MAINS DAILY QUESTIONS & MODEL ANSWERS
Q1. For terrorism to be defeated, it is essential to keep terrorists from gaining financial access. Discuss the many strategies that terrorists employ to raise money for their operations in this light. What steps has the government done to combat the financing of terrorism threat?
GS III – Internal Security
Introduction:
The terrorists utilise a variety of techniques to raise money for their operations, including:
- Legal financing sources include reputable enterprises, the government, and institutions of a religious or cultural nature.
- Money obtained by criminal activity: Money may also originate from unethical actions like drug trafficking, kidnapping, and political corruption. As an example, ISIS is known to exploit the distribution of black market oil to finance its terrorist activities. Terrorists may also use money from the sale of illegal drugs, black market oil, and other commodities.
- Money laundering is the process by which criminals cover up the illegitimate sources of their riches and assets to evade law enforcement suspicion and shield themselves from damaging evidence.
- Use of Nonprofit Organisations (NPOs): NPOs are one of the numerous entities that have been noted as having a high risk of being misused for terrorism financing. This takes the form of money being diverted to terrorists through connected people and the establishment of “false representation and sham NPOs” through deception/fraud.
- Social media fundraising: Terrorist groups employ propaganda to garner financial assistance from their followers. For instance, Al-Qaeda is a well-known terrorist group that has used the internet to finance its operations.
- Emerging technologies: Virtual currencies, like bitcoin, wallets, etc., have drawn the interest of numerous criminal organisations and have become new avenues for financing terrorism.
The government has taken the following actions to combat the threat of financing terrorism:
- Enhancing the provisions of the 1967 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to make it more difficult for terrorists to fund their activities by making it illegal to produce, smuggle, or distribute high-quality counterfeit Indian currency. Additionally, any property intended for use in terrorism is now included in the definition of proceeds of terrorism.
- The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has established a Terror Funding and phoney money (TFFC) Cell to conduct a targeted investigation into instances involving terror funding and phoney money.
- The State Police staff routinely participates in training sessions on topics related to preventing terrorist financing.
- One of the methods for funding terrorism in India is the network of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN). The Ministry of Home Affairs established the FICN Coordination Group (FCORD) to coordinate the sharing of intelligence and information between the various state and federal security organisations.
- India, which sponsored the No Money for Terror Conference, highlighted that real-time, transparent cooperation among nations and international coordination are the best ways to combat terrorism.
- The Delhi statement attempts to stop the use of cutting-edge technology by terrorists. The Delhi Declaration, which addresses worries about the use of social media, crowdfunding, etc. for terrorism, has been accepted by the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC).
- India has also been voicing its concerns in different international venues, such as the G20, Interpol, and UN, addressing the security of digital public infrastructure, difficulties presented by the darknet and cryptocurrencies, and collaborative actions to counter money laundering and terrorism financing.
- In order to identify, stop, and punish terrorists and terrorist financing activity, it is crucial to understand how all forms of terrorist groups utilise, need, and manage money. The world needs more international collaboration in areas like extradition, criminal justice, intelligence sharing, capacity building, and Countering Terrorist Financing (CFT).
Q2. Discuss how new artificial intelligence (AI) applications can protect the environment from various threats.
GS III – Science and Technology
Introduction:
- Through a variety of applications, AI has the potential to speed up international efforts to preserve resources and safeguard the environment. A research by Microsoft found that the use of AI in the transportation, energy, and water industries may reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4% by 2030.
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology used to protect the environment from numerous dangers:
- Stopping deforestation: More than 10% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are a result of land use changes and deforestation. A monitoring sensor is fastened to trees to eavesdrop on the surrounding forest and relay the audio in real-time to the cloud in order to stop illegal land removal. These “guardians,” as they are known, have been placed in 35 different countries.
- lowering carbon footprints: Steel and cement, two key building materials, are used extensively in construction. However, they also produce a significant amount of CO2, much of which is due to the mining and transportation of the raw materials. AI tools can be used to cut back on the number of mined components or alloys in order to remedy this.
- reducing energy waste in buildings: Buildings account for a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 40% of the world’s energy use. The Internet of Things (IOT) and 5G technology have been combined to create the Neuron app, which collects real-time data from a building’s energy management system in order to reduce energy waste in buildings.
- Adaptive farming: Crop production are at risk from invading pests, fluctuating temperatures, and more frequent extreme weather events brought on by climate change. Agvolution, a startup company, has created an AI system that uses data from solar-powered sensors monitoring the microclimate around crops to allay these worries. In the field, the gadgets assess the soil moisture, humidity, radiation, and temperature and provide suggestions for the application of fertiliser and water.
- Air purifiers with AI can capture ambient data and air quality in real-time and adjust the filtration efficiency. AI can also reduce air pollution by leveraging information from cameras, radar sensors, and moving vehicles. For instance, UNEP has introduced the International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO), which revolutionises the approach to tracking and reducing methane emissions by utilising AI.
- AI can be used to combat poaching: Many wild species, especially those protected in wildlife reserves and national parks, are at considerable risk from poaching. For instance, poaching has led to the extinction of the rhino species. To address this, a bracelet with artificial intelligence (AI) that fits around rhinos’ ankles has been created to assist conservation teams in finding the animals and tracking their behaviour in real time.
- With the help of other technologies from the fourth industrial revolution, including robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, 3D printing, genetic engineering, and quantum computing, traditional industries and processes can be changed in order to combat climate change. Additionally, it can aid in meeting challenging climate goals and SDGs.
