UPSC Key: Annual Status of Education Report 2024, DeepSeek and ‘Only two sexes’

Sharp gains successful speechmaking & mathematics learning levels successful schools crossed states since Covid slump

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Main Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to improvement and absorption of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education

What’s the ongoing story: In the archetypal motion of betterment from the slump of the Covid pandemic, speechmaking and arithmetic levels for children betwixt the ages of 6 and 14 years person improved crossed states, with authorities schools starring the way.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)?

• The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) for 2024—What are cardinal highlights of the report?

• Why Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) findings are important?

• Impact of COVID-19 connected Education-Know successful detail

• How schools recovered aft pandemic?

• What is the astonishment person of this year’s Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)?

• Nipun Bharat Mission and its interaction connected simple education?

• What are the Government Initiatives related to education?

• With 5 years of the 2020 National Education Policy, what has changed for schools?

• What is the request for focusing connected Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)?

• What did the ASER 2024 survey find astir older children (15-16 years)?

Key Takeaways:

• According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024 released connected Tuesday, basal speechmaking levels for Class 3 children enrolled successful authorities schools person been the highest since the survey began 20 years ago.

• The fig of Class 3 children who tin work a Class 2 textbook successful authorities schools stands astatine 23.4%, up from 16.3% successful 2022 and 20.9% in
the pre-pandemic twelvemonth of 2018.

• Overall speechmaking levels, crossed some authorities and backstage schools, excessively improved from 20.5% successful 2022 to 27.1% successful 2024, astir touching the pre-pandemic level of 27.3%.

• Arithmetic levels, too, improved crossed some authorities and backstage schools — from 28.2% Class 3 children who could bash astatine slightest subtraction successful 2018 to 33.7% successful 2024, recovering sharply from the slump of 25.9% successful 2022.

• The study points retired that portion astir each states (barring J&K and Nagaland) person shown a betterment successful learning levels of Class 3 students erstwhile compared to 2022, the twelvemonth children came backmost to schoolhouse aft the pandemic, states specified arsenic Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh showed a 10-percentage constituent summation successful speechmaking levels successful 2024 erstwhile compared to 2022.

• Other states person besides seen large gains erstwhile compared to 2018. Bihar saw a leap of astir 8 percent points successful Class 3 speechmaking levels to 20.1% successful 2024, portion Uttarakhand recorded a crisp rise, from 24.7% successful 2018 to 35.6% successful 2024. Bihar besides saw improvements successful Class 3 arithmetic — from 18% successful 2018 to 28.2% successful 2024.

• But the astonishment person of this battalion are the authorities schools of Uttar Pradesh, wherever speechmaking levels went up 15 percent points — from 12.3% successful 2018 to 27.9%. Overall, crossed its authorities and backstage schools, speechmaking levels went up from 28.3% successful 2018 to 34.4% successful 2024. The state’s basal arithmetic levels, too, went up, from 26.9% successful 2018 to 40.7% successful 2024.

• While determination person been improvements successful learning levels crossed property categories, the gains are the highest successful the superior sections, which is the absorption of learning initiatives of authorities governments and the Union Education Ministry’s Nipun Bharat Mission, which focuses connected foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN).

• The percent of Class 5 students who tin work a Class 2 textbook has gone up from 42.8% successful 2022 to 48.7% successful 2024, but was yet to scope the 50.4% of 2018.

• The mathematics skills, too, of this cohort person recovered from the pandemic years — from 25.6% successful 2022 to 30.7% successful 2024, up from the pre-pandemic’s 27.8%.

Do You Know:

• Since 2005, the NGO Pratham has released the Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) to measurement basal speechmaking and arithmetic levels among schoolhouse children, attendance successful schoolhouse and different indicators. The information person revealed wide trends successful learning implicit the years.

• The 2024 survey reached 6,49,491 children successful 17,997 villages crossed 605 agrarian districts. It recorded large gains successful the stock of children of the pre-primary property radical (3 to 5 years) enrolled successful immoderate benignant of instauration (LKG/UKG/Anganwadi/others). There were important increases successful speechmaking and arithmetic levels – an encouraging improvement aft the learning losses during the Covid-19 pandemic. This was besides the archetypal full-length ASER survey to grounds integer literacy among older children (15 and 16 years).

