Mr Obama's passage to India

The United States president's visit should help in cultivating India as a reliable partner in international affairs

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vigorous foreign policyin the seven months since he took office has surprised observers. After inviting the leaders of Pakistan and other neighbouring countries to his inauguration, he embarked on trips to China, Australia, and the United States. More recently, he welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to New Delhi and signed a large number of trade deals and orders to import Russian nuclear reactors. India, Mr Modi is telling his fellow citizens, is strong and well regarded around the world.

Next month, United States President Barack Obama will travel to New Delhi as Mr Modi's special guest at events commemorating Republic Day, India's national holiday - just three months after the two leaders held substantive talks in Washington, D C. The visit should, thus, be regarded as a clear signal of Mr Obama's desire, no less than Mr Modi's, to strengthen United States-India relations.

So what is likely to be on Mr Obama's mind when he meets his Indian counterpart again, and what does he think can be done to cement bilateral ties? Three issues stand out - beginning with trade, which is as important politically as it is economically.

Mr Obama hopes that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be concluded in 2015 and ratified by the United States Senate. The TPP will not be as powerful a free-trade agreement as originally intended, owing to exclusions and a very long phase-in period. But it will tie the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries (including Japan but excluding China) together in a new economic bloc. Mr Obama should be eager to stress that India's exclusion from the TPP is a matter solely of geography - India does not abut the Pacific - and that the United States wants to increase bilateral trade and direct investment by American firms.

The second issue is terrorism. The United States authorities are worried that American citizens who have been fighting with the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda in West Asia will return home to commit terrorist acts. India has experienced horrific acts of terrorism on its own territory. Continued cooperation between the American and Indian intelligence agencies can help both countries prevent future incidents.

Terrorism includes not just physical violence, but also assaults in cyberspace. China, Russia and Iran have been the source of frequent cyber attacks on banks, companies and government agencies; North Korea, the United States alleges, was behind the recent breach of Sony Pictures' computers. Though Mr Obama presented evidence to Chinese President Xi Jinping of technology theft by hackers based in China, the Chinese authorities continue to deny it. More recently, Russia and others have been planting malware in the control systems of the United States power grid and other sensitive networks.

Looking ahead, the United States worries about cyber attacks by non-state actors like the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. Although these groups' members may lack the sophistication to commit such acts, they may try to hire individuals with the necessary skills. India has a large number of talented computer engineers, including some who might be sympathetic to the Islamist cause. The United States and India could both benefit from cooperating to prevent and disrupt such recruitment efforts.

The third issue on Mr Obama's mind is bound to be China's asserted goal of dominating Asia and excluding the United States from the region. Chinese hegemonic ambition runs counter to India's strategic interests as well - reason enough for Mr Modi's eagerness to strengthen his country's relations with its neighbours as well as with the United States. Mr Obama has already made it clear that the United States understands that Mr Modi's willingness to cooperate with Russia, despite Western sanctions imposed on the country, stems from India's desire to discourage a Sino-Russian alliance against it.

Mr Modi won a landslide victory in an election that reflected the Indian public's disappointment with the policies and performance of the previous government, led by the Indian National Congress. Though India had experienced annual real gross domestic product growth of more than eight per cent for several years, growth has slowed since 2010, to less than five per cent in 2013, owing to a populist shift in policies dictated by Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi.

By contrast, the Modi government plans to pursue a pro-growth agenda that includes reducing bureaucratic delays, increasing infrastructure investment, stimulating manufacturing activity and shifting to a simpler unified tax system. Mr Modi's agenda also evidently includes an active foreign policy - as it should.

Cultivating India as a reliable partner in the global economy and in international affairs is a high priority for the United States as well. Mr Obama's visit to India can help to realise that relationship's potential.

Cyber-attacks are no longer fiction

On Monday, November 24, 2014, employees at Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) headquarters in Culver City, California, had a shock when they switched on their workstations. A red skeleton popped up with a bullet-pointed message. Hackers, who self-identified as "Guardians of Peace", said they controlled all Sony's data.

SPE shut down servers and took its corporate network offline. It suffered massive damage. Unreleased movies were dumped onto the internet. So were e-mails, medical records and compensation data for executives. The personal information of sundry Hollywood stars and entertainers was also released.

