Category Archives: Drdo

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Many BrahMos staffers have official data on personal devices:ATS FIR

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Shisher Arya, TNN: October 12, 2108

Nagpur: Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) investigators grilling Nishant Aggarwal have reported that the BrahMos Aerospace systems engineer confessed to having copied data related to the missiles from his senior colleague Alan Abraham’s computer, when he was still undergoing training in the organization.
The First Information Report (FIR) registered by Uttar Pradesh ATS was accessed by TOI. It says Aggarwal told investigators that he had copied the data from the official computer of his colleague around four years ago, without his permission. The person from whose computer the data was downloaded was posted at the Hyderabad facility of BrahMos Aerospace, where Aggarwal was undergoing training. The person has now quit the job and is pursuing a research project in Canada.
Aggarwal had just joined the organization four years ago, and was posted at the facility in Nagpur before arrested three days ago.
The FIR says Aggarwal confessed that he had copied the data without his colleague’s permission. However, he has also named close to a dozen other colleagues, who, he claims, have even more sensitive data stored on their private computers as wel. the designations of these colleagues include his peers andeven seniors.
However, Agagarwal had no answer to how official data, which was supposed to remain a secret, reached his personal devices pertained to mution of war, supersonic BrahMos cruise missiles.
The FIR further says that apart from storing the details in in personal devices, Aggarwal also had links with two Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs).They were in contact with him through fake Facebook (FB).accounts in the name of Neha Sharma and Pooja Ranjan.Aggarwal did not reveal anything on how did he got in touch with the two persons on Facebook.Their e-mail IDs have been traced to Pakistan, said the ATS.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that among the papers seized by ATS from Nishant’s computers is a user manual of the missiles supplied to the Indian Navy. The manual is, however, supposed to be 10 years old,and a routine document each engineer has for his reference.Much changes have been made to the system since then, said sources.
Sources said it was sometime during 2011 that such information was provided in soft copy to a number of BrahMos Aerospace employees for reference.Even this was supposed to remain in official computers only.After that, software that does not allow data to be copied or altered has been put in place.
Sources say the investigations began after an IAF officer was held on similar charges early this year. It was found that Neha Sharma was a Facebook friend of this officer too. An army officer at Jabalpur too was under scanner.
The FIR mentions that the PIO agents using fake names had been extracting information from top officials of important defence establishments of the country. Their tactics included honey trapping and even blackmailing and bribaery.
IN A NUTSHELL
Colleague from whose computer Aggarwal copied data was posted at Hyderabad, Aggarwal was trainee at that time.Colleague has quit job and is now pursuing research at Canada.
Aggarwal named a dozen other colleagues who have official data on their computers.
ATS FIR says two Pak operatives — Neha Sharma and Pooja Ranjan – had befriended many defence officials.
Honey-trapping, bribery and blackmail were tactics to glean information.

Drdo

BrahMos scientist held on spying charge, 2 others raided in Uttar Pradesh

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Brahmos scientist and BSF jawan were handled by same Pakistani handler: UP ATS report

IANS|Updated: Oct 09, 2018,
In a shocking development, a young scientist working with the BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd (BAPL)’s missile research centre in Nagpur was arrested on Monday on alleged charges of spying for Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI and other countries, informed sources said.

Scientist Nishant Pradeep Agrawal has been working for the last four years in the BAPL, an Indo-Russian Joint Venture, and was nabbed in a joint operation of Uttar Pradesh Police and Maharashtra Police.
The UP-Anti Terrorist Squad (UP-ATS) has also raided two other unidentified persons in Agra and Kanpur in the north India state and seized their laptops, an official statement of the Uttar Pradesh Police said on Monday.

Following a tip-off, he was placed under surveillance for the past few days by the Military Intelligence as well as Uttar Pradesh Police and Maharashtra Police.
The BAPL officer has been booked under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), the sources said.

The UP Police statement said the UP-ATS had monitored fake Facebook accounts originating from Pakistan in the name of women to “honey-trap” key officials working in sensitive defence-related set-ups in India.

