Bureacratic solution to terrorism in India: One more investigating agency planned!!

[echarcha]

Bureacratic solution to terrorism in India: One more investigating agency planned!!

This is the classic example of bureaucrats and politicians messing things up. We already have the federal agency CBI and intelligence agencies like IB and RAW. Now the solution to preventing terrorist acts in India, according to our politicians and bureacrats, is to form one more agency!!

Coming soon: Federal Investigating Agency to combat terror
Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi | September 18, 2008 | 01:56 IST

The Centre will soon form a Federal Investigating Agency, according to Special Secretary (internal security) M L Kumawat. The federal agency will centralise data, gather intelligence and assist in police investigations and all terror related cases, Kumawat told rediff.com.

Single agency should tackle terrorism: Kalam

The Intelligence Bureau currently does not have the authority to file cases and arrest or prosecute the accused without assistance from the police.
The new federal agency will have the IB's mandate, the Central Bureau of Investigation's zeal and the powers of the police force, as well as jurisdiction across India. Though many states are expected to oppose such a federal agency, the Congress will have another poll plank before the next Lok Sabha elections.

'Federal agency must investigate terrorist crimes'

The issue of terrorism is a growing concern for the United Progressive Alliance government as well as the Congress party. In view of the Bharatiya Janata Party's active campaign against the UPA's stance on terrorism, the government is compelled to take a significant step to prove that it is responding to the political challenge related to security.
Right now, the concerned ministries and departments are exchanging notes and files related to the Federal Investigating Agency at a fervent pace.

'India needs an agency like FBI to fight terror'

The proposal for the agency is likely to take final shape only after the Home Ministry has completed the formalities related to the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action -- an elite force constituted to combat Naxalism.
COBRA, which is expected to be ready by January, has been structured on the lines of the Greyhound force in Andhra Pradesh. It will be led by well-known police officer Durgaprasad.

'India could face super-terrorism'

The force is made up of young troopers, who have received special training in jungle warfare. Equipped with the latest technology and a budget of Rs 1, 400 crore, the COBRA is ready to sting.

Link

[rameshp]

I think this is a much needed step. However, i am not sure if it will be effective. turf wars are high among Indian agencies. No one wants to concede their turf to a new agency. So unless this new federal agency has unrestricted powers, a strong legislative support and good leadership to lead it, it is bound to be a failure. A classic case of such failure is NTRO - National Technical Research Organisation established on the lines of the role of NSA in US intelligence setup!

here is its situation today:

Spy versus spy

By Sandeep Unnithan
September 7, 2007
On May 17, 1999, when the first Gulfstream jets of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) flew over the 150-km swathe in the Kargil sector, their cameras picked up shockingly candid images of the Pakistani intrusion—mule trains, machine gun nests, gun emplacements, helicopters sitting on helipads—all this 10 km inside the Indian territory. It was a colossal intelligence failure that an operation on such a massive scale by Pakistan had reached this stage without anyone in India being aware of it.

The reason: India’s multiple agencies with technical snooping capabilities reported to different heads. There were 45 different intelligence inputs but no single agency to piece them together.

Hence, in October 2004, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved a detailed note which would result in the biggest intelligence shake-up since 1968 when RAW was formed. It approved the setting up of a National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), a super-technical spy organisation modelled on the US National Security Agency (NSA), which would be the repository of the nation’s technical intelligence (TECHINT) assets—spy satellites, UAVs and spy planes. The new agency would prevent the recurrence of a Kargil-type fiasco.

Nearly three years later, it wouldn’t be wrong to call it the Notional Technical Research Organisation. Key cabinet approvals from the note have not been implemented because of a bitter turf war with the well-established RAW, particularly its airborne and technical division—the Aviation Research Centre (ARC). The only significant assets it has are spy satellites but no spy planes, another vital component of TECHINT.
Early last year, NTRO finished evaluating four new long-range surveillance aircraft to be purchased from Canada’s Bombardier. Packed with the newest all-weather Israeli radars and sensors, these aircraft could datalink intelligence in real time and would be a generation ahead of the ARC’s ageing fleet of Gulfstream IIIs equipped with wash-and-process film cameras.

Over one-and-a-half years later, the agency is yet to hear from the Government on the aircraft or its proposal to acquire helicopters. The word is that RAW has stonewalled the acquisition because it is anxious to protect its in-house technical division—which also snoops on nuclear tests and missile launches in the neighbourhood making it a vital component of the Nuclear Command Authority. So, in a classic dichotomy, the Government now receives airborne intelligence from RAW and satellite imagery from NTRO, going against the very logic of having a single agency for technical intelligence. The agency is allowed to collect data but not process or interpret it. By now, the organisation should have been the nodal agency for cyber warfare but has been forbidden from hacking or cyber snooping simply because they are not part of the seven agencies authorised to monitor communication facilities.

