Monthly Archives: August 2018

Stresses is on indigenous development despite imported adaptors being available in commercial market

Tribune News Service

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, December 31

With the increasing use of satellite-based communication systems in the armed forces, the Army is developing portable adaptors that can convert a conventional android cellular phone into a satellite phone.

“Our requirement is for a programmable handheld adaptor that can be connected to any android phone through a micro-USB or Bluetooth for converting it into a satellite phone,” an officer said.

According to sources, the project will be outsourced to the Indian industry through a competitive bidding process. The device should be less than 500 g in weight with a talk time of at least two hours and standby time of at least 10 hours.

Imported adaptors to convert cellular phones to satellite phones are also available in the commercial market, but the Army’s stress is on indigenous development. These adaptors can also be used by the Air Force and Navy as well as other services.

“Satellite phones are available in limited numbers and through specific foreign-based service providers only,” an officer said. “On the other hand, everyone has a cell phone which can be connected to our own communication satellite network through the indigenous adaptors,” he added.

While cellular phone coverage is not available in many areas in the mountains and deserts where the armed forces are deployed as there are no cellular towers nearby for connectivity, satellite phones face no such restrictions and can be used from virtually any point on earth.

The army has satellite-based radio sets for communication, but these largely interlink units and formations. Converting mobile phones into satellite phones would make one-to-one communication and transfer of data between individuals or small groups on the move faster and more convenient.

The Army is also looking at means to make satellite phone communication more secure by developing anti-jamming and anti-spoofing circuits that can be integrated into the handsets. 

Earlier this year, the Army conducted a pan-India drill, Exercise Skylight, to test the operational preparedness of its satellite-based assets and personnel manning them. All communication systems using satellites were activated and various functional procedures and technical parameters were validated.

PTI

New Delhi, December 31

CRPF Director-General Sujoy Lal Thaosen took the “additional” charge of the Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday, following the retirement of incumbent Pankaj Kumar Singh.

Singh, a 1988-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Rajasthan cadre, handed over the baton of the country’s largest border-guarding force to his batchmate from the Madhya Pradesh cadre at the BSF headquarters on the Lodhi Road in central Delhi, a spokesperson of the force said.

The outgoing DG hung his boots after reviewing a “farewell parade” presented by the troops at a BSF camp in southwest Delhi, followed by a medal-awarding ceremony for some officers of the force.

Singh retired after putting in around 34 years and a half in the IPS, including a 16-month tenure as the BSF chief, a charge he took over on August 31 last year.

Apart from serving in his cadre of Rajasthan Police, Singh has served at the Centre in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

He is credited with fortifying and enhancing the border infrastructure for the BSF troops along the India-Pakistan front, apart from setting up a laboratory for a forensic study of the drones shot down after those entered India from Pakistan with drugs and arms.

Singh’s BSF appointment last year had created a history—father and son holding the top post of a paramilitary force in the country.

His father, retired 1959-batch IPS officer Prakash Singh, also headed the BSF as its DG from June 1993 to January 1994.

Prakash Singh is considered to be an architect of police reforms in the country.

The about-2.65-lakh-personnel-strong BSF guards more than 6,300 kilometres of the Indian boundary with Pakistan and Bangladesh, apart from rendering a variety of roles in the country’s internal security domain.

Thaosen, who has served in the Special Protection Group (SPG) for long, was appointed the CRPF chief in October. He has earlier worked in the BSF as its special DG.