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30.03.2024 Editorial
30.03.2024 Editorial
4 சிவில் விமானப் போக்குவரத்து இயக்குநரகம் (DGCA) மற்றும் விமான பணி The Hindu 18
நேர வரம்பு விதிமுறைகள் குறித்து . . .
The electoral bonds scheme that has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme
Court of India, was supposed to end the financing of elections with black money. If this
had happened, Indian politics would have been transformed with great benefit to the
nation. After all, illegal finance results in the control of politics passing into its hands —
and that subverts democracy. The electoral bonds made not an iota of difference to the
way politics is conducted in India. Elections continue to be fought with an increasingly
larger amount of illegal funds being spent by political parties and candidates.
This gap between the professed and the actual undermines democracy since government
is no longer an entity ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’. The vast majority
of people see that they hardly gain benefit from government policies while vested
interests corner most of the gains from development. It is in the design of the policies —
the packaging is cleverly done to make policies appear to be in the national interest. In
fact, vested interests are defined as national interest. They take precedence over the
interests of the marginalised sections.
Businesses, not satisfied with the gains that they make legally, resort to making them
illegally using undeclared incomes which constitute the black economy. Illegality is
systematic and systemic. But, that is only possible if policymaker and executive become
party to the subversion of the systems. This is the triad that underlies black income
generation.
It is in this milieu that the electoral bonds scheme was introduced. The argument was that
this scheme would enable political parties to get legitimate funds and that their
dependence on illegal funds would decline. But, right from day one, the scheme drew
criticism for being opaque since the electorate would not get to know who was financing
a political party and why — for legitimate or illegal reasons. It enabled a bribe to be given
in white for favours done. Since big sums could only be given by businesses and the rich,
their influence and manipulations were expected to increase. The bonds could only be
given to a political party and not to individuals. So, the individual continued to be in need
of illegal funds. The party obtaining funds could use them for all kinds of purposes and
not necessarily for elections, such as setting up offices or destabilising Opposition-led
governments. Thus, the name electoral bonds was inappropriate.
Further, any amount of bribe could be given since the limit of 7.5% of profits was
removed. Even loss-making firms could make a donation. Shell companies could be used,
opening the door for foreign firms to make donations. Even though the bonds had to be
encashed within 15 days, they could be traded for 14 days and then given to the intended
party. So, the entity buying the bond may not be the entity making the donation. In this
case, the trail of funds and the identity of the donor were obscured.
Many of the donors did not realise that their identity would be revealed were the
judiciary to declare the electoral bonds scheme to be unconstitutional. Only the
experienced ones covered their tracks by making donations through shell companies or
in cash. Their names may never be known. Finally, the contributions through the black
money route continue, remaining the major source of funding for political parties. In
effect, the electoral bonds scheme was only an additional avenue for funds that political
parties received.
The second category is one where there is arm-twisting. Given how complex rules are,
some violation of rules can be detected and prosecution initiated by agencies such as the
Enforcement Directorate. The case can then drag on so that the process becomes the
punishment. There are businesses that cut corners and it is easy to have them under
pressure. There may be businesses that pay money just to escape harassment. The data
provided by the State Bank of India shows the quid pro quo in the case of some of the
donations made. More analysis could expose the money trail and the link with policy
manipulation. This will also expose the criminality.
The electoral bonds scheme only highlights the growing weakness of Indian democracy. It
could have worked in an ideal situation but then it would not have been required. It seems
to have been designed to weaken the Opposition and democracy.
Arun Kumar is a retired professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University and the
author of ‘Understanding the Black Economy and Black Money in India’ (2017)
வெளிவந்த போலித்தனம்
The year’s fiscal deficit target seems achievable despite a spike in February.
