Prelims Focus 21st March 2025

Sonic Weapons

In News: Serbia’s government faces accusations of employing a prohibited ‘sonic weapon’ to disperse demonstrators in Belgrade. 

• Sonic weapons, also known as acoustic weapons, are devices designed to emit loud and often painful sounds over long distances, primarily for crowd control and military applications.
• These weapons can produce both audible and inaudible sound waves that aim to disrupt, disorient, or incapacitate individuals. 
• They operate using numerous transducers, which convert electrical energy into sound waves, allowing for highly concentrated and directed sound beams. 
• Among the various types of sonic weapons, the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) is notable for its ability to project sound over 8,900 meters at volumes reaching up to 160 decibels, causing discomfort and potential hearing damage. 
• Other types include the Mosquito device, which emits high-pitched sounds only audible to younger individuals, and infrasonic weapons that produce low-frequency sounds capable of inducing pain without being heard. 
• While often classified as non-lethal, exposure to sonic weapons can lead to serious health effects such as tinnitus, headaches, and even internal injuries if the intensity and duration of exposure are sufficient.

Sansad Bhashini Initiative

In News: Sansad Bhashini is an AI-driven initiative by the Lok Sabha Secretariat and MeitY aimed at enhancing parliamentary operations with multilingual support and streamlined processes. 

• It enables seamless translation of parliamentary documents and debates into regional languages, real-time speech-to-text conversion, and automatic summarization of discussions. 
• The project also includes an AI chatbot to assist MPs in accessing procedural rules and documents quickly. 
• By leveraging advanced AI tools, Sansad Bhashini promotes inclusivity, accessibility, and efficiency in India’s parliamentary system while bridging language barriers.

World Puppetry Day

In News: India Habitat Centre (IHC) has organized unique performances to commemorate World Puppetry Day.

• • Every year on March 21st, World Puppetry Day seeks to recognize puppetry as a global art form. 
  • It’s also an afternoon to honor puppeteers around the world.
  • The artwork of puppetry consists of the making and manipulation of puppets to be used in a few forms of theatrical performance, for level, television, or film. 
  • A puppet is a discern—human, animal, or abstract in shape—that is moved through human effort, not mechanical resources.

• Puppetry in India

• • • Puppetry is an historic performing art, used for storytelling, amusement, and social observation.

• Major Types:

• • • String Puppets (Kathputli): Popular in Rajasthan and Gujarat, managed by strings.
    • Shadow Puppetry: Leather puppets used to solid shadows, popular in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.
    • Rod Puppetry: Puppets controlled with rods, observed in West Bengal and Assam.
    • Glove Puppets: Worn at the puppeteer’s hand, appreciably in Kerala (Pavakathakali).

‘Squad’ Alliance

In News: India has been invited to join the multilateral alliance Squad to prevent China’s influence in the South China Sea. 

• The Squad is an informal alliance formed in 2024 with countries which include Australia, Japan, the Philippines and the US. 
• The organization now plans to ask India and South Korea to enroll in it.
• The defence forces of this alliance have carried out joint maritime activities in the distinct financial quarter of the Philippines in the South China Sea.
• Aim: The Squad’s joint maritime activities are aimed toward supplying strategic responses to tensions within the Philippines’ waters within the South China Sea.
• Currently, India is part of Quad, an alliance of the US, Japan, and Australia, which informally attempts to conduct a study on China’s dominance within the Indo-Pacific region.

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