Why is it in the News?

Recently, the BharatGPT group, led by IIT Bombay along with seven other elite Indian engineering institutes announced that it would launch its first ChatGPT-like service next month.

What is Hanooman?

• Hanooman is a series of large language models (LLMs) that can respond in 11 Indian languages like Hindi, Tamil, and Marathi, with plans to expand to more than 20 languages.
• It is unveiled by Seetha Mahalaxmi Healthcare (SML) in partnership with the IIT Bombay-led BharatGPT ecosystem.
  • The BharatGPT group, which is backed by Reliance Industries.
• Hanooman has been designed to work in four fields, including health care, governance, financial services, and education.
•  According to BharatGPT, the series isn’t just a chatbot but It is a multimodal AI tool, which can generate text, speech, videos and more in multiple Indian languages.
• One of the first customised versions is VizzhyGPT, an AI model fine-tuned for healthcare using reams of medical data.
  • The size of these AI models ranges from 1.5 billion to a whopping 40 billion parameters.

Are There Any Other Indian Language Models?

• Apart from BharatGPT, a host of different startups like Sarvam and Krutrim, backed by prominent VC investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners and billionaire Vinod Khosla’s fund, are also building AI models customised for India

What are Large Language Models (LLMs)?

• Large language models use deep learning techniques to process large amounts of text.
• They work by processing vast amounts of text, understanding the structure and meaning, and learning from it.
• LLMs are ‘trained’ to identify meanings and relationships between words.
  • The greater the amount of training data a model is fed, the smarter it gets at understanding and producing text.
• The training data is usually large datasets, such as Wikipedia, OpenWebText, and the Common Crawl Corpus.
• These contain large amounts of text data, which the models use to understand and generate natural language.

Why is it in the News?

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hosted the India-Nordic-Baltic meeting on the sidelines of the ongoing Raisina Dialogue 2024 recently.

What are the Nordic-Baltic Countries?

• The Nordic-Baltic countries, also known as the NB8, are a group of Northern European countries that share historical, cultural, and geopolitical ties.
• The group includes
  • Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, and
  • Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
• These countries collaborate on various regional issues, such as security, economy, environment, and culture, and often work together within international organisations and forums.
• The term "Nordic-Baltic" highlights the close relationship and cooperation between these neighbouring states in the Baltic Sea region.

India's Relations with NB8 Countries:

• India's collaboration with NB8 nations is broadening, exemplified by initiatives like the India-Denmark Green Strategic Partnership, the India-Norway Task Force on Blue Economy, and cooperation on sustainability and ICT with Finland, including the 'LeadIT' (Leadership for Industry Transition) initiative with Sweden.
• Cooperation extends across various sectors, including innovation, green transition, maritime affairs, healthcare, intellectual property rights, emerging technologies, space exploration, and artificial intelligence.
• Trade and investment between the NB8 region and India are on a steady rise, reflecting deepening economic ties.
• Moreover, the security dynamics of the Nordic-Baltic region and the Indo-Pacific are intertwined, underlining the interconnectedness of regional security challenges.

Significance of NB8:

• The NB8 nations embody advanced economies characterised by their outward orientation, emphasis on innovation, complementarity, and seamless integration into the European Common Market, the world's largest single market area.
• The Baltic states, in particular, stand out as pioneers in IT, digitization, cyber technology, and green innovations, showcasing their leadership in these critical domains.
• Moreover, all NB8 members share a steadfast commitment to democracy and human rights, serving as advocates for an international order grounded in principles of multilateralism and adherence to international law.

NB8 Proposals for India:

• In light of the Ukraine conflict and its ripple effects on global food and energy security, supply chains, macro-financial stability, inflation, and growth, the NB8 seeks to collaborate with India in the following ways:
• Recognizing Shared Challenges: In an increasingly interconnected world, challenges such as the Ukraine conflict, global health crises, climate-related events, and geopolitical tensions affect us all.
  • Acknowledging these shared challenges underscores the necessity for collaborative efforts to address them effectively.
• Embracing a Positive Agenda: There is an urgent imperative to pivot towards a more positive agenda for global cooperation.
  • Leveraging our mutual commitment to the multilateral system, the NB8 proposes to enhance dialogue and cooperation on issues that are paramount to India's priorities and those of other global partners.

Why is it in the News?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said that the present government is taking forward the teachings and ideals of Sant Ravidas while following the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas aur Sabka Prayas’.

Who is Guru Ravidas?

• Guru Ravidass (also Ravidas, Rohidas and Ruhidas in eastern India) was a North Indian Guru mystic of the bhakti movement who was active in the 15th century CE.
• Venerated in the region of Uttar Pradesh as well as the Indian state of Maharashtra, his devotional songs and verses made a lasting impact upon the bhakti movement.
• He is often given the honorific Guru.
• He was a socio-religious reformer, a thinker, a theosophist, a humanist, a poet, a traveller, a pacifist and a spiritual figure before whom even head-priests of Benaras lay prostrate to pay homage.
• His birthday comes every year at Puran Mashi in the month of Magh.
• His mother’s name was Mata Kalsi and his father’s name was Baba Santokh Dass.
• Guru Ravidass was born into a humble family which was considered untouchable as per the social order prevailing at that time in Hindu society.
• He spearheaded the fight against man-made discrimination based on caste, colour or creed and preached the lofty ideas of socialism, secularism, equality and fraternity.
• He taught the lessons of universal brotherhood, tolerance, and the message of loving your neighbour, which got more importance in today’s world.
• Guru Ravidass fulfilled Guru Nanak Dev’s request by donating old manuscripts, which contained a collection of Guru Ravidass’s verses and poems.
  • The earliest collection of these poems is available in Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
  • It was compiled by Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs.
  • There are 41 verses of Guru Ravidass in the Sikh Holy Book, Guru Granth Sahib.
• Meera Bai, a revered figure in Hindu spiritualism, is said to have considered Guru Ravidas as her spiritual Guru.
• It is said that Guru Ravidass disappeared from the world, leaving behind only his footprints.
  • Some believe that Guru Ravidass lived in Banaras during his last days, dying a natural death at the age of 126 years.

