What’s in Today’s Article:

• India’s Ballistic Missile Defence System
• News Summary

 

Why in news?

• India conducted the first successful flight test of the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) interceptor missile from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast.

 

India’s Ballistic Missile Defence programme

• India’s Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) programme aims to provide an air-defence shield from all types of hostile missiles, even the nuclear ones.
• DRDO is developing a two-tier BMD system to provide a multi-layered shield against ballistic missile attacks.
• The two-tier system is intended to destroy an incoming missile, at a higher altitude, in the exo-atmosphere and if that miscarries, an endo-atmospheric interception will take place.

 

Two-tires of BMD system

• Prithvi Air Defence (PAD) missile
  • This can intercept and destroy missiles at exo-atmospheric altitudes of 50–180 kilometres.
  • It is based on the Prithvi missile. Pradyumna Ballistic Missile Interceptor is going to replace the Prithvi air defence.
• Advanced Air Defence (AAD) Missile
  • The second layer is Advanced Air Defence (AAD) Missile for lower altitude interception.
  • This is designed to knock down hostile missiles in the endo-atmosphere at altitudes of 15-40 kilometres.
    • Akash Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAM) is part of AAD.

 

Origin and current status

• The development of anti-ballistic missiles is said to have started by the DRDO around the 2000s in view of the development of ballistic assets by Pakistan and China.
• The phase-1 of the programme is said to have been completed towards the end of 2010s
  • The government, however, has so far refrained from sanctioning the full-scale operational deployment of this system at any vital location.
  • This could be due to the high costs involved, or even strategic calculations that it may provoke Pakistan to go in for a larger nuclear arsenal and countermeasures to defeat the BMD system.
• The second phase of this programme focuses on the development of anti-ballistic defence systems like the US’s Theatre High-Altitude Area Defence system, which can neutralise intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
  • DRDO had also planned to develop two new ballistic missiles, namely AD-1 and AD-2, in phase 2 of the missile shield development.
  • The AD-1 and AD-2 interceptors can engage intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) / intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

 

Other missiles boosting India’s defence capabilities

• India also conducted its first successful anti-satellite (ASAT) test, under Mission Shakti in March 2019.
• India is also getting the Russian S-400 Triumf air defence system.
  • S-400 Triumf is one of the world's most advanced air defence systems that can simultaneously track numerous incoming objects and neutralise them.
• Recently, the first deliverable firing unit of Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) system was handed over to Indian Air Force.
  • It provides a point and area air defence for ground assets against a wide range of threats.
• With the induction of Indian naval ship Dhruv, the nuclear missile tracking ship, Indian joins an elite group of countries like the US, Russia, China, UK and France to have such capability.

 

News Summary

• India conducted a critical test to validate and showcase its ballistic missile defence (BMD) capabilities to intercept long-range missiles.
• The long-range interceptor missile, called AD-1, was successfully tested by the DRDO.
  • The AD-II, which is capable of neutralising missiles of even higher ranges, is also said to be under development.

 

AD-1 (Air Defence)

• AD-1 is a long-range interceptor missile designed for both low exo-atmospheric and endo-atmospheric interception of long-range ballistic missiles as well as aircraft.
• The missile is propelled by a two-stage solid motor and equipped with an indigenously developed advanced control system and a navigation and guidance algorithm.
  • These algorithms precisely guide the vehicle to the targets that move at very high speeds.

What’s in today’s article:

• About the UNESCO
• About the Global Education Monitoring Report 

 

Why in news?

• According to the UNESCO’s recently released Global Education Monitoring Report 2022, South Asia has undergone tremendous education expansion in the last 30 years, surpassing the rest of the globe.
• While India is driving these regional averages, 7 of every 10 new schools built in the last eight years in India have been private independent institutions.

