Prelims Factoids
MED 5 group

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about MED 5 group and its objective + about Euro MED 7)
What's the NEWS

• The Interior Ministers of the five Mediterranean countries on the front line of mass migration to Europe are meeting in Greece to discuss the European Union's policies as the bloc works toward a new migration pact.

Know! about the MED 5 group

• Ministers from Italy, Spain, Malta, Cyprus and Greece are to arrive in Athens on March 19 evening for talks on March 20.
• The five created the "MED 5" group last year in an effort to form a united front within the EU.
• Southern European countries with extensive coastlines have borne the brunt of arriving asylum-seekers hoping to enter the EU.
• Most Europe-bound migrants travel by boat on dangerous maritime smuggling routes, either from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands or across the Mediterranean from north Africa.

Objective

• All five countries "consider that the [EU's] new migration and asylum pact must ensure in practice the balance between the de facto responsibility that the member-states at the forefront of the migration issue undertake, and the solidarity that our partners in the European Union must show.
• The five nations have long called for a more equitable distribution of asylum-seekers who make it to Europe, including for other EU members to accept new arrivals.

Know! more about EU Med 7

• EU Med or Euro Med 7 or MED7, which is also referred to as "Club Med" and "Med Group", is an alliance of seven Mediterranean and Southern European Union member states, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain.
• They have Greco-Roman heritage and, except for Portugal, are all part of the Mediterranean Region.
• All seven countries are also part of the eurozone, and all except Cyprus are part of the Schengen Area.
• The Group was informally established on 17 December 2013 in Brussels at the initiative of the Foreign Ministers of Cyprus and Spain in order to create coordination on issues of common interest within the EU

Governance
Electoral Bonds
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about electoral bonds) + Mains ( GS II governance)
What's the NEWS

• Chief Justice of India agreed to urgently hear a plea by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms to stay the sale of a new set of electoral bonds on April 1, before Assembly elections in crucial States such as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

Know! more about Electoral bonds

• An electoral bond is like a promissory note that can be bought by any Indian citizen or company incorporated in India from select branches of State Bank of India.
• The citizen or corporate can then donate the same to any eligible political party of his/her choice.
• The bonds are similar to bank notes that are payable to the bearer on demand and are free of interest.
• An individual or party will be allowed to purchase these bonds digitally or through cheque.
• The bonds will be issued in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 100,000 and Rs 1 crore (the range of a bond is between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 crore).
• A donor with a KYC-compliant account can purchase the bonds and can then donate them to the party or individual of their choice. Now, the receiver can encash the bonds through the party's verified account. The electoral bond will be valid only for fifteen days.
• The electoral bonds are available for purchase for 10 days in the beginning of every quarter.
• Any party that is registered under section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and has secured at least one per cent of the votes polled in the most recent General elections or Assembly elections is eligible to receive electoral bonds.
• The party will be allotted a verified account by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the electoral bond transactions can be made only through this account.
• The electoral bonds will not bear the name of the donor. Thus, the political party might not be aware of the donor's identity.

Government's view

• Electoral bonds were being introduced to ensure that all the donations made to a party would be accounted for in the balance sheets without exposing the donor details to the public.
• The government said that electoral bonds would keep a tab on the use of black money for funding elections.
• In the absence of electoral bonds, donors would have no option but to donate by cash after siphoning off money from their businesses

Apprehensions (electoral bonds )

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Election Commission had both said the sale of electoral bonds had become an avenue for shell corporations and entities to park illicit money and even proceeds of bribes with political parties.
• The NGO, has voiced serious apprehensions that the sale of electoral bonds before elections in poll-bound States would "further increase illegal and illicit funding of political parties through shell companies".
• The scheme had "opened doors to unlimited political donations, even from foreign companies, thereby legitimising electoral corruption at a huge scale, while at the same time ensuring complete non-transparency in political funding".
• If the electoral bonds scheme had been introduced to bring about greater transparency, the government must not restrain from allowing details of such donations to be made public.
• Since neither the purchaser of the bond nor the political party receiving the donation is required to disclose the donor's identity, the shareholders of a corporation will remain unaware of the company's contribution. Voters, too, will have no idea of how, and through whom, a political party has been funded.
• The identity of the donor has been kept anonymous, it could lead to an influx of black money.
• The scheme was designed to help big corporate houses donate money without their identity being revealed. According to civil rights societies, the concept of donor "anonymity" threatens the very spirit of democracy.

