India’s Leadership in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)
Importance: Strategic The IOR is strategically important to India’s geopolitical interests in a time when global competition with USA and China is on the rise.
Economic Significance: The IOR accounts for 1/3rd of the world’s bulk cargo and 2/3rd of global oil shipments.
Climate Concerns: The Indian Ocean is experiencing the fastest pace of warming since the 1950s, as per reports from IPCC, which further increases climate security concerns for India.
White Revolution 2.0: India’s Dairy Empowerment Initiative
Empowerment of Women: Enhance women’s participation in dairy cooperatives, thereby upgrading their role in dairy cooperatives and increase milk procurement to 1,000 lakh kg/day by 2029.
Co-operative growth: PACS, that is Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies, forms a critical component of developing dairy and fisheries cooperatives.
Financial Inclusion: The policy concentrates on co-operative financial inclusion while integrating the opening of bank accounts for all co-operative members.
Global AI Governance Challenges
Global Framework Needs: AI governance by the UN’s Advisory Body underscores the fact that the development of AI shifts substantial global power dynamics towards AI creation and, therefore needs regulation at an international level
Lack of Representation: Most of the countries in the global South are not represented at the level of AI governance, increasing the inequality of technological benefit.
Proposed Solutions: The body recommends setting up a global AI capacity development network and a fund to establish access to AI opportunities globally.
Fencing of the India-Myanmar Border
National Security Concerns: The government has fenced only 30 km of the 1,643 km porous India-Myanmar border, which has helped cross-border terrorism, drug trafficking, and arms smuggling.
Government’s Initiative: The Cabinet Committee on Security approved Rs 31,000 crore to complete the fencing of the border.
Issues: Harsh topography and ethnic identity present severe barriers in the building of fences, especially in states such as Mizoram.
Revised Guidelines for Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations
Boosting EV Adoption: The new policy provides a prescription for constructing an electric vehicle charging infrastructure on both private and public property too
Revenue Share: A partnership model between the state and the private sector arises, which also places a cap on tariffs at the ‘Average Cost of Supply’ till March 2028.
Expansion Plans: There is a focus on installing an upright charging station network in offices, petrol pumps, and railway stations.
Amur Falcon Conservation in Manipur
Migratory Route: The long-distance migratory raptor Amur Falcon travels 22,000 km from Russia and China southbound to Africa across the state of Manipur and Nagaland.
Conservation Programs: The Amur Falcon, whose migratory route takes it through the Tamenglong district of Manipur, has been banned from hunting, thus saving the endangered species in case of their migration.
IUCN Status: ‘Least Concern,’ but it is feared to be increasingly trapped and captured illegally during its migration.
Key Concepts and Policies
White Revolution 2.0: It refers to women’s empowerment in the dairy cooperative sector along with increased milk production in India.
Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA): Cooperative regional interaction in the Indian Ocean Region.
Amur Falcon: A bird of migration that gets illegally hunted. Conservation initiative protects the birds in Manipur.
