NEW DELHI, June 15:
Sumitra Mahajan may be described as soft spoken and mild mannered and fondly called ‘tai’ (elder sister), but the new Lok Sabha Speaker is not averse to taking “strong” action against erring members to maintain decorum in the House.
Elected unanimously last week as the second woman Speaker after Meira Kumar, 71-year-old Mahajan says that she is for striking a natural dialogue with members but would not be found wanting in taking “strong” decisions in the interest of the House.
“Whenever it is necessary to give strong decisions, one has to,” the eight-time MP told PTI in an interview.
She was replying to a question about how she would conduct the House because it has been repeatedly proved that even a small group of MPs can hold the house to ransom by protesting in the Well of the House.
Mahajan’s attention was drawn to the fact that the previous Lok Sabha got the tag of being the least productive because of record disruptions and indecorous behaviour including the pepper spray incident.
Her emphasis is on “sahaj sulabh sanvad” (natural dialogue) with members and “coordination” among the treasury benches, opposition including the smaller groups to run Parliament smoothly.
She says that the responsibility of the lawmakers and Parliament was needed all the more at a time when democracy in the country is growing from strength to strength as reflected in the voting pattern. “It is our responsibility to fulfill the rising expectations of people.”
Asked whether she would frame rules to check troublesome behaviour of MPs, Mahajan said “actually rules can be framed if necessary” but she would do it only after consultations with leaders and persuade members about their responsibilities.
To a query about the last Lok Sabha being called the most disrupted, she said, “I don’t want to comment anything about the past. I have been elected Speaker to a new Lok Sabha.”
Mahajan is against opening the proceedings of the Parliamentary standing committees to the media, suggesting that it would hamper consensus building on issues.
“It is not necessary as free, frank and detailed discussions take place in the Parliamentary Committees and it is not partywise.”
The veteran Parliamentarian, who has herself headed and participated in many such committees, feels that allowing the media in the proceedings would hamper the spirit of consensus building in such panels, which is so essential for democracy.
She said she had often seen members taking stands which were quite contrary to their parties on the issue. She said the churning inside committees becomes more intense because there is no media inside.
“The discussions in the committee is like that in a family. There may be heated debates and discussions before a stand is decided like that in a family,” she said suggesting that if media is there, people will start positioning themselves and play to the gallery and the purpose of the panel would be frustrated.
One of Mahajan’s predecessors Somnath Chatterjee who presided over the 14th Lok Sabha had proposed that the proceedings of the Parliamentary standing committees be made public, but it did not find favour with several MPs and leaders.
Mahajan as Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Rural Development, is credited with coming out with a report on the historical Land Acquisition bill which was hailed by all.
She had sought to quell trouble in the House in the just concluded session by telling seniors that they would be setting a bad precedent before the newcomers to the Lok Sabha, who constitute as many as 315 of the total 543 members.
When some members carried placards in the House, the next day’s Lok Sabha bulletin had a message to members reminding them of the rules under which such actions are prohibited.
About future plans, she said that with first timers in large numbers, she wants to lay emphasis on training and will consider introduction of new things in the training pattern so that the members become more effective lawmakers.
Mahajan said that she also believes in quality debates in Parliament. She said that as a parliamentarian, she has been impressed by veterans like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the late Indrajit Gupta, Chandra Shekhar and Vasant Sathe.
Recalling that when she was a new member, she had the honour of being appreciated by leaders like P V Narasimha Rao over the speeches or points she made in the House, she lamented that the practice of appreciation of new and young members is diminishing while that of hooting out a member is growing. (PTI)

HYDERABAD, June 15:
Many countries have expressed interest in acquiring missiles developed by India and efforts would soon be made on laying down a policy framework to tap this export potential, according to Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister Avinash Chander.
The export of missiles is a new area that India is exploring, Chander, who is also Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), said even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pitched for making the country self-reliant in manufacturing of defence products and even capable of exports in the sector.
“The new government is also keen on building up the export potential (of defence products). There has been lot of interest shown by many countries on our missiles,” he said delivering an invited talk at the Aerospace Luminary Lecture Series, organised by Aeronautical Society of India, Hyderabad, late last evening.
