1. Good and bad: India needs to harness the benefits of AI while avoiding adverse effects READ MORE
2. Kabir says look for bliss within, not elsewhere READ MORE
3. Occam’s Razor READ MORE
4. The Moral Economist~II READ MORE

1. Women are playing a vital role in millet push READ MORE
2. The multiple benefits of community-driven learning READ MORE  
3. The Inner and the Outer Domain of Caste READ MORE

1. Climate impact: Rajasthan’s pre-monsoon rainfall was three times more than average this year READ MORE
2. International trade has a carbon problem READ MORE
3. High road to Dubai COP28: Why discussions on carbon credits are important at upcoming Bonn climate conference READ MORE

1. Good and bad: India needs to harness the benefits of AI while avoiding adverse effects READ MORE
2. Kabir says look for bliss within, not elsewhere READ MORE
3. Occam’s Razor READ MORE
4. The Moral Economist~II READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1.  IRDAI eyes insurance push in rural areas with ‘Bima Vahak’ READ MORE  
2. RBI issues draft on cybersafety for PSOs READ MORE
3. Mural in new Parliament shows Ashoka empire: govt. READ MORE
4. NDRF teams rush to crash site; many trains cancelled READ MORE
5. In first, Saudi naval cadets train with Indian Navy READ MORE
6. Just days to spare, Senate gives final approval to deal, sending it to Biden READ MORE
7. As Ajay Banga takes over as World Bank chief today, what is in it for India? READ MORE
8. Oil reserves in salt caverns: The potential in India READ MORE
9. Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV): Symptoms, Causes, Treatment & Prevention READ MORE
10. Breakthrough NHS migraine medication ‘Rimegepant’ to provide hope to thousands in UK READ MORE

Main Exam

GS Paper- 1

1. Climate impact: Rajasthan’s pre-monsoon rainfall was three times more than average this year READ MORE
2. Women are playing a vital role in millet push READ MORE
3. The multiple benefits of community-driven learning READ MORE  
4. The Inner and the Outer Domain of Caste READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Here’s how to make India’s health sector fighting fit READ MORE
2. Sedition law must go: Panel’s stand contrary to spirit of SC rulings READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Himalayan ties back on track READ MORE
2. Erdogan’s re-election could herald better ties with India READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Reset time: On GST revenue growth- The current revenue trajectory presents an opportunity to fix GST’s flaws READ MORE
2. GDP: What FY23 says about FY24 READ MORE
3. Indian economy far away from recovery: If Covid had never happened, the old 6.8% growth rate would have taken our GDP to Rs 300 lakh crore in 2030-31. READ MORE
4. India’s economic indicators telling a story—of growth, recovery, robustness READ MORE
5. Why Indian Banks Need to Adopt the Basel III Internal Ratings-based Approach READ MORE
6. Do Foreign Banks Affect Market Power, Efficiency, or Stability in India? READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. International trade has a carbon problem READ MORE
2. High road to Dubai COP28: Why discussions on carbon credits are important at upcoming Bonn climate conference READ MORE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Is India missing the graphene bus? READ MORE

SECURITY

1. Why India’s national security needs a 21 century refit READ MORE
2. Cracking down on fraud in cyberspace READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Good and bad: India needs to harness the benefits of AI while avoiding adverse effects READ MORE
2. Kabir says look for bliss within, not elsewhere READ MORE
3. Occam’s Razor READ MORE
4. The Moral Economist~II READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. As Indian banks are becoming bigger due to consolidation and through business expansion, it is necessary to adopt the advanced Basel III version for better utilisation of scarce capital and improve efficiency. Exxmine.
2. The sedition law, which is largely a tool used by the State to commit excesses, must be scrapped before it inflicts more damage on our constitutional framework. Critically examine.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.
• Confronting caste-based discrimination across space and time leads to substantialise caste in terms of making it effective across several fields.
• As Indian banks are becoming bigger due to consolidation and through business expansion, it is necessary to adopt the advanced Basel III version for better utilisation of scarce capital and improve efficiency.
• Greater foreign bank presence increases market power, reduces marginal cost of the production of bank output, increases price–cost margin, and reduces inefficiency, insolvency risk and net non-performing loan ratio of an individual bank. The findings have implications for a policy decision on foreign bank presence.
• Withdrawing caste into the private sphere under the guise of the right to privacy also offers an opportunity, like revealing other delicate details of life, which could cause a devastating damage to one’s reputation, should they become public, and hence are required to be kept within the zone of privacy.
• As long as global finance capital flow is unrestricted, there won’t be elbow room for any progressive State intervention.
• Learners band together in a supportive environment, pooling knowledge and focusing on growing personally as well as professionally.
• The sedition law, which is largely a tool used by the State to commit excesses, must be scrapped before it inflicts more damage on our constitutional framework.
• Despite China’s looming presence and thorny geopolitical issues, Nepal’s pragmatism and India’s accommodation have bolstered ties.