The Centre’s fiscal deficit, or the gap between the Union Government’s receipts
and expenditure, has widened sharply from about ₹11 lakh crore by January to ₹15 lakh
crore at the end of February. This represents the deficit moving up from 63.6% of the
revised target of ₹17.3 lakh crore to 86.5% within 29 days. This is a significantly bumpier
trajectory compared with last year — the deficit target was ₹17.55 lakh crore in 2022-23,
One, the Centre transferred around ₹2.15 lakh crore to States through two instalments of
their tax devolution share, as opposed to just ₹1.4 lakh crore last year. Second, capital
expenditure which had slumped to ₹47,600 crore this January, was scaled up to ₹84,400
crore, over four times February 2023’s capex outlay. Capex will have to further rise to
₹1.4 lakh crore in March to meet the government’s ₹10 lakh crore target, but the
implementation of the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha polls mid-way through
the month could temper the number a bit.
As a proportion of GDP, the deficit last year stood at 6.4% and this year’s original target
was 5.9% that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman revised to 5.8% in the interim Budget
last month. The government has committed to narrow it to 4.5% of GDP by 2025-26, with
a 5.1% target for 2024-25. This glide path may need some recalibration in the full Budget
for the year after the general election, depending on the next government’s priorities and
the state of the economy over the current and next quarter. Having sought to prop up
growth through public capex since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre is hoping private
investment shifts to the driving seat, but high inflation, a bad monsoon and uneven
consumption demand cloud those hopes. On the revenue spending front, the government
still had ₹6 lakh crore of spending room available for March. Just three critical
people-centric ministries — Agriculture, Rural Development and Consumer Affairs — still
had over ₹1.03 lakh crore of firepower left for the last month of this fiscal despite their
planned spends being revised in February. It is quite plausible that some Ministries will
miss their targets and yield a positive surprise on the full-year deficit number. Tightening
the belt is good for macroeconomic health, but persistently missing spending goals
compromises intended outcomes and signals that there is scope to plan outlays better
and borrow less in coming years.
Discussed ‘Peace Formula’ with India, says Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba
-KALLOL BHATTACHERJEE
At the meeting with External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, he called for energising
India-Ukraine relations with new projects .
India and Ukraine on Friday discussed a ‘Peace Formula’ for the conflict between Russia
and Ukraine, visiting Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said at the conclusion of
official exchanges. Mr. Kuleba, who was on a two-day visit to India, met with External
Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and described the Russian campaign against Ukraine as a
“full-scale war”, while arguing for energising India-Ukraine relations with new projects.
Ukraine’s President Mr. Zelenskyy had presented a 10-point peace plan in 2022 during the
G-20 summit in Bali. That plan which called for “complete withdrawal of Russian forces
from the 1991 borders”, was rejected immediately by Moscow. Russia feels that Mr.
Zelenskyy’s peace formula does not take the Russian concerns into consideration. It is
expected that the Swiss-backed peace process may help finding a solution between the
two positions. Diplomatic sources however could not confirm when precisely the Swiss
would host the event, indicating that hectic talks are on at various levels to make that a
reality. The Indian side did not elaborate on what the Ukrainian peace formula was but
mentioned that Friday’s exchange included “a comprehensive discussion on the ongoing
conflict and efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement.”
A separate statement from the Ministry of External Affairs mentioned that Friday’s
meeting between the two delegations focused on “fostering constructive dialogue and
strengthening bilateral relations between India and Ukraine, including in areas such as
trade and investment, science and technology, defence, agriculture, health, culture and
education.”
The DGCA must ensure regulatory norms are enforced for safety.
The move by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in January this year to
introduce changes to flight duty time limitations (FDTL) would have been a much-needed
regulatory step to address the industry issue of fatigue in a professional and scientific
manner, or manage what crew call the burden of the red-eye flight. By dictating more
rest time for pilots, redefining night duty and even directing airlines to file regular fatigue
reports, the rules were to have been implemented no later than June 1. Instead, a large
section of the managements of India’s airlines, most in private hands, only saw red. In a
discordant development this week, the DGCA quietly inked a copy of the revised Civil
Aviation Requirements (CAR) which said that scheduled air transport operators ‘may
continue to operate in compliance with CAR Section 7 Series J Part III dated 24th April
2019 till approval of their respective scheme in compliance with this CAR’. Read in
perspective, it meant this: airline economics had blanketed out safety. As highlighted in
the media, a federation of Indian airlines had sought a postponement of the rules by
pushing the line that the new norms would necessitate the hiring of between 15% to 25%
more pilots over a 10-month period and could even result in a nearly 20% cancellation of
flights during the peak summer season. But, as a number of aviation experts point out,
with the DGCA now willingly lowering a safety net, pilots will continue to face
fatigue-related issues.
