Indigenous cryogenic engine ready for take-off

Close on the heels of display of its military might by China on the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic, India quietly achieved something that will have a far-reaching impact on the country’s defence capabilities.

T K Alex, director of the ISRO Satellite Centre at Bangalore, told the TNS today that an indigenous cryogenic engine had been successfully developed. “The cryogenic engine is ready. It has already reached the space port at Sriharikota (from Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu)”, he said.

The advance would give India the ability to build the dreaded intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). This led the US to prevent Russia from supplying cryogenic technology to India. India’s contract with Russia for buying cryogenic engines came under fire from the US which said it was a violation of the Missile Technology Control Regime to which Russia is a signatory. Eventually, the Russian Federation supplied a limited number of engines to India without the transfer of critical technologies.

Only a few countries, including the US, Russia and France, have the necessary knowhow to build cryogenic engines fuelled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

In December last year, ISRO had successfully conducted the flight acceptance hot test of the indigenous cryogenic engine at its Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendragiri.

The first indigenous cryogenic engine will be used in the GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket that is slated to put the experimental communication satellite GSAT-4 in the orbit. “The launch will take place sometime in coming December”, Alex said.

Besides the use of the indigenous cryogenic engine, the GSAT-4 launch would also be unique in many other ways. “For instance, we shall be using the electric propulsion technology for the first time to give the geostationary satellites a longer life span”, he said.

“GSAT-4 itself is not designed to have a long life. But once the technology, known as plasma thrusters, is successfully tested, it will be used in future satellites to give them an enhanced life span”, Alex said.

Electric propulsion technology would be used for sustenance of a satellite for the initial two to three years. “During this period the solar panels (for generating electricity from solar energy) work very well. Afterwards the satellite will switch over to the chemical propulsion mode”, said Alex.

Weighing around two tonnes, GSAT-4 will carry a multi-beam Ka-band bent pipe and regenerative transponder and navigation payload in C, L1 and L5 bands. The satellite reportedly can guide civil and military aircraft.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091003/main3.htm

You can't shoot downs Naxals, govt tells IAF

 I WONDER : INDIANS DO VE LOGIC BEYOND LOGIC.....TILL DATE I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT ANY CITIZEN OF INDIA CAN FIGHT BACK IN SELF DEFENCE. WHY PERMISSION IS REQUIRED BY IAF. THEY CAN ALWAYS FIRE BACK IN SELF DEFENCE, AT LEAST I FEEL SO.

NEW DELHI: The centre has rejected a proposal for allowing Indian Air Force personnel to fire at Left-wing extremists. Sources said that the government was clear on its policy to restrict the role of IAF in anti-Naxal operations to evacuation, rescue and airlifting of the civilian security forces.

MHA was against engaging either the Army or IAF in the fight against Naxalites as it felt that this may only alienate the tribals further. Besides, the civilian forces are seen to be handling the human issues relating to Left-wing extremism with more tact, as compared to the military which is trained to take on the 'enemy' with full force and might.

Even though the home ministry had earlier considered engaging Rashtriya Rifles in the counter-Naxal operations, the option was ruled out after the view emerged that the Maoists are best handled by civilians forces like CRPF and BSF, who are at the state's disposal and work jointly with the police, even as the Army must concentrate on the borders.

The option of engaging the armed forces in the fight against Naxalites, including the big offensive coming up in November, was also shot down by the affected states.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh had opposed the proposal for armed forces' involvement in countering extremism saying that it could lead to human rights issues as the Army personnel are trained to take on the 'enemy' with full force as in a battle.

Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik had on Thursday said that the Air Force has sought permission to open fire in self-defence after one of the air warriors was killed by Maoists. He expressed worries about collateral damage.

However, defence minister A K Antony had said the government was yet to take a decision on it. Meanwhile, CPI on Friday opposed any use of the Army or Air Force in anti-Naxal operations saying it would have repercussions.

Alleging that the government had 'almost inducted' the Army to fight Maoists, party general secretary A B Bardhan said there was information that CRPF's logistics were being monitored by the Army.

"The Army should not be used to fight a war against our own people. The Indian Air Force is also being mobilised,” he said addressing a press conference after a meeting here of his party's national executive.

Though the government has ruled out using the armed forces directly in operations against Naxals, CPI leader said the Army was already calling the shots.

"In the name of fighting Left extremism, which the prime minister has called the greatest threat to India, they have almost inducted the Army to fight Naxalites. This is unprecedented. The police should do the job," Mr Bardhan said.

Asked if this would be his position if Army was sent into Lalgarh, he shot back "yes, I will oppose Army being used anywhere." Mr Bardhan said that four or five districts in Bastar were surrounded by paramilitary forces. He also alleged that the operations were directed at anyone shouting "lal salaam", which was also a Left slogan.

