Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE
Topics Covered
- Maldives Hydrographic Survey
- GPAI’s Delhi Declaration on AI
- Facts for Prelims
1 . Maldives Hydrographic Survey
Context: Maldives will not renew agreement for joint hydrographic survey with India: top official.
About the news
- The Maldives government has decided to not renew an agreement with India that allowed India to conduct hydrographic surveys in Maldivian waters.
- The agreement was signed in 2019 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the islands, when President Ibrahim Solih was in power.
- The new government of President Mohamed Muizzu had earlier this year requested that India should pull out its military personnel deployed in the country.
What was the hydrographic survey pact?
- Hydrographic surveys are carried out by ships, which use methods such as sonar to understand the various features of a water body.
- According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), these surveys help “map out water depth, the shape of the seafloor and coastline, the location of possible obstructions, and physical features of water bodies”, to ensure the efficiency and safety of maritime transportation.
What was planned as part of this pact?
- The first meeting of the Joint Commission on Hydrography was held in the Maldives on 2019. So far, three joint hydrographic surveys have been undertaken – in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
- The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Darshak carried out the first Joint Hydrographic survey in February and March of 2021. According to a document from the High Commission of India in Male, the second Joint Hydrographic survey was carried out by the INS Sutlej from April 18 to May 24, 2022. During the period, the ship surveyed Northern Maldives and the Male area including Thilafushi, Hulhumale and Male port on the request of the Government of Maldives.
- An area of 944 square km was effectively surveyed – some of these areas had been last surveyed as far ago as in 1853. Multi-beam echo sounders were used.
- The surveys were done to generate updated Navigational Charts/ Electronic Navigational Charts of the areas, which would help sectors such as Tourism, Fisheries, Agriculture, etc.
- The ship was to also carry out tidal observations to enable accurate tidal predictions.
- The survey is in line with India’s policy of supporting the Maldives to set up Hydrographic facilities within the MNDF.
- Training was also imparted to MNDF personnel on the use of survey equipment. India said it would train more MNDF personnel at its Hydrographic Institute in Goa.
- The third survey was conducted between January and February 2023, by INS Investigator. It identified 52 new shoals, which are emerging ridge-like natural structures in the sea, within the Ihavandhippolhu atoll. Further training was imparted and relevant equipment was given to the MNDF.
Why does Maldives want to end the pact?
- It has to do with the change of regime in the country following the elections this year. President Solih of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), who was in power from 2018 to 2023, was seen as being more favourable to India, but his successor Mohamed Muizzu of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) is being seen as more pro-China.
- While the Maldives has traditionally been a part of India’s sphere of influence, in recent decades China has sought to project its power aggressively in the Indian Ocean, including through massive investments in infrastructure projects under President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
- In 2020, an ‘India Out’ campaign began in Maldives, alleging that New Delhi had sent a large military contingent to the Maldives – a claim that the Solih government repeatedly denied.
- During the election campaign, Muizzu said agreements with foreign countries must be terminated unless their presence was beneficial to the Maldives. This was seen as a reference to India – the Indian military is known to operate two helicopters and assist in search and rescue operations for people stranded or facing calamities at sea.
2 . GPAI’s Delhi Declaration on AI
Context: Following several hours of deliberations, representatives from 28 countries and the European Union adopted the “New Delhi Declaration” of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI, pronounced g-pay).
About the news
- India is hosting the summit and will chair the GPAI grouping in 2024.
- The previous summit was held in Japan, which is the outgoing chair of GPAI.
About the Declaration
- The Declaration recognised the rapid pace of improvement in advanced AI systems and their potential to generate economic growth, innovation, and jobs across various sectors as well as to benefit societies.
- It said that a global framework for use of AI should be rooted in democratic values and human rights; safeguarding dignity and well-being; ensuring personal data protection; the protection of applicable intellectual property rights, privacy, and security; fostering innovation; and promoting trustworthy, responsible, sustainable, and human-centred use of AI.
- GPAI members also promoted equitable access to critical resources for AI innovation including computing, high-quality diverse datasets, algorithms, software, testbeds, and other AI-relevant resources.
- The declaration also agreed to support AI innovation in the agriculture sector as a new “thematic priority”.
- the GPAI will pursue a diverse membership, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries to ensure a broad range of expertise, national and regional views, and experiences based on shared values.
How does the New Delhi declaration contrast with the Bletchley declaration?
- While the GPAI New Delhi declaration addresses the need to tackle AI-related risks, it largely supports innovation in the technology in various sectors, including agriculture and healthcare.
- The essence of the declaration can be summed up as follows: AI is inherently good and is a catalyst for economic growth, but some harms need to be mitigated along the way.
- By contrast, the declaration that was signed at the UK AI Safety Summit last month put security and safety risks related to AI in the centre of the discussions.
- At the Bletchley Park meeting, 28 major countries including the United States, China, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, and India, and the European Union agreed to sign on a declaration saying global action is needed to tackle the potential risks of AI.
- The declaration noted the “potential for serious, even catastrophic, harm, either deliberate or unintentional, stemming from the most significant capabilities of these AI models”, as well as risks beyond frontier AI, including those of bias and privacy.
Has India been changing its position on the regulation of AI?
- Even as India looks to unlock the potential economic benefits of AI systems, it’s own thinking on AI regulation has undergone a significant change — from not considering any legal intervention on regulating AI in the country just a few months ago, to now moving in the direction of actively formulating regulations based on a “risk-based, user-harm” approach.
- At the inaugural session of the GPAI Summit on Tuesday, Prime Minister flagged the dual potential of AI — while it can be 21st century’s biggest development tool, it can also potentially play a very destructive role — and called for a global framework that will provide guardrails and ensure its responsible use.
- the Ministry of Electronics and IT had said it was not considering any law to regulate the AI sector.
- Union IT Minister had said that although AI had ethical concerns and associated risks , it had proven to be an enabler of the digital and innovation ecosystem.
- after deepfakes of a number of popular personalities got mainstream traction, the IT Ministry began to talk of a concrete legislative step to tackle AI-based misinformation. Vaishnaw said that it could either be a new law, or an amendment to existing rules.
- Part of this shift was also reflected in a new consultation paper floated by the telecommunications regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in July, which said that the Centre should set up a domestic statutory authority to regulate AI in India through the lens of a “risk-based framework”.
- The paper had also called for collaborations with international agencies and governments of other countries to form a global agency for the “responsible use” of AI.
3 . Facts for Prelims
Gandabherunda art
- Gandaberunda is a two-headed bird in Hindu mythology, a form assumed by the Hindu deity Vishnu.
- It is believed to possess immense magical strength.
- The bird is generally depicted as clutching elephants in its talons and beaks, demonstrating its immense strength.
- In a coin found in Madurai, it is shown holding a snake in its beak.
- The Gandaberunda was the emblem of the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysuru under the Wodeyar rulers, and after India attained independence, it was retained by the Mysuru State as its emblem.
- The aforementioned state was enlarged in 1956 and renamed Karnataka in 1973, and the Gandabherunda continues to be the official state emblem of Karnataka.
- It is used as the official emblem of the Karnataka state government.
- Coins (Gold Pagoda or Gadayana) from the rule of Achyuta Deva Raya are thought to be the first to use the Gandaberunda on currency.