09-10-04-23 Daily-Kerala-KPSC Current Affairs

Even whenwaste managementin various places across the state is turning out to be a serious Health and environmental hazard, records show that there is no dearth of funds available for setting up effective Waste Management projects. Crores of rupees are left unused due to the government’s inability in implementing projects.

Documents of a meeting chaired by chief secretary V P Joy last month, show that there is a huge gap in fund availability and utilization. There is at least Rs 600 to Rs 700 crore lying unutilized under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation andUrban Transformation(AMRUT) scheme alone.

The AMRUT fund to the tune of Rs 600 crore to Rs 700 crore said to be unutilized for the current year stands as testimony to the low profile of functioning of the LSGIs as far as waste management is concerned,” said the minutes of the review meeting. As per records, there are 19 projects proposed under theAMRUT schemealone, of which 12 have not even started.

In a recent address to the Indian Diaspora community in France, Union Minister Piyush Goyal announced that India is set to become the third-largest economy in the world by 2027. Currently the fifth-largest economy, India has been experiencing an Average annual Growth rate of around 7% over the last decade, driven by factors such as a growing middle class and a focus on innovation and

Goyal cited the countrys export performance, which reached USD 750 billion in the 75th year of independence, as evidence of Indias upward trajectory.

He also highlighted Indias role as a global pharmacy, food bowl and trusted partner, with the world looking to Prime Minister Modis Leadership to tackle current global challenges.

Goyal affirmed Indias commitment to its PARTNERSHIP with France, and called on the Indian diaspora to play a crucial role in furthering this partnership

According to recent news reports, a 3D-printed Post Office is being built in Bengaluru, India, which will be the first of its kind in the country. Residents of Cambridge Layout are reportedly pleased with this development. The cost of constructing this post office is estimated to be 30 to 40 percent lower than that of a traditional building, and it is expected to be completed within 30 days. The 1100 square feet post office will cost around Rs 23 lakh to construct

The use of 3D printing technology can significantly reduce construction costs and expedite the building process, which would otherwise take several months. The proposed three-storied post office in Bengaluru has received clearance from the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and IIT-Madras for its 3D printing. This will be Indias first 3D-printed post office building.

Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in the country, has 67,200 pending cases of heinous crimes against children, the highest among all states. This is almost 28% of all pending cases booked under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

To spare a sexually abused child from further harassment of court proceedings, amendments made to the Pocso Act provide for all trials to be completed in a time-bound manner in special fast-track courts (FTCs) set up specifically for this purpose across the country.

Maharashtrahas the second highest number of pending cases at 33,000, followed by West Bengal with 22,100; Bihar 16,000; Odisha 12,000 and and Madhya Pradesh with 10,000 cases each.
Delhi (with 9,108 pending cases),Rajasthan(8,921),Assam(6,875),Haryana(4,688) andJharkhand(4,408) figure among the top 13 states with large pendency of cases.

Stanford Universitys AI Index report states that India is ranked fifth in terms of investments received by startups offering AI-based products and Services in 2022. AI startups in India received a total of $3.24 billion, surpassing countries such as South Korea, Germany, Canada, and Australia. However, India is still behind the US, China, the UK, and Israel in terms of AI investments received

According to the same report, AI startups in India received a cumulative funding of $7.73 billion from 2013 to 2022, which places it sixth among the countries with the highest AI investments during that period. However, nearly 40% of this funding was received in the year 2022 alone.

The AI Index report by Stanford University revealed that 54% of the researchers working on Large Language Models (LLMs) are from American institutions. Nonetheless, for the first time, researchers from Canada, Germany, and India contributed to the development of LLMs last year