MANTHAN 2.

O
FEBRUARY 2024 : WEEK-4

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Manthan 2.O | February 2024 : Week-4
Contents
1. National Science Day: The Raman Effect, which CV Raman won the Nobel for.....................................3

2. Karnataka temple Bill: What changes it proposed, how other states manage temple revenues?........5

3. Palestinian Authority govt resigns: Why, and can it help shorten the war in Gaza?...........................7

4. PM Modi announces 4 astronauts for Gaganyaan: Current status of the mission................................8

5. SC terms woman military officer’s 1988 discharge ‘illegal’: How courts have ruled for
women in armed forces ................................................................................................................................................. 11

6. What is an LLM, the backbone of AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini? ..................................................... 13

7. Marcos Jr the EU’s new best friend........................................................................................................................... 16

8. PM inaugurates Signature Bridge in Gujarat ....................................................................................................... 19

9. BharatGPT group unveils ‘Hanooman’: Everything you need to know about the Indic AI model.... 21

10. Why has the Assam government decided to repeal the state’s Muslim Marriage Act?................... 23

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1. National Science Day: The Raman Effect,
which CV Raman won the Nobel for
• In 1986, the Government of India, under then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, designated February 28 as
National Science Day to commemorate the announcement of the discovery of the “Raman Effect”.
• This was the discovery which won physicist Sir CV Raman his Nobel Prize in 1930. Conducting a
deceptively simple experiment, Raman discovered that when a stream of light passes through a liquid, a
fraction of the light scattered by the liquid is of a different colour.
• This discovery was immediately recognised as groundbreaking in the scientific community, being the
subject of over 700 papers in the first seven years after its announcement.
What is the “Raman Effect”?
• Raman was born to a family of Sanskrit scholars in Trichy (present-day Tiruchirapalli) in the Madras
Presidency in 1888.
• At the age of only 16, He received a BA degree from Presidency College in Madras, and was placed first
in his class.
• While studying for his MA degree, at the age of 18, he got published in the Philosophical Magazine: this
was the first research paper ever published by Presidency College.
• Due to his ill health, he was unable to travel abroad for further education.
• Thus, in 1907, he got married and settled down in Calcutta as an assistant accountant general.
• While still a full-time civil servant, Raman began after-hours research at the Indian Association for the
Cultivation of Science (IACS). Raman raised the profile of IACS, doing some award-winning research
as well as conducting public demonstrations with charisma.
• At the age of 29, he finally resigned from his civil services job and took up a professorship in Presidency
College, Calcutta.
A voyage across the ocean leads to interest in the scattering of light
• By 1921, CV Raman had gained a solid reputation as a top scientific mind both in India and in the West.
• That year, he made his first journey to England.
• It was on the return journey that Raman would make an observation that would change his life and
science forever.
• While passing through the Mediterranean Sea, Raman was most fascinated by the sea’s deep blue colour.
• Dissatisfied with the then-accepted answer (“the colour of the sea was just a reflection of the colour of
the sky”), his curious mind delved deeper.
• He soon found out that the colour of the sea was the result of the scattering of sunlight by the water
molecules.
• Fascinated by the phenomenon of light-scattering, Raman and his collaborators in Calcutta began to
conduct extensive scientific experiments on the matter – experiments that would eventually lead to his
eponymous discovery.
The Raman Effect
• Simply put, the Raman Effect refers to the phenomenon in which when a stream of light passes through
a liquid, a fraction of the light scattered by the liquid is of a different colour.
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 • This happens due to the change in the wavelength of light that occurs when a light beam is deflected by
molecules.
• In general, when light interacts with an object, it can be reflected, refracted or transmitted.
• One of the things that scientists look at when light is scattered is if the particle it interacts with is able to
change its energy.
• The Raman Effect is when the change in the energy of the light is affected by the vibrations of the
molecule or material under observation, leading to a change in its wavelength.
• In their first report to Nature, titled “A New Type of Secondary Radiation,” CV Raman and co-author
KS Krishnan wrote that 60 different liquids had been studied, and all showed the same result – a tiny
fraction of scattered light had a different colour than the incident light.
• “It is thus,” Raman said, “a phenomenon whose universal nature has to be recognised.”
• Raman would go on to verify these observations using a spectroscope, publishing the quantitative
findings in the Indian Journal of Physics on March 31, 1928.
The importance of the discovery
• CV Raman’s discovery took the world by storm as it had deep implications far beyond Raman’s original
intentions.
• As Raman himself remarked in his 1930 Nobel Prize speech, “The character of the scattered radiations
enables us to obtain an insight into the ultimate structure of the scattering substance.”
• For quantum theory, in vogue in the scientific world at the time, Raman’s discovery was crucial.
• The discovery would also find its use in chemistry, giving birth to a new field known as Raman
spectroscopy as a basic analytical tool to conduct nondestructive chemical analysis for both organic and
inorganic compounds.
• With the invention of lasers and the capabilities to concentrate much stronger beams of light, the uses of
Raman spectroscopy have only ballooned over time.
• Today, this method has a wide variety of applications, from studying art and other objects of cultural
importance in a non-invasive fashion to finding drugs hidden inside luggage at customs.
QUESTIONS
Fill in the Blank:
1. In 1986, the Government of India, under then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, designated February 28
as _________.
2. Raman was born to a family of Sanskrit scholars in _________ in the Madras Presidency in 1888.
3. While passing through the Mediterranean Sea, Raman was most fascinated by the sea’s deep
_________ colour.
4. The Raman Effect is when the change in the energy of the light is affected by the vibrations of the
molecule or material under observation, leading to a change in its _________.
5. Simply put, the Raman Effect refers to the phenomenon in which when a stream of light passes
through a liquid, a fraction of the light scattered by the liquid is of a different _________.
6. With the invention of lasers and the capabilities to concentrate much stronger beams of _________,
the uses of _________ have only ballooned over time.
7. CV Raman’s discovery took the world by storm as it had deep implications far beyond _________.
8. As Raman himself remarked in his _________ Nobel Prize speech, “The character of the scattered
radiations enables us to obtain an insight into the ultimate structure of the scattering substance.”

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 9. For _________, in vogue in the scientific world at the time, Raman’s discovery was crucial.
10. The discovery would also find its use in chemistry, giving birth to a new field known as _________
as a basic analytical tool to conduct nondestructive chemical analysis for both organic and inorganic
compounds.

