कोडॅक दिवाळखोरीच्या उंबरठ्यावर

Asteroid closes in on Earth fly-by

A big asteroid is set to make its closest flyby of Earth in 200 years on Tuesday, but there is no chance of a crash landing when it zips by our planet, NASA said. Astronomers have aimed their telescopes to catch a glimpse of the 2005 YU55 asteroid, which will not be visible to the naked eye, when it makes its closest approach to Earth at 6:28 pm (1128 GMT).

The 1,300 feet (400 meter) wide asteroid often travels in the vicinity of the Earth, Mars and Venus, but "the 2011 encounter with Earth is the closest it has come for at least the last 200 years," the US space agency said. Other asteroids of this size pass by Earth more frequently, though the last such event happened in 1976 and the next will not happen again until 2028 when as asteroid called 2001 WN5 will skim about halfway between the Moon and Earth.

This asteroid is expected to pass a bit further away; about .85 times the distance of the Moon to the Earth, or a distance of 202,000 miles (325,000 kilometers). "2005 YU55 is one of the potentially hazardous asteroids that make close approaches from time to time because their orbits either approach or intersect the orbit of the Earth," said Robert McMillan, an associate research scientist at the University of Arizona.

McMillan discovered the asteroid in 2005 as part of the university's Spacewatch Project, a solar-system-scanning group of scientists near Tucson, Arizona. However, astronomers know from analyzing the trajectory of the asteroid that it will not hit Earth this time. The asteroid's next closest pass is set to take place in 2094, at a distance of 167,000 miles (269,000 kilometers), according to forecasts.

"The observations will give us a piece of the puzzle, one we don't get many chances to see," said Don Yeomans of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory."At one time, we thought these were the asteroids that delivered carbon and other elements to the early Earth, so they are pretty important."

NASA said radar observations from the Arecibo Planetary Radar Facility in Puerto Rico have already begun as the asteroid closes in on its approach. While the charcoal-colored, circular asteroid's visit has scientists excited for the chance to get a closer look, most Earthlings probably will not notice a thing. "The gravitational influence of the asteroid will have no detectable effect on Earth, including tides and tectonic plates," NASA said.

Coming soon: e-bomb to 'numb' enemy

In the not too distant future, Indian armed forces would be equipped with "e-bomb", courtesy Terminal Ballistic and Research Laboratory (TBRL), one of the top defence research and development laboratories in the country.

Stated to be most lethal weapon after nuclear bombs, the TBRL is expected to finish the R&D work on the project within the 12th plan period.

Located on the outskirts of Chandigarh, the lone ballistic laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation ( DRDO), TBRL has developed the technology and is working on a weapon, which would be capable of neutralising the command, control and communication systems of the enemy. Confirming the development, TBRL director Dr Manjit Singh told TOI that such weapon would be capable of causing huge destruction, without affecting humans.

"It would be equally capable of damaging the communication system and other technologies ensuring maximum and sudden setback to the enemy," Singh added.

He said that the technology of 'e-bomb' or 'electromagnetic bomb' would be based on explosive-driven high-energy pulse power technology and can be deployed against enemy's other establishments like civil utility networks and power generation networks, to name a few.

A P S Sodhi, senior scientist of TBRL working on the project, said that to develop electromagnetic bombs, they are using explosive-driven high-energy pulse power technology, which can produce a pulse current of peak value 1.4 mega ampere from chemical energy released by 2.8 kg of high explosives.

The information about the 'e-bomb' was shared by TBRL scientists on Monday on the sidelines of a gathering called to apprise about an international conference which the organization is holding from November 10 to 12 at its field laboratory in Ramgarh near Panchkula. Leading global experts from India, USA, Israel UK, Russia, Germany, Australia, Ukraine, Czech Republic and Poland, among other countries, who will be sharing their expertise and knowledge on the latest technologies now in use in the world as well as the latest trends in research on a host of sensitive subjects.

The conference has been organised by High Energy Materials Society of India (HEMSI) with a view to help in strengthening country's defence, space and internal security system.

Credibility of Indian Navy

In 1962, as tension began to mount, with an increase in Chinese Army intrusions on the Indo-China border, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, before embarking on a flight abroad reportedly told the media that he had 'ordered the (ill-equipped and ill-prepared) Indian Army to throw the Chinese out'. These famous last words led to independent India’s first and only disastrous military defeat. History now appears to be repeating itself.

