COMCASA to help keep a watch over Indian Ocean

Why in news?

India and the U.S. on September 6 signed the foundational or enabling agreement COMCASA on the side-lines of the inaugural 2+2 dialogue. The landmark Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) will lead to a new generation of bilateral military partnership.

Significance of COMCASA

• It will enable Indian military to get a better picture of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) which is seeing increasing Chinese movements.
• With CISMOA [COMCASA is an India-specific version of CISMOA], Indian armed forces will get to fully exploit the capability of the military platforms procured from the US. For instance, the P-8I reconnaissance aircraft of the Navy which have emerged as a major force multiplier are currently operating at limited capacity.
• As a consequence of CISMOA, India will get access to Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange System, or CENTRIXS, which is the secure communication system network of the US.
• Navy ships with CENTRIXS on board can communicate securely with the U.S. Navy when needed and can benefit from the wider situational picture of the region as they have a large number of ships and aircraft deployed. This will reduce the stress on the assets and allow prioritising the deployments more efficiently.
• CENTRIXS consists of a collection of coalition wide area networks (WAN) known as enclaves” and is a “great enabler, allowing ship-to-ship operational dialogue between the two nations in text and web-based formats.

Criticism

This would allow U.S. Navy access to India’s own secure communication network and also that the information shared with the U.S. will be accessible by Pakistan.

Safeguard

• Specific measures have been incorporated in the agreement to “have full access to the relevant equipment and there will be no disruptions”.
• Data acquired through such systems cannot be disclosed or transferred to any person or entity without India’s consent.
• It is an enabling instrument and does not commit India to acquiring U.S. platforms.

IMA moots ethics code overhaul

Why in news?

Marking a bold departure from the existing code of ethics that covers the medical profession, the Indian Medical Association is in the process of redefining the code in order to ensure a much more contemporary outlook.

Details

• The handbook would comprise 24 topics that either need to be reviewed or find no mention in the current code. For example, the current MCI norms do not allow doctors to publicise their practice through any type of advertising.
• The concern is that when Big private hospitals are constantly promoting their set ups through advertisements in all mediums, how will individual doctors, especially those who have just begun practice, survive such competition
• IMA believes that any publicity material should be ethical and approved after scrutiny by the respective State medical councils.
• Ethical issues around Assisted Reproductive Technology and surrogacy also find a mention in the handbook and the IMA states that doctors should ethically ensure that surrogates and egg donors are not exploited.
• The IMA also recommends that cadaver organ donations must be made compulsory for all unless an individual specifically states that he or she does not want to become an organ donor.
• As there is a long waiting list of patients for organ transplants. It is also observed that India carries out a high number of living donor transplants as compared to cadaver organ donations.

About Indian Medical Association

• It was established in 1928 as the All India Medical Association, renamed “Indian Medical Association” in 1930.
• It is a society registered under The Societies Act of India.
• It is the only representative, national voluntary organization of Doctors of Modern Scientific System of Medicine, which looks after the interest of doctors as well as the well being of the community at large.

Can India take SAHI road to urban mobility?

Why in news?

NITI Aayog, in collaboration with various ministries and industry partners, is organising ‘MOVE: Global Mobility Summit’ in New Delhi. ‘Transforming India’s Mobility: A Perspective’ prepared by the NITI Aayog and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) was presented to the Prime Minister of India at the Global Mobility Summit in New Delhi.

Details

• The summit deliberated on steps to promote electric vehicles and shared mobility.
• It aimed at driving India’s goals for vehicle electrification, renewable energy integration and job growth, thus, speeding up India’s transition to a clean energy economy and featured global political leaders from mobility space.
• It aimed at bringing together and engaging with key stakeholders within rapidly transforming global mobility landscape and evolve public interest framework for shared, connected, zero emission agenda for the future.
• It also envisaged mobility as key driver for generating employment, providing innovative solutions to improve efficiency and efficacy of transport sector and accelerate economic growth.
• The summit aims to bring together stakeholders from across the sectors of mobility and transportation to co-create a public interest framework to revolutionize transport. The summit also aims to set the base for a transport system which is safe, clean, shared and connected, affordable, accessible and inclusive.
• The summit will deliberate on five themes:
• Maximising asset utilisation and services.
• Comprehensive electrification and alternative fuels.
• Reinventing public transport.
• Goods transport and logistics.
• Data analytics and mobility.
• The summit will feature global political leaders from mobility space and will see the participation of over 2200 participants from across the world including government leadership, research organizations, academia, industry leaders, think tanks and civil society organisations.
• International representation from embassies and the private sector will include the US, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, New Zealand, Austria, Germany, and Brazil.

