Govt to revamp DRDO, sets up committee (GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Why in news?
- The Ministry of Defence has decided to revamp Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
- It is known more for its delayed projects, cost overruns than the advances made in actual technology other than the missile programme.
Committee:
- The Ministry has set up a nine-member committee under the chairmanship of K. Vijay Raghavan, the former principal scientific advisor to the government.
- The committee, which was given three months to come out with recommendations on revamping DRDO, has members with links to the three Services, industry and the ministry itself.
Mandate:
The committee’s primary task is to come up with
- recommendations of restructuring and redefining the role of the DRDO,
- a way to rope in and retain high quality manpower,
- ability to collaborate with foreign experts and entities besides
- rationalising the number of laboratories within the organisation.
Issues with DRDO:
- Starting with only 10 laboratories in 1958, DRDO has grown into a giant organisation with a network of over 50 laboratories and establishments spread across the country.
- It, however, has not been able to produce a single technologically contemporary or futuristic platform or capability for the Indian armed forces on its own.
- From tanks to fighter aircraft to even basic assault rifles to specialised battery systems for the Navy or communication systems and unmanned aerial vehicles, the DRDO projects have seen huge delays.
- In 2022, the forces had also given several inputs on the need to revamp the DRDO, including by a parliamentary panel as early as 2019.
- A number of groups, including Kelkar, Kargil and Rama Rao committees, had been appointed to suggest recommendations, but very few were implemented.
Way Forward:
- The DRDO revamp will be a big step after what the government did with the erstwhile Ordinance Factory Board (OFB), which was divided into seven separate entities focussed on specific verticals of manufacturing.
India lights up the dark side of the moon
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Why in news?
- India has become the fourth country to successfully land on the moon as the Chandrayaan-3’s lander module, with the rover, successfully made a soft landing on the lunar surface.
- Precisely at 6.03 p.m., the lander touched the lunar surface.
Landmarks:
- India joined an elite list of countries; the U.S., Russia and China to achieve this feat.
- India has also become the first nation to touch down on the polar region of the moon.
- With the success of Chandrayaan-3, India now has become a space power with a proven track record. India’s space economy is expected to grow to $12.8 billion by 2025.
- Overall, countries have made 47 attempts at soft landing on the moon of which only 21, including Chandrayaan-3, have been successful.
Series of event:
- The moon lander was launched on July 14, perched on a LVM 3 heavy-lift launch vehicle. It was placed in the lunar orbit on August 5.
- The tricky soft landing was preceded by subtle maneuvers, what the scientists called ‘20 minutes of terror’.
- The lander, which was powered by four engines, cut off two to lose speed over the last 30 km.
- It then performed the challenging change from a horizontal to vertical position for touchdown and controlled its speed, a process that had gone wrong in Chandrayaan-2 in 2019.
Descent of the lander:
- Around 5.44 p.m., the powered descent of the lander module was initiated. The powered descent is divided into four phases:
- rough braking phase
- altitude hold phase
- fine braking phase and
- terminal descent phase.
- Vikram completed each of these phases seamlessly and 19 minutes later, at 6.03 p.m., the lander made a safe and soft landing on the moon.
Link with MOX:
- A communication link was established between the lander and the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bengaluru.
- It also shared images taken by the lander’s horizontal velocity camera during the descent.
How it will work?
- The lander will deploy the rover which will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility.
- The lander and the rover with a mission life of one Lunar day (14 Earth days) have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface.
- For the next 14 days, the rover Pragyan will send images and data from the surface of the moon. After 14 days, its activity is likely to slow down, given that it is powered by solar cells.
- The moon rover will be in touch with the Lander Vikram and the orbiter of Chandrayaan-2. The lander will relay data to ISRO, which has no direct link with the Rover.
About Chandrayaan-3 mission:
- The Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
- Chandrayaan-3 consists of an indigenous lander module, propulsion module and a rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions.
- The objectives of the mission are to demonstrate safe and soft landing on lunar surface, to demonstrate rover roving on the moon and conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
What’s next?
- ISRO has a number of projects lined up; one of them a mission to study the Sun, and a human space flight programme, Gaganyaan.
- Aditya-L1, the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun, is also getting ready for launch.
What are the amendments to the Pakistan Army Act?
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Pakistan senate passed a Bill to amend the Pakistan Army Act, 1952.
What are the new amendments?
- The Bill has expanded the ambit of the Army Act by inserting clause 1A in Section 8 of the Act. With this change, the Act will include civilians working in entities affiliated with or controlled by the Pakistan Army like the Fauji Foundation, Army Welfare Trust, Fauji Urea, Fauji Cement, etc.
- The Bill has added two new sections to Section 26 of the Act.
- Section 26A on ‘unauthorised disclosure’, states that “if any person who is or has been subject to this act, discloses or causes to be disclosed any information, acquired in an official capacity, which is or may be prejudicial to the security and interest of Pakistan or the Armed Forces of Pakistan, shall be guilty of an offence, and on conviction by the court constituted under this Act, be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years.”
- Section 26B prohibits a person who has been subjected to this Act from participating in any kind of political activity for two years “from the date of his retirement, release, resignation, discharge, removal, or dismissal from the service.”
Amendment to Section 55:
- Section 55A bars the subject of this Act from getting into any form of engagement, consultation, or employment, directly or indirectly, with any entity that might have a conflict of interest with the Armed Forces of Pakistan and its affiliate entities.
- Section 55B outlines the punishment applicable to individuals who, whether currently or previously subjected to this legislation, undermine, ridicule, or scandalise the Armed Forces.
Why now?
- The addition of clause 26A must be seen through the prism of the May 9 incident, wherein the supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, attacked army installations across the country.
- The information regarding the installations was leaked from within the Army. The amendments have been specifically designed to intimidate the veterans who have been supporting the former Pakistan PM by expressing their views on social media and public platforms.
- The changes proposed in the Bill are not just about strengthening the power of the Army Chief and dissuading critics.
- Through the addition of Section 175C (on welfare and rehabilitation), Section 175D (on welfare through affiliated entities), and Section 176E (on national development), the Pakistan Army has formalised its intervention in the functioning of the country in the name of rehabilitating serving, retired, or wounded personnel and families of martyrs as well as in national development and advancement of strategic interests.
What are the implications?
- The manner in which the Bill was passed has exposed the government’s docile behaviour towards the Army.
- The Bill was taken up in the morning without adhering to a two-day notice. Only two senators raised concerns about how the Bill was being pushed through the house.
- The amendments in the Army Act clearly aim to silence criticism of the Pakistan Army, especially from retired personnel.
- A section of journalists and human rights advocates have expressed concerns as these amendments would jeopardise the rights and liberties of individuals as well as impose restrictions on the dissemination of information.
- With the implementation of such draconian laws, the authorities would end up with absolute power to target anybody.
