THE POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. INDIAN ANTARCTIC BILL, 2022

THE CONTEXT: The Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022, introduced in Lok Sabha is pursuant to India’s accession to Antarctic Treaty, 1959 as well as the Protocol on Environment Protection (Madrid Protocol) to the Antarctic Treaty.

THE EXPLANATION:

Indian Antarctic Bill will also be useful in building credibility and enhancing the status of the country globally.

Objective:

1. The Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022 introduced in Lok Sabha aims at providing national measures to protect the Antarctic environment, and the dependent and associated ecosystems.
2. The Indian Antarctic Bill also aims to give effect to the Antarctic treaty, 1959, the protocol on the Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, 1998, and the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, 1982
3. The latest bill also aims at promoting Antarctica as a natural reserve that is devoted to science and peace and to ensure that the Antarctic does not become the scene of international discord.

About India’s expedition to Antarctic

1. The Indian Antarctic Programme is a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary programme. It is under the control of the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India.
2. The Indian Antarctic Programme was initiated in 1981 with the first Indian expedition to Antarctica.
3. It further gained global acceptance with India’s signing of the Antarctic Treaty as well as the construction of the Dakshin Gangotri Antarctic research base in 1983 which was superseded by the Maitri base from 1989.
4. In 2012, the newest Bharati base was commissioned which was constructed out of 134 shipping containers.
5. Under India’s Antarctic Programme, biological, earth, atmospheric, medical sciences, and chemical are studied in India. The country has carried out 30 scientific expeditions to the Antarctic as of October 14, 2010.

Value addition:

The Antarctic Treaty

• The Antarctic Treaty was signed in Washington on 1 December 1959 by the twelve nations (Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States and USSR).
• The Treaty now has 52 signatories. India became a member of this treaty in 1983.
• Headquarters: Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• The Treaty, applies to the area south of 60° South latitude.

Provisions:

• Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only(Art. I).
• Freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica and cooperation toward that end shall continue(Art. II).
• Scientific observations and results from Antarctica shall be exchanged and made freely available(Art. III).
• Article IV effectively seeks to neutralise territorial sovereignty in Antarctica.
• The treaty also put a freeze on any disputes between claimants over their territories on the continent.

Antarctic Treaty System: ·         As disputes have arisen over the years, many have been addressed through the expansion of the treaty framework with these agreements. This framework is now referred to as the “Antarctic Treaty System”. The Antarctic Treaty system is made up of four major international agreements: ·         The 1959 Antarctic Treaty. ·         The 1972 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals. ·         The 1980 Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. ·         The 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.

 THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

2. EXPLAINED: WHY INDIA’S PACT WITH SRI LANKA ON A MARITIME RESCUE CENTRE IS SIGNIFICANT

THE CONTEXT: The agreement appears to be part of India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region) initiative in the Indian Ocean, which has also seen India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives give a new push to their 2011 Colombo Security Conclave that now includes Mauritius.

THE EXPLANATION:

• India and Sri Lanka have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the Indian public sector Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) to set up a state-of-the-art Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) in Colombo.
• The agreement is significant as it enhances co-operation on maritime security between the two countries in a part of the Indian Ocean region where the India-China rivalry has taken centre stage over the last decade. Earlier this month, India also provided a naval floating dock to the Sri Lankan Navy, and two Dornier aircraft to the Sri Lankan Air Force.
• According to senior officials, the engagement between the forces of the two countries will augment interoperability and seamless maritime actions like carrying out anti-smuggling operations in the Indian Ocean Region.