2. Karnataka temple Bill: What changes it

proposed, how other states manage
temple revenues?
• The Karnataka government’s attempt to tweak the law that governs taxation of Hindu temples was
stymied in the Legislative Council, where the primary Opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),
holds a majority.
• The Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was
introduced in the Legislative Assembly on February 19 and passed on February 22. However, it was
rejected two days later in the Legislative Council.
What changes were proposed for the taxation of Karnataka’s temples?
• The Bill was meant to amend multiple provisions in the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and
Charitable Endowments Act, 1997.
• The first and the most contentious was that it intended to divert “10% of the gross income of institutions
whose gross annual income exceeds Rs. 1 crore” to a common pool for the maintenance of temples, instead
of the existing “10% of the net income of institutions whose gross annual income exceeds Rs. 10 lakh”.
• Net income is calculated based on the profits of the temple after accounting for its expenses, whereas
gross income simply refers to the total amount of money the temple makes.
• In addition, the Bill dedicated 5% of the income of institutions earning between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 1
crore to the common pool, changing the previous income bracket from Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh.
• The common fund pool was created by the BJP government in 2011, by amending the 1997 Act.
• If the recent amendments had been passed, they would have generated an extra Rs. 60 crore, from 87
temples with incomes of over Rs. 1 crore and 311 temples with income over Rs. 10 lakh.
• Section 19 of the Act lists the purposes for which the common fund may be utilised, including religious
studies and propagation, temple maintenance, and other charitable causes.
• The Congress government had said the enhanced funds would be used to grant aid to lower income temples,
provide terminal benefits to ailing priests, and provide scholarships to children from families of priests.
What were the criticisms against the amendments?
• BJP leaders accused the Siddaramaiah government of attempting to “rob” temples and questioned why
only Hindu temples were being targeted.
• BJP state president BY Vijayendra said “The question from crores of devotees is why is the government
eyeing the incomes of Hindu temples when it is not interested in the revenue of other religions?”
• Siddaramaiah, however, maintained that there “has always been a mandate to create a common pool
since the enactment of the Act in 1997 … The common pool is administered solely for religious
purposes connected with the Hindu religion… and it will continue to be used for the same purposes.”
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Did the Bill propose any other changes?
• Under Section 25 of the Act, temples and religious institutions are required to form a “committee of
management” consisting of nine people, including a priest, at least one member of a Scheduled Caste or
Scheduled Tribe, two women, and one member of the locality of the institution.
• The Bill proposed to include, among the remaining four members, one person “skilled in Vishwakarma
hindu temple architecture and sculpture.”
• The Bill also gave the Rajya Dharmika Parishat the power to appoint the chairman of these committees.
• The Rajya Dharmika Parishat is a body appointed by the state government that is empowered to make
decisions on a variety of subjects related to religion.
• This includes religious disputes over practices and customs, whether a temple is a “composite
institution” by allowing religious worship besides Hinduism, whether a temple is private, public or
denominational, and whether a person is a hereditary trustee of a religious institution by virtue of
succession.
• Finally, the Bill also required the state government to create district-level and state high-level
committees to oversee infrastructural projects that can facilitate pilgrimage to temples making more than
Rs. 25 lakh annually.
How is temple revenue handled in other states?
• Telangana’s approach shares similarities with the Karnataka model.
• Under Section 70 of the Telangana Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act,
1987, the Commissioner in charge of administration of religious institutions can create a “Common
Good Fund”.
• Religious institutions making more that Rs. 50,000 annually are required to pay 1.5% of their annual
income to the state government.
• After the government is repaid for expenses it has incurred under the Telangana Act, the commissioner
can direct the remaining funds to the Common Good Fund.
• These funds are utilised for the maintenance and renovations of temples, veda-pathasalas (religious
schools) and for the establishment of new temples.
• Kerala employs an entirely different system, where temples are often managed by state-run Devaswom
(temple) Boards.
• The state has five autonomous Devswom Boards that manage over 3,000 temples. These boards are run
by nominees appointed by the ruling government, who are often politicians.
• Each Devaswom Board has a budget allocated by the state government and is not required to share
revenue figures.
• The state has also enacted separate laws for each Devaswom board (besides Travancore and Cochin
which are governed by the same Act), which deal with the administration and management of temples
under their aegis.
QUESTIONS
Fill in the Blank:
1. The _________ government’s attempt to tweak the law that governs taxation of Hindu temples was
stymied in the Legislative Council.
2. The Present Chief Minister of Karnataka is _________.
3. The capital city of Karnataka is _________.
4. The Present Governor of Karnataka is _________.

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 5. The Present Chief Minister of Kerala is _________.
6. Under Section 70 of the Telangana Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments
Act, 1987, the Commissioner in charge of administration of religious institutions can create a
_________.
7. _________ employs an entirely different system, where temples are often managed by state-run
Devaswom (temple) Boards.
8. Religious institutions making more that _________ annually are required to pay _________ of their
annual income to the state government.
9. The Bill also gave the _________ the power to appoint the chairman of these committees.
10. Under _________ of the Act, temples and religious institutions are required to form a “committee of
management” consisting of nine people, including a priest, at least one member of a Scheduled Caste
or Scheduled Tribe, two women, and one member of the locality of the institution.

3. Palestinian Authority govt resigns: Why,

and can it help shorten the war in Gaza?
• With no end to the Gaza war in sight, the West Bank’s Palestinian Authority government resigned.
• The move is being seen as the first step towards an overhaul of the Palestinian Authority, so that it can
govern Gaza too after the war, an arrangement that the US is pushing.
• West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem together make up the state of Palestine. All these territories are
under varying degrees of Israeli occupation.
What is the significance of the West Bank government resigning?
• The Palestinian Authority (PA) was created after The Oslo Accords of 1993-95, in which Israel and
Palestine first formally recognised each other.
• It was supposed to be the governing body of the state of Palestine, but the peace process never
concluded and that state never effectively came into being.
• The PA is dominated by Fatah, the party of Mahmoud Abbas, Palestine’s President.
• In Gaza, Hamas has been in power ever since it defeated Fatah in the 2006 elections.
• The secular and moderate Fatah is more acceptable to the West than Hamas, and the US and its allies are
pushing for the former to come to power in Gaza too after the war.
• Thus, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and his Cabinet have resigned, and President Abbas is
widely expected to pick as the next Prime Minister the US-educated Mohammad Mustafa.
• Mustafa is an economist, who worked at the World Bank, currently leads the Palestine Investment Fund,
and is someone the West might find easier to work with.
• As Shtayyeh said in his resignation statement, “I see that the next stage and its challenges require new
governmental and political arrangements that take into account the emerging reality in the Gaza Strip,
the national unity talks, and the urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus based on a national basis,
broad participation, unity of ranks, and the extension of the Palestinian Authority’s sovereignty over the
entire land of Palestine.”
• He has been asked to stay on as caretaker PM till Abbas picks his successor.
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Problems in this plan
• First, of course, is the fact that the war is yet to end and Hamas is nowhere close to “total destruction”,
which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said is his goal before he halts the offensive.
• Second, Israel’s plans for post-war Gaza do not envisage much autonomy for the region.
• A future plan the Jewish nation has shared talks of Israel maintaining full control over security in a
“demilitarised” Gaza, while civilian management and public order is in the hands of “local elements
with managerial experience” who would “not be identified with countries or entities that support
terrorism and will not receive payment from them”.
• Third, Fatah is highly unpopular in Palestine, specially Gaza, and its people are unlikely to accept a
government it heads.
• Fatah is seen as corrupt, inefficient, and in cahoots with Israel in its brutal security crackdowns.
• While Israel has accused Fatah of being too generous with the families of killed militants by giving them
payouts, Palestinians feel Fatah has not done enough to advocate their cause.
Reasons this plan is being pushed
• Mainly because Israel’s violence in Gaza is attracting louder criticism by the day, and this is one of the
ways a ceasefire can possibly be achieved.
• In another signal that PA is being placated, there seemed to be action on one of its long-standing
complaints.
• US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Israel had agreed to resume tax revenue transfers to the
Palestinian Authority to fund basic services and bolster the West Bank economy.
• Fatah has consistently said it is unable to function effectively because Israel does not transfer to it the
tax revenue it is supposed to. It is being hoped that the reflow of money will prevent protests and riots in
the West Bank.
QUESTIONS
Fill in the Blank:
1. With no end to the Gaza war in sight, the West Bank’s _________ Authority government resigned.
2. The present President of Palestine is _________.
3. The Present Prime Minister of Israel is _________.
4. US Treasury Secretary _________ said Israel had agreed to resume tax revenue transfers to the
Palestinian Authority to fund basic services and bolster the West Bank economy
5. Mainly because _________ violence in Gaza is attracting louder criticism by the day, and this is one
of the ways a ceasefire can possibly be achieved.

