UPSC Key: Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, Retaliatory options on Govt table and Banks domain migration

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-I, II: Salient features of the world’s physical geography. India and its neighbourhood- relations.

What’s the ongoing story: In a significant step towards normalising India-China ties since the border standoff began in 2020, New Delhi announced on Saturday that it will resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra from June this year.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Read about the geographical location of Kailash Mansarovar and the routes leading to it.

• What is the cultural significance of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra?

• What is the history of India-China relations? How has the India-China relationship evolved in recent times?

• What is the significance of initiatives like the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in improving bilateral ties between India and China? How does cultural diplomacy complement traditional diplomatic mechanisms?

• “India and China have both differences and convergences.” Discuss how these dynamics shape their cooperation in multilateral frameworks like BRICS, SCO, and G20.

• What are the other people-to-people connect initiatives between India and China?

• What are the challenges in India-China relations?

• Map work: Lipulekh Pass, Kailash Mansarovar, Galwan, Nathu La Pass, Mount Kailash.

Key Takeaways:

• The resumption of the yatra after a gap of five years is an important measure towards rebuilding the trust deficit that emerged since the border standoff in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in Galwan.

• This is the first move taken after the disengagement process was completed in eastern Ladakh, where 50,000 to 60,000 troops are still stationed along the India-China border. The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra was on top of India’s wishlist since the talks to normalise the ties began in November this year.

• On Saturday, the Ministry of External Affairs said, “Kailash Mansarovar Yatra organised by Ministry of External Affairs is set to take place during June to August 2025.”

• “This year, 5 batches, each consisting of 50 Yatris, and 10 batches, each consisting of 50 Yatris, are scheduled to travel through Uttarakhand State crossing over at Lipulekh Pass, and through Sikkim State crossing over at Nathu La Pass, respectively,” the ministry said.

• The pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region holds religious significance to Hindus as well as Jains and Buddhists.

• The yatra was suspended initially in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequently because of the military standoff between the two sides on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

• With the yatra beginning in June, the focus will now shift to the remaining items on the wish-list, that includes the sharing of data on trans-border rivers, direct flights, easing of visas and exchange of media and think tanks between the two countries.

Do You Know:

• Lake Mansarovar, known locally as Mapam Yumtso, is a high altitude freshwater lake near Mount Kailash in the Ngari Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

• Both the lake, which is at an elevation of 4,600 metres, and the adjacent 6,638-metre high mountain, which Hindus believe is the home to Lord Shiva, are sacred in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and the Tibetan Bon religion.

• There are two primary routes to reach Lake Mansarovar from India.

1. Lipulekh Pass Route: Lipulekh pass lies at an altitude of 5,115 metres, on the border between Uttarakhand and TAR, near the trijunction with Nepal. It is an ancient passageway between the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan Plateau, frequented by traders and pilgrims alike.

• While the Lipulekh pass route is the most direct way to get to Mansarovar from India — as the crow flies, the lake is roughly 50 km from the border — the terrain makes the journey very challenging. Currently, this route entails roughly 200 km of hard trekking. Before 2020, it had been operational since 1981.

Not to scale. Credit: Ritesh Kumar

2. Nathu La Pass Route: Nathu La pass lies at an altitude of 4,310 metres on the border between Sikkim and TAR. It is one of two mountain passes in the region — the other being Jelep La — that have connected Sikkim and Tibet since ancient times.

• The route to Mansarovar from Nathu La is much longer in terms of distance — close to 1,500 km. But it is fully motorable, meaning pilgrims can make it all the way to the lake without any trekking. (They would only need to trekk 35-40 km for the circumambulation of Mount Kailash). This route became operational in 2015.

• Nepal Route: No private operators function on the two official routes. There is, however, a third route through Nepal in which private companies do operate. In theory, this route has been accessible to Indians since 2023, when China reopened its border with Nepal. But visa and permit requirements, as well as high costs due to China-imposed fees, have meant that few have likely availed this option.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Kailash Mansarovar Yatra to resume soon: Everything you need to know

📍Jaishankar, Wang discuss next steps: Resuming Man Sarovar Yatra, flights

UPSC Prelims Practice Question Covering similar theme:

(1) Consider the following pairs :

Pass	Link
1. Bom di La	Arunachal Pradesh
2. Zoji La	Srinagar with Kargil and Leh
3. Shipki La Pass	Himachal Pradesh with the Autonomous Region of Tibet, China
4. Nathu La Pass	Sikkim with the Autonomous Region of Tibet, China

Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

(a) l and 3 only

(b) 2 and 4 only

(c) 1, 3 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

‘China is using its economic relations and positive trade surplus as tools to develop potential military power status in Asia’, In the light of this statement, discuss its impact on India as her neighbour. (UPSC CSE 2017)

After diplomatic steps, a range of retaliatory options on Govt table

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies-II, III: India and its neighbourhood- relations. Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests. Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security. Security challenges and their management 

What’s the ongoing story: As India initiates a series of aggressive diplomatic actions such as suspension of the Indus Water Treaty and that of visa services for Pakistani nationals, the government is considering a range of retaliatory military options, including capabilities that allow New Delhi to strike back from within the country’s borders. 

Key Points to Ponder:

• Read about the 2025 Pahalgam terror attack.

• What is the 5-Point Action Plan Announced by India After the Pahalgam Terror Attack?

• What is the history of India-Pakistan ties?

• What is the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT)?

• What is the Simla Agreement? Does it mention a dispute resolution process?

• What is terrorism?

• What are non-state actors?

• Compare and contrast the defense capabilities of India and Pakistan in 2025.

• What is Line of Control?

• What steps India can take to address the security issues posed by Pakistan to India?

• How can international pressure through institutions like the FATF be used to strategically tackle the challenges posed by Pakistan to India?

• Map work: Indian states Bordering Pakistan (Refer Atlas)

Key Takeaways:

• In a deadly terrorist attack Tuesday in Pahalgam, a marquee tourist spot in Jammu and Kashmir, 26 people were killed. On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised retribution and said, “India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers” and would “pursue them to the ends of the earth”.

• A top source in the government told The Indian Express, “There will be military retaliation and we are prepared. We are discussing the nature of the strike… Since 2019, we have taken a series of measures to modernise our weapons. We have the option of targeting the terrorists from within our territory.”

• On February 14, 2019, a Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorist rammed an explosives-laden car into a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Pulwama. This led the Indian Air Force to launch a surgical strike in Balakot a few days later.

• Insisting that Pakistan’s role is undeniable in the Pahalgam attack, the government sources pointed out that “it has so much to do with Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir” and his interests. The assessment of the government and security agencies is that the Pahalgam attack was probably part of “General Munir’s attempt to gain popularity and create divisions among communities in India in the backdrop of an economic crisis and internal disturbances in Pakistan”, the sources said.

• Sources said efforts are “in progress” to ascertain the identities and details of terrorists who picked their targets on the basis of their religion.

Do You Know: 

5-Point Action Plan Announced by India After the Pahalgam Terror Attack: Underlining “the cross-border linkages of the terrorist attack” in Pahalgam :

1. India “held in abeyance” the Indus Waters Treaty with immediate effect.

2. The Defence/Military, Naval and Air Advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi are declared Persona Non Grata. They have a week to leave India. India will be withdrawing its own Defence/Navy/Air Advisors from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

3. Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) visas. Any visas issued in past to Pakistani nationals are deemed cancelled. Any Pakistani national currently in India under SVES visa has 48 hours to leave India.

4. Shut down the Attari border checkpost with immediate effect — those who have crossed over with valid endorsements may return through that route before May 1, 2025.

5. The overall strength of the High Commissions will be brought down to 30 from the present 55 through further reduction, to be effected by 01 May 2025.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Knowledge Nugget | What should you know about the Pahalgam terror attack and the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 for the UPSC Exam?

📍The toolkit for Pakistan

📍Knowledge Nugget: How is Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations relevant for UPSC Exam?

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(2) With reference to the Indus river system, of the following four rivers, three of them pour into one of them which joins the Indus directly. Among the following, which one is such a river that joins the Indus direct? (UPSC CSE 2021)

(a) Chenab

(b) Jhelum

(c) Ravi

(d) Sutlej

(3) Arrange the following agreements between India and Pakistan in chronological order:

1. Tashkent Declaration

2. Indus Water Treaty

3. Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack Against Each Other’s Nuclear Installations and Facilities

4. Agreement on Reducing the Risk from Accidents Relating to Nuclear Weapons

Select the correct answer using the code given below: (UPSC-CDS (II) – 2024)

(a) 1, 2, 3, 4

(b) 2, 3, 4, 1

(c) 2, 1, 3, 4

(d) 1, 4, 2, 3

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Terrorist activities and mutual distrust have clouded India – Pakistan relations. To what extent the use of soft power like sports and cultural exchanges could help generate goodwill between the two countries? Discuss with suitable examples. ( UPSC CSE 2015)

Centre selects startup Sarvam to build first homegrown AI model 

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance, Science and Technology

Mains Examination: General Studies-II,III: Government policies and interventions, Awareness in the fields of IT, Computers,  indigenization of technology. 

