G20 Summit 2018

Recently, G20 (Group of Twenty) Summit was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

• It was the first meeting of G20 in South America.
• G20 is the leading international forum for economic, financial and political cooperation.

• India will be hosting the G20 summit in 2022. Japan is scheduled to host the summit in 2019, followed by Saudi Arabia in 2020.

Key Points from the communique

• Climate change
  • G20 signatories to the Paris Agreement, except the US, pledged for the “full implementation” of the pact, and called the pact as “irreversible.”
  • The US reiterated its withdrawal from the agreement and affirmed its strong commitment to economic growth and energy access and security.
• Trade
  • Under US pressure, the G20 said that multilateral trade was “falling short of its objectives” on promoting growth and job creation.
  • It called for reforms of the World Trade Organisation to improve its functioning.
• International Monetary Fund (IMF)
  • The G20 called IMF as important to the global safety net.
  • The G20 pledged to provide adequate funding to IMF and to meet a goal of finalizing new national quotas in IMF in time.
    • The country's quota in IMF determines it’s voting rights. Major emerging economies in the G20 such as China and India are pushing for reforms at the IMF.
• Corruption
  • The communique said that the G20 is “committed to prevent and fight corruption.
• Gender inequality
  • The G20 committed itself to a goal of reducing the gender gap in the labor force by 25% by 2025.
• Future of work
  • Noting that new technologies will transform the nature of labor, the G20 called for “an inclusive, fair and sustainable” future of work, with retraining of workers where needed.
• Infrastructure
  • Calling infrastructure a key driver of global growth, the G20 called for greater standardization in contract-making to encourage more private capital.

India at G20-2018

• India presented Nine Point Agenda suggested to G-20 for action against fugitive economic offenses and asset recovery:

1. Strong and active cooperation across G-20 countries to deal comprehensively and efficiently with the menace fugitive economic offenders.
2. Cooperation in the legal processes such as effective freezing of the proceeds of crime; early return of the offenders and efficient repatriation of the proceeds of crime should be enhanced and streamlined.
3. To form a mechanism that denies entry and safe havens to all fugitive economic offenders.
4. Principles of United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNOTC), especially related to "International Cooperation” should be fully and effectively implemented.
5. Financial Action Task Force (FATF) should be called upon to assign priority and focus to establishing international co-operation that leads to the timely and comprehensive exchange of information between the competent authorities and Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs).
6. FATF should be tasked to formulate a standard definition of fugitive economic offenders.
7. FATF should also develop a set of commonly agreed and standardized procedures related to identification, extradition and judicial proceedings for dealing with fugitive economic offenders to provide guidance and assistance to G-20 countries, subject to their domestic law.
8. A common platform should be set up for sharing experiences and best practices including successful cases of extradition, gaps in existing systems of extradition and legal assistance, etc.
9. G-20 Forum should consider initiating work on locating properties of economic offenders who have a tax debt in the country of their residence for its recovery.

• India also held a number of bilateral and multilateral meetings on the sidelines of G20 like informal BRICS meeting, “RIC” Meeting, “JAI” Meeting.

JAI Trilateral

• JAI is acronym for Japan, America (US) and India.
• It was the first-ever trilateral meeting held by three countries at the highest political level.
• Prime Minister of India mentioned action points to help promote peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and highlighted the importance of working jointly in areas such as connectivity, sustainable development, disaster relief, maritime security, and mobility.

RIC Trilateral

• India also participated in a trilateral meeting with Russia and China.
• The first RIC Trilateral summit was held in 2006.
• In RIC, discussion on cooperation and coordination in various areas, which could contribute to global peace and stability took place.

