WHO set to back use of weight-loss drugs for adults globally, raises cost issue

• The World Health Organization plans to officially back the use of weight-loss drugs to treat obesity in adults for the first time, a memo reviewed by Reuters on Thursday shows, marking a shift in its approach to treating the global health problem.
• The UN agency also called for strategies to improve access to the treatment in low- and middle-income countries.
• More than a billion people now have obesity worldwide, according to the WHO, and around 70% of them live in low and middle-income countries, the World Bank estimates.
• The wildly popular obesity drugs – Wegovy developed by Novo Nordisk and Zepbound by Eli Lilly – are known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which mimic the activity of a hormone that slows digestion and helps people feel full for longer. In clinical trials, people lost 15% to 20% of their body weight, depending on the drug.
• The drugs have been launched in the United States and other high-income countries like Germany and Britain.
• But they can cost over $1,000 a month, and studies suggest people may have to take the drugs for the rest of their lives to keep the weight off.
• The WHO, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk were not immediately available for comment.
• The WHO’s conditional recommendation will be officially released in August, as part of new guidelines on treating obesity. It is also working on separate guidelines for children and adolescents.
• Separately, WHO experts will also meet next week to decide whether to include the GLP-1 drugs in the agency’s essential medicines list – both to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes.
• The WHO’s essential medicines list is a catalogue of the drugs that should be available in all functioning health systems, and it can help make drugs more widely available in poorer countries, as experts say happened in 2002 when HIV drugs were included.
• In 2023, the experts decided against adding obesity drugs to the list, with WHO saying more evidence was needed on their long-term clinical benefit.
• However, in the new memo recommending their use as a treatment, the agency says it supports including them on the list this time round.
• Still, the WHO also raises concerns over the cost of the drugs and calls for longer-term studies on cost-effectiveness “across all settings, including LMICs” (low- and middle-income countries).
• “The same mechanisms that are used in large-scale medicine access programmes may need to be adopted,” to improve access, the WHO adds, such as tiered pricing or pooled procurement.
• But it also notes that the active ingredient in one of the newer drugs, semaglutide – used in Novo’s Wegovy – comes off patent in some markets next year.
• Several companies are planning to launch cheaper generic versions of the drugs then. Liraglutide, the active ingredient in the older generation of drugs, is already available as a lower-cost generic drug, with products approved in the U.S. and Europe, the memo adds

Diabetes drug can effectively treat fatty liver: study

• Semaglutide, a drug widely used to treat type 2 diabetes, has shown encouraging results in reversing liver damage in patients with advanced fatty liver disease, according to a global study led by researchers at King’s College London.
• The trial investigated the impact of semaglutide on patients with Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a severe and potentially life-threatening form of liver disease.
• MASH is the more advanced stage of Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and is closely linked with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular conditions.
• The large-scale trial involved 800 participants across 37 countries. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a weekly 2.4 mg dose of semaglutide or a placebo over a period of 72 weeks, alongside lifestyle counselling.
• The findings revealed that 62.9 percent of those who received semaglutide showed a resolution of steatohepatitis — inflammation in the liver caused by fat accumulation — compared to just 34.3 percent in the placebo group. Additionally, 37 percent of the semaglutide group experienced improvement in liver fibrosis, a condition marked by the scarring of liver tissue, compared to 22.4 percent in those given the placebo.
• “MASLD is a growing problem worldwide, and this trial offers real hope for patients with MASH,” .“While the results should be interpreted with caution, they show semaglutide can be a powerful therapeutic option for this advanced liver condition.”
• Beyond liver health, the study also found that patients receiving semaglutide showed improvements in liver enzyme levels, blood markers of fibrosis, and achieved an average weight loss of 10.5 percent — a factor known to benefit liver function.
• However, the researchers noted a higher incidence of gastrointestinal side effects among patients treated with semaglutide. These included nausea, diarrhoea, constipation, and vomiting.
• Despite the side effects, experts say the findings represent a major step forward in the treatment of fatty liver disease, particularly in cases where lifestyle changes alone may not be sufficient.

GAME and NITI Aayog collaborate to foster local entrepreneurship ecosystems across India

