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Subject: Internal Security

  • Dismantling INS Viraat

    Decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Viraat is set to be scrapped at a ship breaking yard at Alang in Gujarat soon.

    In rarest case we would see a question based on this in CSP. However, we can expect a question based on INS Viraat in the CAPF exam very well.

    INS Viraat

    • Viraat, a Centaur class aircraft carrier weighing 27,800 tonnes, served in the British Navy as HMS Hermes for 25 years from November 1959 to April 1984.
    • It was commissioned into the Indian Navy in May 1987 after refurbishment and had operated Harrier fighter jets.
    • It was decommissioned from in March 2017, and the Navy had been incurring expenditure since then on its upkeep, such as the provision of electricity and water, and repairs.
    • In 2018, the Maharashtra Cabinet approved a proposal to convert the carrier into a museum and hospitality centre on a PPP basis and had invited bids. But there were no takers.

  • Expansion of the National Cadet Corps (NCC)

    In his I-Day speech, PM spoke about the expansion of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in coastal and border districts of India.

    Try this question:

    Q.The Shekatkar Committee recommendations sometimes seen in the news are related to:

    a) Modernization of Railways b) Modernization of Defence c) Road Infrastructure d) Cashless Payments

    About NCC

    • The NCC, which was formed in 1948, has its roots to British era uniformed youth entities like University Corps or University Officer Training Corps.
    • It enrols cadets at the high school and college level and also awards certificates on completion of various phases.
    • Headed by a Director-General of three-star military rank, the NCC falls under the purview of MoD and is led by serving officers from the Armed forces at various hierarchical positions.
    • The NCC currently has 17 regional directorates which govern the NCC in units in various states or groups of states and union territories.
    • Each school and college units have Associate NCC Officers and cadets are also assigned various leadership roles in the form of cadet appointments.
    • NCC has a dual funding model where both the centre and states or union territories provide budgetary support.

    Training the cadets

    • The NCC cadets receive basic military training at various levels and also have academic curriculum basics related to Armed forces and their functioning.
    • Various training camps, adventure activities and military training camps are an important aspect of NCC training.
    • NCC cadets have played an important role over the years in relief efforts during various emergency situations.
    • During the ongoing pandemic, over 60,000 NCC cadets have been deployed for voluntary relief work in coordination with district and state authorities across the country.

    PM’s announcement

    • Expansion of NCC in the border and coastal area has been under consideration of the Ministry of Defence for quite some time.
    • PM took this I-Day to announce that from the 173 coastal and border districts, one lakh cadets, a third of them girls, will be trained.
    • Currently, the NCC has the strength of around 14 lakh cadets from Army, Navy and Air Force wings.
    • Border and coastal areas will get trained manpower to fight with disasters. Youth will acquire the required skills for careers in armed forces.

    Significance of expansion

    • In the coastal regions, where youth are already familiar with the sea, the training will increase interest in careers in Navy, Coast Guard and also Merchant shipping avenues.
    • In the border area, the trained cadets can play an important role in various contingencies and also in supporting roles to the Armed forces in various roles.

  • Exercise Kavkaz 2020

    In a resumption of bilateral and multilateral military exercises which were deferred due to coronavirus (COVID-19), India will take part in the Russian Kavkaz 2020 strategic command-post exercise next month.

    Go through the list for once. UPSC may ask a match the pair type question asking exercise name and countries involved.

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/prelims-spotlight-defence-exercises/

    Kavkaz 2020

    • The Kavkaz 2020 is also referred to as Caucasus-2020.
    • The exercise is aimed at assessing the ability of the armed forces to ensure military security in Russia’s southwest, where serious terrorist threats persist and preparing for the strategic command-staff drills.
    • The main training grounds that will be involved are located in the Southern Military District.
    • The invitation for participation has been extended to at least 18 countries including China, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey apart from other Central Asian Republics part of the SCO.

