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Way Forward:
 To raise India’s share in Global space economy we need private sector companies to play a larger role. We may take example from US Artemis’ mission which has brought on board large number of private companies.
 Many Western aerospace companies will be eager to invest in India’s space programme as it begins to open up. India needs to come to terms that international cooperation is not just an “add-on” to the national space
programme, but must be an integral part of India’s space strategy
 In order to effectively defend its space assets, including debris and spacecraft, India needs reliable and accurate tracking capabilities. Project NETRA, an early warning system in space to detect debris and other
hazards to Indian satellites is a good step in this direction.
 Increase space awareness programmes in rural regions of the country, encourage more female students to take up internships or pursue a career in STEM field can be productive in years to come.

New Frontiers in Space

Context – This editorial talks about the Space domain, India’s space economy, private participation (Vikram-S rocket) and challenges pertaining to the sector.

Background:
 India’s space economy is likely to be worth nearly USD 13 Billion by 2025, with the satellite launch services segment set to witness the fastest growth due to greater private participation.
 The launch of the Vikram S rocket has been rightly hailed as an important milestone in India’s outer space journey.

How has India’s Space programme evolved over the years?
 India’s main objective was to leverage outer space to accelerate national development. Eventually, military and commercial dimensions began to envelop the Indian space programme.
 India’s space programme began with intensive cooperation with the Western countries and later with the Soviet Union.
 India is part of the Missile Technology Control Regime that regulates commerce in space related commodities and technologies.
 India is also part of the Wassenaar Arrangement that controls trade in dual use technologies that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

Why developments in Space sector is important?
 Space avenue is an integration of the aerospace, IT hardware and telecom sectors. It is thus argued that investment in this arena would foster positive
carryover effects to other sectors as well.
 Satellites can be used for delivering broadband internet. It will help reach out to more remote areas where conventional networks would require a heavy complimenting infrastructure.
 Satellites provide more accurate information on weather forecasts and assess (and record) long-term trends in the climate and habitability of a region. This will eventually help the governments devise a practical plan of action to help farmers and industries.
 It will help real-time monitoring and early warning solutions against natural disasters.
 From space manufacturing we can shift to deep space exploration.

What are the challenges concerning outer space?
 Approximately Rs. 15,000 crore is earmarked for ISRO's annual budget, most of which is spent on building rockets and satellites. Also, the private sector has a relatively small window of opportunity. Due to this, India's space economy is small, and its potential has not been fully realized.
 Increasing space exploration is causing more space debris to accumulate in the outer solar system, which can damage ongoing and future space missions due to high orbital speeds.
 China’s growing presence and influence in space is a matter of concern for India.
 Commercialization of outer space is accelerating due to the development of satellite expeditions to provide Internet services (Starlink-SpaceX) and for space tourism (Jeff Bezos). If no regulatory framework is in place, rising commercialisation could lead to monopolization of space.
 The current Indian share of the global space economy is barely 2 percent. The PM has been demanding that India rapidly increase its share to 8 percent in the coming years.
 While startups like Skyroot can bring much needed innovation into space activity, it is only the large corporations that can bring much needed scale to make India an economic powerhouse in space.

e-Sanjeevani Initiative

News: Government-free telemedicine service, eSanjeevani has recently crossed another milestone by clocking eight crore teleconsultations.

About:
 It is a web-based comprehensive telemedicine solution, launched by the then Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India, in 2009.
 Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) Mohali, is the creator of eSanjeevani.It has Two Modules:
 eSanjeevani AB-HWC - The doctor-to-doctor telemedicine platform, being implemented at all the Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) in the country under Ayushman Bharat (AB) Scheme of Government of India.
 eSanjeevani OPD - It is the Patient-to-Doctor remote consultation services rolled out in 2020 amid the first lockdown imposed to fight Covid-19 pandemic, while the Outpatient Departments (OPDs) in the country were closed. The initiative is a contactless and risk-free modality that enables delivery of health services to the citizens in the confines of their homes free of cost.
 The C-DAC is working towards adding another innovative feature in eSanjeevani OPD that will enable roll out of National OPDs on eSanjeevani OPD, to offer remote health services to patients in any part of the
country.

End to End Encryption

News: Apple, on Wednesday, announced it will be increasing the number of data points protected by end-to-end encryption on iCloud from 14 to 23 categories. The company claimed that with end-to-end encryption, user data
will be protected even in case data is breached in the cloud.

