PIB Summary- 31th May, 2022 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Param Ananta

Why in News?
Param Ananta, a state-of the art Supercomputer was commissioned at IIT Gandhinagar.

Param Ananta

• Param Ananta is capable of offering peak performance of 838 teraflops.
• It is a joint initiative of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Department of Science and Technology (DST).
• This facility is established under Phase 2 of the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
• The system is equipped with a mix of CPU nodes, GPU nodes, High Memory nodes, High throughput storage and high performance Infiniband.
• The supercomputer will rank behind C-DAC’s Param Siddhi-AI, which as of November 2021 was the 102nd most powerful supercomputer in the world — with peak performance capability of 3.3 petaflops.

What are supercomputers?

• A supercomputer can perform high-level processing at a faster rate when compared to a normal computer.
• Supercomputers are made up of hundreds or thousands of powerful machines which use better artificial intelligence (AI) models to improve operations that process huge amounts of data in less time than normal computers.
• They work together to perform complex operations that are not possible with normal computing systems.
• Supercomputers require high-speed and specialised chip architectures.
• Supercomputers are generally intended for usage in businesses and organisations that demand a significant amount of processing power.
• Weather forecasting, scientific research, intelligence collecting and analysis, data mining, and so on are examples.
• China has the most supercomputers in the world and continues to be the leader, followed by the United States, Japan, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
• PARAM 8000 was India’s first supercomputer.

What is a Petaflop?

• A petaflop is a measure of a computer’s processing speed and can be expressed as a thousand trillion Floating-Point Operations Per Second (FLOPS).
• 103 = kilo, 106 = mega, 109 = giga, 1012 = tera, 1015 = peta, 1018 = exa, 1021 = zetta and 1024 = yotta.
• In computing, floating-point operations per second is a measure of computer performance, useful in fields of scientific computations that require floating-point calculations.
• For such cases, it is a more accurate measure than measuring instructions per second.
• There is no general direct translation between processor clock rate (expressed as Hertz – usually MHz or GHz) and number of floating point operations per second (FLOPS).

What is National Supercomputing Mission (NSM)?

• The mission was set up to provide the country with supercomputing infrastructure to meet the increasing computational demands of academia, researchers, MSMEs, and startups by creating the capability design, manufacturing, of supercomputers indigenously in India.
• The mission will nationally coordinate collaborative programme involving developers and users of supercomputing systems as well as academic and research institutions.
• It looks to facilitate effective governance and monitoring mechanisms to build culture of supercomputing for solving complex R&D problems and designing solutions addressing various country specific requirements for scientific, strategic and societal applications.
• The Mission envisages empowering our national academic and R&D institutions spread over the country by installing a vast supercomputing grid comprising of more than 70 high-performance computing facilities.
• These supercomputers will also be networked on the National Supercomputing grid over the National Knowledge Network (NKN).
  (i) The NKN is a central government initiative which connects academic institutions and R&D labs over a high-speed network.
• Under NSM, the long-term plan is to build a strong base of 20,000 skilled persons.
• The mission will be implemented by the Department of Science and Technology (Ministry of Science and Technology) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), through the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

PM CARES for Children Scheme

Why in News?
Prime Minister released benefits under PM CARES for Children Scheme.

About PM CARES For Children scheme:

• Prime Minister had announced comprehensive support for children who have lost both their parents due to COVID 19 pandemic.
• The objective of the scheme is to ensure comprehensive care and protection of children who have lost their parent(s) to COVID pandemic, in a sustained manner, enable their wellbeing through health insurance, empower them through education and equip them for self-sufficient existence with financial support on reaching 23 years of age.
• The PM CARES for children scheme inter alia provides support to these children through convergent approach, gap funding for ensuring education, health, monthly stipend from the age of 18 years, and lump sum amount of Rs. 10 lakh on attaining 23 years of age.
• The Scheme is expected to continue till the year when every identified beneficiary shall turn 23 years of age.
• The eligibility criterion for the scheme will cover all children who have lost (i) Both parents or (ii) Surviving parent or (iii) legal guardian/adoptive parents/single adoptive parent due to COVID 19 pandemic, starting from 11.03.2020 the date on which WHO has declared and characterized COVID-19 as pandemic till 31.12.2021, shall be entitled to benefits under this scheme. (iv) Child should not have completed 18 years of age on the date of death of parents
• Child should not have completed 18 years of age on the date of death of parents

The Entitlements under the scheme include:

• Efforts will be made by the District Magistrate with the assistance of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) to explore the possibility of rehabilitating the child within her/his extended family, relatives, kith, or kin.
• If the extended family, relatives, kith or kin of the child are not available/not willing/not found fit by CWC or the child (aged 4 -10 years or above) is not willing to live with them, the child should be placed in foster care, after due diligence as prescribed under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and rules made thereof as amended from time to time.
• If the Foster family is not available/not willing /not found fit by CWC, or the child (aged 4 -10 years or above) is not willing to live with them, the child 1Beneficiary/ Beneficiaries means eligible child beneficiaries under the PM CARES for Children Scheme. 3 should be placed in age appropriate and gender appropriate Child Care Institution (CCI).
• Children more than 10 years old, not received by extended families or relatives or foster families or not willing to live with them or living in child care institutions after the demise of parents, may be enrolled in Netaji Subhash Chand Bose Awasiya Vidyalaya, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, Eklavya Model Schools, Sainik School, Navodaya Vidyalaya, or any other residential school by the District Magistrate, subject to the respective scheme guidelines.
• It may be ensured that the siblings stay together, as far as possible.
• For non-institutional care, financial support at the prevailing rates prescribed under the Child Protection Services (CPS) Scheme shall be provided to Children (in account with guardian). For child in institutional care, a maintenance grant at the prevailing rates prescribed under the Child Protection Services (CPS) Scheme shall be given to Child Care Institutions. Any provision for subsistence support under the State scheme may also be provided additionally to the children.

(ii) Assistance for Pre-school and School Education

•  For children below 6 years of age Identified beneficiaries will receive support and assistance from the Anganwadi services for supplementary nutrition, pre-school education/ ECCE, immunization, health referrals, and health check-up.
• For children below 10 years of age
  (i) Admission shall be provided in any nearest school as a day scholar i.e. Government/ Government aided School/ Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs)/ Private Schools.
  (ii) In Government Schools, two sets of free uniform and textbooks shall be provided, under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, as per the scheme guidelines.
  (iii) In private schools, tuition fees shall be exempted under section 12(1)(c) of RTE Act.
  (iv) Under circumstances where child is unable to receive above benefits, the fees, as per the RTE norms, will be given from the PM CARES for Children scheme. The Scheme will also pay for expenditure on uniform, textbooks, and notebooks. A matrix of such entitlements is detailed out in Annexure-1.
• For children between 11-18 years of age
  (i) If the child is living with the extended family, then admission in the nearest Government/ Government aided School/ Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs)/ Private Schools as a day scholar may be ensured by the DM.
  (ii) The child may be enrolled in Netaji Subhash Chand Bose Awasiya Vidyalaya/ Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya/ Eklavya Model Schools/Sainik School/ Navodaya Vidyalaya/ or any other residential school, by the DM, subject to the respective scheme guidelines.
  (iii) The DM may make alternative arrangements for accommodation of such children during vacations at CCIs or any appropriate place.
  (iv) Under circumstances where child is unable to receive above benefits, the fees, as per the RTE norms, will be given from the PM CARES for Children scheme. The scheme will also pay for expenditure on uniform, textbooks, and notebooks. A matrix of such entitlements is detailed out in the detailed annexure.
• Assistance for Higher Education:
  (i) The child will be assisted in obtaining education loan for Professional courses /Higher Education in India
  (ii) Under circumstances where beneficiary is unable to avail interest exemption from extant Central and State Government scheme, then the interest on the educational loan will be paid from PM CARES for Children Scheme.
  (iii) As an alternative, scholarship as per the norms will be provided to the beneficiaries of the PM CARES for Children Scheme from the schemes of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ministry of Minority Affairs, and Department of Higher Education. Beneficiaries will be assisted through National Scholarship portal for availing such entitlements. The scholarship awarded to the beneficiaries will be updated on the PM CARES for Children portal.

(iii) Health Insurance:

• All children will be enrolled as a beneficiary under Ayushman Bharat Scheme (PM-JAY) with a health insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakhs.
• It shall be ensured that the child identified under PM CARES for Children scheme receives benefits under PM JAY
• The details of benefits available to children under the scheme are at Annexure.

(iv) Financial Support:

• The lump sum amount will be transferred directly in the post office account of beneficiaries upon opening and validation of the account of the beneficiaries. A pro-rata amount will be credited upfront in the account of each identified beneficiary such that the corpus for each beneficiary becomes Rs. 10 lakhs at the time of attaining 18 years of age.
• Children will receive monthly stipend once they attain 18 years of age, by investing the corpus of Rs 10 lakhs. The beneficiary will receive stipend till they attain 23 years of age.
• They will receive an amount of Rs. 10 lakh on attaining 23 years of age.