• The latest survey, which comes aft the smaller Beyond Basics survey of 2023, assessed 6,49,491 children successful 605 agrarian districts connected basal speechmaking levels and arithmetic. The survey considered children successful 3 property categories — pre-primary (ages 3 to 5), simple (6 to 14), and older children (15 to 16).

• The study besides shows that authorities schoolhouse enrollment, which saw a emergence during the pandemic arsenic children moved retired of backstage schools, has astir returned to pre-pandemic levels. The percent of 6-14-year-olds enrolled successful authorities schools was 65.6% successful 2018, roseate to 72.9% successful 2022, and has present fallen to 66.8%. The wide schoolhouse enrollment complaint among 6-14-year-olds stood astatine 98.1%, adjacent to the fig of 98.4% successful 2022.

• In enactment with the NEP’s absorption connected taking aboriginal puerility attraction and acquisition to each children earlier Class 1, the percent of children aged betwixt 3 and 5 who enrolled successful immoderate signifier of pre-school roseate successful 2024 implicit 2018 and 2022. The sharpest emergence was among 5-year-olds — from 58.5% successful 2018 to 71.4% successful 2024.

• For the archetypal time, ASER besides included a conception connected integer literacy — access, ownership and usage of smartphones, and basal integer skills — among 14-16-year-olds. It recovered that much boys than girls study knowing however to usage a smartphone — 85.5% boys compared to 79.4% girls.

Other Important Articles Covering the aforesaid topic:

📍A recovery, and more

📍CLASSROOM SUCCESS

📍ASER 2024: Enrolment up, what’s up for aboriginal puerility education?

UPSC Previous Year Prelims Question Covering akin theme:
1. Which of the pursuing provisions of the Constitution does India person a bearing connected Education? (2012)
1. Directive Principles of State Policy
2. Rural and Urban Local Bodies
3. Fifth Schedule
4. Sixth Schedule
5. Seventh Schedule
Select the close reply utilizing the codes fixed below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3, 4 and 5 only
(c) 1, 2 and 5 only
(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
UPSC Previous Year Mains Question Covering akin theme:
📍How person integer initiatives successful India contributed to the functioning of the acquisition strategy successful the country? Elaborate connected your answer. (2020)

Rs 79,398-cr loan: Rlys wanted it arsenic grant, gets partial relief

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Main Examination: General Studies III: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

What’s the ongoing story: To guarantee its fiscal mathematics doesn’t spell awry, the Ministry of Finance has turned down a petition by the Ministry of Railways to person a Rs 79,398 crore ‘special loan’ taken 4 years agone into a grant.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Why was the Railway Budget merged with the Union Budget?

• Indian Railways is considered the backbone of the country’s economical and proscription network. Analyse its publication to India’s system and the challenges it faces.

• The railway assemblage successful India is undergoing accelerated modernization. Examine the interaction of initiatives similar slug trains, electrification, and privatization connected the aboriginal of Indian Railways.

• Indian Railways has traditionally been babelike connected freight for gross generation. Suggest measures to diversify its gross sources portion ensuring affordable rider services.

• What are the cardinal fiscal and operational challenges faced by Indian Railways? Evaluate the relation of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) successful addressing these challenges.

• Analyse the interaction of railway budgetary policies connected determination improvement successful India.

• Discuss the fiscal challenges faced by Indian Railways and measure the feasibility of granting fiscal enactment alternatively of loans for infrastructure development.

• Indian Railways is often caught betwixt being a commercialized endeavor and a societal work provider. How does this dual relation interaction its fiscal viability? Suggest reforms to amended its sustainability.

Key Takeaways:

• The indebtedness was taken during 2020-21 to negociate Covid-related disruptions, and partially to money the pension liabilities.

• The Railways has alternatively been fixed a two-year moratorium conscionable up of the indebtedness redemption deadline successful the coming fiscal twelvemonth 2025-26.

• The Central authorities extended a peculiar indebtedness to Railways to screen the gross nonaccomplishment owed to the halting of bid operations during March-May 2020 aft the onset of the pandemic and to enactment up its pension fund.

• In its pre-budget consultations with the Finance Ministry, the Railways projected that the indebtedness beryllium turned into a grant, but eventually, some agreed connected a two-year moratorium.

• Budget 2021-22 documents amusement that a “special loan” of Rs 79,398 crore was extended to the Railways for the “COVID-related assets gap” successful 2020-21 to conscionable the pension expenses of 2019-20. The opening equilibrium of Railways’ pension money for 2020-21 showed a shortage of Rs 28,398.46 crore.

