Weekly Current Affairs (1st to 7th January 2023) Part - 1 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Deep Tech Startups

Context: Government will launch the Digital India Innovation Fund to support deep tech startups.

What is Deep Tech?

About:

• Deep tech or deep technology refers to a class of startup businesses that develop new offerings based on tangible engineering innovation or scientific discoveries and advances.
• Usually, such startups operate on, but are not limited to, agriculture, life sciences, chemistry, aerospace and green energy.
• Deep tech fields like Artificial Intelligence, advanced materials, blockchain, biotechnology, robotics, drones, photonics, and quantum computing are moving more and more quickly from early research to market applications.

Characteristics of Deep Tech:

• Impact: The deep tech innovations are very radical and disrupt an existing market or develop a new one. Innovations based on deep tech often change lives, economies, and societies.
• Time & Scale: The time required for deep technology to develop the technology and reach the market-ready maturity is way more than shallow technology development (like mobile apps and websites). It took decades for artificial intelligence to develop and it is still not perfect.
• Capital: Deep tech often requires a lot of early-stage funding for research and development, prototyping, validating hypothesis, and technology development.

What is the State of India’s Deep Tech Startups?

• India had over 3,000 deep-tech start-ups, dabbling in new-age technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning (ML), Internet of Things, Big Data, quantum computing, robotics, etc., at the end of 2021.
• According to NASSCOM, deep-tech start-ups in India raised USD 2.7 billion in venture funding in 2021, and now account for over 12% of the country’s overall startup ecosystem.
• In the last decade India’s deep tech ecosystem has grown 53% and is at par with that in developed markets like the US, China, Israel, and Europe.
  • Bengaluru accounts for 25-30% of India’s deep-tech start-ups, followed by Delhi-NCR (15-20%) and Mumbai (10-12%).
• Deep-tech start-ups are making their presence felt across sectors like drone delivery and cold chain management to climate action and clean energy.

What are the Challenges Faced by Deep Tech?

• For deep-tech startups, funding is one of the biggest challenges. Less than 20% of startups receive financing.
• Government funds are underutilized, and domestic capital is lacking for such startups.
• Talent and market access, research guidance, investors’ understanding of deep-tech, customer acquisition and cost for talent are the major challenges faced by them.

What are the Related Initiatives?

• The Atal New India Challenge has been launched under the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) of the Niti Aayog, with an objective to serve as a platform for the promotion of Innovation Hubs, Grand Challenges, startup businesses, and other self-employment activities, particularly in technology-driven areas.
• Launched in 2021, NASSCOM's Deep Tech Club (DTC) 2.0 is aimed at scaling the impact to over 1,000 firms that are leveraging technologies such as AI, ML, Internet of Things, robotics, and blockchain.

Way Forward

• Reevaluate the Roadmaps: As the continual growth of the Indian start-up ecosystem is fueled by the ongoing era of constantly emerging new technologies, organizations and the government would need to reevaluate their roadmaps for adopting deep tech. As technologies such as 5G, understandable artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cloud-native technologies, cybersecurity meshes, and customer data platforms will be used in the future. There are a number of factors that can help the booming and resilient Indian startup ecosystem become global leaders in deep technology.
• CSR Budget Utilization: The social sector has traditionally benefited from Corporate Social Responsibility. However, this growing corpus should also be used to develop strategic technologies. A large corporation can be encouraged to contribute to the strategic needs of the nation with some of its budget. There is a need for the government to allow these funds to flow into certain strategic tech startups.

NCW’s Concerns over Sexual Assault

Context: The National Commission for Women (NCW) has asked all States to ensure strict implementation of the sexual harassment at workplace law.

What are the Concerns of NCW?

• The NCW has expressing concern over incidents of sexual harassment at coaching centres and educational institutes and asked to ensure strict implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and guidelines established thereunder.
• In recent years, sexual harassment at workplace is becoming one of the most pressing issues affecting women across the globe.
• Nearly 31,000 complaints of crimes committed against women were received by the NCW in 2022, the highest since 2014.
  • About 54.5 % of the complaints were received from Uttar Pradesh. Delhi recorded 3,004 complaints, followed by Maharashtra (1,381), Bihar (1,368) and Haryana (1,362).
• Crimes that women were subjected to: Domestic violence, Harassment of married women or dowry harassment, Sexual harasment at workplace, Rape and attempt to rape, Cyber crimes.

