Top News Highlights- 30 September 2024

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.