ESSAY TOPIC

• Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.

50-WORD TALK

• The Law Commission’s proposed tweaks to the sedition law could open a dangerous dimension. “Tendency” to incite violence, also described as “mere inclination to cause public disorder”, is too ambiguous a scope, leaving the provision exposed to misuse and weaponisation. It could deal a bigger body blow to civil liberties.
• It’s a cliché to say Indian politics is polarised and broken. But Rahul Gandhi’s comment on Russia in the US shows that India’s foreign policy consensus is intact. He was honest in admitting that a Congress government would do the same. His stature as a responsible opposition leader is rising.
• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit being held in virtual mode instead of a physical event with India as the Chair is an embarrassing setback to New Delhi’s diplomacy. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s refusal to come to India, which led to the change in format, shows how Beijing influences this grouping.

Things to Remember:

• For prelims-related news try to understand the context of the news and relate with its concepts so that it will be easier for you to answer (or eliminate) from given options.
• Whenever any international place will be in news, you should do map work (marking those areas in maps and exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers, etc. same applies to the national places.)
• For economy-related news (banking, agriculture, etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related to various economic aspects, for example, if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing price rises, shortage of essential supplies, banking rates, etc.
• For main exam-related topics, you should focus on the various dimensions of the given topic, the most important topics which occur frequently and are important from the mains point of view will be covered in ED.
• Try to use the given content in your answer. Regular use of this content will bring more enrichment to your writing.

1. CONFLICT BETWEEN IRAN AND AFGHANISTAN OVER RIVER HELMAND

TAG: PLACES IN NEWS; GS 2: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

CONTEXT: Iran and Afghanistan are locked in a long-standing dispute over the sharing of water from the Helmand River. Clashes broke out recently along the border.

EXPLANATION:

Current Issue:

• Iran and the Taliban exchanged heavy gunfire on the Islamic Republic’s border with Afghanistan, killing and wounding troops while sharply intensifying rising tensions between the countries.
• The clash came amid an escalating dispute between Kabul and Tehran over the Helmand River, which is a vital source of water for both sides, supporting agriculture, livelihoods and ecosystems in the region.

Helmand river:

• The Helmand is Afghanistan’s longest river. It originates near Kabul in the western Hindu Kush mountain range and flows in a southwesterly direction through desert areas for a total of about 1,150 kilometers (715 miles) before emptying into Lake Hamun, which straddles the Afghanistan-Iran border.
• Lake Hamun is the largest freshwater lake in Iran and It used to be one of the world’s largest wetlands, straddling 4,000 square kilometers (1,600 square miles) between Iran and Afghanistan, fed by the Helmand. But it has since dried up, a trend experts blame on drought and the impact of dams and water controls.

Background:

• Afghanistan and Iran signed an agreement the Helmand River Treaty in 1973 to regulate the allocation of river water. But the accord was neither ratified nor fully implemented, causing disagreements and tensions to persist.
• Iran has accused Afghanistan of violating its water rights for years, arguing that far less water than the amount agreed to in the 1973 treaty flows into Iran.
• Afghanistan has rejected Iran’s accusations, underlining that climatic factors like a shortage of rainfall, resulting in reduced river water volumes, are to blame for the situation.
• A major source of concern for Iran is Afghanistan’s construction of dams, reservoirs and irrigation systems along the Helmand River. Tehran fears that these projects reduce water flow into Iran
• But Kabul argues that it is within its rights to expand water storage and irrigation capacities within Afghanistan.

What’s the state of Tehran-Taliban ties?

• Iran and Afghanistan share a 950-kilometer land border. Both countries have no major territorial disputes
• Tehran had cultivated good ties with the Taliban before the Islamic fundamentalist group captured Kabul in August 2021 as US and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their pullout from Afghanistan.
• Both sides were united in their opposition to the US’s presence in the region

2. VIOLENCE IN KOSOVO

TAG: PLACES IN NEWS;  GS 2: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

CONTEXT: After winning a match against Hungary’s Márton Fucsovics at the ongoing French Open tennis championship, Serbian great Novak Djokovic wrote on a camera lens in Serbian: “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence.” Djokovic, was referring to this week’s violence in the Kosovan town of Zvecan where Serbian protesters clashed with NATO peacekeepers, leading to more than 60 injuries  the worst violence in the region in more than a decade.