What’s the ongoing story: The government has selected Bengaluru-based start-up Sarvam to build the country’s first indigenous artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) amid waves made by China’s low cost model DeepSeek. The start-up, chosen from among 67 applicants, will receive support from the government in terms of compute resources to build the model from scratch.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Read about the Sarvam.

• What is AI? What are the areas of AI application?

• What is DeepSeek? How is it different from other AI players?

• How does the introduction of Deepseek by China redefine the battle for AI supremacy?

• What are the lessons for India from the DeepSeek breakthrough?

• What are the initiatives taken by India to develop its own AI model?

• Read about the India artificial intelligence (AI) mission?

• What are the concerns associated with the use of AI?

• Is there any legal framework for AI regulation globally and nationally?

Key Takeaways:

• Sarvam is the first start-up to get approved for sops under India’s ambitious Rs 10,370 crore IndiaAI Mission to build a model, with the government currently assessing hundreds of other proposals. Sarvam said its model will be capable of reasoning, designed for voice, and fluent in Indian languages, and it will be ready for population-scale deployment.

• A senior official said in terms of government support, the company will receive access to 4,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) for six months for the company to build and train its model. The model is not expected to be open-sourced, but will be fine-tuned particularly for Indian languages. The GPUs will be provided to Sarvam by companies separately selected by the government to set up AI data centres in India.

• As part of Sarvam’s LLM proposal, the company is developing three model variants: Sarvam-Large for advanced reasoning and generation, Sarvam-Small for real-time interactive applications, and Sarvam-Edge for compact on-device tasks, said Pratyush Kumar, one of the the company’s two co-founders.

• The development comes amid the meteoric rise of DeepSeek, a low-cost foundational model from China, which shook up the AI industry. DeepSeek’s entry into the AI space – touted for being open source, its accuracy and claims that it has been built at a fraction of the cost as its US competitors – sent Nvidia’s stock on a downward spiral, since its R1 model was trained on inferior GPUs compared with the likes of OpenAI.

• Sarvam’s model will be built, deployed, and optimised in India, using local infrastructure and developed by a new generation of Indian talent. This initiative aims to promote strategic autonomy, accelerate domestic innovation, and secure India’s leadership in AI for the long term, the company said in a press statement.

• Earlier this year, the government had also selected 10 companies to supply 18,693 GPUs — high-end chips needed to develop machine learning tools — that can go into developing a foundational model. This is more than the initial aim of the IndiaAI Mission, under which the government was looking to procure 10,000 GPUs.

Do You Know:

• Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the field of computer science which aims to make computer systems think, reason, learn, and act to solve a complex system like humans.

• To enable computer systems to imitate the way that humans learn, and perform tasks autonomously (meaning, without instructions), machine learning (ML) is used. ML is implemented by training (this term will also be explained in subsequent explainers) computers on data so that they can make predictions about new information.

• The AI model released by DeepSeek is a lesson for India (and also a source of hope). It is possible to kick-start the AI development journey on its own terms, without investing billions of dollars into building massive data centres or flooding the process with vast amounts of data to improve results.

• A few days after DeepSeek’s low-cost foundational model rattled tech stocks across markets, Vaishnaw announced that the government is building a domestic large language model (LLM) of its own as part of the Rs 10,370 crore IndiaAI Mission.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍AI basics: What are artificial intelligence and machine learning?

📍For India, why the AI arms race is far from over

📍UPSC Issue at a Glance | DeepSeek breakthrough: 4 Key Questions You Must Know for Prelims and Mains

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(4) With the present state of development, Artificial Intelligence can effectively do which of the following? (UPSC CSE 2020)

1. Bring down electricity consumption in industrial units

2. Create meaningful short stories and songs

3. Disease diagnosis

4. Text-to-Speech Conversion

5. Wireless transmission of electrical energy

Select the correct answer using the code given below: 

(a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only

(b) 1, 3 and 4 only

(c) 2, 4 and 5 only

(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Introduce the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI). How does Al help clinical diagnosis? Do you perceive any threat to privacy of the individual in the use of Al in healthcare? (UPSC CSE 2023)

6 days and counting, 7,000 security personnel: taking on a Maoist battalion in hills of Bijapur

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-II,III: Government policies and interventions, Linkages between development and spread of extremism, role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.

