NEWS @ April 14, 2016
Apr 30, 2016
Apr 29, 2016
[CA] IRNSS
IRNSS
What is IRNSS?
·
Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
·
2006: Government approved project with ~Rs.1500
crores.
·
American Global positioning system has 24 orbiting
satellites, a global network of ground stations. Thus GPS covers every part of
the world.
·
But, given this small budget, it is beyond ISRO’s limit
to maintain 24 satellites to cover entire globe,
·
Therefore, our GPS will use just seven satellites,
and try to cover India + 1,500 km beyond its borders.
·
HQ: ISRO Navigation Centre at Byalalu, near
Bangalore. It’ll control this system.
7 Satellites of IRNSS
·
3 satellites - These three of the satellites will be
placed over the equator, in the geostationary orbit; they match the Earth’s
rotation and therefore appear from the ground to remain at a fixed position in
the sky.
·
+4 satellites - will be in pairs in two inclined
geosynchronous orbits; from the ground, these satellites will appear to travel
in figures of ‘8’ during the course of a day.
·
All seven IRNSS satellites will be at a height of
about 36,000 km, taking a whole day to circle the Earth.
·
In future, we can add more satellites to increase
coverage surrounding India and one day 25-30 satellites to cover entire earth,
just like American-GPS.
·
So far 6 out 7 satellites launched
IRNSS – 1A
|
IRNSS – 1B
|
IRNSS – 1C
|
|
When
|
Jul 01, 2013
|
Apr 04, 2014
|
Oct 16, 2014
|
Where
|
Satish Dawan
Space Centre - Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh
|
||
Launch Vehicle
|
PSLV – C22
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PSLV – C24
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PSLV – C26
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IRNSS – 1D
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IRNSS – 1E
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IRNSS – 1F
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IRNSS – 1G
|
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When
|
Mar 28, 2015
|
Jan 20, 2016
|
Mar 10, 2016
|
Apr 28, 2016
|
Where
|
Satish Dawan
Space Centre - Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh
|
|||
Launch Vehicle
|
PSLV – C27
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PSLV – C31
|
PSLV – C32
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PSLV – C33
|
Benefits of IRNSS
·
Will serve both civil and military users.
·
Will provide time-location coordinates on land, sea
and air.
·
Cell phone apps- for mapping, driving, hiking in
jungle and remote areas.
·
Forest department: Putting out wildfire, tracking
endangered animals.
·
Fleet Management e.g. taxi or truck company can
monitor whether their driver is on right path or not.
·
Disaster Management.
·
During war: naval fleet Management, missile
navigation etc.
·
IRNSS will offer two services: (1) Standard
Positioning Service: that will be accessible to anyone; (2) Restricted Service:
Will be available only to the military and other government-authorized users.
·
At present only three countries have their own
global navigation systems: (1) USA - GPS; (2) Russia - GLONASS and (3) China -
Beidou
[CA/Culture] Project Mausam
Project Mausam
The
Government has identified 39 countries to bring on board for trans-national
nomination for World Heritage under Project “Mausam”. The disciplines involved
in the project are those of archaeology, history, sociology, ethnography, marine
archaeology, oceanography, geography, economics, satellite imagery technology,
numismatics, art and architecture.
Project
‘Mausam’ is a Ministry of Culture project with Archaeological Society of India
(ASI), New Delhi as the nodal agency and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the
Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi as its Research Unit. As an initial idea, the project
was proposed by Mr. Ravindra Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Culture and now has
been taken up as a prelude to its nomination as a transnational inscription on
the World Heritage List of UNESCO.
‘Mausam’
or Arabic ‘Mawsim’ refers to the season when ships could sail safely. This
distinctive wind-system of the Indian Ocean region follows a regular pattern:
southwest from May to September; and northeast from November to March. The
English term ‘Monsoon’ came from Portuguese ‘Monção’, ostensibly from Arabic
‘Mawsim’. The etymology of this word signifies the importance of this season to
a variety of seafarers. This intertwining of natural phenomena such as monsoon
winds and the ways in which these were harnessed historically to create
cultural networks form the building blocks of Project ‘Mausam’.
The
endeavour of Project ‘Mausam’ is to position itself at two levels:
1)
At the macro
level it aims to re-connect and re-establish communications between countries
of the Indian Ocean world, which would lead to an enhanced understanding of
cultural values and concerns;
2)
At the micro
level the focus is on understanding national cultures in their regional
maritime milieu.
The
central themes that hold Project ‘Mausam’ together are those of cultural routes
and maritime landscapes that not only linked different parts of the Indian
Ocean littoral, but also connected the coastal centres to their hinterlands.
