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Welcome to the Hindu news analysis by Shankarayas Academy for the day 6th March 2021. These are the list of news articles chosen for today's analysis, they are given along with the page numbers of different editions. Also the link for the handwritten notes in PDF format and the time stamping for the discussed articles are provided in the description box as well as in the comment section for the benefit of mobile phone users. Now let us move on to the analysis of the first news article. As we know India's PSLVC 51 had successfully launched Amazonia 1 and 18 co-passenger satellites a few days back. See Amazonia 1 is an optical earth observation satellite which would help in monitoring deforestation in the Amazon region and most importantly this PSLVC 51 was the first dedicated commercial mission of the new space India limited also called as NSIL. So in this context let us discuss and brief about NSIL and also about this editorial. The syllabus covered by this news article is given below for your reference. First let us discuss about the new space India limited or NSIL. See it was incorporated in 2019 under the company's act of 2013. This NSIL is a wholly owned government of India Company under the administrative control of the Department of Space and also know that NSIL is the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization or ISRO. The primary responsibility of this NSIL is to enable Indian industries to take up high technology space related activities and also it is responsible for the promotion and commercial exploitation of the products and services that are emanating from the Indian space program. So the major business areas of NSIL includes the production of polar satellite launch vehicle or PSLV and also the production of the small satellite launch vehicle also called as the SSLV through industry and then comes the production and marketing of the space based services including the launch services and the space based applications like transponder leasing remote sensing and mission support services. NSIL will also focus on the building of satellites including both communication as well as earth observation satellites as per the requirements and next is the transfer of technology that is developed by ISRO centres or units and the constituent institutions of the Department of Space. Also NSIL will market spin off technologies and products or services that are emanating out of ISRO activities and they provide consultancy services to the industries as well. Now coming to the editorial the author says that NSIL has had launches in 2019 but the primary satellites aboard these missions were Indian satellites such as the RESAT-2 BRI and the EOS-1. The uniqueness of this PSLV C-51 is that it was the first fully commercial mission of NSIL and as per the article India has so far launched 342 foreign satellites from around 34 countries using PSLV or the polar satellite launch vehicle. See until now the private sector has been playing a very major role in developing launch and satellite infrastructure for the ISRO. Now there are companies which want to launch their own satellites of varying dimensions then we have also seen issues like the deal with the Bengaluru based US owned startup Devas Multimedia Private Limited. See here the issue is that the government of India had cancelled a 2005 deal with Devas to build and launch two satellites to provide multimedia services via the space band spectrum and recently a federal court in the United States has asked Antrix Corporation which is the commercial arm of ISRO to pay a compensation amounting to 1.2 billion dollars and this issue has set a bad precedent of the private sector participation in India's space business. So NSIL is expected to insulate the prospects of the space industries in India from the repercussions of the Devas-Antrix issue. So for this NSIL has to be more than just a marketer of the ISRO technologies and also it has to find newer business opportunities and it should expand the sector itself. NSIL can also help the Indian space startups to reach out to rural India's and to recruit young Indians in order to facilitate careers in space applications and sciences. Finally now let us see about the Indian space promotion and authorization centre which is also called as the in space which is an independent nodal agency under the department of space. It allows space activities and promotes private investment and innovation in the space sector. In space is expected to facilitate and to support the private sector by providing technical support, sharing cash intensive facilities and then by allowing to establish temporary facilities in the department of space premises etc. Also it will allow private companies to bid for requirements coming from NSIL and it will partner with them in science and space exploration missions. So with this we have come to the end of this news article. Let us move on to the next news discussion. Now let us take up this editorial article. Here the author talks about the threats faced by India in cyberspace from external state and non-state actors. In this context we will see in brief about such threats and also about the infrastructure deployed by Indian government to overcome such threats and finally we will see what the author has got to tell about them. The syllabus covered by this news article is given below. See we know that like any other space in life technology also has got its own benefits and challenges. While technology enhances a man's life in almost all the aspects like healthcare, transport, communication, smart cities etc. There are various challenges which we have to overcome in order to ensure that technology does not turn into our own enemy. And one of the biggest challenges is the cyber security. See it poses a bigger threat than any other spectrum of technology. So first let's see what is meant by cyber security and also about a cyber security threat. See cyber security is the practice of defending computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, networks and data from malicious attacks and a cyber security threat is a malicious act that seeks to damage data, steal data or disrupt digital life in general. These cyber threats includes computer viruses, data breaches and denial of