GS Mains

G4 Model for UNSC Reforms

G4 Proposal

• Led by India with support from Brazil, Germany, and Japan.
• Aims to increase UNSC membership from 15 to 25-26.
  • 6 new permanent members (2 each from Africa & Asia-Pacific, 1 each from Latin America & Western Europe).
  • 4-5 new non-permanent members.
• Offers flexibility on veto power for new permanent members.
• Doesn’t specify countries for new permanent seats (decided by democratic UN elections).

Need for Reform

• Current UNSC lacks representation for key regions (especially developing countries).
• Inability to address global conflicts due to outdated structure.
• Veto power by a select few undermines legitimacy and fairness.

Challenges to Reform

• Veto power of existing permanent members (China opposes India’s permanent seat).
• Regional rivalries and geopolitical tensions.
• Complex UN Charter amendment process requiring widespread ratification.

Way Forward

• UNSC membership needs to reflect the current global landscape.
• Reform is crucial for the UNSC’s relevance and effectiveness.
• Achieving consensus among UN members remains a significant hurdle.

 

Plight of Gig Workers in India: A Study by People’s Association

Key Findings

• Long Working Hours:
  • Over 83% of cab drivers work more than 10 hours daily.
  • Over 60% of SC/ST drivers work more than 14 hours daily.
• Low Pay:
  • Over 43% of cab drivers earn less than ₹15,000 per month.
  • 34% of delivery personnel earn less than ₹10,000 per month.
• Health Risks and Stress:
  • Demanding work hours lead to driver fatigue and road accident risks.
  • “10-minute delivery” policies exacerbate the situation (86% find it unacceptable).
  • Lack of social security and job security creates stress and health issues.
• Financial Strain:
  • 72% of cab drivers and 76% of delivery personnel struggle to make ends meet.
  • 68% of cab drivers have expenses exceeding earnings (debt risk).
  • Companies deduct higher commissions than advertised (35% report 31-40% deduction).
• Customer Misbehavior:
  • 72% of drivers and 68% of delivery personnel face negative customer behavior.
• Limited Leave and ID Deactivation:
  • 41% of drivers and 48% of delivery personnel can’t take weekly offs.
  • ID deactivation by platforms negatively affects 83% of drivers and 87% of delivery personnel.

The Gig Economy

• Defined as temporary or freelance work through online platforms.
• Offers flexibility in work hours and income generation.
• Growing sector:
  • 47% of gig work is medium-skilled, 22% high-skilled, and 31% low-skilled.
  • Drivers and salespersons make up over 52% of gig workers.

Recommendations

• Social Security Measures:Provide benefits like paid sick leave, health insurance, and pensions.
• Oversight Mechanism:Ensure fairness in algorithms used by platforms to monitor workers.
• Skilling Initiatives:Bridge skill gaps through assessments and partnerships with platforms.
• Women in Gig Economy:Promote gender sensitization and accessibility for women and disabled workers.

Way Forward

• Regulation is needed to address worker exploitation in the gig economy.
• Collaboration between government, private sector, and civil society is crucial.

 

Large Language Models (LLMs) and Inflection 2.5

LLMs Explained

• Type of AI using deep learning for complex tasks like:
  • Understanding and generating text
  • Summarizing information
  • Predicting new content
• Deep learning analyzes unstructured data to recognize patterns without human intervention.

Inflection 2.5: Powering Pi Chatbot

• Inflection 2.5 is a competitive LLM by Inflection AI.
• Powers Pi, a chatbot designed for deep and meaningful conversations.
• New features include real-time web search for up-to-date information.

Applications of LLMs

• Cybersecurity:Detect malicious activity and generate alerts.
• Natural Language Understanding (NLU):Analyze and understand human language for tasks like:
  • Sentiment analysis
  • Recognizing named entities
  • Text classification
• Text Generation:Create coherent text based on user prompts (e.g., content creation, story writing).
• Language Translation:Translate text while preserving context and meaning.
• Chatbots & Virtual Assistants:Engage in natural language conversations for info, answering questions, or assisting with tasks.
• Healthcare:Analyze medical literature, answer queries, or help with consultations.
• Content Moderation:Identify and remove inappropriate content online.