• The Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) and NITI Aayog have announced a strategic partnership aimed at nurturing vibrant, place-based entrepreneurship ecosystems across India. This collaboration will initially focus on pilot sites in Nagpur, Visakhapatnam, and Uttar Pradesh, with plans to expand to other regions.
• The initiative seeks to empower local entrepreneurs by bringing together key stakeholders—including government bodies, corporates, educational institutions, financial organizations, champion entrepreneurs, and community groups—to create tailored solutions that address the unique challenges of each region. By fostering localized support systems, the partnership aims to transform entrepreneurship into a movement that drives economic growth and job creation.
• Ishtiyaque Ahmed, Programme Director for the Industry/MSME vertical at NITI Aayog, emphasized the importance of a bottom-up approach, saying, “Our approach is rooted in end-to-end facilitation and collaboration across sectors. There is a need to leverage a bottom-up approach and work closely with local entrepreneurs and champions, understand their needs and support them in addressing their challenges.”
• Under this partnership, the pilot sites will implement GAME’s proven methodologies, which include providing access to finance, capacity-building programs, policy advocacy, and community-driven initiatives. The ultimate goal is to create self-sustaining ecosystems that can generate widespread employment opportunities.
• Ketul Acharya, President of GAME, shared his vision for the collaboration: “At GAME, we believe that entrepreneurship has the power to transform lives and communities. Our partnership with NITI Aayog is a significant step toward realizing our mission of enabling a movement of millions of people starting and growing businesses, using local inputs to serve local needs as well as other markets. Together, we aim to create thriving local ecosystems that inspire innovation and drive inclusive growth.”
• Since its inception in 2018, GAME has been at the forefront of fostering mass entrepreneurship in India. Through research, pilot programs, and policy advocacy, GAME has empowered over 300,000 entrepreneurs by facilitating access to credit, markets, and place-based interventions. The collaboration with NITI Aayog is expected to further strengthen these efforts and pave the way for innovative solutions that address systemic barriers to entrepreneurship

Jharkhand collects OBC data for ‘triple test’ to determine quotas: All you need to know

• Jharkhand has finished collecting data on the population of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from all districts of the state, in order to determine quotas for OBCs in urban local bodies.
• The data collection is a part of the first step of the “triple test”, a three-step guideline laid down by the Supreme Court to ensure OBC quotas in local bodies are determined in a fair and constitutional manner.

What is the “triple test”?

• The following are the three steps of the so-called “triple test”.Setting up a dedicated commission to conduct a rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness in local bodies;
• Specifying the proportion of reservation required in local bodies in light of recommendations of the commission, so as not to fall foul of overbreadth; and
• To ensure reservation for SCs/STs/OBCs taken together does not exceed an aggregate of 50 per cent of the total seats.
• The “triple test” was outlined by the Supreme Court in the Vikas Kishanrao Gawali vs State of Maharashtra and others on March 4, 2021.

What has happened in Jharkhand so far?

• Jharkhand set up a dedicated OBC Commission in June 2023. Members of the Commission, including administrative officials, toured Madhya Pradesh to study how the “triple test” was implemented there.
• Data collection began in December, with the deadline set for March. However, several districts missed their submission deadlines, and the complete data reached the Commission this week.
• “The compiled data will now be developed into a final report… [which] will be handed over to an empanelled institute for verification and analysis. Institutes such as IIM, Xavier School of Management (XLRI), and Xavier Institute of Social Service will examine the socio-economic and educational condition of OBCs in the state,” Krishna Kumar Singh, secretary of the OBC Commission,
• The final report will be submitted to the state government, which will then fix OBC quotas accordingly.
• That said, at the moment, the Commission chairperson’s post remains vacant. As per official procedure, the final report cannot be submitted without the chairperson’s approval.

What did the survey look at?

• Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM’s) Nand Kumar Mehta, a member of the OBC Commission, said a door-to-door survey was conducted in order to identify OBC voters, and estimate their population share in urban local bodies.
• Note that this is different from the caste census that the Centre recently announced, in that it only looked at urban areas of the state. The nationwide caste census will enumerate the caste composition of the entire country.
• In addition to data on population, the survey considered political representation of OBCs across various tiers of government, from mayors to panchayat committee members, as well as gathered data on the caste of Jharkhand MPs and MLAs from the State Election Commission.
• “The survey won’t just determine quotas for the upcoming elections. It will also assess political representation in Jharkhand over the last 25 years. This includes analysis of winners from general seats in the last two ULB elections,” said Mehta.

How are OBCs classified in Jharkhand?

• In Jharkhand, OBCs are subdivided into more socially and educationally backward BC-I (Backward Class I), and the relatively better-off BC-II (Backward Class II) categories.
• While both BC-I and BC-II categories are eligible for reservations, the former typically receives a higher share in the pie to ensure equitable representation. Currently, there are 127 castes under the BC-I category, and around 45 under BC-II.
• A OBCs make up roughly 50% of Jharkhand’s population. The Kudmi community, a subgroup of the Mahato/Mahto caste, is the largest OBC community, accounting for 15% of the electorate, by some estimates.

Why are bad debts rising in Maharashtra’s farm sector

• Farmers and farm leaders say lower-than-expected farm incomes have left them with little money in hand, leading to a rise in bad loans. A ‘bad loan’ is basically a loan that has not been repaid even after the grace period for repayment has expired.

What are crop loans and how do they help farmers?