What is Protection of Women Against Sexual Harassment Act, 2013

• Background: The Supreme Court in a landmark judgement in the Vishakha and others v State of Rajasthan 1997 case gave ‘Vishakha guidelines.
  • These guidelines formed the basis for the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 ("Sexual Harassment Act").
• Mechanism: The Act defines sexual harassment at the workplace and creates a mechanism for redressal of complaints.
  • Every employer is required to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee at each office or branch with 10 or more employees.
  • The Complaints Committees have the powers of civil courts for gathering evidence.
  • The Complaints Committees are required to provide for conciliation before initiating an inquiry if requested by the complainant.
• Penal Provisions: Penalties have been prescribed for employers. Non-compliance with the provisions of the Act shall be punishable with a fine.
• Repeated violations may lead to higher penalties and cancellation of license or registration to conduct business.
• Responsibility of Administration: The State Government will notify the District Officer in every district, who will constitute a Local Complaints Committee (LCC) so as to enable women in the unorganised sector or small establishments to work in an environment free of sexual harassment.

What is the Background & Mandate of NCW?

About:

• Under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990, the NCW was set up as a statutory body in January 1992.
• The First Commission was constituted on 31st January 1992 with Mrs. Jayanti Patnaik as the Chairperson.
• The commission consists of a chairperson, a member secretary and five other members. The chairperson of the NCW is nominated by the Central Government.

Mandate and Functions:

• Its mission is to strive towards enabling women to achieve equality and equal participation in all spheres of life by securing her due rights and entitlements through suitable policy formulation, legislative measures, etc.
• Its functions are to:
  • Review the constitutional and legal safeguards for women.
  • Recommend remedial legislative measures.
  • Facilitate redressal of grievances.
  • Advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women.
  • It has received a large number of complaints and acted suo-moto in several cases to provide speedy justice.
• It took up the issue of child marriage, sponsored legal awareness programmes, Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalats and reviewed laws such as:
  • Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961,
  • Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act 1994,
  • Indian Penal Code 1860.

Way Forward

• There is a need to implement JS Verma Committee recommendations on Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Act:
  • Employment Tribunal: Setting up of an employment tribunal instead of an internal complaints committee (ICC) in the Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Act.
  • Power to Form Own Procedure: To ensure speedy disposal of complaints, the committee proposed that the tribunal should not function as a civil court but may choose its own procedure to deal with each complaint.
  • Expanding Scope of Act: Domestic workers should be included within the purview of the Act.
  • The Committee said any “unwelcome behavior” should be seen from the subjective perception of the complainant, thus broadening the scope of the definition of sexual harassment.
• Women's role is continuously expanding in today’s India and the expansion of the role of the NCW is the need of the hour.
  • Further, the State Commissions must also widen their ambit.
• Violence against women continues to be an obstacle to achieving equality, development, peace as well as to the fulfillment of women and girls’ human rights.
  • All in all, the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - to leave no one behind - cannot be fulfilled without putting an end to violence against women and girls.
• Crime against women cannot be resolved in the court of law alone. A holistic approach & changing the entire ecosystem is what is required.
  • All the stakeholders need to get their act together, including Law makers, police officers, forensic dept, prosecutors, judiciary, medical & health dept, NGOs, rehabilitation centres.

Depreciation of Indian Rupee

Context: The Indian Rupee depreciated by around 10% against the US dollar and the rupee was the worst-performing Asian currency in 2022.

• This decline was mainly on account of appreciation in the US currency on safe haven appeal amid fears of recession and inflation across many parts of the world and Russia-Ukraine war.

How did the Rupee Perform in 2022?

• During the year, the rupee fell to a lifetime low of 83.2 against the dollar. Compared to rupee, depreciation of other Asian currencies was to a lesser extent.
• During the year, the Chinese Yuan, Philippine Peso and Indonesian Rupiah fell around 9%. South Korean Won and Malaysian Ringgit declined by nearly 7% and 6%, respectively.
• However, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) heavily intervened in the forex market to defend rupee. Since the beginning of 2022, the country’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen by USD 70 billion. It stood at USD 562.81 billion as of 23rd December 2022.
• Reserves have witnessed a bit of erosion but the central bank is now starting to again build up its reserves and that would act as a buffer in times of uncertainty.

What was the Reason for Capital Outflows?

• The US Fed aggressively raised interest rates by 425 basis point (bps) in 2022 in its fight against inflation. This led to a higher interest rate differential between the US and India, and investors pulled out money from the domestic market and started investing in the US market to take advantage of higher rates.
• In 2022, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) pulled out Rs 1.34 lakh crore from the Indian markets – the highest-ever yearly net outflow.
  • They withdrew Rs 1.21 lakh crore from the stock markets and Rs 16,682 crore from the debt market in 2022, putting pressure on the rupee.
• Russian invasion of Ukraine accentuated the FPI withdrawals with the global economic slowdown making inflows tougher.

