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Distribution: weekly

  • Israel’s Iron Dome rocket defence system

    Context

    • Amid the Israel-Palestine conflict, the night sky over Israel has been ablaze with interceptor missiles from Iron Dome shooting down the incoming rockets in the sky.

    What is Iron Dome?

    • Iron Dome is a multi-mission system capable of intercepting rockets, artillery, mortars and Precision Guided Munitions as well as aircraft, helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) over short ranges of up to 70 km.
    • It is an all-weather system and can engage multiple targets simultaneously and can be deployed over land and sea.
    • Iron Dome is jointly manufactured by Rafael Advanced Systems and has been in service with Israeli Air Force since 2011.
    • The radar system was developed by Elta.

    Working of Iron Dome

    • An Iron Dome battery consists of a battle management control unit, a detection and tracking radar and a firing unit of three vertical launchers, with 20 interceptor missiles each.
    • The interceptor missile uses a proximity fuse to detonate the target warhead in the air.
    • One of the system’s important advantages is its ability to identify the anticipated point of impact of the threatening rocket, to calculate whether it will fall in a built-up area or not, and to decide on this basis whether or not to engage it.
    • This prevents unnecessary interception of rockets that will fall in open areas and thus not cause damage, the paper states.
    • The system has intercepted thousands of rockets so far and, according to Rafael Advanced Systems, its success rate is over 90%.

    Limitations of the system

    • The system can see limitations when it is overwhelmed with a barrage of projectiles.
    • The system has a ‘saturation point’.
    • It is capable of engaging a certain number of targets at the same time, and no more.
    • One of the possible limitations is the system’s inability to cope with very short range threats as estimates put the Iron Dome’s minimum interception range at 5-7 kilometres.

     

  • No virtual meets of standing committees

    Confidential nature of meeting not possible in virtual meetings

    • Days after the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha wrote to Chairman to allow virtual meetings of parliamentary standing committees, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat has turned down his plea.
    • Requests to allow virtual meetings of the standing committees were turned down last year as well by Rajya Sabha Chairman and Lok Sabha Speaker.
    • The request was turned down on grounds that virtual meetings would violate the confidential nature of such meetings and that any change to the norms require approval by Parliament.

    Matter referred to Committee on Rules

    • The letter by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat points out that the Chairman and Speaker had decided last year, during the first wave of the pandemic, to refer the issue of allowing virtual meetings of parliamentary panels to the Committee on Rules in both Houses.
    • The Committee on Rules, however, did not take up the matter for discussion since Committees started physical meetings as the lockdown restrictions gradually eased in the second half of last year.

  • NITI Aayog’s proposal of allowing private entities to take over district hospitals

    The article highlights the issue of shortage of doctors in India and issues with the involvement of private sector in it.

    Government approach

    • Market-oriented approach towards medical education: NITI Aayog’s proposal of allowing private entities to take over district hospitals for converting them into teaching hospitals with at least 150 MBBS seats.

  • Remittance received by India remain unaffected by pandemic

    What the World Bank report says

    • India received over USD 83 billion in remittances in 2020, according to a World Bank report.
    • In 2019, India had received USD 83.3 billion in remittances.
    • The report said India’s remittances fell by just 0.2 per cent in 2020.
    • Much of the decline was due to a 17 per cent drop in remittances from the United Arab Emirates, which offset resilient flows from the United States and other host countries.
    • The World Bank, in its latest Migration and Development Brief, said despite COVID-19, remittance flows remained resilient in 2020.

    Trend analysis

    • China, which received USD 59.5 billion in remittances in 2020 against USD 68.3 billion the previous year, is a distant second.
    • India and China are followed by Mexico (USD42.8 billion), the Philippines (USD34.9 billion), Egypt (USD29.6 billion), Pakistan (USD26 billion), France (USD24.4 billion) and Bangladesh (USD21 billion).
    • Remittance outflow was the maximum from the United States (USD68 billion), followed by UAE (USD43 billion), Saudi Arabia (USD34.5 billion), Switzerland (USD27.9 billion), Germany (USD22 billion), and China (USD18 billion).
    • The relatively strong performance of remittance flows during the COVID-19 crisis has also highlighted the importance of timely availability of data.
    • Given its growing significance as a source of external financing for low- and middle-income countries, there is a need for better collection of data on remittances, in terms of frequency, timely reporting, and granularity by corridor and channel.