• Farm loan or crop loan refers to the short-duration finance extended to the farm sector before the start of the agricultural cycle. Banks extend this loan to farmers to meet capital expenditure needs for seeds, fertilisers, farm labour, etc. Agriculture finance comes under priority sector lending, and banks have to compulsorily lend to the sector.
• Crop loans are usually for a period of 11 months with a minimal rate of interest of 5 per cent, of which 2 per cent is subvented by the central government and another 2 per cent by the state government. Also, in Maharashtra, crop loan upto Rs 3 lakh has been made interest-free since 2021. Farmers are expected to repay the principal amount (along with interest if the principal is above Rs 3 lakh) within 11 months, failing which the loan is deemed outstanding.
•  Before the start of the agricultural lending circle (mostly from April- May), banks are given targets for farm loans along with other priority sector lending. For the financial year 2024-25, the annual target for crop loan was Rs 1,77,342 crore, of which till December 31, 2024, banks had loaned out Rs 1,42,286 crore, or 80 per cent of their target.
• This mechanism has been put in place to ensure easy access to institutional finance for farmers, who would otherwise turn to private moneylenders. These moneylenders charge interest between 10-15 per cent, and farmers often end up locked in a cycle of endless debt. Studies have shown a strong link between farm distress and lack of easy finance.

What is the status of outstanding farm loans in Maharashtra now?

• As of December 31, 2024, banks have reported Rs 2,63,203 crore of outstanding agriculture loans. This is almost double of the Rs 1,40,413 crore reported in 2019, when the last farm loan waiver was announced by the state government.
• A Farmers with outstanding loans are unable to raise fresh finance from banks, which again makes them vulnerable to private moneylenders.

Why have outstanding farm loans gone up in Maharashtra?

• Anil Ghanwat, leader of the farm union Shetkari Sanghatana, blamed central government policies for farmers being unable to make the most from their fields. “Since 2019, restrictions have been brought in in the form of export bans. Limiting the amount that traders can hold has had a negative effect on most major commodities like wheat, onion, soyabean pulses,” he said. Cost of production, Ghanwat said, has been on the rise. “Thus farmers have been unable to make ends meet,” he said.
• Soyabean, which is grown over 40 lakh hectares, has been trading well below its government declared Minimum Support Price (MSP) since 2021. This was mostly because of easy import of edible oil due to the slashing of import duties. The same was raised in 2024, but a bumper crop failed to see any appreciation in prices.
• In the case of onion, export ban and continuous clamping on trade to ensure low retail prices resulted in lower prices for farmers. The export ban was recently removed but prices are still low.
• Similarly, cotton, another important kharif crop, has been trading below its MSP over the last two seasons.
• Both cotton and soyabean contribute to over 80 lakh hectares out of the 1.20 crore hectares sown during kharif season.
• Meanwhile, on the input side, the prices of fertiliser complexes (fertilisers which contain all the three primary nutrients viz Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potassium) have seen a sharp rise. Yuvraj Patil, a farmer from Nanded district, pointed out that the most commonly used complex 10:26:26 (phosphorus and potassium present in 1:1 quantity) is trading at Rs 1,700 per bag of 50 kg each. “Last year, the price of this fertiliser, which is widely used in almost all crops, was Rs 1,470,”.
• Labour is another pain point for farmers, especially for cotton and soyabean growers who have to depend on manual labour for most of their work. At present, a male labour charges between Rs 400-500/day while a female labourer can be hired at the rate of Rs 300-350/day. “For the last season, harvesting cost for soyabean per acre was Rs 3,500 — a sharp rise from Rs 2,000 which was the rate for the season of 2023-24,” he said. Overall labour costs have increased by 10-15 per cent on a year on year basis.
• Former MP and farm leader Raju Shetti claimed the previous loan waivers had failed to make any difference to farmers. “When Uddhav Thackeray was the chief minister, he announced a loan waiver of Rs 20,000 crore, but given the stringent conditions to be a beneficiary, not much relief was felt on the ground,” he said.
• Shetti said the present rise in outstanding loans is mostly due to increased prices of insecticides, pesticides and fertilisers.

Maharashtra and loan waivers: a brief history

• In 2019, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) announced a blanket waiver of outstanding loans upto Rs 2 lakh. This scheme was not for people in government services, elected members of the state legislature and Parliament, and those who file income tax returns.
• As of December 31, 2020, 29 lakh farmers had benefited from the scheme with bad debt of Rs 21,991 crore being waived. In June 2017, the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced a waiver of Rs 34,000 crore to alleviate farm distress.
• Ghanwant said Maharashtra is one of the few states where loan waivers have been pushed by the political leadership. “Unfortunately, this has seen farmers default willfully in the hope of waivers. Even before the 2024 state elections, there were talks of a waiver. Bad credit is a combination of both political support and farm distress,”.

