Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for March 18, 2024. If you missed the March 15, 2024 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here

FRONT PAGE

Fresh data out: Payments before 2019 polls; DMK, ADMK, JD(S), NCP among 10 who name donors

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance

Main Examination: 

• General Studies II: Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.

• General Studies II: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- A day before the Supreme Court hears the State Bank of India’s response regarding its failure to disclose the unique alphanumeric code for each electoral bond purchased and redeemed, the Election Commission of India (ECI) released a fresh set of data on Sunday that further bolsters the demand for matching electoral bond donors to political parties, with as many as 10 regional parties voluntarily disclosing the names of their contributors.

• The Supreme Court expressed its displeasure over non-disclosure of the bond numbers-what is the issue exactly?

• Why did the Supreme Court come down heavily on SBI?

• Why did the Supreme Court strike down the Electoral Bonds Scheme?

• What were the concerns raised with respect to Electoral Bonds?

• How do electoral bonds work?

• Why are they being criticised as “undemocratic”?

• How do electoral bonds benefit the political parties?

• Why else have electoral bonds been criticised?

• What is Political Funding?

• Does the Representation of the People Act (RPA) entitle political parties to political funding?

• What are the methods that Political Parties in India raises the funds?

• Global practices regarding electoral funding that India can implement-Know in detail

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EXPRESS NETWORK

T M Krishna gets Sangita Kalanidhi award

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies I: Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Carnatic classical vocalist Thodur Madabusi Krishna, the musician at the forefront of challenging the conventional ideas about caste and gender politics in Carnatic music besides highlighting the institutional issues and non-inclusivity of the famed December Music Season, has been conferred the Sangita Kalanidhi award – the most prestigious recognition in Carnatic music – by the Madras Music Academy.

• Personality in News-Thodur Madabusi Krishna

• Do You Know-Krishna opted out of singing at the Music Academy in a decision he took in 2015 after he felt that the sprawling December Music Season, which had stemmed from the Music Academy’s first annual conference on Carnatic music in 1929, was increasingly being driven by “commodification” besides being “socially stifling”. He also highlighted the non-inclusive nature of the artform and the music season, wherein non-Brahmin musicians and certain art forms such as Pariyattam, Villupattu, Gaana-Pattu and Kuthu were being left out. He spoke of not making classical forms a conserve of certain spaces only, and, started a music festival in the fishing village of Uroor-Olcott Kupppam in an attempt to “push out caste elitism from the existing Carnatic music system” and unite various art forms.

It was in February this year that Krishna returned to the Academy to present a concert — Tyagaraja Aradhana — as an ode to the Telugu saint-composer. Last year, he also organised a ‘Nadaswaram and Thavil Festival’ in collaboration with Narada Gana Sabha. Most of the nadaswaram and thavil players are not Brahmins and are often not included in the kutcheri circuit. The instruments are considered more appropriate for rituals and weddings.

An economics graduate, Krishna was a musical prodigy who began learning from Bhagavathula Seetharama Sharma, followed by lessons from Carnatic vocalist Chingleput Ranganathan and Semmangudi Srinivas, the famed colossus in the field. Grandnephew of former Indian finance minister TT Krishnamachari, also one of the founders of the Madras Music Academy, Krishna was 12 when he presented his debut concert at the Academy.

• Know in brief-Sangita Kalanidhi award and Madras Music Academy

• Indian Classical Music-Key Features

• Hindustani Music and Carnatic Music-Compare and Contrast

• Hindustani Music Gharanas-What do you understand by the term ‘Gharana’?

• How many types of Carnatic music are there?

• Genesis of Carnatic music-Is it mentioned in Bharata’s Natyashastra?

• Major Styles of Carnatic music-Know in Brief

• Can you name some Hindustani Music Gharanas?

• Why isn’t there a Gharana system in the Carnatic style of music, yet Gharanas exist in Hindustani classical music?

• Caste and gender politics in Carnatic music-what you know about the same?

• Objective of classical music in a social, political and economic context-elaborate

• Why is the notion of exclusivity still attached to classical music?

• How did Carnatic music come to be associated with the elite?

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THE EDITORIAL PAGE

AN INTELLIGENT BALANCE

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Last week, lawmakers in the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Artificial Intelligence Act, putting the landmark legislation on track to take effect by the end of the year.

• What is the EU Artificial Intelligence Act?

• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the EU AI Act-Compare

• The EU AI Act classifies the technology into four categories-Know in detail

• Do You Know- At its core, the AI Act aims to strike a delicate balance between fostering innovation in the field while simultaneously safeguarding fundamental rights, democracy, and environmental sustainability. The approach it has taken to achieve this is a risk-based framework that imposes varying levels of obligations based on the potential impact and risks posed by different AI applications.

