Tag: business standard

Context: How did the web cookie become the bone of contention in the battle for privacy? What is a web cookie? A cookie is a little piece of text stored on one’s web browser. It can identify what sites one has visited, to which sites one goes too often, or even, under some circumstances, the… Continue reading Say no to cookies from strangers

News: Recently, a 20-minute thunderstorm in Delhi uprooted many trees, some of them between 40 and 50 years old, throwing the city out of gear for hours. This chaos, caused due to poor urban planning, has become a pattern whenever a pre-monsoon storm, with high-velocity winds, hits the city. Delhi High Court has taken note… Continue reading Unnatural urbanisation

Context: Cert-In recently issued a new directive making it mandatory for VPN service providers to keep user data for at least five years and share records with authorities when required. This new regulation threatens free speech and privacy. Contents1 What is a VPN?2 What are the different use cases of VPNs?3 How does a VPN… Continue reading Veiled threats to privacy

News: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Indian Army are assessing procurement of another 100-200 mobile SP howitzers. The additional 200 guns would equip 10 medium artillery regiments. Historical trends (1) Medieval Times In 1526, Babur defeated the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodhi and won the First Battle of Panipat. Babur was able to… Continue reading Evaluating the arsenal

News: The Union government’s asset monetisation plan seems to be facing resistance from government departments and public sector enterprises (PSEs). The government’s target of mobilising Rs 1.62 trillion in the current fiscal year would thus become difficult to achieve. Contents1 What is the progress of Asset monetisation plan?2 Why are PSEs reluctant to monetise their… Continue reading Asset monetisation

News: In the last few decades, the government has realised that the public sector enterprises (PSEs) should not be present in many of the sectors of the economy. Therefore, they need to exit. What are the issues in the functioning of the PSEs? The listed PSEs perform worse than their sectoral peers on the stock… Continue reading Improve governance before divesting

News: The European Union’s (EU’s) announcement of a joint decision to phase out imports of Russian crude oil has, together with some other developments, shaken up oil markets. This is the sixth such package of sanctions on entities linked to the Russian Federation by the countries of the EU. Earlier sanctions have benefitted India, but… Continue reading Another sanctions package

News: Recently, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other political leaders have demanded for making agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) more autonomous. This has also raised questions on the poor state of state police forces. Contents1 What are the issues in the State Police forces?2 Way Forward3 Short-term4 Long-Term solutions What… Continue reading Not by autonomy alone