Global Food Security and Poverty : An Analysis !

Food insecurity, or the inability to access food of sufficient quantity and quality to satisfy minimum dietary needs, is the most basic form of human deprivation. Before people can provide for their education, health care, or even clothing and shelter, they need to satisfy their hunger and feel secure that their future meals will indeed be available. Thus, the issue of food security is central to any discussion on poverty. Food security is defined as the situation when “all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO 2002). To achieve food security, food should be available, accessible, and properly utilized at all times.

Availability of food refers to the supply side of the food security issue: whether there is enough food to feed people. Even when people are able to obtain food, it must be properly utilized—that is, it must be able to satisfy their dietary needs and preferences. The term “utilized” here refers to the use of food for the body’s nutrition and to the utility attained from food. The first usage, regarding nutrition, is easy to understand—it is not enough for people to just have 2,000 kilocalories per day, which technically can be obtained solely from carbohydrates. But people also need ample amounts of proteins, fruits and vegetables, and micronutrients to maintain physical and mental health. The second aspect— utility or pleasure—is equally important given the centrality of food in determining one’s quality of life. Food is often one of the few pleasures the poor can afford. The food needs to be culturally acceptable and in line with people’s preferences to contribute to their well-being.

Here in this article we will talk over:

Ø What are the implications of population growth and changes in consumption patterns for food security, given the limited resources for producing and distributing food?

Ø  How does food price inflation and volatility affect food security?

Ø What are the impacts of increasing food prices on poverty?

Ø  What are the factors that exacerbate food price volatility and market instability?

Ø What can policymakers do to improve food security: a global perspective?

The Rising and Changing Global Demand for Food:

Strong income growth and rising population in developing countries have been key drivers behind the rapidly growing global demand for food. Rapid income growth and an expanding middle class, particularly in populous economies, are powerful drivers of increased demand for food. Along with income growth, economic development brings about visible structural transformation, which has implications for the pattern of food consumption. As incomes increase, growth in the world’s per capita grain consumption is expected to slow due to the low income elasticity of food, particularly for grains. With rising affluence, people usually shift their diets to a lower share of coarse grains and more meat, fruit, vegetables, and vegetable oils. Rapid urbanization also contributes to the changing diets, as higher value processed food, dairy products, and tropical beverages such as coffee become more readily available. Food security is indispensable to long-term sustainable growth and development. Well-nourished individuals are likely to have higher productivity and contribute more to economic growth. Food insecurity is often a source of instability in households, communities, and nations, impeding their growth and development. As such, food security has been high on the development agenda of all countries, and poor countries that have many food-insecure people often call urgently for action on the issue. Reducing the number of underweight children and ensuring appropriate levels of dietary energy consumption are integral to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Food Prices and Poverty:

Food price inflation is an important barrier to economic access to food. Based on the FAO’s index for food prices, real global food prices increased by 14% in just 6 months, from 151 points in June 2009 to 172 points in January 2010 (World Bank 2010).

The World Bank attributed the food price spikes to increases in demand due to the use of food crops for biofuels, speculation in agricultural commodity futures markets, and policies such as export restrictions. Concerns over food prices are mounting because inflation erodes the purchasing power of households, especially those with low incomes, and could undermine the gains in poverty reduction and human development achieved during the last few decades. Many people who were poor before the price increases may now be on the verge of hunger and malnutrition, and those who were barely above the poverty line may slip back below it. In this context, it is important to examine the impact of food prices on poverty. At the macroeconomic level, higher food prices hurt countries that provide substantial food subsidies. High levels of food subsidies may crowd out public investment in other areas, such as health, education, and infrastructure. At the household level, small-scale farmers and poor consumers are hit hardest by food price hikes. The average household in the developing world spends roughly half of its total budget on food. And for households living below the poverty line, food will likely constitute an even greater portion of expenditures. Indeed, globally, poor households allocate more than 60% of total household consumption to food.

