CONTENTS Focus Articles Cyber Security in India 5 Prison Statistics India – 2017 Report & Prison Reforms 11 Polity & Governance Ayodhya Verdict 17 Chief Justice of India’s office under RTI 19 Sabarimala Case 21 Recusal of Judges 23 Supreme Court Strikes Down Rules on Tribunal Postings 25 SC upholds disqualification of 17 Karnataka MLAs by speaker 26 New Map of India 27 Schemes/Bills/Acts Draft Medical Devices (Safety, Effectiveness and Innovation) Bill, 2019 30 International Developments 11th BRICS Summit 33 India-Germany Relations 36 Kalapani 38 India Signs Kartarpur Sahib Corridor Agreement With Pakistan 39 Nairobi Summit on ICPD 40 Bolivian crisis 41 Bhutan to levy charges on Indian tourists 42 Economy Real Estate Sector 45 Insolvency and Bankruptcy code 48 WTO on Export Subsidies 49 Diversion in Inflation Indices 51 Draft voluntary vehicle scrappage policy 52 Surjit Bhalla Committee 53 Specialized Cadre on Supervision and Regulation 54 Environment & Disaster Management Coastal flooding in India 57 New Zealand’s Zero Carbon Law 60 NITI Aayog and CII Draft plan to improve air quality 61 ‘Wastelands Atlas’ – 2019 61 Chambal on eco-tourism map under Green Agriculture project 62 Geochemical Baseline Atlas of India 62 Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture 63 India’s first-ever snow leopard survey 63 SCO Joint Exercise on Urban Earthquake Search & Rescue (SCOJtEx)-2019 64 Social Justice & Development Issue of MMR in India 67 Health of pregnant and nursing women- Jaccha-Baccha Survey Parliamentary 70 Standing Committee on Cancer care facilities Learning Poverty 71 NCR Regional Plan 74 Road Accidents in India-2018 74 Water Quality in Major Indian Cities 75 Security Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) System 79 NATGRID 79 Tiger Triumph: India-U.S. Disaster relief exercise 80 Science & Technology Guidelines for Evaluation of Nanopharmaceuticals in India 83 Long-standing conundrum on the Sun’s atmosphere solved 83 Winter-Grade Diesel 84 Diversity, Art & Culture Lala Lajpat Rai (1865-1928) 87 Keeladi: Unearthing the ‘Vaigai Valley’ Civilisation of Sangam era 88 Tipu Sultan 89 PIB CORNER Bhartiya Poshan Krishi Kosh 93 Harmonised System (HS) code for Khadi 93 ICEDASH & ATITHI for Custom Clearance 94 RSTV CORNER India- Saudi Arabia Relations 97 Telecom Sector in India: Problems and Solutions 100 Merger of BSNL & MTNL 103 Yojana - Sanitation for a Healthy Society Sanitation economy and dignity of the sanitation workers Gram Panchayats 107 Beyond ODF 109 Sustaining Behavioural Change 111 Kurukhshetra - Rural Education Policy and Planning Towards Rural Education 115 Teacher Education and Development in Rural India 116 Map Based Questions 118 1 I Articulate Letter from the Editor’s desk “START” WHERE YOU ARE “USE” WHAT YOU HAVE “DO” WHAT YOU CAN!! Dear Aspirants, About Jatin Verma I am delighted to bring the first issue of my Current Jatin Verma has dedicated himself to the esteemed Affairs Magazine with Unacademy. As I have been profession of teaching to fulfill his aspiration of making bringing out the Current Affairs magazine for UPSC education more accessible, affordable, & alluring. Civil Services exam aspirants since July 2018, I am sure my past experience as the news analyst for UPSC He has been teaching on Unacademy Plus ever since CSE Exam will surely help the aspirants. it’s inception. He was the one to revolutionise The Hindu Daily News Analysis (DNA ) with it being the most The gravity of Current affairs for any competitive popular of his courses in the online educational arena. exam is ever increasing and it has also become an indispensable part of Civil Service Examination from This has earned him a student follwership of more than Prelims, Mains & Interview perspective. 4.76 Lakhs on Unacademy itself. Current Affairs is a dynamic and undefined part of the UPSC Syllabus that puts aspirants in a dilemma thinking how, where, and what to study for IAS preparations. The monthly magazine compilation by me will unriddle the “what, where and how” of current affairs preparation for UPSC. What? Our magazine strictly sticks to the fundamental needs of the exam by eliminating unessential subject matter and focusing on Analysis and important facts that are critical from CSE perspective. Where? Our insightful magazine covers issues from various reliable resources such as PIB, THE HINDU, INDIAN EXPRESS, LIVEMINT, YOJANA, EPW, KURUKSHETRA etc. How? Our detailed analysis on core topics will help students to build a rational and balanced view points. “This magazine will never miss out on facts, debates and critical analysis from various experts”. 