India in World Bank’s Logistic Performance Index

GS Paper - 3 (Economy)

India has climbed six places on the World Bank’s Logistic Performance Index (LPI) 2023, now ranking 38th in the 139 countries index, as a result of significant investments in both soft and hard infrastructure as well as technology. India was ranked 44th on the index in 2018 and has now climbed to 38th in the 2023 listing. India’s performance has drastically improved from 2014, when it was ranked 54th on the LPI.

More about LPI 2023

1. The government had announced PM Gati Shakti initiative a National Master Plan for multimodal connectivity, in October 2021 to reduce logistics cost and boost the economy by 2024-25.
2. In 2022, the prime minister had launched the National Logistics Policy (NLP) to ensure quick last-mile delivery, end transport-related challenges, save time and money of the manufacturing sector and ensure desired speed in the logistics sector.
3. These policy interventions are fructifying, which can be seen in India’s jump in LPI and its other parameters.
4. According to the report, India’s rank moved up five places in infrastructure score from 52nd in 2018 to 47th in 2023.
5. It climbed to 22nd spot for international shipments in 2023 from 44th in 2018 and moved four places up to 48th in logistics competence and equality.
6. In timelines, India witnessed a 17-place jump in rankings, whereas it moved up three places in rank in tracking and tracing to 38th.
7. The report quotes modernisation and digitalisation as a reason for emerging economies, like India, to leapfrog advanced countries.
8. The report said: “Since 2015, Government of India has invested in trade-related soft and hard infrastructure connecting port gateways on both coasts to the economic poles in the hinterland.”
9. Technology has been a critical component of this effort, with implementation under a public-private partnership of a supply chain visibility platform, which contributed to remarkable reductions of delays.
10. NICDC Logistics Data Services Limitedapplies radio frequency identification tags to containers and offers consignees end-to-end tracking of their supply chain.

National Panchayati Raj Day

GS Paper -2 (Development)

On the occasion of the National Panchayati Raj Day, Prime Minister launched various projects, including the integrated e-GramSwaraj and GeM portal for procurement of goods and services at the panchayat level.

More about the news:

• The e-GramSwaraj-GeM (government e-marketplace) integration aims at enabling panchayats to market their goods and services through GeM leveraging the e-GramSwaraj platform.
• PM also performed the virtual 'Griha Pravesh' (ceremony performed when entering one's new house) for 4.11 lakh beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
• He also inaugurated various projects worth₹7,853 crore under the Jal Jeevan Mission. These projects will benefit 9.48 lakh families of 4,036 villages.
• He handed over around 35 lakh SVAMITVA (aimed at establishing clear ownership of property in rural areas) property cards to beneficiaries. With the handing over of these cards, about 1.25 crore property cards will be distributed under the Swamitva Yojana in the country.
• He also launched the 'Joint Steps towards Development' campaign with the aim of increasing people's participation in ensuring full benefits of government schemes.

Flashback:

National Panchayati Raj Day:

• National Panchayati Raj Day is celebrated on April 24 every year in India to commemorate the historic day when the Panchayati Raj System was introduced in the country.
• It is a decentralized system of governance in India, where local bodies or Gram Panchayats are given the power to govern themselves and make decisions for the development of their respective areas.

History:

• The Panchayati Raj System has its roots in ancient India, where the village council or Panchayat was the primary unit of governance.
• The system was revived in the early 1950s when the first National Development Council recommended the establishment of a democratic system of governance at the grassroots level.
• It was not until 1993 that the Panchayati Raj System was given a constitutional status and made mandatory for all states in India.
• It was introduced in 1993 by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, which aimed at bringing democracy at the grassroots level and empowering people in rural areas.

Theme:

• National Panchayati Raj Day 2023 is going to revolve around the theme of 'Sustainable Panchayat: Building Healthy, Water Sufficient, and Clean & Green Villages'.
• The primary objective of this year's theme is to promote sustainable development in rural areas by focusing on the availability of clean water, promoting good health practices, and creating a clean and green environment.
• The theme aims to encourage the creation of healthy and water-sufficient villages,which are clean and green. By adopting sustainable practices, the Panchayats can help in conserving the environment and promote eco-friendly activities. 

Basic structure doctrine over the years

GS Paper -2 (Polity)

The seminal ruling in Kesavananda Bharati, in which the Supreme Court laid down the “basic structure” doctrine on the limits of Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution, completes 50 years.

More about the news:

• The basic structure doctrine has been criticised repeatedly, for diluting the principle of separation of powers and undermining the sovereignty of Parliament, and as a vague and subjective form of judicial review.
• Although the highest court has invoked “basic structure” sparingly, it has mostly struck down amendments where judicial powers have been curtailed.
• Since 1973, the year of the Kesavananda Bharati judgment, the Constitution has been amended more than 60 times. In these five decades, the Supreme Court has tested constitutional amendments against the doctrine of basic structure in at least 16 cases.
• In nine of these 16 cases, the Supreme Court has upheld constitutional amendments that had been challenged on grounds of violation of the basic structure doctrine.

Various important judgements:

Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru and Ors vs State of Kerala and Anr (1973):

The court upheld the land ceiling laws that were challenged, it struck down a portion of the 25th Amendment (1972) which stated that “if any law is passed to give effect to the Directive Principles” it cannot “be deemed to be void on the ground that it takes away or abridges any of the rights contained in Article 14, 19 or 31”.

Indira Gandhi v Raj Narain (1975):

The SC applied the principle laid down in the Kesavananda ruling for the first time in this case. It struck down The Constitution (Thirty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1975, which barred the Supreme Court from hearing a challenge to the election of President, Prime Minister, Vice-President, and Speaker of Lok Sabha.

