13 October 2022

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

1 – G7: GS II – Topic International Relations

Context:

• On Tuesday, Russia asserted that it had launched “mass” attacks on Ukraine hours before the G7 meeting, which was scheduled to denounce a previous missile barrage that Kyiv’s allies believed to be an indication of Moscow’s desperation.

What is G7?

• A loose coalition of established democracies, the Group of Seven (G7).
• The organisation meets once a year to discuss issues like international security, energy policy, and global economic governance.
• The G7 consists of the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
• All of the G7 nations as well as India are members of the G20.
• Both a formal constitution and a permanent headquarters are absent from the G7. The choices made by leaders during yearly summits are not binding on the law.

G7 participants:

• According to US President Donald Trump, the G-7 may be expanded in 2020 to include nations like Australia, South Korea, and India.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 45th G-7 Summit in Biarritz, France, as a special guest.
• Manmohan Singh, the prime minister of India, has already visited five G-7 summits.
• India, China, and Brazil have all had rapid economic growth in recent years, which has diminished the importance of the G-7 group globally and steadily reduced its percentage of global GDP. The group’s capacity to survive in this circumstance is in jeopardy. India has taken on a significant role for the G7 countries in this situation.

India’s membership in the G-7:

• Data security is a point of contention between India and the European Union, which has an effect on the political climate in Jammu and Kashmir. A separate venue for discussion between India and the European Union will be offered by the G-7 group.
• Because all three of these nations are permanent members of the UN Security Council, which benefits India, they all have sway in the international community.
• If Russia joins, India will be able to assist its longtime friend in doing so.
• India may spread ideas like the democratisation of international institutions to the rest of the globe through this organisation.
• The population of India will have more employment options as a result of these nations’ improved economic connections with India.

Conclusion:

• Unmistakable indications of India’s rising power include the requests for India to join G-7 meetings and the push for membership. India is currently one of the five largest economies in the world, and the G-7 was established to represent the world’s most developed economies. The UN Security Council’s decision to nominate India as a temporary member is another sign of India’s rising power. As a result, the G-7 members must now concentrate on the group’s growth.

Source The Hindu

 2 – International Monetary Fund: GS II – Topic International Relations

Context:

• The International Monetary Fund predicts that the effects of the conflict in Russia and Ukraine, tightening monetary policy worldwide, the highest inflation in decades, and the lingering effects of the epidemic will all contribute to a global slowdown in the coming year, including in India (IMF).

Background:

• The IMF was established in 1944 as a result of the Bretton Woods Conference.
• 189 nations currently make up the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was established on December 27, 1945.
• The Washington, D.C.-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) is committed to fostering international trade, employment, and economic growth as well as preserving financial stability.
• An expert agency of the UN is the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• The IMF was established with the aim of accelerating economic growth and eradicating poverty worldwide in response to the breakdown of international monetary cooperation during the Great Depression. The International Monetary Fund was formed in 1944 during the Bretton Woods Conference (IMF).
• 45 government delegations attended the conference, which covered a framework for post-war international economic cooperation.

Targets of IMF:

• Promote financial cooperation between nations.
• Assurance of monetary security.
• Facilitation of international trade
• Encourage a dependable economic recovery and high employment.

Administrative Structure:

• The United Nations, the IMF’s parent organisation, is in charge of efficiently running it.
• The Executive Board selects the IMF’s Managing Director, who holds the position for five years.
• The International Monetary Fund is made up of the Executive Board, Ministerial Committees, and Board of Governors (IMF).

Source The Hindu

 3 – Right to Information Act: GS II – Topic Government Policies and Interventions

Context:

• The fact that there are still around 3.15 lakh unresolved complaints or appeals with 26 information commissions across the nation, nearly 17 years after India enacted the Right to Information (RTI) Act, demonstrates that the country’s supposed system of openness is still a mirage.

The 2005 Right to Information Act (RTI):

• Many facets of how public authorities are organised and run must be disclosed in an open and honest manner. It provides information about their structure, operating methods, officers’ and employees’ rights and responsibilities, as well as financial data.
• A “public authority” is a body of self-government formed in accordance with the Constitution, a statute, or a formal decree.
• A few of them include Ministries, public sector organisations, and regulators.
• It also covers any enterprises that are entirely owned, controlled, or supported by the government as well as any organisations that depend on government funding either directly or indirectly.
• The regulation usually encourages governments to share information in an unanticipated and proactive manner.
• Any unavailable information may be requested by citizens for a modest price via straightforward correspondence, email, online application, or both.
• The Act was passed with the goal of encouraging transparency and accountability in how Public Authorities do their business.

Arguments Against the RTI’s Implementation:

• The Satark Nagrik Sangathan has produced a research on the effectiveness of information commissions around the nation based on data received under the RTI Act in honour of the RTI Act’s 16th anniversary in India in October 2021.
• Report Card of Information Commissions for 2020–21 is the name of the document.
• The investigation shows that a significant barrier impeding the successful implementation of the RTI Law is the numerous information commissioners.

