Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 14, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free december 1981 7 India booming rocket program National goal has been to create a Pool of Indian space age skills by John Schidlovsky Baltimore Sun Bangalore this Green and Garden filled South Indian City of modest name town of Beans lies the Headquarters of one of India most ambitious programs the building and launching of space satellites and the fact that India Evert has a space program surprises some who know India Only As a devel Oping nation with a huge Rural Popula Tion still reliant on Bullock the fact that India space program is quite advanced adds to their you have to give them High said a Western expert discus sing the work of India space Scien Treyve tried to do it them selves and Treyve stressing homemade production whenever Indian scientists have so far overseen the launching of six Indian have developed their own solid fuel for rockets and have built a four stage rocket that can hurl future satellites into the most recent space achievement came last month when India second Earth observation satellite was launched from a site in the soviet the 900pound satellite carries two television cameras designed to map India Large reserves of untapped natural perception is of waste just what kind of spinoff India space program will have on the rest of the country is scientists concede there has been Little Transfer of knowledge so a fact that adds to the common mans perception that the space program is a waste of yet the potential for such transfers is India emerging Electron computers and plastics industries could Benefit from the rigorous Stan Dards achieved in the space As one Indian official there has been much greater accuracy in than in other Sec by or soviet India space program is As Humble As Banga Lores India has no plans for a manned space program or planetary its space goals Are limited to such things As improving telecoms uni predicting weather and map Ping the and India total investment on space has been meagre in 18 the budget has amounted to less than the Purchase Price of five Boeing 6 but Over the next 10 India plans to increase its space spending by at least four although there Are still Indian critics who ask Why the country needs a space program when 60 per cent of its people cannot read or Indian policy planners appear determined to continue the space icbms capability one reason is the obvious military potential of a space India Home built rockets now have a Range of and if be topped with a such missiles would be a major boost to India now the fourth largest in the Indian scientists say there Are no planned military applications for the space and they say India is still a Long Way from develop ing the technique of guiding Large but they concede the potential is a rocket is like a knife in the said one Indian space scientist its purpose depends on the needs of the India space program is guided by the principle of Ever since India became Independent in the country leaders have stressed As a National goal the develop ment of Indian knowhow and indigenous while India out of purchased from West Ger and the United states Many of the components to build satellites and the country scientists have tried to develop As Many homemade space items As a prime reason for this Square one approach is India aim of having its own Pool of trained space we have very largely achieved that said professor Satish the chief of the Indian space research in a recent briefing for foreign India space program employs including a Hun dred or so specialists rated at the top of their profession but India heavy emphasis on self Reliance and training has meant slow going in As Well As in other satellites Are being used to Monitor India Earth National technological some scientists Are convinced that India could do a better Job of bringing badly needed development to the coun try villages if Indian leaders were More willing to rely on available foreign do we need to rediscover and rein vent processes and products in the name of self Reliance asked Atma a former chairman of India National committee on science and he said Indian planners would Bene fit the country More by taking full advantage of the accumulation of scientific knowledge and technological expertise which other countries have obtained through years of hard work and at considerable ram added that he believes the Pur pose of Indian technology should be to adapt science to the country most pressing but Dhawan said the delays caused by the stress on self Reliance in the space program and other National in Deavors were a necessary phase in the task of building a proud and Independent its not the lathe that develops the its the mind that designs the he if Indian scientists Ever Hope to do original he and other policy makers they must first be Able to duplicate past achievements of for eign in this path of duplication has not been an easy India first an 800pounder launched by a soviet rocket in went on the blink within a in the next four years there again were this time with two television cameras mounted on the soviet launched Earth observe Tion the launch was considered a Success India had obtained its first photographs from an India assembled space in India conducted its first launch of a satellite from Indian the 77pound called was launched from an Island in the Bay of Bengal by a four stage rocket powered by Indian made solid this vehicle and a subsequent Rohini failed to stay up in orbit As Long As the significance of their launches Lay in the fact that India now had its own proven rocket this two More Indian satellites were in a communications satellite called Apple was car ried into orbit by a european and the country second observation satellite was launched on november 20 by a russian this the satellites twin television cameras appear to be working As India most ambitious satellite project and the one that May finally make itself Felt by a Large segment of the country people is scheduled to proceed next a now being assembled in Palo will be launched from Cape canaveral As the first step in the million Indian satellite inst it and subsequent satellites including one to be launched from the space shuttle Columbia in 1983 will provide weather information to than 30 India built ground in a country so dependent on the vagaries of the Monsoon this data is expected to save Indian Farmers Mil lion of dollars in the inst system will also be used to provide Telephone circuits and Tele vision nearly half of India tiny villages have no communications links at All with the rest of the subcontinent Hookup inst is expected to be the first step in the Long process of hooking up this subcontinental Al though India will be using satellites scientists say the inst system will eventually rely entirely on India made per haps As soon As but in order to launch the heavy satellites required for India must develop More powerful rockets and rocket Indian scientists Are now trying to develop a liquid fuel for the country with the help of information obtained from Indian space scientists say they will have a liquid propellant available for use within seven in the scientists say they expect to be Able to put a Threeton communication satellite into by Wilson special to the free press Ottawa Rene the Quebec Independence movement has thrown up a unique figure a Man who has been Able to win the Trust of a significantly Large number of voters who completely reject his Basic Politi Cal that is no Petty achievement for any if Levesque were simply a popular demagogue it could be put Down to some mesmerizing Quality that misled masses of a phenomenon that is common enough in the Story of he has won Trust and political Vic tories in a far More substantial people have recognized in him a