NIAS launches pilot project involving GEOAI and random forest tech to monitor air pollution in Bengaluru

Geospatial Artificial Intelligence

• It is the application of artificial intelligence (AI) fused with geospatial data, science, and technology.
• It accelerates real-world understanding of business opportunities, environmental impacts, and operational risks.
• It is transforming the speed at which we extract meaning from complex datasets, thereby aiding us in addressing the earth’s most pressing challenges.
• How does it work?
  • With the help of simple smartphone applications, people can give real-time feedback about the conditions in their surroundings, for example, traffic congestion, the details of it, the peak hours, their experience, and their rating: low, moderate, or dense.
  • The data is then collated, sorted, and analysed, enhancing its accuracy and precision because thousands of users contribute to the database.

GeoAI important

• Improve data quality, consistency, and accuracy: Streamline manual data generation workflows by using the power of automation to increase efficiency and reduce costs.
• Accelerate the time to situational awareness: Monitor and analyse events, assets, and entities from sensors and sources such as video to enable quicker response times and proactive decisions.
• Bring location intelligence to decision-making: Make data-driven decisions with real-world awareness. Improve business outcomes with insight from spatial patterns and accurate predictions.

Random forest technology

• It is a commonly used machine learning algorithm that combines multiple data outputs to arrive at a result.
• Researchers use historical data collected from various air quality monitoring stations in a city and apply the random forest algorithm to predict the Air Quality Index.

NHAI explores insurance surety bonds to accelerate infrastructure growth

Insurance Surety Bonds

• These bonds can be defined in their simplest form as a written agreement to guarantee compliance, payment, or performance of an act.
• These are instruments where insurance companies act as ‘Surety’ and provide the financial guarantee that the contractor will fulfil its obligation as per the agreed terms.
• Surety is a unique type of insurance because it involves a three-party agreement.
• The three parties in a surety agreement are:
  • Principal: The party that purchases the bond and undertakes an obligation to perform an act as promised.
  • Surety: The insurance company or surety company that guarantees the obligation will be performed. If the principal fails to perform the act as promised, the surety is contractually liable for losses sustained.
  • Obligee: The party who requires and often receives the benefit of the surety bond. For most surety bonds, the obligee is a local, state or federal government organisation.

Advantages

• It will act as a security arrangement for infrastructure projects and will insulate the contractor as well as the principal.
• The product will cater to the requirements of a diversified group of contractors, many of whom are operating in today’s increasingly volatile environment.
• The product gives the principal a contract of guarantee that contractual terms and other business deals will be concluded in accordance with the mutually agreed terms.
• In case the contractor doesn’t fulfil the contractual terms, the Principal can raise a claim on the surety bond and recover the losses they have incurred.
• Unlike a bank guarantee, the Surety Bond Insurance does not require large collateral from the contractor, thus freeing up significant funds for the contractor, which they can utilise for the growth of the business.
• The product will also help in reducing the contractors’ debts to a large extent, thus addressing their financial worries.

Decision deferred as concerns raised over Jambughoda Sanctuary

Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is located in Gujarat’s south-central part.
• Vegetation: It contains Grasslands, water-borne plants, medicinal herbs, dry southern tropical rain forests, dry deciduous mixed and secondary forests, and dry scrubs of the deciduous type.
• Flora: Teak, mahua, and bamboo thickets cover the length and breadth of the forest.
• Fauna: Wild boars, nilgais (blue bull), jackals, hyenas, barking deer, sloth bears, chausinghas (four-horned antelope) and leopards.

Eco-Sensitive Zones

• Land within 10 km of the boundaries of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries is to be notified as eco-fragile zones or Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZ).
• While the 10-km rule is implemented as a general principle, the extent of its application can vary.
• The Union government can also notify areas beyond 10 km as ESZs if they hold larger ecologically important “sensitive corridors”.

Eco-Sensitive Zones created

• They are created as “shock absorbers” for the protected areas to minimise the negative impact on the “fragile ecosystems” by certain nearby human activities.
• Furthermore, these areas are meant to act as transition zone from areas requiring higher protection to those requiring lesser protection.