4. PM Modi announces 4 astronauts for

Gaganyaan: Current status of the mission
• Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap,
and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla are India’s astronauts-designate for Gaganyaan, India’s first
crewed space mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced.
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 • All four Indian Air Force officers have had extensive experience as test pilots and are currently in
training for the mission.
• Modi, who bestowed them with the prestigious astronaut wings, described them as “four forces” who
represent the aspirations and optimism of 1.4 billion Indians.
• The announcement was made at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thumba, Kerala, days after the
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said it had successfully tested the human readiness of the
cryogenic engine that will be used on the Gaganyaan mission vehicles.
• The first mission flight, Gaganyaan-1, an unmanned test flight to check technology readiness, is
expected by the end of 2024.
• The manned mission, which will take a three-member crew into a low earth orbit of 400 km altitude and
return to Earth after three days, will follow.
• In 1984, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian in space when he flew to the Salyut
7 space station on a Soviet spacecraft.
• In 2006, India started work on an orbital vehicle mission that was later named Gaganyaan.
• As the astronauts-designate are named, here’s where the various aspects of the mission stand.
Human rating of launch vehicle
• ISRO will use its LVM3 rocket for all of Gaganyaan missions. LVM3, earlier called GSLV-MkIII, is the
Indian space agency’s most powerful launch vehicle that has flown seven times without failure.
• The rocket consists of liquid stage, solid stage, and cryogenic stage.
• ISRO has reconfigured all components of LVM3 to meet human rating requirements.
• On February 14, final tests on the cryogenic engine, known as CE20, were performed.
• The engine successfully passed the test and was certified for missions that would transport humans to space.
• The Vikas engine to be used in the liquid stage, and the solid booster, which is part of the solid stage,
have already qualified for the missions.
• The special flight engine, which ignites as the rocket lifts off, has completed acceptance tests.
• These tests certify/ qualify the test performance of the hardware according to the mission requirement.
• The technology or development is then applied in the final mission.
Crew module and escape system
• Preparations for the human space flight includes development of life support systems to provide an
Earth-like environment for the crew in space, provisions for emergency escape, and evolving crew
management aspects for training, recovery, and rehabilitation of the crew.
• Precursor missions such as Gaganyaan-1 will demonstrate the levels of technology preparedness before
the manned mission.
• The unmanned mission will carry an unpressurised crew module — the capsule in which the astronauts
will be seated during the human flight — to space and back.
• The Gaganyaan-1 mission’s crew module will not have the Environment Control and Life Support
System, which ensures an Earth-like environment inside the module. ISRO is currently developing and
testing the various components of the system at its labs.
• “It (Gaganyaan-1) will mainly test the safe re-entry of the crew module and proper orientation of the
module when it splashes down in the sea,” an ISRO official said.
• A second unmanned flight is planned with a pressurised crew module, in which the complete life
support system will be tested. This flight will carry the robot Vyommitra which will record all
parameters to study the impact of the flight on humans.
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 • The schedules for these missions are not final yet. “For other launches, we already know the road, so
planning is easier.
• For this mission, everything is new, and each test tells us what worked and what did not.
• We have to keep making adjustments as we go,”.
• In October last year, ISRO successfully conducted the first test of a basic crew module and crew escape
system (CES).
• The CES is a part of the module that ensures “the crew is taken to a safe distance in case of any
emergency either at launch pad or during ascent phase,”.
• Drogue chutes play an essential role in stabilising the crew module and reducing its velocity to a safe
level during re-entry.
• They bring the crew module from a height of 17 km and speed of 150 metres/ second to 2.5 km from the
sea surface and a speed of 63 metres/ sec.
• ISRO has also been experimenting with a crew module uprighting system, which ensures that the
module remains upright after splashdown in the sea.
Training of the astronauts
• The four astronauts completed their generic training at Russia’s Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training
Centre between February 2020 and March 2021.
• ISRO signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of the Russian space
agency Roscosmos, for the training in June 2019.
• The astronauts are currently training at ISRO’s astronaut training facility in Bengaluru.
• “The training is continuous.
• They are now being trained on subsystem functioning on various subsystem simulators.
• They are a part of the development process of the crew module design, as they can pinpoint what is
comfortable, what works etc.,”.
• “The astronauts also have to continuously undergo fitness and psychological training,”.
• One of the four astronauts is expected to be trained by the American space agency NASA.
• Bill Nelson, administrator of NASA, had made this announcement during a visit to New Delhi in 2023.
• This astronaut would likely be chosen from among the four who are preparing for the Gaganyaan
mission.
QUESTIONS
Fill in the Blank:
1. The Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was founded in _________ under
the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) with Vikram Sarabhai as its chairperson which in 1969
became _________.
2. The chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation is _________.
3. The first mission flight, _________ an unmanned test flight to check technology readiness, is
expected by the end of 2024.
4. Full form of NASA is _________.
5. Bill Nelson, administrator of _________, had made this announcement during a visit to New Delhi
in 2023.
6. One of the four astronauts is expected to be trained by the American space agency _________.