Challenges of LLMs

• Ethical Concerns:Can perpetuate biases from training data, leading to biased outputs.
• Security Vulnerabilities:Susceptible to manipulation through adversarial attacks.
• Interpretability & Explainability:Difficulty understanding how LLMs arrive at specific outputs.

 

Satellite-Based Toll Collection on Indian Highways

Using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)

• GNSS constellations like GPS, Galileo, GLONASS provide positioning and timing data.
• This data is used to track vehicle movement and calculate toll based on distance traveled.

How it Works

• Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras capture license plates.
• System tracks entry and exit points to determine travel distance.
• Toll charges are deducted automatically based on distance.
• Eliminates fixed toll booths and ensures fairer user charges.

Benefits Over FASTags

• FASTags require stopping at toll plazas for electronic payment.
• GNSS-based system eliminates toll booths for seamless travel.

Challenges

• Non-Compliance Detection:
  • Difficulty detecting vehicles without On-Board Units (OBU) or with disabled devices.
  • Challenges in preventing fraudulent activities like using a car’s OBU on a truck.
• Infrastructure Requirements:
  • Setting up ANPR cameras across highways is crucial for enforcement.
• License Plate Quality:
  • System relies on accurate license plate recognition for proper functioning.
• Data Privacy and Security:
  • GNSS collects sensitive location data, raising privacy concerns.

Government Initiatives

• Using GAGAN satellite system (Indian) for data security within the country.
• Logging highway coordinates using digital image processing.

Way Forward

• Aims to provide “pay-as-you-use” toll system based on actual travel distance.
• Focuses on data privacy through domestic systems and data storage.

 

Kerala Declares Man-Animal Conflict a State Disaster

Why in News?

• Kerala is the first state to declare human-animal conflict as a state-specific disaster.
• This transfers the responsibility of managing the issue from the forest department to the disaster management authority.

State Disaster Management Authority

• Headed by the Chief Minister at the state level and district collector at the district level.
• Can take quicker decisions and actions compared to the forest department.

Need for the Change

• Allows for quicker responses to address human-animal conflict.
• District collectors gain more authority to intervene.

Similar Examples

• Odisha – Snakebite (2015)
• Kerala – COVID-19 (2020) & Heatwaves (2019)

Human-Wildlife Conflict

• Negative encounters between humans and wildlife leading to harm.

Reasons for Conflict

• Habitat loss due to urbanization and development.
• Population explosion of humans and wildlife.
• Deforestation and agricultural expansion.
• Climate change and invasive species.
• Increased eco-tourism.

Impacts of Conflict

• Loss of wildlife and threats to human life, property, and livelihoods.
• Displacement and forced migration.
• Increased road/railway accidents due to infrastructure development.

Government Initiatives

• Project Elephant (1992)
• Wildlife Protection Act (1972)
• Protected Areas network
• Project Tiger (1973)
• Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE)
• Operation Thunderbird (Wildlife Crime Control)
• Plan Bee (NFR to deter elephants from railway tracks)

Way Forward

• Improve communication between forest department and locals.
• Create wildlife corridors for safe animal movement.
• Increase community participation in conservation efforts.
• Establish more protected areas.
• Implement measures like deterrents, early warning systems, and compensation schemes.

 

Prelims 

Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA)

• India’s 5th generation fighter jet project by DRDO for airforce and navy.
• 25-tonne twin-engine stealth aircraft with internal weapons bay.
• First Indian-made Diverterless Supersonic Intake for high performance.
• Carries 1,500 kg internal and 5,500 kg external payload.
• Matches fighter jets by US, Russia, and China.

 

Golden Langurs

• Scientific Name: Trachypithecus geei
• Estimated Population: 7,396 (India)
• Location: Assam, India and Bhutan

Habitat

• Moist evergreen and tropical deciduous forests
• Riverine areas and savannas
• Upper canopy of sub-tropical and temperate forests

Diet

• Frugivores (eats fruits)
• Folivores (eats leaves)

Features

• Golden fur (color changes seasonally)
• Males are larger than females

Threats

• Fragmented habitat
• Lack of non-breeding all-male bands
• Anthropogenic interactions

Conservation Status

• IUCN Red List: Endangered
• CITES: Appendix I