गुरुवार, 13 नवंबर 2014

aha zindagi facebook story - www.bhaskar.com

वाह.. वाह.. लाइक.. रात-दिन चमचमाते बाजार। रात के एक बजे भी आप इस बाजार से गुजर
जाइए तो रौनकें आपको आवाजें देंगी। आपके कदम ठिठक जाएंगे। कभी तो उदास कदमों को
मुस्कुराहटों की नेमत भी मिल जाती है यहां, लेकिन इंस्टेंट.. पेन रिलीवर की तरह।
उसके साइड इफेक्ट.. उन पर भी सोचना जरूरी है।

शनिवार, 18 अक्तूबर 2014

रविवार, 12 अक्तूबर 2014

PIYAVASANT KI KHOJ | 9789382898412

PIYAVASANT KI KHOJ | 9789382898412

‘पियावसंत की खोज’ आज की एक ज्वलंत समस्या ‘दहेज प्रथा’ पर लिखा गया यथार्थवादी उपन्यास है। इस प्रथा के संदर्भ में यह उपन्यास लिखकर लेखक ने सामयिक धन्यता के क्षण बटोरने का प्रयास न कर तटस्थतावादी दृष्‍टिकोण अपनाया है, किंतु इसका यह अर्थ नहीं कि स्थितियों से उत्पन्न हो रही सामाजिक न्याय-अन्याय की प्रवृत्तियों के प्रति वह निर्लेप रहा है। निर्लेप होता तो इस ज्वलंत प्रश्‍न को स्पर्श ही नहीं करता।
उपन्यास में लेखक का तटस्थतावादी दृष्‍टिकोण प्रारंभ से अंत तक समाजशास्‍‍त्रीय प्रतिनिधि बनकर उभरा है। इसी कारण उसने कन्याओं के अभिभावकों की मनःशिराओं में बह रही दुहरी विचारधारा को विभिन्न चित्रों में रूपायित किया है और उन चिह्नों के व्याज से अपनी औपन्यासिक चिंतनसत्ता को सार्थक बनाने में अपनी पूर्वस्वीकृत समस्त विशिष्‍टताओं के साथ पाठकों के समक्ष प्रस्तुत हुआ है।
इस कृति में जहाँ ढलती हुई उम्र की अविवाहिताओं के प्रति लेखक की वेदना उभरी है, वहीं उसका न्यायाधीश का हृदय भी सजग रहा है कि समर्थ अभिभावक भी कन्याओं के देने के नाम पर बनावटी निढालपन का परिचय देते हैं। अतः दहेज प्रथा पर लिखा गया यह उपन्यास एक फैशन के रूप में नहीं बल्कि तथ्यपरकता का वह शीशा है, जो वादी-प्रतिवादी, दोनों को बेनकाब करता है। आशा है, इसी सामाजिक बोध के साथ यह उपन्यास पढ़ा जाएगा और समादृत होगा।
The Author
Himanshu Shrivastava
हिमांशु श्रीवास्तव हिंदी के उन सौभाग्यशाली लेखकों में से एक हैं, जिन्होंने साहित्यिक राजनीति के दल से अपने को सर्वथा बचाकर रखा और रचनाधर्मिता के क्षेत्र में अनेकशः कीर्तिमान स्थापित किए। उदाहरण के लिए यह निःसंकोच कहा जा सकता है कि इनके एक उपन्यास ‘लोहे के पंख’ के कथन, वर्णन विशद्ता और अनुभव-संसार को हिंदी का कोई अन्य उपन्यासकार अब तक छू नहीं सका; यों प्राणायाम बहुतों ने किए।हिमांशु श्रीवास्तव बिहार के सारण जिलांतर्गत हराजी ग्राम में सन् 1934 में जनमे और सन् 55-56 तक साहित्यिक छल-कपट नहीं, बल्कि अपनी प्रतिभा के कारण सभी धाराओं के समीक्षकों और लेखकों के लिए अविस्मरणीय कथाकार बन गए।अब तक बीस से अधिक उपन्यास, डेढ़ सौ कहानियाँ और तीन नाटक प्रकाशित हो चुके हैं। प्रथम श्रेणी के रेडियो नाटककार के रूप में स्वीकृत-स्थापित। मूर्धन्य समालोचक और साहित्यकार डॉ. रामकुमार वर्मा के शब्दों में—‘‘हिमांशु श्रीवास्तव के उपन्यासों ने हिंदी उपन्यास को गंगा जैसी उदात्तता प्रदान की है।’’

