What are the AI language models?

• AI language models aims to minimise the dependence on human labour for fields such as translation, customer service or computation. They automate manual processes and generate new insights based on the existing data.
• The deep learning processes of these AI models are used for instantly decoding foreign languages by making use of massive volumes of user data and content on their servers.

About Google’s 1,000 Language AI Model

• Google’s 1,000 language AI Model was announced at the AI event that was organized in November 2022.
• To investigate the potential of this massive project, Google is currently working on an AI language model that can support some 400 languages.
• This model is said to be the “largest language coverage” among existing speech models.

How is this new language model different from the existing AI models?

• Currently, numerous AI language models are deployed for businesses or research. Google’s 1,000 languages initiative seeks to improve these models as a whole for diverse use cases.
• It aims to create one gigantic model for the 1,000 commonly used languages across the globe. It covers widely used as well as rarely used languages, enabling them to co-exist, interact and grow together.

Other AI language models

• Open AI, an artificial intelligence research firm, developed GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3) set of models named Davinci, Curie, Babbage, and Ada to generate natural text responses and perform tasks such as classification, simple summaries, address correction, answering questions etc.
• Meta is developing an AI-based language translation. The company claims that its open-source M2M-100 model is said to be the first multilingual translation model that does not rely on English as the default language when it translates directly between 100 languages.
• The Facebook-parent company is also focusing on AI-based translation for not just text but also oral languages like Hokkien. Google is also currently collecting data for languages that are widely spoken but do not have online presence.

About:

• Its latest report, titled ‘Financing India’s Urban Infrastructure Needs: Constraints to Commercial Financing and Prospects for Policy Action’, puts forth the urgent requirement to leverage greater private and commercial investments to meet the emerging financial gaps.

Highlights:

• Financing on a repayable basis can be done either through debt, private lending or public-private partnership investments.
• These require a recurrent source of revenue to meet obligations, thus, mandating raising adequate resources.
• Much of the urban infrastructure in India is financed by tied intergovernmental fiscal transfers, that is, vertical and horizontal transfer of finance for attaining certain objectives sub-nationally.
• Of the finances needed to fund capital expenditures for Indian cities, 48% is derived from State governments, 24% from the Central government and 15% from urban local bodies’ own surplus.
• The rest includes public-private partnership (3%), commercial debt (2%) and loans from Housing and Urban Development Corporation, or HUDCO (8%).
• The report argues that the overall funding base to raise commercial revenues “appears to be low” owing to weak fiscal performance of cities and low absorptive capacity for execution of projects.
• The report states that city agencies have been unable to expand their resource and funding base to support private financing for services such as water supply, sewerage networks and bus services, as they are highly subsidised.

Solutions:

• The central idea is to increase cities’ fiscal base and creditworthiness.
• For improving their fiscal base, it states, cities must institute a buoyant revenue base and be able to recover the cost of providing its services.
• The latter could be attained by revising property taxes, user fees and service charges, among other streams, from the current low base.

About:

• People across India can log onto the ‘Shabd Shala’ website and provide suggestions for possible translations of these words or their most prevalent usages in their respective languages.
• After collating all the suggestions, the Technical Words Selection Committee will zero in on the most popular or appropriate translations for each word, following which a glossary would be brought out in all the respective languages.
• The committee, to be constituted in consultation with the Education Ministry, will comprise of subject experts in science and technology, and experts in linguistics and the Sanskrit language.

The Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology:

• It was established on October 01, 1961 in pursuance of a Presidential Order dated April 27, 1960.
• Presently, CSTT is functioning under Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India with its headquarters at New Delhi.
• The main objective is to evolve standard terminology, propagate its use, and distribute it widely.
• The commission is mandated to collaborate with State governments, universities, regional textbook Boards, and State ‘Granth Academies’, which are nodal bodies in-charge of providing translations of English textbooks in local languages for institutions of higher education.
• Eighteen States were mandated to have Granth Academies.

• The third edition of the ‘Pan-India’ Coastal Defence Exercise ‘Sea Vigil-22’ took place on November 15-16, 2022. The exercise was a build up towards the major Theatre Level Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX), which the Indian Navy conducts every two years. Sea Vigil and TROPEX together will cover the entire spectrum of Maritime Security challenges.

What is exercise Sea Vigil?

• This National Level Coastal Defence Exercise was conceptualised in 2018 to validate various measures that have been instituted towards enhancing maritime security since ‘26/11’. It was aimed to jointly conduct operations with the Coast Guard and the police forces of coastal states spanning India’s 7,516-kilometre coastline.
• The exercise also included India’s two million square km Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), involving all coastal states and Union Territories, along with other maritime stakeholders, including the fishing and coastal communities.
• Coastal Security being a major sub-set of Coastal Defence construct, the concept of ‘Sea Vigil’ is to activate the Coastal Security apparatus across India and assess the overarching Coastal Defence mechanism.
• The exercise is being conducted by the Indian Navy in coordination with the Coast Guard and other Ministries entrusted with the task of maritime activities.
• The scale and conceptual expanse of the exercise is unprecedented in terms of the geographical extent, the number of stakeholders involved, the number of units participating and in terms of the objectives to be met.
• Assets of the Indian Navy, Coast Guard, Customs and other maritime agencies participated in Ex Sea Vigil.

