26 Feb 2024: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

E. Editorials

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. Can the IMEC address the Red Sea crisis?

Syllabus: Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests

Mains: IMEC as an alternative route of the Red Sea in the backdrop of the Red Sea crisis

Context :

• The Red Sea crisis has persisted for four months, disrupting global supply chains.
• Issues include inflated freights, delayed vessel schedules, and product shortages.
• The crisis underscores the vulnerability of global supply chains and the need to explore alternate trade routes.

Importance of the Red Sea Route:

• The Bab el-Mandab Strait, located between Yemen and Djibouti, is crucial for global trade.
• Nearly 12% of international merchandise trade passes through this route.
• The conflict has forced the re-routing of shipments via the Cape of Good Hope, leading to increased costs and delays.
• Higher shipping costs will likely result in increased commodity prices for consumers.

Impact on India:

• India’s trade with Europe and North Africa heavily relies on the Red Sea route, constituting 24% of exports and 14% of imports.
• Rising threats have caused Indian exporters to withhold around 25% of cargo ships transitioning through the Red Sea.
• Fear among traders has led to a drop in Indian shipments, affecting bilateral trade with Europe and North Africa.

Alternative Routes and China’s Involvement:

• China is promoting its China-Europe freight trains, part of the Belt and Road Initiative, as an alternative route.
• The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) offers another alternative but lacks attention and investment.
• Challenges include the Israel-Palestine conflict, the vulnerability of the Strait of Hormuz, and the need for development in Oman to bypass Iran’s control.

Making IMEC Viable:

• Conduct empirical studies to quantify the economic benefits of the corridor, such as reduced journey time and transit costs.
• Establish a robust financial framework to attract investments from governments, international organizations, and the private sector.
• Develop a comprehensive multi-national operational framework to navigate trade across different legal systems.
• Formulate a forum dedicated to the IMEC to coordinate activities and address challenges.

Nut Graf: The Red Sea crisis disrupts global supply chains, emphasizing the need for alternative routes. India’s heavy reliance on the Red Sea route underscores its vulnerability. Despite challenges, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) offers a potential solution, requiring investment and multi-national cooperation.

Category: SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. Why were surrogacy rules modified

Syllabus: Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources

Mains: Concern with the modified Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules, 2022

Context :

• The Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules, 2022 were recently modified by the Union government to allow married couples to use donor eggs or sperm for surrogacy, overturning a previous ban.
• The amendment came after the government’s consideration prompted by a representation from Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to the Supreme Court.

New Amendment Stipulations:

• The recent modification allows married couples to utilize donor gametes if one partner suffers from a medical condition affecting conception.
• However, the child born through surrogacy must have at least one gamete from the intending parents.
• The amendment excludes widowed or divorced women from availing donor gametes, requiring them to use their own eggs and donor sperm for surrogacy.

Supreme Court Intervention:

• The 2023 amendment, which disallowed the use of donor eggs, was challenged in the Supreme Court by a woman with MRKH ( Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser) Syndrome, unable to produce eggs due to medical reasons.
• The Court noted that the amendment contradicted the Surrogacy Act, 2021, and hindered couples’ right to parenthood through surrogacy.
• Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan stayed the amendment’s operation, emphasizing the importance of gestational surrogacy for couples facing medical challenges.

Considerations for Single Women:

• The regulatory change does not extend to single women, requiring widows or divorcees undergoing surrogacy to use their own eggs and donor sperm.
• A 44-year-old unmarried woman has challenged the Surrogacy Act, 2021, in the Delhi High Court, arguing that the restrictions violate her fundamental rights.
• Critics have raised concerns about the exclusion of single individuals, live-in couples, and LGBTQ couples from accessing surrogacy services, citing discrimination.

Nut Graf:  The modification of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules, 2022 allows married couples to use donor gametes for surrogacy if one partner has a medical condition. However, widowed or divorced women are excluded, prompting legal challenges over discrimination.

Category: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Why has Google paused Gemini’s ability to generate AI images of people?

