Moneycontrol | The many messages from NCAER’s report on food delivery gig workers

Food delivery companies will use almost any excuse to prompt you to order more from them and right now it’s peak cricket season. Push notifications on your phone and take-away containers in your kitchen are piling up at a rapid rate. Unfortunately, the rate of wage growth for the delivery personnel is anything but rapid. Read the full article here.

ThePrint | At LAC, China is not settling ‘disputed’ borders. It’s containing India

Interconnectedness of events and diplomatic exchanges often provide clues to the state of power play that shapes relations between countries. Two recent events in the landscape of India-China relations seem to indicate that the outlook may not be encouraging. The first was the 19th round of military commander-level talks held on 13 and 14 August. Second — the 15th BRICS meeting at Johannesburg on 22 and 23 August. Read the full article here.

Moneycontrol | China Economy: Has the export-investment-state-driven growth model reached its limits?

The Chinese economy appears to be undergoing a historic churn. This is a product of several factors, such as the structural challenges of the investment and exports-driven growth model, government intervention in order to reshape economic structure and incentives and a turbulent external environment. The scrapping of the zero-COVID policy in late 2022 had created expectations for a rapid economic recovery in China. This was reflected in the rise in growth expectations in the first quarter of 2023. There was anticipation that pent-up consumer demand, increased fiscal spending, and efforts to boost market confidence and signal openness and policy predictability would result in growth rebounding. This, however, has not come to pass. Read the full article here.

Mint | China’s economic troubles mark the end of its geopolitical ascent

In the past few weeks, the world has discovered that the Chinese economy has serious problems and might already be in a crisis. The impending collapse of a real estate behemoth is causing analysts to ask if China’s Lehman moment is at hand. One-fifth of the stock of apartments is unoccupied. There are worries about how China will manage the nearly $9 trillion in off-budget domestic debt that its local governments have accumulated by building bridges and airports to nowhere. One in five young people are unemployed in a country where it takes just over two working adults to support one senior citizen. Economic growth might already be in the vicinity of 3% and might fall to 2% by the end of this decade. Over the past few years, Beijing lent developing countries nearly $1 trillion to gain global political influence. Most of that money is not coming back. Read the full article here.

Takshashila Blog | Is Europe Unanimous on China?

Germany recently released its strategy on China, outlining the challenges China poses and setting forth an agenda regarding how it intends to cooperate with it. The document notes the assertive character of Chinese foreign policy, China’s efforts to reshape the existing rules-based international order “according to its own preferences”, and how China impacts European and global security as a result. Germany calls China a “partner, competitor, and systemic rival”. It points out human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet, and the erosion of civil liberties in Hong Kong. Read the full blog here.

Hindustan Times | Chandrayaan will help us profit from the heavens

After Chandrayaan-3’s success, India’s goal is to not only build on Isro’s extraordinary achievement but also to harness popular enthusiasm for space exploration towards concrete outcomes for the country’s high-technology economy. Unlike the IT and biotech sectors, space remains a State-led industry. Governments such as those of the United States have deep pockets and can act as anchor customers until segments of the space sector stabilise and become self-sustaining. Most government and private funding is directed to practical space applications such as satellites that provide immediate returns on investment. Military requirements are a primary driver of satellite infrastructure as are other State-led requirements such as monitoring weather patterns and ecological degradation. All this needs cutting-edge innovation that only space exploration can drive. Read the full article here.

Deccan Herald | Why are nations interested in joining BRICS?

The 2023 BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit is currently underway in Johannesburg, South Africa. Pre-Summit deliberations show that there are some unique and significant developments to look out for. One of them is the expansion of BRICS, which is set to be taken up for an elaborate discussion at the summit. Read the full article here.

Times of India | Why India must now prepare for lunar geopolitics as well

The successful Chandrayaan-3 mission not only marks India’s ascension to a tiny club of lunar states, it also marks the first time humans have conducted a controlled landing in the southern polar region of the Moon. Read the full article here.

Business Standard | Doing better than a competitive exam

The IIT JEE (Indian Institute of Technology joint entrance exam) is revered as the arbiter of merit. With industrialised coaching classes, it is less clear how the JEE selects the right people to attend an IIT. Simplistic measurement of marks in an exam is not how the entry barriers into most sensible institutions work. The high-powered incentive — attending an IIT — is damaging the learning process. We propose a two-part mechanism: A broad exam that filters for sound capability, and then randomised allocation. Read the full article here.

Deccan Herald | National Research Foundation: Old wine in a new bottle?

The Indian research community is looking to the formation of the National Research Foundation (NRF) to herald a new era — where research is one of the government’s priorities resulting in access to a reasonable quantum of funding disbursed in a timely manner. However, short of these two dramatic changes, the NRF would be reduced to just another funding avenue, riddled with the issues of the past. But even with the passing of the NRF Bill there is little clarity on whether either of these two issues will be resolved. Read the full article here.

