Urbanisation and Related Challenges

Syllabus: GS1/Urbanisation

Context

• October 31 is observed every year as World Cities Day. 

About

• The world’s urban population has reached an estimated 4.7 billion, or 57.5% of the world’s total population, with projections to double by 2050. 
• The theme for this year’s World Cities Day is ‘Youth Climate Changemakers: Catalysing Local Action for Urban Sustainability’.

Urbanisation in India

• In Western countries, urbanisation followed industrialisation, which created jobs that absorbed rural labour.
  • Their urbanisation was sustained also because of massive economic transfers from colonies. 
• In contrast, India’s urbanisation is largely driven by economic distress, resulting in poverty-driven urbanisation, with both rural-to-urban and urban-to-urban migration.
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, the strain on urban planning became apparent, as reverse migration trends highlighted gaps in infrastructure.
• According to the 2011 Census, India’s urban population increased from 27.7% in 2001 to 31.1% in 2011, at a rate of 2.76% per year.
• World Bank estimates suggest around 40% of India’s population live in urban areas, in around 9,000 statutory and census towns.
  • How well India manages this urban transformation will play a critical role in realizing its ambition of becoming a developed country by 2047, the 100th year of independence.

Urban challenges in India: 

• Outdated Plans: Spatial and temporal plans are often outdated and fail to accommodate population growth. 
• Overcrowded Unplanned Areas: Since the 1980s, deindustrialisation has led to job losses in cities like Ahmedabad, Delhi, Surat, and Mumbai.
  • Many workers displaced by this trend moved to peri-urban areas, where they live in overcrowded conditions. 
  • Currently, 40% of India’s urban population resides in slums. 
• Climate Change: Climate change severely impacts Indian cities.
  • Cities face severe pollution and are increasingly subject to urban flooding and heat island effects. 
• Inequality in Development: Inequality is widening, with exclusive developments catering to the wealthy while millions lack basic housing.
• Waste Management: Rapid urbanization has led to increased waste generation, and many cities struggle with effective waste collection and disposal, resulting in environmental degradation.
• Transportation and Traffic Congestion: Inadequate public transport systems, coupled with a rise in private vehicle ownership, contribute to severe traffic congestion and pollution.

Steps Taken by Government of India to Tackle Urbanisation Challenges

• As per the 12th Schedule of the Constitution of India, urban planning is a State subject. 
  • Government of India provides financial and technical support to the States. 
  • State Town Planning Departments and Urban Development Authorities act as city and state level urban anchors. 
• Smart Cities Mission: Launched in 2015, this initiative aims to promote sustainable and inclusive cities by using smart technology for better infrastructure, transportation, and services. 
• Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT): This mission focuses on ensuring basic services like water supply, sewerage, and urban transport to improve the quality of life in cities, particularly for the urban poor.
• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY): This housing scheme aims to provide affordable housing to the urban poor. 
• Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban): Launched in 2014, this initiative focuses on promoting cleanliness and sanitation in urban areas.
• NITI Ayog: The Managing Urbanisation (MU) Division provides data-based policy inputs for making India’s urbanisation manageable, economically productive, environmentally appropriate, and equitable.
  • It offers advice and policy guidance to key stakeholders involved in urban planning, development, and management.
• PM SVANidhi scheme is a special micro-credit facility launched by ministry for providing affordable loans to street vendors.

New Scheme to Foster Novel Ideas to Develop Health Sector 

Syllabus:GS2/Health 

In News

• The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) launched the “First in the World Challenge” to encourage Indian scientists to propose innovative solutions to complex health issues.

About scheme

• The scheme seeks bold, novel ideas for global-impact innovations in biomedical fields, including new vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and other health technologies.
• Criteria: Only proposals for unique, groundbreaking research and technologies will be funded.
  • Proposals aimed at incremental improvements or minor process innovations are ineligible.
• High-Risk, High-Reward: The initiative embraces a high-risk, high-reward approach, aiming for pioneering breakthroughs even if some projects may not succeed.
• Eligibility: Proposals can be submitted by individuals or teams from single or multiple institutions.
• Selection Committee: A selection panel comprising renowned experts, innovators, policymakers, and biomedical scientists will review proposals.

