CNA 15 March 2021:- Download PDF Here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. GS 1 Related GEOGRAPHY 1. Centre reconstitutes panel on mythical Sarasvati river B. GS 2 Related INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. China, N. Korea threats loom as Blinken, Austin head to Asia C. GS 3 Related D. GS 4 Related E. Editorials SECURITY 1. Forestalling a cyber Pearl Harbour ECONOMY 1. The job crunch and the growing fires of nativism DEFENCE 1. Future force for future wars F. Prelims Facts 1. Centre likely to allow residents to fill their NPR details online 2. Uzbek troops train on Sig Sauer rifles G. Tidbits 1. Panel on air quality dissolved H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
A. GS 1 Related
1. Centre reconstitutes panel on mythical Sarasvati river
Context:
The Centre has reconstituted an advisory committee to chalk out a plan for studying the mythical Sarasvati river, after the earlier panel’s term ended in 2019.
Details:
- The ASI had first set up the committee on December 28, 2017 for a period of two years.
- The committee would continue to be chaired by the Culture Minister.
- It includes officials from the Culture, Tourism, Water Resources, Environment and Forest, Housing and Urban Affairs Ministries; representatives of the Indian Space Research Organisation; officials from the governments of Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan; and an ASI official.
- There is a 27-member panel among the “non-official members”.
River Saraswati – the mystery
- Scientists, geologists as well as scholars have identified the Saraswati with many present-day defunct rivers.
- The river originated from the Har-Ki-Dun glacier in Garhwal (Uttarakhand).
- Saraswati river flowed through Haryana, Rajasthan and the northern part of Gujarat.
- According to experts who have studied the map of underground channels, it also flowed through Pakistan before meeting the Western Sea through Rann of Kutch and was approximately 4,000 km in length.
- The report by the panel said:
- The Himalayan-born Satluj “of the PAST”, which flowed through the channels of present-day Ghaggar-Patialiwali rivulets, represents the western branch of the ancient river.
- On the other hand, it said, Markanda and Sarsuti represented the western branch of Saraswati, known as Tons-Yamuna.
- The confluence of the branches was near Shatrana, 25 km south of Patiala. And suddenly, it flows crossing the desert (Rann of Kutch) and meets the gulf of the western sea.
B. GS 2 Related
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. China, N. Korea threats loom as Blinken, Austin head to Asia
Context:
Biden administration’s first Cabinet-level trip abroad as part of a larger effort to bolster U.S. influence in Asia.
Concerns:
- Threats from China and North Korea have a significant influence on the Biden administration’s trip that among other things, aims to calm concerns about America’s role in Asia.
- As part of that effort and to reduce the risks of escalation, efforts had been made to connect with the North Koreans since February 2021, including through what is known as the “New York channel.”
- However, there has been no response from North Korea.
- Consultations with North Korea’s neighbours, Japan, South Korea and China are all the more significant for America, as it has not received any response from the reclusive country.
Details:
- Biden has signalled his desire to return the Asia-Pacific to the top of the U.S. foreign policy agenda. This is in line with his broader diplomatic theme “America is back”.
- The new administration is trying to strengthen partnerships with the two key regional allies, Japan and South Korea.
- Relationships with both countries were transactional and often temperamental under the Trump administration.
- The U.S. and South Korean negotiators have overcome years of contentious discussions under Mr. Trump to reach a tentative deal on paying for the American troop presence in South Korea.
- Recently America took part in the Quad virtual leadership summit. It pledged to keep stability in the region at the core of its international initiatives.
Read more on this topic covered in the 13th March 2021 Comprehensive News Analysis.
C. GS 3 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
D. GS 4 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
E. Editorials
1. Forestalling a cyber Pearl Harbour
Context
- The article analyses the threats posed by the Chinese hacking groups which had targeted various Indian power centres.
Background
- Recorded Future is a private U.S. cybersecurity company. The company specializes in the collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination of threat intelligence.
- According to Recorded Future, the Mumbai power outage in October 2020 was part of a coordinated cyber-attack by China.
