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Saturday, January 30, 2010

Govt mulls 'limited' exam to recruit more IPS officers

TIMES OF INDIA




I WONDER : WHY CANT GOVT ALLOW ARMED FORCES OFFICERS TO MAKE A LATERAL SHIFT INTO POLICE.

NEW DELHI: Concerned by the acute shortage of IPS officers at a time of mounting challenges on the internal security front, the home ministry is mulling the option of a holding "limited" competitive examination exclusively to recruit IPS officers -- a route that was taken immediately after Independence to fill huge vacancies that had accumulated through the War years and because of the departure of British cops to UK and Muslim cops to Pakistan.

The examination will be open only for existing government servants -- mainly from armed services, paramilitary and state police forces -- and will be held for the specific purpose of recruiting nearly 650 IPS officers.

Special secretary (internal security) in the home ministry, U K Bansal, confirmed the move. "It is still at a preliminary stage of discussion. Once finalised, the proposal will go to the Cabinet for approval," he told TOI.

There are currently 196 vacancies, while government has estimated that it will need an additional 450 officers to tackle threats from terrorists, Left extremists as well as criminal syndicates that, helped among other things by lack of adequate police personnel of all ranks, have proliferated across the country.

Bansal said Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) would conduct the separate examination. It would, however, not affect recruitment of IPS officers through the annual Civil Services Examination (CSE), he added.

The shortfall of 196 officers was mainly created during 1999-2002 when the induction of IPS per year dropped to 36 against the annual average of 85.

Recently, the government accepted the home ministry's proposal to increase the annual intake of IPS officers through CSE from 130 to 150 and UPSC accordingly increased the number of seats to be filled through this year's CSE.

However, the ministry recogises that at the rate of 20 more recruits per year, it will take several years before the strength of officer corps reaches the required level. It has already held a few rounds of discussions over the recommendation of the one-man committee -- headed by retired IPS officer Kamal Kumar -- on Recruitment Plan (2009-2020). The discussions have, so far, focused on the eligibility criteria -- age and educational/special qualification -- for government servants who would be allowed to take the limited competitive examination.

Besides recommending increase in the annual intake of IPS officers through CSE from 130 to 150, the Kamal Kumar committee in its report submitted on October 15 last year also suggested holding limited competitive examination for at least seven years to recruit an additional 448 IPS officers.

The Hindu : News / National : Antony’s advice to Army Chief irks ex-servicemen

The Hindu : News / National : Antony’s advice to Army Chief irks ex-servicemen

IAF to get 5th generation aircrafts.....

Friday, January 29, 2010

RECOLLECTIONS OF A COMMUNICATOR,DEFENCE FORCES NEED CAREFUL HANDLING

ONE INDIA

New Delhi, (ANI):There has been a great deal of controversy in the recent past over the 'Sukhna land scam', which has brought into focus the role played by the present Chief of Army Staff, the Chief designate, the Military Secretary to the Army, the Corps Commander in Siliguri and some other senior generals.

What are the basic facts of the land 'scam'? Basically, the land involved in the 'scam' does not belong to the Army. According to reports, the Corps based in Siliguri did issue a 'no objection' certificate for the land adjacent to the Cantonment to be sold ostensibly for the establishment of an educational institution.

The allegations are that some officers 'exercised' pressure on the Corps Headquarters to issue the no objection certificate. A Court of Inquiry was ordered and based on the report action has been taken against an officer and a Court Martial has been ordered against some others.

In defence terminology, a 'court martial' is the trial of a case and it is not correct to conclude that someone being tried is 'guilty'. But the projection in the media has given the impression that some grave wrong has been committed by officers facing the Court Martial. ( PLZ SEE MY YESTERDAY'S POST TOO)

I was Spokesman for the Defence Services in the early eighties, and earlier had served in the Defence Public Relations Organisations from late fifties - during the India-China operations, during the India Pakistan wars in 1965 and 1971 and was instrumental in drawing up the guidelines for release of information during peace, operations and counter-insurgency situations.

These rules were last reviewed after the Kargil operations and the eminent journalist B.G. Verghese had contributed in finalizing them. Earlier, I was instrumental in setting up a machinery which was able to handle 'psywar' needs of the army, particularly in insurgency situations.

I had worked for the Defence Public Relations during the period when the Government of India worked hard to restore the morale of the Armed Forces after the Chinese aggression. The prime objective of the exercise then was to project the way in which the nation was rebuilding the defences along the border with China and also to tell the country and the world that the Indian Army remained valiant in the midst of adversity. .

I had taken press parties to sites like Rezang La in Ladakh where Major Shaitan Singh and his men fought almost to the last man in the unit, and in the north-east to places like Walong where the Indian Army resisted the Chinese forces bravely. Among the journalists who visited the area was George Verghese, who then represented the Times of India and Prem Prakash, the present Chairman of the ANI, who then represented VISNEWS.

When the details of the operations were disseminated, the faith of the people in the professionalism of the Indian Armed Forces and the leadership qualities of the officers were restored to a large extent.

The Armed Forces are a close- knit family. They have separate regulations. While an ordinary citizen knows the travails of getting justice, in the military, the response is quick. There is a court martial and in severe cases

Those who handled information for the Armed Forces took a commission in the Armed Forces. Eminent journalists like late D.R. Mankekar, Prem Bhatia and others donned the uniform and were able to work along with the Armed Forces and communicate their problems to the media.

I myself had the privilege of wearing the uniform when I served with the Armed Forces and moved out after wearing the rank of a Brigadier. Among the Defence Ministers with whom I worked as spokesman was the late President R. Venkataraman. He told me to share with him the aspirations of the Armed Forces. While the problems of defence of the country were projected on file, there were many 'routine' matters that did not get done.

I remember telling him about the needs of Armed Forces like family accommodation, schooling, and the services desire that they should be associated in developing new weaponry. In a silent way he brought about many reforms.

Very few remember now that he had visited Ladakh and was responsible for setting up a garrison in Siachen when Pakistan became 'active' in that sector.

One recalls that Defence Ministers like Y. B. Chavan worked hard to rebuild the morale of the Armed Forces after the Chinese aggression. The Government did not 'release' the Henderson Brooks report on the 1962 war, but took remedial action, lest it damage the morale of the Armed Forces.

