• UGI USER
  • Sep 15, 2023
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Preliminary pointers

India and Japan

News: India and Japan hold a discussion on bilateral cyber cooperation in Tokyo.

  • India and Japan discussed crucial areas of their bilateral cyber cooperation and in the fields of information and communication technologies, including 5G technology, as well as cyber security.
  • The fifth India-Japan Cyber Dialogue was held by Japan on September 14, 2023 in Tokyo.
  • Both parties discussed recent developments in cyberspace and ways that they could cooperate with one another at the UN and other global and regional fora, such as the Quad framework.
  • The two delegations agreed to work together in this area and emphasized the significance of capacity building in guaranteeing secure cyberspace.
  • The sixth India-Japan Cyber Dialogue will be held in New Delhi the following year at a time that is agreeable for both parties.

 

India-Japan Relations

●   The connection between India and Japan has a long history that is built in spiritual affinities as well as solid cultural and civilizational ties that date back to the visit of the Indian monk Bodhisena in 752 AD.

●    Modern-day notable Indians connected to Japan include Swami Vivekananda, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, businessman JRD Tata, liberation warrior Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, and judge Radha Binod Pal.

●        When India’s sovereignty was fully restored after the Second World War, it decided to sign a separate peace treaty with Japan, marking a turning point in bilateral relations and setting the tone for the future.

●        On April 28, 1952, India and Japan established diplomatic ties.

●        In 2006, the alliance between India and Japan was elevated to a “Global and Strategic Partnership.”

●        In September 2014, the partnership received an upgrade to “Special Strategic and Global Partnership.”

 

Trade relation between the two nations

 

·         India and Japan’s bilateral trade was valued at US$ 13.7 billion in 2020, with 4.3 billion in exports and 9.4 billion in imports from India.

·         Petroleum products, chemicals, non-metallic mineral ware, fish and fish preparations, metalliferous ores and waste, clothes and accessories, iron and steel products, and machinery are among India’s top exports to Japan.

·         India’s principal Japanese imports are machinery, electrical machinery, iron and steel products, plastic materials, nonferrous metals, automobile parts, organic chemicals, metal manufacturers, and so on.

 

Distant Planets having possibility of life

 News: According to NASA, distant Planet may have Water Ocean and Possibly a life.

 

 

  • The presence of carbon dioxide and methane was seen by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope during its research of the exoplanet K2-18 b.
  • This shows that K2-18b may be a Hycean exoplanet, a type of planet that has the potential to have an atmosphere rich in hydrogen and a surface covered in water oceans. Exoplanets are planets that orbit stars other than our sun.
  • At 120 light years from Earth, planet K2-18 b revolves around K2-18 a, a peaceful dwarf star.

 

About the distant planet

  • Its size is between that of Earth and Neptune and its mass is 8.6 times that of Earth. The idea that there might be a water ocean beneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere is supported by the planet’s abundance of methane and carbon dioxide and lack of ammonia.
  • James Webb’s observations also allowed for the potential detection of the chemical dimethyl sulphide (DMS). DMS can only be created by life on Earth. Phytoplankton in maritime areas emit the majority of the DMS that is present in the Earth’s atmosphere. The circumstances on planet K2-18b are in the “habitable zone” of its star, which means they are just ideal – not too hot nor too cold – for life to exist.
  • What’s next? NASA now plans to carry out more analysis using the telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) spectrograph in an effort to better corroborate their findings and offer fresh perceptions into the situation on K2-18 b.
James Webb Space Telescope

●        The telescope, which was launched in December 2021, is the result of a multinational partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency.

●        It is currently 1.5 million kilometres beyond Earth’s orbit around the Sun, at a location in space known as the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point. One of the five places in the Earth-Sun system’s orbital plane is called the Lagrange Point 2.

●        The largest and most potent infrared space telescope ever constructed.

●        It is the Hubble Telescope’s successor.

●        It searches for galaxies that are sufficiently far away that it has taken billions of years for their light to reach our telescopes in order to travel back in time to just after the Big Bang.

 

India is the largest export partner of Bangladesh

News: According to the government of India, India is the largest export partner of Bangladesh.

