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Moving to synergise operational requirements of the Indian Air Force, the government has approved the creation of a new Weapon Systems branch which will be responsible for all IAF weapon system operators, and bring them under one roof.
Making this announcement Saturday at the Air Force Day parade here, the first outside the Delhi NCR, Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari said, “On this historic occasion, it is my privilege to announce that the government has approved the creation of a Weapon Systems Branch for officers in the IAF. This is the first time since Independence that a new operational branch is being created.”
This will essentially be for manning of four specialised streams of surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, remotely piloted aircraft and weapon system operators in twin and multi-crew aircraft. Creation of this branch will result in savings of over Rs 3,400 crore due to reduced expenditure on flying training.
Later, a senior IAF officer, explaining the need for a dedicated branch for weapon systems, said the establishment of a separate branch for missile system operators, unmanned aerial vehicles and weapon system officers of two-seater aircraft is an effort to synergise operational requirements which differ from active flying.
Pointing to the induction of more missile systems with complex operational dynamics and the future establishment of an Air Defence Command with integrated air defence assets of all three services, the officer said there was need to do away with piecemeal deployment of officers from non-specialised branches and institutionalise the non-flying operational cadre.
Basically, the weapon systems operator in a twin-seater aircraft does not have to be a full-fledged pilot as his core competence is handling the weapons on board.
We can gradually build up this cadre and phase away pilots from doing this task, thereby making him or her available for flying duties.
This separate branch is also expected to include officers who specialise as intelligence analysts and operate intelligence-gathering tasks in unmanned aerial vehicles as well as space-based assets.
Here again, the need for building core competence in a separate branch has long been felt by the IAF brass, given the increasing role of UAVs and space assets in information gathering and advance warning.
The officer also referred to the accidental firing of a Brahmos in March and said an analysis of the incident had reinforced the belief that a dedicated cadre of missile commanders must be built.
Express Network
To bring uniformity, J&K okays Public University Bill (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha-led Administrative Council (AC) gave its nod to the Jammu and Kashmir Public University Bill-2022 with the purpose of addressing the issues pertaining to a wide variety of universities in Jammu and Kashmir.
The government intends to frame a common Public University Bill which would apply to all public universities of UT of J&K.
The UT’s administrative council comprises the LG, adviser Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, and Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta.
The administration said that the National Education Policy-2020 (NEP-2020) envisions an education system “rooted in Indian ethos” that contributes directly to transforming India, sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, by providing high-quality education to all, and thereby making India a global knowledge superpower.
The NEP-2020, “moreover envisages fundamental transformation in the structure of higher education” by mandating the transformation of all affiliated colleges to either multidisciplinary research or teaching universities or degree-awarding autonomous institutions by 2035.
The key features of the current draft include emphasis on uniformity and flexibility in working of all the higher educational institutions.
A number of new provisions have also been introduced to make the functioning of universities transparent and accountable through transparent procedures and public disclosures.
In order to make the recruitment process fully transparent and merit based, screening by the Public Service Commission of the UT and reduction in weightage to interview has been proposed for gazetted positions.
Economy
Rising inflation, strong USD: Forex reserves plummet $110bn in 13mths (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s forex reserves have fallen by $110 billion in the last 13 months as the rising inflation, capital outflows and appreciating dollar created a turmoil in the foreign exchange market.
According to the RBI, forex reserves fell by $4.854 billion to $532.664 billion during the week ended September 30 as the strong dollar and adverse external factors reduced India’s forex kitty.
The reserves had declined by over $8.134 billion to $537.518 billion in the previous week. The central bank has been selling dollars from the forex kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments. The rupee hit a record low of 82.33 against the dollar on Friday.
With this, forex reserves have plummeted by $110 billion from the record high of $642.45 billion registered on September 3, 2021.
Another major reason for the decline in forex reserves is capital outflows by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) as the US Federal Reserve started the monetary policy tightening and interest rate hikes.
The valuation loss, reflecting the appreciation of the US dollar against major currencies and decline in gold prices also played a part in the decline in foreign exchange reserves.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had recently said that about 67 per cent of the decline in reserves during the current financial year was due to valuation changes arising from an appreciating US dollar and higher US bond yields.
During the current financial year (up to September 28), the US dollar has appreciated by 14.5 per cent against a basket of major currencies. It (rupee) has depreciated by 7.4 per cent against the US dollar during the same period — faring much better than several reserve currencies as well as many of its EME and Asian peers.
Das said the rupee is a freely floating currency and its exchange rate is market determined. “The RBI does not have any fixed exchange rate in mind. It intervenes in the market to curb excessive volatility and anchor expectations,” he said while unveiling the monetary policy.
The aggressive policy course by the US Fed to curb rising price pressures is exacerbating fears of a weakening global growth outlook and leading to risk aversion in the markets. Global currencies depreciated against the dollar as a hotter than expected US inflation report drove the currency higher.
Pilot launch of e-rupee for specific use cases: What is the RBI’s plan (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) indicated that it will soon commence limited pilot launches of e-rupee (e`), or Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or digital rupee, for specific use cases.
It has hinted at two broad categories for the use of e-rupee — retail and wholesale — taking the payment system in the country to a new level where the common people and businesses will be able to use the digital currency seamlessly for various transactions.
The central bank said that the development of CBDC could provide the public a risk-free virtual currency that will give them legitimate benefits without the risks of dealing in private virtual currencies.
The approach for issuance of CBDC will be governed by two basic considerations — to create a digital rupee that is as close as possible to a paper currency and to manage the process of introducing digital rupee in a seamless manner.
The central bank also feels that it is desirable for CBDCs to have offline capabilities to make it a more attractive and accessible medium of payment for a wide category of users.
E-rupee is the same as a fiat currency and is exchangeable one-to-one with the fiat currency. Only its form is different. It can be accepted as a medium of payment, legal tender and a safe store of value. The digital rupee would appear as liability on a central bank’s balance sheet.
Based on the usage and the functions performed by the digital rupee and considering the different levels of accessibility, CBDC can be demarcated into two broad categories — general purpose (retail) (CBDC-R) and wholesale (CBDC-W), the RBI’s concept note says.
Retail CBDC is an electronic version of cash primarily meant for retail transactions. It will be potentially available for use by all — private sector, non-financial consumers and businesses — and can provide access to safe money for payment and settlement as it is a direct liability of the central bank. However, the RBI has not explained how e-rupee can be used in merchant transactions in the retail trade.
Wholesale CBDC is designed for restricted access to select financial institutions. It has the potential to transform the settlement systems for financial transactions undertaken by banks in the government securities (G-Sec) segment, inter-bank market and capital market more efficiently and securely in terms of operational costs, use of collateral and liquidity management.