India
Source: brics2021.gov.in

1. The 13th Meeting of Heads of National Statistical Offices of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Countries was held in virtual format under the Chairship of India on 28th October 2021. Dr. G. P. Samanta, Chief Statistician of India and Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Government of India chaired the meeting. The meeting was attended by representatives from the National Statistical Offices (NSOs) of BRICS Countries.

2. During the meeting, the Joint Statistical Publication (JSP) 2021 and JSP Snapshot 2021 for BRICS Countries were released. The first chapter of JSP 2021 provides general information with comparable statistics of the five countries, while the other 14 chapters reflect the different aspects of the past development and current status of the individual countries. In addition, NSO India has also brought out the first BRICS JSP Snapshot 2021, a shorter version of BRICS Joint Statistical Publication, 2021, for engagement of a wide range of users, as per the agreement by the member countries.

3. The theme of the meeting was "NSOs efforts in monitoring Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" wherein speakers from BRICS NSOs highlighted efforts taken so far as well as future plans in terms of data and methodologies in the monitoring SDGs.

4. The BRICS Heads of NSOs acknowledged the importance of collaboration and exchange of best practices on a regular basis to bridge the data gaps to support policymakers in evidence-based decision-making.

5. The Reports JSP 2021 and JSP Snapshot 2021 are available at https://mospi.gov.in/.

India
Source: www.dailypioneer.com

A report 'BRICS joint statistical publication' by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation showed India lags behind most of the BRICS Countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) on many social and economic parameters including health, education, infant mortality, electricity consumption and other indicators.

The report showed that India is at the bottom in the group of five countries including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa when the public expenditure on health and education is concerned. India spends 3.5 % of its GDP on education and 1.8% on health, the lowest among the five Countries. While South Africa was at the top with regard to expenditure on education spending 6.9 % of its GDP, China led the pack in health expenditure spending 7.1 % of its GDP on health-related needs.

Data regarding hospital beds per 1,000 persons in the country has reflected a grim picture of the Country. While India has 0.61 beds per 1000 persons, Russia is at the top with 8 beds per 1,000 persons. India's poor status of public health infrastructure was quite evident during first and second wave of Covid-19. According to report, share of public expenditure on health to GDP in India is 1.8 while it is 4.8 in Brazil, 4.6 in Russia, 7.1 in China and 4.2 in South Africa.

Similarly, the report showed a higher infant mortality rate in India as it was at the second position with the rate 23 after South Africa with the rate 23.6.

So far as per capita consumption of electricity is concerned India is far behind other counterparts. Russia led the group with 7563-kilowatt hours while India was at the bottom with 1208 kilowatt-hours. The economic growth of a country depends a lot upon the ability to provide affordable, reliable and sustainable energy to citizens. Lower consumption also points towards the shortage of affordable electricity.

Similarly, India lags behind its other counterparts on the availability of road infrastructure. While India is at the bottom with 313,000 km of highways, China tops with 5158,000 Kms of highways. A wide network of highways is an important indicator of the economic development of a Country.

India scored lower even in the per capita GDP of 1945 US dollar. On the other side, China was at the top with the per capita GDP of 10438 US dollars showing the wide gap between the two countries so far as the prime economic indicator is concerned.

India
Source: brics2021.gov.in

India as the current BRICS Chair convened the 7th Meeting of BRICS Communications Ministers. Minister of State for Communications of the Republic of India, Shri Devusinh Chauhan, chaired the 7th meeting of BRICS Communications Ministers through video conferencing.

Mr. Fábio Salustino Mesquita De Faria, Minister of Communications of the Federative Republic of BRAZIL, Ms. Bella Cherkesova, Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, Mr. Xiao Yaqing, Minister of Industry and Information Technologies of the People's Republic of CHINA, and Ms. Khumbudzo Phophi Silence Ntshavheni, Minister of Communications & Digital Technologies of the Republic of SOUTH AFRICA led their respective delegations.

Shri Devusinh Chauhan while speaking during the meeting stated that the Hon'ble Prime Minister is committed to bridging the digital divide in India. To achieve the same, the Government of India has recently launched historical telecom reforms which will unleash the true potential of the telecom industry besides providing much-needed support to the telecom service providers. He also stated that the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India has launched a flagship scheme of extending optical fibers to all six lakh villages of India which will bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas.