Enhancing Sri Lanka capacity

• MRCCs are part of an international network under the UN’s International Maritime Organisation to monitor the sea lanes with the objective of swift response to emergencies, such as vessels in distress, rescue and evacuation of people, and prevention of and containing environmental disasters such as oil spills.
• Each country is responsible for its own Search and Rescue Region. The work of MRCCs is co-ordinated by the Navy or Coast Guard in each country. In India, the Coast Guard is the co-ordinating agency. In Sri Lanka, it is the Navy.
• The Bengaluru-based BEL has proposed enhancing Sri Lanka’s small MRCC by setting up advanced software systems that will increase Sri Lanka’s capacities for communication and co-ordination in its SRR (Search and Rescue Region) in the Indian Ocean, where it is the first responder. The MRCC will be established with a grant of $6 million from India.
• The enhanced MRCC will work out of the Sri Lankan Navy headquarters at Colombo, with a sub-center at Hambantota, where a Chinese state-owned company runs a deep water port that it helped to the bill, and which was controversially leased to it by Sri Lanka in 2016.
• Seven other sub-units along Sri Lanka’s coastline will make up the proposed new network. In situations in which regional assistance has to be mobilised, as happened with the two recent ship fires in Sri Lankan waters, this MRCC will be able to share information with its Indian counterparts.

SAGAR push

• Sri Lanka’s SRR is a wide swathe of 1,778,062. 24 sq km of the Indian Ocean and nearly 200 ships pass through these waters every day.
• The agreement appears to be part of India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region) initiative in the Indian Ocean, which has also seen India, Sri Lanka and Maldives give a new push to their 2011 Colombo Security Conclave that now includes Mauritius.
• The recent meeting of the CSC National Security Advisers identified “five pillars” of co-operation: maritime safety and security; countering terrorism and radicalisation; combating trafficking and transnational organised crime; cyber security, protection of critical infrastructure and technology; and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

THE ENVIRONMENT, ECOLOGY, AND CLIMATE CHANGE

3. RECORD NESTING OF OLIVE RIDLEY TURTLES

THE CONTEXT: As a record number of 4.92 lakh Olive Ridley turtles have crawled to the Rushikulya coast in Odisha, scientists have tagged more than 6,000 turtles to gather more information about their breeding behaviour and migration.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Odisha is the largest mass nesting site for Oliver Ridleys in the world. As temperatures start rising and getting warmer, the mass nesting season for Olive Ridley turtles on the Odisha coast starts. Lakhs of Olive Ridley sea turtles have flocked this year to Rushikulya river mouth for their annual mass nesting.
• These species flock to the place every year from the third week of February to the first week of March for nesting. After a long journey, all the way from the Indian Ocean, the turtles take a rest for some days after burying the eggs.
• According to the officials,This increased to 4.92 lakhs at Rushikulya and 5.20 lakhs at Gahirmatha.
• Arribada is a Spanish word meaning “arrival by sea” and refers to the mass nesting behaviour exhibited by Kemp’s Ridley and Olive Ridley sea turtles.

Value Addition:

Olive Ridley Sea Turtles

Olive Ridley Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) are migratory species visiting Indian coasts for nesting.

• These turtles travel all the way from the South Pacific Ocean to breed on the coast of Gahirmatha. Their mass nesting phenomenon is called arribadas.
• IUCN Status: Vulnerable; CITES: APPENDIX 1
• They have the highest degree of protection as they are included in Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• The turtle eggs normally take 45 days to hatch. After this, tiny hatchlings come out and make their way to the sea.
• Threats: Heavy predation of eggs by dogs and wild animals, indiscriminate fishing with trawlers and gill nets, and beach soil erosion.
• Every year, the Indian Coast Guard’s “Operation Olivia”, initiated in the early 1980s, helps protect Olive Ridley turtles as they congregate along the Odisha coast for breeding and nesting from November to December.
• KURMA App: It is aimed at turtle conservation by providing users with a database to identify a species but also provides the location of the nearest rescue centre for turtles across the country.

Developed by: The application has been developed by the Indian Turtle Conservation Action Network(ITCAN) in collaboration with the Turtle Survival Alliance-India and Wildlife Conservation Society-India.

THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

4. ISRO TO STEP UP TRACKING OF SPACE DEBRIS

THE CONTEXT: ISRO is building up its orbital debris tracking capability by deploying new radars and optical telescopes under the Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) project.

