💥Join UPSC 2027,2028 Mentorship (July Batch) + XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

Subject: Internal Security

  • Why the Personal Data Protection Bill matters

    The existing data protection framework based on IT Act 2000 falls short on several counts. The Personal Data Protection Bill seeks to deal with the shortcoming in it. The article explains how the two differs.

    Need for new data protection regime

    • The need for a more robust data protection legislation came to the fore in 2017 post the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd) v. Union of India.
    • In the judgment, the Court called for a data protection law that can effectively protect users’ privacy over their personal data.
    • Consequently, the Committee of Experts was formed under the Chairmanship of Justice (Retd) B.N. Srikrishna to suggest a draft data protection law.
    • The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, in its current form, is a revised version of the draft legislative document proposed by the Committee.

    Issues with the existing data protection framework

    • The Information Technology Act, 2000 governs how different entities collect and process users’ personal data in India.
    • However, entities could override the protections in the regime by taking users’ consent to processing personal data under broad terms and conditions.
    • This is problematic given that users might not understand the terms and conditions or the implications of giving consent.
    •  Further, the frameworks emphasise data security but do not place enough emphasis on data privacy.
    • As a result, entities could use the data for purposes different to those that the user consented to.
    •  The data protection provisions under the IT Act also do not apply to government agencies.
    • Finally, the regime seems to have become antiquated and inadequate in addressing risks emerging from new developments in data processing technology.

    How the new regime under Data Protection Bill 2019 is different

    • First, the Bill seeks to apply the data protection regime to both government and private entities across all sectors.
    • Second, the Bill seeks to emphasise data security and data privacy.
    • While entities will have to maintain security safeguards to protect personal data, they will also have to fulfill a set of data protection obligations and transparency and accountability measures.
    • Third, the Bill seeks to give users a set of rights over their personal data and means to exercise those rights.
    • Fourth, the Bill seeks to create an independent and powerful regulator known as the Data Protection Authority (DPA).
    • The DPA will monitor and regulate data processing activities to ensure their compliance with the regime.

    Concerns

    • Under clause 35, the Central government can exempt any government agency from complying with the Bill.
    • Similarly, users could find it difficult to enforce various user protection safeguards (such as rights and remedies) in the Bill.
    • For instance, the Bill threatens legal consequences for users who withdraw their consent for a data processing activity.
    • Additional concerns also emerge for the DPA as an independent effective regulator that can uphold users’ interests.

    Consider the question “What are the issues with the present framework in India for data and privacy protection? How the Personal Data Protection Bill seeks to address these issues?”

    Conclusion

    The Joint Parliamentary Committee that is scrutinising the Bill is expected to submit its final report in the Monsoon Session of Parliament in 2021 Taking this time to make some changes in the Bill targeted towards addressing various concerns in it could make a stronger and more effective data protection regime.

  • Maoist Attack in Sukma

    The article deals with the counterinsurgency strategies to deal with the issues of left wing extremism in India

    Threat of left-wing extremism

    • The killing of 22 security personnel by Maoists serves as a grim reminder that left-wing insurgency continues to be one of the biggest internal security threats for the country.
    • In the past few years, Maoist violence seemed to have been on a downward spiral.
    • The figures associated with the key indicators of violence like the number of incidents also support the contention that “insurgency is on the downward spiral”.
    • But the attack should thus serve as a wake-up call to those who had begun to get complacent about the Maoist threat.

    Approach in counterinsurgency strategy

    • One school believes that given the Maoist insurgency posturing itself as a “people’s war”, the mandate is for a people-centric approach of “winning hearts and minds”.
    • Others argues that an enemy-centric approach predicated on kinetic operations is best suited for the Maoist insurgency, where the fear of the population seceding from India is remote.
    • The success of the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh in curbing the Maoist problem is often attributed to this enemy-centric approach.
    • However, there is robust scholarly work available that shows that the Andhra government based its counterintelligence strategy on a judicious mix of the enemy-centric and population-centric approaches.
    •  Andhra Pradesh had successfully implemented short-gestation-period developmental works in the Maoist-affected rural areas.
    • Moreover, the erstwhile state is also the first state to have a comprehensive surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy.
    • After the 2014 guidelines of the central government were brought out, many states have crafted attractive surrender and rehabilitation policies.
    • Another important question is whether the government should keep the option of talking to Maoists open.
    • The willingness to talk to rebel groups seems to incentivise insurgents and may demonstrate that violence pays.
    • But bringing an end to civil war invariably involves negotiating with the enemy.

