24.11.22

The Network Readiness Index 2022 was released by the US-based non-profit Portulans Institute. This report assesses the network-based readiness landscape of 131 economies based on their performances in four different pillars technology, people, Governance and impact. It encompasses 58 variables.

The United States is the top performer in the index, with a total score of 80.3. The second and third positions are held by Singapore (79.35) and Sweden (78.91) respectively.

Singapore is the biggest climber in this index, since it climbed from the 7^thposition to the second by pushing Denmark (6th) and Finland (7^th) out of the top five.

Other five countries that are top 10 performers are Netherlands (4^th), Switzerland (5^th), Germany (8^th), South Korea (9^th) and Norway (10^th).

Asia Pacifics top performer is Singapore, followed by South Korea and Japan.

The three-day apex-level regional strategic dialogue of the INDIAN NAVY, the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue 2022 (IPRD-2022) began in New Delhi on Wednesday, 23 November 2022. The IPRD is an annual international conference that seeks to foster exchange of ideas and promote deliberations on maritime issues relevant to the Indo-Pacific which, for India, stretches over a vast, predominantly maritime expanse from the eastern shore of Africa to the western shore of the Americas.

The inaugural session was followed by two thematic sessions onWeaving the Fabric of Holistic Maritime Security in the Indo-Pacific: Multilateral andConstructing Holistic-Security Bridges across the Western and Eastern Maritime Expanse of the Indo-Pacific. In these sessions, globally renowned subject-matter experts presented a variety of multilateral and national perspectives on building maritime security cooperation that could best stitch the Indo-Pacific together.

The 19th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP 19) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild and Flora (CITES) is being held at Panama City from 14^thNovember to 25^thNovember 2022.

At CoP 19, Indias proposal for induction of fresh water turtle Batagur kachuga earned wide support of the parties in CoP 19 of CITES. It was widely appreciated by the parties and well accepted when introduced.

CITES lauded and recorded the works done by the India in the area of conservation of tortoises and fresh water turtles and efforts made in combating wildlife crime and illegal trade of turtles in the country. The resolution documents submitted by the CITES Secretariat on tortoises and fresh water turtles specifically mentioned the commendable result achieved by the country in operations such as those initiated by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau namely Operation Turtshield, which resulted in nabbing many criminals involved in poaching and illegal trade of fresh water turtles and substantial seizures made by the agencies in different part of the country.

CITES is an international agreement to which States and regional economic integration organizations adhere voluntarily. Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties in other words they have to implement the Convention it does not take the place of national laws. Rather it provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.