Tag Archives: PAKISTAN

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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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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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India Relods, Aims to Figure on Military Map

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Pradip R Sagar – The Sunday Standard 25 September 2016

NEW DELHI: At a time when Pakistan is engaging in war games with Russia for the first time, New Delhi has stepped up its military engagement with major military powers of the world. After joining hands to procure Rafale fighter jets from France, the Indian Army is carrying out drills with the US and Russian militaries simultaneously.

The US military contingent represented by a Company of 5th Infantry Battalion, 20 Infantry Regiment, two Stryker Brigade Combat Team, seven Infantry Division, is already carrying out a military exercise titled “Yudh Abhyas” on the hills of Uttarakhand. The two-week long joint drill to hone tactical and technical skills in countering insurgency and terrorism in a UN peacekeeping scenario involving combined deployment at the brigade level, according to Indian army.

State-of-the-art equipment for surveillance and tracking, specialist weapons for close quarter battle with terrorists, explosive and IED detectors, as well as the latest communication equipment is being fielded by both sides.

As the Indo-US military exercise is yet to be finished, an Indian army delegation has landed in Vladivostok in Russia to participate in joint military war games. Over 250 soldiers from Kumaon regiments are being trained in Russia in semi-mountainous and jungle terrain military operations in the eight edition of India-Russia Join military exercise ‘Indra-2016’.

Engaging with the two world powers coincided with the Indian Air Force inking deal to procure 36 Rafale fighter jets from France, to give much needed superiority air power over Pakistan.

“Engaging with three world powers simultaneously shows New Delhi’s influence in the world map. World’s top militaries wanted to join hand with India, as it is a growing super-power in contingent,” said a military official.the-sunday-standard-25-sept-16

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Contractual DRDO Employee Arrested for Supplying Strategic Information to Pakistan ISI Agent

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a youth for his alleged links with Pakistan Security Agency ISI, the tremor of espionage seems to have resurfaced in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the country’s elite defence establishment.

In a major breakthrough, Balasore police on Friday arrested a contractual employee of Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the Odisha coast on the charges of sharing vital strategic information with suspected agents working against Government of India. A number sophisticated missiles of the country are test fired from this test range every year.

The employee Iswar Chandra Behera (35), a native of Kantipur village under Baisinga police limits in Mayurbhanj district was picked up from his home after a joint investigation by the Central Intelligence Bureau (IB), State Intelligence Wing and local police.

A Plus three pass out from Remuna College, Behera had joined ITR with a monthly salary of Rs 8,000 in August 2007 and was working as a contractual videographer in the CCTV section of control tower in ITR.

Sources said following the IB inputs, a special wing of State police led by Balasore SP Awinash Kumar tracked his movements and caught him. DIG (Eastern Range) Asheet Panigrahi said though he initially denied his links but later confessed that he was sharing information from the test range to the agent. He has been booked under various sections of anti-national act and criminal conspiracy.

Police have seized two cell phones, a computer, one hard disc, pen drives, bank passbooks, bank account statements and a UPS from his house. Stored data and information are being analysed by technical persons.

He was in connection with the suspected ISI agents for more than one year and has received Rs 35,000 in six installments in between December 2013 and December 2014. He had received money orders twice, each of Rs 5,000 from Meerut while four transactions – twice Rs 5,000 and twice Rs 7,500 were deposited in his Chandipur SBI account through net banking.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that he has received money from Abu Dhabi, Meerut, Mumbai, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. On the pretext of repairing his camera he used to visit Kolkata where he met the agent. We have proof of their telephonic talks for at least ten times and the calls were from Pakistan. We have only verified his one bank account among many others which are being checked,” he said.

The DIG informed that Behera was sharing defence secrecy and information about the testing of missiles and vital defence installations located in Chandipur and Wheeler Island. As he was a videographer he had close access to all sensitive areas in both the test ranges.

“A case under sections 121 (A), 120 (B) of IPC and Sections 3, 4, 5 of Official Secrets Act, 1923 has been registered against him. He has been produced in the court. We have appealed the court to take him on remand for 14 days,” he said.

Intelligence sources said the Pakistan agent had introduced himself with Behera as Sribastav, a scientist of Hyderabad-based Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL). Though the agent had given him two cell phone numbers, it is learnt, they did not receive any call from this end.

“They would call back him from nine digit numbers to collect information and in lieu they transfer him money. We are verifying whether the agent has visited the place,” the source informed.

Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) is the premier intelligence service of Pakistan along with two others Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Military Intelligence (MI), operationally responsible for providing critical national security and intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan.

This incident assumes significance in the wake of possible terror strike threats from four Pakistan-based terror outfits in Odisha along with Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The States were informed that the terrorist groups Jamat-Ud-Dawa, Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e- Mohammed had dispatched four terror modules to India, which may carry out the attacks.

Earlier in 1995, a couple of Sunhat area of Balasore was arrested from Chandipur for allegedly supplying information to Bangladeshi operatives. These two, who are no more now, were released after languishing in jail for over ten years.

