Tag: UN Pushes for Reforms in Three Key Areas to meet SDGs

UPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS (2nd May,2025) World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES), 2025 Syllabus: GS3/ Economy In News At the inaugural WAVES Summit 2025 held in Mumbai, the Prime Minister underscored the creative economy as a critical lever for India’s future GDP growth, innovation, and inclusive development. More About the News The Prime Minister announced the launch of the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT), a National Centre of Excellence aimed at upskilling youth and fostering innovation in media, animation, gaming, and content creation. The IICT is being established by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in partnership with industry bodies FICCI and CII. The WAVES aims to unlock a $50 billion market by 2029, expanding India’s footprint in the global entertainment economy. About Creative Economy (also called Orange Economy) The Creative Economy encompasses industries that rely on individual creativity, skill, and intellectual property (IP) to generate economic value. These include: Cultural industries: Music, film, theatre, dance, crafts, literature Creative industries: Advertising, fashion, design, architecture Digital creative sectors: Animation, VFX, gaming, XR (Extended Reality), OTT platforms, YouTube/podcasts, influencer content John Howkins is credited for popularising the term “creative economy.” The term “Orange Economy” was coined by former Colombian President Iván Duque and Minister Felipe Buitrago. Current Status of India’s Creative Economy Economic Contribution: As of 2025, India’s creative economy contributes approximately $30 billion to the national GDP, employing about 8% of the workforce. Export Potential: Creative exports have surpassed $11 billion annually, encompassing sectors like film, music, design, and digital content. Global Standing: India ranks among the top countries in fintech adoption, mobile manufacturing, and startup ecosystems, providing a robust foundation for creative industries to flourish. India’s Potential in the Creative Economy Demographic Dividend: Over 65% of India’s population is below the age of 35 which are the main driver for content creation, gaming, design, and short-format storytelling. Digital Infrastructure: India has the second-largest internet user base globally. Initiatives like Digital India, BharatNet, and 5G rollout are enabling digital entrepreneurship in rural and urban areas alike. Cultural Heritage: India’s diverse traditions, languages, art forms, and mythology provide rich content for global storytelling. Cultural exports like Bollywood, Indian cuisine, and yoga have created strong brand recall internationally. Challenges Lack of IP awareness: Weak enforcement of copyrights, design patents, and royalties. Fragmented industry: Dominated by informal, unorganized sectors without formal recognition. Skill gaps: Training programs often lag behind fast-evolving digital tools and formats. Funding barriers: Lack of easy access to credit and grants for artists and creative startups. Limited rural participation: Urban-centric growth excludes rural talent and craftspeople. India’s Initiatives for Promoting Creative Economy– National Creators Award: Established in 2024 to recognize excellence in digital content creation across various platforms.– $1 Billion Creator Economy Fund: Announced to support content creators in improving skills and expanding to global markets.– National Handicrafts Development Programme (NHDP): Implemented by the Ministry of Textiles to develop and promote handicrafts.–Scheme of Financial Assistance for Promotion of Art and Culture: Provides financial support to cultural organizations and artists for preserving and promoting India’s rich cultural heritage. Supreme Court Flags Concerns Over Free Ration Distribution Syllabus: GS2/Welfare Schemes; Government Policy & Intervention Context Recently, the Supreme Court of India has raised concerns over the free ration distribution system, questioning its long-term sustainability and impact on economic policies. Development Perspective: Economic Sustainability Supreme Court’s Concerns: It observed that while States procure food grains from the Centre and distribute them for free, the financial burdenultimately falls on taxpayers. It questioned whether India, in 2025, is still grappling with the same poverty levels as in 2011, when the last Census was conducted. Need for Employment and Infrastructure Development: The court stressed that free ration distribution alone cannot be a long-term solution to poverty. It urged policymakers to focus on job creation and infrastructure growth to ensure economic stability. Concerns Over Welfare Dependency: The court cautioned against excessive reliance on freebies, arguing that such policies might discourage people from seeking employment. Justice B.R. Gavai remarked that free benefits should not create a ‘parasitic existence’, where individuals lose the motivation to work. Welfare Argument: Ensuring Food Security Public Distribution System (PDS): NFSA 2013 entitles 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population to to