About PM CARES – Fund

• The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was created on 28 March 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
• The fund will be used for combating, and containment and relief efforts against the coronavirus outbreak and similar pandemic like situations in the future.
• Although the documentation for the constitution of the fund has not been made public, the Government of India has stated that the Prime Minister of India is the chairman of the fund, and that trustees include the Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance in the Government of India.
• The PM CARES Fund has faced criticism for the lack of transparency and accountability in relation to its establishment, functioning, and accounts.
• The total amount of funds donated and the names of donors have not been publicly disclosed, and the fund is privately audited.
• The Government of India has initially claimed that the fund is a private fund, and denied that the PM CARES Fund is a public fund for the purposes of transparency laws such as the Right to Information Act 2005, even though the Fund uses government infrastructure and the national emblem of the Government of India.
• In December 2020, the Government of India reversed its stance and admitted that the PM CARES Fund was a public fund, but still refused to disclose information regarding it under the Right to Information Act 2005.
• There are currently several ongoing cases at the Supreme Court of India and several High Courts in relation to the Fund.

National AI Portal (INDIAai)

Why in News?
National AI Portal (INDIAai.gov.in) celebrates its second anniversary

What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

• Artificial intelligence is the branch of computer science concerned with making computers behave like humans.
• AI refers to the ability of machines to perform cognitive tasks like thinking, perceiving, learning, problem solving and decision making.
• It is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computers.
• It refers to the ability of machines to perform cognitive tasks like thinking, perceiving, learning, problem solving and decision making and execute tasks in real time situations without constant supervision.
• Particular applications of AI include expert systems, speech recognition and machine vision.

Significance of Artificial Intelligence:

• NITI Aayog’s national strategy for AI envisages ‘AI for all’ for inclusive growth, and identifies healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities and infrastructure, and smart mobility and transportation as focus areas for AI-led solutions for social impact.
• Data and AI services are expected to help boost India’s economic growth in a big way. NASSCOM believes that data and AI will contribute $450 billion-$500 billion to India’s GDP by 2025, which is around 10% of the government’s aspiration of a $5 trillion economy.
• It has the potential to overcome the physical limitations of capital and labour and open up new sources of value and growth.
• The growing AI economy is estimated to create over 20 million technical roles alone.
• AI can create not just niche solutions to specific problems that banks and other service providers are deploying, such as speeding up loan application processing or improving customer service;
• It can also provide solutions for better governance and social impact. For example, during the lockdown, the Telangana police used AI-enabled automated number plate recognition software to catch violations.
• It has the potential to drive growth by enabling
• Intelligent automation i.e., ability to automate complex physical world tasks. Innovation diffusion i.e., propelling innovations through the economy.
• Role in social development and inclusive growth: access to quality health facilities, addressing location barriers, providing real-time advisory to farmers and help in increasing productivity, building smart and efficient cities etc.
• The exponential growth of data is constantly feeding AI improvements.
• AI has varied applications in fields like Healthcare, Education, Smart Cities, Environment, Agriculture, smart Mobility etc.

Pros and Cons of AI

• Already, AI has helped increase crop yields, raised business productivity, improved access to credit and made cancer detection faster and more precise.
• It could contribute more than $15 trillion to the world economy by 2030 adding 14% to global GDP.
• A study reviewing the impact of AI on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) finds that AI may act as an enabler on 134 — or 79% — of all SDG targets.

(ii) Drawbacks of AI

• A study finds that AI can actively hinder 59 — or 35% — of SDG targets.
• AI requires massive computational capacity, which means more power-hungry data centres — and a big carbon footprint.
• AI could also compound digital exclusion.
• Robotics and AI companies are building intelligent machines that perform tasks typically carried out by low-income workers: self-service kiosks to replace cashiers, fruit-picking robots to replace field workers, etc.; but the day is not far when many desk jobs will also be edged out by AI, such as accountants, financial traders and middle managers.
• Without clear policies on reskilling workers, the promise of new opportunities will in fact create serious new inequalities.
• Investment is likely to shift to countries where AI-related work is already established widening gaps among and within countries.

About the ‘National AI Portal’

• The National AI Portal is a joint initiative by Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), National e-Governance Division (NeGD) and NASSCOM and serves as a central hub for AI related news, learning, articles, events and activities etc., in India and beyond.
• In 2009, NeGD was created as an Independent Business Division under the Digital India Corporation (a not-for-profit company set up by MeitY).
• A not-for-profit industry association, is the apex body for the IT and IT enabled products and services sector in India.
• It serves as a central hub for Artificial Intelligence (AI) related news, learning, articles, events and activities etc., in India and beyond.