G20 Conference on Crime and Security: The inaugural session of the G20 conference on ‘Crime and Security in the age of NFTs, AI and Metaverse’, was held in Gurugram, India.
This summit is a new and unique initiative of the G-20 Presidency and is the first conference on cyber security in the G-20. The metaverse is a concept of a virtual shared space where users can interact with each other and digital objects in a seemingly real way.
NFTs are digital assets that can be used to represent unique items, such as virtual real estate, in-game items and collectables, on a blockchain.
National Policy for Rare Diseases 2021:It aims to lower the high cost of treatment for rare diseases with an increased focus on indigenous research. It offers financial support for one-time treatment of up to Rs. 20 lakhs, introduces a crowd-funding mechanism, creates a registry of rare diseases and provides for early detection.
The rare diseases have been identified and categorized into 3 groups namely:
Group 1: Disorders amenable to one-time curative treatment.
Group-2: Diseases requiring long-term/lifelong treatment having a relatively lower cost of treatment and benefit have been documented in the literature and annual or more frequent surveillance is required.
Group 3: – Diseases for which definitive treatment is available but challenges are to make optimal patient selection for benefit, very high cost and lifelong therapy.
Centres of Excellence: The Centres of Excellence would be provided with a one-time grant to a maximum of Rs. 5 crores each for infrastructure development for screening, tests, and treatment.
NATO Summit 2023:The 2023 NATO summit took place from 11–12 July 2023, in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The 2022 summit was held in Madrid, Spain. The participating leaders discussed the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as Ukraine and Sweden’s prospective memberships in NATO.
Key outcomes:
- NATO leaders launched a new forum for deepening ties with Ukraine, known as the NATO-Ukraine Council.
- A joint declaration issued by the G-7, issued during the summit, lays the groundwork for each nation to negotiate agreements to help Ukraine bolster its military over the long term.
- No clear path for Ukraine’s membership in NATO.
- Turkey withdrew its objections to Sweden joining the alliance. This paves the way for Sweden to join the alliance as the new entries must be approved by all existing members.
- NATO formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance at the Madrid summit held in 2022. However, Turkey had raised objections regarding the membership of Sweden and Finland in NATO.