What may be the Impact of Depreciation on the Indian Economy?

• Positive: Weaker rupee should theoretically give a boost to India’s exports, but in an environment of uncertainty and weak global demand, a fall in the external value of rupee may not translate into higher exports.
• Negative: It poses risk of imported inflation, and may make it difficult for the central bank to maintain interest rates at a record low for longer. India meets more than two-thirds of its domestic oil requirements through imports. India is also one of the top importers of edible oils. A weaker currency will further escalate imported edible oil prices and lead to a higher food inflation.

What is the Outlook on Rupee for 2023?

• Even though the outlook on the rupee remains weak in the near future, the depreciation in local currency may not continue for a longer period as India remains the fastest-growing economy.
• The terminal interest rate for the US Fed was anticipated, but it cannot be the case that their monetary policy will be tightened endlessly.
• When the (US Fed) tightening is over, the tide will surely turn.

What is Appreciation vs Depreciation of Currency?

• In a floating exchange rate system, market forces (based on demand and supply of a currency) determine the value of a currency.
• Currency Appreciation: It is an increase in the value of one currency in relation to another currency.
  • Currencies appreciate against each other for a variety of reasons, including government policy, interest rates, trade balances and business cycles.
  • Currency appreciation discourages a country's export activity as its products and services become costlier to buy.
• Currency Depreciation: It is a fall in the value of a currency in a floating exchange rate system.
  • Economic fundamentals, political instability, or risk aversion can cause currency depreciation.
  • Currency depreciation encourages a country's export activity as its products and services become cheaper to buy.

What are Devaluation and Depreciation?

• In general, devaluation and depreciation are often used interchangeably.
• They both have the same effect – a fall in the value of the currency which makes imports more expensive, and exports more competitive.
• However, there is a difference in the way they are applied.
• A devaluation occurs when a country’s central bank makes a conscious decision to lower its exchange rate in a fixed or semi-fixed exchange rate.
• A depreciation is when there is a fall in the value of a currency in a floating exchange rate.

Delimitation

Context: The Assam state Cabinet recently approved the merger of four districts with their constituent districts.

• On 27th December, the EC announced the process of delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in Assam, saying it would be based on Census data from 2001. Assam currently has 14 Lok Sabha constituencies and 126 Assembly constituencies.

What is Delimitation?

About:

• Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country to represent changes in population.
• The Delimitation Commission is to work without any executive influence.
• The Constitution mandates that the Commission’s orders are final and cannot be questioned before any court as it would hold up an election indefinitely.
• When the orders of the Delimitation Commission are laid before the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assembly, they cannot effect any modification in the orders.

Need:

• To provide equal representation to equal segments of a population.
• Fair division of geographical areas so that one political party doesn’t have an advantage over others in an election.
• To follow the principle of “One Vote One Value”.

Composition:

• The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India.
  • Retired Supreme Court judge
  • Chief Election Commissioner
  • Respective State Election Commissioners

What is the Process of Delimitation?

• Under Article 82, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census.
• Under Article 170, States also get divided into territorial constituencies as per Delimitation Act after every Census.
• Once the Act is in force, the Union government sets up a Delimitation Commission.
• The first delimitation exercise was carried out by the President (with the help of the Election Commission) in 1950-51.
• The Delimitation Commission Act was enacted in 1952.
• Delimitation Commissions have been set up four times — 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002 under the Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002.
• There was no delimitation after the 1981 and 1991 Censuses.

What are the Issues with Delimitation?

• States that take little interest in population control could end up with a greater number of seats in Parliament. The southern states that promoted family planning faced the possibility of having their seats reduced.
• In 2002-08, Delimitation was done based on the 2001 census, but the total number of seats in the Assemblies and Parliament decided as per the 1971 Census was not changed.
  • The 87th Amendment Act of 2003 provided for the delimitation of constituencies on the basis of 2001 census and not 1991 census. However, this can be done without altering the number of seats allotted to each state in the Lok Sabha.
• The Constitution has also capped the number of Lok Shaba & Rajya Sabha seats to a maximum of 550 & 250 respectively and increasing populations are being represented by a single representative.

