29 April 2024 : Daily Current Affairs

Topic: GS2 – International Relations, GS3 – Indian Economy – Effects of liberalisation on the economy

The topic is crucial for UPSC as it addresses India’s economic dependency on China and its strategic implications.

●  Trade Deficit: India faces a significant trade deficit with China, leading to economic imbalance and dependency on Chinese imports.

●  Loss of Domestic Industries: Chinese imports undermine domestic industries in India, particularly in sectors such as electronics, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals.

●  Strategic Concerns: Trade imbalance raises strategic concerns for India, as it increases dependency on China for critical goods and technologies.

●  Security Risks: Overreliance on Chinese imports poses security risks, as it exposes India to supply chain disruptions and vulnerabilities in times of geopolitical tensions.

●  Market Access Issues: India seeks greater market access for its products in China, but faces barriers such as non-tariff barriers, regulatory hurdles, and unfair trade practices.

●  Geopolitical Tensions: Trade imbalances exacerbate geopolitical tensions between India and China, impacting bilateral relations and regional stability.

Way Forward:

●  Diversification of Trade Partners: India should diversify its trade partners and reduce dependency on China by exploring new markets and strengthening trade ties with other countries.

● Promotion of Domestic Industries: Encourage domestic manufacturing and industries through incentives, subsidies, and policy support to reduce reliance on Chinese imports.

●  Addressing Market Access Issues: Negotiate with China to address market access issues, reduce trade barriers, and promote fair and reciprocal trade practices.

●  Enhancing Competitiveness: Improve the competitiveness of Indian industries through investments in infrastructure, technology, research and development, and skill development.

●   Bilateral Dialogue: Engage in bilateral dialogues and negotiations with China to address trade imbalances, enhance cooperation, and promote balanced trade relations.

●       Strengthening Regional Cooperation: Strengthen regional economic cooperation frameworks such as ASEAN, BIMSTEC, and RCEP to diversify trade and reduce dependency on any single partner.

Topic: GS1 – Indian Culture – Art Forms

The topic is relevant for UPSC as it showcases cultural heritage preservation and the legacy of renowned artists.

● Style: Raja Ravi Varma is renowned for blending Indian traditions with European academic realism, creating a unique style that revolutionized Indian art.

● Mythological Paintings: He is famous for his depictions of Hindu mythological figures and epics, such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, which became iconic representations of Indian cultural heritage.

● Portraiture: Raja Ravi Varma’s portraits of Indian royalty, aristocracy, and prominent personalities captured the essence and elegance of his subjects, earning him widespread acclaim.

● Printmaking: He pioneered the use of lithography to mass-produce his paintings, making art accessible to a wider audience and popularising his works across India.

● Legacy: Raja Ravi Varma established the Ravi Varma Press in 1894, making high-quality reproductions of his work widely available, influencing generations of artists and the Indian public.

● Recognition: His paintings have been exhibited internationally and are housed in prestigious museums and collections worldwide, cementing his status as one of India’s greatest artists.

Some of his renowned paintings:

● Shakuntala: Depicting the character from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, this painting captures the beauty and grace of Shakuntala as she gazes wistfully into the distance.

●  Damayanti Talking to a Swan: Inspired by the Nala-Damayanti tale from the Mahabharata, this painting portrays the princess Damayanti conversing with a swan, showcasing Raja Ravi Varma’s mastery of capturing emotion and narrative in his artwork.

● The Maharashtrian Lady: This portrait exemplifies Raja Ravi Varma’s ability to portray the elegance and dignity of Indian women, showcasing intricate details in attire and jewellery.

●       Lady Giving Alms at the Temple: Reflecting the artist’s fascination with religious themes, this painting depicts a devout woman making an offering at a temple, capturing the spiritual essence of the moment.

●       The Milkmaid: Inspired by European academic realism, this painting portrays a young woman in traditional attire, highlighting Raja Ravi Varma’s skill in capturing everyday scenes with meticulous attention to detail.

●       Galaxy of Musicians: This iconic painting showcases a group of musicians playing traditional Indian instruments, capturing the vibrancy and richness of Indian cultural heritage.

●       The Mysore Lady in Traditional Attire: This portrait of a noblewoman from Mysore exemplifies Raja Ravi Varma’s ability to capture the essence of regional aesthetics and attire in his artwork.

●       The Maharashtrian Lady with Fruit Basket: Another portrait showcasing the artist’s skill in capturing the beauty and grace of Indian women, this painting features a Maharashtrian lady holding a basket of fruits, adorned in traditional attire.

Topic: GS1 – Geography – Important Geophysical phenomena – Cyclones

This topic is significant for UPSC as it pertains to climate change, disaster management, and technological advancements in prediction systems.

●  Formation: Cyclones form due to low-pressure systems characterized by converging winds rotating counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

●  Characteristics:

●  Intense upward motion of air leads to cloud formation, precipitation, and stormy weather conditions.

