Source--Star Majha
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Tejas finally; Defence has much to offer India Inc
The ongoing induction of Tejas, India's indigenously designed and built light combat aircraft, marks a watershed moment for our military hardware capability. Reportedly, India will have a 200-strong fleet of the supersonic jet. The immediate gameplan is to replace the ageing Russian-made MiG-21 fleet, and increase the IAF's squadron strength with a potent strike force.
Present Status
Tejas - positioned as a fourth-generation fighter - developed by the state-run Aeronautical Defence Agency and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd with multiple public-private partnerships, has been 27 years in the making. Its development cost has escalated to 6,000 crore, but it's a small fraction of the development costs for similar equipment abroad.
The Indian Tejas is the world's smallest, light weight, multi-role combat aircraft designed to meet the requirements of Indian Air Force as its frontline multi-mission single-seat tactical aircraft to replace the MiG-21 series of aircraft. The delta wing configuration , with no tailplanes or foreplanes, features a single vertical fin. The Tejas is constructed of aluminium-lithium alloys, carbon-fibre composites, and titanium. Tejas integrates modern design concepts and the state-of-art technologies such as relaxed static stability, flyby-wire Flight Control System, Advanced Digital Cockpit, Multi-Mode Radar, Integrated Digital Avionics System, Advanced Composite Material Structures and a Flat Rated Engine.
Seven weapon stations provided on Tejas offer flexibility in the choice of weapons Tejas can carry in various mission roles. Provision of drop tanks and inflight refueling probe ensure extended range and flight endurance of demanding missions. Provisions for the growth of hardware and software in the avionics and flight control system, available in Tejas, ensure to maintain its effectiveness and advantages as a frontline fighter throughout its service life. For maintenance the aircraft has more than five hundred Line Replaceable Units (LRSs), each tested for performance and capability to meet the severe operational conditions to be encountered.
Units involved in its reasearch and production
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is the Principal Partner in the design and fabrication of Tejas and its integration leading to flight testing. The Tejas has been designed and developed by a consortium of five aircraft research, design, production and product support organizations pooled by the Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), under Department of Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). Various international aircraft and system manufacturers are also participating in the program with supply of specific equipment, design consultancy and support. For example, GE Aircraft Engines provides the propulsion.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is the Principal Partner in the design and fabrication of Tejas and its integration leading to flight testing. The Tejas has been designed and developed by a consortium of five aircraft research, design, production and product support organizations pooled by the Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), under Department of Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). Various international aircraft and system manufacturers are also participating in the program with supply of specific equipment, design consultancy and support. For example, GE Aircraft Engines provides the propulsion.
The Tejas is India's second attempt at an indigenous jet fighter design, following the somewhat unsatisfactory HF-24 Marut Ground Attack Fighter built in limited numbers by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in the 1950s.
The light-weight Tejas, presently powered by American GE-F404 engine, has been developed from the scratch, putting India in the select club of nations, including U.S., Russia, France and Britain.
And by upgrading its stealth capability, it should be possible to catapult Tejas into the select fifth generation international club in the future. In parallel, we need to strategise synergy so that Tejas provides a strong uplift for Saras, the indigenous civil aircraft programme.
What the crtics say !!!!
The operational flight of the Tejas, the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft, has been met with muted applause. New Delhi flags off the same 'Made in India' piece of defence equipment again and again. Every defence minister has declared the Arjun tank ready for deployment. The Tejas has passed its initial operational clearance and will hope to receive final operational clearance in the next 18 months. Even after that, much of its avionics and electronics will still have to be sorted out. The expectation is that it will be a pillar of the military system only a decade more from now. Another source of cynicism is the fact that chunks of the Tejas, including the engine, are imported.
There are many sound arguments as to why India should be spending billions to develop a Tejas fighter, an Arjun tank and a host of variously named missiles. They are not, however, the ones that are being touted in public. Self-reliance in defence, in the sense of being able to wholly manufacture all the key defence platforms, is a myth. It is simply impossible to master all the components and technologies, let alone pay for the research and development costs, of even a single fighter airplane. Even the US imports bits and pieces of its arsenal. Self-reliance in defence needs to be redefined. What it should mean is the development of homegrown manufacturing and technological abilities that ensure that India can be an essential part of various global defence supply chains. It is important that these capacities should have both civilian and defence spin-offs.
