March 12, 2025

Current Affairs

Baloch insurgents behind Pakistan Train Hijacking

Context: Insurgents of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) stopped a long-distance train in Quetta region and took passengers hostage on March 11, 2025.

Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Location: Balochistan; Balochistan Liberation Army (Key Facts)

About Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA):

Who is the BLA?
- It is a Baloch ethnonationalist group advocating for an independent Balochistan.
- It has been banned in Pakistan (2006) and designated as a global terrorist organization by the U.S. (2019).
BLA’s role in the attack:
- The attack was led by BLA’s Majeed Brigade, a suicide squad (Fidayeen unit) active since 2011.
- Other specialised BLA units (STOS, Fatah Squad, and Zirab Units) were also involved.
- Earlier, it has carried out attacks on Pakistani establishments and projects, especially in Baluchistan region.
  - March 2024: Attack on a security complex near Gwadar port.
  - October 2024: Suicide bombing killed two Chinese nationals working on CPEC projects.

Brief background of the Baloch Insurgency

Economic and Political Issues:
- Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest but least developed province, rich in oil, gas, gold, and copper.
- Ethnic Baloch leaders accuse the Federal government (dominated by Punjab) of economic exploitation.
Historical Background:
- Post-Partition (1947-48):
  - Balochistan remained independent until March 1948 under a friendship treaty with Pakistan.
  - The Khan of Kalat initially resisted joining Pakistan but was pressured into signing the accession.
  - Many Baloch continued to support independence, leading to decades of insurgency.
Insurgency and its Impact:
- Tens of thousands have been killed in Baloch insurgencies over the years.
- Pakistan often accuses India of supporting Baloch insurgents, an allegation which India denies.
- Insurgents frequently target Chinese personnel & CPEC projects, fearing they would not benefit.

India's Data Center capacity to surge to 2 GW by 2027: ICRA

Context: ICRA Limited, Indian Credit Rating firm, has forecasted that India’s data center operational capacity will go up to 2,000-2,100 MW by March 2027, from over 1,150 MW in December 2024. This would require an investment of ₹40,000-45,000 crore in the next two years.

Relevance of the Topic: Mains: India’s Computing & AI infrastructure- Data centers; Government Initiatives

What are Data Centers?

Data centers are highly specialised facilities designed to house computing systems and their related components, such as, physical hardware, servers, networking equipment and storage systems.
Utility:
- Process, store, and distribute data for various applications and services, such as websites, cloud computing, and enterprise operations.
- Empower organisations to handle large volumes of data securely and efficiently, and enable cloud computing to function seamlessly.

Potential of Data Centers in India:

India aims to become a global hub for AI innovation and data center development.
Current capacity:
- India's data center capacity is approximately 1,255 MW at present (March 2025).
- India holds 20% of global data but only 3% of data center capacity.
Expansion potential of data center in future, due to:
- Increasing digitalisation and data consumption.
- Rise in demand for AI and generative AI projects.
- Nationwide roll-out of 5G.
- Need for edge computing to allow data processing on devices.
- Data localisation initiatives (store data within National borders).
Concentration of data center in India:
- About 95% of the existing data center capacity is in metros cities (Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad).
- Mumbai has >50% of current capacity due to its central location, reliable power and cable landing stations.

Government Initiatives in this Regard

1. Data Localisation Rules: India’s laws mandate that certain data be stored locally, such as:

Reserve Bank of India's Directive (2018) mandates payment system providers to store entire payment data (transaction details, customer information and related data) within India.
IRDAI (Maintenance of Insurance Records) Regulation, 2015 requires covered organisations to store insurance data within India.
The draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules focus on targeted data localisation, addressing children's online age verification challenges, and data protection.
- Digital Personal Data Protection Act permits cross-border data transfers to all countries, unless restricted by the Central Government by notification.

2. Digital India Mission:

Digital India campaign launched in 2015, aims at the development of secure and stable digital infrastructure (including data centers), delivering government services digitally, and universal digital literacy.

3. IndiaAI Mission:

The Rs 10,370 croreIndiaAI Mission aims to:
- establish a computing capacity of more than 10,000 GPUs.
- help develop foundational models with a capacity of more than 100 billion parameters trained on datasets covering major Indian languages for priority sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and governance.
The idea is that if such an infrastructure exists in the country, start-ups could plug into it for developing AI systems.
Of the total outlay, Rs 4,564 crore has been earmarked for building computing infrastructure.

Generative AI-led high computing requirements present a new wave of demand for data center capacity. Favourable regulatory policies coupled with an infrastructure status for the data center sector would support strong growth prospects in India.

How WHO names a new Disease?

Context: Recently, dermatologists from India and 13 other counties objected to the region-specific nomenclature given to a novel species of fungus — Trichophyton (T.) indotineae.