• In a statement, the Ministry of Railways said, “Indian Railways is performing well. Considering IR (Indian Railways) successful the translation signifier of dense infrastructural development, IR has been granted a moratorium of different 2 years for fiscal indebtedness components. However, during the fiscal years, 2024-26 volition wage the involvement components of Rs 1,358 crore”.

Do You Know:

• The landmark study of the 2015 adept committee connected Railway Reforms, headed by the precocious economist Bibek Debroy, did wide the decks for a implicit overhaul of the nationalist transporter to execute economical viability successful operational presumption and retrieve its nonaccomplishment of competitiveness successful the proscription market. While immoderate of the recommendations person been taken connected board: including the phasing retired of the abstracted Rail Budget, the redesignation of the Chairman of Railway Board arsenic Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a program to accord much powers to General Managers (GMs) and Divisional General Managers (DRMs) to instrumentality decisions “independently”, the overarching proposal connected “liberalisation” of Indian Railways has not been taken connected committee yet.

• The committee dealt with a scope of issues related to the Indian Railways from decision-making structure, accounting system, quality assets absorption & worker costs, multiplicity of antithetic channels of introduction into the IR, precocious gross expenditure and debased superior expenditure, fiscal presumption to mounting up an Independent Regulator etc.

• At the apical of the proposal was liberalisation of Indian Railways. While clarifying that by the word “liberalisation”, it does not mean “privatization”, the committee said that the introduction of caller operators into railways volition beryllium a viable enactment for encouraging maturation and improving services. The committee besides said that a regulatory mechanics to beforehand a steadfast contention and to support the involvement of each stakeholders is an indispensable prerequisite.

• The peculiar indebtedness was provided by the Centre to the Railways contingent to definite repayment conditions linked to its show metrics. However, it is learnt that the Railways recovered it hard to conscionable the presumption and conditions related to definite show metrics. Following this, the Railways sought a conversion of the indebtedness to a assistance successful its pre-budget consultations.

• While the Ministry of Railways refused successful January to stock details of the indebtedness pursuing an RTI query citing these arsenic confidential, the Ministry of Finance successful its effect said the contented of repayment of the indebtedness by the Ministry of Railways is successful “the beforehand signifier of deliberation and is portion of the Pre-Budget treatment for the ensuing Budget 2025-26”, and hence “cannot beryllium shared”.

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UPSC Previous Year Prelims Question Covering akin theme:
2. With notation to bio-toilets utilized by the Indian Railways, see the pursuing statements: (2015)
1. The decomposition of quality discarded successful the bio toilets is initiated by a fungal inoculum.
2. Ammonia and h2o vapour are the lone extremity products successful this decomposition which are released into the atmosphere.
Which of the statements fixed supra is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
UPSC Previous Year Mains Question Covering akin theme:
📍Why is Public Private Partnership (PPP) required successful infrastructural projects? Examine the relation of the PPP exemplary successful the redevelopment of Railway Stations successful India. (2022)

GOVT & POLITICS

States request hike successful funds nether PM agrarian lodging scheme

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of nationalist and planetary importance

Main Examination: General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for improvement successful assorted sectors and issues arising retired of their plan and implementation.

What’s the ongoing story: WITH DAYS FOR Union Budget 2025-26, implicit a twelve states, mostly BJP-run, person sought a crisp summation successful fiscal assistance for gathering houses successful agrarian areas nether the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G).

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna Gramin?

• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G)-Features of the Scheme and Nodal Ministry

• PMAY (Rural oregon Gramin) and PMAY (Urban)-Difference

• Other Infrastructure and Rural improvement related schemes-Know them

• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) aims to supply ‘Housing for All’ successful agrarian India—Know its achievements and challenges.

• What is the relation of authorities governments successful the implementation of PMAY-G?

• How the request for accrued backing impacts Centre-State relations successful agrarian improvement programs.

• Rural lodging initiatives nether PMAY-G are linked with different payment schemes similar MGNREGS and Swachh Bharat Mission—Analyse the benefits and challenges of specified convergence.

• Despite large-scale concern successful agrarian housing, lodging prime and affordability stay cardinal concerns. What steps tin beryllium taken to guarantee sustainable and cost-effective lodging solutions successful agrarian India?

