• The IIT-Mandi, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hitachi India Private Ltd (HIL) for collaborative research in artificial intelligence (AI).
• Laxmidhar Behera, Director, IIT-Mandi, said, “The MoU is aimed at collaborative research by the IIT-Mandi and Hitachi India in the area of artificial intelligence using novel methods leading to solutions that are scalable and can be used by HIL across multiple-used cases.”
• The MoU with Hitachi will strengthen collaboration, entrepreneurship and innovation.”

• The Himachal Pradesh Legal Services Authority has identified 30,000 cases to be taken up during the upcoming National Lok Adalat to be held in all the courts in the state on November 27.
• Justice Sabina, Executive Chairperson, Himachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority (HPLSA), interacted with all the judicial officers of the state through video conferencing to take the stock of preparations being made for the upcoming National Lok Adalat.
• “So far, 30,000 cases have been identified, which will be taken up at the Lok Adalat,” said Prem Pal Ranta, District and Sessions Judge. A special Online Lok Adalat with technical support of SAMA, an online dispute resolution organisation, for Motor Vehicle Challans and Petty Offences (both at pre-litigation and post-litigation Stage), will be held on November 27, he added.
• The HPLSA has coordinated with the HP Police Department and the Department of Transport for maximum identification and effective settlement of MV challans and petty offences at the pre-litigation stage. These departments have notified their Nodal and Compounding Officers for better coordination and successful organisation of the special online Lok Adalat.
• The offenders under the MV Act will receive summons or notice through an SMS on their registered mobile number or their address to settle their case in the Lok Adalat.
• Facilities like ePay (eCourts Digital Payment) for online payment of compounding fee/fine will be provided to the general public, enabling them to settle their cases at home by paying the compounding fee or fine without any physical appearance before the compounding authority or the court.
• A special drive is also being undertaken for mass awareness about the National Lok Adalat by associating local bodies, police, financial institutions, banks, NGOs, stakeholders, representatives of PRIs, PLVs, Asha/Anganwari workers, Public Transport, etc.
• Regular meetings are taking place with local bar associations, insurance companies, banks, other financial institutions, local bodies, police, NGOs and other stakeholders for effective identification and settlement of cases. Targets have been given to Judicial Officer for effective identification and settlement of cases.

• National Press Day is observed on November 16 every year to acknowledge and honour the Press Council of India (PCI). The day marks the presence of an independent and responsible press in the country. The Press Council of India also examines the quality of reportage of the Indian press and keeps a check on journalistic activities.

Significance of Press Freedom

• Independent Press is often called the voice of the voiceless, a connecting link between the all-powerful rulers to the downtrodden ruled. It brings out the ills and malaise of the system and helps the government find the solutions to these, in the process strengthening the values of the democratic system of governance. No wonder why it’s called one of the four pillars of a strong democracy, and the only one where commoners directly participate. The other 3 are the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary – a gang of select few.
• The council is extremely important to India as it was inherently constructed to protect the fourth pillar of a democracy, that is, the free press. Hence, it works consistently to ensure that the credibility of journalism is not compromised.

History:

• In the year 1956, the First Press Commission decided to form a body with statutory authority which has the responsibility of maintaining the ethics of journalism. The Commission felt that a managing body was required in order to connect with the people of the press and also to arbitrate on any issues that arose.
• In 1966 on 16 November, the PCI was formed. The National Press Day of India is since then celebrated on November 16 every year to commemorate the establishment of the council.
• According to the Press Council of India’s official website, the council is traditionally chaired by a retired Supreme Court Judge and 28 additional members of which 20 are members of the media outlets operating in India.
• Five members are nominated from the Houses of the Parliament and the remaining three represent cultural, legal and literary fields.

• In recognition of the effective measures taken by Pakistan against money laundering and terror financing, the UK has now officially removed the nation from its list of “High Risk Third Countries”.
• The UK has officially removed Pakistan from its list of ‘High Risk Third Countries’ following our early completion of FATF action plans”.
• “His Majesty’s Treasury issued an amendment to the UK’s High-Risk Third Countries’ list ON November 14, 2022, through a Statuary Instrument. The amendment removes Pakistan from the list in accordance with the decision taken by the FATF on October 21, 2022,” the official document read.
• “The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office recognizes the progress Pakistan has made to improve money laundering and terrorist financing controls.” In April 2021, the UK government added Pakistan to the list of undesirable 21 high-risk countries with unsatisfactory money laundering and terrorist financing controls.
• This list of 21 countries, released by the UK government, replicated the list of countries named by the FATF as high-risk or under increased monitoring. Pakistan shared the list at number 15 with conflict-ridden countries such as Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
• However, last month (October) the FATF, a Paris-based global money-laundering and terrorism-financing watchdog, finally removed Pakistan from its grey list after four years.
• The global body’s President Raja Kumar had announced that Pakistan’s name has been removed from the “grey list” as the country addressed all 34 points of the action plan.