The Act outright bans certain AI practices deemed too risky or unethical. This includes biometric categorisation systems that discriminate based on sensitive traits like race or gender, as well as scraping of facial images from public spaces to create recognition databases (a win for privacy advocates). Also on the chopping block are AI systems used for social scoring, manipulating human behavior, and exploiting vulnerabilities.

Another area that’s receiving attention is the use of AI by law enforcement agencies. Biometric identification systems are generally prohibited “in principle”, according to the Act. However, the Act does allow it in specific cases. “Real-time RBI [biometric identification] can only be deployed if strict safeguards are met, e.g. its use is limited in time and geographic scope and subject to specific prior judicial or administrative authorisation. Such uses may include, for example, a targeted search of a missing person or preventing a terrorist attack,” states the official press release.

For AI applications deemed “high-risk” due to their potential impact on areas like health, safety, fundamental rights, or the environment, the Act lays out some obligations. These systems must undergo risk assessments, maintain detailed logs, ensure transparency and accuracy, and perhaps most importantly, maintain meaningful human oversight. And in a nod to consumer protection, the Act grants EU citizens the right to submit complaints about AI systems and receive explanations for decisions that impact their rights.

The EU AI Act classifies the technology into four categories: Prohibited, high-risk, limited-risk and minimal-risk. Systems that violate or threaten human rights through, for example, social scoring — creating “risk” profiles of people based on “desirable” or “undesirable” behaviour — or mass surveillance are banned outright.

High-risk systems, which have a significant impact on people’s lives and rights, such as those used for biometric identification or in education, health and law enforcement, will have to meet strict requirements, including human oversight and security and conformity assessment, before they can be put on the market. Systems involving user interaction, like chatbots and image-generation programmes, are classified as limited-risk and are required to inform users that they are interacting with AI and allow them to opt out.

The most widely used systems, which pose no or negligible risk, such as spam filters and smart appliances, are categorised as minimal-risk. They will be exempt from regulation, but will need to comply with existing laws. Like the 2016 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law, which influenced data privacy regulation around the world, the impact of the EU’s AI Act is expected to be felt globally. However, the history of EU technology legislation, including GDPR, which has been criticised for being regulation-heavy and stifling innovation, urges caution.

• How does it approach generative AI?

• Will other countries follow suit with AI regulation?

• Why AI regulation is needed?

• If Regulated then what should be the limit?

• If regulated, then what are the risks associated with regulating AI?

• What has been India’s Response to demands for AI Regulation?

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THE IDEAS PAGE

Myths about simultaneous polls

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-When inflation is high, it is wiser to be a miser. Similarly, it is wiser to run a country by cutting frivolous expenses and using the savings for its welfare. Indians’ hard-earned money can be saved by conducting simultaneous elections.

• What exactly high level committee said?

• What is “one nation, one election”?

• What are the arguments around holding simultaneous elections?

• But when elections were first held in independent India, where they not simultaneous to begin with?

• Has the idea of simultaneous polls been explored before?

• When and how did the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha, Assembly and local body polls come up?

• How exactly will holding Lok Sabha and Assembly polls together help?

• What have political parties said? What is the system in other countries?

• What will happen if India does decide on simultaneous elections?

• Do You Know-The idea of conducting simultaneous elections is not new to India. The first general election of the Lok Sabha and various state assembly elections were held simultaneously in 1951-52. This continued in three subsequent elections held in 1957, 1962, and 1967.

In 2015, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, in its 79th report, analysed the feasibility of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. An election is the ultimate expression of the faith of people in a democracy. Poll outcomes represent people’s will and decide the fate of a country. Conducting elections is a daunting process as citizens’ money and time are at stake.

The cost of conducting the 2009 Lok Sabha elections was about Rs 1,115 crore. For 2014, this cost more than tripled to about Rs 3,870 crore. Data for the 2019 elections is still awaited. Due to asynchronous Lok Sabha and legislative assembly elections including by-poll results, there is prolonged enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). This creates roadblocks in the public service and developmental activities, at least twice or thrice every year in one part or another of the country.

Elections also involve a huge investment of human resources. CRPF and police personnel are deployed so that the electoral process can be conducted safely. Various people employed by government departments and schools are taken off their normal duties and assigned to work for the ECI or state election commissions. Frequent elections lead to disruption of normal public life and impact the functioning of essential services. Precious time and money is spent on the formulation of the voter list from the draft list prepared by the Election Commission.

In its report on Demands for Grants (2016-17) of the Law Ministry, the Standing Committee had pointed out that the ECI and state ECs have separate electoral rolls. “They carry out registration of voters and update electoral rolls separately. The numbers of voters in their electoral rolls usually vary,” it had said.