• The Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G)-Connect the dots

• How PMAY-G expenditure is shared?

Key Takeaways:

• In a gathering with Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan connected January 3, sources said the agrarian improvement ministers of much than a twelve states sought a hike successful PMAY-G portion assistance to Rs 2-2.25 lakh from the existing Rs 1.20-1.30 lakh.

• The database of states which enactment distant the request includes: Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Punjab, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana and Jharkhand. While Manipur, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat and Haryana are tally by BJP-led governments, BJP is an state successful the conjugation governments successful Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. In Tamil Nadu, it’s the DMK-led authorities and successful Punjab, it’s the Aam Aadmi Party government.

• The portion assistance nether PMAY-G has not been revised since the inception of the strategy successful 2016. In 2016, the authorities had fixed the PMAY-G portion assistance astatine Rs 1.20 lakh for plain areas and Rs 1.30 lakh successful for hilly states/UTs of J&K and Ladakh, North Eastern States, hard areas and worst affected Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) districts.

• Before the authorities brought successful the PMAY-G, the portion assistance was Rs 70,000 successful plain areas and Rs 75,000 successful hilly areas nether the erstwhile Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY).

• While the portion assistance provided nether the PMAY-G has remained frozen successful the past 9 years, respective states supply higher assistance to beneficiaries from their ain funds. For instance, the Jharkhand authorities provides a portion assistance of Rs 2 lakh per beneficiary nether its Abua Awas Yojna’ (AAY). Tamil Nadu, connected the different hand, gives a top-up of Rs 1.2 lakh implicit and supra of the Rs 1.2 lakh portion assistance provided nether the PMAY-G.

• When PMAY-G was launched successful 2016, the authorities aimed to conception 2.95 crore houses successful agrarian areas.

• Presenting the Interim Budget for 2024-25 connected February 1, past year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, had announced that 2 crore much houses volition beryllium built nether the PMAY-G successful the adjacent 5 years. The aforesaid people was approved by the Union Cabinet successful its archetypal gathering connected June 10. When Sitharaman presented a regular fund connected July 16, 2024, she allocated Rs 54,500 crore for PMAY-G for fiscal twelvemonth 2024-25.

Do You Know:

• Pradhan Mantri Gramin Aawas Yojana is simply a societal payment programme nether the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, to supply lodging for the agrarian mediocre successful India. A akin strategy for municipality mediocre was launched successful 2015 arsenic Housing for All by 2022. The strategy was officially launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi connected 20 November 2016 from Agra.

• PMAY-G aims astatine providing a pucca house, with basal amenities, to each houseless householder and those households surviving successful kutcha and dilapidated house, by 2024. The contiguous the nonsubjective is to screen 1.00 crore household surviving successful kutcha house/dilapidated location successful 3 years from 2016-17 to 2018- 19.

• The minimum size of the location has been accrued to 25 sq.mt (from20sq.mt) with a hygienic cooking space. The portion assistance has been accrued from Rs. 70,000 to Rs. 1.20 lakh successful plain and from Rs75,000 to Rs 1.30 lakh successful hilly states, hard areas and IAP district. The beneficiary is entitled to 90.95 idiosyncratic time of unskilled labour from MGNREGS.

• The outgo of portion assistance is to beryllium shared betwixt Central and State Government successful the ratio 60:40 successful plain areas and 90:10 for North Eastern and the Himalayan States. From the yearly budgetary assistance for PMAY-G, 90% of funds is to beryllium released to States/UTs for the operation of caller location nether PMAY-G.

• One of the astir important features of PMAY-G is the enactment of beneficiary. To guarantee that assistance is targeted astatine those who are genuinely deprived and that the enactment is nonsubjective and verifiable, PMAY-G alternatively of selecting a the beneficiary from among the BPL households selects beneficiary utilizing lodging deprivation parameters successful the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011 day which is to beryllium verified by the Gram Sabhas.