Mistakes were committed in the field both in the India-Pakistan wars in 1965 and 1971. I do remember how the incidents were handled with care to ensure that the morale of the Jawan did not suffer.

Mistakes were committed during the Kargil operations too. The focus after the operations was not to 'expose' the mistakes, but to remedy them. The Subrahmanyam Committee went into details of the operations, and later, the defence set up was reviewed by associating persons like former Intelligence Chief G.C. Saxena.

The then Defence Minister George Fernandes made it a point to implement the report and visit forward areas, both in the east and west regularly to look after the needs of the Armed Forces and streamline the defence research and development organizations under Dr V.K. Atre.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony has a difficult task. I remember a former Defence Secretary telling me that he hoped that no defence contracts were concluded during his tenure so that he was not bothered by 'inquiries' like 'Bofors'. We do read regularly that a large part of the defence budget is allowed to lapse.

In the field of defence, the nation has the primary task to ensure that the Armed Forces morale is not damaged and the faith of the Jawan in their leaders is strengthened. The 'image' of the Armed Forces is important, but equally important is their ability to defend the country.

The media has an equally important role. I remember the conversation that I had in the late eighties with a Pentagon spokesperson who disclosed that after the experience during the Vietnam War, the access to the media, particularly the audio-visual units, was regulated. We do recall what happened where free access was provided to the media during the 26/11 operations in Mumbai, when the terrorists were able to monitor their 'progress'. It is time we observe some restraint.

Otherwise the country, which is surrounded by 'friendly neighbours' itself will be facing a 'Court Martial'. there is a 'summary court martial' where the decision is imminent.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Will we learn any lessons......

1. May I draw readers kind attention on various advertisements/writeups that appear in newspapers from time to time.


2. Just to remind afew:-


    a) There was a news item where Capts were offered post of Inspectors in Delhi Police.


    d) Brig were offered post of Director level officers in certain offices.


    c) Major's equated with Section Officers in a news papers writeups by a famous writer.


    d) 6th CPC fiasco where wrong equivalence between army and police services were shown and the results are well known to us.


    e) A recent writeup where a mumbai police officer commented through a newspaper that a Hav retires as hony Lt in army.


   THIS LIST IS ENDLESS......................


3. AND NOW THIS ONE......

PTI


Former PAF chief surprised over his photo in Indian govt advertisement

 An amused former Air Force chief of Pakistan Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed today reacted with surprise over appearance of his photograph in an Indian government advertisement along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but described it as an "innocent mistake".

The inclusion of Air Chief Marshal (retired) Ahmed's photograph along with Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and other icons in the advertisement caused embarrassment for the Congress-led UPA government.

The Prime Minister's Office apologised to the nation and ordered an inquiry into the lapse.

On being informed about the faux pas, Ahmed told PTI: "I wasn't aware about this as I don't really watch much of the media. Anyway, I was busy with a golf match and didn't know about this development."

"I guess it's just one of those errors. It must be an innocent mistake," said Ahmed, who retired as PAF chief in March last year.


4.  ITS TIME FOR INDIAN ARMED FORCES TO SEEK A LAW/ARRANGEMENT /SYSTEM WHICH SHOULD BE ABLE TO HIGHLIGHT/CORRECT SUCH MISTAKES AND PREVENT  THEM FROM OCCURRING IN FUTURE.

5. PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM NOT TRYING TO INTERFERE WITH THE FREEDOM OF PRESS, BUT WRONG REPORTING NEEDS TO BE PREVENTED/CORRECTED TOO.
 

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Indian Army Demands More Missile Regiments

STRATEGY PAGE
 

January 26, 2010: The Indian Army is trying to get the government to buy it two more regiments of BrahMos block II missiles. Each regiment would have 61 missiles, 12-24 mobile launchers and two mobile control centers. The new regiments would have a more advanced version of the missile than the existing BrahMos block I regiment (with five mobile launchers). The first regiment cost $83 million. The block II missiles are more accurate and reliable at hitting pinpoint targets (like headquarters or technical installations) in crowded urban environments.

A year ago, the BrahMos block II cruise missile failed its first operational test as a ground launched weapon. The cause was a defective guidance system, which was fixed.

Two years ago, India ordered 800 more of the new PJ-10 BrahMos missiles. The Indian Army plans to buy 80 launchers in the next ten years. Russia has not yet ordered any BrahMos, while India is also working on lighter versions for use by aircraft and submarines. The 3.2 ton BrahMos has a range of 300 kilometers and a 660 pound warhead. Perhaps the most striking characteristic is its high speed, literally faster (at up to 3,000 feet per second) than a rifle bullet. Guidance is GPS or inertial to reach the general area of the target (usually a ship or other small target), then radar that will identify the specific target and hit it. The warhead weighs 660 pounds, and the high speed at impact causes additional damage (because of the weight of the entire missile.)

India and Russia developed the weapon together, and now offer the BrahMos for export. The high price of each missile, about $2-3 million (depending on the version), restricts the number of countries that can afford it. The weapon entered service with the Indian navy in 2005. Different versions of the PJ-10 can be fired from aircraft, ships, ground launchers or submarines. The maximum speed of 3,000 kilometers an hour makes it harder to intercept, and means it takes five minutes or less to reach its target. The air launched version weighs 2.5 tons, the others, three tons or more.

The 9.4 meter (29 foot) long, 670mm diameter missile is an upgraded version of the Russian SS-NX-26 (Yakhont) missile, which was still in development when the Cold War ended in 1991. Lacking money to finish development and begin production, the Russian manufacturer eventually made a deal with India to finish the job. India put up most of the $240 million needed to finally complete two decades of development. The PJ-10 is being built in Russia and India, with the Russians assisting India in setting up manufacturing facilities for cruise missile components. Efforts are being made to export up to 2,000, but no one has placed an order yet. Russia and India are encouraged enough to invest in BrahMos 2, which will use a scramjet, instead of a ramjet, in the second stage. This would double speed, and make the missile much more difficult to defend against.

India indicates it plans to make the missile a major weapon system. The BrahMos can carry a nuclear warhead, but is designed mainly to go after high value targets that require a large warhead and great accuracy. The BrahMos could take out enemy headquarters, or key weapons systems (especially those employing electronic or nuclear weapons.)

