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The Digital India campaign launched in 2015 was aimed at creating greater national financial inclusivity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
Speaking virtually at the meeting of the G-20 Ministers of Digital Economy taking place in Bengaluru, Mr. Modi presented India’s diversity as a resource that supports testing and solution of new digital products from all over the world and said it was necessary to build consensus on the “G-20 high-level principles for a secure, trusted and resilient digital economy”.
As the digital economy spreads globally, it will face security threats and challenges. In this context, it is important to build consensus on the G-20 high-level principles for a secure, trusted, and resilient digital economy.
We in G-20 have a unique opportunity to lay the foundation for an inclusive, prosperous and secure global digital future,” Mr. Modi declared in his opening remarks.
He said the digital infrastructure should cater to farmers and small businesses and urged the need to create a “framework for safe and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence”.
Mr. Modi presented India’s digital economy as an enabling system and said the country had leveraged technology to make governance “inclusive” and “transparent”. He highlighted the reach of the Aadhaar digital identity and said that it covered more than 1.3 billion Indian citizens.
Raptors make power towers their home (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
White-bellied sea eagles in India are beginning to emulate their counterparts in Australia and Thailand by making their homes on power towers holding high-tension wires.
The use of man-made structures as nesting sites can be both risky and beneficial to these coastal raptors and humans in the vicinity, but the development points to a lack of trees and other natural nesting alternatives, a study published in the latest issue of the conservation-themed monthly.
The nests of the white-bellied sea eagles were found on powerline towers about 2 km away from the sea in Ramanathapuram of Tamil Nadu. The nesting sites were strategic for the birds to conveniently scan the marine area for food, the study said.
The white-bellied sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) is a resident raptor belonging to the family Accipitridae. It has a wide distribution range on the sea coast of India from Mumbai to the eastern coast of Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka in southern Asia, through all coastal south-eastern Asia, southern China to Australia.
The raptor, a diurnal monogamous bird of prey, is categorised as being of ‘least concern’ on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
News
With no breakthrough yet, India, China continue dialogue on LAC impasse (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Three weeks ahead of the G-20 Summit in New Delhi, efforts are on for a breakthrough on the ground in the stalemate at the Depsang plains and Demchok in eastern Ladakh as part of overall efforts to end the 2020 stand-off between India and China.
Towards this, two Major General-level talks were held on Friday as a follow up to the 19th round of Corps Commander-level talks held earlier this week, officials confirmed.
The outcome of the two separate Major General-level talks are still awaited. The Corps Commanders-level talks went on for two days this time, an official source said, adding that there were expectations of some breakthrough and forward movement on the ground.
The respective Major Generals in the area held talks with their Chinese counterparts, another source stated. India and China have Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) points at Chushul and Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern Ladakh.
While expectations are that Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to India for the G-20 Summit on September 9 and 10, he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scheduled to attend the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa from August 22 to 24, though there is no indication as of now of any possible meeting between them on the sidelines.
At the Depsang plains, Chinese troops have been blocking Indian patrols for some time from going beyond the Y-junction by deliberately starting a face-off.
The Indian Army has not been able to access Patrolling Points (PP) 10, 11, 11A, 12 and 13 located on the Limit of Patrolling which lies before the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
As per agreed protocols, both side undertake banner drills when patrol parties come face to face as a way to prevent escalation. This involves both sides waving banners at each other and asserting their claim when patrols come face to face and then return.
WHO-managed grid to promote equitable access to digital health (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya launched the Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH), a network managed by the World Health Organization, in the presence of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the world body.
The GIDH is one of the key deliverables of India’s G-20 Presidency. It will consolidate the evidence and “amplify recent and past gains in global digital health” while strengthening mutual accountability to enhance the impact of future investments.
The GIDH will be a WHO-managed network that will promote equitable access to digital health by addressing challenges such as duplication of efforts and “products-focused” digital health transformation.
It will ultimately aim to align efforts to support the Global Strategy on Digital Health, 2020-2025, support quality-assured technical assistance to develop and strengthen standards-based and interoperable systems aligned to global best practices, norms, and standards, and facilitate the deliberate use of quality-assured digital transformation tools that enable governments to manage their digital health transformation journey.
In his keynote address at the G-20 Health Ministers’ Meeting, the Health Minister said that India’s G-20 presidency has leveraged its experience on developing a national digital health architecture through the convergence of digital health interventions aimed at strengthening health systems through interoperability by design.
Health Secretary Sudhansh Pant highlighted India’s effort for establishing a digital health ecosystem through the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
He stated that “with a view to avoid reinvention of wheel multiple times”, we are keen on sharing our learnings of the same with the world. This approach of sharing is linked to India’s philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (whole world is one family).
World
With muscle-flexing, China stirs tensions with neighbours (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
From the South China Sea to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, China has been more forcefully pushing its territorial claims with neighbours with the aim of dissuading their warming ties with the U.S., a risky strategy that experts said could end up backfiring.
While the latest 19th round talks between China and India, held on August 13 and 14 at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point, ended with a joint release from both sides unlike in the previous round and an agreement “to resolve the remaining issues in an expeditious manner”, the negotiations have been anything but expeditious, because of a broader hardening Chinese stand in enforcing Beijing’s claims along the LAC.
Dialling down tensions, officials and experts add, may likely only be tactical moves to create the right atmosphere for a high-level leaders’ meeting, even as Beijing continues beefing up its posture along the border.
This dynamic has in recent days also been mirrored in another theatre — in the contested South China Sea, where one among China’s fleet of increasingly large and sophisticated coast guard ships deployed water cannons to stop a Philippines vessel to deliver supplies to an already present garrison on the contested Second Thomas Shoal.