The information came to light after the Border Security Force (BSF) recently nabbed a person in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and two fake Facebook IDs of women created in Pakistan were put under observation after they were found to be chatting with Agrawal.

Accordingly, the UP-ATS acquired a search warrant from a court and along with Maharashtra ATS, swooped on Agrawal’s residence at Ujjwal Nagar in Nagpur.

“We have found certain secret and ultra-sensitive information on his personal computer. It should not been there on his personal laptop. It violates the provisions of the OSA, and hence he has been arrested,” the statement added.

The joint ATS teams of the two states also searched his BMAL office and from another location recovered an old laptop which is being examined to see if it contains anything objectionable.
The UP-ATS has moved a local court in Nagpur seeking a transit remand to take Agrawal to Lucknow for further investigations.

They said that after the investigations, they would be able to know what kind of chats he was having with the fake women’s accounts on Facebook.

Depending on the outcome, the accused may be slapped with additional charges, the UP-ATS said.
As per preliminary information, Agrawal was reportedly passing on certain highly classified information, including “technological and other details”, to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan as well as the USA.

However, official circles are not aware of what kind of access to sensitive information or the security clearance levels Agrawal enjoyed in the company.
Hailing from Roorkee in Uttarakhand, Agarwal had been recently awarded the “Young Scientist Award” for the year 2017-18.

He had got married earlier this year and had been living in a rented house in Nagpur’s Ujjwala Nagar.

Among other things, the BrahMos centre is involved in manufacturing certain critical components for the BrahMos missile, considered the world’s fastest cruise missile that can be launched from land, ships, aircraft or submarines.
The Indo-Russian joint venture’s recent development of the latest version of the BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile has elicited keen interest in global defence circles and several major political powers in the world.

The missile — successfully test-fired on July 16 from the Integrated Test Range at Balasore in Odisha — is an outcome of a joint venture of India’s Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenia Corp (NPOM), since 2011.

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3 Scientists detained after papers leaked to ISI

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ET Bureau|Updated: Oct 09, 2018,
New Delhi: Two scientists from the Defence Research and Development Organisation and one from Brahmos Aerospace have been detained for allegedly leaking confidential documents to a suspected Pakistan-based ISI agent after becoming targets of a honeytrap.

Two of the scientists are working with the DRDO’s Defence Materials and Stores Research and Development Establishment in Kanpur. The third scientist is working at a Brahmos unit in Nagpur, which is involved in making critical components for the missile, according to sources.

The missile, which is supersonic, can be fired from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. This person had been working at the Technical Research Section of the Nagpur unit for several years.

The three scientists were active on some social media sites, where they were allegedly compromised.

The Military Intelligence wing of the Central Army Command had been examining their activities on these sites and figured that they had allegedly become targets of honeytrap.
It is suspected that the scientists had transferred some confidential documents to an ISI agent, who was pretending to be a woman, according to sources.
The Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra ATS were alerted about the matter and the scientists were thereafter detained.

The computers of the three individuals have been seized and the authorities are questioning their associates.

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DRDO scientist arrested over spying handled by same Pakistan ISI agent who honey-trapped BSF jawan A N Mishra

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Oct 09, 2018 | 12:32 IST | Times Now Digital

DRDO BrahMos lab scientist Nishant Agarwal and BSF jawan Achyutanand Mishra, both arrested for alleged spying on behalf of Pakistan’s ISI, were handled by the same agent- the UP ATS has said.
New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh ATS, in its report to the Ministry of Home Affairs, has said that the scientist Nishant Agarwal arrested from a Nagpur DRDO lab, could have the same handler as that of the BSF man Achyutanand Mishra, who was allegedly honey-trapped by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Sources told Times Now news channel, that the modus operandi in the two cases is similar. The revelations, which have been submitted to the Union Home Ministry also strengthen the ATS’ claims that a Pakistan spy-ring is at work in engaging Indian security officials in extracting sensitive data about India’s defence establishments and plans.

