12 December 2023

• AI regulation: The European Union reached a provisional deal on the world's first comprehensive AI regulation law, the AI Act, categorising AI applications by risk.
• UDHR anniversary: December 10's 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights continued to generate policy discussion in India.
• Cauvery basin: A study found 12,850 square kilometres of natural vegetation lost in the Cauvery basin between 1965 and 2016, with Karnataka accounting for 75 per cent of the decline.
• Operation Storm Makers II: Interpol announced 281 arrests across multiple countries for human trafficking and cyber fraud involving forced labour in Southeast Asia.

GS area: Science and Technology, Governance

The European Parliament and EU Council reached a provisional deal on the AI Act, the world's first comprehensive legislative framework regulating artificial intelligence:

• Risk framework: AI applications are classified into four tiers. Banned applications include social scoring by governments, real-time biometric surveillance in public spaces, and manipulation of human behaviour. High-risk applications (used in hiring, credit scoring, law enforcement) face strict requirements. Medium and low-risk applications face transparency obligations. General-purpose AI (like large language models) faces additional scrutiny.
• India's AI regulation contrast: India has not enacted AI legislation. The Economic Advisory Council to the PM released a framework for AI regulation using five principles: specialist regulator, transparency, accountability, manual overrides, and guardrails. India's AI penetration factor among G20 countries is 3.09, the highest.
• National Strategy for AI: NITI Aayog published India's National Strategy for AI in 2018.
• TRAI proposal: TRAI in 2023 proposed establishing a domestic statutory AI regulatory authority. No legislation had been introduced.

Static linkage: Digital governance, science and technology policy, international tech regulation.

GS area: Economy, Agriculture, Governance

Odisha shifted from being a rice-importing state to achieving its highest-ever food grain production in 2022:

• Productivity change: Rice productivity in Odisha roughly tripled over two decades.
• NFSA ranking: Odisha ranked at the top of the National Food Security Act implementation index in 2022.
• KALIA scheme: The Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme provides direct support to farmers. It is a state-level scheme distinct from PM-KISAN.
• Climate adaptation: Odisha's Comprehensive Climate Change Action Plan has addressed agricultural adaptation through drought-resistant and flood-tolerant variety promotion.

Static linkage: Agriculture policy, food security, state governance.

GS area: Society, Geography (India)

The Koya tribe of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh received attention in the context of the new state government in Telangana:

• Location: The Papikonda hill range along the Godavari river, straddling Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
• Self-identity: Refer to themselves as "Dorala Sattam" meaning the lords group.
• Language: Telugu.
• Status: Scheduled Tribe.
• Cultural marker: Their traditional flute, the Permakore, has been adapted to use palm leaves instead of bison horn tips to make the instrument more ecologically sustainable.
• Livelihood: Settled cultivation of Jowar, Ragi, Bajra, and other millets.

Static linkage: Tribal communities, Indian geography, biodiversity.

GS area: Environment, Geography

A scientific study found that the Cauvery basin lost 12,850 square kilometres of natural vegetation between 1965 and 2016:

• Cauvery: India's third-largest river in southern India. Originates at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri range of the Western Ghats. Drains into the Bay of Bengal.
• Major tributaries: Arkavathi, Hemavathi, Kabini, Bhavani.
• Karnataka's share of the loss: 75 per cent. Karnataka's overall forest cover stands at only about 20 per cent.
• Impact: Deforestation in river basins reduces water retention, increases sediment load in rivers, and degrades the recharge of aquifers.

Static linkage: River systems, forest conservation, southern India geography.

GS area: Environment, Geography

Analysis of threats to the Banni Grassland continued:

• Scale: About 2,618 square kilometres near the Great Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. Described as Asia's largest tropical grassland.
• Notified: As a reserve forest in 1955; upgraded to national park status in 2008.
• Biodiversity: 192 plant species and 262 bird species. Indian Bison are the megafauna anchor.
• Maldhari community: Traditional pastoralists who have grazed the Banni for generations. Their livelihoods depend on the open grassland ecosystem.
• Threat: Prosopis juliflora, an invasive shrub introduced for shade and erosion control, is converting grassland to dense scrub.

Static linkage: Biodiversity, wetlands and grasslands, tribal livelihoods.

GS area: Internal Security, International Relations

Interpol announced 281 arrests across multiple countries in Operation Storm Makers II:

• Focus: Human trafficking for forced labour in cyber fraud operations in Southeast Asia, particularly Myanmar, Cambodia, and Thailand.
• Mechanism: Victims from South Asia, Africa, and Southeast Asia were trafficked and coerced into running crypto and online fraud operations from guarded compounds.
• Charges: Trafficking, passport forgery, telecommunications fraud, and sexual exploitation.
• India's exposure: Indian nationals were among those trafficked into these compounds. The Ministry of External Affairs issued advisories warning Indians about fraudulent overseas job offers.

Static linkage: Internal security, organised crime, trafficking, cyber crime.

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 75: The UDHR was approved on 10 December 1948. Over 50 UN member nations contributed to its drafting. India's Hansa Mehta successfully changed "all men are born free" to "all human beings are born free" in what became Article 1.
• IndiaAI platform: Launched in 2023 as India's national AI infrastructure and capability-building initiative, aimed at making AI tools and computing resources available to startups and researchers.