Thursday, October 24, 2019

•The Supreme Court has decided to examine whether social media intermediaries such as Facebook and WhatsApp should facilitate the State to access encrypted and private conversations of citizens, purportedly to fight crime and terror.

•A Bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose on Tuesday transferred to itself several pending cases in various High Courts on the issue and scheduled the hearing for January 2020 last week before an appropriate Bench.

•The court is waiting for the Centre to notify the revised Information Technology Intermediaries Guidelines (Amendment) Rules by January 15. These Rules, said the government, were borne out of the present day neeed to usher in a stricter regime and more cooperation to combat the spread of pornography, sedition, hate, fake news, “anti-national activities and terror” online.

•Justice Bose said the issue concerned individual privacy versus national interest.

•“A terrorist cannot claim privacy,” submitted Attorney General of India K.K. Venugopal, along with Tamil Nadu Advocate General Vijay Narayan and Additional Advocate General Balaji Srinivasan.

•Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta said the government’s move to gain more access into social media was not a “ploy” and was triggered by a deep concern for the sovereignty of the nation. It was stemmed out of national interest.

•“The government has no intention to invade the privacy of innocents,” Mr. Mehta said. Intermediaries should cooperate with the government to secure the nation against terror. “Your Lordships have to find a balance between national interest, sovereignty and police investigation with individual privacy.”

•Mr. Mehta was reacting to submissions made by senior advocate Shyam Divan, for Internet Freedom Foundation, that the case was momentous and affected personal freedom. “The rights of citizens cannot be trampled upon,” Mr. Divan submitted.

•Mr. Venugopal said Parliament had empowered the government through Section 69 (1) of the Information Technology Act to lawfully intercept, monitor and decrypt information through a computer resource if “satisfied that it is necessary or expedient to do so in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence or for investigation of any offence”.

•Mr. Venugopal argued, “Now social media intermediaries can’t come into the country and say they can’t allow decryption.”

•Justice Gupta remarked that the Section only allowed the government to lawfully decrypt information and did not entail any obligation on the part of the social intermediary concerned.

•Mr. Venugopal responded that the government did not want any technical assistance from the intermediary to crack encrypted social media traffic to fight crime. All it wanted was for the online platforms to facilitate access. “They will give us facilities to access the information, to access the entire counter system in which they are recording,” he submitted.

•“Not so simple. I don’t have the key,” senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for WhatsApp, responded to the argument.

•Justice Bose said the hardware may be located outside the country.

•“Let them say so, we will take care of that,” Mr. Venugopal replied.

•Mr. Rohatgi said the social media intermediaries were under no obligation to disclose details of private accounts. This would breach privacy.

•Justice Bose put matters in perspective, saying the social intermediaries could not claim protection under the fundamental rights of 19(1)(a) and (g) — right to free speech and right to practise any profession. “You are not an Indian citizen,” he explained.

•“I am not on my protection but on the protection of the rights of my clients [social media account holders],” Mr. Rohatgi clarified.

‘Internet a potent tool’

•In a recent affidavit, the government said Internet had emerged as a potent tool to cause unimaginable disruption to the democratic polity.

•The affidavit was explaining to the apex court the need to revise rules to regulate social media intermediaries. The affidavit filed by the Ministry of Information Technology said the regulatory regime required to be ramped up, considering the “ever-growing threats to individual rights and nation’s integrity, sovereignty and security”.

•The court hearing was based on a petition filed by Facebook for transfer of pleas concerning the linking of social media accounts to Aadhaar. Facebook and WhatsApp have argued that this would lead to loss of individual privacy. The Tamil Nadu government — one of the cases is pending in the Madras High Court — has argued that social media should be more transparent and cooperative with the police for purposes of crime detection, national security and so on.

📰 Plea against EC order on Sikkim CM disqualification

Daily Current Affairs, 23rd October 2019

vision ias current affairs

VisionIAS 18:30

1) Indian Railways install Electronic Interlocking System on Grand Chord route

•Indian Railways has installed the most advanced Electronic Interlocking System on the Grand Chord route. The measure is expected to help Indian Railways speed up trains and achieve the objective of reducing the travel time between Delhi and Howrah to about 12 hours from the existing 17 to 19 hours.

•Grand Chord is part of the Howrah-Gaya-Delhi line and Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line. The new Electronic system has replaced outdated 65-year old mechanical signalling system at Tundla Junction in Uttar Pradesh on the route.

2) No govt. jobs in Assam for people with more than two children

•The State Cabinet of Assam has decided to make government jobs out of bounds for people with more than 2 children. The policy will come into effect from January 1, 2021.

•The Cabinet also adopted a new land policy that will make the landless indigenous people eligible for 3 bighas (43,200 sq. ft.) of land for farming and half a bigha for constructing a house. The beneficiary will be able to sell the given land only after 15 years of use.

3) 1st India-Bangladesh Stakeholders’ meet in Guwahati

•The 1st India-Bangladesh Stakeholders’ meet was held in Guwahati. Bangladesh was represented by Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi. India is the second-largest trading partner of Bangladesh.

•A 70-member delegation from Bangladesh is participating in the meet, while a similar top-level team will represent the host nation. The idea of the meet is to put Assam at the focus point of India’s trade expansion with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal.

4) AYUSH, Defence ministries ink MoU to provide traditional medicine services

•The AYUSH ministry has signed an MoU with the Defence Ministry to provide traditional medicine services at the armed forces’ hospitals and dispensaries. Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik inaugurated an Ayurveda Palliative Care Unit at the Base Hospital in the Delhi Cantonment.

