Current Affairs | National | International | SSC | UPSC - 3rd December 2023

 National News 

1.Vaishali, India's third female GM, is making the right moves 

• The 22-year-old from Chennai completed the final requirement for the title 2500 Elo points during the ongoing El Llobregat Open in Spain on Friday 
• For years, she lived in her prodigious brother's shadow, R. Vaishali, the elder sister of R. Pragnanandhaa, is now hitting headlines regularly on her own. Last month in the Isle of Man, she stunned the world winning the Grand Swiss tournament, after starting out as the 12th seed. The top prize also gave her a ticket to the Candidates tournament - the qualifying event for the Word chess title match. 
• She will travel to Toron to next April for that prestigious event as a Grandmaster. On Friday, she became only third Indian woman to get the GM title, the highest a player could aspire for in chess, after Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika. Harika got the title 12 years ago. That gives a fair indication about the significance of Vaishali's feat. India may be producing GMs at frequent intervals, but On a roll: Vaishali was key to the Indian women winning bronze at the Chess Olympiad and followed it up with Tata Steel Chess blitz title. DEBASISH BHADURI they are all male. 
• The 22-year-old from Chennai completed the final requirement for the title-2500 Elo points during the ongoing El Llobregat Open tournament in Spain on Friday. She had already made the three GM norms, the last of which came at the Qatar Masters tournament in October. Her talent had never been in doubt, but the last couple of years have seen her making steady progress. She played a key role in India winning the bronze medals in the wo men's event of the Chess Olympiad at Mamallapuram last year; she also won the individual bronze. 
• She followed it up with a superb show at the Tata Steel Chess India tournament in Kolkata, winning the blitz title. "It is great to know that she has been doing well in both classical and speed chess," her coach R.B. Ra- mesh told The Hindu over phone. "Getting the GM title is important for her career; it has been her dream for a long time.” 

2. India will be largest cotton producer

• Indian textile industry working towards achieving $250 billion by 2030, including $100 billion in exports, says Textiles and Commerce Minister Picush Goyal, inaugurates global cotton producing nations meet, also introduces Kasturi Cotton Bharat, a blockchain traceable textile brand
•  India will strive to be come the largest cot- ton producer globally, Minister for Textiles, Com- merce and Industry, Piy ush Goyal, said in Mumbai on Saturday, inaugurating an annual global meeting of a UN recognised body of cotton producing and con- suming nations. At the Sist plenary ses sion of the International Cotton Advisory Commit tee (ICAC), the Minister said India has the largest area under cotton cultiva tion and is the second lar gest producer. "We need to become the world's largest producer, Mr. Goyal ( stressed, adding that the textile advisory group on cotton will work towards improving productivity st milar to the level in coun tries like Australia. Manmade fabric India will provide leader- ship in cotton textiles and technical textiles. It has two advisory groups for cotton and manmade fibre. These groups have repre- sentation from the entire textile value chain and take policy decisions with in- puts from sector represen- tatives. 
• India has also launched PM MITRA - a INTERNATIONAL COTTON VISORY COMMI PLENAREETING Cotton class: India has the largest area under cotton cultivation and is the second largest producer, says Piyush Goyal. AN Central government scheme to set up mega tex- tile parks and promote the entire value chain. Mr. Goyal said the National Technical Textiles Mission promotes research and development in tech- nical textiles. These are manmade fabric meant for a specific function and are not generally used for ap- parel or aesthetic appeal The Indian textile industry is working towards achieving $250 billion by 2030, including $ 100 bil- lion exports, he said.
• In a fortnight, the Textile Ministry and the Department of Consumer Affairs would open state-of-the-art testing lab oratories nationwide to ensure high quality textile products are manufactured and exported from India, Mr. Goyal said. He introduced "Kasturi Cotton Bharat brand, which he claimed could be traceable using blockchain technology, and that it would be "carbon post tive".The first set of textile products made using Kasturi cotton were also introduced at the event. Indian cotton farmers will benefit from drone-based pesticide spraying launched by Prime Minister Modi re- cently, the Minister said, adding that the use of innovation and Internet of Things will benefit Indian cotton farmers.The four-day event on "Cotton Value Chain: Local Innovations for Global prosperity" is expected to be attended by delegates from 35 countries. 