Meanwhile, the Nagpur sessions court on Tuesday granted three days transit remand of Agarwal to Uttar Pradesh ATS. He was produced at the sessions court on Tuesday morning. Mishra, a BSF jawan posted in Delhi-NCR was apprehended by UP ATS in September, for allegedly passing on sensitive information to his Pakistani handler, who posed as a woman defence reporter on Facebook. He had reportedly shared details of his unit’s location, photographs of the training facility and other such classified information.
Agarwal, on the other hand, was arrested from the BrahMos facility in DRDO Nagpur. A junior engineer, the police had stumbled upon the case when investigations were underway for the BSF jawan’s activities. He had allegedly shared information with two fake IDs — believed to be handlers — over chat “In the on-going investigation of the arrested BSF constable, two fake IDs in the name of women being operated from Pakistan were spotted. It was discovered that engineer Nishant Agarwal who worked at a defence institution (DRDO’s BrahMos production facility) in Nagpur had chat histories with the two fake IDs,” UP Police said in an official statement released Monday

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Defence industry may see spectacular growth after 2019 General Elections, says L&T’s Jayant Patil

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May 16, 2018 12:28 PM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com

The L&T Whole-Time Director expects capital spending, as part of the defence budget, to increase next year, resulting in higher project orders

Prince Mathews Thomas
@prince0879
Jayant D Patil spearheaded L&T’s foray into the defence industry in 1986, at a time few other private companies saw any promise in the heavily regulated industry. Patil, who joined the infrastructure heavy weight straight after passing out from IIT Mumbai in 1978, developed long-term relationships with the DRDO, and the Navy, among other defence establishments.

The early start is now helping the engineering giant. In 13 years since its debut in the market, L&T has become the largest private defence company in the country, and is bigger than most of the government-owned defence enterprises.

In an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, Patil – Member of the Board & Whole-Time Director (Defence Business) at L&T – says that defence is one of the fastest growing businesses in the company. To reflect the growing importance of the vertical, the defence business is now an ‘independent company.’ And starting from this financial year, L&T will report the defence segment as a separate entity within its core businesses.

“We have the entire infrastructure in place. We have all the initiatives put in place. We have the R&D centres,” says Patil, adding that L&T is set for a spectacular growth.
For that growth to happen though, the central government will have to increase the proportion of capital spending in the defence budget. Patil is hopeful of that happening after the 2019 General Elections.

Excerpts from an interview:

The government has talked about developing capabilities domesticallyto reduce the dependence on imports. The Make in India campaign also focuses on the defence industry. Have you started seeing the difference?

The focus is there. The government has started putting programs in a competitive basket. Earlier projects would either go to a foreign player, or to a PSU. But now, for instance look at Navy. Earlier, 92 per cent of the warships or submarine contracts by value have been placed with government owned shipyards. As of now, except of old decisions, the government plans to allow private sector to participate in all future shipbuilding programs on competitive basis.

The issue is that things are not changing at the kind of pace what one would have hoped for and the quantum of money being allocated to enable new contracts. The current Budget allocations are just good enough to meet committed liabilities.

Why is that?
One should look at the budget allocation. Till 2014-15, 40 per cent of the defence budget would go into capital spending. Today, that has dropped to 20-25 per cent. And that it because of the huge increase in revenue costs (salary and pension payments).

That is something which the government did out of sheer respect for people who fought for the country. But the fact is that it has come at a huge cost for the future preparedness of Armed Forces. So money has become a constraint and allocations need to be enhanced.

And that has led to the slow pace?
Yes.

Do you think the situation will be better after the General Elections in 2019?
Yes, I believe that the reversal will possibly happen when the new Government comes around after the 2019 General Elections.

What has the present situation meant for L&T’s defence business?
So we have a scenario today where this is a market which shows huge promise. And we keep getting orders as and when a PSU gets a big contract. The public enterprises buy from us because we have developed these products in partnership with Defence Research Organisation (DRDO). So the business continues in “business as usual” state, the growth comes in with us getting few contracts directly from MoD.

