China spied on Dalai Lama in Tawang

THE TRIBUNE

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091229/nation.htm#2

In the ongoing game of one-upmanship being played between India and China, it now turns out that China had again intruded the Indian airspace. It sent an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) — also popularly called a drone - on a spying mission over Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh while the Dalai Lama was there for a religious visit in the first week of November.

Indian intelligence agencies immediately reported the sighting of a Chinese UAV, near Bumla, a few km north of the historic Buddhist Monastery at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. Sources said, “A UAV entered the Indian airspace on November 9 from the Sela Pass and was headed (south) towards Bumla/ Tawang.” The time of sighting was around 6 pm.

The Dalai Lama started his week-long visit to the monastery on November 8.

The Sela pass, where the UAV was sighted, is the point where Indian and Chinese troops hold border meetings. It is lowest point in that valley in the lofty Himalayas. Both sides have permanent border patrols and observation posts there and every activity is watched.

A UAV is between 14 to 20 feet long. It is normally fitted with high-resolution cameras, thermal imagers and even “listening devises”. This one would also be carrying all this, otherwise why would China send it across, sources said. It could have been used to know how big were the crowds at the monastery or even intercept some communication over mobile or satellite phones. India could have brought it down, however, this would have caused an international furore amidst the Dalai Lama’s visit.

The spying mission of the UAV is the second major violation of the Indian airspace by China after an intrusion by its choppers over Ladakh in June. Earlier this month, Defence Minister AK Antony had informed Parliament that there had been 11 violations of Indian space between December last year and September this year. This included three violations by China and six by Pakistan. The recent one during the Dalai Lama’s visit was not mentioned as the question in Parliament related to the period ending September 30, 2009.

Just days before the Dalai Lama started his visit in November, China blamed New Delhi for trying to provoke Beijing by orchestrating the Tibetan spiritual leader “controversial visit” to Arunachal Pradesh. India has rubbished the allegation, but had advised the Indian armed forces not to provide any “logistical” help.

The field formations of the Army and the IAF were advised not to be seen facilitating the visit in any manner.

The visit of the spiritual leader to the Tawang monastery was important as it had been linked with Lhasa. Till the early 50s - or before the Chinese took over Tibet - the chief Lama of Tawang was appointed by the Drepung monastery in Lhasa.

OLD BUT STILL VALID : ARMY NEEDS TO LEARN by Brig V Mahalingam

THE LINK IS HERE :  INDIAN ARMY NEEDS TO LEARN

change of command

Air Marshal, J Neri, is likely to take charge from Air Officer-in-Charge Maintenance (AOM) Air Marshal K M Rama Sundara, from February 2010.

BrahMos phase II: Deadline for land set

EXPRESS BUZZ

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=BrahMos+phase+II:+Deadline+for+land+set&artid=DqKqb2H28pg=&Title=BrahMos+phase+II:+Deadline+for+land+set&SectionID=1ZkF/jmWuSA=&MainSectionID=1ZkF/jmWuSA=&SEO=BATL,+Dr+A.+Sivathanu+Pillai,+DRDO,+IAF,+BrahMos&SectionName=X7s7i|xOZ5Y=

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The second phase development of BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd (BATL) now hinges on a State Government promise to find the necessary land by March 31.``Last week, the government held a meeting and assured that necessary land will be found for the Airports Authority of India (AAI) by March 31. We hope everything will go smoothly,’’ BATL CEO and managing director and DRDO chief controller (R&D) Dr A. Sivathanu Pillai said on the sidelines of a function here on Saturday.For launching the second phase of the cruise missile programme, BATL had identified 7.15 acres of land adjacent to its Chakkai plant.This land belongs to the Indian Air Force (IAF). The IAF has, in principle, agreed to hand over the land, but on the condition that they be allotted land elsewhere. The IAF needs land to build accommodation for its personnel. The State Government’s plan is to acquire land near Chakkai for the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for the development of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport and provide substitute land for the IAF there, so the latter can hand over its plot to BATL.``Unlike in other states, land is a big problem here. We understand that. But we are sure things will go smoothly,’’ said Sivathanu Pillai, who envisages a bigger role for Thiruvananthapuram and BATL once the Aerospace industry boom gets going in earnest.The BrahMos (an amalgam of Brahmaputra and Moskva) missile programme is a joint venture between India and Russia. When Brah- Mos Aerospace took over stateowned KELTE C in 2007, the promise was that the first missile will be rolled out from Thiruvananthapuram in three years’ time.

Be well planned for early retirement

THE ECONOMIC TIMES

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Investors-Guide/Be-well-planned-for-early-retirement/articleshow/5386073.cms?curpg=1

The trend of retiring early is catching up, thanks to increasingly demanding working conditions and ample savings and investment avenues. The

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emerging trend has also got a boost from the expansion in self employment opportunities in the services sector, which has emerged as the driver of the Indian economy.

Recently, around 101 Indian Air Force pilots applied for early retirement citing suppression, emotional and medical grounds as reasons for their untimely decision. This trend of getting retired early in life is not limited to government organisations but has spread to professionals working in the private sector as well.

So, how feasible is the idea of early retirement? Can an urban professional save and invest in a manner that will enable him to retire in mid-40s without fretting over the next payment of his home loan installment? While searching for an answer, we at ET Intelligence Group worked on various scenarios of income, savings and return on investments. Read on.

SCENARIOS: Every working professional has his own reason for seeking an early retirement. For some it’s the boredom of modern office that pushes them to consider it, for others it’s the calling of their passion that becomes irresistible after a time. However, dreams can’t be realised if not backed by resources. So, for our analysis, we built three scenarios of income or salary. They are further divided in three savings and investment style that yields vastly different corpus at the end of the planning horizon (see the chart below). For simplicity let’s assume that a professional starts his career at the age of 25, and he wishes to retire at the age of 45 from job.

