4 February 2023

• Science: Generative AI debate intensified globally as Google announced Bard (based on LaMDA), competing with ChatGPT. India launched a National Programme on Artificial Intelligence.
• Environment: World Wetlands Day (2 February). Budget 2023-24 introduced the Amrit Dharohar scheme for wetlands and MISHTI for mangroves. India's wetland and mangrove policy framework reviewed.
• Economy: Budget's Green Growth priority analysed in detail. Lithium-ion battery customs duty exempted. A Battery Energy Storage target of 4,000 MWH announced.
• Space: India tracked 111 payloads and 105 debris pieces in orbit. The Kessler Syndrome and ISRO's NETRA project for space situational awareness received attention.

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GS area: Science and Technology, Governance

Generative AI moved to the centre of technology policy debate in early 2023:

• What it is: a class of artificial intelligence that creates new content (text, images, audio, video) by learning patterns from existing data. It does not merely retrieve; it generates.
• Leading models at the time: GPT-3 and GPT-4 (OpenAI), BERT and LaMDA (Google), DALL-E2 (OpenAI, for images), Whisper (OpenAI, for speech). China's Baidu also announced a competing model.
• Google Bard: announced on 6 February (launching 8 February publicly). Based on LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications). Positioned as a direct competitor to ChatGPT, which runs on Microsoft Azure.
• Ethical concerns: bias in outputs, privacy risks, job displacement across knowledge-work sectors, and misuse for deepfakes and misinformation.
• India's response: MeitY's National Programme on Artificial Intelligence addresses responsible development. The Budget's three AI Centres of Excellence in top educational institutions extend this.

Static linkage: Science and Technology (AI, governance of emerging technologies).

GS area: Environment

World Wetlands Day falls on 2 February each year, marking the date of the Ramsar Convention's adoption in 1971:

• Ramsar Convention: the intergovernmental treaty for wetland conservation. India has the highest number of Ramsar sites in Asia. As of early 2023, India had 75 Ramsar sites.
• What wetlands do: they act as "kidneys of the Earth," filtering water and absorbing pollutants. They are critical carbon sinks and biodiversity hotspots.
• Amrit Dharohar: announced in Budget 2023-24 to conserve wetlands under a holistic framework. Targets conservation with community participation.
• MISHTI: Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes. Implemented via MGNREGA and CAMPA Fund. India has 4,992 sq km of mangroves.
• 2023 theme: "Revive and restore degraded wetlands."
• Nanda Lake (Goa): designated as Goa's first Ramsar site around this period.

Static linkage: Environment (wetlands, Ramsar Convention, biodiversity conservation).

GS area: Economy (agriculture, cooperatives)

Budget 2023-24 proposed creating 2 lakh new PACS within five years. This is the largest expansion of the cooperative credit structure ever proposed:

• PACS structure: village-level institutions at the base of the three-tier cooperative credit structure. Above them sit District Central Cooperative Banks and then State Cooperative Banks.
• Current number: approximately 63,000 PACS across India.
• Budget proposal: 2 lakh PACS to cover every panchayat, functioning as multipurpose centres offering agricultural credit, inputs, and storage.
• MoU with Common Service Centres: PACS partnering with CSCs to offer 20 or more government-to-citizen services. This integrates rural credit institutions into the digital service delivery network.
• Agriculture credit target: Rs 20 lakh crore in Budget 2023-24. PACS are the primary conduit for short-term crop loans at the village level.

Static linkage: Indian Economy (cooperative credit, agricultural finance, rural institutions).

GS area: Science and Technology

India's space programme carried 111 payloads and 105 debris objects in orbit as of early 2023:

• Space debris: any non-functional human-made object in orbit. Estimated 500,000 to 1 million objects globally at various sizes.
• Kessler Syndrome: a scenario described by NASA scientist Donald Kessler in 1978. Collisions between objects create more debris, which causes more collisions, eventually making certain orbital bands unusable. A single high-speed collision can produce thousands of new fragments.
• NETRA (Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis): ISRO's space situational awareness programme. Tracks objects in orbit and assesses collision risk for Indian satellites.
• IS4OM: India's Space Situational Awareness and Management framework. Set up in 2022 to provide comprehensive collision threat monitoring.

Static linkage: Science and Technology (space technology, ISRO).

GS area: Health, Social Justice

Budget 2023-24 launched the Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission with a target of 2047:

• The disease: an inherited blood disorder caused by a mutation that makes red blood cells sickle-shaped. Sickle cells block blood flow and break down rapidly, causing anaemia and organ damage. A child must inherit the abnormal haemoglobin gene from both parents to develop the disease.
• Prevalence: concentrated in approximately 200 high-burden districts spread across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha. Disproportionately affects tribal communities.
• Programme design: screen all tribals under 40 years of age. Issue colour-coded identity cards showing disease status (affected, carrier, or unaffected). Use the data for genetic counselling and healthcare planning.
• 2047 target: elimination of sickle cell anaemia among scheduled tribe populations by the centenary of independence.

Static linkage: Health (genetic diseases, tribal health, government missions).

GS area: International Relations, Economy

The Paris Club features in discussions of Sri Lanka, Zambia, and other debt-distressed countries:

• Paris Club: an informal group of creditor nations established in 1956, headquartered in Paris. Its 22 permanent members are OECD economies (France, UK, US, Germany, Japan, and others).
• Function: coordinates debt-relief solutions for debtor nations, providing rescheduling, deferral, or reduction of sovereign debt owed to member governments.
• India's position: participates as an ad hoc member rather than a permanent one. India is itself a significant creditor to neighbouring countries and to African and South Asian borrowers.
• China's absence: China is not a Paris Club member. This makes coordinating debt restructuring for countries with both Chinese and Paris Club debt difficult. The Sri Lanka crisis of 2022-23 illustrated this problem directly.

Static linkage: International Relations (global financial institutions, debt restructuring).

• New form of ice discovered: scientists created medium-density amorphous ice (MDA) by ball-milling ordinary ice at -200°C. MDA may exist on icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Three amorphous ice forms now known.
• Budget: Battery Energy Storage target: 4,000 MWH of capacity with viability gap funding support. Complements the 13 GW Ladakh solar evacuation line.
• Cobra venom research: researchers traced the mechanism of cytotoxins in cobra venom, enabling more targeted antivenom development. Local tissue damage at a bite site is caused by cytotoxins rather than neurotoxins.

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