Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 18th Sep 2023

TTPs-Based Cybercrime Investigation Framework:

IIT Kanpur recently developed a TTPs-based cybercrime investigation framework.

• TTPs stands for Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures.
• It is the term used by cybersecurity professionals to describe the behaviours, processes, actions, and strategies used by a threat actor to develop threats and engage in cyberattacks.

TTPs-based Cybercrime Investigation Framework:

• It is a tool for apprehending cybercriminals’ modes of operations in a crime execution lifecycle.
• It was developed by the I-hub NTIHAC foundation (c3ihub) at IIT Kanpur with support from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).
• The framework can help in tracking and classifying cybercrimes, identifying the chain of evidence required to solve the case and mapping evidence onto the framework to convict criminals.
• The technology can create an approximate crime execution path and suggest a crime path based on user-derived set of keywords.
• It can also compare modus operandi (Mode of Operation) used in different crimes, and manage user roles and track activity for crime paths.
• It could be highly effective as it restricts the number of forms and methods the investigation can be conducted and primarily relies on criminals’ TTPs. This leads to precise and rapid conviction of cybercriminals.

Critical Raw Materials Act:

The European Union Parliament recently voted in favour of the Critical Raw Materials Act.

• Critical raw materials (CRMs) are raw materials of high economic importance for the EU, with a high risk of supply disruption due to their concentration of sources and lack of good, affordable substitutes.
• The CRM Act identifies a list of 30 critical raw materials, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earths, and magnesium.
• Objectives of the Act:
  • Increase and diversify the EU’s CRMs supply;
  • Strengthen circularity, including recycling;
  • Support research and innovation on resource efficiency and the development of substitutes;
  • Setting benchmarks by 2030 for domestic capacities:
• The Act sets these benchmarks along the strategic raw materials value chain and for the diversification of EU supplies
  • at least 10% of the EU’s annual consumption for extraction;
  • at least 40% of the EU’s annual consumption for processing;
  • at least 15% of the EU’s annual consumption for recycling;
  • no more than 65% of the EU’s annual consumption from a single third country;
• The Act will reduce the administrative burden, streamlining permitting procedures for critical raw materials projects in the EU.
• To ensure supply chain resilience, the Act creates CRMs for supply chain monitoring and stress-testing, coordinates strategic stocks and sets risk preparedness obligations on large companies producing strategic technologies.
• In addition to a list of CRMs for the whole EU economy, it lists strategic raw materials, which are those most crucial for strategic technologies used for green, digital, defence and space applications.

Samudra Prahari : Indian Coast Guard Ship

The Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Samudra Prahari is presently deployed on an overseas mission encompassing ASEAN nations.

• Samudra Prahari is an Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) specially designed for pollution control.
• It is the first pollution control vessel of its kind in Southeast Asia.
• It is equipped with the most advanced pollution Response and Control equipment for mitigating oil spills in the Exclusive Economic Zone.
• It has tanks and inflatable barges for storage of oil spills.
• The ship is capable of unhindered oil recovery operations with a storage capacity of 500 KL.
• The vessel is designed to operate a twin-engine Advanced Light Helicopter and to operate and embark Chetak helicopter.
• Special features include an integrated platform management system, power management system, high power external fire fighting system and one indigenous gun mount with fire fighting system.
• The ship has unmanned machinery operation capabilities.

ASEAN:

• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional grouping which was established in 1967 with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration.
• Founding members: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
• Presently, ASEAN comprises 10 member states, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.
• It promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration between its members and other countries in Asia.

Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary:

India is preparing to import a fresh batch of cheetahs from South Africa and introduce them into Madhya Pradesh’s Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary.

• Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary is situated on the northern boundary of the Mandsaur and Nimach districts in Madhya Pradesh.
• It is spread over an area of 368.62 km2 (142.32 sq mi) adjoining Rajasthan state.
• It lies in the Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forest ecoregion.
• It was notified in the year 1974 and added to the list of sanctuaries in 1984.
• River Chambal flows through the sanctuary, dividing it into two parts.
• The sanctuary is characterised by its diverse topography, which includes hills, plateaus, and the catchment area of the Gandhi Sagar Dam on the Chambal River.
• The sanctuary has many places of historical, archaeological and religious importance, such as Chaurasigarh, Chaturbhujnath temple, Bhadkaji rock paintings, Narsinghjhar Hinglajgarh fort, Taxakeshwar temple etc.

