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Subject: Internal Security

  • What is National Security Council (NSC)?

    The budgetary allocation for the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) increased 10 times from â‚č33.17 crores in 2016-17 to â‚č333.58 crores in 2017-18.

    National Security Council (NSC)

    • The NSC is an executive government agency tasked with advising the Prime Minister’s Office on matters of national security and strategic interest.
    • It was established by the former PM of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 19 November 1998, with Brajesh Mishra as the first National Security Advisor.
    • Prior to the formation of the NSC, these activities were overseen by the Principal Secretary to the preceding Prime Minister.

    Members

    • Besides the NSA the Deputy National Security Advisors, the Ministers of Defence, External Affairs, Home, Finance of the Government of India, and the Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog are members of the National Security Council.
    • PM can chair the meeting of NSC (for eg – PM chaired the meeting of NSC Post Pulwama to discuss heightened tension with Pakistan).
    • Other members may be invited to attend its monthly meetings, as and when is required.

    Organizational structure

    • The NSC is the apex body of the three-tiered structure of the national security management system in India.
    • The three tiers are the Strategic Policy Group, the National Security Advisory Board, and a secretariat from the Joint Intelligence Committee.

  • Back in news: Pegasus Spyware

    Telephone numbers of some noted Indian journalists were successfully snooped upon by an unidentified agency using Pegasus software.

    Pegasus Spyware

    • All spyware do what the name suggests — they spy on people through their phones.
    • Pegasus works by sending an exploit link, and if the target user clicks on the link, the malware or the code that allows the surveillance is installed on the user’s phone.
    • A presumably newer version of the malware does not even require a target user to click a link.
    • Once Pegasus is installed, the attacker has complete access to the target user’s phone.
    • The first reports on Pegasus’s spyware operations emerged in 2016, when Ahmed Mansoor, a human rights activist in the UAE, was targeted with an SMS link on his iPhone 6.

    What is the new threat?

    • Pegasus has evolved from its earlier spear-phishing methods using text links or messages to ‘zero-click’ attacks which do not require any action from the phone’s user.
    • This had made what was without a doubt the most powerful spyware out there, more potent and almost impossible to detect or stop.

    How do zero-click attacks work?

    • A zero-click attack helps spyware like Pegasus gain control over a device without human interaction or human error.
    • Zero-click attacks are hard to detect given their nature and hence even harder to prevent.
    • Detection becomes even harder in encrypted environments where there is no visibility on the data packets being sent or received.
    • Most of these attacks exploit software that receive data even before it can determine whether what is coming in is trustworthy or not, like an email client.

    Answer this PYQ from CSP 2018:

    Q.The terms ‘WannaCry, Petya, Eternal Blue’ sometimes mentioned news recently are related to

    (a) Exoplanets

    (b) Crypto currency

    (c) Cyber attacks

    (d) Mini satellites

  • Need for coordinated database for tracking fugitives

    Context

    India lacks a domestic tracking system for fugitives. That makes it easier for them to evade the criminal justice system.

    Challenges at investigation and prosecution level

    • Central agencies have developed reasonable expertise in investigation and prosecution because they are focussed only on investigation and prosecution work.
    • On the other hand, State police forces (except specialised wings) are engaged in law-and-order work as well as investigations.
    • The bulk of the investigation and prosecution work happens at police stations in the States.
    • There is a tendency to close investigations once the accused have absconded.
    • Some police stations do initiate proceedings for attachment of property and declaration of the accused as proclaimed offenders, but the number of cases where coordinated efforts are made to pursue fugitives – domestically or internationally – are hardly documented.

    No system for tracking criminals domestically

    • Through Interpol Notices and the sharing of immigration databases of different countries, there exists a system of tracking criminals worldwide.
    • However, there is no coordinated system or database for tracking criminals or wanted persons domestically in India.
    • In the absence of such a system, it is relatively easy for criminals from one police station/jurisdiction to melt into the population in any other area, almost undetected.