शुक्रवार, 10 अक्तूबर 2014

Self-employed people did not disclose their income truthfully, a court here has said while ordering a man to pay his estranged wife Rs.7,500 per month for the maintenance of his disabled child.
Metropolitan Magistrate Vandana directed the man to pay Rs.7,500 for the maintenance of his son, observing that child’s chronological age is approximately 17 years but his social age is 9- 10 years.
“I find it appropriate to mention here that it is usual tendency of the parties that they do not disclose their income truthfully especially where the parties are self-employed or employed in the unorganized sector,” the magistrate said in the order delivered last week but released Friday.
The court’s ruling came while hearing the woman’s plea seeking interim maintenance from her estranged husband, saying that her savings have finished while taking care of her son and now she wants money to maintain herself and child.
However, the court has refused the woman’s plea seeking maintenance for herself, saying she is well-qualified and capable of maintaining herself and can find a suitable job.
The court observed that woman is a graduate from Delhi University and done certificate course from NIIT and IBM.
“Sitting idle of a person who is educated enough to maintain herself/himself without any reasonable cause cannot be considered a reason for demanding maintenance,” the court said.
“A person who is capable of work, must work.”
The court said: “The educational status and the standard of living of the complainant (wife) seems to be far better than the respondent (husband).”
The petitioner was married to man in November 1995 and they had a child in October 1996.
The woman told court that due to dispute between them, she left the matrimonial house in December 2012 and shifted to Faridabad with their son.
The woman told court that earlier she was financially supporting her husband and given Rs. 4 lakh to him as a capital to start his business. But in 2010, she lost her job.
After that, she started demanding money from her husband for household expenses and treatment of his minor child. Her husband refused her demand on the pretext of not earning well.
However, she claimed that her husband has flourishing business and earning Rs.3 lakh per month and requested court to grant Rs.1.25 lakh as monthly maintenance for her and the child.
However, the man countered his wife’s submission.

The court then estimated that the man must be earning an amount of Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 22,000 per month.

Hong Kong Protests: What it means for the Chinese leadership?


Hong Kong is slated to have elections for the post of Chief Executive (CE) in 2017. However, there is a disagreement between sections of the Hong Kong civil society and Beijing on how these elections are to be conducted. In a nutshell, Hong Kong wants a free and fair democratic elections and not be told the list of candidates it can choose from. Beijing wants that it vets the final list of candidates, fearing probably a CE, who would be critical of government policies. Beijing’s desire to manage the political process in Hong Kong stems from the ‘one country two systems’ model whereby it continues to retain its influence. In all likelihood, it appears that the Occupy Central protests demanding the resignation of the present CE CY Leung would not end in a hurry. These popular protests are not only massive, involving between 20,000 and 50,000 people, but also peaceful drawing inspiration from one of the movement leader’s commentary last year highlighting the utility of civil disobedience. In addition, there are also “Global solidarity with Hong Kong” marches planned across Australia and North America. This movement is led by a group of faculty from Hong Kong University and a teenager Joshua Wang Chi-fung, who has become the global face of Occupy Central. Its participants come from university students and the middle class. The pro-Beijing groups such as the Alliance for Peace and Democracy have undertaken initiatives like March for Peace to divert attention away from Occupy Central groups. Hong Kong business community, with their business linkages with the mainland, have stayed away from the movement and even criticised it from time to time for fears of its impact on their business. Therefore, it is crucial to see how Beijing responds to the developments. There are three factors that deserve attention; First, the legitimacy of the leadership, second, Chinese nationalism and third, the regional implications. The recent official policy guidelines such as ‘China Dream’ and the ‘Great Chinese Rejuvenation’ are based on the revival of nationalism and form the principal pitch of Xi Jinping, the Chinese President and Secretary General of the CPC. Among other things, the ‘China Dream’ expresses an economically, militarily stronger and unified China. However, the recent unrest in Hong Kong is perhaps as big a challenge to this dream as the unrest in Xinjiang. Political reforms in China have always been initiated and led from the top. The middle and lower rung leaders take the flak for any failure while maintaining the hallowedness of the top leaders. By challenging the idea of the ‘China Dream’, the protests in Hong Kong is being perceived as a threat to the leadership in Beijing. The ‘China Dream’ and the revival of the Chinese nation are now seen in conjunction with Taiwan’s reunification with the mainland. For President Xi, Occupy Central is undesirable. China’s understanding of the wrongs in history involves foreigners’ conniving with the anti-national elements from within to weaken the country. If the developments in Hong Kong are to be interpreted on this line, it can be used to charge domestic anti-western nationalism in the mainland sending across a message that “China is angry”. There is a pattern of Chinese nationalism whereby outsiders seem to become easy targets if Chinese national identity is seen as being threatened. Beijing has drawn the red line on Hong Kong. The White Paper released in July 2014 says: “It is necessary to stay alert to the attempt of outside forces to use Hong Kong to interfere in China's domestic affairs, and prevent and repel the attempt made by a very small number of people who act in collusion with outside forces to interfere with the implementation of "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong”.1.It will not take much time for mainland to see a foreign hand in the islanders’ pro-democracy movements. China has also already warned not to get close to the Occupy Central in anyway. Such pronouncements are a clear sign that while the news about Occupy Central will be restricted, it will be used selectively to revive anti-western nationalism in China. China had reacted extremely cautiously during the colour revolutions and during the more recent jasmine revolution that rocked the West Asian regimes. Some reports even suggested that mainland websites restricted the unfolding of events in West Asia. The same is the case with Occupy Central as Instagram and South China Morning Post have been blocked. It is important to note that the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has already called these protests “illegal” and reiterated that Hong Kong remains China’s internal affair.2. The critical question is whether such development could lead to a hardened approach by the Chinese leadership. China’s territorial competitions of claims and counterclaims with a large number of its neighbours on land and at sea are linked with its domestic nationalism, in particular, the East China Sea. In this context, it remains to be seen whether the leaders feel threatened and weakened due to Hong Kong protests and western support for these or whether China would respond by hardening its security posture in some of its territorial disputes.