  • Issues with the nuclear deterrence

    On 6 August 1945 world witnessed the destructive potential of the nuclear weapons. Today’s nuclear weapons are several times more destructive than the one used there. This calls for the close scrutiny of the idea of the nuclear deterrence. This article dwells over the same issue.

    Context

    • While Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been the last two cities to be destroyed by nuclear weapons, we cannot be sure that they will be the last.
    • Since 1945, several countries have armed themselves with nuclear weapons that have much more destructive power in comparison to those that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

    Vulnerability

    • Over 1,26,000 nuclear weapons have been built since the beginning of the atomic age.
    • There is no realistic way to protect ourselves against nuclear weapons.
    • The invention of ballistic missiles has made it impossible to intercept nuclear weapons once they are launched.
    • Neither fallout shelters nor ballistic missile defence systems have succeeded in negating this vulnerability.
    • Nuclear weapon states are targets of other nuclear-weapon states, but non-nuclear-weapon states are vulnerable as well.

    Idea of nuclear deterrence

    The idea of nuclear deterrence consists of following two proposition.

    • 1) That nuclear weapons are so destructive that no country would use them.
    • 2) Such use would invite retaliation in kind, and no political leader would be willing to risk the possible death of millions of their citizens.

    Issues with the idea of deterrence

    • 1) It is claimed that nuclear weapons do not just protect countries against use of nuclear weapons by others, but even prevent war and promote stability.
    • These claims do not hold up to evidence.
    • 2) The apparent efficacy of deterrence in some cases may have been due to the more credible prospect of retaliation with conventional weapons.
    • 3) Implicitly, however, all nuclear-weapon states have admitted to the possibility that deterrence could fail.
    • they have made plans for using nuclear weapons, in effect, preparing to fight nuclear war.
    • 4) The desire to believe in the perfect controllability and safety of nuclear weapons creates overconfidence, which is dangerous.
    • Overconfidence is more likely to lead to accidents and possibly to the use of nuclear weapons.

    So, what prevented the nuclear war if not deterrence?

    • While a comprehensive answer to this question will necessarily involve diverse and contingent factors, one essential element in key episodes is just plain luck.

    Consider the question “What are the problems involved in the idea of nuclear deterrence. Also, examine the factors responsible for the failure of nuclear disarmament.”

    Conclusion

    Humanity has luckily survived 75 years without experiencing nuclear war, can one expect luck to last indefinitely?

    Original articles:

    https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/taking-nuclear-vulnerabilities-seriously/article32279584.ece

  • Draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020

    India is one of the largest importers of defence equipment. This should have naturally made India a manufacturing hub of the defence equipment. But this is not the case. This article deals with this issue. 

    Context

    Following China’s stance of open belligerence towards India, making war preparedness a top priority. It is against this backdrop, the Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020 was unveiled.

    Key features

    • It aims for domestic output worth â‚č1.75 trillion of aerospace and defence goods and services by 2025.
    • Of which exports is aimed at â‚č35,000 crore.
    • It has various strategic initiatives that would aid the indigenous development of modern weaponry from hypersonic missiles and ace sensors to stealth submarines and fly-by-wire fighter jets.

    Why India lacks indigenous capacity

    • If India’s dependence on foreign suppliers of armaments was not for lack of trying.
    • Our Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) exists for this very purpose.
    • DRDO scientists claim success in several projects, including the Tejas design.
    • But decisions on procurements for our armed forces are made through a complex process—involving service chiefs, technocrats and politicians—that ends up favouring foreign purchases.
    • This is this convenient, as off-the-shelf wares are readily available abroad.
    • The finer details of defence deals are usually confidential, after all, and the payments huge.
    • By one estimate, India was the world’s third largest military spender in 2019, with a bill of over $71 billion, after the US and China.

    Issues and Challenges in partnership with private players

    • So far, efforts to get our private sector into the act have not fared too well, despite all our schemes to attract them.
    • Long-drawn out acquisition processes may partly be to blame for this.
    • Companies are apprehensive of investment without an assurance of a ready market.
    • But by the time their prototypes are tested and approved for induction by our forces, they risk being outmoded by advances made abroad.
    • In the US, spin-offs from defence research have been behind many technological innovations of everyday utility.
    • So, the knowledge acquired in defence research has the potential to benefit the other sectors as well.

