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Today in History (February 18th,1836)
Ramakrishna Paramhansa (18 February 1836 – 15 August 1886), was a great saint and thinker of India. He emphasized the unity of all religions. He believed since childhood that God can be seen. Therefore, he spent a life of rigorous spiritual practice and devotion to the attainment of God. Ramakrishna was a priest of humanity. As a result of his spiritual practice, he concluded that all the religions of the world are true and there is no difference in them. They are just different means of reaching God. He was born on 18 February 1836 in Kamarpukur Village, Hooghly District, West Bengal.
Summary of Today’s News
Gyanesh Kumar Appointed the Chief Election Commissioner of India
• Gyanesh Kumar has been appointed Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) after a meeting of a three-member committee chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• He will take office on Wednesday, the same day the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the new law under which this selection occurred.
• Haryana Chief Secretary Vivek Joshi was also appointed Election Commissioner.
Congress Objection:
• The Congress party asked for the panel meeting to be adjourned until Wednesday due to the Supreme Court hearing.
• The party raised concerns over the new law, claiming it creates a “partisan” and “non-neutral” mechanism for the selection of Election Commissioners.
• Congress emphasized that the new law violated a March 2023 Supreme Court ruling that mandated a selection panel comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition (LoP), and the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
Background of Gyanesh Kumar:
• Gyanesh Kumar, a 1988-batch former IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, retired as Union Cooperation Secretary on January 31, 2024, and was appointed Election Commissioner on March 14, 2024.
• He was the senior-most Election Commissioner under his predecessor, CEC Rajiv Kumar.
Congress Leader’s Reaction:
• Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attended the meeting but left after submitting written objections.
• Gandhi was absent during the discussion of names for the CEC role.
• Congress sources claim that Gandhi’s written objections were submitted.
Selection Under New Law:
• This is the first time a CEC has been appointed under the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.
• Prior to this law, the President appointed the CEC and Election Commissioners based on government recommendations.
Legal Context:
• The new law followed a March 2023 Supreme Court judgment that mandated a selection panel with the Prime Minister, LoP, and CJI.
• However, the law replaced the CJI with a Union Minister, giving the government a more dominant role in the selection process.
Rajiv Kumar’s Farewell Address:
• Rajiv Kumar, the outgoing CEC, emphasized the need for empowering NRIs to vote remotely and suggested biometric authentication at polling booths to reduce impersonation.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack
Context:
Kaveri 2.0 Portal: A web-based platform for property registrations in Karnataka, launched in 2023. In January 2025, the portal faced significant outages that disrupted its operations. Cause: Investigations revealed that these outages were caused by a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack rather than technical issues.
Aftermath of the Attack
• Complaint Lodged: K. A. Dayananda, Inspector General of Registrations and Commissioner of Stamps (IGR & CS), filed a complaint with the cyber-crime police.
• Case Filed: The Cybercrime, Economic Offences, Narcotics (CEN) police initiated a case under the Information Technology Act, 2000 against the unknown attackers.
What is a DDoS Attack?
• Definition: A DDoS attack is a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal functioning of a targeted server, service, or network by overwhelming it with excessive internet traffic.
• Difference from DoS: Unlike a Denial of Service (DoS) attack, which uses a single source, a DDoS attack utilizes multiple compromised systems (a botnet).
• Consequences: DDoS attacks can:
• Saturate bandwidth and exploit network protocol weaknesses.
• Cause service downtimes, disrupt operations, and potentially result in revenue loss.
• Serve as distractions while other cyberattacks, like data breaches, may be executed.
• Damage the reputation of organizations as customers may question their ability to safeguard against such threats.
Impact of the DDoS Attack on Kaveri 2.0
• Performance Issues: Kaveri 2.0 experienced problems during December 2024 and January 2025, with fake accounts created to flood the system.
• Attack Details:
• 62 email accounts and 14 IP addresses were involved in the attack, showing its distributed nature.
• January 2025: A surge in traffic for Encumbrance Certificate (EC) searches occurred, which was eight times higher than usual.
• The portal received 6.2 lakh requests in just two hours, leading to a complete system breakdown and decreased registrations.
Mitigation Strategies for DDoS Attacks
• Traffic Filtering: Implement advanced systems to differentiate between legitimate and malicious traffic.
• Monitoring Tools: Use tools to identify abnormal traffic patterns and act preemptively.
• Rate Limiting: Set limits on the number of requests a user can make in a given timeframe to prevent overload.
• Bot Detection: Utilize technologies like CAPTCHA challenges and behavioural analysis to block bots.
• Security Audits: Regular audits and strong authentication methods help enhance security.
• Collaboration: Organizations should work with cybersecurity agencies to investigate attacks and improve future protection strategies.
• User Education: Teaching users about phishing and social engineering can prevent account compromises.
Notable DDoS Attacks
1. X (Formerly Twitter):
• In August 2024, X faced a major DDoS attack, causing delays and disruptions, just before a scheduled conversation between Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump.
2. GitHub (2015):
• A China-based botnet targeted Microsoft-owned GitHub, specifically aiming at projects that helped circumvent Chinese censorship.
• The attack involved injecting malicious JavaScript code into the browsers of visitors to Baidu and other sites using its analytics services.
Conclusion
• A DDoS attack floods a server with excessive traffic, disrupting its normal operations.
• Following the attack, Kaveri 2.0 faced significant registration disruptions, with services down for a period.
• The restoration of the portal on February 5 signals the need for improved cybersecurity measures across organizations, especially government platforms.
