Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

• The freedom of speech and an ‘adolescent India’
• CEO NITI Aayog Param Iyer on Budget 2023-24: An infrastructure push for the people
• Budget 2023-24 ignores rural distress, tries to fix demand problem with supply interventions
• Instead of criminalising child marriage, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma should heed PM Modi’s call of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
• Municipal Mess – From MCD to BMC, paralysis of urban local bodies undermines local governance and democracy
• The demand for MGNREGS work is unmet
• End-of-life decisions – SC’s tweaks on directive norms are welcome, but legislation will be better

GS Paper 3

• Jammu, village defence and governance
• What will drive global growth?
• How are earthquakes measured and how massive is the Turkey one?
• Ballooning Options To Spy
• Women-centric development – India Inc must help enhance the role of women in nation building

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• Voice deepfakes: how they are generated, used, misused and differentiated
• Prime Minister launches E20 Fuel & flags off Green Mobility Rally in Bengaluru
• UNESCO to soon declare Visva-Bharati world’s first living heritage university
• India to send disaster relief teams to quake-hit Turkey
• India joins UAE, France for trilateral on clean energy, counter-pandemic steps
• ST commission functioning with less than 50% of its approved strength
• Why the MCD House elections have been stalled for the third time
• India, Canada FMs discuss Indo-Pacific cooperation, trade
• Jupiter Now Has The Biggest Family Of Planets With 12 Newly Discovered Moons

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

The freedom of speech and an ‘adolescent India’

News– The article explains the notions of freedom of speech in India and the west. It also explains the evolution of this freedom in India.

What is the notion of freedom of speech in India?

The freedom of speech is one of the most cherished freedoms. The Constitution of India provides this freedom. But, it is subjected to the interest of public order, the sovereignty and integrity of India.

The concept of freedom of speech is a western notion. While some form of freedom may have existed in ancient Greece. The real freedom of speech was propounded by Voltaire and Rousseau.

B.R. Ambedkar says freedom of speech exists only for those who are in favour of the social order. The freedom is not the freedom of liberalism which was expressed by Voltaire.

There is some evidence that the freedom of expression existed within state-defined boundaries. The content of the debates of Adi Shankara or Saint Thirugnana Sambandar seem remarkably liberal. Yet, this freedom did not extend to criticism of the king or his royal policies.

What is western thought on freedom of speech?

Full freedom of thought and expression has emerged from the West.

The freedom of speech and thought in the west was the freedom from limits set by the state. Bertrand Russell traces the history of free thought to its culmination.

A man’s right to think freely supersedes his duty of obedience to the state. The right to not just think freely but also to criticise the state is very fundamental to western notions of democracy.

How freedom of speech has evolved in India after independence?

The first 50 years of freedom were spent in framing the contours of this freedom. This freedom was created through a series of judicial decisions.

These decisions have recognised freedom in a restricted form, defining more by exception than by rule.

The 1990s and 2000s brought unprecedented economic progress. It has led to a strong opposition to free thought.

The muzzling of unpopular opinions is now done through mob power, actions for defamation, social media blackouts. Calls for bans and boycotts of films and books are done for the silliest of reasons.

Persons perceive insults and commence protests and lawsuits. Banners in film theatres are burnt, art studios are vandalised and the staging of plays are stopped.

For the first time, freedom of speech is under threat not only vertically but also horizontally.

What is the reason for the present popular opinion on freedom of speech?

Indians oppose the opinions and expressions of others when they feel threatened by it. This sense of insecurity along with aggression runs as a common thread through all the oppressive actions.

We seek strength in numbers. The mob provides us the comfort and the anonymity to suppress opinions and views that we disagree with. Once all dissenting thoughts are suppressed, we will find only views that belong to us.

What is the way forward to enjoy real freedom of speech?

The Supreme Court of India in its judgement in Kaushal Kishore’s case declared that the fundamental rights of Indians are exercisable not only vertically but also horizontally. Fundamental rights can be enforced even against persons other than the state and its instrumentalities.

This judgement shows the way how India can emerge from this stage.

If every citizen enforces their fundamental freedoms not only against the state but against each other, they can seize back the power to define our own freedoms.

CEO NITI Aayog Param Iyer on Budget 2023-24: An infrastructure push for the people

News- The article explains how Budget 2023 gives a powerful thrust to infrastructure development .

What are the announcements in Budget related to infrastructure?

In Budget 2023-24, 3.3 per cent of the GDP, an increase of three times from 2019, was allocated for infrastructure.

The Ministry of Railways received its highest-ever allocation of Rs 2.4 lakh crore, approximately nine times the allocation in 2013-14.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways saw a 36 per cent increase in its budget to about Rs 2.7 lakh crore.

