Defence Leap; Natural Geo-History; Women Shine

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Opinion Watch

Defence Leap

Indian defence industry is showing signs of finally breaking free from the shadow of Soviet dependency. In the last five years, the export of the India made defence goods has gone up by six times. Yet, 42 per cent of the mission projects of defence mainstay DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) has seen time overrun. This irony needs to be fixed up, argued The Pioneer in an Editorial.

The Noida-based daily credited opening of the defence sector to the private industry to late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Late Pramod Mahajan had piloted the 2002 move to onboard the private sector in the defence productions, recalled the daily, lamenting the “statist mindset”, which plagued the Indian policy makers until then. The sliver trophy in the Indian defence bouquet is certainly Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which according to the daily, has exported Dhruv choppers to a number of countries such as Philippines, Mauritius and Ecuador. BrahMos Missile is also being exported.

Certainly, the defence sector is showing signs of youthful exuberance as exhibited during the DefExpo in Gandhinagar last year. Scores of startups and big industrial houses are pouring energy to scale up their contributions and partake in the opportunity. But India is still lagging by miles on research and development to meet the scale of the US, Israel and Germany.

Natural Geo-History

The Indian landmass was also home to dinosaurs. History writing in India is predominantly of the man-made events and culture. This poses risks for sites which had been witness to natural geological events, which may even be prone to encroachment in the absence of social sensitization.

The Hindu in an Editorial has stated that the draft “Geo-heritage Sites and Geo-relics (Preservation and Maintenance Bill, 2022” could give a firm footing to preserve the natural heritage of the country. The daily referred to the discovery of 92 dinosaur nesting sites along with 256 eggs in January. They date back to 100-66 million years ago, noted the Chennai-based daily. The bill provides for punishment and fines for encroaching and destruction of sites declared belonging to natural geo-history by the Geological Survey of India (GSI). However, the daily called for an inclusive body, which may bring onboard other stakeholders. Indeed, preserving the natural history shouldn’t just be the mandate of the government.

Women Shine

Swashbuckling Smriti Mandhana is truly a brand ambassador of equal opportunity in sports. She bagged Rs 3.40 crore contract in the glittering IPL auction. The nation attention to the women cricket team is becoming sharper following consistent success of the team on the world stage.

The Asian Age in an Editorial has turned the spotlight on the women IPL League starting March 4. Till March 26, the cricket-crazy audience can see the women IPL teams in action on different grounds of the country. Some of the women cricket players have come from very humble backgrounds. The success of the IPL auction augurs well for the women sports. Yet, it will be desired that similar spotlight comes to women hockey and other sports.

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