India signs landmark defence pact with U.S.

Why in news?

India and the United States sealed the landmark Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) that will lead to a new generation of bilateral military partnership.

Details

• They welcomed the signing of a Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement that will facilitate access to advanced defence systems and enable India to optimally utilise its existing U.S.-origin platforms.
• With Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), India has concluded three of the four foundational agreements with the U.S. that had been planned for years.
• India has already signed two of them — General Security Of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) in 2002 and the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016.
• The COMCASA will allow the U.S. to transfer specialised equipment for encrypted communications for U.S.-origin platforms like C-17, C-130 and P-8I aircraft. It comes into force immediately and is valid for 10 years.
• Person-in-charge will be specially designated in the U.S. Central Command for coordination between India and the U.S. on this.
• The government had negotiated an India-specific agreement and “specific additional provisions” had been incorporated in the text to safeguard security and national interests.
• The text of COMCASA is confidential. Data acquired through such systems cannot be disclosed or transferred to any person or entity without India’s consent. Both countries will implement the agreement in a manner consistent with the national security interests of the other.
• India and the U.S. will also hold a first-ever tri-service joint exercise on the east coast of India in 2019.

• Sitharaman and Secretary of Defence James N. Mattis also announced their readiness to begin negotiations on an Industrial Security Annex (ISA) that would allow Indian private sector to collaborate with the U.S. defence industry.
• The GSOMIA allows sharing of classified information from the U.S. government and American companies with the Indian government and defence Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) but not with Indian private companies.
• To further defence innovation, a Memorandum of Intent was signed between the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Indian Defence Innovation Organization – Innovation for Defence Excellence (DIO-iDEX), which will look into joint projects for co-production and co-development projects through the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).
• Ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 26/11 terror strikes in Mumbai, India and the U.S. resolved to combat international terrorism and asked Pakistan to bring those responsible for recent acts of terrorism against India to justice.

About COMCASA

• It is one of the three foundational defence pacts that needs to be signed by a country in order to obtain high-tech military hardware from the US.
• Before COMCASA, India had signed only one of these agreements – Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) – in 2016.
• The two countries are yet to begin talks on the third agreement – Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA).
• The act is usually known as the Communication and Information on Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA). But, it was changed to COMCASA to signify its India-specific alterations.
• It will also provide a legal framework for the transfer of encrypted communication security equipment from the US to India.
• Signing of Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) will enable India to access advanced technologies from USA.

Plantation sector may have suffered Rs 5,000-cr. loss due to floods: UPASI

Why in news?

The plantation sector in the south, including tea, coffee, rubber, cardamom and pepper, is estimated to have suffered a Rs.5,000-crore crop loss due to the recent floods in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. These are the early estimates made by the United Planters Association of South India (UPASI) and the extent of the damage is unprecedented.

Details

• In some cases, substantial area under cultivation has been lost to landslip. The losses include those of field crops and stocks in warehouses and they may increase due to attacks from pests and fungi in the coming months.
• In respect of tea, a crop loss ranging between 41 and 64% is being feared for August alone at a time when adverse weather conditions had already battered production since June. There was hardly any sunlight on the tea bushes till August.
• The coffee-producing regions of Kodagu, Hassan and Chikmagalur in Karnataka, accounting for 70 % of the country’s crop, were ravaged by rains causing berry dropping, according to an UPASI report.
• The Coffee Board had estimated a crop loss of about 82,000 tonne (annual output of 6.9 lakh tonne in 2017-18). The loss is the highest in Karnataka followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The crop loss in respect of rubber is estimated at about 1.25 lakh tonne (out of an annual average output of 9 lakh tonne).
• In respect of spices, pepper vines and cardamom plants had been badly affected. Almost 50% of the average annual pepper output of 55,000 tonne may be lost, said UPASI.

About United Planters Association of South India

• The urge to unite for a common cause – a very prevalent trait years ago and also now – gave birth to UPASI on 28th August 1893.
• Thirteen District Planting Associations assembled on 28th August 1893 in the Mayo Hall, Bangalore for a UNITED organization; thus the United Planters’ Association of Southern India was formed.

Mission

• To promote, diffuse and disseminate knowledge relating to planting and the plantation industry.
• To promote trade, commerce and industry and aid its development.
• To undertake scientific research in all aspects relating to plantation crops.
• To promote united or concerted actions among members in all matters affecting the general or common interests of members and to promote and protect in all parts of the world the interests of the various planting industries carried on in Southern India.
• To collect, classify, circulate and publish statistics and other information relating to production, distribution, finance, employment conditions and any other matters affecting the planting industries of Southern India;
• To present in whatever manner necessary the true facts relating to the planting industries so as to promote public understanding and appreciation of matters pertaining to those industries.

SC decriminalises homosexuality

Why in news?

In a landmark judgment, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality, with a prayer to the LGBTQ community (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer) to forgive history for subjecting it to brutal suppression.

