India and Uzbekistan Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT)
Promoting Economic Cooperation: India and Uzbekistan have signed a Bilateral Investment Treaty to promote economic cooperation and revive investor confidence.
New Model 2015 BIT: The new model 2015 BIT, substituting the old one with the version of 1993, has ensured dispute resolution mechanism protection and immunity from expropriation for foreign investors.
Strengthening Central Asia Ties: India to Gain More Investments from Uzbekistan to Improve its Position in Central Asia.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Environmental Sustainability
AI for Environmental Monitoring: AI is able to anticipate and track environmental change, such as air pollution and deforestation, through accelerating decarbonization efforts and reducing emissions by 20-30%.
UNEP’s AI Adoption: UNEP uses AI in the monitoring of air pollution across the globe, increasing the speed and also the accuracy in monitoring.
Environmental Concerns: There is growing environmental concern over the high consumption of power and the e-waste generated by AI, hence there is a need for more sustainable AI technologies.
Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)
Healthcare Digitalisation: Launched in 2021, ABDM aims to establish a national digital health ecosystem that enables universal health coverage.
Unique Health Identifiers: Over 67 crore Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) IDs have been issued to hold and manage citizens’ health records.
Digital Health Registry Expansion: ABDM has been linked to the registration of over 4.7 lakh doctors and 3.3 lakh health facilities that allow easy access to healthcare services.
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Declaration
Global AMR Threat: It aims to reduce the estimated 4.95 million annual deaths from bacterial AMR by 10% by 2030.
AMR Funding Targets: Catalytic funding for $100 million in sustainable financing will be requested to ensure that 60% of the countries finance their AMR action plans by 2030.
Quadripartite Coordination: FAO, WHO, WOAH, and UNEP, under the Secretariat, will coordinate efforts towards mitigating the AMR threat globally.
India’s Agroforestry Potential
Land Use: Agroforestry currently occupies only 17% of India’s agricultural land, much lower than the 43% average in the world.
Economic Significance: Agroforestry accounts for 70-80% of wood supply to the furniture and construction industry and 65% of small timber which is very important to the development of rural economies.
Policy Challenges: The conservation policies with complicated permit systems for tree felling and transportation have made agroforestry gain less popularity.
Social Determinants of Health (SDH) and India’s G20 Role
Key Non-Medical Determinants: SDH encompasses education, employment, housing, and social inclusion circumstances that have a profound effect on health outcomes.
India’s SDH Policies: India reaffirmed its commitment to improving SDH through flagship initiatives such as Ayushman Bharat and Swachh Bharat.
Health Equity Goals: WHO’s SDH Commission aims to reduce inequity in life expectancy by half and sees 90-95% child and maternal mortality reductions by 2040.
Ethanol Production in India
India’s Ethanol Leadership: India is the third-largest producer and consumer of ethanol, after the US and Brazil.
Environmental Benefits: Ethanol is a renewable fuel source and ensures economic benefits in the long run compared with fossil fuels and reduces environmental impact.
Target for Blending: The EBP Programme has set out the following as targets for India: 20% blending of petrol with ethanol by 2025-26.
Key Concepts and Policies
Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT): The mutual agreement between two nations concerning the protection of each other’s foreign investments within each other’s territories along with the means of dispute resolution.
Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM): A digital health initiative for universal health coverage in India.
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR): It is a global threat because infections become resistant to conventional treatments and thus pose a tough challenge to the treatment.
Agroforestry: Treating/ incorporating trees and shrubs in agriculture land for improving the utilization of the land, income, and environmental outcome.
Social Determinants of Health (SDH): All those non-medical factors, including education, work, and social integration, that affect health.
