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  • [Burning Issue] Storm of ChatGPT

    Context

    ChatGPT, which was only released a few months ago, is gaining popularity online as users marvel at its incredible powers. The latest artificial intelligence tool is creating a buzz among computer scientists and programmers due to its creative capabilities.

    In this context, this edition of the burning issue will elaborate on this latest buzz in the technology sector- ChatGPT

    What is ChatGPT?

    • About ChatGPT: ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a chatbot launched by OpenAI in November 2022. It is built on top of OpenAI’s GPT-3 family of large language models and is fine-tuned with both supervised and reinforcement learning techniques.
    • OpenAI: ChatGPT has been developed by OpenAI, which is a research institute and company that focuses on developing artificial intelligence technology responsibly and safely. It was founded in 2015 by a group of entrepreneurs and researchers, including Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Greg Brockman.
    • A human-like language model: ChatGPT is built on a large-scale transformer-based language model that is trained on a diverse dataset of text and is capable of generating human-like responses to prompts. It is based on GPT-3.5, a language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text.
    • It is more engaging with details: However, while the older GPT-3 model only took text prompts and tried to continue on that with its own generated text, ChatGPT is more engaging. It’s much better at generating detailed text and can even come up with poems.
    • Keeps the memory of the conversations: Another unique characteristic is memory. The bot can remember earlier comments in a conversation and recount them to the user.
    • Human-like resemblance: A conversation with ChatGPT is like talking to a computer, a smart one, which appears to have some semblance of human-like intelligence.

    The evolution of ChatGPT

    • Generative Pre-Training (GPT) language model: ChatGPT follows a generation of language models that were released by OpenAI in 2018. In 2018, OpenAI released the Generative Pre-Training (GPT) language model. Here, generative means that it is a type of neural network that can create new content based on input content called Training Data. This technology makes it suitable for creative tasks like writing a new story.
    • Transformer technique: With the transformer technique mentioned above, GPT was improved and “Generative Pre-trained Transformer 2” or GPT-2 was released in 2019. GPT-3 with even more sophisticated neural networks was launched in 2020.
    • GPT3.5: In early 2022, GPT3.5 was released and ChatGPT is a successor to GPT3.5. Each successive generation is more advanced than its predecessor. For example, GPT-3 was trained with 175 billion parameters. These large language models have looked at almost all text available on the internet and many other text documents, thereby making them highly informed. Finally, ChatGPT was launched in November 2022.

    About Chatbots and AI

    What is a ChatBot?

    • A chatbot (coined from the term “chat robot”) is a computer program that simulates human conversation either by voice or text communication, and is designed to help solve a problem.
    • Organizations use chatbots to engage with customers alongside classic customer service channels like phone, email, and social media.

    What is Artificial intelligence?

    • AI is a constellation of technologies that enable machines to act with higher levels of intelligence and emulate the human capabilities of sense, comprehend and act. Thus, computer vision and audio processing can actively perceive the world around them by acquiring and processing images, sound and speech.
    • Natural language processing and inference engines can enable AI systems to analyze and understand the information collected.
    • An AI system can also take action through technologies such as expert systems and inference engines or undertake actions in the physical world.
    • These human-like capabilities are augmented by the ability to learn from experience and keep adapting over time.

    Working of ChatGPT

    • ChatGPT is what is called a Language Model, rather than a chatbot. A language model is a software that prints out a sequence of words as output that are related to some words given as input with appropriate semantic relation;
    • in practical terms, it means that it can perform tasks like answering questions and carrying on a conversation with humans. It is often used in natural language processing (NLP) applications, such as speech recognition, automatic translation, and text generation.
    • It is also a neural network. A neural network can be thought of as a large network of computers that can fine-tune its output of words based on the feedback given to it during stages of training: this training process and the technology together are called Reinforcement Learning.
    • With a further refining technique called “Transformer”, a neural network can accurately “understand” the context of a sentence or a paragraph. This “comprehension” can be used for multiple purposes like answering a question, summarising a paragraph or an article, translating documents and so on.

