Global Geopolitics: Red Sea Crisis
- Primary Actors: Houthi rebels (Yemen).
- Target: Commercial vessels navigating the Red Sea.
- Intent: Actions framed as solidarity with Palestine following intensified conflict.
- Timeline: Escalation began significantly post-October 2023.
- Impact on Trade: Severe disruption of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, impacting approximately 15% of global maritime trade flows.
- Multinational Response: Establishment of "Operation Prosperity Guardian," a U.S.-led multinational task force focused on safeguarding international shipping routes.
Domestic Policy: Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in India
| Component | Function/Achievement | Key Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Aadhaar | Digital Identity System | High national penetration rate. |
| UPI (Unified Payments Interface) | Instant, interoperable payment system. | Records billions of monthly transactions. |
| DigiLocker | Secure platform for issuance and verification of digital documents. | Used across various government departments. |
- New Initiative: Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC):
- Goal: To democratize and decentralize India's e-commerce market.
- Mechanism: Enables seamless interaction between buyers, sellers, and logistics providers without relying on single dominant platform intermediaries.
Global Climate Summit Updates
- COP29 Location: Baku, Azerbaijan.
- Key Outcomes of COP28 (Dubai):
- Fossil Fuels: Parties agreed, for the first time, to "transition away" from fossil fuels, emphasizing the need for accelerated action this decade.
- Finance: Operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund to provide financial assistance to climate-vulnerable nations suffering immediate climate impacts.