Skip to main content

Centre pushing to revive NATGRID

NATGRID (National Intelligence Grid)

Current status:

The Union government is set to make an aggressive effort to accomplish one of the most ambitious intelligence projects in recent memory, which failed to take off during United Progressive Alliance rule.

On December 16, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a circular to fill the post of CEO of NATGRID.

The circular calls for applicants with a Masters in Electronics, IT or equivalent with an experience of working in the IT-related field for 25 years.

Both serving as well as retired government officials can apply.

The circular also says that if a private person is hired, his/her salary would be Rs. 10 lakh a month and if it’s a government servant, it will be his last drawn salary or the present salary.

National Democratic Alliance government refused to renew the contract ofRaghu Raman, NATGRID’s first and only CEO on the basis of an alleged adverse intelligence report.

Ashok Prasad, Secretary, Internal Security, who is holding additional charge of NATGRID, is said to be the frontrunner for the post .

Mr. Prasad, a 1979 batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.

Ashok prasad

What is NATGRID ?

It  is the integrated intelligence grid connecting databases of core security agencies of the Government of India to collect comprehensive patterns of intelligence that can be readily accessed by intelligence agencies.

It was first proposed in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai in 2008 since,the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai led to the exposure of several weaknesses in India’s intelligence gathering and action networks .

It was yet to establish .

Why NATGRID?

Before the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the American Lashkar operative David Coleman Headley had visited India several times and done a recce of the places that came under attack on 26/11.

headley

Despite having travelled to India several times and having returned to the US through Pakistan or West Asia, his trips failed to raise the suspicion of Indian agencies as they lacked a system that could reveal a pattern in his unusual travel itineraries and trips to the country.

It is argued that had a system like the NATGRID been in place, Headley would have been apprehended well before the attacks.

How does NATGRID works?

It is a counter terrorism measure that collects and collates a host of information from government databases including tax and bank account details, credit card transactions, visa and immigration records and itineraries of rail and air travel.

This combined data will be made available to all the Indian central agencies.

Implementaaion of NATGRID:

NATGRID is being implemented in four phases.

Raghuraman

The Cabinet Committee on Security approved the first two phases in 2011 and P. Raghu Raman was appointed the Secretary and CEO of NATGRID.

The implementation of the third and fourth phases are expected to require amendments to several laws to allow for the sharing and transfer of data on items such as property and bank transaction details and internet usage.

Merits:

NATGRID is essentially a tool that enables security agencies to locate and obtain relevant information on terror suspects from pooled data of various organisations and services in the country.

It will help identify, capture and prosecute terrorists and help preempt terrorist plots.

Critics:

  • Possible violations of privacy and leakage of confidential personal information.

  • No state agency or police force has access to its database thus reducing chances of immediate, effective action.

  • NATGRID claims to be protected by several structural and procedural safeguards and oversight mechanisms including that of external audits and technology safeguards.

Which are the security agencies of Government of India ?

  • National Technical Research Organisation

  • Research and Analysis Wing

  • Intelligence Bureau

  • Narcotics Control Bureau

  • Directorate of Revenue Intelligence

  • Defence Intelligence Agency

  • Joint Cipher Bureau

  • Signals Intelligence Directorate

  • Directorate of Air Intelligence

  • Directorate of Navy Intelligence

  • Directorate of Income Tax (Intelligence and Criminal Investigation)

  • Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

India Tech Vision-2035

India Tech Vision-2035 India's technology thinktank under the ministry of science & technology has come out with `Technology Vision 2035' here at the ongoing Indian Science Congress, identifying the challenges ahead and how they can be dealt with through technological interventions while realising the dream of a developed India by the year 2035. The thinktank -Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) -in the vision document lists a technology roadmap for India, giving details of 12 sectors and technologies that in some cases exist but need to be deployed, some in the pilot stage that must be scaled up and technologies in R&D stage. It, in fact, talks about many future technologies, ranging from flying cars, real time translation software, personalised medicine, wearable devices, e-sensing (e-nose and e-tongue) to 100% recyclable materials among others which may be used in different areas to solve day-to-day problems “The trajectories del...
Post a Comment
Read more

Inland Waterways in India

Here are some key points you need to know: The bill seeks to add 106 inland waterways to the existing six National Waterways on the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture and comments of several state governments The bill will also look after the renovation and maintenance of the existing waterways Out of the 106 new waterways, 18 have already been identified. These include five waterways each from Karnataka and Meghalaya, three each from Maharashtra and Kerala, one each from Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan The bill also aims to help the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to develop the feasible stretches for Shipping and Navigation. Let us look at the six existing National Waterways in India: National Waterway 1 (NW1) The National Waterway No. 1 uses a 1,620-kilometre stretch of the Ganges River. It was declared a national waterway in the year 1986 and runs from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal....
Post a Comment
Read more

Budget basics: A glossary of terms used in Budget

Disinvestment Receipts The term refers to the money raised by the Government through disinvestment, or the sale of its equity stake in companies it owns. Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act The Act is an attempt to make the Government adhere to a phased plan to reduce fiscal deficit, which denotes an excess of expenditure over revenue. Dividend Distribution Tax This is a tax levied on companies that pay out dividends to its shareholders, i.e. share a portion of earnings with them. Venture Capital Funds These are funds that invest in startups, a financially riskier proposition than investing in established companies. Securities Transaction Tax It is a tax on all transactions done over the stock exchanges involving securities such as shares, derivatives, and equity-linked mutual funds. Wholesale Price Index (WPI) It is a measure of inflation, or price change, arrived at after regularly measuring the prices of a slew of wholesale goods. Consumer Price...
Post a Comment
Read more