3 July 2024, The Hindu
Great expectations, liberalism in dark times
Page 8
GS 2: Indian Constitution: features, amendments, significant provisions
- The object of politics, as of philosophy, is to perceive unity in diversity, where contradictions meet and merge in a multi-racial society.
- To rise to that highest knowledge of widespread concord is to reach to the intellectual equivalent of an intimate structure of a subjective and idealist state that works on the ideology of coexistence and welfare of all.
- But the compelling global history of the fate of democracy leaves a glaring blemish on the very idea of liberalism which faces threats from across the spectrum.
Digital jurisprudence in India, in an AI era
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GS 3: General awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nanotechnology, bio-technology
- Even though Generative AI (GAI) stands as a transformative force, wielding power to revolutionise society in ground-breaking ways, existing legal frameworks and judicial precedents that have been designed for a pre-AI world may struggle to effectively govern this rapidly-evolving technology.
- One of the most persistent and contentious issues in Internet governance has been the fixing of liability on “intermediaries” for content hosted by them.
- The landmark Shreya Singhal judgment addressed this by upholding Section 79 of the IT Act which grants intermediaries ‘safe harbour’ protection against hosting content, contingent upon meeting the due diligence requirements outlined in Section 3(1)(b) of the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules.
- However, its application to Generative AI tools remains challenging.
Mixed signals
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GS 3: Indian Economy - Infrastructure – Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
- Output data for May from the eight core infrastructure sectors show broad industrial activity slowed under the onslaught of a heatwave that left homes, offices and factories countrywide using more power to run their fans and cooling systems.
- Only coal, to fuel the power plants, and electricity generation posted double-digit output growth, expanding by 10.2% and 12.8%, respectively, as per provisional data on the Index of Eight Core Industries released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on June 28.
- And production in crude oil, fertilizers and cement shrank from their year-earlier levels, while output expansions decelerated in the remaining three sectors of natural gas, refinery products and steel.
- The heatwave’s impact on economic activity in May was particularly prominent in India’s northern parts, as it forced afternoon breaks at construction sites and daily peak power demand at the Northern Regional Load Despatch Centre consistently hovered around or exceeded 75 gigawatts.
France: India’s steady partner in green growth
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GS 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting the Indian interests
- On July 14, 2023, in Paris, President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi elevated the ‘Partnership for the Planet’ as one of the three pillars of the Indo-French Horizon 2047 Roadmap.
- This decision reflects the intensification of Indo-French cooperation over the past few years on issues such as climate change, biodiversity, health, and environment.
- It also shows a deep convergence of views between France and India: our two countries champion the idea that socioeconomic development and environment protection can go hand and hand, are committed to bridging North-South divides, and believe that we can together find sustainable solutions for the world and for our own green transitions.
- This has led to high-profile joint initiatives on the world stage, such as the International Solar Alliance.
- But the ‘Partnership for the Planet’ is more than that: it is made up of tangible projects in India, which advance a greener, more inclusive future.
On improving rural mobile connectivity
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GS 3: Security- Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites
- Mobile devices have become an integral part of our lives. We use them to communicate with our friends and family, conduct financial transactions through UPI, connect to the Internet, etc.
- The connectivity for these devices is enabled via a cellular (mobile) wireless network.
- A cellular network, such as a 5G network, includes a set of network equipment connected by communication links.
- They work together to move data between different devices and to other networks, e.g., the Internet.
- A cellular network can be divided into two sub-networks: the access network (AN) and the core network (CN).
Jaishankar to represent India in place of Modi at SCO summit in Kazakhstan
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GS 2: International Relations- Important International institutions, agencies, their structure and mandates
- External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar reached Astana in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, to lead the Indian delegation at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State in place of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 3 and 4, the Ministry of External Affairs has said.
- Leaders of other countries in the Eurasian group, newly expanded to include Belarus this year, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif and the Presidents of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will be hosted by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the summit.
- Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in Astana for a State visit and bilateral meetings ahead of the SCO, while Iran’s President may not be able to attend as the country is in the middle of elections.
Text of laws changed but criminal justice administration awaits reforms: Bajpai
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Prelims syllabus: Current events of national and international importance.
- The text of the three criminal laws may have been changed but the real test lies with reforms of the criminal justice administration and expecting the new laws to function from the first day is not feasible, said G.S. Bajpai, who headed the first committee set up by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in 2020 to examine the laws.
- Mr. Bajpai told The Hindu that the lower judiciary was stressed and there was huge pendency of cases, and it was unrealistic to expect that the new laws would function immediately.
Two vaccines that brought us to the brink of eradicating poli
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GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
- In 1948, microbiologists John F. Enders, Thomas Weller, and Frederick Robbins were trying to find a method to grow different viruses in cell cultures.
- In a routine experiment involving human muscle and skin cells, they decided to test one more virus along with the ones they were already testing, since a vial containing that virus was in their freezer.
- To their surprise, the virus proliferated and grew well with their method. Their work eventually solved one of the most important scientific problems of the time.
- They had just managed to find a way to grow the poliovirus in non-nerve cells.