    Applications of ChatGPT

    • A virtual study mate: ChatGPT could be used to generate practice questions or prompts for students to use when studying or preparing for exams. Input a prompt into ChatGPT that relates to the topic you are studying. For example, you might write ‘generate practice questions from Indian Polity on fundamental rights’. ChatGPT will then generate a series of practice questions that could range from multiple choice, true/false, or short answers.
    • A writing assistant: ChatGPT can be used to generate text in a variety of styles and formats, such as stories, news articles, poems, and more. This could be useful for creative writing, or for generating content for websites and social media.
    • A human-like search engine: One of the most used applications of ChatGPT is to answer specific questions and get answers in human talking style-dialogue format. It can also simplify complex theories. Microsoft is planning to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot into its Bing search engine in order to take advantage of its ability to respond to a wide range of questions while mimicking human conversation styles.
    • For language translation: ChatGPT could be used to automatically translate text from one language to another, making it easier for people to communicate with each other across language barriers.
    • A customizable chatbot: You could use the ChatGPT model to create a chatbot that can answer questions or have a conversation with a user. ChatGPT could answer customer questions or provide assistance in online chatbots or virtual assistants, allowing businesses to provide 24/7 support to their customers. It is trainable with specific data to create a virtual customer service bot that can converse and respond to queries.

    Advantages

    • Available for customers 24/7: ChatGPT could answer customer questions at any hour, day or night. Now, the customer can ask a query to the chatbot and get an instant reply or get sent to the page with the right product. 
    • Offers Better personalization: Personalization is important for customers. In fact, about 44% of buyers become repeat customers after receiving a personalized experience. It pays off to customize your messages to clients and provide more personalized customer service. 
    • Faster response time: About 96% of shoppers expect a response within five minutes. And chatbots like ChatGPT can provide instant responses to help customers with simple questions right there and then. This helps to decrease the waiting time for customer support to a couple of seconds. 
    • Increase sales: Chatbots can bring more sales for businesses. Bots turn first-time website visitors into new customers by showing off your new products and offering discounts to tempt potential clients.
    • Save costs: Cost saving is another essential benefit. It can automate day-to-day tasks that include everything from answering FAQs to booking appointments. This allows the customer support team to concentrate on more complex queries. 

    Concerns and Limitations

    • Implications for cybersecurity: Check Point Research and others noted that ChatGPT was capable of writing phishing emails and malware, especially when combined with OpenAI Codex.
    • May involve in unethical use: ChatGPT attempts to reject prompts that may violate its content policy. However, some users managed to jailbreak ChatGPT by using various prompt engineering techniques to bypass these restrictions in early December 2022 and successfully tricked ChatGPT into giving instructions for how to create a Molotov cocktail or a nuclear bomb, or into generating arguments in the style of a Neo-Nazi.
    • ChatGPT is not entirely accurate: It is not entirely accurate, something even OpenAI has admitted. It is also evident that some of the essays written by ChatGPT lack the depth that a real human expert might showcase when writing on the same subject.
    • ChatGPT lacks depth like the human mind: It doesn’t quite have the nuance that a human would often be able to provide. For example, when asked ChatGPT how one should cope with a cancer diagnosis. The responses were kind but generic. The type of responses you would find in any general self-help guide.
    • It lacks the same experiences as humans: AI has a long way to go. After all, it doesn’t have the same experiences as a human.
    • ChatGPT does not excel in code: ChatGPT is writing basic code. As several reports have shown, ChatGPT doesn’t quite excel at this yet. But a future where basic code is written using AI doesn’t seem so incredible right now.
    • ChatGPT is still prone to Misinformation: Despite of abilities of the bot, there are some limitations. ChatGPT is still prone to misinformation and biases, which is something that plagued previous versions of GPT as well. The model can give incorrect answers to, say, algebraic problems.
    • ChatGPT can write incorrect answers: OpenAI understands some flaws and has noted them down on its announcement blog that “ChatGPT sometimes writes plausible-sounding but the incorrect or nonsensical answer

    Conclusion

    • OpenAI’s ChatGPT turned that simple experience into something entirely different. ChatGPT is a path-breaking example of an AI chatbot and what the technology could achieve when applied at scale.
    • Limitations aside, ChatGPT still makes for a fun little bot to interact with. However, there are some challenges that need to be addressed before it becomes an unavoidable part of human life.

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  • Women to get Command Roles in the Indian Army

    women

    As many as 108 women officers in the Army are set to be cleared for the rank of Colonel (selection grade) which will make them eligible to command units and troops in their respective arms and services for the first time.

