[Editorial # 65] A wave of awe and opportunity : The Hindu

[Following editorial has been published in The Hindu on 13th February 2016. Read through it and try to answer the questions that follow. Please do not copy and paste answers. The objective of this exercise is to get you in the groove of answer-writing. Try to write in your own words. Don't hesitate to write in a bulleted-format, if you are uncomfortable in writing in paragraph form.]

The detection of ripples in space-time, known as gravitational waves, here on Earth marks a watershed moment for astronomy and for science as a whole. The detection at once improves our understanding of the workings of the universe and, more important, throws open a big opportunity to study it from completely new angles. It opens the way to get information about the evolution of galaxies and black holes. There is also a symmetry to the timing of the discovery: it comes a century after Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity held that acceleration of massive bodies should produce gravitational waves, which travel through the universe at the speed of light. The gravitational waves detected, and announced to the world on Thursday, were produced more than a billion years ago by a cataclysmic collision of two black holes, one of them with a mass 36 times that of the Sun and the other slightly smaller at 29 times, into one black hole. The gravitational waves give scientists insights into the final moments before the merger. The signals of gravitational waves were detected on September 14, 2015 by twin Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors located about 3,000 km apart at Hanford, Washington and in Livingston, Louisiana, in the United States. Though the observatory is capable of picking up gravitational waves produced by binary neutron stars colliding and merging, signals from such a collision from the same distance would have been extremely weak for LIGO to pick up; neutron stars are much smaller in size than black holes and produce weaker signals. The successful capture of gravitational waves by LIGO is a testimony to humankind’s scientific and engineering expertise to build extraordinarily sensitive instrumentation capable of detecting variations of the order of a thousandth of the diameter of a proton.

Fittingly, this giant step for science is the result of truly global cooperation. About 60 researchers from more than a dozen institutions in India were part of the over-1,000-strong army of scientists in the collaboration. Nearly 35 Indian scientists are co-authors of the landmark scientific paper that describes the results. The way to find the signal buried in the noise came from an Indian scientist. Similarly, the oscillation of cosmic bodies after a collision was predicted by an Indian scientist back in 1971. Several observatories widely separated from one another will help in determining the direction of any event with greater accuracy and also confirm the genuineness of the signal. Quick approval to construct the proposed Rs.1,260-crore gravitational wave observatory in India could help obtain unique information about the universe; unlike light, gravitational waves can pass through the universe unobstructed and hence carry otherwise unobtainable information. The facility would also provide a much-needed technological boost and immensely benefit researchers based in India. And for years to come, we will continue to listen to the ‘chirp’ sound produced by the gravitational waves, and marvel at science’s capacity to detail ever more minutely the place of humankind in the vastness of space and time.

Questions:

1. Write a short note on (50 words)

Galaxies

Black Holes

General Theory of Relativity

Binary Neutron Stars

2. What are gravitational waves? What is the relevance of studies related to such waves?

3. What is LIGO? Where is it located? Is there any specific reason for setting up the LIGO there?

4. What has been the role of Indians in detecting gravitational waves? 

5. How are gravitational waves different from electromagnetic waves like light? How can these differences be used to get more information about the universe?

6. What efforts are being made in India to study gravitational waves? Do you think despite being unable to feed its teeming millions India should invest in such projects? Why or why not?

7. What makes humans pursue subjects like astronomy? Do you think such fields of enquiry help in sustaining and improving the standard of life on the planet earth? Justify. 

8. Mention a few such scientific projects which have helped humans fathom the depth and breath of  the infinite universe? Do such projects empower humans? How? 

[Editorial # 50] A debate beyond ‘clicktivism’ : The Hindu

[Following editorial has been published in The Hindu on 26th January 2016. Read through it and try to answer the questions that follow. Please do not copy and paste answers. The objective of this exercise is to get you in the groove of answer -writing. Try to write in your own words. Don't hesitate to write in a bulleted-format, if you are uncomfortable in writing in paragraph form.]

The consultation process set in motion by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on the issue of differential pricing of cellular data has set off a full-scale and no-holds-barred war of words between the authority and Facebook. The spat came into the public domain last week when TRAI released its e-mail exchanges with the social networking giant. The telecom regulator is clearly concerned about the unabashed enthusiasm demonstrated by Facebook to utilise — indeed, exploit — the consultation process to drum up support for its Free Basics product. TRAI was scathing in its criticism of Facebook’s high-intensity lobbying exercise. The regulator minced no words, and accused Facebook of converting its consultation process into a “crudely majoritarian and orchestrated opinion poll’’. Also, TRAI is convinced that the campaign by Facebook to defend its free Internet platform “is wholly misplaced” as the consultation paper is only on differential pricing for data services and not on any particular product or service. The social networking giant has been collating responses from users of its platform, and forwarding them to TRAI. Somewhere in this process, Facebook felt that somebody with access to the TRAI e-mail account had blocked the receipt of its e-mails. That accusation was enough to provoke a confrontation with TRAI. More than anything else, the stand-off between the two has brought the focus on the efficacy of the consultation process in an environment where private enterprise is increasingly gaining greater clout. Also, it raises serious questions on the lobbying practices followed to shape outcomes in a consultation process, and the potential impact on policy formulations.

