Celebrating self-reliance

Two splendid manifestations of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ – the rollout of 5G services and flag-off of the third Vande Bharat Express – were the highlights of this week and we give elaborate coverage to both. The Cover Story is about the launch of the fifth-generation wireless telecom services, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as the dawn of a new era. Presenting the “wonderful gift” to the country, he spoke of the “infinite sky of opportunities” which this high-speed network will unleash. The new technology holds the promise of revolutionising sectors from healthcare and education to agriculture and disaster monitoring, he emphasised. The focus of our report is on the epochal significance of India entering the select group with the indigenous technology that has gone behind the 5G rollout. With its high speed and low latency, 5G is highly important in an age when AI, IoT, meta-verse and other smart platforms are becoming common for individuals and enterprises, says our report.

As always, the Cover Story is enriched with two supporting stories. While focusing on the home-grown 5G technology, the first report explains how it is globallycompetitive, cost-effective and marketready. The Centre for Development of Telematics, it says, has been working towards evolving this tech framework driven by synergistic collaboration amongst R&D, academia, industry, start-ups and other relevant stakeholders. The second report dwells upon the transformative impact of the new technology on every aspect of human life. Besides answering some FAQs, the report quotes experts to reveal that 5G will have a cumulative economic impact of $1 trillion by 2035 and deliver an additional GDP of $150 billion for the country.

Vande Bharat Express, the other Makein-India glory, is the subject of this week’s Centrespread. The third semi-high-speed train is also the true manifestation of ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’, says our report, which majorly deals with the massive transformation that PM Modi has brought about in the Indian Railways. A related story details the key features and amenities matching global standards of performance, safety and comfort that the train provides and stresses that all these have been designed and made in India.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has proposed a population control law that would be “equally applicable to all”, and lamented that “religion-based imbalance” and “forced conversions” were breaking the country apart. The remarks carry particular significance in view of his recent outreach to Muslim community leaders. We give front-page treatment to the story.

The top story on G20 Podium attempts to debunk the oft-repeated accusation of the West that India and some other developing countries are the ‘polluters’. Besides quoting weighty observations of India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant in this regard, our report cites facts and figures to clear the air. The other story takes a look back at Italy’s presidency of the premium global forum. Lauding the country’s major achievement in bringing multilateralism to the fore and highlighting other milestones, the report also points out key failures during its tenure.

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