ThePrint | Why Assam Rifles’ vilification is a calculated, conniving move for revenge

The Assam Rifles is a central paramilitary force responsible for border guarding and internal security in Northeast India. Also utilised as a combat force in times of conflict, it has been administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs since 1965 but is under the operational control of the Indian Army since the 1962 India-China war. The Assam Rifles’ rank and file is recruited by the MHA, but it is led by Army officers on deputation. India’s oldest paramilitary force, it was originally raised in 1835 as Cachar Levy, has had several designations and got its present name in 1917. Read the full article here.

Mint | How to govern the AI industry must be accorded high priority

The manner in which the world’s big artificial intelligence (AI) companies are scaring the world’s governments and asking for regulation reminds me of how incumbent telcos used to push ‘Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt’ (FUD) 20 years ago. We should suspect that the motives are similar: to use regulation to slam the gates shut for new entrants and use incumbency to acquire greater power over public policy. If OpenAI and Google are really worried that their products are dangerous and pose severe, unpredictable risks to public safety, they could stop developing them. It is reasonable, therefore, to suspect that their calls for regulation of so-called foundation models are partly motivated by the desire to lock-in their dominant market positions. Read the full article here.

The Times of India | Laptop licence: Why are failed policies being revived again?

In the 1970s and 1980s, a large country undertook a “market reserve” policy. The idea was to restrict imports, protect the infant computer industry, and give it a chance to become competitive. But after nearly two decades of restrictions, the country was far from achieving its desired goal of becoming a major international player in computers. Smugglers prospered as they found ways to get around the trade barriers. The local players that benefited from a closed market were so inefficient that many vanished as soon as the winds of globalisation swept in the 1990s. That country is not India, but Brazil. Read the full article here.

Moneycontrol | Three factors that prevent India and China from getting close

Both India and China lie at the heart of the geopolitical churn in the Indo-Pacific, with their bilateral relationship holding significant implications for the future of the world order. While India is pursuing a policy of multi-alignment, it increasingly seems to be caught between two emerging power centres. On one side is a rising China, which is seeking to actively reshape the international order to facilitate its rise to the centre-stage of world affairs; on the other is the US, which is working to boost domestic strength, revitalise old alliances and fashion new partnerships in order to sustain its preeminence. Read the full article here.

The Hindu | Learning from the CHIPS Act of the U.S.

The United States’ Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act of 2022 (CHIPS Act) completes one year as a law today (August 9). The Act authorises $52.7 billion over five years to boost American competitiveness, innovation and national security in semiconductors. While the jury is still out on the long-term effectiveness of the Act, what is important from an Indian perspective is to observe and learn from its implementation. As industrial policy has become a default policy of choice for nation-states, the Act provides a clear window into the capabilities and structures needed to execute such policies. Read the full article here.

Hindustan Times | An echo of licence raj in laptop import curbs

India’s abrupt decision to restrict the import of laptops and personal computers, though with a three-month lag, is a throwback to the 1970s, when such policies were commonplace. Presumably, the aim is to give a fillip to domestic manufacturing and is probably targeted at China, which accounts for 75% of the total $5.33 billion worth of laptops and personal computers imported by India in 2022-23. However, the government maintains that it carried out the move for the digital security of its citizens. The reason is obvious — national security is the one accepted condition in multilateral trade treaties for imposing import restrictions, whereas protectionism is frowned upon. Read the full article here.

The Hindu | Do we need a radical alternative to scientific publishing?

Scientific publishing is a necessary component of scientists’ efforts to establish a career in science for themselves. The process allows for scientists’ peers to enrich new findings by reviewing papers, curates research from scientists across the world, and signals the credibility of some scientific work. Read the full article here.

StratNewsGlobal | Limelight On Nobody: Qin Gang’s Removal

On July 25, at the fourth session of the 14th Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (China’s top legislature), a major portfolio shuffle was announced in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)—Qin Gang, who was promoted to the post of Foreign Affairs Minister as recently as December 2022 was ‘removed’ from the post. In his place, Wang Yi, the Director of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission and former Foreign Affairs minister, was re-appointed. Read the full article here.

The Diplomat | China’s Draft Criminal Law Amendment Eyes Corruption in Private Firms

Amid the controversy surrounding former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang’s disappearance and subsequent dismissal from office, discussions by the Standing Committee of China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress, on draft amendments to China’s Criminal Law seem to have escaped the public eye. These draft amendments, which are open for public comments until August 24, propose the inclusion of private sector enterprises operating in China under the ambit of the Criminal Law’s anti-bribery and anti-corruption provisions. Previously, said provisions were applicable only to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and public institutions. Read the full article here.

ThePrint | CDS to DMA, Modi govt raised Indian military’s hope for a theatre command. It’s been 4 yrs

It was on 15 August 2019 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India would have a Chief of Defence Staff. On 30 December, General Bipin Rawat was appointed the first CDS and the Department of Military Affairs was created in the Ministry of Defence. Among other issues, the DMA was mandated to facilitate restructuring of military commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through establishment of joint/theatre commands. The CDS was mandated to bring about jointness in operations, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance, etc of the three Services, within three years of assuming office. Read the full article here.