The CCS note laid out an exhaustive 10-year perspective plan for its growth—its charter, manpower, functions and special equipment acquisition which flowed from the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee (KRC) headed by K. Subrahmanyam, which decried RAW’s monopoly on external intelligence. It commented adversely on the wisdom of saddling one agency with multiple responsibilities of human, communication, imagery and electronic intelligence. The ARC fed its intelligence inputs only to RAW under which it operated, hence the review committee recommended a nodal agency which would supply multiple users—from the armed forces to state governments battling Naxalites—with TECHINT. However, the NTRO project for setting up of a repository of intelligence where users could plug in for inputs came to naught when both the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and RAW refused to provide any data. “We have the money, resources and technology but we don’t have the vision and the will to create an effective intelligence sharing mechanism,” rues an NTRO official.

Like RAW, the organisation forms part of the Cabinet Secretariat and reports directly to National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan. The chairman—also called secretary, NTRO—holds the same rank as the RAW chief. Yet, till date the organisation is yet to get its own building and functions from three locations scattered over the national Capital.
In the early days, intelligence provided by NTRO was disregarded by the National Security Council (NSC) and its members were not even allowed to sit in on meetings of the Joint Intelligence Committee, a forum of all top intelligence agencies. NTRO, which has a staff strength of around 800, is already grappling with an exodus of sorts. At least six senior officials have left in the past one year and the critical post of cyber applications and research is yet to be filled. Its emaciated, powerless state has prompted calls for its closure. “The NTRO experiment has been a failure, the Government should wind it up and instead build up ARC with more assets and give it more autonomy,” says Air Marshal (retired) Ashok K. Goel, ARC’s former head of operations.

The organisation headed by a DRDO scientist K.V.S.S. Prasad Rao, has attracted criticism from other intelligence agencies, which say it is too technical—staffed with scientists instead of experienced intelligence operatives. “Intelligence cannot be generated in a vacuum.

Turf War

National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO): Set up in 2004 as a hub supplying all other security agencies and armed forces with technical intelligence.

Aviation Research Centre (ARC): Technical intelligence division of RAW, set up with CIA assistance in 1963. Unwilling to cede control to NTRO.

Key government decisions on NTRO have not been implemented:

Technical assets: It has spy satellites but no spy planes. Acquisition plan stalled by ARC.

Intelligence database: RAW and IB have refused to feed inputs.

Cyber warfare: No sanction for computer hacking and monitoring.

Intelligence analysis: It can collect but not analyse technical intelligence data.Unless you have specialists in various areas you will not know where and how to task your technical resources like satellites and UAVs,” says former RAW official R.S.N. Singh. NTRO officials say they are, in fact, barred from carrying out actual field work because the intelligence establishment is not adequately sensitised about the importance of new technologies and cyber warfare. In the US, NSA designs cipher systems to protect information systems and search for weaknesses in adversaries’ systems and codes. It coordinates and performs highly specialised activities to protect US information systems and provides foreign intelligence information.

It is a high technology organisation at the frontiers of communication and data processing. All the Communications Intelligence (COMINT) and Signals Intelligence (SIGNIT) efforts of the US are grouped under NSA. “In contrast, NTRO in India does not have exclusive control as several other agencies like RAW and IB continue to maintain their COMINT and SIGNIT assets. This is another instance of duplication of scarce resources and wasteful expenditure,” says Major-General (retired) Vinay Kumar Singh, former RAW official and author of the controversial new book on the agency, India’s External Intelligence.

More than the practical experience or the inability of the Government to simply merge ARC and NTRO, it seems to be the lack of a godfather that is hobbling the organisation. RAW had the formidable Rameshwar Nath Kao who carved the external intelligence organisation out of IB in 1968.
NTRO briefly had one in the person of former national security adviser J.N. Dixit, but was orphaned by his sudden demise six months after he took over in 2004. “Dixit perfectly understood the importance of such an organisation and I’m convinced that had he been alive today, the whole set-up would have been different,” says former NTRO chairman R.S. Bedi.
As a member of KRC’s technical task force on intelligence, Narayanan was one of the most enthusiastic proponents of the idea for a technical intelligence organisation. Today, he seems either unwilling to or unable to get the agency off the ground. (Narayanan did not respond to a questionnaire sent by INDIA TODAY).

It took a Kargil War to set up NTRO. What would it take to give it more power is the uncomfortable question no one seems to be asking just yet.


http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/in...067&issueid=37

[echarcha]

Ha ha ha ha... You know when there is one more Kargil, we will see one more committee and one more agency! We are so used to having inquiry commissions. Now we should get used to new agency formations and more acronyms.

[Sane Less]

Do we need all these agencies... just one religion... ban just one religion and see how effective it becomes. This is how the world defeated nazism... and US defeated communism. This is the only solution to this war on terrorism... and it is surprising that this needs to be spelled out. Wtf are our intelligence agencies doing... f*ck, don't they understand simple english

[gayaguzra#1]

that agency should be given the mandate to fight terror all over the country. No haggling who's in charge state police ya the new agency. They get the right. period. What is needed with this is "terrorism suspects" like the delhi ones, their properties should be seized, bank accounts should be seized, make their loved suffer. This will definitely serve as s deterrent to those fukks who think I'll go do this and my family will still be safe.