•Under the MoU, Ayurveda units will also be established at palliative care centres at the Army Research and Referral Hospital, Air Force Hospital, Hindon in Ghaziabad and five identified ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) polyclinics in Delhi–NCR.

5) DRDO starts work on ‘next-gen’ hypersonic weapon

•The Defence Research and Development (DRDO) has started work to produce hypersonic weapon missiles that travel at 5 times speed of sound, or a little over a mile every second. A wind tunnel to test and fine-tune the technology will be operational soon.

•Hypersonic weapons are specifically designed for increased survivability against modern ballistic missile defence systems. These missiles are capable of delivering conventional or nuclear payloads at speeds not imagined hiterto over long ranges.

6) Ashok Malik appointed as Policy Advisor in MEA

•Ashok Malik has been appointed as the Policy Advisor in the External Affairs Ministry in the rank of Additional Secretary. The Distinguished Fellow of the prominent think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) will have a 2-year tenure.

•Ashok Malik has previously served as the Press Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind from August 1, 2017 to July 31, 2019.

7) Godavarthi Venkata Srinivas elected as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Cabo Verde

•The Ministry of External Affairs notified that Godavarthi Venkata Srinivas (IFS:1993), presently Ambassador of India to the Republic of Senegal, has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Cabo Verde. He will replace Rajeev Kumar.

8) IRDAI imposes penalty of Rs 1.01 crore on Cholamandalam MS GIC

•The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has imposed penalties of Rs 1.01 crore on Cholamandalam MS GIC. The insurer was penalised for violations observed during an inspection.

•The penalty of Rs 1 crore is for violation of Clause 15 of Schedule I of IRDA (Health Insurance) Regulations, 2013 which clearly specifies that no commission shall be payable to any intermediary on the acceptance of a ported policy.

•The other penalty of Rs 1 lakh is for motor insurance and was for violating the outsourcing guidelines by agreeing to payment terms not in the interests of the insurer.

9) Sourav Ganguly take Charges as new BCCI President

•One of India’s most decorated captains Sourav Ganguly takes over as the 39th President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Ganguly is the unanimous nomination for the post of BCCI President along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah as the Secretary. Mahim Verma of Uttarakhand is the new Vice President of BCCI.

10) Pankaj Kumar appointed as new CEO of UIDAI

•The Government of India appointed IAS officer Pankaj Kumar as the new CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). He is currently Additional Secretary in the Ministry Of Electronics and IT.

•The UIDAI is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 by the government under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, with the mandate to issue Unique Identification numbers (UID), or Aadhaar, to all residents of India to eliminate duplicate and fake identities.

11) 2024 Olympic Games logo unveiled in Paris

•The logo for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games unveiled at a ceremony in the French capital. The circular design with Paris 2024 in the art deco style which was in vogue in 1924 when Paris last hosted the Games, also incorporates the lips and outline of Marianne, the personification of the French Republic since the revolution in 1789.

12) Graeme Smith has been elected as MCC Honorary Life Member

•Former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith has been elected an Honorary Life Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Smith has an impressive record in One-Day International, scoring 6,989 runs including ten centuries and also became South Africa’s youngest ever captain at 22.

•Former Australian off-spinner Tim May was also awarded Honorary Life Membership in recognition of his outstanding achievements in cricket.

•The pair follows Paul Collingwood, AB de Villiers, Mitchell Johnson and Adrian Morgan in being awarded Honorary Life Membership of MCC in 2019.

THE HINDU NEWSPAPER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 23.10.2019

the hindu articles

VisionIAS 07:22

FRONT PAGE

One in every six missing children from Bengal: NCRB

Court to look into govt. plea for access to WhatsApp chats

NATIONAL

India needs to address human rights issues in J&K: Roemer

30% jump in ‘crimes against state’: NCRB

Power firm takes Water Ministry to court over Ganga notification

Nagaland to act against officials who criticise govt. policies

U.S. lawmakers flag extended curbs in J&K

Navy has taken the lead in indigenisation: Rajnath

INTERNATIONAL

Turkey, Russia strike a deal on Syria

OPINION

Escaping the honey trap

Leaving the door open to a border settlement

Firm steps to ease the fiscal federalism tension

Preparing for disruptions induced by policies

Looking at the larger picture

Recording crimes

Dominant best

Tribute to Gandhi

LIFE

Meet the white bellbird, the world’s loudest bird

South Pole's ozone hole shrinks to smallest since discovery

SSC CGL Complete Syllabus 2019

Syllabus

VisionIAS 06:51

SSC CGL Syllabus 2019

SSC CGL Tier-I Syllabus

Tier-I: General Intelligence & Reasoning: It would include questions of both verbal and non-verbal type. This component may include questions on analogies, similarities and differences, space visualization, spatial orientation, problem solving, analysis, judgment, decision making, visual memory, discrimination, observation, relationship concepts, arithmetical reasoning and figural classification, arithmetic number series, non-verbal series, coding and decoding, statement conclusion, syllogistic reasoning etc. The topics are, Semantic Analogy, Symbolic/ Number Analogy, Figural Analogy, Semantic Classification, Symbolic/ Number Classification, Figural Classification, Semantic Series, Number Series, Figural Series, Problem Solving, Word Building, Coding & de-coding, Numerical Operations, symbolic Operations, Trends, Space Orientation, Space Visualization, Venn Diagrams, Drawing inferences, Punched hole/ pattern- folding & un-folding, Figural Pattern- folding and completion, Indexing, Address matching, Date & city matching, Classification of centre codes/roll numbers, Small & Capital letters/ numbers coding, decoding and classification, Embedded Figures, Critical thinking, Emotional Intelligence, Social Intelligence