It is the India’s lightest and cheapest ‘bullet-proof jacket’ fortheCRPF and the Ministry of Home Affairs personnel.
It is indigenously developed by the Ordnance Factories Board, a public sector undertaking MIDHANI along with BARC.
It is named after nuclear physicist Dr. Homi J. Bhabha.
The jacket weighs just 6.6 kg in comparison to the 17-kg jackets in use.
It can shield from AK-47 (7.62 mm hard steel bullets), SLR and INSAS (5.56 mm) weaponry.
It is made using extremely hard boron carbide ceramics, carbon nano-tubes and composite polymer.
It is available in 3 variants as per the requirement of the armed forces.
BARC has transferred the technology to Mishra Dhatu Nigam, Hyderabad, for its large-scale production.
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
It is the India's premier nuclear research facility.
It’s mandate is to sustain peaceful applications of nuclear energy, primarily for power generation.
It functions under “Department of Atomic Energy”(DAE) which is directly under the Prime Minister of India.
Foreign Sovereign Bond
Sovereign bond is a specific debt instrument issued by the government.
It is issued to finance the fiscal deficit and manage the temporary cash mismatches of the government.
When it is denominated in a foreign currency, it is called as Foreign sovereign bond.
The yield of the bonds are dependent on primarily 3 factors,
Creditworthiness - The issuing countries’ perceived ability to repay their debts.
Country Risk - External/Internal factors like unrest and wars in the country.
Exchange Rates
These bonds offers fixed return, maximum safety and are also actively traded in the secondary market.
This may lead to higher foreign inflows and improve the attractiveness of rupee-denominated sovereign bonds.
The rates of this overseas borrowing will act as a yardstick for pricing of other corporate bonds.
However, the foreign currency bonds shifts the currency risk from investor to issuer (in this case, the government).
If the local currency drops (exchange rate risk) in value, paying down international debt becomes considerably more expensive.
Failure to pay bondholders can ruin its credit rating of the country.
It can also lower the yields on government bonds in the domestic market.
Since interest rates on financial products track the movement in G-Sec yields, this can reduce interest rates on loans and savings.
Chandrayaan-2 – The next step
After successfull launch of Chandrayaan-2, India aims to become first country to probe Lunar South Pole.
It is expected to land on the Moon on Sep 7, 2019.
Earlier this year, China landed a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the moon, in a first-ever attempt.
Now India is attempting a similar feat to land its rover Pragyan in the moon’s South Polar region.
This will make India the 1st to soft land on the Moon’s south polar region 4th country ever to soft-land on the lunar surface.
USA, Russia and China already landed on lunar surface.
The lunar South Pole remains in shadow much larger than the North Pole.
There is a possibility of the presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it.
In addition, the South Pole region has craters that are cold traps and contain a fossil record of the early Solar System.
The mission life of Orbiter will be one year.
The life of lander (Vikram) and rover (Pragyan) will be 1 Lunar day which is equal to fourteen earth days.
Land Rights of Scheduled Tribes
Land and its management falls under the List-II (State List) in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
In so far as land related issues are concerned, the Ministry of Rural Development acts as a the nodal Ministry at the Centre.
It plays a monitoring role in the field of land reforms.
Constitutional and legal provisions to protect and safeguard the land rights of STs are,
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA) states that
no member of STs or Other Traditional Forest dweller shall be evicted from the forest Land till the recognition and verification procedure is complete.
Gram Sabha is empowered to regulate community forest resources and stop any activity which adversely affects the biodiversity.
The ‘Right to fair compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR) states,
To ensure, in consultation with Gram Sabhas, a participative, informed and transparent process for land acquisition.
A National Level Monitoring Committee for Rehabilitation and Resettlement has been constituted Under RFCTLARRAct, to review and to monitor the implementation of rehabilitation schemes related to land acquisition.
As per RFCTLARR Act, 2013, acquisition of land shall be made in the Scheduled Areas only as last resort.
In case of acquisition or alternation of any land in Scheduled Areas, the prior consent of the concerned Gram Sabha or the autonomous district councils shall be obtained.
The Act also lays down procedure and manner of rehabilitation and resettlement.
The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Area) Act, 1996, PESA, also provides that the Gram Sabha or the Panchayats shall be consulted before making the acquisition of land.
The Governor of the State, which has scheduled Areas is empowered to prohibit or regulate transfer of land from tribals.
The Scheduled castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 has been introduced to prevent the commission of offences of atrocities against members of the SCs and the STs.
Apart from this, Supreme Court in its judgement also held that forest approval cannot be granted for a development project without the informed consent of the Gram Sabhas.
The ‘Ministry of Mines’ adviced all the states, regarding imposing of conditions in the lease deed in regard to FRA.
The ‘Ministry of Environment and Forests’ hasinformed all the states, regarding diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes to consult Gram Sabha before giving approval.
The State Governments/UTs have been issued advisories by Ministry of Tribal Affairs from time to time to carry out the strict and speedy implementation of provisions of the FRA 2006.
