Guided missile frigate INS Betwa
tips over in dockyard
Issue:
Navy must fix accountability for the accident in Mumbai.
GS
Paper: III and IV; Topic: Security Issues;
Accountability
Meaning
of Frigate: The definition of a modern frigate by
Defencyclopedia is: A modern frigate is
a 3000-7000 ton warship, equipped with an array of missiles, guns and radars, and is designed to operate autonomously,
along with a battle group or act as an escort for non-combatants, in order to
fulfill a variety of tasks depending on the mission.
IN
A major accident two sailors died and 14 others were injured when a guided
missile frigate, INS Betwa, tipped
over and hit the ground while being undocked at the Naval Dockyard in south
Mumbai
The
latest incident caps a series of mishaps over the last three years in the Western Naval Command, including the
one involving the INS Sindhurakshak
in which 18 people, including three officers, were killed in 2013.
In
2014, there were a spate of
incidents when there were 11 separate
incidents resulting in the loss of
22 lives, forcing the then naval
chief Admiral DK Joshi to do the most honourable thing and resign by taking
responsibility like a good sailor should.
Fixing
Accountability:
Navy
sources refuse to blame the accident on poor infrastructure, equipment or
processes. This leaves the people responsible for managing the operations, who
are likely to face the wrath of the organisation once the inquiry report comes
in.
Accountability is an essential
feature of any responsive organisation, and it
becomes even more critical in the case of the military.
But
this exercise in accountability must not be done to find scapegoats under
public pressure; it should result in meaningful change to avoid any
catastrophes in the future.
A
Board of Inquiry has been set up which will establish the exact reason for the
mishap. The Navy has taken a very serious view of the incident, and those found
guilty will be held accountable.
About
INS Betwa
INS
Betwa is one of the three Brahmaputra class 3,800-tonne guided missile frigates
in service with the Navy, and was commissioned in 2004.
INS
Betwa, had participated in Operation Sukoon to evacuate stranded Indians from
Lebanon to Cyprus in 2006.
A
word on navy’s indigenous production capacity:
The
navy has gone on record that the INS Betwa, which was commissioned into service
in 2004, will be salvaged and made battle-ready in the stipulated time-frame of
the medium refit.
The
navy’s indigenous production capacity is the source of its confidence in making
that bold claim, and it holds a big lesson for the other services. Among the
three defence services, the navy is the only one which has made substantial
progress on indigenous production of naval platforms.
Other
services must follow suit, and the defence ministry must provide the necessary
impetus to ensure that “Make in India” in defence moves from billboards to
tangible programmes on the factory floors.
XXXXX
Issue of Offensive Content on the
Internet
Issue:
Whether Internet platforms can be held accountable for offensive videos is in
focus, with the Supreme Court (SC) seeking responses from three such entities
on the matter of transmitting sexual offences and cybercrime.
GS
Paper: II
Supreme
Court on this Issue:
Supreme
Court sought responses from Google
India, Yahoo India, Microsoft and Facebook on a petition seeking a
distinct mechanism through which one can report rape videos and seek their blockage.
In
August, the SC had asked the Union ministry of electronics and information
technology about ways it could assist in reporting and blocking videos of rape
under the Protection of Children from
Sexual Offences Act, 2012, which are in circulation on social
networking websites.
Role
of Intermediary and Lessons from Other Countries:
Intermediaries cannot be
bystanders when sexual predators post child porn or
rape videos on their platforms. India needs stronger norms for self-policing of networks. Search
engines, video platforms and social media brands will have to become active
players to prevent their platforms from being misused.
Unlike
in the West, the IT Act of 2000, even after amendments in 2008, in a way
insulates intermediaries when it comes to transmission of offensive content
online. That is not the case in many developed nations. In the United States, for instance, the
Child Status Protection Act
puts the onus on reporting offensive child pornography content on the
intermediaries immediately.
Situation
in India:
India
does not even have a comprehensive
sex-offender register, many rapists who have shot such videos roam
freely. Even if ultimately they get caught, the lack of a national offender register can embolden them to relocate or
seek employment in another part of the country.
The
number of crimes against children
in the country went up to 94,172
(2015) from 89,423 in 2014, according to the statistics from the
National Crime Records Bureau.
In
the absence of a national-level
institution to tackle online sexual offences, the CBI, by default,
becomes the nodal agency to deal with such cases.
India
lacks a stringent national
legislation for protecting women and children from online offenders. The
IT Act of 2000, when it was amended in 2008, diluted some of the penalties,
entailing that certain offences be made bailable, say cyber security experts.
If offenders who shoot rape videos take their immunity for granted, it is time
the law wielded the stick on the messengers transmitting these repulsive
messages.
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