The direct capital investment by the Centre has been further supplemented by a one-year extension of the 50-year interest-free loan to state governments.

It is apt that the Finance Minister has observed that every rupee spent on infrastructure and capital expenditure gives 2.95 as a multiplier.

How is the Budget pushing the digital transformation?

The first phase of digital transformation started in 2015 and was led by the JAM trinity — Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and mobile linkages, and the Digital India programme.

The second phase of digital transformation is now being led by the development, application, and large-scale expansion of cutting-edge technologies.

Another important domain that the government is focusing on currently is creating open AI resources. The Digital India Bhashini portal is a public digital platform that hosts 260 open-source API-based AI models .

Similarly, the Agriculture Accelerator Fund announced in the budget will enable the Indian agricultural ecosystem to work collaboratively and find knowledge-based and farmer-centric solutions.

How is the Budget pushing the Social infrastructure?

The total expenditure of the central government in social infrastructure has increased by 134 per cent from Rs 9.1 lakh crore in 2016 to 21.3 lakh crore in 2023.

The Aspirational Districts Programme spearheaded by NITI Aayog through data-driven governance has resulted in consistent macro improvements in key socioeconomic indicators.

The emphasis on digital land records under the SVAMITVA Scheme of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is a structural reform in rural land management that leads to individual economic empowerment.

Targeted initiatives announced in the budget such as the mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia will raise awareness about the near-fatal disease and will immensely benefit the affected tribal areas.

What is the way forward?

This concerted thrust on creation, maintenance and expansion of physical, digital and social infrastructure has emerged as a systemic focus of India’s unique development model.

This infrastructure triad will be the enabler of growth and leveller of opportunities.

Budget 2023-24 ignores rural distress, tries to fix demand problem with supply interventions

News- The article emphasises the need to prioritise allocations towards reviving consumption demand and  spurring private investment .

What are the challenges before the economy?

Per capita incomes in real terms in 2021-22 are still below the 2018-19 levels and the overall growth between 2016-17 and 2021-22 is at its lowest level of 3.7 per cent for any five-year period in the last four decades.

Covid only exacerbated the already fragile economic situation. The most important of these is the decline in demand, both for consumption and investment.

The distress is far more serious in rural areas. Rural wages have stagnated for almost a decade now. Farmers’ incomes have either declined or, at best, stagnated in the last five years.

How has the budget ignored rural distress?

In real terms, the budget has declined by 10 per cent at a time when the agricultural sector is going through its worst crisis.

The rise in input costs for both energy and fertilisers is likely to get worse with the withdrawal of the fertiliser subsidy.

Even the nominal cash transfer that was provided as part of the PM-Kisan has seen a decline in allocation.

 Public investment in agriculture declined by 0.6 per cent per annum between 2016-17 and 2020-21, the last year for which data is available.

The budget for the Ministry of Rural Development is 13 per cent lower than the revised expenditure last year .

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) has seen its budget decline to Rs 60,000 crore as against Rs 89,400 crore in the revised estimates for 2022-23.

With spiraling inflation and even the cushion of free food grains having been withdrawn, rural areas are likely to face an uncertain situation.

What are the other issues involved with this budget?

The government’s preference  supply-side interventions even when there is excess capacity in a demand-constrained economy.

It is reflected in an almost one-third increase in allocation for investment.

Given the small share of public investment, it is unlikely to be sufficient unless it is accompanied by the private sector increasing its investment.

This will have a negligible impact on employment and domestic demand given the low employment elasticity of these investments.

Instead of criminalising child marriage, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma should heed PM Modi’s call of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

News: The Assam government has taken steps to crackdown child marriages and arrest those responsible. This brings us to the situation of child marriage prevailing in India.

What are the highlights of the data?

UN estimates suggest that 1.5 million girls get married before they turn 18 and about 16 percent of girls in the age group of 15-19 are married at present.

According to the 2011 census, 44 percent of women in Assam were married before the age of 18. The figures for Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh were 47 percent, 46 percent and 43 percent, respectively.

What are the problems with child marriages?

Child marriages affect the national economy negatively and do not allow people to come out of the vicious cycle of inter-generational poverty.

Child marriage deprives women of education and life skills. Early pregnancies adversely affect the physical and mental health of young mothers.

However, prohibiting child marriages by adopting the measures of the Assam government is also not favourable.

How has the prohibition on child marriages in India changed over the time?

Religious Personal Laws: Hindu and Muslim Personal Laws do not explicitly prohibit child marriage.

The Rig Veda mentions garbhadhan which means attaining the wealth of the womb. It is the first of the 16 samskaras a Hindu is expected to perform.