What you must know about the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for UPSC Exam

•  “Amid a drop in sugar production during the current season (October 2024 to September 2025), the Centre on Wednesday (April 30) increased the fair and remunerative price (FRP) of sugarcane by Rs 15 (or 4.41%) to Rs 355 per quintal for the sugar season 2025-26. The FRP hike will encourage sugarcane farmers to plant more when sugar production is seeing a dip. The new FRP will come into effect October 1, 2025.
• FRP is the minimum price mandated by the Government that sugar mills are obligated to pay farmers for their produce.
• The FRP for sugarcane is decided every year by the Centre’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by the Prime Minister, on the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), a body under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare
• The FRP for sugarcane is decided using the same mechanism as the one that is used to calculate the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of 23 other crops.
• However, while the MSP is not legally guaranteed, sugar mills are legally obligated to pay the FRP. The payment of FRP across the country is governed by The Sugarcane Control order, 1966 which mandates payment within 14 days of the date of delivery of the cane, failing which the cane commissioner may act against the miller. Failure to clear farmers’ due can even lead to the attachment of mill properties.
• The FRP is based on the recovery of sugar from the cane. Sugar recovery is the ratio between sugar produced versus cane crushed, expressed as a percentage. The higher the recovery, the higher is the FRP, and higher is the sugar produced.

 What is MSP?

• 1. Minimum support price (MSP) is the price at which the government is supposed to procure/buy that crop from farmers if the market price falls below it. MSPs provide a floor for market prices and ensure that farmers receive a certain “minimum” remuneration so that their costs of cultivation (and some profit) can be recovered.
• 2. MSP was introduced in the mid-sixties when India was in food deficit. The government was keen to boost domestic production through green revolution technologies but realised farmers wouldn’t plant input-intensive high yielding wheat or paddy varieties unless guaranteed a minimum price. MSP was first fixed for wheat in 1966-67 at Rs. 54 per quintal.
• 3. The MSPs are announced by the Union government on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.
• 4. The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices recommends MSPs for 22 mandated crops and fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) of the Union government takes a final decision on the level of MSPs.
• 5. While recommending MSPs, the CACP looks at the following factors:
• — the demand and supply of a commodity;
• — its cost of production;
• — the market price trends (both domestic and international);
• — inter-crop price parity;
• the terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture (that is, the ratio of prices of farm inputs and farm outputs);
• — a minimum of 50 per cent as the margin over the cost of production; and
• — the likely implications of an MSP on consumers of that product.

Crops covered under MSP

• — 7 types of cereals (paddy, wheat, maize, bajra, jowar, ragi and barley),
• — 5 types of pulses (chana, arhar/tur, urad, moong and masur),
• — 7 oilseeds (rapeseed-mustard, groundnut, soyabean, sunflower, sesamum, safflower, nigerseed),
• — 4 commercial crops (cotton, sugarcane, copra, raw jute)

PMFBY

• 1. The Union Cabinet on January 1, 2025, approved the continuation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana until 2025-26.
• 2. PMFBY was launched in 2016 to replace the existing National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and the Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS). It works on the One Nation, One Crop, One Premium.
• 3. Under the scheme, all farmers including sharecroppers and tenant farmers growing “notified crops” in the “notified areas” are eligible for coverage.
• A 4. Initially, the scheme was compulsory for loanee farmers; in February 2020, the Centre revised it to make it optional for all farmers.
• 5. The scheme’s objective is to stablise farmers’ income to ensure their continuation in farming, encourage them to adopt innovative agricultural practices, and ensure the flow of credit to the farmers. For this, the scheme provides insurance coverage to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crops as a result of natural calamities, pests & diseases.
• 6. Under the PMFBY, a farmer is required to pay as a premium 2% of the sum insured or actuarial rate, whichever is less, for all kharif foodgrain and oilseed crops; 1.5% of sum insured or actuarial rate, whichever is less, for all rabi foodgrain and oilseed crops; and 5% for horticultural crops

India works to throttle Pak terror funding, get it back in watchdog FATF ‘grey list’

• AS PART of its escalatory matrix against Pakistan for the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, India is considering two specific moves aimed at curbing financial flows that aid the neighbour fund terror activities.
• The first is to make a concerted effort to try and bring back Pakistan into the ‘grey list’ of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terror financing watchdog, two people in the know told The Indian Express.
• Pakistan was put in the ‘grey list’ in June 2018, and faced “increased monitoring” till it was removed in October 2022. Being in this list adversely impacts FDI and capital flows as businesses have to undertake enhanced due diligence. Government officials said this had helped curtail illicit fund flows from Pakistan into India, especially into J&K.
• The second is to raise objections to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) continued financing of a $7-billion aid package that commenced July 2024, citing diversion of funds by Pakistan for nefarious activities and terror attacks, people in the know said.
• To initiate a nomination process demanding a ‘grey list’ status for Pakistan, India would require the support of other FATF member countries. “There has been a discussion on the steps that could be taken on the financial front. Demanding a ‘grey list’ for Pakistan at the FATF is on the table.
• But there is a nomination process in FATF and members can ask for taking up the matter, that can be approved by the Plenary,” an official in the know of developments said.
• The plenary is the decision-making body of the FATF, which meets three times a year, usually in February, June and October. The nomination will be based on specific money laundering, terrorist financing (TF), or proliferation financing risks or threats faced by a country.
• The FATF has 40 members, and over 200 jurisdictions have committed to the FATF recommendations through the FATF-Style Regional Bodies. New Delhi has its task cut out since it would have to rally adequate support among member countries for a move of this nature.
• A gauge of this support comes from the condolence messages New Delhi received from as many as 23 FATF member countries, including the UK, the US, France, Germany, Australia, European Commission, and Gulf Cooperation Council heavyweights such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
• Pakistan is not a member of FATF, but of Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), the largest FATF-Style Regional Body. India is a member of APG as well as of the FATF.
•  The FATF is the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. The Paris-based intergovernmental organisation was formed in 1989 as a G7 initiative to examine and develop measures to combat money laundering. In 2001, the FATF expanded its mandate to also combat terrorist financing.
• The FATF, a 40-member body, has outlined a framework of measures to help countries tackle illicit financial flows.
• These are listed as 40 Recommendations that are divided into seven distinct areas: (1) AML/CFT Policies and coordination, (2) Money laundering and confiscation, (3) Terrorist financing and financing of proliferation, (4) Preventive measures, (5) Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements, (6) Powers and responsibilities of competent authorities and other institutional measures, (7) International cooperation.
• India became a member of FATF in 2010. Prior to this report, the FATF had undertaken an evaluation for India in June 2010. India was then placed in the “regular follow-up” category, but was subsequently removed after a follow-up report in June 2013.
•  Due to the pandemic and pause in the FATF’s assessment process, the next round of mutual evaluation had been postponed to 2023. India’s onsite assessment by FATF happened in November last year, while the assessment came up for discussion in the plenary discussion in June 2024.
• The FATF monitors countries to ensure they implement the FATF standards fully and effectively. FATF mutual evaluations are in-depth country reports that analyse the implementation and effectiveness of measures taken against money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing

Pasmanda Muslims likely to be counted as OBCs in caste census

• IN THE enumeration of castes to be done in the forthcoming Census, as announced by the government Wednesday, Pasmanda Muslims as a whole may figure in the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) category.
• Pasmanda Muslims will be given their due share in the national caste census,” said a senior BJP leader. Leaders of the BJP Minority Morcha and OBC Morcha confirmed the same.
• “As per the Mandal Commission recommendations, some groups among Muslims are included in the state and Central list of Backward Classes. These Muslims will be enumerated as such in the caste census (among OBCs),” K Laxman, the national president of the BJP’s OBC Morcha, told The Indian Express.
• The national president of the BJP Minority Morcha, Jamal Siddiqui, said: “Pasmanda Muslims too are citizens of this country. So they will be enumerated as per their backwardness in the caste census.”
• Supporting such a distinction for Pasmanda Muslims, a Pasmanda Muslim activist said the Ashraf Muslims (who are seen as the ‘elite’), and Pasmanda Muslims, including the Ajiafs (Backward Muslims) and Arzals (Dalit Muslims), cannot be considered as a single bloc.
•  ‘Pasmanda’, a Persian word, means the ‘ones left behind’, and is used to describe depressed classes among the Muslims. The Sachar Committee in its report put the number of OBC and SC/ST Muslims at 40% (all India 2004-05). But Pasmanda activists and scholars say that the Pasmandas make up 80-85% of the total Muslim population in India.
• This broadly tallies with the 1871 Census that said only 19% of Muslims in India were upper caste, while 81% were made up of the lower castes.
• While confirming that Pasmandas may be counted as OBCs in the caste census, Laxman made a distinction between the surveys conducted by Bihar and Telangana, both of which counted Pasmanda Muslims among backward classes.
• Muslim society in India consists of several status groups or biradaris that are broadly sorted in three categories: the Ashrafs (the ‘noble’ elite or the ‘honourable ones’), the Ajlafs (backward Muslims), and the Arzals (Dalit Muslims).
  Ashrafs in India are Muslims who either claim to have a foreign pedigree — descendants of Muslims from Arabia, Persia, Turkey, Afghanistan (Syeds, Sheikhs, Mughals and Pathans,) — or who are upper-caste converts from Hinduism (Rajput, Gaur, Tyagi Muslims among others).
• Ajlafs are middle-caste converts, who were into ritually “clean” occupations, while the Arzals — who were first recorded in the 1901 census — are from the lowest, “untouchable” castes like halalkhors, helas, lalbegis or bhangis (scavengers), dhobis (washermen), nais or hajjams (barbers), chiks (butchers), and faqirs (beggars).
• The momins or julahas (weavers), darzi or idiris (tailors), rayeens or kunjaras (vegetable sellers) fall in the Ajlaf bracket.
  While Islam does not mandate the creation of such groups, these caste categories are a lived reality for Muslims across the country
• “One can discern three groups among Muslims: (1) those without any social disabilities, the Ashrafs; (2) those equivalent to Hindu OBCs, the Ajlafs, and (3) those equivalent to Hindu SCs, the Arzals.
• Those who are referred to as Muslim OBCs combine (2) (Ajlafs) and (3) (Arzals),” the Rajinder Sachar Committee, formed in 2005 to study social, economic and educational condition of Indian Muslims, said in its report.
• However, The Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950, had restricted SC status to Hindus, keeping Dalits from other religions out of its ambit. The order was later amended (in 1956 and 1990) to include Sikhs and Buddhists.
•  The implementation of the report of the Mandal Commission brought the non-Ashrafs — Ajlafs and Arzals — under the OBC category.
• The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, known as the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission, which submitted its report in May 2007, acknowledged that the caste system impacted all religious communities in India, including Muslims.
•  In the absence of a caste census, a clear estimate of the present-day numbers and demographic distribution of Pasmanda Muslims is not available. The Sachar Committee in its report put the number of OBC and SC/ST Muslims at 40% (all India 2004-05)