    What exactly does Commanding a unit mean?

    • Once promoted to a Colonel, an officer is eligible to command troops directly in the Army, which is an acknowledgment of the leadership qualities of the officer.
    • It is considered a coveted appointment because in no other rank — including higher ranks like Brigadier or Major General — does an officer interact directly with troops on the ground.
    • Women officers in many streams of the Army, including the Army Air Defence, Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, EMEs, Army Ordnance Corps, and Intelligence Corps will be commanding units.

    Women in commands: Significance

    • Leadership opportunity: Despite working at the grassroots level as junior officers, women officers hitherto did not get an opportunity to prove their leadership skills as they were not eligible to command a unit.
    • Gender parity: Most importantly, it grants women officer’s parity with their male counterparts.
    • Higher ranks: Earlier promotions were staff appointments — which are more administrative in nature and not purely command appointments in which an officer commands troops on ground.
    • Benefits after permanent commission: With a longer career in the Army, women officers will be considered for promotions, including to the rank of Colonel and beyond.

    Why did their Colonel promotions come so late?

    • An officer in the Army is promoted to the rank of Colonel only after serving between 16 and 18 years, based on certain criteria such as annual confidential reports and various courses.
    • Women officers who were inducted into the Army were inducted as Short Service Commission (SSC) officers in 1992 and in the years after did not have the choice to opt for permanent commission.

    Supreme Court order affirming Permanent Commission

    • In 2019, the Army changed its rules allowing SSC women officers to opt for permanent commission who would have otherwise retired after 14 years of service.
    • However, this was not retrospective and applied only to the batches of women officers starting their career in the Army in 2020.
    • With the landmark Supreme Court judgment of February 2020, permanent commission was granted to women officers with retrospective effect.
    • This opened the doors for their further growth and promotions in the Army, which has been of late opening leadership and higher management courses for women.

    How are women still discriminated?

    • Women are still not eligible in core combat arms such as Infantry, Mechanised Infantry and Armoured Corps.
    • Indian Army is not open to women fighting wars at the borders as foot soldiers.
    • Much of this resistance stems from past instances of male soldiers being taken as prisoners of war and tortured by the enemy.
    • However, the Army has recently decided to open the Corps of Artillery, a combat support arm, to women.

    What about the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force?

    • Women officers have been inducted into all branches of the Navy, and they will be eligible for permanent commission in the future.
    • Women officers can command shore-based units and, as they join the service and become eligible for permanent commission, they would be able to command ships and air squadrons.
    • The IAF has opened all branches for women officers, including the fighter stream and the new weapon systems branch.
    • As they are granted permanent commission based on eligibility and vacancies, they will be eligible to command units in the future.

    How many women serve in the Indian armed forces?

    • The Army, being the largest of the three services, has the largest number of women officers at 1,705, followed by 1,640 women officers in the IAF, and 559 in the Navy.
    • This data was submitted by the government to Parliament last year.

     

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  • Forex Reserves zoom by $10.417 billion to $572 billion

    India’s forex reserves zoomed by $10.417 billion to $572 billion, making it one of the biggest weekly jumps in recent times.

    Recent trends in FOREX Reserves

    • In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped by $1.268 billion to $561.583 billion.
    • In October 2021, the country’s forex reached an all-time high of $645 billion.
    • The reserves have been declining as the central bank deploys the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments.
    • In October 2022, the reserves had swelled by $14.721 billion during a week.

    What is Foreign Exchange (Forex) Reserve?

    • Foreign exchange reserves are important assets held by the central bank in foreign currencies as reserves.
    • They are commonly used to support the exchange rate and set monetary policy.
    • In India’s case, foreign reserves include Gold, Dollars, and the IMF’s quota for Special Drawing Rights.
    • Most of the reserves are usually held in US dollars, given the currency’s importance in the international financial and trading system.
    • Some central banks keep reserves in Euros, British pounds, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan, in addition to their US dollar reserves.

    India’s forex reserves cover:

    1. Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs)
    2. Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)
    3. Gold Reserves
    4. Reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

    Countries with the highest foreign reserves

    • Currently, China has the largest reserves followed by Japan and Switzerland.
    • India earlier overtook Russia to become the fourth-largest country with foreign exchange reserves. (Data from August 2022)
    1. China – $3,349 Billion
    2. Japan – $1,376 Billion
    3. Switzerland – $1,074 Billion
    4. Russia – $597.40 Billion

    Why are these reserves so important?

