The Ministry of Railways, as part of its station redevelopment drive, has formulated Amrit Bharat Station Scheme to modernize over 1,000 small stations over the coming years.
Amrit Bharat Station Scheme
Under this, stations will be equipped with facilities inspired by the mega-upgradation of marquee stations such as New Delhi and Ahmedabad, albeit at a lower cost.
Key features of these proposed stations include provisions for roof top plazas, longer platforms, ballast-less tracks, and 5G connectivity.
The scheme will subsume all previous redevelopment projects where work is yet to begin.
Implementation strategy
The model envisages low-cost redevelopment of stations which can be executed timely.
Zonal railways have been given the responsibility of selecting stations, which will then be approved by a committee of senior railway officials.
Plans and consequent budgets will only be approved on the basis of factors such as footfall and inputs from stakeholders.
Facilities Planned under this Scheme
Provision for Roof Plaza to be created in future
Free Wi-Fi, space for 5G mobile towers
Smooth access by widening of roads, removal of unwanted structures, properly designed signages, dedicated pedestrian pathways, well-planned parking areas, improved lighting etc.
High level platforms (760-840 mm) at all stations with a length of 600 metres
2023 is set to be another busy year. Here are five of the most exciting missions to watch out for.
(1) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer
In April, the European Space Agency (ESA) is set to launch the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice), in what will be Europe’s first dedicated robotic mission to Jupiter.
Juice is due to reach the planet in July 2031 after performing an incredible flight path through the Solar System.
The mission will enter into orbit around Jupiter and perform numerous flybys of its large icy moons: Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
After four years of moon flybys, Juice will then enter into orbit around Ganymede, the largest moon in the Solar System — becoming the first spacecraft ever to reach orbit around the moon of another planet.
The icy moons of Jupiter are interesting as they are all believed to host oceans of liquid water beneath their frozen surfaces.
Europa, in particular, is regarded as one of the most likely abodes in the Solar System for extra-terrestrial life.
(2) SpaceX Starship
Starship will be the largest spacecraft capable of carrying humans from Earth to destinations in space (the International Space Station is larger, but it was assembled in space).
It will be the most powerful launch vehicle ever to fly, capable of lifting 100 tonnes of cargo to low Earth orbit.
Starship is the collective name for a two-component system consisting of the Starship spacecraft (which carries the crew and cargo) and the Super Heavy rocket.
The rocket component will lift Starship to some 65km altitude before separating and returning to Earth in a controlled landing.
The upper Starship component will then use its own engines to push itself the rest of the way to orbit.
(3) dearMoon Project
The long-awaited dearMoon project, which will take members of the public on a six-day trip around the Moon and back, is due for launch on Starship and was originally planned for 2023.
It will be the first true deep space tourism launch.
This mission will mark a big change in the way we think about space, as previously only astronauts picked using incredibly stringent criteria have been able to go into deep space.
The success or failure of the dearMoon mission could affect whether deep space tourism becomes the next big thing, or it is relegated back to being a pipe-dream.
(4) OSIRIS-REx returning Earth
The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security — Regolith Explorer, mercifully more commonly known as OSIRIS-REx, is a NASA mission to near-Earth asteroid Bennu.
A key goal of this robotic mission was to acquire samples of Bennu and return them to Earth for analysis.
OSIRIS-REx is now fast returning to Earth with up to a kilogram of precious asteroid samples stored aboard.
If all goes well, the capsule will detach from the spacecraft, enter the Earth’s atmosphere and parachute to a soft landing in the deserts of Utah.
Asteroid sample return has only been achieved once before, by the Japanese Space Agency’s Hayabusa 2 mission in 2020.
Bennu is an approximately diamond-shaped world just half a kilometre in size, but has many interesting characteristics.
Some of the minerals detected within it have been altered by water, implying that Bennu’s ancient parent body possessed liquid water.
It also has an abundance of precious metals, including gold and platinum.
It is however classed as a potentially hazardous object with a (very) small possibility of Earth impact in the next century.
(5) India’s private space launch
Skyroot Aerospace, which successfully launched its Vikram-S rocket in November 2022, is soon to become the first private Indian company to launch a satellite.
The rocket itself reached 90km in altitude, a distance that would need to be improved upon to get a constellation of satellites into orbit.
Skyroot’s first satellite launch is planned for 2023, with a goal of undercutting the cost of private space launch rivals by producing its 3D-printed rockets in a matter of days.
