EYE IN THE SKY : ON RISAT - 2B : OnlineEdge

Context: Radar imaging satellite RISAT-2B:

RISAT-2B, the country’s newest microwave Earth observation satellite, rode to its orbit 557 km above the ground.

With the successful pre-dawn launch of RISAT-2B satellite, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has added another feather to its cap.

Data that will come from the all-weather day-and-night satellite are considered to be vital for the Armed Forces as also agriculture forecasters and disaster relief agencies.

Dubbed as a ‘spy’ satellite, RISAT-2B (Radar Imaging Satellite-2B) will replace its predecessor RISAT-2 which has been actively used by India to monitor activities in terror camps across the border in Pakistan to thwart infiltration bids by terrorists.

Radar imaging satellite RISAT - 2B:

Radar imaging is important for surveillance applications, as it does not require sunlight or clear skies to be able to observe its target.

Optical imaging satellites are only able to see points of interest when they are illuminated by the sun and not hidden by cloud, whereas a spacecraft equipped with SAR can still observe at night and its radio waves can propagate through cloudy skies.

The satellite aboard launch will be a replacement for RISAT-2. The original RISAT-2 was built for ISRO Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and is based on the Polaris satellite (known as TecSAR or Ofeq 8) which ISRO had launched for Israel in 2008.

The RISAT-2B satellite uses X-band synthetic aperture radar for the first time; the synthetic aperture radar was developed endogenously.

Its X-band synthetic aperture radar can give added details such as size of objects on Earth, structures, movement and change.

Since it has high resolution, the satellite will be able to detect objects with dimensions of as little as a metre.

This capacity to study small objects and also movement could be useful for surveillance. The satellite could be used for civil and strategic purposes.

RISAT-2B will have an inclined orbit of 37 degrees, which will allow more frequent observations over the Indian subcontinent.

With ISRO planning to launch four more such radar imaging satellites in a year, its ability to monitor crops and floods as well as engage in military surveillance will be greatly enhanced.

RISAT-2B will use Microwave radiation:

Unlike visible light, microwaves have longer wavelength and so will not be susceptible to atmospheric scattering.

Microwave radiation can thus easily pass through the cloud cover, haze and dust, and image the ground. Hence, RISAT-2B satellite will be able to image under almost all weather and environmental conditions.

Since it does not rely on visible light for imaging, it will be able to image the ground during both day and night.

The satellite does not have passive microwave sensors that detect the radiation naturally emitted by the atmosphere or reflected by objects on the ground.

Instead, RISAT-2B will be transmitting hundreds of microwave pulses each second towards the ground and receiving the signals reflected by the objects using radar.

The moisture and texture of the object will determine the strength of the microwave signal that gets reflected.

While the strength of the reflected signal will help determine different targets, the time between the transmitted and reflected signals will help determine the distance to the object.

RISAT-2B Equipped with SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar):

A Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) or SAR, is a coherent mostly airborne or space-borne side looking radar system which utilizes the flight path of the platform to simulate an extremely large antenna, and that generates high-resolution remote sensing imagery.

Over time, individual transmit/receive cycles (PRT’s) are completed with the data from each cycle being stored electronically.

The signal processing uses magnitude and phase of the received signals over successive pulses from elements of a synthetic aperture.

After a given number of cycles, the stored data is recombined to create a high-resolution image of the terrain being over flown.

Countries using Radar Imaging Satellites:

India is not the only country to use radar imaging for military reconnaissance – other systems currently in operation include the United States’ TOPAZ constellation, Japan’s IGS Radar and Italy’s COSMO-SkyMed.

SAR has also been used on civilian scientific and commercial satellites and on interplanetary probes.

India’s partnership with Israel on this satellite boosted its radar imaging technology, and provided an initial capability ahead of the launch of India’s endogenously-developed RISAT-1. Newer satellites, including RISAT-2B, have been developed by ISRO.

The information will complement data from the normal optical remote-sensing satellites. Such data are useful for agencies that need ground imageries during cloud, rain and in the dark.

Conclusion:

The satellite will enhance India’s capability in crop monitoring during the monsoon season, forestry mapping for forest fires and deforestation, and flood mapping as part of the national disaster management programm.

Given that overcast skies are a constant during the monsoon season and during times of flood, the ability to penetrate the cloud cover is essential.

The biggest advantage is that ground imageries can be collected during rains and despite dust, clouds or darkness and during all seasons, thus ensuring continuous and reliable data.

ISRO is now gearing up for the launch of Chandrayaan-2 onboard GSLV MkIII during the window of July 2019, with an expected Moon landing on September 2019.

What is the importance of BIMSTEC to India? What role does it play in the development of India ?

BIMSTEC ( Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) basically is a connection between SAARC ( South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and ASEAN ( Association for South East Asian Nations).

> To be simple, BIMSTEC connects South Asian and South East Asian Nations, two of the most important regions globally in terms of peace, security, economy and resources.

> India being a geographical center of South Asia , engages with BIMSTEC nations and promotes trade, mutual relations. And these nations such as Myanmar, Maldives, Thailand, srilanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh are important to India for its exports.