 

  • India is Bangladesh’s top export partner, surpassing both Japan and China, according to the government’s recent statement.
  • It stated that the Bangladesh’s export increased to a new high from 450 million US dollars to 2 billion US dollars.
  • An agreement was signed between the two nations on India’s North East to the Bay of Bengal via Bangladesh Transit.
  • The Indian half of the Agartala-Akhaura rail link project is nearly finished, and it will be opened by the end of this year. The connection between India and the neighbouring nation will be made by the seventh rail link.
  • The remaining five active train routes between the two nations are Petrapole to Benapole, Gede to Darshana, Singhabad to Rohanpur, Radhikapur to Birol, and Haldibari to Chilahati. Assam will be connected with the seventh rail line.
  • The Act East Policy of the government is based on connectivity and strong people-to-people ties in addition to trade and investment.

 

India-Bangladesh relation 

●        Due to their common cultural history and historical occurrences, such as the loss endured during the Partition of India in 1947 and the extensive family division, India and Bangladesh have an organic tie.

●        Bangladesh shares a long land, riverine, and maritime border with India. It is crucial for India’s security and foreign policy because of this. For instance, India needs Bangladesh’s assistance to counter the Chinese “String of Pearls.”

●        India was the first nation to recognise Bangladesh as a separate state, and it played a significant role in the establishment of an independent Bangladesh during its Liberation War in 1971. The day of Bangladesh’s freedom, December 16, is observed as “Vijay Diwas” throughout India.

●        India and Bangladesh have special bonds that are built through mutual sacrifice.

●        Additionally, the Indian Prime Minister recently described the current phase of the bilateral relationship as the “golden phase,” or Sonali Adhyay.

●        Bangladesh’s major trading partner is India and for instance, in 2021–2022, bilateral commerce reached 18.2 billion USD.

●        Bangladesh is crucial to India’s Act East Policy, which seeks to forge deeper links with the Southeast Asian nations and is situated at the intersection of South Asia and Southeast Asia.

 

G20 TechSprint 2023

News: Innovation Takes Center Stage at G20 TechSprint 2023 as India Leads the Way in Cross-Border Payments.

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub (BISIH) jointly launched the fourth iteration of the G20 TechSprint on May 4, 2023, during India’s G20 Presidency.

 About G20 TechSpirit 2023

  • The opportunity to develop cutting-edge technological solutions for improving cross-border payments, a crucial worldwide economic priority, was presented by this international event.
  • With 93 ideas from teams from countries like Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Sweden, Singapore, the UK, and the USA, TechSprint 2023 attracted a tremendous amount of interest.
  • Seven teams were ultimately chosen for each of the three-issue statements in the competition, and they had six weeks to develop their suggested solutions.

Winners

  • AML/CFT/Sanctions Technology Solutions: Secretarium Ltd, United Kingdom;
  • FX and Liquidity Technology Solutions: Millicent Labs, United Kingdom;
  • Technology Solutions for Multilateral Cross-Border CBDC Platforms: Knox Networks, United States of America.

China and Taiwan conflict

News: 40 Chinese Air Force aircrafts entering Taiwan’s air defence zone.

  • The Taiwanese defence ministry announced today that 40 Chinese air force aircraft had been spotted entering Taiwan’s air defence zone in the previous 24 hours.
  • According to the report, the majority of the warplanes flew over the Bashi Channel, which divides Taiwan from the Philippines.
  • A chart that showed planes flying across the Taiwan Strait’s median line to the northwest of the island was also made public by the ministry.
  • Several warplanes from China’s Shandong aircraft carrier have reportedly begun participating in drills in the western Pacific, which are being referred to as the country’s largest recent such manoeuvres in the area.
  • China intensifies political and military pressure to bolster its claims of sovereignty since it sees Taiwan as its own territory. The action is also a reaction to US collaboration with Taiwan independence groups.


Point of contention between China and Taiwan

  • Taiwan was ruled by China under the Qing dynasty, but after China lost the first Sino-Japanese war in 1895, Taiwan was transferred to Japan.
  • After Japan lost the Second World conflict, China regained sovereignty of Taiwan in 1945, but the nationalists fled to Taiwan in 1949 as a result of the civil conflict between them and the communists.
  • Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang party, which dominated Taiwan for a number of years, is still a significant political force today. Taiwan asserts it was never a part of the People’s Republic of China, despite China’s claim that it is a province of China.
  • Due to diplomatic pressure from China, just 13 nations currently recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state. While officially supporting the PRC’s “One China Policy,” which states that there is only one legitimate Chinese government, the US supports Taiwan’s independence, maintains relations with Taipei, and supplies weaponry to it.