Why is it in the News?

Recently, the government amended the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules 2020, allowing consumers to now obtain separate electricity connections for charging their electric vehicles, and reducing the time period for obtaining a new electricity connection.

Context:

• The Government of India has recently approved the amendments to the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020.
• According to the Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri R. K. Singh, these amendments aim to expedite the process of obtaining new electricity connections.
• Encompassing various facets including billing, grievance redressal, compensation, and timeframes for new connections, these rules are designed to streamline consumer experiences.
• Moreover, they extend support to prosumers engaged in renewable energy generation.
• The amendments, as highlighted by the Minister, are poised to enhance consumer empowerment, fostering a more consumer-centric electricity ecosystem.

Major Amendments to the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020:

• Streamlining Rooftop Solar Installation: Amendments exempt the requirement for technical feasibility studies for rooftop solar systems up to 10 kW capacity.
  • For systems exceeding 10 kW, the timeframe for feasibility studies has been condensed from twenty to fifteen days, with automatic approval if deadlines are missed.
  • Commissioning timelines for distribution licensees have been shortened from thirty to fifteen days.
• Dedicated Connections for Electric Vehicle Charging: Consumers can now secure separate electricity connections for charging Electric Vehicles (EVs), aligning with national emission reduction targets and Net Zero aspirations by 2070.
• Accelerated Connection Processes: New electricity connection timelines have been slashed from seven to three days in metropolitan areas, from fifteen to seven days in other municipal areas, and from thirty to fifteen days in rural regions.
  • Exceptions apply in rural hilly terrains, maintaining the existing thirty-day period.
• Enhanced Consumer Rights in Residential Complexes: Residents in cooperative housing societies and residential colonies gain the option of individual or single-point connections, decided through transparent ballots conducted by Distribution Companies.
  • Tariff parity is ensured between single-point and individual connections.
• Prompt Meter Installation for Complaints: Distribution licensees are mandated to install additional metres within five days of receiving complaints to verify consumption for a minimum of three months, enhancing consumer confidence and billing accuracy.

Why is it in the News?

Fifty-two years after the last successful Apollo mission, a US-made spacecraft landed on the Moon recently which also marks the arrival of private space companies on the lunar surface.

What is Odysseus Lunar Exploration?

• Odysseus is a spacecraft built by Intuitive Machines, embarked on its journey from Earth aboard a Falcon 9 rocket by SpaceX recently.
  • Intuitive Machines, headquartered in Houston, USA, boasts a decade-long legacy in space exploration endeavours.
• Loaded with six NASA payloads, Odysseus set its course for the Moon.
• Its lander module, Nova-C, achieved the milestone of landing in the Moon's south pole region, following Chandrayaan-3's similar feat last year.
• This marks the third successful moon-landing event in under a year, alongside Chandrayaan-3 and Japan's SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon).

Mission Objectives:

• The primary aim of the lunar lander is to assess the environmental conditions at the Moon's south pole.
• This assessment holds significant importance as NASA gears up for a crewed mission in September 2026 with Artemis III.
• Before sending astronauts to this area, NASA seeks to gather crucial data, including insights into water presence and accessibility, to inform mission planning.

Funding:

• Under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, NASA allocated $118 million to Intuitive Machines for this mission.
• CLPS has engaged at least 14 private companies to ferry NASA payloads to the Moon, fostering a collaborative environment aimed at nurturing the private space industry's capabilities in lunar exploration technology and science.

The Significance of Odysseus:

• Advancing Long-Term Lunar Presence: Odysseus' successful landing heralds a transformative phase in lunar exploration, aiming to establish infrastructure and a technological ecosystem capable of sustaining extended human presence.
• Diverging from Past Lunar Missions: In contrast to the moon landings of the 1960s and 1970s spearheaded by the US and the Soviet Union, Odysseus' mission focuses on leveraging lunar resources for sustained exploration.
  • While historic moon landings were remarkable feats, technological limitations of the time hindered the immediate utilisation of lunar resources such as mining.
• Supporting US Commitment to Moon Exploration via Artemis Program: Odysseus' touchdown aligns with the US commitment to rekindle lunar exploration through the ambitious Artemis program.
  • This endeavour transcends mere lunar landing missions, aiming to establish essential infrastructure and a thriving lunar economy conducive to comprehensive exploration.
• Unlocking Lunar Potential as a Gateway to Deep Space: By laying the groundwork for lunar infrastructure and economic activity, missions like Odysseus pave the way for leveraging the Moon as a springboard for deeper space exploration, offering nations unprecedented opportunities for cosmic discovery.