    • All international transactions are settled in US dollars and, therefore, required to support India’s imports.
    • More importantly, they need to maintain support and confidence for central bank action, whether monetary policy action or any exchange rate intervention to support the domestic currency.
    • It also helps to limit any vulnerability due to sudden disturbances in foreign capital flows, which may arise during a crisis.
    • Holding liquid foreign currency provides a cushion against such effects and provides confidence that there will still be enough foreign exchange to help the country with crucial imports in case of external shocks.

    Initiatives taken by the government to increase forex

    • To increase the foreign exchange reserves, the Government of India has taken many initiatives like AatmaNirbhar Bharat, in which India has to be made a self-reliant nation so that India does not have to import things that India can produce.
    • Other than AatmaNirbhar Bharat, the government has started schemes like Duty Exemption Scheme, Remission of Duty or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP), Nirvik (Niryat Rin Vikas Yojana) scheme, etc.
    • Apart from these schemes, India is one of the top countries that attracted the highest amount of Foreign Direct Investment, thereby improving India’s foreign exchange reserves.

     

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  • PM greets people on Statehood day of Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya

    state

    Prime Minister has greeted people of three northeast states- Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya on their Statehood Day.

    What is the news?

    • Today marks the 51st anniversary of the formation of the states, which were created on this day in 1972.
    • While Manipur and Tripura were princely states which were absorbed into India in October 1949, Meghalaya, on the other hand, was part of Assam.
    • The states came into being the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, enacted on December 30 that year.

    Quick backgrounder

    • These states attained statehood under the North Eastern Region (Reorganization) Act of 1971.
    • The NE composition consisted of Assam plains from the old Assam Province, the hill districts, and the North Eastern Frontier Tracts (NEFT) of the North-Eastern borderland.
    • Later on the NE region was turned into seven sisters with the statehood of Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland.

    [1] Meghalaya

    • Apart from accounts of the more essential Khasi kingdoms in the chronicles of the neighbouring Ahoms and Kacharis, little is known of Meghalaya prior to the British rule.
    • However, in the early 19th century, the British desire to build a road through the region to link Bengal and Assam led to a treaty with the ruler (Syiem) of the Khasi principality of Nonkhlaw.
    • In 1829, opponents of the treaty persuaded the Syiem to repudiate it, and a subsequent attack on Britishers led inevitably to its military operations against the Khasis.
    • By the mid-1830s, most local rulers had submitted to the British.
    • For the next century, the British exercised its political control over the area, then known as the Garrows and Cossiya (Khasi) States, but the tribals who were left to fend themselves managed to preserve their traditional culture in seclusion.

    Integration into India

    • In 1947, the rulers of the region acceded to the newly independent India.
    • The first PM Nehru evolved a policy to preserve and protect the culture of the tribal people.
    • The region was given special protection in the Indian constitution along with other tribal areas, and it retained a great deal of autonomy.
    • In 1960, when Assamese became the state’s official language, agitation for autonomy and self-rule gathered strength.
    • Unlike many other hill regions in north-eastern India, this movement was largely peaceful and constitutional.
    • In 1970, Meghalaya became an autonomous state within Assam and achieved full statehood on January 21, 1972.

    [2] Manipur

    • Over 500 princely states had negotiated their accession to the Indian union before independence.
    • According to News Nine, the rulers of these states signed a document called the ‘Instrument of Accession’.
    • On August 11, 1947, Bodhachandra Singh, then Maharaja of Manipur, signed the document. He had been assured that the autonomy of Manipur would be maintained.
    • Elections were held in Manipur in June 1948, but its legislative assembly had differences of opinion on the merger.
    • However, the Maharaja signed a Merger Agreement with India in September 1949.

    [3] Tripura

    • Maharajas of the Manikya dynasty ruled the former princely state of Tripura.
    • It was an independent administrative unit under the Maharaja even during British rule in India.
    • However, according to Tripura State Portal, this independence was qualified, subject to the Britishers’ recognition, as the paramount power of each successive ruler.
    • As per Rajmala, in the royal chronology of Tripura, around 184 kings ruled over the state before it merged with the Indian Union on October 15, 1949.
    • Since then, the history of Tripura has been interspersed with various political, economic and social developments.

