MLC Daily Current Affairs – 04 October 2024

Today in History (October 4^th, 1977)

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, External Affairs Minister of India, addressed the UNO General Assembly in Hindi language, this was the first time.

Let’s Revise

A) What is BharatGen?

1. A government-funded multimodal LLM initiative
2. A private AI research organization
3. A global AI model
4. A language translation tool

Answer: 1)
Explanation: BharatGen is a government-funded multimodal LLM initiative launched by the Ministry of Science & Technology to revolutionize public service delivery and enhance citizen engagement.

B) What is the aim of BharatGen?

1. To develop a global AI model
2. To enhance citizen engagement and public service delivery
3. To promote private AI research
4. To translate languages

Answer: 2)
Explanation: The aim of BharatGen is to revolutionize public service delivery and enhance citizen engagement by developing foundational models in language, speech, and computer vision.

C) Who is implementing BharatGen?

1. IIT Bombay
2. NITI Ayog
3. Atal Innovation Centre
4. Private AI companies

Answer: 1)
Explanation: BharatGen is being implemented by IIT Bombay under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).

D) What are the key features of BharatGen?

1. Multilingual and multimodal foundation models
2. Building and training based on global datasets
3. Closed-source platform
4. Only for government use

Answer: 1)
Explanation: The key features of BharatGen include multilingual and multimodal foundation models, building and training based on India-centric datasets, and an open-source platform for fostering AI research and innovation.

E) What is the significance of BharatGen?

1. It will only benefit urban areas
2. It will address both text and speech, ensuring representation across India’s diverse linguistic landscape
3. It will only be used for private sector applications
4. It will not capture nuances of Indian languages

Answer: 2)
Explanation: BharatGen will address both text and speech, ensuring representation across India’s diverse linguistic landscape, capture nuances of Indian languages, and democratize AI access across government, education, and private sectors.

F) What are Large Language Models (LLMs)?

1. Small deep learning models
2. Very large deep learning models pre-trained on vast amounts of data
3. Only for language translation
4. Only for speech recognition

Answer: 2)
Explanation: Large Language Models (LLMs) are very large deep learning models that are pre-trained on vast amounts of data and use machine learning techniques to recognize, interpret, and generate human languages or other complex data.

G) What is Generative AI (GenAI)?

1. An AI technology that curates existing web pages
2. An AI technology that generates new content
3. Only for language translation
4. Only for speech recognition

Answer: 2)
Explanation: Generative AI (GenAI) is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that automatically generates content in response to prompts written in natural language conversational interfaces, producing new content in formats like texts, images, videos, music, and software code.

H) What is the expected completion year of BharatGen?

1. 2024
2. 2026
3. 2030
4. 2022

Answer: 2)
Explanation: The project is expected to be completed by 2026, with ongoing research, development, and scaling of AI applications.

I) What is the vision of BharatGen aligned with?

1. Atmanirbhar Bharat
2. Global AI model
3. Private AI research
4. Language translation

Answer: 1)
Explanation: BharatGen aligns with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat by developing AI models specifically for India, building these technologies domestically, and promoting data sovereignty.

J) What is the benefit of BharatGen for underserved Indian languages?

1. It will only benefit urban areas
2. It will democratize AI access across government, education, and private sectors
3. It will only be used for private sector applications
4. It will not capture nuances of Indian languages

Answer: 2)
Explanation: BharatGen will democratize AI access across government, education, and private sectors, ensuring AI benefits all segments of society, particularly underserved Indian languages.

Summary of Today’s News

Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme in Top Companies

The Union government has launched a portal for India’s top 500 companies to participate in the one-year internship scheme.
• The scheme aims to bridge the gap between the skill sets of unemployable youth and those needed by employers.
• 111 corporates have already signed up, offering 1,077 internships.
• The scheme is expected to result in about one lakh youngsters joining the on-the-job training exercise by December 2.
• The portal, pminternship.mca.gov.in, will be opened up for youngsters in the age group of 21 to 24 years to enroll for consideration by companies on October 12.
• Candidates’ data will be matched with companies’ needs and locations using artificial intelligence tools.
• The scheme is not open to
• post-graduates,
• children of regular and permanent employees in the Union or State governments,
• graduates from premier institutes, and professionals with qualifications such as CA, CS, and MBBS.
• Internships will be granted to candidates who have passed
• high school or higher secondary school,
• possess a certificate from an industrial training institute (ITI),
• hold a diploma from a polytechnic institute, or are
• graduates with degrees such as BA, BCA, BBA, or B.Pharma.
• Unemployed youth enrolled in online or distance learning courses are also eligible to apply.
• Anyone undergoing any skilling, apprenticeship, internship, or student training programme under a Union or State government scheme will not be allowed to apply.

Caste based discrimination in Indian Prisions
• Supreme Court Ruling: The Supreme Court of India declared that caste-based discrimination in prisons violates fundamental human dignity.
• Caste Segregation: The court criticized the segregation of work assignments based on caste, labeling it as a form of untouchability and the highest level of discrimination.
• Prison Manual Revisions: The court ordered revisions to prison manuals within three months, specifically:
• Removal of the ‘caste column’ from inmate registers.
• Elimination of any references to caste.
• Treatment of Denotified Tribes: It emphasized that individuals from de-notified tribes should not be treated as “habitual offenders” or subjected to arbitrary arrest.
• Constitutional Rights: The Chief Justice highlighted Article 15(1) of the Constitution, which protects against discrimination, stating that state-sanctioned discrimination is unacceptable.
• Discrimination Practices: The judgment deemed practices forcing marginalized caste inmates into menial tasks based on caste as coercive and unconstitutional.
• Prohibition of Manual Scavenging: The court reinforced that the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, applies within prisons.
• Government Action Required: The Union government was directed to implement necessary changes to combat caste-based discrimination in the 2016 Manual and the 2023 Act within three months.

Marital Relations must be exempted from rape provisions, Union Government submits to SC
• Government’s Stance: The Centre told the Supreme Court that criminalizing non-consensual sex within marriage as rape could disrupt marital relationships.
• Definition of Marriage: The government argued that the marital relationship is unique and should be treated differently from merely men-women relationship.
• Current Legal Framework: The response was in relation to petitions challenging Exception 2 of Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which exempts husbands from being charged with rape for non-consensual intercourse with wives over 15.
• Expectation of Sexual Access: The government claimed there exists an expectation of reasonable sexual access between spouses, which justifies a legal distinction between marital and non-marital non-consensual acts.
• Concern About Penal Rigors: The Centre expressed that applying rape laws to marriage could be excessively harsh and disproportionate.
• Consent and Penal Consequences: While the government acknowledged that marriage does not negate a woman’s consent, it argued that there are alternative legal provisions to protect consent within marriage.
• Future Legislation Considerations: Any future law addressing this issue would need to balance the protection of a woman’s consent against the rights of a husband, potentially complicating legal frameworks.