3.In 2022, 66% of malaria cases in Southeast Asia were from India 

• WHO report says almost 46% of all cases in the region were due to Plasmodihan yhyyox, which is a protozoal parasite and a human pathogen, it says the cases declined 76% to 5 million in 2023, and globally, there were 249 million cases in 2022 
• In 2022, India account ed for 66% of malaria cases in the WHO Southeast Asia Region, not ed the World Malaria Re port, 2023, published by the World Health Organiza tion (WHO) It adds that almost 46% of all cases in the region were due to Plasmodium vi way, a protozoan protozo parasite and human pathogen which is the most frequent and widely distributed cause of recurring malaria. 'More people infected' Released earlier this week, the report highlights that despite strides in expand Ing access to insecticide treated nets and medicines to help prevent malaria in young children and preg nant women, more people were getting sick with malaria. 
• The WHO Southeast Asia Region accounted for about 2% of malaria cases globally, while malaria cas es declined by 76% from 23 million in 2000 to about five million in 2022. "Malaria case incidence in this region decreased by 83%, from about 18 cases per 1,000 population at risk in 2000 to about three cases per 1,000 population at risk in 2022," said the report. Giving the global picture and trends in malaria, the report stated that in 2022, there were an estimated 249 million cases globally, exceeding the pre-pan demic level of 233 million in 2019 by 16 million cases. In addition to the dis ruptions caused by CO VID-19, the global malaria response has faced a grow ing number of threats,S3 such as drug and trieth elde resistance, hamand tarian crises, resource con straints, climate change Impacta and delays in pro gramme inmplementation particularly in countries with a high burden of the disease, said the report, which also delves into the link between clinmate change and malaria, 
• "The changing climate poses a substantial risk to progress against malaria, particularly in vulnerable regions," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WIHO Director General, in his note, adding that a sub stantial pivot in the fight against malaria is needed, with increased resourcing. strengthened political commitment, data-driven strategles and innovative tools. "Innovation should fo cus on the development of more efficient, effective and affordable products," he said 

4.Saxena launches ₹800-crore campaign for urban villages 

• Under the Dilli Gramodaya Abhiyan, 135 villages in the Capital to get access to better health, civic, and sports facilities: as part of the programme, L-G inaugurates 7-acre grazing land for stray cattle 
• Leutenant Governor VIK. Samema on Sa murday launched an 2800-crore campaign, 'Dil- Gramodaya Abhiyan, to develop urban villages in the national capital. A Raj Niwas official said the campaign, funded and implemented by the Delhi Development Authority, will ensure that all 135 ur- ban villages in Delhi get an infrastructure boost, land- scape upgrade, and civic services on a par with the more developed parts of the city. Announcing the pro gramine in north-west Del- hi's Jaunti village, Mr. Saxe- inaugurated a seven-acre plot to provide fodder to nearly 4,000 liv- estock. A waterbody ad joining the grazing ground will also be cleaned, dredged, deepened, and rejuvenated within a week, said officials. It will have a water management re- sources will also be provided. Farlier this year, the LG had adopted five villages in north-west Defni - Jaunti, Qutabgarh, Nizampur, Rawta, and Deorala-to be developed as self-sustaina ble model villages. A Raj Niwas official said the Qutabgarh village, adopted in February, has already seen a lot of deve lopment in several sectors. The initiative will be executed by the Delhi Development Authority, L-GVK. Saxena (left) said on Saturday SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT water channel on its peri- phery to ensure rainwater harvesting and groundwa ter recharge.
• 'First of its kindThe L-G said the seven-acre field is a first of its kind ex- periment in the Capital, which will ensure that stray cattle on the roads, often seen consuming gar- bage and being hit by passing vehicles, get a proper ecosystem for their suste A Raj Niwas official said under the Dilli Gramodaya Abhiyan, an action plan will be prepared for each village in consultation with the residents to transform the basic infrastructure, in cluding civic services, health, and sports facili- ties, in addition to which "The waterbodies in the area have been rejuvenat ed, community centres created, water pipelines mended, and parks renovated," the official said. "Moreover, a sports complex is also being built, which will have facilities for various sports, including cricket, badminton, and wrestling. The work on it is expected to be completed in a month," the offcial said, adding that the other villages have also seen similar development. 

