GOVERNMENTS AND AVIATION SECURITY

Governments are the last line of defense when it comes to shaping policy concerning aviation security. Since there is no overarching global regulator to oversee all governments in every country, the handling of aviation security policy ultimately comes down to individual governments themselves.

As a result, the aviation industry faces challenges related to individual governments and how critical aviation security issues are handled by each. Industry desperately needs governments to overcome these obstacles in order to have a more secure and effective aviation market. Let’s discuss some governmental challenges in the aviation sector.

Global Security Standard

There is a lack of a global standard for security. While there are industry suggestions published by entities such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), these organizations have no power to directly enforce their recommended standards and practices on individual governments. Still, all countries must find a way to unite and strive to achieve the same universal baseline level of security regardless of membership to international organizations or not. The risk of losing passengers, aviation crew, cargo, and infrastructure is nothing to take lightly.

Government to Government Cooperation

When one country enacts a new security policy or policy update, there has to be some level of coordination with other countries affected by the action. Working out details of international policies ahead of time ensures enough resources will be allocated and the new process is clear to all entities involved. When they are not, passengers, aviation professionals, and the entities in between (including airlines) suffer the consequences.

Information Sharing

Along with government to government cooperation, comes info sharing. Currently, we are still not at a point where information is shared freely amongst one another. Lack of information sharing in the aviation industry is problematic. Knowledge gained of the latest risks, threats, and concealment techniques should be available to other governments needing to know. Since these often lead to revised security policies, cooperation among entities is required to guarantee security issues are addressed efficiently and in a consistent manner from country to country. Effective information sharing can save countless lives.

Technology to Market

Pushing new security screening equipment to market is an important task. The latest innovations and technological advances accelerate the screening process and assist with countering new threats. Governments must be supportive of equipment manufacturers and encourage constant research and development. They must expedite the process of getting detection equipment to market quickly. In addition, if governments worked together to establish a global certification system, redundancy of equipment certifications could be reduced dramatically. We must get ahead of threats as much as possible and government support for bringing technology to market can help with that.

 Trusted Traveler Program

Trusted traveler programs are a useful tool to reduce queue times at the airport by vetting low-risk individuals in advance. These programs have been successful and governments need to establish more of them. Governments must work together to connect individual programs into a universal database. If information about trusted travelers is shared amongst each other, passengers would likely experience a seamless screening process anywhere in the world, airports would be able to deliver quicker throughput, and more time could be spent countering known risks. An overarching trusted traveler database would be extremely advantageous.

Conclusion

Due to the lack of a global regulator, the burden of aviation security rests upon individual governments of each country. Because of this disparity, there are a handful of governmental challenges presented to the aviation industry. What additional challenges does the aviation sector face? Send in your comments to email address below.

Col Rajendra Shukla(Retd)

Daksh Consultants

India Representative- Safe Passage International

shuksrp@gmail.com

How To Use Audio Meditations During Your Meditation Practice

If you have been practicing meditation but have not been achieving the results that you desire, there is a simple way that you can greatly increase the power of your meditation sessions.

You don’t need to be a guru at meditation to use this technique. As a matter of fact, even those that are new to this practice can still use this technique and experience its life-changing power.

Meditation can work wonders on its own, but combined with this tool, it can achieve even more.

You’re likely wondering what tool I am talking about…

This wonderful tool is known as audio meditations. This type of meditation is probably the wave of the future. Likely because anyone can use them.

There was a time when the effectiveness of a meditation session highly depended on how long a person has been practicing, their level of skill, and their level of knowledge on it. Thankfully, these days are gone.

Modern forms of this practice are quite simple to do. On top of that, there are many different types which allow a person to be able to target their area of need specifically.

Believe it or not, with the use of this tool, you can experience results in your very first session. I know this may sound too good to be true. However, it is entirely possible.

If you’re ready to begin creating positive change in your life, you should consider allowing audio meditations to help you along the way.

Since they work best when combined with more standardized practices, let’s quickly go over a simple meditation exercise.

How To Meditate

There are many ways to meditate. Each way provides its own set of benefits. Today, I would like to go over a simple mindfulness meditation. It’s really quite easy to do.

Just follow these steps…

1. Find A Quiet Area

Mindfulness meditation requires a person to be able to focus. For this reason, it’s important that you find a quiet area where you will not be disturbed.