In July 2011, a Chinese warship confronted an Indian navy ship Airavat shortly after it left a Vietnamese port in the South China Sea. The unidentified Chinese warship demanded that INS Airavat, an amphibious assault ship, identify itself and explain its presence in what it said were Chinese waters, shortly after it completed a scheduled port call in Vietnam. This incident indicates that Indo-China rivalry is now moving to the oceans, much earlier than anticipated.

India’s ministry of external affairs (MEA) has acted with unusual alacrity in two important areas — agreeing to train the Afghan Army, while also going ahead with the ONGC’s plan for oil exploration in the Vietnamese Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea, which China claims as its own waters. The MEA and the ministry of defence (MoD) should have been advised by the Indian Navy on the inadequate force levels available to deal with the emerging scenarios in the Indian Ocean region and the Asia Pacific region. The MEA and the MoD must be aware of the dozens of Chinese incursions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

India has given repeated explanations that frequent Chinese air and land incursions are due to 'perceptional differences' over the contested LAC. This has further emboldened China, which respects only a combination of military, diplomatic and economic power. In pure strategic terms there is nothing wrong with India “training the Afghan military” and also exploring for oil and minerals there. But it should first ensure that the Indian Army gets the money to buy critically needed artillery guns, improve border roads and induct additional troops needed to man the Indo-China LAC.

Similarly, on the maritime front, there is nothing wrong with the ONGC Videsh Ltd, exploring for oil in the South China Sea, or 'mandating' the Indian Navy to provide security to the island nations of the Indian Ocean region provided the Indian Navy gets the additional forces. Even the powerful US Navy has been treading with caution in the Asia Pacific region, given China’s huge deployable air and sea power. What will India do if the ONGC exploratory rig is 'blown up' by an unexplained explosion in the South China Sea in a repeat of the 2010 'Cheonan' incident, where a North Korean submarine sank a South Korean warship in the Yellow Sea, but nothing could be done despite 'available proof'?

To put things in perspective, the Indian Navy currently has sufficient forces to tackle piracy, counter maritime terror and meet its coastal security needs. To provide a sustained 'credible' presence by a single aircraft carrier battle group in the Asia Pacific Region, the Indian Navy will need to create a dedicated “APR Maritime Task Force” and a “logistics base” in Vietnam. Raising and equipping an 'APR Maritime Task Force' will need time and billions of dollars. The Indian Navy will need more capability in the Indian Ocean region to counter the inevitable sustained Chinese Navy presence by 2030. In simple terms, to meet its 'emerging tasks' the Indian Navy will need to double its size and quadruple its existing annual budget.

While aircraft carriers are definitely needed in some scenarios, some other interim, 'cost effective' options need to be put on the table, or else India will go bankrupt in trying to meet its new strategic challenges. These measures include exporting MTCR compliant Brahmos (290-km range) anti-ship cruise missiles and Prithvi-2 (250-km range) ballastic land attack missiles to Vietnam, South Korea and possibly Taiwan. The Navy’s aging and depleting conventional submarine force, under prolonged 'benign neglect' needs to be bolstered by ordering a second conventional submarine indigenous production line under the much-delayed Project 75(I).

Also, an additional four conventional submarines and four nuclear attack submarines need to be imported, so that at least one of them is on patrol in the Asia Pacific region and Indian Ocean region at any given time, to provide 'invisible' presence-cum-deterrence, without the need for a logistics base for warships and aircraft, given the long endurance of submarines. This “invisible” submarine presence would avoid incidents at the South China Sea. These same submarines could also be used in wartime to interdict Chinese shipping using the Indian Ocean region choke points and complement the Indian aircraft-carrier battle groups.

Boosting India’s sea power is essential to meet the emerging challenges in the Indian Ocean region and Asia Pacific region. Another innovative option would be to use some of our numerous island territories as 'unsinkable aircraft carriers' with the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force aircraft, coastal radars and coastal Brahmos anti-ship missile batteries. Indian land and air power, too, needs a boost to deter any misadventures by our adversaries on our land borders.

Diplomatically, India is making the right moves with Vietnam, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Iran and other island nations. It must, however, avoid a strategic overreach, keeping in mind the prevailing military balance. India needs to remember what Prussian king Fredrick the Great meant when he said: 'Diplomacy without military power is like music without instruments'.

