Union Home Ministry has recently issued a notification allowing 10 government agencies to monitor and decrypt any information stored in any computer on grounds of internal security.
It is in accordance with the power conferred upon the government under Section 69 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The agencies will now be able to snoop on exchange of information and material between individuals and banned or militant groups.
Each case of interception, monitoring, decryption is to be approved by the Union home secretary and reviewed every 2 months by the cabinet secretary.
The central agencies being given power under the notification are,
Intelligence Bureau,
Narcotics Control Bureau,
Enforcement Directorate,
Central Board of Direct Taxes,
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence,
Central Bureau of Investigation,
National Investigation Agency,
Cabinet Secretariat (R&AW),
Directorate of Signal Intelligence (for service areas of Jammu and Kashmir, North-East and Assam only) and
The Commissioner of Police, Delhi.
Pokkali Paddy
Pokkali paddy variety is a saltwater-tolerant paddy grown in the coastal fields of Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts of Kerala.
It is endemic to Kerala and was given Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
It grows to a height of up to 2 m and it survived the recent devastating floods in farmlands across the State.
The single-season paddy is raised in saltwater fields between June and November followed by a season of fish-farming.
After the harvest, the paddy stubble in the fields acts as food and shelter for shrimp and small fish.
Fish excreta and scales, along with the decomposed stubble, provide excellent natural manure for another season of Pokkali.
The cultivation is labour intensive and this farming tradition is under threat due to lack of labour.
States’ Startup Ranking
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) announced results of the first ever States’ Start-up Ranking 2018 recently.
The key objective of the exercise was to encourage States/UT to take proactive steps towards strengthening the Start-up ecosystems in their states.
The States have been identified under different categories - Start-up policy leaders, incubation hubs, seeding innovation, scaling innovation, regulatory change champions, procurement leaders, communication champions, North-Eastern leader, and hill state leader.
Based on these categories, the States have been recognised as the Best Performer, Top Performers, Leaders, Aspiring Leaders, Emerging States and Beginners.
Gujarat has been identified as the best performer.
Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, and Rajasthan have been identified as the top performers.
Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana have been identified as leaders.
Windfarm in Norway
Norway is planning to build megawatt Storheia wind park in Northwest coast.
It is part of Europe’s largest onshore wind power project.
United Nations calls to suspend the project because the area is used fore reindeer grazing, a traditional activity of the Sami people.
The sight and sound of the turbines in the park during winter months, could frighten the animals.
