HISTORY

Profile of States

CM opens Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin inaugurating the Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital in Guindy along with medical employees.

Construction of the 1,000-bed facility was completed in 15 months, says Stalin as the highlights State’s superior healthcare infrastructure.

Note:

Tamil Nadu has 36 government medical colleges and about 5,050 MBBS seats and remained pioneer in the country.

Defence

India to buy 31 MQ-9 Reaper UAVs.

The Defence Acquisition Council approved the procurement of 31 armed MQ-9 Reaper Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from general Atomics, USA.
The Council approved the deal, which will be executed through the Foreign Military Sales route of the U.S. government.
Of the 31 UAVs to be procured, 15 are meant for the Navy and eight each for the Army and Air Force.
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and General Atomics announced that the turbo propeller engines which power the MQ-9 would be supported by HAL’s engine division for the Indian market.

Eminent Persons

Chief Economic Advisor, Dr V Anantha Nageswaran

Dr V Anantha Nageswaran expressed optimism about India’s growth potential during a special interactive session organised by FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry).
He affirmed that India’s real GDP growth for FY23 was a robust 7.2%.
He also provided an outlook for FY24, projecting a real GDP growth of 6.5%, a figure supported by both Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of India.
Chief Economic Advisor of India, Dr V. Anantha Nageswaran said, “We were the 10th largest economy in 2014, and we expect to become the third-largest economy in 2027”.
India will be the third largest contributor to the global gross domestic product (GDP) in future nearly.

IFAD president Alvaro Lario

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) president Alvaro Lario and discussed issues of mutual interests besides some emerging global challenges.
During the meeting, the Finance Minister stressed that multilateral institutions should effectively contribute to ensuring food security by investing in food storage, food processing, and making small-size farming remunerative.

About IFAD:

World Organizations

Forced Displacement in 2022 Report by United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)

Report provides data on Refugees Asylum seekers, Internally displaced, Stateless persons, and People who have returned to their countries or areas of origin

Key highlights

Around 108.4 Million people were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of fear of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations.
The number of people who migrated forcefully due to social and climate crises in 2022 was 21% higher than in 2021.
30% of forcefully displaced were children.
76% of the world’s refugees are hosted by Low and middle income countries.
Around 4.4 Million people are stateless or of undetermined nationality, which is 2% more than that of 2021.
6 million displaced people returned to their areas or countries of origin in 2022.

About UNHCR

Objectives:

Saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.

Functions:

To ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge, having fled
violence, persecution, war or disaster at home.

Note

India is not party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol and does not have a National refugee protection frame work.

Most Internet Shutdowns in Last 3 Years to Curb Protests: Report

The report was released by the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) and Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Internet shutdowns include actions that restrict access to the internet completely, or slow down speed, or restrict certain content.

Key Highlights

18 state have shut down the internet at least once from 2020 to 2022.
The Most number of shutdowns were observed in Rajasthan.
The report does not include internet shutdowns in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Local authorities used internet shutdowns in response to protests (53 cases), to prevent cheating in school examinations (37 cases), in response to communal violence (18 cases).

Impact of Internet Shutdowns

Economic Impact: Given the increasing reliance of businesses and trade on digital technologies, have serious repercussions for all economic sectors.
Impact on fundamental rights: Right to speech, conduct business, express dissent, and movement of the people in a state.
Impact fundamental services: education, health care and other public services.
Risk to privacy: It exposes users to privacy and security risks.

Legal Provisions for Internet Suspension

Suspension of telecom services (including internet shutdowns) is governed by Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency & Public Safety) Rules 2017 notified under Indian Telegraph Act, 1885.
2017 Rules provide for temporary shutdown of telecom services in a region on grounds of public emergency (up to 15 days at once).
The law empowers senior bureaucrats from the home ministry and Centre and state levels to order shutdowns.

About HRW

About IFF