The name of the fungus is prejudicial and ignores the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO). These names often lead to considerable misinformation, stigma, and racial prejudice.

Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Trichophyton indotineae; How are diseases named?

About Trichophyton indotineae

The fungus was spotted in patients from India and Nepal in 2020. It was considered a new species and named Trichophyton indotineae.
- However, the origin of the fungus is not clearly known.
- Subsequently, it has been reported from more than 40 countries.
It causes widespread and hard-to-treat skin infections (often appearing as red, itchy, and scaly patches), and is resistant to most anti-fungal medicines (first-line drugs).

How are diseases named?

Assigning names to new diseases and to existing diseases (in rare cases) is the responsibility of the WHO under the International Classification of Diseases.
It is done through a consultative process which includes WHO member states, following the 2015 guidelines by WHO.
Terms that should be avoided in disease names include:
- Geographic locations (E.g., Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, Spanish Flu, Rift Valley fever)
- People’s names (E.g., Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Chagas disease)
- Species of animal or food (E.g., Swine flu, bird flu, monkey pox)
- Cultural, population, industry or occupational references (E.g., legionnaires)
- Terms that incite undue fear (E.g., unknown, fatal, epidemic).
The disease name should consist of generic descriptive terms, based on the symptoms that the disease causes (E.g., respiratory disease, neurologic syndrome, watery diarrhoea).

Former Philippine President arrested on ICC warrant

Context: Police arrested former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte at Manila's international airport following directives from the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding a case of crime against humanity.

Relevance of the topic: Prelims: International Criminal Court; Crimes against Humanity.

Major Highlights:

Duterte faces a charge of “the crime against humanity of murder” committed during his “war on drugs”.
- He ran a brutal anti-drugs drive during his time in office from 2016 to 2022.
- Drug suspects were deprived of “due process under the law” and the crackdown allegedly killed around 30,000 people, including children.
The Philippines had quit the ICC in 2019, but the ICC maintains that it had jurisdiction over killings before the country’s pullout from ICC.

International Criminal Court

ICC is an international tribunal to address impunity for the gravest crimes threatening the global community.
It was established under the Rome Statute, a multilateral treaty adopted in 1998. Rome Statute entered into force on 1 July 2002 after ratification by 60 countries.
ICC is an independent international organisation and is not part of the United Nations.
ICC has 18 judges who are elected by the Assembly of State Parties and have non-renewable 9-year terms.
The seat of ICC is in The Hague, Netherlands.

Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court:

ICC investigates and prosecutes individuals accused of the gravest crimes of international concern, as defined under the Rome Statute:
1. Genocide
2. War Crimes
3. Crimes against Humanity
4. Crime of Aggression

What are Crimes Against Humanity?

The Rome Statute of the ICC includes the most extensive list of crimes against humanity. These can include:
- Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation or forcible transfer of population, imprisonment, torture, rape, sexual slavery.
- Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender or other grounds.
- Enforced disappearance of persons, apartheid, other inhumane acts involving serious harm to physical or mental health.

Conditions for Exercising Jurisdiction:

The ICC can exercise jurisdiction only under specific conditions:

Territorial or National Jurisdiction:
- If the alleged crime occurred on the territory of a State Party.
- If the alleged crime was committed by a national of a State Party.
UN Security Council (UNSC) Referral:
- The UNSC can refer cases to the ICC, even if the crime occurred in a non-State Party.
Declaration of Acceptance:
- A non-State Party can accept the ICC's jurisdiction by making a formal declaration.

Principle of Complementarity:

The ICC operates under the principle of complementarity, i.e., it acts as a court of last resort (seeks to complement, not replace, national courts).
The ICC can intervene only if the national judicial systems are unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute crimes.

Parties to International Criminal Court:

As of March 2025, ICC has 125 member states.
However, countries such as India, China, USA, Russia etc. have not ratified the Rome Statute and are not members of ICC. Reasons for non-membership include concerns about sovereignty, potential misuse of the court, and conflicts with domestic laws.

Kisan Credit Card bad loans rise by 42% in four years: RBI

Context: Recently, in an Right to Information (RTI) request reply, the Reserve Bank of India informed that the outstanding NPA amount in the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) segment surged to Rs 97,543 crore as at end of December 2024.

Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Kisan Credit Card; Non-Performing Assets in KCC segment.

Major Highlights:

Among all other agriculture loans offered by banks, such as tractor or food and agri-processing loans, the highest amount of delinquencies are seen in the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) segment.
- Scheduled commercial banks, excluding regional rural banks, have seen a sharp increase of 42% in bad loans in KCC accounts, during FY21-FY25.
- Outstanding NPA amount surged to Rs 97,543 crore at the end of December 2024, compared to Rs 68,547 crore at the end of March 2021.
Amount outstanding in operative KCC accounts across all banks (SCBs, cooperative banks and RRBs), has risen from Rs 4.76 lakh crore in FY22 to Rs 5.91 lakh crore as of December 2024. This reflects stress in the agriculture sector.

