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India has institutionalized a robust civilian-space agreement with the U.S. through the Joint Working Group on Civil Space Cooperation in 2005 and added a military dimension to it in 2020 when it signed the U.S.-India BECA Agreement. The two countries should now partner to secure each other’s interest in the rapidly-maturing space economy sector.
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The Space20 is the newest sub-forum of the G20 initiated by Saudi Arabia, with the support of the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs. India, on its way to the G20 presidency in 2022, should set a comprehensive Space20 agenda for the democratization of outer space, whereby it can share its space growth story with the developing world and achieve its goal to become a global knowledge epicenter.
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The current notions of physical ‘permanent establishment’ or tangible locational nexus are not well-suited for the taxation of modern digital economy, especially for taxation of business income, rents or revenue creating activities. In a Covid-19 wrecked global economy, where government revenues are under severe stress, there is a compelling case for a market country or the value-creating jurisdiction to tax the income or rents attributable to the concerned market or location.
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The depth and complexity of India’s digital citizenry and ecosystem puts it in a unique position to impact global rules on digital governance. An opportunity to assert its influence is coming up with India’s presidency of the G20 in 2022. Work on this agenda must begin now.
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Facial recognition technology has emerged as an important identification tool. Big tech, social media companies and governments around the world use it and hold an unprecedented power over individuals and communities. Its use for surveillance purposes has brought it under public scrutiny. The technology has still not been perfected. Is it really ready for adoption?
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The launch of the U.S.’s Dragon-2 astronaut capsule by SpaceX has a resonance in India too. India’s future heavy-lift launchers, already under development, can be competitive if they are transformed to Two-Stage-To-Orbit and made reusable. The successors to Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan, developed in public-private partnerships, can result in a vast domestic launch market for India’s heavy-lift rocket capability.
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Recent investments by Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG, L Catterton and Intel Capital could well be the infusion of capital and expertise Jio needs to compete with Alibaba and Amazon. The infographic compares the number of services offered by these companies across different technology domains
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The outcome of the U.S. presidential elections could have a significant impact on the deepening Indo-U.S. bilateral. The partnership has grown substantially in the last two decades resulting in a deepening of economic and strategic relations. Defence dominates the strategic partnership and also stimulates the economic engagement. The newly signed BECA agreement is a testament to this. The next U.S. administration's policies will be critical for India, given repeated Chinese incursions into Indian territory on the Line of Actual Control at the border, the U.S.-China rivalry and China's ambitions to dominate Asia. Gateway House has an extensive repository of primary research, analysis and reporting on the Indo-U.S. bilateral, addressing issues such as trade, technology exchange and defence cooperation.
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The recently announced New and Emerging Strategic Technologies (NEST) Division of India’s Ministry of External Affairs is timely. It can become vital for India’s national technosecurity in the imminent Fourth Industrial Age if a new Cabinet Committee on Futuristic Science and Technologies is established along with it
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India is the second largest emitter of methane in the world. But methane-cracking has enormous economic potential. It can help India become a high-technology manufacturing powerhouse by producing a steady supply of methane-derived, advanced carbon materials and hydrogen-energized transportation