• The world’s population touched 8 billion, a remarkable milestone for humanity that added one billion people in the last 12 years alone. India is expected to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation by next year.
• The population prospects report had said India’s population stands at 1.412 billion in 2022, compared with China’s 1.426 billion. India is projected to have a population of 1.668 billion in 2050, way ahead of China’s 1.317 billion people by the middle of the century.
• The world population numbered under one billion for millennia until around 1,800, and that it took more than 100 years to grow from one to two billion.
• The global population is projected to surpass nine billion around 2037 and 10 billion around 2058, according to UN estimates
• The year 2023 could well be a landmark year for India as it is projected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country with prospects to reap the demographic dividend as the median age of an Indian this year was 28.7 years, compared to 38.4 for China and 48.6 for Japan against a global value of 30.3 years, according to official data.
• According to UNFPA estimates, 68 per cent of India’s population is between 15-64 years old in 2022, while people aged 65 and older were seven per cent of the population.
• As per UN estimates, over 27 per cent of the country’s population is between the ages of 15-29 years. At 253 million, India is also home to the world’s largest adolescent population (10-19 years).
• The UNFPA has noted that India has its largest ever adolescent and youth population. According to UNFPA projections, India will continue to have one of the youngest populations in the world till 2030 and India is experiencing a demographic window of opportunity, a “youth bulge” that will last till 2025.
• It listed eight trends for a world of 8 billion – slowing growth, fewer children, longer lives, people on the move, aging populations, women outliving men, two pandemics and shifting centres.
• The UN agency elaborated that after half a century of falling fertility, growth in global population is slowing down.
• Further, the UNFPA said across the world people are living longer. In 2019, global life expectancy at birth stood at 72.8 years, up almost nine years since 1990 and is projected to rise to 77.2 years by 2050.
• As fertility declines and life expectancy rises, the global population is aging fast and the share of people 65 and over in the population stands at nearly 10 per cent as of 2022 and is projected to rise to 16 per cent by 2050.
• Between now and 2050, almost all of the global increase in the numbers of children and youth and of adults under age 65 will occur in low-income and lower-middle-income countries.

• Indicating that India’s green measures like cutting on emissions and the increasing use of renewable energy are delivering results, a new study has noted that the developing nation climbed two spots to rank eighth out of 63 in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2023.
• India also earned a high rating in the GHG Emissions and Energy Use categories, while it got a medium rating in Climate Policy and Renewable Energy sections, as per the report prepared by three environmental non-governmental organisations that track climate performance of the European Union and 59 countries, which together account for over 92 per cent of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the world.
• The rankings by German watch, New Climate Institute and the Climate Action Network are based on how well the countries are doing to halve their emissions by 2030 — an essential aspect to keep the 1.5-degree Celsius goal within reach and prevent dangerous climate change.
• The CCPI, which has been published since 2005, aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and it enables comparison of individual countries’ climate protection efforts and progress.
• The report leaves the first three places empty as “no country performed well enough in all index categories to achieve an overall very high rating”. It puts Denmark in fourth place, followed by Sweden and Chile.
• China, which is the world’s biggest polluter now, fell 13 places to 51st in this year’s CCPI and received an overall very-low rating due to plans for new coal-fired power plants.
• The US rose by three ranks to the 52nd place. Iran (63rd), Saudi Arabia (62nd) and Kazakhstan (61st) fared the worst. The report said India is “on track” to meet its 2030 emissions targets, compatible with a well-below 2-degree-Celsius scenario.
• Since the last CCPI, India has updated its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and announced a net-zero target for 2070. Net zero means achieving a balance between the greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere and those taken out.
• The NDCs are national plans to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius in accordance with the Paris Agreement.
• In August, India released its updated NDCs and now stands committed to reducing emissions intensity of its GDP by 45 per cent by 2030 from the 2005 level.
• It aims to achieve about 50 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030. These NDCs are, however, contingent on delivery of finance and technology transfer.
• Despite India’s medium rating in the Renewable Energy category, the country has included renewable targets in its updated NDC.
• The report noted that India is among the nine countries responsible for 90 per cent of global coal production and it also plans to increase its oil, gas, and oil production by over 5 per cent by 2030.
• “This is incompatible with the 1.5 degree Celsius target,” the CCPI experts said.