• Way Ahead-Many feasibility studies and reports are appreciating the proposed solution of ONOE. The ECI, Law Commission, and Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Personnel Ministries have, in principle, supported the idea of simultaneous elections and a single voter list.

In 2017, the Niti Aayog published a discussion paper authored by Bibek Debroy and Kishore Desai, analysing the “what”, “why” and “how” of simultaneous elections. It offers an in-depth analysis which shall be read by all and charts out the plan to synchronise the assembly elections with general elections in two-phases, as was in the Standing Committee report. It also explains how to avoid the disruptions of simultaneous elections once they are synchronised.

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????The 360° UPSC Debate | Does India Need Simultaneous Elections?

EXPLAINED

Amid Nepal’s political turmoil, task for India

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: India and its neighbourhood- relations.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda won a vote of confidence in the 275-member lower house of Parliament last week, securing the support of 157 of the 268 MPs who were present. The trust vote, the third won by Prachanda in a little over a year, took place after the Prime Minister broke his party’s alliance with the Nepali Congress led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, and forged a new alliance with K P Sharma Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist).

• India-Nepal Bilateral relations-know the historical background

• India-Nepal Bilateral relations-What is the present situation?

• The extraordinary political instability in Nepal is of concern to India-why?

• China, India and Nepal-Connect the dots

• Is China’s political influence in Nepal harming Indian interests?

• Why is Nepal so important?

• India-Nepal Bilateral Relations and Shared Heritage-Know in detail

• What is India’s Neighbourhood First Policy?

• India’s Neighbourhood First Policy and Nepal-Connect the dots

• For Your Information-The Indian foreign policy establishment points out that India is Nepal’s largest trade partner, with bilateral trade crossing $7 billion in FY 2019-20, and that India provides transit for almost all of Nepal’s third country trade. Indian exports to Nepal have grown more than eight times over the past decade, while exports from Nepal have almost doubled. During the Covid-19 pandemic, India provided assistance of more than $7 million to Nepal, which included the supply of more than 23 tonnes of medicines and medical equipment, more than 9.5 million doses of vaccines, and a medical oxygen plant. About 8 million Nepalese citizens live and work in India, and some 6 lakh Indians live in Nepal. Indians are about 30% of foreign tourists in Nepal. The bilateral remittance flow is estimated at $3 billion from Nepal to India, and $1 billion in the opposite direction. Cooperation in power, water, and infrastructure has been a major element of India’s diplomatic toolkit with regard to Nepal.

Nepal is sandwiched between the two Asian giants, and the Nepalese political leadership, including the country’s former monarchs, has long sought to play the China card to manage the relationship with India. China has been pouring aid and investment in infrastructure to wean Kathmandu away from New Delhi. Nepalese imports from China almost tripled from (Indian) Rs 49.5 billion in 2013-14 to Rs 138.75 billion ($1.67 billion) in 2022-23.

With Oli, who has clear China leanings, back in government in Kathmandu, New Delhi would be keenly watching the expected efforts by Beijing to play a more active and influential role in Nepal’s domestic affairs. The political instability in Nepal has impacted the country’s economy. Thousands of young Nepalis are heading abroad, mainly to the Middle East, South Korea, and Malaysia, in search of work. In 2022-23, about 7.7 lakh people got permits to go to foreign job destinations, and remittances sent by Nepalese expatriates has been a major source of both sustenance for many Nepalese families, and of foreign exchange for the country.

As he works with new partners in government, Prime Minister Prachanda has his task cut out: he must stabilise Nepal’s economy, undertake reforms, crack down on corruption, and build infrastructure in the country. India needs to step up cooperation with Nepal in all these areas, and India’s development and economic aid must remain open. New Delhi’s position on the politics and future of Nepal must remain nuanced and flexible, with the people of Nepal at its centre — it must ensure that China or its proxies do not get an opportunity to ride on suspicion or prejudice against India. More than an “elder brother”, India should seek to be an equal partner for Nepal.

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What is SIMA, Google DeepMind’s new AI that can play video games

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Google DeepMind revealed its latest AI gaming agent called SIMA or Scalable Instructable Multiworld Agent, which can follow natural language instructions to perform tasks across video game environments. Simply, Google’s new AI is all set to play video games with you.

• What is SIMA?

• How does SIMA work?

• How was SIMA trained?

• For Your Information-AI research lab Google Deepmind describes SIMA as an AI Agent, which is different from AI models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google Gemini. AI models are trained on a vast data set and are limited when it comes to working on their own. On the other hand, an AI Agent can process data and take action themselves.