THE EXPLANATION:

Tracking of space debris:

• A space debris tracking radar with a range of 1,500 km and an optical telescope will be inducted as part of establishing an effective surveillance and tracking network under NETRA.
• The government has given the go-ahead for the deployment of the radar, which will be capable of detecting and tracking objects 10 cm and above in size, he said.
• It will be indigenously designed and built.
• Radars and optical telescopes are vital ground-based facilities for keeping an eye on space objects, including orbital junk.
• Space junk or debris consists of spent rocket stages, dead satellites, fragments of space objects and debris resulting from ASAT.
• Hurtling at an average speed of 27,000 kmph in LEO, these objects pose a very real threat as collisions involving even centimetre-sized fragments can be lethal to satellites.
• For protecting its space assets, ISRO was forced to perform 19 collision avoidance manoeuvres (CAM) in 2021, of which 14 were in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and five in the geostationary orbit. The number of CAMs jumped from just three in 2015 to 12 in 2020 and 19 in 2021.

About Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) project:

• Project NETRA is an early warning system in space to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites.
• ISRO SSA Control Centre, “NETRA”, is now set up within the ISTRAC campus at Peenya, Bangalore.
• NETRA’s eventual goal is to capture the GEO, or geostationary orbit, the scene at 36,000 km where communication satellites operate.
• Under NETRA, or Network for space object Tracking and Analysis, the ISRO plans to put up many observational facilities:

• • connected radars, telescopes
  • data processing units
  • a control centre

• They can, among others, spot, track and catalogue objects as small as 10 cm, up to a range of 3,400 km and equal to a space orbit of around 2,000 km.

THE PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

5. PANCHESHWAR MULTIPURPOSE PROJECT

THE CONTEXT: During his upcoming visit, Nepal’s Prime Minister is expected to focus on his personal experience of handling India-Nepal relations over Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project.

THE EXPLANATION:

• In India and Nepal, the proposed catchment area for the water is expected to submerge a total of 11600 hectares of land (7600 hectares in India and 4000 hectares in Nepal).
• This mega dam (Pancheshwar) will be built upon the Mahakali river (known in India as Sharada) which originates in Nepal and flows through Uttarakhand where various tributaries like Dhauli, Gori, Sarayu and Ramganga feed the Mahakali. Upon completion, this dam, the biggest in South Asia, is expected to generate 6480 MW of power, and will service both India and Nepal, besides controlling floods and decreasing the fear of drought.

IMPORTANCE:

• Nepal shares a border with 5 Indian states- Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim and Bihar. Hence an important point of cultural and economic exchange.
• Importance for India can be studied from two different angles: a) their strategic importance for India’s national security; and b) their place in India’s role perception in international politics.
• Nepal is right in the middle of India’s ‘Himalayan frontiers’, and along with Bhutan, it acts as northern ‘borderland’ flanks and acts as buffer states against any possible aggression from China.
• The two countries not only share an open border and unhindered movement of people, but they also have close bonds through marriages and familial ties, popularly known as Roti-Beti ka Rishta.
• India is Nepal’s largest trade partner and the largest source of foreign investments, besides providing transit for almost the entire third-country trade of Nepal.
• Indian firms engaged in manufacturing, services (banking, insurance, dry port), power sector and tourism industries etc.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Q1. Consider the following statements about Olive Ridley Turtles:

1. They are migratory species visiting Indian coasts for nesting.
2. Their mass nesting phenomenon is called arribadas.
3. Their IUCN conservation status is endangered.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) 1 only

b) 1 and 2 only

c) 2 and 3 only

d) 1, 2 and 3

ANSWER FOR 1^ST APRIL 2022

Answer: B

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is incorrect: Koodiyattam is a traditional performing art form in the state of Kerala, India.
• Statement 2 is correct: It is a combination of ancient Sanskrit theatre with elements of Koothu, an ancient performing art from the Sangam era.
• Statement 3 is correct: It is officially recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

 

THE CONTEXT: The European Commission has proposed a set of digital rights and principles in January 2022 that aim to protect people’s rights, support democracy, and ensure a fair and safe online environment. The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union will discuss the proposal before its adoption. This article explains the major features of the declaration and its significance.

