OpenAI launches Sora

• The groundbreaking chatbotChatGPT was created by OpenAI, who also introduced Sora, a new generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) model that can turn a text query into a movie.

Context:

• Algorithms (like ChatGPT) that can be used to produce new content, such as audio, code, images, text, simulations, and videos, are referred to as generative artificial intelligence (AI).The ease of use of new user interfaces that enable the creation of excellent text, pictures, and movies in a matter of seconds has been the driving force behind the recent excitement surrounding generative AI.

About Sora:-

• Open AI, the company behind chatGPT, created the generative AI model Sora, which can turn a written input into a video.
• Sora can produce videos up to one minute in length while adhering to the user’s request and preserving visual quality.
• The last several years have seen a tremendous improvement in the generation of images and written responses to prompts on GenAI platforms; however, text-to-video has mainly trailed behind due to the additional difficulty involved in analyzing moving objects in three dimensions.
• In addition to Open AI, several businesses have also entered the text-to-video market. Google’s Lumiere, which was unveiled last month, can produce text-and image-based five-second movies in response to a suggestion.
• Several businesses, such as Runway and Pika, have also demonstrated remarkable text-to-video models.

Farmers demand legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price

• Thousands of farmers are demonstrating for a legislative guarantee of minimum support prices along the border between Punjab and Haryana.

Context:

• The farmer’s unions claim that the Center has not lived up to the agreement made at the end of the large-scale protests in 2021 to provide a legislative guarantee for MSP.

About MSP:

• The MSP is the lowest price at which farmers can sell their agricultural products to government procurement organizations.
• In times of market volatility or hardship, it acts as a safety net for farmers, guaranteeing them a minimum revenue for their produce.
• The job of recommending MSPs for different crops falls to the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
• The CACP has been in operation since January 1965 and is an associated office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

How is the MSP Calculated?

• Farmers’ experienced costs—both implicit and explicit—are taken into account carefully when calculating the MSP. Explicit and implicit expenses are included in the computation. Examples of implicit costs include family labor and rent paid by farmers. The variables A2, FL, and C2 stand for these variables.
• A2: This covers the costs that farmers incur for employing labor, buying pesticides, fertilizers, and seeds, as well as for crop growth, production, and upkeep.
• A2 + FL: This comprises implicit expenses (family labor) in addition to explicit costs.
• C2: This comprises fixed capital assets, rent from farmers, and A2 + FL.
• The market prices of the relevant crops and any fluctuations, information on produce supply, including area, yield, production, imports, exports, and stocks with public agencies or industries, demand information across regions, including total and per capita consumption, processing industry trends, capacity, etc., are some of the other factors that the CACP takes into account when determining the MSP.
• Following the submission of the CACP’s recommendations, the Prime Minister of India’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) makes the final determination regarding the MSP levels.

Key Benefits of the MSP for farmers

• Income Security: In times of market turbulence, MSP provides farmers with a guaranteed minimum price for their products, guaranteeing a steady and predictable income.
• Price Stability: MSP assists in stabilizing market prices by establishing a floor price for agricultural goods, averting abrupt swings that can have a detrimental effect on both farmers and consumers.
• Increases Production: Because farmers are guaranteed a fair reward for their labor, MSP encourages them to increase the yield of crops that fall under its purview.
• Food Security: By encouraging farmers to grow necessary food crops, MSP significantly contributes to guaranteeing food security. By keeping food grains on the market in a consistent supply, this reduces reliance on imports and improves domestic food security.

ANTI-DUMPING DUTY

• India opens an anti-dumping investigation into solar glass imports from Vietnam and China.

Context:

• Solar panels and modules for the production of renewable energy are made from solar glass. One of the biggest consumers of solar energy is India, which has set a goal to install 450 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030.

About Anti Dumping Duty:

• A government-imposed tax known as an anti-dumping duty is levied on imported goods that are sold for less than their normal worth in the exporting nation.
• Anti-dumping duties are in place to shield home industries from unfair competition and trade distortions brought on by dumping.
• Through the Anti-Dumping Agreement, which lays out the guidelines for WTO members’ investigation, determination, and execution of anti-dumping measures, the World Trade Organization (WTO) regulates dumping practices.
• A WTO member may take anti-dumping measures in accordance with the Anti-Dumping Agreement if it can demonstrate that: The imports are being sold in the exporting nation for less than their normal worth.
• The domestic industry that produces comparable items is suffering material harm as a result of the dumping.
• A causal relationship exists between the two.

Authority to impose anti- dumping duty in India

• The final say over whether to apply anti-dumping duties on imports that are discovered to be dumping and harming home industries belongs to the Ministry of Finance.
• The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), which performs the inquiry and ascertains the existence and degree of dumping and injury, makes recommendations that the Ministry of Finance acts upon.
• Under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) is in charge of managing both bilateral and multilateral trade relations as well as developing and executing the international trade policy.

TERAI ARC LANDSCAPE (TAL)

• As part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the Terai Arc Landscape has been recognized as a UN World Restoration Flagship.

Context:

• A global recognition and support program for large-scale ecological restoration is the UN World Restoration Flagship.
• The Terai region is a lowland region in sections of northern India and southern Nepal that is located north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain and south of the Himalayas. Tall grasslands, scrub savannah, sal woods, and clay-rich marshes are its defining features. In addition, a variety of threatened and endangered animals call it home, including dolphins, tigers, rhinos, and elephants.

About The Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) initiative

• Together, Nepal and India are working to conserve and restore the biodiversity and ecosystems of the Terai region—home to numerous endangered species like tigers, rhinos, elephants, and gharials—through the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) initiative.
• The project has been named one of the World Restoration Flagships by the United Nations, which honors outstanding initiatives that highlight the advantages of ecosystem restoration for both people and the environment.
• There are fourteen protected areas that are part of the transboundary Terai Arc Landscape (TAL), which crosses both India and Nepal.

The Terai Arc Landscape comprises the following protected areas:

• Parsa National Park, Nepal
• Chitwan National Park, Nepal
• Banke National Park, Nepal
• Bardia National Park, Nepal
• Blackbuck Conservation Area, Nepal
• Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, Nepal
• Valmiki National Park, India
• Sohelwa Wildlife Sanctuary, India
• Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, India
• Dudhwa National Park, India
• Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary, India
• Corbett National Park, India
• Rajaji National Park, India
• Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, India