Operational Dimensions

• While smaller scale exercises are conducted in Coastal States regularly, including combined exercises amongst adjoining states, the exercise Sea Vigil at the national level is aimed to serve a larger purpose. It provides opportunity, at the apex level, to assess the country’s preparedness in Maritime Security and Coastal Defence.

• The IIT-Mandi, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hitachi India Private Ltd (HIL) for collaborative research in artificial intelligence (AI).
• Laxmidhar Behera, Director, IIT-Mandi, said, “The MoU is aimed at collaborative research by the IIT-Mandi and Hitachi India in the area of artificial intelligence using novel methods leading to solutions that are scalable and can be used by HIL across multiple-used cases.”
• The MoU with Hitachi will strengthen collaboration, entrepreneurship and innovation.”

• The Himachal Pradesh Legal Services Authority has identified 30,000 cases to be taken up during the upcoming National Lok Adalat to be held in all the courts in the state on November 27.
• Justice Sabina, Executive Chairperson, Himachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority (HPLSA), interacted with all the judicial officers of the state through video conferencing to take the stock of preparations being made for the upcoming National Lok Adalat.
• “So far, 30,000 cases have been identified, which will be taken up at the Lok Adalat,” said Prem Pal Ranta, District and Sessions Judge. A special Online Lok Adalat with technical support of SAMA, an online dispute resolution organisation, for Motor Vehicle Challans and Petty Offences (both at pre-litigation and post-litigation Stage), will be held on November 27, he added.
• The HPLSA has coordinated with the HP Police Department and the Department of Transport for maximum identification and effective settlement of MV challans and petty offences at the pre-litigation stage. These departments have notified their Nodal and Compounding Officers for better coordination and successful organisation of the special online Lok Adalat.
• The offenders under the MV Act will receive summons or notice through an SMS on their registered mobile number or their address to settle their case in the Lok Adalat.
• Facilities like ePay (eCourts Digital Payment) for online payment of compounding fee/fine will be provided to the general public, enabling them to settle their cases at home by paying the compounding fee or fine without any physical appearance before the compounding authority or the court.
• A special drive is also being undertaken for mass awareness about the National Lok Adalat by associating local bodies, police, financial institutions, banks, NGOs, stakeholders, representatives of PRIs, PLVs, Asha/Anganwari workers, Public Transport, etc.
• Regular meetings are taking place with local bar associations, insurance companies, banks, other financial institutions, local bodies, police, NGOs and other stakeholders for effective identification and settlement of cases. Targets have been given to Judicial Officer for effective identification and settlement of cases.

• National Press Day is observed on November 16 every year to acknowledge and honour the Press Council of India (PCI). The day marks the presence of an independent and responsible press in the country. The Press Council of India also examines the quality of reportage of the Indian press and keeps a check on journalistic activities.

Significance of Press Freedom

• Independent Press is often called the voice of the voiceless, a connecting link between the all-powerful rulers to the downtrodden ruled. It brings out the ills and malaise of the system and helps the government find the solutions to these, in the process strengthening the values of the democratic system of governance. No wonder why it’s called one of the four pillars of a strong democracy, and the only one where commoners directly participate. The other 3 are the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary – a gang of select few.
• The council is extremely important to India as it was inherently constructed to protect the fourth pillar of a democracy, that is, the free press. Hence, it works consistently to ensure that the credibility of journalism is not compromised.

History:

• In the year 1956, the First Press Commission decided to form a body with statutory authority which has the responsibility of maintaining the ethics of journalism. The Commission felt that a managing body was required in order to connect with the people of the press and also to arbitrate on any issues that arose.
• In 1966 on 16 November, the PCI was formed. The National Press Day of India is since then celebrated on November 16 every year to commemorate the establishment of the council.
• According to the Press Council of India’s official website, the council is traditionally chaired by a retired Supreme Court Judge and 28 additional members of which 20 are members of the media outlets operating in India.
• Five members are nominated from the Houses of the Parliament and the remaining three represent cultural, legal and literary fields.