If successful, this could also provide a route for cheaper launches of scientific missions, enabling a faster rate of research.
Conclusion
With many bold advances and launches due in 2023, we are entering a new phase akin to the “Golden era” of space launches in the 1960s and ’70s.
29th December, at 7 PM | UPSC Workshop with AIR 109, Areeba Nomaan on a 5-month plan for UPSC 2023 & 18-month plan for 2024 and set daily weekly, and monthly targets | FREE Registration Open
According to UPSC Topper AIR 109, UPSC 2021, Areeba Nomaan, those who can not govern the clock, but get governed by it, will not be eligible for UPSC CSE. Because the foundation of every strategy lies in proper time management. And you can’t value your time without a workable strategy.
Once you master your time, you will understand how easy it is that most of the rankers hit their target of what they can accomplish in under 12 months.
So whether you’re sitting for UPSC 2023 or have made up your mind for UPSC 2024 as your first and final attempt, don’t waste a single minute.
AIR 109, UPSC 2021, Areeba Nomaan, CD’s Super Mentor took the IMP masterclass on cracking UPSC 2023-24 in just one attempt + Important Time management skills and strategy.
Zoom link will be emailed to you post-registration
Key takeaways: How to make a timetable for UPSC?
What should be your approach for the next 5 months even if you have just started the preparation for UPSC 2023? Strategy for the next 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and like that, will be shared with you.
What should be your approach for the next 18 months even if you have not yet started the preparation? Strategy for the next 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and like that, will be shared with you.
How to cover the UPSC syllabus? The syllabus, and not the books, must be completed. Focussing on the essentials first.
Time management You just need to invest effectively 5 hours per day for UPSC success. How to effectively manage preparation time? Make a timetable and set targets. Learn from the UPSC Topper Areeba herself.
Managing UPSC preparation with a serious time crunch; job – working professionals, college students, and family (especially for homemaker aspirants)
She made a UPSC trend analysis and based on that decoded the expectations and pattern of UPSC 2023. Areeba ma’am shared 10 important themes for the upcoming exams that one must not ignore whether it’s UPSC 2023 or 2024.
Short-time smart Revision techniques that are common, standard, and used frequently. What exactly are they?
How to take full advantage of the FREE CivilsDaily’s Preparatory Package and personalized mentorship session
The Make in India and Ease of Doing Business policies were framed because Prime Minister Narendra Modi correctly believed that the problems of poverty and unemployment could only be solved by the rapid growth of the manufacturing sector. Despite these efforts, manufacturing has till now not shown any significant increase in its growth. Investments in the sector remain inadequate.
Development strategies and failures: The development of strategies and plans for implementation and their execution is done by individuals. Repeated failures in this area point to the necessity of identifying the root causes for why existing personnel charged with policy execution have been failing.
Reasons could be: The reasons could be inadequate knowledge and skills, lack of motivation, environmental constraints or weak supervision and monitoring.
Vision by political leaderships, implementation by IAS officers: While the political leadership lays down the vision, the responsibilities for translating these into ground realities are that of IAS officers.
IAS officers in manufacturing
IAS officers ensures adequate skills and training: Most of the senior posts in the secretariats and districts are held by officers from the IAS. They are responsible for ensuring that subordinate civil servants are adequately trained and skilled, motivated and guided to deliver good outcomes.
Frame rules for implementation: They create the framework of rules that constitute the environment for implementation. Therefore, if policies are to be more effectively implemented, IAS officers need to be better equipped.
How should be the role of IAS officers in manufacturing?
Officers should have adequate knowledge: Achieving global levels of cost and quality competitiveness in the sector requires that officers working in areas relevant to policy-making in the central and state governments understand how laws, regulations and procedures impact the competitiveness of industry.
They must know the ways of cost-efficient manufacturing: They should specifically be aware of the various ways in which these add to or reduce the costs of manufacturing.
They should ensure the demand and investment strategy: They need to appreciate the importance of demand creation for enabling industry to achieve economies of scale and how the stability of policies is required for companies to make long-term investments.
What needs to be done?
Need to understand the resources, demand and growth: The importance of profits and the generation of internal resources for growth has to be understood.
Joint efforts and trust are required: This is only possible if the concerned civil servants in the ministries have good domain knowledge of the manufacturing sector and appreciate that government and entrepreneurs have to work jointly and trust each other.