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A Relative Comparison of Science and Technology Development in India with Neighbors like China and Pakistan

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Dr K K Jha

Applied Science and Humanities, DCE, Gurgaon

 Introduction:

The advances of science and technology have a profound impact on our lives in almost every sphere of activity, such as health, agriculture, communication, transportation, and defence. These advances have been driven by an ever-growing exciting discoveries, patented and parented by  science laboratories in the West, and by their transformation into technology and new products that have flooded world markets. . The world is today sharply divided by a technology boundary that separates the technologically advanced countries from the technologically backward ones. India shares almost 1500 Km geographical boundaries each with China and Pakistan. The three neighbors  show almost the same (poor) indicators of social development but they are struggling to achieve sustainable economic growth, self-reliance in technology development and in gaining an important global position. India, Pakistan and China have totally different political systems which play a vital role in their growth and development and in shaping their science and technology policies.

Science in India is on the move in a big way. The government has initiated multibillion dollar investments to kick start research, education, and innovation over the next five years. In early 2013, government announced an ambitious science, technology, and innovation funding protocol: in the next five years, double its investment in science and technology and, by 2020, drive India’s output of scientific publications to be among the top five nations globally. According to Prof. C. N. Rao chairman of the Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister “The government is going to inject $5 billion into science and technology over the next five years,”. “This doubles the investment to-date from 1% to 2% of GDP.”  This increase in funding is aimed at creating jobs, educating technical leaders, and improving the quality of science in this country of 1.2 billion people.

India seeks to improve its global scientific reputation. The creation of new institutions and universities (funded by Govt. and private), opportunities for independent leadership training, and efforts to expand fundamental research base and cultivate a culture of technology transfer are just a few components to encourage young researchers to set up their own industry. In addition, international alliances, collaborations between India and other developed nations has helped  building strong scientific capacity within the subcontinent.

But despite these outreach and funding programs, there are still some challenges that need to be addressed for making India super power in 2020.

Quality of Science / Technology Education:

Recent infrastructure investment programmes have successfully produced new facilities and institutions all over India. However, there is insufficient talent within India to take up this task. Nonetheless, theoretical and experimental / analytical research in India is moving forward with areas such as nanotechnology, clean energy, and of course health at the forefront. Our space,and defence  (R&D)  programme  is  slowly moving towards self reliance.

Expanding Facilities and Infrastructure:

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are among India’s most prestigious academic institutions. These autonomous institutes were established in the early 1960s, and the government has since expanded their number from the original five—Kharagpur, Bombay (Mumbai), Madras (Chennai), Kanpur, and Delhi—to a total of 16. This increase reflects the government’s new policies to give students from a wider range of social backgrounds the opportunity to study at India’s top-tier universities. However, the products of IIT preferred to join lucrative jobs  elsewhere and the potential trained  manpower failed to do justice with the country.

In recent years the nation has launched five new Indian institutes of science education and research, eight new IITs, 16 new central universities, 10 new national institutes of technology, six new research and development institutions in biotechnology, and five institutions in other branches including bio- materials and solar energy.

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai, one of India’s oldest and premier basic research institutes has opened its new campus. The new 200-acre campus will be significantly larger than the Mumbai facility. A new International Centre for Theoretical Sciences in Bangalore—similar to, but broader in scope than the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, which organizes international research programs in pure and applied mathematics has been established.  Although, “finding high-quality staff to teach and manage the new centers will be a challenge.” Since  1980  we encouraged  technical managers  and sales managers  than  high  quality researchers.  In fact a vacuum  has been  created and it is difficult to find committed skilled researchers.

In an effort to fill the abundance of new positions, the government has established programs to court Indians working abroad back to their home country.  Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) has taken steps  to attract highly skilled researchers working overseas.

Increasing Career Opportunities

With the increases in funding and rapidly expanding institutions, opportunities are becoming more readily available for scientists who want to work in India.

One challenge that is on the  minds of both Indian academics and government representatives is the ability to draw and retain talented post docs and other early-career scholars into India’s institutions. Some researchers are less than optimistic about finding a solution to attract post docs to India when higher remuneration packages are available in the West. Although this situation is not uncommon in India, certain national, international, “and institutional programs may be helping to alleviate this problem.

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Nehru Science Postdoctoral Research Fellowship is one such program designed to engage younger scientists. This postdoc opportunity seeks to identify promising young researchers with innovative ideas and provide them with training to transition into independent research careers.

Growing Talent Early

The new funding may prove fruitful for innovation, but there is a need for greater access to education for Indians—approximately half of whom are under 25 years old. The government has responded to calls for greater educational opportunities for young people from a wider spectrum of society, and recently the DST launched the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) program, with the aim of attracting students to science and expects to have funded one million young scholars by 2014.

This is just one program that seeks to build research capacity by giving students the opportunity to gain vital research-related skills. This is important in order to sustain global competitiveness among progressive nations like China. According to C. N. Rao, China, currently produces almost as many journal articles as the United States, and  will soon overtake the U.S.  China graduates some 20,000 Ph.D.s annually., “How can we compete with this?”

Policymakers want India to increase the number of top scientific publications. To achieve this we need more high-quality submissions, and to achieve that we need more good people. Unfortunately  most of the  scientific leaders  have never soiled their hands.