The Future of Metaverse and AI

Context: The year 2022 was not the best for tech firms, yet we may innovative technologies emerge in future related to Metaverse and AI (Artificial Intelligence), which may raise concerns and present Opportunities.

• The year 2022 saw a lot of the shift in demand during and post the Covid-induced lockdowns.
• The year 2022 ended with near mayhem across most Silicon Valley companies, especially those in the Internet business.

What will be the Future Challenges and Opportunities of Meta-AI?

• More Pervasive AI: ChatGPT has shown the world that conversational artificial intelligence is an idea whose time has come. The ChatGPT can answer “follow-up questions”, and can also “admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests.” but most such AI elements are now in standalone products, which is more play than work. In 2023, this intelligence will be seen coming into more products that we use every day —for instance Gmail that will not just auto-suggest but also write next mail to the boss.
• Beyond Social Media: Twitter and Facebook are struggling to remain relevant amid an increasingly younger and digital native audience. Their concepts of social engagement are very different, often sans text and notice-board behaviors. Meta, for instance, knows that it will have to think beyond its present social media platforms and wants to be the social link when users move to the Metaverse, if at all. But that might not be something that will shift soon. Till then, there seems to be a vacuum emerging in the social media space, for now plugged by users sticking to short videos. But that fad too shall pass and not all platforms are good in that segment.
• More Regional, Darker Social Bubbles: As the Internet spreads to new users, especially in countries like India, it is also becoming more localized and multilingual. Across the world, the English language internet seems to have plateaued, making platforms like Google focus more on opportunities to serve smaller, regional languages. This is a tech challenge in more ways than one, but also presents an opportunity to test out new technologies that can convert the content of the internet for these new users without much human intervention.
• Future of Metaverse:
  As hybrid workforces become the norm and with travel still not as easy as earlier, extended reality (XR) could become the answer to collaborate and communicate virtually. XR is an emerging umbrella term for all the immersive technologies, including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) plus those that are still to be created. All immersive technologies extend the reality we experience by either blending the virtual and “real” worlds or by creating a fully immersive experience. Since the headsets and other paraphernalia to facilitate these virtual interactions are still very expensive, it might be up to companies to make these available to their employees for regular XR meetings. The first experience of this could end up looking like an upgraded version of video conferencing, but with the ability to interact with objects in the virtual space. A few more commercial versions of the Metaverse is expected to be accessible to regular users during the year. However, the challenge will be with the hardware that lets people access these virtual worlds without making people bankrupt in the real world. The big disruptor could be an affordable device that logs users into the Metaverse easily — maybe it will just be a smartphone.

What are the Ethical Concerns related to AI?

• The legal and ethical issues that confront society due to AI include privacy and surveillance, bias or discrimination, and potentially the philosophical challenge is the role of human judgment. Concerns about newer digital technologies becoming a new source of inaccuracy and data breaches have arisen as a result of its use.
• The other side of this technological revolution is a growing apprehension on the socio-political and economic implications of AI, specifically, the concerns about co-existence of these emerging technologies and core principles of modern democracies.
• Consequently, AI ethics and the safe and responsible application of AI are becoming front and centre of the technology revolution.
• Constitutional morality was envisioned as the cornerstone for AI ethics’ principles in India, thus, propelling our constitutional rights and ethos to the paramount consideration for deploying AI in a responsible manner.

What are the Principles of a Responsible AI?

• Safety and Reliability: AI systems must ensure reliability regarding their intended functions and must have built-in safeguards to ensure the safety of stakeholders.
• Equality: AI systems must be built keeping in mind that similar people in similar circumstances are treated equally.
• Inclusivity and Non-Discrimination: AI systems must be developed to be inclusive of all stakeholders, and must not discriminate through bias between stakeholders on religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth or residence in matters of education, employment, access to public spaces etc.
• Privacy and Security: AI systems must ensure that the personal data of data subjects must be safe and secure, such that only authorised persons must access personal data for specified and necessary purposes, within a framework of sufficient safeguards to ensure this process.
• Principle of Transparency: The design and training of AI systems is key for its functioning. The system must be audited and be capable of external scrutiny to ensure that the deployment of the AI system is impartial, accountable and free from bias or inaccuracies.
• Principle of Accountability: Since there are various actors in the process of developing, deploying and operationalizing an AI system, the accountability structures for any effects, harms or damages by the AI system must be clearly set out in a publicly accessible and understandable manner.
• Protection and Reinforcement of Positive Human Values: This principle focuses on the possible deleterious effects of AI systems through collection of personal data for profiling, the use of AI systems in manners contrary to fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India.