But the growth could have been truly spectacular had Make-in-India programs taken off in a big way. We have the entire infrastructure, technologies, products and capabilities already in place. We have all the initiatives proactively in place. We have the R&D centers, design centers, and innovation groups in place. Earlier we used to have one, but now we have four R&D / Basic Design Centers to serve the defence sector.

What is your manufacturing presence?
Today we operate from Powai (Mumbai), Hazira, Baroda, Pune, Coimbatore, Vishakapatnam, Katupalli, New Mumbai and Bengaluru, which is more of an R&D unit, but also has a small production facility for strategic electronics.

Which is your largest segment?
The largest segment today is the artillery and Naval segments. The smallest segment what we are operating today is the space, missiles, communication, which are individually worth about Rs 100-200 crore per year.

What is the total order book now?
I can’t give you that number. But perhaps in another few months I can. From the 2019 financial year, we will be reporting defence business as a separate entity within the L&T core business. So wait for that.

Although we have been operating defence business for three decades, we had created defence as a separate independent company (IC) as an entity, with its own board, in the FY 2018.

A few reports last year said your order book was of about Rs 12-15k crore…Holistic if we look at it, we are bigger than that.

So all the defence businesses will be brought under this IC?
All the defence offerings are under this IC, except for very strategic construction programs.

Could you give an idea of how big your defence business is?
If I look at comparisons, HAL and BEL (Hindustan Aeronautics, which has revenue of about Rs 17,000 crore & Bharat Electronics, which has a revenue of about 10,000 crore, respectively) are larger than us. But we are slightly bigger than the other PSUs. You should remember, we were never allowed to produce until licensing began in 2002 and began getting direct orders from MoD only in 2005. In 2002, we got the first license. It’s just been 16 years now.

L&T forayed into defence even before that, with partnerships with DRDO and other defence establishments. How has the early start worked for you?

Across the segments, we have built capabilities that are unmatched. Be it warships, submarines or weapon systems, today our portfolio and offerings are ahead of competition. No other company has a portfolio range and depth as that of L&T. We don’t produce weapons as yet. But we make weapon launching systems and fire controls across the range. We can offer complete solution for an anti-submarine warfare, air-defence, land attack, or anti-ship warfare role to a warship. So, there is no domain in weapon programmes which L&T doesn’t touch.

And because we have in-house capability, we have forged partnerships where we also bring in unique value. As a result, L&T has 250 MoUs and just 4 joint ventures (equity based) while we have preferred to engage in non-equity JVs / partnerships through joint development and joint production mode. ​

Would you consider hiving off the defence business as a separate entity?

No, it is and will stay as a part of core of Larsen & Toubro.

But would you eventually list the business?
I don’t see that, not at least for the next decade or two. As for now, we are better off being part of the L&T core.

Is the defence biz growing faster than the other parts in the L&T core?

Percentage growth wise, I would say it’s among the better growing ones. But the fact is that the scale today is smaller than many other construction & hydrocarbon businesses. So if I look at the entire portfolio of L&T, defence, smart world, power transmission and water are businesses growing faster than others in percentage terms.
First Published on May 16, 2018 12:22 pm

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How a CAG report exposed DRDO’s mishandling of AEW&CS programme

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The CAG report showed irregularities in the selection of aircraft for the programme

By Pradip R Sagar August 29, 2018

Indian Air Force’s indigenous AEW&CS in action during ‘Exercise Iron Fist’ in Pokhran | PTI

THE WEEK

As the indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&CS)—aircraft fitted with a radar system—flew over the Rajpath during the 2017 Republic Day parade, India joined an elite group of five countries that had this capability. But, before it could be formally inducted into the Air Force fleet, the ‘Eye in the Sky’ has flown into turbulence.

A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, which was recently tabled in Parliament, has made startling observations about the programme, on which the Defence Research and Development Organisation has spent more than Rs 2,500 crore.