2. Sit Down With Correct Posture

After finding a quiet are, simply sit down and make sure you have the correct posture. For the best results, you should sit with your legs crossed, back straight, and your hands in a resting position.

3. Lower Your Chin And Relax Your Eyes

Let your chin drop a little. It’s also important for you to either close your eyes or lose focus on the things that are around you. Closing your eyes is not required, but it can make this exercise easier.

4. Pay Attention To Your Body

Pay attention to your breathing. Focus on the air you inhale and exhale. Allow yourself to feel all the sensations in your body. Continue doing this for a few minutes.

5. Allow Your Mind To Drift Away

After a few minutes of practicing the last step, your mind will naturally begin to drift away. This is a good thing. In fact, it’s exactly what you are trying to achieve.

6. Make Occasional Movements

After you have felt your mind drift away, practice making intentional movements that are small and well controlled. This will help you connect with your body and become more mindful.

7. When You’re Ready, Wrap It Up

You can continue this meditation for as long as you would like. Whenever you are ready, lift your head and open your eyes. Once your eyes are open, take a moment to look around and appreciate your surroundings.

How do you feel? What is your body telling you? What kind of emotions are you experiencing? What thoughts are you having? These are all important questions that you need to ask yourself after your mindfulness meditation.

How To Combine This Meditation With A Solfeggio Audio Meditation

Combining audio meditations with a standard meditation is quite simple to do. In fact, all you need to do is find which meditation will fit your needs and then listen to them while meditating.

When using a mindfulness meditation, using solfeggio frequencies would likely be a good idea. The reason for this would be that these frequencies are designed to help people in many ways. There are different frequencies for different needs. Many of them are designed to help people align their emotions, thoughts, concentration, and even control over their body.

There is a few simple to follow rules that you should keep in mind. Following these guidelines will help you get the most out of your audio meditations.

1. Keep An Open Mind

When using any type of meditation, especially audio meditations, it is important that you have an open mind. Even if you don’t think it will work for you, simply give it a try, put your all into it, and see how you feel afterward.

2. Use Headphones

It isn’t a requirement to use headphones. However, using them can help you block out the noise that is around you. This allows you to focus solely on your audio meditation and helps get rid of distractions.

3. Give It Time

Some people may experience amazing results during their first session. However, some people may not see results as quickly. If you don’t have an amazing experience your first time using an audio meditation, that’s okay. Give it a few more tries and you will surely see some results.

Down load video here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=6vO1wPAmiMQ

New Field Guns for Indian Army

Modi Govt’s Artillery Modernisation would change game at Pakistan border

File photo of Haubits FH77 howitzer around which the Bofors scandal centered

The artillery has always been a battle winning factor. It possesses the ability to strike deep with great accuracy and cause maximum damage to even well-constructed shelters and bunkers. This was evident in Kargil when it pulverised enemy bunkers on hill tops, making the task of assaulting infantry easier. However, Indian artillery for long, lacked equipment with increased calibre and range thus reducing its ability to shape the battlefield and cause large scale destruction.

Other than the Bofors inducted in 1984, it possessed the 130 mm guns inducted in the 1960’s and 70’s and the 105 mm, home developed and manufactured field guns of the 1980’s. The 130 lacked the ability to fire in mountains and the 105 lacked range. Both guns fired limited type of shells with lesser level of fragmentation. The Bofors scandal was the basic reason behind restricting modernisation of the artillery.

The ghost of the Bofors was visible to AK Anthony behind every door all through his tenure as the defence minister in the Manmohan Singh government. He was so spooked that he cancelled ‘Request for Proposals’ soon after they were issued and on one occasion even ongoing trials. Every time anyone mentioned kickbacks, procurement deals were scrapped. The biggest loser all through his tenure was the artillery, which post the acquisition of Bofors, remained way behind in desired capabilities.

Even within the artillery, there was no consensus of the calibre of the gun to be purchased. The discussion revolved around 39, 45 and 52 calibres.

The calibre implies the length of the barrel, which is one of the factors to determine the maximum range of the equipment. Finally, after a gap of 30 years, the artillery is now being modernised. In a ceremony this week in Deolali, the home of the gunners, in the presence of the defence minister and the army chief, the artillery will induct two new guns.