New technology developed to transport of radio frequency (RF)

• Analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) are critical components for developing the next generation of advanced digital receivers.
• The limitation of electronic ADCs (EADCs) is that their vertical resolution is compromised at high bandwidths.
• There are two possible approaches to solving this problem through Photonics.
  • Radiofrequency, when modulated on a spectrally rich optical pulsed source, can be stretched in the optical domain through a dispersive medium, thus converting high-frequency RF signals into effectively low-frequency signals.
  • This reduces the input bandwidth requirements of the back-end ADC as many times as the stretch factor of the optical pulse.
  • The other Photonic approach is to use an optical clock whose fluctuations in timing (timing jitter) are much smaller than an electronic clock, which is possible with a short-pulsed laser.
  • High bandwidth RF signals, when sampled with stable optical clocks, can provide a much higher effective number of bits (ENOB) compared to electronic clocks.
  • It has time-stretched photonic ADC with an effective bandwidth 12 times higher than EADC, which enables the digitisation of signals with a much larger precision.
• A newly designed prototype in the Next-Generation Photonic Analog-to-Digital Converters (NG-PADC) project can carry out instantaneous frequency measurement, generation and transport of Radio Frequency (RF) through optical methods.
• Its effective bandwidth is 12 times higher than a corresponding EADC
• This could revolutionise various sectors, enabling faster digital communication, improved satellite communication, better medical imaging, and Photonic radars.

Brain advance gives voice hope to paralysed

Brain-computer interface device

• This device is capable of decoding brain activity into speech faster, more accurately and covering larger vocabulary than existing technologies.
• People with neurological disorders, including brainstem stroke or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often face speech loss due to paralysis of muscles.
• Previous studies have shown that it is possible to decode speech from the brain activities of a person with paralysis, but only in the form of text and with limited speed, accuracy and vocabulary.
• Researchers demonstrated a BCI that collects the neural activity of single cells with an array of fine electrodes inserted into the brain and trained an artificial neural network to decode intended vocalisations.
• With the help of the device, a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis was able to communicate at an average rate of 62 words per minute, which is 3.4 times.
• This BCI decodes brain signals to generate three outputs simultaneously: text, audible speech and a speaking avatar.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

• It is a neurodegenerative disease in which special nerve cells called motor neurons in the brain and spine, which control an individual’s voluntary functions like walking, chewing, talking, and moving their arms- are affected.
• It’s also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
• As these nerve cells progressively die, the muscles dependent on them are unable to function or move, due to which they begin to atrophy or waste away.

Conservationists call for study after rare spotting of lion-tailed macaques in Nadugani

Lion-tailed macaque

• The Lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) is an Old World monkey.
• One of the distinguishing features of this species is that males define the boundaries of their home ranges by calls.
• Overall, their communication system contains as many as 17 vocalisations.
• Appearance
  • They are characterised by the grey mane around their face.
  • They are sometimes called bearded monkeys.
  • The magnificent Lion-tailed macaque is named due to its lion-like, long, thin, and tufted tail.
• Habitat
  • In the wild, these are only native to India.
  • It is a primate endemic to small and severely fragmented rainforests of the Western Ghats in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• Threat
  • The biggest threat to the overall population of this species is the destruction of their rainforest habitat.
• Conservation status
  • IUCN: Endangered
  • CITES: Appendix I
  • The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I

MSDE, under the SANKALP Programme, Offering Cloud Skills Training To 1500 Aspirants

Project AMBER

• The Accelerated Mission for Better Employment and Retention (AMBER) project is a joint initiative of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) – under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) - and GIF to create the necessary avenues.
• The initiative has been undertaken under the SANKALP programme of MSDE with a focus on women to improve gender diversification in the tech industry and underprivileged groups.
• This project aims to train 30,000 youth, 50% of whom will be women.
• Features the project
  • As part of this collaboration, the learners take part in AWS (re/Start), a workforce development program for unemployed and underemployed individuals.
  • It covers fundamental AWS cloud skills as well as practical career tips, including resume writing and interview preparation.
  • Through real-world scenario-based exercises, labs, and coursework, learners are trained in multiple technologies, including Linux, Python, networking, security, and relational databases.
  • The program also covers the cost for learners to take the AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification exam, an industry-recognized credential that validates their cloud skills and knowledge and connects the participants with job interview opportunities in the cloud or IT with local employers.
• Significance
  • It will bring entry-level talent into the workforce and help individuals to launch successful cloud careers, organisations to increase their competitive edge with in-demand talent, and communities.