PM Modi’s visit imparts new momentum to Indo-Saudi strategic partnership

• The Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia, although curtailed due to the Pahalgam terror attack on the same day, was significant in giving a new direction to Indo-Saudi relations. The growing partnership between the two G20 economies also holds immense strategic significance for regional and global stability. 
• An assessment of the visit shows that the deepening cooperation in the new and emerging areas between the two countries plays a vital role in transforming bilateral ties into strategic partnership.

India, Saudi Arabia deepen strategic ties

• While the conventional aspects of bilateral relations, namely trade, business, investments, energy security, expatriates, Hajj, and people-to-people contacts continue to grow, it is the cooperation in new and emerging areas of climate change, food security, connectivity, defense and security and cultural cooperation that was the highlight of the Prime Minister’s visit.
• It is the cooperation in these emerging areas that have continued to grow and flourish and have contributed to the evolution of bilateral ties into a multifaceted strategic partnership.
• Modi’s visit was also important for it came at a time of immense regional turmoil and global geopolitical uncertainties.
• As the world continues to suffer from the wars in Ukraine and Gaza while the international economic situation remains uncertain due to the tariff offensive by US President Donald Trump, the role of the two G20 economies – India and Saudi Arabia – acquires greater importance in playing a constructive role toward stabilising the regional and international environment. 
• In this regard, the significance of a cooperative and collaborative approach especially in the Southwest Asia region needs emphasising given the importance of the northwestern Indian Ocean region for global maritime trade. Moreover, the region also holds importance for the energy security and climate change debate as some of the biggest producers and consumers of energy are located in the region.
• As one analyses the outcomes of the visit, it emerges that beyond the conventional areas of trade, commerce, economic and energy cooperation and political and diplomatic ties, the meeting between Modi and MBS was notable for the growing Indo-Saudi collaboration in three unconventional areas, namely environment and food security, defense and counter-terrorism and cultural cooperation.

 Environmental and food security

• In recent years, the bilateral ties between the two countries have focused on environmental and food security debates and action plans. Given the mutually interdependent and complementary strengths in energy and food security between the two countries, this has emerged as one of the most important areas of cooperation between the two countries.
• Hence, the joint statement issued after the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman noted “the long-standing cooperation between the two countries in the areas of agriculture and food security, including trade of fertilizers.”
•  Further, the two leaders “agreed to pursue long-term agreements for the security of supply, mutual investments and joint projects towards building long-term strategic cooperation” in the field of food security.
• The bilateral ties have for long remained centered around energy security. However, in recent years, it has evolved from a transnational relationship to a truly strategic partnership.
• Given the importance of the need for transition towards sustainable use of energy and environmental security, the two sides have begun to discuss collaboration in the renewable energy field. 
• Hence, there have been increasing discussions on collaboration in green hydrogen production and supplies. India and Saudi Arabia have also agreed to collaborate in tapping the potential with respect to solar energy.

Greater cooperation in climate change

• Climate change has emerged as one of the important areas of cooperation. In this regard, the two leaders reaffirmed the commitment to greater cooperation in climate change within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. 
• This is important given the growing North-South divide on the climate change debate, especially as large fossil fuel producers and consumers like Saudi Arabia and India are increasingly singled out by the world leaders putting an onus on reducing carbon emissions on them. Hence, the cooperation between the two countries at multilateral organisations, especially the Conference of Parties and G20 becomes important.
• India and Saudi Arabia, therefore, agreed during the bilateral meeting between Modi and MBS on “the need to develop and implement climate agreements with a focus on emissions rather than sources.” They also appreciated the initiative by both sides for reducing carbon emissions, afforestation and sustainable development. 
• For example, the Kingdom has launched the Saudi Green Initiative and Middle East Green Initiative while emphasising the importance of the circular carbon economy adopted by Saudi Arabia to manage emissions and achieve climate change objectives.
• The Indian initiatives, including “International Solar Alliance, One Sun-One World-One Grid, Coalition of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and Mission Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) and Global Green Credit Initiative,” were also discussed and appreciated.