service attacks and also other attack vectors. Cyber threats also refer to the possibility of a successful cyber attack that aims to gain unauthorized access or to damage to disrupt or steal an information technology asset, a computer network, intellectual property or any other form of sensitive data. And cyber threats they come from numerous threat actors including hostile nation states, terrorist groups, corporate spies and even from organized crime organizations, hackers etc. So in this the author talks about the emerging government sponsored cyber threats especially from China which ranges from propaganda, website defacement, espionage, disruption of key infrastructure etc. And here we should note that China poses the highest risk to India due to their ability to effectively employ technology and tools against the most difficult targets like that of classified networks and critical infrastructure like electricity, grids and gas control valves. Now according to a recent national cyber power index report that was published by Harvard University's Belfast Center, China ranks second after the US in cyber power and the report has identified seven national objectives that countries pursue using cyber means which includes surveillance, foreign intelligence collection and cyber defences. Now let us see how India has been attacked by suspected Chinese as well as other state sponsored groups multiple times in the past. See first the author talks about a sensational report in the New York Times which is titled as China appears to want India pushed too hard and the lights could go out. See it was based on an investigation by the United States based cyber security firm and the report talks about the possibility that the recent 2020 power outage which happened in Mumbai could have been the result of an attack or a cyber sabotage by the Chinese state sponsored group. And secondly the author talks about the ghost net which was a large scale electronic espionage program that was used by China in order to spy on individuals, organizations and governments and it was found to be targeting the Tibetan government in exile in India and many Indian embassies as well and from further investigations the researchers found something called as a shadow network. See the shadow network was a vast cyber espionage operation which extensively targeted Indian entities including military establishments, news publications and even the national security councils, secretariat itself. And third he mentions about the Stuxnet which is a computer one that was originally aimed at Iran's nuclear facilities and has since mutated and spread to other industrial and energy producing facilities. It was discovered in 2010 by the US national security agency the CIA and Israeli intelligence and it was the first known virus to be capable of crippling hardware. Then comes the Sukflai which targeted not just government but also private entities including a firm that provided technological support to the national stock exchange. And fifth the author mentions about the D-track which first targeted Indian banks and later the Khudankulam nuclear power plant in the year 2019. Now with this information we will see about the kind of institutional capacities and capabilities that India has got to protect our cyber space. Let us see them one by one in brief. First comes the Indian cyber crime coordination center or I4C which is a government of India's initiator was scheme to deal with cyber crime in India in a coordinated and effective manner. And this cyber crime coordination center is affiliated to the Ministry of Home Affairs and has got seven components which includes the national cyber crime threat analytics unit, the national cyber crime reporting portal, the national cyber crime training center, the cyber crime ecosystem management unit, the national cyber crime research and innovation center, the national cyber crime forensic laboratory ecosystem and platform for joint cyber crime investigation team. It also coordinates all activities that are related to the implementation of mutual legal assistance treaties which is also called as MLAT with other countries related to cyber crimes in consultation with concerned neural authority in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Then comes the computer emergency response team in also called as the CERTEN. See the CERTEN is the national neural agency for responding to computer security incidents as and when they occur. It is an office within the Metis of the government of India and it has helped in lowering the rate of cyber attacks on government networks and also know that CERTEN also issues alerts and advisories regarding the latest cyber vulnerabilities and countermeasures to tackle them. Third the author talks about the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Center. See it is an organization of the government of India created under section 70A of the Information Technology Act of 2000 which was later amended in 2008. It was established under the National Technical Research Organization in January 2014 and it is designated as the National Nodal Agency in respect of critical information infrastructure protection. Also its functions and duties are given here for your reference. The fourth the author talks about the National Security Council that was chaired by the National Security Advisor. See the National Security Council plays a key role in shaping India cyber policy ecosystem. See the National Security Advisor also chairs the National Information Board which is meant to be the apex body for cross ministry coordination on cyber security policymaking. And in the year 2015 the Prime Minister established the office of the National Cyber Security Coordinator who advises the Prime Minister on strategic cyber security issues. And next the Ministry of Defence as recently they upgraded the Defence Information Assurance and the Research Agency to establish the Defence Cyber Agency which is a tri-service command of the Indian Armed Forces in order to coordinate and control the joint cyber operations and to craft India's cyber doctrine. And finally the Ministry of Home Affairs oversees multiple similarly named coordination centers that focus on law enforcement effects to address cyber crime, espionage and terrorism while the Ministry of External