Daily Current Capsules - 25^th May 2020

International Relations
Open Skies Treaty

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about OST + INF treaty + SALT + START I and new START) + Mains (GS II Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India's interests, Indian Diaspora.
What's the NEWS

• The Trump administration announced its intention to withdraw from the Open Skies treaty (OST).

Know! more about OST

• Signed in 1992 following the collapse of the Soviet Union and entering into force in 2002, this treaty includes Russia, the United States and a majority of NATO allies.
• OST allows its 34 members to engage in unarmed monitoring flights over the territory of other signatories, using approved sensors to collect information on military deployments.

Know! about the Arms Control Negotiation of 1980s

• It dealt with strategic weapons, leading to the START agreement in 1991 that limited both sides to 1,600 strategic delivery vehicles and 6,000 warheads

Warheads - the explosive head of a missile.
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty

• The U.S.'s exit last year from another arms deal it had signed with Russia - the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty
• It is about intermediate-range missiles.
• It Was signed in 1987 (implemented in 1991) by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev
• The Treaty required the United States and the Soviet Union to eliminate and permanently forswear all of their nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometres.
• As a result of the INF Treaty, the United States and the Soviet Union destroyed a total of 2,692 short-, medium-, and intermediate-range missiles
• INF Treaty was the first pact to include intensive verification measures, including on-site inspections. Associated production facilities were also closed down.

Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead Over long distances with high precision
Nuclear Warheads -The explosive head of a missile that uses nuclear energy
Drawbacks of INF treaty

• No nuclear war heads were dismantled.
• The air launched and sea launched missiles of similar range were not constrained.
• It was bilateral and hence, it did not restrict other countries.

Know! Other Treaties Between US and USSR / Russia
STRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATION TALKS (SALT)

• It started in 1969, it produced the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM).
• This is an Executive Agreement limiting the number of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and the Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles.
• In June, 2002, the US unilaterally withdrew from the ABM treaty, limiting the SALT's purpose.

STRATEGIC ARMS REDUCTION TREATY - I (START I )

• It was signed in 1991, it required the two countries to reduce their deployed strategic arsenals to 1,600 delivery vehicles and 6,000 warheads.
• The reductions were completed in 2001.

NEW STRATEGIC ARMS REDUCTION TREATY

• It is signed on April 8, 2010, it limits each side to 1,550 warheads and 700 delivery systems.
• It limits the number of launchers to 800.
• It came into force on February 2011 and will expire in 2021.
• The Trump administration may not renew the New Start Treaty, an agreement signed by the Obama administration with Russia that caps Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenal.
• The New Start Treaty is due to expire next February.

Know! more about New START

• New START replaced the Treaty of Moscow (SORT), which was to expire in December 2012.
• It follows the START I treaty, which expired in December 2009; the proposed START II treaty, which never entered into force; and the START III treaty, for which negotiations were never concluded.

Know! about Strategic Offensive Reductions (SORT)

• The Treaty Between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions (SORT), also known as the Treaty of Moscow, was a strategic arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia that was in force from June 2003 until February 2011 when it was superseded by the New START treaty.
• Both parties agreed to limit their nuclear arsenal to between 1,700 and 2,200 operationally deployed warheads each.
• SORT was one in a long line of treaties and negotiations on mutual nuclear disarmament between Russia (and its predecessor, the Soviet Union) and the United States, which includes

SALT I (1969-1972)
ABM Treaty (1972)
SALT II (1972-1979)
INF Treaty (1987)
START I (1991)
START II (1993)
New START (2010)

Science and Technology
Sonic Boom
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Sonic boom)
What's the NEWS

• The sonic boom was probably heard while the aircraft was decelerating from supersonic to subsonic speed between 36,000 and 40,000 feet altitude."

Know! about Sonic Boom

• A sonic boom is a thunder-like noise a person on the ground hears when an aircraft or other type of aerospace vehicle flies overhead faster than the speed of sound, or "supersonic."
• Air reacts like fluid to supersonic objects. As those objects travel through the air, molecules are pushed aside with great force and this forms a shock wave, much like a boat creates a wake in water. The bigger and heavier the aircraft, the more air it displaces.

Know! the science behind sonic boom

• When any object flies through the atmosphere, it continuously pushes the air in front of it, creating pressure waves that ripple out at the speed of sound.
• When the object goes supersonic - i.e. crosses the speed of sound in the medium in which it is flying, in this case the atmosphere - these pressure waves are pushed out at faster than the speed of sound.
• But since they can only move out at the speed of sound, they begin to accumulate in front of the object.
• At some point they merge together into a single high-pressure wave known as a shockwave.
• When this shockwave reaches your ear, you hear the sonic boom: a thunderous clap of noise signalling there is a supersonic object in your wider vicinity.
• The IAF jet would also have stayed supersonic for a time, and in this time, it constantly produces the shockwaves.
• But you hear it only once because the waves stream out from the front tip of the jet in the shape of a cone, and the boom is audible only when the waves reach you, not when they wash over you.
  