    Way forward

    • Indian counterinsurgency has to work with a dual objective of defeating the insurgents militarily and fully quell the insurgent impulses.
    • This will need institutional overhauls.
    • In the last decade or so, insurgency-affected states have started to raise special forces on the lines of Greyhounds.
    • These forces are being given rigorous training in “counter-guerrilla” tactics and jungle warfare.
    •  Besides, the jungles around the interstate borders have always been the preferred hiding spaces for the Maoists.
    •  States must do more to synergise their efforts by launching coordinated operations, thereby denying Maoists any space for manoeuvrability.
    • These efforts need to be supplemented by well-crafted development schemes.
    • It is also important to segregate the population from the insurgents both operationally and ideologically.
    • The conflict over the distribution of resources can be mended with economic development.
    • But the bigger challenge would be to create a system where the tribal population feels that the government is representative, not repressive.
    • Opening negotiation channels and policies like surrender and rehabilitation can give such a representative sense to the rebels.

    Consider the question “Discuss the causes of left wing extremism in India. Suggest the way forward to deal with the issue.”

    Conclusion

    The government needs to follow these policies to end the challenge of left wing extremism from India.

  • A holistic review of internal security challenge and response to them is needed

    The article highlights the issues facing India’s internal security architecture and suggests the restructuring of roles and capacity building to address the challenge.

    Recent setback to internal security (IS) capability

    • The COMBING OPERATION by local and central police forces in the Tekulguda region of Bastar went terribly wrong and resulted in the death of 22 security personnel.
    • This tragic incident is a major and embarrassing setback to the IS (internal security) capability of India at many levels and highlights the challenge that LWE (left-wing extremism) continues to pose. 

    Strategic inadequacies

    • India has been dealing with three variants of the internal security challenge for decades.
    • These three are: 1) a proxy war and terrorism in Kashmir 2) sub-national separatist movements in the Northeast. 3) the Naxal-Maoist insurgency ( LWE) in the Red Corridor.
    • And these challenges have warranted different responses.
    • The first two strands have been reasonably contained.
    • LWE and the current Maoist movement has its genesis in poor governance, lack of development in the tribal belt and an oppressive/exploitative hierarchy of the state and society.
    •  In November 2005, then PM Manmohan Singh described the LWE challenge as the most serious security threat to India and exhorted the professionals to evolve appropriate responses.

    Need for restructuring

    • One of the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee (KRC) report was the restructuring of the role and the tasks of the para-military forces particularly with reference to command and control and leadership functions.
    • This critical component of restructuring the leadership of the central police forces (in this case the CRPF and BSF) has not been addressed, much less redressed.
    • By training, the police officer is expected to be a competent Superintendent and to maintain law and order.
    • This is not the skill-set that is relevant when an officer has to “command” and lead his men into insurgency operations.
    • In the current scenario, barring a few exceptions, many of the senior police officers (IPS cadre) who are introduced into the central police forces at senior ranks have little or no platoon/battalion experience. 

    Consider the question “What are the factors making Left Wing Extremism such a persistent internal security problem for India? Suggest the measure to improve the internal security architecture in India.”

    Conclusion

    The political leadership of the country needs to act and complete the task of restructuring and capacity building to address India’s internal security challenge.

  • Exercise ‘Shantir Ogroshena’

    Indian Army team comprising officers, junior commissioned officers (JCOs) and soldiers from the Dogra regiment will participate in the multilateral exercise ‘Shantir Ogroshena’ (front runner of peace).

    The name very much suggests that the exercise is hosted by Bangladesh. But one must note, it’s a multilateral exercise.