Developing countries in Asia and the Pacific are no exception: households with daily per capita consumption of less than $1.25 at 2005 PPP dollars spend 60%–70% of their total budget on food. Therefore, the poor suffer a disproportionately high adverse effect from food price inflation. Without a change in prices, poverty reduction will depend on two factors: average income (or expenditure) and its distribution. An increase in average income without a change in distribution reduces poverty, while an increase in income inequality without a change in average income increases poverty. However, any change in food and non-food prices also alters purchasing power, influencing the percentage of people living below the poverty threshold. Increases in food and non-food prices will reduce people’s real income, which in turn increases poverty. Shares of food and non-food consumption vary across income groups—the poor spend a relatively large share of their income on food consumption—thus, a change in food versus non-food prices will also have implications for the distribution of real income.

In this context, a change in poverty can be divided into three factors:

(i) an income effect encompassing changes in average income expenditure and its distribution,

(ii)  a food price effect, and

(iii) a non-food price effect

The pure income effect measures the impact of changes in people’s nominal income on poverty, assuming food and non-food prices remain the same. The food and non-food price effects measure the impact of changes in these prices on poverty, assuming nominal incomes do not change. Given this decomposition method, the combined effect of the three components will result in the net impact on poverty reduction.

Food Price Volatility and Market Instability:

1. Volatility in Recent Food Prices

In recent years, the world has witnessed staggering volatility in food prices. Prior to the global financial crisis, international prices of wheat, rice, and maize reached record highs in 2007–2008. There were many causes for this increase, such as increased demand from emerging economies, competition for resources from bio-fuel production, and supply disruptions due to droughts and wildfires. Although the global financial crisis and a related fall in demand temporarily dampened the rise in food prices, the eventual recovery and the inflationary effects of financial bail-outs and low interest rates may again put upward pressure on food prices, while ongoing structural transformation associated with the strong economic rise of large developing countries and climate change suggest a grim outlook for sustaining the food supply in the long run.

2. The Causes of Food Price Instability

Food prices fluctuate due to a combination of short-term shocks and long-term trends. Population growth, economic growth, and changing consumption patterns are among the major factors influencing long-term trends on the demand side. However, these demand-side trends are not new. Most recently, these trends were apparent in the 1960s and 1970s, when it seemed that food production may not be able to cope with global population growth and the increasing post-war affluence of Europe, Japan, and the United States. However, in the 1970s, the impending food crisis was averted by the Green Revolution that significantly improved food production around the globe, particularly of staple grains. This eventually led to a decades-long decline in food prices. Indeed, increasing and changing demand may not be an issue if supply can catch up. The recent food crisis, however, has been characterized by supply-side as well as demand side constraints. In the last several decades, the rise of large emerging market economies has been spectacular, and has brought about rapid structural transformation with significant impacts on agriculture, environment, and food production. Along with the rush to integrate into the global economy, many poor countries have been competing for markets and investments by offering investors favorable wages and building the most attractive and efficient infrastructure. Accompanying this has been a massive structural transformation away from agriculture, with land once used to grow basic food crops being reallocated to expanding cities and factories producing higher value export products. While land available for food production has been threatened by competing needs from population growth and urban expansion, the quality of land already used for production has been deteriorating due to poor management, pollution, and degradation (e.g., erosion and desertification). Reduced attention to agriculture is having serious consequences: it has resulted in endangering food security, degrading the environment, uprooting rural communities, and increasing vulnerability among the poor. Trade disruptions also played a key role in increasing the volatility of food prices. In a regime of food production surpluses, trade openness had a positive impact on the global economy, allowing efficient food-producing countries to specialize and increase output while at the same time encouraging inefficient food producers to diversify into non-food production.

3. Climate Change: A Realistic Threat to Food Security

The greatest threat to food security, however, is climate change. While trade policies and resource management issues, in principle, can be solved quickly with the right mix of interventions, problems caused by climate change are much more difficult to resolve in the short term and will require long-term and internationally coordinated solutions. Sustainable food security is a key to long-term sustainable development; however, achieving sustainability in food availability, access, stability, and utilization is increasingly challenged by the changing climate and environment. The global climate change has already affected food security in a variety of ways. Rising temperatures tend to reduce crop productivity in the tropics.

