Editor's Pick: Centre's push to counter-terrorism intel grid

Reviewing the security situation in the country, the Union Government at a high-level meeting, has asked the states to share more intelligence inputs through the Multi-agency Centre (MAC), a common counter-terrorism grid under the Intelligence Bureau that was made operational in 2001 following the Kargil War. Despite the two decades that have gone by, information sharing on the MAC has been a slow, sluggish process. Minister Amit Shah asked the Directors-General of Police to share adequate information and actionable inputs through the MAC. As many as 28 organisations, including the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), the armed forces and state police are part of the platform. Last year, following a blast in Ludhiana and an instance of the Punjab Police who claimed to have foiled a possible terror attack by arresting an operative linked with terror outfits globally, the linking of states right down to the districts on a common secured platform assumes importance to prevent future attacks. This was by no means the only instance of terror attack in the country. In the past, this information sharing on possible terror attacks had been an arbitrary affair. The reluctance on the part of the states was also stated in a parliamentary standing committee report two years ago. The committee had observed that the contribution made over the years by state agencies is lower in the overall inputs that had been received by the MAC. Despite the existence of the MAC for over two decades, linkages right down to the district level by connecting them with the lease line and encryptors have been negligible. The recent meeting gives a fresh impetus to the working of the MAC in an environment where information sharing is crucial for the security of the country and explains the placing of the story on the front page of the newspaper. The Hindu Editorials Inadequate response: On income criteria to identify EWS quota Transition in peril: on military crackdown in Sudan Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. Click here Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz India is in talks with which country for concluding a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)? 1. Iran 2. Israel 3. Iraq 4. Saudi Arabia To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 05 JANUARY 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Centre's push to counter-terrorism intel grid [Centre's push to counter-terrorism intel grid] Reviewing the security situation in the country, the Union Government at a high-level meeting, has asked the states to [share more intelligence inputs]( through the Multi-agency Centre (MAC), a common counter-terrorism grid under the Intelligence Bureau that was made operational in 2001 following the Kargil War. Despite the two decades that have gone by, information sharing on the MAC has been a slow, sluggish process. Minister Amit Shah asked the Directors-General of Police to share adequate information and actionable inputs through the MAC. As many as 28 organisations, including the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), the armed forces and state police are part of the platform. Last year, following a [blast in Ludhiana]( and an instance of the Punjab Police who claimed to have foiled a possible terror attack by arresting an operative linked with terror outfits globally, the linking of states right down to the districts on a common secured platform assumes importance to prevent future attacks. This was by no means the only instance of terror attack in the country. In the past, this information sharing on possible terror attacks had been an arbitrary affair.  The reluctance on the part of the states was also stated in a parliamentary standing committee report two years ago. The committee had observed that the contribution made over the years by state agencies is lower in the overall inputs that had been received by the MAC. Despite the existence of the MAC for over two decades, linkages right down to the district level by connecting them with the lease line and encryptors have been negligible. The recent meeting gives a fresh impetus to the working of the MAC in an environment where information sharing is crucial for the security of the country and explains the placing of the story on the front page of the newspaper. [underlineimg] The Hindu Editorials [Arrow][Inadequate response: On income criteria to identify EWS quota]( [Arrow][Transition in peril: on military crackdown in Sudan]( [underlineimg] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. [Click here]( [underlineimg] Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz India is in talks with which country for concluding a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)? 1. Iran 2. Israel 3. Iraq 4. Saudi Arabia To find out the answer and play the full quiz, [click here](. 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