<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;ISRO has created history on 15 Feb 2017.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Launching 104 satellites in one rocket launch, India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has created a world record. Creation of every new record implies the breaking of a previous one. This time India&#39;s space organisation bettered Russia&#39;s feat of sending&nbsp; 37 satellites in 2014.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>India successfully put a record 104 satellites from a single rocket by ejecting all the satellites into predesignated orbit at the correct locations in around 30 minutes time. The rocket&#39;s main payload was a 714 kilogram Cartosat-2 satellite for the purposes of earth observation.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Then there were 103 smaller satellites of a combined weight of 664 kilograms.&nbsp; Most of these smaller satellites will serve commercial purposes and come from countries, such as the United States, Israel, Kazakhstan, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. The SanFrancisco based start-up company Planet Inc alone had 88 satellites put into the orbit, lovingly referred to as the &quot;Dove&quot;. &nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>More than the world record, the significance of this launch should lie in the commercial and the geopolitical aspects of this launch.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Cartosat satellite is the fifth bird in the Cartosat-2 series of earth observation satellites. Before the beginning of this series, ISRO had launched a Cartosat-1 satellite during 2005. The last Cartosat 2 series satellite was launched during 2016. In the near future, one more satellite would be launched as part of this series, and then ISRO expects to launch the Cartosat-3 series.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>The imageries from Cartosat-2 series are meant for cartographic applications and would assist both in urban and rural applications</h5>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>As per ISRO, the imageries from Cartosat-2 series are meant for cartographic applications and would assist both in urban and rural applications. These will be useful in planning coastal land use and regulation as well as other forms of utility management, such as road network monitoring, water distribution, and in the creation of land use maps. It will also be helpful in detecting changes in the landscape, particularly to bring out geographical and manmade features. Then there would be various other Land Information System (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) applications which could be derived from the launch.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>These satellites have an excellent resolution and, hence, could be used for strategic purposes too. The high-resolution Cartosat-2 series imagery satellite is expected to assist India towards monitoring activities that will be taking place on its international borders.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>By successfully inducting 101 nano-satellites in space with a span of approximately 600 seconds speaks volumes about ISRO&rsquo;s technical capabilities. It will be interesting to see how ISRO keeps on innovating with their most reliable space launch vehicle, the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle). The total launch duration for this was some seconds over 28 minutes. ISRO ensured that none of these satellites collided with each other and also they reached a correctly identified location. The precision achieved by ISRO is clearly praiseworthy.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The creation of a record could be seen to have helped ISRO, in particular, and the Indian state, in general, on two major counts. Putting 104 satellites in the orbit is a great advertisement of ISRO&rsquo;s capabilities and could help commercially. This act also demonstrates the scientific progress made by India in the space area. By undertaking successful missions to Moon and Mars as well as the testing of Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), ISRO has already established its credentials globally.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Now in putting 104 satellite in space in one single mission, ISRO has shown that they are capable of working with different technologies, and to innovate with what is available to them. From Moon to Mars mission to RLV, ISRO has used PSLV every effectively. This must be a unique example in the world where one genre of launch vehicle has been used so effectively for multiple tasks.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>Owing to the expansive growth of the Internet and other communication facilities, the need for small satellite launching is increasing from private agencies</h5>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>During last decade or so, activities of ISRO have brought many laurels to the country. Gradually, India is also making its presence felt in the international space launch market. Till date, India has launched few satellites on a commercial basis for various countries. ISRO has one of the best track record in the arena of launching satellites into low earth orbit (LEO).&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Also, India offers one the most cost effective launch facilities. This is attracting various national government and some private agencies towards India to avail the launch facilities. Over a period of time, India could generate reasonable revenue by making their facilities available on commercial basis like the present launch. Particularly, owing to the expansive growth of the Internet and other communication facilities, the need for small satellite launching is increasing from private agencies. There is a need for India to attract this clientele.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The success with launches like 104 satellites in one single rocket launch, definitely helps India to project is capability and now there is a need to consolidate on this further.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Various successes achieved by ISRO over a period time has helped India to raise its stature globally. Owing to successes in fields like information technology, space, atomic energy today, India gets identified as technologically super power. In the international stage, this would help India to engage with various other states constructively.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>All these have both direct and indirect benefits at social, economic, political and strategic fronts and ISRO&rsquo;s success should be viewed at this backdrop.</p>


ISRO?s success should be viewed in the context of the economic, political and strategic benefits it brings to the state

