Iran, six other nations lose right to vote in UNGA over unpaid dues - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Iran, six other nations lose right to vote in UNGA over unpaid dues.

The UN charter calls for such a voting rights suspension for countries whose arrears equal or surpass the amount of the contributions due from them to UN coffers in the previous two years

Iran and six other nations lost their right to vote in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) because they have not paid their dues, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday, reported Jerusalem Post.

The other countries losing their UNGA voting rights are Niger, Libya, the Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, South Sudan and Zimbabwe.

Three more countries - Comoros, Sao Tome and Principe and Somalia - will be allowed to continue to vote despite missing dues payments, because they sufficiently demonstrated that they are incapable of paying.

Guterres wrote a letter to General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir of Turkey that the countries in arrears to the UN will have their UNGA voting rights suspended in accordance with the UN Charter, which calls for the suspension of voting rights if a member state fails to pay its fees for more than two years, reported Jerusalem Post.

Under the article, a member-state in arrears in the payment of its dues in an amount that equals or exceeds the contributions of two preceding years can lose its vote in the General Assembly.

Iran owes USD 16.2 million, more than any other country. Meanwhile, Iran has blamed US sanctions for blocking the Islamic Republic from paying its required contribution to the UN, reported Jerusalem Post.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the funds designated for UN payments are frozen in two South Korean banks, due to US sanctions. He said the Islamic Republic has a total of USD 7 billion in those banks, reported Jerusalem Post.

Khatibzadeh demanded that the UN guarantee the payments are safely transferred without using US banks.

"Given that the United States has encroached upon Iran's international assets before, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists that the UN not use an American intermediary bank to receive our country's membership fee, or that this organization guarantee the financial transfer channel," Iran International News quoted Khatibzadeh as saying, cited Jerusalem Post. (Source: The Business Standard)

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Iran, six other nations lose right to vote in UNGA over unpaid dues.

India has it right : Nations either aim for the Moon or get left behind in the Space Race - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India has it right : Nations either aim for the Moon or get left behind in the Space Race.

India’s Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has settled into lunar orbit, just before an emotional and nerve-wracking Moon landing attempted on September 7. Had it succeeded India would have joined a very select club, now comprising the former Soviet Union, the United States and China.

As with all previous Moon missions, national prestige is a big part of India’s Moon shot. But there are some colder calculations behind it as well. Space is poised to become a much bigger business, and both companies and countries are investing in the technological capability to ensure they reap the earthly rewards.

