03 May 2025 Current Affairs

WAVES 2025: Catalyzing India's Creative Economy

At the inaugural World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025, held in Mumbai, the Prime Minister emphasized the growing significance of the creative economy as a key engine for future economic growth, innovation, and inclusive progress.

The summit set an ambitious target to unlock a $50 billion market by 2029, aiming to elevate India’s position in the global entertainment landscape.

Key Announcements and Developments

• Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT): A new institution announced to support the creative sector, to be established under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in collaboration with FICCI and CII. It will serve as a National Centre of Excellence for creative education and innovation.

Understanding the Creative Economy

• What It Is: Often referred to as the orange economy, it encompasses sectors where creativity, culture, and technology converge to create economic value. This includes media, advertising, animation, gaming, visual effects, and extended reality (AVGC-XR).
• Global Recognition: The UN designated 2021 as the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, highlighting its role in achieving sustainable growth.

India's Creative Sector at a Glance

• Economic Contribution: The sector currently contributes around $30 billion to GDP and provides employment to nearly 8% of the workforce.
• Exports: Creative goods and services exports exceed $11 billion annually.
• Challenges: The sector faces issues such as misinformation, copyright infringement, digital inequality, lack of structured financing, and market concentration.

Government Initiatives Supporting Creative Industries

• Creative Economy Fund: A $1 billion fund launched to boost investments and innovation in creative fields.
• All India Initiative on Creative Economy (AIICE): A platform initiated by the Indian Chamber of Commerce to explore and expand creative sector opportunities.
• National Creators Award: A national recognition platform for digital creators, aimed at encouraging original content and innovation in the digital space.

Odisha Launches Sahajog Initiative to Support Urban Poor

The Government of Odisha has introduced the Sahajog program, a targeted initiative aimed at providing timely assistance to urban poor households. This scheme emphasizes:

• Identifying eligible beneficiaries in low-income urban communities.
• Enhancing mass awareness about government schemes.
• Ensuring doorstep delivery of welfare services and entitlements.

Urban Poverty in India: Key Insights

Despite growing urbanization, a significant portion of India’s urban population continues to live in poverty. According to a World Bank report, extreme poverty in urban India stands at 17.2%, far exceeding the 2.8% recorded in rural areas.

Why Urban Poverty Is More Complex and Severe

• Inadequate Living Conditions: Slum dwellers often lack basic amenities such as sanitation, clean drinking water, proper housing, and ventilation.
• Access Barriers to Welfare: Urban migrants frequently miss out on social welfare due to lack of documentation or proof of residence.
• Lack of Income Support: There is no urban equivalent to MGNREGA, creating a critical income security gap for the urban poor.
• High Cost of Services: Healthcare, education, housing, and public transportation are often unaffordable for the poor in cities.
• Visible Inequality: Stark contrasts between poverty and luxury—such as Dharavi next to Mumbai’s high-rises—amplify the sense of exclusion.
• Weak Community Networks: Unlike villages, urban areas tend to lack social cohesion and support systems, increasing mental health concerns and isolation.
• Exclusionary Urban Development: Urban planning often neglects informal settlements, further marginalizing slum dwellers and migrant workers.

Key Initiatives to tackle Urban Poverty in India

1. Housing

• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U): Aims to ensure Housing for All by providing affordable homes to the urban poor through credit-linked subsidies, in-situ redevelopment, and beneficiary-led construction.

2. Sanitation

• Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 (AMRUT 2.0): Focuses on improving access to clean water supply, sewerage systems, and creating green public spaces to enhance urban living conditions.

3. Employment and Skill Development

• Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM): Enhances livelihood opportunities through skill training, micro-enterprises, and support for the urban poor.
• PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi): Offers collateral-free working capital loans to street vendors for restarting and expanding their businesses.

4. Food Security

• One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC): Enables portability of ration cards across states, ensuring food security for migrant populations in urban areas.

5. Health and Social Welfare

• Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY): Provides cashless health insurance for the economically vulnerable, with portability across India.
• PM Ujjwala Yojana (Self-certification provision): Eases access to clean cooking fuel for the urban poor by simplifying eligibility through self-declaration in select cases.

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award

India's leading badminton doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, were honoured with the Khel Ratna award for 2023.

Key Achievements:

• Reached the No. 1 position in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Men’s Doubles rankings in 2023.
• Secured a historic gold medal at the Asian Games 2023 held in Hangzhou, marking a major milestone in Indian badminton.