Juno Spacecraft : NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Juno mission completed its 53rd close flyby of Jupiter, sped past the gas giant’s volcanic Moon Io, and captured a stunning frame of both of them together.

• JUNO is an acronym for Jupiter’s Near-Polar Orbiter.
• It was launched in 2011; the Juno spacecraft initially embarked on a 5-year journey to the largest planet in our solar system.
• The spacecraft’s objectives evolved, and it transitioned into a full Jupiter system explorer with flybys of Jovian moons.
• Goal is to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter, look for a solid planetary core, map the magnetic field, measure water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere, and observe auroras.

Moon Io:

• Io is the most volcanically active world in the solar system, and it has hundreds of volcanoes that often erupt with molten lava and sulphurous gases.
• It is slightly larger than the Earth’s Moon and has a diameter that is about one-quarter that of our planet.
• It is tidally locked to Jupiter, meaning that one side of the Moon always faces the planet.
• It takes around 1.8 Earth days to both rotate on its axis and revolve once around Jupiter.

Leptospirosis : Killed Six People In The State Odisha

Odisha is reeling from leptospirosis, which has killed six people in the state so far

• It is a potentially fatal zoonotic bacterial disease.
• The disease is caused by a bacterium called Leptospira interrogans, or Leptospira.
• It is more prevalent in warm, humid countries and in both urban and rural areas.
• It is a contagious disease in animals but is occasionally transmitted to humans under certain environmental conditions.
• The carriers of the disease can be either wild or domestic animals, including rodents, cattle, pigs, and dogs.
• The cycle of disease transmission begins with the shedding of Leptospira, usually in the urine of infected animals.
• According to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, infected animals can continue to excrete the bacteria into their surroundings for a few months, sometimes up to several years.
• Leptospirosis may occur in two phases:
  • After the first phase (symptoms: fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, vomiting, or diarrhoea), the patient may recover for a time but become ill again.
  • If a second phase occurs, it is more severe; the person may have kidney or liver failure or meningitis.
  • Treatment: It can be treated with antibiotics.

TrailGuard AI camera : Installed At Kanha-Pench Corridor

The TrailGuard AI camera-alert system installed at the Kanha-Pench corridor in Madhya Pradesh has come in handy for wildlife officials.

• TrailGuard AI camera are slim devices that can be inconspicuously set up within the foliage of trees.
• It is Shaped like a pen, 13.8 cm long and 1.4 cm wide; it is wired to another ‘communications’ unit, the size of a notepad.
• The system has embedded software that can be instructed to take pictures of specific species of interest.
• It is incredibly small – the head of the camera, along with the passive infrared sensor, is only about the size of a person’s index finger.
• It can be set to specifically capture humans or species of interest — lions, tigers, cheetahs.
• If the camera is located in a place within the range of cellphone towers, it can send pictures within 30 seconds.
• If it is out of this range, it can rely on a longer protocol that can take from 3-10 minutes.
• The ‘AI’ element, or ‘embedded AI’ as it is technically known, in this system is that instead of transmitting every image captured, the camera only sends pictures of interest to forest officials.
• The product was developed by RESOLVE, an international non-profit, in which the operative AI processor is Intel’s Myriad chip.

Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Awards:

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar presented the one-time Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Awards to 84 artists from varied fields of performing arts.

• Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Awards is a national honour bestowed on performing artists as well as teachers and scholars in the field of performing arts.
• The recipients are selected by the Akademi’s General Council.
• The Akademi’s General Council consisted of distinguished musicians, dancers, theatre artists and scholars in these disciplines and nominees of the Government of India, state governments, and Union Territories.
• The honour carries a purse money of Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rupees one lakh) besides a Tamrapatra and Angavastram.
• The award was constituted to honour Indian artists aged above 75 years who have not been accorded any national honour in their career so far.

