DAILY

CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

13 OCTOBER 2022

1 – Details of the G7:

GS II

Topic àInternational Relations

·         Context:

·         The G7 summit was supposed to denounce a previous missile onslaught that Kyiv’s allies perceived to be a sign of Moscow’s desperation. On Tuesday, Russia claimed that it had begun “mass” attacks on Ukraine hours before.

·         What is G7?

·         The Group of Seven is a loose alliance of established democracies (G7).

·         The group meets once a year to talk about topics like global economic governance, energy policy, and international security

·         The countries that make up the G7 are the US, Canada, France, the UK, Germany, Italy, and Japan.

·         India is one of the G20’s members, along with each of the other G7 countries

·         The G7 lacks a written constitution as well as a fixed headquarters. The decisions made by leaders during yearly summits are not legally enforceable.

·         Participants in G7

·         As a special guest, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 45th G-7 Summit in Biarritz, France.

·         Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has previously travelled to five G-7 gatherings.

·         Recent rapid economic growth in India, China, and Brazil has lessened the significance of the G-7 group globally and continuously decreased its share of global GDP. The chances of the group surviving in this situation are slim. In this situation, India has assumed a crucial role for the G7 nations.

·        India’s participation in the G-7:

·         India and the European Union disagree on data security, which has an impact on the political environment in Jammu and Kashmir. The G-7 group will provide a separate forum for dialogue between India and the European Union.

·         All three of these countries have influence in the international community because they are all permanent members of the UN Security Council, which is advantageous for India.

·         India will be able to support its longtime buddy in joining if Russia does.

·         Through this organisation, India might introduce concepts like the democratisation of international institutions to the rest of the world.

·         The increased economic ties between these countries and India will increase the number of employment opportunities for the Indian populace.

·         Conclusion:

·         The requests for India to attend G-7 meetings and the push for membership are clear signs of its growing power. The G-7 was created to symbolise the most developed economies in the world, and India is currently one of the top five economies in the world. Another indication of India’s growing power is the UN Security Council’s choice to propose India as a temporary member. The G-7 members now have to focus on the expansion of the group.

Source à The Hindu

2 – About the International Monetary Fund:

GS II

Topic à International Relations

·         Context:

·         According to the International Monetary Fund, a global slowdown will occur in the upcoming year, affecting India as well, as a result of the conflict in Russia and Ukraine, tightening monetary policy globally, the greatest inflation in decades, and the lingering impacts of the epidemic (IMF).

·         Background:

·         The Bretton Woods Conference led to the creation of the IMF in 1944.

·         The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was founded on December 27, 1945, currently consists of 189 countries.

·         The International Monetary Fund (IMF), based in Washington, D.C., is dedicated to promoting global commerce, employment, and economic growth as well as maintaining financial stability.

·         The International Monetary Fund is one of the UN’s major agencies (IMF).

·         In reaction to the collapse of global monetary cooperation during the Great Depression, the IMF was founded with the goal of boosting economic growth and eliminating poverty globally. The Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 saw the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

·         The meeting, which discussed a framework for post-war international economic cooperation, drew approximately 45 official delegations.

·         Goals of the IMF:

·         Encourage international financial cooperation.

·         assurance of financial safety.

·         international trade facilitation

·         Encourage strong employment growth and a reliable economic recovery.

·         Administrative Organization:

·         The IMF is effectively managed by the United Nations, which is also its parent organisation.

·         The Managing Director of the IMF is chosen by the Executive Board and serves a five-year term.

·         The Executive Board, Ministerial Committees, and Board of Governors comprise the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Source à The Hindu

3 – Details of the Right to Information Act 

GS II

Topic àGovernment Policies and Interventions

·         Context:

·         Nearly 17 years after India passed the Right to Information (RTI) Act, there are still roughly 3.15 lakh unresolved complaints or appeals with 26 information commissions across the country, proving that the nation’s purported system of openness is still an illusion.

·         Right to Information Act (RTI) of 2005:

·         There are numerous aspects of public authority organisation and management that must be openly and honestly revealed. It offers details on their organisational structure, operational procedures, officers’ and employees’ rights and obligations, as well as financial information.

·         A body of self-government known as a “public authority” is one that was established in line with the Constitution, a statute, or a legal decree.

·         Ministries, public sector organisations, and regulators are a few of them.

·         It also includes any businesses that are wholly owned, managed, or financed by the government as well as any organisations that rely directly or indirectly on money from the government.

·         Governments are typically encouraged by the regulation to release information in an unexpected and proactive way.

·         Citizens may purchase any unavailable information for a small fee via clear correspondence, email, online application, or both.

·         The Act was passed with the intention of promoting accountability and openness in the operations of Public Authorities.

·         Arguments Against the Implementation of the RTI:

·         In honour of the RTI Act’s 16th anniversary in India in October 2021, the Satark Nagrik Sangathan has developed a study on the effectiveness of information commissions around the country using data obtained under the RTI Act.

·         The report is titled Report Card of Information Commissions for 2020–21.

