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Delimitation

Why in News?

The Assam state Cabinet recently approved the merger of four districts with their constituent districts.

• On 27^th December, the EC announced the process of delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in Assam, saying it would be based on Census data from 2001. Assam currently has 14 Lok Sabha constituencies and 126 Assembly constituencies.

What is Delimitation?

• About:
  • Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country to represent changes in population.
  • The Delimitation Commission is to work without any executive influence.
  • The Constitution mandates that the Commission’s orders are final and cannot be questioned before any court as it would hold up an election indefinitely.
  • When the orders of the Delimitation Commission are laid before the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assembly, they cannot effect any modification in the orders.
• Need:
  • To provide equal representation to equal segments of a population.
  • Fair division of geographical areas so that one political party doesn’t have an advantage over others in an election.
  • To follow the principle of “One Vote One Value”.
• Composition:
  • The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India.
    • Retired Supreme Court judge
    • Chief Election Commissioner
    • Respective State Election Commissioners

What is the Process of Delimitation?

• Under Article 82, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census.
• Under Article 170, States also get divided into territorial constituencies as per Delimitation Act after every Census.
• Once the Act is in force, the Union government sets up a Delimitation Commission.
• The first delimitation exercise was carried out by the President (with the help of the Election Commission) in 1950-51.
• The Delimitation Commission Act was enacted in 1952.
• Delimitation Commissions have been set up four times — 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002 under the Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002.
• There was no delimitation after the 1981 and 1991 Censuses.

What are the Issues with Delimitation?

• States that take little interest in population control could end up with a greater number of seats in Parliament. The southern states that promoted family planning faced the possibility of having their seats reduced.
• In 2002-08, Delimitation was done based on the 2001 census, but the total number of seats in the Assemblies and Parliament decided as per the 1971 Census was not changed.
  • The 87^th Amendment Act of 2003 provided for the delimitation of constituencies on the basis of 2001 census and not 1991 census. However, this can be done without altering the number of seats allotted to each state in the Lok Sabha.
• The Constitution has also capped the number of Lok Shaba & Rajya Sabha seats to a maximum of 550 & 250 respectively and increasing populations are being represented by a single representative.

Source: IE

The Future of Metaverse and AI

Why in News?

The year 2022 was not the best for tech firms, yet we may innovative technologies emerge in future related to Metaverse and AI (Artificial Intelligence), which may raise concerns and present Opportunities.

• The year 2022 saw a lot of the shift in demand during and post the Covid-induced lockdowns.
• The year 2022 ended with near mayhem across most Silicon Valley companies, especially those in the Internet business.

What will be the Future Challenges and Opportunities of Meta-AI?

• More Pervasive AI:
  • ChatGPT has shown the world that conversational artificial intelligence is an idea whose time has come.
  • The ChatGPT can answer “follow-up questions”, and can also “admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests.” but most such AI elements are now in standalone products, which is more play than work.
  • In 2023, this intelligence will be seen coming into more products that we use every day —for instance Gmail that will not just auto-suggest but also write next mail to the boss.
• Beyond Social Media:
  • Twitter and Facebook are struggling to remain relevant amid an increasingly younger and digital native audience. Their concepts of social engagement are very different, often sans text and notice-board behaviors.
  • Meta, for instance, knows that it will have to think beyond its present social media platforms and wants to be the social link when users move to the Metaverse, if at all.
  • But that might not be something that will shift soon. Till then, there seems to be a vacuum emerging in the social media space, for now plugged by users sticking to short videos. But that fad too shall pass and not all platforms are good in that segment.
• More Regional, Darker Social Bubbles:
  • As the Internet spreads to new users, especially in countries like India, it is also becoming more localized and multilingual.
  • Across the world, the English language internet seems to have plateaued, making platforms like Google focus more on opportunities to serve smaller, regional languages.
  • This is a tech challenge in more ways than one, but also presents an opportunity to test out new technologies that can convert the content of the internet for these new users without much human intervention.
• Future of Metaverse: 
  • As hybrid workforces become the norm and with travel still not as easy as earlier, extended reality (XR) could become the answer to collaborate and communicate virtually.
    • XR is an emerging umbrella term for all the immersive technologies, including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) plus those that are still to be created.
    • All immersive technologies extend the reality we experience by either blending the virtual and “real” worlds or by creating a fully immersive experience.
  • Since the headsets and other paraphernalia to facilitate these virtual interactions are still very expensive, it might be up to companies to make these available to their employees for regular XR meetings. The first experience of this could end up looking like an upgraded version of video conferencing, but with the ability to interact with objects in the virtual space.
  • A few more commercial versions of the Metaverse is expected to be accessible to regular users during the year. However, the challenge will be with the hardware that lets people access these virtual worlds without making people bankrupt in the real world. The big disruptor could be an affordable device that logs users into the Metaverse easily — maybe it will just be a smartphone.

