Cyber Awareness
Pegasus

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Pegasus spyware)
What's the NEWS

• Phone numbers of Indian ministers, opposition leaders and journalists have been found on a database of targets for hacking that used Israeli spyware 'Pegasus' which is only available to governments

Know! about Pegasus

• Pegasus is spyware that can be covertly installed on mobile phones running some versions of Apple's mobile operating system iOS, and Android.
• Pegasus was developed by the Tel Aviv, Israel-based cyber intelligence and security firm NSO Group.
• The spyware, believed to have been around at least since 2016, is said to be known by other names as well, like Q Suite and Trident.
• It can infiltrate iOS, Apple's mobile phone operating system, and Android devices.
• Pegasus was meant to be used by governments on a per-license basis.
• In May 2019, its developer had limited sales of Pegasus to state intelligence agencies and others.
• NSO Group, the Israeli company which sells Pegasus worldwide, says its clients, are confined to vetted governments

Indian Telegraph Act and Information Technology Act

• The Indian Telegraph Act and Information Technology Act prescribe procedures that must be followed for lawful interception.
• Different countries have different laws but the use of hacking to deliver surveillance spyware in India by any individual, private or official, is an offence under the IT Act.

Defence
MH-60r Multi Role Helicopters (MRH)

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about MH-60R Multi Role Helicopters (MRH)
What's the NEWS

• Indian Navy accepted the first two of its MH-60R Multi Role Helicopters (MRH) from US Navy

MH-60R helicopters

• Manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation, USA is an all-weather helicopter designed to support multiple missions with state of the art avionics/ sensors.
• 24 of these helicopters are being procured under Foreign Military Sales from the US Government.
• The helicopters would also be modified with several India Unique Equipment and weapons.
• The induction of these MRH would further enhance Indian Navy's three dimensional capabilities.
• In order to exploit these potent helicopters, the first batch of Indian crew is presently undergoing training in USA.

Governance
Ministry of Electronics & IT enables map services in "UMANG App"; Signs MoU with MapmyIndia

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about UMANG app + its applications) + Mains ( GS II Governance)
What's the NEWS

• To enhance the initiatives of Digital India Programme, and keeping in view the theme of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat', Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has enabled map services in "UMANG App '' through an MOU with MapmyIndia.

UMANG with MapmyIndia Maps ( benefits)

• Citizens will be able to find government facilities nearest to their location, such as mandis, blood banks and much more, at the click of a button.
• Citizens will also be able to view the driving distance, get directions and turn by turn voice and visual guidance to locations, including traffic and road safety alerts during navigation, through the linkage between UMANG App and MapmyIndia".

UMANG app has already started to provide map functionality through MapmyIndia in the following services:

• Mera Ration - Through UMANG, users can identify and navigate to the ‘Nearest Fair Price Shops' as shops are visible in the form of pointers on MapmyIndia integrated map.
• eNAM - Through UMANG, 'Mandi Near Me' service will help users to identify and navigate to the nearby mandis pointed on the map.
• Damini - ‘Damini Lightning Alerts' service is to provide lightning alerts to users by giving a visual of near by areas where lightning has struck in the last few minutes. This alert mechanism provides the possibility of lightning strikes on map view.

To further increase usefulness to citizens, the map functionality will be shortly enabled in many more services such as:

• ESIC - Users can view ESIC centers such as hospitals/dispensaries on map view and navigate to them.
• Indian Oil - Service is to locate nearby retail and distributors of Gas stations as well as fuel filling stations.
• NHAI: Users can view the toll plazas and toll rates information while travelling.
• National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) provides information corresponding to nearby police stations on the map.
• Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (Meri Sadak) will help users to raise complaints of damaged roads (under PMGSY) by selecting the road on MapmyIndia platform.

Know! about UMANG:

• The UMANG mobile app (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) is a Government of India single, unified, secure, multi-channel, multi-platform, multi-lingual, multi-service mobile app, providing access to high impact services of various organizations (Central and State).
• UMANG brings major government services on a single mobile app, with a larger goal to make the government accessible on mobile phones of citizens.
• As on date, UMANG provides about 1251 services from 257 Departments & 32 States and about 20,280 Utility Bill Payment services and many more services are there in the pipeline.
• UMANG user base has crossed 3.41 Crore across Android, iOS, Web and KaiOS platforms.
• Citizens can also access their Digilocker Accounts from UMANG and give their feedback after availing any service through Rapid Assessment System (RAS) which has been integrated with UMANG.

Know! about mapMyIndia:

• MapmyIndia, is a product of an indigenous, company founded and headquartered in New Delhi, India, in 1995, which has digitally mapped the entire country.
• It helps users find relevant places nearby and see them on detailed building level maps.
• MapmyIndia's APIs enable app and technology developers to easily integrate India's own, indigenous, Aatmanirbhar maps into their apps.

