Sep-16Sec Flashcards
Sep-16Sec -Index
6.1. National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC)
6.2. Mormugao
6.3. Uri Attack
6.4. Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation
Act of 2016
6.5. Army Design Bureau
6.1. NATIONAL CYBER COORDINATION CENTRE (NCCC)
National Cyber Coordination Centre is a proposed cyber security and e-surveillance agency in India. It is intended to screen communication metadata and co-ordinate the intelligence gathering activities of other agencies.
Government’s cyber security arm Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) will be the main agency handling the establishment of NCCC.
This Centre will have top experts from the field and it will be run like similar organisation in other countries such as the US, the UK, France, Germany, etc.
NCCC is expected to coordinate between intelligence agencies, specifically during network intrusions and cyber-attacks.
Its mandate may also include cyber intelligence sharing among agencies.
Apart from monitoring the Internet, the NCCC would look into various threats posed by cyber attacks.
The NCCC will facilitate real-time assessment of cyber security threats in the country and generate actionable reports/alerts for proactive actions by the concerned agencies. Concerns with NCCC
Some have expressed concern that the body could encroach on citizens’ privacy and civil-liberties, given the lack of explicit privacy laws in the country.
6.2. MORMUGAO
An indigenously built warship equipped with a range of high-tech missiles was launched in Mumbai. Christened ‘Mormugao’, the vessel has been built by government-run Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) and belongs to Visakhapatnam class of ships being constructed under Project 15B. The Project 15B missile destroyers are modern warships equipped with the latest weapons package, in continuation of the lineage of the highly successful Delhi and Kolkata Class ships. Fitted also with the Barak-8 long-range missiles, Mormugao has been named after the picturesque port in Goa. The warships can achieve a maximum speed of 31-32 knots and are equipped with surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, anti-submarine launchers, multi mission radar for surveillance along with medium range air/surface surveillance radar and other advanced electronic warfare and decoys. The Visakhapatnam class (Project 15B) The Visakhapatnam class (Project 15B) is a class of stealth guided missile destroyers currently being built for the Indian Navy. Based on the Kolkata-class design, the Visakhapatnam class will be an extensively improved version. Project 15B destroyers will feature enhanced stealth characteristics as well as incorporate state of the art weaponry and sensors including the long range Barak 8 surface-to-air missile. Project 15B will retain the same hull as 15A Kolkata-class destroyers, but there will be significant changes in the superstructure that will improve the ship's stealth characteristics. After Visakhapatnam and Mormugao, the next in the queue is 'Paradip' followed by another warship expected to be named after a coastal city of Gujarat.
6.3. URI ATTACK
On September 18, a Jaish-e-Mohammad fidayeen group attacked the administrative station of the Indian Army’s 12 Brigade, killing 19 soldiers. Data on GPS sets seized from the slain terrorists suggested Pakistan links. Fidayeen militants stormed an Army camp in Uri near the Line of Control (LoC). It was the largest attacks on the Army in Kashmir by militants “belong to Jaish-e-Mohammad tanzeem,’’.
Investigation
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has started the investigation of the Uri terrorist attack.
The NIA would collect DNA samples of the terrorists and look at the commonalities in the Uri and the Pathankot air base attacks in January.
Vacuum on the intelligence
South Kashmir has been simmering with protests since the killing of Burhan Wani,Hizbul Mujahideen’s commander, in an encounter in July.
The three-month unrest has left a huge vacuum on the intelligence front as several areas were put under curfew, affecting the movement of informers.
The continuing unrest in Kashmir is affecting the Army’s routine movements and operations as well as intelligence gathering. Spike in infiltration
Not only violent protests, the Valley has also witnessed an unprecedented spike in infiltration bids since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani
Infiltrating LeT militants were trying to rope in local boys to emerge as the most influential militant group in the Valley, capitalising on the rising anger and desperation among the youth. India’s response to Uri attack A. Diplomatic In the wake of the Uri attack, Indian government has launched diplomatic offensive to isolate Pakistan internationally and in its neighbourhood. India has decided to pull out of the SAARC summit in Islamabad this November, with Afghanistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh deciding to follow suit.
India Summons Pak Envoy: India’s foreign secretary summoned Pakistan High Commissioner and shared evidence of Pakistani involvement in the Uri attack, which Islamabad rejected.
India has decided to review Indus Water Treaty (IWT). Officials made it clear that the IWT will hold, at least for the moment. Instead, the Centre drew up a list of measures to optimise use of the Indus waters that India has so far failed to do.
Review of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) provisions further indicates that government is determined to demonstrate that it is not business as usual.
In her address at the United Nations General Assembly, foreign minister took on Pakistan on the issue of terrorism. She told the world’s nations that all India has got in response for its peace overtures were cross border attacks. She also took up the issue of human rights violations in Balochistan.
B. Military response
India has carried out surgical strikes targeting “launch pads” for terrorists across the Line of Control (LoC). It is first time India has openly declared that it had carried out surgical strike in side LoC. Similar strike was carried out along Indo-Myanmar border by Indian army against NSCN (K) militants in 2015.
Indian commandos entered three kilometres across the Line of Control and conducted the ‘surgical strikes’in Bhimber, Hotspring, Kel & Lipa sectors. The location was 500 meters-2 Km across LoC
7 terror launch pads were destroyed during the surgical strike .
The strike across the LoC was reportedly carried out by Para Commandos and Ghatak platoons of the Indian Army.
What constitutes surgical strikes?
A surgical strike in military terms is an operation that is intended to take out a specific target, with no or limited collateral damage.
In Army’s terms, it is a fast operation carried out by a small unit, or it could be a well-aimed missile. By the Air Force, it can be an aircraft targeting a single building or vehicle, as opposed to carpet bombing an area.
Pakistan response
Pakistan has denied that any surgical strike took place in side PoK. The top spokesperson for the Pakistani military slammed the Indian account of its action as “totally baseless and completely a lie”.
6.4. PAKISTAN STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM DESIGNATION ACT OF 2016
A new bill moved in the U.S House of Representatives in the wake of the terrorist attack on an Army base in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir prods the administration to designate Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism
The bill lists Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) involvement in supporting terrorism in Afghanistan and quotes the Department of State’s 2016 Country Reports on Terrorism that “Pakistan has not taken sufficient action against groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which continued to cooperate, train, organise, and fundraise in Pakistan.
The bill said, with ISI support, Haqqani operatives planned and conducted various attacks against U.S. in Afghanistan.
The bill also cites a 2012 NATO report that indicated that the Afghan Taliban is directly assisted by the Pakistani security services.
The bill says the Government of Pakistan, and the ISI in particular, provides support and a safe haven to groups designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S.
While the U.S. has designated Iran, Syria and Sudan as “state sponsors of terror”, the U.N. designates entities and not states.
6.5. ARMY DESIGN BUREAU
Why in news?
Indian Army formally announced the establishment of the Army Design Bureau.
What is it?
It will act as an interface of the Indian Army that will provide a better understanding of the Army’s requirements
It will act as single point contact to the academia, research organisations and the industry for developing high tech defence products.
Why is it required?
The idea is to bring together academic institutions and the industry to develop indigenous knowhow and for this the Army is open to sharing parts of its long-term plans.
It will help in firstly fast tracking our procurement process and secondly help in modernisation.
It will help to indigenise procurements and reduce import dependence as part of the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
