• April 17, 2023

An assortment of voice samples

GS 2 Polity and Governance

In News

• A Congress leader recently went to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to give samples of his voice in connection with his alleged part in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, when a mob killed three people.

Process of Collecting Voice Samples 

• An body that is looking into a case usually goes to court to get permission to record a person’s voice sample.
• This kind of forensic research helps prove other parts of the case.
• Usually, a voice sample is taken in an echo-proof room, which is quiet and controlled, and a voice recorder is used.
• When forensic officials take a voice sample, they use international phonetic alphabets and ask the person to say only a small part of the original statement. This way, vowels and consonants in the spoken part can be analyzed in different ways.

Methods 

• Indian forensic labs use the semi-automatic spectrographic method of voice sampling, while some other countries use the automatic method. With the automatic method, a chance ratio is made from the voice samples, which makes them more accurate.
• The spectrographic method for identifying a speaker uses a device that turns the sound of words into a picture.

First Instance of Usage 

• The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) used speech identification analysis, which was also called spectrographic at the time, for the first time in the 1950s. However, the method didn’t become accepted until 1962.

The legality behind collecting voice samples

• Voice sample testing is a fairly new technology, so India’s criminal procedure rules don’t have a specific rule for it.
• It is normal for the police to take samples of sperm, hair, and general body measurements for DNA testing or to take general measurements of the body. However, for voice samples, the police have to go to court or get the accused person’s permission.
• Section 53 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure says that a doctor can look at a charged person if a police officer asks for it.
• The word “examination” in this section includes “the examination of blood, blood stains, semen, swabs in cases of sexual offenses, sputum and sweat, hair samples, and fingernail clippings using modern and scientific techniques, such as DNA profiling, and such other tests as the registered medical practitioner thinks are necessary in a particular case.”

• In this case, the term “such other tests” is taken to mean a group of voice samples.

Observations of Court’s 

• In a case from 2013, the Supreme Court thought about whether forcing a suspected person to give a voice sample as part of an investigation would violate his right not to incriminate himself or his right to privacy. They decided that it would not.
• The Supreme Court said that collecting a voice sample for an investigation would not violate the accused’s basic rights. o In a 2022 ruling, the Punjab and Haryana High Court said that “voice samples are similar to fingerprints and handwriting in that each person has a unique voice with distinctive features that are determined by vocal cavities and articulates.”
• The samples are taken only with permission, as required by the law. The sample itself is not proof; it is used to compare the evidence that has already been collected.”

Source: IE

targets for the PM Suraksha Bima Yojana and PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima

GS 2 Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections of Population & their Performance

In News

• Public sector banks (PSBs) have set a goal for how many Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) insurance plans they want to sell in FY24.
• They have also set goals for programs like Mudra Yojana and StandUp India Scheme, which help people get access to banking services.

Progress 

• As of now, 8.3 crore people are getting help from PMJJBY and 23.9 crores are getting help from PMSBY.
• Since the programs started in 2015, 15.99 crore people have signed up for PMJJBY and 33.78 crore people have signed up for PMSBY as of March 31, 2023.
• On April 1, the finance minister started a three-month campaign to reach saturation under PMJJBY and PMSBY.
• As part of the campaign, camps are being set up in all districts of the country at the Gram Panchayat level by the banks, with the help of the state administration and other ministries of the central government. This is to make sure that the benefits of the two Jan Suraksha schemes reach the people.

About 

• Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY): It is a one-year life insurance scheme renewable from year to year offering coverage for death due to any reason.
• Eligibility: People between the ages of 18 and 50 who have a savings bank account or a post office account can join the plan. People who join the plan before they turn 50 can keep their risk of life coverage until they are 55 as long as they pay the premium.
• Benefits: Life insurance of Rs. 2 Lakh in case of death for any reason for an annual payment of Rs.
•  Starting June 1, 2022, the rates for PMJJBY have changed from Rs 330 to Rs 436.
• Enrolment: Enrolments under the scheme can be done by visiting the branch/ BC point or website of the bank of the account holder or at the post office in case of a post office savings bank account.
• The premium under the scheme is auto-debited every year from the subscriber’s bank account based on a one-time mandate from the account holder.

• Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY): It is an accident insurance plan that lasts for one year and can be renewed every year. It covers death or injury caused by an accident.
• Eligibility: People between the ages of 18 and 70 who have a savings bank account or a post office account can join the plan.
• Benefits: Accidental death cum disability cover of Rs.2 lakh (Rs.1 lakh in case of partial disability) for death or disability due to an accident.
• the finance ministry revised rates from Rs 12 to Rs 20 for PMSBY, effective June 1, 2022.
• Enrolment: Participants can sign up for the scheme at their bank’s branch, BC point, or online, or at the post office if they have a post office savings bank account.
• The plan automatically takes the premium out of the subscriber’s bank account every year based on a one-time order from the account holder.

Source: ET

GTI, or Global Terrorism Index

GS 2 Agreements Involving India &/or Affecting India’s Interests

In News

• The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) for 2023 has just been revealed.

About the Global Terrorism Index (GTI)

• About:
• The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) is a large study that looks at the effects of terrorism in 163 countries, which are home to 99.7% of the world’s population.
• The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) makes the GTI study with information from Terrorism Tracker and other sources.
• GTI Score:

• The GTI makes a combined score so that countries can be ranked by how much terrorism affects them.
• The GTI gives each country a score on a range from 0 to 10. A score of 0 means that terrorism has no effect on that country, and a score of 10 means that terrorism has the biggest effect that can be measured.
• The GTI looks at terrorist deaths, attacks, prisoners, and injuries.

• Aim:
  • Given the significant resources committed to counter terrorism by governments across the world, it is important to analyse and aggregate the available data to better understand its various properties.
    • One of the key aims of the GTI is to examine these trends.
  • It also aims to help inform a positive, practical debate about the future of terrorism and the required policy responses.

Key findings from the Global Terrorism Index 2023 report

• Deaths & attacks of terrorism:
• o In 2022, both the number of terrorist attacks and the number of deaths they caused fell by 28% and 9%, respectively. However, the average number of deaths per attack rose from 1.3 in 2021 to 1.7 in 2022.
• The number of people killed in attacks has gone up by 26%. This is because the Taliban have changed from a terror group to a state player.
•  Afghanistan is still the place where terrorism hurts the most people.
• Outside of Afghanistan, the number of terrorist deaths went up by 4%.
• Islamic State (IS) – the deadliest terrorist group:

• Islamic State (IS) and its allies continued to be the most dangerous terrorist group in the world in 2022 for the eighth year in a row. They carried out attacks in 21 countries.

• Sahel and Af-Pak region:
• Deaths from attacks by unknown Jihadists are eight times higher than in 2017. They account for 32% of all terrorism deaths and are 18 times higher in the Sahel. The Sahel is the most affected region, with 43% of global terrorism deaths, which is 7% more than the year before. Jihadi uprisings in the Sahel and Af-Pak region continue to be the main cause of the increase in lethality.
• Global trends:
• Terrorism is going down in the West, but attacks are getting worse in other parts of the world. Extremist groups on the far right are making gains in Europe and North America.Terrorism grows in places with bad environments and climate changes.
• Formalisation of terrorism:
• Many states continue to use armed non-state actors for their own objectives, indicating a worrying trend in the formalisation of terrorism.
• Technology use:
• Drone technology and its use continues to rapidly evolve, especially with groups such as IS, Boko Haram and Houthis.

State sponsored terrorism

• States have been employing armed non-state actors to further their otherwise questionable objectives. For example,
• Russia & Ukraine:
•  The people who are fighting in the war in Ukraine are violent extremists.
• Chechen fighters who once claimed ‘jihad’ against Moscow are now fighting for Russia under the leadership of Ramzan Kadyrov. Islamists who are upset about this and are against Russia have been fighting for Ukraine.
• Turkey:
  • Turkey allegedly backs Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a breakaway from Da’esh, in Syria because they serve as a proxy to their regional interests.
• China:
•  China is sending its Private Military and Security Company (PMSC) along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) more and more often for security reasons.
• The Chinese are trying to work with the Taliban, but they are being careful about it.
• Pakistan:

• Pakistan has been a state supporter of terrorism for a long time, and now the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has come back to haunt the country.
• This worrying trend of legalizing terrorist and violent extremist groups by legitimate nation-states doesn’t look like it will stop any time soon.

Implications for India

• Kashmir:
• The security situation in Kashmir did get better after Article 370 was repealed when it came to organized terrorism, but new problems arose in the form of an increase in lone-wolf strikes and a rise in the use of drones for cross-border terrorism.
• Sikh separatism:
•  Sikh nationalism is showing signs of coming back to life as the social and political situation in Punjab is changing in a big way.
• Cross-border narco-terror networks:
• In both Kashmir and Punjab, a growing trend of increased drug abuse is fuelled by cross-border narco-terror networks.
• Terror drones:
• India is still not adequately equipped to tackle the challenge of terror drones, whose sightings had multiplied significantly in 2022.