National Medical Register (NMR) Issues

•  The NMR, maintained by the National Medical Commission (NMC) and set up by the Union Health Ministry, is a centralized, dynamic database of all licensed allopathic doctors in India.
• Current Problem: Doctors face issues registering due to Aadhaar and state medical board detail mismatches, such as name spelling discrepancies.
• Authentication and Delay: The NMR uses Aadhaar for verification, requiring doctors to file affidavits to verify identity, leading to delays.i

Healthcare system in india 

• India’s healthcare industry includes hospitals, medical devices, clinical trials, outsourcing, telemedicine, medical tourism, health insurance, and medical equipment.
• Growth Drivers: The sector is growing rapidly due to expanded coverage, improved services, and increased investment by both public and private entities.
  • Rising lifestyle diseases, need for affordable healthcare, technological advances, telemedicine, health insurance penetration, government initiatives, tax benefits, and incentives are boosting the market.
• Immunization Program: The Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) targets 26.7 million newborns and 29 million pregnant women annually, providing vaccines for 12 preventable diseases at no cost.
• Hospital Sector Growth: Expected to reach INR 18,348.78 billion by FY 2027, with a CAGR of 18.24%.
• Telemedicine Market: Expected to grow at a 31% CAGR, reaching $5.4 billion by 2025.
• National Digital Health Blueprint: Could generate over $200 billion in economic value over the next 10 years.
• Ayushman Bharat Scheme: India has the world’s largest government-supported health insurance scheme.
• Medical Education Investment: INR 17,691.08 crore invested in 157 new medical colleges since 2014.
• FDI Policy: 100% FDI allowed under the automatic route for greenfield projects.
• Medical Value Travel (MVT): India is a top destination for MVT, attracting global patients under the “Heal in India” initiative

India’s updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP)

Syllabus: GS3/Biodiversity and Conservation

Context

• India launched the updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) 2024-2030, at the COP 16 to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 

Major Highlights of NBSAP

• India has updated the NBSAP to align with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) establishing the National Biodiversity Targets (NBTs). 
• It outlines 23 National Biodiversity Targets focused on reducing threats to biodiversity, ensuring sustainable use of resources, and enhancing tools for implementation.
  • Each target is linked to specific strategies aimed at promoting ecosystem resilience, species recovery, and sustainable management practices.
• Implementation: The MoEFCC serves as the central agency responsible for coordinating biodiversity conservation efforts across India. 

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

• The CBD is a part of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), came into being in 1993.
  • It has three major objectives—conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of the components of biological diversity, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)

• GBF was adopted by the COP15 to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2022.
• It has been promoted as a “Paris Agreement for Nature”.
• The GBF contains 4 global goals and 23 targets.
  • Among the twenty-three targets to be achieved by 2030 include halving the introduction of invasive species, and $500 billion/year reduction in harmful subsidies.
  • “Target 3” is especially referred to as the “30X30” target.
• ’30X30′ target
  • Under it, delegates committed to protecting 30% of land and 30% of coastal and marine areas by 2030, fulfilling the deal’s highest-profile goal, known as 30-by-30.
  • The deal also aspires to restore 30% of degraded lands and waters throughout the decade, up from an earlier aim of 20%.
  • Also, the world will strive to prevent destroying intact landscapes and areas with a lot of species, bringing those losses “close to zero by 2030”.

Major Outcomes of Cop 16

• Cali Fund: It is a multilateral mechanism, including a global fund, to share the benefits from uses of digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources more fairly and equitably.
  • It will be non-binding (voluntary) where firms are expected to contribute 1% of their profit or 0.1% of their revenue.
• Indigenous People and Local Communities: A new Programme that sets out specific tasks to ensure the meaningful contribution of indigenous peoples and local communities towards the three objectives of the Convention was adopted.
• Synthetic biology: An expert group will guide identification of synthetic biology’s potential benefits and review the potential impacts of recent technological developments. 
• Invasive Alien Species: It proposes guidelines for managing invasive alien species, touching on issues such as e-commerce, multicriteria analysis methodologies and others. 
• Biodiversity and Health: A Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health designed to help curb the emergence of zoonotic diseases, and prevent non-communicable diseases, it embraces a holistic “One Health” approach.
• Risk Assessment: Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety welcomed new, voluntary guidance on assessing the risks posed by living modified organisms (LMOs) containing engineered gene drives.
  • They are voluntary in nature, individual countries can tailor them to national contexts, considering ecological variables unique to their environments.