Table of Contents
Special Topic: Cyber security
• One of the most painful reality of our world is that we are living in an age of continuous cyber warfare.
• Attacks are often anonymous and difficult to attribute to specific actors, state or non-state.
• Advanced Precision Threats (APTs) carried out by anonymous hackers are often silent and go unnoticed for long periods.
• Analysts have been debating whether cyber deterrence, on the lines of nuclear deterrence, can dissuade such attackers.
• Cyber deterrence can be of two kinds
1. Defensive: attacker is unable to pierce the adversary’s networks
2. Offensive: cyber attacker is assured of a devastating response.
• Attackers are able to duck the best of cyber defences.
• For offensive cyber deterrence, identifying the attacker with pinpointed accuracy is a must.
• Analysts: cyber deterrence to hold, the response need not always be in cyberspace.
• It can be in political, economic or military domains.
Economic sanctions can be imposed.
• Countries acquiring offensive capabilities: ‘cyberweapons’
• Many companies are developing their own capabilities: ‘hunting’.
• Such unchecked proliferation of offensive cyber tools and practices can destabilize the entire cyberspace in the absence of any accepted norms of behavior.
• Presently, there are no acceptable norms of behaviour in cyberspace.
• The international community has been unable to agree on suitable
norms of behaviour in cyberspace.
• In 2013, the UN Group of Government and Experts (UNGGE) had
suggested 11norms.
• In a major setback to the process of norms development, the 2015
UNGGE failed to arrive at a consensus.
India
• It is imperative that cyber networks, software and cyber-physical systems, and platforms should be cyber-secure.
• The Indian military needs to make a proper assessment of an offensive cyber doctrine adopted by many countries and undertake action that goes beyond simply the building of defensive capabilities.
• Judicious mix of people, policies and technology, as well as robust public-private partnership.
• The reliance on imported information and communication technology (ICT) products and our inability to screen them for vulnerabilities is a major cyber security risk.
• Institutions such as the National Cyber security Coordinator (NCC), National Technical Research Organisation, Computer Emergency Response Team and the National Cyber Security Coordinator Center are all doing a reasonable job.
• But they suffer from the lack of skilled manpower and proper coordination.
• The existing National Information Board (NIB), headed by the National Security Adviser (NSA), duly empowered, can play the role of an apex body in India.
• NCC, set up in 2015 as a part of the National Security Council Secretariat, should be strengthened to bring about a much-needed synergy among various institutions and to work out a coordinated approach to cyber security, including cyber deterrence.
Prime Minister’s Office
• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today interacted with over 170 young IAS officers who have recently been appointed Assistant Secretaries in the Government of India.
• The Prime Minister encouraged them to share their experiences of field training.
• He discussed with them, some of the elements of good governance, including Jan Bhagidaari, information flows, optimal utilization of resources, and people’s trust in governance.
• Recent governance initiatives such as Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, and Ayushman Bharat, also came up for discussion.
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
• CCEA today hiked the Minimum Support Price, MSP for paddy by a record 200 rupees per quintal.
• Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, the cabinet has approved the MSP of 14 Kharif crops for the 2018-19 season.
• The government’s price advisory body CACP has calculated production cost of paddy at 1,166 rupees per quintal.
• The Minister said, the government has raised the MSP of paddy (common grade) by 200 rupees to 1,750 rupees per quintal for 2018-19 season.
• The support price of Grade A variety of paddy has been raised by 180 rupees per quintal to 1,770 rupees.
• The increase in paddy MSP is 50-51 per cent over its production cost.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed happiness over government’s decision to provide 1.5 times of MSP to the farmers.
• In a tweet, Mr Modi said, the government has fulfilled its promise made to farmers.
• Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said, farmers especially small and marginal farmers will benefit from the decision.
• The Government is committed to double the farmer’s income by 2022
and MSP is an important component in it.
• Welcoming the decision, General Secretary of Bhartiya Kisan Union Yudhveer Singh said, the farmers are happy with the Government’s decision to hike the Minimum Support Price.
CCEA on Education
• The CCEA today also approved the proposal for expanding the scope of Higher Education Financing Agency, HEFA by enhancing its capital base to 10,000 crore rupees and tasking it to mobilise 1 lakh crore rupees for Revitalizing Infrastructure and Systems in Education, RISE by 2022.
• Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, the government wants to increase investments in higher education, for which an announcement was made in the last budget and HEFA was established.
• Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said, increase of allocation for education from 65 thousand 867 crore rupees in 2013-14 to 1 lakh 10 thousand crore in 2018-19 that is 67 percent increase without any rise in fee is a huge push for research and academic infrastructure with social equity.
SC on Delhi
• The Supreme Court today held that Lieutenant Governor does not have
independent decision-making powers, and is bound to act on the aid and advice of
the Council of Ministers.
• The apex court was ruling on a batch of appeal filed by the Delhi government
challenging the High Court’s order holding the LG as the administrative head of
the national capital.
• The judgement pronounced by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who was heading a five
judge Constitution bench, also held that the LG cannot act as an obstructionist.
• The bench said, all decisions of the Council of Ministers must be communicated to
the LG but that does not mean his concurrence is required.
• It said, the LG can refer issues on difference of opinion to the President.
• The top court also said, except for three issues, including land and law and order,
the Delhi government has the power to legislate and govern on other issues.
1. Which city hosted the 6th US-India Aviation Summit
2018?
A) Ranchi
B) Mumbai
C) New Delhi
D) Pune
2. Who was conferred with the ‘Excellent Woman of Excellence’ award at the Women Economic Forum (WEF) 2018?
A) Anuradha Garg
B) Meenakshi Kapoor
C) Kartika Mukherjee
D) Nisha Bhalla
Answers-
1. India has signed with which nation on visa exemption for diplomatic passport holders?
A) Panama
B) Peru
C) Guatemala
D) Germany
2. Which state has decided to start 31 government colleges for girls?
A) Delhi
B) Gujarat
C) Uttar Pradesh
D) Haryana
Questions-
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