·         The investigation reveals that the RTI Law’s successful implementation is being hampered by the excessive number of information commissioners.

·         Challenges:

·         The idea goes that the sheer volume of pointless or unpleasant requests frequently justifies this bureaucratic approach. The truth is that these problems only arise in 4% of appeals overall and may be resolved with relative ease.

·         Problems with State Information Commissions

·         Sensitive information is forbidden, some still function without chiefs, and positions are still open.

·         PIOs: At times, PIOs’ bravado is amazing. A Madhya Pradesh information commissioner issued an arrest warrant for a PIO after they blatantly ignored 38 summonses to appear in person at commission meetings and SIC orders.

·         Any significant RTI request or one involving numerous government departments requires higher authorities to step in; nevertheless, PIOs from lower ranks routinely attend hearings and are of no use.

·         Next Steps:

·         To be effective, the RTI system needs a strong political foundation.

·         By raising public awareness and organising rigorous training for government employees, the existing one of the strongest information laws in the world might become much stricter.

·         A code of conduct is required for both the federal and state information commissioners.

·         The public and senior leaders must be explicitly kept away from the commissioners.

·         It is up to the general public, civil society, the media, the courts, and ultimately the commissioners themselves to raise the RTI system’s morale.

Source à The Hindu

4 – About the 5 G Sector in India:

GS III

Topic à Science and Technology related issues

·         Context:

·         Despite owning a smartphone that supports 5G, many users are still unable to use the ultra-high speed network more than two weeks after its launch. The government has summoned a conference of telecom firms and phone makers to address this issue and quicken the roll-out.

·         How does 5G technology work?

·         Wireless communication technology’s fifth generation (5G) delivers extremely high reliability, a wide range of radio frequencies, and speeds of up to 10 Gbps (20 times that of 4G).

·         The IEEE 802.11ac broadband networking standard is the foundation of it. There isn’t a predetermined official standard, though.

·         The future 5G standard will be developed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

·         How did things change from 1G to 5G?

·         1G: Initially offered in the 1980s. Analog radio waves could only be used to make voice calls.

·         2G, which employs digital radio broadcasts and can handle 64 Kbps of speech and data traffic, was first introduced in the 1990s.

·         3G was first introduced in the 2000s. It can transmit telephone signals, including digitised speech, video calls, and conference calls, at speeds ranging from 1 Mbps to 2 Mbps.

·         With peak speeds of 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps, 4G also makes 3D virtual reality practical.

·         With a speed of more than 1Gbps, 5G can connect every person and object on the planet.

·         Applications and advantages of 5G technology:

·         With 5G’s lightning-fast speed, it is feasible to download HD videos, movies, games, and other high-bandwidth entertainment.

·         It enables the use of high-speed data services for business purposes.

·         Applications are possible that are crucial to sectors like finance and healthcare.

·         It will make it simpler to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into everyday life. It will enable driverless cars to rapidly download music updates, software updates, and navigational data from cloud services. Additionally, it will be simpler for automobiles to communicate with one another so that they can keep a safe distance from one another, which will lessen traffic and the likelihood of car accidents.

·         It will enhance the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem by making it possible for efficient data transmission between smart devices.

·         Digital expansion is fueled by speed growth, which raises the nation’s GDP and adds new jobs.

·         Challenges:

·         Due to the greater attack surface offered by 5G, which is made possible by the millions or perhaps billions of extra connected devices, larger and riskier attacks are conceivable. The flaws in the current internet infrastructure will only get worse with time. A higher likelihood of more sophisticated botnets, privacy infractions, and speedier data extraction exists with 5G.

·         The challenges of IoT grow as it expands. IoT devices are inherently susceptible since security is frequently overlooked throughout the design process. On a company network, every insecure IoT device increases the risk of an intrusion.

·         loss of network visibility Our networks will expand with 5G, enhancing how efficiently mobile users and devices can use them. As a result, handling more network traffic will be necessary. However, without a strong wide area network (WAN) security solution like Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) in place, enterprises might not be able to obtain the network traffic visibility required to detect anomalies or attacks.

·         helping with important infrastructure The underlying architecture of the communication system must be altered to support 5G. The biggest disadvantage of 5G is that it cannot transmit data over longer distances. As a result, infrastructure for 5G technology needs to be improved.

·         Consumer financial prudence: The shift from 4G to 5G requires upgrading to the most recent cellular technology, which is expensive for customers.

·         The distribution of 5G spectrum is being delayed by a lack of funding. Examples of viable telecom companies with inadequate finance are Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.

·         Moving forward:

·         India ought to embrace the opportunity and begin utilising 5G technologies. We must prioritise building out our web infrastructure.

·         Supporting 5G start-ups that offer these design and production capabilities is crucial. As a result, wireless networks’ density, capacity, and coverage will all greatly improve.

·         Conclusion:

·         The deployment of 5G technology in India would help companies create and produce 5G products there, leading to the creation of some essential Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in the 5G standard. India has to boost domestic telecoms production as soon as possible so that local companies may compete on both home and foreign markets.

Source à The Hindu