Our policymakers could make a start by reading Kautilya’s 2000-year-old Arthashastra and investing wisely, and quietly, in strategic national defence, which will be an insurance against war.

तुमचे 'भविष्य' सुरक्षित आहे का?

कर्मचारी भविष्य निर्वाह निधी अर्थात प्रॉव्हीडंट फंडचा लाभ घेणे हा कर्मचाऱ्याचा हक्क आणि कंपनीचे कर्तव्य असते. सध्याच्या काळात निवृत्तीवेतनाची निश्चिती नसल्याने उतारवयातील उदरनिर्वाहाची सोय म्हणूनही या पीएफकडे पाहिले जाते. निवृत्तीच्या वेळी खूप मोठी रक्कम हाताशी येईल किंवा अडीअडचणीच्या वेळी कर्ज मिळेल या आशेने कर्मचारी पीएफसाठी पैसे भरण्यात कुचराई करत नाहीत.

किंबहुना नवीन कंपनीत रुजू होण्यापूवीर् सर्वप्रकारची चौकशी करून, जुन्या कंपनीतील खाते स्थलांतरित करून सर्वसामान्य कर्मचारी भविष्य अधिकाधिक सुरक्षित करण्याचा प्रयत्न करतात. मात्र गेल्या काही वर्षांत उघड झालेले घोटाळे आणि सरकारी आकडेवारी पाहता कंपन्यांकडून प्रॉव्हीडंट फंड भरण्यात कुचराई होत असल्याचे सिद्ध झाले आहे.

सध्या भविष्य निर्वाहनिधीतील रकमेवर ९.५ टक्के दराने व्याज मिळते. गेल्यावषीर्पर्यंत या ठेवींवर ८.५ टक्के दराने व्याज मिळत होते. सर्वसाधारण बचत खाते किंवा गेल्यावषीर्पर्यंत मुदत ठेवींमधून मिळणाऱ्या व्याजापेक्षा ही रक्कम अधिक होती. त्यातच पीएफमधील गुंतवणुकीला करातून सवलतही मिळत असल्याने पीएफ हा नोकरदार वर्गासाठी गुंतवणूकीचे व भविष्य सुरक्षित करण्याचे पसंतीचे स्थान आहे. सध्या कर्मचाऱ्यांचे मूळ वेतन आणि महागाई भत्त्यामधून दरमहा १२ टक्के रक्कम पीएफ खात्यात वळविण्यासाठी कंपन्या पगारातूनच कापून घेतात. मात्र स्वत:च्या हिश्यातील १२ टक्के रक्कम भरताना मात्र टाळाटाळ केली जाते. त्यामुळे वर्षाअखेरीस कर्मचाऱ्यांना मिळणाऱ्या पीएफ स्लिपमध्ये खात्यातील एकूण रकमेचा अंदाज घेणे कर्मचाऱ्यांना शक्य होत नाही. विशेष म्हणजे भविष्य निर्वाह निधी मंडळाच्या क्लिष्ट कारभारामुळे मंडळाकडे कोणाकडेही दाद मागण्याऐवजी शांत बसणेच कर्मचारी पसंत करतात. मात्र यामुळे होणारे नुकसान म्हणजे कंपन्यांकडून ही रक्कम जमा करण्यात होणाऱ्या विलंबामुळे त्या कालावधीच्या व्याजावर कर्मचाऱ्यांना पाणी सोडावे लागते.

केंदीय कामगार मंत्री मल्लिकार्जुन खर्गे यांनी लोकसभेला दिलेल्या माहितीनुसार देशातील तब्बल एक लाख २० कंपन्यांनी कंपन्यांनी प्रॉव्हीडंट फंडाची रक्कम भरण्यात टाळाटाळ केली आहे. आकडेवारीच्या दृष्टीकोनातून विचार करता आंध्र, महाराष्ट्र आणि तामिळनाडूसारखी प्रगत राज्ये या क्रमवारीत आघाडीवर आहेत. तर ईशान्येतील राज्ये, गोवा, उत्तरांचल, बिहार, छत्तीसगड, ओरिसा यासारख्या राज्यात ही टाळाटाळ करणाऱ्या कंपन्यांची संख्या तुलनेने कमी आहे. अशावेळी देशातील प्रगत राज्यांमध्ये इतरांच्या तुलनेत रोजगाराच्या संधी अधिक आहेत, कंपन्या अधिक आहेत आणि त्यामुळेच भरणा चुकविणाऱ्यांचे प्रमाण अधिक असेल हा युक्तीवाद पटण्यासारखा नाही. किंबहुना प्रगत तंत्रज्ञान आणि सातत्याने वाढणाऱ्या नफ्यामुळे कर्मचाऱ्यांच्या भविष्याची अधिकाधिक काळजी घेऊन तरी या कंपन्यांनी पैसे लवकरात लवकर भरावे अशी अपेक्षा आहे.