> And India is a member country of both BIMSTEC and SAARC. This makes India a South Asian center for trade .

> The main objective of these associations is to promote regional cooperation and to ensure peace and security.

> Because as they say ' UNITY IS STRENGTH' , working together helps us grow even better and prosper even more.

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SEBI tightens disclosure norms for listed debt securities - OnlineEdge

Company websites must display details of payment, redemption schedules

To further safeguard the interest of investors in listed debt securities, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has tightened the disclosure norms for entities that have issued such securities.

In a circular issued on Monday, the capital market watchdog made it mandatory for such companies to disclose on their websites the schedule of interest and redemption obligations for the complete financial year.

Within a day of due date

Further, the status of payments has to be updated within one day of the due date, which effectively means that any default or delay will be disclosed within a day of the due date.

According to the SEBI, the enhanced disclosure norms have been issued to “further secure the interests of investors in listed debt securities, enhance transparency and to enable Debenture Trustees (DTs) to perform their duties effectively and promptly.”

“DTs shall display on their website... details of interest/ redemption due to the debenture holders in respect of all issues during a financial year within 5 working days of start of financial year,” stated the SEBI circular, while adding that the debenture trustees will also have to update such details for any new issues handled during the financial year within five days of closure of the issue.

“DTs shall also update the status of payment... against such issuers not later than 1 day from the due date. In case the payment is made with a delay by the issuer, DTs shall update the calendar specifying the date of such payment, with a remark ‘delayed payment’,” said the circular.

For privately-placed debt securities, SEBI has made it mandatory for the inclusion of a clause stating that at least 2% per annum interest would be paid over the coupon rate in case of a default in meeting the payment obligations. The additional interest would be payable by the company for the tenure of the defaulting period.

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Akash Missile Test-Fired Successfully - OnlineEdge UPSC PT 2019

DRDO launched the latest version of the surface-to-air missile system.

The DRDO on Monday successfully test-fired the new version of the Akash surface-to-air defense missile system with a new endogenously-developed seeker in Balasore off the Odisha coast.

This is the second successful test of the missile following another on Saturday.

The medium range multi-target engagement capable missile was developed as part of the Integrated Guided-Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) other than Nag, Agni, Trishul, and Prithvi missiles.

Highly mobile

The supersonic missile has a range of around 25 km and up to the altitude of 18,000 meters.

The missile uses high-energy solid propellant for the booster and ramjet-rocket propulsion for the sustainer phase. The missile system is said to be highly mobile.

Several variants of the missile — Akash MK1, Akash-MK2 — with improved accuracy and higher ranges are under development by the DRDO.

History of the missile

The missile system was formally inducted into the IAF on July 10, 2015, and in the Army on May 5, 2015. In September that year, the Defense Acquisition Council cleared seven additional squadrons of the missile for the IAF.

However, it had been bogged in controversies with a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report in 2017 stating that 30% of the missiles failed when tested.

The Army too had said in 2017 that the missile did not meet its operational requirements due to higher reaction time.

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Recently, NITI Ayog has recommended Indian government to limit the age of appearing up to 27 years for UPSC candidates. How will this affect the aspirants, if applied in future?

The proposal by NITI Aayog actually is :

To reduce the age of appearing for the Civil Services exam to 27 years.

Rationalization and harmonization of more than 60 plus central and state services.

Conduct a single civil services exam for recruitment into central, state and all-India services.

A central talent pool of recruits to be created which would then place candidates according to their profile and job description of the post.

According to me, these are welcome proposals in the direction of reforming civil services. A few months back, I was having a discussion with a friend on reforming government recruitment process and we concluded quite similar proposals.

Most of the state civil services, Indian forest services, Civil services exam check the same kind of knowledge. Why not have a single exam instead and reduce administrative burden and burden on candidates. If some specific knowledge is required, a separate paper can be held. For example, for Indian Forest Services, a separate paper on forestry and related knowledge can be held while scores of the essay and general studies paper of UPSC CSE exam can be used.

If a single civil services exam is conducted, it would also help candidates to prepare single-minded for one exam rather than a plethora of exams. In that case, even 27 years age limit will not be a problem. Earlier too, the age limit was 28 years with four attempts for the general category. Younger recruits will have a flexible frame of mind and would be more energetic. With increasing awareness among people and better career guidance, the candidates would be able to choose their desired career options early in life.

In addition to this, I would like more reforms to be seen such as :

Conduct a centralized test, something similar to GRE, for checking aptitude and reasoning skills. Such an exam should be conducted at least twice a year.

Many exams like RBI, SBI PO, SSC, CAT, CSAT etc. are organized by different organizations for this purpose. Rather than having different exams, why not have a single exam and share its score with different agencies.

Reduce the number of attempts in UPSC CSE to four.

Conduct UPSC CSE twice a year.

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While preparing for UPSC, what things one should do apart from focussing on books?

Based on my experience, I will suggest the following things:

Prepare a time table and adhere to it. You will be amazed to see how your efficiency goes up.

Be observant of things around you and develop opinions on important topics.

