Table of Contents
- First batch of Agniveers will join service in June 2023, registrations to start on July 1
- Australia seeks to revitalize Indo-Pacific ties
- Govt flags importance of Data Protection
First batch of Agniveers will join the service in June 2023, registrations to start on July 1
Context: The Army has issued the first notification for the recruitment of Agniveers under the Agnipath scheme, with the process set to begin in July and the first set of Agniveers to join service by June 2023. The Army has already said it will recruit 40,000 Agniveers in two batches this year.
The registration will open on July 1, and the first recruitment rally is expected to be held in mid-August.
What is the Agnipath scheme?
It is a short-service manpower model under which around 45,000 to 50,000 soldiers will be recruited annually. Of these, 75% will leave the service in four years. 25% will be allowed to continue for another 15 years under permanent commission.
Eligibility Criteria: The new system is only for personnel below officer ranks (those who do not join the forces as commissioned officers). Aspirants between the ages of 17.5 years and 21 years will be eligible to apply. The recruitment standards will remain the same, and recruitment will be done twice a year through rallies.
Post Selection Scenario: Once selected, the aspirants will go through training for six months and then will be deployed for three and a half years. During this period, they will get a starting salary of INR 30,000, along with additional benefits which will go up to INR 40,000 by the end of the four-year service.
30% of their salary will be set aside under a Seva Nidhi programme, and the Government will contribute an equal amount every month, and it will also accrue interest. At the end of the four-year period, each soldier will get INR 11.71 lakh as a lump sum amount, which will be tax-free.
They will also get an INR 48 lakh life insurance cover for the four years. In case of death, the payout will be over INR 1 crore, including pay for the unserved tenure.
There shall be no entitlement to gratuity and pensionary benefits.
Challenges in implementing Agnipath Scheme
First, The government hopes to hire 46,000 “agniveer” this year. Although with the age limits, the recruitment may not include those who have been waiting for the hiring freeze from 2020 to the end. More than lakh vacancies have built up in the Indian Army alone over the last two years, but under the new policy, not all may be filled.
Second, the Indian Army’s experiments so far with diversity in closed regiments have yielded mixed results. There is a probability that the new scheme may do more harm than good in diversifying the static regiments.
Third, ex- agniveers may have to face hardships in getting employment after 4 years of service. Especially when meaningful employment opportunities in significant or adequate numbers still elude an ever-increasing number of graduates. Further, ‘trained-to-kill’ soldiers being demobilized every year could prove dangerous if they remain jobless and frustrated. Many believe it may lead to militarisation of society.
Fourth, Many experts believe that a shorter duration of service could compromise on training, morale and commitment in comparison to the permanent recruits. Critics argue that agniveers may turn out to be risk-averse with the bulk looking to secure an alternate career. Moreover, the Government should have tested this scheme as a pilot, before scaling it up further.
Way forward
First, the impact of changes such as hiring without the promise of lifelong benefits, the shortened training, and the opening out of regiments to AIAC can only be assessed in the coming years.
Second, in more immediate terms, when recruitment begins under the Agnipath Scheme in September, the response will show to what extent the absence of a pension acts as a spoiler.
Third, the Government should help rehabilitate soldiers who leave the services after four years. They can be provided with skill certificates and bridge courses that will help them in finding gainful employment.
Conclusion
No reform can be fool-proof and without teething troubles. But as Agnipath Scheme concerns national defence and security, the Government will need to have a plan to anticipate and address the problems that lie beyond the bold step forward.
Source: The Hindu, Indian Express.
Australia seeks to revitalize Indo-Pacific ties
Context: Deputy PM on a three-day visit, says New Delhi is one of Canberra’s closest security partners
Background
India is one of Australia’s closest security partners and the government is focused on revitalising Australia’s historically deep engagement with our partners across the Indo-Pacific, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Australia Richard Marles said ahead of a visit to India. The visit is scheduled from June 20 to 23.
History of Indo-Aus ties
India and Australia have commercial ties dating back to the 18th century when India played a central role in nourishing the young colony.
Trade with Australia came to be an important element in the operations of the East India Company in Bengal. For the next half-century, Australia’s most immediate and direct links were with India rather than London, as bureaucrats, merchants, chaplains, and judges moved between the two colonies.
India was an important source of food and provisions for Australia; by 1840 a ship was leaving Sydney for India roughly every four days, and merchants in Calcutta grew rich from supplying the new outpost.
At the beginning of the 19th century, several British colonial families from India made a life for themselves in the new Australian colonies.