Can IAS officers do this work? What are the challenges?
Gap in policies and implementation: While policies are largely made in Delhi, much of the implementation is done in states.
More trust on public sector while a distrust on private sector: Effective implementation has become complex because of our past history of only trusting the public sector and distrusting the private sector.
Even laws and procedures are based on suspicion: Many of the laws and procedures were based on the suspicion of private-sector industrialists.
Legacy of distrust on civil servants: Equally, the system of checks and balances, inherited from the British, is based on a distrust of civil servants and leads to implementers preferring procedures and correct paperwork over producing results.
Civil servants are not private sector friendly in general: Civil servants are generally not private sector friendly when dealing with issues that have financial implications. This results in long delays, higher costs and loss of competitiveness.
How to equip IAS officers to become more effective in dealing with the manufacturing sector?
Bringing in the best global practices: We need to reform our system of human resource development and bring it in line with the best global practices.
Dedicated wing to be created: A wing be created in the Department of Personnel & Training, and its counterparts in the states. This should be manned by professionals in human resource development whose function would be to select officers on the basis of aptitude from the IAS and other services, and train them to frame and implement policies relating to manufacturing and industrial development.
Experience must be considered: The selection of officers could be made after they have completed around 10 years of service. Thereafter, selected officers would need to be trained and given postings that would enable them to gain more knowledge and experience. This could include secondment to selected private companies so that the officers could get actual working experience. They would then be better able to understand the finer points of competing in the marketplace.
Periodic Capability evaluation should be made: Officers so trained should not be moved to other unrelated areas of work. Periodic evaluations could be made, again by professionals, to identify those capable of moving to the highest levels for making policies and strategies.
The Maruti case study
A system that exists in Japan, and was implemented in Maruti, was to de-link salary scales from job responsibilities.
The most suitable person for a job is selected and his pay did not change upon assuming higher responsibilities, though his designation changed.
Conclusion
IAS officers can deliver results if they are motivated, trained and allowed to work in the area of their expertise. The recruitment system for the higher civil services ensures high-quality entrants. However, that does not automatically mean good results when posted in jobs that require specialized knowledge and experience. They need to be properly equipped to work in the manufacturing sector.
Mains Question
Q. Despite of the efforts to boost manufacturing sector, it has till now not shown any significant increase in its growth. In this context discuss the role of IAS officers and suggest what can be done to improve their role in manufacturing sector.
Many of us are familiar with the concept of what a “chatbot” is and what it is supposed to do. But this year, OpenAI’s ChatGPT turned a simple experience into something entirely different. ChatGPT is being seen as a path-breaking example of an AI chatbot and what the technology could achieve when applied at scale.
ChatGPT by OpenAI: Artificial Intelligence (AI) research company OpenAI on recently announced ChatGPT, a prototype dialogue-based AI chatbot capable of understanding natural language and responding in natural language.
Will be able to implement in softwares soon: So far, OpenAI has only opened up the bot for evaluation and beta testing but API access is expected to follow next year. With API access, developers will be able to implement ChatGPT into their own software.
Remarkable abilities: But even under its beta testing phase, ChatGPT’s abilities are already quite remarkable. Aside from amusing responses like the pumpkin one above, people are already finding real-world applications and use cases for the bot.
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 the classic customer service channels like phone, email, and social media.
What is ChatGPT?
Simple definition: ChatGPT is a chatbot 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.
A human like language model: 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 Question arises: will AI replace all of our daily writing?
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 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 same experiences as humans: AI has a long way to go. After all, it doesn’t have the same experiences as a human.
ChatGPT doent 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.
Limitations of ChatGPT
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 incorrect or nonsensical answers.
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 needs to be addressed before it becomes a unavoidable part of human life.
Manis question
Q. What is ChatGPT? Discuss why it is seen as pathbreaking example of an AI chatbot and the limitations?
National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval recently hosted a meeting of his counterparts from five Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan — in New Delhi.
This is the first time India is hosting a conclave of top security officials from Central Asian countries focussing on the evolving security situation in Afghanistan and ways to deal with the threat of terrorism.
About the meet
Central Asia is seen as the northern boundary of the Islamic world.
With the Taliban’s return in Afghanistan, the threat of radicalism and possible regrouping of the Islamic State poses a serious security challenge for the countries in the region.
From the security perspective, the NSAs discussed the challenges of extremism, terrorism, and radicalisation in the region.
