📰 ISRO successfully puts three satellites into orbit on board the PSLV C-52
ISRO’s first launch of 2022 and under the new Chairman S. Somanath went off without a glitch, placing all the three satellites into their intended orbit with precision
•Thick orange fumes from the Indian Space Research Organisation’s PSLV C-52 briefly lit up the pre-dawn dark sky and Pulicat Lake as it soared into the skies with the silence of the morning broken by the booming noise of the launch vehicle that carried three satellites on board.
•ISRO’s first launch of 2022 and under the new Chairman S. Somanath went off without a glitch, placing all the three satellites into their intended orbit with precision. The PSLV C-52 was the 54th flight of the PSLV and the 23rd mission using the PSLV-XL configuration.
•The success of the launch was crucial for ISRO that had a very muted 2020 with just two launches, one of which - the GSLV- F10 failed after launch.
•The PSLV C-52 carrying the Earth Observation Satellite, EOS - 04, the INS-2TD, a technology demonstrator from ISRO and the INSPIREsat-1, a student satellite, lifted off at 5.59 a.m from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota on Monday. Around 18 minutes later, the three satellites were separated and placed into their orbits.
•“The primary satellite, the EOS - 04 has been put in a precise orbit. The co-passenger satellites have been placed into the right orbit,” Mr. Somanath said adding ISRO will be “back with the next launch of PSLV very soon”.
•With a mission life of 10 years, the EOS-4, a radar imaging satellite is designed to provide high quality images in all weather conditions for applications such as agriculture, forestry, plantation, flood mapping, soil moisture and hydrology. The satellite will collect earth observation data in C-band and will complement and supplement the data from Resourcesat, Cartosat series and RISAT-2B series, ISRO said.
•The INS-2TD is a precursor to the India-Bhutan joint satellite [INS 2-B] and will assess land and water surface temperatures, delineation of crops and forest and thermal inertia.
•The INSPIREsat-1 is a student satellite from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology in association with the University of Colorado, USA and is aimed at improving the understanding of ionosphere dynamics and the Sun’s coronal heating processes. The Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and the National Central University, Taiwan, were part of the development team of the INSPIREsat. Taiwanese media reported that this was the first time Taiwan collaborated with an international team to launch a satellite from India.
PM congratulates space scientists
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated India’s space scientists on Monday on the successful launch of PSLV C52 mission.
•Mr. Modi tweeted, “Congratulations to our space scientists on the successful launch of PSLV C52 mission. EOS-04 satellite will provide high resolution images under all weather conditions for agriculture, forestry and plantations, soil moisture and hydrology as well as flood mapping.”
•The amendments proposed to Rule 6(1) of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) (Cadre) Rules of 1954, which seek to empower the Central government to unilaterally order the Central deputation of IAS officers without the consent of the State governments or the officers concerned, have provoked controversy. The Centre has justified them on the ground that the States are not meeting their Central Deputation Reserve (CDR) obligations because of which the Centre is suffering from an acute shortage of mid-level IAS officers, especially Deputy Secretaries and Directors.
•It is true that some States like Tamil Nadu (until a few years ago) and West Bengal were recalcitrant and would not forward the names of even willing IAS officers for Central deputation. But the fact that all the States, including the BJP-ruled ones, are not meeting CDR obligations indicates that their reluctance to forward names to the Centre is not the real problem. We believe that there are simpler, more effective and less contentious solutions to the shortage than the proposed amendments. In fact, once the root causes of the shortage are identified, the solutions suggest themselves.
Causes of shortage
•The first cause of the shortage was the drastic reduction in the annual recruitment of IAS officers after 1991 (from 140-160 to just 50-80) under the misguided notion that the government will have a reduced role due to economic liberalisation. That didn’t happen. It took nearly 20 years for the Centre to correct this mistake and restore the annual recruitment to pre-1991 levels. As of January 1, 2021, the shortage of IAS officers at the all-India level was 23%. The number of IAS officers recruited annually should be increased to around 200 for a few years as a short-term measure.
•The second cause is lackadaisical “cadre review”. This is an exercise conducted jointly by the Centre and the States to designate certain strategic posts in the States as “cadre posts” and earmark them exclusively for IAS officers. In Tamil Nadu, it is unconscionable that posts like Commissioner of Disciplinary Proceedings, Commissioner of Archaeology, and Commissioner of Museums have been designated as cadre posts. A proper cadre review in all the States will release many IAS officers from non-strategic posts and reduce the shortage. At the Centre, there is a strong case for downsizing the bloated Central Ministries dealing with subjects in the State List and the Concurrent List, thereby reducing the demand for IAS officers and the CDR obligations of the States.