Deport the illegal aliens, encounter as much as possible, when all the these steps are combined, results will automatically flow.

[rameshp]

since this thread talks about a new investigative agency, here is a brief list of all the existing intelligence, investigative and law enforcement organisations in India:

Intelligence:

RAW (Research and Analysis Wing): Responsible for external intelligence. Has its own TechInt divisions (ARC, NTFO, ETS, Joint Cipher Bureau - shared with IB), SignalInt division (RRC) and Operations division (SFF, Group I,II,III). Its personnel are deployed in Indian embassies and consulates posing as diplomats.
Coordinates with IB, DIA, External Affairs Ministry.
Reports to PMO/Cabinet Secretariat

IB (Intelligence Bureau): Responsible for internal intelligence and security. Also has its own TechInt and SignalInt division. Operations divisions are established in each state capital called SIBx (Subsidiary Intelligence Bureaux).
Coordinates with RAW, DIA and state police forces.
Reports to Home Ministry

DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency): Heads all different wings of Millitary intelligence (DMI-Army, DNI-Navy, DAI-Airforce). Has its own SignalInt/TechInt (Signals Intelligence Directorate)
Cordinates with RAW, IB
Reports to Defence Ministry

Investigative:

CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation): Conducts investigation involving high-level crimes and national security issues. Does not have its own jurisdiction and has to be invited by the state govt or court orders for taking over cases. It is also the India's Interpol liason.
Coordinates with IB, state police forces.
Reports to Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension

State Police: Conduct investigation in their respective states. Also, divided into city or district police at lower levels. Have their own Investigation (CID, CCS), Intelligence and Law Enforcement wings among others.
Coordiante with IB, other state police forces and paramilitary forces
Report to Home Ministries of respective State Govts.

Law Enforcement/Security:

In addition to various state police forces,

CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force): Aids state police in law enforcement and peace keeping. Has its own intelligence unit, roit control division (RAF), environment protection division (Green Force). Also, tasked with counter insurgency operations in Kashmir, replacing BSF and working SOG of J&K, RR and Army.
Reports to Home Ministry

Assam Rifles: Premier counter insurgency force for NE. Trained in guerrillia warfare.
Coordinates with Army, local state police
Reports to Home Ministry

RR (Rashtriya Rifles): Premier counter insurgency force for Kashmir. Recruited from regular Army battalions and trained for urban warfare.
Coordinates with Army, CRPF, J&K police.
Reports to Army, Defence Ministry (but funded by Home Ministry.)

BSF (Border Security Force): Tasked with border security.
Coordinates with Army, state police wherever deployed
Reports to Army (in border areas), Home Ministry.

CISF (Central Industrial Security Force): Tasked with securing central govt. installations including defence labs, airports, oil installations etc.
Coordinates with IB, local police.
Reports to Home Ministry

ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police): Tasked with border security in Indo-Tibetan border in Arunachal Pradesh. Has its own elite commando division, 2 companies of which are presently deployed in Afghanistan.
Reports to Home Ministry.

IR (India Reserve): Well-trained police force to assist state police in naxal areas.
Reports to Home Ministry.

NSG (National Security Guards): Premier counter-terrorism and hostage rescue force. Rumoured to be deployed in Kashmir to assist local forces. Also, maintains National Bomb database and collects evidence from blasts sites.
Reports to PMO/Cabinet Secretariat.

SPG (Special Protection Group): Provides close proximity security to VIPs and High Value Individuals. Recruited from NSG. Has its own intelligence, communication and operation wings.
Reports to PMO/Cabinet Secretariat.

COBRA(Combat Battalion for Resolute Action): Recently santioned central agency for anti-naxal operations, to be trained like the Greyhounds of AP Police.
Coordinates with state police.
Reports to CRPF

Special Units of Various State Police:

SOG (Special Operations Group): Counter insurgency group of J&K police. Work alongside Army and CRPF deployed in Kashmir valley.

Greyhounds: Anti-naxal force of AP police. Well-equipped and well-trained to tackle naxal menace in AP. Also operate in Orissa and Chattisghar alongside local police.

Octopus ((Organization To Counter Terrorist Operations): Newly formed anti-terrorist force of AP police.

ATS (Anti-Terrorist Squad): Anti-terrorist force of Maharastra police.

sources: bharat-rakshak, wikipedia, fas.org

[echarcha]

I dont mind being the information architect to tie all the information systems of these agencies together. For that I need to first find a powerful Member of Parliament or a bunch of them and assure them of 'special gifts' (kickbacks)

Guys I am off to get this contract, let me know if you are interested
Pay rate - Whatever you want
Working hours - Ahem.. dont ask too many obvious questions.. there is no real deadline

and many more benefits