ussia S-400 missiles air defence systems to be delivered to India by 2025
Context : Russia started production of S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile systems for India. The five units will be delivered to India by 2025.
S-400 air defence missile systems :
- The S-400 air defence missile systems are among the best in the world. This will significantly bolster India’s air defence mechanism. In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal to buy the air defence missile systems.
- The S-400, an upgraded version of the S-300 previously been available to the Russian defence forces. It is manufactured by Almaz-Antey and has been in service in Russia since 2007.
- The Triumf interceptor-based missile system can destroy incoming hostile aircraft, missiles and even drones at ranges of up to 400 km. S-400 is known as Russia most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system.
- The US imposed sanctions on Russia under the stringent Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). The law also provides for punitive action against countries purchasing defence hardware from Russia.
- India and Russia finalised a broad agreement for the joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and two Russian defence majors for production of Kamov helicopters.
China posts weakest growth in 29 years
Context : China’s economic growth slowed to its weakest for 30 years in 2019.
Why :
A trade war with the United States and sputtering investment and more stimulus steps are expected this year to help avert a sharper slowdown. The Fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) rose 6.0% from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics with expectations and steady from the pace in the third quarter. The left full-year growth at 6.1%. The slowest rate of expansion in China since 1990.
China Economic Growth :
The signs of improvement in the ailing manufacturing sector and a newly signed Sino-U.S. trade deal helped revive business confidence analysts are not sure if the gains can be sustained. This year is crucial for the ruling Communist Party to fulfill its goal of doubling GDP and incomes in the decade to 2020, turning China into a moderately prosperous nation. Beijing plans to set a lower economic growth target of around 6% this year from last year’s 6-6.5% relying on increased infrastructure spending to ward off a sharper slowdown. The economy grew 1.5% in October-December from the previous three months. The real estate investment rose 9.9% in 2019 from a year earlier, slowing slightly from a 10.2% gain in the first 11 months of the year. Beijing has been relying on a mix of fiscal and monetary steps to weather the current downturn, cutting taxes and allowing local governments to sell vast amounts of bonds to fund infrastructure projects. The Banks encouraged to lend more, especially to small firms, with new yuan loans hitting a record of 16.81 trillion yuan ($2.44 trillion) in 2019. The economy slow to respond, and investment growth has slid to record lows.
Punjab’s new Right to Business Bill
Context : The Punjab Cabinet has given it’s approval to a Punjab Right to Business Bill, 2020.
About the Punjab Right to Business Bill, 2020 :
It is aimed at ensuring ease of doing business for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.
Under the law, an MSME unit can be set up after ‘In-Principle’ approval from the District Bureau of Enterprise, headed by the Deputy Commissioner, working under the guidance of the State Nodal Agency, headed by the Director, Industries.
Approval time :
Approval for units in approved Industrial Parks will be given in three working days. For new enterprises outside approved Industrial Parks, the decision on the “Certificate of In-Principle Approval” shall be taken by the District Level Nodal Agency within 15 working days, as per the recommendations of the Scrutiny Committee.
What is the timeframe for unit owners to comply :
Unit owners will have three and a half years after setting up the unit to obtain seven approvals from three departments: the sanction of building plans; issuance of completion/occupation certificate for buildings; registration of new trade licences under relevant laws.
Juice jacking
Context : SBI has publicly issued a warning of ‘Juice Jacking’ through its twitter handle.
The bank has advised its customers and general public to “think twice before plugging-in their phone at (pubic) charging stations, as hackers can maliciously infect their smartphone with a malware.”
What is Juice Jacking :
It is an attack carried out by hackers through a USB charging cable.
How it works :
When a user plugs in the charging cable in his mobile’s charging port, and connects it to any of the rigged charging stations installed at public spaces such as airports, train stations, hotels, cafes etc – it gives a back-door entry to hackers into the compromised device.
The charging port which is also used for data transfer over the USB, is pointed as the main cause of concern over here.
Threats :
Installing malware, cleaning user data, asking ransom in exchange for access to personal data on the phone, personal and financial account hijacking are just some of the many nefarious things that a hacker can do with this unrestricted access.
Steps to Mitigate the Risks :
In order to guard your phone against Juice Jacking, take these precautionary measures:
- Avoid using public charging stations. These are soft targets for hackers as they are often kept unguarded and without any surveillance.
- Always use your own AC charging adapter and cable for charging the device. And be sure to plug it into the AC wall socket, and not the USB socket on the wall.
- Stay guarded against a stranger’s device and laptop. Do not connect with an unknown person’s laptop or PC for charging your electronic devices and vice-versa.
- For emergency situations, buy and carry a certified power bank with enough capacity to take care of your device’s emergency power backup needs.
- Try to use a cable that can be used only as a charging cable and not a data cable.
- Frequent travelers should use a USB blocker.
Sources: the Hindu.
Rajasthan to Get its First Biotechnology Park
Context : Rajasthan government will be signing a memorandum of understanding with the Centre’s Department of Biotechnology to set up its first biotechnology park and incubation centre in the state.
Objectives :
- This will enable the State government to take up research in the field of biotechnology and provide employment to the youths.
- It would also help to promote interdisciplinary field research such as bioinformatics, biomedical engineering and nanomedicine.
- Further, it will also help to promote biotechnology on the lines of health, agriculture, industry and food which will intensify the science-based manufacturing in industrialisation.
Biotechnology Parks and Incubators :
- The Department of Biotechnology has established Biotechnology Parks/Incubators across the country to translate research into products and services by providing the necessary infrastructure support.
- These Biotechnology Parks offer facilities to Scientists, and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) for technology incubation, technology demonstration and pilot plant studies for accelerated commercial development of Biotechnology.
- The Department so far has supported 9 Biotechnology Parks in various States.
- The Department has also come up with ‘National Biotechnology Parks Scheme’
- The scheme aims to create an ecosystem to absorb the start-ups which have graduated from incubators and give them a platform for further scaling up their R&D activities in collaboration with the state government and industry.