Details
- The firm found that in the lead up to the deadly clash along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), they noticed an increase in malware targeting the government, defence organisations and the public sector.
- Recorded Future has said the attackers (which it calls RedEcho) targeted at least “10 distinct power sector organisations” with malware known as ShadowPad.
- ShadowPad is a network intrusion malware affiliated to both the Chinese Ministry of State Security and the People’s Liberation Army.
- ShadowPad is depicted as a “back-door ‘Trojan’ malware which creates a secret path from a targeted system to a command and control server to extract information”.
- Recorded Future said that in the lead-up to the May 2020 border skirmishes, it observed a noticeable increase in the provisioning of PlugX malware C2 infrastructure, much of which was subsequently used in intrusion activity targeting Indian organisations.
Read more on the Indo-China border clash of 2020 in the linked article.
Was the functioning of the power sector impacted?
- Hours after the disclosure made by the New York Times, the Union Power Ministry said it had received inputs from Indian agencies — first in November and then again in February 2021 — about the threat of infection from ShadowPad, prompting remedial measures.
- It said there was no impact on any of the functionalities carried out by the Power Sector Operations Corporation (POSOCO) due to the referred threat. No data breach/data loss has been detected due to these incidents.
Confusion
- State authorities in Maharashtra attributed the blackout to the attack by the Chinese cyber group, but authorities in Delhi blamed it on human error.
Inference
- More than the blame games and coming to a conclusion that it has not impacted the power sector, India should realize that the threat from China is real and that China had deployed cyber weapons to target India.
- The reported events are a wake-up call for India, and it would be a grievous error if India were to underestimate the extent of the cyber threat posed to it by China.
An analysis of Chinese offensive capabilities in cyberspace
- Across the world, Beijing does appear to be engaged in a major cyber offensive, directed not only against countries like India but against many advanced nations as well.
How is the attack initiated?
- Software companies from western countries may have deliberately left open a loophole that they may use at an opportune time for their advantages and gains.
- These loopholes are now being exploited by the Chinese, and the companies are now at the receiving end of such antics, having ‘left vulnerabilities for future exploitation’.
Examples:
- Chinese cyber espionage sets no limitations on targets. Hacking groups aligned with the Chinese have been sending out malicious email attachments that were directed to disturb vaccine distribution supply chains around the world.
- Their objective seems to have been targeting vaccine research, gaining future access to corporate networks, and seeking sensitive information relating to COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
- Several thousands of U.S. organisations were hacked in an unusually aggressive Chinese espionage campaign. The Chinese group, Hafnium, which has been identified as being responsible for this breach, exploited a series of flaws in the Microsoft software, enabling attackers to gain total remote control over affected systems.
Cyberwarfare by others
- The West, the United States, and Russia may also act similarly to what China is accused of doing.
- The focus currently might be on China but other western countries do engage in cyber espionage but little is publicized.
- The U.S. in the past has criticized Russia for related acts of cyber reconnaissance.
- Russia’s cyber interference in the U.S. presidential elections in 2016.
- Russia is the prime suspect in one of the greatest data breaches concerning the U.S. Federal government, involving the Departments of Defence, Energy, State, Homeland Security, Treasury, etc.
- The ‘SolarWinds hack’ is one where the hackers secretly broke into SolarWind’s systems and added malicious code into the company’s software system.
Way forward
- Nations should be aware of and be warned about how cyber-attacks can bring a nation to its knees.
- Unprecedented hack of Ukraine’s Power Grid:
- The attacks were carried out by skilled cybersecurity professionals, who had planned their assaults over many months, testing the quality of the malware, carrying out detailed logistics planning, and conducting a very sophisticated operation.
- The Ukraine example should be a wake-up call for India and the world.
There are three reasons for China to maintain and utilize aggressive cyber capability:
- to deter other states by infiltrating their critical infrastructure;
- to gain increased knowledge through espionage in cyberspace, which makes it possible for it to advance more quickly in their military development;
- to make economic gains where technological progress has been achieved—for example, through industrial espionage.