More importantly shared knowledge systems and ideas spread along these routes
and impacted both coastal centres, and also large parts of the environs.
Project
‘Mausam’ is an exciting, multi-disciplinary project that rekindles long-lost
ties across nations of the Indian Ocean ‘world’ and forges new avenues of cooperation
and exchange. The project, launched by India in partnership with member states,
will enable a significant step in recording and celebrating this important
phase of world history from the African, Arab and Asian-world perspectives.
Themes to be explored:
|
Centres of Learning and Knowledge Networks
|
Transformations from the third millennium BCE to the colonial period.
|
|
Oral Traditions and Literary Writings
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Conceptualizing the Indian Ocean.
|
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Movable Heritage and Artefacts
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Inscriptions, memorial stones, archaeological objects.
|
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Pilgrimage and Religious Travel across the Indian Ocean
|
|
|
Spices and cultural products linked to it
|
Rites, Rituals and Cuisine.
|
Objectives:
The
project will have two major units:
(i)
Project Research Unit and
(ii)
World Heritage Nomination Unit.
The
main objective of the project is transnational nomination of Maritime Cultural
Routes, creation of a comprehensive database and UNESCO web platform on
Maritime Cultural Landscapes and Routes and; linking other UNESCO cultural
conventions with the World Heritage convention through this theme. A Research
unit is being set up at IGNCA under the Project ‘Mausam’.
Goals:
|
Reviving lost linkages with nations
|
Countries along the Indian Ocean have shared links with each other
for millennia. Project ‘Mausam’ seeks to transcend present-day national and
ethnic boundaries, documenting and celebrating the common cultural values and
economic ties of the Indian Ocean ‘world’. This will not only strengthen
current ties between countries across the Ocean, but also set a precedent for
new bridges of co-operation and continued relations and interactions.
|
|
Creating links to existing World Heritage sites
|
Providing a platform to connect discrete Cultural and Natural World
Heritage sites across the Indian Ocean ‘world’ by providing a cross-cultural,
transnational narrative.
|
|
Redefining ‘Cultural Landscapes’
|
Identifying gaps in listing of sites and filling in lacuna by
providing a holistic, multi-layered perspective and drawing relationships
between the existing categories of ‘Natural’ and ‘Cultural’ Heritage. This
would redefine the concept of ‘Cultural Landscapes,’ and allow for a fresh,
multi-faceted approach to understanding past and present-day relationships.
|
|
Achieving transnational nomination under World Heritage
|
Advocating for ‘Indian Ocean Maritime Routes’ to attain transnational
nomination under World Heritage, increasing scope for visibility, research,
sustainable tourism, heritage development and promoting other Cultural
Conventions across the Indian Ocean region.
|
List of 39 Indian Ocean countries identified under
Project Mausam:
|
Bahrain
|
Bangladesh
|
Cambodia
|
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China
|
Comoros
|
Egypt
|
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Eritrea
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Reunion
|
Indonesia
|
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Iraq
|
Iran
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Jordan
|
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Kuwait
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Kenya
|
Lebanon
|
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Madagascar
|
Malaysia
|
Maldives
|
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Mauritius
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Mozambique
|
Myanmar
|
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Oman
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Pakistan
|
Philippines
|
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Qatar
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Singapore
|
Sri Lanka
|
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Saudi Arabia
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Seychelles
|
Somalia
|
|
South Africa
|
Sudan
|
Syria
|
|
Tanzania
|
Thailand
|
Turkey
|
|
United Arab Emirates
|
Vietnam
|
Yemen
|
Apr 28, 2016
[CA] Heart of Asia Conference at Delhi
Heart of Asia Conference –
2016
Venue: New Delhi
Theme: “Addressing Challenges, Achieving Prosperity”
The
Heart of Asia (HoA) conference has begun in New Delhi with the objective of
bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan and speeding up its reconstruction
with a focus on enhancing investment and connectivity to the country. The
conference was attended by officials of a number of countries including
Pakistan.
The
conference was attended by officials of a number of countries including
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry, who deliberated on a host of
issues like combating challenge of extremism and terrorism.
The
key elements of HoA process have been to devise a sustained, incremental
approach to implementation of the confidence building measures (CBM) in
Afghanistan and the officials are set to deliberate on them during the
conference.
Energy,
infrastructure and investment deals to shore up economic growth of Afghanistan
may figure in the talks.
India
hosted the senior officials meeting of the Istanbul process in January 2014 in
New Delhi and is set to host the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the HoA
Process in the last quarter of this year.