Way ahead

• All countries must keep up with their anti-terrorism efforts and deal with real or imagined grievances that can lead to radicalization.
• India can take the lead in fighting terrorism because it chairs the UNSC’s Counter-Terrorism Committee and joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which focuses on counter-terrorism cooperation through its Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).

Source: IDSA

By 2035, the G7 pledges to generate carbon-free electricity.

GS 2 International Organisations & Groupings GS 3 Conservation Biodiversity and Environment

In News

• The G7 countries met for two days in the city of Sapporo in northern Japan to talk about climate, energy, and environmental policy.
• After Russia invaded Ukraine, the need for renewable fuel sources and energy security has become more important than ever.

Key Highlights of the Meeting

• Carbon-free electricity production by 2035:
•  The Group of Seven (G7) countries have agreed to work toward carbon-free energy production by 2035 and to “speed up” the process of getting rid of coal.
• Impetus to Solar Power:
• They agreed to speed up investments in solar and wind energy to make 1,000 gigawatts (GW) of solar power from off-shore platforms by 2030 and 150 GW of wind power.
• Removal of Fossil Fuel Subsidies:
• They reaffirm the commitment to the elimination of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by 2025.
• Net zero in energy systems by 2050: 

• The members decided to speed up “the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels” (burning fossil fuels without using technology to capture the C02 emissions), so that energy systems reach net zero by 2050.

 Other Key Facts relating to Carbon Emission

• Since the pre-industrial age, temperatures have already gone up by 1.1C.
• 40% of the world’s economic action and 25% of the world’s carbon emissions come from the G-7.
• More than two-thirds of the world’s carbon emissions now come from emerging markets and developing countries.
• Russia is one of the world’s largest suppliers of enriched uranium for civilian nuclear programs, with more than 40% of the world’s enrichment capacity. India and China rely heavily on coal to make electricity, while the United States, Japan, Canada, and Europe rely on gas reserves.

Challenges in Phasing out coal in India

• At the United Nations-Conference of Parties (COP) meeting in Glasgow in 2021, India pushed for a “phase down” of coal rather than a “phase out” of coal.
• High Energy dependence: India’s main source of energy is coal, which makes up 57% of its energy mix. Coal demand isn’t expected to peak until the early 2030s.
• Very high Economic cost in phasing out, for example Germany coal phaseout needs investment of more than 50 billion euros.
• Resources richness: India has 319.02 billion tons of coal reserves, according to the Geological Survey of India. The economies of states like Jharkhand and Orissa rely on coal mining.
• Negative impact on tax: In FY20, the Centre alone got about Rs 29,200 crore from coal in the form of GST compensation cess.
• Job loss: One study put the number of direct coal jobs at 7,44,984, which does not include contract workers.
• Issue of NPA: Economic shifts and policy changes may turn coal-fired power plants into stranded assets (non-performing assets). This will rapidly decrease their value, or they may turn into liabilities. This process is already observed in some G20 countries.

India’s Efforts

• Revised NDCs:

• India has agreed to cut its carbon intensity of GDP by at least 45% from its level in 2005 by 2030.
• India has promised that by 2030, at least half of the energy it generates will come from sources other than fossil fuels.
• Raise the amount of energy that doesn’t come from fossil fuels to 500 gigawatts by 2030.
• Cut the total amount of carbon that is expected to be emitted by 1 billion tons (BT) by 2030.
• By 2070, there should be no net carbon.

• The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana: It helped 88 million households to shift from coal-based cooking fuels to LPG connections.
• Hydrogen Energy Mission: Focus on generation of hydrogen from green power resources.
• E-Vehicle: India is accelerating its e-mobility transition with the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME Scheme).
• Vehicle scrapping policy to phase out old and unfit vehicles complements the existing schemes.
• Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT): It is a market-based mechanism to further accelerate as well as incentivize energy efficiency in the large energy-intensive industries.
• Major Programmes in Renewable Energy Sector 

• National Solar Mission (NSM)
• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM): PM-KUSUM gives farmers incentives to put pumps and plants that run on solar power in their fields.
• Solar Parks Scheme: To facilitate large scale grid-connected solar power projects.
• Green Energy Corridor (GEC):To make it easier for green power to leave the grid and to change the grid to meet future needs.
• International Solar Alliance (ISA): It has 122 countries in the sun belt that are interested in becoming members, and 86 countries around the world are already members.
• It is the biggest group of states after the United Nations.
• It has a National Action Plan on Climate Change, a National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), and a National Biofuel Policy, among other things.