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Army wants more short service officers

HINDUSTAN TIMES
 

Unable to woo enough officers to join its permanent ranks, the Indian Army has proposed to increase their intake under the Short Service Commission (SSC) cadre. It wants two SSC officers for every permanent officer.

The proposal, now with the defence minister, seeks to increase the proportion of SSC officers with respect to the permanent commissioned officers.

"The army has submitted the proposal to increase the intake of short service commissioned officers by making it more lucrative. The proposal is lying with the defence ministry," a senior armed forces official told IANS, requesting anonymity.

Currently, people who are not certain about committing to permanent positions in the army join under SSC and serve the army for five years. At the end of the period the officer is allowed to either opt for permanent commission, choose another five years of service or retire.

In contrast, an officer under permanent commission has to serve for 20 years.

The SSC acts as the support cadre to the regular cadre, which is twice its strength. The proposal seeks to reverse the proportion.

"According to an internal report the shortfall of 11,000 army officers would be bridged in 20 years. The proposal is to take two short service officers for every permanently commissioned officer. This will help make up the shortfall in due course without affecting the promotion aspects caused by the pyramidal structure of the army.

"In short the proposal is to increase the proportion of short service commissioned officers from the current one-third," the officer told IANS.

The army's sanctioned strength is 46,615 officers, but it has been facing a shortage of 11,238. For the world's fourth largest army middle-rung officers leaving for better-paying corporate sector jobs has been a constant problem.

The problem has been aggravated because the army is unable to get enough numbers to join its officer rank. The defence forces need 2,100 officers every year.

The army is now opening a second Officers Training Academy (OTA) at Gaya in Bihar. Set to house 500 cadets, the academy is scheduled to start functioning by the middle of the year.

However, in the existent OTA at Chennai the cadet intake has come down from 407 in 2008 to 315 in 2009, against an authorised strength of 700.

"The army has sought to make SSC more lucrative by increasing the number of serving years from five to 10. Another proposal is to give them a two-year study leave at the end of their service to help them find a better second career option," said the officer. Now, the army is hoping the financial crisis in the corporate sector and the Sixth Pay Commission -- which has increased their salaries -- will help bring in many more officers to the armed forces.

Monday, January 25, 2010

REPUBLIC DAY AWARDS......

POLICE MEDALS


http://www.whispersinthecorridors.com/index_home.html

ARMY

http://indianarmy.nic.in/Site/FormTemplete/frmTempSimple.aspx?MnId=ZYTvyrS5f8Q=&ParentID=/fFCK078lSE=&flag=p

AIRFORCE

As many as 62 IAF Air Warriors have been decorated with Presidential Awards on the eve of Republic Day, this year. This includes Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) for six Air Marshals, Ati Vishisht seva Medal (AVSM) for two Air Marshals, six Air Vice Marshals and four Air Commodores.
Similarly, PVSM has been conferred on Air Marshal Jyoti Narayan Burma, Air Officer-in-charge Administration, Air Marshal Venkataraman Ramamurthy Iyer, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, Air Marshal Tejbir Singh Randhawa, Director General (Inspection & Safety), Air Marshal NAK Browne and Air Marshal PV Athawale, Air Officers Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Command and Maintenance Command, respectively.
Besides, Air Marshal Simhakutty Varthaman and Air Marshal Joseph Neri have been conferred the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM).
This year, the Vayu Sena Medal (VM) for Gallantry have been awarded to Wing Commander Ajay Koul, Wing Commander Riju Kochhar and Squadron Leader Anoop Singh, all pilots. While five other Group Captains have been awarded the VM for devotion to duty, nine Wing Commanders have also been conferred the same.
The Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) list comprises five Air Commodores, 17 Group Captains, four Wing Commanders and a Warrant Officer, KC Parameswaran.
In addition, Brigadier Man Mohan Singh Bharaj, an Officer of the Indian Army from the Corps of Engineers on deputation with IAF has also been conferred the VSM. 

NAVY


A total of 38 Indian Naval personnel are included in the list of Presidential awards announced on the occasion of the Republic Day 2010. The list of awardees includes one Shaurya Chakra (Posthumous), three Nausena medals (Gallantry), three Param Vishist Seva Medals, Seven Ati Vishist Seva Medals, eight Nausena Medals (Devotion to Duty) and 16 Vishist Seva Medals.
It is noteworthy that four of the gallantry award winners are Marine Commandoes (MARCOs) deployed on Counter Insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir. The lone Shaurya Chakra was awarded to Chandrashekar Petty Officer who lost his life whilst rescuing a wounded buddy even whilst returning offensive fire and killing a terrorist. The other three MARCOs include Lt Vikas Dahiya, Yaimachoul Singh Leading Seaman and Jaidev Leading Seaman have been awarded Nausena Medal (Gallantry).
The three awardees of Param Vishist Seva Medals include Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Sanjeev Bashin, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command Vice Admiral KN Sushil and Vice Admiral (Retd) Dilip Deshpande former Chief of Materiel. 


SOURCE : WHISPERS IN THE CORRIDORS 

President Medals: Police

this year 523 cops including IPS officers have been selected for the President’s medal for meritorious services while 80 cops including IPS officers have been selected for the President’s medal for distinguished services.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Do we need another NSA?


Do we really need a national security adviser? Will we be any worse off without another one? Over the past week there has been a spate of analyses, most of it overblown, reverential, wide-eyed, accolade-laden, sycophantic accounts of what a great job the NSA had done in the years he had occupied that position. This is patently illogical. Consider for an intelligence person who occupied that position for so long he could not even fix the intelligence and now P Chidambaram has to do it all over again. If the NSA was doing such a great job then why did he have to leave so seemingly suddenly? The Union home minister P Chidambaram is on record (Hindustan Times, January 21) saying that the Kolkata retirement plan for M K Narayanan was presented to him in December, almost a month before it was formally announced. And Chidambaram, who reveals his wife shares a birthday with M K Narayanan, says that at that time he (Chidambaram) was in the dark about the prime minister’s retirement offer to NSA. Which probably explains some of the analyses that sought to put the spin that the governorship of West Bengal was somehow more important a job and more crucial a task than continuing as the NSA. If you analysed their subtext, it went as follows: Some people are born to become governors; some people achieve governorship; some people have governorships thrust upon them; but M K Narayanan, he is special — he had all three working for him. (I find that a little difficult to believe, frankly, considering the inordinate amount of time the NSA spent on doing political intelligence while being the NSA; political skullduggery was inbuilt in terms of the job skills Narayanan brought with him, a spillover from his hey days in the Intelligence Bureau which for most part is focused on political intelligence.) But newspapers reported that at the Army Day function at General Deepak Kapoor’s house NSA “looked directly” at Chidambaram and quipped: “Am I being sacked?” He was not sacked, really; he was just given a VRS that he couldn’t refuse, which (some argue) could be a reflection of character.