Account of Foreign Travellers: Megasthenes has written that the women of the Pandian kingdom bear children at six years of age. Al Biruni also wrote that child marriages were rampant in India.

Colonial Period: The Age of Consent Acts of 1861 and 1891 brought in reform in conjugal rights. The 1861 Act laid down 10 years as the minimum age for sexual intercourse. However, it was opposed and was asked to raise the age of marriage to 12 because it violated norms related to garbhadhan.

Therefore, the 1891 Act raised the age of consent for sexual intercourse to 12. However, it was also opposed by the people of that time and was thought as interference in Hindu society.

Further, in 1927 the Child Marriage Restraint Act was introduced in the Legislative Council of India. It raised the age of marriage to 14 for girls and 18 for boys.

After Independence: The marriageable age for girls was raised to 15 in 1949 and 18 in 1978.

Further, in several cases like P Venkataramana (1977), Rabindra (1986), G Saravanan (2017), High courts have ruled that child marriages are neither void nor voidable but valid.

In 2021, the Punjab and Haryana High Court held a Muslim girl’s marriage after attaining puberty as valid.

In the Hadiya case (2018), the Supreme Court mentioned attainment of puberty, and not 18 years, as the minimum age of marriage, as one of the conditions for a valid Muslim marriage.

The Law Commission in its 205th Report (2008) has suggested that poverty, indebtedness and dowry are the main reasons behind the child marriages.

Therefore, even the courts have different views about child marriages. Hence, a proper solution is needed to it.

What can be the way ahead?

The government’s investment in adolescent girls, public awareness and growth in women’s education in the period between 2000-2010 brought down the percentage of child marriages from 47 percent to 30 percent.

Therefore, the Assam government should also opt for these measures instead of arresting and taking coercive measures. It should attempt the visionary and practical solution of the campaign Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.

Municipal Mess – From MCD to BMC, paralysis of urban local bodies undermines local governance and democracy

News: Recently, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) failed to elect its mayor for the third time in a month.

What are the reasons and impact of the delay in the MCD mayor elections?

Given Delhi’s unique governance structure with a multiplicity of authorities, ideally, the state and central governments should be working in harmony. But hyper-competitive politics is hampering the functions of MCD.

In the absence of a mayor, major decisions related to policy matters, development works and projects will get delayed.

What is the status of other municipal corporations?

For close to a year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) – the country’s richest civic body – has been managed by an administrator after its term expired and polls were delayed.

Further, 22 of 28 municipal corporations in Maharashtra have seen their terms expire without any fresh polls.

What is the performance of Municipalities?

The Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, 1992 provided for the creation of urban local bodies and empowered state governments to devolve the responsibility of 18 functions including urban planning, regulation of land use, water supply etc.

A 2020 paper by PRS Legislative Research found that most state governments are reluctant to share power and taxes with local bodies.

675 million Indians are slated to live in urban centres by 2035, hence India needs smarter cities with proper urban governance instead of stalled local bodies.

The demand for MGNREGS work is unmet

News: The allocation for MGNREGA in the Budget is ₹60,000 crore. This is less than 0.2% of the GDP, the lowest ever allocation as a percentage of GDP. World Bank economists had estimated that the allocation should be 1.6% of the GDP.

What is Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)?

What is the rationale behind the reduction in funds for MGNREGA?

What are the challenges in meeting the demand for MGNREGS?

MGNREGA is a demand-driven law. Every household must get work within 15 days of demanding work, failing which the workers are legally entitled to an unemployment allowance. But the demand-driven aspect is not functioning well at present.

For instance, Two crore new job cards were issued between 2019-20 and 2022-23 showing the continued demand. But the average number of days of employment continues to be around 45 days highlighting the demand suppression.

Management Information System (MIS) used in MGNREGA has been used to subvert the Act in many ways. Such as a) The aggregated persondays of work demanded at the State and national level is not available as a national MIS report, b) National MIS reports also grossly underestimate the unmet demand. A private study conducted in four States highlights that 39% of the households did not get a single day of work despite wanting 77 days on average. On the other hand, national MIS reports shows that almost all the households that demanded work were offered work.

Hence the Rural Development Ministry claims that low demand has resulted in Budget cuts, but the reality is opposite.

What are the challenges associated with the inadequate allocation of funds and the demand for MGNREGS?

Inadequate allocations led to a) A steady centralisation of the programme architecture even as wages for most States remain lower than minimum agricultural wages, b) wage payment delays in many areas, c) a rise in unmet demands for the scheme, d) Officials might give fewer days of work to many households or provide many days of work to a few households and e) Officials might not even register work demand on the MIS owing to inadequate funds.