    Attainment of full statehood

    • On January 26, 1950, Tripura was accorded the status of a ‘C’ category state, and on November 1, 1956, it was recognized as a Union Territory.
    • With its people’s sustained efforts and struggle, it gained full statehood on January 21, 1972, as per the North-East Reorganisation Act, 1971.
    • Its democratic set-up further stretched to the village level in 1978 with an election to the local bodies that ultimately culminated in introducing a three-tier Panchayati Raj System.

     

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  • What are Hakku Patras or Title Deeds?

    hakku patra

    PM has distributed Hakku Patra (land title deeds) to five Lambani (Banjara) tribes, a nomadic Scheduled Caste group, during a launch programme in Karnataka.

    What are Hakku Patras?

    • A title deed is a property ownership document, and the bearer of the document owns the land.
    • The title deeds enable owners to avail of bank loans with the said document.
    • They will also be eligible to buy or sell land to which the title deed is granted by the government.
    • This Hakku Patra will secure the future of thousands of people living in the “Tandas” (Lambani habitats) in Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadgiri, Raichur and Vijayapura districts.

    Benefits of Hakku Patra 

    Hakku Patra, like every legal property document, offers a great set of benefits.

    • It makes one the legitimate owner of your land or property by giving an up-to-date and official record of who owns the land.
    • The individual does not have to research as the government issues the document.
    • It is a state-guaranteed document.
    • Hakku Patra registration resolves all types of disputes regarding the ownership or rights over the land.
    • The document helps in preventing any encroachment via trespassing on the boundaries.

    Who are the Banjaras?

    • The Banjara, also known as Lambadi, Gour Rajput, Labana, are a historically nomadic trading caste who may have origins in the Mewar region of what is now Rajasthan.
    • According to the National Informatics Centre, the name Banjara /Banjari probably had come from two different sources: ‘Banijya’ – trade or ‘Banachara’, the forest dwellers.
    • Their principal group’s name Laban/Labana is derived from the Sanskrit word lavanah, meaning salt as they were salt traders.
    • Although considered a tribal group given the life they lead, the Banjaras are a key scheduled caste sub-group in Karnataka.
    • Despite the community adopting a multitude of languages, Banjara is used throughout India, although in Karnataka the name is altered to Banijagaru.

    Questions of a political move 

    • The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes together make up nearly 24 per cent of the state population, becoming an important group for political parties.
    • The expenses incurred for the programme were funded by the state exchequer.

     

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  • What constitutes a Trademark Violation?

    trademark

    The Delhi High Court dismissed a case of trademark infringement brought by the global fast food chain against a Delhi-based restaurant.

    What is a trademark?

    • A trademark is a symbol, design, word or phrase that is identified with a business.
    • When a trademark is registered, its owner can claim “exclusive rights” on its use.
    • The Trademark Act, 1999, governs the regime on trademark and its registration.
    • The Act guarantees protection for a trademark that is registered with the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks, also known as the trademark registry.
    • A trademark is valid for 10 years, and can be renewed by the owner indefinitely every 10 years.

    Violation of trademark

    • Using a registered trademark without authorization of the entity that owns the trademark is a violation or infringement of the trademark.
    • Using a substantially similar mark for similar goods or services could also amount to infringement.
    • In such cases, courts have to determine whether this can cause confusion for consumers between the two.
    • There are several ways in which a trademark can be infringed. However, the trademark owner has to show that the trademark has a distinct character-
    1. Deceptive similarity: The law states that a mark is considered deceptively similar to another mark if it nearly resembles that other mark, confusing the consumer in the process. Such deception can be caused phonetically, structurally or visually.
    2. Passing off: Say, a brand logo is misspelt in a way that’s not easy for the consumer to discern. The Supreme Court has ruled that passing off is a “species of unfair trade competition or of actionable unfair trading by which one person, through deception, attempts to obtain an economic benefit of the reputation which other has established for himself in a particular trade or business”.

     

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  • Economic growth and the government disintermediation

    Context

    • Between spending and saving, governments are generally better at the former. High growth comes with the advantage that government revenue expands and gets spent, as is happening this fiscal. But this is also habit-forming. If growth tapers down as is expected in FY 2024 cutting back government spending will be politically rocky just before a general election. Better then, to get selective on spending early on.