Between the offer and the acceptance and the ultimate announcement there elapsed a considerable period of time, considering that Gopal Gandhi hosted his farewell tea on December 13, 2009 and by then the Congress political managers would have zeroed in on the governor’s successor. Ideally Narayanan’s successor ought to have been announced the same day but it wasn’t. This is pure guesswork: consider the fact that the prime minister has made up his mind that Narayanan should exit the PMO and for some reason the UPA chairperson is also on the same page on this, a strange and inexplicable confluence of stars, considering especially what a brilliant job he had been doing. Why then did it take such a long time to announce the successor? Is it because they cannot find someone big enough to fill Narayanan’s shoes? Or is it because Narayanan’s shoe size had increased because of on the job training to such an extent that it distorted the nature of his job? We have had three NSAs so far. The first one (Brajesh Mishra) lost the job not because he refused a governorship but because his party lost the election; the next didn’t live long enough to accept a governorship — J N Dixit died in harness; the third one got promoted as governor. If the governor’s job is bigger than the NSA’s and governors are dime a dozen and there is only one NSA then ipso facto, we don’t really need an NSA. Might as well scrap the post.

When a prime minister like Manmohan Singh looks for an NSA he doesn’t really look for someone who can call a spade a spade and make his decision making generally more nuanced and difficult; he looks for someone who whines to a foreign publication that the Chinese are hacking into his computer; he looks for someone who does not raise the bar high enough when you negotiate the 123 agreement with the US, which is why you have a civil nuclear agreement where we have full civil nuclear co-operation with the US minus the reprocessing technology and heavy water component; the prime minister looks for science advisers who can make him say completely unrealistically, that we can achieve 40,000 MW of nuclear power in 20 years, that we can achieve 20,000 MW of solar power in 10 years and other similar things that you will not find even in fairy tales; he is looking for a national security adviser who understands his mind and his style of functioning. If we are to go by what Chidambaram is telling us, then you are looking at a prime minister and a party chairperson who do not tell their home minister that they are offering the job of governorship to the national security adviser. Which probably explains why it took a long time to find the next national security advisor.Now that they have zeroed in on Shiv Shankar Menon, till very recently our foreign secretary, what we will see in the coming days is the emergence of a super foreign secretary, just like the way Narayanan was a super DIB and RAW chief rolled into one (with one crucial difference — he was accountable to no one). Menon was the one who initially postulated that India and Pakistan are both equal victims of terrorism in a diplomatic stratagem to revive the Indo-Pak process after the Havana non aligned summit soon after the Mumbai train blasts; he was the one credited off the record with coming up with that delightful joint terror mechanism that blew up in our face; he was the one who fell on the sword by taking the blame for incorporating the word Balochistan in the Sharm el-Sheikh joint statement (while Narayanan mysteriously escaped the media opprobrium — was he on another planet when the joint statement was being drafted or is it that large sections of our media become automatically blind when it comes to our NSAs?); so the prime minister had good reasons to give him the job. Menon has to finish the job he left halfway. But it will have the effect of forcing the Ministry of External Affairs further into the role of a protocol division whereas it is supposed to be the repository of expertise on a range of subjects. It would have been better, however, for the prime minister, not to get bogged down by nomenclature and appoint instead a pool of experts in relevant subjects to advise him and take particular plans forward to fruition. That way it will meet some NREG (national retired officers employment guarantee scheme) targets as well. If you can have more than one deputy NSA there is no reason why you cannot have more one national adviser for each of the highly nuanced segments of the security spectrum.

Army plans induction of BrahMos with 'surgical strike' option

TIMES OF INDIA
 

NEW DELHI: Army is going in for a major induction of BrahMos Block-II land-attack cruise missiles (LACM), which have been designed as "precision strike weapons" capable of hitting small targets in cluttered urban environments.

Sources say the defence ministry will ``soon'' approach the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, for the green signal to arm the Army with two regiments of the BrahMos Block-II land-attack cruise missiles (LACM).

Swift induction of BrahMos Block-II is necessary because Pakistan Army is inducting its nuclear-capable Babur LACM, developed with China's help to have a 500-km strike range, in large numbers. BrahMos-II can potentially be used for ``surgical strikes'' at terror training camps across the border without causing collateral damage.

One regiment of the 290-km range BrahMos-I variant, which consists of 67 missiles, five mobile autonomous launchers on 12x12 Tatra vehicles and two mobile command posts, among other equipment, is already operational in the Army. It had earlier ordered two BrahMos regiments in the first phase at a cost of Rs 8,352 crore.

The BrahMos Block-II variant has been developed to take out a specific small target, with a low radar cross-section, in a multi-target environment.

The air-breathing missile, which flies at speeds up to 2.8 Mach (almost three times the speed of sound), of course, does not come cheap. With `multi-spectral seekers' for `target-discriminating capabilities', each missile costs upwards of Rs 25 crore.

Incidentally, Indian Navy too has inducted BrahMos's naval variant on some warships, having earlier placed orders worth Rs 711 crore for 49 firing units.

While these missiles are fired from `inclined launchers', Navy is also gearing up to induct `vertical launchers'.

This is significant since `vertical launchers' are fitted under the warship's deck, protecting them from the atmospheric conditions and imparting some stealth to the weapon system. It also allows the missile to be fired in any direction.

Two such modules, with 16 missiles, are to fitted in each of the three Kolkata-class P-15A destroyers being built at Mazagon Docks at a cost of Rs 11,662 crore.

BrahMos will also arm the three more Talwar-class `stealth' frigates being built at Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad (Russia) under a Rs 5,514-crore project.

