Today's Headlines - 03 August 2023
UIDAI is using AI to tackle payment frauds
GS Paper - 3 (ITC)
As more frauds related to the Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS) come to the fore, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has turned to artificial intelligence-based systems in a bid to limit the cases — this includes developing technologies around fingerprinting and facial recognition. The UIDAI has rolled out an in-house Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning technology-based Finger Minutiae Record – Finger Image Record (FMR-FIR) modality which is able to check the liveness of a fingerprint to detect the use of cloned fingerprint during the authentication process.
How does the Aadhaar fingerprint technology work?
The technology was rolled out in February this year and uses a combination of both finger minutiae and finger image to check the liveness of the fingerprint captured.
The measure was implemented after instances of people creating fake fingerprints using silicone to syphon off money from unsuspecting individuals’ bank accounts were reported.
The problem gets compounded on account of the fact that a large part of the AePS user base is in rural areas.
In effect, the AI-based technology is able to identify whether the fingerprint is from a real, or ‘live’ finger, or a cloned one.
Payment frauds on the rise
According to the Home Ministry, in the financial year 2020-21, 2.62 lakhs financial crimes, such as money laundering, bribery, corruption and different kinds of frauds, were reported. The number jumped to 6.94 lakhs in 2022, a report, released by the Standing Committee on Finance — headed by BJP MP Jayant Sinha — said.
Citing data it received from the supervised entities of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the committee noted that payment-related frauds are on the rise in India – In FY21, the volume of such frauds was a little over 700,000, which by FY23, increased to close to 20 million.
According to the information submitted to it by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), in the year 2022, out of 6,94,424 complaints related to financial frauds only in 2.6 per cent of cases an FIR was registered.
The details shared with Parliament revealed that between November 2021 and March 2023, more than 2,000 complaints related to AePS were received by the offices of the RBI’s ombudsman.
#upsc #news #headline #UIDAI #payment #frauds #ITC #adhaar #system #FMR #FIR #machine #work #syphon #rural #areas #RBI #reserve #bank #india #ombudsman #cases #financial #bribery #corruption #silicone #cloned #I4C #indian #cyber #crime #coordination #tackle
UIDAI is using AI to tackle payment frauds
GS Paper - 3 (ITC)
As more frauds related to the Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS) come to the fore, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has turned to artificial intelligence-based systems in a bid to limit the cases — this includes developing technologies around fingerprinting and facial recognition. The UIDAI has rolled out an in-house Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning technology-based Finger Minutiae Record – Finger Image Record (FMR-FIR) modality which is able to check the liveness of a fingerprint to detect the use of cloned fingerprint during the authentication process.
How does the Aadhaar fingerprint technology work?
The technology was rolled out in February this year and uses a combination of both finger minutiae and finger image to check the liveness of the fingerprint captured.
The measure was implemented after instances of people creating fake fingerprints using silicone to syphon off money from unsuspecting individuals’ bank accounts were reported.
The problem gets compounded on account of the fact that a large part of the AePS user base is in rural areas.
In effect, the AI-based technology is able to identify whether the fingerprint is from a real, or ‘live’ finger, or a cloned one.
Payment frauds on the rise
According to the Home Ministry, in the financial year 2020-21, 2.62 lakhs financial crimes, such as money laundering, bribery, corruption and different kinds of frauds, were reported. The number jumped to 6.94 lakhs in 2022, a report, released by the Standing Committee on Finance — headed by BJP MP Jayant Sinha — said.
Citing data it received from the supervised entities of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the committee noted that payment-related frauds are on the rise in India – In FY21, the volume of such frauds was a little over 700,000, which by FY23, increased to close to 20 million.
According to the information submitted to it by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), in the year 2022, out of 6,94,424 complaints related to financial frauds only in 2.6 per cent of cases an FIR was registered.
The details shared with Parliament revealed that between November 2021 and March 2023, more than 2,000 complaints related to AePS were received by the offices of the RBI’s ombudsman.
#upsc #news #headline #UIDAI #payment #frauds #ITC #adhaar #system #FMR #FIR #machine #work #syphon #rural #areas #RBI #reserve #bank #india #ombudsman #cases #financial #bribery #corruption #silicone #cloned #I4C #indian #cyber #crime #coordination #tackle
Today's Headlines - 02 September 2023
The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)
GS Paper - 3 (Economy)
After Hindenburg, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has made fresh allegations of stock manipulation against the Adani Group. OCCRP’s report, published, claims that exclusive documents obtained by it show that “in at least two cases … [supposedly public] investors turn out to have widely reported ties to the group’s majority shareholders, the Adani family”, and helped manipulate Adani companies’ stock prices. The Adani Group has categorically rejected these allegations, terming them as a “concerted bid by Soros-funded interests” to “revive the meritless Hindenburg report”.
