India-Pakistan tensions: Nirmala Sitharaman to chair meeting with banks, financial institutions on cyber readiness
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will chair a review meeting on cybersecurity preparedness of banks and financial institutions on Friday evening, amid heightened concerns that the country's critical infrastructure could be hit by cyber attacks amid the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan.
Representatives from various public and private banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), NSE, BSE, and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In), among others are expected to attend the meeting. Cert-In has been coordinating with various critical sector entities to ensure their cybersecurity preparedness.
The development comes as the Pakistan Armed Forces launched multiple attacks using drones and other munitions along the entire Western Border of India on Thursday night while also resorting to numerous ceasefire fire violations (CFVs) along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army said that the 'drone attacks were effectively repulsed and befitting reply was given to the CFVs'. The Pakistani escalation came a day after India carried out targeted strikes on nine sites in Pakistan and PoK.
On May 7, The Indian Express had reported that following 'Operation Sindoor,' agencies and organisations which are in charge of India's critical infrastructure, such as the Power Ministry, financial institutions including banks, and telecom operators were asked to be on 'high alert' after having faced a number of cyber attacks following the Pahalgam terror attack last month.
'There have been some DDoS attacks on some infrastructure, but we have contained them. Now we are on high alert because such attempts will certainly be made,' a senior government official had said earlier. A DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack is a cyberattack where an attacker overwhelms a website, server, or network with malicious traffic from multiple sources, making it slow or inaccessible to legitimate users.
The Indian Express had reported on Wednesday that soon after news about Operation Sindoor broke, social media platforms such as X were flooded with misinformation related to India's strikes on nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The ministries of IT and Information and Broadcasting sprung into action and decided that the government will dip into its legal powers of blocking any content or account they feel is propagating misinformation related to the strikes.
On Thursday, social media platform X said that it received executive orders from the Indian government requiring the company to block over 8,000 accounts in India, including those belonging to 'international news organisations and prominent X users'. It said that falling foul of the executive orders could subject the company to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of its local employees.
Soumyarendra Barik is Special Correspondent with The Indian Express and reports on the intersection of technology, policy and society. With over five years of newsroom experience, he has reported on issues of gig workers' rights, privacy, India's prevalent digital divide and a range of other policy interventions that impact big tech companies. He once also tailed a food delivery worker for over 12 hours to quantify the amount of money they make, and the pain they go through while doing so. In his free time, he likes to nerd about watches, Formula 1 and football. ... Read More
Aanchal Magazine is Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and reports on the macro economy and fiscal policy, with a special focus on economic science, labour trends, taxation and revenue metrics. With over 13 years of newsroom experience, she has also reported in detail on macroeconomic data such as trends and policy actions related to inflation, GDP growth and fiscal arithmetic. Interested in the history of her homeland, Kashmir, she likes to read about its culture and tradition in her spare time, along with trying to map the journeys of displacement from there.
... Read More
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
18 minutes ago
- Indian Express
How a Maharashtra village is using tax waivers to woo children to its Zilla Parishad school
Addressing the issue of the declining number of enrolments in village government schools has been a cause of concern for authorities. A panchayat in Maharashtra's Amravati district has offered a new carrot — Send your child to the local Zilla Parishad (ZP) school, and waive your property tax and water tax for the year. Sayat panchayat has come up with the exciting offer as the strength of its primary school, which once used to be the heart of the village's educational system with 90 children until three years ago, today has shrunk to just 38 students. 'It's quite disheartening to see empty classes,' said Amol Akhade, the Sayat ZP school's headmaster. 'Private English medium schools, often called 'convent schools' locally, have become the new aspiration for parents. Even families with modest incomes are willing to stretch their budgets, believing these schools offer their children a better future, and this is one of the main reasons for reduced enrollments in public schools,' added Akhade. The response was immediate. 'Within days of announcing the tax waiver scheme on June 24, six families enrolled their children. It may seem like a small number, but for a school fighting for survival, every child matters,' said Annapurna Mankar, the Sayat village sarpanch. When admissions for the 2024-25 academic year showed only five children enrolling in the first grade, the village knew something had to be done. 'After seeing the abysmally low admissions this year, the villagers and gram panchayat members together decided to take this decision,' said Mankar. 