26 August 2022

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

1 – About the Disqualification of MLAs: GS II – Election-Related Issues

According to the constitution, a person is ineligible to hold a position in the Legislative Council (MLC) or the Legislative Assembly (MLA) if they:

• he occupies any lucrative position with the Indian government, a state, or another entity that the state has designated.
• Any competent court may declare any member insane.
• He is either bankrupt, insolvent or has a charge sheet.
• He is not a citizen of India.
• He has formally sworn allegiance to a foreign government or opted to become a citizen of another nation.

According to Schedule 10 of the Anti-Defection Act, a person is ineligible to serve as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) or Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) if:

• An elected official willingly renounces their political party membership.
• Any instructions supplied by his political party or anybody else with the power to do so are disregarded by an elected member of such a House when he votes or abstains from voting.
• Under the Representation of the People (RP) Act of 1951, a person is disqualified to serve as a member of the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council if they are deemed responsible for participating in unethical election-related behavior.
• Any person guilty of a crime and sentenced to jail time in accordance with Sections 8 (1), (2), and (3).

Office of Profit:

• The term “office of profit” is not defined in the Constitution.
• However, sections 102 (1) and 191 (1), which put the concept of an office of profit into practise, established restrictions on MPs holding federal and state government positions.

Guidelines for determining whether a business is profitable:

• Four broad notions have arisen for determining whether a position is susceptible to the constitutional disqualification.
• Whether the government has the power to appoint, remove, and carry out the duties of the office.
• Regardless of whether the employment is paid in any way,
• Whether the person holding the post has the power to influence through patronage and whether the organization where the office is held has government authority (releasing funds, allocating land, awarding licences, etc.).

Source The Hindu

2 – Details of the Pegasus Virus: GS III – Internal Security of India

About:

• It is a type of spyware that falls under the category of malware.
• Its purpose is to covertly access devices, gather user data, and then relay that data to whoever is using the software to spy.
• Pegasus was developed by the Israeli business NSO Group, which was created in 2010.
• The first known iteration of Pegasus, which researchers discovered in 2016, targeted phones via spear-phishing, a technique for deceiving a target into clicking on a malicious link in text messages or emails.
• But since then, NSO’s offensive powers have increased. So-called “zero-click” attacks, which are successful without the phone owner’s assistance, can lead to Pegasus infections.
• These usually make use of “zero-day” vulnerabilities, or operating system flaws or issues that the phone’s maker is not yet aware of and hence has not been able to fix.

Targets:

• International human rights campaigners, journalists, and lawyers have been the targets of phone spyware distributed to despotic countries by an Israeli intelligence agency.
• Government officials, opposition figures, and Indian ministers are included on the list of people whose phones may have been compromised by the spyware.
• In 2019, WhatsApp filed a lawsuit against Israel’s NSO Group in a US court, alleging that the firm was launching cyberattacks against the service via malware infections on mobile devices.

Recent Indian events:

• The Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative was launched in 2018 with the aim of increasing public awareness of cybercrime and strengthening the capacity of frontline IT staff and Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) across all government ministries.
• The National Cybersecurity Coordination Center (NCCC) was founded in 2017 to monitor incoming internet traffic and communication metadata—tiny bits of information tucked away inside each communication—to spot cyberthreats in real time.
• Developed in 2017, the Cyber Swachhta Kendra platform enables internet users to clean their computers and other electronic devices by getting rid of viruses and spyware.
• Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C): I4C has just had its official launch by the government.
• India has also developed a nationwide reporting system for cybercrime.
• The primary organisation that deals with cybersecurity issues like phishing and hacking is CERT-IN (Computer Emergency Response Team – India).

Legislation:

Information Technology Act of 2000

Personal Data Protection Bill of 2019

Organizations operating Internationally:

• The development and standardisation of telecommunications and cyber security issues are significantly influenced by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialised organisation within the United Nations.
• By harmonising national laws, advancing investigative techniques, and encouraging more international cooperation, the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime seeks to combat Internet and computer crime (cybercrime). It came into force on July 1st, 2004.
• This agreement has not been ratified by India.

Source The Indian Express

3 – About the Sub Categorization of OBCs: GS II – Government Policies and Interventions

About:

• The Central List’s Other Backward Classes (OBCs) Sub-categorization was the focus of the Commission’s inquiry.
• The extension is in effect from July 31, 2021, through January 31, 2022, for an extra six months.

This has the following benefit:

• The “Commission” will be able to provide a comprehensive report on the topic of sub-categorizing OBCs after speaking with several stakeholders thanks to the anticipated extension of tenure and expansion of its mandate.