What is End to End Encryption?
 End-to-end encryption is a communication process that encrypts data being shared between two devices. It prevents third parties like cloud service providers, internet service providers (ISPs) and cybercriminals from accessing data while it is being transferred.
 The process of end-to-end encryption uses an algorithm that transforms standard text into an unreadable format. This format can only be unscrambled and read by those with the decryption keys, which are only stored on endpoints and not with any third parties including companies providing the service.

Where is it used?
 End-to-end encryption is used to secure communications. Some of the popular instant-messaging apps that use it are Signal, WhatsApp, iMessage, and Google messages.
 However, instant messaging is not the only place where user data is protected using end-to-end encryption. It is also used to secure passwords, protect stored data and safeguard data on cloud storage.Advantages of End to End encryption (E2EE)
 It ensures that user data is protected from unwarranted parties including service providers, cloud storage providers, and companies that handle encrypted data.
 End-to-end encryption is also seen as a technology that secures users' data from snooping by government agencies, making it a sought-after feature by activists, journalists, and political opponents.
 With E2EE, the decryption key does not have to be transmitted; the recipient will already have it. If a message encrypted with a public key gets altered or tampered within transit, the recipient will not be able to decrypt it, so the tampered contents will not be viewable.
 Many industries are bound by regulatory compliance laws that require encryption-level data security. E2EE can help organizations protect that data by making it unreadable.

Limitations of E2EE:
 Some E2EE implementations allow the encrypted data to be encrypted and re-encrypted at certain points during transmission which makes it important to clearly define and distinguish the endpoints of the communication circuit. If endpoints are compromised, encrypted data may be revealed.
 Government and law enforcement agencies express concern that E2EE can protect people sharing illicit content because service providers are unable to provide law enforcement with access to the content.
 End-to-end encryption does not protect metadata, which includes information like when a file was created, the date when a message is sent and the endpoints between which data was shared.

Encryption in India:
 India does not have a specific encryption law. Although, a number of industry rules, such as those governing the banking, finance, and telecommunications industries, include requirements for minimum
encryption standards to be utilised in protecting transactions.
 The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 – The new rules have the potential to impact the E2EE techniques of social messaging applications like Whatsapp, Telegram etc.
 The IT Act, 2000 is devoid of any substantive provision or policy on encryption.

Pharmaceutical Pollution

News: According to a paper published in the journal The Lancet, pharmaceutical pollution is an overlooked but urgent issue that needs coordinated action from across the pharmaceutical, healthcare and environmental sectors.

About Pharmaceutical pollution:
 Primarily a form of water pollution, it is caused by pharmaceutical drugs and their molecules which reach the aquatic environment through wastewater.
 It is now detected in waters throughout the world and its causes include effluents from pharmaceutical manufacturing, sewage overflows, agricultural runoff (antibiotic in livestock) and weakened infrastructure (waste-water treatment plants).
 Its impact on human health can be witnessed through Endocrine disruptor chemicals eg – Endosulfan which directly influences sex hormones.
 It impacts marine life. They are suspected contributor in fish kills.

Key Findings:
 Almost 43% of the world’s rivers are contaminated with active pharmaceutical ingredients in concentrations that can have disastrous consequences on health.
 Medicines being critical to human healthcare system, so there is a need to find ways to use them without poisoning the environment.

How can we minimize such pollution?
 Upgrading existing water treatment plants to use advanced oxidation processes that can remove small molecules.
 Returning unused drugs to pharmacies rather than disposing of them down the sink or toilet.
 The domestic pharmaceutical industry needs to take the lead in limiting antibiotic pollution.

Delhi Institute for Civil Services

Q.1) You are leading a rescue operation in a flood affected area. The flood has wreaked havoc and thousands of people and their homes are stranded in deep water. There has been a severe shortage of food and drinking water since the last few days. Because of the difficult topography of the area and heavy rainfall, the rescue operation is taking a lot of time. You have also lost information about one of your rescue team members who has become untraceable. It has been one of the most challenging assignments of your life. When your team finally reaches one of the rescuespots, the people there abuse and assault your man because of the pent-up anger. The remaining team members are now requesting you to call off the rescue operation as they are worried about their own safety. Also, your efforts are being shown in a negative light by the print and electronic media. Identify the ethical dilemma involved. How will you handle the situation in such circumstances? List the qualities which should be at display by the officer in such circumstances. (20 Marks, 250 Words)
• Write in blank paper, leaving the margins on both sides.
• Write your name on the answer sheet.
• Rename the file with your name that you are sending.
• Write at least 2 pages per answer when 150/200 words are asked.
• Write full question before answering except case studies.