5.India not among 118 nations that pledged to push green energy 

• As many as 118 countries signed a pledge to triple in- stalled renewable energy capacity by 2030 during the ongoing COP-28 di- mate summit here on Saturday and India is among those countries whose name is not on the list. The other conspicuous absence is that of China, the country that has the world's largest installed renewable energy capacity. Though the plan to substantially increase renewable energy capacity and energy efficiency and firm it up into a declaration at COP-28 was first floated by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this April, it was first mentioned as a concrete proposal in the New Delhi G-20 declaration in September. 
• The Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge, as of today, has committed to tripling worldwide installed renewable energy generation capacity to at least 11,000 gawats (GW) and to double the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements to more than 4% by 2030.A person in the know Mo said that some of the language in the text was "problematic". Officials in the Indian delegation did not respond to requests for comment by The Hindu on the reasons for India not signing the pledge. India as part of its nationally determined contributions (NDCs) has already committed to installing 500 GW of electricity from non- fossil fuel sources by 2030. As of March 2023, Power Minister R.K. Singh said In- dia already has close to 170 GW of installed capacity. 

6.Battling water woes in land of tragedy 

• Survivors of the Bhopal gas leak disaster of 1984 continue to bear the brunt of contaminated groundwater as govt promises remain unkept ashid Khan, 60, remembers the cold winter night of December 2, 1984, vividly, Sitting around a fire with four friends, his eyes started to burn. People began to shout, "Gas nikal gayi he (the gas has leaked)." Outside his current house in Devaki Na gar, about one km from the Union Carbide India Ltd. (UCIL) factory premises, Mr. Khan is now worried about another threat: the groundwater that he and the people in the densely populated area around use. "I still get dizzy every two or three days, and it lasts for two to three minutes. I sweat and get anxious," Mr. Khan said. In what was one of the greatest tragedies of the previous century, a deadly methyl isocyanate leakage from the plant in 1984, killed 5,479 people, temporarily disabled 35,455, and injured over five lakh, as per government estimates. 
• Over the years, stu- dies have found groundwater in different residential areas outside the factory con- taminated with heavy metals and other tox- ic substances, which could lead to cancer and other diseases. Now, experts say there are chances of the contamination spreading.This is because hundreds of tonnes of toxic waste dumped by the UCIL within its factory premises from 1969 to 1984 and 11 lakh tonnes of contaminated soil have not yet been cleared by authorities, despite court orders and warnings, officials con- firmed. In this soil is about one tonne of mercury, as per a government-commis- sioned study in 2010. There is also nearly 150 tonnes of underground dumps 

State News 

7.SC directs Bihar govt. to remove encroachments near the Ganga 

• The plea contended that the National Green Tribunal failed to note the fact that a clean Ganga is essential to meet the domestic water needs of the 5.5 lakh population of Patna as the groundwater has been contaminated with arsenic 
• The Supreme Court has ordered the Bi- har government to clear unauthorised con structions from the flood- plains of the Ganga, espe- clally in and around Patna.The order came on an affidavit filed by Bihar Identifying 213 unauthor ised constructions near the river. The State said it was taking measures to remove the encroachments Eco-fragile floodplains A Bench of Justices Ani ruddha Bose and Augus tine George Masih directed the State government to file an affidavit informing it about the removal of iden- tified illegal structures."The State shall also en- sure no further construc tion takes place adjacent to the Ganga particularly in and around the city of Pat- na," the Bench directed. The top court was hear- ing a plea filed by Patna resident Ashok Kumar Sinha against the June 30, 2020, order of the National Green Tribunal dismissing his plea against illegal constructions and permanent encroachments on the eco- fragile floodplains.The plea contended that the tribunal passed the or- der without examining the detailed particulars of the violators encroaching upon the Ganga flood- plains in Patna submitted by the appellant. 'Risk to life' tum of sewage," the plea filed through advocate Akash Vashishtha said. 
• "They are aggravating "The illegal and unauthor- ised constructions and per- manent encroachments on the floodplain of Ganga are creating tremendous amounts of waste, noise and generating vast quan under flood waters.the risk to life and property of the dwellers occupying the surroundings since every year, the areas stated in preceding paras go down the illegal constructions were obstructing the natural course of the river," it said.Environmental impacts The plea sald they were causing deleterious envi ronmental impacts on the rich biodiversity and des troying the habitat and, thereby, the very survival of dolphins, a Schedule 1 species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, on the stretch.
• The plea stated that the th tribunal failed to note the fact that a clean Ganga riv K er was vital and essential to meet the drinking and domestic water needs of the 5.5 lakh population of the city as the groundwater in the district was contaminated with arsenic. "A massive 520 acres of CL ecologically sensitive Ganga floodplain, stretching from Nauzer Ghat to Nur pur Ghat, in Patna, have been usurped. This stretch is prone to recurrent floods every year. A multi-storey building, belonging to the Takhat Shri Harmandir Sa hib, has further come up since 2017 and parts, there of, are still under construction," the plea said. 

