South Asian digital transformation
- COVID-19 has forced South Asia to take a quantum leap in digitalisation.
- The shift to remote work and education has propelled an unprecedented spike in Internet penetration, with even smaller nations such as Nepal recording almost an 11% increase in broadband Internet users.
- For a region with threadbare public health infrastructure, the digitisation of health-care services was a watershed moment, providing novel solutions to the public health crises
- In India, COVID-19 accelerated the launch of the National Digital Health Mission, enhancing the accessibility and the efficiency of health-care services by creating a unique health ID for every citizen.
- The pandemic-induced suspension of bricks-and-mortar businesses spurred South Asia’s embrace of e-commerce, boosted by digital payment systems
- Despite having the world’s second largest online market, 50% of India’s population are without Internet with 59% for Bangladesh and 65% for Pakistan
- With monetary and health assistance schemes distributed online, 51% of South Asian women were excluded from social protection measures during the pandemic
- Businesses too have paid a heavy price for the gap in digital solutions, whereby many South Asian firms failing to embrace e-commerce or other cloud-based technologies to survive the financial chaos of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
- With COVID-19 transforming work life, the acute skills gap among youth will continue, creating unemployment
- From banking to manufacturing and retails, the role of digital technology is too important to be overlooked as countries embrace the digital revolution to drive their development agenda.
- At the forefront of Asian digitalisation are countries such as Singapore, Japan, and South Korea recognised as global technological hubs
- E-commerce could drive the post-pandemic growth in South Asia, providing new business opportunities and access to larger markets.
- In India, e-commerce could create a million jobs by 2030 and be worth $200 billion by 2026
- Fintech could drive significant growth and reduce poverty by building financial inclusion.
- South Asia needs to address legal, regulatory and policy gaps as well as boost digital skills.
- A robust digital infrastructure is a sine qua non and there exists a huge financing gap.
- India alone needs an annual investment of $35 billion to be in the top five global digital economy and public private partnership needs to be leveraged for the region’s digital infrastructure financing.
- Regulatory roadblocks need to be addressed as e-commerce regulations are weak in South Asia
- There would be no digital revolution without universal digital literacy.
- Governments and businesses need to come together to revamp the education system to meet the demand for digital skills and online platforms.
- The crossflow of data and personal information calls for stringent cybersecurity measures as many have experienced painful lessons in data privacy during the pandemic
- During the pandemic, South Asian nations joined hands to collectively battle the crises by contributing towards a COVID-19 emergency fund, exchanging data and information on health surveillance, sharing research findings, and developing an online learning platform for health workers.
- A shared “digital vision” could place the region on the right track towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution
SC on FRL and Reliance retail deal
- The Supreme Court on ruled in favour of e-commerce giant Amazon against the proposed ₹24,713 crore merger deal between Future Retail Limited (FRL) and Reliance Retail.
- A Bench upheld the validity and enforceability of a Singapore-based Emergency Arbitrator (EA) award, which restrained FRL, India’s second largest offline retailer, from going ahead with the disputed transaction.
- Justice Nariman recorded that the Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (MDA) Group, which owns Reliance Retail, was among the “restricted persons” or “prohibited entities” with whom FRL, Future Coupons Private Limited (which owns 9.82% shareholding in FRL) and the Biyanis could not “deal”.
- This was according to agreements based on which Amazon would invest money.
- Despite this, the court noted that FRL entered into a transaction with the MDA Group.
- The deal envisaged “the amalgamation of FRL with the MDA Group, the consequential cessation of FRL as an entity, and complete disposal of its retail assets in favour of the group”.
- The verdict was keenly awaited as it was likely to deal with the legality and enforceability of an award by an Emergency Arbitrator (EA) of the foreign country here in view of the fact that the term EA is not used in the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act.
- com NV Investment Holdings LLC and FRL are embroiled in a bitter legal fight over the deal and the US-based firm has sought in the apex court that the EA award was valid and enforceable.
- The provisions of the Act deal with the interim measures ordered by an arbitral tribunal and section 17 (1) says: “Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the arbitral tribunal may, at the request of a party, order a party to take any interim measure of protection as the arbitral tribunal may consider necessary in respect of the subject-matter of the dispute.”
- Section 17 (2) provides that the arbitral tribunal may require a party to provide appropriate security in connection with an interim measure ordered
Pandemic and school education
- In-person school education teaches children to share, wait for their turn, negotiate, and compromise; by depriving them of social contact, we are depriving them of essential learning and development.
- For children from economically weak backgrounds, schools are a key source of nutrition.
- For some, schools serve as safe spaces from the chaos of their homes.
- For many children, particularly those who do not have educated parents or cannot afford home tutors, the denial of education results in learning losses and, ultimately, denial of a chance to earn a livelihood.
- For parents, school closures have added to childcare and teaching duties
- As immediate measures, governments should: call for lists of school staff and procure full vaccination for them.
- Scientists should confirm if the gap between doses can be made shorter akin to health-care workers;
- engage relevant experts to undertake public campaigns to make school staff and parents aware of the low risk of transmission in schools and low severity in children,
- urge them to understand the science and encourage them to commit to a social contract to be ever-vigilant and keep a sick or exposed child home;
- issue guidance for staggered re-opening of primary schools
- upgrade school infrastructure to facilitate a hybrid system of learning where parents who do not wish to send their children to school have the choice to continue with online learning;
- train school teachers in hybrid learning;
- formulate and issue guidance on COVID-19 protocols to be adopted by schools — distancing to the extent possible, outdoor classes weather-permitting, masking,
- hand hygiene, and proper ventilation
Government to scrap retrospective taxation
- A tortuous taxation tale that began with global telecom major Vodafone’s $11 billion entry into India, is nearing its climax 14 years on, with the company having frozen fresh investments for a few years and its Indian operations now on the brink of collapse.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced tax law changes to scrap the retrospective provisions brought in by the late Pranab Mukherjee in the Union Budget 2012-13.
- I-T demands have been made in 17 cases, including from Vodafone and Cairn, using those retro-active clauses in the I-T law
- In Cairn’s case, the tax department began action in January 2014, but the assessment orders were passed, and its shares sold off to recover ‘retrospective’ tax dues under this regime’s watch, pending international arbitration.
- By December 2020, the Vodafone and Cairn arbitration cases had been lost and investors hoped the Government would abide by the legal process and close this sordid chapter.
- Instead, appeals were filed, with the Government asserting as recently as May that it will ‘vigorously defend’ its sovereign right to tax and had ‘never agreed to arbitrate a national tax dispute’.
- Sitharaman said the Government was waiting for those cases to ‘reach their logical conclusion’
Abanindranath Tagore
- Abanindranath Tagore CIE was the principal artist and creator of the “Indian Society of Oriental Art”.
- He was also the first major exponent of Swadeshi values in Indian art, thereby finding the influential Bengal school of art, which led to the development of modern Indian painting.
- He was also a noted writer, particularly for children. Popularly known as ‘Aban Thakur’, his books Rajkahini, Buro Angla, Nalak, and Khirer Putul were landmarks in Bengali language children’s literature and art.
- Abanindranath, a nephew of Rabindranath Tagore and a decade younger to the poet, helped shape modern Indian art and was the creator of the iconic ‘Bharat Mata’ painting.
- “Abanindranath Tagore was arguably the first major exponent of an artistic idiom that sought to modernise the Mughal and the Rajput styles in order to counter the influence of Western models of art under the colonial regime.
- His unique interpretation of swadeshi themes created a new awakening and heralded a revival of Indian art,
F 15 fighters
- The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing).
- Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas’s design in 1969 to meet the service’s need for a dedicated air superiority fighter.
- The Eagle first flew in July 1972, and entered service in 1976.
- It is among the most successful modern fighters, with over 100 victories and no losses in aerial combat, with the majority of the kills by the Israeli Air Force.
- The Eagle has been exported to Israel, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.