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 7. The astronauts are currently training at ISRO’s astronaut training facility in _________.
8. ISRO signed a Memorandum of Understanding with _________, a subsidiary of the Russian space
agency Roscosmos, for the training in June 2019.
9. A second unmanned flight is planned with a pressurised crew module, in which the complete life
support system will be tested. This flight will carry the robot _________ which will record all
parameters to study the impact of the flight on humans.
10. Final tests on the cryogenic engine, known as _________, were performed.

5. SC terms woman military officer’s 1988

discharge ‘illegal’: How courts have ruled
for women in armed forces
• The Supreme Court has directed the Ministry of Defence to pay Rs. 60 lakh in compensation to a former
permanent commissioned officer in the Military Nursing Service (MNS), ruling she was “wrongly”
released from service in 1988 on grounds of her marriage.
• A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said that the termination of employment was a
“coarse case of gender discrimination and inequality.”
What is this case?
• Former permanent commissioned officer Lt. Selina John, of the MNS, was released from employment in
1988 on grounds of her marriage.
• The MNS is an integral part of the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), which includes the Army
Medical Corps (AMC) and Army Dental Corps (ADC). AFMS personnel serve in India’s medical
establishments and its officers have played a role in United Nations peacekeeping missions abroad.
• John then approached the Armed Forces Tribunal, Regional Bench, Lucknow, which called the
termination “illegal” and directed her reinstatement with back wages. However, the Central government
then moved the SC to challenge this order (‘Union of India & Others vs. Ex. Lt. Selina John’).
What did the Supreme Court say?
• Dismissing the Centre’s challenge, the Supreme Court said that John’s release from the service was
“wrong and illegal”.
• The government has been directed to pay Rs. 60 lakhs to her within eight weeks.
• The court also rejected the Centre’s argument, based on a rule in force at the time.
• “This rule, it is accepted, was applicable to only women nursing officers.
• Such rule was ex facie manifestly arbitrary, as terminating employment because the woman has got
married is a coarse case of gender discrimination and inequality,”.
• That rule – Army Instruction No. 61 of 1977 titled “Terms and Conditions of Service for the Grant of
Permanent Commissions in the Military Nursing Service” – was later withdrawn by a letter dated
August 29, 1995.
• It governed the terms and conditions of MNS. Clause 11 dealt with the termination of an appointment on
certain grounds.
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 • These included “being pronounced by a medical board to be unfit for further service in the Armed
Forces”; getting married; misconduct; breach of contract, or if services are found unsatisfactory.”
What is the process of recruiting women military officers?
• A permanent commission in the Indian Army means a career until the age of retirement.
• Whereas, Short Service Commission jobs are for a few years. In some SSCs, a few officers get to opt for
permanent commissions based on available vacancies.
• In 1992, the Indian Army first allowed women officers to be inducted.
• They were commissioned for five-year periods in certain streams, like the Army Education Corps and
the Corps of Engineers.
• Recruitment was then done under the Women Special Entry Scheme (WSES).
• It had shorter pre-commission training periods than those stipulated for men commissioned under the
SSC scheme.
• Men were commissioned for 10-year periods, which could be extended up to 14 years.
• In 2006, the WSES scheme was replaced by the SSC scheme for women.
• Existing WSES officers were given the option to move to the new scheme. Again, their options were
limited to a few streams.
• For instance, the infantry and armoured corps were not open to them.
How has the SC acted in favour of women officers in the military?
• On February 17, 2020, a bench of then Supreme Court Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Ajay
Rastogi upheld the demands of women in the SSC (‘Secretary, Ministry of Defence vs. Babita Puniya’).
• The court said that seeking a Permanent Commission or a full-length career was “justified”.
• “A decade and more spent in litigation, women engaged on Short Service Commissions in the Army
seek parity with their male counterparts in obtaining PCs,” the court observed.
• It added that even 70 years after the “birth of a post-colonial independent state, there was a need for
change in attitudes and mindsets to recognize the commitment to the values of the Constitution.”
• Before the ruling, only male SSC officers could opt for permanent commission after 10 years of service.
• Hence, women could not qualify for a government pension, which is conferred only after 20 years of
service as officers.
• With this decision, the SC brought women officers in 10 streams of the Army on par with their male
counterparts, setting aside long-standing objections of the government.
• The Centre argued that the issue was a matter of policy, adding that Article 33 of the Constitution allows
fundamental rights to be restricted when it comes to the armed forces.
• It also argued that there were “dangers involved in serving in the army” and adverse service conditions
including “absence of privacy in field and insurgency areas, maternity issues and child care”.
• The case was first filed in the Delhi HC by women officers in 2003 and the HC awarded Permanent
Commissions to women officers in all branches where they were serving in 2010.
• Still, the order was not implemented and was challenged by the Centre in the SC.
What happened after the SC’s decision?
• Following the 2020 ruling, the Army constituted the Number 5 Selection Board, directing the Army to
induct all eligible female officers as permanent commission officers.
• The special board came into effect in September 2020, led by a senior general officer.
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 • It also includes a woman officer of the rank of brigadier.
• Earlier this month, a division bench of the Punjab and Haryana HC ruled that MNS officers cannot be
denied ex-serviceman status under the Punjab Recruitment of Ex-Servicemen Rules, 1982.
• Under this, officers who were released from service on completion of their term with a gratuity (as SSC
officers do), are categorised as ex-servicemen.
• It noted that MNS members have been serving the nation, including in extremely difficult situations like
unfavourable weather conditions at high altitudes.
QUESTIONS
Fill in the Blank:
1. The Supreme Court has directed the _________ to pay Rs. 60 lakh in compensation to a former
permanent commissioned officer in the Military Nursing Service (MNS).
2. Following the 2020 ruling, the Army constituted the _________ Selection Board, directing the Army
to induct all eligible female officers as permanent commission officers.
3. Earlier this month, a division bench of the Punjab and Haryana HC ruled that MNS officers cannot
be denied ex-serviceman status under the Punjab Recruitment of _________.
4. On February 17, 2020, a bench of then Supreme Court Justice _________ and Justice Ajay Rastogi
upheld the demands of women in the SSC (‘Secretary, Ministry of Defence vs. Babita Puniya’).
5. Before the ruling, only male SSC officers could opt for permanent commission after _________ of
service.
6. The Centre argued that the issue was a matter of policy, adding that _________ of the Constitution
allows fundamental rights to be restricted when it comes to the armed forces.
7. In 2006, the _________ scheme was replaced by the SSC scheme for women.
8. In _________, the Indian Army first allowed women officers to be inducted.
9. Women could not qualify for a government pension, which is conferred only after _________ years
of service as officers.
10. It also includes a woman officer of the rank of _________.