Australia and India established diplomatic relations in the pre-Independence period when the Consulate General of India was first opened as a Trade Office in Sydney in 1941.
India’s first High Commissioner to Australia arrived in Canberra in 1945. In March 1944, Lieutenant-General Iven Mackay was appointed Australia’s first High Commissioner to India.
The Consulate General of India in Melbourne was opened in 2006. The Consulate General of India in Perth was inaugurated in October 2011.
New Possibilities
Defence and security cooperation between India and Australia has significantly expanded in the last few years both at bilateral as well as multilateral levels.
“The rules-based international order that has brought peace and prosperity to the Indo-Pacific for decades is experiencing pressure, as we face shifts in the geostrategic order,” Mr Marles said in a statement issued by the Australian Defence Ministry. “Australia stands ready to work closely with India in support of an open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific”.
Noting that India and Australia are comprehensive strategic partners, Mr Marles said he was committed to strengthening Australia’s defence and security cooperation with India. “I am looking forward to meeting with my counterpart, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and holding our first bilateral Defence Ministers’ meeting.”
Govt flags importance of Data Protection
Context Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday that forces inimical to India had constituted “cyber armies” to launch cyber attacks against India but the Home Ministry was ready to thwart any such attempt.
Present scenario
- Today, 130 crore people are able to receive Direct Benefit Transfer. This was unthinkable before 2014 as 60 crore people did not have bank accounts due to corruption and other reasons,” he said. In the past few days, cyber awareness campaigns had been conducted in different parts of the country, including Jharkhand.
- The number of cybercrimes registered in 2012 was 3,377 and in 2020, it had increased to more than 50,000 cases and by 2025, the crime rate was projected to go up by 231%.
- The cybercrime portal — cybercrime.gov.in — launched three years ago had so far received 11 lakh complaints, out of which more than two lakh pertained to social media.
- 96% reduction in the price of Internet data in the past seven years and the more the rate fell, the more users would be connected to the Internet. He said till now $1 trillion worth of transactions had been made through BHIM-UPI and the interface was gaining global reach.
Laws related to Cyber Security in India:
Information Technology Act, 2000
- The act regulates the use of computers, computer systems, computer networks and also data and information in electronic format.
- The act lists down among other things, the following as offences:
- Tampering with computer source documents.
- Hacking with computer system
- Act of cyber terrorism i.e. accessing a protected system with the intention of threatening the unity, integrity, sovereignty or security of a country.
- Cheating using computer resources etc.
Strategies under National Cyber Policy, 2013
- Creating a secure cyber ecosystem.
- Creating mechanisms for security threats and responses to the same through national systems and processes.
- National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in) functions as the nodal agency for coordination of all cyber security efforts, emergency responses, and crisis management.
- Securing e-governance by implementing global best practices, and wider use of Public Key Infrastructure.
- Protection and resilience of critical information infrastructure with the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre(NCIIPC) operating as the nodal agency.
- NCIIPC has been created under Information Technology Act, 2000 to secure India’s critical information infrastructure. It is based in New Delhi.
Human Resource Development through education and training programs to build capacity.
Steps taken by Government recently
Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative: It was launched in 2018 with an aim to extend awareness about cybercrime and structuring capacity for safety measures for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and frontline IT staff across all government departments.
National Cyber Security Coordination Centre (NCCC): In 2017, the NCCC was developed. Its mandate is to scan internet traffic and communication metadata (which are little snippets of information hidden inside each communication) coming into the country to detect real-time cyber threats.
Cyber Swachhta Kendra: In 2017, this platform was introduced for internet users to clean their computers and devices by wiping out viruses and malware.
Training of 1.14 Lakh persons through 52 institutions under the Information Security Education and Awareness Project (ISEA) – a project to raise awareness and provide research, education and training in the field of Information Security.
International cooperation: Looking forward to becoming a secure cyber ecosystem, India has joined hands with several developed countries like the United States, Singapore, Japan, etc. These agreements will help India to challenge even more sophisticated cyber threats.
Challenges
- Increased use of mobile technology and the internet by people.
- The proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the lack of proper security infrastructure in some devices.
- Cyberspace has inherent vulnerabilities that cannot be removed.
- Internet technology makes it relatively easy to misdirect attribution to other parties.
- It is generally seen that attack technology outpaces defence technology.
- Lack of awareness of Cyber security.
- Lack of Cyber security specialists.
- Increased use of cyberspace by terrorists.
Way Forward
- Real-time intelligence is required for preventing and containing cyber attacks.
- Periodical ‘Backup of Data’ is a solution to ransomware.
- Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for predicting and accurately identifying attacks.