Part of Beijing’s world view
- ‘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.
- China’s 2021 Defence Budget (amounting to $209 billion) gives special weightage to the Strategic Support Force (SSF), which embraces cyber warfare — an ominous portent that bodes little good for countries that posit a challenge to China’s ambitions, such as India.
Conclusion
- If indeed the future is digital, and if China has indeed embarked on an all-out offensive, India needs to adopt comprehensive measures to forestall a potential ‘Cyber Pearl Harbour’, as far as India is concerned.
1. The job crunch and the growing fires of nativism
Context
- The Haryana government has recently passed legislation that mandates companies in Haryana to provide jobs to local Haryanvis first, before hiring people from outside the State thereby providing 75% reservation in the private sector to job seekers from the state.
A look at stats
- As per data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the unemployment rate in Haryana is the highest of all states in India.
- A whopping 80% of women in Haryana who want to work cannot find a job.
- More than half of all graduates in Haryana are jobless.
- The jobs situation in Haryana is staggeringly dismal.
Provisions of the legislation
- According to the government, the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2020 provides reservations to local people in private-sector jobs that offer a salary of less than Rs 50,000 a month. However, the reservation will initially apply for 10 years.
- The state government said the reservation law will discourage the influx of migrants seeking low-paid jobs.
Which companies are covered under the law?
- According to the state government, the reservation law covers private companies, societies, trusts, and partnership firms in the state.
- The Haryana reservation law also provides training to eligible local candidates when qualified people are not available.
- The law defines local candidates as those domiciled in the state. For the domicile status, a person should be born in Haryana or have lived there for at least 15 years.
Similar examples
- The cabinet of the government of Jharkhand approved similar legislation to reserve jobs for Jharkhand residents.
- The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu announced a similar proposal to reserve jobs for Tamils in its manifesto.
States and key parameters
- Job creation is obviously an outcome of the performance of the larger economy.
When will a company invest in a State?
- If a company, for example, Amazon believes that the Indian economy is poised to grow robustly, it may choose to expand its operations in India.
Who gets to decide in which State the company has to invest?
- It is the management of the company which decides where the company will make its investments.
- It depends not only on the ‘ease of doing business’ parameters provided by the state government but also on multiple other factors.
- It includes:
- Skilled manpower in the region.
- It is a function of many decades of social progress of the State and cannot be retooled immediately.
- The existence of what economists term as the ‘agglomeration effect’.
- The most critical factor in the choice of a location for a large business is the ecosystem of the supply chain, talent, good living conditions and so on.
- A State with an already well-established network of suppliers, people, schools, etc. are at a greater advantage to attract even more businesses than the states that are left behind.
- Skilled manpower in the region.
Inference
- Therefore, the Chief Minister of a State in India and the state government have limited control over the company operations.
- Even if State governments can compete to lure Amazon to their State and provide land at affordable prices, uninterrupted supply of electricity, water and other such ‘ease of business’ facilities for its expansion, it is the company that decides where they have to establish and expand their bases on the basis of market growth and competition in the region.
Taxes
- After the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), State governments in India have lost their fiscal autonomy and have no powers to provide any tax concessions to businesses.
- In America, states compete against each other vigorously using tax concessions and land offers to bring new jobs to their states.
Concerns
- This leads to a cycle of the more prosperous states growing even faster at the expense of the lagging states.
- The three richest large states (Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) are three times richer than the three poorest large States (Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh), in per-capita income, compared to 1.4 times in 1970.
- This gap between the richer and poorer states in India is only widening rapidly and not narrowing, due to the agglomeration impact of modern economic development paradigms.
- In the absence of a level playing field and with no fiscal autonomy, it is enormously difficult for developing states in India to attract new investments and create new jobs.
Conclusion
- Growing inter-state disparities, a ‘rich states get richer’ economic development model, an impending demographic disaster and shrinking fiscal autonomy for elected state governments in a politically and culturally diverse democracy will inevitably propagate nativistic sub-nationalism among the various states of India.