THE SALIENT FEATURES OF THE DECLARATION

PEOPLE AT THE CENTRE OF THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION:

• Technology should serve and benefit all Europeans and empower them to pursue their aspirations in full security and respect for their fundamental rights. This requires:
• Strengthening the democratic framework for a digital transformation that benefits everyone and improves the lives of all Europeans.
• Fostering responsible and diligent action by all digital actors, public and private, for a safe and secure digital environment.

SOLIDARITY AND INCLUSION:

• Everyone should have access to technology that aims at uniting and not dividing people. The digital transformation should contribute to a fair society and economy in the Union. These needs:

(a) Making sure that technological solutions respect people’s rights, enable their exercise, and promote inclusion.

(b) Developing adequate frameworks so that all market actors assume their responsibilities and make a fair contribution to the costs of public goods and services.

CONNECTIVITY, DIGITAL EDUCATION, AND SKILLS:

• Everyone, everywhere in the EU, should have access to affordable and high-speed digital connectivity. Everyone has the right to education, training, and lifelong learning and should be able to acquire all basic and advanced digital skills. This requires:

(a) Ensuring access to excellent connectivity for everyone, wherever they live and whatever their income.

(b)Promoting and supporting efforts to equip all education and training institutions with digital connectivity, infrastructure, and tools.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Everyone has the right to fair, just, healthy, and safe working conditions and appropriate protection in the digital environment as in the physical workplace, regardless of their employment status, modality or duration. This needs:

(a) Ensuring that everyone shall be able to disconnect and benefit from safeguards for work-life balance in a digital environment.

A fair online environment:

• Everyone should be able to effectively choose which online services to use based on objective, transparent and reliable information. This requires:

(a) Ensuring a safe, secure.

(b) A fair online environment where fundamental rights are protected, and the responsibilities of platforms, especially large players and gatekeepers, are well defined.

PARTICIPATION IN THE DIGITAL PUBLIC SPACE:

• Everyone should have access to a trustworthy, diverse, and multilingual online environment. Access to diverse content contributes to a pluralistic public debate and should allow everyone to participate in democracy. This requires:

(a) Supporting the development and best use of digital technologies to stimulate citizen engagement and democratic participation.

(b) Continuing safeguarding fundamental rights online, notably the freedom of expression and information.

PRIVACY AND INDIVIDUAL CONTROL OVER DATA:

• Everyone has the right to the protection of their data online. That right includes the control on how the data are used and with whom they are shared.
• Everyone has the right to the confidentiality of their communications and the information on their electronic devices, and no one shall be subjected to unlawful online surveillance or interception measures.
• Everyone should be able to determine their digital legacy and decide what happens with the publicly available information that concerns them after their death.

SUSTAINABILITY:

• To avoid significant harm to the environment and promote a circular economy, digital products and services should be designed, produced, used, disposed of, and recycled to minimise their negative environmental and social impact. This requires:

(a) Supporting the development and use of sustainable digital technologies that have minimal environmental and social impact.

(b) Developing and deploying digital solutions with a positive impact on the environment and climate.

SIX THEMES OF THE DECLARATION IN A NUTSHELL

THE RATIONALE BEHIND THE EUROPEAN DECLARATION ON DIGITAL RIGHTS AND PRINCIPLES

ACCELERATION IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION:

• Digital transformation offers significant opportunities for a better quality of life, innovation, economic growth, and sustainability. But it also presents new challenges for the fabric, security, and stability of societies and economies.
• With the acceleration of the digital transformation, the time has for the European Union (EU) to spell out how its values and fundamental rights should be applied in the online world.

A CONTINUITY IN DATA PROTECTION APPROACHES:

• The European Parliament has made several calls for ensuring the full compliance of the Union’s approach to the digital transformation with fundamental rights such as data protection or non-discrimination and with principles such as technological and net neutrality and inclusiveness.
• It has also called for strengthened protection of users’ rights in the digital environment. This declaration is in furtherance of such initiatives and approaches.