What are the Ethical Concerns related to AI?

• The legal and ethical issues that confront society due to AI include privacy and surveillance, bias or discrimination, and potentially the philosophical challenge is the role of human judgment. Concerns about newer digital technologies becoming a new source of inaccuracy and data breaches have arisen as a result of its use.
• The other side of this technological revolution is a growing apprehension on the socio-political and economic implications of AI, specifically, the concerns about co-existence of these emerging technologies and core principles of modern democracies.
• Consequently, AI ethics and the safe and responsible application of AI are becoming front and centre of the technology revolution.
• Constitutional morality was envisioned as the cornerstone for AI ethics’ principles in India, thus, propelling our constitutional rights and ethos to the paramount consideration for deploying AI in a responsible manner.

What are the Principles of a Responsible AI?

• Safety and Reliability: AI systems must ensure reliability regarding their intended functions and must have built-in safeguards to ensure the safety of stakeholders.
• Equality: AI systems must be built keeping in mind that similar people in similar circumstances are treated equally.
• Inclusivity and Non-Discrimination: AI systems must be developed to be inclusive of all stakeholders, and must not discriminate through bias between stakeholders on religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth or residence in matters of education, employment, access to public spaces etc.
• Privacy and Security: AI systems must ensure that the personal data of data subjects must be safe and secure, such that only authorised persons must access personal data for specified and necessary purposes, within a framework of sufficient safeguards to ensure this process.
• Principle of Transparency: The design and training of AI systems is key for its functioning. The system must be audited and be capable of external scrutiny to ensure that the deployment of the AI system is impartial, accountable and free from bias or inaccuracies.
• Principle of Accountability: Since there are various actors in the process of developing, deploying and operationalizing an AI system, the accountability structures for any effects, harms or damages by the AI system must be clearly set out in a publicly accessible and understandable manner.
• Protection and Reinforcement of Positive Human Values: This principle focuses on the possible deleterious effects of AI systems through collection of personal data for profiling, the use of AI systems in manners contrary to fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

Source: IE

Crypto Awareness Campaign

Why in News?

The Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) will launch an outreach programme to create awareness of Cryptocurrencies and Online Gaming.

What is the Outreach Programme?

• The need for the outreach programme is based on the observation that both crypto-assets and online gaming (that extends to gambling and betting) are still being promoted in a risky manner despite the recent turmoil in the sector.
• The programme will help potential investors to thoroughly educate themselves before making any decision since cryptocurrency investing is a complex and risky endeavour.

What is the IEPF?

• It is managed by the IEPF Authority, which was set up in 2016 under the provisions of Section 125 of the Companies Act, 2013.
• The Authority is entrusted with the responsibility of administration of the IEPF, which, besides promoting awareness among investors, makes refunds of shares, unclaimed dividends, matured deposits and debentures and so on to rightful claimants.
• As for investment education, the idea is to reach out to household investors, housewives and professionals alike in rural and urban areas and teach them the basics.
• Focus areas include primary and secondary capital markets, various saving instruments, the instruments for investment (such as mutual funds, equity, among others), making investors aware of dubious Ponzi and chit fund schemes and existing grievance redressal mechanisms, among other things.

Why is there a Concern about Cryptocurrency?

• The crypto dilemma stems from concerns about the unregulated currency having a destabilising effect on the monetary and fiscal stability of a country.
• Further, crypto exchanges in India are being investigated for their alleged involvement in unlawful practices such as drug trafficking, money laundering, violating foreign exchange legislation and evasion of GST (Goods and Services Tax).
  • As on December 2022, Rs 907.48 crore have been attached/seized, three persons have been arrested and four prosecution complaints have been filed before the Special Court, Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
• The immutable, public nature of the blockchain makes crypto a poor choice for money laundering because it allows law enforcement to uncover and trace money laundering far easier than cash transactions.”
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended framing legislation on the sector. It is of the view that cryptocurrencies should be prohibited.