What’s the ongoing story: For six days now, security forces have surrounded and are tactfully scaling Bijapur’s Karregutta hills, which are as high as 700 metres and stretch around 20 kilometres along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border. It is here that they believe key members of the Maoist leadership are holed up, being safeguarded by Battalion 1, the most dangerous unit of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA).

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is naxalism?

• What is Left-wing Extremism?

• What is a Red Corridor region?

• Read about the Origin of Naxalism in India.

• Know about the Maoist-affected areas in Chhattisgarh.

• What is the Naxal Surrender policy?

• What initiatives have been taken by the government to counter Naxalism?

• What are the government efforts to bring development to Naxal-affected areas?

• How is Naxalism different from terrorism?

• What is the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA)?

• Map work: Karregutta hills 

Key Takeaways:

• Officials said this push in Dandakaranya could be the “climax” of the relentless anti-Naxal operations that began in 2024 and have so far led to the killing of 363 Maoists and the “squeezing” of the Maoist leadership to the hills.

• Battalion 1, which the security forces could be up against, has been held responsible for executing major encounters that claimed the lives of at least 155 jawans, including 76 CRPF personnel who were killed on April 6, 2010, in Tadmetla, Sukma.

• Security forces believe Battalion 1 is guarding top Maoist leaders…So far, the bodies of three Maoists have been found during the operation, but IGP, Bastar range, Sundarraj P said the insurgents have suffered “heavy casualties in the last couple of days”. For security officials, the operation is not without its challenges, with at least two jawans suffering minor injuries in IED blasts, Sundarraj said.

• According to another official, the terrain, coupled with factors such as a thick forest cover, could pose a challenge to security forces. The steep hill is also believed to offer a significant vantage point to the Maoists because they can spot the oncoming forces. The scorching heat appears to be another significant challenge, with an official confirming that dehydration is something they have to grapple with.

• Another official said that the abundant fresh water springs and caves on the hills could help shelter the Maoists. But the official also said that there was an advantage for the forces: The lack of human habitation on the hills. “There is no chance of civilians getting hurt. This is a big advantage the forces have,” this official said.

• Meanwhile, an umbrella group of several tribal rights organisations has written to President Droupadi Murmu seeking a ceasefire and a halt of the operations, claiming that the lives of adivasis in the areas of Bastar (Chhattisgarh), Gadchiroli (Maharashtra), West Singhbhum (Jharkhand), and adjoining areas “are under unprecedented and immediate threat”.

Do You Know:

• The operation comes at a time when the Maoists have made overtures for a ceasefire. Maoist leader Rupesh alias Satish alias Kopa, who was involved in the attack on Chandrababu Naidu in 2003, gave a video interview to a YouTube channel, Bastar Talkies, appealing for a ceasefire. Security officials, however, believe this could be an attempt by the Maoists to regroup.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Ruthless strategy to deal final blow, will end Naxalism by March 2026: Shah

📍Whenever a Naxal is killed, no one feels happy: Shah’s message to Maoist ‘brothers’ in Bastar

📍As Maoists make ‘peace offer’, why govt is not jumping at it, fears ‘time-buying tactic’

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Naxalism is a social, economic and developmental issue manifesting as a violent internal security threat. In this context, discuss the emerging issues gets a multilayered strategy to tackle the menace of Naxalism. (UPSC CSE 2022)

Left Wing Extremism (LWE) is showing a downward trend, but still affects many parts of the country. Briefly explain the Government of India’s approach to counter the challenges posed by LWE. (UPSC CSE 2018)

OPINION 

Between Scylla and Charybdis

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance, Economic Development

Main Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: P Chidambaram writes- “In the present tariff war that started on April 2, 2025, India faces challenges from two countries: United States and China. One is the obscure Scylla and the other the obscure Charybdis. Both, in the current context, are unpleasant alternatives.”

Key Points to Ponder:

• Read about the recent development associated with Trump’s announcement of reciprocal tariff and its 90 days pause. 

• US-China tariff war— Know in detail.

• What are tariffs? Why are tariffs imposed?

• How are tariffs retaliated? How is China responding to Trump’s retaliatory tariffs?

• What can be the implications of protectionist trade policies on India?

• What are India’s major exports to the U.S. and China?

• What India imports from the US and China?