The person will have to draw a savings-cum-investment strategy with a 20-year planning horizon. Fresh out of university and living on a shoe-string budget, means lower savings. But as he progresses in life and realises the responsibilities that lie ahead and the desire to retire early, he progressively increases his savings. We have assumed that in the first 10 years of the career he saves 25% of his savings and raises it to 40% by the time he turns 35. Further, we also assume that in the first period the salary increment is 20% p.a., which declines to 15% p.a. in the second half of the working life. The assumption is based on the belief that in the first few years of career, professionals usually do job hopping to improve their earning but later they tend to settle down in a comfortable job.

Now let’s divide professionals in two sets. First: who earns less per month but has no big-ticket financial burden such as home, education and car loans to repay. Second: Those professionals who draw bigger salaries but are saddled with financial commitments in the form of monthly installments toward at least one major loan. Let’s assume that a professional in the first case starts his career at the age of 25 with a monthly salary of Rs 20,000 per month. The second professional, however, is luckier and draws a salary of Rs 40,000 in his first, but higher income in turns induces him to buy a house on loan which comes with an EMI for 20 years.

THE EXPLOITS: The summary of the results of the calculation is shown in the adjoining chart. If say Mr A starts his career with a monthly income of Rs 20,000 and his income and savings grow as assumed above, his corpus would grow to Rs 4.6 crore at the end of 20th year, i.e., when the person turns 45. The calculation is, however, based on the assumption that the person takes risk and invests in riskier but rewarding assets, such as, equity. In case he sticks to traditional investment avenues, which yield annualised returns of 8%, the corpus would be Rs 2.4 crore at the end of 20th year.

Explosion in firing range, two jawans dead

PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/news/443835_Explosion-in-firing-range--two-jawans-dead

Two jawans were killed and an equal number injured today in an explosion that took place when ammunition of the Indian Air Force was being unloaded from a truck inside a firing range, 45-km from here.

The ammunition was brought from Gujarat for disposal at the Chandan firing range, Defence Public Relations Officer Lt Col N N Josh said.

He said the blast occurred when the ammunition was being off-loaded from the truck.

The injured were admitted to hospital, Josh said.

10 IAF choppers for rebel combat

THE TELEGRAPH
 
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091229/jsp/nation/story_11919512.jsp

I WONDER : I HOPE THESE CHOPPERS WILL BE UNDER COMMAND SOME FAUJI WHO SHOULD BE PERFORMING ADVISORY ROLE TO CPMF AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL AND ARE NOT PLACED UNDER DIRECT COMMAND OF CPMF/POLICE OFFICERS.AS IT APPEARS FROM THIS NEWS.

PLEASE REMEMBER THE EXPERIENCE OF JOINT ANTI-NAXAL OPS WILL DECIDE THE FUTURE COMMAND AND CONTROL STRUCTURE FOR JOINT OPS INVOLVING  ARMED FORCES AND CPMF/POLICE.

The Centre will deploy a fleet of 10 Indian Air Force helicopters in its impending anti-Maoist offensive.

The helicopters, which will be armed, will reinforce the offensive by 80,000 central paramilitary troops to be entrusted with the task of clearing out Naxalite strongholds across five states — Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

The choppers will be stationed at different locations like Ranchi in Jharkhand and Raipur in Chhattisgarh.

“The helicopters will be used for dropping commandos and casualty evacuation purposes. They will be at the disposal of the commander of the operations at Raipur (Chhattisgarh),” said Central Reserve Police Force director-general A.S. Gill.

The move to deploy IAF helicopters comes after the defence ministry gave the go-ahead to the IAF to open fire in self-defence if its aircraft were targeted by Maoist rebels.

On October 1, Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik had said the IAF had sought permission from the defence ministry to open fire if its aircraft were fired at by the Maoists.

The defence ministry’s clarification on the subject had given the IAF the authority to arm Mi-17 helicopters that are being used in counter-Maoist operations.

The IAF had sought the permission after two incidents where suspected Maoists had fired at IAF helicopters in Chhattisgarh and Gadchiroli in Maharashtra.

Apart from the IAF helicopters, three Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters, inducted into the Border Security Force’s air wing, have been already been stationed at Ranchi and Raipur.

To bring down casualties, the CRPF has contracted 80 doctors for the duration of the anti-Naxalite operation. The forces will also have access to GPS devices and satellite imagery of the jungles.

Central paramilitary forces like the CRPF, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the BSF have been stationed across Naxalite-infested areas. They will work under a single command.

Home minister P. Chidambaram had last week reviewed the preparedness of the five states in launching the operation. The home ministry, which had delayed the operations because of the Jharkhand elections, is now busy fine-tuning its strategy.

IS THIS TRUE : HAV GETTING HONORARY LT.....

I WONDER : IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT "DNA" BE REQUESTED TO CORRECT THE PUBLISHED INFORMATION.

THE HAV ARE PLACED IN PB-1 GP OF 2800 WHEREAS LIEUTENANT IS A FIRST COMMISSIONED RANK OF OFFICER CADRE IN PB-3 AND HAS A GRADE PAY OF 5400/- TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE NO SUCH MODEL EXISTS FOR HAV RANK OF ARMED FORCES.  

PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG.......

EXTRACT FROM DNA NEWS

"....the official said, adding that the model is also followed in the Indian Army. Currently, a retiring havaldar gets the rank of honorary lieutenant, but is given no additional pension benefits, the official added...."

THE NEWS LINK IS HERE :

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_junior-officers-in-mumbai-promised-rank-bonanza-in-the-coming-year_1328587