  

Know! about Mach Number

• It is the ratio of the speed of a body to the speed of sound in the surrounding medium.
  
  
• Speed below the speed of sound is termed as subsonic whereas speed above the speed of sound is termed as supersonic
• India's fastest jets include the Sukhoi SU-30 MKI (Mach 2.35) and the Mirage-2000 (Mach 2.3).

Economy
General Financial Rules
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about General Financial Rules (GFR) + Mains ( GS III Economic developments)
What's the NEWS

• The government has notified amendments to General Financial Rules (GFR) to ensure that goods and services valued less than Rs 200 crore are being procured from domestic firms, a move which will benefit MSMEs.
• Under the new amendment, global tenders henceforth will be disallowed in government procurement that are of value Rs 200 crores.
• This was announced in Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.

Know! about General Financial Rules

• GFRs are a compilation of rules and orders of Government of India to be followed by all while dealing with matters involving public finances.
• These rules and orders are treated as executive instructions to be observed by all Departments and Organisations under the Government
• General Financial Rules were issued for the first time in 1947 bringing together in one place all existing orders and instructions pertaining to financial matters.
• These have subsequently been modified and issued as GFRs 1963 and GFRs 2005.
• The GFR are set of rules that deal with matters that involve public finances.
• The GFR 2017 was revised in 2017 to make sure an organization manages its business without compromising its flexibility.

Economy
Cabinet approves Special Liquidity Scheme for NBFCs/HFCs to address their Liquidity Stress

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the special liquidity scheme and its provisions + about NBFC + HFCs) + Mains ( GS III Economic developments)
What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister has given its approval to the proposal of the Ministry of Finance to launch a new Special Liquidity Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) to improve liquidity position of the NBFCs/HFCs.

Know! more about the Scheme:

• A Special Liquidity Scheme for addressing the liquidity constraints of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs)
• An SPV would be set up to manage a Stressed Asset Fund (SAF) whose special securities would be guaranteed by the Government of India and purchased by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) only.
• The proceeds of sale of such securities would be used by the SPV to acquire short-term debt of NBFCs/HFCs.
• The Scheme will be administered by the Department of Financial Services, which will issue the detailed guidelines.
• The SPV would issue securities as per requirement subject to the total amount of securities outstanding not exceeding Rs. 30,000 crore to be extended by the amount required as per the need.
• The securities issued by the SPV would be purchased by RBI and proceeds thereof would be used by the SPV to acquire the debt of at least investment grade of short duration (residual maturity of upto 3 months) of eligible NBFCs / HFCs.

Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC)

• A Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares/stocks/bonds/debentures/securities issued by Government or local authority or other marketable securities

NBFCs lend and make investments and hence their activities are akin to that of banks; however there are a few differences as given below:

• NBFC cannot accept demand deposits;
• NBFCs do not form part of the payment and settlement system and cannot issue cheques drawn on itself;
• deposit insurance facility of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is not available to depositors of NBFCs, unlike in case of banks.

Know! about National Housing Bank (NHB)

• It is a Government of India owned entity, was set up on 9 July 1988 under the National Housing Bank Act, 1987.
• NHB is an apex financial institution for housing.
• NHB has been established with an objective to operate as a principal agency to promote housing finance institutions both at local and regional levels and to provide financial and other support
• The Finance Act,2019 has amended National Housing Bank Act,1987.
• The amendment confers the powers of regulation of housing finance companies to Reserve Bank of India.
• NHB registers and supervises Housing Finance Company (HFCs), keeps surveillance through On-site & Off-site Mechanisms and co-ordinates with other Regulators.
• Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) are entities set up under a license by the National Housing Board (NHB), to provide home loans as per the NHB's guidelines.

Prelims Factoids
Khudol

Relevance IN - Prelims ( abour Khuldol)
What's the NEWS

• The United Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth has listed Manipur's Khudol (gift) among the top 10 global initiatives for an inclusive fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Know! more about Khuldol

• Khudol is a crowdfunded initiative of Ya_All, an Imphal-based NGO that had created India's first transgender football team.
• The initiative entails ensuring food, health and hygiene of the LGBTQI+ community, people living with HIV, daily-wage earners, children and adolescents.
• Mobilising a network of 100 volunteers, they have provided around 2,000 families and individuals with over 1,000 health kits, 6,500 sanitary pads and 1,500 condoms
• Ya_All, which was founded in 2017, for organising mental health workshops and founding Meitram, the first co-working and networking space owned and run by queer individuals in India.

Dedicated quarantine centres for transgender persons

• Ya_All created a model of an inclusive safe space for transgender returnees by creating a separate quarantine centres for them
  
  

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