EXPLANATION:

Current issue:

• The current round of violence took place after ethnic Serbs who are a minority in Kosovo but are in a majority in northern Kosovo  tried to prevent Albanian mayors taking charge in local councils.
• The Albanians took control of the councils after Serbs boycotted local elections in Kosovo’s north in April. Results of the elections, which saw a turnout of less that 3.5%, were rejected by the Serbs as a sham.
• Northern Kosovo has seen frequent tensions that have their roots in the larger ethnic and political divide between the ethnic Serbs and the Albanians.

Location of Serbia and Kosovo:

• Serbia, a landlocked country in eastern Europe that shares borders with, among other countries, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.
• Kosovo is a region that lies to Serbia’s southwest, sharing borders with North Macedonia, Albania, and Montenegro. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Serbia does not recognise Kosovo’s statehood.

What was the Kosovo conflict about?

• Serbs and Albanians are ethnicities who have been living in this region for centuries.
• Serbs are Eastern Orthodox Christians, while the Albanians in Kosovo are majority Muslims. Other ethnic groups, such as the Bosnians and the Turks, are minority populations. Serbs are in the majority in Serbia while Albanians are in the majority in the Kosovo region.
• For many Serbians, the Kosovo region, is the “heart” of its national and religious identity and home to numerous cherished mediaeval Serb Orthodox Christian monasteries.
• Serbian nationalists view the 1389 Battle of Kosovo between the Serbian prince Lazar Hrebeljanovic and the Ottoman Sultan Murad Hudavendigar as a defining moment in their national struggle.
• On the other hand, Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanians view Kosovo as belonging to them, and accuse Serbia of occupation and repression.

Background:

• From 1945, after the end of World War II, until 1992, the area in the Balkans comprising present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, was one country, officially known as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), or simply Yugoslavia, with its capital at Belgrade, which is now the capital of Serbia.
• As part of Yugoslavia, the republic of Serbia included the regions of Kosovo and Vojvodina. Within Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina held the status of autonomous provinces.
• In the early 1990s, as the USSR collapsed, Yugoslavia followed and each of these republics broke away to become independent countries, beginning with Slovenia in 1991.
• The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), a United Nations court of law that dealt with war crimes committed during this time, noted that coinciding with the collapse of communism and resurgent nationalism in Eastern Europe during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Yugoslavia experienced a period of intense political and economic crisis.
• Central government weakened while militant nationalism grew apace. Political leaders used nationalist rhetoric to erode a common Yugoslav identity and fuel fear and mistrust among different ethnic groups.
• Ethnic Albanian rebels launched a rebellion under the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in 1998 to rid the country of Serbian rule. Serbia’s brutal response under President Slobodan Milošević prompted an intervention by NATO in 1999, which forced Serbia to cede control to international peacekeepers.
• NATO then carried out a 78-day-long campaign of air strikes against targets in Kosovo and Serbia. In response, Serb forces further intensified the persecution of the Kosovo Albanian civilians, having accused them earlier of changing the demography of their nation.
• Ultimately, Milošević agreed to withdraw his troops and police from the province of Kosovo. Some 750,000 Albanian refugees came back home, and about 100,000 Serbs — roughly half the province’s Serb population fled in fear of reprisals.
• In June 1999, Serbia agreed to the international administration of Kosovo with the final status of the province still unresolved. Several Serb leaders, including Milošević, were indicted by the UN’s war crimes tribunal for their role in the war

What has been the status of Kosovo since then?

• While Kosovo declared independence in 2008, Serbia still considers it to be an integral part of Serbian territory. Countries such as India, China, and Russia do not recognise Kosovo as a separate country, while the US, the majority of EU countries, Japan and Australia do so.

3. CYBER SECURITY FOR PAYMENT SYSTEM OPERATORS

TAG: GS 3: ECONOMY

CONTEXT: The Reserve Bank of India has released the draft Master Directions on Cyber Resilience and Digital Payment Security Controls for Payment System Operators.

EXPLANATION:

• The draft covers governance mechanism for identification, assessment, monitoring and management of cyber security risks including information security risks and vulnerabilities, and specify baseline security measures for ensuring safe and secure digital payment transactions.
• The directions are being issued to ensure that the authorised non-bank Payment System Operators (PSOs) are resilient to traditional and emerging information systems and cyber security risks,
• The Directions will also cover baseline security measures for ensuring system resiliency as well as safe and secure digital payment transactions.
• However, they will endeavour to migrate to the latest security standards. The existing instructions on security and risk mitigation measures for payments done using cards, Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) and mobile banking continue to be applicable hitherto.