    B2BASICS

    Remittances

    • Remittances are usually understood as financial or in-kind transfers made by migrants to friends and relatives back in communities of origin.
    • These are basically sum of two main components – Personal Transfers in cash or in kind between resident and non-resident households and Compensation of Employees, which refers to the income of workers who work in another country for a limited period of time.
    • Remittances help in stimulating economic development in recipient countries, but this can also make such countries over-reliant on them.

    Remittance and the Indian Economy

    Benefits

    • Increased inward remittance is a boon for the economy at both macro and micro levels.
    • At the macro level, remittances contribute to maintaining stable foreign reserves.
    • Remittances help Indian Rupee hold its value against the US dollar and forms a significant part of the GDP.
    • On a micro level, remittances have shown a positive impact on healthcare, entrepreneurship, education, and overall economic development of the recipient families.

    Issues

    An increase in outward remittances however, raises an alarm. It causes the rupee to weaken against the dollar, which in return impacts the businesses exposed to foreign exchange, and the economy overall.

  • App to view live proceedings of SC launched for media persons

    App to view virtual proceedings

    • Chief Justice of India launched a mobile app that would allow media persons to view the Supreme Court’s virtual proceedings live on their mobile phones.
    • The role of the media assumes importance in the process of disseminating information.
    • Justice A.M. Khanwilkar said the facility, which is now temporary, could be made permanent in the future depending on the operational issues.

    ‘Indicative Notes’ on the SC website

    • The CJI also launched a new feature in the Supreme Court’s official website called ‘Indicative Notes’.
    • This feature is aimed at providing concise summaries of landmark judgments in an easy-to-understand format.
    • This will serve as a useful resource for media persons and the general public who wish to be better informed about the rulings of the court.

  • Issues with MHA notification for OCI

    About notification

    • The Home Ministry’s March 4 order that required professional Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs), such as journalists, engineers and researchers, to notify the Ministry about their activities in India.
    • The notification said that OCIs shall be required to obtain a “special permission or a special permit” from the competent authority or the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) or the Indian mission “to undertake research, missionary or Tabligh or mountaineering or journalistic activities or internship in any foreign diplomatic missions
    • The Ministry issued a gazette notification that OCI cardholders could claim “only NRI (Non-Resident Indian) quota seats” in educational institutions.

    Issues with the notification

    • This will place undue burden on scientific, pharmaceutical, medical, biotechnology and other research fields.
    • Even if an OCI student has secured a high rank in an exam like NEET, several institutions of repute do not have NRI seats.
    • The exorbitantly high fees under the NRI quota cannot be afforded by many OCIs as they live and work in India.
    • India-domiciled OCI students are deprived of domicile status both in India [country of residence] as well as the country of their citizenship.
    • The notification equates India-domiciled OCIs with a foreigner.

    About OCIs

    • OCIs are of Indian origin but hold foreign passports.
    • India does not allow dual citizenship but provides certain benefits under Section 7B(I) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 to the OCIs.
    • So far, 37.72 lakh OCI Cards are said to have been issued.

  • India resists Community Transmission tag despite soaring cases

    How other countries are classifying themselves

    • Inspite of adding the highest number of cases in the world every day, India continues to label itself as a country with no community transmission (CT) according to the latest weekly report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on May 11.
    • India opts for the lower, less serious classification called ‘cluster of cases’.
    • Countries such as the United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, France have all labelled themselves as being in ‘community transmission.
    • Among the 10 countries with the most number of confirmed cases, only Italy and Russia do not label themselves as being in community transmission.
    • Both countries have been on a declining trajectory for at least a month and together contribute less than 20,000 cases a day — about 5% of India’s daily numbers.
    • India, since the beginning of the pandemic has never marked itself as being in community transition.

    Understanding the classification

    • Broadly, CT is when new cases in the last 14 days can’t be traced to those who have an international travel history, when cases can’t be linked to specific cluster.
    • Instead, the classification, ‘cluster of cases’ says “Cases detected in the past 14 days are predominantly limited to well-defined clusters that are not directly linked to imported cases”.
    • The WHO guidelines further suggest four subcategories within the broader definition of CT.
    • CT-1 implying “Low incidence of locally acquired, widely dispersed cases…and low risk of infection for the general population.
    • The highest, a CT-4 suggests very high incidence of locally acquired, widely dispersed cases in the past 14 days.
    • Very high risk of infection for the general population.