●  Strong winds spiral inward toward the low-pressure center, reaching maximum intensity in the eyewall.

●  Cyclones are often associated with heavy rain, thunderstorms, lightning, and sometimes tornadoes.

●  Effects on Weather Patterns:

●  Cyclones bring heavy rainfall, leading to flooding, landslides, and waterlogging in affected areas.

●  High winds associated with cyclones can cause significant damage to infrastructure, vegetation, and property.

●  Storm surges, characterised by a rise in sea level, pose a severe threat to coastal regions, causing coastal erosion and inundation.

Anticyclones:

● Formation: Anticyclones form due to high-pressure systems characterised by diverging winds rotating clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

●  Characteristics:

● Air descends and diverges outward from the high-pressure center, leading to clear skies, stable atmospheric conditions, and dry weather.

● Light winds and calm weather prevail within anticyclones, with minimal cloud cover and precipitation.

●  Anticyclones are often associated with fair weather, sunny conditions, and temperature inversions, where warmer air traps cooler air near the surface.

●  Effects on Weather Patterns:

●  Anticyclones bring dry weather conditions, resulting in drought, aridity, and reduced agricultural productivity.

●  Clear skies and calm winds associated with anticyclones contribute to temperature extremes, with cold temperatures in winter and heatwaves in summer.

●  Temperature inversions can lead to air pollution buildup, as pollutants are trapped near the surface, impacting air quality and human health.

Key Differences:

●  Cyclones are associated with low-pressure systems, while anticyclones are associated with high-pressure systems.

●  Cyclones bring stormy weather conditions, heavy rainfall, and strong winds, whereas anticyclones bring fair weather, dry conditions, and calm winds.

● Cyclones lead to hazardous weather phenomena such as flooding, storm surges, and tornadoes, while anticyclones contribute to temperature extremes and air pollution buildup.

●  Cyclones are characterised by converging winds and upward motion of air, while anticyclones are characterised by diverging winds and descending air motion.

Q.1 Discuss the meaning of colour-coded weather warnings for cyclone prone areas given by India Meteorological Department. (150 words/10m) (UPSC CSE (M) GS-1 2022)

Q.2 Tropical cyclones are largely confined to South China Sea, Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Mexico. Why? (150 words/10m) (UPSC CSE (M) GS-1 2014)

Topic: GS3 – Internal Security

This topic is significant for UPSC as it pertains to India’s indigenous defence capabilities and strategic naval operations.

Q. Which one of the following is the best description of ‘INS Astradharini’, that was in the news recently?

(a) Amphibious warfare ship
(b) Nuclear-powered submarine
(c) Torpedo launch and recovery vessel
(d) Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

Ans: option C

Topic: GS2 – International Relations – Bilateral Relations

This topic is relevant for both Prelims and Mains in the context of knowing facts about the collaboration between India and the UK on defense technology which underscores the importance of international partnerships in advancing defense capabilities.

• The Centre and the UK government are engaged in discussions regarding the potential development of an electric propulsion system in India to power domestic warships.
• This development marks a significant shift in India’s naval technology, potentially transitioning from conventional diesel engines, gas turbines, or steam turbines to electric propulsion systems for larger warships.

• The foundation of India-UK defence ties dates back to the colonial era when British forces played a crucial role in shaping India’s military structure. However, the dynamics underwent a transformation post-Independence in 1947.
• Over the years, the relationship evolved from a colonial legacy to a strategic partnership, marked by shared democratic values, a common language, and historical linkages.

Evolving Partnership:

• The 21st century witnessed a renewed focus on bolstering defence collaboration between India and the UK.
• High-level visits and dialogues between the leadership of both nations have paved the way for enhanced cooperation in areas such as counter-terrorism, maritime security, and joint military exercises.
• The signing of the ‘Framework for the India-UK Defence Partnership’ in 2020 marked a significant milestone, providing a comprehensive roadmap for future engagements.

Joint Military Exercises:

• Examples include ‘Exercise Ajeya Warrior,’ strengthening interoperability between the Indian Army and the British Army.
• Such exercises foster mutual understanding, operational coordination, and shared best practices.

Joint Exercises between the UK and India

Ajeya Warrior:

Type: Army Exercise

Objective: Enhance counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency capabilities.

Details: Ajeya Warrior is a biennial exercise that alternates between India and the UK. It involves the Indian Army and the British Army and focuses on urban warfare, close-quarter battle drills, and joint tactical exercises.

Konkan:

Type: Naval Exercise

Objective: Improve maritime cooperation and interoperability between the Indian Navy and the Royal Navy.

Details: Konkan is an annual naval exercise that has been conducted since 2004. It includes various facets of naval operations such as anti-submarine warfare, air defense, and surface warfare.

Indra Dhanush:

Type: Air Force Exercise

Objective: Enhance cooperation and understanding between the Indian Air Force and the Royal Air Force.

Details: Indra Dhanush is an air force exercise that focuses on joint air combat and air mobility operations. It helps in exchanging expertise in areas such as fighter operations and air maintenance.

Exercise Information Warrior:

Type: Joint Cyber Exercise

Objective: Strengthen cyber capabilities and cooperation in dealing with cyber threats.

Details: Information Warrior is a cyber exercise conducted by both nations to enhance their abilities to counter cyber threats and protect critical infrastructure.

Exercise Cope India:

Type: Air Force Exercise

Objective: Improve combat capabilities and interoperability between the Indian Air Force and the Royal Air Force.

Details: Cope India is a trilateral exercise involving the Indian Air Force, the United States Air Force, and the Royal Air Force. It focuses on air combat training, aerial refueling, and airlift missions.

Ex-Eastron:

Type: Joint Ground Exercise

Objective: Enhance capabilities in joint anti-terrorism operations.

Details: Ex-Eastron is a joint exercise involving the Indian and British Special Forces. It focuses on special operations and counter-terrorism scenarios.

These joint exercises play a crucial role in fostering military-to-military cooperation, building trust and understanding between the armed forces of India and the United Kingdom. They also contribute to the overall strategic partnership, addressing shared security concerns and promoting regional and global stability.

Topic: GS3 – Science & Technology – Development & their applications

This topic is relevant for both Prelims and Mains in the context of understanding developments in artificial intelligence, particularly in compact language models like Phi-3-mini.

• Microsoft last week unveiled the latest version of its lightweight AI model, the Phi-3-mini, reportedly the first among three small language models (SLMs) that the company plans to release.
• This development marks a significant advancement in the field of artificial intelligence, particularly in the realm of compact language models (SLMs).

• Small language models are AI language models that contain significantly fewer parameters compared to their larger counterparts, such as GPT-4 or Gemini Advanced.
• While large language models (LLMs) boast hundreds of billions of parameters, SLMs typically range from a few million to a few billion parameters.
• ·      Despite their smaller size, SLMs are demonstrating remarkable effectiveness in specialized tasks and resource-constrained environments, thanks to advancements in training techniques, architecture, and optimization strategies.

Applications of Small Language Models

• The versatility of SLMs is one of their most compelling features, finding applications in various domains, including:
• Sentiment analysis
• Text summarization
• Question-answering
• Code generation
• The compact size and efficient computation of SLMs make them well-suited for deployment on edge devices, mobile applications, and resource-constrained environments.
• For example, Google’s Gemini Nano, featured on the latest Google Pixel phones, assists with text replies and summarizes recordings without requiring an internet connection.
• Microsoft’s Orca-2–7b and Orca-2–13b are other examples of SLMs.

SLMs vs. LLMs: Key Differences

Specialization:

• While LLMs are trained on vast amounts of general data, SLMs excel in specialization through fine-tuning, achieving high accuracy and performance in narrow contexts.

Computational efficiency:

• SLMs require significantly less computational power and energy consumption compared to LLMs.
• Inference speed and latency: The compact size of SLMs enables faster processing times, making them more responsive and suitable for real-time applications.

Cost-effectiveness:

• The development and deployment of SLMs are often more cost-effective than LLMs, making them an attractive option for smaller organizations and research groups with limited budgets.

Notable Small Language Models

• Llama 2 (Meta AI)
• Mistral and Mixtral (Mistral AI)
• Phi and Orca (Microsoft)
• Alpaca 7B (Stanford)
• StableLM (Stability AI)

The Future of Small Language Models

• As research and development in this area continue to advance, the future of small language models looks promising.
• Advanced techniques such as distillation, transfer learning, and innovative training strategies are expected to further enhance the capabilities of these models, potentially closing the performance gap with LLMs in various tasks.

Topic: GS3 – Environment – Pollution and Degradation

This topic is relevant for both Prelims and Mains in the context of understanding the causes, impacts, and solutions to plastic pollution.

• Last week, delegates from 175 countries convened in Ottawa, Canada, to commence discussions on a groundbreaking global treaty aimed at combating plastic pollution.
• India, represented by a senior official from the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, is among the participating nations.
• These negotiations mark the fourth round of talks since 2022, following the UN Environmental Assembly’s decision to develop a legally binding treaty on plastics pollution by the end of 2024.

• Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2022
•  Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
• National Dashboard on Elimination of Single Use Plastic and Plastic Waste Management
• India Plastics Pact
• Project REPLAN

Global:

• European Union’ Directive on Single-Use Plastics
• Closing the loop.
• The Global Tourism Plastics initiative

(a) They are considered harmful to marine ecosystems.

(b) They are considered to cause skin cancer in children.

(c) They are small enough to be absorbed by crop plants in irrigated fields.

(d) They are often found to be used as food adulterants.

Ans: (a)