Maiden Attempt – Barak 8 Missile

India has successfully test-fired a long-range surface-to-air missile, jointly developed with Israel, from its warship in its maiden attempt.

With this, India joined a select group of countries which has such an anti-air warfare capability for their navies.
The Barak 8 missile fired by the INS Kolkata on the western seaboard successfully intercepted an aerial target at extended ranges.

Factsheet:

LRSAM is also called Barak 8 missile in Israel which in Hebrew language means Lightning.

Barak 8 is being considered to be a major asset for the Indian Navy because it would add a potent system designed to destroy any anti-ship missile launched by Pakistani or Chinese Navy.

Key to Barak 8’s ability to intercept incoming missiles is Israel-made MF-STAR radar system, which is capable of simultaneously tracking hundreds of airborne targets to a range of more than 250 kilometers.

The Barak-8 has been designed to defend against a variety of short-to-long-range airborne threats, including fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, drones and projectiles.

The LRSAM programme consists of missiles, weapon control system, MFSTAR (radar), vertical launcher unit and two-way data link.

The LRSAM system has been jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd.(IAI), Israel.

sources: the hindu, drdo.

Centre pushing to revive NATGRID, looking for CEO

The Union government is all set to make an aggressive effort to revive the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID).

The government is planning to appoint a senior serving government official, in all likelihood one with an intelligence background, to head NATGRID, with a mandate to operationalise it as a federal counter-terrorism centre.

What is NATGRID?

Conceived in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) is a centralised agency which stores sensitive personal information on citizens from almost two dozen agencies to be made available for counter-terror investigations.

The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), an attached office of the Ministry of Home Affairs, has been conceived to develop a cutting edge framework to enhance India’s counter-terror capabilities.

It will provide an intelligence database that would have networked 21 sets of data sources to provide quick and secure access of information to about 10 intelligence and law-enforcement agencies including the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and R&AW.

These data sources include records related to immigration entry and exit, banking and financial transactions.

The Union Home Ministry has indicated the grid will be fully functional by 2016.

How is it different from NCTC and NIA?

Unlike the NCTC and the NIA which are central organisations, the NATGRID is essentially a tool that enables security agencies to locate and obtain relevant information on terror suspects from pooled data of various organisations and services in the country. It will help identify, capture and prosecute terrorists and help preempt terrorist plots.

Criticisms:

NATGRID is facing opposition on charges of possible violations of privacy and leakage of confidential personal information.

Its efficacy in preventing terror have also been questioned given that no state agency or police force has access to its database thus reducing chances of immediate, effective action.

Who will head the agency?

Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a circular to fill the post of CEO of NATGRID. The circular calls for applicants with a Masters in Electronics, IT or equivalent with an experience of working in the IT-related field for 25 years. Both serving as well as retired government officials can apply.
The circular also says that if a private person is hired, his/her salary would be Rs. 10 lakh a month and if it’s a government servant, it will be his last drawn salary or the present salary.

sources: the hindu

It is found by scientists that evaporating water can be used to generate power (Evaporation engine). How it can be done? Explain. (200 Words)

Recently Paris climate agreement (COP21) focusses on increasing use of renewable energy for power generation. In this aspect a new research by Colombia university scientists on evaporation engine may plays important role in future.

Sahin from Columbia University found new techniques of power generation from soil bacteria spores. These spores expand in moisture & contract in dry atmosphere. So by putting spores on long plastic tapes in humid conditions, sheet gets curved on absorbing moisture &opens up on other side to release moisture and cycle gets continued. Such open-close movement led to
push-pull force generation. So if connected with piston-rod arrangement, it produces electricity from generator by rotary motion.

This technique plays significant role as it’s capable of producing electricity from still water. So by placing long plastic sheets with
spores on reservoirs, reducing water vapour wastage it generates power. Also it’s found that such technique is much cheaper than other renewable sources like solar,wind energy.

But to bring technique from lab to actual reservoir,more research is to be done. For this initially more funding is necessary.So for implementation in future, Government as well as private sectors have to come forward for more research. Efficient implementation of such technique in futute helps India to achieve its sustainable development goal and also provide alternative option for costly solar power generation.

Recently Google announced multiple India-specific projects – “Project Loon”, “Tap to translate”, “Offline mapping” and “Asus Chromebit”. Will these projects have a transformational and disruptive influence on India? Critically discuss. (200 Words)

Answer:-


Google recently launched India specific projects namely Project Loon, Tap to translate, Offline Mapping, Asus Chromebit which can be a game changer & change the way technology sector works in India, let us look closely:

1) Project Loon will revolutionize the way ISPs operate, following a more robust mechanism which will lead to lower cost, better connectivity & less disruptions.
2) Tap to translate will greatly favour a multi-lingual country like India where the population in inner penetrations have low level of literacy in either Hindi or English.
3) Offline mapping will be highly beneficial as most people work with Wifi at home & office, thus while travelling they are devoid of internet which makes journey troublesome.
4) Asus Chromebit will fulfil the objectives Aakash tablet failed to achieve, by offering a low cost CPU at 8000 INR leading to wide E-Literacy.

But, there is note of caution India must adhere to while agreeing for such schemes:
1) These revolutionary technologies might lead to monopoly of Google in India’s market.
2) Telecom operators who have purchased spectrum at exorbitant prices might suffer huge losses.
3) Initial years it might be difficult to keep in track the way these technologies work which might lead to data piracy.
4) Influx of technology without IPR constrains might lead to long term damages.

The huge potential of India where the median population is 23 has become a global market since 1991 & the major source of revenue for companies investing in India. India must go ahead with caveat to change its face in years to come by living upto the ambitious mission “Digital India”

Q.- It is said that IT sector in India is vulnerable to some of US policies vis a vis this sector. Examine why. Also discuss what measures can India take in this regard. (200 Words)

Ans:-

The policies of a government will always depend on its domestic compulsions. Thus the US decision to increase the fee of H1B and L1 visa, which is being accused of giving American jobs to foreigners is hardly a surprise for India. Especially when the Republican party is feeling the heat of presidential election to be conducted in 2016.

Movement of labour freely is one of the essential principles of Globalization, the biggest proponent of which is US himself. As the fee hike is IT sector specific and India being the largest exporter of IT professionals to US, the move is definitely going to affect the Indian IT companies in US. So the following measures could be taken by the Indian govt to address the situation.

Measures-
Short term- Take US to WTO, and prove that Indian companies discriminatively targed.

Long term- Sign a “Model agreement on Visa” with US govt, on the similar lines of “model agreement on exemption from visa for diplomatic travel” the Indian govt is presently working on. This will ensure that the US govt is not only guided by domestic compulsion but also Indian concerns are taken into account. Such an agreement should be brought against a bargain to increase FDI in any of Indian sectors, which would give us additional leverage in discussions.