NSA said financing is the “lifeblood” of terrorism, and countering it should be a priority.
What is the Central Asia Region?
Central Asia is a region in Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north.
It includes the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
India-Central Asia Ties
India has decades-old wish to connect with the resource and fuel-rich Central Asian nations.
Since the emergence of the Central Asian Republics as independent countries in the early 1990s, New Delhi has been trying to establish ties with them.
Trade and collaboration
India’s trade with the five Central Asian Republics—Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan—was below $ 2 billion in 2018.
The potential areas for collaboration include construction, sericulture and pharmaceuticals to IT and tourism.
Much of this trade was routed through Iran, Russia or the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Efforts for connectivity
Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline
Development of Iran’s Chabahar Port
Zaranj-Delaram Highway
International North-South (Transit) Corridor (INSTC)
Central Asia’s importance for India
Russian backyard: Central Asia has always been seen as Russia’s backyard — some 20-30% of the population is of Russian origin, and Russian is spoken widely.
Fossil fuels: While Central Asia is seen as fuel-rich and, hence, important for an energy-starved India.
Mineral richness: Central Asian states are also mineral-rich, and Kazakhstan, for one, has been a source of uranium for India’s nuclear power plants.
Market for India: A country like India which is seen as a major economy has to have a presence in these markets. INSTC also offers a safe and cost-effective route to the EU (European Union) market.
Convergence against Terrorism: India can forge a common position on terrorism and radicalization, which is a matter of concern to the region as much as it is to India.
Hurdles for India
China’s opportunism: China’s trade with Central Asia was $50 billion-$60 billion in the same period. The obvious advantage in China’s favour is geographical proximity.
Lack of mutual trust: Unfortunately, many connectivity options are not open to them today due to the lack of mutual trust.
Pakistan factor: Tensions with Pakistan mean there is no viable land route towards Central Asia.
Iran and the US sanctions: Efforts to look for a circuitous route via Iran (and Afghanistan) have stalled due to US sanctions on Iran.
Issues in the Iran-Afghanistan bypass route
Recent events acquire broader geopolitical relevance for India in this route:
Taliban true-face: The takeover of Afghanistan by the Pakistan-backed Taliban has severely set back India’s plans in Central Asia.
Iran’s bypassing of India: Iran’s overtures has been clearly visible after itself allocating Farzad-B Gas exploration contract to another company bypassing India.
India’s recent engagement
Defence collaboration: In recent years, New Delhi has engaged with Central Asian Republics in the defence sphere through military exercises (say Ex Kazind).
Engagement at UN: Political and economic engagement is also important, given the imperatives of working together at a body such as the United Nations (UN).
Technological ties: India has set up universities there—Sharda and Amity are examples.
Scope for expansion
Dairy Sector: There is scope for collaboration in the dairy sector.
Pharma: Indian firms have been setting up pharmaceutical units in Russia that can serve these countries as well.
Info Technology: IT and IT-enabled services are two other areas.
Cultural connect: Bollywood movies are quite famous in these countries.
Way forward
India needs to develop into stronger bond of trade and commercial bonds which will be possible once the INSTC crystallizes.
The road ahead in the short term is difficult as India doesn’t seem to have any real leverage to get the connectivity projects with Central Asia going.
India has been negotiating with individual bilateral partners though.
Conclusion
India does not want the post-Soviet space to be captured by the Chinese, and the NSAs engagement is a key mechanism in Delhi’s toolkit.
In June 2002, Vajpayee had said in Almaty that the new “Silk Route Initiative” of India’s foreign policy seeks to build a new Silk Road of Friendship and Cooperation between India and Central Asia.
Twenty years later, New Delhi remains on the road, and on the job.
The government is proposing to make changes to India’s six-year-old Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
What is the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)?
The IBC, 2016 is the bankruptcy law of India that seeks to consolidate the existing framework by creating a single law for insolvency and bankruptcy.
It is a one-stop solution for resolving insolvencies which previously was a long process that did not offer an economically viable arrangement.
The code aims to protect the interests of small investors and make the process of doing business less cumbersome.
Key features
Insolvency Resolution: The Code outlines separate insolvency resolution processes for individuals, companies, and partnership firms. The process may be initiated by either the debtor or the creditors. A maximum time limit, for completion of the insolvency resolution process, has been set for corporates and individuals.
For companies, the process will have to be completed in 180 days, which may be extended by 90 days, if a majority of the creditors agree.