PAYMENT SYSTEM OPERATORS:

• The payment System Operator is an authorized party that is registered under the Companies Act, 1956 or the Companies Act, 2013 that undertakes the operation of payment systems. They provide services and operate on a certain model and mainly deal in payment and settlement-related activities.
• PSOs in India include Clearing Corporation of India, National Payments Corporation of India, Cards Payment Networks, Cross border Money Transfer, ATM networks, Prepaid Payment Instruments, White Label ATM Operators, Instant Money Transfer, and Trade Receivables Discounting System, Bharat Bill Payment System.

4. 9TH ANNIVERSARY OF TELANGANA’S STATEHOOD

TAG: GS 2: POLITY

CONTEXT: With assembly elections just months away, political parties across the board are celebrating the 9th anniversary of Telangana’s statehood on June 2, 2023.

EXPLANATION:

• Telangana, the newest state of India, has a complex history. Pre-Independence, it was a part of the princely state of Hyderabad. While there were talks of statehood in the 1950s, the region was eventually merged with the adjoining Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh.
• Finally, in 2014, after decades of struggle, Telangana was carved out of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

PART I: Princely State of Hyderabad, post-independence Hyderabad State:

• Present-day Telangana comprised the south and south-east Telugu-speaking regions of the Princely State of Hyderabad. The city of Hyderabad itself lay at the heart of the region, but unlike the areas around it, was dominated by the Urdu-speaking Muslim elite. Ruled by Nizam Osman Ali Khan, Hyderabad was among the largest and most prosperous princely states in the country.
• In 1945, a communist-supported rebellion broke out in Telangana against the prevailing jagirdari (land-revenue) system. The Nizam’s response was brutal, unleashing a local militia, known as the Razakars, on the protesting peasants.
• After Independence and the Partition in 1947, the Nizam of Hyderabad was unwilling to accede to India. In the meantime, the Razakars under Kasim Razvi, terrorised the population, lest any attempts to overthrow the Nizam be made.
• In order to usher in a modicum of stability in the state, India signed the Standstill Agreement with Hyderabad in November 1947, which stated that all administrative agreements that were in place between the Nizam and the British Crown would continue between the Nizam and India.
• However, almost instantly, the terms of the agreement were violated by the Nizam. Not only did he let the Razakars run amok, he also restricted exports of precious metals to India, began negotiating with Pakistan, and stopped accepting the Indian rupee as legal tender. The Razakars even began carrying out “border raids” in neighbouring states.
• As the state started falling into anarchy, India intervened militarily, launching “Operation Polo” in September 1948. Within a week, India had taken control of Hyderabad’s administration.
• On January 26, 1951, when India became a republic, Hyderabad was accorded the status of a Part-B state, with the Nizam as the Rajpramukh and an elected chief minister.

PART II: Linguistic reorganisation and the creation of Andhra Pradesh

• The erstwhile Madras state was huge, covering areas which spoke all the major languages of South India. In 1952, Potti Sriramalu went on a fast-unto-death demanding a separate Telugu state. He died after 56 days, triggering unrest across the region and eventually leading to the formation of the Andhra State out of the north and north eastern regions of the Madras state in 1953
• Moreover, Sriramalu’s death made the government seriously reconsider its position on linguistic states. The States Reorganisation Committee came into existence in 1953 and submitted its report two years later. Notably, it recommended that Hyderabad be reorganised linguistically the Marathi-dominant Marathwada would be integrated into the bilingual Bombay state and south western Kannada-dominant districts would be integrated into the Mysore state.
• The status of the Telugu-dominant Telangana region was contentious. While Andhra wanted to merge with Telangana to create a united Vishalandhra, the SRC itself did not favour this, instead recommending Telangana be a separate state till at least 1961, when it would be given the opportunity to voluntarily merge with Andhra.
• But the States Reorganisation Act passed in 1956 ignored this recommendation, merging Andhra State and Telangana into a single state called Andhra Pradesh, with Hyderabad as the capital. For some, like KCR, this was the point where a struggle for a separate Telangana state began.

