Daily Current Affairs

Andhra Pradeshs Guaranteed Pension Scheme (GS Paper 2, Governance)

Why in news?

• Amid calls to revert to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) from various states, Andhra Pradesh's Guaranteed Pension Scheme (GPS) has caught the Centre's eye.
• The Central Government is attracted to the scheme because it combines the elements of both the OPS and the New Pension Scheme (NPS).

 

What isGuaranteed Pension Scheme (GPS)?

• The scheme, proposed for the first time in April 2022, offers a guaranteed pension of 33 per cent of the last drawn basic pay without any deduction to the state government employees. For this, they would need to contribute 10 per cent of their basic salary every month, and the state government will match it.
• If the employee is willing to contribute a higher 14 per cent every month, they will receive a guaranteed pension of 40 per cent of their last drawn salary.
• The market conditions will not influence the pension under GPS, which is nearly 70 per cent higher than the current pension being offered under CPS, in line with the current interest rates.

 

Implementation & Concerns:

• The scheme was proposed to replace the Centre's NPS, which is called the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in the state.
• While the state government is looking to implement the scheme, several employees have voiced their opposition to the GPS.
• The employee unions in the state believe that GPS is no better than CPS.
• The employee unions have also said that GPS, like CPS, involves payment of 10 per cent of basic pay by both the government and the employee concerned. The government projects GPS as a 65 per cent rise in the pension over the estimated 20 per cent return on their contributions under CPS.
• But the state government reportedly believes that shifting to OPS would take its budget outflow on account of pension and salaries to Rs 1,85,172 crore in 2023. Currently, it is expected to touch Rs 76,590 crore.

Turkey Syria quake The Anatolian Plate is one of the most seismically active

(GS Paper 1, Geography)

Why in news?

• An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck Turkiye, one of the most seismically active regions in the Mediterranean and the world, on February 6, 2023.
• The epicentre was Pazarcik near Gaziantep, a city near the country’s border with northern Syria.
• This was followed by 30 aftershocks, with six having magnitudes of 5 and larger.
• A second earthquake of magnitude 7.5 shook southeast Turkey centred in Elbistan later.

Why Anatolia?

• Turkiye (the Turkish/Anatolian plate) sits between three major tectonic plates: African, Arabian and Eurasian.
• Collisions between the Arabian and African plates with Eurasia typically result in earthquakes.

 

The Anatolian plate is divided into three major fault zones:

1. North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ)
2. East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ)
3. South Eastern Anatolian Thrust Zone (SAT)

• The North Anatolian Fault is similar to the San Andreas fault of California. The February 6 earthquake and the aftershocks occurred along or in the vicinity of the EAFZ.
• Earthquakes occur along faults, which are fractures between blocks of rock, allowing them to move relative to one another.
• In some places along the East Anatolian Fault, the Anatolian Plate slid past the Arabian plate with a slip of up to three metres.

 

Previous instances:

• Since 1970, only three earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger have occurred within 250 kilometres of the February 6 earthquake.
• EAF witnessed many large earthquakes during the last two centuries. They occurred in 1866, 1874, 1893 and 1971.
• The 1114 AD earthquake destroyed the city of Marash, Turkey.

 

Intensity on Mercalli scale:

• The Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale describes the effects of an earthquake on human beings, natural structures and industrial installations in a given region.
• The scale is designated in roman numerals. The earthquake’s intensity was XI, which means violent.

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

(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)

Why in news?

• Recently, 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, Joe Rogan, and Ben Shapiro. These deepfake audios made racist, abusive, and violent comments.
• Making deepfake voices to impersonate others without their consent is a serious concern that could have devastating consequences. 

What are 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 specialised tools and software, generating deepfakes need training data to be fed to AI models. This 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?

• 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.
• Voice deepfakes used in filmmaking have also raised ethical concerns about the use of the technology.
• Gathering clear recordings of people’s voices is getting easier and can be obtained through recorders, online interviews, and press conferences.
• Voice capture technology is also improving, making the data fed to AI models more accurate and leading to more believable deepfake voices.

 

What are the ways to detect voice deepfakes?

• Detecting voice deepfakes need highly advanced technologies, software, and hardware to break down speech patterns, background noise, and other elements. Cybersecurity tools have yet to create foolproof ways to detect audio deepfakes, Speechify noted.
• Research labs use watermarks and blockchain technologies to detect deepfake technology, but the tech designed to outsmart deepfake detectors is constantly evolving.
• Programmes like Deeptrace are helping to provide protection. Deeptrace uses a combination of antivirus and spam filters that monitor incoming media and quarantine suspicious content.