• The 18th edition of the Indo-US joint training exercise “YUDH ABHYAS 22” will be conducted in Uttarakhand this month.
• The exercise is conducted annually by the two countries with the aim of exchanging best practices, Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures between the Armies.
• The previous edition of the exercise was conducted at the Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska (USA) in October 2021.
• US Army soldiers of the 2nd Brigade of the 11th Airborne Division and Indian Army soldiers from the ASSAM Regiment will be participating in the exercise.
• The training schedule focuses on the employment of an integrated battle group under Chapter VII of the UN Mandate. The schedule will include all operations related to peacekeeping & peace enforcement.
• The troops from both nations will work together to achieve common objectives. The joint exercise will also focus on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations. Troops from both nations will practice launching swift and coordinated relief efforts in the wake of any natural calamity.
• In order to derive full benefit from the professional skills and experiences of both armies, a Command Post Exercise and Expert Academic Discussions (EAD) on carefully selected topics will be carried out.
• The scope of the Field Training Exercise includes the validation of integrated battle groups, force multipliers, establishment and functioning of surveillance grids, validation of operational logistics, mountain warfare skills, casualty evacuation and combat medical aid in adverse terrain and climatic conditions.
• The exercise will involve exchanges and practices on a wide spectrum of combat skills including combat engineering, employment of UAS/Counter UAS techniques and information operations.
• ”The exercise will facilitate both Armies to share their wide experiences, and skills and enhance their techniques through information exchange,” the Ministry of Defence said.

About:

• Russia becomes first country to facilitate rupee-based export-import transactions
• The move will facilitate India’s exports to sanction-hit Russia, which reported a 24% decline in the April-August period. The RBI-designed mechanism only entails trade in the Indian rupee, eliminating exchange risks.
• To facilitate trade through this route, the government, through an amendment in the foreign trade policy recently, allowed exporters to avail of incentives or duty rebates for settling trade in rupee terms.

 NOSTRO Account

• Italian word ‘nostro’ means ‘ours’. Hence, Nostro account points at – “Our account with you”.
• Nostro accounts are generally held in a foreign country (with a foreign bank), by a domestic bank (from our perspective, our bank). It obviates that account is maintained in that foreign currency.
• For example, SBI account with HSBC in U.K. (may be).

 VOSTRO Account

• Italian word ‘vostro’ means ‘yours’. Hence, Vostro account points at – “Your account with us“.
• Vostro accounts are generally held by a foreign bank in our country (with a domestic bank). It generally maintained in Indian Rupee (if we consider India).
• For example, HSBC account is held with SBI in India. (may be).

• Pakistan, Ghana and Bangladesh will be among the first recipients of funding from a G7 ‘Global Shield’ initiative to provide funding to countries suffering climate disasters, the programme announced at the COP27 summit in Egypt.

What Is Global Shield Funding:

• The Global Shield(GS), coordinated by G7 president Germany, aims to provide rapid access for climate-vulnerable countries to insurance and disaster protection funding after floods or drought.
• It is being developed in collaboration with the‘V20’ group of 58 climate vulnerable economies. Germany has contributed $175.17 million in funding to Global Shield while other countries including Denmark and Ireland have contributed a little over $41 million. 

Objective Of the Fund:

• The GS will close urgent protection gaps in countries by designing, funding, and facilitating interventions.
• The GS aims to rapidly provide pre-arranged insurance and disaster protection funding after events such as floods, droughts and hurricanes hit.
• The Global Shield aims to complement, not replace, the progress on ‘loss and damage’.

Who Are the Beneficiaries:

• Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Fiji, Ghana, Pakistan, the Philippines and Senegal as some of the initial recipients of Global Shield packages. Those packages would be developed in the coming months.

• The G20 Presidency of Indonesia is hosting the official launch of the Pandemic Fund on the margins of the G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ Meeting in Bali, Indonesia in the presence of Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia.

Objective Of the Initiative:

• At the launch, the Pandemic Fund, now with new name and logo, will provide the latest progress the Governing Board has made since its establishment on September 8, 2022, to get operational – an important step toward strengthening global health architecture.

Need of The Initiative:

• Drawing on lessons from COVID-19, which exposed huge weaknesses and under investment in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR),particularly in low- and middle-income countries, the Pandemic Fund is intended to strengthen the capacity of these countries to mitigate the risks of future global health threats.
• It will provide a dedicated stream of long-term financing for PPR and address critical gaps through investments and technical support at the national, regional, and global levels. The Pandemic Fund is also expected to incentivize countries to prioritize this agenda and increase their own efforts.

What Has Been Said:

• This is the first time the international community has come together around a funding mechanism dedicated to investing in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response in developing countries – a testament to multilateralism, said  Chatib Basri, co-Chair of the Pandemic Fund Governing Board.
• “The Pandemic Fund has a unique and vital role to play in making the world safer. PPR is a global public good that benefits all. Every dollar we mobilize to invest in PPR now in low- and middle-income countries will save lives and financial costs and lead to a more resilient world for years to come.”

More About the Initiative:

• Developed with Indonesia’s and Italy’s leadership during their respective G20 presidencies, the Pandemic Fund has US$1.4 billion in seed funding already committed by 24 donors.
• The World Bank and WHO engaged with a wide range of stakeholders including partner countries, civil society organizations (CSOs), and potential implementing entities to create the Pandemic Fund.

Technical Advisory Panel (TAP):

• The TAP, under the leadership of its new Chair Dr Michael Ryan, will assess and make recommendations to the Governing Board on the technical merits of proposals for funding, ensuring linkages to the International Health Regulations (2005) and other internationally endorsed legal frameworks, consistent with a One Health approach, as part of the broader global PPR architecture.