Restrictions that were done away with after the introduction of the electoral bond scheme

• Earlier, no foreign company could donate to any political party under the Companies Act
• A firm could donate a maximum of 7.5 per cent of its average three year net profit as political donations according to Section 182 of the Companies Act
• As per the same section of the Act, companies had to disclose details of their political donations in their annual statement of accounts.
• The government moved an amendment in the Finance Bill to ensure that this proviso would not be applicable to companies in case of electoral bonds.
• Thus, Indian, foreign and even shell companies can now donate to political parties without having to inform anyone of the contribution.

Prelims Factoids
Ophiorrhiza recurvipetala

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Ophiorrhiza recurvipetala)
What's the NEWS

• Researchers of western Assam's Bodoland University have recorded a new plant species that may go a long way in fighting cancer.
• The species, named Ophiorrhiza recurvipetala, has been found at 675 metres above mean sea level in central Assam's Dima Hasao district.
• The new species is restricted to this area where it grows in moist shady places

Ophiorrhiza recurvipetala

• It has been classified under the Rubiaceae family of flowering plants, to which the plant yielding coffee belongs.
• This is a new species to plant science and may be a potential anticancer research candidate.
• All members of this group have a secondary metabolite called Camptothecin used in colon cancer
• It is now our turn to find the Camptothecin content occurring in this novel species.
• There is a possibility to cultivate this species as a promising medicinal plant for the northeast, but its agrotechnology is not known
• Ophiorrhiza is a predominantly herbaceous genus distributed from eastern India to the West Pacific from South China to northern Australia.
• It is a notably species-rich and taxonomically complicated genus with about 318 species worldwide.
• In India, 47 species and nine varieties have been recorded and among them 21 species and one variety are from the northeast.
• The Ophiorrhiza recurvipetala is a perennial herb with a maximum height of 60 cm and is branched. It yields a creamy white flower.

Defence
MILAN-2T - Anti-Tank Guided Missiles

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about MILAN-2T Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs)
What's the NEWS

• Acquisition Wing of Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract with Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU) Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for supply of 4,960 MILAN-2T Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) to Indian Army at a cost of Rs 1,188 crore
• This will further boost the ‘Make in India' initiative of the Government. It is a ‘Repeat Order' of contract, which was signed with BDL on March 08, 2016.

MILAN-2T Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs)

• The Milan-2T is a Tandem Warhead ATGM with the range of 1,850 metres, produced by BDL under license from MBDA Missile Systems, France.
• These missiles can be fired from ground as well as vehicle-based launchers and can be deployed in Anti-Tank Role for both offensive & defensive tasks. Induction of these missiles will further enhance the operational preparedness of the Armed Forces. Induction is planned to be completed in three years.
• This project is a big opportunity for the defence industry to showcase its capability and will be a step in the direction of achieving the goal of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat' in the defence sector.

Anti-tank guided missile (ATGM)

• An anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-armour guided missile or anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) is a missile that is created to destroy vehicles that are heavily armoured

MILAN Anti-Tank Missile System:

• MILAN is a portable medium-range, anti-tank weapon manufactured by Euromissile, based in Fontenay-aux-Roses in France.
• Euromissile is a consortium originally set up by Aerospatiale-Matra of France and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany, now a subsidiary of the EADS company.
• The munition consists of the missile in a waterproof launch tube.
• MILAN 2 has a single shaped charge warhead for use against very thick and composite armour.
• MILAN 2T and MILAN 3 missiles are armed with a tandem charge for use against reactive armour.
• Indigenous anti-tank missiles
• NAG, HELINA, SANT (Stand-off Anti Tank) Missile, Cannon-launched Laser Guided Missile (CLGM), SAMHO, AMOGHA-1, AMOGHA-2, AMOGHA-3 are some of the indigenous anti-tank weapons that have either been successfully tested or under development.

KEEP Learning KEEP Evolving
TEAM CL IAS