• What are the factors responsible for India’s growing trade deficit with China?

• What are the challenges India faces in its trade relations with the United States and China in the 2025 tariff war?

• What strategies India is using to navigate potential trade negotiations with the U.S.?

• Read about the bilateral trade agreement between India and the USA?

• What is QUAD or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.? 

(Thought Process: Read about QUAD, its member countries, its objectives)

• How does the QUAD complicate India’s balancing act between the U.S. and China?

Key Takeaways:

• “India’s merchandise trade with the United States and China in 2024-25 was-

India, therefore, faces two diametrically opposite challenges when dealing with the two largest economies of the world.”

• “With the United States, we have a surplus in the trade account. Our major exports to the U.S. are gems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, electronic goods and some agricultural products.”

• “The surplus in the trade account is threatened by Mr Trump’s intention to impose tariffs. While there is a ‘pause’, and pharmaceuticals are temporarily exempt, the tariff sword hangs over India’s head. If tariffs are imposed, it will gravely affect exporters, jobs, the foreign exchange earnings and the current account balance. It is in India’s interest to negotiate with the U.S. and avoid stiff tariffs.”

• “The U.S. will also not gain by halting Indian goods, and Mr Trump knows that. He will find a way to allow the imports, but will exact a price. He will insist on India buying more from the U.S. and ‘balancing’ trade.” 

• “With China, India has the opposite problem. India has a huge and mounting deficit in the merchandise trade account: it is a humongous USD 100 billion dollars. Indian industry has become very China-dependent for electrical and electronic equipment, machinery, organic chemicals, plastics, and iron and steel because prices of Chinese goods are lower (sometimes amounting to ‘dumping’).”

• “India’s exports to China are mainly consumer goods, mineral- and petroleum-based fuels, marine foods, cotton yarn and some agricultural products. Apparently, there are few value-added goods that India can export to China that China cannot produce domestically or source from other countries.”

• “The trade deficit with China exacerbates India’s current account deficit and is a ticking bomb. The surplus with the United States has, to an extent, compensated the deficit with China. If the trade surplus with the U.S. vanished thanks to Mr Trump’s tariffs and the trade deficit with China grew larger, it will worsen the situation for India.”

• “There is a game-spoiler: QUAD, or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. The strategic priorities of the U.S., Japan and Australia are significantly different from the strategic priorities of India. The United States would like QUAD to become a bulwark against China’s expansionism. India would like to restrict QUAD to maritime safety, digital connectivity, emerging technologies, etc. and is wary of turning QUAD into an anti-China group.”

• “India must maintain a balance between the United States (which is the major source of capital and technology) and China (which is the major source of intermediate and capital goods). 

Do You Know:

• Trump initially imposed a 34 per cent tariff on Chinese goods, which was swiftly met with an equivalent retaliatory measure by Beijing. In response, the US added another 50 per cent in duties. When combined with earlier levies from February and March, the total tariff burden on Chinese imports under Trump’s second term increased to 104%, bringing fears of a near-embargo scenario.

• But amid global pushback, US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs, however, China is excluded from the pause, and instead, the tariff rate has been increased to 125%. 

• Beijing imposed 125 per cent tariffs on US goods from April 12, up from the 84 per cent previously announced, news agency Reuters quoted the Chinese finance ministry said on Friday. This comes after the Trump administration decided to pause tariffs for 90 days on many countries, but hit China with a 145 percent tariff amid the ongoing trade wars.

• But on April 22, the President said the current 145% tariff rate on China was “very high and it won’t be that high” over time. A day later, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there was “an opportunity for a big deal” between the two countries – but added that the US would not unilaterally reduce all tariffs on China.

• China, which was America’s second-largest source of imports last year, shipped $439 billion worth of goods to the US, compared to $144 billion in American exports to China. The rising tariffs now threaten to hit domestic industries hard, with businesses warning of cost surges, layoffs, and reduced competitiveness.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍UPSC Issue at a Glance | From Trump’s reciprocal tariffs announcement to 90-day pause: Everything in between

📍UPSC Issue at a Glance | Tariff war: 4 Key Questions You Must Know for Prelims and Mains

📍Who will win the tariff war?

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

What are the key areas of reform if the WTO has to survive in the present context of ‘Trade War’, especially keeping in mind the interest of India? (UPSC CSE 2018)

ECONOMY 

How domain migration may help cut digital fraud 

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-II, III: Government policies and interventions, Basics of Cyber Security, Indian economy

What’s the ongoing story: To combat the increasing number of digital payment frauds, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to operationalise the ‘. bank.in’ domain for banks.  