    Way forward

    • The creation of a nationwide database of wanted persons, which could be accessible for police agencies, the public and others is needed.
    • A nation-wide system of ‘Wanted Persons Notices’, similar to Interpol Notices, is required, to help track fugitives domestically.
    • The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems and the National Intelligence Grid are efforts in the right direction/
    • Countries like the U.S. have functional inter-State extradition and fugitive tracking systems.
    • India needs to set up such dedicated ‘fugitive tracking units’.
    • There needs to be enhanced integration between immigration agencies, State police agencies, Interpol-New Delhi, the External Affairs Ministry and Home Ministry and central investigation agencies.
    • Sharing India’s ‘wanted’ database or providing access to it to foreign embassies on a reciprocal basis or through treaties or arrangements would also be helpful.
    • Signing of more bilateral and multilateral conventions on criminal matters would help plug legal infirmities.
    • Signing bilateral agreements on cooperation in policing matters would also help.
    • All relevant legal processes and requirements should be incorporated into one consolidated law on international cooperation.
    • The entire gamut of activities pertaining to fugitives, from investigation to extradition, needs to be incorporated into a specialised set-up.

    Conclusion

    In the absence of a coordinated database, criminals can go undetected. What we need is a watertight system that would deter criminals from hoodwinking the law.

    Back2Basics: Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS)

    • CCTNS aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and effective policing at all levels and especially at the Police Station level.
    • It aism at adoption of principles of e-Governance, and creation of a nationwide networked infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled state of- the-art tracking system around “investigation of crime and detection of criminals” in real time.
    • It is is a critical requirement in the context of the present day internal security scenario.
    • The scope of CCTNS spans all 35 States and Union Territories and covers all Police Stations (15,000+ in number) and all Higher Police Offices (6,000+ in number) in the country.
    • The CCTNS project includes vertical connectivity of police units (linking police units at various levels within the States – police stations, district police offices, state headquarters, SCRB and other police formations – and States, through state headquarters and SCRB, to NCRB at GOI level) as well as horizontal connectivity, linking police functions at State and Central level to external entities.

    National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID)

    • First conceptualised in 2009, NATGRID seeks to become the one-stop destination for security and intelligence agencies to access database related to immigration entry and exit, banking and telephone details of a suspect on a “secured platform”.
    • All State police are mandated to file First Information Reports (FIR) in the CCTNS.
    • It is only a repository and the data pertaining to FIRs of a particular police station are a State subject.

  • New online platform maps Pegasus spread

    An online database about the use of the spyware Pegasus was recently launched by the Forensic Architecture, Amnesty International and the Citizen Lab to document attacks against human rights defenders.

    What is Pegasus?

    • Last year, one of the biggest stories that broke into cyberspace was WhatsApp’s reports that 1,400 of its users were hacked by Pegasus, a spyware tool from Israeli firm NSO Group.
    • All spyware do what the name suggests — they spy on people through their phones.
    • Pegasus works by sending an exploit link, and if the target user clicks on the link, the malware or the code that allows the surveillance is installed on the user’s phone.
    • A presumably newer version of the malware does not even require a target user to click a link.
    • Once Pegasus is installed, the attacker has complete access to the target user’s phone.

    Why is Pegasus dangerous?

    • What makes Pegasus really dangerous is that it spares no aspect of a person’s identity. It makes older techniques of spying seem relatively harmless.
    • It can intercept every call and SMS, read every email and monitor each messaging app.
    • Pegasus can also control the phone’s camera and microphone and has access to the device’s location data.
    • The app advertises that it can carry out “file retrieval”, which means it could access any document that a target might have stored on their phone.

  • Indian Army Memorial in Italy

    During his four-day visit to the UK and Italy, the Indian Army Chief will inaugurate the Indian Army Memorial at Cassino in Italy, about 140 km away from Rome.

    What is the memorial about?