    Shantir Ogroshena

    • Indian Army will participate in Multinational Military Exercise namely SHANTIR OGROSHENA -2021 in Bangladesh.
    • The nine days exercise will start on the 4th of this month to commemorate the birth centenary of Bangladesh Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and mark glorious 50 years of liberation.
    • The theme of the exercise is ‘Robust Peace Keeping Operations’. Military observers from the US, UK, Turkey, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Singapore will also be in attendance throughout the exercise.
    • Military observers from the USA, UK, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Singapore will also be in attendance throughout the exercise.

  • Joint Logistics Node (JLN)

    As part of measures to boost tri-service integration and resource optimisation, Chief of Defence Staff General has operationalised the third joint logistics node (JLN) in Mumbai.

    Must read:

    Explained: How to unify defence resources

    Joint Logistics Node (JLN)

    • The Joint Operations Division (JOD) under the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff pursued and enabled the establishment of the JLNs.
    • JLNs provide integrated logistics cover to the armed forces for their small arms ammunition, rations, fuel, general stores, civil hired transport, aviation clothing, spares and also engineering support to synergise their operational efforts.
    • The initiative would accrue advantages in terms of saving of manpower, economize utilization of resources, besides financial savings.
    • It is a very important first step in the direction of logistics integration of our three Services.
    • The government has operationalised the establishment of the JLNs in Mumbai, Guwahati and Port Blair.

  • [pib] Exercise Desert Flag-VI

    Exercise Desert Flag –VI has successfully culminated with the de-induction of the Indian contingent from the UAE.

    Ex Desert Flag

    • It is an annual multi-lateral large force employment exercise hosted by UAE.
    • The sixth edition of the exercise was conducted at Air Force Base Al Dhafra, UAE.
    • IAF participated in the exercise for the first time, fielding Su-30MKI fighter aircraft.
    • Six countries; UAE, USA, France, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain apart from India participated with aerial assets. Jordan, Greece, Qatar, Egypt and South Korea participated as observer forces.

    Objective of the exercise

    • The aim for the participating crew and specialist observers was to expose them to operational environment in scenarios requiring multinational forces working together.
    • A multinational exercise in UAE with friendly forces afforded a unique opportunity to gain valuable learning to all the participating forces.

    Must read:

    [Prelims Spotlight] Defence Exercises

  • Induction of INS Dhruv

    India Navy is set to commission INS Dhruv to track satellites, strategic missiles and map the Indian Ocean bed later this year.

    INS Dhruv is no ordinary vessel for the Indian Navy. Read its stealth capabilities and utilities.

    INS Dhruv

    • INS Dhruv has been developed with the help of the DRDO and Indian Navy with India’s Strategic Force Command and National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) as main intelligence consumers.
    • The indigenously-developed surveillance ship has been built by Hindustan Shipyard Ltd at its Visakhapatnam facility under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan initiative.
    • The 15,000-tonne ship, part of a classified project, will not only create maritime domain awareness for India in the Indian Ocean but also act as an early warning system for adversary missiles headed towards India.

    Stealth capabilities

    • INS Dhruv is equipped with active electronically scanned array radars, or AESA considered a game-changer in radar technology.
    • It can scan various spectrums to monitor satellites of adversaries that are watching over India.
    • It can also understand the range and true missile capability of adversary nations that it finds in the Indo-Pacific.

    Benefits offered

    • Once the vessel is commissioned, India will be the only country outside the P-5 – the US, the UK, China, Russia and France – to have this capability
    • It will act as a major force multiplier to India’s ocean surveillance capabilities.
    • It will be able to provide the Indian Navy with an “ECG of the Indian Ocean”.

  • Forestalling the cyber threats India faces

    The article highlights the threat of a cyber attack on India’s critical infrastructure and suggests the need to take preventive measures.