'So we came up with this simple yet unprecedented initiative to reward families who choose the government school,' she added. Nasir Shah, one of the parents who enrolled their daughter after the decision told The Indian Express, 'Being a mason, a low-paying job, my wife and I both need to be at work for the whole day to make up the month's financial needs and are not able to take care of our daughter's studies. The ZP school provides free and quality education, along with mid-day meals. Now, considering the gram panchayat's new initiative to waive taxes, we decided to drop the private school option.' The tax waiver is just one part of a larger transformation happening at Sayat ZP School. Recognising that parents want English education for their children, the school has become 'semi-English,' Mankar said. 'We are a team of three faculty members, and to retain students, we are giving our best by paying special attention to each child. The school also runs a regular mid-day meal programme and carries out extracurricular activities like meditation, cultural programmes, dance, and others to make learning enjoyable,' said Prashant Bhakre, assistant teacher. The village panchayat is also investing in better infrastructure, with fresh paint, and focusing on regular maintenance to make the school more attractive and be able to compete with private schools. Beyond the statistics lies another aspect of the issue. Akhade pointed out that family problems often affect children's education. 'In most cases, a fight between husband and wife usually affects their children, where either of the partners leaves the village and takes their children away. This contributes to both low enrollment and increasing dropout rates,' the headmaster said. 'So the school staff has learned to be more than just teachers. We're counsellors, mentors, and sometimes the stable presence in children's lives when everything else seems uncertain. From convincing parents for admissions to opening their bank accounts for scholarship-eligible students, we try to make their experience hassle-free,' added Bhakre. Akhade said it will take at least a year before the real impact becomes visible. But already, there are signs of hope. 'Now that parents are opting for ZP schools, we feel energised, and it has given us more energy to teach,' he remarked. 'The village is now running awareness campaigns to spread the word about both the tax benefits and the improvements being made to the school. A detailed list of eligible families has been prepared, and the tax waivers for the previous financial year are being processed,' said Mankar.
India Today
19 minutes ago
- India Today
A make in India snub
Operation Sindoor was an emphatic assertion of indigenous military prowess. Yet, a troubling contradiction emerged soon after. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which lies at the heart of India's defence innovation, now finds itself cornered, because Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has opted to instal imported radar and early warning systems in its latest jets, going back on its word to use the DRDO's indigenous Uttam AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar and the Swayam Raksha Kavach (SRK) Electronic Warfare (EW) suite. Sources say that HAL has issued a Letter of Intent to Israeli firm ELTA systems regarding the delivery of radars and EW suites. In a similar move in the Rafale Marine fighter jet deal, the Uttam radar was pulled out of the final configuration at the insistence of manufacturer Dassault Aviation despite being part of the original plan.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
23 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Tripura needs stronger security due to current situation in Bangladesh: CM
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Saturday exhorted various agencies to enhance security and surveillance in the state, given the current situation in Bangladesh. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on three sides. Therefore, strengthening of security is needed, the chief minister said after inaugurating the state's first cyber police station here. "We all know the present situation in Bangladesh. There is a need to enhance security arrangements. The northeastern state has been made into a corridor for the smuggling of drugs and narcotic items. Infiltration from across the border is also another problem," he said. "There are reports that a section of people go close to the international border (Indian side) and have conversations with people living on the other side of the international border. The situation may turn ugly once AI-enabled 5G service is available," he said. Referring to the shift from conventional warfare during 'Operation Sindoor', the chief minister said cannons and the presence of forces were not seen in the conflict (With Pakistan). "Modern warfare requires a click," he said. "A mobile phone has become more dangerous than AK-47 rifles. Advanced technology has changed the form of battle, conflict or war," he said. Terming cybercrime a kind of shadow warfare, he said the security forces need to fight the criminals digitally to prevent fraudulent activities. Emphasising awareness among the people about cyber fraud activities, Saha said the security agencies are also required to upgrade their skills to foil fraudulent activities on digital platforms. The Director General of Police (DGP), Anurag Dhankar, urged the people to contact the newly inaugurated cyber police station if they encounter any incident related to cybercrime. The cyber police station is located in Agartala's AD Nagar and it will deal with all cyber-related crimes across the state. The Centre has given Rs 45 lakh out of the total outlay of Rs 5 crore. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