Over all, budget cuts have created a vicious cycle of demand suppression, wage payment delays, overburdened field staff and corruption. These further discourage workers from doing MGNREGA work.

What should be done to meet the demand for MGNREGS?

The person-days of work demanded must be made readily available for each State for that the government should address the real problem of underfunding and excessive centralisation.

End-of-life decisions – SC’s tweaks on directive norms are welcome, but legislation will be better

News: In a recent order, a Constitution Bench modified the rules regarding ‘advance medical directives’. This is due to “insurmountable obstacles” attached to the previous rules.

What are the recent changes in ‘advance medical directives’? 

What is euthanasia?

What are the challenges associated with the recent changes in ‘advance medical directives’?

-The onus is now on the persons themselves to hand over a copy of the advance directive to the guardians or close relatives named in it, as well as to the family physician.

-The new guidelines require the hospital itself to constitute both the primary and secondary medical boards. From now on, the district Collector need not constitute the second medical board. However, in both rules, the patient is not in a position to make any decision at this phase.

What should be done to make ‘advance medical directives’ inclusive?

While guidelines are useful and necessary to implement the concept of a ‘living will’ and advance medical directives, it is time Parliament came out with a comprehensive law with a repository of advance directives.

GS Paper 3

Jammu, village defence and governance

News– There is a rise in terror-related strikes in the relatively peaceful Jammu division, especially in the border districts. Recently, the government decided to revive Village Defence Committees(VDCs).

What are some facts associated with VDCs?

VDCs were set up to instil a sense of self protection. The district’s superintendent of police was mandated to exercise command and control.

VDCs have played a crucial role in containing militancy in the Jammu division, after being set up in the mid-1990s.

VDC presence was concentrated in remote areas. Their difficult terrain and a meagre presence of security forces made chances of successful operations remote.

VDCs were trained to hold the front against militants till the arrival of security forces.

What were issues with these VDCs?

In several cases, the VDCs have proved to be counterproductive. There were instances of cadres abusing their authority. They faced allegations of human rights violations.

A ‘false notion of power’ developed in the minds of the VDC cadre. It led to potentially adverse fallouts. leading to the decision to revive them.

What are improvements needed in VDCs?

Command and control– State policy on the VDGs must now aim to mitigate the negatives. The issue should be viewed through the prism of human resources management of the cadres.

There needs to be an evolution of a hands-down command and control mechanism. The present methodology of being under the superintendent of police may not be the ideal arrangement.

A good control mechanism is needed to ensure that cadres remain motivated and focused.

Strengthening Panchayats– The revival of the VDG should be used as an opportunity to empower the local bodies. Panchayats are most suited to understand local dynamics in a conflict zone.

Panchayats could be entrusted with the task of assisting the local police in an institutionalised manner.

This will create advantages such as quality checks on the character of VDG cadres during the selection stage, monitoring their activities and consolidated control through oversight and deterrence.

Operational level measures– The VDGs should not be involved in proactive intelligence and tactical operations. They must instead remain confined to ‘self defence and deterrence roles’.

What will drive global growth?

News: The demographic shift in 10 major Asian economies (the A-10: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan) is faster than the economic transition.

The article discusses the factors that can have impact on global growth.

How has been the contribution of A-10 economies to global GDP?

The contribution of A-10 economies to global GDP growth has risen steadily. It has reached 70 percent between 2014 and 2019, from 40 percent in the previous five years.

The main driver of this growth has been growth rise in China along with the steady growth in India and ASEAN economies.

There are factors that affects the global growth of GDP in the A-10 economies.

What are the factors that affect the growth?

Total Factor Productivity (TFP): TFP is a measure of efficiency which means the efficient utilization of the human and capital inputs to generate output.  A substantial part of the growth deceleration in A-10 GDP between 2015 and 2019 has been due to weaker TFP growth.

It was strong in India and Thailand over this period, but slowed for other economies and turned negative for China. Hence, the contribution of TFP to overall GDP growth can be large over time. 

Labour Input: Labour size has not been a large driver of growth for the last 15 years. Labour growth slowed to 0.4 percent a year in the 2005–14 period, and 0.3 percent between 2014 and 2019, with limited contribution to overall growth.

Therefore, even if population ageing slows down, the number of available workers would have a limited incremental impact on growth.

Capital Inputs: The capital formation has been the largest contributor to GDP growth in the A-10 in the last two decades. There has been considerable jump in capital use in several countries, including India, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Capital inputs are mostly affected by regulations. However, demographics also play an important role in the demand for investments, especially for real-estate and infrastructure.

China’s high capital growth has been due to its focus on infrastructure spending and the surge in real estate investment.