Climate change alters rainfall and its patterns, thus affecting water supply for farming and livestock. The warming ocean and its acidification, due to greater greenhouse gas concentrations, are reducing fish populations. A hotter climate has caused sea levels to rise. In turn, this is resulting in permanent land loss, coastal inundation, and saltwater intrusion, leading to deteriorating soil quality and suitability. In extreme conditions, which have been evident in recent years, global warming has led to severe droughts, floods, which destroy crops, pasture lands, livestock, transport and agricultural infrastructure, and household assets.

Selected Policy Issues in Tackling Food Security and Reducing Poverty:

Food security is a complex, multidimensional issue. The experiences clearly show that economic growth alone does not promote food security. Although rapid growth has helped to reduce the region’s aggregate poverty, the number of undernourished and hungry people has increased. Achieving food security should, therefore, be an integral part of the drive towards poverty reduction. A combination of short- and long-term; economic and social; macro and structural; and global, regional, and national policies is required to promote food security and reduce both poverty and hunger. While a comprehensive policy framework is needed to ensure food security, some policy measures can deal with food security and poverty simultaneously.

There are five basic policy strategies that could be considered:

Ø Providing food-based safety nets and related social protection programs

Ø  Enhancing the productivity of agriculture

Ø  Promoting rural development

Ø  Supporting agricultural research,

Ø  Investing in human capital and basic infrastructure.

1. Providing Food-Based Safety Nets and Social Protection Programs

Safety nets and social protection programs can offer immediate relief to the poor during times of crisis. It is important to build such programs into the system as a part of automatic stabilizers. Food price inflation strongly impacts food security. Governments often provide subsidies to keep the food prices artificially low. However, blanket food subsidies drain budgets and cannot be a viable solution if the food price increases are sustained and are caused by supply and demand market fundamentals—subsidies may in fact exacerbate existing problems. The better option when faced with rising food prices may be for the government to provide food-based safety nets and related social protection programs like,

  Ø  Cash transfer programs should be targeted only to the poor so program costs are more sustainable—even given limited fiscal space. Because cash transfer programs require large amounts of resources, they need to be well targeted to yield maximum results. Transfers to beneficiary households should be based on the minimum cost of a food basket that provides the required calories and nutrition to household members. This will help ensure that available resources are well spent and that cash transfers offer the poor minimum dietary intakes.

  Ø  Governments could consider establishing a “hunger alleviation fund,” in which they set aside a reasonable amount—say, 1% of GDP—as buffer in times of food crisis. Such a fund would provide a safety net for the poor and those most vulnerable to hunger, malnutrition, and starvation.

  Ø  Safety nets specific to farmers would include weather-based crop insurance and futures contract, which assure farmers specified prices for output, can also help mitigate risks caused by price fluctuations. Futures help assure farmers a minimum income for their harvest. While crop insurance is meant to encourage greater production, futures contracts can encourage poverty reduction.

2.   Enhancing Agricultural Productivity

Improving agricultural productivity is essential for ensuring long-term food security and promoting poverty reduction. Adequate food supply is a fundamental prerequisite for food security, especially as the global population is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050. Bolstering farm productivity through better technology and efficiency can help increase food production. Transferring modern farm technology to increase the efficiency with which land is used can produce major increases in farm yields. In this case, governments and development institutions have a critical role to play in providing access to credit, promoting farm cooperatives, and educating farmers about applying new technologies. Reducing the amount of food wasted due to poor storage or inefficient processing could significantly boost the global food supply. Innovation and adoption of new technology can help improve agricultural productivity and rural incomes. For example, waste-to-energy technologies (i.e., converting agro-biomass to energy) are slowly gaining ground, especially in the face of rising fuel prices. These green technologies help reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint and they enhance agricultural productivity and rural income. Energy can be sold or used separately and organic fertilizer generated in the process of converting biomass into energy can be used for agricultural production. Similarly, animal manure combined with biomass (e.g. rice straw, corn stover, sugarcane leaves) can be also used for biogas production.

