E Governance Through Information Technology for Good Governance

Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), today organized a mega event and an exhibition in New Delhi to celebrate the Good Governance Day. The event was inaugurated by the Minister of Communications & Information Technology Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, and was attended by officials of central government and its agencies, industry partners, interested netizens, and media personnel. In his keynote address at the event, the Minister said, that on the pillars of participation, accountability, transparency, responsiveness and efficiency, Good Governance can be effectively achieved through the vision of Digital India. The Minister emphasized that simple and inclusive technology has transformative power and is the source of good Governance. “In the last six months, Government of India has taken a number of landmark initiatives. The Digital India programme, unveiled by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, is committed to take the cause of Good Governance forward in letter and spirit”, the Minister added. The Minister in his concluding remarks directed all the officials of the Ministry of Communications and IT that they must ensure that the vision of Digital India becomes a reality! (Digital India Karna Hai). Shri RS Sharma, Secretary, DeitY said, “The department has taken a number of initiatives like MyGov(Citizen participation platform) , Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System, Jeevan Pramaan, e-Greetings, e-Sampark, National Digital Literacy Mission, e-Governance Competency Framework etc. to promote Good Governance in the country,” as well as to give impetus to the Digital India programme. “Government officials at all levels should contribute to this cause by ensuring effective planning and implementation of various e-Governance programmes. To make it happen, all government officials need to develop a positive mindset for e-Governance and other Information and communication technology (ICT) programmes. They also need to update their ICT skills on a regular basis”, he emphasized. The Minister launched a number of Good Governance projects initiated by Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Department of Telecommunication, Department of Posts and their organizations. Some of the key projects launched at the event were Time Stamping of Digital Signature, Integrated Indian Languages Virtual Keyboard for Android, PARAM Shavak (Super computer in box solution), .bharat domain in Gujarati and Bangla, e-launch of Support International Patent Protection in Electronics & IT scheme (SIP-EIT), Disbursements under Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme(M-SIPS), Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC) disbursement, Gyansetu – an internet based real time ICT system to provide e-Services to the rural population of India, MTNL Apps for Android smart phones and e-Governance Competency Framework (e-GCF). Additionally e-Books were launched by the three departments namely Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Department of Telecommunications and Department of Posts. Department of Posts also launched a pocket book. Deity also organized an exhibition for which invitation to general public was done through an online registration process which was set up on National e-Governance Plan website. The event saw a huge participation from about 50 Government and private organisations like National Informatics Centre (NIC), Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) , Ministry of Panchayati Raj, IBM, CISCO, Oracle, Infosys etc. The exhibition offered a glimpse of various projects in the areas of software and hardware development, Networking, Services, Mobile, Geographic information system (GIS), Security and health, which were contributing to the cause of ICT enabled Good Governance.