Concerns

• All the cities face familiar concerns such as motorised personal vehicles requiring more roads, parking, and traffic.
• While mobility is critical to preserving our planet, road transport accounts for one-fifth of global CO2 emissions. This threatens to choke cities and raise global temperatures.
• The number of motor vehicles in India has grown 40-fold in 44 years, from 1981 to 2015.
• The reason for increase in vehicles on road is attributed to the absence of a public transport system, leading to a rapid rise in private vehicle ownership.

What should the future of mobility be, for India?

• As per the ‘Transforming India’s Mobility: A Perspective’ submitted to the Prime Minister, “Safe, Adequate, Holistic Infrastructure or SAHI.” Is the future of mobility for India.
• ‘The report calls for efficient and convenient public transport to answer the twin problems of pollution and congestion.
• The report attracted attention amid daily increases in fuel prices.
• The Prime Minister, in the summit said, “Public transport must be the cornerstone of our mobility initiatives”. He elaborated on his ‘7Cs’ for the future of mobility: it stands for common, connected, convenient, congestion-free, charged, clean and cutting-edge.

Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Why in news?

UN chief Antonio Guterres recently reiterated his appeal to eight nations, including India and the US, to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, saying the failure to bring it into force undermines global efforts to ensure a world free of atomic weapons.

About CTBT

• The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is the Treaty banning all nuclear explosions – everywhere, by everyone. The Treaty was negotiated at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. It opened for signature on 24 September 1996.
• Although more than 180 countries have signed the CTBT, and mostly ratified it, the treaty can only enter into force after it is ratified by eight countries with nuclear technology capacity, namely China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the United States.
• Since its inception, India has had a number of reservations about the CTBT. While it has stood by its demand for a nuclear weapons-free world, various principled, procedural, political, and security concerns have stood in the way of its support for the CTBT.
• India’s principled opposition drew from its emphasis on universal and complete nuclear disarmament in a time-bound manner. India has traditionally believed this to be the end goal with the test ban just being a path to get there. But it did not insist on a complete disarmament clause in 1994, acknowledging that it was a “complex issue.”
• Another major concern was Article XIV, the entry-into-force (EIF) clause, which India considered a violation of its right to voluntarily withhold participation in an international treaty. The treaty initially made ratification by states that were to be a part of the the CTBT’s International Monitoring System (IMS) mandatory for the treaty’s EIF.

Atal Pension Yojana

Why in news?

Union Cabinet decided to indefinitely extended Atal Pension Scheme, which had lapsed in August 2018. It also has broadened its scope by keeping it open-ended. The extension was given by taking into consideration of mass participation.

What are the New changes?

• To further incentivize people’s participation in the scheme, age criterion for participation has been revised. Earlier, people of age 18 to 60 years were entitled to enroll in this scheme. But now it has been relaxed further to 65 years, taking into consideration rise in average age-expectancy.
• Also, now the scheme will expand its focus to target individuals, instead of households. Besides, all accounts opened after August 2018 will have accident insurance limit of Rs 2 lakh, double than earlier Rs 1 lakh limit. The overdraft facility of the scheme has also been increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000.

 About Atal Pension Yojna (APY)

• Under the APY, subscribers would receive a fixed minimum pension of Rs. 1000 per month, Rs. 2000 per month, Rs. 3000 per month, Rs. 4000 per month, Rs. 5000 per month, at the age of 60 years, depending on their contributions, which itself would vary on the age of joining the APY.
• The Central Government would also co-contribute 50% of the total contribution or Rs. 1000 per annum, whichever is lower, to each eligible subscriber account, for a period of 5 years, that is, from 2015-16 to 2019-20, to those who join the NPS before 31st December, 2015 and who are not members of any statutory social security scheme and who are not Income Tax payers.

SLINEX-2018

• India, Sri Lanka joint naval exercise SLINEX-2018 was recently held at Trincomalee, Sri Lanka.
• SLINEX exercise started in 2005 was previously held once in two years and now it has been converted to annual event this year onwards.
• SLINEX exercise is continuation of ongoing operational interaction between both navies wherein regular ships visits are being undertaken between the two countries.
• SLINEX 2017 was held at Visakhapatnam in September 2017 wherein two ships SLNS participated from Sri Lanka Navy.