In the Information Age, where communication enterprises are not just controlling but also redefining the way we interact, it is imprudent and even risky to let them have a free run in setting the policy agenda. The right to do business does not automatically give them the freedom to misuse their platforms to hijack policy initiatives by swaying public opinion. By means of its action, Facebook clearly has walked into the ‘conflict of interest’ argument. In the wake of rising support for net neutrality, Facebook launched a multi-million dollar campaign late last year to support Free Basics, a re-branded version of its internet.org. How tenable is it for an interested enterprise like Facebook to play a facilitating role in the consultation process initiated by TRAI? The ‘template response’ that it has procured from its users naturally has no articulation on the points made by TRAI. Moreover, Facebook cannot arrogate to itself the right to represent users just because they use its platform. The TRAI-Facebook face-off, unfortunately, has deflected the focus from the real issue: what kind of Internet access will suit a country like India with over a billion people? A solution must focus on providing maximum benefit to the poor.

Questions:

1. What are various regulatory bodies in India? What are various roles of these bodies?

2. What is TRAI? What are its roles and functions?

3. What do you understand by Social Media? What are various Social Media platforms available today?

4. Do you think access to internet should be considered as a basic right? Why or why not?

5. What is Facebook's Free Basic Program? How is it going to impact the people who do not have an access to internet?

6. What is meant by Digital Divide? Does India also have a Digital Divide? What measures are being taken by the government to bridge this divide?

7. What do you understand by "Conflict of Interest". Explain with a few examples.

8. What is the current confrontation going on between TRAI and Facebook?

9. What kind of Internet access according to you should be suitable for India? Justify

10. Access to internet should be provided to each and every one but not at the cost of Net Neutrality. Do you agree? Justify your answer with suitable examples.

[Editorial # 47] You are here : The Indian Express

[Following editorial has been published in The Indian Express on 22nd January 2016. Read through it and try to answer the questions that follow. Please do not copy and paste answers. The objective of this exercise is to get you in the groove of answer -writing. Try to write in your own words. Don't hesitate to write in a bulleted-format, if you are uncomfortable in writing in paragraph form.]

You are here

With the launch of the fifth payload of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is almost set to deploy a secure and nationally owned alternative to GPS, which will cover all of India and a zone about 1,500 km beyond the national borders. After two more launches, India will join the small group of nations with their own satellite navigation systems. The US GPS was the trailblazing system with a global footprint, followed by the Russian GLONASS and French DORIS. By 2020, the European Union’s Galileo and China’s BeiDou satellite arrays are expected to be globally deployed.

BeiDou is still a regional system, and the IRNSS marks India’s first, confident and very necessary step into this field. It will have two services, a public access system and an encrypted variant for the military. Indeed, while satellite navigation systems are generally celebrated for improving accuracy in conjunction with other services like GPS — DORIS can drill down to millimetric levels, which is valuable in the earth sciences — security will be the initial deliverable of the IRNSS. The need for secure communications is understood in our hacker-infested world and, by extension, so is the need to own communication satellites. However, the need to own secure positioning services should be equally obvious. A major geopolitical incident could render foreign GPS systems hard to access, or impossible to trust.

The extra accuracy which the IRNSS promises will assume significance for future developments like the Internet of Things, to revolutionise logistics and inventory management, for instance, and perhaps enhance telemetry services. The Isro is taking a significant step with the IRNSS, helping to future-proof the nation from the perspective of the security and accuracy of data. In an information-hungry world, it’s serving the national priority of generating and owning reliable data on the neighbourhood.

Question:

1. What is a Satellite Navigation System? What are various such systems functioning in the world currently? 

2. What is Global Positioning System? How does it work?

3. Do you have an access to GPS? Do you pay anything for accessing GPS? How do you avail GPS Services?

4. What are the application areas of Satellite Navigation System?

5. What is IRNSS? Why does India want to establish its own regional navigation system?

6. How are various Satellite Navigation Systems functioning in the world different from each other?

7. What is meant by Internet of Things? How is it going to impact humans' life on the planet?

8. "ISRO is an organisation which has proved its contribution towards nation building multiple number of times". Comment on the statement highlighting various milestones achieved by ISRO over the years.