    Targetting the infrastructure

    • The U.S.-based cyber security firm, Recorded Future revealed that the past blackout in Mumbai was linked to the cyber attack from China.
    • Recorded Future had also found an increase in malware attacks targeting the Indian government, defence organisations and the public sector.
    • Also that, coinciding with Chinese incursions in Eastern Ladakh, certain Indian power facilities had been targets of a cyber attack.
    • This indicates that India’s key infrastructure facilities, such as the power sector, are now in the crosshairs of a hostile China.
    • Indian government agencies, such as the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) needs to be on its guard.

    Exploiting vulnerabilities

    • China’s cyber offensive is directed against many advanced nations as well.
    • In attempting this, what China is doing is essentially exploiting to perfection the many vulnerabilities that software companies (essentially those in the West), have deliberately left open (for offensive purposes at an opportune time).
    • Exploiting this loophole, and also turning matters on its head, it is companies in the western world that are now at the receiving end of such antics.
    • Chinese cyber espionage sets no limitations on targets.
    • Towards the end of 2020, and as the world prepared for large-scale deployment of COVID-19 vaccines, their attention was directed to vaccine distribution supply chains around the world.

    Way forward

    •  Nations should beware and be warned about how cyber attacks can bring a nation to its knees.
    • This was well demonstrated way back in 2016 through a major attack on Ukraine’s power grid.
    • The Ukraine example should be a wake-up call for India and the world, as in the intervening five years, the sophistication of cyber attacks and the kind of malware available have become more advanced.
    • India, could well be blindsided by Chinese cyber attacks on critical infrastructure if the latter sets out to do so, unless prophylactic measures are taken in time.

    Consider the question “Examine the threat posed by cyber attack on the critical information infrastructure? Suggest the ways to deal with it.”

    Conclusion

    Cyber’ could well be one of China’s main threat vectors employed against countries that do not fall in line with China’s world view. Drawing up a comprehensive cyber strategy, one that fully acknowledges the extent of the cyber threat from China, has thus become an imperative and immediate necessity.

  • [pib] INS Karanj – A Kalvari Class Submarine

    Indian Navy’s third stealth Scorpene-class Submarine INS Karanj has been commissioned into the Indian Navy. It also completed the trials of the Indigenous Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) System jointly developed by Naval Materials Research Laboratory (NMRL) and DRDO.

    In a rare case, we would see a question based on various classes of Indian Submarines in the CSP. However, we can expect a question based on the AIP system in the CSP and CAPF exam.

    INS Karanj

    • INS Karanj is the third submarine of the first batch of six Kalvari-class submarines for the Indian Navy.
    • It is a diesel-electric attack submarine based on the Scorpene-class, designed by French naval defence and energy group DCNS and manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited, an Indian shipyard in Mumbai.

    What is AIP?

    For this, we have to understand how a submarine works. Traditionally we hear about two types of submarines- Nuclear and Diesel Electric.

    Diesel Electric Submarines

    • While Nuclear Submarines can stay submerged for a prolonged period and remain undetected, Diesel Electric submarines cannot do so, and they must surface after a stipulated time interval.
    • Their Diesel Propulsion would need air to run the engine like any other Vehicle or Aircraft engines and for this, they would need oxygen which is not available underwater.
    • Hence they have to move closer to the surface so that their engines can breathe air through their snorkels.

    So, these diesel turbines charge the batteries available in the submarine and once the batteries are fully charged, the submarine goes underwater where the propeller shaft, as well as other systems, runs on the power stored in the batteries.

    • This makes the Submarine very much vulnerable to threats from Air, Sea or even underwater.
    • Not only has this, but the storage of excessive fuel also reduced the overall performance and weapon holding of the submarine too.

    Why don’t we can induct only the Nuclear Submarines in the Navy?

    • Though nuclear submarines can stay underwater for months, they cannot do so with total stealth.
    • While a diesel-electric submarine (while underwater) is making no noise, Nuclear submarines have a lot of vibrations that are generated from the coolant pumping system of their reactors which must run nonstop.
    • This makes even nuclear submarines vulnerable to depth sonars.
    • Moreover, the manufacturing cost of these submarines is several times higher than those of diesel-electric ones.
    • So, the most effective and commercially viable solution is a diesel-electric submarine with AIP.