शनिवार, 4 अक्तूबर 2014

DSM-5 Made Easy: The Clinician’s Guide to Diagnosis | Psych Central

In this indispensable book, master diagnostician James Morrison presents the spectrum of diagnoses in DSM-5 in an accessible, engaging, clinically useful format. Demystifying DSM-5 criteria without sacrificing accuracy, the book includes both ICD-10-CM and ICD-9-CM codes for each disorder. It also includes the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale (from DSM-IV-TR), with a clear rationale for its continued use. More than 130 detailed case vignettes illustrate typical patient presentations; down-to-earth discussions of each case demonstrate how to arrive at the diagnosis and rule out other likely possibilities. Providing a wealth of diagnostic pointers, Morrison writes with the wisdom and wit that made his guide to the prior DSM a valued resource for hundreds of thousands of clinicians and students. His website (www.guilford.com/jm) offers additional discussion and resources related to psychiatric diagnosis and DSM-5.

सोमवार, 29 सितंबर 2014

India’s Intelligence Agencies Should Be Investigated For Terror Attacks

India’sThe fact of the matter is that the police as well as the intelligence agencies have long operated with impunity and zero accountability. The intelligence agencies especially have no oversight, unlike in the US where they have to at least report to Congressional committees.

शनिवार, 23 अगस्त 2014

Indian Army C4ISR trends

The Indian Army (IA) believes that state of the art intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems can serve to give it an advantage over even collaborating adversaries on either flank.

As such investment by IA into contemporary ISR systems has been steadily rising with a view to making the kill chain shorter, garnering tactical intelligence and even achieving non-kinetic neutralization capability.

The electronic order of battle (EOB) however requires continuous upgradation as well as the development of a doctrine dovetailed to the absorption of new technology. Since ISR systems are a closely guarded arena and may involve non-negotiable operational security (OPSEC) considerations indigenous development is an imperative.

Fortunately, the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has been working closely with Indian industry to deliver on this front. However in a world where one sometimes has to run fast enough just to stay where they are, the focus should be on scaleable and upgradeable networks that can also act as enablers of jointness with the Indian Air force (IAF) and Indian Navy(IN).

IA's spend on ISR systems is expected to exceed 5-6 billion dollars by 2020. Large investments have already been made in the area of signals intelligence (SIGINT) leading to the development of highly capable products such as the Samyukta electronic warfare (EW) system. Samyukta, developed by DRDO's Defence Electronics & Research Laboratory (DLRL) along with IA's Signal Corps is a 145 vehicle based integrated EW system consisting of electronic intelligence (ELINT), communications intelligence (COMINT) combined with electronic countermeasures (ECM) and electronic support measures (ESM) blocks covering both radar and communication frequency bands ranging from 1.5 MHz - 40 GHz i.e all the way from High Frequency (HF) to Millimetre Wave (MMW).