• In recognition of the effective measures taken by Pakistan against money laundering and terror financing, the UK has now officially removed the nation from its list of “High Risk Third Countries”.
• The UK has officially removed Pakistan from its list of ‘High Risk Third Countries’ following our early completion of FATF action plans”.
• “His Majesty’s Treasury issued an amendment to the UK’s High-Risk Third Countries’ list ON November 14, 2022, through a Statuary Instrument. The amendment removes Pakistan from the list in accordance with the decision taken by the FATF on October 21, 2022,” the official document read.
• “The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office recognizes the progress Pakistan has made to improve money laundering and terrorist financing controls.” In April 2021, the UK government added Pakistan to the list of undesirable 21 high-risk countries with unsatisfactory money laundering and terrorist financing controls.
• This list of 21 countries, released by the UK government, replicated the list of countries named by the FATF as high-risk or under increased monitoring. Pakistan shared the list at number 15 with conflict-ridden countries such as Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
• However, last month (October) the FATF, a Paris-based global money-laundering and terrorism-financing watchdog, finally removed Pakistan from its grey list after four years.
• The global body’s President Raja Kumar had announced that Pakistan’s name has been removed from the “grey list” as the country addressed all 34 points of the action plan.

• The world’s population touched 8 billion, a remarkable milestone for humanity that added one billion people in the last 12 years alone. India is expected to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation by next year.
• The population prospects report had said India’s population stands at 1.412 billion in 2022, compared with China’s 1.426 billion. India is projected to have a population of 1.668 billion in 2050, way ahead of China’s 1.317 billion people by the middle of the century.
• The world population numbered under one billion for millennia until around 1,800, and that it took more than 100 years to grow from one to two billion.
• The global population is projected to surpass nine billion around 2037 and 10 billion around 2058, according to UN estimates
• The year 2023 could well be a landmark year for India as it is projected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country with prospects to reap the demographic dividend as the median age of an Indian this year was 28.7 years, compared to 38.4 for China and 48.6 for Japan against a global value of 30.3 years, according to official data.
• According to UNFPA estimates, 68 per cent of India’s population is between 15-64 years old in 2022, while people aged 65 and older were seven per cent of the population.
• As per UN estimates, over 27 per cent of the country’s population is between the ages of 15-29 years. At 253 million, India is also home to the world’s largest adolescent population (10-19 years).
• The UNFPA has noted that India has its largest ever adolescent and youth population. According to UNFPA projections, India will continue to have one of the youngest populations in the world till 2030 and India is experiencing a demographic window of opportunity, a “youth bulge” that will last till 2025.
• It listed eight trends for a world of 8 billion – slowing growth, fewer children, longer lives, people on the move, aging populations, women outliving men, two pandemics and shifting centres.
• The UN agency elaborated that after half a century of falling fertility, growth in global population is slowing down.
• Further, the UNFPA said across the world people are living longer. In 2019, global life expectancy at birth stood at 72.8 years, up almost nine years since 1990 and is projected to rise to 77.2 years by 2050.
• As fertility declines and life expectancy rises, the global population is aging fast and the share of people 65 and over in the population stands at nearly 10 per cent as of 2022 and is projected to rise to 16 per cent by 2050.
• Between now and 2050, almost all of the global increase in the numbers of children and youth and of adults under age 65 will occur in low-income and lower-middle-income countries.

• Indicating that India’s green measures like cutting on emissions and the increasing use of renewable energy are delivering results, a new study has noted that the developing nation climbed two spots to rank eighth out of 63 in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2023.
• India also earned a high rating in the GHG Emissions and Energy Use categories, while it got a medium rating in Climate Policy and Renewable Energy sections, as per the report prepared by three environmental non-governmental organisations that track climate performance of the European Union and 59 countries, which together account for over 92 per cent of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the world.
• The rankings by German watch, New Climate Institute and the Climate Action Network are based on how well the countries are doing to halve their emissions by 2030 — an essential aspect to keep the 1.5-degree Celsius goal within reach and prevent dangerous climate change.
• The CCPI, which has been published since 2005, aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and it enables comparison of individual countries’ climate protection efforts and progress.
• The report leaves the first three places empty as “no country performed well enough in all index categories to achieve an overall very high rating”. It puts Denmark in fourth place, followed by Sweden and Chile.
• China, which is the world’s biggest polluter now, fell 13 places to 51st in this year’s CCPI and received an overall very-low rating due to plans for new coal-fired power plants.
• The US rose by three ranks to the 52nd place. Iran (63rd), Saudi Arabia (62nd) and Kazakhstan (61st) fared the worst. The report said India is “on track” to meet its 2030 emissions targets, compatible with a well-below 2-degree-Celsius scenario.
• Since the last CCPI, India has updated its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and announced a net-zero target for 2070. Net zero means achieving a balance between the greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere and those taken out.
• The NDCs are national plans to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius in accordance with the Paris Agreement.
• In August, India released its updated NDCs and now stands committed to reducing emissions intensity of its GDP by 45 per cent by 2030 from the 2005 level.
• It aims to achieve about 50 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030. These NDCs are, however, contingent on delivery of finance and technology transfer.
• Despite India’s medium rating in the Renewable Energy category, the country has included renewable targets in its updated NDC.
• The report noted that India is among the nine countries responsible for 90 per cent of global coal production and it also plans to increase its oil, gas, and oil production by over 5 per cent by 2030.
• “This is incompatible with the 1.5 degree Celsius target,” the CCPI experts said.