Real estate contributes 15 per cent to China’s GDP, versus around 5 per cent for the developed Asian markets with ageing populations.

Therefore, slowing capital formation in China could be a significant growth headwind for the world.

Thus, the impact of an ageing A-10 on the world is less due to labour supply, and more due to slow growth in capital deployment in demographically challenged North Asia.

Slowing total factor productivity growth in some major A-10 economies is another headwind.

What can be the way ahead for India?

India needs to learn a lesson from these observations that the GDP growth can only occur with faster growth in capital formation because labour input is hard to change and TFP changes slowly.

The real-estate cycle in India is turning positive. However, India’s growth in coming years will not be large enough to affect global growth.

Hence, policies that facilitate inbound foreign investment can help India in its growth.

How are earthquakes measured and how massive is the Turkey one?

News: Recently, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck south-central Turkey and Northwest Syria.

Reports have put the number of fatalities in thousands. This earthquake is of the same magnitude as one that killed about 30,000 people in December 1939.

As per the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) the quake was centred about 33 km from Gaziantep, around 18 km deep.

Earth’s Mechanism behind earthquakes

Earth’s surface if made up of tectonic plates, which are constantly moving but at a very slow pace. These plates often get stuck or pushing against each other traps the energy. Often this energy is released by the earth in the form of waves, travelling through earth’s crust that results in vibration and lead to earthquakes.

Measurement of the earthquake

Seismographs are used to record earthquakes. When the earth shakes, the recording device on seismographs records the reading of the ground motion. Now these devices works by measuring electronic changes produced by the motion of the ground with respect to the mass.

Magnitude measurement

One of the most important measures of magnitude is Richter Scale. It was devised in 1935 by Charles Francis Richter. One step up in measurement represents a tenfold increase in magnitude. Therefore, an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter Scale has 10 times the magnitude of one measured 6.

However, Moment Magnitude Scale (denoted as Mw) was developed due to limitations of Richter scale.

Measuring the intensity

Intensity measures the amount of shaking at a particular location. There are Intensity scales, like the Modified Mercalli Scale and the Rossi-Forel scale.

Earthquakes of lower magnitude can be more intense if they are located in more shallow ground or if the area where they occur has more loose soil, etc.

The Modified Mercalli Scale, the most commonly used intensity scale, ranks earthquake intensity on a scale of I. (not felt) to XII. (extreme). The maximum intensity measured in Turkey’s earthquake is IX. or violent.

Ballooning Options To Spy

News: The Chinese airship that was shot down over US soil brought to light new spying technologies, some of which India should work on.

Advantages of Spy balloons over spy satellites

Orbits of spy satellites are almost predictable. Satellites may be relocated or moved from orbit, however this requires fuel, which is very low on these satellites and is reserved for critical duties. There are many advantages of spy balloons over spy satellites or aircrafts:

1. They can fly at high altitudes, beyond of range of many air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles.
2. Airships can hover for long durations, making them ideal for watching an enemy’s naval drills.
3. Finally, radar-absorbent material may help airships hide.
4. Airships help India monitor its unstable borders. Airships can identify traffickers and rescue fishing vessels around India’s borders and littorals. Airships may follow ships at sea, notably in peacetime and non-wartime situations.

Other Dual-use surveillance technologies: Uncrewed Underwater Vehicles (UUVs)

Indonesian fisherman caught at least two Chinese Sea Wing UUVs in 2019 and 2020.

In 2019, one such survey ship entered India’s EEZ near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands before being instructed to leave.

China’s dual-use UUVs aren’t alone in maritime surveillance. The PLA navy captured an American UUV near the Philippines in 2016, which was released later.

Four additional Sandhayak-class survey ships will join the Indian navy’s six. Though specifics are unclear, these ships can launch remotely-operated and autonomous UUVs.

What should India do?

India will face new espionage technologies. States and non-state actors may employ low-cost commercial drones as aerial espionage.

India must develop cost-effective ways to shoot down inexpensive drones without using expensive air-to-air missiles, as well as specialised jammers.

China conducted rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) satellites that approached another orbiting ship. RPOs can repair, refuel, or sabotage other vessels, but they can also absorb communications.

India must work with the private sector and other like-minded nations to improve its space situational awareness to deal with RPOs.

Women-centric development – India Inc must help enhance the role of women in nation building

News: A paradigm shift is observed in reorienting India’s direction of economic growth, especially in curating women-centric career opportunities.

What is India’s progress in women-centric development?

From freedom fighters and political heroes to business successes, women leaders have exemplified ‘Naari Shakti’. Such as, a) The literacy rate of women has been rising steadily since independence, b) India is also bridging the gender literacy gap, c) India is pursuing an idea of ‘women-led development, and d) From space, aviation, science, sports, business, philanthropy and education to any other sphere, India have examples that do every citizen proud and serve as role models.