6. What is an LLM, the backbone of AI

chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini?
• Ever since the launch of OpenAI’s sensational chatbot ChatGPT, conversations about artificial
intelligence have become common from living rooms to boardrooms.
• When computers were invented, they were machines that executed instructions given by programmers.
• Now, computers have now gained the ability to learn, think and hold conversations.
• Not only that, they can perform several creative and intellectual tasks once only limited to humans. This
is what we call generative AI.
• The ability of Generative AI models to “converse” with humans and predict the next word or sentence is
due to something known as the Large Language Model, or LLM.
• It is to be noted that while not all generative AI tools are built on LLMs, all LLMs are forms of
Generative AI which in itself is a broad and ever-expanding category or type of AI.
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What is an LLM?
• According to Google, LLMs are large general-purpose language models that can be pre-trained and then
fine-tuned for specific purposes. In simple words, these models are trained to solve common language
problems such as text classification, question answering, text generation across industries, document
summarisation, etc.
• The LLMs can also be tailored to solve specific problems in a variety of domains such as finance, retail,
entertainment, etc., using perhaps a relatively small size of field datasets.
• The meaning of LLMs can be understood with its three primary features. Firstly, the ‘Large’ indicates
two meanings — the enormous size of training data; and the parameter count. In Machine Learning,
parameters, also known as hyperparameters, are essentially the memories and knowledge that a machine
learned during its model training. Parameters define the skill of the model in solving a specific problem.
• The second most important thing to understand about LLM is the General Purpose. This means the
model is sufficient to solve general problems that are based on the commonality of human language
regardless of specific tasks, and resource restrictions.
• In essence, an LLM is like a super smart computer program that can comprehend and create human-like
text. It is trained on massive data sets which are essentially patterns, structures, and relationships with
languages. An LLM can also be seen as a tool that helps computers understand and produce human
language.
How many types of LLMs are there?
• There are various ways to categorise LLMS. It is to be noted that the type depends on the specific aspect
of tasks they are meant to do.
• On the basis of architecture, there are three types — autoregressive, transformer-based, and encoder-
decoder.
• GPT-3 is an example of an autoregressive model as they predict the next word in a sequence based on
previous words.
• Similarly, LaMDA or Gemini (formerly Bard) are transformer-based as they use a specific type of
neural network architecture for language processing.
• Then there are the encoder-decoder models that encode input text into a representation and then decode
it into another language or format.
• Based on training data, there are three types of LLMs — pretrained and fine-tuned, multilingual or
models that can understand and generate text in multiple languages, and domain-specific or models that
are trained on data related to specific domains such as legal, finance or healthcare.
• LLMs can also vary based on their size as large models usually require more computational resources.
• However, they offer better performance.
• They can also be categorised as open-source and closed-source based on availability as some are freely
available while some are proprietary. LLaMA2, BlOOM, Google BERT, Falcon 180B, OPT-175 B are
some open-source LLMs, while Claude 2, Bard, GPT-4, are some proprietary LLMs
How do LLMs work?
• At the core of it is a technique known as “deep learning”. It involves the training of artificial neural
networks, which are mathematical models which are believed to be inspired by the structure and
functions of the human brain.
• For LLMs, this neural network learns to predict the probability of a word or sequence of words given the
previous words in a sentence.
• This is done by analysing the patterns and relationships between words in the data set used for training.

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 • Once trained, an LLM can predict the most likely next word or sequence of words based on inputs also
known as prompts.
• An LLM’s learning ability can be best described as similar to how a baby learns to speak.
What can LLMs do?
• LLMs come with an array of applications across domains.
• They generate text and are capable of producing human-like content for purposes ranging from stories to
articles to poetry and songs.
• They can strike up a conversation or function as virtual assistants.
• Considering their rigorous training and expansive data set, they show proficiency in language under-
standing tasks, including sentiment analysis, language translation, and summarisation of dense texts.
• In conversational settings, LLMs engage with users, providing information, answering questions, and
maintaining context over multiple exchanges.
• Additionally, they play a crucial role in content creation and personalisation, aiding in marketing
strategies, offering personalised product recommendations, and tailoring content to specific target
audiences.
What are the advantages of LLMs?
• Perhaps, the biggest advantage of LLMs is their versatility. A single model can be used for a wide
variety of tasks.
• Since they are trained on large data sets, they are capable of generalising patterns which can be later
applied to different problems or tasks.
• When it comes to data, LLMs can reportedly perform well even with limited amounts of domain or
industry-specific data.
• This is possible because LLMs can leverage the knowledge they learned from general language training
data.
• Another important aspect is their ability to continuously improve their performance. As more data and
parameters are infused into LLMs, their performance improves.
• LLMs are continuously developing and proliferating into new dimensions.
• The above information has been compiled based on popular definitions and an understanding of the
underlying technology that fuels these AI models. Watch this space to learn more about LLMs and AI as
they continue to evolve.
QUESTIONS
Fill in the Blank:
1. The launch of OpenAI’s sensational chatbot is_________.
2. When computers were invented, they were machines that executed instructions given by _________.
3. Perhaps, the biggest advantage of LLMs is their _________.
4. When it comes to data, _________ can reportedly perform well even with limited amounts of
domain or industry-specific data.
5. _________ are continuously developing and proliferating into new dimensions.
6. An LLM can also be seen as a tool that helps computers understand and produce _________.
7. At the core of it is a technique known as _________ It involves the training of artificial _________
networks.

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 8. Based on training data, there are _________ types of LLMs — pretrained and fine-tuned,
multilingual or models that can understand and generate text in multiple languages, and domain-
specific or models that are trained on data related to specific domains such as legal, finance or
healthcare.
9. _________ are transformer-based as they use a specific type of neural network architecture for
language processing.
10. _________ is an example of an autoregressive model as they predict the next word in a sequence
based on previous words.

7. Marcos Jr the EU’s new best friend

• Since taking office in mid-2022, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has moved the Philippines closer to the
US, even risking ire from Beijing by signing a new defence agreement with Washington.
• Marcos Jr also pushed to normalise ties with the EU that had been badly damaged by his predecessor,
Rodrigo Duterte, whose brutal “war on drugs” prompted criticism from Europe.
• Duterte responded with expletive-laden tirades, telling European leaders to stay out of his country’s
affairs and threatening to expel all European ambassadors.
• But in 2023, Ursula von der Leyen became the first sitting European Commission president to visit the
Philippines, where she spoke of a “new era of cooperation between us.” Marcos Jr is now set to visit
Germany next month, and Brussels in December.
• Brussels and Manila have also agreed to restart talks over a free trade agreements that had broken down
in 2015 under Duterte. Marcos Jr pick for his foreign secretary, Enrique Manalo, can also be seen as a
signal to the EU — Manalo had previously served as an ambassador to several European states, and as
head of the Philippine Mission in Brussels.
• But analysts say the changes between the Philippines and the EU are driven by deeper geopolitical
factors.
• The Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 was a major catalyst, according to Joshua Espena, a
resident fellow at International Development and Security Cooperation, a Manila-based think tank.
• Espena said Europe needed to strengthen its global supply chains and has attempted to “tap into the
Indo-Pacific region.”
First South Asian leader to choose between US and China
• Whereas Duterte attempted to forge closer relations between the Philippines and China, with varying
degrees of success, Marcos Jr entered office with a resolutely pro-Western stance.
• Tensions between Manila and Beijing, especially over the territory they contest in the South China Sea,
have massively escalated over the past 12 months, and last year, the EU and the Philippines announced a
new maritime defence agreement.
• In October, the EU and the Philippines signed the €60 million Financing Agreement for the Green
Economy Programme, a result of the Marcos Jr administration’s focus on climate action.
• Marcos Jr has canceled some prominent infrastructure projects that were part of Beijing’s Belt and Road
Initiative. According to Gerstl, the EU’s Global Gateway Initiative, a EU-led global investment scheme,
could fill some of the void.