Develop the habit of reading. Read good books such as Pax Indica, read editorials in newspapers, read articles in a magazine.

Develop the art of writing. You can write a blog, write a article, write letters to the editor. A simple way to develop writing skills is to write summaries of the newspaper editorials.

Stay away from political ideologies and such friends who waste time in endless political discussions or hold anti-establishment views. Activists and Cynics are not required in the administration.

Take up some exercise so that you remain physically fit.

If you have time, read about famous personalities such as Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, and others. You can read their biographies or books written by them.

While reading about any topic or issue, try to see the macro picture behind it rather than getting into the nitty-gritty details. An administrator is required to understand the broad contours of any problem.

Develop a circle of good friends who are as dedicated for preparation as you are.

Good Luck :)

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Resolving the NPA Crisis - OnlineEdge

Background:

Non-performing assets (NPAs) at commercial banks amounted to 11.2% of advances, in March 2018. The ratio of gross NPA to advances in PSBs was 14.6%. These are levels typically associated with a banking crisis.

Origin of the NPA crisis

During the credit boom period of the years 2004-05 to 2008-09 commercial credit (or what is called ‘non-food credit’) doubled. It was a period in which the world economy as well as the Indian economy were booming.

Indian firms borrowed heavily in order to avail of the growth opportunities they saw coming. Most of the investment went into infrastructure and related areas — telecom, power, roads, aviation, steel. Businessmen were overcome with exuberance, partly rational and partly irrational.

Thereafter, as the Economic Survey of 2016-17 notes, many things began to go wrong.

Due to problems in acquiring land and getting environmental clearances, several projects got stalled. Their costs soared. With the onset of the global financial crisis in 2007-08 and the slowdown in growth after 2011-12, revenues fell well short of forecasts.

Financing costs rose as policy rates were tightened in India in response to the financial crisis. The depreciation of the rupee meant higher outflows for companies that had borrowed in foreign currency. This combination of adverse factors made it difficult for companies to service their loans to Indian banks.

As per the process of provisioning the banks estimate that a particular borrower may not be able to pay back the loan in full and hence make a provision of the amount they could lose (as in that won’t be paid back to banks). Banks start creating provisions on a loan given when the borrower starts defaulting on his repayment installments.

Higher NPAs mean higher provisions on the part of banks. Provisions rose to a level where banks, especially PSBs, started making losses. Their capital got eroded as a result. Without adequate capital, bank credit cannot grow.

Privatisation of PSBs is not the right solution:

Since the problem of NPAs is more concentrated in PSBs, some have argued that public ownership must be the problem stating that public ownership of banks is beset with corruption and incompetence. The solution, therefore, is to privatize the PSBs, at least the weaker ones.

There are problems with this formulation. There are wide variations within each ownership category. In 2018, the State Bank of India’s (SBI’s) gross NPA/gross advances ratio was 10.9%. This was not much higher than that of the second largest private bank, ICICI Bank, 9.9%. The ratio at a foreign bank, Standard Chartered Bank, 11.7%, was higher than that of SBI.

Explanation:

PSBs had a higher exposure to the five most affected sectors — mining, iron and steel, textiles, infrastructure and aviation. These sectors were impacted by factors beyond the control of bank management- Infrastructure projects were impacted by the global financial crisis and environmental and land acquisition issues. In addition, mining and telecom were impacted by adverse court judgments. Steel was impacted by dumping from China.

Plans to prevent such crises:

Wholesale privatization of PSBs is not the answer to the complex problem.

We need a broad set of actions, some immediate and others over the medium-term and aimed at preventing the recurrence of such crises.

Resolving the NPAs.

Banks have to accept losses on loans (or ‘haircuts’). They should be able to do so without any fear of harassment by the investigative agencies. The Indian Banks’ Association has set up a six-member panel to oversee resolution plans of lead lenders.

To expedite resolution, more such panels may be required. An alternative is to set up a Loan Resolution Authority, if necessary through an Act of Parliament.

The government must infuse additional capital needed to recapitalize banks.

Over the medium term, the RBI needs to develop better mechanisms for monitoring macro-prudential indicators. It especially needs to look out for credit bubbles.

Strengthening the functioning of PSBs:

Actions needs to be taken to strengthen the functioning of banks in general and, more particularly, PSBs. Governance at PSBs, meaning the functioning of PSB boards, can certainly improve.

One important lesson from the past decade’s experience with NPAs is that management of concentration risk — that is, excessive exposure to any business group, sector, geography, etc. — is too important to be left entirely to bank boards.

Overall risk management at PSBs needs to be taken to a higher level. This certainly requires strengthening of PSB boards. We need to induct more high-quality professionals on PSB boards and compensate them better.

Succession planning at PSBs also needs to improve. Despite the constitution of the Banks Board Bureau to advise on selection of top management, the appointment of Managing Directors and Executive Directors continues to be plagued by long delays. This must end.

Conclusion:

The task of accelerating economic growth is urgent and acceleration in economic growth is not possible without addressing the problem of non-performing assets. There is ample scope for improving performance within the framework of public ownership. The above suggested solutions should be focused upon.

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