"Its a war of extermination against those who hold the red banner," he said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/You-cant-shoot-downs-Naxals-govt-tells-IAF/articleshow/5082472.cms

We were forced to use Tricolour as loin cloth

 I WONDER : WHAT IS THIS. IS IT TRUE ??????

MADURAI: Fishermen attacked by the Lankan navy were forced to use the National Flag as loin cloth when they were strip ped by the navy, who were accompanied by Chinese forces at mid sea, said a fisherman here to a college student who had been involved in collecting the details of atrocities committed on fishermen by the Lankan navy.The study was aimed at facilitating the working of a people’s tribunal, scheduled to be held for December 11 at Thangatchimadam, and in this regard, a session was held by the People’s Watch in the city. The fishermen told students that they incurred the wrath of the Lankan navy when Indian cricket team beat Sri Lanka.They complained that the Lankan navy verbally abused them and added that when the fishermen abducted were found to be blood relatives (especially, fathers and sons), then the navy forced them to indulge in homosexual activities.They said that fathers were also ordered to beat their sons with rods.They also alleged that the Indian navy and the coast guard usually vacated the area on seeing the Lankan navy personnel, and thus, allowed the latter to attack the Indian fishermen. They added that the Indian navy would also beat the fishermen for trespassing into Lankan waters when they were handed over to them by the Lankan navy.They all claimed that there were Chinese personnel present on the Lankan boats. The fishermen clarified to the students that they could clearly make out the differences between the Sinhalese and non- Sinhalese as they had been encountering them for years.They added that they were offered food without salt, and that the Chinese urinated on their food.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=%E2%80%98We+were+forced+to+use+Tricolour+as+loin+cloth%E2%80%99&artid=zxAAVvdr0o0=&SectionID=vBlkz7JCFvA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=EL7znOtxBM3qzgMyXZKtxw==&SEO=

Abu Dhabi to host Indian Ocean naval meet in March

New Delhi: The next Indian Navy-initiated Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), a pan-Asian maritime security forum, comprising 26 littoral countries of the Indian Ocean, will take place in Abu Dhabi, UAE in March 2010.

“The UAE will be the next chairman of the IONS—thus validating its existence as a pan-Asian security forum and rubbishing Pakistan’s argument terming it as a grouping against the Islamic world,” senior Naval officers told FE. Interestingly, there is no Indian defence attaché posted in UAE, but the one posted in Muscat, Oman is accredited to UAE.

According to a former naval officer, Ranjit Rai, vice-president Indian Maritime Foundation and an independence defence analyst, “The UAE, which is expanding its Navy, is keen to host the symposium in 2010, as they want to protect their interest in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. The countries of Oman, Iran, and the UAE border the straits and each plays a large part in fostering a secure environment around the Straits.”

“Currently discussions are underway in Mombasa, where decisions to shift the IONS Secretariat to Abu Dhabi, and the agenda for the March symposium will be taken,” said officials. Acknowledging the fact that Middle Eastern nations taking a bigger defence market share, it seemed appropriate to hand over the chairmanship to UAE, although South Africa was short listed too, informed sources.

Earlier this year, under a contract announced by the UAE Armed Forces, Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) is to build 12 new vessels for the UAE Navy and retrofit 12 existing vessels. The Emirates accounted for 6% of the world’s arms imports between 2004 and 2008, according to the new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the same proportion as South Korea. China and India had 11 and 7% respectively. 

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/abu-dhabi-to-host-indian-ocean-naval-meet-in-march/524343/ 

Learning To Live With China

There was a surprise in store this week for those who chose to brave Arunachal Pradesh's damp cold and the three-hour rough ride from Tawang up to Bum La Pass, on the border with Tibet. They were greeted by "happy" arches erected by Chinese soldiers on the other side, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party in power . The Chinese were preparing to receive Indian soldiers for a celebratory lunch - and some unfinished business on border management.

Most of this bonhomie is likely to evaporate in just over a month's time when the Dalai Lama reaches the 400-year-old Tawang gompa (monastery) to offer prayers. Historically, this region has had a close relationship with the Tibetan people. The sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, for example, was born in Tawang. So, it's not unnatural for the current Dalai Lama (the 14th) to want to pay obeisance at the Tawang gompa. Still, anything that's seen to accommodate the breakaway Tibetans gets Beijing's hackles up, especially when it's on land claimed by the Chinese.

And so it alternates - blow hot, blow cold - in the uncertain relations between India and China: one day, it's jaw-jaw , another day it's claw-claw . The inscrutable Chinese and the argumentative Indian find each other equally indecipherable. It's not surprising, therefore, that India's China policy rides a trough-peak roller coaster.

