International Summit Analysis: G7 2024
- Location: Puglia, Italy.
- Duration: June 13–15, 2024.
- Key Focus Areas:
- Ukraine Support: Agreement on using frozen Russian sovereign assets (approximately $50 billion) to provide long-term loans to Ukraine.
- China Policy: Discussions focused on addressing China’s non-market practices and industrial overcapacity, specifically concerning green energy technologies (EVs and solar panels).
- PGI Initiative: Reaffirmation of commitment to the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI), positioning it as an alternative financing model to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Global Economic & Innovation Rankings
| Index/Report | Publishing Body | India's Rank (2023/2024) | Top Country (2023/2024) | Focus Metric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global Innovation Index (GII) | World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) | 40th (Improved from 81st in 2015) | Switzerland (13th consecutive year) | R&D investments, knowledge absorption, and creative outputs. |
| World Competitiveness Index | International Institute for Management Development (IMD) | 45th (out of 67 economies) | Singapore | Government efficiency and business environment quality. |
Space Exploration Updates
- Artemis Program: NASA confirmed the target date for the Artemis II crewed lunar flyby mission is scheduled for September 2025.
- Objective: To test the full operational capabilities of the Orion spacecraft with a human crew prior to landing missions.
- Launch Vehicle: Space Launch System (SLS).
- China's Chang'e 6 Mission: Successfully returned lunar samples from the far side of the Moon.
- Significance: First ever samples retrieved from the far side, providing unique geological data not available from Earth-facing landing sites.
Domestic Digital Infrastructure Milestones
- Unified Payments Interface (UPI): Processed 14.04 billion transactions in May 2024, representing a year-on-year volume growth of 49%.
- Key Contributors: Third-party application providers (TPAPs) dominating transaction volume share.
- 5G Deployment: Achieved installation of over 400,000 5G base transceiver stations (BTS) nationwide by Q2 2024.
- Goal: Focus shifts from basic coverage rollout to enhancing 5G enterprise use cases in manufacturing and healthcare sectors.