Last year private investment in space-related technology skyrocketed to US$3.25 billion, according to the London-based Seraphim Capital – a 29 percent increase on the previous year.
The list of interested governments is also growing. Along with China and India joining the lunar A-list, in the past decade eight countries have founded space agencies – Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Of prime interest is carving out a piece of the market for making and launching commercial payloads. As much as we already depend on satellites now, this dependence will only grow.
In 2018, 382 objects were launched into space. By 2040 it might easily be double that, with companies like Amazon planning “constellations”, composed of thousands of satellites, to provide telecommunication services.
The satellite business is just a start. The next big prize will be technology for “in-situ resource utilisation” – using materials from space for space operations. One example is extracting water from the Moon (which could also be split to provide oxygen and hydrogen-based rocket fuel). NASA’s administrator, Jim Bridenstine, has suggested Australian agencies and companies could play a key role in this.
All up, the potential gains from a slice of the space economy are huge. It is estimated the space economy could grow from about US$350 billion now to more than US$1 trillion (and possibly as much as US$2,700 billion) in 2040.
Launch Affordability :
At the height of its Apollo program to land on the Moon, NASA got more than 4 percent of the US federal budget. As NASA gears up to return to the Moon and then go to Mars, its budget share is about 0.5 percent.
In space money has most definitely become an object. But it’s a constraint that’s spurring innovation and opening up economic opportunities.
NASA pulled the pin on its space shuttle program in 2011 when the expected efficiencies of a reusable launch vehicle failed to pan out. Since then it has bought seats on Russian Soyuz rockets to get its astronauts into space. It is now paying SpaceX, the company founded by electric car king Elon Musk, to deliver space cargo.
SpaceX’s stellar trajectory, having entered the business a little more than a decade ago, demonstrates the possibilities for new players.
To get something into orbit using the space shuttle cost about US$54,500 a kilogram. SpaceX says the cost of its Falcon 9 rocket and reusable Dragon spacecraft is about US$2,700 a kilogram. With costs falling, the space economy is poised to boom.
Choosing A Niche :
As the space economy grows, it’s likely different countries will come to occupy different niches. Specialization will be the key to success, as happens for all industries.
In the hydrocarbon industry, for instance, some countries extract while others process. In the computer industry, some countries design while others manufacture. There will be similar niches in space. Governments’ policies will play a big part in determining which nation fills which niche.
There are three ways to think about niches.
First, function. A country could focus on space mining, for instance, or space observation. It could act as a space communication hub, or specialize in developing space-based weapons.
Luxembourg is an example of functional specialization. Despite its small size, it punches above its weight in the satellite industry. Another example is Russia, which for now has the monopoly on transporting astronauts to the International Space Station.
Second, value-adding. A national economy can focus on lower or higher value-add processes. In telecommunications, for example, much of the design work is done in the United States, while much of the manufacturing happens in China. Both roles have benefits and drawbacks.
Third, blocs. Global production networks sometimes fragment. One can already see the potential for this happening between the United States and China. If it occurs, other countries must either align with one bloc or remain neutral.
Aligning with a large power ensures patronage, but also dependence. Being between blocs has its risks, but also provides opportunities to gain from each bloc and act as an intermediary.
The first space race, between the Soviet Union and the United States, was singularly driven by political will and government policy. The new space race is more complex, with private players taking the lead in many ways, but government priorities and policy are still crucial. They will determine which countries reach the heights, and which get left behind. (Source:defencenews.in)


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India has it right : Nations either aim for the Moon or get left behind in the Space Race.

COP24: Nations still worlds apart at crunch UN climate summit - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

COP24: Nations still worlds apart at crunch UN climate summit.

Ministers at the COP24 talks must agree on a common rule book to make good on promises they made in the landmark 2015 Paris accord.

Nations at UN climate talks were haggling Friday over the world’s plan to avert disaster as host Poland dumped a draft decision text on delegates just hours before the summit was due to end.
Negotiators told AFP that delegates from nearly 200 states were still far apart on several crunch issues -- from how nations report reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, to the levels of help given to countries already hurting from climate change.