The guns being inducted are the K9 Vajra and the M777. Both are of 155 mm, with the Vajra being a tracked self-propelled gun and the M777 a light weight howitzer which can be carried underslung by a helicopter. Both guns can fire upto a range of 30 kms. The quantity being inducted are 100 of the Vajra and 145 of the M777. The Vajra is 52 calibre, while the M777 is 39.

The Vajra is a variant of the South Korean K9 Thunder and is being manufactured by L and T defence. 10 guns were bought from South Korea and the balance are being manufactured in the company’s plant near Pune. Twenty-five M777 guns would be imported in fly-away condition and the balance 120 would be manufactured by Mahindra Defence.

The Vajra is destined for the plains and deserts and would form part of the strike corps. Being self-propelled they would operate alongside armoured formations and provide much needed firepower. For a long time, these formations lacked requisite firepower with matching mobility. There were attempts at mix and match including mounting the 130 mm barrel on an Arjun tank chassis, but all these had limited success.

The M777 is ideal for the mountains where with its light weight, better manoeuvrability and helicopter-portability, it can be deployed faster and far more forward enhancing the engagement range. Thus, they would enhance firepower in a region where spread of deployment restricts fire support to troops holding ground in the defensive role.

There are other modernisation programmes in the pipeline for the artillery. Last week, ordnance factories were given a contract for upgrading 300 vintage 130mm guns to 155 mm/ 45 calibre. These would then equip 15 artillery regiments. This upgrading is to be completed by 2022. The upgradation involved changing the barrel, adding new sighting and loading systems, enabling better accuracy and enhanced rate of fire.

The upgrading costs 70 lakhs per gun and is one-fifth the cost of a new piece. Once upgraded, the range of the gun would increase from its present 29 Kms to 39 Kms. Its lethality would also increase by 300% as the new shell would have 8 kg of TNT as compared to 3.4 earlier. These would be employed in the plains and desert sectors.

Simultaneously trials are on for the Dhanush artillery guns, the Indian version of the Bofors, based on the transfer of technology from the original manufacturer, AB Bofors. These are also 155 mm/ 45 calibre. In case the trials are successful and there are no major shortcomings, firm orders would be placed for 300 Guns.

In addition, the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) is also in the process of different phases of trials. This is another 155 mm/ 52 Calibre gun system being developed jointly by the DRDO in collaboration with the private sector. The private concerns involved are Bharat Forge, Tata power strategic engineering division and Mahindra defence naval systems. The gun during its earlier trials had set a world record of 48.074 Kms for a gun of its calibre. This has recently been surpassed by a new weapon system being developed in the US. An initial order for 40 is expected.

The latest to commence trials is the Mounted Gun System, developed by the Gun Carriage Factory, Jabalpur. It was first displayed at the Defexpo in Chennai in April. The system is also 155mm/ 52 calibre, mounted on a multi-wheeled truck and can be deployed and prepared for firing much faster. It has a range of 40 Kms.

How many of the coming gun systems would the artillery purchase is yet to be confirmed. If not in service within the country, these could always be exported enhancing India’s military exports.

The artillery, which for decades was languishing behind in firepower and capability, is now witnessing a boom. All the guns now either under trials, procurement or development come under the ‘make in India’ or ‘made in India’ category. Opening doors to the private sector has witnessed a change in the artillery profile and could also be similar for all other equipment.

Pushing the DRDO into a corner compelled them to seek collaboration with the private sector for better technology. It has succeeded, though pitfalls and failures have occurred during the trials. These would be rectified, and the artillery would obtain new guns, which it had been seeking for decades.

Within a few years, the artillery with long range guns, modern rocket systems as also better target acquisition and surveillance systems, including UAVs and drones, would enable better shaping and domination of the battlefield.

Long range missiles would remain under the strategic command. This could alter response to ceasefire violations by Pakistan. With longer ranges and integrated target acquisition capabilities, the ability to target Pakistani posts, bases and terrorist camps in greater depth would exist. With better ammunition, possessing higher fragmentation, the damage would also be far more devastating.

Finally, the battle winning arm would now come of age and be able to change the nature and quantum of support to the assaulting forces. It would also change the force ratio along the LoC and cause more damage to Pakistan if it attempts any misadventures. The induction of these guns would also compel Pakistan to go into an arms race, which it can ill afford.

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