ISRO has created history on 15 Feb 2017. Launching 104 satellites in one rocket launch, India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has created a world record. Creation of every new record implies the breaking of a previous one. This time India's space organisation bettered Russia's feat of sending 37 satellites in 2014. India successfully put a record 104 satellites from a single rocket by ejecting all the satellites into predesignated orbit at the correct locations in around 30 minutes time. The rocket's main payload was a 714 kilogram Cartosat-2 satellite for the purposes of earth observation. Then there were 103 smaller satellites of a combined weight of 664 kilograms. Most of these smaller satellites will serve commercial purposes and come from countries, such as the United States, Israel, Kazakhstan, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. The SanFrancisco based start-up company Planet Inc alone had 88 satellites put into the orbit, lovingly referred to as the "Dove". More than the world record, the significance of this launch should lie in the commercial and the geopolitical aspects of this launch. The Cartosat satellite is the fifth bird in the Cartosat-2 series of earth observation satellites. Before the beginning of this series, ISRO had launched a Cartosat-1 satellite during 2005. The last Cartosat 2 series satellite was launched during 2016. In the near future, one more satellite would be launched as part of this series, and then ISRO expects to launch the Cartosat-3 series. The imageries from Cartosat-2 series are meant for cartographic applications and would assist both in urban and rural applications × As per ISRO, the imageries from Cartosat-2 series are meant for cartographic applications and would assist both in urban and rural applications. These will be useful in planning coastal land use and regulation as well as other forms of utility management, such as road network monitoring, water distribution, and in the creation of land use maps. It will also be helpful in detecting changes in the landscape, particularly to bring out geographical and manmade features. Then there would be various other Land Information System (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) applications which could be derived from the launch. These satellites have an excellent resolution and, hence, could be used for strategic purposes too. The high-resolution Cartosat-2 series imagery satellite is expected to assist India towards monitoring activities that will be taking place on its international borders. By successfully inducting 101 nano-satellites in space with a span of approximately 600 seconds speaks volumes about ISRO’s technical capabilities. It will be interesting to see how ISRO keeps on innovating with their most reliable space launch vehicle, the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle). The total launch duration for this was some seconds over 28 minutes. ISRO ensured that none of these satellites collided with each other and also they reached a correctly identified location. The precision achieved by ISRO is clearly praiseworthy. The creation of a record could be seen to have helped ISRO, in particular, and the Indian state, in general, on two major counts. Putting 104 satellites in the orbit is a great advertisement of ISRO’s capabilities and could help commercially. This act also demonstrates the scientific progress made by India in the space area. By undertaking successful missions to Moon and Mars as well as the testing of Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), ISRO has already established its credentials globally. Now in putting 104 satellite in space in one single mission, ISRO has shown that they are capable of working with different technologies, and to innovate with what is available to them. From Moon to Mars mission to RLV, ISRO has used PSLV every effectively. This must be a unique example in the world where one genre of launch vehicle has been used so effectively for multiple tasks. Owing to the expansive growth of the Internet and other communication facilities, the need for small satellite launching is increasing from private agencies × During last decade or so, activities of ISRO have brought many laurels to the country. Gradually, India is also making its presence felt in the international space launch market. Till date, India has launched few satellites on a commercial basis for various countries. ISRO has one of the best track record in the arena of launching satellites into low earth orbit (LEO). Also, India offers one the most cost effective launch facilities. This is attracting various national government and some private agencies towards India to avail the launch facilities. Over a period of time, India could generate reasonable revenue by making their facilities available on commercial basis like the present launch. Particularly, owing to the expansive growth of the Internet and other communication facilities, the need for small satellite launching is increasing from private agencies. There is a need for India to attract this clientele. The success with launches like 104 satellites in one single rocket launch, definitely helps India to project is capability and now there is a need to consolidate on this further. Various successes achieved by ISRO over a period time has helped India to raise its stature globally. Owing to successes in fields like information technology, space, atomic energy today, India gets identified as technologically super power. In the international stage, this would help India to engage with various other states constructively. All these have both direct and indirect benefits at social, economic, political and strategic fronts and ISRO’s success should be viewed at this backdrop.

The space race: What does India stand to gain?

<p>Now, for more than a year, since he had decided to fight elections for the nomination as a Republican candidate, Mr Donald Trump is in news for various reasons. He is one of the unusual candidates who had accused the US electoral system as a &lsquo;rigged&rsquo; system. Interestingly, even after winning the presidential election, he had made some statements, indicating that the election process was rigged!&nbsp;</p>

<p>Today, he is singing a bit different tune when he has realised that people are believing that the Russians have actually rigged the elections in his favour. The Democratic administration, which remains in power for few more weeks, has claimed that the US election was influenced by the Russian cyber hackers.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This is not the first time that a foreign power has been accused of influencing the US elections. During 1996, when Mr Bill Clinton got elected as the president, it was alleged that China had attempted to influence the elections by making political campaign contributions for the candidate Clinton.</p>