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    Current economic indicators

    • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took over the hot seat in May 2019. True to character, she resolved to pick up this rolling can by tabling in the FY 2021 budget, an amount of INR 2.64 trillion (1.2 percent of GDP) to pay these overdues.
    • India, yet again, in an era of high inflation and high oil import prices. It has taken courage and sagacity to reduce the FD from 9.2 percent (FY 2021—the COVID-19 year) to a targeted 6.4 percent this fiscal.

    Challenges to establish a declining trend back towards an FD of 3.5 percent of GDP

    • The oil slick of global uncertainty and inflation: Oil price uncertainties, created by the Ukraine standoff, which was partially cushioned via nimble Indian diplomacy resisting the boycott of cheaper Russian oil, has kept imported oil at US$77.7 per barrel in January 2023. But the ongoing opening up of China could firm up oil prices.  
    • India’s high-debt burden compromises fiscal resilience: Interest payments in FY 2023 (budgeted) at INR 9.4 trillion, are the largest expense outlay bucket, accounting for 43 percent of budgeted Union net revenue receipts, up from 41.7 percent in FY 2021. Defence and domestic security services at 15 percent come next, followed by subsidies (food, fertilizers, and fuel) at 14 percent and inflation-indexed government pensions at 9 percent.
    • Infrastructure lags: Infrastructure remains a drag on growth although intercity highways have improved. Multimodal transport solutions remain underdeveloped as do train stations and bus terminals in most towns and rural areas. The competitiveness of major Indian ports in 2018 was ranked 42nd well below China, Malaysia and Thailand- pulled down by low outcomes in infrastructure and turn-around time. The gas grid remains nascent with just 10.1 million connections versus 309 million users for LPG canisters a more volatile substitute for cooking fuel, than piped natural gas.

    What is the worrying situation?

    • Inflation: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) expects retail inflation, assessed at 5.78 percent (December 2022) to trend downwards in FY 2024. But signals of embedded inflation via core inflation (other than volatile food and fuel) above 6 percent are worrying.
    • Disrupted energy supply: A disruption in energy supplies could upset sanguine inflation expectations.
    • Taming inflation would increase fiscal crunch: Taming the resulting inflation by reducing taxes on the retail supply of petroleum products would increase the fiscal crunch.
    • Interests funded by additional borrowings is risky strategy: High-growth economies can afford to fund by borrowings as can start-ups, which borrow against their future growth prospects. For a large, lower middle-income economy like India, with historically moderate long-term growth rates (4 to 6 percent), it compromises reserve fiscal capacity to respond, through counter-cyclical measures, to economic downturns induced by economic shocks a risk-laden strategy.

    What India should do?

    • Resume much delayed disinvestment: Resume the much-delayed privatisation and disinvestment of public sector enterprises and government-owned financial sector entities.
    • Make Indian railway and autonomous entity: Second, make Indian Railway an autonomously regulated, commercially run entity, providing a surplus to the government rather than looking for budgetary support.
    • Encourage public finance outlays: Maximise the economic impact by encouraging public finance outlays to be driven by competitive metrics of allocative efficiency across investment options and program/project implementation models.

    Conclusion

    • For a new phase of growth, government disintermediation is appropriate. It allows for increased competition and innovation in the private sector, leading to greater efficiency and economic growth. India has momentum. What it needs is for the reins to be lightly held.

    Mains question

    Q. What obstacles does the Indian economy face as it enters a new era of growth, and what should India do?

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  • Herpetofauna and the Impact of crop pesticides

    Herpetofauna

    Context

    • The demand for land for food production always results in an uncomfortable trade-off between agricultural expansion and species conservation. One can see an example of this trade-off in paddy fields, whose unique combination of wet and drylands provide ideal habitats for amphibians and reptiles. However, Amphibians and reptiles are bearing the brunt of crop intensification.

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    Ecological services provided by herpetofauna

    • Herpetofauna: Amphibians and reptiles are cold-blooded animals, together referred to as herpetofauna, provide immense ecological services.
    • As biological control agents: Frogs and toads, for instance, act as biological control agents by feeding on crop pests. Several salamanders and tadpoles of frogs help in controlling mosquito and mosquito-borne diseases by feeding on the larvae.
    • Efficient pollinators and improves soil quality: They also help improve soil quality and aeration, aid in dispersal of seeds and in pollination. There are almost 40 species of lizards including skinks and geckos that are efficient pollinators.