The Ministers recognized the significant role of ICTs in increasing the effectiveness of BRICS countries' response to the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and assisting in the recovery of economies, business continuity, and minimizing the social and economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Ministers discussed the need to work together to develop multi-pronged approaches and reference models for affordable access to communications services and digital technologies for benefitting people, thereby achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Ministers expressed concerns on the risks and ethical dilemmas related to Artificial Intelligence and encouraged members to work together to deal with such concerns and risks of Artificial Intelligence and its ethical and responsible uses.

Ministers adopted the Terms of References of Digital BRICS Task Force and supported the advancement in work of the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR) across several Working Groups meeting in 2021. Ministers also appreciated the discussion on the "360-degree approach on New Industrial Revolution" in a seminar during Working Group on ICTs Cooperation and recognized the need of BRICS members to work together for a comprehensive understanding of the New Industrial Revolution, its advantages & disadvantages, and its impacts on the industrial workers, job market among others.

Ministers encouraged continuous cooperation in ICTs activities in international organizations and multilateral forums such as the International Telecommunications Union and other organizations.

Ministers adopted the proposal to host the Digital BRICS Forum annually to facilitate sharing of information and knowledge, practices, initiatives, etc. on agreed cooperation areas. BRICS Ministers appreciated India's efforts in keeping up the momentum of BRICS cooperation in ICTs. The Ministers looked forward to greater cooperation in these areas.

India
Source: http://infobrics.org/post/34412

The 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) to be held in Goa next month, as per an announcement by India's Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur, in New Delhi.

India's most prestigious film festival will be held from November 20 to 28. Thakur said that for the first time ever, IFFI has invited major OTT players to participate in the annual event.

Thakur also announced that for the first time ever, films from five BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries will be showcased through the BRICS Film Festival alongside IFFI. The five countries are also the "Focus Countries" of the 52nd IFFI.

The opening film of this edition of IFFI is "The King of all the World" (El Rey de Todo El Mundo) directed by Carlos Saura. This will also be the film's international premiere.

Around 30 films have been shortlisted for screening at 52nd IFFI from prominent international film festivals in the Festival Kaleidoscope and World Panorama sections.

The 52nd IFFI will pay homage to thespian Dilip Kumar, director Buddhadeb Dasgupta actors Jean-Paul Belmondo and Surekha Sikri , Christopher Plummer and Jean-Claude Carrière.

The jury for the International Competition for 52nd IFFI, comprised of the retrospective section, will feature renowned Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr, whose films have won accolades at Berlin, Cannes and Locarno Film Festivals.

A retrospective of Russian filmmaker and stage director Andrei Konchalovsky will also be shown. His films have won numerous accolades, including the Cannes Grand Prix Spécial du Jury, a FIPRESCI Award, two Silver Lions, three Golden Eagle Awards and an Emmy Award. A retrospective will also have films featuring South Indian superstar Rajinikanth.

India
Source: brics2021.gov.in

In the meeting of Foreign Ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, and China during the 64th General Assembly of UN, held in New York in September 2009; a strong need was felt to put on a single platform all the important data of all these 4 Countries and disseminate the same for their mutual benefit. South Africa joined this association BRICS during the year 2010. To put on a single platform all the important data of all these Countries viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa i.e. BRICS countries brought out their first Edition of the BRICS Joint Statistical Publication (JSP) in the year of 2010. Every year, one of the BRICS countries brings out this publication. Last year, BRICS JSP 2020 was brought out by Russia, and this year, the present issue-which is the twelfth issue of this annual publication, is being brought out by India.

The publication has 15 Chapters. The first chapter is a summary of the remaining 14 chapters, presenting general information with comparable statistics of the five countries, while the other 14 chapters reflect the different aspects of the past development and current status of the individual countries. In each of these 14 chapters, there are two components, a summary table with graphs followed by country tables. The summary table and graphs present the most comparable information among the five countries while the country tables show more detailed information specific to the individual countries. In addition, India has also brought out BRICS JSP (Snapshot), 2021; a shorter version of BRICS JSP, 2021, for engagement of a wide range of users, as per the agreement by the member countries during the 12th Meeting of Heads of BRICS NSOs organized by ROSSTAT, Russia in December 2020.

National Statistical Office (NSO), India would like to extend its gratitude to all BRICS NSOs for their contributions and continuous support in the preparation of the BRICS JSP. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, this year all processes and arrangements took more time and effort for finalizing the BRICS Joint Statistical Publication, 2021.

We hope that both the publications will be highly useful to all the stakeholders and electronic version of the publication will become more interactive in future.