Self-reliance also means to be able to use diplomacy to become embedded in global security arrangements that ensure that no country will be in a position to sanction or deny India essential defence equipment. Both of these are feasible thanks to India's present economic stature. But they can only be accomplished if a mindset that treats foreign firms as a necessary evil and gives lip service to private Indian manufacturers is done away with. This will not be easy — the ministry of defence is seen as among New Delhi's more fossilised bureaucracies. India's defence equipment capability should be measured in terms of the quality of its machine tools industry, its precision engineering capability and its ability to generate the sort of software that lies at the heart of all modern defence equipment. If the best fighters around the world depend on even a single Indian component to perform, the country will have done more to ensure the safety of its arms supplies than any aircraft and tank photo opportunities.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
No tomatoes for Pak, say Indian exporters
Amritsar: In reply to the termination of supply of onions to India by Pakistan, Indian exporters have decided to stop the supply of tomatoes and other vegetables to Pakistan. Pakistan earlier had stopped trucks bringing onions to India via Atari. Indian exporters say that by doing so Pakistan has broken the agreement and now they have no other option but to terminate supply of vegetables to Pakistan.
The general secretary of the Amritsar Exporters Chamber of Commerce, Rajesh Sethia, and the president of the Dry Fruit Commercial Association, Anil Mehra, said that India has been sending onion, tomato, green chilli, ginger etc to Pakistan and has been receiving items such as dry fruits through Atari.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is all set to embark on what may be called a 'science yatra' to Mumbai.
MUMBAI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is all set to embark on what may be called a 'science yatra' to Mumbai.
On January 6, three days after inaugurating the Indian Science Congress at Chennai, he will make a brief visit to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and visit some of the facilities in the city. His visit takes place against the backdrop of the controversy relating to nuclear liability and the protest against the construction of two new French-assisted atomic reactors at Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district.
On January 6, three days after inaugurating the Indian Science Congress at Chennai, he will make a brief visit to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and visit some of the facilities in the city. His visit takes place against the backdrop of the controversy relating to nuclear liability and the protest against the construction of two new French-assisted atomic reactors at Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district.
The same evening he will present the annual Infosys Prize, which is awarded under the aegis of the Infosys Science Foundation-a not-for-profit trust set up in 2009 by the management of software giant. The award honours the achievements of scientists and researchers in five categories. Each award consists of a cash prize of Rs 50 lakh and a gold medal.
This year, the winners are: Ashutosh Sharma, IIT-Kanpur (engineering and computer sciences); Amita Baviskar, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi (social sciences-sociology); Nandini Sundar, School of Economics Delhi (social sciences, social anthropology); Sandip Trivedi, mathematics department, University of California (physical sciences) and Chandrashekhar Khare, mathematics department, University of California (mathematical sciences).
On January 7, the PM will inaugurate BARC's second power reactor fuel reprocessing plant at the Tarapur Atomic Power Station.
BARC officials said the centre built its power reactor fuel reprocessing plant (Prefre) at Tarapur during the mid-70s.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Blasphemy
Thousands of people in Pakistan have attended the funeral of a provincial governor, a day after he was shot dead by one of his security guards. The suspect has told investigators he assassinated the high-profile political figure because of his opposition to the country's anti-blasphemy law. There has been widespread condemnation of the killing in and outside Pakistan. But some Islamic groups in the country have praised the assassin.
The slain governor of the country's powerful Punjab province, Salman Taseer, was laid to rest in the regional capital, Lahore. Tight security arrangements were in place and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was among many top leaders who attended the funeral.
The slain governor of the country's powerful Punjab province, Salman Taseer, was laid to rest in the regional capital, Lahore. Tight security arrangements were in place and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was among many top leaders who attended the funeral.
The high-profile Pakistani politician from the country's ruling party was assassinated Tuesday by one of his security guards, who says he was incensed by Taseer's opposition to the national anti-blasphemy law.
Human-rights groups in Pakistan have long demanded the legislation be reformed or repealed because they say it discriminates against the country's non-Muslims and is often abused by Muslim fundamentalists and ordinary people to settle personal disputes.
The law carries the death penalty for anyone found guilty of insulting the Prophet Mohammad and came under the spotlight after a court sentenced a Christian mother of four to death for making blasphemous remarks. The woman insists she is innocent and Taseer had visited her in prison as part of a campaign for her release.
Human-rights activist Farzana Bari says the killing of the prominent politician has created a sense of insecurity among liberal forces in the country.
"Look at the way this guy [killer of Taseer] has done everything," said Farzana Bari. "He has done it in a public space to send this wave of terror in the country that whosoever will dare to speak they will silence their voices like that. And I do not think it is an individual, it is mindset behind that."