    Threats faced by herpetofauna

    • Increased use of pesticides and fertilizers: The diversity and abundance of these herpetofauna are rapidly declining with increased use of pesticides, fertilisers, land conversion, changes in cropping systems and the reduced proportion of natural vegetation.
    • Threatened by agriculture and management practices: According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 1,532 species of Anurans (frogs) and 825 species of reptiles in the world are critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable due to agriculture and its management practices.
    • Particularly threatened in India: They appear to be particularly threatened in India which has a high amphibian diversity most of them are endemic to the region and, as per the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, had the largest cropland area over the last decade, followed by the US and China.
    • Being cold-blooded, amphibians and reptiles have unique physiological demands: They are extremely sensitive to microclimates (with a narrow range of soil humidity, moisture, light flux, acidity, air and soil temperature) and microhabitats (they have small habitats like grass cover and low dispersal range; maximum lifetime dispersal for frogs and toads is 12 km). This makes them particularly susceptible to agricultural intensification. However, the researchers find a distinct difference in the way it affects amphibians and reptiles.

    Survey to understand the impact of crop intensification

    • To understand the impact of crop intensification on the populations and diversity of herpetofauna, researchers from the University of Calcutta conducted a year-long survey of farm lands in Odisha’s Baleswar district.
    • Almost 90 per cent of the 250,550 hectares of cultivable land in the district is under paddy.

    Did you know?

    • Baleswar district, of Odisha is known as “Rice bowl of the state”.

    Comment if any place in your state is recognized as such

    Findings of the Survey

    • Low diversity in high cropping intensity: The abundance of amphibians was almost half and their diversity was low in areas with high cropping intensity, pesticide application and low natural vegetation when compared with areas where less-intensive farming is practised.
    • Amphibians are more exposed to pesticides: The difference is because amphibians are more exposed to pesticide contamination than reptiles as their skin is highly permeable and performs both respiration and water uptake.
    • Species are going through an extinction debt: The researchers suggest the species are rather going through an extinction debt wherein there is a lag between the impact of agricultural intensification on them and their response to it.
    • Reptiles face a higher threat from conflicts with humans: The real impact of the current intensification of agriculture on reptiles would be felt much later. When compared with amphibians, reptiles like snakes face a higher threat from conflicts with humans. Encroachment of forest areas and misconceptions and myths result in the indiscriminate killing of snakes irrespective of them being venomous or harmless.
    • Intraguild predation: The researchers also find that in areas where the diversity of the frog population is lesser, the numbers of beneficial arthropods have reduced due to intraguild predation. If this reduction in populations of both predators continues, it will disrupt the natural system of suppressing crop pest abundance.

    What is mean by intraguild predation?

    • A phenomenon where more than one species feed on the same prey and therefore competitors feed on each other.
    • For example, when one predator, like a lion, hunts and kills another predator, like a hyena, for food.
    • It’s when animals that are both hunters, compete against each other for the same prey.
    • It is just like how two kids might fight over a candy bar.

    Way ahead

    • The study shows unless a threshold abundance of frogs is maintained, their impacts will be far from beneficial to agriculture.
    • Semi-natural and natural vegetation and buffer strips such as ditches, provide chances to increase numbers of alternate prey, intermediate hosts of target pests and increase the availability of nutritional plant resources.
    • Semi-natural patches are beneficial for arthropod communities and can raise their numbers to enhance crop pest regulation.

    Conclusion

    • To optimize the benefits from existing farmland, the researchers recommend that biodiversity research be holistic so more organisms get targeted ecological services.

    Mains question

    Q. What are herpetofauna? Highlight the Ecological services provided by herpetofauna and discuss the threats faced by herpetofauna.

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  • 20th Jan 2023 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

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  • Indo-pacific and the New Eurasia

    pacific

    Context

    • Japan, which invented the contemporary geopolitical idea of the Indo-Pacific, is now well on its way to changing the way we think about the relationship between Asia and Europe. In his swing through Europe last week, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s message was simple, the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific is indivisible.