Affairs coordinates India's cyber diplomacy push both bilaterally with other countries and also at international fora like the United Nations. But what are the issues with respect to the cyber security in infrastructure of India? See in this regard the author tells that the establishment of multiple agencies has resulted in the lack of effective coordination among them and also it has resulted in the overlapping of responsibilities and the lack of clear institutional boundaries and accountability. Now let's see what the author suggests. First it tells that ensuring coherence and coordination between the different agencies and also coordination between government and private sector should be the primary goal of the government. And secondly India should have a clear doctrine that holistically captures its approach to cyber conflict either for conducting offensive cyber operations or the extent and scope of countermeasures against cyber attacks. Thirdly a credible cyber deterrent strategy should be made and also the author talks about the first committee of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with issues of disarmament and international security. And in this India has been an active participant and also the author suggests that India should use such platforms in order to promote our strategic interest and capabilities. Fifthly the government should also make the citizens aware on cyber security because this has got the potential to boost the citizen confidence. With this information let us move on to the next news discussion. This news article mentions that government is going to ban cryptocurrency through a bill. So let us see this bill and the reasons behind the proposed ban. The syllabus covered by this article is highlighted below for your reference. First the bill is titled as a cryptocurrency and regulation of official digital currency bill 2021 and this bill has been listed in the Lok Sabhaas bulletin for its introduction during the current session of the parliament. And as per the bulletin the bill aims to create a facilitator framework for the creation of official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India. The bill also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India but it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses. Now here official digital currency means the digital rupee or the foreign digital currency that will be declared by the Reserve Bank of India under the proposed bill. But no other details regarding the bill is available since it is not yet introduced. Now this bill has been proposed based on the report of a High-Level Interministerial Committee or IMC which was constituted in the year 2017 under the chairmanship of Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs. The committee studied the issues related to the virtual currencies and they proposed the specific action to be taken in this matter and they amended also included an examination of policy and the legal framework for the regulation of virtual currencies. The Interministerial Committee, the submitted its report and proposed a bill called the Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2019 which was a draft act to prohibit the use of cryptocurrencies and to regulate the official digital currency and the various matters related to it. But we can see a difference in the 2021 bill and the difference is that the 2021 bill aims to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India with certain exceptions. Now currently there are allegations that the government did not consult even a single ecosystem player or an industry representative or even the members of public before preparing the draft. So industries including the internet and mobile association of India say that there is some amount of secrecy regarding the bill. Now we will see about the reason for such a proposal to ban cryptocurrencies. Now before this we request the viewers to watch the February 12 Hindu news analysis for a better understanding or a basic understanding about cryptocurrencies. Now the ban is proposed due to the risks associated with cryptocurrencies about which we will discuss now. Now first comes the volatility in their prices. See this is because the cryptocurrencies are subjected to market fluctuation. An example for this would be the value of Bitcoin cryptocurrency which reduced in less than a year from around 20,000 US dollars in December 2017 to just 3,800 US dollars in November 2018. The next issue is that the cryptocurrencies are decentralized which makes them difficult to regulate. Now here decentralization means that it lacks a central authority that maintains the records of transactions in order to ensure that the money is not passed through a third party or a middleman. And this centralization is due to the distributed ledger technology that is used in cryptocurrencies. See distributed ledgers are shared record of data across different parties and the distributed ledger technology allows organization of any chain of records or transactions without the need of intermediaries. And it is because the distributed ledgers use independent computers which are referred as notes and these computers are used to record, share and synchronize transactions in their respective electronic ledgers. So you can also say that the transaction data is recorded and shared across multiple distributor networks and this obviates the need for keeping data centralized like in a traditional ledger. Now this absence of a central authority or a central entity or a centralized infrastructure is the issue because there is no one to ensure the effective governance of the overall distributed ledger infrastructure. The next issue is that the cryptocurrency design itself have several vulnerabilities so consumers themselves are open to risk of phishing cyber attacks and Ponzi schemes. Another issue with this is that the transactions are irreversible or we can also say that there is no way to redress wrong transactions. Also cryptocurrencies provide pseudonymity although not complete anonymity to the trans actors or participants in a transaction because the transactions and accounts can be traced but the owner accounts are usually not easily traceable. So this pseudonymity makes it more vulnerable to illegal activities like that of money laundering and