However, all this needs to go alongside steadily rising female labour participation.

Why women-centric development is essential?

a) India’s $5 trillion economy aim can’t be realized without women’s contribution to GDP, b) By offering equal opportunity to women, the country could add an estimated $770 billion to its GDP by 2025 and raise its household per capita income higher than it would otherwise be, and c) women’s empowerment will have a ripple effect in the society.

What are the challenges to women-centric development?

Lack of upskilling, a sense of complacency and missing chances for networking while meeting family and social responsibilities have been identified as drawbacks for women in their career progression.

What should be done to improve women-centric development?

-Leaders must design gender-neutral leadership roles to foster a cohesive ecosystem and enable women to rise. This is because a gender balance in managerial ranks is globally considered a sign of economic progress.

– An overhaul of educational and parental inculcation and rejection of gender prejudice are critical elements for a cross-sectional transformation to maximize Naari Shakti.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Voice deepfakes: how they are generated, used, misused and differentiated

Source: The post is based on the article “Voice deepfakes: how they are generated, used, misused and differentiated” published in The Hindu on 7th February 2023.

What is the News?

Several users of the social media platform 4chan used “speech synthesis” and “voice cloning” service provider, ElevenLabs, to make Voice Deepfakes of celebrities like Emma Watson and Joe Rogan. These deep fake audios made racist, abusive and violent comments.

What is Voice Deepfakes?

A voice deepfake is one that closely mimics a real person’s voice. The voice can accurately replicate tonality, accents, cadence and other unique characteristics of the target person. 

People use AI and robust computing power to generate such voice clones or synthetic voices. Sometimes it can take weeks to produce such voices.

How are voice deepfakes created?

To create deepfakes one needs high-end computers with powerful graphics cards, leveraging cloud computing power. 

Besides specialized tools and software, generating deepfakes need training data to be fed to AI models. These data are often original recordings of the target person’s voice. AI can use this data to render an authentic-sounding voice which can then be used to say anything.

What are the threats arising from the use of voice deepfakes?

Firstly, attackers are using such technology to defraud users, steal their identity and to engage in various other illegal activities like phone scams and posting fake videos on social media platforms.

– For instance, in 2020, a manager from a bank in the UAE, received a phone call from someone he believed was a company director. The manager recognised the voice and authorized a transfer of $35 million. The manager had no idea that the company director’s voice was cloned.

Secondly, voice deepfakes used in filmmaking have also raised ethical concerns about the use of the technology. 

Prime Minister launches E20 Fuel & flags off Green Mobility Rally in Bengaluru

Source: The post is based on the article “Prime Minister launches E20 Fuel & flags off Green Mobility Rally in Bengaluru” published in PIB on 6th February 2023.

What is the News?

Prime Minister inaugurated India Energy Week (IEW) 2023 in Bengaluru. He launched multiple initiatives in the field of green energy including E20 fuel at 84 retail outlets of oil marketing companies in 11 states/UTs and flagged off Green Mobility Rally.

What is E20 Fuel?

E20 fuel is a blend of 20% ethanol and 80% petrol.

India has already met its E10 target, so petrol used in the country has 10% ethanol in it. The government now aims to achieve a complete 20% blending of ethanol by 2025.

What are the advantages of E20 Fuel?

Using ethanol-blended petrol for vehicular applications has a lot of benefits. One of them is certainly the reduction in pollution levels. Biofuel is known for being a lesser pollutant. This will certainly help in bringing down the pollution level if used on a mass scale. 

India currently imports 85% of its total fuel. This results in a huge bill for crude oil. Using 20% ethanol-blended fuel for vehicles in India means the country will save a lot of money. 

New technology implementation means there will be opportunities for new job creation. The original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their component suppliers and aftermarket service-providing segments will witness new job creation. 

The Indian government claims that the target of achieving 20% ethanol in petrol will help the agriculture sector. It claims that farmers will see increased income because of this policy.

What is the Green Mobility Rally?

Green Mobility Rally aims to create mass awareness for clean fuels.

The rally witnessed the participation of 57 vehicles running on sustainable green energy sources viz., E20, E85, Flex Fuel, Hydrogen, Electric etc. This will help in creating public awareness for Green fuels.

UNESCO to soon declare Visva-Bharati world’s first living heritage university

Source: The post is based on the article “UNESCO to soon declare Visva-Bharati world’s first living heritage university” published in Indian Express on 7th February 2023.

What is the News?

