Table of Contents
The Hindu Editorial Analysis
We understand the significance of reading The Hindu newspaper for enhancing reading skills, improving comprehension of passages, staying informed about current events, enhancing essay writing, and more, especially for banking aspirants who need to focus on editorials for vocabulary building. This article will explore today’s editorial points, along with practice questions and key vocabulary.
CBI tasked by Supreme Court to handle ‘digital arrest’ cases
- The Supreme Court has handed over the job of cracking down on digital arrest scams to the CBI. The court said the CBI should freely investigate everyone involved, including corrupt bankers who open fake or “mule” accounts that help cybercriminals.
- The Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the situation had become extremely serious. They stressed that digital arrest scams were rising fast and needed urgent action from the CBI across the whole country.
- A note submitted by the government showed that scammers had already stolen almost ₹3,000 crore from people — especially elderly victims — using digital arrest tricks. This showed how big and dangerous the fraud has become.
- The court said all cybercrimes that cheat people, especially senior citizens, must be properly investigated. It ordered the CBI to focus first on digital arrest scams, and then take up fake investment scams and part-time job scams.
- The Supreme Court made an unusual decision by allowing the CBI to conduct a nationwide investigation without needing separate approval from each State. The court said this power is used only in rare cases where quick action is required on a national level.
- States such as Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Punjab, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, and Tripura were told to give their formal consent to the CBI as required by law.
- The court also instructed the CBI to form teams that include police officers from different States and experts in cybercrime, so that the investigation can be carried out smoothly across India.
- Because the scam networks involve huge financial losses and links to foreign countries, the Supreme Court asked the CBI to work with Interpol to track down international cybercrime hubs helping these scams.
- The Reserve Bank of India was made a party to the case and asked to explain how Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning can help detect the movement of fraud money through many different bank accounts.
- Under the IT Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules 2021, the court ordered online platforms to support the CBI by giving any necessary data to help investigate digital arrest crimes.
- All States and Union Territories were told to make sure their regional cybercrime coordination centres are fully working. These centres must collect cybercrime data, prepare prevention plans, and stay connected to the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C).
- The court criticised telecom companies for carelessly issuing SIM cards. It noted a pattern where multiple SIMs were issued in the same name, helping scammers run their operations more easily.
- The Department of Telecommunications was asked to prepare a plan for the Supreme Court. Later, telecom operators will be required to follow this plan to stop SIM card misuse in cybercrimes.
- Court-appointed amicus curiae N.S. Nappinai explained that cyber scams mainly fall into three types: digital arrest scams, fake investment schemes, and false part-time job offers — all designed to cheat innocent people and empty their savings.
- The Chief Justice highlighted that such scams mainly target vulnerable people, especially the elderly. Therefore, strong national-level action is needed to stop criminals from taking away people’s hard-earned money.
DoT: Phones Must Come With Pre-Installed Sanchar Saathi App
- The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has ordered smartphone manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on all new phones sold from March 2026. The companies must also make sure none of the app’s features are blocked or limited.
- According to the order, the app will help check whether a phone’s IMEI number is genuine. However, it is still unclear whether the app will read the IMEI automatically or if users will have to enter it themselves.
- The DoT says this step will help protect people from fake or illegal phones, make it easier to report telecom-related misuse, and improve the overall effectiveness of the Sanchar Saathi safety system.
- Sanchar Saathi was first launched as a portal in 2023. It lets people report scam calls, check how many SIM cards are linked to their name, and even block a stolen phone — similar to the TRAI spam-control app (DND).
- Government records show the platform has received 2.48 lakh complaints and handled nearly 2.9 crore requests from people checking mobile connections linked to their ID details.
- The DoT pointed out that fake or duplicated IMEIs cause big problems. Sometimes the same IMEI number appears in many phones in different places at the same time, making it very hard for investigators to track fraud and catch criminals.
- India has a huge second-hand phone market where stolen or blacklisted phones often get resold. This exposes buyers to legal trouble and financial losses. Sanchar Saathi helps reduce this risk by allowing IMEI verification.
- On Google Play, the DoT says the Sanchar Saathi app does not collect any personal user data. Meanwhile, the DoT has also defended its rules requiring messaging and calling apps to link accounts with SIM details.
- The DoT argues SIM-binding is needed because fraudsters exploit loopholes where accounts remain active even after removing or deactivating the SIM. Criminals use this to run large-scale scams, digital arrest frauds, and fake government calls from Indian numbers — even after leaving the country.
- Smartphone companies usually resist mandatory app installations. For example, Apple earlier objected to TRAI’s spam app because it asked for access to call logs and SMS, which raised privacy concerns.
- The DoT said that in October alone, Sanchar Saathi helped recover approximately 50,000 lost or stolen phones, showing that the system is effective and becoming more useful for public safety.
Centre introduces Bills to hike pan masala cess and raise excise duties on tobacco products
- The Central government on Monday introduced two new Bills in Parliament to increase excise duty on tobacco products and bring stronger rules for pan masala manufacturing, even though the Opposition continued loud protests during the session.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Health Security se National Security Cess Bill, 2025 and the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025. These Bills aim to replace the revenue that will soon be lost after the GST compensation cess ends.
- The new Health Security se National Security Cess is meant to raise extra money for national security and public health. The cess will be charged on machines and processes used in pan masala factories.
- The GST compensation cess was introduced in 2017 when GST was launched. It helped States by covering their financial losses for five years caused by switching to the new tax system.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–21 and 2021–22), this cess did not collect enough money. So the Centre had to borrow funds to ensure States received their promised GST compensation.
- The compensation cess on tobacco products will end once the government finishes paying interest on these borrowed amounts. This repayment is expected to finish in the coming months.
- If the cess ends, the effective taxes on tobacco products will drop sharply, reducing government revenue. The new Bills aim to prevent this fall in revenue.
- To handle this loss, the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill gives the government the power to raise excise duty on tobacco and related products so that the tax levels remain stable.
- The Health Security se National Security Cess Bill also allows the government to expand this new cess to other goods in the future, if needed, by issuing a notification.
- Under the Bill, manufacturers must honestly declare all machines and production processes in every factory or unit they run. The cess will be calculated based on all these declared locations together.
Important Questions
- Why did the Supreme Court direct the CBI to take urgent nationwide action against digital arrest scams?
- How will the CBI use Interpol support to find international cybercrime hubs involved in digital arrest fraud?
- Why did the DoT order smartphone makers to prevent disabling any Sanchar Saathi app features?
- How does the Sanchar Saathi app help authorities detect spoofed or tampered IMEI numbers?
- Why does the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill allow the government to raise excise duty on tobacco products?
- How does the Health Security se National Security Cess aim to support national security and public health?
Important Vocabulary
- Intermediaries – online platforms that act as a link between users and digital services.
- Exceptional – something rare or unusual that does not happen normally.
- Coordination – different groups working together in an organised way.
- Impersonation – pretending to be someone else to cheat or mislead.
- Authenticity – the state of being genuine or real.
- Complicating – making a situation more difficult or confusing.
- Permissions – rights that allow an app to access certain data or features.
- Resold – sold again after being purchased once.
- Manufacturing – the process of making goods in factories.
- Compensation – money given to make up for a loss or damage.
- Shortfalls – amounts that are less than what is needed.
- Fiscal – related to government money and financial matters.
Download Online Mock Test Mobile APP
3