<p>Historically, it has been observed that in various parts of the world, there have been allegations about unfair practices being adopted during elections. What is new in case of the recent US presidential election is the methodology used for the alleged manipulations. This is, probably, for the first time in history when an outside power has been blamed of rigging the elections by using the cyber means.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>Just few weeks back, hackers have targeted the website of Ghana&#39;s electoral commission as votes were getting counted after tightly contested elections</h5>
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<p>Just few weeks back, hackers have targeted the website of Ghana&#39;s electoral commission as votes were getting counted after tightly contested elections. However, the recent presidential elections in the US is a unique case because where cyber attacks were used to tarnish the image of the candidates.</p>

<p>Even after the end of the Cold War relationship between the US and Russia has mostly remained strained. In recent times, it has worsened even further over the Russian government backing Mr. Bashar al-Assad, the ruler of Syria.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Interestingly, Mr Trump has been seen sending positive vibes to the Putin administration for long. An image has taken hold that Mr Trump could be much friendlier to Russia, especially on the matter of economic sanctions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Probably, all this had led the Russians to believe that election of Mr Trump would be in their interest; this could be the primary reason for the Russians to take interest in this election and try to manipulate the process.</p>

<p>Reportedly, the cyber security breach occurred at the email servers of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which is a formal governing body of the Democratic Party. The role of DNC is to strategise for the party candidates fighting elections at various levels. Naturally, DNC server is a storehouse for all relevant information. This breach allowed the attackers to assess the email accounts of various important leaders, including Mrs Clinton.&nbsp;</p>

<p>WikiLeaks platform was used for making the stolen information public. The Republican National Committee account was also hacked, arguably, to demonstrate parity.&nbsp;</p>

<p>As such, Mrs Clinton was under cloud for not using her official email account when she was the Secretary of State. The additional information made easily available via this hack did help to discredit her further.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Russian footprint behind this hacking activity has been identified by a private firm (CrowdStrike) working for DNC. Subsequently, few other private cyber-security agencies and the US government&rsquo;s intelligence agencies with proper forensic assessments have also reached to similar conclusions.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>An image has taken hold that Mr Trump could be much friendlier to Russia, especially on the matter of economic sanctions</h5>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;The New York Times and the Washington Post, the leading US newspapers, have presented detailed reports about these hacking activities. According to them, a secret CIA assessment has found a Russian hand in the hacking plot. Most likely, two Russian groups were involved in this activity: one from the FSB spy agency, the other from the Russian military. There are some who have even drawn some extreme conclusions (without any evidence) from this cyber-attack too. They argue that, &lsquo;a possibility exists that some voting machines also could have been compromised with&rsquo;.</p>

<p>Apparently, the political headquarter of the Democratic party initially failed to judge the possible impact of such cyber-attacks. Thus, the early signals indicating hacking were neglected too, and no major security audit was conducted in time.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Unfortunately, even in developed and IT-savvy countries, such as the US there is a continuing underestimation of the gravity of the cyber-attack. It is important to guard against all forms of cyber espionage, and there is a need to recognise that cyber-attacks are not just irritants but could have a significant strategic impact too.</p>

<p>At one level, the cyber manipulations of recent elections should be a matter of security concern both for today&rsquo;s Obama and tomorrow&rsquo;s Trump administration. But, the US also needs to understand that cyber is a double-edged sword.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>For all these years several states in the world have been the victim of the US cyber policies.</h5>
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</div>

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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>For all these years several states in the world have been the victim of the US cyber policies. For long, the National Security Agency (NSA) from the US&nbsp; has been data mining Brazil, Mexico, France, Italy, Germany among other states without their consent. Particularly, Brazil and Germany have taken very serious objection to this espionage. They have even raised the matters at the United Nations in 2012.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It is also common knowledge that the US has developed (possibly jointly with Israel) cyber weapons like the Stuxnet which helped them to sabotage Iran&rsquo;s nuclear programme. For Russia also, this is not their first cyber offensive. Russian intelligence agencies are blamed for a massive cyber attack on Germany&#39;s Lower House of Parliament during 2015, disabling its computer systems.</p>

<p>All countries in the world, particularly the democratic ones, should take a serious note about the usage of the cyber medium to manipulate elections process. Intelligent and aggressive usage of such tactics has the potential to cause a long-term damage to any electoral system.</p>


For the first time in history, an outside power has been blamed of rigging national election by breaching cyber security