PART III: The struggle for Telangana and the creation Telangana State

• However, the sense of Telangana as a separate entity predated even Independence. Under the rule of the Nizam, the Telangana region had in force Mulki Rules domicile rules which ensured that only native residents were able to get government jobs in the region
• Since Independence, protests regularly broke out in Telangana demanding the strict adherence to these rules, the first one being in 1952. However, it was in January 1969, after the creation of Andhra Pradesh, that the region witnessed its most widespread protests yet.
• While the government sprung to action, promising to “transfer all non-Telangana employees holding posts reserved for Telangana domiciles”, the issue refused to die down. The protests gave birth to the Telangana Praja Samiti, which called for a separate Telangana state. Over the next few years, Mulki Rules were at the centre of protests as well as legal cases.
• Finally, in September of 1973, Indira Gandhi initiated the 32nd Amendment to the Constitution, which declared that Andhra Pradesh would be divided into 6 zones, with reservation for jobs being decided on the basis of zones. As a result, the original Mulki Rules Act was repealed, and the movement for Telangana lost some steam.
• It would finally be revived by KCR in 2001. A member of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), he resigned and established his own political party – the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) with the singular aim of creating a new state of Telangana with Hyderabad as its capital.
• While his performances in polls were underwhelming, the sudden death of Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister Y S Rajsekhara Reddy of the Congress in 2009, presented an opportunity to KCR. Reddy was the tallest leader of Andhra Pradesh at the time and post his death, political turmoil ensued. On November 29, 2009, KCR began a fast-unto-death demanding statehood. The Congress, which at the time was also under pressure nationally, relented within 10 days promising the creation of the state of Telangana.
• After extensive discussion on the specifics of the state boundary and the choice of capital (for the new Andhra State), Telangana came into existence around four and a half years later, in 2014. KCR was the first chief minister and Hyderabad was chosen the joint capital of both Andhra and Telangana for a period of ten years, after which Andhra would have to shift its capital elsewhere.

5. STRATEGIC OIL RESERVES IN INDIA

TAG: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

CONTEXT: Government-owned engineering consultancy firm Engineers India (EIL) is studying the prospects and feasibility of developing salt cavern-based strategic oil reserves in Rajasthan, in line with the government’s objective of increasing the country’s strategic oil storage capacity. India could get its first salt cavern-based oil storage facility if this become successful.

EXPLANATION:

Strategic Oil Reserves in India:

• Countries build strategic crude oil reserves to mitigate major supply disruptions in the global supply chain.
• India is the world’s third-largest consumer of crude, depends on imports for more than 85% of its requirement and strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) could help ensure energy security and availability during global supply shocks and other emergencies.
• India has three existing strategic oil storage facilities at Mangaluru and Padur in Karnataka, and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh  are made up of excavated rock caverns.

• India currently has an SPR capacity of 5.33 million tonnes, or around 39 million barrels of crude, that can meet around 9.5 days of demand.
• The country is in the process of expanding its SPR capacity by a cumulative 6.5 million tonnes at two locations Chandikhol in Odisha (4 million tonnes) and Padur (2.5 million tonnes).
• India’s strategic oil reserves come under the Petroleum Ministry’s special purpose vehicle Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve (ISPRL).

Strategic petroleum reserves programme: Background

• India’s strategic oil reserves are part of the effort to build sufficient emergency stockpiles on the lines of the reserves that the US and its Western allies set up after the first oil crisis of the 1970s. The three existing rock cavern-based facilities were built during the first phase of the programme.
• Crude oil from the reserves are to be released by an empowered committee set up by the government, in the event of supply disruptions due to a natural calamity or an unforeseen global event leading to an abnormal increase in prices.
• The International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation in which India is an ‘Association’ country, recommends that all countries should hold an emergency oil stockpile sufficient to provide 90 days of import protection.
• In India, apart from the SPR that are sufficient to meet 9.5 days of oil requirement, the oil marketing companies (OMCs) have storage facilities for crude oil and petroleum products for 64.5 days which means there is sufficient storage to meet around 74 days of the country’s petroleum demand.

Salt cavern-based reserves v. rock cavern-based reserves:

• Salt cavern-based storage, which is considered cheaper and less labour- and cost-intensive than rock caverns.
• Unlike underground rock caverns, which are developed through excavation, salt caverns are developed by the process of solution mining, which involves pumping water into geological formations with large salt deposits to dissolve the salt.
• After the brine (water with dissolved salt) is pumped out of the formation, the space can be used to store crude oil. The process is simpler, faster, and less cost-intensive than developing excavated rock caverns.
• Salt cavern-based oil storage facilities are also naturally well-sealed, and engineered for rapid injection and extraction of oil. This makes them a more attractive option than storing oil in other geological formations, according to a report by the Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
• The salt that lines the inside of these caverns has extremely low oil absorbency, which creates a natural impermeable barrier against liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, making the caverns apt for storage.
• Also, unlike rock caverns, salt cavern-based storages can be created and operated almost entirely from the surface.
• Salt caverns are also used to store liquid fuels and natural gas in various parts of the world. They are also considered suitable for storing compressed air and hydrogen.
• The entire SPR programme of the United States has so far been based on salt cavern-based storage facilities. The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the world’s largest emergency oil storage, consists of four sites with deep underground storage caverns created in salt domes along the Gulf of Mexico coast in Texas and Louisiana. The US strategic oil reserves have a cumulative capacity of around 727 million barrels.