In the early 1950s, recognising the need to limit flight and duty hours for the purpose of
safety, the International Civil Aviation Organization established guidelines, under its
Standards and Recommended Practices, which required the operator to ensure that
fatigue did not endanger operations. Since then, the management of fatigue in the
industry, especially in international operations, has evolved to include the adoption of
Fatigue Risk Management Systems — which the DGCA is also planning — by tapping into
scientific principles of fatigue management and aviation scheduling principles. The Indian
aviation market, in the backdrop of a pilot shortage, is in high growth mode, and with
Anyone with a laptop can make believable deep fakes, but most of the electorate are
adopting a wait-and-watch approach. Meanwhile, experts warn against the prevalent
menace of misinformation
A day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement
Directorate in a liquor scam case, his wife Sunita read out a message from him on
camera, in a video released by the Aam Aadmi Party online. But that was just one
version of Kejriwal’s message that went viral — an Artificial Intelligence-generated English
translation of the incarcerated politician’s communication followed, and then another Hindi
version. “I’m neither shocked nor worried; all my life, I’ve struggled for a better society,”
these videos said, in Kejriwal’s voice.
As India gets into election season, more and more examples of synthetic and realistic
deepfakes of politicians have started appearing. There’s one of the late M. Karunanidhi
exhorting party cadre, as his son, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, looks on; a Tamil
dub of Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a gathering in Chennai; and videos of
Madhya Pradesh leaders Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Kamal Nath with doctored remarks.
India’s neighbours too have lent some legitimacy to these anxieties: voter suppression
deepfakes with a “don’t show up; the polls are rigged against us” theme have surfaced in
the past year in both Pakistan and Bangladesh, where the targeted opposition politicians
had to issue denials. With cheap mobile data and the highest smartphone penetration in
India’s history, concerns are rife that similar crucially timed deepfakes circulated via
platforms such as WhatsApp could sour voters on candidates, or convince them that
their vote could be meaningless.
It says: “We pledge to uphold the integrity of democratic processes by ensuring that AI
technologies are not used to manipulate elections, spread misinformation, or undermine
public trust in political institutions. AI tools deployed in the political arena must be
transparent, accountable, and free from bias.”
Nayagam says the manifesto is “a way to hold us accountable, and also assuage the
concerns of the government”. So far, he’s reached out to around 30 companies, of which
two have signed the manifesto and three are in the process of signing it, says Nayagam.
‘Ethical’ AI creations
Not all synthetic AI creations take the form of sinister opponent slandering. Some
implementations, like personalised interactive phone calls, seem more like interesting
novelties than threats to electoral integrity. While one-to-one calls are not yet a reality in
India, so-called ‘blasters’ with a synthesised candidate’s voice speaking individual voters’
names in a pre-recorded message have been sent out by the Congress party in
Rajasthan and by the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi.
Divyendra Singh Jadoun, one of an emerging crop of synthetic media creators, has
assembled half-a-dozen staff to train voice and video AI models and distribute them
through phone calls and video messages, on behalf of political parties. While Jadoun, who
operates under the name The Indian Deepfaker, refused to name the organisations, he
said that at least four of his current projects are on behalf of political parties, with at
least two mainstream organisations in the fray.
Jadoun says he restricts his firm’s work to “ethical” AI creations such as authorised
translations, revivals of deceased leaders (with the party’s blessings), and one-on-one
phone calls with chatbots synthesising tailored responses. He uses Mistral AI, which is
based on open source models, to get around mainstream proprietary firms’ refusal to
allow their tools to be used in electioneering.
