Current Affairs 10th July 2024 for UPSC Prelims Exam

India Russia Joint Statement

Context: Recently, India and Russia issued a joint statement.

Key Aspects of Joint Statement

• Economic Cooperation:
  • Aim to eliminate non-tariff trade barriers between India and Russia.
  • Continue dialogue on liberalising bilateral trade, including the potential establishment of the EAEU-India Free Trade Area.
  • Achieve a mutual trade volume of over USD 100 billion by 2030.
  • Increase Indian goods supplies to achieve balanced bilateral trade.
  • Reinvigorate investment activities within special investment regimes.
  • Develop a bilateral settlement system using national currencies.
  • Consistently introduce digital financial instruments into mutual settlements.
  • Agricultural:
    • Increase the volume of bilateral trade in agricultural products, food, and fertilizers.
    • Maintain an intensive dialogue to remove veterinary, sanitary, and phytosanitary restrictions and prohibitions.
• Transportation and Trade Routes:
  • Increase cargo turnover through new routes of the North-South International Transport Corridor, Northern Sea Route, and Chennai-Vladivostok Sea Line.
  • Optimise customs procedures using intelligent digital systems for barrier-free movement of goods.
• Energy Cooperation:
  • Develop cooperation in key energy sectors such as nuclear energy, oil refining, and petrochemicals.
  • Expand partnerships in energy infrastructure, technologies, and equipment.
  • Facilitate mutual and international energy security considering global energy transition prospects.
• Infrastructure and Industrial Cooperation:
  • Strengthen interaction in infrastructure development, transport engineering, automobile production, shipbuilding, space, and other industrial sectors.
  • Facilitate market entry for Indian and Russian companies by creating subsidiaries and industrial clusters.
  • Align approaches in standardisation, metrology, and conformity assessment.
• Digital Economy and Scientific Cooperation:
  • Promote investments and joint projects in the digital economy, science, and research.
  • Encourage educational exchanges and internships for high-tech company employees.
  • Facilitate the creation of new joint (subsidiary) companies with favourable fiscal regimes.
• Healthcare and Medical Cooperation:
  • Promote systematic cooperation in the development and supply of medicines and advanced medical equipment.
  • Explore opening branches of Indian medical institutions in Russia and recruiting qualified medical personnel.
  • Strengthen coordination in medical and biological safety.
• Humanitarian Cooperation: Develop humanitarian cooperation and expand interaction in education, science and technology, culture, tourism, sports, healthcare, and other areas.

Safe Harbour Protection and Defamation

Context: News agency Asian News International (ANI) has moved Delhi High Court against Wikipedia for allowing allegedly defamatory content on ANI’s wiki page.

Complaint Against Wikipedia

• ANI seeks Rs 2 crore in damages, claiming the content is “palpably false” and tarnishes its reputation.
• The petition alleges that true and factual edits made in April were reversed in May to harm ANI’s reputation.
• The suit targets Wikipedia, holding it accountable as an intermediary, rather than the individuals who edited the page.
• ANI argues Wikipedia is a significant social media intermediary under Section 2(1)(w) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
• Sections 79(2) and (3) of the IT Act detail the conditions for the “safe harbour clause” to protect intermediaries.

Safe Harbour Clause

• Section 79 exempts intermediaries from liability if they do not initiate the transmission, select the receiver, or modify the information.
• The intermediary must adhere to the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, which requires a grievance-redressal mechanism and compliance officers.
• Section 79(3) removes protection if the intermediary does not remove harmful content upon government notification.

Relevant Rules and Comparisons

• Rule 7 of the IT Rules, 2021, states that failure to observe these rules makes intermediaries liable for punishment.
• Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act provides similar protections, exempting providers from being treated as publishers of third-party content.

Previous Supreme Court Rulings

• October 10, 2022: The Supreme Court dismissed a petition by the Ayurvedic Medicine Manufacturers Organisation of India regarding defamatory Wikipedia content, suggesting they could edit the article or seek other remedies.
• Hewlett Packard India Sales vs. Commissioner of Customs (2023): The Supreme Court noted the utility but cautioned against the reliability of Wikipedia for legal dispute resolution.

Examples, Case Studies and Data

• Participation Of Women In Unincorporated Enterprises (GS 3): Recently, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Enterprises for 2022-23.
  • The share of women owners and workers in unincorporated enterprises was relatively high in the Southern States.
    • In Telangana women constitute 41% of the workforce (Highest).
• Increase in Employment (GS 3): The total number of employed people in the country rose to 64.33 crore in 2023-24, spread over 27 sectors covering the entire economy, according to data by the Reserve Bank of India.

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