Top News Highlights- 23 September 2024

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.