He claims to have refused unethical requests by parties to depict opponents saying
things they never have; but notes that increasingly, parties prefer to not outsource
deepfakes of rivals to external firms, instead taking the task upon themselves. “Anyone
with a laptop now can make this stuff,” said Karen Rebelo, deputy editor of the fact
checking website BOOM, at a panel discussion this February. “You don’t need to go to a
specialised agency, or even to somebody who knows code.” Rebelo noted a sharp
increase in AI deepfakes already during recent Assembly elections in India.
Tackling misinformation
But even those wary of the fairness of Indian elections in recent times are not entirely
convinced that deepfakes will affect the integrity of the poll process any more than the
conventional strategies already at play. Says Pratik Sinha, a co-founder of fact-checking
news website Alt News: “AI is an issue, but I don’t feel as bothered about a new way of
creating disinformation; the existing methods are working quite well.”
Sinha, whose daily job involves flagging fake news and misinformation, is referring to the
strategically clipped videos and inflammatory speeches that continue to be circulated by
the dozen from ordinary citizens’ smartphones. “What has changed from 2019 to now is
that the amount of hate speech has increased manifold,” he says.
Abbin Theepura, a veteran political consultant who has worked extensively with social
media, says that AI technologies are still “nascent”. More than synthetic media, the
challenge today is the automating of distribution of content through micro-targeting,
something tech firms have already been working on perfecting for a decade. “It’s not like
AI is helping me automate the content,” says Theepura. “That still needs to be generated
in the first place.”
X, Meta மற்றும் YouTube போன்ற சமூக ஊடக தளங்கள் ஏன் போலி செய்திகள்
மற்றும் பிரச்சாரங்களைக் கட்டுப்படுத்த போராடுகின்றன?
Allegations of the Centre using the Governor’s position to destabilize state governments
have been made since the 1950s. What is the law on Governor-state relations?
The Kerala government last week approached the Supreme Court, saying President
Droupadi Murmu had withheld assent to four Bills passed by the state “while disclosing no
reason whatsoever”, and that Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had withheld assent to
seven Bills — some for as long as two years — before referring them to the President.
This is the newest chapter in the conflict between states ruled by opposition parties, and
their Governors, who are appointed by the President on the Centre’s advice. Below is a
previously published explainer from 2022 on Governors’ powers, and why friction often
emerges between them and the state governments.
There are, however, no provisions laid down for the manner in which the Governor and
the state must engage publicly when there is a difference of opinion. The management of
differences has traditionally been guided by respect for each other’s boundaries.
In recent years, these have been largely about the selection of the party to form a
government, deadline for proving majority, sitting on Bills, and passing negative remarks
on the state administration.
In November 2018, then J&K Governor Satyapal Malik dissolved the Assembly amid
indications that various parties were coming together to form the government. This
paved the way for the Centre to later bifurcate state into two Union territories, by
considering the Governor as the government.
In November 2019, after a hung verdict in Maharashtra, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari
quietly invited BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and administered him oath as CM. This
government lasted just 80 hours. Six months later, Koshiyari refused to nominate CM
Uddhav Thackeray to the Legislative Council, leading Thackeray to meet PM Narendra
Modi to resolve the issue.
In December 2020, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan turned down a request to
summon a special sitting of the Assembly to debate the three central farm laws.
Following the Karnataka polls in 2018, Governor Vajubhai Vala invited the BJP to form the
government and gave B S Yeddyurappa 15 days to prove majority. Challenged by
Congress and JDS in the Supreme Court, it was reduced to three days.
Several state governments have been dismissed since then, including 63 through
President’s Rule orders issued by Governors between 1971 and 1990. These have included
the Birender Singh government in Haryana (1967); Virendra Patil government in Karnataka
(1971); M Karunanidhi government in Tamil Nadu (1976); B S Shekhawat government in
Rajasthan and SAD government in Punjab (1980); Janata Party governments in UP,
Odisha, Gujarat and Bihar (1980); N T Rama Rao government in Andhra in (1984); and
Kalyan Singh governments in UP (1992, 1998).
These became less frequent during the coalition era at the Centre and the emergence of
strong regional parties.