8.The majority will have its way, but the minority must have its say: CJI The Hindu Bureau NEW DELHI 

• Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Saturday said that a society which did not encourage its citi- zens to critically think, question the powers that be and engage in non-con- formist democratic dis- course will fail to progress because it will fail to create dissenters. "Dissents emerge not from thin air but from a democratic culture of fierce debates... Abolition of slavery, annihilation of caste, emancipation of gender minorities, and religious harmony were all once dissenting opinions," Chief Justice Chandrachud said while speaking on the topic of "Democracy, debate and dissent" at an event commemorating Justice Keshav Chandra Dhulia, father of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia of the Supreme Court. Social harmony in a democracy should not be achieved by flushing out dissent, the Chief Justice said at the event organized at Dehradun in Uttarakhand. "A society is often known by its great dissenters because dissenters in- form us of the location and direction of a democracy," he said.
• "For all citizens to feel free in a democracy, the State must side with the weaker population which may be a numerical or a social minority. This may at first appear to be at odds with the democratic principle of majority rule. However, a mere rule by majority can be established by many forms of government. The beauty of a democracy is the sense of moral status with which all citizens can participate in a country and the consensus in its decision making. In a democracy the majority will have its way, but the minority must have its say," Chief Justice Chandrachud said. Mere appeals to vote them back to power by those elected to power would be meaningless unless they practice and uphold the fundamental and inherent postulates of democracy: justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, the Chief Justice noted. 

