Table of Contents
Hiding in plain sight | ToI
- ‘Made in China 2025’ (MIC 2025) plan aimed to turn the country into a world leader in cutting edge technology.
- Recession hit India
- China’s ambition to control next generation 5G communication technology had already caused great concern.
- US is trying to rein in tech giant Huawei.
- Under the detailed guidance issued by the commerce department, hundreds of American and foreign companies have been barred from selling to Huawei any product that could have been produced with the help of US technology or software.
- China’s aggressive efforts to dominate have come under heightened scrutiny.
- Dozens of cases of technology theft in the West have been identified, with agents of economic espionage caught and expelled.
- A famous Harvard professor was apprehended in February.
- The US shut down a major Chinese consulate ostensibly to prevent technology theft.
- US Congress and law enforcement agencies have ramped up investigations into systematic Chinese efforts to steal cutting edge tech that would form the core of MIC 2025.
- A recent report by an Australian government thinktank, ‘Hunting the phoenix: The Chinese Communist Party’s global search for technology and talent,’ reveals the organisation that lies behind MIC 2025.
- In 2008, China launched its Thousand Talents plan, designed to lure Chinese scientists abroad to bring their research back to China.
- It has since been expanded to include other nationals willing to share their research openly or secretly with China.
- According to the report, a network of 600 talent recruitment stations operate worldwide – from the US to Germany and Singapore, working in close coordination with Chinese party and government agencies.
- In a 2013 speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping openly hinted, “If you stay abroad, we will support you serving the country through various means.”
- In 2016, a BJP government minister inaugurated Huawei’s largest Global Service Center in Bengaluru, congratulating the company for partnering with Make in India.
- Although no formal announcement has been made, following the Galwan clash, Chinese companies have been effectively barred from investing in India.
- MIC 2025 and Make in India may never meet after all.
Partnership test | IndExp
- Collaborative efforts between India and other country/ies to develop a vaccine against COVID-19
- Foreign Ministry: The call on partnerships between Indian vaccine manufacturers and foreign scientific agencies will be taken by the expert group set up for the purpose.
- Evaluation by the “National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19”.
- We hear things about a potential joint venture between Indian companies and some foreign agencies — especially Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute that is slated to “shortly” begin mass trials of the Sputnik-V COVID-19 vaccine.
- Due processes will be followed.
- Prime mover will be science, not geopolitics or ideological considerations.
- Three vaccine candidates — developed by the US-based pharma major Moderna, Oxford University and AstraZeneca and China’s Sinopharm — have entered the final stage of clinical trials which will determine if these preventives are safe for mass use.
- These trials could take four to six months.
- US, Germany, Britain and France, have entered into pre-purchase agreements with vaccine manufacturers.
- 10 years ago these nations did the same thing with HINI vaccine.
- India caters to 60 per cent of the world’s vaccine demand.
- The Serum Institute of India, one of the partners of the Oxford-AstraZeneca project, is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer.
- The country should leverage its manufacturing capacities to secure more collaborations — given the country’s demographics, India is very likely to need more than one vaccine.
- The foreign ministry has said that it will play the role of a facilitator in this endeavour.
A vehicle for green recovery | Pioneer
- Imposition of nationwide lockdowns, layoffs in the workforce and restrictions on non-essential travel have minimised market output and affected foreign trade significantly.
- The lurking threat to all vital elements of human life has also become prominent in the form of job losses, disruption in water supply and access, dwindling food production and distribution, and threats to health and well-being.
- The COVID-19 outbreak is not just an economic but a humanitarian and environmental crisis.
- Things that we learnt from it
- The COVID-19 response mechanisms provide an exemplary account of the role of cooperative and collective action between national and sub-national governments for containing the spread of the epidemic.
- Showcases how proactive structural changes —including the creation of health infrastructure, enforcement of guidelines and regulatory actions — can enhance the resilience of a system to effectively respond to a crisis situation.
- The pandemic shows that society can adjust fast in the face of a crisis.
- This has impeded India’s contribution towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were put forth in 2015.
- Moreover, the response to climate change has also lost traction globally with the postponement of the Conference of Parties (COP26) to 2021.
- The impacts of climate change will continue to rattle different parts of the country.
- The aforementioned learnings likewise reinforce the need to adopt a bottom-up approach, involving sub-national entities, including State and local governments to step up stringent action for mitigating the impacts of climate change.
- As the key lever of climate action in the States, the State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC), nears completion of the first phase of its implementation, this year invigorates hope for States to ratchet up their SAPCC ambition under the direction of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
- Countries around the world are rallying towards “green recovery” — a road not taken earlier.
- The ongoing revision of SAPCC offers a unique opportunity to States to experience “green recovery” that addresses multiple threats synergistically through the integration of strategies (to absorb shocks from the pandemic), by enhancing climate resilience (impacts of climate change) and safeguarding sustainable development (threat to people and inclusive action).
- This is critical to ensure that incremental actions towards greening the post-COVID recovery as well as the economy are not just reactive to the immediate crisis but are sustained well beyond the revival of the State’s economy.
- Gujarat’s SAPCC has advanced on this goal for creating green jobs through activities pertaining to afforestation, renewable energy-installation, waste to bio-fuel programmes, to name a few.
- Other SAPCCs, such as those of Uttar Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Island and Madhya Pradesh, have iterated the need to bolster employment under the sectors of fisheries, industries and forestry to foster sustainable growth and development
- The National Indicator Framework (NIF), prepared by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), is the backbone of SDG rankings and elucidates how the climate action agenda can be upscaled.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his recent address at the India Global Week 2020, reiterated the need for reviving an India which is sustainable.
- States must endorse a holistic approach to include strategies in the SAPCC wherein green recovery measures are planned in consonance with their ability to mitigate climate change and achieve SDGs.
NEWS
- India conducts record 10 lakh COVID-19 tests in single day
- Haryana govt decides to close all offices and shops on every Saturday and Sunday due to rising Corona cases
- Election Commission issues guidelines to conduct elections amid COVID-19
- Rajiv Kumar appointed new Election Commissioner following resignation of Ashok Lavasa
- CBI requests AIIMS, New Delhi to review death case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput
- Ganesh Chaturthi being celebrated across the country today
- Elaborate arrangements made for conducting NEET, JEE exams: NTA
- Ram Vilas Paswan urges consumers to file complaints, if any information missing on products package
- Full benefit of Agri Infrastructure Fund must reach to small and medium farmers, says Rural Development Minister
- Tender for manufacturing of 44 semi high speed Vande Bharat trains cancelled
- PM Modi writes letter to Suresh Raina; Appreciates his contribution to Indian cricket
- MEA in partnership with Foreign Ministry of Thailand organize 6th Round Table of AINTT
Download Free PDF – Daily Hindu Editorial Analysis
WhatsApp