Samyukta which is capable of intercepting, detecting and classifying pulsed, CW, PRF agile, frequency agile and chirp radars is very much in keeping with the move towards wideband digitally flexible SIGINT systems in the ISR domain to deal with an increasingly congested and complex threat spectrum. The key enabler of wideband jamming capability in the case of Samyukta is a multiple beam jammer array antenna with Rotman lens that can handle numerous threats simultaneously in X - Ku bands.

Technology for antennas which provides the necessary interface between the transmitter/receiver system and free space today is evolving towards smart, shared aperture, and fractal systems that are increasingly embracing millimeter, sub-millimeter and quasi-optical radiators. These new approaches are expected to yield high performance, low-cost, compact size, lightweight, conformal mounting for low radar cross section (RCS) array integration leading to higher deployability and stealth.

Micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS) will be used to produce reconfigurable electromagnetic structures that can perform multiple functions instead of being dovetailed to a single use.

The development of 'smart antennas' and new advances in core technologies such as microelectronics are miniaturizing systems in weight and volume covering a wide frequency range. Smart film materials are being pursued to package together these wind ranging goals which are likely to find expression in the follow on to the Samyukta known as Sauhard being developed by DLRL.

Realizing that though effective, the Samyukta system is meant for large scale forward deployment in the plains, IA and DLRL are now birthing an IEWS for mountainous terrain or IEWS-MT. For effective deployment in high altitude areas, IEWS-MT will obviously have to sport lighter weight electronic systems and will exhibit some of the new technology features outlined above. Tata Power SED has been selected as system integrator for this 186 million US dollar program. TPSED will develop and supply two IEWS-MT systems that include ECM, ESM packages for electromagnetic spectrum scanning, location-fixing of enemy transmitters, jamming, interception of enemy communications, both cellular and radar.

DLRL is also venturing into developing more compact and modular ELINT systems such as the 'Sujav' which it says is meant for high accuracy DF and jamming of communication transceivers. It covers HF, VHF & UHF ranges and is available in cluster configuration for army use or in suite configuration for naval usage. It has also developed the 'Safari' IED suppression system for IA and paramilitary forces. DRDO's various jammers naturally employ digital radio frequency memory (DRFM) techniques for digital flexibility.

A very big aspect of staying at the cutting edge of EW is the availability of dedicated testing and training ranges for the same. In this context the development of Chitradurga (Karnataka) and Tandur(Andhra Pradesh) as EA ranges is a very welcome development indeed. These ranges will in all probability see the use of DARE's Range On Wheels (ROW) concept. ROW has been developed for evaluation of installed specifications of airborne EW Systems and for fine tuning EA techniques. This mobile range consists of representative threat radar, a reference radar, a slaved system (DASA), a data acquisition station, a mission control station and a generator vehicle. It can also be used for avionics, and weapon evaluation since it is capable of studying aerodynamic data in real time for aircrafts, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Indeed for truly persistent 'ISR', IA has to move towards airborne intelligence systems which will increasingly be based on medium altitude long endurance (MALE) UAVs in the years ahead that enable an operator to look 400-500 kilometres deep into enemy territory. Putting together credible SIGINT packages on UAVs requires not just superior antenna technology but may end up seeing a generational shift in electronics as such. Some developers believe that the need to package more capable ISR payloads combined with management of limited on-board power on UAVs will lead to Gallium Nitride(GaN) based semi-conductor technology totally replacing the current Gallium Arsenide(GaAs) in power transistor devices at the higher end of the frequency spectrum as SIGINT packages increasingly operate in that part of the spectrum. GaN is preferred over GaAs in the course of this evolution since it offers exceptional power density and can operate at higher power levels over higher frequencies with greater efficiency. In this context India may need to create GaN foundry capability on an urgent basis.

