Gp Capt Ajey Lele (Retd.) is a Consultant at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Click here for detailed profile.
Instead of decrying the edge China has achieved over India, it is important to critically evaluate the actual benefits that accrue from manned space flights and the Space Station.
Within the ever expanding genre of conflict and security-related literature, there is a less investigated field that pertains to futuristic technologies and the harnessing of science for the purposes of mass destruction and targeted warfare. This is the arena of space, the battlefield of major powers and the arena for power expansion into the extra-terrestrial.
Employment of Space technologies for advancing the nation's social, scientific and economic interests is gaining increasing importance in the 21st century. At the same time Space security, which includes the security of Space assets and the ability to use Space for civilian and security purposes, is also attracting increasing attention. This book is an attempt to analyse the ongoing trends in the Space domain and emphasis the need for India to establish a comprehensive Space strategy.
Presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei tweeted that ‘Tear gas with nerve agent has been used against the Tahrir Square demonstrators’. This raises the suspicion of use of chemical weapons in the ongoing struggle for democracy in West Asia. This commentary analyses the relevance of chemical weapons in the Arab Spring.
The US Special Forces undertook Operation Neptune Spear nicknamed “Geronimo” to kill Osama bin Laden on May 02, 2011. The importance of this operation is momentous. In the absence of any detailed disclosure by the US administration (till date) about the conduct of this operation, except the press conference held by intelligence officials immediately after the operation, it becomes difficult to study this operation in depth. On the other hand both multiple narratives of this operation are available in electronic and print media.
Chemical science has a direct relationship with human life. In order to celebrate the value of chemistry, the United Nations (UN) has declared 2011 as the ‘International Year of Chemistry’. Various bodies of the UN including UNESCO and other organisations like the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have been entrusted with popularising the science of chemistry.
India and France must now develop a joint marketing strategy for satellite launches and also concentrate on the joint design and development of satellites for smaller developing countries.
China’s development of a space station is not only for the purpose of scientific experimentation but also to showcase its technological and economic strength.
The history of the use of biological agents by non-state actors indicates that radical groups, religious fanatics and even disgruntled scientists have engaged in bioterrorism
China’s 2011 White Paper on Space: An Indian Perspective
Instead of decrying the edge China has achieved over India, it is important to critically evaluate the actual benefits that accrue from manned space flights and the Space Station.