 

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO):

• It is a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN), headquartered at the World Heritage Centre in Paris, France.
• It was founded in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nation's International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in five key program areas -
  • Education; Natural sciences; Social or human sciences; Culture; Communication/information.
• It has 193 member states and 12 associate members, as well as partners in the non-governmental, intergovernmental and private sector.
  • UNESCO is governed by the General Conference, composed of member states and associate members, which meets biannually to set the agency's programmes and the budget.
• UNESCO is a member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group.
  • Thus, UNESCO's programmes contribute to the achievement of the SDGs defined in the 2030 Agenda, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015.

 

Functions

• UNESCO funds projects that promote literacy, technical training and education, science, independent media and press freedom, regional and cultural history preservation and cultural diversity.
• UNESCO's activities have expanded over the years. g., it aids in the translation and dissemination of world literature, assists in the establishment and protection of World Heritage Sites of cultural and natural importance, works to bridge the global digital divide, etc.
• To accomplish its basic aims, UNESCO has created a number of initiatives and worldwide movements, such as Education for All.
• It also publishes the Global Education Monitoring Report.

 

 The Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report:

• Launched in 2016, GEM Report is an annual editorially independent report, hosted and published by UNESCO.
• Previously titled the Education for All Global Monitoring Report (to keep the global community accountable for their pledges to educational progress), it published 12 Reports from 2002 until 2015.
• It was then renamed and relaunched under a new UN mandate to monitor progress towards the education targets in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and have tracked country progress, highlighted critical challenges and become an invaluable part of the international education architecture.
• The year 2022 marks the 20th anniversary of the GEM Report.

 

Highlights of the GEM 2022 with focus on India:

• Roughly a third of students in India are in private schools that receive no state help, highlighting the fact that non-state actors are heavily involved in all aspects of education systems in South Asi
  • 67,000 of the 97,000 schools established since 2014 have been private and unaided.
  • Approximately 29,600 unrecognised schools educating 3.8 million children in 2020.
  • Over 500,000 students are educated at an estimated 4,139 unrecognised madrasas in India.
• Only 46% of adults thought that the government bore primary responsibility for delivering school education, the lowest number among 35 middle- and high-income countries.
• Furthermore, there has been a significant increase in the rates of private tutoring in India, with 61% of secondary school students reporting that they sought tutoring owing to low schooling quality.
  • While regulations prohibit teachers from instructing their own students, no licensing or registration is currently required to establish a private tutoring business.
• The main choice criteria of a school by parents included English-medium instruction, schools’ ability to provide classes beyond pre-primary, proximity to home and education quality proxies such as school reputation.
• Inadequate supply and quality of public education, combined with parental aspirations, have driven private education growth in India.
• According to the report, expanding access to education through non-state provision is inequitable.

What’s in today’s article:

• Growing ties between Pakistan and China – About, concerns for India
• News Summary

 

Why in news?

• Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is on a two-day official visit to China. He is the first foreign leader to visit China since President Xi Jinping won a third term in office.

 

Growing ties between Pakistan and China

• Over the years, Beijing has expanded its footprint in Pakistan. Perhaps in no other country in South Asia has Beijing expanded its footprint more than in Pakistan.
• The latest example of this was the Pakistan Day Parade in Islamabad in late March 2022, which saw the country’s military display several recently acquired military platforms from China.
  • Eg. J-10CE multirole fighter aircraft, battle tanks, self-propelled howitzers and air-defense equipment.
  • China’s supply of advanced military equipment to Pakistan — also including warships and submarines.
• Just how close Sino-Pakistani ties have become can be seen in a 33-point document issued by the two countries in February 2022.
  • Through this document, the two sides emphasized their support for each other’s core interests.