9.BCG revaccination study in adults to begin in 23 States 

• Twenty-three States have con- sented to parti cipate in the BCG revaccination study in adults that will be underta ken in a "programme implementation study mode to evaluate the ef fectiveness of the vaccine in reducing TB disease inci- dence. The study will tar- get some high-risk groups those older than 50 years, prior TB disease, un- derweight adults, diabet ics, and those who smoke and consume alcohol. The phase-1 of the study will be conducted in Uttar Pra desh and Madhya Pradesh, says a Delhi-based official. No clinical trials have been carried out in India to study the efficacy of BCG revaccination in adults to prevent TB disease, and studies in other coun tries have thrown up mixed results. Two clinical investigation studies by St. John's Research Institute, Bengaluru have found BCG revaccination in adults to be immunogenic. significantly Despite the recommen dation of an expert com mittee that a clinical trial be carried out first, the go- vernment has decided to go ahead with the pro gramme implementation study. "An expert commit tee constituted by ICMR re commended that a robust trial be carried out in India and implementation at population-level be under taken once evidence of effi- cacy was available," says Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, former Chief Scientist at WHO and a member of the expert committee. 
• Most studies of BCG revaccina tion globally have not found major impacts on re- ducing TB incidence. The refore, it is not recom mended by the WHO currently. However, a re cent phase-2 trial in South Africa suggested it may prevent TB infection. Hence, further trials are warranted to assess the ef- fectiveness of BCG revacci nation in different popula- tions, age groups, by timing of revaccination and types of TB." Since the government felt that a trial would take too long to complete and wanted to implement BCG revaccination at scale, the committee had suggested that some districts be used as an intervention arm and some as the control arm, and TB incidence be cap tured over a couple of years. Accordingly, 50% of the districts in a State will be included in the inter vention arm and the re- maining 50% will act as control. "WHO does not currently recommend program matic or pilot BCG revacci nation high-burden leven in countries such as India)," Dr. Birgitte Giersing, Team Lead vac cine platforms & prioritiza tion, WHO, says in an email to The Hindu. The 2018 BCG vaccine position paper by WHO does not advocate BCG revaccina tion in adults. The protective effect of a single dose of the vaccine given to infants in India wanes within a short time. A 15-year follow-up study found that at the end of 7.5 years there was "complete lack of protec tive efficacy" in children. Even if revaccination offers protection in adults, the duration of protection remains to be seen.Incidentally, while NIRT in Chennai will be conduct- ing a BCG booster dose clinical trial in children aged 6-18 years, the BCG revaccination study in adults is being undertaken mainly based on the retrospective data analysis of a small sub-group of the Chingleput BCG vaccination trial conducted in 1968. In the 1968 trial, 2,890 adults received a BCG revaccination and 1,546 did not, and the effi- cacy of the vaccine to re- duce TB incidence was found to be 36%. But the protective efficacy was seen only at the end of 15 years of follow-up, and the protective effect of BCG revaccination was significant only in the 31-40 years age group. The Chingleput BCG revaccination study has several limitations the sample size is small, potential confounders such as nutritional status, diabetes, smoking and al- cohol consumption, and TB exposure status are not known, and the time interval between the first dose and BCG revaccination is also not known. Tamil Nadu, which has consented to participate in the study, has 44 TB districts. Half of these will be earmarked as intervention arm and the remaining as control. 
• "Since adults be- longing to high-risk groups are to be studied, the number of consenting participants will run into lakhs," says Dr. T.S. Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Chennai. "The safety profile of BCG revac- cination will be studied programmatically, while a sub-group of participants running to a few thousands will be followed-up for two-three years by NIRT for vaccine efficacy." The study will begin in Tamil Nadu once the State go- vernment approves it.Kerala, Bihar, Chhattis- garh, West Bengal and Ut- tarakhand have not con- sented to participate in the study. "The field con- straints to carry out the study is the only reason why Kerala did not consent to participate," a Kerala of- ficial says. "The staff in- volved in the universal immunisation programme will be overburdened when BCG revaccination is included. There are gaps in the immunisation pro- gramme in Kerala after the pandemic. The focus is on closing this gap. So Kerala did not want to begin the BCG revaccination programme now.” 

Defence News 

10.U.S., U.K., Australia defence chiefs tout deep space radar and Al in joint deal 

• The defence chiefs of the U.S., Australia and Britain met in California on Friday, touting high-tech coopera tion on deep space radar, Al and quantum computing systems aimed at bol stering their forces in the face of global threats, In cluding from China.The three men huddled in Silicon Valley-the heart of the U.S. tech sector - to build on the so-called AU KUS (Australia, U.K., U.S.) partnership launched in September 2021. "Today just underscores (From left) Richard Marles, Lloyd Austin and Grant Shapps hold s press conference in California in the US on Friday, AFP that AUKUS is a once-in-a- generation opportunity that will promote peace and security throughout the Indo-Pacific,"
•  U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters.On Friday, the focus was on the cutting edge, includ ing the development ofwhat they called a Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability" program, which will see radar detec tion sites in all three cour tries by the end of the de cade, with the capacity to peer 35,000-km into space.Australian Defence Mi nister Richard Marles said that in addition to deep space radar, there would be coordination on quan tum technologies to ald with navigation and wea pons direction, as well as "resilient artificial intelli gence which in turn will give rise to resilient preci sion targeting”. 

Business News 

11. Modi, Muizzu agree to set up core group to further deepenties 

• India and the Maldives on Friday agreed to set up a core group to further dee- pen their partnership, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a "productive" meeting with newly elect- ed Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu on the side- lines of COP-28. "We discussed ways to enhance the India-Mal- dives friendship across di- verse sectors. We look for- ward to working together to deepen cooperation for the benefit of our people," Mr. Modi tweeted after the meeting, his first with Mr. Muizzu. According to the Prime Minister's Office, the two leaders discussed ways to further bolster economic relations, development cooperation, and people- to-people ties. 