Defense, security and counter-terrorism

• Defense and security have of late emerged as one of the leading fields for bilateral cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia. The most important aspect of this is the growing military-to-military ties, including training and joint exercises, exchange of expertise, and regular high-level meetings, towards sharing ideas and ensuring security and stability in the region. 
• Among other areas, the two sides have gradually developed cooperation in the field of maritime security and counter-terrorism and have committed to developing further cooperation in cybersecurity, border security, and combating transnational crime, narcotics and drug trafficking.
• Given that the Prime Minister had to cut short his visit by a day due to the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, the two sides condemned the attack. The two leaders “agreed that there cannot be any justification for any act of terror for any reason whatsoever.” 
• Furthermore, in a veiled reference to Pakistan, Modi and MBS “condemned cross-border terrorism, and called on all States to reject the use of terrorism against other countries, dismantle terrorism infrastructure where it exists, and bring perpetrators of terrorism to justice swiftly.”
• Additionally, they “rejected any attempt to link terrorism to any particular race, religion or culture” and “welcomed the excellent cooperation between the two sides in counter-terrorism and the terror financing.” 
• India and Saudi Arabia also “stressed the need to prevent access to weapons including missiles and drones to commit terrorist acts against other countries.” In this regard, the addition of a Ministerial Committee on Defense Cooperation under the Strategic Partnership Council headed by Modi and MBS is notable and should go a long way in strengthening bilateral security and defense ties.

Cultural ties

• Conventionally, the Indo-Saudi cultural ties have been viewed within the confines of Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage and the flow of Indian human resource for participating in the labour force in the Kingdom. This benefits a large number of Indian families in their economic sustenance.
•  Currently, nearly 2.5 million Indians are employed in the Kingdom and have contributed to multiple fields. The Indian community is known for its hard work and in recent times, the business and investments from India have also increased adding another layer to the already robust cooperation in this field.
• However, in recent years, the two sides have begun to explore the potential in unconventional areas including tourism, sports, entertainment, and other new and emerging sectors.
•  This is significant given that Saudi Arabia has accelerated its socioeconomic reforms under the Vision 2030 program and has invested heavily in creating the infrastructure and logistics to tap the potential in this area. Hence, music and rock festivals, the Red Sea Film Festival, and mega developmental projects, including NEOM, New Murabba, Mukaab, Al-Ula and Diriyah, have attracted international attention.
• During the visit, the two sides noted the growing cultural cooperation and agreed to further enhance collaborations in “sectors such as heritage, film, literature, and performing and visual arts.”
• In this regard, the formation of a Ministerial Committee on Tourism and Cultural Cooperation, the fourth ministerial committee under the Strategic Partnership Council, was a highlight. India and Saudi Arabia also “agreed to enhance cooperation in tourism including through capacity building and sustainable tourism.”

Expanding horizons

• The Indo-Saudi bilateral ties have grown exponentially in recent years and have begun to emphasise on the need for greater cooperation in fields such as connectivity through initiatives such as India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), sustainable development, counter-terrorism cooperation and so on. 
• The bilateral trade, energy security, political and diplomatic relations, Hajj and Umrah and the contribution of Indian expatriates are some of the notable areas that have remained at the center of the bilateral relations.
• However, as the two sides have started to realise the strategic partnership by expanding into new areas including the two-way flow of investments, energy security, logistics and supply chain linkages and connectivity, the bilateral relations have acquired a new momentum. 
• The visit of Prime Minister Modi highlighted the growing importance of some of the unconventional areas such as defense and security cooperation, food and environmental security and cultural cooperation in the bilateral ties besides reaffirming the importance of the conventional areas of cooperation and strengthening the strategic partnership between India and Saudi Arabia

Sharp decline in snow levels across the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), raising serious concerns

• A recent report noted a sharp decline in snow levels across the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), raising serious concerns about water and climate security for over two billion people in the region. 
• According to a recent report by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the snow level in the HKH plummeted to a record 23.6 per cent low in the winter of 2024-2025.
• A Let’s understand what the report says and how organisations like ICIMOD play a significant role in supporting evidence-based policymaking in South Asia.

Melting cryosphere of HKH draws global concern 

• The HKH is rightly termed as the ‘Third Pole’ of the world due to its vast ice reserves. Significantly, the region has the largest deposit of snow and ice beyond the two Polar Regions (the Arctic around the North Pole and the Antarctic around the South Pole). 
• When it melts in summer, the snow from the mountains contributes about a fourth of the run-off of the 12 major rivers in the region, including the Ganga, Indus, Brahmaputra, Mekong and Amu Darya. This makes the cryosphere zones of the HKH not only significant for the climatic stability of South Asia, but of the entire planet. 
• Despite its vastness, the cryosphere in the HKH has been under-studied. However, growing concern over the degradation of its various components as well as the unprecedented melting of the glaciers therein have drawn global attention towards it. 
• These threats have prompted an increased push towards knowledge generation, regional assessments and state-sponsored research to produce more data and inform policy decisions. 

Shrinking snow cover raises red flags

• ICIMOD, headquartered in Kathmandu, is one of the oldest inter-governmental organisations representing the interests of the HKH region. Its eight member-nations – India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, China and Myanmar – engage in collective knowledge generation, communication and application for the sustainable management of this sensitive high-altitude landscape. 
• Since its establishment in 1983, ICIMOD has made significant contributions in generating useful knowledge for the common benefit of all member nations. In the domain of Himalayan cryosphere, it has been publishing annual Snow Update reports since 2003 that monitor seasonal snow anomalies and provide year-by-year assessments of snow persistence.  
• Snow persistence is an important indicator of cryosphere health. It is measured as the fraction of time snow remains on the ground after snowfall. Shorter duration of snow cover indicates rising temperatures in the atmosphere and higher rates of snowmelt. 