    • The memorial commemorates over 3,100 Commonwealth servicemen who took part in the effort to liberate Italy in World War II.
    • Apart from this, 900 Indian soldiers were also commemorated on this memorial.

    What was happening in Italy in WWII?

    • Under Benito Mussolini, Italy had joined Nazi Germany in 1936 and in 1940 it entered WWII (1939-1945) against the Allies.
    • But in 1943, Mussolini was overthrown and instead, Italy declared war on Germany.
    • The invasion of Italy by the Allies coincided with an armistice that was made with the Italians.
    • Even so, the UK’s National Army Museum notes that for two years during WWII, Italy became one of the war’s most “exhausting campaigns” because they were facing a skilled and resolute enemy.

    What was India’s involvement in World War II?

    • In the first half of the 1940s, India was still under British rule and the Indian Army fought in both the world wars.
    • It comprised both Indian and European soldiers.
    • Apart from this, there was the East India Company Army that also recruited both Indian and European soldiers and the British Army, which was also present in India.

    India the largest volunteer

    • Indian Army was the largest volunteer force during WWII, with over 2.5 million (more than 20 lakh) Indians participating.
    • These troops fought the Axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) as part of the Allies.
    • By 1945, the Allies had won, Italy had been liberated, Adolf Hitler was dead and India was barely a couple of years short of independence.
    • However, while millions of Indians participated, their efforts are not always recognized.

  • The problem now with the military synergy plan

    The recent controversy over the alleged marginalization of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the proposed ‘theaterisation’ of the national security landscape has led to some debates.

    IAF concerned over ITC

    • The Indian military continues to work in silos, like all governmental agencies in India, and a need was rightly felt and directions issued by PM to bring about jointness.
    • The aim is to bring about synergy in operations while economizing through the elimination of duplication and wasteful practices or processes.
    • IAF is keen to bring in the requisite reforms to improve the war-fighting capabilities of the Indian military as a whole while also economizing.

    Reservations of IAF

    • In the current formulation of theatres, the objections from the IAF have essentially been due to air power being seen as an adjunct to the two surface forces.
    • IAF veterans feel that the IAF is being divided into penny packets which would seriously degrade the effectiveness of air operations in any future conflict or contingency.
    • They feel that the use of air power is found to be sub-optimal under the military ethos of “an order is an order”.

    Hurry by the CDS

    • Concurrently, such an intellectual exercise would identify duplication, wasteful resources and practices.
    • This is what the CDS should have been pursuing before first freezing the structure and then trying to glue the pieces together or hammer square pegs in round holes.
    • Only such a strategy can define the types of contingencies the military is expected to address, leading to appropriate military strategies, doctrines and required capabilities.

    Why is the IAF right?

    • Airpower is the lead element, particularly since the Indian political aim, even in the foreseeable future, is unlikely to be the occupation of new territories.
    • A large, manpower-intensive army with unusable armour formations would then also come into focus.
    • Even the proposed air defence command conflicts with the domain command in the seamless employment of airpower.
    • It is due to the absence of such an intellectual exercise that the IAF does not wish to see its limited resources scattered away in fighting defensive battles by a land force commander with little expertise.
    • The Army fails to realise that offensive air power is best not seen, busy keeping the enemy air force pinned down elsewhere as shown in 1971.

    The Army-Air Force silo

    • Historically, the Indian Army has always kept the IAF out of the information loop and demonstrated a penchant to ‘go it alone’.
    • The charge that the IAF joined the party late during Kargil (1999) is also totally baseless and shows a lack of knowledge of events and a failure to learn from historical facts.
    • Recorded facts and a dispassionate view would clearly show that the IAF began conducting reconnaissance missions as soon as the Army just made a request for attack helicopters.
    • This despite the IAF pointing out the unsuitability of armed helicopters at these altitudes and their vulnerability.
    • The use of offensive air power close to the Line of Control also required that the political leadership be kept informed due to possibilities of escalation, something that the Army was unwilling to do.

