Archive for the ‘Travel Advisory’ Category:
Can Terrorists / Insurgents Breach Commonwealth Games 2010 Security in India?
There are 23 competitive venues, 40 training venues and International Broadcasting Centre.
There are 36 functional areas for which Volunteers will be hired and trained.
Each volunteer application will be screened by the Police. But does Police verification really screen anything beside antecedent verification?
There is a Low Probability x High Impact scenario where the terrorists / Insurgents may breach Commonwealth Games 2010 security wearing FAKE uniforms, they could be uniforms like:
1. Volunteer uniforms given to Commonwealth Games 2010 volunteers
2. Para Military uniforms
3. Rapid Action Force uniforms,
4. Police uniforms
How easy is it in India to counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs, leading fashion brands apparel logos and brand accessories, identity cards etc., the less said the better.
Can the Commonwealth Games 2010 Volunteer uniforms consisting of polo tops, tracks, T shirts, cap and shoes not be counterfeited by terrorists / insurgents.
Although Hologram is the most effective way to prevent counterfeiting, but in India where terrorists / insurgents use fake currency, how difficult will it be for them to counterfeit holograms? Are all athletes participating in the Commonwealth Games 2010 at New Delhi, supposed experts that they will be able to detect fake identity cards?
Who are the Volunteers for Commonwealth Games 2010?
They are mostly students, working executives and retired people.
What is the incentive for volunteers, except the hype of serving the motherland?
For Volunteers at Commonwealth Games 2010, it will be a place to network with foreigners and maybe network and find a job somewhere.
What prevents terrorists / insurgents from using MICE and 6 Degrees of Separation tactics to glean subtle intelligence on the movement of athletes.
What stops terrorists from cultivating hotel staff, vehicle drivers, private security experts or the state of the art Volunteers at the Commonwealth Games 2010?
How will athletes recognize anybody at all when they are on sightseeing mode at Delhi, India. Will they trust people because they are wearing law enforcement uniforms or volunteer uniforms?
What is the probability that terrorists will not be able to counterfeit law enforcement identity cards or uniforms?
Are 5 star hotels really safe in India as they are made out to be by the supposed security experts?
Are shopping malls really safe as the security experts claim that they are?
Are metros safe? If so, how can collateral damage be avoided in case the terrorists breach it.
Just by talking about disaster management and emergency management and risk management, can the terrorist / insurgent be really stopped? Just by hiring law enforcement security experts or private security vendors, can the terrorists be really stopped?
It is the worst nightmare? I will call it a Low Probability x Hight Impact scenario.
Maybe everything goes well, but WHAT IF?
Who can you really trust?
www.corporaterisks.info
Advisor, Corporate Risks
riskmitigator@yahoo.com
Assistant Professor, MBA Competitive Intelligence & Corporate Warfare program
Survival in a jungle depends on a single most important factor which is keep travelling.
You may be lucky to have a machete, compass, first aid box, sturdy pair of shoes, hammock and a mosquito net.
To find one’s way out of the jungle, one should seek the one that is safest and which offers the least resistance.
The path which offers the least resistance is the waterway. Search for a stream and travel downstream.
Remember to prepare signals for the rescue party.
On the other hand, a ridge has sparse vegetation and less number of streams to cross than a valley.
A ridge can serve as a guide and give one an opportunity of a higher vantage point.
A jungle can engulf you, so remember not to focus on the immediate environment.
This means to say, do not focus on the the immediate trees and bushes in front of you, but focus at the perimeter.
Which means to say look through the jungle.
One must stop occasionally and stoop to look at the jungle floor.
Once you are aware of your environment, chances are that you will avoid getting scratches and bruises.
In case you are avoiding your kidnappers / terrorists, avoid trails or paths frequently used for the terrorists / kidnappers are most likely to watch those trails.
Watch out for disturbed bushes / trees / jungle floors as the kidnappers / terrorists / poachers may have set up pitfalls and traps for wild game.
You do not want to be caught in a poacher’s trap.
www.corporaterisks.info
Advisor, Corporate Risks
riskmitigator@yahoo.com
Assistant Professor, MBA Competitive Intelligence & Corporate Warfare program
Insects and birds fly lower to the ground than normally they would do in heavy moisture laden air.
If you sight insects and birds flying lower than usual, near the ground, it indicates likelihood of rain.