Highlights of Events in Department of Atomic Energy in 2014

Foundation Stone of 2800 MW Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana (Nuclear Power Project) laid Dr. Manmohan Singh, the then Prime Minister  laid  Foundation Stone of 2800 MW Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana (Nuclear Power Project) on 13th January, 2014 .On this occasion he said this Nuclear Power Plant will Usher in Opening of New Vista’s of Development.  Gorakhpur Anu Vidyut Pariyajana (GHAVP-1 to 4) is an ambitious initiative of The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, A Govt. of India Enterprise. Being built at an estimated cost of Rs. 20,594 Crore, this will be the 1st Nuclear Power Plant of Haryana and will be 21st in the country. For it the Haryana State Government has provided 1319 Acre ( 534 Hectare) land for the project and neqrly 186 acre (75 Hectare) for the housing colonies of plant personnel and CISF personnel.  The proposed 700 MWe PHWR rectors are indigenous and similar o the ones currently under construction in Gujrat State (KAPP-3 &$) and Rajasthan state (RAPP-7 & 8). Also, the reactor size and the design features of 700 MWe are similar to that of 540 MWe of TAPP 3 &4 Units, except that partial boiling of the coolant upto about 3% (nominal ) at the coolant channel exit has been allowed.  Agreement for Establishing Nuclear Power Stations  A General Framework Agreement (GFA) was signed between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and the Joint Stock Company atomstroy export of the Russian Federation in April 2014 for establishing Kudankulam nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) units 3&4. An Early Works Agreement has also been concluded by NPCIL with M/s Westinghouse Electric Company for obtaining technical information about AP-1000 reactors.  The NPCIL is engaged in techno-commercial discussions with M/s Areva, France, General Electric Hitachi Nuclear Energy International (GEH) and Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) of the USA to arrive at project proposals for construction of Nuclear Power Plants. Conclusion of agreements with these companies will be subject to the techno-commercial proposals being satisfactory and viable.  Incubation of Technology for “Biodegradable and Edible Films for Food and Pharmaceuticals Packaging  The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) under the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India through its Centre for Incubation of Technologies (BARCIT) has signed a MoU with M/s Veena Industries, Nagpur for incubation of technology for “Biodegradable and Edible films for Food and Pharmaceuticals Packaging” today at Trombay, Mumbai in May 2014.  The biodegradable edible films for food and pharmaceutical packaging from natural resources have been developed by BARC for overcoming the disadvantages of plastic packaging materials. The films have comparable mechanical and barrier properties to commercially used PVC cling films.  Commissioning of Fast Breeder Reactor    The 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) under construction  at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu was at an advanced stage of construction and commissioning as on 7th August 2014.  Erection of all major components of the reactor were  completed on time. Commissioning of auxiliary systems such as water system, ventilation, electrical and gas systems have been completed. The next stage in commissioning is preheating and filling of sodium into secondary and primary systems.  The project achieved overall physical progress of 97.6% on 30.06.2014.  The approved date for criticality of PFBR was in September, 2014.  However, being the first of its kind reactor being built completely indigenously in our country, some delays on account of the requirement of rigorous testing and qualification of all major equipment and sub-systems are anticipated.    Most of the support systems commissioned are  under operation. Following are some of the major supporting systems which are commissioned:  Safety service water system and associated raw water system; Emergency service water system and associated raw water system; De-mineralizer plant; Fire alarm system; Nitrogen generation system; 220 kV Switchyard;   6.6 kV switch gear and  Emergency Diesel Generator system Trailblazing Performance of 765 Days of Continuous Run Yielded Second Place for RAPS-5 Globally  Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Dae Marked the Feet Achievements  RAPS-5, the unit-5 of Rawatbhata Rajasthan Site (RR Site) on6th September 2014  recorded safe reactor operation of 765 days. Thus it had a trailblazing Performance that has earned second position Globally for the Unit.This prestigious moment was observed in the august presence of Department of Atomic Energy Secretary and Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Dr. R.K. Sinha and Chief Managing Director of NPCIL Shri K.C.Purohit at a function held in Rawatbhata (Chittourgarh) Rajasthan.  So far only 10 rectors in the world have accomplished uninterrupted production for more than 500 days and of which India has 03 such reactors. the remaining 02 are from Canada and rest five are from USA, Dr. Sinha added.  RAPS-5, an indigenously designed Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) of 220 MW is fuelled with natural Uranium and moderated and cooled by Heavy water. It was first synchronized to grid on December 22, 2009 and began its commercial operation on February 04, 2010.The unit has generated about 8663 Million Units of electricity till today to Northern grid since its commercial operation, benefitting Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Uttrakhand.  RR Site is the harbinger of PHWRs in India. The site also has a special place in the history of Rawatbhata Rajasthan Site hosts eight PHWRs, of which two 700-MW PHWRs are under construction, making RR site India`s first and largest nuclear park in terms of number of reactors hosted at a site. Indian nuclear power programme for being the home to the first and latest PHWRs. Of the 1080 MW capacity in operation currently, about Fifty Percent of the Power generated at the site is supplied to Rajasthan State.  The expansion plans for the upcoming unit 7 and 8 of RAPS which are under construction. They will produce700 MW power seperately.