Even as we watch out for the progress of intelligence packages on UAVs, a prototype Ku-band synthetic aperture radar(SAR) developed by the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), DRDO's key radar lab based in Bangalore, is set to be flight tested on the Nabharatna Do-228 flying testbed supplied by HAL earlier this year. This indigenous SAR, which will eventually be carried by the Rustom-2 MALE UAV is expected to boost medium range battlefield mapping capabilities by conferring IA with the ability to cover ground the size of an army corps commander's area of interest from a safe stand-off distance. The observational element, which will be combined with effective ground moving target indication (GMTI) will prove rather useful for the various classes of loitering attack systems that are currently on DRDO's drawing board.

Systems based on unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) however seem to be moving faster. DRDO's Combat Vehicles and Research Development Establishment (CVRDE) has created a family of BMP-II based UGVs called Mission Unmanned Tracked (MUNTRA). The system consists of a manned BMP-II unit called MUNTRA-B serving as a base station for three tele-operated BMP-II based UGVs tailored to specific roles. One UGV variant dubbed MUNTRA-M uses a VHF band ground penetrating radar (GPR) developed under DRDO's 'Divya Chakshu' program to detect buried IEDs. A CBRNE variant called MUNTRA-N has also been developed.

IA already deploys several battlefield surveillance radars (BFSRs). The longest ranged BFSR in the IA inventory is the X-band PIT 530 BFSR-MR, which can detect a group of moving people at 18 km, low flying helicopters at 25 km, moving vehicles at 40 km and a 155 mm artillery blast at 15 km. BFSR-MRs are currently deployed with IA's mechanized infantry units (MIUs). These radars originally designed by ELTA are currently being produced by BEL under license.

BEL's PJT-531 Battlefield surveillance radar-Short range (BFSR-SR ) however is an indigenous product developed by LRDE in a period of just 24 months in response to a specific qualitative requirement from IA. BFSR-SR is a man portable, battery powered J-band surveillance and acquisition radar capable of detecting crawling men at 500 m, moving groups of people at 5 km and a group of vehicles at 10 kms. It can track 50 targets in track-while-scan (TWS) mode and displays target information on a high resolution portable colour PC display. Interestingly, the BFSR-SR has made it to the MUNTRA program with a MUNTRA-S UGV carrying it in both tele-operated and autonomous modes. Summer trials of MUNTRA-S were concluded recently.

IA certainly has been steadily adding to its radio frequency measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) capabilities as epitomized by the acquisition of weapon locating radars (WLR). After buying some eight AN/TPQ-37 WLRs off the shelf from Hughes, IA today has placed significant orders for the LRDE developed and BEL built Swathi WLR which is a coherent, electronically scanned C-band pulse doppler radar. The radar automatically locates hostile artillery, mortars and rocket launchers and tracks friendly fire to locate the impact point of friendly artillery fire to issue necessary corrections and is capable of dealing with counter-battery fire from up to 30 kms away. Swathi WLR has been specifically designed for high mobility, quick deployment operations in an ECM environment.

IA of course also has to guard against incoming aircraft and not just ballistic projectiles. Army Air Defence (AAD) is currently receiving deliveries of the Bharani Low level Light Weight L-Band 2D Radar which is a battery powered compact sensor tailored for employment in mountainous terrain against hostile aerial targets like UAVs, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft flying at low and medium altitudes. Bharani can be transported by vehicles, animal transport or a group of men or as a heli-slung load. It can be dismantled into packages to facilitate quick installation and re-location in mountainous terrain.

IA is also inducting LRDE's 3D Tactical Control Radar (TCR) in a Tatra VVL mounted configuration for mobile stand-alone medium range, all weather 3D surveillance. Pertinent data can be collected by a Target Data Receiver (TDR) located 20 Kms away from the Radar. The radar operates in the S-band and is capable of TWS of fighter sized targets from up to 90kms away and for UAV sized ones from up to 65 kms away. The TCR's antenna is mechanically rotated in azimuth to provide 360 deg and 50 deg elevation coverage up to an altitude of 10 kms.

Clearly radar systems have emerged as a key indigenous strength in the ISR space. But in the battlefield of today long range electro-optical sensors complement BFSRs to vastly improve tactical reconnaissance capability. Till recently, IA was heavily dependent on foreign sources, especially Israel in this space. Several units of Elbit's Long-Range Reconnaissance and Observation System(LORROS) are currently operational with IA. LORROS consists of forward looking infrared (FLIR) and colour charge-coupled-device (CCD) image sensors, with the option of also integrating an eye-safe laser rangefinder (LRF), built-in compass and an inclinometer, which provides UTM location mapping. It can be operated remotely with a control unit that can be stationed up to several kilometres away using a fiber -optic channel. This year however BEL began deliveries of the 'Kshitij' to IA which is an upgraded version of LORROS that extends its FLIR range beyond 13 km and was developed keeping in mind the Line of Actual Control with China. It is expected that the cheaper Kshitij will allow IA to field it in every battalion.