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 • Writing about US-Philippines relations last month, the Council on Foreign Relations analyst Joshua
Kurlantzick argued that, “Marcos Jr has moved Manila into the US camp more than any other Southeast
Asian leader, seemingly becoming the first Southeast Asian leader to choose between the United States
and China.”
Concerns over constitution
• Some of the analysts DW spoke to said it was simply good timing that Marcos Jrentered office and gave
every appearance of being a more democratic, liberal and like-minded politician at a time when
European leaders were desperate, because of the Ukraine war, to find new partners.
• But many doubt that Manila has actually changed in terms of democracy and human rights.
• Marcos Jr will be someone the EU can work with “for as long as the EU does not look too closely
enough to see that the looming change in the Philippine Constitution is likely to result in an even weaker
democracy than before,” said Sol Dorotea Iglesias, assistant professor of Political Science at the
University of the Philippines.
• Some critics say that Marcos Jr could change the constitution to make it easier for foreign investors to
purchase or create companies in certain industries. This might also give him a chance to remove
provisions that limit a president’s power.
• Marcos Jr has rejected this possibility.
What if the ICC goes after Duterte?
• Another issue could arise over the International Criminal Court’s ongoing investigations into former
President Duterte for crimes against humanity.
• If the Marcos Jr government refuses to cooperate, “the EU may be forced to finally take more drastic
measures such as suspending the trade privileges of the Philippines,” Iglesias said.
• “Among the EU institutions, the European Parliament has often had a sharper eye on such risks and may
continue to play the role of watchdog as this drama unfolds,” she added.
• On the other hand, European leaders are likely to be willing to overlook any lingering concerns about
human rights in the Philippines because they see Marcos Jr personally as a reliable partner, said a
European Commission official who requested anonymity.
EU looking for Asian allies
• Brussels is keen to view Marcos Jr in the best of light since it is distrustful of many other Southeast
Asian leaders.
• Relations with Muslim-majority Malaysia have soured over European support for Israel in its war with
Hamas, and because of Brussels’ environmental regulations, the source noted. Thailand’s new coalition
government is unstable. Vietnam remains a key partner in the region, but EU relations with its
communist government are irregular, while Cambodia remains in the EU’s bad books for its democratic
regression.
• Brussels is also still cautious with Prabowo Subianto, who is likely to become Indonesia’s next president
after an election earlier this month. Prabowo took a particularly hostile stance towards the EU over high-
tension disputes regarding how EU environmental regulations will impact Indonesia’s palm oil sector.
• The EU and the Philippines have every reason to want to keep improving relations.
• “Friendships do not need to be okay all of the time, and while personal relations are important, deep-
seated interests based on the structural conditions of the world matter more,” he said.
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Philippines
• The Philippines officially the Republic of the Philippines is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia.
• In the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of 300,000 square kilometers,
which are broadly categorized in three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas,
and Mindanao.
• The Philippines is bounded by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the
Celebes Sea to the south.
• It shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east and
southeast, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the
northwest.
• It is the world’s twelfth-most-populous country, with diverse ethnicities and cultures.
• Manila is the country’s capital, and its most populated city is Quezon City.
• Both are within Metro Manila.
• Negritos, the archipelago’s earliest inhabitants, were followed by waves of Austronesian peoples.
• The adoption of Animism, Hinduism with Buddhist influence, and Islam established island-kingdoms
ruled by datus, rajas, and sultans. Overseas trade with neighbors such as the late Tang Empire brought
Sinitic-speaking merchants to the archipelago, which would gradually settle in and intermix.
• The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer leading a fleet for Spain, marked the
beginning of Spanish colonization.
• In 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor
of King Philip II of Castile. Spanish colonization via New Spain, beginning in 1565, led to the
Philippines becoming ruled by the Crown of Castile, as part of the Spanish Empire, for more than 300
years.
• Catholic Christianity became the dominant religion, and Manila became the western hub of trans-Pacific
trade.
• Hispanic immigrants from Latin America and Iberia would also selectively colonize. The Philippine
Revolution began in 1896, and became entwined with the 1898 Spanish–American War.
• Spain ceded the territory to the United States, and Filipino revolutionaries declared the First Philippine
Republic.
• The ensuing Philippine–American War ended with the United States controlling the territory until the
Japanese invasion of the islands during World War II.
• After the United States retook the Philippines from the Japanese, the Philippines became independent in
1946.
• The country has had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a
decades-long dictatorship in a nonviolent revolution.
• The Philippines is an emerging market and a newly industrialized country, whose economy is
transitioning from being agricultural to service- and manufacturing-centered.
• It is a founding member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, ASEAN, the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation forum, and the East Asia Summit; it is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement
and a major non-NATO ally of the United States.
• Its location as an island country on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes it prone to
earthquakes and typhoons.
• The Philippines has a variety of natural resources and a globally-significant level of biodiversity.

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 QUESTIONS
Fill in the Blank:
1. Since taking office in mid-2022, President _________ has moved the Philippines closer to the US.
2. Marcos Jr also pushed to normalise ties with the _________ that had been badly damaged by his
predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.
3. In 2023, _________ became the first sitting European Commission president to visit the Philippines.
4. In October, the EU and the Philippines signed the _________ million Financing Agreement for the
Green Economy Programme, a result of the Marcos Jr administration’s focus on climate action.
5. The Philippines officially is an archipelagic country in _________ Asia.
6. In the western _________, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of 300,000 square kilometers.
7. The Philippines is bounded by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and
the _________ to the south.
8. _________ is the country’s capital, and its most populated city is _________.
9. The Philippine Revolution began in _________, and became entwined with the _________ Spanish–
American War.
10. Philippines became independent in _________.