Syllabus: Science and Technology- Developments and their Applications and Effects in Everyday Life;  Awareness in the fields of IT

Mains: Issue facing the current AI and the need for better regulation

Introduction: Google Pauses Gemini’s Image Generation

• Google announced on February 22 a pause on Gemini’s ability to generate images of people.
• This decision followed instances of the generative AI tool producing inaccurate historical images, including diverse depictions of U.S. founding fathers and Nazi-era Germany.
• The images generated by Gemini challenged gender and racial stereotypes commonly found in generative AI.

Issues Raised by Users Regarding Gemini:

• Users observed instances where Gemini seemed to refuse to generate images of white people, leading to factually inaccurate results.
• Even prompts for historically significant figures resulted in images of people of colour, raising concerns about biases.
• Specific prompts asking for images of “a white family” were met with responses stating the inability to generate images specifying a certain ethnicity or race.
• However, requests for images of a black family were fulfilled without issue.

Backlash in India:

• Gemini faced criticism in India for a response it generated regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• In response to a query about Modi being a fascist, Gemini stated that he is accused of implementing policies categorized as fascist by some experts.
• India’s Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology deemed this response a violation of Indian information technology laws and criminal codes.
• This incident highlights tensions between the government’s approach to AI research and tech giants’ AI platforms.

Tech Community Response:

• The tech community expressed criticism, with individuals like Paul Graham and Ana Mostarac questioning Google’s mission and culture.
• Concerns were raised about a culture of fear regarding offending other employees online.
• Former and current employees, including Aleksa Gordic from Google DeepMind, voiced their concerns.

Google’s Official Response:

• Google acknowledged the issues with Gemini and temporarily disabled the image generation feature.
• Jack Krawczyk, a senior director of products at Google, emphasized the company’s commitment to designing AI systems reflecting a global user base.
• Google aims to refine Gemini’s responses to open-ended prompts and enhance its understanding of historical contexts to ensure accuracy and reduce biases.

Nut Graf: Google’s Gemini AI faces criticism for generating inaccurate and biased images, prompting a pause in its image generation feature. In India, it sparked controversy with a response about Prime Minister Modi, highlighting tensions between tech companies and governments.

2. A new success

Syllabus: Awareness in the fields of Space

Mains: New rush to the moon and potential participation of Private sectors

Introduction:

• Moon missions are experiencing a resurgence, involving more countries and diverse definitions of success.
• Chandrayaan-3’s soft landing showcases ISRO’s technological prowess and emergence from colonial shadows.
• Luna 25’s failure prompts Russia’s Roscosmos to reassess and learn from mistakes.
• Intuitive Machines (IM) achieves a historic first as the first private company to soft-land a robotic craft on the moon.

IM’s Achievement and Collaborative Efforts:

• IM’s success highlights the significance of collaborative efforts in space exploration.
• IM’s Odysseus mission, part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) programme, demonstrates the potential of private-public partnerships.
• Despite technical glitches during descent, IM engineers successfully navigate and land Odysseus on the moon.
• IM’s achievement underscores the value of NASA’s support and the importance of a diversified private space industry landscape.

Implications for CLPS and Future Space Exploration:

• IM’s success bolsters the potential extension and success of NASA’s CLPS program.
• NASA’s role in CLPS missions primarily involves identifying landing sites and providing payloads, fostering innovation and competition among private space companies.
• IM’s accomplishment underscores the necessity of a robust private space industry to share the burden of space exploration.
• India’s recent approval of 100% automatic foreign direct investment in its space program indicates a shift towards fostering domestic competition and innovation.

Expansive Collaboration in Space Exploration:

• Space exploration requires extensive collaboration among nations and within domestic space agencies.
• Successful missions like Chandrayaan-3 and IM’s Odysseus highlight the benefits of shared knowledge and resources.
• The value of collaboration extends to fostering healthy competition and innovation within national space programs.
• Expanding international cooperation and private-public partnerships are essential for advancing space exploration and scientific discovery.

Nut Graf: Moon landings, including Chandrayaan-3 and Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus, signify a global resurgence in space exploration. IM’s success underscores the value of collaboration and public-private partnerships, shaping the future of lunar exploration and the space industry.

Q1.  'The Living Planet Report' is published every two years by 
which of the following organizations?

Q2. Consider the following statements: 

Q3. Consider the following statements:

Which of the above statements is/are true?

Q4. Consider the following statements:

Q5. Triclosan, considered harmful when exposed to high levels for a long time, 
is most likely present in which of the following?