Other Important Articles Covering the aforesaid topic:

📍Two crore much agrarian houses; caller strategy to assistance ‘deserving’ municipality homebuyers

UPSC Previous Year Prelims Question Covering akin theme:
3. As per the NSSO 70th Round “Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households”, see the pursuing statements: (2018)
1. Rajasthan has the highest percent stock of cultivation households among its agrarian households.
2. Out of the full cultivation households successful the country, a small implicit 60 percent beryllium to OBCs.
3. In Kerala, a small implicit 60 percent of cultivation households reported to person received maximum income from sources different than cultivation activities.
Which of the statements fixed supra is/are correct?
a) 2 and 3 only
b) 2 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

THE GENDER BATTLEGROUND

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of nationalist and planetary importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and authorities of developed and processing countries connected India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: Chintan Chandrachud Writes: On January 20, President Trump signed an enforcement bid announcing that it was the argumentation of the US authorities that there were lone 2 sexes, and that those sexes were “not changeable”.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What enforcement bid announcing ‘Only 2 sexes’ says?

• Discuss the ineligible and law implications of defining sex strictly arsenic binary successful the United States.

• What relation bash enforcement orders play successful shaping societal policies successful a democracy? Examine with notation to Donald Trump’s stance connected sex identity.

• Analyse the planetary interaction of policies that specify sex strictly arsenic antheral and female.

• How does the caller enforcement bid announcing ‘Only 2 sexes’ impact quality rights and anti-discrimination laws?

• Compare the designation of sex individuality successful antithetic countries.

• How does the US argumentation opposition with the progressive ineligible frameworks of India, Canada, and Germany?

• What challenges bash non-binary and transgender individuals look successful countries wherever sex is legally defined successful binary terms? Discuss with examples.

Key Takeaways:

Chintan Chandrachud Writes:

• Although the precise implications of that bid are unclear, it brings into absorption that debates astir sex volition beryllium a cardinal ineligible battleground successful the US, the UK and different Western democracies.

• Recent cases successful the US and UK connection immoderate clues astir what those debates volition look like.
—In the US, astir fractional of the states person passed laws prohibiting sex-transition procedures successful children. That includes Tennessee, which successful 2023 prohibited definite aesculapian interventions for the intent of allowing children to place with, oregon unrecorded as, an individuality antithetic from their biologic sex. —The 3 prohibited aesculapian interventions were puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and enactment modulation surgeries.
—Transgender teenagers and their families, supported by the Joe Biden administration, challenged the Tennessee instrumentality claiming that it violated the warrant of adjacent extortion nether the US Constitution. —The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the instrumentality connected the ground that it treated each children alike — nary child, whether calved antheral oregon female, was permitted to person those aesculapian treatments.
—An entreaty to the US Supreme Court was heard successful December, and a judgement is expected by the summer.

• Turning to the UK, the regulatory scenery has changed dramatically implicit the past 12 months. Until aboriginal 2024, children with sex dysphoria (who see that their sex individuality is antithetic from their biologic sex) were routinely prescribed puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

• In April 2024, an autarkic reappraisal concluded that determination was not capable grounds to enactment the information oregon effectiveness of puberty blockers to negociate sex dysphoria. Its proposal to prohibit the usage of puberty blockers successful children was implemented a fewer months later. That volition stay the instrumentality until astatine slightest 2027, erstwhile different reappraisal connected the taxable is scheduled. The medication of cross-sex hormones remains lawful successful the UK, albeit taxable to strict conditions.

Do You Know:

• Chintan Chandrachud Writes: Three issues arising from these cases are apt to presume significance.
—First, are laws prohibiting aesculapian interventions to code sex dysphoria discriminatory?
—Second, to what grade should the courts go progressive successful assessing the technological grounds connected which the instrumentality is based? Among the large points of statement astatine the US Supreme Court proceeding was whether the Tennessee instrumentality should beryllium subjected to a rigorous level of scrutiny.
—The English tribunal was likewise cautious to observe that questions of argumentation connected the attraction of sex dysphoria are for the aesculapian profession, not the courts.
—Third, successful places wherever aesculapian treatments for sex dysphoria successful children are permitted and a kid has consented to treatment, however interventionist should the courts be? The English tribunal concluded that it would lone intervene erstwhile indispensable to support the kid from “grave and irreversible intelligence oregon carnal harm”. It is casual to ideate different courts reaching a antithetic conclusion.

• US President Donald Trump issued enforcement orders soon aft helium was sworn successful to alteration the US government’s policies connected sex and diversity, pursuing done connected promises helium made connected the run trail. He rolled backmost orders from the Biden medication that the Trump White House called “unpopular, inflationary, illegal, and extremist practices wrong each bureau and bureau of the Federal Government”.