One of the challenges to finding “good people” is that many Indian students prefer to major in engineering rather than science, because of the promise and prestige of lucrative industrial career opportunities. But India’s leaders recognized the need to motivate more youngsters to pursue science careers and hone research skills by forming five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) in 2007. Here, faculty members have the freedom to pursue interdisciplinary projects while engaging their undergraduates in research.

The Khorana Program is an international consortium also designed to enhance research capacity within India and across borders. Jointly supported by UW, DBT, and the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), and launched in 2008, the program grants Indian and American students the opportunity to pursue research at universities in each other’s nations.

Developing Research Areas

The new funding policy will advance India’s prowess in a number of strategic industries, such as space, energy, and the life sciences as well as important research areas in physics, materials science, and atmospheric science. Planned missions to Mars and a neutrino observatory will receive financial support under the new framework.

But it is also the new policy’s acknowledgement of the role of innovation in targeted technological industries that is contributing to a renewed excitement among India’s scientists. Energy is one of those strategic sectors, and many of India’s scientific leaders are leveraging the government’s interest in it to enhance vital research programs. For example, as materials science plays a central role in developing innovative technologies for the growing energy market, scientists like Arindam Ghosh at IISc are advancing materials research in graphene for solar cells and nanoelectronics.

India’s scientists are also working with their counterparts in the United States on a major new Indo-U.S. initiative called the Solar Energy Research Institute for India and the United States (SERIIUS), funded through the U.S.-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy and administered by IUSSTF. India needs every drop of power we can produce.

Affordable health care and medical devices not requiring external electrical sources of power for operation are high-priority projects being undertaken at the CeNSE at IISc. “India has the largest number of people with diabetes in the world, We want to use nanoelectronics to produce cheap wireless biosensors to monitor this disease in people living in rural India.”

The Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (in Stem), and Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) on the NCBS campus are at the forefront of life sciences and translational medical research. “We offer an excellent environment for engaging in fundamental interdisciplinary research and also for early translation. We want to encourage our researchers to move ideas from discovery to innovation. To do so, NCSB has partnered with industry leaders to accelerate commercialization. Recent examples of successful projects include an inexpensive kit to test for HIV/AIDS; the licensing of this technology is being negotiated with global companies.

This emphasis on translational research and technology transfer is being amplified throughout the country. The Tata Innovation Fellowship, a highly competitive scheme instituted by the DBT, recognizes and rewards innovative and productive life science researchers. Its specific prominence is on interdisciplinary, translational research with a potential for technology commercialization.

Future Challenges

Both challenges and hope lie ahead for India. Other often neglected but important science-related issues to address include establishing university curricula to improve the ability of young students to communicate in English, especially technical writing; the introduction of coordinated proactive strategies by research institutes to improve the ‘visibility’ of their scientists; incentives and financial support for entrepreneurial scientists to set up companies to commercialize ideas; and changes in labor laws to enable universities to hire qualified scientists irrespective of nationality.

The general mood of scientists—both veterans and young returnees—in India is positive. “India needs to build many more ‘innovation ecosystems’ like NCBS where there is a lot of intellectual freedom and a drive to define the cutting edge at an international level.”

And as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently said in an interview with Science, “One has to be optimistic. (….), unless one is optimistic, one is overwhelmed by the dimension of the development task that we have to accomplish.”

“Science is more essential for our prosperity, our security, our health, our environment, and our quality of life than it has ever been before.” – President Barack Obama, April 27, 2009

India’s Science, Technology, Innovation Policy of 2013

“A strong and visible Science, Research and Innovation System for High Technology led path for India” – “SRISHTI” – is the main goal of India’s new Science, Technology and Innovation policy (2013). At the 2010 Indian Science Congress, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared 2010-20 as the “Decade of Innovations” and formed the National Innovation Council. The STI Policy 2013 is in furtherance of the declaration and aims to bring fresh perspectives to bear on innovation in the changing context.

The statement “India’s global competitiveness will be determined by the extent to which the STI enterprise contributes social good and/or economic wealth” reflects India’s concerns about achieving higher economic growth for all sector development. Energy and environment, food and nutrition, water and sanitation, habitat, affordable health care and skill building and unemployment are the major identified areas that need new structural mechanisms and models, while the promotion of scientific temper, enhancing skill for application of science among the youth, making careers in science, making research and innovation attractive are some of the other major elements identified for connecting science with the people and increasing the number of skilled manpower in the Science & Technology (S&T) sector. In the new STI policy equal weightage is given to establishing world class R&D infrastructure, positioning India among the top five countries of the world and increasing private sector participation in R&D. India is looking to increase its Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) to two per cent of the GDP in the coming years.

Promoting the establishment of large R&D facilities in public-private partnership (PPP) mode, permitting the participation of multiple stakeholders in the R&D system, treating R&D in the private sector at par with public establishments are some of the other proposed points that are mentioned in the new policy to get more private investments in India’s S&T programs.’ STI policy 2013, gives hope to achieve high in developing indigenous technology by increasing private sector involvement in its S&T programmes.