 

Concerns for India

• The growing Sino-Pakistani cooperation has set off alarm bells in New Delhi, especially as Chinese arms and money continue to flow into Pakistan.
• The Indian military, which is preparing for a potential two-front war with China and Pakistan, is also concerned about the possibility of the China establishing a more robust logistics and basing infrastructure in the region.
• The ‘central pillar’ of the relationship between the two countries is the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
  • CPEC is a series of long-term infrastructure, transportation, and energy projects valued at $62 billion as of 2020.
  • CPEC is opposed by India as this project is not only passing through India’s territory but also posing a threat to the sovereignty of India.
• China continues to support Pakistan against India at the UN Security Council (as seen in the repeated blocks by Beijing on joint India-US proposals to designate two Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives).

 

News Summary

• On his maiden visit to Beijing, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

 

Key highlights

• During this visit, the two leaders agreed to strengthen the all-weather friendship and the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
• Chinese President told the visiting Pakistani Prime Minister that he was deeply concerned about the security of Chinese personnel working on projects in the country.
  • This follows a number of attacks on Chinese nationals in the country.
  • In April 2022, three Chinese were killed following a suicide attack near a Confucius Institute in Karachi.
• China also stressed Pakistan was a priority in China’s neighbourhood diplomacy.
• China offered an additional $68 million in flood relief.

 

Significance of this visit

• All-weather friendship with China
  • Beijing has placed Pakistan in a priority in its neighbourhood diplomacy. On the other hand, Pakistan considers China as its Iron Brother.
• Delicate balancing act
  • Pakistan faces the challenge of balancing between its close ties with China and its longstanding partnership with the US.
    • The Biden Administration has named China as its biggest challenge after Russia in its national security strategy.
  • Pakistan does not want to become part of any anti-China coalition.
• Financial needs and the CPEC tangle
  • At the bilateral level, Pakistan is looking to China for economic help.
    • Currently, Pakistan is facing the economic crisis.
    • The IMF had released $ 1.1 billion to Pakistan in August, helping it avoid a debt repayment default.
  • The CPEC has struggled to move beyond the $25-bn mark (CPEC is a $ 67-bn project). It is due to:
    • China’s own economic troubles are one part of the problem, and
    • Pakistan’s reluctance or inability to invest as Beijing wants it to.
  • Current Pakistani govt ran a forensic audit of CPEC and found that only three out of 15 projects in Gwadar, valued a little over $300 million, were completed.

What’s in today’s article:

• About CBDT
• Current ITR system (Number of Forms, Proposal by CBDT, Need for a common form)

 

Why in News:

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has proposed a single income tax return (ITR) form for all taxpayers.
• A draft form has been released, to which all stakeholders can provide inputs up to December 15.

 

About Central Board of Direct Taxation:

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes is a statutory authority functioning under the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963.
• It is responsible for the administration of direct taxation in India.
• It is administered by the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance.

 

How many kinds of ITR Forms are there now?

• Currently, there are seven kinds of Income Tax Return (ITR) forms which are used by different categories of taxpayers. They are as follows –

How many ITR forms were filed in AY 2022-23?

• The total ITR forms filed for AY 22-23 is about 83 crore.
• Out of 5.83 crore ITRs filed, 50% of these are ITR-1 (2.93 crore), 11.5% are ITR-2 (67 lakh), 10.9% are ITR-3 (63.35 lakh), 26% are ITR-4 (1.54 crore), ITR-5 to 7 (5.5 lakh)

 

Proposal made by CBDT:

• According to the proposal, all taxpayers, barring trusts and non-profit organisations, will be able to use a common ITR form.
• This common ITR form will include a separate head for disclosure of income from virtual digital assets.

 

What is the need for a common ITR Form?

• The proposal of having a common ITR Form is aimed at making it easier for citizens for file returns, and also to considerably reduce the time taken for the job by individuals and non-business-type taxpayers.
• With a common ITR form, the taxpayers will not be required to see the schedules that do not apply to them.
• It intends the smart design of schedules in a user-friendly manner with a better arrangement, logical flow, and increased scope of pre-filling.
• It will also facilitate the proper reconciliation of third-party data available with the Income-Tax department vis-à-vis the data to be reported in the ITR to reduce the compliance burden on the taxpayers.

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