• The Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, unanimously held that criminalisation of private consensual sexual conduct between adults of the same sex under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was clearly unconstitutional.
• The court, however, held that the Section would apply to “unnatural” sexual acts like bestiality. Sexual act without consent continues to be a crime under Section 377.

About Bestiality

• Bestiality is cross-species sexual activity between human and non-human animals. The terms are often used interchangeably, but some researchers make a distinction between the attraction (zoophilia) and the act (bestiality).
• Although sex with animals is not outlawed in some countries, in most countries, bestiality is illegal under animal abuse laws or laws dealing with buggery or crimes against nature.

Industry must lift PSLV output

•  The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) wants industry to raise its engagement with the country’s space programme by helping drive production of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLVs) that ISRO needs to meet its fast expanding launch schedule in the coming years, Chairman K.Sivan said.
• “Our missions are growing at a fast pace, to 59 satellites in three years. It means that instead of doing six or seven launches a year we must do almost two launches a month.”
• Observing that partner companies stood to gain substantially from the projects, Dr. Sivan, who is also Secretary, Department of Space, exhorted industry to take up bigger and independent roles in manufacturing satellites and launchers.
• This would free ISRO up to focus on pursuing new technologies and the challenge of the manned space misson,which is about 40 months away.
• With 85% of the launch vehicle cost and 50% of the spacecraft cost going to industries that supply components and systems to ISRO, Dr. Sivan said domestic companies stood to gain substantially.

Trust status for Bharat Ke Veer

Why in news?

The government has granted the status of a trust to ‘Bharat Ke Veer’, a private initiative which aids families of paramilitary personnel killed in action.

Details

• The initiative has now been formalized into a registered trust for providing a platform for all citizens to contribute and provide assistance to the families of martyred personnel.
• The public can visit the ‘Bharat Ke Veer’ application and website, and contribute to support the families of jawans who die in the line of duty.
• Contributions to Bharat Ke Veer have been exempted from Income Tax.

 About Bharat ke Veer

• It is a fund-raising initiative by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India on behalf of members of the Indian Armed Forces.
• It aims to enable willing donors to contribute towards the family of a braveheart who sacrificed his/her life in line of duty.
• This website is technically supported by National Informatics Centre (NIC) and powered by State Bank of India.
• It allows anyone to financially support the bravehearts of his choice or towards the “Bharat Ke Veer” corpus. The amount so donated will be credited to the account of ‘Next of Kin’ of those Central Armed Police Force/Central Para Military Force soldiers.
• To ensure maximum coverage, a cap of 15 lakh rupees is imposed and the donors would be alerted if the amount exceeds, so that they can choose to divert part of the donation to another braveheart account or to the “Bharat Ke Veer” corpus.
• “Bharat Ke Veer” corpus would be managed by a committee made up of eminent persons of repute and senior Government officials, who would decide to disburse the fund equitably to the braveheart’s family on need basis.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft

Why in news?

Using data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, scientists have spotted a surprising feature emerging at Saturn’s northern pole as it nears summertime – a warming, high-altitude jet stream with a hexagonal shape.

About Cassini Mission

• Launched in 1997, the Cassini mission — a cooperation between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency — has sent back thousands of stunning images and made numerous discoveries about the ringed planet and its moons.
• Cassini–Huygens is an unmanned spacecraft sent to the planet Saturn. Cassini is the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter orbit. Its design includes a Saturn orbiter and a lander for the moon Titan.
• The lander, called Huygens, landed on Titan in 2005. The spacecraft was launched on October 15, 1997. This was the first landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar System.

Eight Avian Species Declared “Extinct” in New Study

Why in news?

Scientists have declared eight species of birds to be extinct in what are being seen as the first avian extinctions of the 21st century.

Details

• The study was conducted by non-profit “BirdLife International”. It assessed 51 species judged “critically endangered” on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) “Red List” by using a new statistical method.
• The species gone extinct include Spix’s macaw, the Alagoas foliage-gleaner, the cryptic treehunter, the Pernambuco pygmy-owl, the poo-uli, or black-faced honeycreeper and the glaucous macaw.
• Five of these new extinctions have occurred in South America and have been attributed by scientists to deforestation. Four out of the eight species declared extinct belong to Brazil.

 About Birdlife International

• BirdLife International (formerly the International Council for Bird Preservation) is a global partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources.
• It is the world’s largest partnership of conservation organisations, with over 120 partner organisations.
• BirdLife International publishes a quarterly magazine, World Birdwatch, which contains recent news and authoritative articles about birds, their habitats, and their conservation around the world.
• BirdLife International is the official Red List authority for birds, for the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs)

Declaring a site as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area does not ensure that the site gets legal protection or becomes inaccessible to people. Instead BirdLife International encourages national and State governments to recognise the areas as sites of vital importance for conservation of wildlife and to empower local community-based conservation initiatives.