THE VERITY LIBERATE

 UNSC condemns Russia's aggression. ~Preet The United Nations Security Council recently agreed on a draught resolution proposed by the United States and Albania to condemn Russian aggression and demand for an immediate cease of hostilities and removal of Russian armed forces from Ukraine.  The resolution reiterated the Council's commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity within internationally recognised boundaries. The resolution "strongly condemns Russia's aggression against Ukraine" and orders Russia to "immediately halt use of force against Ukraine and desist from any subsequent illegal threat or use of force against any UN member state." The previous version was overly aggressive, invoking UN Chapter VII, which allows for the use of force against Russian soldiers in Ukraine. It further demanded that Russia "immediately and unconditionally revoke the decision pertaining to the status of some territori

More and More Supercomputers: National Supercomputing Mission. ~Preet The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru has installed the supercomputer 'Param Pravega.' It boasts 3.3 petaflops of supercomputing power. It was built as part of the government's National Supercomputing Mission. The National Supercomputing Mission aims to localise the research and production of powerful computers. A supercomputer is a computer that operates at or near the greatest operating rate currently available for computers. PETAFLOP is a measure of the processing speed of a Supercomputer and may be represented as a thousand trillion floating point operations per second. FLOPS (floating point operations per second) are commonly used to assess a computer's processor performance.  Extremely lengthy numbers can be handled reasonably simply with floating-point encoding. Supercomputers are generally intended for usage in businesses and organisations that demand a large amount of computational

India to manufacture 500 items by 2025, by 3D printing.  ~Preet.   The National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing Policy was recently released by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).  Within three years, the strategy intends to boost India's share of global additive manufacturing to 5% and add USD 1 billion to the country's GDP. It also plans to build 50 India-specific material, machine, and software innovations, 100 new additive manufacturing firms, 500 new products, and educate at least 1 lakh new skilled people. The ideas of 'Make in India' and 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan', which urge self-reliance via technological transformation of the production paradigm, are included into the Policy. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a process that employs materials such as plastics and metals to turn computer-aided design goods into genuine three-dimensional things.  3D printing is the inverse of subtractive manufacturing,

Russia-Ukraine war. ~Preet After threats of economic penalties from the United States and its allies failed to discourage him, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his long-anticipated invasion of Ukraine, sparking one of Europe's biggest security crises since World War II.  In a televised speech that coincided with the operation's start around dawn, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to "demilitarise" the neighbouring country of more than 40 million people, denigrated the Ukrainian leadership, and said the assault was directed at those he claims have taken Ukraine "hostage." At the same time, a barrage of missiles, artillery, and air assaults poured down on Ukraine, while Russian soldiers advanced from positions in Belarus onto Kyiv, the country's capital city. Ukraine's border guard said that it was being attacked from five different directions, and that Russian tank convoys were entering the country. Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were ki

Secretariat for organising G20 Summit 2023, approved. ~Preet. The Union Cabinet recently initiated the process of establishing a Secretariat to oversee the operations of organising the G20 summit in 2023. From the 1st of December 2022 until the 30th of November 2023, India will preside over the international body as its President, paving the way for the G20 summit to be held in India. The Secretariat will remain operational until February 2024. It would also enable long-term capacity building for India's leadership on global challenges at multilateral fora, including knowledge and skills. In December 2021, Indonesia will inherit the G20 Presidency. G20 is a coalition of 19 nations and the European Union (EU), with representatives from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. It lacks a fixed secretariat or headquarters. The membership is made up of the world's greatest advanced and emerging nations, comprising around two-thirds of the world's population, 85 perce

Jaishankar meets Le Drain: India and France discuss  bilateral motions and global issues. ~Preet. In these difficult times, when the globe seems to be out of order, due to the terrifying issues ranging from Russia-Ukraine War to Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan, the two global powers’ representatives met to put forward their stance on these motions and discuss the plausible solutions of the same. Other than that there were discussions over various bilateral issues.  On February 22nd 2022, the External Affairs Minister of India, S. Jaishankar met with his French counterpart. The two leaders spoke about a variety of regional and global problems, including the India-EU relationship, the Afghanistan situation, the Indo-Pacific Strategy, the South China Sea Dispute, the Iran nuclear agreement, and the Ukraine crisis.  The two Ministers decided to launch the Indo-French proposal for an Indo-Pacific Parks Partnership together. This cooperation intends to strengthen capacity in the Indo-Paci

