Daily Mains Practice Questions 14-02-2023

Q.2

Q. 3) defense exports

KEY POINTS

·        Risk governance is about setting the scope for everyone in the organisation to understand their role  in taking and managing risks, while pursuing their business goals.

·        Among the structures that may help the board is the establishment of a board risk subcommittee and in appointing a chief risk officer (CRO).

·        Less than 10 per cent of the Indian listed corporates actually do have a position of CRO. Amongst those who do, if not for regulations mandating those roles, won’t even have it.

·        The evolution of CROs can be seen as three eras: the first being pre-Global Financial Crisis (GFC), where the CRO was responsible for identifying and managing risks related to compliance and regulation.

·        Then came the era between post-GFC till pre-Covid, where the CRO’s job was to steer the organisation away from any financial risks.

·        With some of the biggest corporate governance failures and going down of a few institutions in this period.

·         The role of the CRO expanded to include a broader range of risks such as operational, innovation and reputational risks.

·        Effective CROs have to rise above being just a cost centre, to being conscience-keepers.

·        They are expected to not only point out issues, but to constructively and collaboratively evolve business solutions.

KEY POINTS

·        India and the United States agreeing to advance space collaboration in several areas, under the ‘initiative on critical and emerging technology’ umbrella.

·        This follows from the eighth meeting of the U.S.-India Civil Space Joint Working Group (CSJWG), that was held on January 30-31, 2023.

·        Together, these endeavours will shape and impact U.S. and Indian space policies and programmes over the next decade.

·        India could secure technologies and expertise by collaborating with an advanced spacefaring nation; the U.S. could strengthen its relationship with India on a matter that seems less controversial than others.

·        But it is not straightforward: certain structural factors limit the extent to which the U.S. and India can collaborate in the short term.

·        Although the U.S. and its partners stress the importance of maintaining capabilities in low-earth orbit, their ambitions are firmly set on the moon.

·        Meanwhile, India’s scientific community focuses on building the nation’s capability in and under earth orbits.

·        The Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme hopes to sustain India’s human presence in space for the long term. This is not to say that India does not aim for the moon, Mars or beyond.

·        But India’s top priority is to substantially increase its satellite and launch capabilities in earth orbits and catch up with other spacefaring nations such as China.

KEY POINTS

·        India’s defence sector has witnessed a quantum jump over the past few years. This is primarily because of the changed reorientation of the government to view it as an emerging exporter instead of ‘net importer’.

·        A credible effort with a suitable policy framework has been made  for instance, a liberal and transparent defence export policy, attracting foreign investment and technology.

·        These policy measures have helped explore fragmented export opportunities, exception being BrahMos Missile export to the Philippines.

·        The UAE, which at one point evinced interest in buying Tejas Mark 1A, also wants to buy BrahMos and Akash Missile systems.

·        After successfully executing policy reforms and strengthening the business ecosystem, it is time to improve the export ecosystem.

·        India’s private as well public sector requires dedicated export infrastructure, trade support and R&D infrastructure to scale from this level.

·        Defence products are not sold over-the-counter, but are the outcome of capital investments planned for years with geo-strategic interests.

·        A closer look of defence items indicates that many exporters are not availing themselves of the duty drawback benefit despite the system being put in place by the Department of Revenue.

·        With global defence budgets rising, the Indian defence sector needs to tap the growing opportunities, both in the fragmented markets and beyond.

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