New Delhi has been playing down media reports of Chinese "incursions" in an apparent bid not to ruffle feathers in Beijing. Almost simultaneously, the ministry of external affairs was lashing out at China for stapling not stamping visas to the passports of Kashmiri Indians, a signal that J&K was disputed.

The rise and rise of China represents one of contemporary history's tectonic shifts. For an India that fancies itself as an emerging superpower, learning to live with an assertive China is one of its greatest foreign policy challenges, especially as its ambitions are sometimes aligned with the Chinese and sometimes at odds. A People's Daily commentary (Sept 15) points out, "India is still a lesser power than China in terms of its economic and military might, both conventional and non-conventional ."

How can New Delhi and Beijing achieve a steady state of equilibrium that gives both sides the comfort of predictability, and a resultant confidence in each other? That's a question nagging not just India's foreign policy mandarins, but students and practitioners of diplomacy worldwide. As one of the architects of India's China policy (who will be unnamed as will be many interviewed for this story) says: "For India, coping with the rise of China is not a luxury; they're right next door."

Indian policy makers find China's approach to India quite mystifying. On the border, China has vastly superior military machinery. Its economic muscle is much bigger. And yet it appears keen to avoid any confrontation along the 4,056-km undemarcated border. But on many issues of bilateral import, China takes a far more belligerent stand - like seeking to nix India's bid for a place at the UN Security Council; mounting a last-minute scramble to stop the nuclear deal in Vienna; trying to keep India out of an Asian economic community ; blocking ADB from giving Arunachal money for a water project; and denying Arunachal residents Chinese visas.

BULLY ON THE BORDER?

Indian officials will tell you China's assertiveness is there for all to see - in Australia, in Japan, with the US. Susan Shirk, former diplomat and author of China: Fragile Superpower , tempers the growing unease about Chinese aggressiveness. "I don't see China as being very assertive ," she told TOI Crest. "Its influence has certainly grown. But China makes a great effort to avoid being seen as aggressive , especially in international organisations and in diplomacy. With neighbours, China has been trying to prevent clashes, but that seems to have changed with India recently."

Shirk is possibly referring to the contrast between Chinese attitude with, say, Russia, with which it has speedily worked out border problems, and its tardiness with India on border issues. In a conversation with TOI Crest, Ashley Tellis, author of Interpreting China's Grand Strategy, described China's reaction to India as "atypical" . "China has generally been muted with the countries on its periphery . Except India."

That's not sinking hopes. Said a senior Indian diplomat, "The last thing China wants now is an aggravation of a dispute with the only other rising power in Asia. They have a greater stake than us in de-escalating problems." China analyst, Claude Arpi, offers a more nuanced view: "While the official stand is still the 'peaceful rise of China' , some PLA generals believe 'China cannot emerge in the midst of nightingale songs and swallow dances' . The official line is to avoid a confrontation that will lead nowhere for China."

A greater symmetry on the border, where India is still at a severe disadvantage , would probably give more traction to this official line. "While China has mobilized huge resources to develop its side of the border , our policy has been to keep the border areas underdeveloped because we believed the inhospitable terrain would deter the Chinese from trying to get to Arunachal Pradesh, where China claims 90,000 sq km of territory," says a senior government official. It's only as recently as five years ago that India woke up and started beefing up both military hardware and border infrastructure.

In 2007, former foreign secretary Shyam Saran in a report proposed a big ramp-up of border infrastructure: for instance, two inter-basin roads spanning four rivers in Arunachal, crossed by seven north-south aligned roads at precisely the points where there is a "perception difference" with the Chinese. In Sikkim, where the Chinese have "activated" what was believed to be a "settled" border, India has only one roadlink (NH-31 A), no railhead or airport.

The pace of construction has been maddeningly slow, often impeded by objections from the environment ministry, understandably hyper-sensitive about anything that threatens to unsettle the delicate eco-system of the eastern Himalayas. The glacial pace has meant that officials have had to think of innovative solutions. In Arunachal, where road building is painfully slow, one official said that entire construction teams were airlifted to the line of actual control (LAC), so that the road could be built backwards ! In any case, India believes it is in its interest now to keep things quiet along the LAC as long as it is hamstrung by sloppy infrastructure and defences.

GLOBAL SWEEPSTAKES

In the global sphere, the story is somewhat different. Despite the pretence that the world is big enough to accommodate the rise of both India and China, the competition remains intense - over markets, construction orders, minerals , land banks - you name it. 

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Learning-To-Live-With-China/articleshow/5083278.cms

IIT standoff ends after Sibal’s assurance

NEW DELHI: The standoff between the government and the faculty of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) ended on Friday with Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal assuring them that departures could be made from the contentious revised pay structure in exceptional cases.