There is no provision for impeaching the Governor, who is appointed by the President on
the Centre’s advice. While the Governor has 5-year a tenure, he can remain in office only
until the pleasure of the President.
In 2001, the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution, headed by
retired CJI M N Venkachaliah and set up by the Atal Behari Vajpayee, said, “… because
the Governor owes his appointment and his continuation in the office to the Union Council
of Ministers, in matters where the Central Government and the State Government do not
see eye to eye, there is the apprehension that he is likely to act in accordance with the
instructions, if any, received from the Union Council of Ministers… Indeed, the Governors
today are being pejoratively called the ‘agents of the Centre’.”
In the Constitution, there are no guidelines for exercise of the Governor’s powers,
including for appointing a CM or dissolving the Assembly. There is no limit set for how
long a Governor can withhold assent to a Bill.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd, First published on: March 29, 2024 16:20 IST
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/state-government-governors-powers-disagre
ements-9240141/
1971 மற்றும் 1990 க்கு இடையில், 63 மாநில அரசுகளை பதவி நீக்கம் செய்து,
குடியரசுத் தலைவர் ஆட்சியை ஆளுநர்கள் அமல்படுத்தினர். எடுத்துகாட்டாக
ஹரியானாவில் 1967 இல் பிரேந்தர் சிங், 1971 இல் கர்நாடகாவில் வீரேந்திர பாட்டீல்,
1976 இல் தமிழ்நாட்டில் மு. கருணாநிதி, ராஜஸ்தானில் B. S. ஷெகாவத் மற்றும் 1980
இல் பஞ்சாபில் SAD அரசாங்கம். கூடுதலாக, ஜனதா தலைமையிலான
அரசாங்கங்கள். உத்தரப்பிரதேசம், ஒடிசா, குஜராத் மற்றும் பீகாரில் கட்சி 1980இல்
கலைக்கப்பட்டது. ஆந்திரப் பிரதேசத்தில் 1984 இல் N. T. ராமாராவ் அரசாங்கமும்,
1992 மற்றும் 1998 இல் உத்தரப் பிரதேசத்தில் கல்யாண் சிங் அரசாங்கமும்
கலைக்கப்பட்டது.
With less than 150 Great Indian Bustards remaining in the wild, what’s driving
their extinction?
- Jay Mazoomdaar
The Centre has told the SC that it is not possible to comply with the court's order to put
power lines underground, even as they crisscross the Godavans' habitat. What exactly is
the nature of the threat, and what has the Centre argued?
The Supreme Court last week said it will review its April 2021 order to bury underground
all power lines in the habitat of the Great Indian Bustard (GIB), after the Centre found the
order “practically impossible to implement” over long distances.
With fewer than 150 individuals of this large, ostrich-like bird species left in the wild, the
critically endangered GIB is caught in a deadly maze of power lines that criss-cross its
last refuge in the Kutch and Thar deserts of western India. As these vast, open
landscapes also carry the promise of abundant solar and wind energy, the high-tension
networks evacuating power are only getting denser with new projects proposed every
year.
A dead GIB in Rajasthan’s Khetloi village. Even four power line-induced deaths can make
the species go extinct within 20 years, according to an assessment made by WII in 2020.
(Photo credit: WII/Bipin CM)
Following the deaths of a number of birds due to collisions with power lines over the
years, the top court three years ago ordered that the overhead transmission network
should be sent underground in key habitats of the GIB.
GIBs are especially vulnerable because of their narrow frontal vision and large size. Unlike
some birds that have a panoramic vision around the head, species like raptors and
bustards have extensive blind areas above their heads. When they stretch their head
forward to scan the ground below, they fly blind in the direction of travel.
In an affidavit submitted in court in March 2021, the Ministry of Power said: “They cannot
detect power lines ahead of them from far. As they are heavy birds, they are unable to
manoeuvre across power lines within close distances.”
“The cost implications of undergrounding of all power lines in the large area identified are
very heavy — running into many thousands of crores,” the Centre said. “The cost of
externalities that will burden the nation”, it said, were “huge” and “disproportionate”.