8. PM inaugurates Signature Bridge in

Gujarat
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Sudarshan Setu, India’s longest cable-stayed bridge, in
the Gulf of Kutch.
• Also known as Signature Bridge, it will link mainland Gujarat with Bet Dwarka island off the Okha
coast in Devbhumi Dwarka.
• Gujarat’s first sea link Signature Bridge is technically a sea link, a first for Gujarat.
• It connects the Okha town of Devbhumi Dwarka district of mainland Gujarat to Bet Dwarka, an island
around 3 km off Okha.
• Its total length is 4,772m, including a 900-m-long cable-stayed section.
• The four-lane bridge, constructed for Rs. 978 crore, was funded by the Union government.
Cable-stayed bridge
• With a total length of 4,772 metres (4.77 km), it is Gujarat’s longest cable-stayed bridge. There is one
cable-stayed bridge in Bhavnagar but it is hardly a few dozen metres long.
• The Narmada bridge in Bharuch is 1.3 km long. “However, the Narmada bridge is an extra dosed cable-
stayed bride, which technically differs from a typical cable-stayed bridge like Sudarshan Setu, as the
latter’s spans can be longer,”.
Connecting Bet Dwarka
• After the Union Territory of Diu, located at Una coast in Gir Somnath, Bet Dwarka is the second largest
island off the Gujarat coast. While Diu’s geographical area is around 40 sq km, Bet Dwarka is spread
over 36 sq km.
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 • Bet Dwarka island is part of Okha municipality and has a population of around 10,000. At present, the
only means of transport between Bet Dwarka and mainland Gujarat is the ferry boat service running
from Dwarka to Okha, the nearest point of the mainland.
• The Signature Bridge will provide all-weather road connectivity to the island.
Religious tourism hub
• A major pilgrimage and religious tourism spot, Shree Dwarkadhish Mukhya Mandir, a shrine of Lord
Krishna, is located at Bet Dwarka.
• The island also has dozens of other Hindu temples, a gurudwara and some mosques.
• Thousands of pilgrims, mostly Hindus, visit Bet Dwarka for darshan at the Lord Krishna temple.
• Though some agriculture does happen, fishing is the main source of livelihood on the island, besides
tourism activities.
Unique features
• The bridge is supported by 32 piers, which support seven cable-stayed spans of 900 m length.
• This is called the navigation section, which will allow the movement of fishing boats to and from the
harbour called Dalda Bandar.
• Besides its 27 m wide carriageway, the bridge has walkways on either side with its pillars decorated
with verses of the Bhagavad Gita and images of Krishna.
• Solar panels form the roof of these walkways.
Contractor was under a cloud
• The bridge, constructed as a part of National Highway 51 that runs along the sea coast of Saurashtra,
was built by the NH division of Gujarat Roads and Buildings department.
• SP Singla Constructions were constructing the bridge and it was the second time that it had collapsed
within a year.
• However, Gujarat government officials had then said that by that time, the Signature Bridge was on the
verge of completion and “if something adverse comes up, we can think about it”.
Demolitions
• In October 2022, Gujarat government had demolished over 100 structures, including homes, shops and
religious structures, on the shoreline of Bet Dwarka.
• The police had said this was done because of a “threat to national security”.”
• Several structures demolished were sea-facing premises where anyone could hide without being noticed.
• “Structures in Paaj area were right near the landing point of the under-construction Signature Bridge,”.
• The majority of structures demolished belonged to the minority community.
Affecting livelihood
• Ibrahim Kureshi, president of Dwarkadhish Tourism Ferryboat Association – an association of boat
operators at Okha–said that around 170 ferry boats operate between Okha and Bet Dwarka at present.
• The one-way fare is Rs. 20 and a boat takes about 10 minutes to reach Bet Dwarka from Okha.
• “After the bridge is inaugurated, we apprehend a drastic fall in passenger traffic for ferry boat operators.
• Only those who want to enjoy a boat ride and watch seagulls will not take the bridge. This means, large
boats will be out of business,” Kureshi said.
• He added that if the government allows them to raise the oneway fare to Rs. 50, they will get some
cushion.
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 • “The Gujarat Maritime Board regulates fare…during a meeting with boat operators around two weeks
ago, Devbhumi Dwarka collector told us that the government will allow hiking the fare to Rs. 50,”
Ibrahim said, adding half of the boats are owned by members of the minority community.
Alternative avenues
• At the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in January, the state government had signed an MoU with a
private firm for taking tourists on luxury cruise rides to show them dolphins off the Okha coast.
• Kureshi said some boat operators might try to convert their boats into special boats for dolphin viewing.
QUESTIONS
Fill in the Blank:
1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the _________, India’s longest cable-stayed bridge, in
the _________.
2. Also known as _________, it will link mainland Gujarat with Bet Dwarka Island off the Okha coast
in Devbhumi Dwarka.
3. The bridge, constructed as a part of National Highway _________ that runs along the sea coast of
_________.
4. At the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in January, the state government had signed an MoU with a
private firm for taking tourists on luxury cruise rides to show them _________ off the _________
coast.
5. The bridge is supported by 32 piers, which support seven cable-stayed spans of 900 m length. This is
called the navigation section, which will allow the movement of fishing boats to and from the
harbour called _________.
6. The Present Chief Minister of Gujarat _________.
7. Gir Natiional Park is Famous for _________.
8. The Longest river flowing through Gujarat is _________.
9. GIFT city is in _________.
10. The capital city of Gujarat is_________.

9. BharatGPT group unveils ‘Hanooman’:

Everything you need to know about the
Indic AI model
• 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.
• Backed by Reliance Industries Ltd and the Department of Science and Technology, the group built the
‘Hanooman’ series of Indic language models in collaboration with Seetha Mahalaxmi Healthcare (SML).
What is Hanooman?
• Essentially, 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.
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 • According to a Bloomberg report, BharatGPT group in a video, showed different people interacting with
the AI tool in different languages.
• Hanooman has been designed to work in four fields, including health care, governance, financial
services, and education.
• Notably, the series isn’t just a chatbot.
• It is a multimodal AI tool, which can generate text, speech, videos and more in multiple Indian
languages, according to BharatGPT.
• 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.
• Vishnu Vardhan, the Founder of SML, during the launch of Hanooman, noted the challenges posed by
the quality of datasets in Indian languages.
• He highlighted the prevalence of synthetic datasets — information that’s artificially generated instead of
produced by real-world events — derived from translations, which could lead to inaccuracies or
distortions.
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, according to the Bloomberg report.
GPT
• Generative pre-trained transformers (GPT) are a type of large language model (LLM) and a prominent
framework for generative artificial intelligence.
• They are artificial neural networks that are used in natural language processing tasks.
• GPTs are based on the transformer architecture, pre-trained on large data sets of unlabelled text, and
able to generate novel human-like content.
• As of 2023, most LLMs have these characteristics and are sometimes referred to broadly as GPTs.
• The first GPT was introduced in 2018 by OpenAI.
• OpenAI has released very influential GPT foundation models that have been sequentially numbered, to
comprise its “GPT-n” series.
• Each of these was significantly more capable than the previous, due to increased size (number of
trainable parameters) and training.
• The most recent of these, GPT-4, was released in March 2023. Such models have been the basis for their
more task-specific GPT systems, including models fine-tuned for instruction following—which in turn
power the ChatGPT chatbot service.
• The term “GPT” is also used in the names and descriptions of such models developed by others. For
example, other GPT foundation models include a series of models created by EleutherAI, and seven
models created by Cerebras in 2023.
• Also, companies in different industries have developed task-specific GPTs in their respective fields,
such as Salesforce’s “EinsteinGPT” (for CRM) and Bloomberg’s “BloombergGPT” (for finance).
• OpenAI’s most recent GPT foundation model, GPT-4, was released on March 14, 2023.
• It can be accessed directly by users via a premium version of ChatGPT, and is available to developers
for incorporation into other products and services via OpenAI’s API.

