Framework for Responsible and Ethical Enablement of Artificial Intelligence (FREE-AI)

• FREE-AI is an initiative of Reserve bank of India.
• The RBI has set up a committee to develop a framework for responsible and ethical Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the financial sector.
• The committee is an eight-member panel, being headed by Pushpak Bhattacharyya, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay.
• It includes representatives from NITI Aayog, HDFC Bank, IIT Madras, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, law firm Trilegal, and Microsoft India.

E-Waste

• E Waste – Electronic waste is the discarded electrical and electronic equipment and its parts, often containing toxic materials.
• It includes items like computers, mobile phones, and household appliances that have reached the end of their useful life and are discarded.
• E- Waste regulations in India
• The management of E-Waste in India is presently regulated under E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022 under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 and notified by Central Pollution Control Board.
• Extended Producer Responsibility – The EPR mandates that producers of Electrical and Electronic Equipment’s are responsible for the entire lifecycle of their products, including post-consumer waste management.
• This responsibility encompasses the collection, recycling, and environmentally sound disposal of e-waste.
• Rules Applicability – It apply to every manufacturer, producer, refurbisher, dismantler, and recycler involved in the lifecycle of EEE listed in Schedule I.
• Environmental Compensation – It shall be levied for non-compliances of provisions of E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022 and amendments thereof.
• Mandatory Registration – All the manufacturer, producer, refurbisher and recycler are required to register on portal developed by CPCB.
• No entity shall carry out any business without registration and also not deal with any unregistered entity.
• Floor Price – The 2022 rule introduced a floor price for EPR certificates to ensure fair returns for registered recyclers, curbing informal, hazardous recycling (practices that dominate 95% of the sector).

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Pan-genome

• Pan-genome – It is a comprehensive genetic blueprint of a species that includes,
  • Core genes, which is common to all individuals in a species.
  • Accessory or unique genes present in some, but not all, varieties.
• It shows the complete genetic diversity within a species.
• First pan-genome of Asian rice – It is created by analysing genomes from 144 varieties of wild and cultivated rice from Asia.

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BrahMos Missile

• BrahMos missile – It is an unmanned payload rocket, which is equipped with a propulsion system, guidance system and a warhead.
• Origin – BrahMos is a joint venture between India's DRDO and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM).
• It is named after the Brahmaputra (India) and Moskva (Russia) rivers.
• India holds 50.5% stake, Russia holds 49.5% stake and it is first successfully tested on June 12, 2001.
• It is a Supersonic cruise missile (3 times the speed of sound in cruise phase).
• Two-stage missile – First stage is solid propellant booster engine which propels to supersonic speed, and it then gets separated.
• The second stage of the liquid ramjet then fires and thrusts the missile to three times the speed of sound in its cruise phase.
• It can be fired from moving/static naval platforms. (Statement 3 is incorrect)

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International Reference Pricing

• Most Favoured Nation is also known as International Reference Pricing.
• Most Favoured Nation – It implies preferential terms of trade with respect to tariffs and trade barriers.
• Legality – Under Article 1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), 1994, every member country of the World Trade Organization (WTO) must accord Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to all other member countries.

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