Current Affairs for UPSC Exams | 24 July 2019

Govt. denies U.S president’s claim on Kashmir mediation : (National)

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar today said, it is India’s consistent position that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are discussed only bilaterally.
Making a brief statement in the RajyaSabha on US President Donald Trump’s claim with regard to Jammu and Kashmir, he assured the House that no such request of mediation was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US President.
He said, any engagement with Pakistan will require an end to cross-border terrorism.
Earlier, Anand Sharma of Congress raised the issue saying the entire country is shocked to hear the claim made by US President. He said, the Prime Minister should come to Parliament and verify the US President’s statement.
US President claim about mediation in the Kashmir issue was also raised in the LokSabha. As soon as the House met for the day, Opposition members created uproar and shouted slogans demanding the presence of the Prime Minister to clear the air.
While raising the issue, Congress leader AdhirRanjan Chowdhury said India cannot bow its head before anyone and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should come to the House and clarify.

Data breaches have caused Indian enterprises heavily : (Economy)

Data breaches have cost Indian enterprises Rs. 12.8 crore on an average during the first half of calendar 2019, a 7.29% increase compared with a year ago.
Each employee incurred a loss of Rs. 5,019 on account of lost data or stolen record, an increase of 9.76% from the prior year, said a study conducted by IBM Security in association with Ponemon Institute.
Some 45 enterprises across segments were part of the India leg of the study. By per capital cost, industrial, pharmaceuticals, technology, and financial sectors were the top affected verticals, found the study.
The root cause for 51% of data breaches was malicious or criminal attacks, and it cost companies $1 million more on average than those originating from accidental causes. System glitches accounted for 27% of data breaches while human errors accounted for 22%.
Commenting on the findings, VaidyanathanIyer, security software leader, IBM India/south Asia said: “India is witnessing a significant change in the nature of cybercrimes; it is now extremely organised and collaborative. The cost of data breach continues to grow year after year.”
“The findings highlight the fact it is critical for organisations to invest in risk assessment, cognitive threat, management and building digital trust to beef up cyber security,” added Mr.Iyer.

ISRO plans for Aditya –L1 mission post Chandrayaan-2 : (Science and Technology)

After Chandrayaan-2, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned to launch its solar mission, Aditya-L1, during the first half of 2020.
Aditya-L1 is meant to observe the Sun’s corona, the outer layers of the star that span thousands of kilometres.
India on July 22 successfully launched its second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 on board its powerful rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1 from the spaceport in Sriharikota to land a rover on the celestial body and explore its unchartered south pole.
Another interplanetary mission to Venus will be launched in the next 2-3 years, according to Mr. Sivan, who is also the secretary, Department of Space.
Aditya-L1, with additional experiments, can provide observations of the Sun’s photosphere, chromosphere and corona.
In addition, particle payloads will study the particle flux emanating from the Sun, according to the ISRO. These payloads have to be placed outside the interference of the Earth’s magnetic field and cannot be useful in the low-earth orbit.

Indian captain maintains ICC test rankings : (Sports)

India skipper ViratKohli has retained his number one position in the latest ICC Test batsmen's rankings.
Kohli, who last featured in India's 2-1 Test series win over Australia, is sitting on 922 points. New Zealand's Kane Williamson (913) is second and CheteshwarPujara (881) third in the rankings released yesterday.
In the team rankings, India remain in the first place followed by New Zealand (2) and South Africa (3) with England (4) and Australia (5) rounding up the top five.

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