SHANMUGHAM IAS ACADEMY, 46/1, Gokale Street, Ram Nagar, Coimbatore-641037 - Shanmugam IAS Academy
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SHANMUGHAM IAS ACADEMY, 46/1, Gokale Street, Ram Nagar, Coimbatore-641037
What’s in news?
Navy Deploys 3 Ships For Rescue
Operations Ahead Of Cyclone Fani
Landfall
Fani is likely to cross Odisha coast
between Gopalpur and Chandbali,
south of the temple town of Puri, with
maximum sustained wind speed of
170-180 kmph, according to the India
Meteorological Department.
NEW DELHI:
As Cyclone Fani is due to make landfall on Friday, the Indian Navy has deployed
three naval ships so that it can launch rescue operation after the cyclone hits the
coastline of Odisha.
Fani is being seen as the most severe cyclonic storm over the east coast in nearly two
decades.
“Indian naval ships Sahyadri, Ranvir and Kadmatt with relief material and medical
teams have been deployed so that they can commence rescue operation as soon as the
cyclone crosses the coast,” Navy spokesperson Capt D K Sharma said.
He said several aircraft have also been kept on standby for immediate deployment to
carry out aerial survey as soon as the cyclone crosses the Odisha coast to assess the
impact of the cyclone.
“Helicopters are also kept standby for joining in rescue operation and for air
dropping of relief material when required,” Capt Sharma said.
Fani is likely to cross Odisha coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali, south of the
temple town of Puri, with maximum sustained wind speed of 170-180 kmph,
according to the India Meteorological Department.
Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Fani
Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Fani is currently a powerful tropical cyclone that
is about to make landfall in East Indiaand is threatening Bangladesh as an extremely
severe cyclonic storm. The second named storm and the first severe cyclonic storm of
the 2019 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Fani originated from a tropical
depression that formed near west of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean on 26 April.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) monitored a tropical disturbance that
formed in the North Indian Ocean, and designated it with the identifier 01B. Fani
slowly drifted westward, finding itself in an area conductive for strengthening. The
system intensified and two days after being named, it became Cyclone Fani, the
SHANMUGAM IAS ACDEMY ,46/1 GOKHALE STREET, RAM NAGAR ,COIMBATORE-641037. Page 2
second named storm of the season. Fani moved northward, struggling to intensify as
moderate vertical wind shear hampered its progress. After moving away from the
wind shear, Fani began to rapidly intensify, and became an extremely severe cyclonic
storm on 30 April 2019, the first severe cyclonic storm of the season.
What’s in news?
U.S. refuses to extend sanctions waiver
to India on Iran oil import; OMCs stop
placing orders from Iran
India has a “robust plan” to import oil
from other countries, the Ministry of
External Affairs said, even as the
deadline for the U.S. sanction waiver
for oil imports from Iran expired on
Thursday without an extension from
the U.S.
Sanctions
Last year, the U.S. re-imposed sanctions on Iran, prohibiting countries from
importing oil from it, but waived these sanctions for eight countries, including India.
That waiver has now expired and the U.S. announced last month that it would not be
extending it.
The U.S. refused to change its stance despite a last-minute call by External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“Whatever decisions we take will be a combination of a number of factors [including]
commercial negotiations and keeping our legitimate security interests and economic
interests in mind,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar
said.
‘Responded accordingly’
“We continue to engage with the U.S. on this matter. But a decision has been taken
by them and accordingly we have responded.”
“We have a robust plan in place to import oil from other countries,” Mr. Kumar
added. “This is a decision that will be taken in a considered manner.” Indian oil
companies, meanwhile, have stopped placing orders for Iranian oil.
“The oil companies do not take a decision on this, that is taken by the government,”
a spokesperson for the Indian Oil Corporation said. “The official position is what was
stated by the MEA. But we have not placed any further orders with Iran.”
SHANMUGAM IAS ACDEMY ,46/1 GOKHALE STREET, RAM NAGAR ,COIMBATORE-641037. Page 3
Prior to the sanctions and the subsequent reduction in the quantity of oil imported
from Iran, Iran accounted for about 10% of India’s oil requirements.
JCPOA
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known commonly as the Iran nuclear
deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program reached
in Vienna on July 14, 2015 between Iran, the P5+1 (the five permanent members of
the United Nations Security Council—China, France, Russia, United Kingdom,
United States—plus Germany), and the European Union.
Formal negotiations toward JCPOA began with the adoption of the Joint Plan of
Action, an interim agreement signed between Iran and the P5+1 countries in
November 2013. For the next twenty months, Iran and the P5+1 countries engaged in
negotiations, and in April 2015 agreed on an Iran nuclear deal framework for the
final agreement. In July 2015, Iran and the P5+1 confirmed agreement on the plan
along with the “Roadmap Agreement” made between Iran and the IAEA.
US exited iran nuclear deal and imposed sanctions on iran.
What’s in news?
Central banks seeking to diversify
their reserves bought a total of
145.5 tonnes of gold over the
January-March period, the WGC
said in its latest quarterly demand
trends report.
Key data
Strategic buying by central banks
helped push global gold demand up 7 percent in the first quarter of 2019, the World
Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday.
Central banks seeking to diversify their reserves bought a total of 145.5 tonnes of gold
over the January-March period, the WGC said in its latest quarterly demand trends
report.
That is 68 percent more than a year earlier and follows purchases of 651.5 tonnes in
2018, which was the most in any year since 1967.