 Turmoil in Manipur. ~Preet Recently, the Centre Government stated that it is willing to engage in conversation with insurgent groups in Manipur in order to bring about long-term peace in the region.  Insurgency first appeared in Manipur in 1964, with the founding of the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), which is now one of the most dangerous militant organisations.  The growth of separatist insurgency in Manipur is mostly linked to perceived dissatisfaction with Manipur's claimed "forced" merger with the Union of India, as well as the following delay in granting it full-fledged sovereignty.  While the former Kingdom of Manipur was amalgamated with India on October 15, 1949, it did not become a state until 1972. The People's Liberation Army (PLA), People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), and Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), among others, were created in the latter years. These valley-based organisations have bee

Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan and its impact on the globe. ~Preet The World Bank has authorised a plan to utilise USD 1 billion from a frozen Afghanistan trust fund for education, agriculture, health, and family programmes in order to alleviate the country's deteriorating humanitarian and economic difficulties.  The goal is to protect the vulnerable, aid in the preservation of human capital and critical economic and social institutions, and to limit the need for future humanitarian assistance. Previously, India hosted the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan. An unstable Afghanistan has far-reaching consequences not only for the region, but also for the whole world. Afghanistan has been chaotic and unsafe for decades, but the Taliban's takeover of power in August 2021 has left the whole area on the verge of collapse.  Afghanistan's current position is unsettlingly similar to the geopolitical landscape of the late 1990s.  The Taliban took control in 1996, but

OIC and India. ~Preet. In the wake of the Karnataka hijab debate, India has slammed the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for being "communal minded."  The OIC has asked the UN Human Rights Council to take "appropriate measures" to address the problem of Muslim girls in Karnataka schools being told they cannot wear the headscarf. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation also asked India to "guarantee the safety, security, and well-being of the Muslim community while safeguarding their way of life."  India maintains that it is a democracy, and that domestic matters are addressed in accordance with the country's constitutional structure and mechanisms, as well as its democratic spirit and politics.  India also chastised the OIC for being "communal oriented" and "hijacked by entrenched interests," a poorly veiled jab at Pakistan.  With 57 member nations, the OIC is the second biggest international organisation after the United N

UAE-India virtual meet. ~Preet A virtual summit between India and the United Arab Emirates was recently conducted (UAE). India and the UAE formally began discussions on the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in September 2021. (CEPA). The two countries issued a joint vision statement titled "Advancing India and the UAE's Comprehensive Strategic Partnership: New Frontiers, New Milestones." The Statement sets a road plan for India and the UAE's future-oriented engagement, including emphasis areas and goals. The common goal is to foster new trade, investment, and innovation dynamics across a variety of areas. It was agreed to strengthen maritime cooperation in order to contribute to the region's peace and security.  Reaffirmed united commitment to combating extremism and terrorism in all forms, including cross-border terrorism, at the regional and international levels. They agreed to support each other's clean energy initiatives and to form a

Ban on import of drones in India. ~Preet The Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) recently prohibited the import of foreign drones.  The decision comes after the Union Budget 2022 suggested the Drone Shakti initiative to make it easier to apply for and use 'drones as services' in the country. The import of drone components, on the other hand, is not prohibited and will not necessitate any authorization. Drone imports for defence and security reasons will also be permitted, subject to DGFT permission.The initiative attempts to market Indian-made drones. The Ministry approved liberalised drone laws in 2021 with the goal of encouraging R&D and making India a drone hub. Several licences and approvals were repealed. The number of forms that must be completed was lowered from 25 to five, and the charge categories were cut from 72 to four.  Drones are not permitted to operate in green zones, and no remote pilot licence is required for

All about the World Sustainable Development Summit 2022. ~Preet. The Prime Minister recently spoke at the World Sustainable Development Summit of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). TERI's yearly flagship event is the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS). Previously, it was known as the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit. In 200, it was established. It is the only global summit taking place in the developing countries. It has been envisioned as a unified platform for accelerating action on sustainable development and climate change. Its goal is to bring together global leaders and intellectuals in the domains of sustainable development, energy, and the environment on a single platform. TERI is a non-profit research organisation. It performs research for India and the Global South in the sectors of energy, ecology, and sustainable development. The Tata Energy Research Institute was founded in 1974 and renamed The Energy Resources Institute in 2003. India has kept its