Economy News 

12. Stocktake should account for failures of developed countries: BASIC grouping 

• The BASIC grouping of Bra zil, India, South Africa and China has said during the COP-28 here that the Glo bal Stocktake should also account for the failures of the developed nations, sources said.The Global Stocktake (GST) is a fundamental component of the Paris Agreement, which is used to monitor its implementa tion and evaluate the colective progress made in achieving the agreed goals. During the ongoing climate talks, the Global Stocktake is expected to take centre stage.According to multiple delegates who were pre- sent in the preliminary ne gotiations which put forward their initial expectations, the BASIC grouping condemned frag mented multilateralism of the developed world."
• The grouping pushed that the GST should account for achievements and failures, including on the part of developed countries," one of the delegates from the Pacific Islands said. When the Indian delegation was contacted, they confirmed the BASIC grouping demands but also underlined that these were the preliminary demands put forward before the negotiations started in full flow. Another delegate from Kenya also confirmed the demand of the BASIC nations, and said the grouping also condemned unilateralism and trade protectionism. The BASIC countries are a bloc of four large newly industrialised countries formed by an agreement in 2009.The four committed to act jointly at the Copenha gen climate summit, including a possible united walk-out if their common minimum position was not met by the developed nations. Nearly 1,00,000 delegates from 198 countries are participating in the global. conference which commenced on Thursday and will run through December 12. 

Schemes and Committee News 

13. After COVID break, Centre approves C fourth phase roll-out of GIAN scheme 

• Eight years after its inception, past its brief discontinuation during the COVID period, the Education Ministry is gearing up to restart the fourth phase of the Global Initiative of Aca- demic Networks (GIAN) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project to rope in eminent scholars from across the world to teach at Indian universities. The Union government has spent at least 126 crore in payment to sup- port foreign faculty's travel and honorarium since the inception of GIAN. Each fo reign faculty member is Paid a sum of $8000 (27 lakh) for a week of teach ing and $12,000 (12 lakh) for conducting a two-week course. As many as 1,073 academics have taught the one-week course, while 553 experts have held two- week courses.
• Among these are experts like David Shulman, an Indologist from Hebrew University in Jerusalem; Bhanu Pratap Jena, an American cell biologist; and Subir Sarkar, an Ox ford University-based physicist who taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Tabish Khair, a noted auth- or and Professor at Aarhus University in Denmark, taught postcolonial world UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMOSSION BAHADURSHAN ZANKA MA Out of the 2,101 approved courses, 193 courses were withdrawn and 1,772 courses were delivered till October 2023, FILE PHOTO literature at the IIT Bhubaneshwar. Sources in the Ministry said the National Institute - of Educational Planning and Administration (NIE PA), after evaluating the scheme, recommended its continuation. According to the data accessed by The Hindu, of the 2,101 approved cours es, 193 were withdrawn and 1,772 were delivered till October 2023. Since the beginning of the scheme in 2015-16, 1,612 foreign faculty members have visited the country to deliver courses from 59 countries. After two years of COVID lull, phase four applications for GIAN began only in July 2023, Ministry sources said. As many as 692 (39%) of the 1,772 courses were dell vered on Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campuses, while the second lar gest number of lectures, 436 (24.6%), took place at the National Institute of Technology (NITs). Com pared with those in Central institutes, fewer courses took place in State univer sities 241 (10.8%) of all courses. The rest was con ducted at the Indian Insti tutes of Information Tech nology (IIITs), Indian Institute of Sciences (IISC), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), management in- stitutes, Central universi ties and All India Council of Technical Education's engineering colleges 
• IITs are very well fund ed and a number of foreign faculty members regularly come there. We need to take more efforts for re- nowned faculty to visit State universities and smaller colleges, which have little exposure to high-quality lecturership," Jan a GIAN course coordinator from one of the partnering universities told The Hindu. Up to 41.4% (668) of academics who visited India M belonged to the U.S. The rest consisted of experts from the U.K. (143), Germany (93), Canada (89), France (56), Italy (58), Nordic countries (47), China, Japan and Taiwan (63), ASEAN countries (42) and other countries (259). Up to 72,000 Indian students directly benefited. 
• \"While in earlier phases, many foreign faculty t members were reluctant to publicly upload videos of their lectures and research for online consumption, the Ministry has now insisted in Phase 4 approval process that those experts who will allow video re- cording and optional web- casting of their course will be given preference," the course coordinator said. The Ministry is also planning to make the repository of GIAN lectures available to universities across India through an on- line consortium. ""These lectures can be accessed with a specific login ID and password for students and teachers across multiple universities under the new phase four proposal," the coordinator said