But the work on submarine and air-launched versions of BrahMos is still going quite slow. While talks with Russia are now in the final stages for BrahMos' integration with Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, the missile will be tested for the first time from submersible pontoon launchers this year in preparation for their induction on submarines.

India and Russia have also begun preliminary work on a ``hypersonic'' BrahMos-2 missile capable of flying at a speed between 5 and 7 Mach, as reported earlier.

The armed forces' eventual plan, of course, is to have nuclear-tipped LACMs, with strike ranges over 1,500 km. Unlike ballistic missiles like Agni, cruise missiles do not leave the atmosphere and are powered and guided throughout their flight path.

Cruise missiles, which can evade enemy radars and air defence systems since they fly at low altitudes, are also much cheaper as well as more accurate and easier to operate than ballistic missiles.

Our army way behind China’s: Indian general

HINDUSTAN TIMES
 

The Indian Army lags far behind China in military infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). “We lag far behind in infrastructure development,” General Officer Commanding, Northern Command, Lieutenant General BS Jaswal, told Hindustan Times.

China has built all-weather metalled roads leading right up to its border posts facing Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and Demchok and Fukche in Ladakh. It can, thus, move troops and material very easily to the border.

Indian troops, on the other hand, often have to march miles to the front. Roads, where they exist, are dotted with potholes, with long stretches of boulders and slush, leading to accidents that slow down movement.

Better connectivity allows the Chinese to cover 400 km a day. The Indian army finds it difficult to cover more than 200 km a day in the forward areas.

The Indian armed forces have activated three airfields at Daulat Beg Oldi, Fukche and Nyoma, about 220-250 km east of Leh since May 31, 2008. But only AN 32 transport planes can land there. “They have little operational value,” another senior army officer said.

The only airfield near the China border from where India can deploy warplanes is at Tezpur in Assam, where it has stationed its frontline Sukhoi 30 planes.

Chinese military aircraft, however, can reach Shimla, Chandigarh and Leh within five minutes and New Delhi within 20 minutes of taking off from their forward base in Gar Gunsa, across the border, from Demchok in Tibet.

It has five such airfields in Tibet where it has stationed warplanes.

After the 1962 India-China war, India pursued a policy not to develop infrastructure, especially roads, near the Line of Actual Control.

Reason: in the event of Chinese troops breaking through Indian defences, they would be greeted by hostile roads and infrastructure.

This strategy was reversed in 2005.

Accordingly, the government of India woke up to the need to build infrastructure along the 4,057-km LAC from Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir (north) to Himachal Pradesh (west), Uttarakhand (middle region) and Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim (east) sectors of the border with China.

Twenty-seven projects for construction of roads were sanctioned, but only six of them have been commissioned.

Each kilometer of road in the mountainous areas along the Line of Actual Control costs Rs 15 crore. “The Indian Army is improving its infrastructure and capacity building on a massive scale and we are prepared to meet any eventuality if the need arises,” the Northern Command chief said.

After hijack threat, now LeT paragliders

INDIAN EXPRESS
 

A day after it was revealed that terrorist organizations were planning to hijack an airplane — probably an Air India or Indian Airlines aircraft flying to, or from, a SAARC country — comes another intelligence input: that the Lashkar-e-Toiba has shopped for over 50 sets of paragliding equipment in Europe.

The equipment has been bought to carry out airborne attacks using suicide bombers, government sources said Friday.

They said intelligence agencies were picking up information about plans to carry out aerial strikes on important buildings and installations around Republic Day.

Consequently, security forces have been put on high alert and security around all vital installations has been tightened. Mock drills are on to thwart a possible aerial attack, sources said. The Indian Express was the first to report on Thursday that intelligence agencies had picked up specific information on plans to hijack an Air India or Indian Airlines flight anytime “in the near future”. Following the inputs, the government had deployed sky marshals on all AI/IC flights in the SAARC region, and advised all airlines to conduct a mandatory “100 per cent secondary ladder point check”.

Alert after breach in J&K border fence

TIMES OF INDIA
 

JAMMU: Taking advantage of dense fog, terrorists from across the border, for the first time, cut a part of the barbed-wire fence along Abdullian post in RS Pura early Saturday in an attempt to push infiltrators into the Indian territory. Security forces, however, have ruled out any infiltration.

‘‘There are less chances of militants sneaking into this side as there is another fence 500 meters behind the zero line which is intact,’’ said a senior BSF officer, adding, ‘‘no foot-prints have been seen.’’

The incident ahead of Republic Day prompted authorities to sound a high alert. ‘‘Troops have been asked to check the fence every three to four hours, set up ambushes at vulnerable places, use electronic surveillance and manual patrolling round the clock,’’ the BSF officer said.

Sources said the terrorists had cut nine wires on the Pakistan side and 10 on this side between Pillar Nos. 851 and 852 to facilitate infiltration. A BSF patrol party found that the fence has been cut. BSF, CRPF, police and Army soon launched combing operation along the border belt.

There have been 13 infiltration bids and four ceasefire violations along the border this month alone. There were 433 infiltration attempts in 2009 — 91 more than in 2008. Meanwhile, terrorists managed to escape after firing at security forces in Mendhar in Poonch district, according to SSP Poonch Manmohan Singh.

Antony: threat of infiltration growing

THE HINDU

NEW DELHI: Amid an assessment by the Union government that Jammu and Kashmir will continue to face increased threat of terror attacks and attempts at infiltration, Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Saturday said the country would take measures to foil and defeat such designs.

“The attempts to infiltrate are increasing and our assessment is that this trend will continue because people who are inimical to our country feel that the situation in Jammu & Kashmir is improving. Normality is returning… they cannot tolerate,” the Minister said on the sidelines of a function here.

“So, they want to change the trend. There are more attempts of terrorist attack....Our armed forces are always taking precautions. So, rest assured that we will take whatever steps are needed to prevent and defeat this,” he said.

He said the assessment was that forces inimical to the country wanted to alter the situation, and the government anticipated attempts to disturb the peace by launching terror attacks. Earlier this week, the Minister mentioned that at least half a dozen serious infiltration attempts from across the border were made. He reiterated that the country’s armed forces were taking all steps to prevent and defeat such moves. The armed forces maintain a multi-tier security ring in the State and the state of alert is always higher during occasions like the Republic Day.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

MHRC member piqued by govt neglect

KANGLA ONLINE







IMPHAL, Jan 16: Member of Manipur Human Rights Commission, Col. RK Rajendra (retd) has expressed discontentment over the conduct of the state government which has totally ignored the existence of the commission.