terrorist financing or terrorist funding activities. Now based on these risks the bill seeks to ban cryptocurrencies and now due to this there is a fear that thousands of techies and crypto entrepreneurs will be affected. So India has got around 10 to 15 percent of the global user base of cryptocurrencies like bitcoins. So many entrepreneurs have already built their businesses around cryptocurrencies and many techies are deployed in building the required software platforms and trading infrastructures that are required for the crypto exchanges. Now further as per the official estimates around 70 lakh Indians they hold cryptocurrencies which are worth more than 1 billion dollars. So there is a fear that the legitimate investments made by these crypto investors in cryptocurrencies will get affected and unemployment is expected to rise with this ban. Thus at a time when popularity of cryptocurrencies is skyrocketing this bill is a step back. Now with this let's move on to the next news article. Now let us take up this news article which tells that the defense research and development organization or the DRDO had successfully carried out a flight demonstration based on solid fuel well ducted ramjet technology for head to air missile and the test was conducted from integrated test range Chandipur of the Odisha coast. In this context let us know in brief about missiles and their types. See missile is a rocket propelled weapon which is designed to deliver an explosive warhead with great accuracy at high speed and missiles are generally classified on the basis of their type launch mode range propulsion warhead and guidance system and they vary from small tactical weapons that are effective out to only a few hundred feet to much larger strategic weapon that have ranges of several thousand miles. It is to be noted that almost all missiles contain some form of guidance and control mechanism and are therefore often referred to as guided missiles. See guided missiles can be classified in one way as tactical and strategic missiles. Tactical guided missiles are those which are intended for use within the immediate battle area towards their target at twice the speed of sound and they are generally categorized according to the location of the launch platform and target. I know that there are five types air to air, air to surface, surface to air, anti-ship and anti-tank or assault. Now strategic missiles are missiles that are designed to strike targets far beyond the battle area and they are either of the crews or ballistic type. Now here a ballistic missile is one that has a ballistic trajectory over most parts of its flight path irrespective of whether or not it is a weapon delivery vehicle. And see ballistic trajectory means that the missile will move on a path under the influence of gravity and they carry huge payloads and can be launched from both ships and land based facilities. Also ballistic missiles are most often categorized as short range, medium range, intermediate range and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The short range ballistic missiles are effective up to 480 kilometer. The medium range from about 480 to 965 kilometer and the intermediate range from 965 to 5,310 kilometer and the intercontinental ballistic missiles range for more than 5,310 kilometer. An example for ballistic missiles includes the Prithvi 1, 2 and Danush. Now a cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided vehicle that sustains its flight through aerodynamic lift and they fly within the earth's atmosphere and they make use of the jet engine technology and since they have got their own engine their path can be altered even after their launch or even after they are fired. And examples for cruise missiles in India are Brahmos and Nirbhai etc. The classification of missiles is given below for your reference. Please see this image for better understanding. Also the list of missiles of India is given here along with their class range and news about their operation or development. Recently the organization of the petroleum exporting countries OPEC and its LEs which is a group known as OPEC plus agreed not to increase oil supply in April and with this move the OPEC plus countries aim to make a substantial recovery in demand during the pandemic. So this move is expected to have a significant impact on India as it is already hit hard by the soaring oil prices and hence India which is the world's third biggest oil importer urged the producers to ease these output cuts and this is expected to help the global economic growth through consumption led recovery. So in this context let us discuss in detail about the OPEC and the OPEC plus countries. See the organization of the petroleum exporting countries or OPEC was founded in Baghdad Iraq with a signing of an agreement in the year 1960. The five founding members were Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and several countries joined OPEC in the latter days and many of them withdrew their membership. For example Qatar dominated its membership in 2019 and in 2020 Ecuador left the organization and according to some sources at present OPEC has got a total of 13 member countries which includes Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Venezuela. Now according to the OPEC statute any country with a substantial net export of crude petroleum which is fundamentally similar interest to those of member countries may become a full member of the organization but this should be accepted by a majority of three fourths of full members including the conquering votes of all founding members and the statute also provides for associate members. These associate members are those countries that do not qualify for full membership but are nevertheless admitted under such special conditions as may be prescribed by the conference. Now coming to its mission OPEC aims to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its member countries and it aims to ensure the stabilization of oil markets also this will secure an efficient economic and a regular supply of petroleum to consumers and also a steady income to producers in addition to a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry. Now coming to the OPEC plus it is a loosely affiliated entity which consists of 13 OPEC members and 10 of the world's major