    Consider the question “Being one of the top importers of defence equipment India is well placed to enhance its domestic manufacturing capacity of defence equipment. Yet, India lacks it after repeated attempts to achieve it. Examine the reasons for this and suggest measures to overcome this anomaly.” 

    Conclusion

    If a big push for “made in India” defence systems calls an entire ecosystem of experiments, ideas and technical wizardry into being, it could help our economy leap ahead too.

  • Dassault Rafale Fighter Jets

    The five Rafale fighter jets that landed in Ambala will resurrect the Number 17 Golden Arrows squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2018:

    Q.What is “Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)”, sometimes seen in the news?

    (a) An Israeli radar system

    (b) India’s indigenous anti-missile programme

    (c) An American anti-missile system

    (d) A defence collaboration between Japan and South Korea

    Dassault Rafale

    (Refer image for specifications)

    • The state-of-the-art 4.5 Generation Rafale jet can reach almost double the speed of sound, with a top speed of 1.8 Mach.
    • With its multi-role capabilities, including electronic warfare, air defence, ground support and in-depth strikes, the Rafale lends air superiority to the Indian Air Force.

    Armed with modern arms

    • Each aircraft has 14 storage stations for weapons. The jets come with one of the most advanced Meteor air-to-air missiles.
    • The 190-kg missile has a Beyond Visual Range (BVR) of over 100 km, travelling at a top speed of Mach 4.
    • The Rafale jets also come with SCALP, the air-to-ground cruise missile with a range over 300 km. It is a long-range deep strike missile.
    • The MICA air-to-air missile on Rafale is for both, close-quarter dogfights, and for BVR.
    • IAF has also asked for HAMMER (Highly Agile and Manoeuvrable Munition Extended Range), which is an air-to-ground precision-guided missile that can be used against bunker-type hardened targets within the range of 70 km.

    What is so special about Rafale fighter jet?

    1. India in September 2016 inked a direct deal with the French government to purchase 36 new Rafale fighter jets in a 7.87 billion euro deal that is likely to bring major work to the Indian private sector in terms of offsets under the make in India policy.
    2. The Rafale deal for 36 jets includes over 3 billion euros of work for the Indian industry over the next 7-8 years.This has a huge potential to develop direct and indirect employment opportunities.
    3. High-end technology like engine know-how, major structural assembly is also likely in India, besides a chunk of avionics work.
    4. India will also get latest weapons like the Meteor and Scalp missiles as part of the contract, besides a 5 year support package that assures high availability of the fighter.
    5. India will pay a 15 % advance and deliveries are to start in three years.

    India Specific enhancements

    The Rafale deal caters to specific Indian air force needs. The fighter jet will be modified by France to meet the following:

    • Helmet mounted sights and targeting system to give the pilots lightening quick ability to shoot off weapons.
    • Ability to taken off from high altitude airbases like Leh on a ‘cold start’ – for quick reaction deployment
    • radar warning receiver to identify hostile tracking systems
    • A towed decoy system to thwart incoming missile attacks
    • French industrial support for fighter for 50 years

    VITAL Stats

    • 7.87 billion Euro: Deal cost. This includes weapon systems, five year support, training, infrastructure and warranties. 15% to be paid in advance.
    • 91.7 million euros: as per contract, if other costs like weapons, training etc not counted, per unit price of single seat Rafale is 91.7 million euros
    • 75 % availability: French side will ensure that at any given point, at least 75 percent of the fleet is combat worthy. Failing which, heavy penalities to be invoked.
    • 67 months delivery: All aircraft ordered to be delivered within 67 months with first one coming in by 36 months
    • 50% offsets: Indian industry to get major boost as French side will invest half of deal value in Make in India products or technology transfer. Indian Partners to be firmed up within a year.
    • 328 million Euros: Saved by negotiation efforts by the Indian side on the Rafale deal, according to defence ministry sources.
    • 28/8: according to deal, India to get 28 single seater jets and 8 twin seaters for training.