    Echoes from Kargil

    • Seen in this light, the Chinese incursion into Eastern Ladakh last year is reminiscent of Kargil.
    • While the response has been swift, it is evident that a clear intent to use combat air power, as against 1962, has significantly contributed in deterring China.
    • However, such intent and a joint strategy would have been forcefully signalled by the presence of air force representatives in the ongoing negotiations to restore status quo ante.
    • The continuing build-up of the infrastructure for the PLA Air Force in Tibet further emphasizes the need for an air-land strategy, with air power as the lead element to deter or defeat the Chinese designs at coercion.

    National security strategy should be at the centerstage

    • If war is the continuation of politics by other means, then it is essential to first define the political objectives flowing into a national security strategy before any effective use of force can be truly contemplated.
    • The failures of the mightiest militaries in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and even our own Indian misadventure in Sri Lanka bear testimony to the lack of clear political objectives and appropriate military strategies.
    • It is, therefore, unfortunate that even after over seven decades after Independence, India still does not have a clearly articulated national security strategy.

    Address the structural gaps

    • Finally, theatre or any lower structure requires an institutionalized higher defence organization, which has been sadly missing.
    • This has lead to little regular dialogue between the political and military leadership, except in crises resulting in knee-jerk responses.
    • This led to a remark from a scholar-warrior that, “it is ironic that the Cabinet has an Accommodation Committee but not a Defence Committee”.
    • In the current proposal, it appears that the CDS, as the permanent chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC), would also exercise operational control of the theatre/functional commands.

    Way forward

    • Prudence demands that instead of ramming down such structures without adequate deliberations and discussions with all stakeholders.
    • We need to first evolve appropriate military strategies in a nuclear backdrop in concert with the political objectives.
    • Thereafter, joint planning and training for all foreseen contingencies, with war-gaming, would automatically indicate the required structures with suitable command, control and communications.

    Conclusion

    • We must remember that in war there is no prize for the runner-up.
    • It is better that such objections and dissenting opinions come out now before the structure is formalized than once it is set in stone.
    • The nation would then end up paying a heavy price, with the Air Force carrying the burden and blame for the failures.

  • Global Cybersecurity Index 2020

    India has made it to the top 10 in Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2020 by ITU, moving up 37 places to rank as the tenth best country in the world on key cybersafety parameters.

    Global Cybersecurity Index

    • GCI assessment is done on the basis of performance on five parameters of cybersecurity including legal measures, technical measures, organizational measures, capacity development, and cooperation.
    • The performance is then aggregated into an overall score.
    • For each of the five aspects, all the countries’ performance and commitment are assessed through a question-based online survey, which further allowed for the collection of the supporting evidence.

    India’s progress

    • As per the ranking, India has moved up by 37 places to rank as the tenth best country in the world.
    • The US topped the chart, followed by the UK and Saudi Arabia tied on the second position, while Estonia was ranked third in the index.
    • India has also secured the fourth position in the Asia Pacific region, underlining its commitment to cybersecurity.

    Its significance

    • The affirmation by the UN body of India’s efforts on cybersecurity comes just ahead of the sixth anniversary of Digital India on July 1.
    • India is emerging as a global IT superpower, asserting its digital sovereignty with firm measures to safeguard data privacy and online rights of citizens.

    Back2Basics: International Telecommunication Union

    • ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies – ICTs.
    • Founded in 1865 to facilitate international connectivity in communications networks. It is Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
    • It allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develops the technical standards that ensure networks and technologies seamlessly interconnect, and strives to improve access to ICTs to underserved communities worldwide.
    • Recently, India got elected as a member of ITU Council for another 4-year term – from 2019 to 2022. India has remained a regular member since 1952.

  • Appointing Army officials as advisers for anti-Maoist operations in the Home Ministry

    Doubts are often raised on the ability of CAPF whenever it suffers a setback. It is also suggested that  ex-servicemen from the Army should be inducted into the CAPF. The article argues against such suggestions.