Key findings of 2025 Snow Update report

• — Since 2020, four winters have witnessed below-normal snow persistence levels in the region.
• — The mean snow persistence in the 2024-2025 winter season evidenced a historically low snow persistence at -23.6%. This has been the lowest recorded in the past 23 years. 
• —The snow persistence has been negative for all twelve major river basins. 
• — However, it was alarmingly lowest in River Mekong at -51.9% and Salween at -48.3% and the lowest in Amu Darya at (-18.8%) and Indus (-16%). 
• Snow is an important component of the cryosphere. Snow meltwater contributes 23% of water (on average) to total river runoff in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.
• In some states of India, such as Himachal Pradesh, snow supplies more than half water used for irrigation. Therefore, the decline in snow persistence, triggering early melting across the region, albeit at different rates, raises serious concerns.

Shrinking snow cover: Impact on water security and biodiversity

• persistent below-normal snowfall accompanied by an early melting away of snow may have several negative implications on water, biodiversity and society in the region. Some of them are – water availability, river flow and disruptions, impact on agriculture and allied sectors, and energy shortage. 

Water availability 

• Because of the early melting of snow during the snowfall months of November to March (winter season), water availability in the spring and summer months may be reduced, affecting the water security of over two billion people across river basins in the HKH region. 
• Due to intense developmental activities taking place across the HKH –– construction of tunnels, widening of roads, hydro-power and urban-infrastructure projects –– water demand is at an all-time high. 
• High water demand, compounded by high ground-water extraction, may cause the ground water reserves, springs, aquifers to face extinction. Both of these –– reduced water flow and high water requirement –– potentially increase the risk of droughts across the region. During summer, water availability downstream could become a huge problem. 

River flow and disruptions

• Snow mass and glaciers play a crucial role in regulating a river’s hydrological regime. The depletion of glaciers is leading to a significant decline in streamflows, especially in summer. 
• Some scientists note that summer streamflows in certain rivers increased until the mid-90s due to increased melting, but have since reduced after reaching a tipping point. This suggests that many of the Himalayan perennial rivers are at risk of becoming seasonal in the future. 
• Moreover, changes in river flow – quantity of water, the intensity of the stream, route of the flow – will drastically impact the nearby biodiversity, human activities dependent on river water and other ecological components such as soil fertility, forest cover and availability of water downstream. 

Impact on agriculture and allied sectors

• Snow is particularly important for agricultural productivity. Adequate snowfall benefits both rabi and kharif seasons by ensuring sufficient water availability and leading to an increased cropped area. This extends to fruit crops, vegetables, and other horticultural crops. 
• As snow declines, risks of worsening droughts and crop failures may increase. This poses a severe threat to agriculture and allied activities in the Indo-Gangetic plains – one of the world’s important breadbaskets.

Energy shortage

• Hydro-electricity projects across the HKH are expanding, making it one of the world’s most dam-dense regions due to its abundant water resources and ideal topography. This topography – charactersied by fast-flowing water descending from a higher altitude to a lower altitude – is ideal for hydropower generation. 
• However, disruptions in the speed, quantity and direction of streamflow could affect existing and upcoming hydroelectric projects. In this context, declining snow cover and shrinking glaciers in the HKH could severely affect renewable energy generation and pose challenges to India’s energy security goals.

Adaptation strategies

• As a result, countries like India need to take into account assessments such as the recent Snow Update report and plan adaptation strategies accordingly. Some of the suggested measures are water management and drought preparedness, basin-level targeted actions, and national-level preparedness.

Water management and drought preparedness 

• These include several components such as management of water demand and use by various groups, allocation of water to priority sectors, regulation of water usage, reducing water wastage and promotion of reuse and repurposing of used water; installing warning systems for possible water shortages and instating drought response strategies. 

Basin-level targeted actions 

• Since snow persistence levels differ across different basins with the lowest snow-persistence levels in the eastern part of the HKH, and comparatively better trend in the western, different strategies catering separately to each basin will be helpful. 

National-level preparedness

• National-level accounting of various water-availability scenarios and strategies for the various scenarios will be crucial. These include regulation of economic sectors such as industries, infrastructure and urban development across the Himalayan region; a paradigmatic shift in food systems, choice of crops, etc.; installing energy resilient systems such as hybrid solar-hydro or micro-hydro-solar-battery plants, community-owned micro-hydro projects, etc. 
• To sum up, snow remains one of the least understood components of the HKH region. It governs the stability of the region and has far-reaching global consequences. As a result, snow assessments such as the recent report by ICIMOD, play a crucial role in promoting scientific, pragmatic, evidence-backed decision-making