In a press meet held this morning at his residence at Yaiskul Chingakham Leirak, member Rajendra stated that the state government is not fulfilling the demands which the members of the commission have been urging for the last many years.

The demands of the commission include implementation of  proper pay roll for the members, declaration of the status of the members and recruitment of staff and other personnel of the commission, he said.

In other states of India, the basic pay scale of the members of state human rights commission is Rs 90,000 which is same as the pay scale of a high court judge.

The chairperson and members also receive Rs 30,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively as house rent allowance in addition to the pay of Rs 90,000 he added.

But in Manipur, the members are given only Rs 16000 as honarium with deduction of the amount of basic pension pay for those members who also draw pension either from the state or Central government, he noted.

In his case, he draws a basic pension pay of about Rs 8000 as a retired Lt. Colonel of the Indian Army before the implementation of the 6th Pay and so his honarium was Rs. 8761 after deducting the said amount of pension pay.

But at present, his basic pension pay reached Rs 25,700 with the implementation of 6th pay exceeding the honarium, but the state finance department has not sanctioned his honarium for more than seven months from July onwards thereby creating problems and confusion in this matter.

He strongly maintained that the government should not deduct the amount of his pension pay from the honarium as other members do receive the exact amount of Rs 16,000 as honarium and added that the deduction made in this honarium is a violation of “equal pay for equal work”.

He drew the attention of the government to sanction his honarium as soon as possible and an application has already been submitted to the secreary (finance) in this regard.

Col. Rajendra also stated that the state government has not yet announced the status for the members who should be in the 17th position next to state Cabinet ministers as per the warrant of precedence of the Government of India.

The members consider the non-declaration of their status by the government as an insult to them and they would even boycott the upcoming Republic Day if their status is not declared latest by January 26.

The commission also demanded certain manpower at a strength of about 130-140 comprising of law division, administrative division, training division, finance section, research division along with medical and environment wings, he asserted.

But in Manipur, the commission has only about 12 employees which are mostly hired from other departments. The commission should also have a secreatary who is serving currently as the secretary to the state government along with an investigative officer who should not be below the rank of IGP, he added.

He further stated that the commission has set up some additional rules and regulations for effective functioning of the commission and the recent spot inquiry of July 23 Khwairamband incident was conducted by himself according to the rules and regulations, which  is otherwise to be conducted by the investigating officer of the commission.

He also appealed evreryone to render help and support to the commission in its working to safeguard human rights in the state.

.... AISA BHI HO SAKTA HAI....


Rumours are a buzz in the South Block that Army Chief Deepak Kapoor may quit early to stall the appointment of Lt Gen V K Singh  as his successor. Gen Kapoor is scheduled to retire in March end. In case Gen Kapoor quits early Lt Gen Mohanty being the seniormost  Army Official  may take over the reigns before retiring in February. An interesting scenario.

SOURCE : WHISPERS

India's maritime challenges in the 21st century

UPI ASIA.com
 

New Delhi, India — Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor’s remarks at a closed-door seminar in New Delhi on Dec. 30, 2009, that the army was ready to fight a two-front war simultaneously with China and Pakistan, were ham-handedly projected by the media.

As India grows strong economically, Indians expect a threat to its sovereignty, especially at sea where 80 percent of its trade is plied.

The Indian Navy faces a rising threat from China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy in the Indian Ocean region and from terrorists seeking a sea route to wage attacks on land like the one on Mumbai in November 2008. It is also concerned over the increasing number of incidents of piracy off the Somali coast, from the Kenyan coast to the Seychelles islands and the Malacca Straits, which challenge merchant naval ships in international waters.

China has emerged as the second-largest economy in the world in 2010 and the need for commodities like oil, iron ore, coal, copper, aluminum and uranium to feed its economy’s gargantuan appetite has led to huge imports, most of which arrive by sea. This has led to the ambitious renaissance of its navy.

The neglect of maritime industries since 1949 now weighs heavily on China, as it finds the Indian Navy having invested heavily in shipbuilding, training and manpower over the same period of time.

The speed at which the Indian Navy provided relief aid to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states hit by the tsunami in December 2007 was an eye-opener to many maritime powers.

China’s communist rulers love challenges and will use this peaceful period till 2030 to rebuild the country’s maritime muscle. This is the real challenge to the Indian polity and its Admiralty.

The answer is not a numbers game but to correctly forecast strategic shortcomings and build strong competencies, which can overwhelm likely adversaries at the commencement of hostilities. A better strategy would be to deter adversaries, so that enemy naval planners realize the extent of damage that can be inflicted on prized assets.

A recent article in Newsweek indicated that the age of terror had moved on. Unfortunately, that is not the case, as is evident from the failed terrorist bombing of a transatlantic Detroit-bound flight on Christmas Day. Terror in its most virulent form is still alive and kicking.

The rising numbers of suicide bombings in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region against NATO and U.S. forces and the terror attacks on Pakistan’s major cities have severely affected civilian life. Most of it is self-inflicted, as the country has refused to evolve since 1947.

The Taliban and al-Qaida view India as a soft target, as porous frontiers exist along the coast, which were traditionally used by the Dubai-based mafia for smuggling gold.

The Indian Navy’s “brown water” capabilities, which refer to its capacity to carry out military operations in rivers or littoral environments, assisted by the Coast Guard, need a complete revamp. Policing such littoral environments is a slow, tedious, time-consuming and frustrating task, as the identity of every crew member of a fishing craft or sailing dhow must be checked.

On any given day, about 200,000 fishing boats sail along India’s west coast alone, each carrying four fishermen at the very minimum. One way to police the waters is to restrict sailing space.

Piracy of serious magnitude in international waters first surfaced off the West African coast. The scene shifted to the Malacca Straits in the late 1980s and was put down determinedly by littoral states in the 1990s.

The failed state of Somalia and the lack of governance have resulted in the present imbroglio off the Horn of Africa and have spread hundreds of kilometers to the east coast of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Recent interceptions by coalition navies and the Indian Navy indicate a change in the complement of pirates from Somali residents to foot soldiers of al-Qaida. This has ominous portent.