THE CONTEXT: With the growth of the internet and the proliferation of applications, products & services on it, citizens are being empowered and their lives transformed. Digitalization speeds up development, helps economic growth, brings people closer together and enables better use of resources. However, with the growth of the internet, cyber crimes are also on the increase.

Digitization has been the government’s main focus, which can be seen with the launch of the Digital India Mission. It has effect on various sectors like health, education, skilling, payments etc

CYBER SECURITY CONCERN

• The IBM Security Data Breach Report of 2022 states that, for the fiscal year of 2022, the average data breach costs in India have reached a record high of ₹17.5 crores (₹175 million) rupees, or around $2.2 million, which is an increase of 6.6% from 2021, and a staggering 25% from the average cost of ₹14 crores in 2020.
• In 2021, cybersecurity incidents involved incidents revolving around unauthorized access and compromised personal data. For example, in the case of Air India, data files from more than 4.5 million customers were leaked in a cyber attack. In a separate incident, personal data leaks of around 180 million users were stolen straight from the database of Domino’s India.

VARIOUS TYPES OF CYBER SECURITY THREATS

MALWARE

Malware is malicious software such as spyware, ransomware, viruses and worms. Malware is activated when a user clicks on a malicious link or attachment, leading to dangerous software installation.

The rise of malware is attributed to crypto-jacking (the secret use of a victim’s computer to create cryptocurrency illegally) and Internet-of-Things malware (malware targeting devices connected to the internet such as routers or cameras).

RANSOMWARE

Ransomware is one of the most widely used methods of attacks. It asks to pay a ransom using online payment methods to regain access to your system or data. Online payment methods usually include virtual currencies such as bitcoins.

Example:

●        The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi allegedly faced a cyber attack on November 23, paralyzing its servers.

●        In May 2022, Indian airline SpiceJet reported a ransomware attack. It led to delays in several flights by up to 6 hours. Several passengers claimed sitting on the planes for 45 minutes to three hours.

THREATS AGAINST DATA: TARGETING SOURCES OF DATA TO GET UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS AND DISCLOSURE

A data breach is an incident where information is stolen or taken from a system without the knowledge or authorization of the system’s owner. A small company or large organization may suffer a data breach.

Threats against data can be mainly classified as data breaches (intentional attacks by a cybercriminal) and data leaks (unintentional releases of data).

India has faced a rise of 7.9% in data breaches since 2017. Also, the average cost per data breach record is mounting to INR 4,552 ($64).

TROJAN VIRUS

A Trojan can launch an attack on a system and can establish a backdoor, which attackers can use.

DENIAL OF SERVICE

DDoS attack makes an online service unavailable to users by interrupting them or suspending the hosting servers. The motives range from ransomware, pushing a certain ideology or cyber warfare.

In August 2020 the number of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) incidents in India hit a record high in terms of total DDOS packets, which were well in excess of 10 billion as per a study by global cyber security firm Radware.

PHISHING

Phishing attacks use fake communication, such as an email, to trick the receiver into opening it and carrying out the instructions inside, such as providing a credit card number.

SQL INJECTION

With the right password, a cyber attacker has access to a wealth of information. Social engineering is a type of password attack that Data Insider defines as “a strategy cyber attackers use that relies heavily on human interaction and often involves tricking people into breaking standard security practices.”

FINANCIAL FRAUD

Cosmos Bank Cyber Attack in Pune

A cyber attack in India was deployed on Cosmos Bank in Pune. This daring attack shook the whole banking sector of India when hackers siphoned off Rs. 94.42 crores from Cosmos Cooperative Bank Ltd. in Pune.

SIM Swap Scam

This involves transferring money from the bank accounts of many individuals. By fraudulently gaining SIM card information, both attackers blocked individuals’ SIM cards and with the help of fake document posts, they carried out transactions via online banking. They also tried to hack the accounts of various targeted companies.

JUICE JACKING

Juice jacking is a security exploit in which an infected USB charging station is used to compromise connected devices. The exploit takes advantage of the fact that a mobile device’s power supply passes over the same USB cable the connected device uses to sync data.

DEEPFAKE

Deepfake technology means it is now possible to generate fake audio, video or images that are almost indistinguishable from real ones. Bots pretending to be real people can disrupt online communities by flooding them with fake comments.