Most insect activity increases before the advent of a storm.
On the other hand bee activity increases before the advent of fair weather.
In low pressure regions slow moving or difficult to detect winds and heavy humid laden air often indicate a low pressure.
One can smell and hear low pressure. The inactive humid air makes jungle odors much sharper and easy to detect.
Further sounds have more clarity and carry farther in low pressure than high pressure.
This signals advent of bad weather and this bad weather may linger on for several days.
www.corporaterisks.info
Advisor, Corporate Risks
riskmitigator@yahoo.com
Assistant Professor, MBA Competitive Intelligence & Corporate Warfare program
Navigating Direction while Evading Hostage Situation in Hostile Terrain [ Southern Hemisphere ].
Once you are able to escape from the insurgents in a “Hostage situation” and are in an isolate area or unknown terrain, you need to keep composure and get your bearings right.
If you are in the Southern Hemisphere:
1. Find a stick about a meter long and find a open clearing where the stick will cast a definite shadow.
2. Insert the stick it stands vertical to the ground.
3. Mark the tip of the shadow.
4. Wait for 15 minutes and you will find that the shadow has moved by 1” to 2”.
5. Now mark the tip of the second shadow.
6. Now place your left foot on the first mark of the shadow.
7. Place your right foot on the second mark of the shadow.
8. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, you will be facing in the South direction.
9. Now get your bearings and take a decision whether you want to move North or South or East or West.
10. Stay alert and evade a hostage situation.
www.corporaterisks.info
Advisor, Corporate Risks
riskmitigator@yahoo.com
Assistant Professor, MBA Competitive Intelligence & Corporate Warfare program
Navigating Direction while Evading Hostage Situation in Hostile Terrain [ Northern Hemisphere ].
Once you are able to escape from the insurgents in a “Hostage situation” and are in an isolate area or unknown terrain, you need to keep composure and get your bearings right.
If you are in the Northern Hemisphere:
1. Find a stick about a meter long and find a open clearing where the stick will cast a definite shadow.
2. Insert the stick it stands vertical to the ground.
3. Mark the tip of the shadow.
4. Wait for 15 minutes and you will find that the shadow has moved by 1” to 2”.
5. Now mark the tip of the second shadow.
6. Now place your left foot on the first mark of the shadow.
7. Place your right foot on the second mark of the shadow.
8. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, you will be facing in the North direction.
9. Now get your bearings and take a decision whether you want to move North or South or East or West.
10. Stay alert and evade a hostage situation.
www.corporaterisks.info
Advisor, Corporate Risks
riskmitigator@yahoo.com
Assistant Professor, MBA Competitive Intelligence & Corporate Warfare program
Survival Tips – Evading Insurgents Captivity in DESERT
If one is fortunate to slip away from captivity of insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, one must remember the following to survive in a desert without GPS or mobile phone.
1. Desert causes one to under estimate distance by 5 km.
2. To overcome the mirage effect, one must try to get to high ground ie 10 feet above the desert floor
3. The “Seistan” desert wind blows for 3 months in Middle East and Afghanistan
4. The temperature in shaded areas will be at least 20 degrees cooler than the air temperature under sunlight
5. One must search for desert vegetation cover if possible, which will give one cover from insurgents and the hot and unforgiving sun.
6. One must seek to use shadows cast from bush, rocks and outcroppings to ones advantage.
7. One must find shade and there should be a buffer between one’s body and the hot desert floor.
8. One must cover one’s mouth and nose with a cloth to protect oneself from sand and heat.
9. In desert one requires at least 5 gallons of water a day, which is highly unlikely that you are carrying it after evading your captors.
10. If one understands how the desert air temperature and ones physical activity affect ones water requirement, then one is able to plan and derive benefit from ones existing water availability if any.
11. It is very important that one must limit ones movements in the day, by staying in the shade without movement and fully clothed and without talking and keeping one’s mouth closed and breathing through one’s nose, one’s water requirement for survival drops drastically.
12. By drinking water at regular interval keep one’s body cool and decreasing perspiration and preventing loss of body fluids.
13. Sometimes it is possible to locate water sources by trying to locate animal trails or droppings or birds in flight that may point to the direction of a water source.
www.corporaterisks.info
Advisor, Corporate Risks
riskmitigator@yahoo.com
Assistant Professor, MBA Competitive Intelligence & Corporate Warfare program