Presently, India is caught within the imperatives of the blue water and brown water navy, as both are important and necessary and both have short-term and long-term implications.

The three-layer response to augment the navy, Coast Guard and Marine Police is a good start. What is needed is to ensure that neither fatigue nor flagging energy with time sets in. Terrorists need just one mistake by security forces in “brown waters” to succeed in their task.

India’s blue water navy must respond to China’s PLA Navy and sea pirates. Well-trained staff will be a recurring requirement as much as technology. For example, network-centric capabilities are excellent for above-sea surface requirements, while being dependant on an x-ray band spectrum that cannot penetrate seawater will yield no results.

Blue water sonar systems for subsurface warfare are constrained in their performance in littoral waters. India’s likely adversaries are building a formidable fleet of submarines, both conventional and nuclear-powered. These are major examples, besides others, of the realities facing specialist naval planners.

Major navies of the world, including the Indian Navy, have adopted network-centric capabilities as core competencies today. The combat areas in the 21st century have shifted to littoral waters. Will this result in suboptimal utilization of the assets built? Only time will tell.

Maritime diplomacy needs to be refashioned with the Ministry of Defense (Navy) and the Ministry of External Affairs joining hands to complement each other, especially in the Indian Ocean region. Most countries in the region have weak maritime capabilities. This can be vigorously worked upon with generous assistance from India.

The private sector in India seeks a major foothold in defense contracts today. The Indian government must assist the private sector in building merchant marine vessels or simple warships like offshore patrol vessels, on easy credit terms in Indian private shipyards, for our neighbors.

The strength of our economy will be enhanced by catering to the maritime needs of our neighbors, similar to what the United States has done for Canada and Mexico.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

War imminent if India faces another 26/11

ZEE NEWS 


Washington: Citing the very real threat of a new Pakistan-based terror attack on India, a noted South Asia expert says that unlike in 2008 Indian military restraint "cannot be taken for granted if terrorists strike again".

"India faces the real prospect of another major terrorist attack by Pakistan-based terrorist organizations in the near future, writes Daniel Markey, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a Washington think tank.

But "unlike the aftermath of the November 2008 attack on Mumbai, in which 166 people died, Indian military restraint cannot be taken for granted if terrorists strike again," he says in a new Contingency Planning Memorandum examining what India's response would be and its consequences.

Noting that "an Indian retaliatory strike against terrorist targets on Pakistani soil would raise Indo-Pakistani tensions and could even set off a spiral of violent escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals," Markey says this would harm US interests "given Washington's effort to intensify pressure on al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated militants operating from Pakistani territory."

"The threat of another Mumbai-type attack is undeniable," he warns noting "numerous Pakistan-based groups remain motivated and able to strike Indian targets" as they have "incentives to act as spoilers,whether to disrupt efforts to improve Indo-Pakistani relations or to distract Islamabad from counterterror crackdowns at home."

"Thus the immediate risk of terrorism may actually increase if New Delhi and Islamabad make progress on resolving their differences or if Pakistan-based terrorists are effectively backed into a corner," Markey suggests.

Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed are the two terrorists groups that have proven themselves the most capable and motivated to carry out attacks in India, he notes.

"Al Qaeda has historically focused its efforts outside India, but if the group's leadership feels threatened in the Pakistan Afghanistan border areas, it might direct and assist regional proxies to attack India as a way to ignite a distracting Indo-Pakistani confrontation," Markey writes.

Noting that more clearly a terrorist attack can be identified as having originated in Pakistan, the more likely India is to retaliate militarily," he says the US has a clear interest in preventing an Indo-Pakistani crisis.

"To defend against a terrorist attack, Washington should share information and technical tools with India and work with Pakistan to clamp down on materials that might be used in weapons of mass destruction."

It should also press Islamabad to accelerate the judicial process against the Mumbai plotters and crack down on militants throughout Pakistan, Markey says and "If US cooperation with Islamabad proves inadequate, Washington should develop its own capacity to infiltrate or attack these groups."

"In a worst-case scenario, Washington would have to choose between accepting an Indian strike on Pakistan and levelling its own coercive military threats against Islamabad," he says. But it should avoid policies that are likely to rule out effective working relationships with Islamabad and New Delhi once the crisis is over.

ARE MERE CELEBRATIONS ENOUGH.....

THERE WAS A TIME IN INDIA WHEN REPUBLIC DAY, INDEPENDENCE DAY, ARMY DAY, VIJAY DIWAS WERE  THE DAYS TO WHICH EVERY SOLDIER USED TO LOOK FORWARD TOO.

AS THESE WERE THE DAYS WHEN GENERALLY WELFARE MEASURES FOR THE ARMED FORCES USED TO BE DECLARED.

I DON'T KNOW WHEN DID WE DEVIATE FROM THIS PRACTICE AND NOW A DAYS; THESE OCCASIONS HAVE JUST REDUCED TO:-
 
  a) AWARDS

  b) CELEBRATIONS BY ARMED FORCES.

IT IS DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE THAT GOVT OF THE DAY DOSN'T EVEN CONGRATULATES/WISHES OR ACKNOWLEDGES THE SACRIFICES OF ARMED FORCES BY ISSUING A SIMPLE PRESS STATEMENT.

JUST FEW REMINDERS:-

   a) KARGIL DAY CELEBRATIONS AND THE PRESSURE WHICH FORCES CERTAIN LEADERS TO VISIT AMAR JAWAN AFTER WIDE SPREAD MEDIA CRITICISM ?

   b) CAN YOU RECOLLECT ANYTHING REGARDING RECENT 15TH DECEMBER CELEBRATIONS AND ANY RESPONSES FROM THE GOVT ON THE OCCASION ?

   c) CAN YOU RECALL "HOW THE PRESIDENT OF USA" PERSONALLY GETS INVOLVED WITH VARIOUS CELEBRATION OF HIS ARMED FORCES ?

CUTTING SHORT.......I FEEL ITS TIME FOR ALL OF US TO RETROSPECT.....

                                      ARE MERE CELEBRATIONS ENOUGH....

  

Thursday, January 14, 2010

INCREASE IN VACANCIES TURNED DOWN BY MOD....

In what is being considered as a jolt to the Army Chief, the Ministry of Defence is learnt to have turned down the request to increase the vacancy in Command and Staff team. 

