Medical body against pharmacists using the ‘Dr.’ prefix

• The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has opposed the move by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) to authorise candidates receiving the Doctor of Pharmacy degree (Pharm D) from recognised universities to use the ‘Dr.’ prefix.
• As this title reflects entitlement and identity, IMA is against all such shift from those who are trained in other streams of health sector to venture into medical practice.
• Such illegitimate conferment cannot become entitlements,”the Association noted in its statement.
• Such social anarchy only creates confusion in the minds of common man and the impact it has on the structure of a well organized society is clearly evident

Irreplaceable roles

• If India went ahead with its decision to buy the long-range S-400 missile defense system from Russia, it will have serious implications on Indo-US defence ties, the Trump administration has warned.
• The S-400 is known as Russia’s most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile India and Russia signed a $5 billion S-400 air defence system deal in October last year.
• A senior State Department Official told a group of reporters on Thursday that New Delhi’s decision to buy S-400 air defence system from Moscow was significant, disagreeing with the view that it “isn’t a big deal”. The official disagreed with the view that India’s buying of S-400 system from Russia might not have an impact as long as it increases its military purchase from the US.
• The S-400 missile defence system deal could result in US sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries
• Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) instituted by the US Congress on arms purchases from Russia.
• The system is expected to provide a very capable air defence coverage to Vulnerable Areas/Vulnerable Points
• The $5 billion defence deal was signed after a series of talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• The S-400 is believed to be Russia’s most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system and the first nation to ink a deal with Russia to purchase the system was China in 2014.

S-400 missile system

• Manufactured by Russian state-owned defence company, Almaz-Antey, the S-400 Triumf (also knows as the SA-21 Growler by NATO nations) is one of the most advanced missile defence systems on the market.
• The S-400 Triumf, is an advanced air and missile defence system intended to engage targets at ranges of up to 400 km, in an intensive jamming environment, says James Bosbotinis, a UK-based specialist in maritime and air force developments.
• Not only is it highly advanced, but it costs a fraction of its counterparts.
• The S-400 system costs around $500 million, in comparison to the Patriot Pac-2 which comes in at around $1 billion. This is one of the major reasons why the S-400 has garnered interest all over the world.
• Russian made arms generally cost a fraction of their US counterparts due to lack of maintenance support. Andrew Hunter, director of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies

Who is buying the S-400? 

• The S-400 has thus far been exported to China, with export orders placed by India and Turkey. It has been reported that around 13 countries are interested in purchasing the S-400.
• In the case of India, the US has threatened to impose sanctions under Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) legislation. China has already had similar sanctions imposed.In India’s case, Bosbotinis explains, such sanctions could threaten growing defence cooperation between the US and India, which, ironically, is intended in part to counter China. Similarly, the US is threatening to block the sale of the F-35 to Turkey if it proceeds with a planned S-400 acquisition.
• At this time, India and Russia have agreed on a $5.43 billion deal for the delivery of five Russian S-400 surface-to-air weapons systems. The sale was announced last month on October 6 and represents the second nation to purchase the advanced missile defence system after China.

What are the strategic implications for NATO?

• The potential proliferation of the system to nations such as India, Saudi Arabia and Turkey isn’t particularly surprising, but it will keep the western world on edge as data sharing and the operational range of the system have the potential to be problematic for NATO.The SA-21 at its current position near Hmeimim Air Base near Latakia provides coverage over most points in Syria. In addition, various NATO assets that are engaged in the region against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIL) would be in the range of the S-400.
• In the European theatre, from launch positions in north-western Russia and Kaliningrad respectively, 40N6-equipped S-400s could cover much of Finnish and Polish airspace, says Bosbotinis
• Turkey’s decision to purchase S-400 systems holds greater political implications for NATO and the F-35 project. Not only does it signal a strengthened Russia on the global stage, but it also shows how the reluctance of the US – to sell their own missile defence systems – can be leveraged by rival nations.
• In Turkey’s case, the system would be a huge leap for Ankara’s anti-air capabilities, but it may not be in the best interests of NATO to have a Russian anti-air system integrate with NATO systems and architecture. NATO air defence relies on several systems working together, and the inclusion of the S-400 might complicate matters.

How effective is the S-400?

• There is a reason why every country that shows interest in the system is threatened with diplomatic retaliation from the US and NATO.
• The S-400, together with systems such as the Nebo-M (Russian state of the art radar complex), may pose a threat to fifth-generation air systems, especially in the context of ‘night one’ operations against an intact integrated air defence system.
• Multi-axis (kinetic and non-kinetic) attacks against such a system and the adversary’s command, control, and communications infrastructure will be critical to degrading the threat posed by advanced air defence systems
• Key advantages of the system include its ability to track a high number of stealth targets, high modularity, and high mobility, ensuring that the system can be deployed and engaging targets within a matter of minutes.
• Overall, the S-400 – which has been in use since 2007 – is a huge step up from the S-300, and utilises a full suite of targeting apparatus, such as multifunction radar, command and control and autonomous detection, ensuring that the system is capable of providing a layered defence.
• While largely untested in an operational environment, the S-400 is potentially twice as effective in comparison to the capable S-300 system.

Flight Lieutenant Mohana Singh becomes first woman fighter pilot to fly Hawk jet

• Flight Lt Mohana Singh has become the first woman fighter pilot to fly by day on a Hawk advanced jet aircraft
• The statement said the woman officer landed after a gruelling 4-aircraft combat sortie at Kalaikunda Air Force station in West Bengal, which was the last syllabus sortie of being fully operational on the Hawk jets.
• She and two other women officers – Bhawana Kanth and Avani Chaturvadi – joined the fighter stream in June 2016.
• Last week, Flight Lt Bhawana Kanth became the first daytime woman fighter pilot to fly a MiG-21 Bison.
• Singh’s training involved flying both air-to-air combat and air-to-ground missions.
• She has undertaken many practice missions which involved firing of rockets, guns and dropping high calibre bombs and has also participated in various Air Force level flying exercises.
• She has a total of over 500 hours of incident-free flying of which 380 hours are on the Hawk Mk 132 jet.