Introduction:

• Instituted in the year 1991–92 under the original title Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, this prestigious award was renamed in 2021 to honour hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand. It is recognized as the highest sports award in India.

Purpose:

• The award celebrates athletes who have demonstrated exceptional performance consistently at the international level over the past four years.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Only those achievements made in internationally recognized sports competitions are taken into account.
• Candidates are judged based on sustained excellence, not just isolated wins.

Award Components:

• A cash prize of ₹25 lakh
• A medal of honour
• An official certificate of recognition

Frequency:

• Typically, one sportsperson is awarded each year, though in some years, it may be shared by more than one individual or team.

Lakkundi Temples

The temples of Lakkundi, a historical village in Karnataka’s Gadag district, are on track to be added to the UNESCO tentative list of World Heritage Sites, marking a significant cultural milestone.

Historical Significance:

• Known as ‘Lokki Gundi’ in early inscriptions, Lakkundi thrived during the rule of the Western Chalukyas (also called Kalyana Chalukyas).
• The village is an architectural treasure trove with over 50 ancient temples and a stunning collection of 101 stepwells, locally called Kalyanis.

Architectural Marvels:

• The Kasi Vishwanatha Temple stands out for its intricate design and elaborate craftsmanship, representing the artistic zenith of Chalukyan architecture.
• Lakkundi is also notable for its Jain heritage, home to one of the oldest and largest Jain temples dedicated to Lord Mahavira, reflecting the area's religious diversity and historical importance.

National Security Advisory Board

The Government of India has recently announced the appointment of a new Chairperson and seven new members to the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), reinforcing its strategic expertise.

What is NSAB?

• Established in December 1998, the NSAB serves as a high-level advisory panel composed of distinguished individuals from sectors such as industry, media, academia, and civil society.
• Unlike operational arms of the government, NSAB is an external expert body offering independent insights on strategic and security matters.

Core Role & Functions:

• The Board conducts long-term strategic assessments and provides independent viewpoints on national security issues to the National Security Council (NSC).
• It also advises on policy choices and recommendations for areas specifically referred to it by the NSC.
• The National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) supports and coordinates the functioning of NSAB.

Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA)

The United States has cleared a military hardware and logistics aid package for India as part of its support for the IPMDA initiative.

What is IPMDA?

The IPMDA is a collaborative technology and capacity-building effort aimed at strengthening maritime surveillance and situational awareness across the Indo-Pacific.

• Launched by the QUAD nations—India, Australia, Japan, and the United States—during the Tokyo Summit in 2022.
• The initiative is designed to help regional partners in Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific track and monitor maritime activity more effectively.
• It leverages cutting-edge technology to deliver real-time monitoring of their respective maritime territories, enhancing transparency and cooperative security.

UNDP and Government of India Join Hands for Sanitation Worker Welfare

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have partnered under the NAMASTE scheme to support wastepickers, focusing on inclusion, dignity, and safety.

• UNDP is contributing by financially supporting the establishment of State Project Management Units (PMUs) to strengthen the program’s implementation across various states.

About the NAMASTE Scheme and the Wastepicker Component

• Initiated by: MoSJE and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in 2023, the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) aims to enhance the safety and socio-economic upliftment of sanitation workers.

Wastepicker Sub-Component Launched in 2024

Key Goals:

• Digital Registration: Targeting the profiling of 2.5 lakh wastepickers nationwide to ensure they are formally recognized.
• Health Benefits: Offering health insurance under Ayushman Bharat – PM-JAY and access to healthcare services.
• Skill Development: Providing training programs for improving employability and financial security.
• Collectivisation: Promoting the formation of wastepicker groups to manage Decentralized Waste Collection Centers (DWCCs), enabling improved livelihood opportunities and sustainable waste management.

United States and Ukraine Forge Strategic Mineral & Energy Partnership

The United States has entered into a landmark agreement with Ukraine, granting American stakeholders preferential access to Ukraine’s mineral wealth and energy assets, including participation in new oil and gas ventures.

Ukraine’s Rich Resource Base

• Rare Earth Elements (REEs): Comprising 17 essential elements used in advanced technologies, REEs are widely present but difficult and costly to isolate.
• Critical Minerals: These are resources deemed vital for economic and national security, although their exact categorization varies by country.

Ukraine is notable for having 22 out of the 50 strategic minerals that the US Department of the Interior classifies as critical—this includes valuable materials like graphite and lithium, essential for electronics, EV batteries, and defense systems.