The CAG report showed irregularities in the selection of aircraft for the programme. The auditor slammed the DRDO for the cost overrun—the initial cost was Rs 1,800 crore—and its claims about indigenousness. Moreover, preferred vendors were selected to benefit certain companies, said the report. Though the Air Force had accepted the AEW&CS last year, it is yet to get the final operational clearance.
The AEW&CS is a moving surveillance platform, making it difficult for the enemy to locate the exact position of the aircraft. With its long range and detection capabilities, it gives a 360 degree view of the sky and can track many aircraft simultaneously.

China currently has 20 such airborne warning systems, while Pakistan has eight. The Indian Air Force has only three—Israeli Phalcon radar systems mounted on Russian IL-76 aircraft. India had bought the radar systems from Israel in 2004. According to experts, India currently does not have the capability to cover its entire airspace during a war.

A programme to develop an indigenous early warning system was taken up in 1994, but was shut down after a fatal crash. Subsequently, the defence ministry in 1999 approved the import of three airborne warning systems (the ones from Israel) and decided to meet further requirement through indigenous development.

In October 2004, the cabinet committee on security approved indigenous development of AEW&CS at a cost of Rs 1,800 crore. The deadline was April 2011. Under the project, two AEW&CS were to be supplied to the Air Force. DRDO’s Bengaluru-based laboratory, Centre for Air Borne Systems (CABS), was the nodal agency for design and development.

Considering the operational importance of this project, the CAG carried out an audit to know whether the system had everything that was promised. K. Subramaniam, principal director of audit, Air Force, recently sent the classified report to Dr S. Christopher, the then secretary of the Department of Defence Research and Development—which found serious irregularities in the programme.

The report has come down heavily on the programme over its claim of indigenousness. Despite the project being called home made, it was only 48 per cent indigenous. The DRDO had claimed it to be 81 per cent. And, the cost of foreign consultancy, about Rs 106 crore, was categorised as indigenous.

The CAG’s observations draw strength from the ongoing CBI investigation into alleged kickbacks in the process of selecting the aircraft. The Embraer EMB-145 aircraft from Brazil was shortlisted for the project in 2007. However, Brazilian media reported that Indian officials were bribed to swing the deal in Embraer’s favour. In 2016, the CBI registered a case against NRI arms dealer Vipin Khanna and two private companies based abroad. The case was about the alleged payment of more than $5.70 million as kickbacks to seal the deal for the aircraft.

The CAG report also pointed out inadequacies in management, which stretched the development period to 13 years. “And, the operational requirements, instead of being based on the functional needs of the Air Force, were being adjusted according to the aircraft that was ‘pre-selected’. It took seven years to finalise the operational requirements,” said the report.


During the design and development stage, some operational parameters were compromised because of the Embraer’s limitations. Also, there was no competitive bidding while selecting the aircraft. The Embraer was shortlisted through a nomination. Notably, several aircraft, such as the IL-76, and models from Gulfstream, Bombardier and Boeing were available at the time.

“The justification given for the selection of EMB-145 was not tenable,” the CAG observed. “No objective assessment of the merits and demerits of available options was done. The selection of EMB-145 was arbitrary and based on preconceived preference.”

Initial operational requirements stipulated that the system should be able to operate from high-altitude locations like Leh to have a much deeper view into the Chinese army’s activities. As the EMB-145 was incapable of doing so, claims the report, the Air Force had to drop this requirement in February 2006.

The report also said that the Air Force officials working with the DRDO reiterated that Embraer was not the suitable aircraft.

The CAG also criticised the project for the way the pilots were trained. “From the scrutiny of the expenditure on training, the audit found that the training commenced in June 2007. At this point, the procurement contract for EMB-145 was yet to be awarded and negotiations were underway between the CABS and M/s Embraer. Therefore, training of pilots on an aircraft even before finalising its purchase is highly unjustified,” CAG pointed out. Six pilots were trained abroad at a cost of Rs 23 crore.