BUILDING ON PREVIOUS INITIATIVES:

• This declaration builds on previous initiatives such as the “Tallinn Declaration on e-Government”, the “Berlin Declaration on Digital Society and Value-based Digital Government”, the “Lisbon Declaration – Digital Democracy with a Purpose”, “Path to the Digital Decade” etc. which calls for a model of digital transformation that strengthens the human dimension of the digital ecosystem with the Digital Single Market as its core.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THE MARKET:

• The declaration aims to explain shared political intentions.
• Not only does it recall the most relevant rights in the context of the digital transformation, but it also serves as a reference point for businesses and other relevant actors when developing and deploying new technologies.

FLAG POSTS FOR POLICYMAKERS:

• The democratic oversight of the digital society and economy should be further strengthened, fully respecting the rule of law principles, effective justice, and law enforcement.
• Thus, the declaration will guide policymakers when reflecting on their vision of the digital transformation: putting people at the center of the digital transformation, underlying solidarity, and inclusion, restating the importance of freedom of choice, etc.

PROMOTING BEST PRACTICES:

• The Union shall promote the declaration in its relations with other international organizations and third countries.
• The principles can serve as an inspiration for international partners to guide a digital transformation that puts people and their human rights at the center throughout the world.

A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE DECLARATION

• Despite the solemn character of the draft declaration, this text does not purport to exercise any legally binding role. Its ‘political nature is made explicit in the declaration itself and the accompanying communication. as the preamble recalls, it remains declaratory and, even if endorsed, will not set out legal obligations.
• The declaration has not been introduced as an EU Charter of Fundamental Rights 2.0, a document with potential constitutional value.
• The declaration does not have any direct mechanism of enforcement. The EU Commission, however, has proposed to use this document as a guide to assess the status of the digital transition across the EU in the form of an annual report.

EU PARLIAMENT AGREES ON PROPOSAL TO TAKE ON U.S. TECH GIANTS

In the European Parliament in Jan 2022 signed off on a proposal for new rules aimed at U.S. tech giants, paving the way for talks on the plan with member countries and the European Commission. The Digital Services Act, a proposal from the EU antitrust chief would force Amazon, Apple, Alphabet unit Google and Facebook owner Meta to do more to tackle illegal content on their platforms or risk fines up to 6% of global turnover. The proposal still needs to be ironed out with EU countries and lawmakers before it can become law, the first of its kind in the world. The European Parliament adopted the proposal with 530 votes in favour, 78 against, and 80 abstentions.

“With a huge majority, the European Parliament adopted the Digital Services Act. A big win, with support from the left to right,” Dutch lawmaker Paul Tang said on Twitter. Christel Schaldemose, a Danish lawmaker leading the Parliament’s negotiating team, said: “Online platforms have become increasingly important in our daily life, bringing new opportunities and new risks. We have to make sure that what is illegal offline is illegal online.” France, which holds the rotating EU presidency, aims for an agreement in the first half of 2022.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE DIGITAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY: THE INDIAN SCENARIO

‘Digital rights’ is a broad term: it can imply the right to privacy and data protection; it can be related to trolling, online threats, and hate speech; it can address broader issues of equitable Internet access regardless of economic background and disabilities. In India, where citizens’ data are at the mercy of companies and government and where is no privacy law, the Puttaswamy judgment, and the Justice B.N. Srikrishna committee report that led to the Personal Data Protection Bill of 2019 came as a ray of hope. But the Joint Committee report on the Bill has failed to provide a robust draft of legislation ensuring the privacy of citizens.

Earlier, the Central government introduced IT Rules 2021 which is also being criticized as putting disproportionate restrictions on digital freedom. Instead, it is held that it carved out an architecture for a surveillance state. Digital marketing has resulted in the compromise of the personal data integrity of the users and such data is being exploited commercially. There are also many instances of a data breach on the part of both public and private players including the UIDAI.