Ministers at the COP24 talks must agree on a common rule book to make good on promises they made in the landmark 2015 Paris accord, which vowed to limit global temperature rises to “well below” two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
But with the starkest warnings yet from scientists highlighting the need to drastically slash fossil fuel emissions within the coming decades in order to meet the safer cap of 1.5C warming, delegates were urged to act now or condemn at-risk nations to disaster.
As negotiations entered the final stretch, several key areas of dispute emerged, often with different alignments of developed and developing nations straddling each divide.
In the draft text there was no resolution on how the climate fight will be financed, and developed nations -- responsible for the lion’s share of historic greenhouse gas emissions -- were accused of seeking to shirk funding promises made in Paris.
Harjeet Singh, global climate lead at ActionAid, said rich countries were “playing a cruel joke” on developing nations.
As it stands, “there is no obligation on their part on finance, both in terms of how much money they are going to provide and how to count that money,” he said.
One veteran observer told AFP that the US, despite President Donald Trump’s intention to withdraw from Paris, was seeking to water down “differentiation”, a bedrock principle of the underlying UN climate Convention.
Washington wants countries to contribute to the climate fight based on their current emissions levels, rather than their historic pollution, meaning the US would be less bound to help developing nations green their economies.
“US has let certain things slide in order to make sure they have parity,” said the observer.
The draft text gave short shrift to another red-line issue for poor countries exposed to the ravages brought on by global warming: so-called “loss and damage”.
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions and helping nations prepare for a climate-addled future have long been the twin pillars of the UN climate forum.
But more recently, a third plank of the regime was added to help nations cope with deadly heatwaves, drought and floods -- amplified by climate change -- happening today.
Another hot-button issue centres on how to avoid the double-counting of reductions in carbon pollution.
That can occur when one country takes actions to curb emissions -- reforestation, for example -- in another country and then both nations claim the credit as part of their pledges under the Paris Agreement
“If you have buyers and sellers in a carbon trading scheme, you want to be sure that those emissions reductions don’t get counted twice,” said David Waskow, director of the World Resources Institute’s Climate Change Initiative.
The European Union has been particularly aggressive in pushing for strict rules on “environmental integrity”.
The expectation is that talks will go deep into overtime with host Poland likely to publish an updated text in the early hours of Saturday.
One potential breakthrough came in the form of tentative consensus over how to treat the latest UN scientific report.
Most nations wanted the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) -- which highlighted the need for greenhouse gas emissions to be slashed to nearly half by 2030 in order to hit the 1.5C target -- to form a key part of future planning.
But the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait objected, leading to watered down language in the draft decision.
“Now that we are in the same boat we need to be able to have a rule book that sticks with the 1.5C there is no discussion, no possibility to question or have doubts on the 1.5C,” said Costa Rica’s environment minister Carlos Manuel Rodriguez.
As well as the IPCC issue, nations are also under pressure to up their ambition in their contributions to the climate fight ahead of a 2020 stocktake.
“If we don’t do that, we will not survive,” said former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed. “We would die. I’m sure it wouldn’t be an appropriate outcome for anyone.” (Source: The Business Standard)


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COP24: Nations still worlds apart at crunch UN climate summit.

India improves IP index score to 44 but still among bottom 10 nations -Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis

India improves IP index score to 44 but still among bottom 10 nations

The report ranks economies based on 40 indicators that benchmark activity critical to innovation development.

The report ranks economies based on 40 indicators that benchmark activity critical to innovation development surrounding patents, trademark, copyright and trade secrets protection.India’s overall score was 12.03 out of 40 in the latest edition. This represented the largest percentage improvement of any country measured.
India had a score of 8.75 (out of 35) in the previous edition last year. Commenting on India’s performance, Patrick Kilbride, vice-president, Global Innovation Policy Center, noted: “This is further evidence of a country on the move.”The report said several factors figured in India’s improved score.
“India passed guidelines to strengthen the patentability environment for technological innovations, improved the protection of well-known marks and initiated IP (intellectual property) awareness and coordination programmes, thereby implementing some tenets of the 2016 National IPR Policy,” said Kilbride.
There has been a marked improvement in India’s score in the US Chamber of Commerce’s latest edition of the International IP Index. However, placed at 44th position, India figured among the bottom 10 of the 50 economies that were part of the annual study.
In July last year, India issued guidelines on the examination of computer-related inventions.
This significantly improved the patentability environment for technological innovations, the report observed. Additionally, the government created IP awareness workshops and technical training programmes for enforcement agencies, implementing key deliverables of the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy, the report said.
The government has addressed issues around patent pendency, appointing 459 additional patent examiners. Procedural reforms have been undertaken to expedite trademark backlogs and expanding the list of well-known trademarks.
However, the report pointed out that additional reforms were needed to complement the IPR policy.
“Much work remains to be done to introduce transformative changes to India’s overall IP framework and take serious steps to consistently implement strong IP standards,” the report said.
Limited framework for protection of life sciences IP, patentability requirements outside international standards, lengthy pre-grant opposition proceedings, previously used compulsory licensing for commercial and non-emergency situations and limited participation in international IP treaties were among the key weaknesses in the Indian IP environment, the report said. In fact, India scored a blank on the parameter involving membership and ratification of international treaties.
The five new countries covered in the latest edition included Costa Rica, Ireland, Jordan, Morocco and the Netherlands. A significant feature is the addition of two categories of parameters, commercialisation of IP assets and systemic efficiency. (Source: The Business Standard).


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India improves IP index score to 44 but still among bottom 10 nations