    For an edge over China

    • While China’s J20 Chengdu jets are called fifth-generation combat jets, compared to 4.5 generation Rafale, the J20 have no actual combat experience.
    • Whereas the Rafale is combat proven, having been used by the French Air Force for its missions in Afghanistan, Libya and Mali.
    • It has also been used for missions in Central African Republic, Iraq and Syria. Rafale can also carry more fuel and weapons than the J20.

  • Turkey enacts Social Media Law

    Turkey’s parliament approved a law that gives authorities greater power to regulate social media despite concerns of growing censorship.

    Unregulated social media promotes misinformation, hate speech, defamation, and threats to public order, terrorist incitement, bullying, and anti-national activities.

    Turkey: The forerunner of cyber policing

    • Turkey leads the world in removal requests to Twitter, with more than 6,000 demands in the first half of 2019.
    • More than 408,000 websites are blocked in Turkey, according to The Freedom of Expression Association.
    • Online encyclopedia Wikipedia was blocked for nearly three years before Turkey’s top court ruled that the ban violated the right to freedom of expression and ordered it unblocked.
    • The country also has one of the world’s highest rates of imprisoned journalists, many of whom were arrested in a crackdown following a failed coup in 2016.

    Features of the Law:

    1) Appointing representatives:

    • The law requires major social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter to keep representative offices in Turkey to deal with complaints against content on their platforms.
    • If the social media company refuses to designate an official representative, the legislation mandates steep fines, advertising bans and bandwidth reductions.

    2) Bandwidth reductions

    • Bandwidth reductions mean social media networks would be too slow to use.
    • With a court ruling, bandwidth would be reduced by 50% and then by 50% to 90%.

    3) Privacy protection

    • The representative will be tasked with responding to individual requests to take down content violating privacy and personal rights within 48 hours or to provide grounds for rejection.
    • The company would be held liable for damages if the content is not removed or blocked within 24 hours.

    4) Data storage

    • A most alarming feature of the new legislation is that SM companies would require social media providers to store user data in Turkey.
    • The government says the legislation was needed to combat cybercrime and protect users.
    • This would be used to remove posts that contain cyberbullying and insults against women.

    Turkey seems to have given an attempt to regulate social media amidst the chaos. It lags on various fronts, making it realizable for India not to go hastily for such a regulation.

    Concerns over the law

    • Hundreds of people have been investigated and some arrested over social media posts.
    • The opposition is pointing that the law would further limit freedom of expression in a country where the media is already under tight government control and dozens of journalists are in jail.

  • Information war

    Information war waged against India from across the border needs consideration. Three factors have triggered the war in the realm of information. This article examines the way in which it is perpetrated.

    Factors

    •  Following three triggers are responsible for Pakistan’s information war.
    • 1) The Balakot attack of February 2019.
    • Balakot demolished Pakistan’s presumed nuclear equivalence that guaranteed that India would not retaliate against terrorist attacks
    • 2) The return of the BJP government in the May 2019 elections-which signalled that India would follow aggressive muscular policy.
    • 3) The August 2019 revision of Article 370.
    • The Article 370 decision demolished the centrepiece of Pakistan’s nationalism build on Kashmir.
    • The move also raised apprehensions about India’s plans for Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
    • These developments have forced it to shift the emphasis of its anti-India strategy from fomenting terrorism supported by an information war component to an information war supported by terrorism.

    How the information war is waged

    • The ISI and the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) two main instruments for the furtherance of this policy.
    • The ISPR has, over the years, recruited thousands of youth, trained them in the mechanics of social media and used them to project anti-India themes.
    • The core Pakistani objective is to demolish “Brand India” by attacking its key components — an inclusive and secular society, democratic polity, decisive government, a developing economic powerhouse and strong foreign policy.
    • The expectation is that such a strategy would adversely impact India’s secular and democratic credentials, scare foreign investment and lead to questions about its international image.
    • The key platforms for this strategy are Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook.
    • A large number of fake social media accounts, especially on Twitter, have been created.
    • The use of handles with phoney Middle Eastern identities is the latest addition to its bag of tricks.

