Home About Us
About Jigyasa IAS Mission & Vision Director’s Message
UPSC CSE
About Civil Services Examination Eligibility Criteria for CSE CSE Exam Pattern How to prepare for CSE How to choose optional subject
Courses
GS Foundation Course Sociology Optional Courses Guided Preparation Module Daily Rigorous Answer Writing
Daily Feeds
Daily Current Affairs Editorials Daily Quiz Free Answer Writing
Useful Links
About Prelims About Mains About Interview Daily Study Guideline Essential Book List
Downloads
NCERT Book List Govt. Welfare Schemes Daily Downloads
Contact Us
Blog Login

News Analysis 31 Aug, 2022

INDIAN POLITY CYBER CRIMES CYBER SECURITY
31 Aug, 2022

NEWS HEADLINES 

1.  Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty.
2.  Data Localization.

1. Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty.

 

Theme : Effects of Policies and Politics of Countries on India’s Interests.

 

GS-2

 

                                      TABLE OF CONTENT

  1. CONTEXT

  2. WHAT IS NPT?

  3. WHY HASN'T INDIA SIGNED THE TREATY YET?

  4. CHALLENGES FOR NPT

  5. CRITICISM AGAINST NPT

 

CONTEXT :
An international conference to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) concluded at the United Nations in New York without a consensus document.

 

WHAT IS NPT?

  • Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament

  • It was opened for signature in 1968 and the Treaty entered into force in 1970.

  • Year 2020 marked the 50th anniversary of the entry-into-force of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), a legal instrument treated as the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime.

 

Three pillars of the treaty

  • Non-Proliferation

  • Disarmament

  • Peaceful use of Nuclear Energy

 

Why hasn't India signed the treaty yet?

  • India argues that the NPT creates a club of “nuclear haves” and a larger group of “nuclear have-nots” by restricting the legal possession of nuclear weapons to those states that tested them before 1967, but the treaty never explains on what ethical grounds such a distinction is valid

  • India considers NPT as a flawed treaty and it did not recognize the need for universal, non-discriminatory verification and treatment

  • Further, the demonstration of a nuclear weapons capability in the 1974 explosion guaranteed India the ability to effectively hedge in an asymmetric international system

 

India's nuclear doctrine

  • India, as a responsible nuclear weapon state, is committed to maintaining credible minimum deterrence with the posture of no-first use and non-use against non-nuclear weapon states.

  • India is also committed to the goal of universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable nuclear disarmament.

  • India has supported the immediate commencement of negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament (CD) on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT).

  • India stands ready to play its role and work with fellow member states to achieve our collective objectives.

 

CHALLENGES FOR NPT :

  • Nuclear power is coming back into reckoning around the world amidst the growing challenge of climate change

  • China’s political campaign against the AUKUS arrangement has found some resonance in South East Asia

  • The deepening divide between the main sponsors of the NPT back in 1970 – America and Russia.

  • The non-nuclear state parties usually complained about the lack of progress in implementing the disarmament provisions of the NPT. 

  • The invasion of a non-nuclear weapon state, Ukraine, by a nuclear weapon power, Russia, has generated a whole series of new questions.

 

CRITICISM AGAINST NPT :

  • Over the years the NPT has come to be seen by many Third World states as “a conspiracy of the nuclear ‘haves’ to keep the nuclear ‘have-nots’ in their place”

  • India has criticized the NPT, because it discriminated against states not possessing nuclear weapons 

  • The “NPT has one giant loophole“ :

1.Article IV gives each non-nuclear weapon state the “inalienable right” to pursue nuclear energy for the generation of power.

2.The United Nations has argued that they can do little to stop states using nuclear reactors to produce nuclear weapons

  • Further, the NPT has been explicitly weakened by a number of bilateral deals made by NPT signatories, notably the United States

     

2. Data Localization.

 

Theme : Cyber Crime & Security.

 

GS-3

 

                           TABLE OF CONTENT

 

  1. CONTEXT

  2. DATA LOCALIZATION

  3. DATA CENTRE

  4. WHY DATA LOCALIZATION IS NECESSARY FOR INDIA

  5. ISSUES

  6. RATIONALE BEHIND DATA LOCALIZATION


 

CONTEXT :
Evolution of global Politics leading to digital economies like the European Union (EU), the U.S,India, Indonesia, and South Africa strive to protect, monetise, and leverage data collected within their territories for domestic purposes. 

 

 

DATA LOCALIZATION :
Data localization is the act of storing data on any device that is physically present within the borders of a specific country where the data was generated.

 

DATA CENTRE :
A  specialized physical facility of networked computers, storages and other information technology equipment.

 

Who uses data centres?

  •  Entities in online space use these to organize, process, store and disseminate large amounts of data.

  • Such physical facilities are available all across the world and are not restricted by geographical borders.

 

WHY DATA LOCALIZATION IS NECESSARY FOR INDIA 

  • For securing citizen’s data, data privacy, data sovereignty of the country.

  • The committee of experts led by Justice BN Srikrishna, the draft e-commerce policy and the draft report of the cloud policy panel show signs of data localisation.

  • To curtail the perils of unregulated and arbitrary use of personal data, data localization is necessary.

  • With the advent of cloud computing, Indian users’ data is outside the country’s boundaries, leading to a conflict of jurisdiction in case of any dispute.

  • Data localization is an opportunity for Indian technology companies to evolve an outlook from services to products. International companies will also be looking at the Indian market, and this will benefit the growth of the local ecosystem.

     

ISSUES :

  • Foreign firms are unwilling to comply as it would require them to spend money  on compliance activities such as hiring data-protection officers or maintaining systems to get the government approvals to transfer data

  • Barriers to the free flow of data may hurt businesses by increasing delays and higher costs of collaborative research or partnerships outside India. 

  • Entities would need multiple separate processing centers if they serve consumers both within India and outside when a single center would suffice.

 

RATIONALE BEHIND DATA LOCALIZATION :

  • Protection of citizens’ data: The main intent behind data localization is to protect the personal and financial information of the country’s citizens and residents from foreign surveillance and give local governments and regulators the jurisdiction to call for the data when required.

  • National Security: Storing of data locally is expected to help law-enforcement agencies to access information that is needed for the detection of a crime or to gather evidence. Where data is not localized, the agencies need to rely on mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs) to obtain access, delaying investigations.

  • Creation of jobs: Local storage of global data could also create domestic jobs and skills in data storage and analytics too, as the Srikrishna report had pointed out.