For startups (other than partnership firms), small companies, and other companies (with assets less than Rs. 1 crore), the resolution process would be completed within 90 days of initiation of request which may be extended by 45 days.
Insolvency regulator: The Code establishes the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, to oversee the insolvency proceedings in the country and regulate the entities registered under it. The Board will have 10 members, including representatives from the Ministries of Finance and Law, and the RBI.
Insolvency professionals: The insolvency process will be managed by licensed professionals. These professionals will also control the assets of the debtor during the insolvency process.
Bankruptcy and Insolvency Adjudicator: The Code proposes two separate tribunals to oversee the process of insolvency resolution, for individuals and companies:
National Company Law Tribunal: for Companies and Limited Liability Partnership firms; and
Debt Recovery Tribunal: for individuals and partnerships
What are the changes being proposed?
Easier settlements: The process is being proposed to be divided into two phases—phase I will focus on finding potential buyers and handing over the management to the acquirer. Phase II would address the distribution of proceeds among creditors and settle inter-creditor disputes. This would make an effort to revive the units with better management, wherever possible.
Preventing delays: Average days taken to resolve a case has risen to 679 days in H1FY23 from 230 days in FY18. The changes presently under consideration seek to address inter-creditor disputes, which have been identified as the leading cause of delays.
Why is the IBC seen as a game-changer?
The IBC has proved to be a deterrent for many unscrupulous borrowers and imparted tools to banks to be reasonably confident about recovering NPAs.
Fear of losing control of the firm nudges debtors to settle their dues.
Till September 2022, 23,417 applications for initiation of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP), with an underlying default amount of ₹7.31 trillion, were resolved before admission.
Indirectly, the code provides an exit route by winding up commercially unviable units.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court quashed the state government’s draft notification on urban local body elections and ordered that the polls be held without reservation for OBCs.
Precursor to the news
The Uttar Pradesh government had issued a draft notification for the reservation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in urban local body elections.
Why did the HC strike the draft down?
The verdict comes on the back of PILs challenging the state’s OBC reservation draft.
It was alleged that it was prepared without following the “triple test” formula prescribed by the Supreme Court.
The Court said that OBC reservation in local body polls cannot be provided until conditions mandated in the “triple test” are complied with.
What’s the Triple Test formula?
A five-judge Constitution Bench in the K. Krishnamurthy (Dr.) v. Union of India (2010) judgment said that barriers to political participation are not the same as barriers to education and employment.
While deciding on the legality of OBC reservations in Maharashtra local body elections in March 2021, the Supreme Court set out a three-layered test – also called triple test.
This is something that State governments have to follow to provide reservations-
Step 1: States must set up a dedicated commission to examine backwardness in local bodies.
Step 2: they must determine the size of the quota for communities on the basis of data collected by the commission.
Step 3: These reservations, combined with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes quotas, cannot exceed 50% of the total seats in the local body.
What did the court observe now?
Reservation to OBCs in local body elections without empirical base can no more be sustainable in law.
The latest order in RR Wagh v. State of Maharashtra & others makes it mandatory that the principles laid down by the Supreme Court for providing reservation to OBCs in local bodies shall be scrupulously followed across the country.
Major takeaways of K. Krishnamurthy Case
In this case, the Supreme Court had interpreted Article 243D(6) and Article 243T(6), which permit reservation by enactment of law for backward classes in local bodies respectively.
It held that barriers to political participation are not the same as that of the barriers that limit access to education and employment.
However, for creating a level playing field, reservation may be desirable as mandated by the aforementioned conditions.
Above articles provide a separate constitutional basis for reservation, as distinct from what are conceived under Article 15 (4) and Article 16 (4) which form the basis for reservation in education and employment.
Reception of the Krishnamurthy Judgment
The Indian political class usually displays apathy to the law declared by the courts as contrary to the enacted law.
The 2010 judgment was not acted upon and the constitutionality of the enacted reservation was challenged.
This resulted in the 2021 judgment of a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court.
What about other states?
In 2021, OBC reservations in local bodies were set aside in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh too on similar grounds by courts.
Earlier this year, the Karnataka and Patna high courts have set aside notifications reserving seats for OBCs in municipal elections in Bengaluru and Bihar.
In May this year, the top court, however, allowed local body polls with OBC reservation in Madhya Pradesh after it proved compliance to the triple test formula.
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