Government Initiatives
Digital Platform Kisan Sarathi

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Digital Platform Kisan Sarathi) + Mains ( GS III farmer's welfare - steps taken by the government)
What's the NEWS

• Digital Platform Kisan Sarathi launched to facilitate farmers to get ‘right information at right time' in their desired language

Know! about Kisan Sarathi initiative

• In order to facilitate farmers to get ‘right information at right time' in their desired language, a digital platform namely ‘KisanSarathi' was launched jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
• Farmers can avail personalised advisories on agriculture and allied areas directly from scientists through the digital platform
• KisanSarathi' initiative will be highly valuable not only in addressing the location specific information needs of the farmers but also in Agricultural Extension, Education and Research activities of ICAR.

Governance
Draft Drone Rules, 2021

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the new draft drone rules - takeaways) + Mains ( GS II governance + government initiatives)
What's the NEWS

• Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) released an updated draft - ‘The Drone Rules, 2021' - for public consultation.
• Once approved and notified, the Drone Rules, 2021 will replace existing ‘UAS Rules 2021'.

Key takeaways from the Draft Drone Rules, 2021 include:

• Approvals abolished: unique authorisation number, unique prototype identification number, certificate of conformance, certificate of maintenance, import clearance, acceptance of existing drones, operator permit, authorisation of R&D organisation, student remote pilot licence, remote pilot instructor authorisation, drone port authorisation etc.
• Number of forms reduced from 25 to 6.
• Fee reduced to nominal levels. No linkage with the size of the drone.
• Safety features like ‘No permission - no take-off' (NPNT), real-time tracking beacon, geo-fencing etc. to be notified in future. A six-month lead time will be provided for compliance.
• Digital sky platform shall be developed as a business-friendly single-window online system.
• There will be minimal human interface on the digital sky platform and most permissions will be self-generated.
• Interactive airspace map with green, yellow, and red zones will be displayed on the digital sky platform.
• Yellow zone reduced from 45 km to 12 km from the airport perimeter.
• No flight permission required upto 400 feet in green zones and upto 200 feet in the area between 8 and 12 km from the airport perimeter.
• No pilot licence required for micro drones (for non-commercial use), nano drone and for R&D organisations.
• No restriction on drone operations by foreign-owned companies registered in India.
• Import of drones and drone components to be regulated by DGFT.
• No security clearance required before any registration or licence issuance.
• No requirement of certificate of airworthiness, unique identification number, prior permission and remote pilot licence for R&D entities.
• Coverage of drones under Drone Rules, 2021 increased from 300 kg to 500 kg. This will cover drone taxis also.
• All drone training and testing to be carried out by an authorised drone school. DGCA shall prescribe training requirements, oversee drone schools and provide pilot licences online.
• Issuance of Certificate of Airworthiness delegated to Quality Council of India and certification entities authorised by it.
• Manufacturer may generate their drone's unique identification number on the digital sky platform through the self-certification route.

• Easier process prescribed for transfer and deregistration of drones.
• Standard operating procedures (SOP) and training procedure manuals (TPM) will be prescribed by DGCA on the digital sky platform for self-monitoring by users. No approvals required unless there is a significant departure from the prescribed procedures.
• Maximum penalty under Drone Rules, 2021 reduced to INR 1 lakh.
• Drone corridors will be developed for cargo deliveries.
• Drone promotion council to be set up to facilitate a business-friendly regulatory regime.

Know! about Digital Sky Platform:

• It will have an interactive airspace map dividing the country into green, yellow, and red zones.
• It will provide a secure and a scalable platform that supports drone technology frameworks, such as NPNT (no permission, no take-off), designed to enable flight permission digitally and manage unmanned aircraft operations and traffic efficiently.

Unmanned Aircraft (UA)/Drones (types)

• Unmanned Aircraft
• Remotely Piloted Aircraft
• Autonomous Aircraft and
• Model Aircraft.

Remotely Piloted Aircraft
Remotely piloted aircraft have been divided into five categories based on their weight (existing rules)-

• Nano : Less than or equal to 250 grams.
• Micro : From 250 grams to 2kg.
• Small : From 2 kg to 25kg.
• Medium : From 25kg to 150kg.
• Large : Greater than 150kg.

Prelims Factoids
Grain ATM

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the first Grain ATM)
What's the NEWS

• India's first Grain ATM has been installed as a pilot project in Farrukhnagar, Gurugram under the ‘World Food Programme' of the United Nations (UN).

Know! about the Grain ATM

• Grain ATM is known as Automated, Multi Commodity, Grain Dispensing Machine. It functions like regular bank ATM machines.
• Grain ATM can dispense up to 70 kg in 7 minutes. It will dispense three types of grains - rice, millet, and wheat. Currently, the Grain ATM in Gurugram is ready to dispense wheat.
• Grain ATM is installed with a biometric system and a touch screen.
• The beneficiaries will be required to enter their Ration Card or Aadhar Card number.
• After successful biometric authentication, the machine will dispense the grains in the bags installed under the machine.

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