1. WHO Pandemic Agreement

WHO Pandemic Agreement: Recently, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body finalised a draft for the WHO Pandemic Agreement, ready for adoption at the upcoming World Health Assembly.

• About WHO Pandemic Agreement: Described as a major milestone to make the world safer from pandemics.

o Reduced Scope: More limited than the original proposal, but still a significant consensus achievement.

o Global Divide: Developed nations avoided firm commitments on sharing diagnostics, vaccines, treatments, and technologies.

o Developing Nations’ Concern: Reluctant to share pathogen samples and genome sequences without assured access to the benefits.

o First Agreement: Universal commitment to protecting health-care workers.

o Major Success: Global consensus on pathogen access and benefit-sharing system.

o Benefit Access: Assured access to diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines developed using shared samples/data.

o Technology Transfer Resolved: Conditions for pandemic-time tech sharing are now settled.

o Transfer Terms: Will be based on “mutually agreed terms”, not “voluntary” as pharma companies preferred.

o Nature Journal Insight: Treaty urges countries to “promote, facilitate, or incentivise” technology exchange to help developing countries manufacture their own vaccines.

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2. Creative Economy Outlook 2024

Creative Economy Outlook 2024: India has a rich legacy of innovations across diverse fields — from science and metallurgy to arts and medicine. As the country aspires to become a $5 trillion economy, it must rejig its approach to creativity and innovation, especially at the grassroots level.

• About: UNCTAD defines creative economyas an interplay between human creativity, ideas, intellectual property, knowledge and technology.

o Essentially, it is the knowledge-based economic activities upon which the ‘creative industries’ are based.

• Creative Industries: Includes advertising, architecture, arts and crafts, design, fashion, film, video, photography, music, performing arts, publishing, R&D, software, computer games, e-publishing, and TV/radio.
• Core of the Economy: These industries are the lifeblood of the creative economy, contributing to both commercial and cultural value.
• Integrated Ecosystem: The creative economy comprises trade, labour, and production within creative industries.
• Dynamic Sector: Creative industries are among the most dynamic sectors globally, creating new opportunities for developing countries.
• Growth Potential: They offer developing nations the chance to leapfrog into high-growth areas of the global economy.
• About Creative Economy Outlook 2024:
• Global Surge: In 2022, exports of creative services rose to $1.4 trillion, a 29% increase since 2017.
• UNCTAD Report: The Creative Economy Outlook 2024 identifies three major sectors in 2022 — software services (41.3%), research and development (30.7%), and advertising, market research and architecture (15.5%).

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3. Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)

Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS): The world’s first-ever market for trading particulate emissions in Surat helped reduce pollution by 20–30% in an industrial cluster through a market mechanism.

• About Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS): It is used to cut greenhouse gas emissions while offering financial incentives to industries.
• Cap on Emissions: Regulators set a cap on total emissions that can be released into the air.
• Permit Allocation: Industries receive emissions permits or allowances instead of facing fines or notices.
• Cap-and-Trade Mechanism: The system is called ‘cap-and-trade’ as permits can be traded among industries.
• Pollution Limit: Each permit allows release of a specific quantity of pollution like a kg of PM or ton of CO₂.
• Trading Incentive: Plants using pollution-reducing technology can save and sell permits to other plants.
• Compliance Support: Plants with fewer resources get time to shift to cleaner technology while staying within the cap.
• Price Band: A minimum floor price and maximum ceiling price are set to ensure market stability.
• Cap Adjustment: Regulators may tighten the cap using pollution monitoring data.
• Penalty for Breach: Industries breaching caps face penalties per tonne and may need to surrender permits.

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4. Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR)

Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR): The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently eased the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) norms, under which banks will now be required to assign an additional 2.5 per cent run-off factor for digital deposits.

