No abstract

Background: Glass is the hard, amorphous solid. Glass fragments may be an evidence of great value encountered in the investigation of various types of offences. At the scene of occurrence, the glass may be fractured either as an intentional act or due to accident. Glass fractures are of paramount importance in shooting cases where firearm is used as it can provide significant information related to the occurrence and facilitates a variety of evaluations. In fact, fractography i.e. analysis of fracture pattern, is the means and methods for characterization of fractured units or fragments in order to study or identify the mechanism of such fractures. The study of fracture pattern of glass has been of long interest to the forensic community. The glass fracture pattern analysis is very useful to establish the sequence of events and to link together items of evidence and it is of paramount importance in such cases where firearm is used. Now, the use of air guns in criminal activities is an alarm to the law enforcement agencies. The main objective of this work is to analyze the pattern of the fractures on windowpane of various thicknesses with regular .177″/ 4.5 mm lead pellet fired through the .177″/ 4.5 mm caliber Air Rifle manufactured in India. The window panes were kept at front, perpendicularly and away at a fixed distance from the muzzle end of Air Rifle. Samples were measured and analyzed on some fixed parameters. To analyze the consistency, measurements were analyzed graphically and statically checked for the goodness of fit (Chi-Square Test). Result: The graphical representation of the measurements of different samples shows regularity in the features and Chi Square test gives very significant information regarding the consistency. Conclusion: The hole diameter is ranging from 4.77 to 7.5 mm in case of air rifle. It can lead to distinguish the weapon by which fracture was made, whether it is standard or air weapon. The outcomes of this work on the windowpane by .177″/4.5 mm air rifles may be efficacious to forensic community.

Infection born by Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has swept the world within a time of a few months. It has created a devastating effect on humanity with social and economic depressions. Europe and America were the hardest hit continents. India has also lost several lives, making the country fourth most deadly worldwide. However, the infection and death rate per million and the case fatality ratio in India were substantially lower than many of the developed nations. Several factors have been proposed including the genetics. One of the important facts is that a large chunk of Indian population is asymptomatic to the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Thus, the real infection in India is much higher than the reported number of cases. Therefore, the majority of people are already immune in the country. To understand the dynamics of real infection as well as level of immunity against SARS-CoV-2, we have performed antibody testing (serosurveillance) in the urban region of fourteen Indian districts encompassing six states. In our survey, the seroprevalence frequency varied between 0.01-0.48, suggesting high variability of viral transmission among states. We also found out that the cases reported by the Government were several fold lower than the real infection. This discrepancy is majorly driven by a higher number of asymptomatic cases. Overall, we suggest that with the high level of immunity developed against SARS-CoV-2 in the majority of the districts, it is less likely to have a second wave in India.

Background: In the current scenario, glass plays a vital contribution in our standard everyday life. Fractured and fragmented glasses are most commonly encountered at the crime scene. During the commission of the crime, glass breaks and shatters into fragments or into minute particles that serve as trace evidence and may provide a significant lead for the probe. The fracture of glass could be the consequence of an intentional act or unintentional act. For the forensic purpose, study of glass fractures, i.e., fractography has paramount importance as it can provide noteworthy data and encourages an assortment of assessments to investigate the case especially in the shooting cases where a firearm is used. Multiple fractures on a glass pane also have enough potential to establish an investigative link. Presently, air guns are being used in many of the cases due to their simple accessibility. There are a number of cases that have been reported that involved the use of air guns. Result: This study was conducted to evaluate the pattern of multiple fractures on the glass by the air rifle. For this purpose, glass panes of various thicknesses were test fired perpendicularly at a fixed range with an air rifle having round nose pellet. Measurements and analysis were made on some fixed parameter. Data was analyzed graphically and statistically to check the consistency in the trends. Conclusion: Consistency in the trends was observed, which is analyzed by the test for the goodness of fit. The findings of this work have provided some significant different perspectives that may effectively contribute to the criminal investigation.