Ajey Lele

Group Captain (Dr) Ajey Lele (Retd.) is the Deputy Director General, MP-IDSA. Earlier, he was a Senior Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and headed its Centre on Strategic Technologies. He started his professional career as an officer in the Indian Air Force in 1987 and took early retirement from the service to pursue his academic interests. He has a Masters degree in Physics from Pune University, and Masters and MPhil degrees in Defence and Strategic Studies from Madras University. He has done his doctorate from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. His specific areas of research include issues related to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), Space Security and Strategic Technologies. He has contributed articles to various national and international journals, websites and newspapers. He has authored ten books and has also been an editor for seven books. He is a recipient of the K. Subrahmanyam Award (2013) which is conferred for outstanding contribution in the area of

strategic and security studies

Deputy Director General

Publication

MERS: A New Virus Challenge

East and Southeast Asia are known to get affected by various diseases routinely. Particularly, various waterborne and other diseases likely malaria and dengue fever commonly affect the regions. There is a concern that global warming may translate into explosive growth of mosquito-borne diseases. In addition to this, growing number of natural disasters are found escalating the health related challenges. All this eventually poses a threat to health, economic and human security.

Relevance of Cloud Computing for Defence

Technology has always played the key role in defining the outcome of war. A modern-day military is investing in cutting-edge technologies to leverage their benefits in the evolving nature of warfare, which encompasses every aspect of science. In the case of information and communication technology (ICT), the research and development has unleashed vast potential for civilian and military applications, which vary from simple logic execution to high-end supercomputing.

Space Awareness: A Need for a Multilateral Mechanism

This article discusses the utility and limitations of existing space surveillance networks to address the issue of spaceflight safety and proposes a way forward. Specifically, it begins with a brief explanation of why space situational awareness (SSA) is important and draws attention to the existing major SSA networks followed by a brief summary of the major limitations of the US, Russian and Chinese networks. These limitations highlight why we collectively need to craft a better and more efficient mechanism. Finally, it concludes with a techno-political elucidation for the future.