Send your Answer on Following Telegram ID @DICSMainsAnswerwriting
M:- +919723932444

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Currency Chest

News: Recently, a banker in Maharashtra illegally diverted INR 2 crore cash which was released by RBI to Bank of Maharashtra’s Manchar Currency Chest.

What is Currency Chest?
 Currency chest is a place where the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stocks the money meant for banks and ATMs. These chests are usually situated on the premises of different banks but administrated by the RBI.
 The money present in the currency chest belongs to the RBI and the money, kept in the strong room outside the currency chest belongs to the bank.

What happens in case of a loss of cash?
 As per the set guidelines, the bank, in which the currency chest is situated is liable to fulfill the loss of the currency chest. The security of currency chests is the subject of the bank in which chests are situated. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reimburses the security expenses to the bank as per the set norms.

GHAR Portal

News: Recently National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), has developed and launched this portal.

About:
 The portal - “GHAR - Go Home and Re-Unite” will be a platform for information on children from every district to smoothen the process of their repatriation and restoration.

Features:
 Digital tracking and monitoring of children who are in the Juvenile Justice system and have to be repatriated to another Country/State/District.
 Digital transfer of cases of children to the concerned Juvenile Justice Board/Child Welfare Committee of the State. It will help in speedy repatriation of children.
 Where there is a requirement of a translator/interpreter/expert, request will be made to the concerned State Government.
 Child Welfare Committees and District Child Protection Officers can ensure proper restoration and rehabilitation of children by digitally monitoring the progress of the case of the child.
 A checklist format will be provided in the forms so that the children who are being hard to repatriate or children who are not getting their entitled compensation or other monetary benefits can be identified.
 List of Government implemented schemes will be provided, so that at the time of restoration the Child Welfare Committees can link the child with the schemes to strengthen the family and ensure that child remains with his/her family.

Paris Club

News: Paris Club creditor nations are proposing a 10-year moratorium on Sri Lankan debt and another 15 years of debt restructuring as a formula to resolve the Sri Lankan debt crisis.

About:
 The Paris club has also called upon the Global north and south to take a similar haircut in restructuring of Sri Lankan debt. So far no official proposal has been made by Paris club to China or India.
 The Paris Club is an informal group of creditor nations whose objective is to find workable solutions to payment problems faced by debtor nations.
 The Paris Club has 22 permanent members, including most of the western European and Scandinavian nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
 The group is organized around the principles that each debtor nation be treated case by case, with consensus, conditionality, solidarity, and comparability of treatment.
 The Paris Club stresses the informal nature of its existence. As an informal group, it has no official statutes and no formal inception date, although its first meeting with a debtor nation was in 1956, with Argentina.

Nirbhaya Fund

News: Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani has recently said that the government has set up over one thousand fast track courts in the country with the help of Nirbhaya Fund.

About:
 Established in 2013, It was launched for implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security for women in the country.
 Established by Union Finance Ministry, it is a non-lapsable corpus fund.

What are various schemes launched by Ministry of Women and Child Development under Nirbhaya fund?
 One Stop Centre Scheme (Sakhi Centres) - It is being implemented across the country since 1st April 2015. It aims at establishing Centres to facilitate women affected by violence. It provides First aid, Medical aid, Police assistance, Legal aid and counselling support.
 Women Helpline (181) - The Department of Telecommunication has allocated the number 181 to all States/UTs for Women Helpline. This helpline number will link the One Stop Centers being established by the Ministry of Women & Child Development.
 Mahila Police Volunteers (MPVs) - These will act as a link between police and community and help women in distress. Haryana launched the scheme in 2016, thereby becoming the first state to launch it.

Schemes launched by other ministries:
 Integrated Emergency Response Management System - The project aims to provide round the clock security to women passengers in all Railway Stations by strengthening of Security Control Rooms of Railways with Security Helpline, Medical Facilities, RPF and police, installation of CCTV cameras, etc. Ministry in charge - Railways.
 Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) - ERSS envisages an integrated computer aided emergency response platform to respond to distress calls and ensure speedy assistance to the distressed persons. It aims to integrate all emergency numbers to 112 with state of art technology. Ministry in charge - Home affairs.
 Central Victim Compensation Scheme (CVCF) - It has been created with a corpus of Rs.200 crores under section 357A CrPC. It will support States/UTs in providing fund towards compensation to the victim or her dependents who have suffered loss or injury as a result of the crimes (including survivors of rape and acid attack). Ministry in charge - Home affairs.