receive highly subsidised foodgrains under two categories of beneficiaries: – the Antodaya Anna Yojana households, and the priority Households. The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) provides free food grains to 81.35 crore beneficiaries for five years, ensuring basic nutrition and affordability. Support to Vulnerable Section: Free ration schemes protect low-income families from food insecurity, especially during economic downturns and crises. The One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) initiative allows migrants to access food grains anywhere in India, improving accessibility. Balancing Welfare and Development Targeted Welfare Programs: Instead of universal free ration, policies should focus on need-based distribution, ensuring that only the most vulnerable receive assistance. Diversification of Food Basket: Inclusion of millets, pulses, and oils can improve nutritional outcomes and support diverse farming. Strengthening Employment Initiatives: Expanding skill development programs and entrepreneurship support can help beneficiaries transition from welfare dependence to self-sufficiency. Encourage eligible and financially able families to voluntarily opt out of government subsidies, as was done under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. Fiscal Responsibility and Policy Reforms: The government must ensure efficient allocation of resources, balancing food security with economic growth. Periodic review of welfare schemes based on updated poverty data can improve effectiveness. Conclusion Free ration distribution in India is both a welfare imperative and a developmental dilemma. While it is indispensable in times of crisis and for vulnerable populations, its unmoderated continuation risks creating long-term inefficiencies. The real challenge is to integrate welfare into a developmental trajectory — where safety nets evolve into springboards for self-reliance. UN Pushes for Reforms in Three Key Areas to meet SDGs Syllabus: GS3/ Economy Context The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for urgent action in three key areas to help finance the achievement of the UN-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030. Background With the world facing compounding crises such as economic instability, conflicts, and trade disruptions, progress on the SDGs is lagging. Developing nations are spending over $1.4 trillion annually on debt servicing, limiting their ability to invest in development. Hence the UN has outlined three core areas needing urgent action: debt reforms, international financial institutions, and diversification of finance sources. Key Areas of Reform Debt Reforms: G20’s Common Framework for Debt Treatments must be accelerated and expanded to include middle-income countries in distress. Credit rating agencies need to revise ratings methodologies that drive up borrowing costs for developing countries. The IMF and World Bank must reform debt sustainability assessments to account for SDG-linked investments and climate vulnerabilities. Strengthening International Financial Institutions: Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) need recapitalization and should stretch their balance sheets to increase lending capacity. MDBs must focus on mobilizing private finance at affordable rates for developing countries. Diversifying Finance Sources: Countries should mobilise domestic resources to strengthen the health, education and infrastructure sectors. They should also try to increase blended finance options in collaboration with the private sector. Governments must also find ways to effectively fight corruption to prevent misappropriation of critical funds. Way Ahead There is a need to Push for an inclusive global tax system to ensure fair application of international tax norms. Also developed countries must honour their Official Development Assistance commitments. Global platforms, like the COP30 Climate Conference in Brazil, will explore innovative climate finance solutions with a target to mobilize $1.3 trillion annually by 2035. Sun’s Subsurface Weather Tied to Its 11-Year Activity Cycle Syllabus: GS3/ Science and Technology Context A study led by astronomers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) have probed the dynamic “inner weather” of the Sun – plasma currents just beneath its surface that pulse in step with its 11-year sunspot cycle. About The researchers have traced giant tides of plasma beneath the Sun’s surface at a region called near-surface shear layer (NSSL). The plasma currents shift with the Sun’s magnetic heartbeat and could have a far-reaching influence on space weather and Earth. The methodology employed was helioseismology, an advanced technique that tracks sound waves as they travel through the Sun, to observe changes in the movement of solar material. Near-surface shear layer (NSSL) The NSSL extending to about 35,000 km in depth is a critical region beneath the Sun’s surface. It is marked by distinct rotational behaviours that vary with depth and by changes, over space and time, that relate to active region magnetic fields and the solar cycle. Patterns beneath the Sun’s surface It was found that plasma on the Sun’s surface moves