•The third cause is the ill-advised discontinuance of direct recruitment of officers to the Central Secretariat Service Group B since 2000, and undue delays in the regular promotions of officers from the ranks in the Central Secretariat due to protracted litigation since 2011. These officers used to occupy a sizeable proportion of Deputy Secretary/Director-level posts in the Central Secretariat.
•The fourth cause is the complete non-utilisation by the Centre of the services of officers who are appointed to the IAS by promotion or selection from the State Civil Services. This large pool of around 2,250 officers, usually in the age bracket of 35-55 years, who have immense field experience, remains State-bound. It should be made mandatory for these officers to work for at least two years on Central deputation as Deputy Secretaries/Directors immediately after their appointment to the IAS and their training in Mussoorie. Their next promotion in their State cadre should be subject to their completing this mandatory period of Central deputation. Officers who are over 50 years of age at the time of appointment may be exempted. This can solve the problem of shortage of Deputy Secretary/Director-level officers at the Centre in one stroke.
•The fifth cause is the numerous administrative barriers to Central deputation imposed by the Centre itself in the form of highly restrictive conditions, perverse incentives, annual lapsing of offer lists, long debarment periods, compulsory cooling-off periods, etc. Expecting directly recruited IAS officers to work for at least two years as Deputy Secretaries/Directors between nine and 16 years of service for empanelment as Joint Secretaries at the Centre is unwise because this is precisely the phase when they are working in posts with good job content, power, prestige and perks. So, a large number of them do not go on Central deputation and fail to get empaneled as Joint Secretaries, which automatically eliminates them from future empanelment as Additional Secretaries and Secretaries.
Proposed solution
•We suggest that it should be made mandatory for directly recruited IAS officers to serve at least three years on Central deputation between nine and 25 years of service. Their promotion to Principal Secretary grade in their State cadre (usually after 25 years) should be subject to their completing this mandatory period of Central deputation. This wider window will enable IAS officers to opt for Central deputation at their convenience and the Centre will also be assured of a steady, adequate supply of deputationists.
•The process of empanelment of IAS officers for the posts of Joint Secretary, Additional Secretary and Secretary (or their equivalent) at the Centre is much reviled for being opaque and arbitrary. The Centre should directly choose its Joint Secretaries, Additional Secretaries and Secretaries from among IAS officers “on offer” who are officiating in equivalent grades in State governments through a process of selection — in much the same manner as it chooses Deputy Secretaries/Directors. This will make a larger, better talent pool available to the Centre and enable officers to use the experience gained in the State at various levels in the service of the Centre.
•We are, therefore, of the view that the proposed amendments are a case of diagnosing the malaise incorrectly and applying a wrong remedy that has serious side effects. It should be noted that even if the proposed amendments come into force, States can still scuttle Central deputations by giving adverse performance assessments or foisting false disciplinary and vigilance cases against the officers. This dystopian scenario actually played out in Tamil Nadu some years ago with “he/she is a below-average officer” being the favoured adverse comment.
•Persuasion succeeds where force fails. The shortfall in CDR obligations is not a problem that the Cabinet Secretary cannot solve by having a constructive dialogue with all the Chief Secretaries, or the Prime Minister cannot solve by holding a meeting with all the Chief Ministers. The Inter-State Council constituted under Article 263 of the Constitution is the institution meant specifically for handling such Centre-State situations before things get out of hand.
•It is worth recalling that in 1947, India lost nearly 60% of its Indian Civil Service officers – British and Muslim – when the country was beset with far greater challenges than today. Sardar Patel showed great sagacity and overcame the shortage within a few years by working with the provinces (as they were called then) rather than against them. The sanctity of the principle of cooperative federalism and the interests of national unity and administrative efficiency demand nothing less.
📰 Zooming in on the potential of India’s geospatial sector
But the main hurdles are the lack of awareness among potential users and inadequate skilled manpower
•The date, February 15, 2021 will be regarded as a watershed moment when new guidelines took effect to completely de-regulate the geospatial sector for Indians. As we celebrate the first anniversary of this moment, it is time to look back and assess its impact and identify the bottlenecks so that the full potential of the geospatial sector can be realised.