    What is AIP, then?

    • Over the years the biggest challenge before the mariners was to ensure that the submarines can sustain underwater for a prolonged time.
    • AIP is any marine propulsion technology that allows a non-nuclear submarine to operate without access to atmospheric oxygen (by surfacing or using a snorkel).
    • While there are different types of AIP systems being pursued internationally, the DRDO has applied fuel cell-based AIP using hydrogen onboard.
    • Fuel cell-based AIP has merits in performance compared to other technologies
    • While the first two submarines (INS Kalvari & INS Khanderi) are equipped with French-made AIPs, the rest of the submarines will be equipped with an Indian system.

    Note: The Project 75I-class submarine is a follow-on of the Project 75 Kalvari-class submarine for the Indian Navy.

    Significance for India

    • With this induction, India has joined the club of six other elites who have the capacity to design and install such complex systems.
    • These countries are France, China, Spain, Sweden, Germany and Russia.
    • Indian AIP system is unique. It is one of the most advanced AIP systems of the world where Fuel Cell technology is used to generate onboard power.
    • With indigenous AIP, submarines can stay underwater for more than 3 weeks in low consumption mode, more than 2 weeks in endurance mode and 2-4 days in max power mode.

    Back2Basics: Various classes of Submarines in India

    In maritime terms, a class of ships is a group of vessels that have the same make, purpose and displacement.

    • Chakra Class: Under a 10-year lease from Russia since 2012
    • Arihant Class: Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines
    • Shishumar Class: Diesel-electric attack submarines Indian variant of the Type 209 submarines developed by the German Navy
    • Kalvari Class: Diesel-electric attack submarines designed by French company DCNS
    • Sindhughosh Class: Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines built with the help of Russia

  • Critical information infrastructure

    The article underscores the threat of cyberattacks on the critical infrastructure and also suggests the steps to be taken to secure these infrastructures.

    Cyberattack on the power grid

    • On October 12 last year, Mumbai plunged into darkness as the electric grid supply to the city failed.
    • Recently, a study by Massachusetts-based Recorded Future,  said that the Mumbai power outage could have been a cyberattack aimed at critical infrastructure.
    • It was carried out by the state-sponsored group Red Echo.
    • As recently as in February, the Centre’s nodal agency National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) had reported concerted attempts by Red Echo to hack the critical grid network.
    • CERT-In, is reported to have detected the ShadowPad malware in one of the largest supply chain attacks a month after the Mumbai outage.
    • Many of the suspected IP addresses identified by NCIIPC and CERT-In were the same and most have been blocked in time.
    • The Chinese focus in the past was stealing information and not projecting power, but the situation with India might be different.

    Why critical infrastructures are so vulnerable

    • As many of these critical infrastructures were never designed keeping security in mind and always focused on productivity and reliability, their vulnerability is more evident today.
    • With devices getting more interconnected and dependent on the internet facilitating remote access during a pandemic, the security of cyber-physical systems has, indeed, become a major challenge for utility companies.

    Critical information infrastructure protection

    • For more than a decade, there have been concerns about critical information infrastructure protection (CIIP).
    • In January 2014, the NCIIPC was notified to be the national nodal agency for CIIP and over these years has been working closely with the various agencies.
    • In January 2019, the government also announced a National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS), with a budget of Rs 3,660 crore for the next five years, to strengthen the sector.

    Way forward

    • Most ministries and departments need better budget allocations for cybersecurity as well as a more robust infrastructure, processes and audit system.
    • The Industrial Cybersecurity Standards (IEC62443) launched by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), has to be adopted soon.
    • For the power sector, a strong regulation on the lines of the North American Electric Reliability Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC) policy could serve as a guide.

    Consider the question “Discuss the importance of critical information infrastructure protection (CIIP)? Also mention the steps taken by the government in this regard.” 

    Conclusion

    Clearly, the incident is a wake-up call for better preparedness in terms of a more robust cyber security ecosystem in place. The new cyber security policy awaiting imminent announcement will hopefully cater to that.