• Ammel Sharon Writes: In caller decades, sex has progressively been viewed arsenic some cosmopolitan and autonomous. It is cosmopolitan successful that sex seems to look successful each societies, spanning cultures and humanities periods. Simultaneously, it is seen arsenic autonomous, existing successful a realm of idiosyncratic choice, with an expanding vocabulary of identities that often look disconnected from different aspects of societal life. However, this knowing has sparked disorder and discomfort for many.

Other Important Articles Covering the aforesaid topic:

📍What does Donald Trump mean erstwhile helium says determination are ‘only 2 genders’?

UPSC Previous Year Prelims Question Covering akin theme:
4. Which Article of the Constitution of India safeguards one’s close to wed the idiosyncratic of one’s choice? (2019)
a) Article 19
b) Article 21
c) Article 25
d) Article 29

ECONOMY

Trump threatens tariffs connected India among others that ‘harm’ America

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of nationalist and planetary importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and authorities of developed and processing countries connected India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: US President Donald Trump connected Monday said that high-tariff countries specified arsenic India, China, and Brazil “harm” America and that Washington would enforce taxes connected different countries to bring wealth into the US.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What are tariffs?

• Why tariffs are imposes?

• How are tariffs retaliated?

• Did Trump’s tariffs against China enactment successful the past?

• Discuss the implications of Trump’s tariff threats connected planetary commercialized dynamics.

• Analyse the interaction of protectionist commercialized policies, specified arsenic accrued tariffs, connected planetary commercialized relations.

• How mightiness Trump’s tariff threats impact India-US commercialized ties?

• What are the cardinal provisions of the US commercialized laws that let the President to enforce tariffs?

• Discuss the relation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) successful resolving commercialized disputes.

• How effectual has the WTO been successful managing US-China and US-India commercialized conflicts?

• How tin India safeguard its economical interests against protectionist measures imposed by developed nations similar the United States?

Key Takeaways:

• “We’re going to enactment tariffs connected extracurricular countries and extracurricular radical that truly mean harm to us. Well, they mean america harm, but they fundamentally privation to marque their state good,” Trump told House Republicans astatine a Florida retreat connected Monday, PTI reported.

• “Look astatine what others do. China is simply a tremendous tariff maker, and India and Brazil and truthful galore different countries. So we’re not going to fto that hap immoderate longer due to the fact that we’re going to enactment America first,” helium said.

• Trump is reported to person said that the US volition found a “very just strategy wherever wealth is going to travel into our coffers, and America is going to beryllium precise affluent again,” adding that it volition hap “very quickly”.

• Trump said that it was clip for the US to instrumentality to the strategy that made it “richer and much almighty than ever before.”

• “If you privation to halt paying the taxes oregon the tariffs, you person to physique your works close present successful America. That’s what’s going to happen
at grounds levels. We’re going to person much plants built successful the adjacent abbreviated play of clip than anybody ever envisioned earlier due to the fact that the inducement is going to beryllium there, arsenic they volition person nary tariffs whatsoever,” helium said.
Do You Know:

• The US is India’s largest commercialized partner, with bilateral commercialized reaching astir $120 cardinal successful FY24 — somewhat higher than India’s commercialized with China. However, dissimilar China, India’s commercialized narration with the US is favourable, making the US a captious root of overseas exchange.

• Despite attempts to diversify exports, India’s dependence connected the US has grown implicit the past decade. According to authoritative 2022–23 data, the US accounts for 18% of India’s exports, compared to 10% successful 2010–11. India’s export handbasket to the US is well-diversified, benefiting
industries ranging from textiles to electronics and engineering.

• The Indian Express reported that India’s commerce and manufacture ministry has begun inter-ministerial talks to amended hole for apt changes successful US commercialized argumentation that could impact tariffs connected Indian goods exports to the US nether the caller Donald Trump administration.

• This comes a time aft Trump instructed his commerce and treasury departments to analyse the causes of America’s “large and persistent” yearly commercialized deficits successful goods and announced a caller ‘External Revenue Service (ERS)’ to cod tariffs from overseas governments.

Other Important Articles Covering the aforesaid topic:

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UPSC Previous Year Prelims Question Covering akin theme:
5. What is simply a tariff successful planetary trade?
(a) A subsidy fixed to home producers
(b) A taxation imposed connected imported goods
(c) A fiscal punishment imposed connected exporters
(d) A commercialized statement betwixt 2 countries

EXPLAINED

DeepSeek’s lessons, message

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of nationalist and planetary importance.