Not much of a percolation
•India has a robust ecosystem in geospatial, with the Survey of India (SoI), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), remote sensing application centres (RSAC)s, and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in particular, and all ministries and departments, in general, using geospatial technology. However, the full benefits have yet to percolate to the public; neither is there much contribution to the nation’s GDP.
•Since the declaration of the guidelines, there has been a lot of hype and hoopla about the geospatial sector. The Prime Minister’s speech during Independence Day and mention of geospatial in the Union Budget have created the necessary buzz. The media too published many articles projecting the market to some ₹1 lakh-crore by the year 2029 with 13% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR). Consequently, the geospatial sector, which was considered taboo by investors, is seeing new interest.
•The last year has also witnessed some activity on the ground. The most noticeable was the over subscription of the initial public offering of MapmyIndia. The other noticeable activity was the launching of a city mapping programme by Genesys International in India. Such an aggressive stance by investors for geospatial was not seen in the earlier regime; it is certain that the new guidelines have played a role. Today, there is a positive mood in the private industry, which is no more apprehensive and conservative like it was in previous years.
•While the Government has done its bit and industry is gung-ho, questions remain: is the full potential of geospatial being exploited? Or are there roadblocks still despite the enabling policy in place? These are important questions and should be dealt with.
Key issues
•Among the most prominent hurdles is the absence of a sizeable geospatial market in India. There is no demand for geospatial services and products on a scale linked to India’s potential and size. This is mainly due to the lack of awareness among potential users in government and private. The other hurdle has been the lack of skilled manpower across the entire pyramid. The unavailability of foundation data, especially at high-resolution, is also a constraint. The lack of clarity on data sharing and collaboration prevents co-creation and asset maximisation. Lastly, barring a few cases, there are still no ready-to-use solutions especially built to solve the problems of India.
•Unless these issues are addressed, the policy alone will not suffice. Of course, it can be argued that the restrictive data policy of yesteryears was the root cause of many of these limiting factors. However, the experience has been that despite one year since the new guidelines came into effect, users are still not fully aware of things. This is true across government departments, and confusion prevails in private industry.
Have a protocol in place
•It is understood that these issues cannot be resolved overnight and that the formulation of guidelines alone is not enough. The inertia and the mindset due to decades of restrictions will be difficult to shrug off. However, India needs to be aggressive to make a leapfrog; therefore, special attention is required as far as this sector is concerned. First and foremost is the need to publish the entire policy document and make government and private users aware of things. The data available with government departments should be unlocked, and data sharing should be encouraged and facilitated. This will only be possible through an open data sharing protocol. The Government needs to invest in developing standards and must mandate the adoption of standards. There is a need to establish a geo-portal to make all public-funded data accessible through data as a service model, with no or nominal charge. Most important is to inculcate the culture of data sharing, collaboration and co-creation.
•While different types of data will be produced on a project-to-project basis, there is a need to generate foundation data across India. This should include the Indian national digital elevation model (InDEM), data layers for cities, and data of natural resources. Solution developers and start-ups should be engaged to build solution templates for various business processes across departments. Local technology and solutions should be promoted, and competition should be encouraged for quality output. As the new guidelines prevent high-accuracy data being stored in overseas clouds, there is a need to develop a geospatial data cloud locally and facilitate a solution as service. For instance, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change can host a complete suite of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications like working plan, wildlife corridor mapping, social forestry, etc. National organisations like SoI and ISRO should be entrusted with the responsibility of regulation and the projects related to the nation’s security and scientific significance. These organisations should not compete with entrepreneurs for government business as the latter remains in a disadvantageous position.
An academic programme
•Though India has many who are trained in geospatial this is mostly either through a master’s level programme or on-job training. Unlike the West, India lacks a strata of core professionals who understand geospatial end-to-end. India should start a bachelor’s programme in geospatial also in the Indian Institutes of Technology and the National Institutes of Technology Besides these, there should be a dedicated geospatial university. Such programmes will propel research and development efforts which are crucial for the development of technologies and solutions locally.
•The geospatial sector in the country is rightly positioned for investment. However, clarity on the issues discussed and the creation of an enabling ecosystem are essential. By the time we celebrate the 10th anniversary, we should have achieved the projected market volume and have Indian entrepreneurs stand out internationally.