• About: LCR refers to the proportion of highly liquid assets held by financial institutions to ensure that they maintain an ongoing ability to meet their short-term obligations (i.e., cash outflows for 30 days).
• Why 30 Days: It was selected because, in a financial crisis, a response from governments and central banks would typically take around 30 days.
• Objective: It is intended to make sure that banks and financial institutions have a sufficient level of capital to ride out any short-term disruptions to liquidity.
• Origin: LCR in banking resulted from the Basel III agreement, which is a series of measures undertaken by the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision (BCBS).
• Implementation in India: In India, RBI issued Basel III liquidity guidelines in 2012. RBI implemented LCR in January 2015, and as per a circular in 2020, banks should maintain sufficient HQLA at all times to meet unexpected withdrawals.
• Calculation: LCR = (High Quality Liquid Assets (HQLA)) / (Total net cash outflows over the next 30 calendar days)
• About HQLA: Every asset that can be easily and instantly converted into cash at minimum or no cost of value is a HQLA.

o These assets include cash, reserves with central banks, and central government bonds, which can easily be converted into cash.

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5. MAHASAGAR

MAHASAGAR: India completed a major refit of the Maldivian Coast Guard Ship MNDF Huravee at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai under its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and the vision of ‘Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth for all in the Region (MAHASAGAR)’.

• The ship set sail for Maldives after completion of its maiden Normal Refit, enhancing India-Maldives defence cooperation.
• About MAHASAGAR Vision: Represents India’s commitment to regional maritime security under ‘Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth for all in the Region’.
• Neighbourhood First Policy: Refit aligns with India’s Neighbourhood First approach to strengthen regional partnerships.
• About MNDF Huravee Refit:

o Scope of Work: Major works included maintenance of all machinery, weapons, sensors, and a habitability upgrade.

o Post-Refit Checks: The ship underwent harbour & sea trials, operational equipment checks, safety audits, and Operational Sea Training.

o Execution: The Indian Navy and Naval Dockyard teams played a key role in completing the refit within the stipulated timeframe.

o Significance: The refit underscores strong diplomatic and military cooperation and reaffirms India’s commitment as a reliable regional partner.

• About MNDF Huravee:

o Make in India Ship: The ship was handed over to MNDF in May 2023 as a replacement for an older platform.

o Operational Role: Played a crucial role in HADR and Medical Evacuation operations across the Maldivian archipelago.

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6. Gender Parity in the Intelligent Age Report

Gender Parity in the Intelligent Age Report: The World Economic Forum (WEF) warns that AI may deepen gender disparities in the workforce.

• About Gender Parity in the Intelligent Age Report:

o White Paper: Published in partnership with LinkedIn as part of the Global Gender Gap Report.

o Report Findings: Women are more likely to be in roles disrupted by generative AI and less likely to gain from AI-driven career growth.

o Company Strategy that ignores gender parity will miss half the talent, reducing innovation and competitiveness.

o LinkedIn Data (2018–2025): The gender gap in AI skills narrowed in 74 of 75 economies, yet women remain less than one-third of AI-skilled professionals.

o Women’s Participation: In tech roles has increased, but leadership retention is low – only 12.2% of STEM C-suite jobs held by women in 2024.

o China alone produced the majority of global AI patents and employed over a quarter of AI professionals, mostly within its national industry.

o Report Recommendations: Urge industry and policymakers to act together for a more inclusive AI transition.

o Conclusion states: “AI is more than a tool — it is a vehicle for economic and social transformation.”

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7. Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) Snow Update Report 2025

Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) Snow Update Report 2025: The ICIMOD Report highlights severe decline in snow persistence in Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Indus basins.

• About HKH Snow Update Report 2025: Refers to the fraction of time snow remains on the ground after snowfall.
• Ganga Basin: Experienced a 23-year low in snow persistence at -24.1% in 2025.
• Indus Basin: Recorded a vicennial low snow persistence of -27.9% in 2025.
• Brahmaputra Basin: Steep decline in snow persistence from +27.7% (2019) to -27.9% (2025).
• Hindu Kush Himalayan region: Stretching over 3500 kilometres and across eight countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, Myanmar and Pakistan.

o The Hindu Kush Himalaya are arguably the world’s most important ‘water tower’, being the source of ten of Asia’s largest rivers as well as the largest volume of ice and snow outside of the Arctic and Antarctica.

• International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development: It is an intergovernmental knowledge and learning centre working on behalf of the people of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), established and inaugurated in 1983 and headquarter at Kathmandu, Nepal.
• Mission: To build and share knowledge that drives regional policy and action and attracts investment that enables the diverse countries and communities of the HKH to transition to greener, more inclusive, and climate resilient development.
• Member countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan.

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