What about Online Gaming?

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has been appointed the nodal industry for online gaming in India; for e-sports, the nodal agency is the Department of Sports, under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
• A proposed framework for Central regulation by MeitY is expected to address issues faced by the sector.
• For instance, there is confusion about the definitions of a ‘game of chance’ like fantasy games, and a ‘game of skill’, a term which has been used in the Public Gaming Act (1867) but has not been spelt out. There are risks from cybercrimes as well.
• In a ‘game of skill’, while the element of chance cannot be entirely ruled out, it is the ‘element of skill’ (mental or physical skill of the user) that plays a dominant role in determining the outcome of the game rather than pure chance.
• As per several rulings of the Supreme Court and several High Courts clearly establish ‘Games of Skill’ as legitimate business activities protected under Article 19(1)(g) of the Indian Constitution.
• These rulings have also emphasized a clear distinction between ‘Games of Skill’ and ‘Games of Chance’.
• Despite these court rulings, online skill games have faced restrictions in a few States due to addiction, financial losses and the thin line between skill and chance.

Way Forward

• Apart from the outreach programme, there has to be a regulatory mechanism for the crypto sector.
• If the government takes a heavy-handed approach and starts saying things like virtual currency is not legal in India, that will not be entirely true. People may presume incorrectly that it is illegal, and One may be indulging in unlawful transactions like money laundering using crypto assets. But unlawful transactions can also be executed using legal banking channels as well.

Source: TH

Draft Rules for Online Gaming

Why in News?

Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has released the Draft Rules for Online Gaming.

• The proposed rules have been introduced as an amendment to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

What are the Draft Rules?

• Self Regulatory Body:
  • Online games will have to register with a self-regulatory body, and only games cleared by the body will be allowed to legally operate in India.
    • The self-regulatory body will have a board of directors with five members from diverse fields, including online gaming, public policy, IT, psychology and medicine.
  • There could be more than one self-regulatory body and all of them will have to inform the Centre about the games they have registered along with a report detailing the criteria for registering.
• Due Diligence:
  • Online gaming firms will be required to undertake additional due diligence, including KYC of users, transparent withdrawal and refund of money, and a fair distribution of winnings.
  • For KYC, they will have to follow norms laid down for entities regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• Random Number Generation Certificate:
  • Gaming companies will also have to secure a Random Number Generation Certificate, which is typically used by platforms that offer card games to ensure that game outputs are statistically random and unpredictable.
  • They will also have to get a “no bot certificate” from a reputed certifying body.
• Restrictions on Betting:
  • Online gaming companies will not be allowed to engage in betting on the outcome of games.
• Compliance:
  • Similar to social media and e-commerce companies, online gaming platforms will also have to appoint a compliance officer who will ensure that the platform is following norms, a nodal officer who will act as a liaison official with the government and assist law enforcement agencies, and a grievance officer who will resolve user complaints.

What is the Need for the Rules?

• Around 40 to 45 % of the gamers in India are women, and therefore it was all the more important to keep the gaming ecosystem safe.
• It is believed to be a great first step for comprehensive regulation for online gaming and will reduce the state-wise regulatory fragmentation that was a big challenge for the industry.
• The revenue of the Indian mobile gaming industry is expected to reach USD 5 billion in 2025.
• The industry grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38% in India between 2017-2020, as opposed to 8 % in China and 10% in the US.
• It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15 % to reach Rs 153 billion in revenue by 2024, as per a report by VC firm Sequoia and management consulting company BCG.

Source: IE

Forest (Conservation) Rules 2022

Why in News?

Recently, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) Chairperson said that the ST body’s position on the Forest (Conservation) Rules 2022 being violative of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 “will be the same” even as the Environment Ministry has dismissed these concerns.

What is the Issue?

• Consent Clause for Diversion of Forest Land:
  • In September 2022, flagging concerns over the provision in the new rules that proposes to do away with the consent clause for diversion of forest land for other purposes, the Commission had recommended that these rules should be put on hold immediately.
    • In response, the ministry has insisted that the rules were framed under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and that the NCST’s apprehension of these rules being in violation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 was “not legally tenable”.
    • The Minister added that the two statutory processes were parallel and not dependent on each other.
• Consent of Gram Sabhas:
  • The NCST had pointed out that the FCR 2022 has done away with the provisions to mandatorily seek consent of Gram Sabhas before the Stage 1 clearance, leaving this process to be done later and even after Stage 2 clearance.
    • According to the government, FCR 2022 already provides for diversion of forest land “only after fulfilment and compliance of all provisions, including settlement of rights under the Forest Rights Act” and also does not bar or infringe upon the operation of other laws mandating consent of Gram Sabhas.