Group of Twenty (G20)

• Founded 1999
  • Initially, G20 was a forum of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy.
  • The group has expanded its agenda since 2008 and head of government and states along with their finance and foreign ministers also meet at the summits.
  • Collectively, the G20 members make up 85% of the world’s economic output, two-thirds of its population, 75% of international trade and 80% of global investments in research and development.
• The G20 has neither headquarters nor permanent staff. All organizational and logistical arrangements for meetings are handled by the country which is currently presiding over the group.
• Members
  • G-20 members comprise Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, and the US.
  • It has 19 of the world’s largest economies as its members.
  • The 20th member is the European Union, which is represented by whichever country holds the EU presidency.
  • The United Nations (UN), IMF and the World Bank also attend G20 meetings.
  • Spain is a permanent guest invitee.
• Two Tracks of G20:
  • The Finance track comprises all meetings with G20 finance ministers and central bank governors and their deputies.
    • They focus on financial and economic issues, such as monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policies, infrastructure investment, financial regulation, financial inclusion, and international taxation.
  • The Sherpa track focuses on broader issues such as political engagement, anti-corruption, development, trade, energy and climate change, gender equality, among others.
• Major Achievements of G20
  • Major achievements of the G20 include quick deployment of emergency funding during the 2008 global financial crisis.
  • It also works for reforms in international financial institutions by improving oversight of national financial institutions.
  • Over the past few years, G20 has also become a platform to discuss nearly all issues that affect the world.

Digital Sky Platform: Drone Regulation 1.0

The guidelines (Drone Regulations 1.0) issued by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for commercial use of drones or remotely operated aircraft came into force from December 1, 2018.

Drone Regulation 1.0

• Under this regulation, the Digital Sky Platform will enable online registration of pilots, devices, service providers, and NPNT (no permission, no take-off).
• The Digital Sky Platform is a unique unmanned traffic management (UTM) system which is expected to facilitate registration and licensing of drones and operators in addition to giving instant (online) clearances to operators for every flight.
• The airspace has been partitioned into Red Zone (flying not permitted), Yellow Zone (controlled airspace), and Green Zone (automatic permission). The restricted locations are airports, near international border, near coast line, state secretariat complexes strategic locations, military installations.

• All civilian drone operations will be restricted to only during day time and a maximum of 400 feet altitude.
• There can’t be any human or animal payloads, or anything hazardous.
• It cannot in any manner cause danger to people or property and insurance will be mandatory to cover third-party damage.
• Except nano drones and those owned by National Technical Research Organisation and the central agencies, the rest would be registered and issued Unique Identification Number.

Drone Regulations 2.0

• Meanwhile, the government is already working on drone regulations 2.0, focussing on three thresholds:
  • BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight),
  • Delivery of payloads, and
  • Automate the air traffic management to the extent possible.
• The current policy allows one drone pilot for each drone whereas in the next set of regulations, one pilot can operate any number of drones.
• Under drone regulations 2.0, the drones will be tracked by computers through artificial intelligence.
• However,delivery of products by e-commerce players like Amazon and flying taxis like Uber Elevate are likely to be part of drone regulations 3.0.

Applications

• Agriculture- Gather data and automate redundant processes to maximize efficiency, to spray medicines, In a process of planting by distributing seed on the land, etc.
• Healthcare- Delivering quick access to drugs, blood, and medical technology in remote areas, transportation of harvested organs to recipients (through drones corridor), etc.
• Disaster Management- Surveillance of disaster-affected areas to assess damage, locate victims, and deliver aid.
• Urban Planning- Instant mapping and survey of the land which has to be developed avoiding congestion and increasing green cover. E.g.: Recently, the Greater Chennai Municipal Corporation (GCMC) became first Municipal Corporation to map Chennai using drones.
• Conservation of Endangered Species- Monitor and track the number of animals.
• Weather Forecasting- Drones can physically follow weather patterns as they develop to understand the environment and imminent weather trends in a better way.
• Waste Management- Identify where the garbage is so that it can be picked up the garbage picking vans. Drones can be used to clean ocean waste as well. UAV like Roomba by RanMarine operates at the vanguard of these initiatives and have helped to clean oceans in past.
• Mining- Drones in mining can be used in volumetric data capturing of ore, rock and minerals storage which is extremely difficult to measure manually.

