C-DOT organises three-day ‘National Workshop on Cryptology’

• The workshop was conducted as part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ with the theme ‘Advancements in Cryptology for enhancing security & privacy in communication networks’.
• NWC 2022 aimed to bring all the relevant stakeholders on a common platform to deliberate upon various contemporary themes in the field of Cryptology spanning Cyber Security, Quantum Computing, Post-Quantum Cryptography
• Cryptography, or cryptology is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior.

Difference between Cryptography and Cryptology

• Cryptography
  • It is the study of conversion of plain text(readable format) to ciphertext(non-readable format) i.e. encryption. It is also called the study of encryption.
  • It takes place on the sender side.
  • In Cryptography, sender sends the message to receiver.
  • Cryptology is the parent of Cryptography.
• Cryptology:
  • It is the study of the conversion of plain text to ciphertext and vice versa. It is also called the study of encryption and decryption.
  • It takes place on the sender and receiver side.
  • In Cryptology, both sender and receiver send messages to each other.

Farm ministry open to pro-farmer changes in PMFBY in response to climate change

• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is the government sponsored crop insurance scheme that integrates multiple stakeholders on a single platform.
• Highlights of the scheme
  • PMFBY is a replacement scheme of NAIS / MNAIS, there will be exemption from Service Tax liability of all the services involved in the implementation of the scheme
  • There is no upper limit on Government subsidy. Even if balance premium is 90%, it will be borne by the Government.
  • The use of technology will be encouraged to a great extent. Smart phones will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers. Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments.
• Risks covered under the scheme: Risk of sowing, planting and germination failure, Risk of standing crop failure, Risk of post-harvest losses, Protection against calamities.
  • Exclusions – Loss or damage to notified insured crops due to war, nuclear risks, malicious damage and other preventable risks is excluded from the scope of coverage.
• Coverage of Crops: Food crops (Cereals, Millets and Pulses), Oilseeds, Annual Commercial / Annual Horticultural crops.
• Premiums Under the Scheme:
  • There will be a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops.
  • In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%.

Verify Aadhaar before accepting it as a proof of identity: UIDAI

• The process prevents unscrupulous elements, and anti-social elements from indulging in any possible misuse. It also promotes usage hygiene, and reasserts UIDAI’s stand that any 12-digit number is not an Aadhaar.
• Tampering of Aadhaar documents can be detected by offline verification, and tampering is a punishable offence and liable for penalties under Section 35 of the Aadhaar Act.

UIDAI

• It is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (“Aadhaar Act 2016”).
• It was created to issue Unique Identification numbers (UID), named as “Aadhaar”, to all residents of India.
• Under the Aadhaar Act 2016, UIDAI is responsible for Aadhaar enrolment and authentication, including operation and management of all stages of Aadhaar life cycle and system for issuing Aadhaar numbers to individuals.
• Composition of the Authority:
  • UIDAI consists of a Chairperson, two part-time Members and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who is also the Member-Secretary of the Authority.
• Finance & Budgets:
  • The Finance & Accounts Division (FD) is headed by the Deputy Director General (Finance) who is Financial Advisor in UIDAI. FD renders professional advice to the CEO, UIDAI on all issues which have financial implications.

India’s proposal for enhanced protection to Leith’s softshell turtle adopted at wildlife summit in Panama

• Leith’s Softshell Turtle is a large fresh water soft-shelled turtle which is endemic to peninsular India and it inhabits rivers and reservoirs.
• Distribution: Restricted to southern peninsular India (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, and Tamil Nadu) in the Cauvery, Thungabhadra, Ghataprabha, Bhavani, Godavari, and Moyar drainages.
• Threats:
  • The species has been subject to intensive exploitation over the past 30 years. It has been poached and illegally consumed within India. It has also been illegally traded abroad for meat and for its calipee.
  • The population of this turtle species is estimated to have declined by 90% over the past 30 years such that the species is now difficult to find.
• Conservation Status:
  • It is classified as ‘Critically Endangered’ by the IUCN.
  • It is listed on Schedule IV of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Benefits of listing in The CITES Appendix I
  • The CITES Appendix I listing of this Turtle species would ensure that legal international trade in the species does not take place for commercial purposes.
  • It would also ensure that international trade in captive-bred specimens only takes place from registered facilities and further that higher and more proportionate penalties are provided for illegal trade of the species.

NCGG receives high praise from Maldives Government for its capacity building programme for Maldivian Civil Servants

• It is an autonomous institute under the aegis of Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India.
• The NCGG has been set up to assist in bringing about governance reforms through studies, training, knowledge sharing and promotion of good ideas.
• It seeks to carry out policy relevant research and prepare case studies; curate training courses for civil servants from India and other developing countries.
• Head office: Its head office is at New Delhi and branch office at Mussoorie.
• Objectives:
  • To function as a national repository on information on best practices, initiatives and methodologies that promote Good Governance, e-Governance etc.
  • To advise on key issues in governance and develop synergy across various Ministries/ Departments of GoI, and State Governments;
• Background: NCGG traces its origin to the National Institute of Administrative Research (NIAR). NIAR was set up in 1995 by the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) the Government of India''s apex training Institute for higher civil services. NIAR was subsequently rechistened with an expanded mandate, as National Centre for Good Governance, which was inaugurated on February 24th, 2014.

