MH370: India’s wake-up call (opinion)
- Aircrafts fly over the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in India, inspite of no-fly regulations.
- Repeated violations over New Delhi’s restricted in air space will cause threats to Parliament, defense and intelligence complexes, President’s & Prime Minister’s home and office, etc.
- International investigations revealed that malfunctioning autopilot system led the flight (Korean Airlines Boeing 747 flying from New York to Seoul) into the crucial Kamchatka Peninsula and it was shot by the Soviet Union fearing it to be a hostile aircraft in 1983.
- Declassified Soviet documents revealed that the commander of the Soviet Far East District Air Defense Forces wanted the aircraft destroyed if identified as having no civilians.
- Intelligence officials were suspecting a probable attack on the New Delhi Commonwealth Games either using hijacked aircraft or remotely-piloted drone fitted with explosives.
- India doesn’t have central command center where military, intelligence and civilian officials can decide on real threats. Power rests with Crisis Management Group, where decisions are made post-crisis.
- The Pavit, Panama-flagged merchant ship was reported sunk but found floating inIndian waters for several hours until it nudged Mumbai’s Juhu beach. The ship could have been carrying toxic chemicals that could kill thousands,which shows India’s borders are prone to terrorists attacks.
- The Seaman Guard Ohio, a 394-tonne floating armoury serving anti-piracy mercenaries, was operated in Indian waters for 45 days, evading multiple Coast Guard patrols as well as a port search at Kochi.
- It is revealed that 72% of the fast patrol vessels (FPVs)/inshore patrol vessels (IPVs), 47% of the advanced offshore patrol vessels (AOPVs) & 37% of interceptor boats (IBs) were expired or on extended life. There were no police posted on police outposts, 36 out of 50 coastal outposts were non-functional.
- From 2009-2012 vulnerability/gap analysis was done in consultation with Coast Guard to firm up their additional requirements. There has been not much of changes on the ground.
- The resources and infrastructure to face any terrorist chemical weapons attacks or any catastrophic industrial accident should be put in place at the earliest.
- U.S trained experts are appointed in Central Industrial Security Force to guard nuclear installations, one battalion in nuclear, chemical or bacteriological environment are appointed in Border Security Force, police are trained in Defence Research and Development Organisation.
- National Disaster Management Authority is working towards building the rudiments of a proper emergency-response force.
Exams Perspective:
- DRDO
- CISF
- BSF
- NDMA
- BARC
- Crisis Management Group