Speaking on board India’s largest aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, Modi had yesterday said, “Not only should we become self-reliant, we also should provide them (defence equipment) to small countries. The small countries should feel secure that the they have India-produced defence equipment.”
“We have to lay down policy norms and methodologies how to work out (tap export potential of missiles),” said Chander, who also interacted with reporters.
“We are confident we will be soon working on this,” he said.
India’s Akash and Prahaar missiles can be easily exported, as also BrahMos (developed in a joint venture with Russians) for which a lot of countries have shown interest, he said.
“Our future missiles that we are developing…That will have lot of (export) potential,” he pointed out.
DRDO is working on a programme to extend the range of surface-air missile beyond 200 kms, Chander said.
“We need to have ship-launched, sea-launched, air-launched, submarine-launched cruise missiles. India needs supersonic air-launched cruise missiles. India needs hypersonic transportation systems and these are the various segments in which we are operating (working on),” he said.
“Of course, we are working on anti-radiation missiles,” he said.
“Our aim is that by 2020, India will be fully autonomous in missile capability. We are covering the entire gamut of needs (in the area of missiles),” Chander said.
Defence production from indigenous sources has gone up in recent years and it’s no longer the case that imports account for 70 per cent of the country’s defence hardware procurement, he said.
“We have done an assessment. In the last seven years, whatever approval has been given by the government, out of the total…More than 50 per cent are for indigenous procurement. So, our self-reliance index today is above 50 per cent,” he said.
He also underlined the need to keep in mind export thrust and export planning while developing defence products.
“That’s what the thrust we are expecting the new government to give us,” Chander said.
Brazilian firm Embraer has come forward to have a joint venture company with India to produce advanced early warning aircraft that can be marketed in Latin America, he said. Under the proposal, it would be DRDO’s mandate vis-à-vis the electronic suite to be fitted into the Embraer aircraft.
DRDO is also planning to support setting up of centres of excellence in cutting edge technologies such as robotics, advanced propulsions and materials on 5-6 university campuses in the next three-four years, Chander added. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, June 15:
India is now equipped with the technology for advanced surveillance of its entire airspace by operationalising 21 stations having surveillance technology for tracking aircraft — from the Himalayas to the high seas.
The sophisticated Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) infrastructure covers the Indian subcontinent’s vast landscape of over 3 million sq.Km, plus parts of Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the entire Himalayas, allowing increased efficiency and safety in areas where radar coverage has so far been restricted.
The ADS-B was installed at 21 sites in two phases by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Germany-based firm COMSOFT, which has been providing products for innovative surveillance and communication solutions like ADS-B and multilateration sensors for over two decades.
COMSOFT’s Quadrant ADS-B sensor installed here now is a lightweight and cost-efficient alternative to the conventional radar, with the ability to build a complete air situation picture from airport surface to well beyond 250 nautical miles, a company statement said.
With the country’s air traffic experiencing growth from both international and domestic flights, placing it among the top five nations for flight increases, the need for greater efficiency and accuracy was paramount to assist with capacity rises, AAI officials said.
Indian Air Traffic Controllers would now experience greater enhancements for approach and take-off procedures, including for international high-altitude traffic, particularly in non-radar airspaces like in the Bay of Bengal.
India’s vast airspace would benefit immensely from the long-range surveillance solutions, heightened efficiency and safety in all operational procedures while supplementing radar coverage which is limited by terrain and obstacles, the COMSOFT statement said.
AAI has also established a crucial air navigation link with Nepal for exchanging real-time data on various aviation- related aspects, including weather charts and aeronautical maps.
The link, called Air Traffic Service Message Handling System (AMHS), was operationalised between Mumbai and Kathmandu on June 2 by AAI’s Air Navigation Services (ANS) Directorate, its officials said.
In Asia, AMHS links are so far being operated between Hong Kong and Macau since 2009 and between Singapore and India since 2011.
Operational trials are underway to establish similar global links with countries like China, Thailand, Pakistan and Bangladesh which would enable complete operationalisation of the AMHS network in the Asia-Pacific region.
AAI, which manages 125 airports, also provides air traffic management services over the entire Indian air space and adjoining oceanic areas with ground installations at all airports and 25 other locations to ensure safety of aircraft operations. (PTI)