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| India-Pakistan |
| India plans to monitor fishing vessels from space |
| 2009-04-19 |
| NEW DELHI: India is planning to introduce an ultra-low-cost, satellite-based ‘identification system’ to monitor fishing vessels across the country’s coastal areas. Navy sources said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was developing the system, known as the B-Class Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), for nearly 300,000 fishing vessels. “Presently the cost of one such installation on mechanised fishing vessels is around Rs 60,000, which is not feasible for an ordinary fisherman. We are trying to bring it down to around Rs 5,000,” a navy official said. The satellite-based system would help keep the vessels in the loop of security agencies guarding the coastal areas, and prevent the entry of ‘hostile’ boats, as happened during the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, a source said. “It will be a hands-free system, having an in-built Global Positioning System (GPS), and will be reporting to the agencies at regular intervals.” Initially, the system will be launched in Gujarat, and then expanded to Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Officials, however, believe that the system’s practical implementation, and not its installation, is the real challenge. For early adoption of such a system, security agencies are awaiting the installation of a new government after the general election to request free distribution of the system |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #1 don't make the mistake of assuming a "friendly" signal = friendly passengers |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-04-19 15:51 |