3.   Promoting Rural Development

Promoting rural development can contribute substantially to poverty reduction and food security. A majority of the region’s poor live in rural areas and this often poses a dilemma for national policymakers when choosing policies to stabilize food prices and protect the agricultural sector. The most effective approach in tackling both poverty and food insecurity is through a rural-based growth strategy. A new growth paradigm should focus on support for agriculture, increasing rural income opportunities on par with the urban sector. Doing so will stem the excess labor migration from rural to urban centers that accompanies structural transformation. Rural incomes should also be diversified to improve stability, while urban-rural integration needs to be scaled up. The rural economic base can be diversified by introducing new value-adding activities, including the transformation of agricultural wastes into energy sources.

4.   Supporting Agricultural Research

Now, as during the Green Revolution of the 1970s, agricultural research is an essential factor in improving agriculture’s productivity. For example, advancements in food technology could significantly boost farm production. Advances in biotechnology can allow the production of crops that are not only more resistant to pests and weather events, but also have higher nutritional content. More research and better technologies are also needed in livestock production and fisheries—as people shift dietary preferences from cereal grains to meat and vegetables. Other areas requiring further research and development include the efficient and sustainable use of dwindling land and water resources. Higher yields are mandatory as available land for agriculture contracts. Although some virgin land areas are still available for cultivation the potential land use for food production is offset by urban sprawl and by soil erosion and degradation. Further, competition for water use by rising populations and more frequent droughts calls for the development of crop varieties that use water more efficiently or are tolerant to water interruptions. Farmers are expected to need 45% more water by 2030, but are in competition with rapidly increasing urban needs.

5.   Investing in Human Capital and Basic Infrastructure

Human capital investments, such as in health and education, and investments in basic infrastructure, such as water and sanitation, play a critical role in food security—as they are essential components of poverty reduction. While sustained income growth leads to poverty reduction and food security, the link between economic growth and food security may be weakened by the poor’s limited access to human capital formation and basic infrastructure. Countries that prioritize social development—boosting access to basic schooling, health, and nutrition—not only directly enhance individual welfare but also achieve higher average incomes over the long term. Prioritizing development of human capital improves food security by providing much-needed education on health and nutrition, understanding the importance of food security itself, and enabling farmers to better adopt modern and more productive farming technologies— for example, by improving processing and storage. Likewise, employing more efficient water management and sanitation will help prevent soil degradation due to pollution, and maintain a healthier, more productive population by preventing the spread of disease.

Conclusion:

Food security and poverty reduction are inseparable. Although food security alone does not eradicate poverty, any strategy to fight poverty must be integrated with policies to ensure food security and to offer the best chance of reducing mass poverty and hunger. Problems related to increasing food availability, feeding the population, improving their nutritional status and reducing poverty levels continue to confront decision makers in many developing and developed countries. Program managers and policy makers who constantly deal with design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of food security, nutrition and poverty related interventions have to make best decisions from a wide range of program and policy options. Information for making such policy and program decisions must be based on sound data-based analysis. Such analysis should be founded on statistical theory that provides an inferential basis for evaluating, refining and, sometimes, rejecting the existing policy and program interventions.

(For reading about National Food Security Bill of India,please click here)

What are your suggestions for ensuring a better India and the world via efficient food security program and policies?

How the government across the world should proceed to tackle this huge global problem?

How a common people can contribute in his/her day to day life for this common and great cause?

(Written by Prakash Jha, an Alumnus of Dept. of Agriculture, BHU, Varanasi and currently JRF at IARI (Indian Agricultural Research Institute), New Delhi)

Read More

Earthquake & Natural Disaster Management : An Overview !

A huge earthquake of at least 6.5 on the Richter scale has shaken Greece and parts of Turkey today and few days back on 22nd May 2014, mild to moderate tremors of approx. 6.0 on the Richter scale were felt in northern and eastern India which were felt in places like Delhi, NCR, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Ranchi, Gaya, Chennai and few other places. These recent events push us to have an overview of earthquake.