Of the 18 requirements specified by the Air Force, AEW&CS could not fully achieve ten important ones. Despite this, the Air Force accepted the first system in February 2017.

“Since EMB-145 was selected, the weight of the mission system had to be adjusted to the optimum payload capacity of EMB-145, which was 3,000kg. The radar along with its associated systems, which was to be mounted on the fuselage, had to be limited to 1,500 kilos due to structural limitations,” the CAG said.

The probable date of completion was revised four times and the final date of completion was extended by over six years, said the report. The Air Force kept changing its requirements. In the middle of the programme, the Air Force demanded air-to-air refuelling and a de-icing system. It led to a delay of nearly two years.

Christopher, who was the head of CABS, said the repeated modifications in the operational requirement by the Air Force played a major role in the delay of the project. “It is all recorded in official documents and no one can find fault with me for it,” he said. “However, I believe that operational requirements is a prerogative of the user and you, as a developer of the equipment, cannot challenge it.”

Regarding the aircraft, he said, “Embraer was a well-proven aircraft. The decision to buy Embraer was taken in consultation with the then IAF chief S. Krishnaswamy. Four countries were using this platform as AWACS—the generic term for such a system. Moreover, the IAF decided that it has to be a turbo jet, not propellant. Turbo engine gives them the desired speed and efficiency.”

When contacted, Krishnaswamy said the selection of aircraft was purely DRDO’s decision. “The IAF was using Embraer for its VVIP fleet and thought of commonality if it is selected for AEW&CS. Since AEW&CS was DRDO’s project and budget was allocated to them, the final decision for selecting aircraft was DRDO’s only,” he said, adding that any modification in the operational requirements was a collective decision of the Air Force and the DRDO.

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Congratulations Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy

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Dear Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy Congratulations for taking charge of Chairman DRDO, after long chase and waiting of one year three months finally you achieve your goal.

Now the time has come to see that what a young DRDO chief can deliver to nation.

some observations will help you to reshape the pathetic condition of DRDO

Whether DRDO: Ailing organisation in ICU needs Surgical Curtailment

1. One of the negligent aspect of DRDO is maltreatment of the valuable and scientific human resource. They are treated worse than a clerk, transferring non compliant officers, favouring own people for making good of office power. No link to promotions, awards and transfers to the performance of the scientists.
2. More pathetic is mishandling of finance, get funds, award tenders to favored vendor, either national or international, get cuts to fatten benami bank accounts.
3. Poorly specified technical requirements leading to manipulation during placing supply orders.
4. Transferring anyone not obliging for corruption, stopping their promotions and threatening them with dire consequences.
5. Forming a coterie and running the organisation as a family entity with vested interests further own progress rather than that of organisation.
6. No senior scientist including DGs, produce any worth technical paper having original research, because they don’t have time for R&D, since busy with producing fabricated data and bogus claims on scientific achievements.
7. Finally, DRDO ends up with a product that is obsolete, sub optimal and non- performing, handed over to armed forces forcefully. These inventories are a burden to the armed forces and finally junked without waiting for the final product.
8. Further, there’s a construction wing furiously doing research on arboriculture, estate maintenance and construction of quarters etc.
9. Reshape  this, about a dozen of labs like DEBEL, DFRL, DIBER, SASE, DIPAS, INMAS etc so called life sciences units of DRDO doing all sorts of non core activities and wasting funds and manpower.
10. DRDO having lost focus, breeding corruption and engaged in non scientific activities, takes huge funds and does whatever a head of the establishment fancies. No questions asked.
11. The organization has been on this path and its scientist are molded to work in this path and thought process

In nutshell, DRDO has forgotten raison d’être, namely, to serve and support the services. It, in present form and function, is not fit to continue. It is anachronism with the international defence R&D. It needs Surgical Curtailment that provides professional Human Resource management and corruption free financial handling. Let professional and trained civil servants handle administration while the users decide the areas under which DRDO has to focus, omit trivial projects and concentrate on the core defence R&D.
Please take your decision is in right direction for both DRDO as well for the country’s military future.