Briefing the media after a meeting with representatives of the All-India IIT Faculty Federation, Mr. Sibal said: “I have made it clear that what has been decided by the government is in the nature of norms and the IIT system has enough flexibility to deviate from it in exceptional situations.” These exceptions – especially the provision of setting aside 10 per cent recruitments at the entry level annually for Ph.Ds from IITs to retain talent within – can be made by the respective IIT Boards if they cannot meet the requirement.

Conceding the point made by the Federation that the IIT system was a dynamic one, the Minister said the government was open to revisiting the 40 per cent cap on senior professor grade. While the Ministry was maintaining that the cap was introduced to flag off the brighter and better among professors, he said: “If there is a level of excellence that requires relaxing the cap, then we will revisit it.”

‘Work out norms’

At the same time, he said, the IIT system would have to work out norms for making such exceptions.

“We want to protect the level of excellence at the IITs,” he said adding that the meeting helped clear the air and made the faculty members realise that they and the government were on the same wavelength.

Faculty Federation pleased

Pleased with the assurances from Mr. Sibal that departures could be made from the contentious revised pay structure in exceptional cases, president of All-India IIT Faculty Federation M. Thenmozhi said Mr. Sibal had assured them that the new pay structure did not in any way interfere with the flexibility of the IIT system.

Further, the Federation was told that amendments would be made in the September 16 notification on pay revision of teachers in the Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTI) to remove minor irritants.

Though the Federation office-bearers returned satisfied, some of them said they would have to call the general body for wider consensus. Meanwhile, they will meet the IIT Directors on Saturday to iron out the rough spots.

Later in the month – on October 19 – the IIT Council will meet, the Minister said reiterating his willingness to extend greater autonomy to the premier institutions, provided they charted out a road map for the next five years.

While the issue has been festering since August 18 when the Ministry’s first notification on revised pay scales for the CFTI was issued, the Federation adopted restrained forms of agitation after the September 16 notification that was finalised in consultation with the IIT Directors. 

http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/03/stories/2009100360131000.htm

Army joins rescue operations in flood-hit Andhra IANS

Hyderabad: As many as 15 helicopters and about 600 army personnel have been deployed in Andhra Pradesh for rescue and relief operations in flood-hit areas.

The choppers, which will fly from Bangalore, Tirupati and Vijayawada, will also drop food and drinking water packets in the badly affected districts of Kurnool and Mahabubnagar where thousands of people are marooned for the last two days.

The authorities have kept 200,000 food and water packets ready for air dropping.

Commissioner, disaster management, Dinesh Kumar told reporters on Saturday that 250 army personnel in Kurnool district, 170 in Mahabubnagar and 150 in Krishna district have taken up rescue and relief work.

Disaster Management Response Force personnel are also rushing to the flood-hit areas from Tamil Nadu, Pune and Bhubaneswar.

Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy said army personnel had reached Kurnool with 48 mechanised boats.

Kurnool town and dozens of surrounding villages are facing threat of complete submergence due to floods in the Krishna river.

The minister said 15 mechanised boats were pressed into service in Mahabubnagar district. 

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/army-joins-rescue-operations-in-floodhit-andhra/102616-3.html

Navy ex-chief to be new envoy to New Zealand?

I WONDER : I LOVE THIS MAN FOR HIS VISION AND CAPABILITIES. 

Admiral Sureesh Mehta, who has just retired as the chief of the Indian Navy, could be appointed the next high commissioner to New Zealand.

There are not too many examples of former service chiefs being given overseas post- retirement sinecure immediately after the end of their official assignment.

A number of retired Indian Navy officers consider this move by the government as a great morale booster for the forces.

However, Mehta's detractors claim that the Admiral was close to the powers that be and even helped a suddenly " homeless" minister of state for external affairs, Shashi Tharoor, in finding a home after he was forced out of a five- star hotel by his party. Surely, that is not how high commissioners are appointed, countered a former navy chief.

Tharoor was put up at the Kota House, the navy's luxurious transit accommodation for retired chiefs, which also houses the naval officers' mess.

Many of his former colleagues in the Navy and some in the government have expressed surprise at the impending appointment considering Admiral Mehta outspoken views, be it on the issue of pay and pensions for the servicemen or his assessment of the comparative military strength of India and China.

He had created a minor row recently by saying that India had no hope of catching up with China, be it in terms of the latter's gross domestic product or its military power.

While he had found much resonance with his statement among the retired community of officers, many serving members had found Mehta's statement " embarrassing and deplorable".

Courtesy: Mail Today  

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/64557/LATEST%20NEWS/Navy+ex-chief+to+be+new+envoy+to+New+Zealand?.html