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1. The explosion of digital uncertainty - Page No.6, GS 3
2. The BRI at 10, some hits, many misses - Page No.6, GS 2
3. Fear factor - Page No.6 , GS 3
4. The measure of the working woman - Page No.7, GS 3
5. 31 MQ-9B drones - Page No.12, GS 2
6. Centre raises MSP for Rabi crops - Page No.14, GS 3

The explosion of digital uncertainty - Page No.6, GS 3

• The Government of India has also, very recently, released a comprehensive report on the opportunities afforded by this current wave of AI.
• Leaders of the IT industry in India are almost certain that this wave of Al will lead to fundamental changes in the skills landscape, and implicitly, in terms of underlying threats and dangers.
• Concurrently, there is an exponential explosion of digital uncertainty. Few are able to fully comprehend the nature of the new threat, the likes of which have not been witnessed in past decades, if not centuries.
• If Al is the grave threat that the world is currently contemplating, we are only witnessing the tip of the iceberg.

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The BRI at 10, some hits, many misses - Page No.6, GS 2

BRI

• The project was officially launched in 2013 in Kazakhstan.
• It was initially called the One Belt One Road Project.
• Often called a new "Silk Route", it consists of maritime corridors and shipping routes to connect China with crucial ports and cities in Asia and Europe.
• Chinese construction companies are given contracts, which are funded by Chinese banks, for the development of ports and trains.
• It was initially called the One Belt One Road Project.
• Often called a new "Silk Route", it consists of maritime corridors and shipping routes to connect China with crucial ports and cities in Asia and Europe.
• Chinese construction companies are given contracts, which are funded by Chinese banks, for the development of ports and trains.
• In the Donald Trump era, the United States and Japan initiated the "United States-Japan infrastructure investment alternatives in the Indo-Pacific region"
• The Joe Biden administration announced the 'Build Back Better World' (B3W) initiative that seems to have been reorganised as the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, which aims to channelise private capital into climate change and energy security, health care and health security, digital technology, and gender equity.
• The G-20 Delhi summit posited yet another alternative in the form of the India- Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC) that seeks to link India, West Asia, and Europe through railways and shipping lines.
• In addition to the trade connectivity, electricity and digital infrastructure as well as a pipeline for clean hydrogen export have been envisioned.
• According to the World Bank, 675 million people are without electricity globally, around 2.3 billion lack potable water, and 450 million live beyond the coverage of a broadband signal.
• The lending institution calculates that bridging the infrastructure gap will need capital infusion of $1.5 trillion annually through 2030, which is approximately 4.5% of the GDP of low- and middle- income countries.
• Under China's Marshall Plan, motorways, power plants, ports, railway networks, and digital infrastructure have been built.
• A report from the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute on the BRI has highlighted issues related to ecological damage, displacement of people, disputes over payouts and labour unrest.
• The Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that was convened in Beijing, China (October 17-18) has put the spotlight back on Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature initiative.
• Early debates in China reveal the intent behind the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Academic Xue Li likened the BRI to China's Marshall Plan, stating that it was a gateway for China to transition from a regional power with global influence to a global power with comprehensive strength.
• A rising China also felt the need to develop new transport and trade arteries as alternatives, since rivals could put the squeeze on the Strait of Malacca - the jugular vein for China's economy.
• The Chinese government's white paper on BRI released this month ("The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future") revea over 200 BRI cooperation pacts had been inked with over 150 nations. The do also stated that total two-way investment between China and partner countries 2013 to 2022 touched $380 billion.

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Fear factor - Page No.6 , GS 3

• Inflation faced by consumers eased to 5% in September, bringing some relief after a sharp rally in prices that began with July's 15- month high inflation rate of 7.44%. This not only marks a return to the 2% to 6% tolerance range of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), but also matches the bank's upgraded estimate of 6.4% average inflation between July and September.
• Of course, the preferred inflation rate remains 4% and the RBI will remain "resolutely focused" on durably attaining that.
• Food and fuel prices may vet play spoilsport in the inflation battle

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The measure of the working woman - Page No.7, GS 3

• It is a truth universally acknowledged that a parent working outside the home must have someone to take care of their child. In India, family structures have historically often filled this need, with fathers working outside the home, and mothers providing child care and elder care.
• If the country is to grow into a $5 trillion economy, women must be included. There are two specific ways to get here: women's work, often care work, must be appropriately valued, and women must be adequately supported to participate in economic activity outside the home.
• All women work, but not all of them get paid. Economist Claudia Goldin's 2023 Nobel Prize-winning work demonstrates this across American history.
• India's first national Time Use Survey released in 2020 by the National Statistical Office, finds that 81.2% of all women are engaged in unpaid domestic services, compared with 26.1% of men.
• It finds that men spend 42 hours on average on activities within the production boundary, i.e. what is traditionally counted as economic activity, whereas women spend 19 hours.
• However, women spend 10 times more time on household maintenance and care for children, the sick and the elderly - 34.6 hours versus 3.6 hours.
• Women's unpaid work plays a vital role in the economy: it is responsible for 7.5% of GDP, according to an SBI report. In other words, not only do women shoulder the burden of domestic work, but they also boost the GDP in the process.
• Today, the women's labour force participation rate (FLFPR) in India is 32.8% according to government sources and 24% according to the World Bank, compared to China's 61%, Bangladesh's 38%, Nepal's 29% and Pakistan's 25%.
• If India wants to raise its FLPR to empower its women, myths around women's work must be dispelled, and women's work must both be counted appropriately and supported fairly.

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31 MQ-9B drones - Page No.12, GS 2

• These are high-altitude long-endurance drones armed with strike missiles which can take out enemy targets with high accuracy.
• It was developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA- ASI), primarily for the United States Air Force (USAF).
• The MQ-9B has two variants - SkyGuardian and its sibling SeaGuardian.
• The Indian Navy has been operating the MQ-9B Sea Guardian nce 2020.

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Text and Context - How synergistic barriers are affecting progress on SDGs

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has increased the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all Rabi crops for the finanicial year 2024-25 The increase for wheat, the major Rabi crop, is 150 per quintal and the new price will be 72,275.
• The MSP for a crop is the price at which the government is supposed to procure/buy that crop from farmers if the market price falls below it.
MSPs provide a floor for market prices, and ensure that farmers receive a certain "minimum" remuneration so that their costs of cultivation (and some profit) can be recovered.
• During each cropping season, the government announces minimum support prices for 23 crops.
Crops covered:

• 7 types of cereals (paddy, wheat, maize, bajra, jowar, ragi and barley)
• 5 types of pulses (chana, arhar/tur, urad, moong and masoor)
• 7 oilseeds (rapeseed-mustard, groundnut, soyabean, sunflower, sesamum, safflower, nigerseed)
• 4 commercial crops (cotton, sugarcane, copra, raw jute)
Who decides what the MSP would be and how?
• The MSPs are announced by the Union government and as such, it is the government's decision.
• But the government largely bases its decision on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
• The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) recommends MSPs for 22 mandated crops and fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane.
• CACP is an attached office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India.
• It came into existence in January 1965.
• It is an advisory body whose recommendations are not binding on the Government.

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