The affidavit also said that harnessing renewable power from high-potential areas of
Rajasthan and Gujarat was “essential for meeting rising power demand…and…India’s
international commitments on climate change”.
On March 5, 2020, Power Minister R K Singh told Lok Sabha that underground cable
systems of 220-400 KV voltage were “an integral part of the Modern Day Power
Transmission Infrastructure”.
However, the minister explained, due to higher reactive compensation requirements and
higher costs compared to overhead systems, underground cables are being used on a
case-by-case basis for short distances. His answer annexed a list of 54 underground
power lines — the longest being a 320KV line over 32 km.
In its 2021 order, the SC listed two types of power lines — those that would install bird
diverters, and those that would be converted to underground lines, if feasible, within a
year.
A summary cost estimate put the total expenses of installing bird diverters across 1,342
km and undergrounding 104 km at Rs 287.16 crore, which “could be reduced to approx Rs
150 crore by opting for economic but quality diverters”.
While the Centre’s affidavit protested against spending “many thousands of crores”, none
of the four 33KV lines — budgeted at only Rs 59 crore for 104 km in Rajasthan — have
been laid underground in the three years since the SC’s 2021 order.
Over this period, a court-appointed committee appraised applications for new power lines
of around 2,356 km through the GIB landscape in the Thar, and ratified 98% of the length
for overhead laying.
In its affidavit, the Centre said the government was working to save the bustard through
initiatives such as captive breeding and habitat restoration and protection. Despite
teething troubles, efforts at captive breeding succeeded at Sam in Jaisalmer district,
when two GIB females laid eggs in captivity and a chick was hatched through artificial
incubation in March 2023.
However, the purpose of captive breeding is to supplement the wild population, which is
possible only when a sizable habitat is freed of hostile infrastructure. “Burying cables is
A WII researcher who has worked on the species stressed the danger of “an
infrastructure overdrive” in the desert. “We need to demarcate how much land we can
devote to installations for harnessing the sun and wind without damaging the desert
ecology,” he said.
In its order passed on March 21, the SC was inclined to modify the scope of burying
power lines from 88,636 sq km of potential GIB area to 13,696 sq km of priority GIB area
in Rajasthan and Gujarat. On his part, M K Ranjitsinh, the petitioner in the case, has
asked that at least 20,890 sq km of GIB habitat be freed of overhead lines.
The expert committee appointed by the court has until July 31 to make its
recommendations.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd, First published on: March 29, 2024 18:46 IST
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/great-indian-bustard-threats-conservation-p
ower-9240502/
Even as climate change continues to show apparent signs of devastation, companies like
Google are turning to Artificial Intelligence or AI to help combat and adapt to this new
crisis. Google has embarked on a new series of talks illuminating cutting-edge AI
As part of the session called Google AI Now, several researchers and partners shared
their ambitious vision for AI to conserve the lands, seas, and skies.
When it comes to land, Manish Gupta, Head, Google Research APAC, shared insights into
the AI-driven innovation named AnthroKrishi that is currently underway in India.
AnthroKrishi is backed by an AI model that can help detect field boundaries and
boundaries of water to enable sustainable farming practices and improve crop yields.
Google claims that it can support India’s 1.4 billion people and the rest of the world.
“I’ll start with a project that’s kind of very close to my heart called AnthroKrishi. Anthro
means human and krishi is a Sanskrit word for agriculture,” Gupta said in his opening
statement at the virtual session.
“One is ground data – in India, it tends to be very noisy when trying to identify crops.
There are errors in government survey data we’ve looked at. Another challenge is
validating our models once built – we’ve done pilots with state governments like
Telangana and Maharashtra along with IIT Bombay to get feedback on accuracy. The
engagements with government organisations have been crucial for validating our models,”
Gupta told.
When asked if AnthroKrishi was an open-source network where others too can build
apps, Gupta maintained that they intend to do whatever it takes to promote real-world
adoption and impact. “AnthroKrishi is still at an early stage where we’re validating
Google Australia has teamed up with marine ecologists to save endangered giant kelp
forests that are currently being destroyed owing to warming oceans. The tech giant is
using AI to analyse thousands of high-resolution satellite images of remaining kelp areas
nationally, something which is virtually impossible to do using manual methods. AI is also
used in accelerating genetic studies to spot heat-tolerant kelp strains that can repopulate
depleting reefs.
