DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS
1 – Safety Summit on Artificial Intelligence (AI): GS II – International Issues
Context:
- The world’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Summit will take place at Bletchley Park, in Buckinghamshire, close to London.
Important information:
- The codebreakers that deciphered the German “Enigma Code,” which accelerated the end of World War II, originally had their headquarters at Bletchley Park, a top-secret location.
- The two-day conference has attracted tech executives, computer scientists, and world leaders.
- On the first day, a ground-breaking agreement was concluded, resolving to create a common understanding of the benefits and hazards associated with frontier artificial intelligence.
- Frontier AI refers to extremely powerful foundational generative AI models that may have potentially hazardous properties that could seriously jeopardise public safety.
- Twenty-eight major nations—including the US, China, Japan, UK, France, India, and the US—as well as the EU decided to sign a declaration stating that international action is required to address the possible threats associated with artificial intelligence.
- The United Kingdom hosted the current summit.
- Within the next six months, South Korea will co-host a small virtual AI summit.
- Within a year, France will host the next face-to-face conference.
The Declaration of Bletchley Park:
- The proclamation acknowledges the significant hazards associated with the purposeful or inadvertent misuse of frontier AI, particularly with regard to cybersecurity, biotechnology, and disinformation threats.
- The statement highlighted issues beyond frontier AI, such as bias and privacy, as well as the potential for major, perhaps catastrophic harm resulting from the most important capabilities of these AI models, whether intended or not.
- The Bletchley Park Declaration said that international cooperation is the most effective way to handle these concerns.
Source The Hindu
2 – International Irrigation Commission: GS II – International Issues
Context:
- The chief minister of Andhra Pradesh has requested the International Commission on Irrigation (ICID) to focus on finding a way to move water across basins in basins that are prone to drought, particularly inside the State.
Important information:
- Speaking on the topic of “Tackling Water Scarcity in Agriculture,” the Chief Minister opened both the 74th International Executive Council meeting of ICID and the 25th International Congress on Irrigation & Drainage.
- According to him, the answer must to be practically achievable, socially and economically acceptable, and ecologically benign.
- Andhra Pradesh is among the states that rely on irrigation systems fed by rainfall and experience difficulties in providing enough water to crops during the dry monsoon season.
- The Indian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) and the Water Resources wing of the Andhra Pradesh government organised the event. The Department of Irrigation hosted it.
About the ICID:
- Leading global not-for-profit organisation ICID works in the fields of irrigation, drainage, and flood management. It is highly skilled, professional, and scientific.
Goal:
- to advance and accomplish water management for sustainable agriculture.
- 1950 saw the founding of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID).
- It is an international organisation that deals with drainage and irrigation.
ICID arranges for the:
- congress of the triennial World Irrigation and Drainage and
- Global Irrigation Platform.
Source The Hindu
3 – FEAST Programme: GS II – Government Policies and Interventions
Context:
- A magnificent click from a James Webb telescope during the FEAST programme reveals the spiral-shaped M-83 galaxy.
Important information:
- Scientists are interested in the M83 galaxy because it may provide light on the process of star formation.
- A stunning spiral was captured on camera by the James Webb Space Telescope using its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).
- NGC 5236, another name for M83, is a kind of galaxy that has a bar-like structure in the middle and a spiral form overall.
- About 15 million light-years separate it from Earth.
- Using a wavelength of light dubbed “infrared,” which is distinct from what human vision can see, the James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI instrument can view objects.
About FEAST Program:
- Feedback in Emerging Extragalactic Star Clusters is referred to as FEAST.
- The purpose of the Feast Programme is to comprehend phenomena related to the galaxy.
- Using MIRI, scientists examine M83 as part of the FEAST programme.
- The programme contributes to our understanding of how stars form in galaxies and impact their environment.
- The process by which stars generate and release mass and energy is known as “stellar feedback.”
- The process that determines the rates at which stars originate is known as “stellar feedback,” which is the outpouring of energy from stars into the environments that generate them.
- Six distinct galaxies are being studied by the FEAST programme.
Source The Hindu
4 – The Barda Wildlife Sanctuary: GS III – Environmental Conservation related issues
Context:
- Barda Wildlife Sanctuary is suggested as an Asiatic lions’ second home after Gir.
Important information:
- Asiatic lions are expected to find their second home at Gujarat’s Barda Wildlife Sanctuary (BWLS), following Gir National Park and Sanctuary.
- Currently, Gir National Park and Sanctuary is the only place where Asiatic lions may be found.
- Because of their growing numbers, the lions have started to periodically venture into the surrounding woodlands and human settlements.
- From 523 in 2015 to 674 in 2020, the number of lions rose, and many of them have left the protected regions to dwell elsewhere.
- Barda is located roughly 100 miles from Gir Forest and 15 km from the shoreline of Porbandar town.
- Over 192 square kilometres make up the sanctuary.
- Despite its modest size, it boasts a wide variety of flowers.
- The refuge has spotted deer breeding facilities, which will increase the lions’ available prey.
About Asian Lions:
- Today, the Asiatic lion is limited to living in the wild in India.
- Its range has been limited to Gujarat’s Gir National Park and nearby areas since the start of the 20th century.
One of the five native pantherine cats of India is the lion. The others are:
- the tiger of Bengal
- Leopard in India
- white leopard
- leopard in clouds.
- It was also referred to as the Persian and Indian lions.
Status of conservation:
- It was included in Appendix I of CITES.
- It is mentioned in the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972’s Schedule I.
- It has an Endangered classification on the IUCN Red List.
Source The Hindu
5 – Cactus Operation: GS II – International Issues
Context:
- An examination of the events of November 3, 1988, when Indian military intervened to foil a coup attempt in the Maldives, is pertinent as the president-elect of the Maldives intensifies his ‘India Out’ position.
Important information:
- The Maldives are located southwest of the Indian subcontinent.
- Thiruvananthapuram is located little over 600 miles distant from Malé, the country’s capital.
- It is made up of about 1,200 low-lying coral islands in the Indian Ocean that are dispersed over 90,000 square kilometres.
- Born in 1937, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom took office as the president of the Maldives in 1978 amidst political unrest and economic difficulties.
- Eventually, Gayoom ruled his nation for thirty years, but throughout the 1980s, he was the target of three coup attempts (1980, 1983, and 1988), all of which were spearheaded by Maldivians who were unhappy with his leadership.
- Without Indian intervention, the previous attempt would have been successful.
India participates:
- SOS signals were issued to nations all around the world as the coup was taking place.
- A potential operation had previously been reported to the Indian Army Headquarters.
- The 50th Independent Parachute Brigade was called into action in Agra.
- The principal airport of the Maldives, Hulhulé, received two Ilyushin IL-76s carrying Indian soldiers that had flown nonstop from Agra.
- The landing had an immediate impact on the insurgents.
- After securing the airport, the paratroopers headed to the nearby island of Malé to save Gayoom.
- To get away, several rebels had taken control of a merchant ship.
- Before the escaping vessel entered Sri Lankan national seas, the frigates INS Godavari, returning from a friendly visit to Australia, and INS Betwa, from Kochi, were ordered to intercept it.
- After realising there was no way out, the rebels gave up and were brought to the INS Godavari.
Source The Hindu