In recent weeks, members of the country's ruling Pakistan Peoples Party have been pushing for reforms in the anti-blasphemy law and one of them has submitted a proposed bill for debate in the parliament. The federal minister for minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, has been among those proposing changes in the law to prevent its abuse.
"People have been killed extra judicially, people are in prison, "said Bhatti. "And most of the basis in the cases of blasphemy are personal disputes, economic reasons; political, religious and other differences. And anybody can go to the police to register a case against religious blasphemers and there is no mechanism to punish those people who file false cases."
But growing pressure from religious groups forced Prime Minister Gilani early this week to publicly state the government has never intended to change the blasphemy law.
Professor Bari alleges the change in the government's position led to the killing of the provincial governor.
"Particularly, when the government backed out and capitulated to this pressure, which was built by these extremist religious forces, Salman Taseer was actually then left alone and singled out," said Bari. "That shows a very dangerous trend that how our security forces have been radicalized, how there are sections of society which have been radicalized. And our government is completely not taking its social responsibility to protect citizens of this country who probably hold different views because the blasphemy law is clearly a discriminatory law."
On Wednesday, the accused killer was transported in a police vehicle for a court appearance in Islamabad. As he entered the court room, his supporters chanted Allahu Akbar (God is greatest) while about 300 lawyers told the judge they are willing to defend the suspect.
The assassination of Taseer came as recent defections in the ruling coalition have deprived Prime Minister Gilani of majority in parliament. He is making attempts to win support of right-wing political and religious parties that have publicly condemned proposed changes in the anti-blasphemy law.
Blasphemy in India ?
Since Hinduism, India's dominant religion doesn't have the concept of blasphemy;such laws are absent in tradition. However, blasphemy laws were introduced by the Muslim rulers Indian Penal Code punishes as hate speech insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of any citizen with deliberate and malicious intention to outrage their religious feelings to safeguard Islamic interests.
In 1860, the British repealed blasphemy laws so that Christian missionaries could proselytize. Today, Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code hate speech insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of any citizen with deliberate and malicious intention to outrage their religious feelings
Blasphemy and the United Nations
Defamation of religion is an issue that has been repeatedly addressed by the United Nations (UN) since 1999. Several non-binding resolutions have been voted on and accepted by the UN condemning "defamation of religion." The motions, sponsored on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, aim to prohibit expression that would, "fuel discrimination, extremism and misperception leading to polarization and fragmentation with dangerous unintended and unforeseen consequences."
Islamic states have expressed concerns that Islam is sometimes associated with terrorism and human rights violations, especially after the attack on the twin towers, and argue that the resolutions are necessary to combat Islamophobia.
Religious groups, human rights activists, free-speech activists, and several countries in the West have condemned the resolutions arguing it amounts to an international blasphemy law. Critics of the resolutions including human rights groups argue that they are used to politically strengthen domestic anti-blasphemy and religious defamation laws, which are used to imprison journalists, students and other peaceful political dissidents
Shah Commission Report – Lost and regained
Shah Commission was a commission of inquiry appointed by Government of India in 1977 to inquire into all the excesses committed in the Indian Emergency (1975 - 77). It was headed by Justice J.C. Shah, a former chief Justice of India. The commission deposed hundreds of individuals and after two years produced a 500 page report on the persons responsible for atrocities committed during emergency.
The report was particularly scathing of Indira Gandhi, her son Sanjay Gandhi,Pranab Mukerjee,Bansi Lal,Kamal Nath and officers belonging to civil services who helped Sanjay Gandhi.
This report was later rejected by the congress government headed by Indira Gandhi, which was back in power in 1980. The government also took the extraordinary step of recalling every published report and destroying the copies. It is now believed that not a single copy of this report exists in India.A third and final report of the commission seems to have slipped out and is currently held by National Library of Australia.
Katherine frank, who is famous for her book on Indira Gandhi mentioned in the biography that Indira Gandhi was unwilling to cooperate during the deposition and J.C.Shah lost his cool after three days of patient questioning and reprimanded her.
Even after three decades, no efforts were made to restore the report to fill the gap in the Indian political history. Mr Era Sezhiyan, 87 year old celebrated Parliamentarian, who was also one of the victims of emergency days, has brought out the Shah Commission report with his comments and remarks, under the title ‘Shah Commission Report – Lost and regained”. This book was released in Chennai by the opposition leader Mr L K Advani on 19th December 2010.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
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