1952), Germany (1955), Spain
(1982), the Czech Republic, Hungary
and Poland (1999), Bulgaria, Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia
and Slovenia (2004), Albania and
Croatia (2009), Montenegro (2017),
North Macedonia (2020) and Finland
(2023).
 NATO's Headquarters are located in
Brussels, Belgium.
New Member
 Finland has become the 31st member
of NATO recently, in a historic
strategic shift provoked by Moscow's
war on Ukraine.
Significance
 Finland shares a 1,340km long
border with Russia and during the
Soviet days, both countries signed a
“friendship agreement," in which
Finland agreed to be a neutral
country.
 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year
prompted Finland and its neighbor
Sweden to drop decades of military
non-alignment.
 While Finland and Sweden applied
together for membership in NATO,
only Finland joined the military
alliance as both countries faced certain
hurdles in their bid for membership.
Implications for India
 The fall of the Soviet Union with
the end of the Cold War, the rise of
India and China, the deepening of
the India-US relationship and the
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war on Ukraine have profoundly
affected India-Russia relations.
 India has not joined the US in
supporting sanctions against Russia,
showing that it follows an
independent foreign policy. It has
imported oil from Russia at a lesser
rate and has engaged in dialogues
and discussions at various summits
and meetings.
 Even though India has not supported
any sanctions against Russia, it has,
along with the US, Japan, and
Australia, formed the Quadrilateral
Security Dialogue (QUAD), which is
also said as the alternative to NATO
in the Asian region.
 India engages with NATO in terms
of strategic dialogues as it states
that it wants to engage with
everyone who takes part actively in
issues affecting globally. The
organisation welcomes countries of
South and South East Asia, including
India and China, to take part in
dialogues and discussions actively.
 However, India pursues its foreign
policy by taking into consideration
its interests first which are,
respecting the sovereignty of
nations, maintaining goodwill with
all, and not taking any sides as we
witnessed during the cold war but
openly supporting and articulating
diplomacy and peace to resolve
issues rather than war.
Way Forward
 The international scenario is
changing with new partnerships
entering into global forums. The
world is witnessing the rise of
several powers capable of forming or
entering into alliances to counter the
more extensive forces.
 Amid all these events, India
continues to follow its independent
foreign policy by giving primacy to
diplomacy and peace, which shows
that no matter who is on the other
side, India will always aim for peace
and diplomacy, along with the safety
and security of itself.

5. Understanding IMF bailouts
Introduction
 The International Monetary Fund
(IMF) has confirmed a $3 billion
bailout plan for Sri Lanka’s struggling
economy. IMF officials are also in
negotiations with Pakistan for a $1.1
billion bailout plan as the country
faces a severe economic crisis
marked by a falling currency and
price rise.
Mandate of IMF
 The IMF was set up in 1945 out of
the Bretton Woods conference. The
primary goal of the IMF back then
was to bring about international
economic coordination to prevent
competing currency devaluation by
countries trying to promote their
own exports.
 Eventually, the IMF evolved to be a
lender of last resort to
governments of countries that had
to deal with severe currency
crises.
Why do nations seek an IMF bailout?
 Countries seek help from the IMF
usually when their economies face a
major macroeconomic risk, mostly
in the form of a currency crisis.
 For instance in the case of Sri Lanka
and Pakistan, both countries have
witnessed domestic prices rise
rapidly and the exchange value of
their currencies drop steeply against
the U.S. dollar.
 A rapid, unpredictable fall in the
value of a currency can destroy
confidence in said currency and
affect economic activity as people
may turn hesitant to accept the
currency in exchange for goods and
services. Foreigners may also be
unwilling to invest in an economy
where the value of its currency
gyrates in an unpredictable manner.
 In such a scenario, many countries
are forced to seek help from the IMF
to meet their external debt and other
obligations, to purchase essential
imports, and also to prop up the
exchange value of their currencies.

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How does the IMF help countries?
 The IMF basically lends money, often
in the form of special drawing
rights (SDRs), to troubled
economies that seek the lender’s
assistance.
o SDRs is a reserve created by
the IMF. The member
countries have to contribute
to this account in proportion
to their IMF quota.
o SDRs simply represent a
basket of five currencies,
namely the U.S. dollar, the
euro, the Chinese yuan, the
Japanese yen, and the
British pound.
o Also called “paper gold”, an
SDR is neither paper nor
gold but an accounting
entry. It is a potential claim
on the freely usable
currencies of IMF
members.
o Holders of SDRs can obtain
these currencies in exchange
for their SDRs in two ways:
first, through the
arrangement of voluntary
exchanges between
members; and second, by the
IMF designating members
with strong external
positions to purchase SDRs
from members with weak
external positions.
 The IMF carries out its lending to
troubled economies through a
number of lending programs such
as the extended credit facility, the
flexible credit line, the stand-by
agreement, etc.
 Countries receiving the bailout can
use the SDRs for various purposes
depending on their individual
circumstances. Currently, both Sri
Lanka and Pakistan are in urgent
need for U.S. dollars to import
essential items and also to pay their
foreign debt. So any money that they
receive from the IMF is likely to go
towards addressing these urgent
issues.
Are there any strings attached to an IMF
bailout?
 It should be noted that the IMF does
not lend for specific projects.
Instead, the IMF provides financial
support to countries hit by crises to
create breathing room as they
implement policies that restore
economic stability and growth. It also
provides precautionary financing
to help prevent crises.
 The IMF usually imposes conditions
on countries before it lends any
money to them. For example, a
country may have to agree to
implement certain structural
reforms as a condition to receive
IMF loans.
 The IMF’s conditional lending has
been controversial as many believe
that these reforms are too tough on
the public. Some have also accused
the IMF’s lending decisions, which
are taken by officials appointed by
the governments of various
countries, to be influenced by
international politics.
 Supporters of the IMF’s lending
policies, however, have argued that
conditions are essential for the
success of IMF lending.
Pros and cons
 An IMF bailout ensures the survival
of a country amid economic turmoil,
also ensuring that essential
industries and economic systems
remain up and running.
 The IMF can also provide technical
expertise to the affected country on
how to implement reforms to
strengthen the economy and
institutions
 On the downside, the IMF’s
conditions can result in reduced
government spending and higher
taxes, measures which have been
historically unpopular with the
people and often resulted in public
unrest.
 It can also create a sense of
dependency on external funding,
while also harming the country’s
reputation in the eyes of investors.

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