Pakistan: Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2012

“To achieve the security, prosperity and social cohesion of Pakistan through equitable and sustainable socio-economic progress using science, technology and innovation as central pillars of development in all sectors of economic activity” is the main vision of Pakistan’s Science, Technology and Innovation policy (2012). STI 2012 highlights four major areas – Socio-economic development, Human resource development, R&D infrastructure and S&T management – in which Pakistan wants to see more progress. Pakistan is looking forward to increase its R&D expenditure; which will be one per cent of GDP by 2015 and two per cent by 2020. The prominent features of the current policy are the proposal for an effective mechanism of policy oversight, highlighting innovation as a driver of economic activity, paradigm shift from supply to demand side and an effort to align ST&I policy with national policies in other economic sectors.’ 16 Thrust Areas are also identified for R&D activities. In this new policy, focus is more on promoting R&D activities, programmes for technology transfer and technology development.

Science and Technology Programmes of China

China’s science and technology is undergoing a great development. In all, the increasing development of China’s overall S&T capacity narrows its gap with the world level in science. China keeps pace with developed countries in some key research areas, while it has already reached the world level or even ranked top in some emerging research areas. China’s output in science and technology increased fast; its innovation capacity has greatly strengthened, the role of science and technology in socio-economic development has greatly enhanced, and the public awareness of innovation and science greatly improved.

China has developed its long term S&T programs in the form of “Science and Technology in China: A Roadmap to 2050”, which was published in a Strategic General report of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2010. China has identified eight basic and strategic systems for socio-economic development and twenty–two S&T initiatives of strategic importance to China’s modernization.

In January 2006, China initiated a 15-year “Medium to Long term Plan (MLP) for the development of science and Technology”. The MLP calls for China to become an “innovation-oriented society” by the year 2020 and a World leader in science and technology by 2050. China’s science and technology programmes are more oriented towards developing “indigenous technology” and new “innovations”. In coming years China is planning to reduce imported technology and promote R&D infrastructure and activities. Since long China is investing a great deal in science education, specifically higher education in science and technology, to develop world class scientists and make China self-reliant in technology development.

Since 1980, China is following very well developed science and technology programmes, plans and policies both for developmental and security requirements. China is running five major national programmes under the banner of National Programs for Science and Technology, which includes: The National Program for Key Science and Technology Programs (Key Technologies Research and Development Program – renamed in 2006 “zhicheng” or support), National High Technology Research and Development Program – (863 Programs), National Key Basic Research Program (973 Programs), The Torch Program, The Spark Program.

An Overview of Economic Growth of India, Pakistan and China in recent years

“The re-emergence of China and India as major forces in the world economy is one of the most important developments in the early 21st century.” “The growth rate of their gross domestic products from 2020 to 2025 is expected to be about the same—5.7 percent in China and 5.6 percent in India. China’s current overall GDP is about three times larger than India’s, and by 2025 the difference between their two GDPs is estimated to be $4.4 trillion annually.” The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Pakistan grew by 3.67 per cent in 2012. These different growth patterns of economic development also tell different growth stories of science and technology development in these three countries.

Brief Analysis of Science and Technology Achievements of India, Pakistan and China

In recent times, the IT Industry, Space and missile programmes and Research in basic science have emerged as major areas in which India is showing good progress at the domestic and international levels. But in spite of having a good number of science and technology institutes and organizations, policies and programmes, a good number of human resources and recent economic progress, India’s science and technology programmes are suffering due to a number of reasons, of which lack of coordination between organizations and improper implementation of policies are the two main reasons affecting India’s science and technology programmes.

Pakistan has developed a good number of science and technology institutes and universities for higher education and research. But its scientific programmes have always been influenced by other countries’ political and economic agendas. Between the 1950s and 1970s Pakistan received scientific and technical support from the USA while China emerged as a trusted ally in the 1960s. China has provided blueprints for its nuclear programme and the material required for developing nuclear weapons. “Pakistan has achieved a lot in nuclear science and acquired complete nuclear capability in 1983.” Post 9/11, Pakistan is getting more international funds including from the USA for different development programmes.

The Chinese government’s national science programmes and industrial policies aimed at high tech industries are a significant contributor to the technological successes enjoyed by Chinese firms. Among the factors propelling China‘s emergence as a techno-industrial power is its low-cost manufacturing capabilities, a huge market, an export promotion strategy, and the shrewd appropriation of the best technology from the international system.’ China’s science and technology programs are highly motivated towards economic Development and national Security. It is constantly increasing its strength in fulfilling security requirements and achieving sustainable high economic growth.

Conclusions:

India, Pakistan and China are three different countries with varying socio-cultural, economic and historical backgrounds. S&T innovations and economic growth are two sides of the same coin and deeply interconnected with each other. Today we are living in a globally connected world. These connections and collaborations are purely for business and economic purposes, but in coming years we will see global cooperation in the field of science, technology and innovations as well. But we should not forget that such collaboration and cooperation are premised on political, strategic and economic interests. These new developments in the science and technology policies of India, Pakistan and China will change global perspectives in many ways the in coming years. In such a scenario it will be interesting to see how science and technology innovations and all such collaborations will shape relations between India, Pakistan and China.