PM's remarks at the launch of Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching

PM calls for introspection on "Shiksha Ki Sanskriti" - the culture of education The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today launched the Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching at the Swatantrata Bhawan in Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister described the land of Kashi, as one which gave us "Shiksha Ki Sanskriti" (a culture of education). We need to introspect whether we are losing this culture of education, the Prime Minister said. He said the education system is not meant to produce robots, but to develop a holistic humanist vision (Poorna Maanav Mann) along with science and technology. Whenever humanity has entered the age of knowledge, India has played the role of Vishvaguru, the Prime Minister said, adding that the 21st century is therefore an age of immense responsibility for India, as the world is again entering the age of knowledge. The Prime Minister said "good education" is in great demand across the world and among all sections of society. He said India`s youth can fulfil this global requirement of teachers, if they are trained effectively. He said if a teacher goes abroad, he benefits and captures the imagination of an entire generation. He said the Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching is a step in this direction. The Prime Minister also unveiled the plaque of the Inter-University Centre, and launched the Campus Connect wi-fi of Banaras Hindu University by remote control. The Prime Minister also launched the Varanasi Mahotsav. He gave away prizes to six craftsmen under the YUKTI initiative. Speaking about this initiative, the Prime Minister said it will make it possible to skill our craftsmen through the use of appropriate technology interventions. The Prime Minister said events such as the Varanasi Mahotsav would help boost tourism. He called upon schools and educational institutions of Varanasi to develop expertise in various aspects of Varanasi`s rich culture, which would help them contribute towards drawing the attention of tourists visiting Varanasi. He said tourists would come to Varanasi, because of its ancient heritage, but would stay only if the people of Varanasi made the effort to showcase that heritage. Describing the strength of India`s heritage, the Prime Minister spoke of the recent adoption of International Yoga Day by the United Nations. He said a record number of 177 countries had supported India`s resolution, and it had been adopted within a record time of 90 days. The Prime Minister exhorted artists and poets to touch upon contemporary issues such as "swachhta" (cleanliness) and the welfare of the girl child, so that greater awareness is generated about these vital subjects, in the society. Minister for Human Resource Development Smt. Smriti Irani and Union MoS (I/C) Shri Mahesh Sharma were also present on the occasion.

Small enterprises as big businesses

India’s heritage, with all its creative potential, can boost an unprecedented re-skilling enterprise, bigger and more inspirational than any brand

The lion of Gujarat roars as I switch on the television in a small village of Southern Europe. Bold, the tricolour sweeps across a silhouette revealing a beast that looks more African than a mangy survivor of Gir. Ashoka’s chakra rolls in, turning wheel within wheel, geared up to make anything happen and deliver a well synchronised Indian machine. This is expensive prime time advertising blitzkrieg and is being aired internationally. Good times are here even as ‘incredible’ and ‘shining’ predecessors of the past regimes reincarnate.

‘Make in India,’ launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with signature flourish, has come 60 years after a post-war Japan bounced back, 30 years after China opened up, and 15 years after Abu Dhabi declared itself as the centre of a flat world. Perhaps more than a millennium after, India is once again going to kick-start its economy with the manufacturing boom. ‘Made in India,’ now mostly considered — even to Indians — tacky and unacceptable, will hopefully get a boost after file after file opens factory after factory for foreign capital to flow in.

Read: Come, Make in India

Role of micro enterprises

Undoubtedly, India is firmly on the growth trajectory. But despite oscillating predictions, the Indian economy still struggles to generate sustainable employment to match rising graphs. Without a road map, the country could still be left groping for a foothold. This is also because economic and financial institutions continue to offer no barometer to gauge the role of ‘softer’ small and micro enterprises as a big business. These silent components of the nation’s growth story, supported reticently at best, and suffered quietly as a sunset industry by the erstwhile mandarins in the ‘Yojna Bhavan,’ continue to constitute 5.77 crore enterprises, contributing 45 per cent to the national GDP versus the 15 per cent of the corporate sector, so widely celebrated in pink pages.