demo cratic Man whose word could be accepted when he promised that there would be no overt moves towards Independence without fair reference to the population and Only after a majority of them had clearly Given their approx that has been greatly to his pro Vinces advantage because it is widely accepted in his role As Premier rather than As Leader of the Independence he has provided considerably better than average govern that is Why Many no separatists voted for him and his party last Spring and gave him a very solid it is this great asset of practical Trust from those in disagreement with fundamental goals that the militant Mem Bers of the separatist movement would willingly throw very much like the leftist Wing of the British labor they see Little advantage in the Possession of political Power is used to achieve their Basic goal of an Independent not necessarily even in close economic association with the rest of there will be Many especially among Liberal politicians from who will Hope that the parti quebecois does indeed destroy its most politically significant assuming More or less Normal difficulties during the next three and no real q it seems very unlikely that the be quites would the next Quebec election if Rene Levesque has it is virtually impossible to judge at this time whether that would really be in the interests of those whose goal is the preservation of the country As it now is the Quebec Independence movement More or less dangerous to the Unity of the country when it is constrained by the Possession of actual political Power posing that question asks what a peal the Independence movement would have to the Quebec population under far More militant leadership for whom the Only political goal was Sepa ration from it is very tempt ing to assume that its Appeal under those circumstances would be greatly reduced but that May be too optimism the movement does not depend upon Rene Levesque for its existence and he is Only the architect of its Success at securing political Power and providing a conventional government under clearly defined the most Likely Post Levesque development in the province would seem to be a period of increased turmoil re forming Many of the deep divisions of the period leading up to the referee since the federalist Victory of the province has been far Calmer with politics relegated to a More Normal level of human human beings cannot live at fever pitch for Long periods without becom ing exhausted so there must be Many for whom new demands to decide upon fundamental questions would be extremely weariness with an can play into the hands of militants by eroding the will to resist Liberal politicians Are not very Good guides for anyone seeking to assess the imponderables hanging Over the que Bec like politicians anywhere their goal is to secure Power for them selves As quickly As possible and any discord among opponents is a Welcome attaching private phones to its jacks the fact that Manitoban voted in a general election nearly a month and in the process changed govern has not been on the Manitoba Telephone during the past week several Calls have come in from citizens who have been badgered by Telephone system officials about telephones they own that the officials say cannot be plugged it could be coincidental that the harassment by the Telephone system of people who own private Telephone sets appears to have been stepped up since but coincidence is an excuse that would be hard to a better explanation can be found in a set of passed by the old nip government before 1977 but never and a new piece of legislation passed by the conservatives since but also never whatever the the attitude taken by Telephone officials was enough to reduce one woman who called the free press to she expected the police to arrive at any moment to confiscate the Telephone she had bought at a department the Telephone official system told her that she was breaking the Law if she kept it plugged into one of the Telephone jacks the Friendly Telephone system had provided in her it is possible that the Telephone employees in charge of harassment have Fred Cleverley been told this by Telephone there is another body of Legal opinion that disputes the other including some who have business interests in Winnipeg stores that sell claim that Only if the Telephone system can prove that one of its unauthorized phones is damaging the system can the phone be ordered Manitoba courts have not had the Opportunity to Settle the Issue because the Manitoba Telephone system has to charged the Law yers who hold opposing views suspect that its is not sure of its Legal Posi and has avoided any direct court action in Case it other Telephone systems in other jurisdictions have taken the use of unauthorized Tele phones to court and have in where the Telephone sys tem is not part of the provincial gov individuals have the decided in to attach their own telephones to Mabells Mabell cannot even charge for the use of those Mabell does not like this any More than but it is living with the court Saskatchewan represents the other extreme in it has strict provincial everyone has Proba Bly noticed the Little disclaimers in catalogues that remind customers that telephones offered for Sale elsewhere Are not offered in in the Laws protecting the provincial Telephone system Are so tight that they Are often explained by saying that unless an individuals Fin Gers Are owned by he cannot dial a regulations that would give the Manitoba Telephone system the same rights were passed by the nip before it was Defeated in but were never when the tories were in the government passed Bill which opened the door for private attachments to the its sys under the regulation of the Public Utility Bill 107 was never proclaimed much to the dismay of the Winnipeg Cable compan which saw in it the Way to reach a better understanding with its in the distribution of Cable television in the when the new provincial minister of Len made his ringing declaration about guaranteeing Manitoban the right to watch television he carefully avoided endorsing Bill he did Deal with what the Manitoba Telephone system likes to Call unauthorized Tele he said under regulations of the Manitoba Telephone us scribers generally Are not allowed to attach anything but an its phone to those jacks that have been installed in most Many retail outlets Are Selling phones to the the stores Are Uncertain As to their obligations to customers when they sell these things and its subscribers Are confused As to whether they can plug them into the i am not going to attempt to give the answer to that dilemma but i can assure you that we Are going to give the Public a simple and understandable policy As soon As weve looked at Bill 107 and studied the financial the ministers thinking May be found in the beginning of his where he says that under regulations customers Are generally not allowed to attach anything to its this is also the thinking of it would be fair to say that it was the thinking of Mabell in Ontario and in a number of which had regulations similar to those Evans refers to before those regulations were taken into court and knocked into the nearest its knows that the Way around letting the courts decide on the rights of Manitoban is to get into place regulations similar to those in Sas its appears to be banking on those regulations that were approved before 1977 by politicians who Are now Back in the Saskatchewan regulations have avoided any court mainly because they were a preemptive put into place before that province developed a private phone but Manitoba regulations Are not in place until the government anyone who gets those harassing Calls from its should know that the Tele phone threat that the phones Are illegal is based on not on court doonesbury Andi Good is a lot of Kkt Ink i although you i ;