Key Points to Ponder:

• What are digital banking scams?

• What is the rationale behind the domain change?

• How will domain migration enhance cybersecurity and trust in digital banking?

• What is a Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD)?

• What are the challenges and issues banks might face while migrating from existing domains to the ‘.bank.in‘ domain?

• What is the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI)?

• What are the steps taken by GOI for cybersecurity?

(Thought Process: Know Cyber Security initiatives in India – Computer Emergency Response Team – India (CERT-IN), Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative, National Cyber Security Coordination Centre (NCCC), Cyber Swachhta Kendra, I4C)

• What is the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C)?

Key Takeaways:

• The ‘.in’ is India’s Country Code Top Level domain (ccTLD). This exclusive internet domain for domestic banks will minimise cyber security threats and will help in strengthening trust in the country’s digital banking and payment services. The RBI has asked banks to migrate to .bank.in domain by October 31, 2025.

• In February this year, the RBI announced the introduction of the ‘bank.in’, an exclusive internet domain for Indian banks. On Tuesday, the regulator decided to operationalise the ‘. bank.in’ domain for banks. A domain name is used to find websites. It is a unique and easy-to-remember address to access websites on the internet.

• The operationalisation of the new internet domain name is through the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), which has been authorised by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), under the aegis of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), to serve as the exclusive registrar for this domain, the RBI said.

• The ‘.IN’ domain is India’s own ccTLD, which is a two-letter string (eg: https://www.india.gov.in or) added at the end of a domain name. A ccTLD functions as more than just a string in a web address. It is considered a symbol of national identity on the global internet.

• With the migration to the new domain, all banks in the country will have ‘.bank.in’ as the domain name. Currently, banks are either using ‘.com’ or ‘.co.in’ as their domain name, which is more generic.

• Till the time banks fully migrate to the new internet domain, they are likely to have both ‘.bank.in’ and their old internet domains. So a customer can visit their respective bank’s website with the old internet domain, which will then redirect them to the bank’s website with the ‘.bank.in’ domain.

• The new internet domain will reduce cyber security threats and malicious activities like phishing; and, streamline secure financial services, thereby enhancing trust in digital banking and payment services.

Do You Know:

• NIXI is a not for profit organisation set up for peering of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) among themselves for the purpose of routing the domestic traffic within the country, instead of taking it all the way to US/abroad, thereby resulting in better quality of service and reduced bandwidth charges for ISPs by saving on international bandwidth.

• The changing geo-political and economic shifts have compelled the Indian government to take active steps to evolve in cyberspace. This includes key initiatives such as the National Cyber Coordination Centre, Cyber Surakshit Bharat, and National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre. CERT-In is the nodal agency for responding to computer security incidents when they occur.

• In 2018, the Ministry of Home Affairs established the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) as a national-level coordination centre to address cybercrime-related issues. In September 2024, four I4C platforms — Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre (CFMC), the ‘Samanvaya’ platform, a Cyber Commandos programme and a Suspect Registry — were inaugurated by Home Minister. The centre was able to decline six lakh fraudulent transactions and saved Rs 1,800 crore through Suspect Registry.

• In recent years, the government has also increased the budget allocation to cybersecurity. However, challenges remain. There is a need for effective utilisation, transparency, and accountability in fund allocation. Collaboration between the government, industry, and academia is vital for a robust approach.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍To tackle digital banking frauds, Indian banks to have special Internet domain ‘bank.in’

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(5) In India, under cyber insurance for individuals, which of the following benefits are generally covered, in addition to payment for the loss of funds and other benefits? (UPSC CSE  2020)

1. Cost of restoration of the computer system in case of malware disrupting access to one’s computer

2. Cost of a new computer if some miscreant wilfully damages it, if proved so

3. Cost of hiring a specialised consultant to minimise the loss in case of cyber extortion

4. Cost of defence in the Court of Law if any third party files a suit

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1, 2 and 4 only

(b) 1, 3 and 4 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

(6) In India, it is legally mandatory for which of the following to report on cyber security incidents? (UPSC CSE 2017)

1. Service providers

2. Data centres

3. Body corporate

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

What are the different elements of cyber security? Keeping in view the challenges in cyber security, examine the extent to which India has successfully developed a comprehensive National Cyber Security Strategy. (UPSC CSE 2022)

 

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