09-10.04.23 Daily [Uttar Pradesh] UPPSC Current Affairs

In a bid to further strengthen the urban bodies and expand their capacities, the Yogi Adityanath government is going to start the Aspirational Cities Programme.

A budget of Rs 100 crore has been set aside by the Urban Development department for the implementation of this scheme.

In the next three months, using this budget, the Urban Development department will select 100 aspirational bodies on the basis of prescribed parameters. Along with this, CM Fellows will also be posted in the respective districts. The Urban Development department has confirmed through an action plan to spend the allocated budget in the next three months in the schemes operated under the new plan in 2023-24. This action has been taken by the Yogi government to ensure proper development of the municipal bodies.

It is expected that apart from ensuring the quality of work in the urban bodies through this scheme, the implementation of the schemes will also accelerate.

The Urban Development department has stated that 16 parameters will be framed with assistance from for the implementation of the thematic project in the action plan for the upcoming three months. By using these parameters, data will be gathered at the district level.

On the basis of data collection, 100 aspirational bodies will be selected from the state. The thematic plan will be launched with all these selected 100 aspirational bodies. Along with this, CM Fellows will also be deployed for thematic planning in the respective districts. These CM Fellows will work under chief development officers (CDOs) and district magistrates (DMs) and expedite implementation of schemes besides ensuring the quality of work.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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