Sangeet Natak Akademi:

• It is India’s national academy of music, dance and drama.
• It was created by a resolution of the Ministry of Education, with P.V. Rajamannar as its first Chairman.
• It was set up in 1953 for the preservation and promotion of the vast intangible heritage of India’s diverse culture expressed in forms of music, dance and drama.
• Presently, it is an Autonomous Body of the Ministry of Culture.
• The Chairman of the Akademi is appointed by the President of India for a term of five years.
• It is fully funded by the Government for the implementation of its schemes and programmes.

NavIC : Mandatory For Smartphones

The Indian government has announced its intention to make it mandatory for smartphones to integrate with India’s homegrown navigation system, NavIC

• The devices must either provide support for NavIC-powered chips or use NavIC chipsets.
• For 5G phones, mandatory NavIC support is required by January 1, 2025, while all other phones operating in the L1 band, currently using the Global Positioning System (GPS), must provide mandatory NavIC support by December 2025
• This move comes after Apple agreed to support NavIC in some of its newly launched iPhone 15 models. While NavIC will be encouraged for use in mobile devices, it won’t be the sole mandated navigation system, as cost and performance competitiveness will also be considered.
• NavIC is India’s indigenous alternative to GPS and currently has seven satellites in orbit, with plans to expand to 12 in the future.

Banning Glue Pads For Rodent Control : Delhi Govt

The Delhi government has banned the manufacture, sale, and use of glue pads for rodent control, joining several Indian states in taking this step.

• The ban follows an advisory by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) in 2011 and a subsequent one in 2021
• Glue pads are considered a cruel method of killing rodents as animals that get trapped in the strong glue die slowly from starvation and extreme pain.
• Rat poison, often used as an alternative to glue pads, is also considered inhumane and poses risks to the ecosystem, animals that feed on poisoned rats, such as cats, snakes, mongoose, and predatory birds, can be harmed by the toxins.

Ponzi Scheme:

An actor faces scrutiny over his alleged involvement in a Rs.1,000 crore Ponzi scheme with 2 lakh investors.

• A Ponzi scheme is a type of investment fraud that promises high returns with little or no risk to investors.
• These are investment operations that pay returns to old investors from the money garnered from new investors.
• It is named after Charles Ponzi, an Italian businessman who ran such a scheme in the 1920s.
• Ponzi schemes do not fall under the regulatory purview of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
• In India, Ponzi schemes are banned under the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019 and Prize Chit and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978

Expansion Of PM Ujjwala Yojana:

The centre approved the expansion of PM Ujjwala Yojana.

• Addressing media after the Union Cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said in New Delhi that under it, a total of 75 lakh LPG connections over three years from Financial Year 2023-24 to 2025-26 will be released.
• So far 9.60 crore LPG cylinders have been distributed under the Ujjwala scheme and another 75 lakh free LPG connections will be given to women from poor and needful families so that they can avail of the benefits from the scheme.

PM Ujjwala Yojana:-

• Launched: May 2016.
• Ministry: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
• Objective is to make clean cooking fuel such as LPG available to the rural and deprived households that were otherwise using traditional cooking fuels such as firewood, coal, cow-dung cakes, etc. Pradhan MantriUjjwalaYojana (PMUY) – Diversion of LPG
• It will help achieve the Prime Minister’s vision of universal access to LPG.

Salient Features:-

• Ujjwala 1.0 had a target to provide deposit-free LPG connections to 5 crore women members of BPL households.
• The scheme was expanded in April 2018 to include women beneficiaries from seven more categories (SC/ST, PMAY, AAY, most backward classes, tea garden, forest dwellers, etc.).
• EMI facilities were given for stove and refill costs (Interest-free loan).
• Ujjwala 2.0:- The Union budget for FY 21-22, announced the provision for an additional one crore LPG connection under the PMUY scheme.
• Additional allocation of 1.6 Crore LPG Connections under the PMUY Scheme with a special facility to migrant households.
• It will provide a deposit-free LPG connection.
• It will also give the first refill and hotplate (stove) free of cost to the beneficiaries.