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A DAY after several Opposition leaders alleged hacking of their iPhones by the government after receiving an alert from Apple warning them of “state-sponsored attackers”, CERT-In, the government’s nodal agency on computer security, and technology company Apple are learnt to have set up teams to investigate the exact nature of the attack.
Taking a serious note of the issue, some MPs who are part of the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology sought a meeting of the panel to discuss the Apple alert sent to Opposition MPs. CPI(M) MP John Brittas said he has written to the committee’s chairperson, Shiv Sena’s Prataprao Jadhav, seeking a meeting. Congress’s Karti Chidambaram said he would write too requesting that the affected MPs, ministry officials, and Apple representatives be called before the committee. TMC MP Jawhar Sircar said he would take up the issue at the next meeting.
According to sources in the government, after CERT-In identified certain vulnerabilities in iPhone’s operating system iOS and issued formal advisories on October 27, Apple released a new batch of updates.
It is possible that there were attempts to hack iPhones in which the software was not updated, the sources said. But independent experts pointed out that many amongst those who did not update the iOS but still did not receive such alerts from Apple.
GST revenues surges 13% in Oct, second highest since its rollout in 2017 (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
GROSS GOODS and Services Tax (GST) collections surged 13.4 per cent year-on-year in October — for sales in September — to Rs 1.72 lakh crore, the second-highest level since the July 2017 rollout of the indirect tax regime, according to data released by the Finance Ministry.
A pickup in consumption and economic activity along with settlement of disputes by businesses following a spate of notices issued by GST authorities are likely to have contributed to the sharp rise in the GST revenue.
With the latest print, the GST collections have averaged at Rs 1.66 lakh crore per month during April-October 2023, up 11.4 per cent than the monthly average of Rs 1.49 lakh crore during April-October 2022.
Overall, the total GST collections stood at Rs 1,72,003 crore in October, recording the highest year-on-year growth rate in 10 months.
Out of the total GST revenue in October, Central GST — the tax levied on intra-state supplies of goods and services by the Centre — was Rs 30,062 crore; State GST — the tax levied on intra-state supplies of goods and services by the states — was Rs 38,171 crore; Integrated GST — the tax levied on all inter-state supplies of goods and services — was Rs 91,315 crore (including Rs 42,127 crore collected on import of goods); and cess was Rs 12,456 crore (including Rs 1,294 crore collected on import of goods).
Govt & Politics
Govt to depute national level monitors to oversee livestock schemes implementation (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Centre has decided to deploy National Level Monitors (NLM) to oversee the implementation of its livestock schemes including National Livestock Mission and Rashtriya Gokul Mission.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Alka Upadhyaya, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said, A scheme for NLMs has been approved. The department has begun the process of empaneling the NLMs which will take between one and one and a-half months.”
Apart from the National Livestock Mission and Rashtriya Gokul Mission, the Department of Animal Husbandry also implements the National Programme for Dairy Development and Livestock Health and Disease Control programme. These programmes will also be monitored by the NLMs.
As per the appointment terms of reference for NLMs, two types of monitoring will be conducted by them — regular and special.
Modi, Hasina flag off cross-border rail link virtually (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
A decade after India and Bangladesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up the first Indo-Bangla international railway connectivity in NE India in 2013, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurated the project from New Delhi and Dhaka respectively. Both Modi and Hasina were present at the event virtually.
In his inaugural speech, Modi said his government signed the Indo-Bangla land boundary agreement that had been pending for decades and resolved the maritime boundary issue.
He stressed on infrastructure development and connectivity between the two countries. Calling India “Bangladesh’s biggest development partner”, he said while bilateral ties between the two nations strengthened, it also boosted the latter’s energy sector alongwith regional connectivity.
Express Network
Review, correct: Plea in SC against Oct 17 verdict on same sex marriage (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
Petitioners seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriages have moved the Supreme Court urging it to “review and correct” its judgment denying them the right saying the ruling “suffers from errors apparent on the face of the record and is self-contradictory and manifestly unjust”.
The review petition said the ‘majority judgment’ is facially erroneous because it finds that the Respondents (authorities) are violating petitioners’ fundamental rights through discrimination, and fails to enjoin discrimination”.
It added that the ruling “recognises that, while heterosexual relationships have the benefit of the cover of law” which “afford(s) protection, and extend(s) benefits” same “eludes those living in non-heterosexual unions” and “impact, therefore, is discriminatory”.
Arab countries are united on this: No more transfer, displacement by Israel (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Days after India abstained from voting at the United Nations General Assembly on a Jordan-introduced resolution that called for an immediate humanitarian truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict, Mohamed El Kayed, Amman’s Ambassador to Delhi, said India’s call was a sovereign decision and Jordan respected it.
“India had taken abstention to try to stay in the middle, to have a role in the future on both sides,” Kayed said in an interview.