In Manila, the moves have widely been seen as being aimed at its warming ties with Washington. China has been upset with the Philippines, more so after the Marcos government renewed security cooperation with the U.S., which now has access to more local military bases.
Similarly, Indian officials say as the China-U.S. rivalry has heightened, Beijing has increasingly situated its relations with India only in the context of its ties with Washington, an approach they believe has been a prime driver in worsening India-China relations.
Science
Warming-induced glacier retreat could create novel ecosystems (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Climate change caused by human activity under a high-emissions scenario may halve the area covered by glaciers outside the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets by the end of the century, as per a study published in Nature.
This will have marked ecological and societal cascading consequences, as novel ecosystems develop to fill emerging new habitat. However, there has been no complete spatial analysis carried out to quantify or anticipate the important changeover.
Under a high-emissions scenario (in which global greenhouse gas emissions triple by 2075), about half of 2020 glacier area could be lost by 2100,” the authors write.
However, this could be curbed by a low-emissions scenario (in which net zero is achieved by 2050), which would reduce this loss to approximately 22%.
As per the modelling exercise undertaken by Jean-Baptiste Bosson from the Conservatory of Natural Areas of Haute-Savoie, Annecy, France and others, the loss of glacier area will range from 22% to 51%, depending on the climate scenario.
It would mean that by 2100, the decline of all glaciers outside the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets may produce “new terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems over an area ranging from the size of Nepal (1,49,000sq. km) to that of Finland (3,39,000 sq. km)”.
A trial to test a new path for preventing Alzheimer’s (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Last month, a wave of excitement swept through the world of Alzheimer’s research after Eli Lilly published results of a trial of their drug, donanemab.
They found that the drug slowed cognitive decline in 47% of those who took the drug, vis-à-vis 29% who got a placebo. ‘Slowed’ here meant staving off the disease for six months to a year, when judged by multiple factors.
Donanemab, while still in trials, follows on the heels of another drug, lecanemab, from Eisai, a Japanese pharmaceutical company that was fast-tracked by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
A third drug called aducanumab was approved by the FDA in 2021, but as an analysis in the JAMA Neurology reported last October, donanemab and aducanumab were not “cost effective,” given their cost and the limited improvement in the quality of life.
The common thread in these drugs, other than being monoclonal antibodies (lab-synthesised to mimic natural antibodies) is that they neutralise the build-up of amyloid protein in the brain, believed to be most significantly associated with the disease.
Elevated levels of amyloid form plaque and trigger another protein called tau that damages brain cells, causing the cognitive decline typified by the disease.
There were a further set of complications associated with donanemab in the trial. Donanemab, like lecanemab and aducanumab, could cause fatal brain bleeding and seizures.
The limited success with drugs that target only the amyloid protein buildup suggests that there may be other factors responsible for triggering the disease.
FAQ
How is the SC tackling gender stereotyping? (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
Discarding “archaic ideas with patriarchal overtones”, particularly while describing women and their issues, the Supreme Court of India has released a set of new words and phrases to be used by both lawyers and judges in court.
In his foreword, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud writes that ‘The Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes’ aims to assist the legal community in “identifying, understanding and combating stereotypes about women.
It contains a glossary of gender-unjust terms and suggests alternative words or phrases which may be used while drafting pleadings as well as orders and judgments.”
To avoid the use of harmful gender stereotypes in judicial decision-making and writing, the handbook identifies language that promotes such stereotypes, and offers new words.
For example, under the guidelines, it will be incorrect to say “adulteress”; instead, the following words have to be used: “Woman who has engaged in sexual relations outside of marriage.” It is no longer proper to prefix “chaste” or “obedient” before woman and wife; plain “woman” and “wife” will do.
The handbook says an individual who has been affected by sexual violence may identify as either a “survivor” or “victim”.
Stressing on consent, the guidelines point out that the clothing or attire of a woman must be independent of questions of sexual relations.
A man who touches a woman without her consent must not be permitted to take the defence that the woman invited his touch by dressing in a particular way.”
There are a host of dos and don’ts on how to handle issues of rape and assault. The Court shatters the stereotype that women who are sexually assaulted or raped file a complaint about the injustice immediately and if they complain after a time, they are lying.
It takes courage and strength to report a sexual offence because of the stigma attached to it,” the handbook says, adding, “women may therefore register a complaint after a lapse of some time, when she thinks she is able to.”
Why is BRICS summit important for India? (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
All eyes this week are on Johannesburg, as leaders of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) grouping are hosted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. BRICS is essentially a movement of “emerging economies”, and thus gives a salience to economic issues, but given the geopolitical flux especially after the war in Ukraine, this BRICS summit takes on a new importance. It is, therefore, no surprise that many Western capitals are watching the summit closely.
This BRICS meet comes at an important geopolitical and geoeconomic moment — this is the first in-person summit since 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even in 2022, when COVID had receded, the remnants of the pandemic remained in China, and the summit was hosted via videoconference.
This is also the first in-person meeting since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, an event that has cast a long shadow not only over global stability, but food, fertilizer and fuel (energy) security.
Given its composition, BRICS deliberations are perceived to carry a “counter-western” slant, and will be of importance as the U.S. and EU still hope to try and “isolate” Russia over the conflict.
This is also the first summit since Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Lula returned to power in Brazil, who represents a more socialist, anti-western politics than his predecessor President Bolsonaro.
For India, this BRICS summit carries special importance. This is the first in-person summit since the military standoff with China at the Line of Actual Control began in 2020, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will come face to face with President Xi Jinping at the BRICS meet.