Source: BS

GMR, or giant magnetoresistance

GS 3 Science & Technology

In News

• Scientists found that at room temperature, graphene has a strange property called Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR).

What is Magnetoresistance & Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR)? 

• Magnetoresistance is the tendency of a material to change its electrical resistance when a magnetic field is applied to it from the outside. Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) is the large change in electrical resistance caused by applying a magnetic field to alternating layers of ferromagnetic and nonmagnetic layers in a thin film.Albert Fert and Peter Grünberg won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2007 for their work on GMR.

More about Study

• The graphene-based device had a magnetoresistance that was “almost 100 times higher” than that of other known semimetals in the same magnetic field range.
• The team said this was because there was a “neutral” field and the electrons moved around.

Applications of GMR

• It is used in hard disk drives and magneto-resistive random access memory (RAM) in computers, as well as in biosensors, car sensors, micro-electromechanical systems, and medical imagers.

Source: TH

Bridges Bailey

GS 3 Infrastructure Places in News

In News

• The Army might help Kaziranga National Park build Bailey bridges.

What is Bailey Bridge?

• A Bailey bridge is a type of portable truss bridge that is made ahead of time. During the Second World War, the British made it in 1940 and 1941 so that the army could use it.
• A good thing about a Bailey bridge is that it doesn’t need any special tools or big equipment to put together. The pieces of wood and steel for the bridge were small and light enough that they could be moved in trucks and put in place by hand, without a crane.There is enough strength in the bridges to hold tanks.

Other types of bridges

Kaziranga National Park

• More than 70% of the world’s One Horned Rhinoceros live in the Park. The 2022 count says that there are about 2,613 rhinos in the park. Also, there are more tigers in Kaziranga than anywhere else in India.

The Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 made it a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1950, and the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1974 made it a National Park.In 1985, it was put on the list of World Heritage Sites. It is a place that BirdLife International says is important for birds.

Know about the Rhinoceroses

• Rhinoceroses are large, herbivorous mammals identified by their characteristic horned snouts.
• There are five species and 11 subspecies of rhino; some have two horns, while others have one.

Geographical Location

White rhinos and black rhinos live in the fields and floodplains of eastern and southern Africa. Greater one-horned rhinos live in the swamps and rain forests of northern India and southern Nepal.

• You can only find Sumatran and Javan rhinos in small parts of Malaysian and Indonesian swamps and jungles.

Source: TH

Bioluminescence

GS 3 Science & Technology

In News

• The process of bioluminescence was seen on the beaches of Visakhapatnam.

What is Bioluminescence?

• It is when a living thing makes light and sends it out into the world.For bioluminescence to happen, two different chemicals are needed: luciferin and either luciferase or photoprotein. The chemical that makes light is called luciferin.
• When luciferin is part of a chemical process, it is called the substrate. The yellow color of fireflies and the greenish color of lanternfish are caused by how the luciferin molecules are arranged.

Reason for Bioluminescence of Beaches.

• At night, tiny marine creatures called phytoplankton give off light on the surface of the water, which makes the waves glow. It’s best to do it on a night when there’s no moon.
• Deep sea animals in general have a lot of bioluminescence. Many marine animals, like sponges, jellyfish, worms, fish, arthropods, echinoderms, and unicellular algae, use bioluminescence to hide from enemies, attract food, or mate.Most likely, this is caused by an algal bloom (a large number of algae) of the dinoflagellate species noctiluca and ceratium in Visakhapanam.

Source: TH

News about the species Amolops siju

GS 3  Species in News

In News

• Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) found a new kind of frog deep inside the Siju cave in the South Garo Hills of Meghalaya.
• This is the second time that something like this has been found in India. In 2014, the Micrixalus spelunca was found in a cave in Tamil Nadu.
• This is the fourth new species of cascade frog (Amolops) that has been discovered recently by the same team. In Arunachal Pradesh, the Amolops chanakya, Amolops terraorchis, and Amolops tawang were found.

About Amolops Siju

• The cave gave the species its name, Amolops siju.The genus Amolops is one of the biggest groups of ranid frogs (family Ranidae). There are over 70 known species, and they are found all over northeast and north India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Indochina, and the Malaya Peninsula.

Key facts about the Suji caves

• The cave is a natural limestone cave that is 4 km long. It is in the South Garo Hills District of Meghalaya, which is in northeast India.

Source: TH