DISINFORMATION/MISINFORMATION: THE SPREAD OF MISLEADING INFORMATION

The increasing use of social media platforms and online media has led to a rise in campaigns spreading disinformation (purposefully falsified information) and misinformation (sharing wrong data). The aim is to cause fear and uncertainty.

Russia has used this technology to target perceptions of the war.

TYPES OF CYBER THREAT ACTORS

• State-sponsored — Cyberattacks by countries can disrupt communications, military activities, or other services that citizens use daily.
  • India was the most targeted country in 2022 as attacks on government agencies more than doubled. Malaysia-based hacktivist group Dragon Force, ran campaigns such as #OpIndia and #OpsPatuk against India in retaliation to the controversial comments by an Indian politician on Prophet Mohammed.
• Terrorists — terrorists may attack government or military targets, but at times may also target civilian websites to disrupt and cause lasting damage.
• Hacktivism is a form of cyberattack where the hacker’s motivation is not financial gains but to promote a political agenda or protest against certain policies. According to a report by cyber security firm CloudSek, In 2022, hacktivism accounted for 9% of the cyberattacks on the government sector.
• Industrial spies —Industrial espionage is the illegal and unethical theft of business trade secrets for use by a competitor to achieve a competitive advantage.
• Organized crime groups — Criminal groups infiltrate systems for monetary gain. Organized crime groups use phishing, spam, and malware to carry out identity theft and online fraud. There are organized crime groups who exist to sell hacking services to others as well, maintaining even support and services for profiteers and industrial spies alike.
• Hackers — There is a large global population of hackers, ranging from beginner “script kiddies” or those leveraging ready-made threat toolkits, to sophisticated operators who can develop new types of threats and avoid organizational defences.
• Malicious insider—Insiders represent a very serious threat, as they have existing access to corporate systems and knowledge of target systems and sensitive data. Insider threats can be devastating and very difficult to detect.

CYBER SECURITY IN THE FEDERAL POLITY OF INDIA

‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. States/UTs are primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes including cyber crime through their Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). The LEAs take legal action as per provisions of law against the offenders. The Central Government supplements the State Governments’ initiatives through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes for their capacity building.

VARIOUS MEASURES TO DEAL WITH THE CYBER THREAT IN INDIA

NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY POLICY, 2013

Its mission is to protect information and information infrastructure in cyberspace, build capabilities to prevent and respond to cyber threat, reduce vulnerabilities and minimize damage from cyber incidents through a combination of institutional structures, people, processes, technology, and cooperation.

It aims to create a workforce of 500,000 trained cybersecurity professionals in the next 5 years through capacity building, skills development and training

INDIAN COMPUTER EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM (CERT-IN)

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN or ICERT) is an office within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the Government of India.^[3] It is the nodal agency to deal with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing. It strengthens the security-related defence of the Indian Internet domain.

NATIONAL CRITICAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION CENTER (NCIIPC)

●    NCIIPC is a central government establishment formed to protect critical information about our country, which has an enormous impact on national security, economic growth, and public healthcare.

NCIIPC has mainly identified the following as “critical sectors”-

●    Power & Energy

●    Banking, Financial Services & Insurance

●    Telecom Transport

●    Government

●    Strategic & Public Enterprises

CHIEF INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICERS

The CISO (chief information security officer) is a senior-level executive responsible for developing and implementing an information security program, including procedures and policies designed to protect enterprise communications, systems and assets from internal and external threats.

Conducting regular training programmes for network/system administrators and Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) of Government and critical sector organizations regarding securing the IT infrastructure and mitigating cyber attacks.

CYBER SWACHHTA KENDRA (BOTNET CLEANING AND MALWARE ANALYSIS CENTER)

The “Digital Swachhta Kendra” (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Center) is a part of the Government of India’s Digital India drive, overseen by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

●    The “Cyber Swachhta Kendra” (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Center) is intended to address the goals of the “National Cybersecurity Policy,” which calls for the development of a secure cybernetic ecosystem in the country.

INDIAN CYBER CRIME COORDINATION CENTRE (I4C)

“Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)” is an initiative of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to combat cyber crime in the country, in a coordinated and effective manner.

Objective:

● Identify the research problems/needs of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and take up R&D activities in developing new technologies and forensic tools in collaboration with academia/research institutes within India and abroad

●   To prevent misuse of cyberspace for furthering the cause of extremist and terrorist groups

●  Suggest amendments, if required, in cyber laws to keep pace with fast changing technologies and International cooperation.