- Till we reduce the inter-state inequalities and offer the states more fiscal autonomy “don’t protect but create jobs” will only remain a topic of a hollow lecture and moral sermons.
1. Future force for future wars
Context
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently asked the country’s top military leadership to develop the military into a future force while taking note of the rapidly changing technological landscape.
Background
- Earlier, wars used to be easy to define. One could say whether the country was engaged in war or was it at peace. We could identify whom we were fighting with and at which front.
- The character of war was demonstrated depending upon the norms and ideology of society, technology, and anonymity.
- Now, times have changed leading to what is called ‘hyper’, ‘hybrid’, ‘compound’, ‘non-linear’, ‘fourth-generation’, ‘next-generation’ and ‘contactless’ war.
Hybrid warfare
- It is an emerging, but ill-defined notion in conflict studies.
- It refers to the use of unconventional methods as part of a multi-domain warfighting approach.
- Hybrid warfare also refers to using non-military tools to achieve dominance or damage, subvert or influence.
- These tools include “information pollution, perception management and propaganda.”
- Hybrid warfare also refers to using non-military tools to achieve dominance or damage, subvert or influence.
Traditional Idea
- The term hybrid warfare originally referred to irregular non-state actors with advanced military capabilities.
- For example, in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War, Hezbollah employed a host of different tactics against Israel.
Modern hybrid war
- Practitioners apply “conventional capabilities, irregular tactics and formations, use of cyber warfare and terrorist acts including indiscriminate violence, coercion, and criminal activity” simultaneously.
- Under this model, war takes place in a variety of operating environments, has synchronous effects across multiple battlefields, and is marked by asymmetric tactics and techniques.
- These tactics are difficult to defeat for militaries that lack the flexibility to shift mindsets on a constant basis, especially since the interconnected nature of modern society is such that hybrid war takes place on distinct battlefields.
War, at its core, is organised violence, waged for political purposes. The real purpose is domination.
Third Offset Strategy
For peace to prevail or be enforced, the development of future force capability based on a Third Offset Strategy was announced by the U.S. in 2014.
- It deals with multi-threat and multi-actor security environment.
- It consists of cutting-edge technology, exploration of new operational concepts for utilising such technology, and retaining the best and brightest in human resource to achieve the objective of peace. Although still in its inchoate stages, it focuses on promising technology areas such as robotics and system autonomy, miniaturisation, Big Data, and advanced manufacturing.
- It provides for autonomous learning systems, collaborative decision-making between humans and machines, assisted human operations, advanced manned-unmanned systems operations, network-enabled autonomous weapons, and high-speed projectiles.
Way forward
- To prepare for accelerated future wars, countries need to master the ‘hybridised effect’ of warfare that our adversaries are increasingly adopting.
- Confluence technology and a whole-of-government approach, which are absent, need to drive new strategies and tactics.
F. Prelims Facts
1. Centre likely to allow residents to fill their NPR details online
What’s in News?
The Centre will allow residents to fill the National Population Register (NPR) form on their own, through the online mode, a month before the door-to-door enumeration by Census officials starts.
National Population Register
- National Population Register is a register of the usual residents of the country.
- NPR is different from both the decennial census and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
- The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country.
- It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR.
- The decision exempts the state of Assam from NPR-2020.
- For the purpose of the NPR, a usual resident is defined as a person who has resided in a local area for six months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months or more.
- The database would contain demographic as well as biometric particulars.
- It will be the next round of recording biometric and family tree details of Indian citizens.
- The NPR earlier collated in 2010 and 2015 has an electronic database of more than 119 crore residents.
- It is prepared at the local (village and sub-town), sub-district, district, state and national levels under provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
Note:
- The NPR’s link with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, has been opposed by many states and civil society groups.
- The Citizenship Rules framed in the year 2003 say that the NPR is the first step towards the compilation of the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC), or the NRC.
- The CAA passed by the Parliament in 2019, allows citizenship on the basis of religion to six undocumented communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
- Though the government has denied that the CAA and the NRC are linked, there are apprehensions that the CAA followed by a countrywide NRC, will benefit non-Muslims excluded from the proposed citizens’ register, while excluded Muslims will have to prove their citizenship.
