Plastic treaty talks fail amid split over production cuts

Delegates from nearly 170 countries who gathered in Busan, South Korea, failed to agree on a framework agreement to eliminate plastic pollution, despite a week of negotiations.

While this was the fifth and officially final round of talks of the Intergovernmental Negotiations Committee that began in 2022, ultimately the chasm between the blocs of countries - those that saw cutting plastic production as necessary to eliminate plastic waste and those that didn't - proved too wide to overcome. Countries, however, have decided to resume negotiations, likely sometime next year, under the tentative banner of INC-5.2.

Revanchist suits

Motivated litigation aimed at altering the status of a place of worship, a questionable exparte court order, and the violent protest that it evoked, led to the killing of four persons in Sambhal district, Uttar Pradesh, recently. The Supreme Court of India's order calling for preserving peace and harmony has provided some respite from the tension. The Court has also asked the trial judge not to proceed with a suit filed by Hindutva proponents until the Allahabad High Court hears the mosque committee on the validity of the survey order. 

Research security should be a national priority

As India aims to achieve its development objectives by 2047, the government has laid an emphasis on the role of science and technology in strategic and emerging sectors. Investment in cutting-edge technologies is essential to stay globally competitive, address societal challenges and unlock economic opportunities. Like in many nations, India is building an innovation ecosystem to harness the transformative power of these technologies. However, along with this intensification of research and development (R&D) arises a new challenge - research security. While collaboration and the free exchange of knowledge are fundamental to scientific progress, there are new risks in the rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape. 

India's cities, their non-communicable disease burden

India has a national non-communicable diseases (NCD) surveillance policy, with screening for NCD risks at the community level, aimed at preventive and promotive pathways for NCD care and treatment pathways. With over half of the world's population living in urban areas, this figure is projected to reach 70% by 2050. India's workforce is characterized by significant inter-State migration, with approximately 41 million people moving between States (Census 2011). This dynamic process, constituting nearly 29% of the total migration rate (Periodic Labour Force Survey 2020-21), highlights the fluidity of labour markets. 

What India's AI Safety Institute could do

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) convened meetings with industry and experts to discuss setting up an AI Safety Institute under the IndiaAI Mission. AI appeared high on the agenda in the run up to the Summit of the Future, with a high-level UN advisory panel producing a report on Governing AI for Humanity. Policymakers should build on India's recent leadership at the G20 and the GPAI, and position it as a unifying voice for the global majority in AI governance. The Summit of the Future yielded the Global Digital Compact that identifies multi-stakeholder collaboration, human-centric oversight, and inclusive participation of developing countries as essential pillars of AI governance and safety. 

In 8 IITs and 7 IIMs, over 80% faculty are from General Category

In at least two Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and three Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the share of faculty belonging to the General Category exceeds the 90% mark. In six other IITs and four other IIMs, the share is 80-90%. These conclusions are based on Right to Information (RTI) replies received from these institutions individually on various days in September 2024. The Centre mandates reservation of 27% in faculty positions for candidates of Other Backward Classes (OBC), 15% for those belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), and 7.5% for those belonging to Scheduled Tribes (ST) in both the IITs and IIMs as a part of its policy which covers nearly all Central educational institutions. 

'Vadhavan port will be a game changer for India'

The Vadhavan greenfield port, which is under construction near Dahanu in Maharashtra, will double India's container trade from the current levels upon completion. Scheduled to be finished by 2034, it is projected to be among the top 10 ports in the world, according to Unmesh Sharad Wagh, Chairman of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA). He termed the port a "game changer" for the country and the region. While the project conceptualization was there since 1991-92, it has not made progress. The project with an outlay of ₹76,000 crore is being constructed by Vadhavan Port Project Limited (VPPL), a joint venture between JNPA and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), with shareholding of 74% and 26%, respectively.

New HIV infections declined 44% in 2023, AIDS-related deaths down 79%, says Nadda

India's sustained efforts have ensured that the prevalence of HIV epidemic in the country remained in low levels over the years, with new infections in 2023 almost 44% lower than in 2010, while AIDS-related deaths declined by 79%, Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda said. Data released by the Ministry showed that HIV prevalence in adults continued to be high in Mizoram and Nagaland, closely followed by Manipur. Further, its rising trend in Punjab is a cause for concern. The report said that even with the low prevalence, India still had an estimated 25.44 lakh people living with HIV in 2023. Women aged 15-plus accounted for 44% of it, while nearly 3% of the cases were among children.

Centre working on national policy document on female labour force participation

The Centre will soon bring out a national policy document on female labour force participation with a focus on providing an enabling atmosphere like a viable Care economy structure. An inter-ministerial team from the Ministries of Skill Development, Labour, Rural Development, and Women and Child Development is working on it. The move comes amid a recent World Bank report which said women faced a sharp drop in their labour force participation post-marriage in India. According to the report, it is estimated that in India post-marriage, female employment rates drop by 12 percentage points, about one-third of the female pre-marital employment rate, even in the absence of children.

In our fight against climate change, could the seas turn the tide?

The ocean, the earth’s vast blue lung, has long played a critical but underappreciated role in moderating the planet’s climate. It has absorbed 25% of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and more than 90% of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gases, buying humankind precious time against the worsening effects of climate change. However, this seemingly boundless capacity comes at a cost: ocean acidification, disrupted biogeochemical cycles, pollution, and profound harm to marine ecosystems.  

Shock diamonds: supersonic heat nuggets

Sometimes when a rocket or a jet takes off, its exhaust has an alternating pattern of light

and dark patches (see image). The bright patches in this formation are called shock diamonds, a.k.a. Mach diamonds. Shock diamonds are formed when an engine releases its exhaust into the atmosphere at a supersonic speed. Just as it leaves the engine, the exhaust can be at a lower pressure than atmospheric pressure at the same altitude. As the exhaust flows out, the atmosphere compresses it until the two pressures are equal.