SIMA can be called a generalist AI Agent that is capable of doing different kinds of tasks. It is like a virtual buddy who can understand and follow instructions in all sorts of virtual environments – from exploring mysterious dungeons to building lavish castles. It can accomplish tasks or solve challenges assigned to it.

It is essentially a super-smart computer programme that can be thought of as a digital explorer, having the ability to understand what you want and help create it in the virtual world. SIMA “understands” your commands as it has been trained to process human language. So when you ask it to build a castle or find the treasure chest, it understands exactly what these commands mean.

One distinct feature of this AI Agent is that it is capable of learning and adapting. SIMA does this through the interactions it has with the user. The more you interact with SIMA, the smarter it gets by learning from its experiences and improves over time. This makes it better at understanding and fulfilling user requests.

Based on the current stage of AI development, it is a big feat for an AI system to be able to play even one game. However, SIMA goes beyond that and can follow instructions in a variety of game settings. This could potentially introduce more helpful AI agents for other environments.

The latest research from Google DeepMind shows that it is possible to translate the capabilities of advanced AI models into “useful, real-world actions through a language interface.” With this, Google is hoping that SIMA and other AI agents will be able to use video games as sandboxes to understand how AI systems can be more helpful.

On the company’s official blog, its description states: “We partnered with game developers to train SIMA on a variety of video games. This research marks the first time an agent has demonstrated it can understand a broad range of gaming worlds and follow natural-language instructions to carry out tasks within them, as a human might.”

To expose the AI agent to different environments, Google Deepmind collaborated with eight game studios to test SIMA on nine different video games, including Teardown by Tuxedo Labs and No Man’s Sky by Hello Games. With every game, SIMA’s portfolio opened a new interactive world along with a range of skills for it to learn, such as simple navigation, menu use, mining resources, flying spaceships, etc.

They also used four research environments, including one built with the cross-platform game engine Unity. This environment, called Construction Lab, required AI agents to build sculptures from building blocks. This exercise was done to test the agent’s object manipulation abilities and intuitive understanding of the physical world.

According to the researchers, by learning from different gaming worlds SIMA comprehends how language ties in with game-play behaviour. “Our first approach was to record pairs of human players across the games in our portfolio, with one player watching and instructing the other. We also had players play freely, then rewatch what they did and record instructions that would have led to their game actions,” read the official blog.

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Why Karnataka has banned food colouring used in cotton candy

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The Karnataka government recently “banned” the use of harmful colouring agents in gobhi manchurian and cotton candy, with a violation attracting imprisonment of up to 7 years and fine of up to Rs 10 lakhs, Karnataka health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said.

• What is Rhodamine B?

• Is it frequently added to food products in India?

• What are the food colours that are allowed by the food safety act?

• For Your Information-While the minister said that Karnataka was banning the use of the colouring agent Rhodamine B, it is not one of the permitted food colouring agents under the country’s food safety regulation. It is a chemical colour used in dyeing clothes, paper, leather, printing, and plastics. It is used to give red and pink colours.

The dye is not fit for consumption and may lead to acute toxicity. Exposure to the chemical may also damage the eye and cause irritation in the respiratory tract. While the International Agency for Research on Cancer — the World Health Organisation body that maintains a list of cancer causing agents — says it cannot be classified as carcinogenic to humans, there are some studies on rats that have shown carcinogenic effects.

Rhodamine B is usually reported from small road-side vendors in small cities. This is because of a lack of understanding about dyes that are permissible in food items. Small vendors are not aware that this dye can be harmful as effects might not always be felt immediately. They might just go to a shop and ask for a red colour, not knowing what is given to him.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the country’s apex food safety regulator, allows the use of very few natural and synthetic colours in food items. There is also a restriction on which colours can be used in what type of food product. “Rhodamine B is a common red dye; it is even used in Holi colours. However, it is thought to be a carcinogen and its use is not permitted in food products. In fact, only about ten colours are allowed to be used in foods,” Saurabh Arora, founder of the Food Safety Helpline, told The Indian Express.

According to him, the natural food colours whose use is allowed includes carotene and carotenoids (yellow, orange), chlorophyll (green), riboflavin (yellow), caramel, Annatto (orange-red, derived from the seed of an American tree), saffron, and circumin (yellow, from turmeric). The synthetic colours allowed include red from Ponceau 4R, Carmoisine, and Erythrosine; yellow from Tartrazine and Sunset Yellow FCF, blue from Indigo Carmine and Brilliant Blue FCF, and green from: Fast Green FCF. Even permissible food colourings, however, are not allowed in all food items. Some food items that can use these colours include ice creams, biscuits, cakes, confectionaries, fruit syrups and crushes, custard powder, jelly crystals, and carbonated or noncarbonated beverages, Arora said.

• How do artificial colours harm the human body?

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