More significantly, micro small and medium enterprises provide 90 per cent of employment to a decentralised mode of production, and service and trading practices. Derogatorily known as ‘unorganised,’ this sector is owned by the tenacious self-employed, empowering a majority of women and artisans. With more than 60 per cent of units owned by the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, it constitutes the hidden base of a pyramid. These people’s unmapped skills can generate national value and create millions of livelihoods in the non-farm sector, if they are recognised and positioned with imaginative demand-savvy intervention.

It is also hoped that ‘Create in India’ or ‘Design in India,’ which are also crying out to be promoted, will soon follow ‘Make in India,’ giving India its own original edge.

With the ‘content industry’ as the corner stone of contemporary knowledge economy across the globe, the subcontinent alone is in a stark vantage point even with its fast eroding legacy of traditional competencies and cultural industry sector. Its heritage, with all its creative potential linked intrinsically with the promise of tourism, can boost an unprecedented reskilling enterprise, bigger and more inspirational than any brand looming on the horizon.

Shift of mindset

A just methodology announcing this sunrise will require a radical shift of mindset combined with broad-based pedagogic programmes — both formal and non-formal. The Smriti Iranis of India’s human resource have to transgress beyond Sanskrit or German. How is India preparing to define the future of work? How will robotic and automation, destined to rule, negotiate or deter the shrinking of our senses…of our creative spaces… our capacity for the inter personal and versatile making with our hands?

Read: Beyond the language tussle

Critical for arresting the problem of India deskilling itself, people themselves will have to do a lot more than receive ubiquitous hand-me-down degrees or employment guarantees. Goodwill for Gandhiji will need more than digging holes in the sand to banish poverty or sweeping litter off streets for a clean India. What we require is innovative design-led capacity building among the talented and struggling communities, backed with appropriate legal safeguards of Intellectual Property Rights regimes. Perceiving a sense of pride and repositioning privileges associated with time-honoured occupations is essential.

Proactive connoisseurship, fostering awareness and collective ownership of traditional knowledge systems as national heritage, particularly among young consumers, is critical. The indigenous must surely mean more to us than ersatz festivals, the pride of museums or the exotic merchandise of niche brands. Many mehakmas and ministries need to work together to bring about a culture-centric agenda of grassroot programmes, instead of being pushed or pulled in different directions while placating egos. India’s past has to be fast-forwarded and synergised with creative thinking, to reconfigure and tap into emerging markets.

I was moved by the Prime Minister’s gesture before he took oath of office. The resonant tenor of his speech thereafter sounded real. But it is about making, doing and being — all together. May be we are who we are only while becoming. Slowly but surely, coherent and concerted action alone can deliver. This country has witnessed some of the most profound transformations. Both in the public and individual domain, the seminal act of reimagining a vision has made India famous worldwide, long before the advent of electronic media.

At the threshold of this third millennium, we stand at crossroads watching a man making promises while everyone is crying fair or foul. The times ahead hold all the magic associated with cusps and moments of transition. Where do we go from here? Can brand India give a new agenda to the concept of inclusive growth… a talisman to measure development that doesn’t make people more pastless, voiceless, jobless, ruthless and futureless?

The brains behind drones

A closer look at Airware, which makes the drones work

Technology is growing, and growing fast. A few years back, it would have been impossible to imagine that there would be robots flying in the sky that would be controlled by people on the ground!

The Iron Man movies gave a glimpse of what the future can be like with drones. They can be used for a number of purposes, including defending a country.