References:

News paper articles (The Hindu, The Times of India, The Indian Express, The Hindustan)

Dr K. K. Jha
Ph D.
Scientist (Retd)
DRDO, Ministry Of Defence, GOI
Mob no.:- 08954436364

 

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Government baffled over DRDO chief’s claim on missile shield

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Manoj Joshi   |   MAIL TODAY  |   New Delhi, July 18, 2012 |  

The government of India has been baffled by DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat’s repeated claims that a ballistic missile shield is ready for deployment, and that two locations, presumably New Delhi and Mumbai, will be the first recipients of the ballistic missile defence (BMD) system. Speaking on a TV programme in early May, Saraswat said that “this system is now ready for induction”. Nearly two weeks later, the claim was repeated in an interview to Press Trust of India where Saraswat was quoted as saying, “The ballistic missile defence shield is now mature… We are ready to put phase I in place.”

Only six tests have been carried out so far and there is no confirmation if they worked.

Well-known defence technology analyst Prasun K. Sengupta is sceptical; he bluntly terms the DRDO’s claims as “sheer unabashed jingoistic kite-flying by DRDO, period”.

Only six tests, that too in highly controlled conditions, have taken place so far and there is no independent confirmation of whether they have been successful. As of now it is not clear which of the three services will even man the system. Former joint director of the Centre for Air Power Studies, Air Vice-Marshal (retd.) Kapil Kak says, “It is indeed surprising why the IAF – as the national instrument vested with the responsibility of India’s air defence – was not closely involved from the proof-of-concept stage itself.”

Mail Today requested the DRDO to respond to a series of questions early last week, but had received no response till Tuesday.

According to the DRDO, six of its seven tests have been successful. But, instead of carrying them out in realistic conditions, they have been done in laboratory conditions so far. The usual test comprises of the launch of a “hostile missile” from the Interim Test Range in Chandipur on the Orissa coast, and the counter-launch of an interceptor missile from Wheeler Island just 70 km away. DRDO scientists say that the target missile that was intercepted in the test of February 2012, for example, mimicked a 2,000-km range missile of the type that Pakistan possesses, yet it was actually launched from 70 km away.

Equally important is the fact that the “target” missile is a liquid fuelled slow-moving Prithvi, and as of now the DRDO has not tested its system against its own solid-propelled missiles like Agni I or Agni II. As Sengupta puts it, “Its (the Prithvi’s) slow speed during both the boost phase and the terminal phase “does not in any way mimic the flight profiles of the solid-fuelled Theatre Ballistic Missiles and Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles with both China and Pakistan.”

With nuclear weapons around, only a shield that will guarantee blocking every single missile is the only one worth having. As of now there is no indication that the DRDO, or any other country, can achieve such a goal. None of the DRDO’s claims have been verified by third parties, say, any of our armed forces. In contrast, China’s January 2010 test was authenticated by the Pentagon whose spokesman said, “We detected two geographically separated missile launch events with an exo-atmospheric collision also being observed by space-based sensors.”

The Indian BMD system is something of a puzzle. It was initially mooted by APJ Abdul Kalam in 1997 and taken up in the 2000s, when key technology relating to tracking, fire control and guidance radars became available from Israel, France and Russia. However, none of the three services ever expressed any requirement for such a system. Their need has been for a system to counter shorter ranged, theatre ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

Non-proliferation experts are appalled at the lack of any visible political guidance to the BMD. The obvious response of an adversary to a missile shield is to field greater numbers of missiles with nuclear weapons; that seems to be the track Pakistan is following. Kak notes, “For an unstable and fragile state like Pakistan, India’s BMD could indeed be destabilising, as this would substantially reduce the value of Pakistan’s nuclear and missile arsenal, tempting it to increase the same.”

MIT scholar Christopher Clary argues that, “Indian policymakers must be willing to make the calculation that whatever safety comes from missile defences of dubious effectiveness outweighs the risks that come from a Pakistani nuclear arsenal that is larger than it would be without Indian missile defences.”

Of course, there is the other question. In its claims DRDO says that the system will be ready for “two places”, presumably Mumbai and Delhi. But what about Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Lucknow and the rest of the country?

The government only has itself to blame for permitting a technology programme with such serious ramifications and not providing it any political guidance.

Drdo

India Buys Israeli Aerostat Radar

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January 23, 2009: India is buying two more Israeli EL/M-2083 Aerostat radars. Both India and Pakistan are using radar aerostats (blimps) to fill in the many gaps in the radar coverage of their mutual border. India already has two EL/M-2083s. The United States is providing aerostats to Pakistan. India bought its first EL/M-2083s three years ago, and is planning to deploy a total of six. India needs a total of 13 to cover all its borders. Pakistan is getting six L-88 Aerostat Systems. India’s decision to move ahead on its aerostat system is, in part, motivated by the recent success of LTTE rebels in Sri Lanka, using single engine commercial aircraft to bomb military targets (without much success, but the potential of such low flying aircraft was demonstrated.) Last year’s terror attacks in Mumbai is another motivator, along with the demand that the northwest coast, near Pakistan, be more closely monitored.
Aerostat systems use a 100-250 foot long, helium filled, unmanned blimp equipped with radar and other sensors. The larger of these blimps are more than twice the size of the more familiar advertising blimps. An aerostat is designed to always turn into the wind and stay in the same place. An aerostat is unpowered, and secured by a cable that can keep the aerostat in position at its maximum altitude of 15,000 feet. At that altitude, a large aerostat can carry a two ton payload. The cable also supplies power, which means the blimp can stay up for about 30 days at a time before it has to be brought down for maintenance on its radars. Often, two radars are carried. One is a surveillance radar, the other is a precision track and illumination radar (PTIR). The surveillance radar provides long-range coverage (about 500 kilometers for the EL/M-2083), while the PTIR, which is a steerable system capable of tracking multiple targets, can focus in on items of interest.