What are the Provisions of Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022?

• Formation of Committees:
  • It constituted an Advisory Committee, a regional empowered committee at each of the integrated regional offices and a screening committee at State/Union Territory (UT) government-level.
• Compensatory Afforestation:
  • The applicants for diverting forest land in a hilly or mountainous state with green cover covering more than two-thirds of its geographical area, or in a state/UT with forest cover covering more than one-third of its geographical area, will be able to take up compensatory afforestation in other states/UTs where the cover is less than 20%.
• Allows Private Plantations:
  • The rules make a provision for private parties to cultivate plantations and sell them as land to companies who need to meet compensatory afforestation targets.
    • Prior to the updated rules, state bodies would forward documents to the FAC that would also include information on the status of whether the forest rights of locals in the area were settled.
• No consent of Gram Sabha needed:
  • The new rules state that a project, once approved by the FAC, will then be passed on to the State authorities who will collect the compensatory fund and land, and process it for final approval.
    • Previously consent of gram sabha, or the governing body in villages in the area, was required to give written consent to the diversion of the forest.
• Allows building in Forests:
  • Right to construct structures for bonafide purposes including forest protection measures and residential units (up to an area of 250 sq meters as one-time relaxation).

What is the State of Forest in India?

• About:
  • According to India State of Forest Report, 2021, the Total Forest and Tree cover is now 7,13,789 square kilometres, 21.71% of the country’s geographical area, an increase from 21.67% in 2019.
  • Forest Cover (Area-wise): Madhya Pradesh> Arunachal Pradesh> Chhattisgarh> Odisha> Maharashtra.
• Category:
  • Reserved Forests:
    • Reserve forests are the most restricted forests and are constituted by the State Government on any forest land or wasteland which is the property of the Government.
    • In reserved forests, local people are prohibited, unless specifically allowed by a Forest Officer in the course of the settlement.
  • Protected Forests:
    • The State Government is empowered to constitute any land other than reserved forests as protected forests over which the Government has proprietary rights and the power to issue rules regarding the use of such forests.
    • This power has been used to establish State control over trees, whose timber, fruit or other non-wood products have revenue-raising potential.
  • Village forest:
    • Village forests are the one in which the State Government may assign to ‘any village community the rights of Government to or over any land which has been constituted a reserved forest’.
  • Degree of Protection:
    • Reserved forests > Protected forests > Village forests.
• Constitutional Provisions:
  • Through the 42^nd Amendment Act, 1976 Forests and Protection of Wild Animals and Birds were transferred from State to Concurrent List along with Education, Weights & Measures and Administration of Justice.
  • Article 48 A in the Directive Principles of State policy, mandates that the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.
  • Article 51 A (g) of the Constitution states that it shall be the Fundamental Duty of every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including forests and Wildlife.

Source: TH

Stem Cell-derived Mitochondrial Transplant

Why in News?

Recently, six children with rare disorders caused by deletion in the genomes of their mitochondria were successfully treated for the first time by Stem-cell derived Mitochondria Transplantation.

• The process involved the mitochondrial transplant from donor mothers into children’s haematopoietic stem cells, which give rise to all types of blood cells.

What is the Stem Cell-derived Mitochondria Transplantation?

• It involves the spontaneous mitochondrial transfer of the stem cell to rescue the injured cells or the injection of stem cell isolated mitochondria into the injured area to repair the damage.
  • Stem cells are the most primitive cells at the top of the origin of cell lines, and they have a high capacity for differentiation and self-renewal.
  • In addition, stem cells can differentiate into various tissues, organs, or functional cells of the human body; therefore, stem cells hold great promise for therapeutic tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Source: TH

Purchasing Managers Index

Why in News?

As per the S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), the manufacturing sector in India had its most significant production growth in 13 months in December 2022.

• For the October to December quarter, the PMI averaged 56.3, the highest in a year. It indicates that the manufacturing sector is performing well and may be contributing to job creation.

What is Purchasing Managers Index?