Minerva Mills Ltd vs Union of India (1980):

The SC struck down a clause inserted in Article368 (which gives the power and lays down the procedure to amend the Constitution), which said “there shall be no limitation whatever on the constituent power of Parliament to amend by way of addition, variation or repeal the provisions of this Constitution.”

Kihoto Hollohan vs Zachillhu and Others (1992):

• The Supreme Court upheld The Constitution (Fifty-second Amendment) Act that introduced the Tenth Schedule or the so-called “anti-defection law” in the Constitution.
• The only portion of the amendment that was struck down was the one that stated that the decisions of the Speaker relating to disqualification cannot be judicially reviewed.

L Chandra Kumar v Union of India (1997):

The top court struck down a portion of the 42nd Amendment, which set up administrative tribunals excluding judicial review by High Courts.

The Constitution (Ninety-ninth Amendment) Act, 2014:

• The Supreme Court has struck down a constitutional amendment entirely just once, which established the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), the body that would have been responsible for the appointment and transfer of judges, replacing the current Collegium system.
• The amendment was struck down by a five-judge Constitution Bench in 2015 on the grounds that it threatened “judicial independence”, which the court ruled was a basic feature of the Constitution.

LockBit ransomware

GS Paper -3 (Cyber-security)

The reports emerged that LockBit ransomware was found to be targeting Mac devices, in a first. Cybercriminals have developed new ransomware encryptors designed to target macOS devices, making this the first major ransomware operation to specifically target Apple computers.

More about the news:

The LockBit gang was reportedly behind a cyber-attack on U.K. postal services, causing international shipping to grind to a halt.

LockBit ransomware:

• First reported in September 2019 and dubbed the “abcd” virus, due to the file extension used when encrypting victim’s files, the LockBit ransomware is designed to infiltrate victims’ systems and encrypt important files.
• The virus is categorised as a “crypto virus” due to its requests for payment in cryptocurrency to decrypt the files on the victim’s device.
• The ransomware is therefore typically deployed against victims who feel hindered enough by the disruption to pay heavy sums in exchange for access and can afford to do so.
• In the past, LockBit ransomware has been used to target enterprises and organisations in the U.S., China, India, Ukraine, and Indonesia. Attacks have also been recorded throughout Europe, including in France, Germany, and the U.K.

Working mechanism of LockBit ransomware:

• It works as a self-spreading malware, not requiring additional instructions once it has successfully infiltrated a single device with access to an organisational intranet.
• It also known to hide executable encryption files by disguising them in the .PNG format, thereby avoiding detection by system defences.
• Attackers use phishing tactics and other social engineering methods to impersonate trusted personnel or authorities to lure victims into sharing credentials, the ransomware has also used brute force to gain access to the intranet server and network of an organisation.
• Once it has gained access, the ransomware prepares the system to release its encryption payload across as many devices as possible. It then disables security programs and other infrastructures that could permit system data recovery. The goal is to ensure that data recovery without assistance from the LockBit gang is impossible.
• Once this is ensured, the ransomware places an encryption lock on all system files, which can only be unlocked via a custom key created by the LockBit gang.

How to protect systems against the LockBit ransomware?

There are no fool-proof ways of protecting against ransomware attacks, organisations and individuals can take certain steps to increase resilience against such cyber threats.

• The use of strong passwords, with strong variations of special characters which are not easy to guess along with multi-factor authentication should be implemented. This ensures the use of brute force will not be enough to compromise systems.
• Organisations can also undertake training exercises to educate employees on the use of phishing attacks and their identification.
• Old and unused user accounts should be deactivated and closed as they can become weak links in the security apparatus.

India Launches Operation Kaveri

GS Paper - 3 (International Relations)

India has started ‘Operation Kaveri’ to evacuate its nationals from conflict-torn Sudan, Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar announced on 24 April 2023. According to available information around 3,000 Indians are stuck in various parts of Sudan, including capital Khartoum and in distant provinces like Darfur. 

Operation Kaveri

• “Operation Kaveri gets under way to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan.
• Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assisting all our brethren in Sudan,” Mr. Jaishankar said.
• India had earlier stationed two C-130J heavy-lift aircraft in Jeddah and sent INS Sumedha in Port Said for the operation.
• The evacuation acquired urgency in view of the total breakdown of the essential services in Sudan where shortage of food, water and electricity had brought it to a standstill. 
• Prime Minister NarendraModi said that the operation to evacuate Indians is being supervised by Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan. “Due to the civil war in Sudan, many of our people are stuck there. Therefore, we have started Operation Kaveri to bring them safely.

Indian inSudan

• Indians in the region had reached out showing videos of indiscriminate attacks that also targeted residences of Indian community, and looting of essential items by the rebel paramilitary. 
• The political crisis in Sudan turned into a countrywide armed conflict on 15 April after disagreement between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) over the Security Sector Reform (SSR)spiraled into an armed confrontation between the commanders of the two wings.
• The fighting also enveloped the Indian Embassy in Khartoum that forced the Indian diplomats to work remotely while they maintained contact with the members of the Indian community stranded in the country.

Other countries

• The process finally began on Id when Saudi Arabian military forces airlifted a few Indian nationals along with citizens of several “brotherly and friendly” countries.
• India had maintained contact with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the United States, the U.K., and Egypt over the evolving situation on the ground.

Mr. Jaishankar who is on a visit to Latin America had broken his trip in New York where he discussed Sudan with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.