To make squad level ISR even more commonplace, IA placed orders worth Rs 700 crores for the Integrated Multi-Function Sight (IMFS) developed by DRDO's Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE) which packages a thermal imager (TI), a LRF, a CCD camera, a global positioning system GPS and a digital magnetic compass into a single device weighing just 3.5 kg. However even as indigenous hand held TIs proliferate, India has to run faster to catch up with the West in the area of image intensifier tube technology for night vision devices (NVD). IA is currently on the lookout for mass introduction of third generation NVDs and the FDI route could actually be pursued for this.

IRDE's IMFS represents a generic trend in ISR technology where multi-functional payloads are finding their way onto a common platform small or big. This trend has of course given rise to wide area persistent surveillance (WAPS) systems that have been born out of American urban warfare requirements during the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns. WAPS allows both wide area coverage as well as narrow view high resolution ISR simultaneously. Context is maintained even as specific targets (such as individuals and vehicles) are examined both spatially and over time. Obviously WAPS systems are essentially designed to be deployed on aerial platforms such as tethered balloons, aerostats, UAVs or manned aircraft. The US Gorgon Stare system which is deployed aboard the reaper UAV and uses five electro-optical and four infrared cameras to generate imagery from 12 different angles is considered the current gold standard, though more extensive systems can be carried on much larger aerial vehicles such as Aerostats. However such systems are data intensive. For instance a single Gorgon Stare pod can generate around two terabytes of data every day.

Heading into the future, hyperspectral imaging, full-motion video, foliage penetration, and mapping and tracking of individuals on foot will all find their way into solitary aerial platforms as the ability to geo-locate and geo-register targets will become increasingly important in sub-conventional scenarios. Indeed the fusion of SAR systems combined with Electro-optical/Infrared (EO/IR) payloads is already happening to increase decision making capability. Naturally this is also increasing on-board computing requirements for UAVs leading to the development of increased core count, lower power consuming CPUs, along with associated FPGAs or GPGPUs. This is creating a network architecture where intelligence collected can be shared, processed and distributed in a more decentralized rather than in a point to point relay station manner.

Working towards such a capability is critical in an era where networks fight networks and these networks are increasingly looking to become mobile adhoc networks (MANET) to literally keep pace with an ever changing tactical battle area and rear. Making the sensor to shooter chain shorter requires ad-hoc networking that optimizes spectrum utilization when coupled with contemporary waveforms which in turn enables the real time delivery of video, image transfer, voice and data. The dependence on space to provide wider coverage continues to grow which is then sought to be linked with MANETs on the ground and in the air.

Much work however needs to be done for attaining this kind of network centricity in IA's EOB. And the reason for that is a little mysterious because the IA's plans in this direction go way back. In fact the current flagship IA program, the tactical communication system (TCS) was actually labelled TCS-2000 initially given that it was supposed to be rolled out by that year i.e 2000. After a decade long delay the programme was re-badged TCS-2010 and we are now in 2014. Clearly this program needs to be taken up on a priority basis.

Be that as it may, TCS which is sought to be developed under the 'make' category of the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) has two competing development agencies- Bharat Electronics (BEL) and a consortium of L&T, Tata Power and HCL Infosys Ltd. TCS as currently envisioned is essentially a mix of a mobile vehicular ad-hoc network (VANET) and the more static wireless service network (WSN) technology at the corps level. It is designed to give IA the means to 'communicate on the move' even as it penetrates into enemy territory making TCS a very big enabler of the 'cold start' type doctrines.

Based on light weight high mobility vehicles which represent communication nodes, TCS will have the bandwidth to handle very high data rates and provide encrypted voice, video and data transmission though frequency hopping radio networks with multiple redundancies. Naturally this network will also have the mobile terminals necessary for satellite based connectivity as well and the firewalls necessary to prevent cyber intrusion given that cyber and electronic warfare techniques are increasingly melding with each other.