Last week, India skipped the vote on the resolution which did not mention Hamas or the Israelis taken hostage during the Hamas attacks on October 7. The resolution, which was not binding, was carried with 120 votes in favour, 14 against, 45 abstentions.
We understand very well that each country takes this position according to their interests. That’s India’s decision and we don’t interfere in that.
Jordan, he said, also recognises that India is getting involved in international issues very actively and can play some positive role in ending the war.
Editorial
The sarkari naukri (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Infrastructure)
For almost two years, one side of the Delhi-Jaipur highway in Gurugram has been the site of an agitation for the creation of an “Ahir regiment”.
The spot is marked by a large tented space that includes a kitchen, sleeping facilities and toilets. The walls of the tent are decorated with posters of “heroic” figures from Yadav historical memory and banners with traditional as well as modern armaments and slogans.
Frequently, men of the community take out marches in the surrounding villages, block traffic (“chakka jam”) and hold “interaction sessions” with visiting politicians who are exhorted to support the cause beyond mere words.
On my last visit to the site, one of the organisers told me that the “Ahirwal region has provided hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Our community has provided many brave soldiers in significant battles such as Rezang La (1962), Kargil, etc… but still we don’t have a regiment! The government is making 28 new regiments, they should also make a 29th, the Ahir regiment.”
Ideas Page
No one way to win wars (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The ongoing retaliatory air strikes on Gaza by the Israeli Air Force after the multiple coordinated early morning shock attacks by Hamas militants is a continuation of a long-pursued Israeli response strategy.
There is a history behind its chosen strategy of punitive and coercive air strikes. After the Second Intifada (2000-2005), with the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas took control of the strip by ousting the secular Fatah.
Repeated cycles of conflict followed until 2012, when Hamas fired 1,456 rockets into Israel, and in response Israel launched Operation Pillar of Defence.
With the total air superiority that the Israeli Air Force enjoys, it carried out punitive air strikes against more than 1,500 targets in Gaza, comprising military assets and the infrastructure of Hamas.
World
Bolivia severs ties with Israel, other countries recall envoys over Gaza (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Bolivia said on Tuesday (November 1) it had broken diplomatic ties with Israel because of its attacks on the Gaza Strip, while neighbors Colombia and Chile recalled their ambassadors to the Middle Eastern country for consultations.
The three South American nations lambasted Israel's attacks on Gaza and condemned the deaths of Palestinian citizens.
Bolivia "decided to break diplomatic relations with the Israeli state in repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive taking place in the Gaza Strip.
The three countries called for a ceasefire, with Bolivia and Chile pushing for the passage of humanitarian aid into the zone and accusing Israel of violating international law.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the attacks a "massacre of the Palestinian people" in a post on the social media network X, formerly known as Twitter.
Explained
India’s own CAR-T Cell therapy (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) this month granted market authorisation for NexCAR19, India’s first indigenously-developed CAR-T cell therapy, to ImmunoACT, a company incubated by IIT Bombay.
This paves the way for the commercial launch of this therapy in India, where it is expected to be available to cancer patients at a tenth of the cost abroad.
CAR-T is a revolutionary therapy that modifies immune cells, specifically T-cells, by turning them into potent cancer fighters known as CAR-T cells.
T-cells are special cells (white blood cells that find and fight illness and infection) whose primary function is cytotoxic, meaning it can kill other cells.
In CAR-T therapy, we genetically modify them into cancer-fighting cells. These supercharged cells are then put back into the body, and they go after cancer cells — especially in blood cancers like leukaemia and lymphomas.
In Tripura – Bangladesh railway link, new opportunities and old connect (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina Wednesday virtually inaugurated a rail link connecting Northeast India with Bangladesh.
The Agartala-Akhaura project will cut down the travel time between Agartala and Kolkata too, from 31 hours to 10 hours.
The project is expected to boost tourism, trade, and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
In the 12.24-km Agartala-Akhaura railway line, 5.46 kilometres lie on the Indian side in Tripura, and 6.78 km in the Akhaura upa-zilla in Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh.
The train will start from Agartala and move to Nischintapur, on the Indian-Bangladesh border, where the immigration checks will be held. The first station on the Bangladesh side will be Gangasagar.
Economy
In FSSAI index, nearly all major states slip on food safety compared to 2019 (Page no. 19)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Four years after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) published a state-wise index to spur food safety improvement, 19 out of 20 large states — including Maharashtra, Bihar, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh — recorded a drop in their 2023 scores from 2019.
After adjusting for a new parameter included in the 2023 index, 15 out of 20 states recorded lower 2023 scores compared to 2019.
The steepest fall in scores over five years was seen in Maharashtra, which scored 45 out of 100 in 2023 compared to 74 out of 100 in 2019, followed by Bihar, which scored 20.5 in 2023 compared to 46 in 2019, and Gujarat, which scored 48.5 in 2023 compared to 73 in 2019. Ensuring food safety is the task of each state’s apex food safety authority.