Main Examination: General Studies III: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects successful mundane life.

What’s the ongoing story: On Monday, the stock marketplace opened with a monolithic dip, particularly the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which dropped by astir 3 per cent. This is its worst show successful the past 2 years. This driblet has been attributed to the meteoric emergence of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which has successful the past fewer weeks grabbed planetary attraction aft it unveiled its AI models — DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1, a reasoning model.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is DeepSeek?

• What sets DeepSeek models apart

• What is antithetic astir DeepSeek AI models?

• Discuss the value of Deepseek and different open-source AI models successful democratizing artificial intelligence.

• Evaluate the request for regulatory frameworks successful the discourse of open-source AI similar Deepseek.

• The emergence of open-source AI challenges the monopoly of Big Tech corporations. Analyse the implications of this inclination connected planetary exertion governance.

• Examine the ethical and information challenges associated with open-source AI models.

Key Takeaways:

• Owing to its optimal usage of scarce resources, DeepSeek has been pitted against US AI powerhouse OpenAI, arsenic it is wide known for gathering ample connection models. DeepSeek-V3, 1 of the archetypal models unveiled by the company, earlier this period surpassed GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet successful galore benchmarks.

• DeepSeek-V3 stands retired due to the fact that of its architecture, known arsenic Mixture-of-Experts (MOE).

• The MOE models are similar a squad of specializer models moving unneurotic to reply a question, alternatively of a azygous large exemplary managing everything.

• The DeepSeek-V3 exemplary is trained connected 14.8 trillion tokens, which includes large, high-quality datasets that connection the exemplary greater knowing of connection and task-specific capabilities.

• Additionally, the exemplary uses a caller method known arsenic Multi-Head Latent Attention (MLA) to heighten ratio and chopped costs of grooming and deployment, allowing it to vie with immoderate of the astir precocious models of the day.

• Even arsenic the AI assemblage was marveling astatine the DeepSeek-V3, the Chinese institution launched its caller model, DeepSeek-R1. The caller exemplary comes with the quality to think, a capableness that is besides known arsenic test-time compute. The R1 exemplary has the aforesaid MOE architecture, and it matches, and often surpasses, the show of the OpenAI frontier exemplary successful tasks similar math, coding, and wide knowledge. R1 is reportedly 90-95 per cent much affordable than OpenAI-o1.

• The R1, an open-sourced model, is almighty and free. While O1 is simply a reasoning exemplary that takes clip to mull implicit prompts to nutrient the astir due responses, 1 tin spot R1’s reasoning successful action, meaning the model, portion producing the output to the prompt, besides shows its concatenation of thought.

• R1 arrives astatine a clip erstwhile manufacture giants are pumping billions into AI infrastructure. DeepSeek has fundamentally delivered a state-of-the-art exemplary that is competitive. Moreover, the institution has invited others to replicate their enactment by making it open-source.

• The merchandise of R1 raises superior questions astir whether specified monolithic expenditures are indispensable and has led to aggravated scrutiny of the industry’s existent approach.

Do You Know:

• DeepSeek is simply a Chinese AI institution based retired of Hangzhou founded by entrepreneur Liang Wenfeng. He is besides the CEO of quantitative hedge money High Flyer. Wenfeng reportedly began moving connected AI successful 2019 with his company, High Flyer AI, dedicated to probe successful this domain. DeepSeek has Wenfeng arsenic its controlling shareholder, and according to a Reuters report, HighFlyer owns patents related to spot clusters that are utilized for grooming AI models.

• What sets DeepSeek models isolated is their show and open-sourced quality with unfastened weights, which fundamentally allows anyone to physique connected apical of them. The DeepSeek-V3 has been trained connected a meager $5 million, which is simply a fraction of the hundreds of millions pumped successful by OpenAI, Meta, Google, etc., into their frontier models.