“The opportunities Google has provided to map giant kelp at a national scale is a complete
game changer for us,” said Dr Craig Johnson of the Institute for Marine and Antarctic
Studies. “Without the AI technology that Google is bringing to the table, we would have
absolutely no chance,” said Johnson as he warned that unless we address the
fundamentals of the climate change problem, the efforts will be for nought.
On a similar tangent, Dinesh Sanekommu, who leads Google’s contrails team, highlighted
the role of AI in both mitigating climate impacts and adapting to changes that are taking
place. When it comes to skies, Google has been developing AI systems to reduce the
aviation sector’s toll on the environment by helping airlines optimise their flight routes
around areas that are prone to contrail formation.Contrails are the condensation trails
planes leave in humid airspace, artificially creating cloud cover that traps heat. By
forecasting these regions using weather data and past flight paths, pilots can simply
reroute around them.
He added that Google’s existing data centres running AI workloads are already 1.5x more
energy efficient than standard data centres. “We’re doing significant work on algorithmic
techniques to dramatically reduce AI energy consumption further. Google has also
committed to matching 100 per cent of energy use with renewable sources by 2030.”
Gupta, Johnson, and Sanekommu asserted Google’s ‘bold yet responsible’ AI mission. From
respecting privacy and avoiding biases in developing models to quantifying potential
negatives like data centre energy use, Google says it is driving AI innovation while
adhering to ethical tenets and driving continuous efficiency improvements. Gupta pointed
to Google’s commitment to match 100 per cent of operational energy use with renewable
sources by 2030 as one facet of this responsibility. He acknowledged persistent
challenges like large language models hallucinating untruths, which Google is tackling
through AI safety research.
Bijin Jose, an Assistant Editor at Indian Express Online in New Delhi, is a technology
journalist with a portfolio spanning various prestigious publications.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd, First published on: March 28, 2024 17:40 IST
https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/artificial-intelligence/google-ai-environment
-anthrokrishi-9238037/
For a hundred years economics was built on the assumption that humans acted rationally.
Then along came Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman and said no, they act irrationally.
And they demonstrated this proposition sufficiently well for Kahneman to win the
economics Nobel in 2002 for “having integrated insights from psychological research into
economic science, especially concerning human judgement and decision-making under
uncertainty”.
Tversky died in 1996 and two days ago, Kahneman also died. With his passing economics
has lost two savants who must be ranked with John Maynard Keynes. What Keynes did
for macroeconomics Tversky and Kahneman did for microeconomics. They stood the
analytical framework of economics on its head. That’s what Thomas Kuhn had called a
paradigm shift. It happens when you are forced to revisit received wisdom and
completely revise the theories held till then. The Tversky-Kahneman theories are now
collectively known as behavioural economics. Though it’s in economics he left a
permanent mark, Kahneman was primarily a psychologist. His training and method was to
observe how humans behaved in different situations. The experiments he conducted
threw up some strange findings. One of these was that people attach more importance to
losses than gains. There appears to be a strong element of ‘a bird in the hand is better
than two in the bush’ in the way people evaluate financial gain and loss. Another was the
‘peak-end’ rule which says people remember the end of an unpleasant experience less
badly if it ends better than what they had earlier experienced. For example, a severe
beating followed by unlimited beer makes people recall the beating less badly.
Kahneman and Tversky more-or-less completely overturned the classic work of John von
Neumann and Oskar Morgrnstern who had invented game theory in the 1930s. They had
assumed people made rational decisions. No, says prospect theory, they don’t.
Decision-making under risk and uncertainty tended to be quite erratic and not what
© The Hindu Business Line (P) Ltd, First published on: March 29, 2024 at 09:15 PM.
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/editorial/daniel-kahneman-ranks-up-there-
with-keynes/article68005909.ece
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