“Given the strategic nature of central bank buying, we expect the momentum to
continue,” the WGC’s head of market intelligence Alistair Hewitt said, adding that
he expected central banks to buy 500-600 tonnes this year.
SHANMUGAM IAS ACDEMY ,46/1 GOKHALE STREET, RAM NAGAR ,COIMBATORE-641037. Page 4
The WGC said the world’s first quarter gold usage was 1,053.3 tonnes, up from 984.2
tonnes in the same period in 2018.
Investors encouraged by political and economic uncertainty and the prospect of
slower interest rate rises piled into gold-backed exchange traded funds, adding 40.3
tonnes to their holdings, 49 percent more than a year earlier, the WGC said.
Safe place to invest in terms of turmoil
Gold is traditionally seen as a safe place to invest in times of turmoil. Low interest
rates make the metal, which does not offer a yield, more appealing relative to other
assets.
Consumption of gold for jewellery rose 1 percent year-on-year to 530.3 tonnes, with
a 5 percent rise in Indian demand to 125.4 tonnes — the most of any first quarter
since 2015 — partially offset by a 2 percent fall in China to 184.1 tonnes.
Market demand
China and India are the world’s largest jewellery markets.
Lower purchases of gold bars in China and Japan pushed overall bar and coin
investment down 1 percent to 257.8 tonnes, although purchases in Britain rose 58
percent to 3.6 tonnes as investors looked to protect themselves against potential Brexit
turmoil, Hewitt said.
Gold use in electronics and other industries fell 3 percent to 79.3 tonnes.
Hewitt said he expected China to use 900-1,000 tonnes of gold in jewellery, bars and
coins this year, and India to hoover up 750-850 tonnes.
Gold supply in the first quarter was virtually unchanged from a year earlier at 1,150
tonnes, the WGC said.
What’s in news?
Set to procure systems from Israel and
Russia
The Army is in the process of procuring
Spike-LR Anti-Tank Missiles from Israel
and Igla-S Very Short Range Air Defence
Systems (VSHORAD) from Russia
through a set of new financial powers for
emergency procurements sanctioned by
the Defence Ministry earlier this month,
Defence sources said.
SHANMUGAM IAS ACDEMY ,46/1 GOKHALE STREET, RAM NAGAR ,COIMBATORE-641037. Page 5
Emergency powers
“Under the latest emergency financial powers, armed forces have been given a free
hand to procure equipment worth up to ₹300 crore on a priority basis. The Request
For Proposal (RFP) for the two deals have been issued and negotiations are ongoing,”
the source said. Entirely new systems not in use can also be procured under the new
powers, the source stated.
Tenders for both deals had gone through regular procurement process earlier. While
the Spike tender was cancelled during the cost negotiation phase, the deal for Igla,
after repeated delays, is in the cost negotiation phase. However, given the questions
that were raised in the earlier deals, clarity is needed on the modalities for purchase
through the emergency route.
Under the emergency route, the Army is looking to procure about 12 launchers and
around 250 missiles for each system. Deliveries have to be completed in three months,
but extendable to six months.
Procurement
The Spike-LR (Long Range) being procured is a different variant from the one tested
and shortlisted as part of the earlier procurement for over 8,000 missiles and 300
launchers along with technology transfer. As contract negotiations dragged on, the
deal was cancelled in January last year and it was decided to procure a smaller
number — 170 launchers, 4,500 missiles and 15 simulators — through an Inter-
Governmental Agreement (IGA) and make up the balance requirement with an
indigenous Man Portable ATGM currently under development.
Before the IGA was concluded, validatory trials of the Infrared Seeker (IR) of the
missile were to be held during the Indian summers as the missile “did not perform as
desired in the previous trials during peak summer temperatures in the desert,”
according to another source. However, the IGA has not made progress so far. The
Spike-LR (Long Range) has a range of 4 km. It is so far not clear if additional trials
would be performed as part of the emergency procurement. Some defence officials
indicated that testing was not required as the missile is operational and in service
across the world and that if needed tests would be carried out in the home country
(Israel).
VSHORAD deal
The deal for VSHORAD, to replace the legacy Igla systems in service, began in 2010
and has since seen several trials and re-trials with three contenders in the fray —
MBDA of France, Rosoboronexport of Russia and SAAB of Sweden. Eventually, all
three were declared technically complaint last year.
While the benchmark price determined was just over $2 bn, Rosoboronexport’s bid
was much lower at around $1.47 bn, while SAAB’s bid was at about $2.6 bn and
MBDA around $3.68 bn. This led to a division within the Ministry on how to proceed
SHANMUGAM IAS ACDEMY ,46/1 GOKHALE STREET, RAM NAGAR ,COIMBATORE-641037. Page 6given such low bid from the Russians compared to the benchmark price, but
eventually Igla-S was declared the winner. “The deal is currently at the Contract
Negotiation phase,” the source said.
Officials said the emergency procurements were one of critical procurement and not
related to the acquisitions through the regular route, in a bid to assure that these
would not impact the regular deals.
In the case of VSHORAD, the other two vendors lodged protests and wrote a series
of letters to the Defence Ministry on several occasions alleging procedural violations
favouring Igla-S which were rejected.
SHANMUGAM IAS ACDEMY ,46/1 GOKHALE STREET, RAM NAGAR ,COIMBATORE-641037. Page 7You can also read