The lack of accountability of the tech giants is an acute problem in India despite their huge influence on public policy and governance matters. These issues have been echoed in Parliament recently where members urged the government to end the “systematic influence and interference of Facebook and other social media giants” on electoral politics being used to “hack democracy”. Last year, Facebook (Meta)was accused of allowing algorithms to amplify hate speech. Whistle-blowers Sophie Zhang and Frances Haugen have testified against the company’s policies. Haugen told British lawmakers that the social media company stokes online hate and extremism, fails to protect children from harmful content and lacks any incentive to fix the problems.

EU, INDIA, 8 OTHER COUNTRIES CALL FOR INT’L COOPERATION ON DATA PROTECTION

In a ‘Joint Declaration on Privacy and the Protection of Personal Data: Strengthening trust in the digital environment’, the European Union, Australia, Comoros, India, Japan, Mauritius, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, and Sri Lanka said rapid technological developments, in particular in information and digital technologies, have brought benefits for their economies and societies, as well as new challenges for privacy and the protection of personal data.

To foster data free flow with trust, which, as also acknowledged by the G20 Rome Leaders’ Declaration, is key to harnessing the opportunities of the digital economy, it is vital to ensure, as guaranteed by these countries’ respective legal frameworks, respect for individuals’ right to privacy and the protection of personal data as a core value and fundamental freedom, said the declaration.

They called for comprehensive legal frameworks and policies covering both the private and public sectors. They underlined core principles such as lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose limitation, data minimisation, limited data retention, data security, and accountability. They also called for enforceable rights of individuals, such as access, rectification, deletion, and safeguards concerning automated decision-making such as transparency and the possibility to challenge the outcome.

The joint declaration emphasised safeguards for international transfers to enable cross-border data flows by ensuring that the protection travels with the data. It also called for independent oversight by a dedicated supervisory authority and effective redress.

THE WAY FORWARD

GENERATE AND SPREAD DIGITAL AWARENESS: 

• Similar to many other Internet bills of rights promoted in the past few years by civil society groups and other international organisations, the EU declaration on digital rights and principles plays an important advocacy role in raising public awareness among citizens, institutions, and companies.

DEVELOP DIGITAL REGULATORY CAPABILITY:

• In a time when rapid global digital advancement consistently outpaces regulatory frameworks and institutions of State agencies in the multilateral domain, the declaration represents a unique step toward a human rights-based approach to digital governance and inclusion.
• However, they will remain mere declaratory without regulatory and governance mechanisms to enforce these rights.

A BENCHMARK FOR OTHER COUNTRIES:

• The declaration deals with very substantive aspects of the digital ecosystem including digital equality and oversight of tech companies. It provides a template for other countries/blocs so that they can streamline and update their own digital governances policies.

BALANCING THE RIGHTS OF THE MARKET, GOVERNMENT, AND CONSUMERS:

• The attempt to rein in the “Big-Tech Power” has been ongoing worldwide, including in the USA, Australia, India, etc.
• Although it is necessary to demand and enforce accountability on these companies, this should not lead to a situation of government control over citizens’ data.
• Also, the rights of the market, the free flow of data, and the development of the digital economy should not become a casualty.

LEGAL AND POLICY CERTAINTY IN INDIA:

• India requires a comprehensive digital law and policy system that integrate privacy, regulation, legitimate government control, and scope for digital entrepreneurship. The current Data Protection Bill requires serious overhauling so are the IT Act 2000 and other associated rules and policies.

THE CONCLUSION: The Declaration furthers the global conversation on digital constitutionalism, translating constitutional principles to address the challenges of the digital revolution. It reiterates that the digital world is not a lawless space: Existing fundamental rights are as valid online as they are offline. It is a good step towards promoting a safe, reliable, accountable, and equitable digital space that can benchmark other nations/groupings.

QUESTIONS:

• Comment on the salient features of the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles, 2022. How far do you think that they can address the problems of inequality, poor social inclusion, and lack of accountability in the digital ecosystem?
• “The European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles, 2022 is although right in intent but lacks substance”. Critically Examine