AAROGYA SETU: PROTECTION OR THREAT?
Introduction The Data of millions of Indians, collected through the Aarogya Setu app, could be vulnerable to threats from adversarial state and non-state actors and pose a national security challenge, according to cybersecurity experts and former intelligence officials. Indian government officials reject these concerns, saying their encryption standards have adequate protection against data or network […]
OCI CARDHOLDERS: VISA AND TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS EASED
Why in news? The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has relaxed Visa and Travel restrictions imposed in response to COVID -19, permitting certain categories of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders, who are stranded abroad, to come to India. Details Following categories of OCI Cardholders stranded abroad, have been permitted to come to India: […]
INDIA ISN’T PREPARED TO MEET ITS DEFENCE NEEDS
Introduction India’s military security challenges, both current and long-term, came into unintended focus in this month, with the increase in foreign direct investment in defence manufacturing to 74% being announced as a part of the Economic Stimulus Package. India’s Military Security Situation The eastern Ladakh sector saw a stand-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers in […]
SELF-RELIANCE, NOT SELF ISOLATION
Introduction The spread and severity of Covid-19 have proved to be the perfect foil to re-ignite fears about open borders and stretched out supply chains India’s Position on Globalisation with Aatmanirbhar Bharat In his May 12 address to the nation the PM made it clear that an Atmanirbhar Bharat wouldn’t be ‘self-absorbed’ but would rather integrate […]
DEVOLUTION OF POWERS TO STATES TO MICRO-MANAGE
Introduction As COVID-19 lockdown is easing up, the states will now have to take care that they open up in a manner that does not aggravate the pandemic, while also addressing economic and humanitarian imperatives. Not a time to start relaxing The doubling rate of the coronavirus infection has improved to 13.6 per cent and […]
THE CHANGING NATURE OF CHINESE DIPLOMACY
Introduction: Foreign Policies of Persuasion and compromise U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt believed that if you “speak softly and carry a big stick: you will go far”. Zhou Enlai, the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China, practiced Roosevelt’s belief. Where Mao preferred to exercise his power from “out of the barrel of a gun”, […]
VICTIM JUSTICE IS TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK
In 1996, the 154th Law Commission Report suggested a paradigm shift in India’s criminal justice system towards a victim-centric notion of justice. The Code of Criminal Procedure(Amendment) Act, 2009 partially accepted this suggestion and granted some rights to the victims of crime. The Act introduced victims’ right to a private counsel under Section 24(8). International […]
NEED OF THE HOUR: PROTEST AND CAA
Why in news? As protests continue to ripple in many parts of the country against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, or the CAA, the National Population Register (NPR) and allied issues, their nature, content and direction have drawn critical attention The discriminatory CAA targets Muslims, but the protests were driven by the wider civil society at […]
J&K NOTIFIES AMENDED DOMICILE CERTIFICATE RULES
Why in news? The J&K administration on 18th May 2020 notified the J&K grant of domicile certificate procedure rules 2020 and set a fast track process in motion to issue the certificates within a stipulated time of 15 days. To make the process transparent and time-bound, any officer not able to issue the certificate would be […]
THE JUDICIARY AND MIGRANT WORKERS
Introduction Millions of stranded workers, facing an acute shortage of food and cash, have desperately tried to return home. Five weeks after the lockdown was imposed, the government finally introduced measures to enable stranded migrants to return home — a process which is ongoing, but which has not stopped thousands of others from continuing to […]