The attack was said to be orchestrated by North Korea(officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK) in retaliation for a Sony comedy, The Interview. This film (released post-hack) is about an assassination attempt on Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Then, a hacker group, "Lizard Squad" forced DPRK off the internet for two days in December.

US President Barack Obama blamed North Korea. The DPRK accused the US of a counter-attack. The Federal Bureau of Investigation says the Sony hackers were careless, and revealed internet protocol addresses of DPRK origin.

Consider the damage. SPE, a $8-billion subsidiary of Japanese parent, Sony was crippled for weeks. The digital infrastructure was ruined without physical damage. The release of private data made employees and movie stars personally vulnerable. There was loss of revenue as copyrighted films were released. Future plans were compromised. SPE may even be liable for lawsuits due to the poor encryption of private data of individuals. Insurers will examine this case closely and it could lead to modifications in industrial insurance policies and practices.

The hackers face few consequences. They were anonymous people operating from outside the US borders. There is "deniability" for the DPRK, which is said to have a cyber warfare cell of over 6,000 hackers. The combination of deniability, and the ability to cripple infrastructure without necessarily causing physical damage is tempting. So is the ability to garner intelligence and data.

Not surprisingly, there have been multiple earlier instances of cyber-attacks, allegedly by nations.

Iran's nuclear programme was hit by the Stuxnet worm, which targeted industrial control systems in reactors and research institutions for years. Stuxnet was very sophisticated. It's said to have been developed by Israeli and US coders but, of course, there's no confirmation. Stuxnet found vulnerabilities in specialised chips designed for one purpose.

In 2009, an allegedly Chinese operation, "GhostNet" hacked data off government servers in many nations. In 2007, Estonia was knocked offline by a coordinated attack, made by at least a million hacked computers, turned into a "zombie army". Russia was blamed, given tensions between Estonia and Russia. Georgia was knocked offline during the South Ossetia Crisis of 2008. Again, Russia had circumstantial motives. In the 1990s, the US hit Serbian infrastructure to knock out air traffic control and facilitate UN bombing operations.

Military infrastructure and equipment is heavily dependent on computers and networks. All military equipment relies to some degree on specialised chips, or on networks. General civilian infrastructure is also vulnerable.

The global financial system, for example, is networked and interconnected. Banks, credit cards issuers, financial markets servers, central banks, tax authorities and so on all "talk" to each other. Power grids are smart. So are airport traffic control and airline routing systems, railway networks, traffic lights and so on.

The "Internet of Things" is also growing. This consists of smart unmanned devices connected to the internet. It includes items as diverse as industrial robots, police drones, refrigerators and car navigational systems. Botnet armies of "things" have already been created.

At least 140 nations have cyber war programmes. The US spends untold billions distributed across many agencies. It has a Cyber Command, which is part of Special Operations Forces. The US also has an articulated framework of "five pillars" for active and passive cyber-warfare. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO has a separate "Tallinn manual" developed after the Estonia episode mentioned above.

While other countries lack similar resources or focus, even small investments in cyber capabilities can pay off big in offensive terms. And, of course, defensive capacities in this area are imperative. This is one area of civilian-cum-military capability where India cannot afford to fall behind.