    Experience of CAPF

    • The allegations that CAPF personnel are not well-trained falls flat when we look into the history of these paramilitary forces.
    • Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were in the battlefront in the 1971 India-Pakistan war and won medals.
    • As part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka, CRPF personnel fought the militants there.
    • In 1965, at Sardar Post in the Raan of Kutch, a small contingent of CRPF repulsed a Brigade strength attack of the Pakistan Army.
    • In Punjab, it was the CRPF alongside the Punjab Police that brought the situation under control.
    • Credit for peace and tranquillity in the north-eastern States goes in large measure to the CAPF personnel.

    Will appointing Army officials as advisers help?

    • The Army has never fought against the Maoists.
    • It is absurd to appoint Army officials as advisers for anti-Maoist operations in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
    • What sort of advice can they be expected to render to the experts of the CAPFs in the field who have spent a major part of their lives combating insurgents and extremists?

    Versatile force

    • The Greyhounds, a specialised commando outfit of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, was able to inflict heavy casualties on Maoists forcing them to migrate to neighbouring States.
    • The elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) has played a stellar role in killing some top Maoist leaders and continue to be dreaded by the Maoists.
    • The CAPFs have well-established training centres across the country with instructors of high calibre.

    Conclusion

    The fact that they are able to tackle terrorism in Kashmir, fight the Maoists in left wing extremism-affected States, combat insurgency in the Northeast, ensure smooth conduct of elections and control riots across the country speaks volumes about their versatility .

  • What is Project Seabird?

    Defence Minister has recently visited the Karwar Naval Base in Karnataka to inspect infrastructure development under Phase II of “Project Seabird”.

    Project Seabird

    • The largest naval infrastructure project for India, Project Seabird involves the creation of a naval base at Karwar on the west coast of India.
    • INS Kadamba is an Indian Navy base located near Karwar in Karnataka.
    • The first phase of construction of the base was code-named Project Seabird and was completed in 2005.
    • INS Kadamba is currently the third-largest Indian naval base and is expected to become the largest naval base in the eastern hemisphere after the completion of expansion Phase IIB.

    Why need such a base?

    • During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, the Indian Navy faced security challenges for its Western Fleet in Mumbai Harbour due to congestion in the shipping lanes from commercial shipping traffic, fishing boats and tourists.
    • At the end of the war, various options were considered on addressing these concerns
    • Upon completion, it will provide the Indian Navy with its largest naval base on the west coast and also the largest naval base east of the Suez Canal.
    • The Navy’s lone aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya is based at Karwar.

  • Successful test-fire of Agni-Prime Missile

    A new generation nuclear-capable ballistic missile Agni-P (Prime) was successfully test-fired by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).

    Agni-Prime Missile

    • Agni-P is a new generation advanced variant of the Agni class of missiles.
    • It is a canisterised missile with a range capability between 1,000 and 2,000 km.
    • Many advanced technologies including composites, propulsion systems, innovative guidance and control mechanisms and state-of-the-art navigation systems have been introduced.
    • The missile strengthens India’s credible deterrence capabilities.

    What is the upgrade?

    • Agni-P has improved parameters including manoeuvring and accuracy.
    • Canisterisation of missiles reduces the time required to launch the missile while improving its storage and mobility.

    What are Agni Missiles?

    • Agni class of missiles are the mainstay of India’s nuclear launch capability which also includes the Prithvi short-range ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and fighter aircraft.
    • The longest of the Agni series, Agni-V, an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) with a range of over 5,000 km, has already been tested several times and validated for induction.

    An arsenal for peace

    • In the last few years, India has also operationalized its submarine-based nuclear launch capability, completing the nuclear triad.
    • This is especially important given India’s No-First-Use policy while reserving the right of massive retaliation if struck with nuclear weapons first.