• It is a survey-based measure that asks the respondents about changes in their perception about key business variables as compared with the previous month.
• The purpose of the PMI is to provide information about current and future business conditions to company decision makers, analysts, and investors.
• It is calculated separately for the manufacturing and services sectors and then a composite index is also constructed.
• The PMI is a number from 0 to 100.
  • A print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction.
  • A reading at 50 indicates no change.
• If PMI of the previous month is higher than the PMI of the current month, it represents that the economy is contracting.
• It is usually released at the start of every month. It is, therefore, considered a good leading indicator of economic activity.
• PMI is compiled by IHS Markit for more than 40 economies worldwide.
  • IHS Markit is a global leader in information, analytics and solutions for the major industries and markets that drive economies worldwide.
  • IHS Markit is part of S&P Global.

What is the Significance of PMI?

• The PMI is widely followed as an indicator of economic health because the manufacturing and services sector is a key driver of economic growth.
• In general, a high PMI reading is seen as a positive sign for the economy, as it indicates that the manufacturing and services sectors are performing well and contributing to economic growth.
• A low PMI reading is seen as a negative sign, as it indicates that the manufacturing and services sectors are struggling and may be dragging down overall economic performance.

Source: TH

SMART Program for Ayurveda

Why in News?

Recently, the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) and the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), the two prominent institutions under the Ministry of Ayush, have launched ‘SMART’ program.

• The SMART (Scope for Mainstreaming Ayurveda Research in Teaching Professionals) program aims to boost scientific research through Ayurveda colleges and hospitals.

What is the SMART Program?

• It was observed that the research potential of the large community of Ayurveda teachers remains underutilized mostly. Therefore, the ‘SMART’ program will have a deep long term rejuvenating impact on research in the field of Ayurveda and it will be a great service to the nation.
• It aims to identify, support and promote innovative research ideas in healthcare research areas including Osteoarthritis, Iron Deficiency Anaemia, Chronic Bronchitis, Dyslipidemia, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Obesity, Diabetes Mellitus, Psoriasis, Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
• The program will motivate teachers for taking up projects in designated areas of healthcare research and create a large database.

Source: PIB

Rapid Fire Current Affairs

Purification System to Filter Out Microplastics

Recently, Scientists from South Korea have developed a new water purification system that can quickly and efficiently filter out microplastics. In an experiment, over 99.9% of contaminants were taken out of the water in just 10 seconds.

The polymer used is relatively inexpensive with excellent adsorption performance and good photothermal properties.

Microplastics are defined as plastics less than five millimeters in diameter—smaller in diameter than the standard pearl used in jewelry. It can be harmful to our ocean and aquatic life.

Read More: Microplastics

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Mannathu Padmanabhan

The Prime Minister has paid tributes to Sri Mannathu Padmanabhan on his birth anniversary. He was born on 2^nd January 1878 in Kerala. He was an Indian social reformer and freedom fighter from the southwestern state of Kerala.

He took part in the Vaikom (1924) and Guruvayoor (1924) temple-entry Satyagrahas and the anti-untouchability agitations. He is regarded as the reformer and moral guide of the members of the Nair community. He received Padma Bhushan in 1966. He died on 25th February 1970.

Read More: Mannathu Padmanabhan

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Sari Festival VIRAASAT

The second phase of the Sari Festival “VIRAASAT”- Celebrating 75 handwoven Saris of India organised by the Ministry of Textiles will held from 3^rd to 17^th January 2023 in New Delhi.

Saris	State
Banarasi	Uttar Pradesh
Paithani	Maharashtra
Kanjeevaram	Tamil Nadu
Kasavu	Kerala
Jamdani	West Bengal
Bandhani	Gujarat
Muga	Assam
Phulkari	Punjab
Kalamkari	Rajasthan

Read More: India’s Textile Sector, GI Tagged Saris

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DRDO Foundation Day

Recently, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) celebrated the 65th Foundation Day on 1^st January 2023.

DRDO was formed in 1958 from the amalgamation of the Technical Development Establishment (TDEs) of the Indian Army and the Directorate of Technical Development & Production (DTDP) with the Defence Science Organisation (DSO).

It is a network of more than 50 laboratories that are deeply engaged in developing defence technologies covering various disciplines, like aeronautics, armaments, electronics, combat vehicles, engineering systems etc. Recent Developments - Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS), ‘Pralay’, Controlled Aerial Delivery System, etc.

Read More: DRDO