The project worth around 3 billion dollars will see each of the two competitors build a prototype TCS with the one being selected going on to build seven sets of TCS for seven corps of the IA. The TCS is however a harbinger of a truer MANET called the battlefield management system (BMS) which will facilitate high bandwidth real time communications from the battalion headquarters forward to the companies and platoons. Being fielded in all varieties of terrain the BMS contract value will probably be worth ten times more than the current TCS contract and a game changer in Asia. The IA actually has vast network centricity plans and envisages a tactical command, control, communications and information (TacC3I) system core which will encompass the command information decision support system, the Shakti artillery combat command and control system, the battlefield surveillance system including BFSRs and WLRs, an air defence control and reporting system augmented by newer generation 2D and 3D radars, and of course the BMS.

Meanwhile DLRL has been developing a tri-system radar finger printing system which will prove crucial to achieving 'jointness' in the electronic realm. This system has the capability of providing 'Unique Identification of emitters among a class of emitters' based on intra-pulse analysis of radar waveforms. The system measures the frequency, phase and amplitude variations within the radar pulse. Intra pulse analysis extracts as many parameters (features) of radar pulses as possible with fine grain accuracy.

The three services together are moving towards an overarching defence communication network (DCN) which once fully operationalized would give real meaning to the concept of 'jointness' championed by the three services. In the words of a former Defence Minister himself, 'DCN envisages a network of optical fibre cables, satellite earth stations and transportable and portable satellite terminals with high security features that enable conduct of simultaneous real time networked operations from multiple sites to cater for contingencies and failures, as well as hardware redundancies for fail-safe operations. Such a network will be the backbone of the proposed joint commands for cyberwarfare, special operations and space operations.

शनिवार, 24 मई 2014

Love in the time of Mastram !

The film's tagline on BEST buses — before it was removed at the order of a radical right outfit which found it offensive — was tantalisingly vague: 'If you still don't know about Mastram, ask your father and uncles'. Teenagers, who come evolved these days, chose to ask the Internet. The web threw up little on the identity of a "legend in porn writing".
Who is the man/woman author, whose nom de plume Mastram was a household name a few decades back? When Amitabh Bachchan was scorching the screen in the '70s, Mastram's women were blazing a trail through dormitories, bedrooms and toilets in the Hindi heartland. The characters drawn from everyday life — the maid, sister-in-law, teacher, nurse, voluptuous and ribald — whipped up feverish imagination in the young and old alike.
In spite of a dream run for more than a decade, which spawned many books and a brand, which was exploited by several writers, the trend-setter refused to come out in the open. The reasons, one assumes, have to do with India's hypocritical relationship with porn: What's sought after in the secrecy of the bedroom becomes an object of derision, scorn and denouncement in public life — an infantile disorder that afflicts the self-styled custodians of morality and culture, the most.
Mastram knew it, as did the publishers whose obsession with secrecy bordered on the hilarious. The publisher's address on the slim, pocket-sized books sometimes read Chandi Chowk, Bangalore, or Jhilmill Galli, Uttar Pradesh.
Akhilesh Jaiswal, the director of the Mastram, who too had succumbed to Mastram's magic in school, had no choice but to create a fictional account of the now-forgotten sensation. He had knocked on the doors of a liberal uncle and some writers of Hindi pulp fiction, only to reach a dead end. All of them, however, had one common thing to say: The language of early Mastram bore some traces of literary flavour, which was later dispensed away with when new writers jumped on the bandwagon. As the language became coarser, perhaps the readership too changed. The barely literate became the new recipients for an extreme testosterone rush. An irreversible decline had begun.
With the '90s came the Internet and its endless trove of adult content, defying all forms of censorship and laws. It was time for Mastram and fellow authors to go and along with them disappeared a way of life — when it took as little as Rs5 to become an adult.
Vernacular porn — that also thrived in West Bengal, Kerala and Maharashtra — had failed to evolve with the times. An execrable language and lack of novelty in themes led to a fatigue, driving away most of its closet champions. The final blow came with a new pocket-size wonder — the ubiquitous mobile phone — that made downloading and watching porn an egalitarian exercise.
At this point, the banned graphic depictions of Savita Bhabhi's exploits rekindled interest in desi offerings. Savita is the sculpted figure of a counterculture that refuses to be sanitised, cocking a snook at the authorities every time they forbid a website from featuring her stories.
Mastram, rather the offerings, will never die. They might embrace a new format, but there will be men and women who will keep the spirit alive.