First and foremost is DRDO has chosen path of Reverse Engineering during 80s to quickly develop some products for emergency requirements of those turbulent periods be it IMDP or any thing
This mindset only encouraged nepotism in the organization… And made 80s 90s era scientists turned current bosses become intolerant to new generation and out of box thinking in the organization

Scientist of DRDO managing all aspects of the organization likes HR, Operations, Finance, and Materials etc… But never bothered to train themselves in these fields

Currently without realizing that Reverse Engineering can only cater the Hand to Mouth needs which can never bring competitive edge in the current scenario…. People are still working with the same mindset

Incompetent Scientists as Directors without leadership abilities are ruining the young talent of the organization

Poor succession planning, poor project management…

and at last, hope you will fulfill your commitment, which you gave to a officer in Jolly Grant Airport, your act will differentiate that you are not egoist, low mindset, running after construction, favoring nepotism, coterie man  like your most of predecessor DRDO chiefs, they spend their valuable time in these areas.

with lots hope and best wishes for your shiny Reddy tenure

www.corruptionindrdo.com ( working for clean DRDO)

Drdo

Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy appointed DRDO Chief

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NEW DELHI, AUGUST 25, 2018

The post had been vacant since May after the then Chief Dr. S. Christopher stepped down
The Government on Saturday appointed eminent scientist Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy as the Chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The top post of the DRDO had been vacant since May after the then Chief Dr. S. Christopher stepped down.

“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Dr. G Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri to the post of Secretary, Department of Defence Research & development and Chairman, DRDO for a period of two years with effect from the date of assumption of charge or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” a Government order said.

A missile scientist, Dr. Reddy was holding charge as the Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister and also as Director General of the strategic missiles division.

As head of the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), he is credited with the indigenous development of seeker technology, a critical component in missiles.

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DRDO की प्रयोगशाला में छोटी सी चूक से 20 करोड़ की चपत

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नई दिल्ली, मदन जैड़ा
Wed, 22 Aug 2018


रक्षा अनुसंधान एवं विकास संगठन (डीआरडीओ) की एक प्रयोगशाला की जरा सी चूक से सरकार को बीस करोड़ रुपये की चपत लग गई। चूक यह थी कि प्रयोगशाला ने ब्रिटेन से मंगाई गई मशीन को प्राप्त करने के बाद खोलकर चेक नहीं किया। मशीन की पैकिंग तीन महीने के बाद खोली गई तो वह टूटी हुई निकली। लेकिन इस बीच उसका बीमा कवर खत्म हो गया था।

नियंत्रक एवं महालेखा परीक्षक (सीएजी) ने इस रवैये पर चिंता जाहिर की है। सीएजी ने इस मामले में कहा कि ऐसी मशीनों के आयात के मामले में सावधानी बरती जाए और बीमा या क्षति की जिम्मेदारी तय करने के लिए स्पष्ट दिशा-निर्देश बनें ताकि इस प्रकार करोड़ों की चपत सरकार को न लगे।

दरअसल, यह मामला डीआरडीओ की देहरादून स्थित प्रयोगशाला इंस्ट्रूमेंट रिसर्च एंड डवलपमेंट इस्टेबलिसमेंट (आईआरडीई) का है। उसने ब्रिटेन से 19.68 करोड़ रुपये की पोलिशिंग मशीन खरीदी। मार्च 2016 में इसको लाने का जिम्मा सार्वजनिक क्षेत्र की कंपनी बॉमर एंड लॉरी को सौंपा। चूंकि मशीन को लाने के दौरान क्षतिग्रस्त होने और चोरी का खतरा रहता है, इसलिए बॉमर एंड लॉरी ने ओरिएंटल इंश्योरेंस कंपनी से इसका बीमा करा लिया।

Drdo

DRDO chief not appointed even after three months

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Abhinandan Mishra,  Sunday Guardian: August 18, 2018

 

‘Selecting a new DRDO chief has become like walking on a landmine’.