An earthquake could be defined as the series of vibrations on the earth’s surface caused by the generation of elastic (or) seismic waves due to sudden deformation/rupture within the earth during the release of an accumulated strain energy.

Earthquakes result in large-scale human fatalities because they cause –

·         Structural damage (Collapse of man-made structures) - the collapse of structures like houses, schools, hospitals and public buildings , damage to public infrastructure like roads, dams and bridges, as well as public utilities like power and water supply installations ; floods from dam and levee failures , damage to nuclear sites , explosions at chemical sites , collapsing of mines etc.

    Resultant additional natural calamities – rise in sea level , tsunami waves in sea & coastal areas, Land and mud slides, Soil liquefaction ,Ground lurching, Avalanches , Fires etc.

 Several major earthquakes witnessed by India in the recent past -

1.   The Uttarkashi earthquake of 1991,

2.   The Latur earthquake of 1993,

3.   The Jabalpur earthquake of 1997,

4.   The Chamoli earthquake of1999.

5.   The Bhuj earthquake of 26 January 2001 ,and

6.   The Jammu & Kashmir earthquake of 8 October 2005.

India Power-Plants and Earthquake-Zones

(The analysis of the above listed major earthquakes has made it clear that the casualties were caused primarily due to the collapse of buildings.)

Indian mainland is highly vulnerable to earthquakes, (As per seismic zoning, as much as 59 per cent of India’s land area could face moderate to severe earthquakes).

Given the high seismic risk and earthquake vulnerability in India , a comprehensive ,  institutionalized and coordinated mechanism is required  for effective disaster management at the national, state, and district levels , which should include –

I.   Analyzing the risk:-

·  Carrying out the vulnerability mapping of earthquake-prone areas and creating inventory of resources for effective response;

·  An identification of the critical areas which require special attention;

·  Analyzing & documenting the lessons learnt  from previous earthquakes , and working over future strategy in coping similar emergencies in future ;

·   Strengthening of emergency response capability in earthquake prone areas;

·  Estimating  the extent of damage to life and property in the event of an earthquake ( so that suitable disaster management strategies can be evolved )

II.   Predicting the risk:-

Predicting the Earthquakes-

The short- or mid-term prediction of earthquakes is difficult; but use of animal behavior in predicting earthquakes can offer some help.

III. Preventive measures:-

1.   The pre-disaster preparedness based on scientific and technical principles (with special focus on building techniques). This forms an important cornerstone of earthquake disaster mitigation efforts -

·   Seismic safety of man-made structures such that it ensures the structures do not collapse;

·  Revision of town planning bye-laws and adoption of model bye-laws;

·   Assessing the seismic vulnerability of the existing buildings by carrying out structural safety audits;

·    Developing seismic strengthening & setting up standards and guidelines for existing upcoming critical lifeline structures & also of buildings of national importance;

·    Undertaking mandatory technical audits of structural designs of major projects like dams, bridges etc.

·   Incorporation of earthquake resistant design features in the new buildings.

·  Ensuring the compliance of earthquake-resistant building codes, town planning laws and other safety regulations.

2. Educating masses & the role of community      participation 

·  Introducing earthquake safety education in schools, colleges and universities;

·   Conducting mock drills for greater public awareness;

·  Participation of the community at the local level in the planning, implementation and monitoring processes;

·    Launching public awareness campaigns on seismic safety and risk reduction;

· Technical education following comprehensive curriculum related to earthquake management.

3.   Medical emergency & preparedness –

·  The emergency medical plan to be immediately put to work on receiving information from the earthquake affected areas;

· Prompt and efficient emergency medical response with effective reach to affected masses;

·  Resuscitation, triage and medical evacuation of victims who require hospitalization,

· Appropriate counseling will be provided to the victims suffering from pshyco-social trauma.

