CURRENT AFFAIRS   04-08-2020

HAMMER MISSILES

What is in news?

France has agreed to supply HAMMER missiles to India for the Rafale combat aircraft. The order for missiles is being processed under the emergency powers for acquisition given to the armed forces by the Government of India.

About:

• HAMMER (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) is a medium-range air-to-ground weapon. It has the capability to take out any types of targets at the range of around 60-70 kms.

• It belongs to the Armement Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM) family of missiles i.e. it is an Air-to-Ground Modular Weapon. The weapon is modular because it can integrate different types of guidance units and different types of bombs.

• It has been developed by Safran Electronics & Defense for the French Air Force and Navy.

• The HAMMERs would give India the capability to take out any bunkers or hardened shelters in any type of terrain including the mountainous locations such as Eastern Ladakh.

POSEIDON-8I AIRCRAFT

What is in news?

India has formally kicked off the acquisition process for six more long-range Poseidon-8I aircraft from the US .

About:

• India is extensively using the naval P-8I patrol planes, which are packed with radars and electro-optic sensors as well as armed with Harpoon Block-II missiles and MK-54 lightweight torpedoes, for surveillance missions over the Indian Ocean as well as eastern Ladakh.

• The Navy had inducted eight Boeing-manufactured P-8I aircraft under a $2.1 billion deal inked in 2009, while the next four will be delivered from this December onwards under another $1.1 billion contract signed in 2016.

• The “letter of request” for six more P-8Is for around $1.8 billion has now been issued to the US for the government-to-government deal under Pentagon’s foreign military sales (FMS) programme. The contract should be inked by early next year.

INDO-ISLAMIC CULTURAL FOUNDATION

What is in news?

The Trust to build a mosque in Ayodhya, following the verdict of the Supreme Court in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title suit, would have a maximum of 15 members, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board announced as it constituted the body.

About:

• The Trust will be called the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation.

• Nine trustees have been announced, while it will “co-opt” the remaining six. Four out of the nine trustees are affiliated to the Board.

• On February 24, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board decided to accept the five acres of land allotted to it by the State government for building a mosque in Dhannipur village in Sohawal tehsil of Ayodhya, around 25 km from the site where the Babri Masjid stood.

• The Trust would construct a centre showcasing Indo-Islamic culture of several centuries, a centre for research and study of Indo-Islamic culture, a charitable hospital, a public library and other public utilities at the site in Dhannipur.

INDIA-BANGLADESH ENERGY RELATIONS

What is in news?

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a dollar 200 million financing deal with the Reliance Bangladesh LNG and Power Limited (RBLPL) to build and operate a 718-megawatt combined-cycle gas-fired power plant in Bangladesh.

About:

• The plant is proposed to be located on land allotted by Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), in Meghnaghat, Narayanganj District near Dhaka.

•  The power plant will reduce dependence of Bangladesh on electricity imports. It will also reduce the share of environmentally harmful and expensive fuels like coal and oil in the energy mix of the country.

•  A combined-cycle power plant is a relatively more efficient way of producing electricity. It uses both a gas and a steam turbine together to produce up to 50 percent more electricity from the same fuel than a traditional simple-cycle plant.

•  The financing deal has two components of dollar 100 million each. While ADB will provide dollar 100 million, it will also administer the other part worth dollar 100 million from the Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund (LEAP).

Important Facts :

• LEAP was set up in 2016 with a dollar 1.5 billion capital commitment for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

• Reliance Bangladesh LNG & Power is a 51:49 joint venture between Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group’s Reliance Power and Japan’s JERA Co Inc.

ELECTRONIC VACCINE INTELLIGENCE NETWORK (eVIN)

What is in news?

Since April 2020, eight Indian States are using the eVIN application with 100 % adherence rate to track State specific COVID-19 material supplies, ensure availability and raise alerts in case of shortage of 81 essential drugs and equipment.

About:

• The Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) is an innovative technological solution aimed at strengthening immunization supply chain systems across the country.