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 • Other producers of GPT foundation models include EleutherAI (with a series of models starting in
March 2021) and Cerebras (with seven models released in March 2023).
QUESTIONS
Fill in the Blank:
1. The BharatGPT group is led by _________.
2. Backed by _________ and the Department of Science and Technology, the group built the
_________ series of Indic language models in collaboration with Seetha Mahalaxmi Healthcare
(SML).
3. _________ is a series of large language models (LLMs) that can respond in _________ Indian
languages.
4. One of the first customised versions is _________, an AI model fine-tuned for healthcare using
reams of medical data.
5. Apart from BharatGPT, a host of different startups like Sarvam and _________, backed by
prominent VC investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners and billionaire Vinod Khosla’s fund,
are also building AI models customised for India.

10. Why has the Assam government

decided to repeal the state’s Muslim
Marriage Act?
• It was announced that the state Cabinet has decided to repeal the Assam Muslim Marriage and Divorce
Registration Act of 1935. In the meeting, the Cabinet approved the ‘Assam Repealing Ordinance 2024’
which will repeal the 89-year-old Act.
But first, what is the Act meant for?
• Enacted in 1935, the Act lays down the process for registration of Muslim marriages and divorces. A
2010 amendment replaced the word ‘voluntary’ in the original Act with ‘compulsory’, making
registration of Muslim marriages and divorces compulsory in the state of Assam.
• The Act authorises the state to grant licences to “any person, being a Muslim” to register marriages and
divorces, with Muslim registrars deemed to be public servants. It lays down the process through which
marriage and divorce applications can be made to the registrar, and the process for their registration.
• Crucially, the Act is in line with the Muslim personal law.
What is the Assam government’s rationale behind repealing the Act?
• Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma called this decision “another significant step towards
prohibiting child marriages in Assam,” stating that the Act contains provisions allowing marriage
registration even if the bride and groom have not reached the legal marriageable age of 18 and 21,
respectively.
• A note on the Cabinet meeting referred to it as “obsolete pre-Independence Act of the British for the
then Province.” It also stated that the registration machinery in the Act is “informal” therefore “leaving a
lot of scope for non-compliance of extant norms”.

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 • This decision also comes after BJP-ruled Uttarakhand became the first state in the country to introduce a
Uniform Civil Code.
• The Assam’s BJP government has been clear that it intends to soon do the same, and while announcing
the Cabinet’s decision, minister Jayanta Malla Baruah touted repealing the Act as a significant step
towards this end.
• He also said that after the Act’s repeal, Muslims will have to register marriages under the Special
Marriage Act instead.
Why did the state government link this decision to its crackdown on child marriages?
• Last year, the Assam government had launched an unprecedented punitive crackdown against child
marriages, arresting more than 4,000 and prosecuting most of them under the Protection of Children
from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The government has resolved to “eradicate” child marriage by
2026.
• The particular provision of the Act which was the chief minister said allowed child marriage is regarding
the process of making a marriage application to the registrar.
• It states: “… provided that if the bride and groom, or both, be minors, application shall be made on their
behalf by their respective lawful guardians…”
• However, Zunaid Khalid, an advocate and the president of Assam Millat Foundation, disagrees about
the government’s stated intent. “If the government is serious about checking child marriage, it could
have amended the portion in contravention, and specified that only marriages of brides and grooms of
legally marriageable age can be registered under [the Act],” he said, adding that “the fallout of complete
repeal of the Act is likely to just be more unregistered marriages.”
• Advocate Aman Wadud, also a member of the Congress party, echoed similar sentiments, saying that
the Act allows for a simple and decentralised marriage registration process, with 94 kazis spread across
the state.
• “Now, if the simple process under the Muslim Marriage Act is to be replaced with the Special Marriage
Act — for which the nodal office is the District Commissioner’s office, entails a one-month notice
period, more robust documentation, and which is a complicated process for poor, illiterate people — the
outcome is likely to simply be reduced registration,” he said.
• He further added that “in the absence of authorised kazis, the field would be wide open for unregistered
kazis.”
What is the political background for the Assam Cabinet’s decision?
• In Uttarakhand, which has already introduced a UCC, Muslims make up 13.95 per cent of the
population.
• In Assam, they make a much higher proportion of the population — some 34 per cent as per the 2011
Census.
• Majorities of this population are Muslims of Bengali-origin, and Assamese nationalist politics has been
largely in opposition to them, often tagged as “illegal immigrants” from Bangladesh, with one of the
central anxieties in the state being the impact of this migration on its demography.
• Over the last year, the Himanta government has made a number of interventions in the realm of the
family, marriages, and reproduction, which are perceived to be acting on these anxieties.
• Along with its crackdown on child marriage — 62 per cent of more than 3,000 people put behind bars in
the first round of arrests were Muslim — it has also capped the number of children one can have to be
eligible for a new financial support scheme for rural women.
• The government is also working on a bill to ban polygamy, and make it a criminal offence.

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 • Sarma has, on multiple occasions, stated that the Assam government is working towards introducing a
UCC, although that the state’s tribal communities will be exempt from it.
QUESTIONS
Fill in the Blank:
1. The state Cabinet has decided to repeal the Assam Muslim Marriage and Divorce Registration Act of
_________.
2. _________ became the first state in the country to introduce a Uniform Civil Code.
3. The Assam government has resolved to “eradicate” child marriage by _________.
4. In Assam, Muslims make a higher proportion of the population — some _________ per cent as per
the 2011 Census.
5. In _________, which has already introduced a UCC, Muslims make up _________ per cent of the
population.
6. Present Chief Minister of Assam is _________.
7. Capital city of Assam is _________.
8. There are total _________ districts in Assam.
9. _________ and _________ national parks are in Assam.
10. _________ national park is famous for _________ horned Rhinoceros.

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Manthan 2.O | February 2024 : Week-4