    Why right classification matters

    • If cases were still a cluster, it would mean that the government ought to be prioritising testing, contact tracing and isolating to prevent further infection spread.
    • CT, on the other hand meant prioritising treatment and observing advisories to stay protected.
    • CT — far from being stigmatic or an indicator of failure — has a bearing on how authorities addressed a pandemic.

  • Black marketing during the pandemic

    The article highlights the issue of black-marketing of drugs during the pandemic and the factors responsible for it.

    Problem of fake and sub-standard drugs

    • There have been reports of fake remdesivir amid the Covid pandemic.
    • It is difficult to quantify the morbidity and mortality effects of fake or sub-standard drugs, but they are substantial.
    • Legally, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act (DCA) has different categories of misbranded, adulterated and spurious drugs.
    • In 2003 Mashelkar Committee noted that although the Drugs and Cosmetics Act has been in force for the past 56 years, but the level of enforcement in many States has been far from satisfactory.
    • The committee also noted that the problems in the regulatory system in the country were primarily due to inadequate or weak drug control infrastructure at the State and Central level.

    Steps taken to deal with the issue

    • Assistance has also been provided under the World Bank assisted Capacity Building Project to upgrade testing facilities and to establish new drug testing laboratories.
    • The Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 has recently been amended in 2008 for providing more stringent penalties to those involved in the trade of spurious drugs.
    • There are specially designated courts and regulatory infrastructure has been strengthened.
    •  There is also a whistle-blower scheme.

    Distinction between hoarding and black-marketing

    • A hoarder is anyone who stocks up items.
    • The crime isn’t hoarding per se but of selling a drug without a licence.
    • Data on prosecutions, and convictions when prosecuted, of crimes under Drugs and Cosmetics Act, are not encouraging.
    • Incidentally, courts have ruled police officers can’t register FIRs, arrest and prosecute (for cognisable crimes) under this law.
    • That’s the job of drugs inspectors.
    • The notion of a black market is different, though the two can be related.
    • In this context, it means charging a premium when there is a shortage.
    • A black market occurs when the price at which a product is sold is higher than an administratively determined price.

    Conclusion

    Action not taken in the best of times now strikes back at us in the worst of times.

  • Cabinet clears MoU between ICAI and Qatar Financial Centre Authority

    Signing of MoU

    • The Union Cabinet approved the signing of a pact between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA)
    • The ICAI has more than 6,000 members in the Middle East.

    Increase opportunities and enhance cooperation

    • The MoU would enhance cooperation between the institutes to work together to strengthen the accounting profession and entrepreneurship base in Qatar.
    • The MoU would provide the ICAI members in the entire Middle East better recognition, together with working to support Indian businesses desirous of doing business in Qatar
    • The MoU will endeavour to increase opportunities for ICAI members to provide professional services in Qatar in the areas of assurance and auditing, advisory, taxation, financial services and allied areas.

  • Rajasthan to use MLA fund for vaccination

    MLA-LAD Fund for buying vaccine

    • As part of the efforts to mobilise financial resources for COVID-19 vaccination, Rajasthan Chief Minister has approved a proposal to provide ₹3 crore each from the MLA Local Area Development (LAD) Fund.
    • For meeting the expenses, the fund for each legislator has been increased from ₹2.25 crore to ₹5 crore a year.
    • The 200 MLAs in the State will contribute a total of ₹600 crore to the vaccination fund account under the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
    • From the remaining ₹2 crore in the MLA-LAD Fund, ₹1 crore will be spent on strengthening the medical infrastructure, purchase of equipment and setting up of model community health centres.

    About MLA-LAD Fund

    • Member of Legislative Assembly Local Area Development is a scheme that enables each MLA to undertake small developmental works in his/her constituency.
    • The MLALAD Scheme is intended to be utilised for small but essential projects/works based on the felt needs of the local public.
    • Under this scheme, funds will be provided in the State’s Plan Budget every year.