Now, for more than a year, since he had decided to fight elections for the nomination as a Republican candidate, Mr Donald Trump is in news for various reasons. He is one of the unusual candidates who had accused the US electoral system as a ‘rigged’ system. Interestingly, even after winning the presidential election, he had made some statements, indicating that the election process was rigged! Today, he is singing a bit different tune when he has realised that people are believing that the Russians have actually rigged the elections in his favour. The Democratic administration, which remains in power for few more weeks, has claimed that the US election was influenced by the Russian cyber hackers. This is not the first time that a foreign power has been accused of influencing the US elections. During 1996, when Mr Bill Clinton got elected as the president, it was alleged that China had attempted to influence the elections by making political campaign contributions for the candidate Clinton. Historically, it has been observed that in various parts of the world, there have been allegations about unfair practices being adopted during elections. What is new in case of the recent US presidential election is the methodology used for the alleged manipulations. This is, probably, for the first time in history when an outside power has been blamed of rigging the elections by using the cyber means. Just few weeks back, hackers have targeted the website of Ghana's electoral commission as votes were getting counted after tightly contested elections × Just few weeks back, hackers have targeted the website of Ghana's electoral commission as votes were getting counted after tightly contested elections. However, the recent presidential elections in the US is a unique case because where cyber attacks were used to tarnish the image of the candidates. Even after the end of the Cold War relationship between the US and Russia has mostly remained strained. In recent times, it has worsened even further over the Russian government backing Mr. Bashar al-Assad, the ruler of Syria. Interestingly, Mr Trump has been seen sending positive vibes to the Putin administration for long. An image has taken hold that Mr Trump could be much friendlier to Russia, especially on the matter of economic sanctions. Probably, all this had led the Russians to believe that election of Mr Trump would be in their interest; this could be the primary reason for the Russians to take interest in this election and try to manipulate the process. Reportedly, the cyber security breach occurred at the email servers of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which is a formal governing body of the Democratic Party. The role of DNC is to strategise for the party candidates fighting elections at various levels. Naturally, DNC server is a storehouse for all relevant information. This breach allowed the attackers to assess the email accounts of various important leaders, including Mrs Clinton. WikiLeaks platform was used for making the stolen information public. The Republican National Committee account was also hacked, arguably, to demonstrate parity. As such, Mrs Clinton was under cloud for not using her official email account when she was the Secretary of State. The additional information made easily available via this hack did help to discredit her further. The Russian footprint behind this hacking activity has been identified by a private firm (CrowdStrike) working for DNC. Subsequently, few other private cyber-security agencies and the US government’s intelligence agencies with proper forensic assessments have also reached to similar conclusions. An image has taken hold that Mr Trump could be much friendlier to Russia, especially on the matter of economic sanctions × The New York Times and the Washington Post, the leading US newspapers, have presented detailed reports about these hacking activities. According to them, a secret CIA assessment has found a Russian hand in the hacking plot. Most likely, two Russian groups were involved in this activity: one from the FSB spy agency, the other from the Russian military. There are some who have even drawn some extreme conclusions (without any evidence) from this cyber-attack too. They argue that, ‘a possibility exists that some voting machines also could have been compromised with’. Apparently, the political headquarter of the Democratic party initially failed to judge the possible impact of such cyber-attacks. Thus, the early signals indicating hacking were neglected too, and no major security audit was conducted in time. Unfortunately, even in developed and IT-savvy countries, such as the US there is a continuing underestimation of the gravity of the cyber-attack. It is important to guard against all forms of cyber espionage, and there is a need to recognise that cyber-attacks are not just irritants but could have a significant strategic impact too. At one level, the cyber manipulations of recent elections should be a matter of security concern both for today’s Obama and tomorrow’s Trump administration. But, the US also needs to understand that cyber is a double-edged sword. For all these years several states in the world have been the victim of the US cyber policies. × For all these years several states in the world have been the victim of the US cyber policies. For long, the National Security Agency (NSA) from the US has been data mining Brazil, Mexico, France, Italy, Germany among other states without their consent. Particularly, Brazil and Germany have taken very serious objection to this espionage. They have even raised the matters at the United Nations in 2012. It is also common knowledge that the US has developed (possibly jointly with Israel) cyber weapons like the Stuxnet which helped them to sabotage Iran’s nuclear programme. For Russia also, this is not their first cyber offensive. Russian intelligence agencies are blamed for a massive cyber attack on Germany's Lower House of Parliament during 2015, disabling its computer systems. All countries in the world, particularly the democratic ones, should take a serious note about the usage of the cyber medium to manipulate elections process. Intelligent and aggressive usage of such tactics has the potential to cause a long-term damage to any electoral system.

Cyber menace: Russian involvement in the US election

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Zee News Rajasthan

Editor

Group Captain Ajey Lele Retired

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