Background:

• In October 2017, the Rohini Commission was constituted.

Objective:

• to look at how Other Backward Classes (OBCs) are divided and how to fairly distribute their advantages among them
• Justification for extension: The Supreme Court turned down the federal government’s plea for a rehearing of its May 5th decision, which stated that the 102nd Amendment to the Constitution takes away the states’ power to define the Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBC) in the region.

Regarding the 102nd Amendment to the Constitution:

• The National Commission for Backward Classes is given legal stature as a result.
• Additionally, it included Article 338B, which deals with the composition, duties, and powers of the commission, as well as Article 342A, which gives the President the right to designate a class as SEBC and gives Parliament the authority to amend the central SEBC list.

OBC subcategorization information:

• The federal government provides a 27% reservation for OBCs in both employment and education.
• The Supreme Court’s participation: In September of last year, the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench reopened the legal debate over the sub-categorization of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for reservations.
• Only rich communities are permitted to make reservations: Out of the more than 2,600 OBCs included on the Central List, the contention is that just a few rich groups have gotten a sizable share of the 27 percent quota.

Why was the Rohini Commission created?

• On October 2, 2017, the Rohini Commission was constituted to look into the sub-categorization of OBCs.
• It initially had 12 weeks to finish the report, but numerous extensions have since been issued; the most recent was until November 11.
• The other member of the Commission is Jitendra Bajaj, director of the Centre for Policy Studies.
• Before the Rohini Commission was created, the Center granted constitutional standing to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).

Recommendations for the Rohini Commission:

• To determine the degree of disparity between the castes or groups that make up the large category of OBCs and the classes that are on the Central List in the allocation of quota benefits;
• To locate the suitable castes, communities, sub-castes, or synonyms in the Central List of OBCs and place them in the proper sub-categories; and to design the mechanism, criteria, norms, and parameters for sub-categorisation within such OBCs using a scientific approach.
• Should check each entry in the Central List of OBCs for repetitions, ambiguities, contradictions, and transcribing or spelling errors, and advise that they be eliminated.

Findings so far:

• The OBC admissions to central higher education institutions over the previous three years, including universities, IITs, NITs, IIMs, and AIIMS, were also examined by the Commission in 2018. In total, 1.3 lakh government positions filled under the OBC quota over the previous five years were also looked at.

The findings were:

• Only 25% of all OBC subcastes received 97% of all jobs and educational seats; ten OBC communities received 24.5% of these jobs and seats; 983 OBC communities, or 37% of the total, have no representation in jobs and educational institutions; and 994 OBC subcastes have a combined representation of just 2.68 percent in recruitment and admissions.
• This study only includes 42 central government ministries and divisions.
• Because OBC candidates were marked as “NFS” for a lot of positions that were intended for OBCs, there weren’t as many applicants as there should have been (None Found Suitable).

Source The Hindu

4 – Details of the Aircraft Carrier Vikrant: Prelims Specific Topic

About:

• The name of the vessel, Vikrant, is taken from the first decommissioned carrier of the Navy.
• It will feature 30 aircraft total, including indigenous Advanced Light Helicopters, MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31 airborne early warning helicopters, and the soon-to-be-inducted MH-60R multi-role helicopter.
• It is expected to reach a top speed of 30 knots and is powered by four gas turbines (about 55 kph). It has a 7,500 nautical mile range and an 18 knot speed (32 kph).
• MFSTAR and RAN-40L 3D radars are utilised as sensors, and shipborne weapons include the AK-630 and Barak LR SAM. A Shakti Electronic Warfare Suite is installed on board the ship.
• It has two runways and uses the “short take off but arrested recovery” method to control aircraft operations.

Importance:

• The combat prowess, range, and agility of the aircraft carrier will give India’s defences significant new tools and serve the maritime interests of the nation.
• It would offer a superior military capability for air interdiction, anti-surface warfare, offensive and defensive counter-air, airborne anti-submarine warfare, and airborne early warning due to its capacity to project air power across long distances.

Indian Navy’s current situation:

• According to the Maritime Capability Perspective Plan, India should have about 200 ships by 2027, but there is still a long way to go.
• However, rather than financing, procedural delays or particular self-imposed restrictions are the main causes.
• The navy ensures the modernity of its SONARs and radars. On many of the ships, a sizable part of local materials is also present.

Navy’s Participation in Covid-19 Protection:

• Operation Samudra Setu-I is aimed at bringing back Indian nationals who have travelled abroad despite the coronavirus’s travel bans.
• Operation Samudra Setu-II was started by the Indian Navy to transport containers containing oxygen to India.

Source The Indian Express