toward areas where sunspots appear (sunspots latitudes). However the direction of the plasma flow reverses midway through the NSSL, i.e. instead of moving toward the sunspot zones, the plasma starts moving outward, away from them. These changes in flow direction create circular patterns called circulation cells, which are strongly influenced by the Sun’s rotation and the Coriolis force. Way Ahead The spinning flows change the way the Sun rotates at different depths. This is called rotational shear (the gradient of rotation with depth). However these local flows, near the surface, don’t explain the Sun’s larger, deeper flows also known as torsional oscillations. Hence it suggests that these global flows, which ripple through the Sun’s vast interior, must be powered by something deeper and more mysterious. Concluding remarks Solar activity directly affects space weather, which can disrupt satellites, power grids, and communication systems on Earth. This study takes a step closer to building accurate models that can predict the Sun’s behaviour more reliably. What is the solar cycle?– The Sun, like a bar magnet, possesses a magnetic field with north and south poles. – This magnetic field is generated by the movement of electrically charged particles within the Sun. – Approximately every 11 years, the Sun’s magnetic field completely flips, switching its north and south poles—a phenomenon known as the solar cycle.Solar Maximum and Solar Minimum– Solar maximum is the peak phase of the Sun’s 11-year cycle, characterized by heightened solar activity. 1. During this period, the Sun emits more energy, radiation, and light and experiences an increased number of sunspots. – Solar Minimum: The lowest point of the cycle, when the Sun is relatively calm and there are fewer sunspots, is called solar minimum. World’s Largest Fusion Project Reaches Milestone With India’s Help Syllabus :GS 3/Science and Tech In News Scientists have completed the main magnet system for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), with India playing a significant role in building critical infrastructure. International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor(ITER) The International Thermo-nuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Project is currently under construction in a 180-hectare site in Southern France. Over 30 countries, including India, China, the US, Russia, Japan, South Korea, and the EU are collaborating to build the world’s largest tokamak, a magnetic fusion device to prove the feasibility of nuclear fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free source of energy. Do you know?– Nuclear fusion generates energy through merging of two light nuclei to form a single heavier nucleus. Fusion reactions power the Sun and other stars. Objectives It aims to demonstrate fusion energy as a safe and carbon-free power source. Unlike fission, fusion does not produce radioactive waste. It will produce 500 megawatts of energy from 50 megawatts of input, creating a self-sustaining plasma state known as “burning plasma”, crucial for unlocking fusion energy. ITER will not produce electricity but will serve as a large research facility to test fusion at scale, generating data for future commercial fusion plants. Cost Sharing Europe is bearing 45 per cent of the construction cost. The other six members — India, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the US — are each contributing about 9 per cent. But all members will get full access to the research results and patents. Contributions by Countries US Built the Central Solenoid, the core component of the magnet system. Russia provided the Poloidal Field magnet. Europe designed four large Poloidal Field magnets. China contributed Poloidal Field magnets and superconducting Correction Coil magnets. Japan produced 43 kilometers of Nb3Sn superconductor strand. Korea created tooling for pre-assembling large components. India’s Role India is one of the seven main members of ITER and has contributed to key infrastructure, including the cryostat cooling systems, heating technologies, and the cryolines that cool the magnets. India designed the cryostat, a 30-meter tall chamber housing the ITER Tokamak, and built systems to cool the magnets to superconducting temperatures of -269°C. India also delivered shielding, cooling water systems, and heating components. Progress ITER completed its powerful pulsed superconducting electromagnet system, a crucial part of the Tokamak, which will weigh nearly 3,000 tonnes. The system will help create a plasma by ionizing hydrogen fuel (deuterium and tritium), which will then be heated to 150 million degrees Celsius to facilitate nuclear fusion, similar to the Sun’s process. Future Outlook ITER’s progress reflects international cooperation and hope for a sustainable, peaceful energy future. ITER is expected to begin scientific operations in 2034, with Deuterium-Tritium operations starting in 2039. If successful, fusion could provide nearly limitless, clean energy without radioactive waste or carbon emissions, addressing global energy challenges.

Tag: UN Pushes for Reforms in Three Key Areas to meet SDGs

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