Aerostat systems cost varies from $5 million, to over $100 million each, depending on the size of the aerostat and the capabilities of the radar and other sensors. Aerostats work. Kuwait had one in 1990, and the ground radar spotted the Iraqis as soon as they crossed the border. The U.S. uses dozens of aerostat systems in Iraq and Afghanistan, to guard bases. The EL/M-2083 costs about $20 million each. Israel itself is using two of them, and has four more on order.

Drdo

If wishes were horses……….Manoj Joshi October 18, 2006

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There is a time in the life of many a business establishment — and a marriage — when the realisation dawns that things are not working. The only options are to close shop or get a divorce. Government behemoths are a tad different, but even then, we think the time has come for terminating the already estranged relationship between the country’s armed forces and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Since the armed forces cannot, and should not, do without a defence research organisation, the option of shutting shop is not there. But divorce and remarriage is a distinctly desired option. The way to go is to dismantle the organisation as it exists now, spin off its laboratories to defence public sector units, and reconstitute its core. What should result is a lean and mean defence science set-up that will provide conceptual inputs and funds to private and public labs to service the needs of the armed forces and the country.

This may seem to be a harsh solution. But in my view, it is an absolutely necessary one. Two years short of its 50th anniversary, the DRDO’s record is not just shabby, it is a disgrace. The annual budget of the 25,000-strong outfit has risen from Rs 500 crore in 1988-9 to nearly Rs 5,000 crore today. Yet there is not a single major or minor product, barring an excellent sonar system and the INSAS rifle, that has found usage in the armed forces. In sum, the Indian armed forces have been forced to do with less, and suffered more, because of the inadequacies of the DRDO.

The jawans in Kashmir were compelled to design their own steel plated patka, or headgear, in place of the helmet, which is awkward in insurgency firefights. The paramilitary devised their own light armoured vehicles, and the DRDO’s heavy steel bulletproof vest was no less cumbersome than medieval armour. For 20 years, the armed forces have been tackling improvised explosive devices and mines. But the DRDO has only recently, after 9/11, discovered robotic systems to do the job.

A great deal of the responsibility for this rests with A.P.J. Abdul Kalam who was the head of the missile development programme from 1982 to 1992, and then the chief of the DRDO till 1999. During this period, the DRDO made it a practice to claim that it could provide services in, and make any product related to, aeronautics, armaments, electronics, combat vehicles, engineering systems, instrumentation, missiles, advanced computing and simulation, special materials, naval systems, life sciences, training and information systems. So while DRDO budgets grew exponentially, the armed forces were forced to do without products because they were either interminably delayed, or never performed anywhere near the claims made by the DRDO. The result has been that the country’s defence system has suffered from several dangerous gaps during the last decade and a half.

The Agni missile that you see on parade on Republic Day is nothing but a mock-up model; but you won’t see that written on the placard. The DRDO claims the Agni as its great success. Yet the reality is that the tardy programme — whose only useful launchers are made by the Isro — is not yet a fully operational system. At least not good enough for the missile to have been tested on a land target — a vital requirement for a mature product.

The Arjun tank that is being displayed for the past 15 years is not a dummy. But it has come into limited service in the army riding on the back of a political fiat. For the second time in its history, the army has a tank it cannot allow, in good conscience, to be sent into battle in a real war. Its antiquated rifled barrel main gun cannot fire missiles, and is not optimal for fin-stabilised anti-tank munitions. Worse, the Arjun’s sophisticated (German origin) pneumatic suspension system is fed nitrogen gas through pipes that are, to put it delicately, not protected by its armour, and hence even small-arms fire can bring the 58-tonne monster to a grinding halt.

On Kalam’s insistence, the government would have shoved this down the army’s throat as the Main Battle Tank (MBT). But in the early Nineties, Pakistan acquired some 300 T80UD tanks and the army put its foot down. Like the T-90S — which is now our MBT — the Pakistani tank has a very effective tandem-warhead missile that can be fired through the gun tube and can knock out an adversary tank well before it can bring its tank gun to bear.

The third case where DRDO delays cost the country dearly was in the case of the artillery location radar. After having promised to make a system based on the British Cymbelline, the DRDO failed. By the time they acknowledged it in 1998, the US, which was offering its AN TPQ/37 system, had put an embargo on India. The result was that the army had no means of locating Pakistani artillery units during the Kargil war of 1999.

