The Tata 'taparazzi' scandal exposes India's casual treatment of privacy laws.

The Union Government has, by ordering the CBI to conduct a "comprehensive inquiry" into the tapping of industrialist Nusli Wadia's telephone, set a healthy precedent. The recent leaks of the transcripts of Wadia's conversations with fellow industrialists Ratan Tata and Keshub Mahindra and Rajya Sabha member Jayant Malhoutra have exposed the soft underbelly of the country's fast-growing telephone system. Though telephone tapping is illegal, the state agencies can eavesdrop on telephonic conversations in exceptional circumstances and by fulfilment of strict procedures. However, with both the Home Ministry and the Maharashtra Government having pleaded innocent in this incident, there remains the dangerous possibility of private entities being at work to tap telephone lines. If the CBI succeeds in tracing the source of the illegal tapes, the discovery may throw light on the identity of India's undercover 'taparazzi'.

The perpetrators of this incident have shown a special interest in listening to their targets' conversation relating to the ULFA extremists in Assam, where a part of the Tatas' tea empire is located. While some of the group's executives are already under investigation for their alleged links with extremists, it cannot be an excuse for an unauthorised -- and probably private -- snooping. Rapid strides in telecom technology have no doubt made the definition of privacy somewhat uncertain; but it is the duty of civil society to regulate application of technology in a manner that guarantees freedom of speech and expression, including their confidentiality. A failure on that front will make India all the more uninviting as a destination for global businesses that take pains to protect information. Besides, the lack of privacy of telephone lines will make people shun the main information artery, in the same way that lawless roads are avoided by commuters. Telephone tapping is a disease that cannot be allowed to be institutionalised.

India's Pies in the Sky

The failure of Insat-2D calls for a better planned space programme.

India's space ventures have had mixed fortunes of late. insat-2d's failure was only partially made up for by the high quality pictures from IRS-1D. INSAT-2D was crucial to data communication systems like those at the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Almost all phone lines to the North-east were routed through it. Satellite failures are only to be expected; but the problem is India has put all its eggs in one basket. INSAT-2D used what are called "extended C band" transponders, a communication standard almost exclusive to the insat series. So, bodies like the NSE -- which invested crores in equipment that could be linked only to INSAT-2D -- will suffer. This predicament is typical of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which has a history of lost opportunities.

In the '80s, ISRO failed to capitalise on its world-class expertise in building ground stations, such as the facility in Hassan, Karnataka. Despite its ingenious designs for the Insat series and for remote-sensing satellites, it has not made a single dent in the hardware market. The images from the irs satellites are excellent. Yet, ISRO has blundered in marketing them. The trouble actually lies in the outdated vision for the space programme. In the Nehruvian paradigm, ISRO was an ancillary contributor to social development: communication satellites were meant to fight illiteracy, remote-sensing satellites to forecast the weather. Any larger, market-driven role was frowned upon. Even the natural synergy with defence has been ignored. Take the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which conducted its first mission in September. Agni's first stage weighs nine tonnes and is one metre in diameter. It can hit targets 2,500 km away. In contrast, the PSLV's first stage weighs 128 tonnes and is 2.8 metres wide. A separate military component to the space programme is overdue. In fact, so is a new space policy.

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