Visva-Bharati University will soon get the ‘heritage’ tag from UNESCO to take the distinction of world’s first living heritage university.

What is Visva-Bharati University?

Visva-Bharati is a public research central university and an Institution of National Importance.

It was founded in 1921 by Rabindranath Tagore who called it Visva-Bharati, which means the communion of the world with India.

Until Independence, it was a college and the institution was given the status of Central University in 1951 through a central Act. 

Its first vice-chancellor was Rathindranath Tagore, the son of Rabindranath Tagore.

Rabindranath believed in open-air education and introduced that system at the university, which prevails to date.

In 1922, Visva-Bharati was inaugurated as a Centre for Culture with exploration into the arts, language, humanities and music.

Architecture: The structures in this institute constitute a myriad of architectural expressions which are as diverse as the Kalo Bari, a mud structure with coal tar finish and sculpture panels.

India to send disaster relief teams to quake-hit Turkey

Source: The post is based on the article “India to send disaster relief teams to quake-hit Turkey” published in The Hindu on 7th February 2023.

What is the News?

The Prime Minister has declared that India will provide all possible assistance to Turkey to deal with the devastating earthquake that hit the country 

India will send search and rescue teams of the National Disaster Response Force(NDRF) and medical professionals immediately.

What happened in Turkey?

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit parts of Turkey and Syria killing thousands and causing major structural and economic damage.

The initial earthquake was one of the largest strike-slip earthquakes to occur on a continent in recent times.

What caused the earthquake in Turkey?

The Earth’s crust is made up of separate bits, called plates, that nestle alongside each other.

These plates often try to move but are prevented by the friction of rubbing up against an adjoining one. But sometimes the pressure builds until one plate suddenly jerks across, causing the surface to move.

In Turkey’s case, it was the Arabian plate moving northwards and grinding against the Anatolian plate.

Friction from the plates has been responsible for very damaging earthquakes in the past.

For instance, in 1822 it caused an earthquake registering 7.4 in magnitude with around 7,000 deaths.

How are earthquakes measured?

They are measured on a scale called the Moment Magnitude Scale (Mw). This has replaced the better-known Richter scale, now considered outdated and less accurate.

The number attributed to an earthquake represents a combination of the distance the fault line has moved and the force that moved it.

A tremor of 2.5 or less usually cannot be felt but can be detected by instruments. Quakes of up to five are felt and cause minor damage. The Turkish earthquake at 7.8 is classified as major and usually causes serious damage as it has in this instance.

Anything above 8 causes catastrophic damage and can totally destroy communities at its centre.

India joins UAE, France for trilateral on clean energy, counter-pandemic steps

Source: The post is based on the article “India joins UAE, France for trilateral on clean energy, counter-pandemic steps” published in The Hindu on 6th February 2023.

What is the News?

India, France and the United Arab Emirates(UAE) have announced the creation of a formal trilateral cooperation initiative.

The idea of this partnership was first discussed at a meeting in New York during the United Nations General Assembly in September 2022.

What is the purpose of the Trilateral cooperation initiative?

The Trilateral Cooperation Initiative will act as a platform:

– To work together in the fields of nuclear and solar energy as well as in tackling climate change and preserving biodiversity.

– To serve as a forum to promote the design and execution of cooperation projects in the fields of energy, with a focus on solar and nuclear energy, as well as in the fight against climate change and the protection of biodiversity, particularly in the Indian Ocean region.

– To work together in defence, countering infectious diseases, and promoting cooperation in global health organizations such as the World Health Organization, Gavi-the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund, and Unitaid.

– To identify tangible cooperation on implementing the “One Health” approach, and support the development of local capacities in biomedical innovation and production within developing countries.

– To expand their cooperation through initiatives such as the Mangrove Alliance for Climate led by the UAE and the Indo-Pacific Parks Partnership led by India and France.

ST commission functioning with less than 50% of its approved strength

Source: The post is based on the article “ST commission functioning with less than 50% of its approved strength” published in The Hindu on 7th February 2023.

What is the News?

Data presented by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs(MoTA) has revealed that the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes(NCST) is currently functioning with less than 50% of its sanctioned strength.

What is the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes(NCST)?

The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes(NCST) was established by amending Article 338 and inserting a new Article 338A in the Constitution through the Constitution (89th Amendment) Act, 2003. 

By this amendment, the erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was replaced by two separate Commissions namely (i) the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), and (ii) the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).

Composition: The term of office of the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and each member is three years from the date of assumption of charge.

The Chairperson has been given the rank of Union Cabinet Minister and the Vice-Chairperson that of a Minister of State and other Members have the ranks of a Secretary to the Government of India.

They are appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.

At least one member should be a woman.