पीएफचा भरणा चुकविणाऱ्या कंपन्या
राज्य एकूण कंपन्या
आंध्रप्रदेश २०,२१३
महाराष्ट्र १८,६६६
तामिळनाडू १३,७३४
दिल्ली ११,८४२
उत्तर प्रदेश ८७५७
कर्नाटक ८०६८
पंजाब ७२८५
गुजरात ६१६५
हरियाणा ४५०८
प. बंगाल ४२०९

पीएफची रक्कम भरण्यात टाळाटाळ करणाऱ्या कंपन्यांवर कारवाईचे पाऊलही भविष्य निर्वाहनिधीकडून उचलण्यात आले. मात्र एक लाख २० हजारांहून अधिक कंपन्यांनी टाळाटाळ केली असताना केवळ निम्म्या म्हणजे ५५ हजार ८८ कंपन्यांविरोधात तक्रार दाखल करण्यात आली आहे. विशेष म्हणजे तक्रार दाखल करण्यात आलेल्यांमध्येही आंध्रप्रदेश आणि महाराष्ट्राने आघाडी कायम ठेवली आहे. हैदराबादमधील कंपन्यांवर सर्वाधिक म्हणजे ५३४२ तक्रारी दाखल झाल्या. तर ४३६१ तक्रारींसह महाराष्ट्र दुसऱ्या स्थानी आहे.

हे टाळण्यासाठी काय करावे लागेल

कम्प्युटरायझेशनचे काम वेगाने पूर्ण करणे गरजेचे

भरणा करण्यात टाळाटाळ करणाऱ्या कंपन्यांवर जबर दंड लावणे

विभागनिहाय खातेक्रमांक बदलण्याऐवजी कर्मचाऱ्यांना 'आधार' प्रमाणे एकच क्रमांक देणे. त्यामुळे खाते स्थलांतरित करताना अधिक कालावधी लागणार नाही.

रक्कम काढताना किंवा स्थलांतरित करता जमवावी लागणारी कागदपत्रांची जंत्री कमी करून ही सुविधा ऑनलाईनही उपलब्ध करून देणे.

पीएफचा हिस्सा वाढणार?

सध्या कर्मचाऱ्यांच्या मूळ वेतन आणि महागाई भत्त्यामधील रक्कमेच्या १२ टक्के पीएफ खात्यात जमा केले जातात. तितकेच पैसे कंपनीने देखील खात्यात जमा करणे आवश्यक असते. पण गेल्या काही वर्षांपासून कंपन्यांनी मूळ वेतन कमी ठेवून मेडिकल, कन्व्हेयन्स, नाईटशिफ्टअलाऊंस यासारखे निरनिराळे भत्ते वाढवून दिले आहे. त्यामुळे कर्मचाऱ्यांना अधिकाधिक रक्कम घरी घेऊन जाण्याचा आनंद आज मिळत असला तरी त्यांची भविष्याची तरतूद मात्र त्यामुळे कमी होते आहे. त्यामुळेच मध्यप्रदेश आणि मदास हायकोर्टाने प्रॉव्हीडंट फंडाची रक्कम भरताना हे भत्तेदेखील त्यात समाविष्ट करून घ्यावेत, असा आदेश दिला आहे. इतरही राज्यात लवकरच या निर्णयाची अंमलबजावणी होण्याची शक्यता आहे. त्यामुळे हा निर्णय लागू झाल्यास सध्या दरमहा मिळणारी पगाराची रक्कम कमी झालेली दिसली तरी भविष्य मात्र अधिकाधिक सुरक्षित होणार आहे.