SANKALP Programme

• The Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion(SANKALP) programme was launched in 2018.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE)
• It is a World Bank loan-assisted project and is aligned with the overall objectives of the National Skill Development Mission (NSDM).
• The project focuses on transforming the overall skilling ecosystem of India, covering both central and state-level agencies for improved outcomes.

Mumbai reports first case of Zika virus

Zika Virus

• It is a mosquito-borne virus that was first identified in the Zika Forest of Uganda in 1947.
• Transmission
  • It is primarily transmitted to humans through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes, particularly Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.
  • It can also spread through sexual contact, blood transfusion, and from an infected mother to her baby during pregnancy or childbirth.
• Symptoms
  • Many people infected with this virus do not experience any symptoms (asymptomatic).
  • When symptoms do occur, they are often mild and include fever, rash, joint pain, muscle pain, headache, and red eyes (conjunctivitis).
  • Symptoms typically appear two to seven days after being bitten by an infected mosquito and can last several days to a week.
• What are the complications?
  • This virus infection is usually mild, but it can have severe consequences for pregnant women and their babies.
  • Infection during pregnancy can lead to birth defects such as microcephaly and other neurological disorders in the baby.
  • It has also been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder that can lead to muscle weakness and paralysis.
• Treatment: No specific treatment is available for Zika virus infection or disease.

The Fujiwhara effect: When cyclones ''dance''

Fujiwhara effect

• It was identified by a Japanese meteorologist, Sakuhei Fujiwhara.
• It was observed for the first time over the western Pacific Ocean when typhoons Marie and Kathy merged in 1964.
• What is it?
  • When two hurricanes (or cyclones), spinning in the same direction, are brought close together, they begin ‘an intense dance around their common centre’ – this interaction between two cyclones is called the Fujiwhara effect.
• When it Occur?
  • If one hurricane’s intensity overpowers the other, then the smaller one will orbit it and eventually crash into its vortex to be absorbed.
  • On the other hand, if two storms of similar strengths pass by each other, they may gravitate towards each other until they reach a common centre and merge or merely spin each other around for a while before shooting off on their own paths.
  • In rare instances, the two ‘dancing’ cyclones, if they are intense enough, may merge with one another, leading to the formation of a mega cyclone capable of wreaking havoc along coastlines.
• Experts have noted the rising frequency of this unusual effect, attributing it to a rapidly warming world and the subsequent heating of ocean waters.

Khanan Prahari App Helping to Curb Illegal Coal Mining

Khanan Prahari App

• It allows citizens to report incidents of illegal coal mining through geo-tagged photographs and textual information.
• The corresponding web portal, called as Coal Mine Surveillance & Management System (CMSMS), has been developed in association with the Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space Application & Geoinformatics, Gandhinagar, and CMPDI, Ranchi.
• Objective: To encourage public participation through reporting about illegal coal mining.
• The government aims to take transparent action against illegal mining, using space technology as an e-governance initiative.
• Key features of the app include:
  • Reporting Incidents: Users can easily report incidents of illegal mining by taking photographs and providing comments on the incident. The app allows for the geotagging of photographs by enabling the GPS location feature.
  • Confidentiality: The user''s identity is kept confidential, ensuring privacy and security.
  • Complaint Tracking: Complainants receive a complaint number, which they can use to easily track the status of their reported complaints on the Khanan Prahari mobile app.
• This is available for download on Google''s Play Store for Android-based mobile phones and the Apple Store for iOS-supported iPhones.