The members are not eligible for appointments for more than two terms.

Functions of the commission:

– To investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the Scheduled Tribes under this Constitution or under any order of the Government and to evaluate the working of such safeguards;

– To inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and safeguards of the Scheduled tribes;

– To participate and advise on the planning process of socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes and to evaluate the progress of their development under the Union and any State;

– To present to the President, annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards;

– To make in such reports recommendations as to the measures that should be taken by the Union or any State for the effective implementation of those safeguards and other measures for the protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the Scheduled tribes; and

– To discharge such other functions insulation to the protection, welfare and development and advancement of the Scheduled tribes as the President may, subject to the provision of any law made by Parliament by rule specified.

Powers: The Commission is vested with all the powers of a civil court while investigating any matter on the inquiry into any complaint relating to deprivation of rights and safeguards for Scheduled Tribe.

Why the MCD House elections have been stalled for the third time

Source: The post is based on the article “Why the MCD House elections have been stalled for the third time” published in Indian Express on 7th February 2023.

What is the News?

The Presiding Officer for the mayoral election in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has said that aldermen — who are nominated members — are allowed to vote in the House and elect the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and members of the Standing Committee.

Who are aldermen?

The term alderman refers to a member of a city council or municipal body; however, their specific roles and responsibilities differ according to the context.

Under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, the administrator can nominate 10 individuals over the age of 25 to the corporation. These aldermen are expected to have special knowledge or experience in municipal administration and assist the House in taking decisions of public importance.

What does the law say about voting rights for nominated members?

According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, nominated members shall not have the right to vote in the meetings of the Corporation.

Article 243R of the Constitution which describes the “Composition of Municipalities”, says that The Legislature of a State may, by law, provide for the representation in a Municipality of persons having special knowledge or experience in Municipal administration provided that the persons shall not have the right to vote in the meetings of the Municipality.

Does this mean aldermen have no voting rights at all?

Until 2015, aldermen had no voting rights in the House or Ward Committees (there is one from each of the 12 zones) of the MCD.

However, a single-judge Bench of the Delhi High Court ruled that the nominated members being constituent members of Ward Committees, can participate and vote in any meeting of the respective Wards Committee.

However, they cannot file their nomination or offer their candidature for being elected as Chairperson of the Ward’s Committee.

India, Canada FMs discuss Indo-Pacific cooperation, trade

Source: The post is based on the article “India, Canada FMs discuss Indo-Pacific cooperation, trade” published in The Hindu on 7th February 2023.

What is the News?

India’s External Affairs Minister met the Canadian Foreign Minister. They discussed ways to deepen their bilateral partnership and exchanged views on the global situation, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. 

What are the key highlights from the meeting?

Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy: India welcomed the announcement of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy which calls India an important partner.

The document released contains sharp words on China’s “coercive” challenge to the international rules-based order and on human rights; in contrast it says India and Canada have a shared tradition of democracy and pluralism, a common commitment to a rules-based international system and multilateralism.

What is the key issue between India and Canada?

Khalistan issue: Khalistan referendum held in September 2022 in Canada has become a huge irritant in India-Canada relations in 2022.

India called the referendum a farcical exercise held by extremists and radical elements and asked Canada for action in this matter.

Canada said it supports India’s integrity, but it won’t stop the referendum as its citizens were free to protest.

Note: The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state called Khalistān in the Punjab Region.

What is the significance of this meeting?

2023 could become the year of the India-Canada reset given the Indo-Pacific strategy convergence, trade talks which could culminate in an EPTA [Early Progress Trade Agreement] and a number of high-level meetings this year.

Jupiter Now Has The Biggest Family Of Planets With 12 Newly Discovered Moons

Source: The post is based on the article “Jupiter Now Has The Biggest Family Of Planets With 12 Newly Discovered Moons” published in Indian Express on 7th February 2023.

What is the News?

Jupiter isn’t just the largest and most massive planet in the solar system. It now also has the largest number of moons orbiting it after scientists discovered another 12 moons, bringing the total moons orbiting it up to 92.

Until now, Saturn held the crown for the planet with the most moons in the solar system.

About Moons in Jupiter

There are many interesting moons around Jupiter but the first four moons discovered beyond Earth are of the most scientific interest. These four are called Galilean Moons – lo, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede.

The newly-discovered moons are small and far away from Jupiter, taking more than 340 days to orbit the gas giant.

Many of these moons have a retrograde orbit, meaning that they orbit in the opposite direction of the inner moons. This hints at the fact that Jupiter probably captures these moons. 

Also, only five of these moons are larger than 8 kilometres. It is likely that the smaller moons were probably formed from larger objects fragmented by collisions.