Airware does not make drones, and neither does it plan to. It fact, it makes the brains that make the drones work. If you want to order something from Airware, you will get a logic board that handles things like auto pilot and wireless communication, in addition to all the actuators and sensors you would want in a drone.

Drones seem quite spooky. When regular folks hear “drone” or “unmanned aircraft”, they first think of the highly controversial use, which is also quite terrifying, by the military powers of the world. This is quite sad, though. For, like most technology, drones are not inherently lethal. They are also not the killing machines they are projected to be. Drones have a number of uses that are perfectly innocent, and none of these involve shooting you from the sky or getting a lot like Big Brother. In fact, all of these require a robot soaring a few thousand feet above the ground.

In Kenya, people are building drones powered by Airware in an attempt to monitor the declining population of Northern White Rhinos to oppose poaching. In the slopes, the companies are working to build drones that will help them look for skiers who are lost. There are other teams that are working on building drones that will monitor their existing infrastructure for damaged power lines or gas lines by using high resolution infrared cameras. Drones are also being built to take care of delivering vaccines urgently and in researching air quality in various regions.

This distinction is important because Airware has no intention of working with the military forces of countries. They do want to move forward, but CEO Jonathan Downey claims that not a single of their dozens of clients and customers are focused on military.

The company wants to bridge the gap between military drone work, which is massively funded, and the nascent DIY drone community, also called the “personal Unmanned Aerial Vehicle” community.

Downey discovered his love for drones while studying at MIT, and the company came into existence in 2011. He, along with a few friends, entered a competition for building drones, and were quite surprised at the limitation and black – box – like structure of the all the drone technology that was available.

After a few years, that included a stint at Boeing, Downey entered the arena of building drones full time, and also raised a small seed capital to set things in motion. By the end of 2012, the money had run dry. The company managed to enter Y Combinator’s Winter 2013 class, just as the FAA was opening up to commercial drones in the US airspace, by a twist of fate and impeccable timing. After four months and a big demo at YC, they managed to raise the whopping amount of $10.7 million!

Science’s top ten breakthroughs of 2014

For the first time ever, a man-made object landed on a comet. The Rosetta spacecraft finally reached the 67p/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet, its destination, in August after travelling 6.4 billion km since it was launched ten years ago by the European Space Agency. Last month Rosetta deployed its probe, Philae.

Though the landing was soft, Philae came to rest on its side and a bit off the actual landing spot, in the shadow of a cliff and went to rest as its batteries could not be charged. But it did manage to send some data.

But nearly 80 per cent of science data will come from Rosetta that reached the comet in August and has been orbiting it since then. It is orbiting at an altitude of 10 km from the comet’s surface, and has already returned massive amounts of data. That according to Science is the reason why it was chosen as the top breakthrough of the year 2014.

Much more interesting data are expected in the coming months, especially in August 2015 when the comet is between the orbits of the Earth and Mars and closer to the Sun. The plunge towards the Sun has already begun and the subsurface ice deposits have already begun to sublimate. Peak activity is expected to come in August, though.

The sublimating ice is “powering jets of gas and dust.” By “watching the jets develop and change” scientists can not only know what happens to comets as they approach the Sun but also help us to know and understand how they were formed some 4.5 billion years ago.

The spectrometer on board the spacecraft has detected gases like methane, hydrogen and water. But the rare ones like formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide were also detected. Knowing the “primordial ingredients” is crucial as comets are believed to have seeded life on Earth.

The nine runners up, in no particular order, are:

A team of robots

Now an army of small robots that can cooperate to carry out very “rudimentary” tasks using new software has become a reality. While one study showed the possibility of thousand robots, which are about U.S. quarter coins size, marched together to form simple shapes like squares, letters and other formations, other studies too showed how a large group of robots can work together to achieve a desired end. Unlike what one might think, these robots are not expensive.

According to the journal Science, other robots that act collectively are the 10 quadcopters that kept one other informed of their locations through radio communication and thus adjusted their flight paths to avert any collision and fly in “formation, creating a rotating circle.”