Other Important Articles Covering the aforesaid topic:

📍DeepSeek’s Sputnik moment: Five ways successful which US-China AI contention plays retired for India

📍Top US AI developers, companies unreserved to analyse DeepSeek low-cost models

UPSC Previous Year Prelims Question Covering akin theme:
6.With the contiguous authorities of development, Artificial Intelligence tin efficaciously bash which of the following?
1. Bring down energy depletion successful concern units
2. Create meaningful abbreviated stories and songs
3. Disease diagnosis
4. Text-to-Speech Conversion
5. Wireless transmission of electrical energy
Select the close reply utilizing the codification fixed below:
a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only
b) 1, 3 and 4 only
c) 2, 4 and 5 only
d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

WHY GREENLAND’S CRYSTAL BLUE LAKES HAVE TURNED BROWN

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of nationalist and planetary importance.

Main Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, biology contamination and degradation, biology interaction assessment.

What’s the ongoing story: More than 7,500 lakes successful occidental Greenland person turned brown, begun emitting carbon, and suffered a driblet successful h2o prime owed to utmost upwind events that took spot successful 2022, according to a caller study. 

Key Points to Ponder:

• Explain the value of Greenland’s crystal expanse successful regulating planetary clime patterns.

• How does its melting interaction oversea levels and upwind systems?

• Discuss the reasons down the browning of Greenland’s lakes.

• What does this improvement bespeak astir the ongoing clime alteration crisis?

• How bash Arctic and Antarctic clime changes disagree successful presumption of their causes and consequences?

Key Takeaways:

• These lakes, which were erstwhile crystal blue, supply drinking h2o to locals, diagnostic affluent biodiversity, and sequester atmospheric carbon.

• The study, ‘Abrupt translation of westbound Greenland lakes pursuing compound clime extremes associated with atmospheric rivers’, was published successful the diary Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences past week.

• The investigation besides revealed that the lakes underwent the translation astatine a breakneck speed. Typically, specified changes instrumentality spot implicit centuries, but successful this case, they happened wrong months aft the utmost upwind events occurred.

• Jasmine Saros, a prof astatine the University of Maine (United States) and pb writer of the study, told Earth.com, “The magnitude of this [change successful the lakes] and the complaint of alteration were unprecedented.”

• As integrated c and different elements washed into the lakes, their physical, chemical, and biologic properties changed. The survey said that the interaction of the 2022 utmost upwind events was disposable by July 2023, meaning the lakes’ colour, odour, and sensation had dramatically altered.

• The findings person travel conscionable 3 months aft a antithetic survey revealed that the magnitude of c absorbed by onshore has temporarily collapsed. It had concluded that forest, plants and ungraded – arsenic a nett class – absorbed removed lone 0.23 to 0.65 gigatonnes of c successful 2023. This was the lowest magnitude since 2003 and much than 3 times little than the mean implicit the past decade.

Do You Know:

• Greenland usually experiences snowfall during the autumn season, from precocious August to precocious September. However, successful 2022, owed to warmer temperatures, the snowfall turned into rain. The vigor besides caused permafrost — frozen crushed that often contains a important magnitude of integrated c — to thaw, starring to the merchandise of carbon, iron, magnesium, and different elements. As the grounds level of rainfall poured connected the region, these elements were washed into the lakes, resulting successful their transformation.

• According to the study, the summation successful temperatures and precipitation was driven by respective atmospheric rivers. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) defines atmospheric rivers as: “Relatively long, constrictive regions successful the ambiance — similar rivers successful the entity — that transport astir of the h2o vapour extracurricular of the tropics”.

• Although these “rivers successful the sky” bring much-needed precipitation and lend to yearly freshwater supplies, beardown atmospheric rivers tin pb to disastrous flooding and bring successful heat. Studies person shown that with rising planetary temperatures, atmospheric rivers are expected to go much aggravated — they volition beryllium importantly longer and wider than the ones we observe today, according to a 2018 survey by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

• Existing clime models amusement that by the extremity of the 21st century, atmospheric rivers volition go 50–290% much predominant successful Greenland, occidental North America, eastbound Asia, occidental Europe and Antarctica, a study by Phys.com said.

Other Important Articles Covering the aforesaid topic:

📍Greenland glaciers mislaid much crystal than antecedently estimated, says NASA study

UPSC Prelims Practice Question Covering akin theme:
7. Which of the pursuing is the superior crushed for Greenland’s lakes turning brown?
(a) Increased volcanic enactment nether the ice
(b) Rising temperatures causing sediment and integrated substance release
(c) Pollution from concern discarded successful the Arctic region
(d) Increased salinity owed to water h2o intrusion

For immoderate queries and feedback, interaction priya.shukla@indianexpress.com

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