Daily Current Affairs Prelims 14 May 2024

• Recently, the leaders of Greece and Turkey met to put aside decades-old disputes. This meeting was part of a five-month-old friendship initiative.
• The disputes between Greece and Turkey, two NATO members, have strongly affected their relations since the 1970s with outbreak of military hostilities, in 1987 and in early 1996.
• Aegean Sea Dispute –
  • Greece and Turkey disagree over the extent of territorial waters in the Aegean Sea. Greece claims 12 nautical miles based on international law, which Turkey does not recognize, arguing it would limit its access to the Aegean.
  • Similar disputes exist over airspace, with Turkey not recognizing the 10-mile airspace boundary claimed by Greece.
  • Disagreements also extend to rights over the continental shelf’s exploration and exploitation of natural resources.
• Cyprus Issue – Cyprus has been a major point of contention since 1974 when Turkey invaded the northern part of the island following a coup d’état by Greek Cypriots. This led to the establishment of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey.
• In 2019, Turkey agreed to exploit a swath of the east Mediterranean with Libya, further encroaching on what Greece saw as its own maritime jurisdiction.
• The West Asian migration crisis has also strained relations as both countries are situated on significant migrant routes into Europe.

Dig Deeper: East Mediterranean Sea and territorial disputes around it.

• International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7,200-km long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia, and Europe.

The primary goal of INSTC is to enhance connectivity and promote trade and economic cooperation among these regions.

• India aims to make Chabahar Port a transit hub under the INSTC to reach out to CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries.
• India will reportedly sign an agreement with Iran to manage the strategic Chabahar Port for the next 10 years.
• This is the first time India will take over the management of an overseas port. A pact regarding the port was earlier signed in 2016 when Indian Prime Minister visited Iran.
• For India, Chabahar held immense strategic and economic significance, as it provided a route to reach Afghanistan — land access to which had been blocked by a hostile Pakistan.
• While India spent about $100 million to construct a 218-km road from Delaram in western Afghanistan to Zaranj on the Iran-Afghan border to link with Chabahar, the port project itself progressed at a glacial pace.

Dig Deeper: India-Iran trade and geo-strategic relations and IPI pipeline.

• Xenotransplantation involves transplanting, implanting, or infusing live cells, tissues, or organs from nonhuman animal sources into humans. This technique is increasingly seen as a potential solution to the organ donor shortage.
• The recent case at Massachusetts General Hospital involved a modified pig kidney transplant in a patient named Richard “Rick” Slayman, who survived for two months post-surgery.
• The process includes significant genetic modifications to the donor organ to prevent rejection by the human immune system. For example, Slayman’s surgery involved making 69 genomic edits to the pig kidney using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. These edits aimed to remove pig-specific antigens and add human-compatible genes to reduce the risk of rejection.
• Pigs are commonly used due to their physiological and anatomical similarities to humans, availability, and the feasibility of genetic modifications. Pig heart valves have been used in human surgeries for over 50 years, demonstrating the compatibility of certain pig tissues with the human body.

Dig Deeper: Read about CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology

• Recent protests erupted in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), particularly in Muzaffarabad, triggered by rising living costs and economic hardships exacerbated by Pakistan’s ongoing economic crisis.
• Economic factors for protests –
  • Inflation: Pakistan has been grappling with severe inflation, with rates soaring above 20% since May 2022, peaking at 38% in May 2023.
  • Energy Crisis: There’s a specific grievance in PoK about unequal power distribution, particularly concerning the 2,600MW generated by the Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project.
  • Trade Impact: The situation worsened after India raised customs duties on Pakistani goods post-Pulwama attack in February 2019, drastically reducing Pakistan’s exports to India.
  • Foreign Exchange and Trade: Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves plummeted to just $2.9 billion in February 2023. The cessation of trade with India following constitutional changes in Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 severely impacted the bilateral trade.

Dig Deeper: Know about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

• The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) released the fact sheet for the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey for 2022-23, providing data on poverty and inequality trends in India.
• Poverty Trends –
  • Reduction in Poverty: The poverty ratio in India significantly declined from 29.5% in 2011-12 to 10% in 2022-23 based on the Rangarajan Committee’s poverty lines. Similarly, using the Tendulkar Committee’s lines, poverty decreased from 21.9% to 3% over the same period.
• Inequality Trends –
  • Gini Coefficient: The Gini coefficient (a measure of income inequality) saw a reduction in both rural (from 0.278 to 0.269) and urban (from 0.358 to 0.318) areas from 2011-12 to 2022-23, indicating a decrease in inequality, especially in urban regions.
  • The 2022-23 survey uses the Modified Mixed Reference Period (MMRP), making comparisons with earlier data challenging.
  • The latest survey attempts to include imputed values for public expenditure on subsidized and free items, which significantly affects household well-being. Despite efforts, the measured increase in average monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) was modest (2.3% for rural and 0.96% for urban areas).
  • The HCES 2022-23 reveals a substantial decline in poverty and a slight reduction in inequality in India, though challenges remain.

Dig Deeper: Tendulkar and Rangarajan committees for poverty estimation