India Water Week to be Celebrated from 13 to 17 January

In an effort to raise awareness, conserve and use water resources in an integrated manner, the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India will be observing India Water Week from 13 to 17th of this month to use it as a platform to elicit ideas and opinions from global level decision makers, politicians, researchers and entrepreneurs in the field of water resources for mutual benefit and goodwill. The theme for water week will be “Water Management for Sustainable Development". India Water Week-2015 will address the issues of sustainability of water resources development and management in line with Sustainable Development Goals 2015 being finalized by UN. Australia will be the partner country for this event and 30 Australian companies will be participating in the exhibition to showcase the technological advancement in the area of water resources. Maharashtra will be associated as partner State. The main function will be held at New Delhi with a conference cum policy dialogue forum coupled with a Business to Business exhibition organized professionally. The event is targeted at international and national audience comprising of policy planners and technologists involved with water resources management in all key sectors of economy like agriculture, irrigation, energy, industry and drinking water supply. The event is being organized in co-ordination with nodal Ministries of Agriculture, Environment & Forests and Climate Change, Rural Development, Urban Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Power and NITI Ayog along with their associated expert organizations and Public Sector Units, key international bodies and private and public business houses. The IWW-2015 will be celebrated with a multi- disciplinary conference and a concurrently running exhibition enriching the theme and showcasing the technologies and solutions available for the areas under deliberation of the meet. The event will have the following major components: A multi- disciplinary dialogue in form of a conference discussing issues of water management for sustainable development in, water for sustaining life, agriculture and irrigation, drinking water supplies in rural and urban, industrial water use, energy generation applications. A large group of international and national persons of eminence will be sharing their experiences in the field of water management. In addition, there will be three special sessions involving dignitaries, delegates, politicians, experts on various topics of the event. Expert professional bodies and think tanks are invited to put up side events addressing specific issues under the theme. There will also be an exhibition running in parallel supporting the theme and showcasing the technologies, latest development and solutions available for the areas of water management for sustainable development in agriculture and irrigation, drinking water supplies in rural and urban, industrial water use. The exhibition will provide a unique networking opportunity to the exhibitors for exposing their products and services to the practicing water resource professionals from various countries. Exhibitors will also have a unique opportunity to spread their network in this region and find new joint ventures and profit from the growing business in this emerging and technologically important area. Business firms will have the opportunity of direct contact with thousands of potential clients, highly qualified visitors including decision makers, enormous PR and promotional opportunities, to find joint ventures to enable them to expand their business in the rapidly growing India water market and to increase brand visibility/image and free hosting of exhibitors profiles and company website links on event web portal. During the week Hamara Jal – Hamara Jeewan initiative will be observed in every district of the country. This will be an initiative to engage scientists, engineers, water communities, PRIs, other stakeholders and NGOs to address the issues of water resources planning at the local level and to generate awareness regarding need for water conservation. Participation from school students will be an integral part of the programme for sensitizing the next generation for water conservation. This will also spread awareness regarding need to conserve water in the light of growing water scarcity. One day workshop will be organized in every district during the week to find indigenous solution for meeting the water related demands and suggest future road map to manage water for growth. During the workshop it is planned to prepare a profile of each district covering its source of water, utilization for various uses and constraint, possible local solutions for meeting the unsatisfied demands and future roadmap to manage water for growth. The States have been asked to submit a report in this regard after the workshop is over. The recommendations received during the deliberations of the workshop will also be used for preparation of an overview of State level recommendations. Such recommendations would enable Ministry to utilize the same for policy making. Conceptualised and organised for the first time in 2012, the India Water Week is an annual forum where the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India discusses, talks, strategizes with eminent stakeholders through seminars, exhibitions and sessions to build public awareness to get support to implement key strategies for conservation, preservation and optimum use of available water. This is the third event in line with the theme “Water management for sustainable development”. The second event namely India Water Week-2013 with the theme “Efficient Water Management: Challenges and Opportunities” was organised during 8-12 April, 2013 at New Delhi.

UPPCS-RO/ARO EXAM-2014

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What will be the India-based Neutrino Observatory’s impact

The INO will be like a 2-inch hole made to insert a pipe through a 10-foot-high wall; it will not affect the stability of the hill

In a landmark move, the Government of India’s Union Cabinet recently approved the India-based Neutrino Observatory project. Coming soon after the approval of the 30-metre telescope which will be located in Hawaii, this decision will cause India to step into big fundamental science. “A pioneer in the field of neutrino science, India was a world leader in 1965. In the mid-1990s, with the closing of the Kolar Gold Fields which was the site of the experiments, experimental neutrino research in India came to a halt, and the INO is expected to revive the lost advantage,” says Prof. G. Rajasekaran of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, a founder member of the INO.

The three types of neutrinos, which were initially thought to be mass-less, are now believed to have a small mass.

This was shown by observations of neutrino oscillation, which is a phenomenon by which one type of neutrino transforms into another.