2 3 I Articulate Focus Articles | 4 1. Cyber Security in India On October 28, The Nuclear Power Corporation of India • India was ranked among the top five countries to Ltd (NPCIL) confirmed the breach by the malware. be affected by cybercrime , according to a report by online security firm”Symantec Corp”. In an another incident WhatsApp sued the Israel-based NSO Group for the use of its ‘Pegasus’ spyware on • India is at number 23 of the UN Global thousands of WhatsApp users in the lead-up to the Cybersecurity Index. general elections in India. What is cyberspace? • Cyber Crimes in India almost doubled in 2017, according to statistics released by the National • It is a global domain within the information Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). environment consisting of the interdependent network of information technology infrastructures, Recent cyber-attacks in India: including the Internet, telecommunications networks, computer systems, and embedded • In 2010, India was the third worst-affected country processors and controllers. by computer worm Stuxnet. What is cyber security? What are the types of cyber threats? • The IT Act, 2000 defines “cyber-security” as the • A computer is used to attack another computer via protection given to devices and information stored hacking, virus attacks, DOS attack, and so on. therein from “unauthorised access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification or destruction.” • The computer is used as a weapon to commit real world crimes like cyber terrorism, IPR violations, Evolution of cyber security credit card frauds, EFT frauds, and pornography. May 2016 Union Bank of 1977 India – Heist Virus 1998 May 2017 Wannacry Hacking Ransomware Websites 2002 May 2017 Data Theft at Zomato 2004 Malicious Code May 2017 Data Theft at Advanced Zomato 2008 Worm & Trojan June 2017 Petya Identity Theft Ransomware 2012 (Phishing) Universally, there are broadly four kinds of 2016 DOS, DDOS cyber threats: • Cyber Criminals: Seeking commercial gain from Cyber Espionage, hacking banks & financial institutions as well a Cyber Warfare phishing scams & computer ransomware. • Cyber terrorists: Mission to penetrate & attack Cyber Security scenario in India critical assets, and national infrastructure for aims relating to political power & ‘branding’. • India is now second only to China in terms of internet users, according to a report by Internet and • Cyber espionage: Using stealthy It Malware to Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). penetrate both corporate & military data servers in order to obtain plans and intelligence. 5 I Articulate • Cyber hacktivists: Groups such as ‘Anonymous’ • The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, which with political agendas that hack sites & servers deals with interception of data. Also, under the IT to virally communicate the ‘message’ for specific Act, hacking is exclusively prohibited. campaigns. Under both laws, only the government, under What are the weapons used in cyber threats? certain circumstances, is permitted to conduct surveillance, and not private actors. • Threats & Malware – Malicious software to disrupt computers • The civil and criminal offences of data theft and hacking are covered under Section 43 and Section • Viruses, worms – Theft of Intellectual Property or 66 of the IT Act. Data • Apart from this, Section 66B covers punishment • Hactivism – Cyber protests that are socially or for dishonestly receiving stolen computer resource politically motivated or communication with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years. • Mobile Devices and applications and their associated Cyber Attacks Supreme Court Guidelines regarding • Social Engineering – Entice Users to click on Surveillance laws malicious links • Spear Phishing – Deceptive Communications • In 1996, the Supreme Court noted that there (e-mails, texts, tweets) was a lack of procedural safeguards in the Indian Telegraph Act. • Domain Name System (DNS) Attacks • Only the Secretary in the Ministry of Home • Router Security – Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Affairs can issue Orders on interceptions of Hijacking communication, which were later codified into rules in 2007. • Botnets, Denial of Service (DoS) – blocking access to websites • These rules were also reflected partly in the IT Rules framed in 2009 under the IT Act. Government institutions and regulation for These guidelines have strengthened the Accountability cybersecurity mechanism for surveillance in India. For example, For instance, In December 2018, when the Central • The National Technical Research Organisation is the government authorized 10 Central agencies to conduct main agency designed to protect national critical surveillance, it created a public out roar. The 2018 infrastructure and to handle all the cybersecurity action of the Union government has been challenged in incidents in critical sectors of the country. the Supreme Court. • The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team Concerns over burgeoning