Challenges:

• This bureaucratic approach is frequently justified, according to the notion, by the sheer volume of frivolous or unpleasant requests. The truth is that these issues only come up in approximately 4% of appeals overall and can be remedied without much difficulty.
• State Information Commissions’ problems
• Sensitive information is prohibited, some continue without chiefs, and jobs remain vacant.
• PIOs: The bravado of PIOs can be astounding at times. A PIO was given an arrest warrant by a Madhya Pradesh information commissioner after they flagrantly disregarded 38 summonses to present at commission meetings and SIC orders.
• Higher authorities must intervene in any big RTI request or one involving multiple government departments, yet frequently PIOs from lower ranks attend hearings and are useless.

 Way Ahead:

• The RTI system requires a powerful political framework in order to succeed.
• The Indian information law, which is already one of the strictest in the world, may be made even tougher by increasing public awareness and organising rigorous training for government employees.
• The federal and state information commissioners must have a code of conduct.
• Senior leaders and the general public must be kept clearly apart from the commissioners.
• The RTI system’s morale is currently declining, and it is up to the public, civil society, the media, the courts, and finally the commissioners themselves to boost it.

Source The Hindu

 4 – 5 G Sector in India: GS III – Topic Science and Technology related issues

Context:

• Many customers are still unable to utilise the ultra-high speed network more than two weeks after its launch, despite possessing a smartphone that supports 5G. For the purpose of resolving this issue and accelerating the roll-out, the government has called a meeting of telecom companies and phone manufacturers.

What is the 5G technology process?

• The fifth generation (5G) of wireless communication technology offers extremely high reliability, wide radio bands, and speeds of up to 10 Gbps (20 times that of 4G).
• It is built on the IEEE 802.11ac broadband networking standard. There isn’t a set official criterion, though.
• The International Telecommunications Union will create the eventual 5G standard (ITU).

How did things differ between 1G and 5G?

• 1G: First made available in the 1980s. Only voice calls could be made using analogue radio waves.
• The 1990s saw the introduction of 2G. uses digital radio broadcasts and can handle 64 Kbps of speech and data traffic.
• The 2000s saw the introduction of 3G. It can transfer telephone signals at speeds between 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps, including digitised speech, video calls, and conference calls.
• 4G: It also makes 3D virtual reality feasible, with peak speeds of 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps.
• Every person and thing on the earth can be connected by 5G, which has a speed of more than 1Gbps.

Benefits and applications of 5G technology:

• It is possible to download HD videos, movies, games, and other high-bandwidth entertainment at 5G’s breakneck speed.
• It makes it possible to use high-speed data services for commercial reasons.
• It allows for essential applications in industries like finance and healthcare.
• It will facilitate the easier integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into daily life. It will make it possible for driverless cars to instantly receive navigational data, software updates, and music upgrades from cloud services. Additionally, communication between vehicles will be made easier so that they may maintain a safe distance from one another, reducing traffic and the incidence of auto accidents.
• By enabling effective data transmission between smart devices, it will benefit the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem.
• Speed growth fuels digital expansion, which boosts the country’s GDP and creates new jobs.

Challenges:

• Larger and riskier attacks are conceivable because to the increased attack surface provided by 5G, which is made possible by the millions or even billions of additional connected devices. Future developments will further exacerbate the weaknesses of the current internet infrastructure. With 5G, there is a greater chance of more advanced botnets, privacy violations, and quicker data extraction.
• IoT difficulties increase as it grows. IoT devices are by default vulnerable because security is typically not considered in the design. Every insecure IoT device on a company network raises the possibility of an intrusion.
• Network visibility reduction With 5G, our networks will grow and improve how effectively mobile users and gadgets can use them. Handling additional network traffic will be required as a result. However, businesses might not be able to get the network traffic visibility necessary to spot anomalies or assaults without a strong wide area network (WAN) security solution like Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) in place.
• assisting with crucial infrastructures Adopting 5G requires changing the communication system’s fundamental architecture. The inability of 5G to carry data over greater distances is its main drawback. As a result, even 5G technology infrastructure needs to be enhanced.
• Financial prudence for consumers: Upgrading to the most modern cellular technology is necessary to transition from 4G to 5G, which costs money for customers.
• The insufficient money is delaying the allocation of 5G spectrum. Two suitable telecom businesses with insufficient funding examples are Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.

Moving ahead:

• India should seize the chance and start using 5G technology. We must give improving our online infrastructure top priority.
• It is essential to assist 5G start-ups that provide these design and production capabilities. As a result, the density, capacity, and coverage of wireless networks will all significantly increase.

Conclusion:

• A 5G technology deployment that had already occurred in India would assist businesses in developing and manufacturing 5G goods there, resulting in the development of some crucial Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in the 5G standard. India needs to quickly increase domestic telecommunications manufacturing so that local businesses may compete on both domestic and international markets.

Source The Hindu