NPA classification in the KCC segment

In case of a retail loan, an account becomes an NPA if interest and instalment of principal remain overdue for more than 90 days.
The repayment period for KCC loans is as per the crop season (short or long) and marketing period for the crop.
- The crop season for states is decided by the respective State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC).
- For short duration crops, the crop season is 12 months and for long duration crops it is 18 months in most states.
If a KCC loan is not paid within three years of disbursal, it is classified as NPA.

Factors for rise in defaults in KCC segment:

Inability of farmers to repay loans due to weather-related damages to crops.
Lack of awareness among farmers about repayment timelines.
Delay in payments due to exigencies related to personal household requirements.
Weak loan recovery mechanism for banks.
Expectations of farm loan waiver; Borrowers choose to default strategically in anticipation of future bailouts.

Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme

Introduced in 1998, KCC scheme provides timely access to institutional credit to small and marginal farmers for agricultural and allied activities.
KCC offers credit support for:
- Cultivation and post-harvest activities.
- Working capital for essential farming equipment.
- Investment credit for allied activities (animal husbandry, dairying, fisheries, and other agricultural extensions).
- Meet household consumption expenses.
Key Features:
- Banks provide collateral-free loans up to Rs 2 lakhs under KCC scheme.
- KCC offers a revolving cash credit facility, allowing farmers to withdraw and deposit funds multiple times, without any restrictions.
- KCC loans come under the priority sector lending (PSL) for banks. Of the overall PSL target of 40%, banks are mandated by RBI to allocate 18% of their funds towards agriculture lending.

Modified Interest Subvention Scheme under KCC

Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS) offers concessional Short-term Agri-loans to farmers through KCC, up to Rs 3 lakh at a concessional interest rate of 7% per annum.
An additional 3% subvention is provided for timely repayment, reducing the effective rate to 4%.
MISS also includes post-harvest loans against Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (NWRs) for small farmers with KCCs.
In the Budget 2025-26, the government announced to increase the loan limit under the MISS from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

A 2019 report of an RBI working group to ‘Review Agriculture Credit’ cited that loan waivers impact the credit flow to agriculture due to moral hazard among both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. This essentially leads to banks reallocating lending to lower risk borrower segments, and thus reducing credit availability for the agriculture sector.

India is the second largest arms importer after Ukraine: SIPRI

Context: Ukraine, involved in a war with Russia for the past 4 years, has surpassed India to become the world’s largest arms importer as per Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Report: Key Trends.

About SIPRI

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an independent international institute dedicated to research on conflict, armaments, arms control, and disarmament established in 1966.
It publishes reports on global arms transfers, tracking trends in arms imports and exports.
It aims to provide data-driven insights for policy-making in global security and military affairs.

Major Highlights of the SIPRI Report (2025):

Ukraine became the largest importer of major arms in 2020-24, with a nearly 100-fold increase compared to 2015-19, due to the ongoing war with Russia.
India ranked as the second-largest importer of major arms, accounting for 8.3% of global imports. Indian arms imports declined by 9.3% from 2015-19 to 2020-24, primarily due to increasing domestic production.
Russia’s arms exports fell by 64%, reducing its share to 7.8%, making it the third-largest exporter after the US (43%) and France (9.6%).
Four Asian countries—India, Pakistan, Japan, and Australia—ranked among the top 10 importers of arms globally.
The US and French arms exports increased, while Russia, China, and Germany’s exports declined.
China dropped out of the top 10 arms importers for the first time since 1990-94, showcasing its growing domestic industrial base.

India’s position in global Arms Trade:

India was the top destination for arms exports from both Russia and France.
The largest share of Indian arms imports (36%) came from Russia. The share of Russian arms imports in India has declined significantly:
- 2010-14: 72%
- 2015-19: 55%
- 2020-24: 36%
India’s shift in suppliers is evident with increasing arms procurements from France, Israel, and the US.
Major defence deals with France:
- 36 Rafale jets (delivered)
- 6 Scorpene-class conventional submarines (P-75; all six submarines launched)
- 26 Rafale-M jets and 3 submarines (pending finalisation)

India’s Self-Reliance (Aatmanirbharta) in defence:

India’s defence production reached a record ₹1.27 trillion in 2023-24, marking a 17.25% growth—a seven-year high.
Since 2020-21, a large share of the capital acquisition budget has been allocated to domestic procurement.
2025-26 budget: ₹1.115 trillion (75% of total ₹1.49 trillion) earmarked for domestic acquisitions.
Increasing ability to design and produce indigenous weapons reduces reliance on imports.

The SIPRI report points to India reducing dependency on Russian arms, and France gaining prominence as India’s key supplier. Simultaneously, the rise of indigenous defence production in India aligns with the government’s push for self-reliance.