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    How Japan shaped the idea of Indo-pacific?

    • Japan is not alone for Indo-pacific anymore: Building on the ideas of his predecessor, the late Shinzo Abe, Kishida is determined to build strong military partnerships with Europe. Together Japan, South Korea and Australia are bridging the divide between Asia and Europe long seen as separate geopolitical theatres.
    • South Korea raising profile in Europe: South Korea, which does not always see eye to eye with Japan, is also joining the party by raising its profile in Europe. for example, Seoul, is selling major weapons platforms in Poland.
    • Australia eager to bring Europe in Indo pacific: Australia, which has joined the US and UK in the AUKUS arrangement, is equally eager to bring Europe into the Indo-Pacific.
    • Accelerated by Ukraine war: This process has been accelerated by Russia’s war in Ukraine and the alliance between Moscow and Beijing.

    The idea of Eurasia

    • Many used it as a neutral term: The idea of Eurasia is not new, many used it as a neutral term to describe the vast landmass that connected Europe and Asia.
    • Separate political spheres: Despite continental continuity, Europe and Asia emerged as separate political and cultural spheres over the millennia.
    • Russia as European and Asian: Russia, which straddles this space, saw itself as both a European and Asian power but had trouble becoming a part of either. When post-Soviet Russia’s effort to integrate with the West soured in the 2000s, it developed Eurasia and Greater Eurasia as new geopolitical constructs.
    • Putin’s Eurasian strategy: Consolidating the former Soviet space, restoring influence in Central Europe, building a strong alliance with China, and limiting Western influence in the continental heartland became part of Putin’s Eurasian strategy.

    China-Russia alliance

    • Altering geopolitical dynamics: Well before Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol turned to Europe, it was Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin who altered the geopolitical dynamic in Eurasia.
    • Alliance without limits: Days before he ordered his armies into Ukraine, Putin travelled to Beijing last February to sign an agreement declaring an alliance without limits and no forbidden areas.
    • China’s tilt towards Russia: China, which had made a largely successful effort to cultivate Europe since the 1990s, deliberately avoided taking sides in Europe’s conflicts with Russia. But on the eve of the Ukraine war, Xi chose to tilt towards Moscow by blaming NATO for the crisis in Ukraine.
    • New kind of Eurasian alliance: Together, Putin and Xi unveiled a Eurasian alliance that they might have hoped would deliver the long-awaited coup de grace to the global hegemony of the West. What it did instead was to not only strengthen the Western alliance in Europe but also provide the basis for a new kind of Eurasia an alliance between China’s East Asian neighbours and Russia’s West European neighbours.

    What are the Challenges for India?

    • For India, the rise of Eurasia is making it harder to ride on two boats at the same time: Until now, India could easily hunt with the maritime coalition the Quad in the Indo-Pacific and run at the same time with the continental coalitions led by Russia and China.
    • US Europe and Japan on the one hand and China, Russia on the other: The conflict between the US, Europe, and Japan on the one hand and China and Russia on the other is now acute and shows no signs of immediate amelioration.
    • India’s security challenge on Himalayan frontier: On the downside, then, India’s mounting security challenges from China on the Himalayan frontier and the tightening embrace between Moscow and Beijing will mean the shadow over India’s continental strategy will become darker in the days ahead.
    • Strategic capabilities in partnership: On the upside, the possibilities for strengthening India’s strategic capabilities in partnership with the US and Europe as well as Japan, South Korea and Australia have never been stronger.

    Opportunities for India may include

    • Economic cooperation: Increased economic cooperation and trade between India and countries in Europe and Asia
    • India’s larger role in global affairs: The potential for India to play a larger role in regional and global affairs as a result of increased connectivity and cooperation
    • To address security concerns in Indo-Pacific: Opportunities for India to strengthen its ties with Japan and other countries in the region to address security concerns in the Indo-Pacific

    Conclusion

    • Japan’s strategy of promoting greater connectivity and cooperation between Europe and Asia could present both opportunities and challenges for India in terms of economic cooperation and geopolitical influence. India will have to carefully navigate and balance its relationships with various countries and groups in the region to maximize the opportunities and minimize the challenges.

    Mains question

    Q. Japan is now well on its way to changing the way we think about the relationship between Asia and Europe. In this backdrop discuss opportunities and challenges for India.

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