CYBER-CRIME PREVENTION AGAINST WOMEN & CHILDREN’ SCHEME

The Ministry of Home Affairs implements it. The scheme aims to prevent and reduce cyber crimes against women and children.

AUDIT OF THE GOVERNMENT WEBSITES

Provision for audit of the government websites and applications prior to their hosting, and thereafter at regular intervals.

EMPANELMENT OF SECURITY AUDITING ORGANIZATIONS

Empanelment of security auditing organizations to support and audit implementation of Information Security Best Practices.

CRISIS MANAGEMENT PLAN

Formulation of Crisis Management Plan for countering cyber attacks and cyber terrorism.

CYBER SECURITY MOCK DRILLS

Conducting cyber security mock drills and exercises regularly to enable assessment of cyber security posture and preparedness of organizations in Government and critical sectors.

CYBER SURAKSHIT BHARAT

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology launched the Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative to spread awareness about cyber crime and building capacity for safety measures for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and frontline IT staff across all government departments.

ISSUES WITH THE CYBER SECURITY IN INDIA

LACK OF DATA SECURITY IN DEVICES USED FOR INTERNET ACCESS –

There has been a threat to the data privacy due to Chinese mobile.

Ministry of Home Affairs has recommended a ban on 54 Chinese mobile applications, including the popular game Garena Free Fire over concerns related to privacy and national security.

LACK OF NATIONAL LEVEL ARCHITECTURE FOR CYBERSECURITY

The private sector owns critical infrastructure, and the armed forces have their own firefighting agencies. However, no national security architecture unifies the efforts of all these agencies to assess the nature of any threat and tackle them effectively.

LACK OF SEPARATION

Unlike countries or states, in cyberspace there are no boundaries, thus making the armed forces, digital assets of ONGC, banking functions, etc., vulnerable to cyber attacks from anywhere. This could result in security breaches at a national level, causing loss of money, property or lives. To respond to possible threats on the country’s most precious resources, there is a need for a technically equipped multi-agency organization that can base its decisions on policy inputs and a sound strategy.

LACK OF PRAGMATIC GOAL IN DEALING WITH THE CYBER SECURITY:

National cyber security policy aims to create a workforce of 500,000 trained cybersecurity professionals in the next 5 years. However there has been to roadmap how to achieve this goal.

FUNCTIONAL OVERLAP IN VARIOUS AGENCIES

Due to the existence of too many agencies with overlapping functions in the field of cyber security, coordination between these agencies is poor.

LACK OF SPECIALISTS:

Globally, India ranks 2nd in terms of the number of Internet users after China (Internet World Stats, 2017). However, India has a negligible base of cyber-security specialists, when compared to the internet user base.

CYBER WARFARE

Cyber attack by nation-state is evolving as they go low-intensity ways with India.

E.g. Pakistan and China involves in  cyber threat against India.

THE WAY FORWARD

• P-P-P Model for Cyber security
  • Government shall partner with the private sector and the academia to strengthen cyber security posture of the state
• Information Security Policy and Practices
  • Security Audit Adhering to international standards applicable for all govt. websites, applications before hosting and publishing
  • to ensure ISPs (internet service provider)operating in the state shall deploy cyber security plans in line with State cyber security policy.
• State Computer Emergency Response Team
  • Establishment of the State CERT to operate in conjunction ICERT and coordinate with NCIIPC
  • Cyber security drills shall be carried out under the supervision of I-CERT
• Identity Theft and Security Incident Prevention:
• State cyber security framework to support strategy and implementation mechanisms to prevent digital impersonation and identity theft and the security incidents
• Assurance Framework:
• Framework of assurance shall be established to provide guidance on security certifications, and qualification criteria and prescribe security audits of gov. ICT systems, Projects & applications
• Security Budget:
• Government agencies implementing IT Projects shall allocate an appropriate budget towards compliance with the security requirement of IT Act 2000 and State cyber security policy, security solution procurement and training.
• Capacity Building and Awareness
  • Government shall take appropriate steps for enhancing awareness of citizens and small businesses for cyber security
  • Cyber security Capacity building and training for professionals, introducing curricula academia and organizing conferences
  • Strengthening LEAs through training, establishment of forensics labs, etc.
• Get regular Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing to patch and remove existing network and web application vulnerabilities.
• Limit employee access to sensitive data or confidential information and limit their authority to install the software.
• Use highly strong passwords for accounts and make sure to update them at long intervals.
• Avoid the practice of open password sharing at work.

Mains Questions

1. Examine various types of cyber threats and measures taken against them.
2. Critically examine various loopholes in the cyber security architecture in India.