TOPIC: GS 2 Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
Flying terror
What is the news?
- The use of drones to attack an Indian Air Force base in Jammu on brought to the fore a troubling, though not unanticipated, new mode of terrorism for the country.
- Though there were no casualties at the base, the fact that there were at least two more subsequent attempts to use drones to attack military targets points to the future of terrorism.
- The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), autonomous weapons systems and robotic soldiers by states in warfare and policing has raised moral and practical questions that remain unresolved.
- NonÂstate actors have caught up quickly.
International Attempts
- In 2018, Syrian rebels used homemade drones to attack Russian military bases in Syria
- The same year, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had a narrow escape after a drone flying towards him exploded a short distance away.
- In 2019, Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for bombing Saudi oil installations using drones.
Technological Interventation
- New modes of sabotage and violence enabled by technology reduce costs and risk of identification for terrorists while increasing their efficacy.
- Simultaneously, security agencies would find conventional tools redundant in combating terrorism.
- Terrorism may not even require organisations, as individuals with sufficient motivation and skills can carry out such attacks and remain under the radar like the drones they use.
International Framework
The existing international framework for controlling the proliferation of technology that can be weaponised, such as the Wassenaar Arrangement and Missile Technology Control Regime, is also largely useless in the emerging scenario.
Measures
- States including India have sought to deal with terrorism with a combination of stringent laws, invasive surveillance, harsher policing and offensives against other countries that support terrorist groups.
- This approach has only had limited success in ensuring peace anywhere while the human and material costs have been high.
- The exponential proliferation of new technologies and Artificial Intelligence, vertically and horizontally, will make the task of combating terror even more challenging
India’s security threatÂ
- The Jammu drone attack, Indian authorities reportedly suspect, was carried out by the LashkarÂeÂTaiba, which is patronised by Pakistan.
- The same group was behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which perpetrators came by boats from Pakistan.
- India has tried to punish Pakistan for its support to terror groups in recent years which has shown some success.
- The entry of drones calls for a more complex response to terrorism.
Way Forward
- Terror groups do capitalise on state patronage but technology is enabling them to be autonomous in an unprecedented fashion.
- From turning passenger planes into missiles in 2001, terrorism has come a long way, and one cannot foresee where it will go next.
- Enhanced international cooperation and consensus on the development and deployment of technologies are required to deal with the challenge.
- India can and must take an active role in the process.
Mains question
Explain the international cooperation is a must in combating new modes of terror attacks
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PRELIMS PUNCHERS
- The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)
It is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with “regulating the public exhibition of films under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act 1952. Films screened in cinemas and on television may only be publicly exhibited in India after certification by the board.
The board consists of a chairperson and 23 members, all of whom are appointed by the central government. Prasoon Joshi chairs the board. The board currently issues four certificates.
The certificates are:
U: Unrestricted public exhibition (Suitable for all age groups)
U/A: Parental guidance for children under age 12
A: Restricted to adults (Suitable for 18 years and above)
S: Restricted to a specialised groups of people, such as engineers, doctors or scientists
- The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
It is the statutory body formed under the Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020. This directorate investigates aviation accidents and incidents, maintains all regulations related to aviation and is responsible for issuance of licenses pertaining to aviation like PPL’s, SPL’s and CPL’s in India. It is headquartered along Sri Aurobindo Marg, opposite Safdarjung Airport, in New Delhi. The Government of India is planning to replace the organisation with a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), modelled on the lines of the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
The CAA has been envisaged as an autonomous regulatory body which will replace the DGCA and will meet standards set by the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
- National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN)
It is an ambitious initiative to trigger a broadband revolution in rural areas. NOFN was envisaged as an information super-highway through the creation of a robust middle-mile infrastructure for reaching broadband connectivity to Gram Panchayats.
It aims to connect all the 2,50,000 Gram panchayats in the country and provide 100 Mbps connectivity to all gram panchayats (GPs). To achieve this, the existing fibres of PSUs (BSNL, Railtel and Power Grid) were utilised and incremental fibre was laid to connect to Gram Panchayats wherever necessary. Dark fibre network thus created was lit by appropriate technology thus creating sufficient bandwidth at the Gram Panchayats.
- Male Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary
It is a protected Wildlife sanctuary in the Eastern Ghats and is located in the state of Karnataka in India. It is named after the presiding deity “Lord Male Mahadeshwara” of the famed Male Mahadeshwara Hills Temple located within the sanctuary. The sanctuary lies in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka.
The sanctuary is part of a contiguous tiger habitat, located very close to the tri-junction of the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The sanctuary has Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka) to its North and East, Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (Tamil Nadu) to its South and Biligirirangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve (Karnataka) to its West.
PRELIMS QUESTIONS
- Consider the following statement regarding to The Directorate General of Civil Aviation
- It is the autonomous body formed under the Aircraft Amendment Bill, 2020.
- Civil Aviation Authority envisaged as an statutory regulatory body which will replace the DGCA
Select the correct statement using code given below.
(a). 1only      (b) 2 only
(c).Both      (d). None of above
Answer: D
It is the statutory body formed under the Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020. This directorate investigates aviation accidents and incidents, maintains all regulations related to aviation and is responsible for issuance of licenses pertaining to aviation like PPL’s, SPL’s and CPL’s in India. It is headquartered along Sri Aurobindo Marg, opposite Safdarjung Airport, in New Delhi. The Government of India is planning to replace the organisation with a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), modelled on the lines of the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
The CAA has been envisaged as an autonomous regulatory body which will replace the DGCA and will meet standards set by the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
- Male Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary is located in
- Tamil Nadu
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Andhra Pradesh
Answer: B
It is a protected Wildlife sanctuary in the Eastern Ghats and is located in the state of Karnataka in India. It is named after the presiding deity “Lord Male Mahadeshwara” of the famed Male Mahadeshwara Hills Temple located within the sanctuary. The sanctuary lies in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka.
The sanctuary is part of a contiguous tiger habitat, located very close to the tri-junction of the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The sanctuary has Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka) to its North and East, Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (Tamil Nadu) to its South and Biligirirangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve (Karnataka) to its West