There is a hierarchy among the masses of these three types of neutrino and the experiments at the INO will study this mass ordering using a magnetised iron calorimeter (ICAL). The ICAL is a massive detector which will be made of iron — 50,000 tonnes of it! The project will be housed in the 63 acres of land, about 2 km away from the settlement, in the Bodi West Hills about 100 km from Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

One might wonder at the need for such a massive detector and for drilling underground. The reason is that the neutrinos interact very weakly with the surroundings. We are all being washed by a stream of neutrinos every passing minute as they just pass through us without leaving a trace. Since they interact so weakly, detecting them over other interactions is impossible. We need to have a barrier of at least 1 km of earth to block out other radiation and particles, such as muons from cosmic rays. This is the reason scientists are now going underground. They will construct a tunnel at a depth of 1,300 metres below the peak and which is 2 km by 7.5m by 7.5m. This will lead to a chamber that will house the detector.

Questions have been raised as to whether this tunnel will harm the mountain. D. Indumathi, physicist and outreach co-ordinator of INO says, “This is exactly like making a 2-inch hole to insert a pipe through a 10-foot-high wall. It will not affect the stability of the hill.” About the ecological impact of the construction process, Dr, Indumathi says, “There will be hardly any disturbance after the construction period. During construction, we will take a lot of precautions and proceed in a controlled manner. Controlled blasting of the rock will last a few seconds, twice a day. At a few hundred metres from the site, this will produce a ground vibration less than 1 mm per sec.”

The members of INO had to deal with many more questions such as the effect of the construction on distant dams and the impact of the development on the villagers, and, according to her, detailed answers to questions on the impact of various aspects of the project are outlined in the INO website.

“In Idukki itself, there are more than 200 quarries, which are working without impacting the dam.

Even the Chennai Metro Rail project can dig just metres under the buildings without damaging them because of advances in technology,” she says.

While experiments around the world are being set up in the South Pole, on top of mountains and even in outer space, big basic science projects are still new in India. The INO’s project director Naba Mondal says, “This will be the largest experimental facility to come up in the country and students will get a chance to work with cutting edge technology and build sophisticated instruments.

It will be a boon for students all over the country, especially Tamil Nadu.”

For instance, S. Pethuraj, who passed out of Madurai Kamaraj University, has joined the INO’s PhD programme at TIFR, Mumbai. “Meeting the INO scientists at the university was inspiring, and the exposure I get at TIFR is of a very high level,” he says.

Watershed in judicial history

The Supreme Court of India and the High Courts, described as the most powerful judiciary in the world, are witnessing dramatic changes in their institutional structure. Pending notification, the legislature has passed the Constitution (121st Amendment) Bill, 2014 and The National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014 to regulate the procedure for recommending the appointment and transfer of the Chief Justices and Judges of these higher courts, marking a watershed in judicial history. The new law provides for the setting up of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), a six-member panel headed by the Chief Justice of India, and includes two senior-most Supreme Court judges, the Union Minister of Law and Justice and two ‘eminent persons’ nominated by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the CJI and the Leader of the Opposition. Although controversial, this represents a much-needed reform of the older collegium system. That system was a judge-devised practice of appointments that evolved out of the ‘three-judges cases’ (1982, 1993 and 1998) wherein the Chief Justice along with a panel of senior-most judges would make a binding recommendation to the President on the appointees. This model was a reaction to blatant favouritism by the executive that marked appointments until the Supreme Court decided to change the procedure. To avoid charges of favouritism, the collegiums relied on seniority, which only encouraged more mediocrity.

Although such an inter-institutional model has the potential to enhance merit and diversity in the judiciary, it is the fine print of law that raises questions. With three of the six members being judges, a decision of the Commission can be vetoed by any two members. The judicial members of the NJAC lack the preponderance in voice necessary to maintain independence. The fear is that the NJAC may encourage High Court judges to give pro-government rulings with the object of gaining eventual promotion to the Supreme Court. This problem was dealt with by the Venkatachaliah Committee, endorsed by the Vajpayee government, which suggested a panel of three judges, the Union Minister and only one ‘eminent person’, thus reducing the scope for executive interference. Having a relook at this report might have been of value. But the BJP has ignored it and instead demanded more say in the NJAC; the Opposition did not seem to have any complaints about the procedure either. With several influential lawyers criticising the law for being a political assault on judicial independence, the constitutionality of the law is about to be challenged in court. Whether this would eventually lead to a conflict between the two wings of the government, is something to be seen.