Here is the
following speech made by Foreign Secretary, Mr. S. Jaishankar:
·
The theme of this
year’s Heart of Asia process is "Addressing
Challenges, Achieving Prosperity”. As participating countries of the Heart
of Asia Process, the countries in the region are aware that the situation in
Afghanistan, owing to its location at the Heart of Asia, has enormous bearing
on regional peace, security and economic growth. The challenges that
Afghanistan and the Heart of Asia region face are similar. For our stable and
prosperous region, a strong, peaceful, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan is
an imperative. Such an Afghanistan will be a bridge of connectivity between
East and West, and Central and South Asia. That is what Afghanistan was, as
history tells us, and therein lies our future.
·
To achieve
progress and prosperity together, we need to address challenges together. This
is not only in Afghanistan’s interest, but in the interest of the whole of the
Heart of Asia region. It is our collective and individual responsibility to
help and support Afghanistan in combating the challenges it faces to its
stability and security.
·
Democracy has
taken roots in Afghanistan not merely as an institution but as the country’s
way of life. We acknowledge the role of the country’s leadership in steering
Afghanistan through a difficult and challenging phase of witnessing multiple
transitions. These challenges are made all the more daunting amidst violence
unleashed on the Afghan people. We are confident that the efforts of the
leaders and the people of the Afghanistan will ensure peaceful, democratic and
inclusive governance for the whole of the country. Whole-hearted support of the
region in this endeavour, I trust, is available to Afghanistan for building a
glorious future. Excellencies,
·
India feels
honoured to be an active participant in the Heart of Asia Process and also to
be the lead country for the Trade, Commerce and Investment Opportunities CBM of
the Heart of Asia process. This CBM is aimed at more regional economic
interaction and cooperation. The objective is to create conducive conditions
for Afghanistan to thrive on trade and not depend on aid. Creating more
employment opportunities is also important to wean youth lured to narcotics,
extremism, terrorism and other criminal activities. More jobs and economic
avenues in Afghanistan and would create the conducive conditions for Afghans to
stay and contribute to its development. Excellencies,
·
At Islamabad
Ministerial last December, the External Affairs Minister of India had stressed
the importance of connectivity of Afghanistan to regional markets such as
India. She had said that if arteries remain clogged, ‘Heart cannot function
properly’.
·
Connectivity in the region has to be the centrepiece
of all our efforts to enhance trade, commerce and investment among regional
countries. Better connectivity can enable more investment and private sector
participation. It can help fully harness Afghanistan’s trade and transit
potential. It will also serve to tap Afghanistan’s vast natural and human
resources. Afghanistan can emerge as a hub of regional trade and energy
arteries. Afghanistan, Iran and India are waiting to develop trilateral transit
through Chahbahar in Iran. India is also willing to avail of other regional and
trans-regional connectivity initiatives such as the North – South Transport
Corridor and the Ashgabat Agreement.
·
Better regional
economic connectivity will bring growth and prosperity to millions of people in
the region. Better connectivity means more prosperity and more peace and
stability. I request this meeting of Senior Officials of the Heart of Asia
process to examine these aspects and come up with specific suggestions to
enhance connectivity and shared prosperity.
·
I wish that the
Senior Officials Meeting will have a stimulating and productive interaction. I
do hope to see you in India for the Sixth Ministerial Conference later this
year.
About the conference:
·
The Heart of
Asia-Istanbul Process presents a new vision of cooperation and confidence
building for the region with Afghanistan at its centre.
·
The Heart of
Asia-Istanbul Process articulates a set of principles, such as respect for
sovereignty and territorial integrity, and promoting cooperation in the areas
of common challenges and shared interests in the region.
·
It provides a
platform for discussing key regional issues among participating states.
·
Since its
inception in 2011, the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process has been lead by two
co-chairs: Afghanistan as a permanent co-chair, and one of the Heart of Asia
countries hosting the annual ministerial meeting as the co-chair.
·
As permanent
co-chair of this regional process, Afghanistan has been recognized as the main
focal point/ coordinator of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process.
The 14 participating countries in HoA process
are|
Afghanistan
|
Azerbaijan
|
|
China
|
India
|
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Iran
|
Kazakhstan
|
|
Kyrgyzstan
|
Pakistan
|
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Russia
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Saudi Arabia
|
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Tajikistan
|
Turkey
|
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Turkmenistan
|
UAE
|
|
Supporting Countries
|
|
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Australia
|
Canada
|
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Denmark
|
Egypt
|
|
Finland
|
France
|
|
Germany
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Italy
|
|
Iraq
|
Japan
|
|
Norway
|
Poland
|
|
Spain
|
Sweden
|
|
UK
|
US
|
|
European Union
|
|
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