2. Uzbek troops train on Sig Sauer rifles
What’s in News?
India-Uzbek joint exercise Dustlik-II commenced at Ranikhet (Uttarakhand).
- At Dustlik-II, Uzbek troops learnt the handling of SIG-716 assault rifles, recently inducted into service by the Army and also got orientation in slithering from helicopters for heli-borne operations in a counter-terrorist environment.
Details:
- It is named after Dustlik, a town in the Jizzakh region of Uzbekistan.
- This is the Second Edition of the annual bilateral joint exercise of both armies.
- The first edition was held in Uzbekistan in 2019.
Note:
- Uzbekistan is important to India for security and connectivity to the Central Asian region and Iran.
- Good relations with Uzbekistan is important for India’s security, connectivity and counter-terrorism efforts, in the backdrop of growing Chinese presence in the region.
SIG-716 assault rifles
- SIG-716 assault rifles are American LMGs.
- Light Machine Guns (LMGs) are designed to be employed by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon.
G. Tidbits
1. Panel on air quality dissolved
What’s in News?
The central government’s Commission for Air Quality Management in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) has been shut down within five months of its formulation.
- The body came into being in October 2020 on the back of an ordinance (a temporary measure) and the law requires that a formal Bill be presented to Parliament within six weeks of its reconvening (in this case — January 29 when the Budget Session began).
- Before a Bill is tabled in Parliament it needs to be approved by the Union Cabinet.
- However, in spite of several Cabinet meetings, it wasn’t taken up for discussion due to which the tenure of the body expired, without ever making it to Parliament.
- It is still technically possible to revive the body during the ongoing Parliament session.
- The commission was headed by M.M. Kutty, a former Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
Q1. Consider the following statements with respect to Singhori Wildlife Sanctuary:
- It is located in Uttarakhand.
- Project Tiger was launched in Singhori Wildlife Sanctuary.
Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: d
Explanation:
- Singhori Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Madhya Pradesh.
- Project Tiger was launched in Jim Corbett National Park of Uttarakhand in 1973.
Q2. SIG-716 assault rifles are acquired by India from which country?
- Russia
- Israel
- France
- United States of America
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: d
Explanation:
- SIG-716 assault rifles are American LMG.
- Light Machine Guns (LMGs) are designed to be employed by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon.
Q3. Consider the following statements with respect to the National Population Register (NPR):
- It is a Register of all the citizens of India only.
- The NPR was earlier collated in 2010 and 2015.
- It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR.
Which of the given statement/s is/are INCORRECT?
- 1 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 2 only
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: a
Explanation:
- National Population Register is a register of usual residents of the country.
- NPR is different from both the decennial census and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
- The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country.
- It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR.
- For the purpose of the NPR, a usual resident is defined as a person who has resided in a local area for six months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months or more.
- The NPR earlier collated in 2010 and 2015 has an electronic database of more than 119 crore residents.
Q4. “Dustlik”, recently seen in the news, is a town in which country?
- Kazakhstan
- Iran
- Uzbekistan
- Afghanistan
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: c
Explanation:
- India-Uzbek joint exercise Dustlik-II commenced at Ranikhet (Uttarakhand).
- It is named after Dustlik, a town in the Jizzakh region of Uzbekistan.
- This is the Second Edition of the annual bilateral joint exercise of both armies.
- The first edition was held in Uzbekistan in 2019.
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
- It is imperative for India to draw a comprehensive cyber strategy, one that fully acknowledges the extent of the cyber threat from China. Discuss. (15 Marks, 250 Words) [GS 3, Security]
- Reducing regional disparities for inclusive growth requires investments in human and physical capital. In the light of the statement, critically examine if Haryana Government’s 75% Reservation for Locals in Private Sector helps in development and empowerment. (15 Marks, 250 Words) [GS 3, Economy]
Read the previous CNA here.
CNA 15 March 2021:- Download PDF Here
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