Initiatives of Ministries of Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy

Excerpts from E-Book on Achievements and Initiatives of Ministries of Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy in the first 200 Days

Mission: ·        Affordable, 24x7 power for all homes, industrial and commercial establishments and adequate power for the agricultural sector ·        Long-term energy security of India Key takeaways ·        5 unions of Coal India Limited have called off the strike after cordial discussions with senior leadership of the company and the Ministry of Coal yesterday. ·        After collapse of grid in Delhi in May leading to frequent power cuts, Central government acted decisively to restore power lines and provide power to all homes. From these learnings, we have prepared a short term and medium term plan to ensure such a crisis does not occur again, for which massive investments worth Rs. 7,700 crores are already underway for: o       Upgrading power infrastructure o       Bringing more transmission lines to the city o       Underground cabling o       Smart metering to stop wrong billing o       Emergency response systems ·      National launch of LED and energy conservation mission by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji: 1 crore bulbs in Delhi will be replaced with LED within one year. Similar replacement program of500,000 street lights of Delhi in one year too. Nationwide rollout thereafter will see a saving of over Rs. 10,000 crores. ·      Amendments in the Electricity Act introduced in Parliament for providing choice to consumers in electricity suppliers (just like we have the freedom to choose a mobile phone operator and can change if dissatisfied, so will be the case with electricity suppliers too). This will ensure more competition, affordable power and better customer service. ·      50% increase in capacity addition in June-Nov 2014 versus June-Nov 2013 ·      Record 15.8% increase in thermal based electricity generation in June-Nov 2014 versus June-Nov 2013 ·      All time high 14.1% increase in coal production in Oct-Nov 2014 versus 1.0% in Oct-Nov 2013 (and 8.4% production growth in June-Nov 2014 over June-Nov 2013) ·      Central Government grant of Rs. 1.1 lakh crores for comprehensive infrastructure up gradation pan India under two schemes (Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) for rural India andIntegrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) for urban India) towards 24x7 affordable power for all. o       DDUGJY will see feeder separation in rural India giving assured power to the farms, and 24x7 for homes and small scale industries o       The Remote villages with small population (e.g., dhanis) will also be covered under DDUGJY. ·      Action plan towards doubling Coal India’s production target to 100 crore tons in 5 years is in place, and transformation process has been initiated. ·      100,000 MW solar and 60,000 MW wind energy capacity installation target by 2022 for long-term energy security of India. This will entail an investment of Rs. 10 lakh crore. o       40,000 MW of rooftop solar o       20,000 MW of solar parks ·      A world-class Renewable Energy Investment Summit (RE-Invest 2015) is being held in mid-February to show case India’s potential, ease of doing business and to attract such quantum of capital. ·      Historic coal ordinance was promulgated within a month of cancellation of coal blocks by Hon’ble Supreme Court. Allocation and auction process will be held in a transparent manner exclusively by e-bidding. This will protect the interests of Coal India Limited’s employees and increase domestic production towards 24x7 affordable power for all, and long term energy security of India. ·      Coal bearing states will receive over Rs. 7 lakh crores from e-auction of coal blocks in future, for socioeconomic development and accelerating economic growth. ·      Make in India: Rs. 1 lakh crore worth orders being placed by NTPC, Coal India Limited, Energy Efficiency Services Limited, PGCIL etc. to boost manufacturing and kick start the economy. ·      Long pending transmission projects worth Rs. 35,000 crores cleared and government grant of Rs. 10,000 crores for comprehensive strengthening and up gradation of power systems in 8 North Eastern States ·      Supply of coal from nearest mines will reduce transportation costs by Rs. 6,000 crores, reducing tariffs: o       Already one exchange between NTPC and Gujarat saved Rs. 300 crores for the customers ·      PSUs under the administrative control of the Ministries of Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy areconstructing over 100,000 toilets in schools, by 15th August 2015 towards Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan.