India, South Korea agree to go for joint production, export of military hardware - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India, South Korea agree to go for joint production, export of military hardware.

In a significant move, India and South Korea have agreed to go for joint production and export of military hardware, enhance intelligence sharing and boost cooperation in cyber and space domains as part overall expansion of defence and security ties, official sources said on Sunday.

The decisions were taken during delegation-level talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his South Korean counterpart Suh Wook on Friday with both sides resolving to give a major push to ramp up ties in strategically key areas, they said.

The South Korean minister was on a three-day visit to India from Thursday last that was focused on boosting bilateral defence and military cooperation.

In the field of defence industrial cooperation, the sources said the two sides decided to focus on joint research, joint production and joint export.

"There were extensive discussions on it," said a source.

South Korea has been a major supplier of weapons and military equipment to India. In 2019, the two countries finalised a roadmap for cooperation in joint production of various land and naval systems.

In the talks, the South Korean minister also expressed keenness in seizing the opportunities in India's two defence corridors, particularly by investing in joint ventures under the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India) initiative.

The government is working on setting up two defence industrial corridors in the country, one in Uttar Pradesh and another in Tamil Nadu, with an aim to ensure connectivity among various defence industrial units.

The sources said issues regarding multilateral and regional cooperation in the emerging regional security scenario were also discussed between Singh and Wook.

It is learnt that China's military assertiveness in the region figured in the talks.

The two sides also agreed to increase focus on cyber and space cooperation besides resolving to continue to focus on streamlining the intelligence exchange mechanism.

In the talks, the two ministers exchanged views on the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the defence and security engagements as well as best practices followed by the armed forces to deal with the pandemic.

The sources said the Korean minister also highlighted the congruence between India's Act East Policy and his country's Southern Policy.

In light of India's experience in the UN peacekeeping operations, the Indian side conveyed to the South Korean delegation that it will ensure an appropriate participation in the upcoming UN Peacekeeping Ministerial meet in that country in December 2021.

The South Korean minister also visited Agra where he was shown capabilities of India's special forces. He also interacted with top executives of defence public sector undertakings and representatives of industry chamber FICCI. (Source: defencenews.in)

The above Article can also be read using the link below:

India, South Korea agree to go for joint production, export of military hardware.

India, South Korea Sign Five MoUs in Science & Technology - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India, South Korea Sign Five MoUs in Science & Technology .

India and South Korea today signed five MoUs in the field of Science & Technology. Union Minister for Science & Technology, Dr Harsh Vardhan and his South Korean counterpart,Mr. You Young Min signed three MoUs for (i) Programme of Cooperation 2018-21; (ii) Establishment of Future Strategy Group; (iii) Cooperation in Biotechnology & Bioeconomy. The MoU on Establishment of Future Strategy Group was signed by Indian Science & Technology and Commerce Ministers, while on the Korean side, it was signed by Science and ICT and Trade Ministers.

Two other MoUs were signed between Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), and South Korean National Research Council for Science & Technology and IIT Mumbai and Korea Institute of Science &Technology,to further accelerate future-oriented cooperation in their respective sectors.The MoUs were signed at the conclusion of the 4th India-Korea Science & Technology Ministers Steering Committee Meeting.
In his opening remarks, Dr Harsh Vardhan said, “India can lead the newly industrialising countries in developing and adopting affordable technologies and processes, and demonstrate a growth path and low energy consumption pattern that would be more sustainable than that of the industrial countries.”
On his part, Mr You Young Min appreciated India’s self-reliance in science and technology, especially in the R&D sector and said that both the countries could bring synergy between Korea’s strong manufacturing base and India’s pre-eminence in basic sciences and software sector.
The two Ministers reviewed bilateral S&T cooperation between the two countries since the last meeting of the Steering Committee at Seoul in November 2015. Both Ministers agreed to establish Indo-Korean Center for Research and Innovation (IKCRI) in India, which will act as the hub for systematic operation and management of all cooperative programmes in research and innovation between the two countries including innovation & entrepreneurship and technology transfer.
The Ministers also agreed to establish a Future Strategic Group, which will build a collaborative platform that can utilize the potential of both the countries towards fostering innovation and create impact which is of social and economic good. To begin with, both sides will be co-funding collaborative enterprise-led joint R&D projects covering (i) Digital Transformation (ii) Future Manufacturing (iii) Future Utilities and (iv) Health Care.
It was also agreed to jointly establish two additional India-Korea Joint Network Centres in areas among ‘Cyber Physical System- Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things focused on agriculture, energy, water and transportation and ‘Semiconductor Electronics’. These centres will leverage existing infrastructure and funding available from the partners on both sides in focused applied research areas, which have potential towards technology development.
In the area of biotechnology, New Delhi and Seoul have agreed to extend cooperation in health and medicine, agro-fishery products developed with the adoption of biotechnology; environment-related challenges and developing environmental and energy sectors through bio-technology, big data biotechnology; bio-research resources; synthetic biology, genome editing and microbiomes, etc.
Both countries renewed the Programme of Cooperation in the field of Science and Technology for 2018-21 to augment the cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation.
Mr You Young Min is part of the official delegation accompanying South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who arrived in New Delhi on Sunday on a three-day visit. (Source: PIB)


The above Article can also be read using the link below:

India, South Korea Sign Five MoUs in Science & Technology.

Indian startup ecosystem ranked at number 37, much below China, Singapore, and South Korea - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis

Indian startup ecosystem ranked at number 37, much below China, Singapore, and South Korea.

Interestingly, India ranks below Latin American countries Mexico (30th) and Chile (33rd). Its neighbours, China (12th), Singapore (10th), South Korea (17th), and Japan (20th), are in the top 20 list.

In the past five years, the Indian startup ecosystem has seen many ups and downs. While the years 2014 and 2015 saw a lot of investor activity, purse strings were being tightened towards the end of 2017. The indulgence was giving way to discipline, but like the prodigal child, the Indian startup ecosystem has shown there is no stopping it, even if the progress is painfully slow.
According to a report released by Startupblink, a global startup ecosystem map with tens of thousands of registered startups, coworking spaces, and accelerators, the Indian startup ecosystem is ranked at number 37 and the global ranking of its top three cities are Bengaluru, New Delhi, and Mumbai.
Clearly, India has a long distance to cover whether it is in terms of ease of doing business, startup policies, and complicated tax compliance (the angel tax is becoming draconian for Indian startups). The Indian startup ecosystem is also yet to see major exits - an important measure to gauge the maturity of a startup ecosystem.
Last year, a report by Startup Genome in collaboration with organisations like Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), Crunchbase, and Orb Intelligence stated that Bengaluru had slipped in its ranking as a global startup hub. This is a matter of concern considering Bengaluru is one of the top hi-tech cities in the world and leads the Indian startup ecosystem.
In its report, Startupblink included a global ranking index of 125 countries and 900 cities, measuring their startup ecosystem strength and activity. Their mission began in early 2014 to map and rank startup ecosystems across the globe. A company note said, “Our rankings stem from thousands of data points gathered from various sources, such as incubators and accelerators that appear on the StartupBlink global ecosystem map. Rather than focusing on traditional, well-known winners, we’ve highlighted hundreds of ecosystems across the globe.”
The US, UK, and Canada swept the top three spots in the global country rankings, while Israel and Germany were close behind.
Germany closes out the top five, with its capital, Berlin, also ranking 5th in the global cities analysis. The report states that Germany is at present enjoying a startup renaissance, and has three additional cities in the top 100, which include Munich (64th), Hamburg (74th), and Frankfurt (84th).
“Additionally, when reviewing startup activity per capita (taking into consideration population size), we found that small nations of less than 10 million inhabitants like, Sweden (6th), Denmark (7th), Switzerland (8th), and Singapore (10th) placed in the top 10 (as well as the previously mentioned Israel),” the report adds.
Asia is also building its momentum, led by Singapore (10th), and closely followed by China(12th), South Korea (17th), and Japan (20th).
Africa has four representatives in the top 60. South Africa is the first (38th), followed by Kenya, Egypt, and Nigeria (ranked 53rd, 54th, and 57th respectively).
The report states, “Rather than focusing on one specific ecosystem, our global rankings offer valuable insight into how countries fare in ‘distributing’ their startup talent. This is helpful not only in determining how to increase the potential of a country’s overall startup ecosystem but also in showing how to allocate needed wealth, economic and business resources.”
The study targets three primary audiences: entrepreneurs, municipal development offices, and national governments. Entrepreneurs can utilise the rankings to determine if a particular city has the resources needed to support their goals.
StartupBlink’s CEO Eli David, a digital nomad, has been working on the project while living in 60 countries. The rankings, in association with ANSYS Startup Program, are based on many thousands of data points gathered over the last four years on StartupBlink’s global startup map, including data collected by its local representatives in more than 70 chapters around the world.


The above Article can also be read using the link below:

Indian startup ecosystem ranked at number 37, much below China, Singapore, and South Korea.