Inspired by termites, another set of robots were programmed to built simple structures by taking into account two critical aspects — “by sensing progress and inferring” what the step that was required to build the structure.

Transition to birds

It is now common knowledge that birds evolved from dinosaurs. But the giant dinosaurs went through several stages before becoming the agile birds seen flying today. This year, evolutionary biologists finally figured out the “mode and tempo” of the grand evolutionary transition. Their work rests on a large body of work done in the past that meticulously logged in all the twists and turns.

 Several groups put together earlier data collected on dinosaurs, early birds fossils as well as extant birds to find out precisely when features other than feathers evolved to enable the transition from dinosaurs to birds. “They discovered that the dinosaurs that ultimately gave rise to birds steadily got smaller and finer boned with time.”

“Once the body plan crystallized, new avian species arose rapidly.”

Turning the age clock back

Reversing the aging clock is no longer in the realms of science fiction. The answer lies in something found in the blood of the young mouse can reverse the aging hearts, brains and muscles of older mouse. One group found that a factor GDF11 in the blood, which was already shown to rejuvenate the heart, was also capable of strengthening the older mouse’s muscles and improving its endurance. It also even spurred neuron growth in the brain. Another group found that blood or even cell-free blood plasma from the young ones can “bolster an aging mouse’s spatial memory.

The research has already moved a step closer to improving human ailments like Alzheimer’s. A clinical trial involving 18 Alzheimer patients is already underway to study how the plasma donated by young adults can improve the disease.

Mimicking human brain

Computer engineers at IBM and other companies took a leaf out of human brain and designed “neuromorphic” chips that can process information in a manner similar to human brain. This means that unlike the way today’s computers carry out logically operations but struggle to “integrate vast amounts of data.”

But out brains don’t face that difficulty. We seamless integrate vast amount of data collected from diverse sources to build the final product. This becomes possible as individual neurons communicate with their neighbours to enable parallel data processing.

The IBM’s new chip — TrueNorth — mimics the brain but at very small scale with 5.4 billion transistors and 256 million “synapses”. The brian has 100 billion neuron cells and 100 trillion synapses.

Diabetes may become curable

Ever since the discovery of human embryonic stem cells, one of the main goals was to use them for treating diseases caused by dysfunctional or damaged cells. Diabetes is one of such diseases. Beta cells in pancreas produce insulin and the destruction of these cells causes Type I diabetes.

But efforts to turn embryonic stem cells into beta cells proved to be “frustratingly slow.”

Treating type I diabetes has come a step closer. Two studies show that enough beta cells can be produced in less than two months to replace beta cells seen in the body. But before being used, the causal factor for beta cells deaths has to be identified. Meanwhile, much can be learnt about beta cells by studying the lab grown ones with the naturally occurring ones.

Rivalling European cave drawings

Symbolic art drawn by humans about 40,000 years ago in caves on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia ends Europe’s “monopoly on early symboloic art.” Till date, the oldest symbolic art drawn by humans, an indicator of brain development, was seen only in Europe. “Hand stencils outlined in mouth-brown red paint, mixed with pictures of rare pig-deer in red and mulberry hues” seen in Indonesian caves was dated as only 10,000 years old. But new studies show that hand stencils are at least about 40,000 years old and the animal paintings at least 35,400 years old. If the dating is correct, it either means that humans in Indonesia were as capable of painting on cave walls and this development was independent of those living in Europe or humans possessed this ability even as they spread to other parts of the world from Africa.

Switching emotion memories

Now, switching emotion memories appears as easy as switching on/off a fan. Researchers were able to switch the emotion memories of mice from bad to good and vice versa. This goes a step further to work already done in zapping existing memories and “incept” false ones. But it is still unclear if the mice actually experienced a reversal of memories and also if they can be applied on humans. But one thing is becoming increasingly clear. Scientists have at least taken baby steps in tinkering with memory. If successful in humans, treating post-traumatic stress disorder may not be impossible.