non-OPEC oil exporting nations and this OPEC plus aims to regulate the supply of oil in order to set the price on the world market and the OPEC block is nominally led by Saudi Arabia the group's largest oil producer while Russia is the biggest player among the non-OPEC countries and also you should know that OPEC accounts for around one third of the world's oil supply and the non-OPEC members brings the total share of global oil covered by the deal to just under half also some of the OPEC plus members are Russia, Kazakhstan, Sudan, Oman etc. Let us now move on to the prelims practice question discussion now look at this prelims practice question regarding NSIL the question wants us to identify the correct statement statement one it aims to promote the private participation in space technology and commercially exploit the products of Indian space program statement two incorporated under the companies act 2013 NSIL is jointly owned by the department of space and the private sector so when you look at the first statement as discussed in the news article the primary responsibility of NSIL is to enable the Indian industries to take up high technology space related activities also it is responsible for the promotion and commercial exploitation of the products and services that are emanating from the Indian space program so therefore statement one is correct when you look at statement two it is incorrect because NSIL was incorporated in 2019 under the companies act of 2013 and it is a wholly owned government of India company under the administrative control of the department of space so since the question wants us to identify the right statement the correct answer is option A that is one only now look at this question consider the following pairs statement one Stuxnet is a computer worm originally aimed at Iran's nuclear facilities statement two ghostnet is a large-scale electronic sp1h program used by China to spy on individuals organizations and governments so as seen in the discussion ghostnet is a large-scale electronic sp1h program that was used by China to spy on individuals organizations and government and it was found to be targeting the Tibetan government in exile in India and many Indian embassies similarly the Stuxnet is a computer worm that is originally aimed at Iran's nuclear facilities and has since mutated and spread to other industrial and energy-producing facilities also it was discovered in the year 2010 by the US national security agency the CIA and the Israeli intelligence and was the first known virus to be capable of crippling hardware so therefore since both the statements are correct the right answer is option C that is both one and two now this question on the internet and mobile association of India wants us to select the correct answer from the code given below the first statement is it is a note for profit industry body registered that aims at expanding and enhancing the online and mobile value added service sectors statement 2 it releases the ICT development index or the IDI see statement 1 is correct because the internet and mobile association of India is not for profit industry body that was registered under the society's registration act of 1860 and it's mandate is to expand and enhance the online and mobile value added services sectors so this IAMAI is dedicated to presenting a unified voice of the businesses represents to the government investors consumers and other stakeholders and it is actively involved in spreading the use of internet to a billion plus Indians and to create an enabling environment for digital companies in order to thrive and add value to the economy and society also it promotes the Indian internet ecosystem with special programs that are designed for the emerging tech startup ecosystems and in helping government for better governance and development so when you look at statement 2 which says that releases the ICT Development Index the statement is incorrect because the ICT Development Index or the IDI is released by the International Telecommunication Union or ITU which is an United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies and also know that this ICT Development Index has been published hand-release since 2009 and it is a composite index that combines 11 indicators into one benchmark measure also it is used to monitor and compare developments in information and communication technology between the countries and overtime so since the question wants us to identify the correct statement the right answer is option a that is one only now look at this question it wants us to identify the countries which are the members of the organization of the petroleum exporter countries or the OPEC countries and the list of countries given below are Russia, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq and Kuwait so as you know Russia is not a member of OPEC because it is a member of OPEC plus and similarly Ecuador as we learnt in the discussion it is no more an OPEC country because in the year 2020 Ecuador had left the organization and coming to Iran, Iraq and Kuwait they both are still members of the OPEC countries and therefore the right option is option C that is 3, 4 and 5 now look at this question consider the following statements statement one ballistic missiles are missiles that move on a path under the influence of gravity statement two crevice missiles are unmanned self-propelled guided vehicles that sustains its flight through aerodynamic lift so as seen in the discussion our ballistic missile is one that has a ballistic trajectory over most part of its flight path irrespective of whether or not it is a weapon delivery vehicle coming to a crevice missile it is an unmanned self-propelled guided vehicle that sustains its flight through aerodynamic lift and since they have their own engine their path can be altered even after they are launched or fired so since the question wants us to identify the wrong statement the correct answer is option D that is neither one nor two because both the statements about the ballistic and the crevice missiles are correct with this we have come to the end of today's hindu news analysis if you like the video don't forget to like comment and share and do subscribe to shankarae's academy youtube channel for more updates regarding upsc civil services preparation