A global network of investigative reporters
OCCRP wasn’t really planned – it was born of necessity. We were all working on the same intractable problems in our own countries. But a couple of us realised this, and communicated. This is a quote from one of OCCRP’s co-founders, Drew Sullivan.
American Sullivan and Bulgarian Paul Radu, both investigative journalists, founded OCCRP in 2006, after they realised the similarities in their experiences of investigating and reporting on organised crime and systemic corruption.
Initially funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), the OCCRP network first opened an office in Sarajevo.
Over the years, the OCCRP has grown from six journalists working in five countries to more than 150 journalists in 30 countries.
The idea is to have a global network of journalists with easy communication and information-sharing so that global networks of corruption and crime can be better understood and exposed.
The OCCRP also collaborates with regional partners, including Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), Centro Latino Americano de Investigacion Periodistica (CLIP), and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). It is a member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network as well.
Impact over the years
As per its own records, since 2009 reporting by the OCCRP has directly led to 398 official investigations, 621 arrests and sentences, 131 resignations, and $10 billion+ in fines levied and money seized.
It has been involved in many high-profile probes over the years, including multiple investigations on Russia’s oligarchs and Vladimir Putin.
The OCCRP also worked on the Panama Papers project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, producing more than 40 stories on corruption through the use of offshore entities, which won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize Journalism.
The organisation has been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for its work “contributing to peace by unmasking political corruption and organized crime.”
#upsc #news #headline #organised #crime #corruption #project #OCCRP #economy #hindenburg #manipulation #Adanigroup #shareholders #soros #interests #investigative #global #network #reporters #PaulRadu #journalists #systemic #sullivan #bulgarian #UNDEF #Sarajevo #Arab #ARIJ #CLIP #RFE #Network #Russia #oligarchs #vladimirputin #Panama #pulitzer #NobelPeacePrize
The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)
GS Paper - 3 (Economy)
After Hindenburg, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has made fresh allegations of stock manipulation against the Adani Group. OCCRP’s report, published, claims that exclusive documents obtained by it show that “in at least two cases … [supposedly public] investors turn out to have widely reported ties to the group’s majority shareholders, the Adani family”, and helped manipulate Adani companies’ stock prices. The Adani Group has categorically rejected these allegations, terming them as a “concerted bid by Soros-funded interests” to “revive the meritless Hindenburg report”.
A global network of investigative reporters
OCCRP wasn’t really planned – it was born of necessity. We were all working on the same intractable problems in our own countries. But a couple of us realised this, and communicated. This is a quote from one of OCCRP’s co-founders, Drew Sullivan.
American Sullivan and Bulgarian Paul Radu, both investigative journalists, founded OCCRP in 2006, after they realised the similarities in their experiences of investigating and reporting on organised crime and systemic corruption.
Initially funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), the OCCRP network first opened an office in Sarajevo.
Over the years, the OCCRP has grown from six journalists working in five countries to more than 150 journalists in 30 countries.
The idea is to have a global network of journalists with easy communication and information-sharing so that global networks of corruption and crime can be better understood and exposed.
The OCCRP also collaborates with regional partners, including Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), Centro Latino Americano de Investigacion Periodistica (CLIP), and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). It is a member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network as well.
Impact over the years
As per its own records, since 2009 reporting by the OCCRP has directly led to 398 official investigations, 621 arrests and sentences, 131 resignations, and $10 billion+ in fines levied and money seized.
It has been involved in many high-profile probes over the years, including multiple investigations on Russia’s oligarchs and Vladimir Putin.
The OCCRP also worked on the Panama Papers project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, producing more than 40 stories on corruption through the use of offshore entities, which won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize Journalism.
The organisation has been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for its work “contributing to peace by unmasking political corruption and organized crime.”
#upsc #news #headline #organised #crime #corruption #project #OCCRP #economy #hindenburg #manipulation #Adanigroup #shareholders #soros #interests #investigative #global #network #reporters #PaulRadu #journalists #systemic #sullivan #bulgarian #UNDEF #Sarajevo #Arab #ARIJ #CLIP #RFE #Network #Russia #oligarchs #vladimirputin #Panama #pulitzer #NobelPeacePrize