    Themes of information war

    • Internal developments and dissent in India have been manipulated, packaged and used to develop a narrative damaging India’s social fabric.
    • On J&K, the key themes are: Kashmir is a “disputed territory” awaiting solution under the UN resolutions; India needs to talk to Pakistan to resolve the issue and since India refuses to talk, there must be international intervention, the Indian Army is violating the human rights of Kashmiris.

    Consider the question “Internet has made waging information war easier. Examine the threat posed by the information war to Indian polity. Suggest the measures to contain the threat emanating from the information war.”

    Conclusion

    Even though the Indian polity is strong, such persistent venomous attacks can temporarily damage our social fabric. We must not allow ourselves, wittingly or unwittingly, to fall prey to such machinations to polarise society, even temporarily.

  • BlackRock Android Malware

    Various security firms have alerted about new malware, called BlackRock.

    Try this question from CSP 2018:

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

    (a) Exoplanets

    (b) Cryptocurrency

    (c) Cyberattacks

    (d) Mini satellites

    BlackRock

    • BlackRock isn’t exactly a new malware. In fact, it is based on the leaked source code of the Xeres malware, itself derived from a malware called LokiBot.
    • The only big difference between BlackRock and other Android banking trojans is that it can target more apps than previous malwares.

    How does it work?

    • BlackRock works like most Android malware. Once installed on a phone, it monitors the targeted app.
    • When the user enters the login and/or credit card details, the malware sends the information to a server.
    • BlackRock uses the phone’s Accessibility feature and then uses an Android DPC (device policy controller) to provide access to other permissions.
    • It can be used to send and steal SMS messages, hide notifications, keylogging, AV detection, and much more.

    Threats posed

    • The new malware can steal information like passwords and credit card information from about 377 smartphone applications, including Amazon, Facebook, and Gmail.
    • It is so powerful that it makes antivirus applications useless.

  • Malabar Naval Exercise to include Australia

    India has finally planned to invite Australia to join the annual Malabar naval exercise that has so far included just Japan and the U.S., in a move that could risk China’s ire.

    Go through the list for once. UPSC may ask a match the pair type question asking exercise name and countries involved.

    [Prelims Spotlight] Defence Exercises

    About Ex. Malabar

    • Exercise Malabar is a trilateral naval exercise involving the United States, Japan and India as permanent partners.
    • Originally begun in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India and the United States, Japan became a permanent partner in 2015.
    • Past non-permanent participants are Australia and Singapore.
    • The annual Malabar series began in 1992 and includes diverse activities, ranging from fighter combat operations from aircraft carriers through Maritime Interdiction Operations Exercises.

    Significance of Australia’s inclusion

    • Earlier, India had concerns that it would give the appearance of a “quadrilateral military alliance” aimed at China.
    • Now both look forward to the cooperation in the ‘Indo-Pacific’ and the strengthening of defence ties.
    • This has led to a convergence of mutual interest in many areas for a better understanding of regional and global issues.
    • Both are expected to conclude the long-pending Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) as part of measures to elevate the strategic partnership.

    Back2Basics: Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD)

    • The QSD is an informal strategic forum between the United States, Japan, Australia and India that is maintained by semi-regular summits, information exchanges and military drills between member countries.
    • The forum was initiated as a dialogue in 2007 by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, with the support of Vice President Dick Cheney of the US, PM John Howard of Australia and PM Manmohan Singh of India.
    • The dialogue was paralleled by joint military exercises of an unprecedented scale, titled Exercise Malabar.
    • The diplomatic and military arrangement was widely viewed as a response to increased Chinese economic and military power, and the Chinese government responded to it by issuing formal diplomatic protest.
    • The QSD was recently revived considering the tensions in the South China Sea caused primarily by China and its territorial ambitions.