The post of the chief of Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has been vacant for nearly three months now, courtesy the apparent pressure tactics being employed by various quarters—both from inside the government and outside it. A few posts had fallen vacant in the last week of May after the incumbent DRDO chief Selvin Christopher retired following a three-year long tenure which included a year long extension. The post of SA to RM (Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri), which was held by G. Satheesh Reddy for three years, including a year-long extension till 4 June 2018, is vacant too. DRDO chairman is also the Secretary of Defence, Research and Development.

Since the retirement of Christopher, Sanjay Mitra, a 1982 batch IAS of West Bengal cadre, is the Defence Secretary, and he is also holding the additional charge of the post of Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development and Chairman, DRDO for a period of three months, beginning 29 May.

Official sources said that this was for the first time that the DRDO was staying headless for this long. They attributed this situation to various stakeholders who are involved in the functioning of the organisation. The DRDO has an annual budget of Rs 20,000 crore; it spends the same on the upkeep of over 50 laboratories across India.

“The post of the DRDO chief is a very coveted one and apart from merit, other factors like political interference, regional interference, import lobby and foreign vendors play a crucial role in the whole exercise. The government is not giving a very good message by displaying indecisiveness. Ideally, the next chief should have been identified and notified even before the term of the incumbent ended,” a former top official who worked with the organisation for more than three decades, said.

According to officials, selecting a new DRDO chief had become like walking on a landmine in recent times. “So many names are floating in the media; many of them are being planted by their adversaries, many by the claimants themselves. There is not a single name whose candidature will not generate controversy unlike at the time of appointment of Abdul Kalam or V.K. Aatre or V.S. Arunachalam, all of whom were well-known scientists. Earlier, the DRDO was headed by scientists who were really reputed, but now the situation has changed,” a scientist, posted with one of the DRDO laboratories, said.

Sources said that the government had come close to appointing a new chief when Selvin Christopher’s term was about to end, but at the very last moment, there was a “negative intelligence report” on the one who had been shortlisted and the whole process was abandoned.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi had repeatedly expressed his concerns and apprehensions about the working of the DRDO. However, these concerns cannot be taken care of if the DRDO chief is appointed not because of merit, but due to his proximity to a particular minister or to a region,” the official said. In a not-so-covert hint that the organisation could be externally influenced, V.K. Aatre, who succeeded Kalam as DRDO chief, had once said that there were three non-state actors that influenced the working of DRDO: foreign vendors, mass media and the import lobby.

“If one traces back the history of the DRDO, one would come across names like Dr V.S. Arunachalam who had absolute freedom to walk into the office of successive PMs. He was close to Indira Gandhi and was able to secure a lot of money and autonomy for the organisation. Before him, we had people like Dr Daulat Singh Kothari, Professor S. Bhagavantam, Dr B.D. Nagchaudhuri, Prof M.G.K. Menon and Dr Raja Ramanna, who were scientists of international repute and were known for their work across the globe. Now it is not the same,” a senior official of the organisation said.

According to officials, the 2015 bifurcation of the post of the DRDO Chairman, Secretary of Defence, R&D and the SA to RM, which were earlier headed by the same individual, had led to two competing power centers within the organisation.

“This should not have been done as this has affected the value of the chair of the DRDO chief. Do you expect the SA to RM to give importance to the DRDO chief? Now every proposal that is brought by the DRDO is vetted by the SA to RM. There was a lot of friction between Selvin and Reddy because both of them thought they were more senior to the other,” an official of the organisation explained.

Former officials recalled how someone like Kalam, decorated with the , led the DRDO in the past. “He was the brain behind Pokhran-II; he was someone who stood shoulder to shoulder with the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a stalwart Prime Minister. We are missing a man like him. He needed no recommendation or political approach to become the chief of DRDO. People like Kalam had assumed a huge stature much before they had joined the DRDO,” an officer recalled.