The fourth case is the one under current discussion — the Trishul missile. In the late Eighties, Kalam had promised that the air defence of a new class of Brahmaputra-class ships of the Indian Navy could be provided by the Trishul, which he said would be able to down aircraft, as well as in-coming anti-ship missiles. The naïve navy, which had had a major success in a DRDO-designed sonar, accepted this. But when the frigates started coming up, there were no signs of the Trishul. For two years, anti-aircraft protection was given to these expensive ships through hand-held missiles that infantry-men or guerrillas use. Things would not have changed but for the Kargil war when the navy was compelled to point out the needless risk it was taking of sending a fleet to battle-stations without adequate protection against Pakistan’s very potent French- and American-supplied anti-ship missiles.

Even today, the country’s air defence system is severely hampered by the DRDO’s failure to produce the Trishul and Akash surface-to-air missiles. All vital areas across the country, as well as combat formations and the naval fleet, are protected by a multi-layered air defence system. The first layer is fighter aircraft of the IAF, which seek to either destroy enemy air bases or shoot down their aircraft when they enter our air-space. If these aircraft get through, they hit the second layer, which has Surface-to-Air Missiles (Sams) with ranges from 2-30 km. Since the Seventies, Soviet-origin missiles — with specific variants for the army, navy and air force — did this job. The Trishul and Akash were designed to replace these systems beginning from the mid-Nineties. It is now 2006 and the missiles are not there, which means 50 of our cities and industrial zones are more vulnerable than they should be to air attack, as are our armed forces.

In 1996, the government had grandly announced that Kalam would chair a “Self Reliance Implementation Council” that would take the level of indigenous equipment in the armed forces from 30 per cent to 70 per cent by 2007. By that time, just months away, the target is far from being achieved, even though Kalam will have finished a term in office as President of the Republic.

The time has come to make painful choices. The continuance of the DRDO in its present form will not only not reduce India’s painful dependence on foreign weapons systems, but will also leave critical gaps in the country’s ability to defend itself. The culture of bureaucracy is so deep in the DRDO that mere restructuring or overhaul will not yield any result. The time has come for surgery, and a drastic one at that.

Drdo

Rajat’s Comment

1 Comment

Rajat Submitted on 2011/08/20 at 7:56 am

Thank you for your all efforts you have put and we all hope that you will keep going like this. Its very well known that higher officials of DRDO are not as they appears but its not good to criticize every scientist, still there are lot of scientist who might be struggling against the system , there must be good dedicated higher officials who are working hard enough for results. Everyone must also read the story of LCA development, how many hours daily they have worked, their sacrifices and what they are getting in return, peanuts. Though this doesn’t justify the corruption in any way and corruption must be eradicated. Like LCA there are many other achievements of DRDO which cant be overlooked and were almost very difficult to achieve. But everything starts from HR policy of DRDO, HR Management of DRDO which need to changed on priority. Everything starts from the promotion policy since the intention with which performance bound performance system was introduced is not being served and senior use it as a weapon to harass junior employee and scientists. It has more side effects than effects, many scientists are here who are working hard but when it comes to promotion either not are given call or they are not able to get through interview for promotion, but it has nothing to do with their talent because they are victim of wrong management. Headquarter tries to settle things properly but at laboratory level everything is changed as per their will so that juniors wouldn’t dare against them or if they , wont get succeed in future after all who can challenge interview process(no recording). If its corrected more corruption matter will come into light , system will be more transparent and competent. Who knows better than you , being a victim you can sense more precisely and clearly everything. Every year there must be recording of interview and there shouldn’t be any known members or representative of laboratory, they motives can be served with instruction to interview panel. Or frustration will keep heaping until it burst. In many laboratory Canteen items are sold to non eligible private workers, isn’t cheating with Govt. Relation of employees with each other is also reflection of favoritism. Junior employees can be seen insulting senior as they are favorites of higher scientist or Director, Admin officer and their behavior with other employees or staff there are countless examples which need to be stated, a lot of changes are required but with your start it seems possible but i personally feel sometimes you are driven with personal emotions and that makes your efforts less effective.
Among all the available cases you certainly will find few selected persons in all the laboratory and their selected one indulge in it but whole system cant be blamed.
As far as North Korea is concerned its also well known that it is supported by China and pakistan. Pakistan exchanged nuclear technology with North Korea in exchange with missile technology while China is looking for bigger cause , its international politics. But in any way India is not inferior to North Korea , its ridiculous statement, by saying so you are insulting countless nights scientist are staff have spent working extra for country, you are underestimating efforts put for achieving higher goals country have set. At what time western countries started their efforts for defense technology and when did we start speaks of untiring will of our scientists whether ISRO, or DRDO. These technologies are not freely available in market, you may have money but no will sell you. Everything has to be start with scratches so its my request to you consider it also while commenting. Your intentions are sacred but sometime coming off differently and such deviations can be overlooked. We should take care of not giving wrong impression of our scientists because respect and dignity is something which is asked in returns otherwise nobody mention ever HOW MANY IIT’ian OR OTHER ELITE SCHOLARS ARE SERVING DIRECTLY OUR COUNTRY, EVERYONE KNOW , EVERYONE TRIES TO GO ABROAD, SETTLE THEIR OR WORKING WITH MNC FOR HIGHER SALARIES , AND BURDEN OF EXPECTATION IS ALWAYS ON DRDO, ISRO, OTHER SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATION. SALARIES OF OTHER PERSONS WORKING ON SAME TECHNOLOGY OUR SCIENTISTS ARE WORKING IS MANY FOLD HIGHER.

