News in Shorts: 11 September 2024

Montelukast

While caution is being exercised everywhere, the sale of Montelukast drugs in India is unregulated and seems to be increasing exponentially.

About Montelukast:

• Refers: An orally dosed drug to prevent wheezing, difficulty breathing, chest tightness, and coughing caused by asthma, and also used to prevent breathing difficulties during exercise.
• Classification: Montelukast is not an antihistamine. 
• • Antihistamines are common drugs that can be purchased without a prescription and are used to treat short-lived allergic reactions, like a sneezing fit or an itch. 
• Availability: It is readily available as a film-coated tablet, chewable tablet, or oral granules and syrup (for kids) under different brand names.
• Approval: It was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1998 and marketed under the brand name ‘Singulair’.
  • It was approved for treating chronic asthma and prophylaxis and the prevention of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. 
  • It is also approved to relieve seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis symptoms. 

YUDH ABHYAS-2024

Recently, the 20th edition of India-USA Joint Military Exercise YUDH ABHYAS-2024 was held at Foreign Training Node in Mahajan Field Firing Ranges, Rajasthan. 

About Exercise YUDH ABHYAS:

• Annual Joint Exercise: It has been held annually since 2004, alternating between India and the USA.
• Aim: To enhance joint military capability of both sides to undertake counter terrorism operations in a sub conventional scenario under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. 

Significance: 

• Share Best Practices: It will enable both sides to share best practices in tactics, techniques and procedures of conducting joint operations. 
• Interoperability: It will facilitate developing interoperability, bonhomie and camaraderie between the two armies. 
• Enhance Cooperation: The joint exercise will also enhance defence cooperation, further augmenting bilateral relations between the two friendly nations.
• Counter Terrorism: Prepare a joint exercise to a terrorist action, joint planning and combined field training exercises that simulate real-world counter-terror missions.

Joint Exercises of India-USA:

• Military Training: Yudh Abhyas, Vajra Prahar and Exercise Tiger Triumph
  • Exercise Tiger Triumph is the first tri-service military exercise between the two countries. 
  • Its 1st edition was held in 2019.
• Air Forces: Cope India
• Naval Exercise (along with Japan): Malabar
• Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR): In September 2022, the QUAD countries (US, India, Japan and Australia) signed the “Guidelines for the Quad Partnership on HADR in the Indo-Pacific”.

Additional Solicitor Generals

Additional Solicitor General of India:

• Role
  • The Addl. SGI is a law officer who assists the SGI and the Attorney General of India. 
  • The SGI and Addl. SGIs advise the government and represent the Union of India in legal matters. 
• Appointment
  • The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by the Prime Minister, recommends and officially appoints the SGI and Addl. SGIs. 
  • The proposal for appointment is usually made by the Joint Secretary or Law Secretary in the Department of Legal Affairs. 
• Status: The SGI and Addl. SGIs are statutory posts, unlike the Attorney General of India’s Constitutional post.
• Governing rules: The Addl. SGI is governed by the Law Officers (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1987.

Solicitor General of India

• The Solicitor General is a subordinate office to the Attorney General of India. He is the secondary law officer of the country.
• Assistance: The Solicitor General is assisted by Additional Solicitor Generals, who represent the Union of India across courts.
• Constitutional Position: While the Attorney General of India is a constitutional office, the Solicitor General of India and Additional Solicitor Generals are statutory offices, appointed by the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet.

INS Malpe and INS Mulki

• INS Malpe and INS Mulki are two of the latest indigenously designed and built Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Watercrafts (ASWSWCs) developed for the Indian Navy. 
• These vessels are the fourth and fifth ships in the series of ASWSWCs commissioned by the Navy. 
• Constructed by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).
• The contract for eight such vessels was signed between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and CSL on April 30, 2019. 
• Classified as the Mahe Class, these ships will eventually replace the Abhay Class ASW Corvettes currently in service.
• Features: 
• • The ships are designed for a range of operations, including anti-submarine warfare in coastal waters, mine-laying, sub-surface surveillance, search and rescue, and low-intensity maritime missions. 
  • Measuring 78 meters in length, 11.36 meters in width, and with a draught of 2.7 meters, these vessels displace around 900 tonnes. 
  • They can reach speeds of up to 25 knots and have a range of 1,800 nautical miles.
  • Fitted with state-of-the-art, indigenously developed SONAR systems for underwater detection, 
  • Also equipped with lightweight torpedoes, anti-submarine warfare rockets, a close-in weapon system, and remote-controlled guns for enhanced operational capability.

Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

About FATF

• FATF is an intergovernmental organization established in 1989 out of a G-7 meeting of developed nations in Paris.
• Secretariat: Located at the OECD headquarters in Paris, it supports the substantive work of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) membership and global network.
• Evolution of Mandate: Originally formed to combat money laundering, it expanded its mandate after the 9/11 attacks to include efforts against terrorist financing. 
  • Later, efforts to counter the financing of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) were added in 2012.
    • Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are weapons that can cause massive destruction and loss of human life on a large scale.
• Grey and Black Lists
  • Grey List: Includes countries considered safe havens for supporting terror funding and money laundering, serving as a warning.
  • Black List: Comprises Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories (NCCTs) supporting such activities. 
• Sessions and Decision-Making:Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Plenary is the decision-making body, meeting three times per year to discuss Mutual Evaluation Reports (MERs) of countries.
  • Countries with major deficiencies in their Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes are listed under “jurisdictions under increased monitoring” (grey list) or “high-risk jurisdictions” (black list).
• Membership: Currently, a 40-member body representing major financial centres globally.
  • Includes two regional organisations: the European Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
• India’s Association: India joined as an observer in 2006 and became a full member in 2010.
  • Additionally, India is part of its regional partners, the Asia Pacific Group (APG) and the Eurasian Group (EAG).
• India’s Status: “Regular follow-up” category (includes France, Italy, Russia, and the UK)
• Observers: There are 31 international and regional organisations which are Associate Members or Observers of the FATF and participate in its work.
  • Organisations with observer status include the Asian Development Bank (ADB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Interpol, and the World Bank, among others.
• Mutual Evaluation Report:
  • It is an assessment of a country’s measures to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. 
  • Evaluation Team: The reports are peer reviews, where members from different countries assess another country. 
  • Without prejudice: The mutual evaluation report is without prejudice to the status or justification that led to the designation of an entity as a terrorist or terrorist group or organisation. 
  • Mutual Evaluations have two main components
    • Effectiveness 
    • Technical compliance

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G)

More in news:

• Newly Eligible Households:
  • Families owning two-wheelers, motorised fishing boats, refrigerators, and landline phones.
  • Households earning up to Rs 15,000 per month.
• Additional Key Exclusion Criteria:
  • Households with pucca roofs and/or pucca walls.
  • Households living in homes with more than two rooms.

About Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G):

• Objective: Provide pucca houses with basic amenities to rural families who are homeless or living in kutcha or dilapidated houses.
• Beneficiaries: Identified using the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011.
• Flagship mission by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
• Cost Sharing:
  • 60:40 ratio between the Centre and states for plain areas.
  • 90:10 ratio for Northeastern states, Himalayan states, and J&K.
  • 100% cost borne by Centre for other UTs.
• Features:
• • Financial Assistance: 
    • Beneficiaries receive up to Rs 1.2 lakh in plains.
    • Up to Rs 1.3 lakh in hilly states, difficult areas, and tribal/backward districts under the Integrated Action Plan (IAP).
  • Construction: Beneficiaries construct houses with government technical assistance.
  • Convergence with other schemes: Encourages coordination with schemes like Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and MGNREGA for toilet construction and wage employment.