4. Setting up “Disaster Response Force” battalions in high seismic risk zones, training and equipping them.

5. A brief review of the status of earthquake management efforts periodically.

IV.   Response/ Emergency measures :-

1.   Emergency relief measures –

·   Planning and setting up emergency shelters, relief camps for people affected;

·   Distributing relief among the affected people,

·  Identifying missing people and launching search & rescue operations for them,

·   Addressing the needs like- health care, water supply and sanitation, food etc.,

·  Deployment of armed forces for post-earthquake response work,

· Establishing systems for proper identification of the deceased, recording the details of victims, and their DNA fingerprinting.

V.   Rehabilitation & Recovery:-

· Steps to be taken to ensure adequate nutrition, medical services , water & sanitation facilities,

·  Providing psychological care and social support,

·  Re-housing of those rendered shelter-less after-quake,

·   Rehabilitate amputees and other disabled,

·  Providing them with opportunities for earning living & settlement.

Thus we see that the Earthquakes pose unique challenges during each phase of the disaster management cycle (i.e., during preparedness, prevention, mitigation, response, rehabilitation and recovery). International experience has shown that the maximum gains from earthquake management efforts are secured by strengthening the pre-earthquake preparedness and mitigation efforts.

{Emergency management in India is being handled by the National Disaster Management Authority of India, part of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Indian Army also plays an important role in the rescue/recovery operations after a disaster.}

Challenges ahead –

• More R&D is needed on –“How to improve seismic safety?”
• Inadequate numbers of trained and qualified civil engineers, structural engineers, architects and masons proficient in earthquake-resistant design and construction of structures.
• Revising the curriculum in professional courses, incorporating disaster management in them.
• Need of generating public awareness on seismic risk reduction features in non-engineered construction in earthquake-prone areas.

Conclusion –

To sum up , we can say that , an increasing need is being felt for systematic, holistic and integrated effort to address the critical areas of concern responsible for the weak seismic safety measures ; & formulating an “Earthquake Management Plan” covering all aspects like earthquake preparedness, mitigation, public awareness, capacity building, training, education, Research and Development (R&D), documentation, earthquake response, rehabilitation and recovery with a minimal loss of lives and damage to property, assets and infrastructure.

What is your view about preparedness of India for such natural disaster like earthquake etc.?

How much efficient is our natural disaster management system throughout the country? How it can be made much stronger and systematic?

How a normal citizen can contribute during such natural disasters for the welfare of the people and country?

(Written by Dr. Jot Brar, a practicing Doctor)

Read More

Indian Space Programs : An Analysis !

'Our land of Hindustan, is the Best in the world’

                                Rakesh Sharma (Rtd. Wing Commander, INDIA)

This was answered by Mr Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian astronaut. While he was in space, when asked by our former Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi on a famous conversation, who asked him how does India look from space? We never thought that we will be an important nation among international space club. It was a dream for every Indian before 1963, the day when we launched our first rocket ‘NIKE APACHE’ from TERLS (Thiruvanantpuram) which was made in USA.

We are celebrating the golden jubilee year of ISRO. The journey was not as easy at initial stage as it seems. We had many hurdles we just liberated from Britain, our economy was dull, we were caught in wars with Pakistan and China and technically we were not so strong to start. Our Instantaneous friend nations like USA, Soviet Union and France helped us in this.

Rakesh Sharma

Dr. Vikaram Sarabhai is the father of our space technology mission who started it from a small church called Thumba (at Kerala). In1962 he crafted a plan and sent it to our government. They formed Indian national committee for space based on this plan. Later it is converted into ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) on 15^th August 1969 and Dr. Sarabhai became the first president of the same. ISRO created many mile stones like our first indigenous rocket Rohini-75, first satellite “Aryabhatt”, PSLV, GSLV and many more. Now we are going to ‘Moon and Mars’ to help our humanity on ‘Earth’.

Concept:-

Space- is an infinite place around the earth, where objects move in free form. It has many solar systems, planets, satellites and meteorites etc.

