State PCS - Maharashtra (MPSC)

• 26 Nov 2025

BharatGen

Why in News? 

BharatGen, India’s first sovereign, multilingual and multimodal AI-driven Large Language Model (LLM), was highlighted by Union Minister of Science and Technology during his visit to IIT Bombay. 

Key Points 

• About BharatGen: 
  • BharatGen is India’s first government-supported sovereign AI stack, developed to support over 22 Indian languages across text, speech, and document-vision modalities. 
  • It has been developed by a consortium led by IIT Bombay, in collaboration with IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Mandi, IIT Kharagpur, IIIT Hyderabad, IIIT Delhi, and IIM Indore. 
  • The project is funded with ₹235 crore under National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (NM-ICPS), along with an additional ₹1,058 crore from MeitY under the India AI Mission, bringing the total public investment to ₹1,293 crore. 
  • It is designed to advance India’s digital sovereignty, ensuring that AI development is rooted in Indian languages, cultural contexts, and national priorities.  

Core AI Models Under BharatGen
Model Name	Modality	Key Specifications
Param-1	Text (LLM)	Foundational text model trained on 7.5 trillion tokens, with one-third of the dataset comprising Indian linguistic data.
Shrutam	Speech (ASR)	Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) model designed to handle complex Indian linguistic diversity, including multiple dialects.
Sooktam	Speech (TTS)	Text-to-Speech (TTS) model providing speech synthesis in nine Indic languages.
Patram	Document Vision	India’s first document-vision model trained to interpret complex India-specific document formats such as identity records and legal documents.

• About Bharat Data Sagar: 
  • Bharat Data Sagar is one of India’s largest sovereign data initiatives, aimed at ensuring complete national ownership of AI-relevant datasets. 
  • It focuses on India-centric data curation, covering diverse languages, dialects, cultural nuances, and region-specific contexts. 
  • It ensures data sovereignty, accuracy, and long-term national regulation over India’s AI ecosystem. 
     

Exercise SURYAKIRAN (2025)

Why in News? 

The 19^th edition of India–Nepal Joint Military Exercise SURYAKIRAN-XIX began on 25^th November 2025 at Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand. 

Key Points 

• About Exercise SURYAKIRAN: 
  • Exercise SURYAKIRAN is a bilateral military exercise between the Indian Army and the Nepal Army, held annually, with hosting duties alternating between the two countries. 
  • It aims to enhance interoperability, strengthen military diplomacy, and deepen India–Nepal defence cooperation. 
  • The exercise primarily focuses on counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, and jungle/mountain warfare terrain common to both armies. 
  • It is conducted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which deals with peacekeeping duties related to threats to peace, breaches of peace, and counter-terrorism scenarios.
    
• About the 2025 Edition: 
  • The 2025 edition of the exercise is being hosted at Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, from 25^th November to 08^th December, 2025. 
  • The Indian contingent comprises 334 personnel, mainly from the Assam Regiment while the Nepalese contingent also includes 334 personnel, primarily from the Devi Datta Regiment. 
  • The 2025 edition highlights incorporation of niche and emerging military technologies, such as: 
    • Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) 
    • Drone-based ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance) 
    • AI-enabled decision-support tools 
    • Unmanned logistics vehicles 
    • Armoured protection platforms 

Nayi Chetna 4.0 Campaign

Why in News? 

The Union Minister for Rural Development, alongside the Union Minister for Women and Child Development, launched ‘Nayi Chetna 4.0’, a national campaign under the DAY-NRLM (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission). 

Key Points 

• The fourth edition of Nayi Chetna – Initiative for Change focuses on strengthening women’s safety, mobility, dignity, and socio-economic participation, especially in rural India. 
• The campaign will run nationwide from 25th November to 23rd December 2025, led by the extensive network of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under DAY-NRLM. 
• Emphasis given on elimination of substance abuse, which was termed a major cause of domestic violence, and village-level campaigns for violence-free communities. 
• The initiative stresses women’s voices in governance, safe public spaces, shared domestic responsibilities, and recognition of women’s economic roles.
  

DAY-NRLM (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission) 

• The DAY-NRLM was launched in 2011 and later restructured in 2015 to strengthen its implementation framework and outreach. The mission is implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development. 
• The scheme aims to reduce rural poverty by promoting self-employment, skill development, and sustainable livelihoods through Self-Help Groups (SHGs). 
• It primarily focuses on mobilizing rural women into SHGs, providing them with credit linkages, capacity-building support, and enhanced access to markets. 
• It includes key components such as financial inclusion, digital literacy, and the diversification of livelihood activities to improve and stabilize household incomes in rural areas.