India''s unemployment rate dips to 7.2% in July-Sept 2022: NSO survey

• Considering the importance of availability of labour force data at more frequent time intervals, National Statistical Office (NSO) launched Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in April 2017.
• The objective of PLFS:
  • to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Worker Population Ratio, Labour Force Participation Rate, Unemployment Rate) in the short time interval of three months for the urban areas only in the ‘Current Weekly Status’ (CWS).
  • to estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both ‘Usual Status’ (ps+ss) and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.
• In the CWS approach, a person is considered unemployed if he/she did not work even for one hour on any day during the week but sought or was available for work at least for one hour on any day during the period.
• It showed that the unemployment rate among females (aged 15 years and above) in urban areas declined to 9.4 per cent in July-September, 2022 from 11.6 per cent a year ago. It was 9.5 per cent in April-June, 2022.
• Unemployment rate was high in July-September 2021 mainly due to the staggering impact of Covid-related restrictions in the country.
  • Unemployment rate or joblessness is defined as the percentage of unemployed persons among the labor force.
• Among males, the unemployment rate in urban areas declined to 6.6 per cent in July-September 2022 as against 9.3 per cent a year ago. It was 7.1 per cent in April-June 2022.

India’s conservation efforts towards tortoise and turtles lauded in CITES CoP 19 at Panama

• It is a freshwater turtle species, and found in deep flowing rivers with terrestrial nesting sites.
• Distribution:
• It is native to India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Historically, the species was widespread in the Ganga River, both in India and Bangladesh.
• It also occurs in the Brahmaputra basin. Currently in India, the National Chambal River Gharial Sanctuary is the only area with substantial population of the species.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN : Critically Endangered
  • IWPA : Schedule I
  • CITES : Appendix II
• Characteristics: In comparison to their female counterparts, the males are shorter and reach only half their length.
• Major Threats:
  • Loss or degradation of habitat due to pollution and large scale development activities like water extraction for human consumption and irrigation and irregular flow from the upstream dams and reservoirs.
  • Sand mining and growing of seasonal crops along Ganga River are majorly affecting the sandbars along the river that are used by the species for nesting.
  • Drowning by illegal fishing nets.
  • Poaching and illegal trade.

About CITES:

• CITES is an international agreement to which States and regional economic integration organizations adhere voluntarily.
• Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties – in other words they have to implement the Convention – it does not take the place of national laws.
• Rather it provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.

IAF to hold joint humanitarian assistance & disaster relief exercise with ASEAN countries

• It aims to assess the efficacy of institutional Disaster Management structures and contingency measures and involves static and flying displays of various HADR assets and a ''Table Top Exercise''.
• Samanvay 2022 will promote a synergistic approach towards HADR by various national and regional stakeholders involved in Disaster Management including the Civil Administration, the Armed Forces, NDMA, NIDM, NDRF, DRDO, BRO, IMD, NRS and INCOIS.
• It is expected to contribute in the evolution of institutional frameworks for effective communication, interoperability, cooperation and their application for successful conduct of HADR.
• The exercise also aims to provide a unique platform for exchange of domain knowledge, experience and best practices with the participating ASEAN member countries.

INS Trikand, INS Sumitra Take Part In ''Naseem Al Bahr'' Bilateral Exercise With Oman Navy

• Ex-Naseem Al Bahr initiated in 1993, symbolises the long term strategic relationship between the two countries. This year marks 30 years of IN-RNO bilateral exercises.

• Oman is the first country in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) which has been in conducting bilateral exercises with India jointly.

• Both countries already have Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) including on defence cooperation, between the Coast Guards to prevent crime at sea, on maritime issues and a protocol between their respective air forces on Flight Safety Information Exchange.

India-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) decide to pursue

• What it is? It is a political and economic alliance of six Middle Eastern countries—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. The GCC was established in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May 1981.
• Objective: The purpose of the GCC is to achieve unity among its members based on their common objectives and their similar political and cultural identities, which are rooted in Arab and Islamic cultures. The Presidency of the council rotates annually.
• Organizational structure:

  • The Supreme Council is the . It is composed of the heads of the Member-States. Its presidency rotates periodically among the Member States in alphabetical order.

    highest authority of the organization

  • The Ministerial Council: It is composed of the Foreign Ministers of all the Member States or other ministers deputizing for them. It meets every three months to implement the decisions of the Supreme Council and to propose new policy.

  • The Secretariat General: It is the administrative arm of the alliance, which monitors policy implementation and arranges meetings.

India’s trade relations with GCC

• GCC is currently India’s largest trading partner bloc with bilateral trade in FY 2021-22 valued at over USD 154 billion.
• GCC countries contribute almost 35% of India’s oil imports and 70% of gas imports.
  • India’s overall crude oil imports from the GCC in 2021-22 were about $48 billion, while LNG and LPG imports in 2021-22 were about $21 billion. Investments from the GCC in India are currently valued at over USD 18 billion.