Satellite- has two types- natural and artificial. Moon is the kind of natural satellite whereas artificial are the manmade which are used to do many task on earth which are established in a specific path called orbit. They have payloads and solar panel for source of energy. Payloads are the main instrument which is used to perform communication related task according to various requirements.

Launching Vehicles-To setup a satellite we need to carry them into their orbits for this we use launching vehicle like Polar Satellite Launching Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Satellite Launching Vehicle (GSLV). It needs escape velocity of 11.2 KM/Sec to overcome the gravity restriction.

·         PSLV is used to establish a satellite into a sun synchronous orbit up to 700KM distance and carry up to 1600 Kg weight. Now PSLV-XL can carry 1750 KG.

·         GSLV used to setup in geostationary orbit up to 36000KM from earth and can carry up to 2500 KG weight. Now GSLV-MK3 is able to carry 4000KG.

Usability of Space Programs:-

Since starting of Indian space program, we have launched many satellites. Which are highly useful of its multiple functions. It takes various inputs from many resources and analyse it after this it send the whole information to receptor on earth. These may be about soil, weather, atmosphere and geography etc. This informative knowledge helps us to improve our process and we can get many advantages in many fields some of them are following.

   1.   Corp production growth.

   2.   Natural resource management.

   3.   Disaster management.

   4.   Weather forecast.

   5.   Education, Television, Telemedicine etc.

   6.   Telecommunication.

   7.   Navigation.

   8.   Defence.

Important Missions:-

Chandrayan-I & II-

On 22^nd October 2008 Chandrayan-I launched successfully from Satish Dhavan Space centre (Andhra Pradesh). On 14^th November 2008 moon impact probe landed on moon surface and it discovered water as hydroxyl ions on moon’s surface.

Firstly Chandrayan-II was a co-operation between India and Russia but Russia is not willing to continue in this project. So India is going alone with this. In which one Orbitor will move around moon and rover will land on surface. It will analyse the moon’s atmosphere.

Mars Mission-It will be launched in October-November 2013 having main aim to analyse the Mars planet. For this purpose, India will use its strongest launching vehicle PSLV-XL. Primary objectives are to demonstrate India’s technological capability to send a satellite to orbit around Mars and conduct meaningful experiments such as looking for signs of life, take pictures of the red planet and study Martian environment.

IRNSS-

It is the first navigational project of India which will provide the real time movement of object. The range of this is 150KM from the main land India so we can track the outer activities to strengthen our defence system. Apart from 6 satellite of group this is first IRNSS-1A we will send 5 more for higher facilities. It involves two types of services, common services for all and premium services for specific client like army, research and governments.

Criticism:-

Some people criticise the program due to vast budgeting for same, they think it will affect our basic developments. But we should understand that it is the investment for better future, by this we can achieve our developmental goals easily. Even we can send other country satellite & increase our income.

The architect of Indian space programme Dr. Vikram Sarabhai stated that “There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned spaceflight. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the comity of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society.”

Conclusion:-

India is novice in this field. We are on good track but we are not as much as mature like some giant countries which have solid space technology. We have to increase our research programme. We should create solid infrastructures and awareness about space science thus many people can join and contribute in same. We must go with this vision 2025.

India is on a good move to setup many satellites, it will enhance our efforts on every aspects .It is an important factor about our developments in Agriculture, Mining, Natural resources and many more. We should be more active on innovation which can play a great role in our prosperity. With a positive attitude it may become a fruitful tree for us to fulfil our requirements. The unlimited sky is waiting for us to serve us this treasure. We can’t forget the contribution of Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in this context, I remember one famous quote from our former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam :-

“Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work.”

What do you think:-

1- Are we on right track in space technology R&D?

2- How is it beneficial for our society?

3- What is the future expectation from these programs?

Kindly give your precious opinions here…

(Written by co-host Jey Mitra of the event Group Discussion for UPSC CSE (Daily 9PM to 11PM) of the group Mission Mussoorie UPSC Civil Services based up on daily discussions. Please join and give your valuable views)

Read More