Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 29 July 2013

ISRO to the rescue after red flag over Thai satellite for CCTNS

Warned by intelligence agencies that using a foreign satellite in the proposed nationwide Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) could make a critical database vulnerable to eavesdropping by other countries, the Union Home Ministry has decided to take the help of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to make the project fully indigenous.

Despite high bandwidth charges being proposed by the ISRO — almost three times that of the IPSTAR satellite managed by Thaicomm of Thailand — the CCTNS will get half of its 800-odd VSATs (two-way ground satellite systems) from the BSNL (network agency) while the remaining VSAT requirements will be met by the ISRO.

When fully operational, the much-delayed CCTNS project will connect 14,000 police stations across all the 35 States and Union Territories, thus creating a nation-wide networking infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled sophisticated tracking system around ‘investigation of crime and detection of criminals’.

Communication between the ministries and departments involved in the project, like the Home Ministry and the Department of Telecom, show complete lack of coordination between them. One such recent internal note says: “For the implementation of CCTNS project, a Memorandum of Agreement between the BSNL and the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau under the Home Ministry) was signed for the countrywide connectivity on October 24, 2011, wherein VSAT was one of the identified mode of connectivity for approximately 820 sites across the country through the proposed IPSTAR satellite managed by Thaicomm.”

Insat-3D moves closer to its final orbit

Insat3D, advanced weather satellite, has reached an intermediate orbit which is much closer to the 36,000-km-high geostationary orbit, its final orbital home, Indian Space Research Organisation said on Sunday. Insat-3D was launched by Ariane-5 launch vehicle in the early hours of July 26 into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit with a perigee (nearest point to earth) of 250 km and an apogee (farthest point to earth) of 35,923 km.

INS Vikramaditya sea trials successful

India’s second aircraft carrier, the 45,000-tonne INS Vikramaditya — a retrofitted Russian carrier formerly named Admiral Gorshkov dating back to the 1980s — has successfully completed sea trial of achieving top speed of 32 knots, reports received from Russia said on Sunday.

It will now head for the White Sea where aviation trials will be conducted, informed sources said. INS Vikramaditya was supposed to have been delivered five years ago, but the Navy is likely to receive it by this year-end.

The extensively modernised Soviet-era carrier had set sail from the Sevmash shipyard for its first comprehensive sea trials in the summer of 2012. Russian MiG-29K fighter pilots had successfully completed take-offs and landings on its deck. The crew tested the aircraft carrier for its top speed but it simply stopped at 30 knots. It turned out that the boilers needed better insulation, which had given way due to extreme temperatures. It took several months to fix the glitch and send the vessel for sea trials again, sources said.

The towering 284 metre-long and 60-metre-high Vikramaditya is fitted with modern communication systems, a protective coating, a telephone exchange, pumps, hygiene and galley equipment, lifts and many more facilities. Officials said that at any given time, there would be a 2,000-strong staff on the completely remodelled aircraft carrier, which has an extended flight deck and a full runway with a ski jump and arrestor wires. The vessel has new engines, boilers, generators, electrical machinery, communication systems and distillation plants.

As India’s requirements grew and the shipyard lagged behind in adhering to schedules, the price of retrofit soared. It is estimated that the final cost would have gone up to around $2.3 billion. India had bought Admiral Gorshkov in 2005 for $947 million, renamed it Vikramaditya and gave it to the Russian shipyard for refitting and turning it into a modern aircraft carrier.

Somaliland ,TRAGEDY ,PARADOX

Two decades of civil war have etched the Horn of Africa into the atlas of peripheral places, yet the region has long served as a vital node for East African trade. Berbera is the African counterpart to the Yemeni seaport of Aden near the gateway to the Red Sea. In fact, Somalia’s current marginalisation is particularly acute considering its proximity to one of history’s most lucrative trade corridors: the route from England to India.

In 1825, the British government in Bombay learnt that the Mary Ann, a brig sailing from the colony of Mauritius, had been plundered and sunk near Berbera. The East India Company responded by blockading the Somali coast for six years to recover the cost of the ship and the merchandise from Somali merchant ships docking at Berbera harbour for the annual trade fair.

“By 1839, the British had formally occupied Aden; Somaliland was colonised and made a British protectorate in the 1880s. The Italians controlled the rest of Somalia. An abortive union in 1960 between English and Italian Somali territories was followed by decades of civil war. In 1991, Somaliland broke away from Somalia and declared itself an independent republic, but is yet to be recognised by any nation. During the colonial period, the Imperial government in Bombay, rather than London, administered Aden and Somaliland. Aden was controlled by the Royal Indian Navy and was supplied with meat from Somaliland’s plentiful herds of sheep, goats and cattle.

The primary objective was to safeguard the India route, more so after the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869. The British focused their attention on the port of Berbera and paid little attention to the inland, prompting Douglas Jardine, of the Somaliland Expeditionary Force to describe it as the “Cinderella of the Empire” “The Indian Penal Code was implemented in the early period of Somaliland’s colonization,” “The rupee was used and there was an ‘Indian Line’ in Hargeisa, where all the Indians used to stay.”

FOOD SECURITY BILL SOME CONCERNS

A recent UNICEF report on child malnutrition finds that India is home to 61 million stunted children under five — the most of any country — and 38 per cent of all stunted children in the world. After India, the country with the second largest number of stunted children is Nigeria with 11 million, then Pakistan (10 million), and China (eight million). Even as a proportion of the child population, stunting levels in India are higher than in any other large country in the world, according to the same UNICEF report.

Given the magnitude of food security challenges faced by India’s current and future work force, the charge that India’s NFSB is excessive strikes outside ears as exceedingly strange. One’s confusion is slightly compounded because it seems some critics dramatically exaggerate the cost of the Bill – in order to deem it unaffordable. At present, India spends about 0.9 per cent of GDP on food subsidies, and after the NFSB that will rise to a little less than 1.25 per cent.

“Food security is important but the government needs to be able to generate enough wealth in the country to be able to afford food security.” The Indian Express cited the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) statement, which read: “Under the present economic situation, the government can hardly afford to allow the fiscal deficit roadmap to be compromised in any way.” These dire warnings seem to overlook the fact that additional expenditures can be offset by cuts elsewhere. It is, as always, a question of priorities.

The Asian Development Bank has just released a report on Social Protection in Asia covering 35 countries. It compares India with the other 18 lower middle income countries in Asia. In lower middle income countries, relevant expenditures (on social insurance, social assistance, and labour market programmes) are, on average, 3.4 per cent of GDP. India’s is a mere half of that at 1.7 per cent. Even that low level is reached largely because of MGNREGA, not existing food security costs. Among low income countries, the Kyrgyz Republic (whose GDP per capita is only $871 (2009)), invests eight per cent of GDP in social protection. Upper middle income countries spend four per cent of GDP on average, and high income countries spend 10.2 per cent. Japan spends a massive 19.2 per cent of GDP on social protection and China 5.4 per cent. Even Singapore — which can hardly be called populist — still spends more than twice as much as India, at 3.5 per cent of GDP.

Sources: Various News Papers