Dear Rajat

Thank you for your sincere and fruitful comment. In fact this topic should be debated that “A establishment which got birth in 1958 and witnessed the successive war of 1962, 1965, 1971 and 1999 Kargil War. Why became so insensitive to the national defence.”

Just after Kargil War when media questioned the Chairman ISRO for the failure in electronic surveillance, the quick reply from Dr Kasturiragan was  ISRO is not responsible for our border surveillance, DRDO is actively engaged with defence activities, they can better reply on this issue. When same question was asked to Scientific Adviser to RM he said that for surveillance of border we need a military satellite.

Rajat you asked yourself after 64 years of independence and lakhs of crores  of investment on ISRO & DRDO the 120 crores people has to hear such statement, shame on us.

Even if we had taken up a firm decision after 1999 Kargil War probably India would have moved ahead in border surveillance by now.

Recently on discovery channel the details of the planning of attack at Abbottabad , Pakistan was revealed by American Mariners.  A team of US navy seals was selected in 2001 just after OSAMA BIN LADEN survived from missile attack in Sudan on 20th August 1998.

The team was authorized to use any resources but as top   secret mission. They have to develop

(i)                  A Stealth Helicopter
(ii)                Sound proofing of engine
(iii)               Only thermal sensing while move
(iv)              To assess lip movement behind the wall
(v)                Count the member through thermal sensing behind the fore wall & many more gadgets for self protection.

Dear Rajat the world saw that in 10 years time the dedicated man power were able to identified the target and accomplish the task and the complete   operation was shown live in White House.

Such scientific venture needs

(i)                  Accountability (Self)
(ii)                Dedication
(iii)               Honor the commitments
(iv)              Resource mobilizations

These four points are completely missing in DRDO. The talent is available in plenty in DRDO but in top brasses the vision totally detours, they are engaged in minting money in all means. The extension business, procurement routing via their near & dears, discourage those scientist who want to contribute on project indigenous means. I have ton of tons informations on DRDO today’s scenario, the intelligence agencies, enforcement agencies, bureaucrats are helpless to control these intellectual mafias, because they easily fool the politicians. They draw a rosy picture in front of defence committees and every time they use different arrows to justify the failures.

Now days DRDO’s for their exorbitant expenditure for any infrastructure justifies comment is due to “denial regimes”

In DRDO directors is like  and protected by unforeseen forces from the top. The square root is like protection. A director bluntly says that occupying this chair is something different then possessing mere degree.

The fresh IIT products are reporting to ITI/Diploma with fake IETE (unrecognized distance education centers) / IETE graduates scientists. The difference in these scientists that IIT’ ians never compete them in assessment (because in DRDO assessment system the degree and scientific work is negligible, if you took any list of DRDO/DRTC assessment you will find the success rate of those scientists who are engaged in sundry work like administration, security, MTO, Store procurement and other non scientific work) are higher than those who are working in projects/ programs. Therefore they crushed the knowledge and ruin the scope of scientific development.

Yes there are many honest and qualified scientist but they have compromise with present scenario of DRDO.

A debate on this subject is requested from the reader

Thanking you

Regards
       
Prabhu Dayal Dandriyal
21-Sunderwala, Raipur, Dehradun-248008
Phone – 2787750, Mobile- 9411114879,
E-mail id prabhudoon@gmail.com,  prabhu@dandriyal.com Website – www.corruptionindrdo.com
Drdo

Communication Blackout for 15 Minutes after Mumbai’s Serial Blast -Sh. Prthiviraj Chauhan, CM, Maharashtra

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Date 20 July 2011

Please Refer Sunday Guardians – DRDO scrapping a Rs 100 cr communication system (Sunday Guardian-New Delhi – 22  August 2010) Appu Esthose Suresh http://bit.ly/qsOMFF

There was a communication blackout on 13 July 2011 in Mumbai

Honorable Chief Minister Maharashtra Sh Prithiviraj Chavan while talking to media said that for 15 minutes just after serial blast there was a communication blackout and he was not able to communicate with senior official of Maharashtra Police.

Had Pakistan planned to attack Mumbai the financial capital of India by sending F-16/ F-18 with a speed of 2000 km/hour, under the cover of the serial blast, within 15 minutes the F-16 can travel to 500 Km,

Time and again it was brought to the notice of Government of India that for such crises management of two way communication NVIS (Near Vertical Incident Sky wave) mode of HF communication provides only hotline solution without fail.

The details of NVIS and apathy of Government of India was published in Sunday Guardian dated – DRDO scrapping a Rs 100 cr communication system (Sunday Guardian-New Delhi – 22  August 2010) Appu Esthose Suresh http://bit.ly/qsOMFF