Expanding the genetic alphabets

For the first time ever, scientists succeeded in adding two letters to E. coli’s genetic alphabets. In nature, four letters — G,C, A and T — are found. And base pairs are formed when G pairs with C and A pairs with T. The two added letters X and Y forms the third pair. Researchers have added such bases in test tubes but not in an organism. Though the added letter do not code for anything, in future it could be used to codes for certain proteins. That will open up a great window of opportunity for the development of new medicines.

New avatar of CubeSats

The boxes as small as 10 cm and costing just hundreds of thousands dollars as they are built using off-the-shelf technology are no longer used only as educational aids. They are becoming capable of doing real science. They have been equipped to take pictures, though of lower resolution, that can be used for a variety of purposes like monitoring deforestation, river changes. The year 2014 alone saw 75 such CubeSats being launched. They can hitch a ride on commercial rockets that are launched.

The entrepreneurs of violence

Understanding the TTP attack in Peshawar would involve looking at the group’s structure, the role of ideology and the impact of Pakistan’s counter-insurgency operations

On December 16, 2014, 145 people, including 132 children, were executed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in a terrorist attack on an Army Public School in Peshawar. [The toll is now 150.] When cornered, the seven militants blew themselves up; five inside the school and two outside. Later a TTP spokesperson, Mohd. Omar Khorasani, said that the attack was retribution for the Pakistani government’s counterinsurgency operations in North Waziristan, which had “targeted our [Taliban’s] families and females”.

Operation Zarb-e-Azb is a massive counterinsurgency operation that was launched by the Pakistani Army in June 2014 to wipe out the Taliban from North Waziristan a week after the TTP’s attack on Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, which killed over 36 people including the attackers. It involves 30,000 men, armoured battalions, air support and drones. The operation came in the wake of repeated failure of talks between the Taliban and the Pakistan government. With the Pakistan government feeling as if the Taliban was dodging the talks by sending TTP sympathisers and not actual TTP ranks, the airport attack was the last straw. Between June and December, approximately 1,200 reported insurgents have been killed in the region and approximately a million civilians have been displaced.

Fighting for space

To understand the TTP attack in Peshawar, we need to first understand the structure of the TTP. It is an umbrella organisation of at least 13 groups started in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud. Last year, the leadership of the TTP came to Maulana Fazlullah, also called the ‘FM [radio] Mullah’, a man who has violently opposed education for children, most clearly evinced in his instructions for the shooting of Malala Yousafzai. When Fazlullah assumed the TTP’s leadership, four splinter groups emerged (alongside the pre-existing TTP Punjab) — the Ahrar-ul-Hind (February 2014), the TTP South Waziristan (May 2014), the TTP Jamaat-ul Ahrar (August 2014), and the TTP Sajna (May 2014). The groups emerged because of sharp differences on insurgent strategy between Fazlullah and other competing insurgent chiefs within the TTP, including the remaining members of the Mehsud clan.

When there are competing insurgent groups, with very few ideological and operational differences operating in the same piece of territory, things become complicated. Essentially these groups look like similar products. Often, proving your mettle as an insurgent group and establishing dominance means undertaking the most daring, risky attacks and getting a higher death count. It means being as entrepreneurial at violence as possible. So, to understand the Peshawar attack we need to focus on the following factors.

Counterinsurgency

First, as I have already described, competition between insurgent groups for dominance in one piece of territory, leads to higher levels of violence. Memorable (not in a good way) violence of the type undertaken by the TTP serves the purpose of helping the group develop a brand identity, i.e., it is easily distinguishable from other similar looking groups. Having an easily distinguishable identity from a pool of similar groups allows the TTP to have an upper hand while amassing recruits. So, insurgent strategy and ideology helps in “branding” and “banding” for an insurgent group.