Way Forward

• Drones have immense potential apart from few mentioned above. This new policy initiative will open up many new and exciting applications that can propel India's economy forward. It can provide strong impetus to all players in the drone ecosystem and place India among the global leaders.
• Although drone-enabled deliveries, air taxis, and many other innovations will not be widely available for years, but when available they could be as disruptive as the advent of automobiles. That gives all industry stakeholders impetus to identify roadblocks and realistically consider potential applications now.

Important Facts for Prelims (3rd December 2018)

Hornbill Festival- 2018

• Recently Union Home Minister has inaugurated the 10-day long annual Hornbill festival.
• At the beginning of December each year, Nagaland hosts its biggest event—the Hornbill Festival to celebrate its diverse community and culture.
• The event has been taking place every year since 2000, and takes place from December 1-10, coinciding with the Nagaland Statehood Day on December 1.
• The festival has tribes and sub-tribes from different regions of Nagaland come to Kisama (close to state capital Kohima) and display best of their community—from dance and song to literature and food.
• The festival has been named after the Great Indian Hornbill because this bird features heavily in Naga folktales and stories, and feathers of the hornbill form an important part of the tribal dresses.
• The name of the festival is misleading because the hornbill isn’t Nagaland’s state bird. The state bird of Nagaland is the lesser-known and endangered bird- Blyth's Tragopan.
• People from all over the world come together to take part in the celebrations.
• This festival is one of its kind because it opens up the areas with ‘restricted entry’ into protected areas for visitors without compromising on ethics and traditions.
• The Hornbill festival of Nagaland is an excellent example of tribal tourism.

Cope India 2018

• The Air Forces of the United States and India are participating in a 12-day joint exercise called 'Cope India 2018'. It is being held after a gap of eight years, with the last one having taken place in 2010.
• Cope India 2018, which was first held in 2004, is the fourth edition in the series of bilateral joint exercises held between the Indian Air Force and the US Air Force, which is conducted in India.
• For the first time, the exercise is being planned at two air force bases, Kalaikunda and Panagarh of West Bengal from December 3-14.
• The aim of the exercise is to provide operational exposure and undertake a mutual exchange of best practices towards enhancing operational capability.
• The exercise showcases the efforts and commitment of the two nations to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Saharia Tribe

• The Saharia or Sahariya Tribe, one of the most backward tribes in the country, resides in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
• They worship many Hindu God and Goddesses and also celebrate various Hindu festivals.
• They have been classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) because of low development indices.

Talanoa Dialogue

• The Dialogue was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference COP-23 in Bonn (Germany) in 2017 and will run throughout 2018.
• Talanoa is a traditional word in Fijian (Fiji being the island nation presiding over the COP-23 in Bonn) to reflect a process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue.
• The purpose of Talanoa is to share stories, build empathy and to make wise decisions for the collective good.
• The process of Talanoa involves the sharing of ideas, skills and experience through storytelling.

Food Sustainability Index (FSI)

• The Food Sustainability Index (FSI), is developed by The Economist Intelligence Unit with the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition. This editions’ title was 'Fixing Food-2018: Best Practices towards the Sustainable Development Goals'.
• It is a model designed to assess the sustainability of national food systems in a qualitative and quantitative manner.
• The FSI studies the infrastructure and processes that go into feeding the population, such as growing, harvesting and transportation.
• The Food Sustainability Index is based on three broad categories: food loss & waste, sustainable agriculture and nutritional challenges.
• A comparison with the global scenario indicates that India does well on preventing food loss and wastage, but is below average in sustainable agriculture and is one of the worst while tackling nutritional challenges.
• Despite the increase in food production, it ranks India 33^rd among 67 countries in 2018. Among BRICS countries, only China (23) is ranked better than India.
• France topped the index followed by Netherlands and Canada.
• The first edition of the FSI was published in 2016.