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Subject: Internal Security

  • Trolling in India

     

    The Amnesty International India has released a report titled “Troll Patrol India: Exposing Online Abuse Faced by Women Politicians in India”. The report analysed more than 114,000 tweets sent to 95 women politicians in the three months during and after last year’s general elections in India.

    Highlights of the report

    • The research found that women are targeted with abuse online not just for their opinions – but also for various identities, such as gender, religion, caste, and marital status.
    • Indian women politicians face substantially higher abuse on Twitter than their counterparts in the U.S. and the U.K.
    • Around 13.8% of the tweets in the study were either “problematic” or “abusive”.
    • Problematic content was defined as tweets that contain hurtful or hostile content, especially if repeated to an individual on multiple occasions, but do not necessarily meet the threshold of abuse.
    • While all women are targeted, Muslim women politicians faced 55% more abuse than others.
    • Women from marginalized castes, unmarried women, and those from non-ruling parties faced a disproportionate share of abuse.

    A matter of concern

    • Abusive tweets had content that promote violence against or threaten people based on their race, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, religious affiliation, age, disability or other categories.
    • They include death threats and rape threats.
    • Problematic tweets contained hurtful or hostile content, often repeated, which could reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes, although they did not meet the threshold of abuse.

  • K-4 Missile

    India successfully test-fired the 3,500-km range submarine-launched ballistic missile, K-4. The test was carried out by the DRDO from a submerged pontoon off the Visakhapatnam coast around noon.

    K-4

    • K-4 is a nuclear-capable Intermediate-range submarine-launched ballistic missile developed and tested successfully in the month of January 2020 by DRDO.
    • The missile has a maximum range of about 3500 km.
    • Once inducted, these missiles will be the mainstay of the Arihant class of indigenous ballistic missile nuclear submarines (SSBN).
    • It will give India the standoff capability to launch nuclear weapons submerged in Indian waters.

    What’s so special about K-4?

    : Circular Error Probability

    • India’s Circular Error Probability (CEP) is much more sophisticated than Chinese missiles.
    • The CEP determines the accuracy of a missile.
    • The lower the CEP, the more accurate the missile is.
    • There are very few countries which have managed to achieve this technological breakthrough.

    About INS Arihant

    • The Advanced Technology Project (ATV) began in the 1980s and the first of them, Arihant, was launched in 2009.
    • INS Arihant, the first and only operational SSBN is armed with K-15 Sagarika missiles with a range of 750 km.
    • Given India’s position of ‘No-First-Use’ (NFU) in launching nuclear weapons, the SSBN is the most dependable platform for a second-strike.
    • Because they are powered by nuclear reactors, these submarines can stay underwater indefinitely without the adversary detecting it.
    • The other two platforms — land based and air launched are far easier to detect.

  • [op-ed snap] Maoist rebellion: policy fade-out, policy fade-in

     Context

    When much is made of peace talks with rebels in Northeast India, avoidance of peace talks with Maoist rebels is strange.

    States left to deal with the Maoists

    • Scale and extent of the problem: Officially in 2019, there are 11 states and 90 affected districts.
    • State subject: This is because policing and maintaining law and order are matters devolved to states.
    • The approach adopted to deal with the problem: According to MHA-
      • Capacity building: Primarily by capacity building of the state governments.
      • Areas of capacity building: Capacity building is to be carried out in areas of security and development. This will continue with the-
      • Better police training.
      • Better intelligence gathering.
      • Reinforcing police stations in conflict zones.
      • And recruiting locals into auxiliary forces.
    • Support by MHA: MHA will continue to provide the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and other paramilitaries under its command.
      • Support of NTRO: Intelligence gathering outfits such as the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO).
      • NTRO has in the past year increased drone surveillance over the densely forested Abujhmad area in southwest Chhattisgarh, which remains the main rebel hub.

    The success achieved so far

    • Influence reduced to 90 districts: The policies so far has certainly contained the rebels across 90 affected districts.
    • Surrender and rehabilitation policy: Most Maoist-affected states in India have a surrender and rehabilitation policy.
    • Surrender policy along with search and destroy : Surrender policy rides in tandem with search-and-destroy missions that police and paramilitaries provide.
    • This pincer has massively depleted rebel leadership and ranks with regular killings, arrests, and surrender of its leaders and cadres.

    Return of conflict displaced people

    • It is crucial for the conflict-displaced to return to their homes.
    • Issues related to return of displaced: Agencies discourage those returning from going back to their old home and instead are offered state-mandated enclaves.
      • No or little economic imperatives: Those returning are offered little economic imperative besides daily wage labour and scrambling for government handouts.
      • Some government jobs: For some, jobs are offered in
      • That is, in any case, the present for much of the 50,000 or so who did not manage to escape to Telangana and elsewhere.

    Conclusion

    • The central government would do well to focus here and in beginning negotiations for peace.
    • The Left-wing rebellion, a reality for over 50 years, is difficult to end until poor governance is improved.

     

  • Explained: What is the NIA Act, and why is Chhattisgarh challenging it?