• eVIN aims to provide real-time information on vaccine stocks and flows, and storage temperatures across all cold chain points in the country.

• This is being implemented under National Health Mission (NHM) by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

• eVIN has reached 32 States and Union Territories (UTs) and will soon be rolled-out in the remaining States and UTs of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Ladakh and Sikkim.

FDI IN THE COMMERCIAL COAL MINING

What is in news?

Government has clarified that any FDI in the commercial coal mining should also comply with the recent amendments made in the applicable laws.

About:

• Recently, the government modified its FDI policy according to which any entity of a country, which shares land border with India or where the beneficial owner of an investment into India is situated in or is a citizen of any such country, could invest only under the Government route.

• The new policy further states that a citizen of Pakistan or an entity incorporated in Pakistan can invest, only under the Government route, in sectors and activities other than defence, space and atomic energy.

• Even for the sectors which are prohibited for foreign investment, Government route has been made mandatory for all such entities.

• Government of India had earlier permitted 100 % FDI under automatic route in coal mining activities, including associated processing infrastructure for sale of coal.

INDIAN LEOPARD

What is in news?

As part of its global tiger census, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is set to release a dedicated report on leopard sightings by the month-end.

About:

• The last formal census on India’s leopards was conducted in 2014 which estimated the cat’s population at between 12,000 and 14,000. They also estimated 8,000 leopards in the vicinity of tiger habitat.

• While the quadrennial tiger survey is the centrepiece of the WII and environment ministry-coordinated undertaking, the exercise also estimates the population of other animals by relying on camera trap images.

Indian Leopard Factsheet?

The Indian leopard is one of the big cats occurring on the Indian subcontinent, apart from the Asiatic lion, Bengal tiger, snow leopard and clouded leopard.

Scientific Name: Panthera pardus.

Common Name: Indian leopard or Common leopard.

Habitat: In India, the leopard is found in all forest types, from tropical rainforests to temperate deciduous and alpine coniferous forests. It is also found in dry scrubs and grasslands, the only exception being desert and the mangroves of Sundarbans.

Status:

• Listed on a par with Tigers under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972.

• Listed in Appendix I of CITES.

• Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

DEFENCE PRODUCTION AND EXPORT PROMOTION POLICY 2020

(DPEPP 2020)

What is in news?

Ministry of Defence (MoD) released the draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020 (DPEPP 2020) for public feedback.

About:

• The DPEPP 2020 is envisaged as overarching guiding document of MoD to provide thrust to defence production capabilities of the country for self-reliance and exports.

• The policy has laid out following goals and objectives:

• To achieve a turnover of Rs 1,75,000 Crores (US$ 25Bn) including export of Rs 35,000 Crore (US$ 5 Billion) in Aerospace and Defence goods and services by 2025.

• To develop a competitive Defence industry, including Aerospace and Naval Shipbuilding industry to cater to the needs of Armed forces with quality products.

• To reduce dependence on imports and take forward "Make in India" initiatives.

• To promote export of defence products.

• To create an environment that encourages R&D, rewards innovation and creates Indian IP ownership.

The Policy brings out multiple strategies under the following focus areas:

• Procurement Reforms

• Indigenization & Support to MSMEs/Startups

• Optimize Resource Allocation

• Investment Promotion, FDI & Ease of Doing Business

• Innovation and R&D

• Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)

• Quality Assurance & Testing Infrastructure

• Export Promotion

SPACEX'S DEMO-2 CREW DRAGON SPACECRAFT

What is in news?

SpaceX's Demo-2 Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully splashed down off the Pensacola, Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico.

About:

• After a two-month trip to International Space Station, the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour carrying NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley returned to Earth.

• It was the first splashdown by U.S. astronauts in 45 years, with the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to carry people to and from orbit. The return clears the way for another SpaceX crew launch as early as next month and possible tourist flights next year.

• The splashdown is the first water landing since 1975, when the NASA astronauts on the joint Apollo-Soyuz test mission returned home.