Second, we cannot look at the TTP’s actions in isolation. Counterinsurgency, by definition, is based on force as a default strategy. However, when deals with insurgents fail, the state’s tendency to use force becomes more pronounced and in some ways, is seen as more legitimate by state actors. However, counterinsurgency also dislocates entire populations, who, if not adequately resettled and policed, serve as new recruiting grounds for insurgent groups. The counterinsurgency operations in North Waziristan have been swift, sustained and brutal. With ranks of the TTP wiped out and the outfit splintering, the Peshawar attacks need to be seen as the TTP’s way of reasserting military dominance and territorial control; only, they shifted the target. Instead of a hard military target, a soft target was picked. Further, in a strategy calculated to incite the Pakistani military and hit where it hurts them most, families of Army men were targeted.

“The TTP’s ideology binds it to a regressive ideal, but it also does not lend itself well to negotiation and pacting as a strategy. To negotiate is to lose face ”

Third, what is telling is that, overall, the counterinsurgency operations have been effective in terms of putting the TTP out of commission to the extent that they currently find it difficult to attack a hard military target.

Fourth, typically when counterinsurgency operations are on the verge of destroying an insurgent group and are heavily coercive, the insurgent group asks for talks or a ceasefire. A cessation of hostilities allows for both sides to regroup, rearm, recruit, and move men, money and materials around. This is more important for insurgent groups than the state because the state does not immediately need the breathing room as much as the insurgent groups do. There is no indication that the TTP asked for this breathing room or even if it had asked, there is nothing to suggest the Pakistani Army would oblige it.

Role of ideology

When a group becomes intricately bound to its own ideology there is very little wiggle room left for that group strategically. This is because for an insurgent group to have any local credibility, the group’s strategy needs to be commensurate with its ideology. The TTP’s ideology binds it to a regressive ideal, for sure, but it also does not lend itself well to negotiation and pacting as a strategy. To negotiate is to lose face. With previous TTP leaders some talks were possible. However, with Fazlullah, given his track record, this seems unlikely. Fazlullah, who was the leader of the Swat TTP and an immensely successful militant (by standards of militancy), had used a ceasefire period in 2009 to establish legal and coercive control over 59 villages in Swat valley.

His strategy has been simple. Whatever policy the Pakistan government attempts, decry it, stop it, attack it. So, he has, for instance, opposed everything — from women’s education to polio vaccines — by calling these western implants that do not belong in Pakistani society, which must be governed by full sharia. In many ways, if Fazlullah is the one who picked the Army Public School in Peshawar as the target, it falls in line with his thinking. In both India and Pakistan, the Army is one of the few modern institutions where military ranks matter more than entrenched feudal hierarchies. The Army also hangs on to colonial traditions because many regiments were set up during the British Raj. These colonial traditions have in cases become regimental traditions. Finally, the Army runs schools to facilitate personnel transfers without cost to the family. Many civilian schools refuse to take admissions in mid-session. For a serving soldier who is transferred in mid-session, the easiest solution is to shift his child from one Army school to another. Army schools typically impart education in English and insist on modern codes of dress for students. Between the fact that the school was run by the Army and that families of Army personnel were in there, and, the fact that the school by its mere existence was a symbol of a type of education, which is at odds with what the Taliban teaches, the school’s fate was sealed.

The only outcome that can be guaranteed at this point is that counterinsurgency operations will not cease against the TTP, neither will the focus be deflected to other matters. This has been made clear by the Pakistani Army chief, General Raheel Sharif, and by most of the political establishment. If the Pakistan government were to think carefully about this process, alongside coercive counterinsurgency they would also open dialogues with the more approachable and perhaps moderate Taliban splinter groups — those that do not accept Fazlullah as their ‘amir’ or chief and have deviated sufficiently from conventional Taliban ideology to not be constrained if it comes to meaningful dialogue.