    The Chhattisgarh state govt. moved the Supreme Court against the 2008 National Investigative Agency (NIA) Act, stating it is violative of the Constitution. In its civil suit, the government told the apex court the NIA should have no power over state policing matters.

    What is the NIA Act, 2008?

    • The NIA Act, 2008 governs the functioning of India’s premier counter-terror agency.
    • It was introduced by then home minister P Chidambaram in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks and was passed in Parliament with very little opposition.
    • The Act makes the NIA the only truly federal agency in the country, along the lines of the FBI in the United States, more powerful than the CBI.
    • It gives the NIA powers to take suo motu cognizance of terror activities in any part of India and register a case, to enter any state without permission from the state government, and to investigate and arrest people.

    Objections made by CG

    • In its petition, the Chhattisgarh govt. said the Act is “ultra vires the Constitution” and “beyond the legislative competence of the Parliament”.
    • According to the state, the 2008 Act allows the Centre to create an agency for investigation, which is a function of the state police.
    • ‘Police’ is an entry in the State List of the Constitution’s 7th Schedule.
    • The petition says the 2008 Act takes away the state’s power of conducting an investigation through the police, while conferring unfettered, discretionary and arbitrary powers” on the Centre.
    • The provisions of the Act leave no room of coordination and pre-condition of consent, in any form whatsoever, by the Centre from the State govt. which clearly repudiates the idea of state sovereignty as envisaged under the Constitution.

    Changes made to the NIA’s powers last year

    • The 2019 NIA Amendment Act expanded the type of offences that the investigative body could investigate and prosecute.
    • The agency can now investigate offences related to human trafficking, counterfeit currency, manufacture or sale of prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism, and offences under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.
    • The amendment also enables the central government to designate sessions courts as special courts for NIA trials.
    • The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment (UAPA), also passed in 2019, allows an NIA officer to conduct raids, and seize properties that are suspected to be linked to terrorist activities without taking prior permission of the DG of Police of a state.
    • The investigating officer only requires sanction from the Director General of NIA.

  • Exercise ‘Sahyog-Kaijin’

    Exercise ‘Sahyog-Kaijin’

    • Indian and Japanese coast guards participated in a joint exercise ‘Sahyog-Kaijin’ on January 16.
    • The aim behind ‘Sahyog-Kaijin’ is to strengthen the bond between the two countries.
    • One ship of the Japanese Coast Guard and four ships and an aircraft of the Indian Coast Guard participated in the joint exercise.
    • The drill is a five-day event.

  • In news: Dept. of Military Affairs’

    The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approved the Rules of Business for the newly created Department of Military Affairs (DMA) headed by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

    Department of Military Affairs (DMA)

    • The DMA headed by Gen Bipin Rawat will have two Joint Secretaries, 13 Deputy Secretaries, 25 Under Secretaries and 22 Section officers.
    • The training policy, most of the training establishments and cadre management of the Services will be under the purview of the DMA.
    • Defence diplomacy of the neighbourhood countries would also be under the CDS.
    • Similarly, deputations to the training establishments such as the National Defence Academy (NDA), the Indian Military Academy (IMA), the Officers Training Academy (OTA) and the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) would also be under the CDS.
    • Cadre review of Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and Other Ranks (OR) will be looked after by the CDS.

    Other facts

    • On December 30, the government notified the DMA creation, with the CDS also as a Secretary in the MoD.
    • The DMA is the fifth department in the MoD, the others being the Department of Defence, the Department of Defence Production, the Department of Defence Research and Development and the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare.
    • The Services have been brought under the ambit of the DMA in addition to the Territorial Army and works relating to the three Services and procurement exclusive to the Services except capital acquisitions.
    • Defence imports and procurements would be under the the Department of Defence headed by the Defence Secretary.

  • [pib] Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)

    Union Minister for Home Affairs has inaugurated the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and also dedicated National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to the Nation.

    I4C

    • The scheme to setup I4C was approved in October 2018 to deal with all types of cybercrimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
    • At the initiative of Union Ministry for Home Affairs (MHA), 15 States and UTs have given their consent to set up Regional Cyber Crime Coordination Centres at respective States/UTs.
    • It has seven components:
    1. National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit
    2. National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal
    3. National Cyber Crime Training Centre
    4. National Cyber Crime Research and Innovation Centre
    5. National Cyber Crime Forensic Laboratory Ecosystem
    6. Platform for Joint Cyber Crime Investigation Team
    7. Cyber Crime Ecosystem Management Unit

    About National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal

    • National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) is a citizen-centric initiative that will enable citizens to report cyber crimes online through the portal.
    • All the cyber crime related complaints will be accessed by the concerned law enforcement agencies in the States and Union Territories for taking action as per law.
    • This portal was launched on pilot basis on 30th August, 2019 and it enables filing of all cyber crimes with specific focus on crimes against women, children, particularly child pornography, child sex abuse material, online content pertaining to rapes/gang rapes, etc.
    • This portal also focuses on specific crimes like financial crime and social media related crimes like stalking, cyber bullying, etc.
    • This portal will improve coordination amongst the law enforcement agencies of different States, districts and police stations for dealing with cyber crimes in a coordinated and effective manner.

  • [op-ed of the day] The age of ubiquitous drones and the challenges overhead

    Context

    Increasing the use of drones in warfare and other areas has brought into focus the potential the use of drones hold and the other issues related to its misuse.

    Recent events featuring drones

    • A drone was used by the U.S. to fire the missile at Qassem Soleimani to assassinate him.
    • A few days before that, less-lethal drones monitored crowds of student protesters rocking India.

    A potential area of use of drones

    • Military and Policing: Drones are largely used for military or policing purposes, but they also have other uses.
    • Recreation and Sports: They are used for recreation and sports. The Chinese company DJI dominates this space.
    • Logistics: Logistics is another use, with Amazon developing last-mile drone delivery.
    • At scale, this delivery model can save money, energy and time.
    • Domino’s extended this logic to deliver its first pizza by drone in New Zealand and is experimenting with scaling this model up in many markets.
    • Botswana has had some successful trials where drones have delivered blood and life-saving drugs to villages out in the wilderness.
    • Agriculture: A startup called Terraview uses drones with advanced image processing, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality to increase the productivity of vineyards.
    • A drone can be used to measure the amount of grain that’s piled up after harvest.
    • Mining Output: Tata Steel has used drones quite effectively to measure mining output.
    • Access the inaccessible places: Drones can go where people cannot.
    • So, inspection and repair at remote wind farms on an island, or pipelines in the remote tundra, or equipment in a rainforest can be done more cheaply and precisely.
    • Drone surveillance is now widely used by the insurance industry in the aftermath of floods or pest inspections.
    • They can provide organizations a 360-degree view of the status of any construction project and its assets.
    • Explosive detection and defusing: In many places, it is just safer to send a drone, such as while using explosives in deep mines or defusing suspected bombs.
    • Wildlife protection and survey: drones are used to survey wildlife and detect poaching in the jungles of Africa.

    Drones as commodity

    • Drones will soon become a hardware commodity, much like personal computers.
    • It will be the software loaded on it that will be the real force-multiplier.
    • Industry 4.0 revolution: Business like “drones-as-a-service” will emerge, dramatically reducing the time taken for tasks and serving as a vital tool in the Industry 4.0 revolution.

    A potent tool for Swarm-attack by military

    • Perhaps the most fascinating developments will occur where drones originated, in
    • Drones will mutate into swarms, where multiple, intelligent, small drones act as one vast network, much like a swarm of birds or locusts.
    • Advanced militaries have drone swarms under trial that could revolutionize future conflicts.
    • These swarms could overwhelm enemy sensors with sheer numbers and precisely target enemy soldiers and assets using data fed into them.
    • They will be difficult to shoot down as there will be hundreds of small flying objects rather than one big ballistic missile.
    • The swarm will use real-time ground data to organize itself and operate in concert to achieve its goal.

    Issues with drones

    • It will be us humans who will decide whether we use drones for beneficial or malevolent ends.
    • National Security Issues: Drones have demonstrated the potentials for their threat to the security of a country. Drones are operated remotely and can strike where it want it to strike. Raising serious security issues.
    • Terrorism: Drones have been used by various terrorist organisations like ISIS in Syria and Iraq to hit their targets.
    • Aviation safety: Drones flying too close to commercial aircraft has called for regulations.
    • Privacy: Drones have been used by the paparazzi to take the images of individuals breaching their privacy.

    Conclusion

    Drones can indeed be a fantastic tool for good projects, from helping save the planet to identifying and nabbing criminals, and preventing the loss of human life. However, for that, we will have to change the DNA that they were born with, as lethal weapons of war. Otherwise, they will remain anonymous killers, wreaking death and destruction as they hover innocuously above.

     

  • [pib] Exercise MILAN 2020

    Visakhapatnam is set to host an International Naval event ‘MILAN’ in March 2020.

    MILAN 2020

    • It is a multilateral naval exercise aimed to enhance professional interaction between friendly foreign navies and learn from each other’s strengths and best practices in the maritime domain.
    • The Exercise with the theme ‘Synergy Across the Seas’ would provide an excellent opportunity for Operational Commanders of friendly foreign navies to interact with each other in areas of mutual interest.
    • Of the 41 navies invited, confirmations from over 30 navies have been received towards their participation in MILAN 2020.

    In continuity with:

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/pib-exercise-milan-2020/

  • [pib] Operation Sankalp

    Indian Navy has commenced Maritime Security Operations, code named Op SANKALP, in the Gulf region to ensure safe passage of Indian Flag Vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.

    Op Sankalp

    • Indian Navy warships and aircraft were deployed to establish presence, provide a sense of reassurance to the Indian merchantmen, monitor the ongoing situation and respond to any emergent crises.
    • The operation is being progressed in close coordination with all stakeholders including Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and DG, Shipping.
    • The Navy continues to monitor the situation in the Gulf region and is maintaining presence in the region to ensure security of our sea borne trade and the safety of Indian Flag Merchant Vessels transiting through the region.