ONE THE CONTRARY

a)  Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is planning to constitute a National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) like the exists in United State of America (USA). The related proposal will soon be sent to the ACC for consideration. Setting up of this organization will lead to creation many vacancies in future at different levels ranging from SP, DIG,IG, ADG to DG.
 

b)  Shantanu Consul, Secretary (Personnel) will be chairing the IAS Review meeting of Punjab cadre on January 15, 2010.

c)  The number of Additional Director General of Police (ADGs) in Bihar is going to increase from six to nine. 



d)  Empanelment process of 1996 batch IPS officers to the rank of DIG ( 8900) in the Government of India has reportedly commenced. 

e)  The number of Inspector General of Police (IGs) in Bihar is going to increase from 17 to 22.




RECOMMENDED READING : http://soldierscorner.blogspot.com/2010/01/can-av-singh-really-help-us.html


SOURCE : WHISPERS

The war within

HINDUSTAN TIMES


http://www.hindustantimes.com/The-war-within/H1-Article1-497113.aspx

I WONDER


1.  I MAY SOUND ABSURD BUT THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS :- EARLIER EVERY SOLDIER USED TO VE PRIDE IN HIS UNIFORM.

2.  HE USED TO VE A FEELING THAT I VE TO CONTRIBUTE POSTIVELY TO THIS COUNTRY AND MEET THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE COUNTRYMEN WHO RESPECT HIM AND LOOK AT HIM AS A SINGLE POINT OF SOLUTION FOR ALL HIS WOES. HENCE HIS OWN CONSCIOUS USED TO PREVENT HIM FROM TAKING SELFISH DECISIONS.


3.  BUT THE RECENT APPROACH WITHIN ARMED FORCES AND BY GOVT WHERE LIKE PSUs; FOR ARMED FORCES ALSO GRANTING MORE ALLOWANCES AT THE COST OF DEGRADATION IN STATUS  ( ITS LIKE TREATING THEM AS MISSIONARIES ) WAS ADOPTED. THIS HAS HARMED THE BASIC SELF DISCIPLINING MECHANISM WITHIN THE ARMED FORCES.


4. AS A RESULT NOW A DAYS ARMY IS PERCEIVED MORE AS A MERE " PROFESSION " INSTEAD OF "A WAY OF LIFE"


5. ALL THOSE WHO HAVE STUDIED " HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT " WILL AGREE THAT " MONEY IS A NECESSARY BUT NOT A SUFFICIENT CONDITION" TO MAINTAIN DESIRABLE MOTIVATIONAL/LOYALTY LEVELS IN AN ORGANIZATION. 


6. HENCE GIVEN THE CURRENT TREND, AS SENSE OF BELONGINGNESS TO AN ORGANIZATION WILL DECREASE IN THE MINDS OF SOLDIERS, MORE WILL BE THE HARM TO THE ORGANIZATION AND MORE SUCH ISSUES WILL CROP UP. 


7. NOW A DAYS EVERYONE FEELS " RETIRE HONE KE BAAD KOI NAHIN POOCHTA " AND I FEEL THIS SINGLE THOUGHT MAKES US DEVIATE FROM SOLDIERLY CONDUCT.

8. THERE IS A GROWING SOCIO-ECONOMIC PRESSURE ON EVERY SOLDIERS.

9. THEREFORE I FEEL IMMEDIATE STEPS MUST BE TAKEN WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION AND BY GOVT OF THE DAY TO RESTORE THE SENSE OF PRIDE, HONOUR AND BELONGINGNESS IN EACH AND EVERY SOLDIER.  

10.  I ALSO WANT TO DRAW READER's ATTENTION TO GOA GOVT's AND MEDIA's ROLE WHEN NAVY REFUSED TO GIVE CLEARANCE TO SOME LAND DEALS AND IMMEDIATELY THE MEDIA AND POLITICIANS FROM GOA IMMEDIATELY COMMENTED THAT NAVY IS ACTING IRRESPONSIBLY AND HINDERING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AREA. IF THAT BE TRUE THEN WHY THE POLITICIANS AND MEDIA ARE NOT SAYING THE SAME FOR SILIGURI DEAL, AS ULTIMATELY IRRESPECTIVE OF THE FACT THAT CERTAIN GEN's ONLY COULD VE BENEFITED  ,THE FACT REMAINS THAT THIS DEAL WOULD VE CREATED MORE JOBS AND LED TO DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITIES IN THE AREA TOO. ( NOT DEFENDING ANYONE). 

RECOMMENDED READING : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/78971/India/Zero+tolerance+needed+to+stem+Army+rot.html




HARDCORE SOLDIER


India was still Indira when I first saw those army regiments marching down Rajpath. To a small-town boy who came from the baking, backward Deccan — a land of quiet desperation, black magic and lost glories — a Republic Day parade conveyed an absolute reality: That these magnificent men marching to Saare Jahan Se Achcha were a cut above, that they could do no wrong.

A half-truth mired in a perceived reality fades hard. Whatever I may write today, I guess I still like to believe that India’s defence forces, and its judiciary, are the nation’s last bastions of righteousness.

With the judiciary closer to our lives, the incorruptibility of judges is a weaker half-truth, but it endures. For this I blame my father’s old friend, the late James Sequeira Esq., a morally upright district judge in Karnataka. In a time before self-made tycoons and powerful politicians, the judge, collector and superintendent of police were the most prominent men in town. Yet, Judge Sequeira travelled in his personal car, a white Fiat. His wife usually travelled by a tonga or cycle-rickshaw. He practised all that he often preached to wide-eyed me, about simple living and high thinking.

Understanding a teenage state of mind is important because India is younger now than ever before. More than 550 million are below 30 years of age, and in their formative years, they will form warped realities from the half-truths on offer today.

The army chief is now accused by his rank and file of being soft on some of his generals in a dubious land deal. The Chief Justice of India is not only refusing to open himself and his justices to the Right to Information Act — as politicians and bureaucrats are — but is also seen as reluctant to clean up an admittedly overburdened but increasingly dishonest and opaque system.

If these gentlemen do not act immediately, they should never blame young people in this age of media-delivered reality for instant beliefs that permanently damn both institutions and damage India’s strongest foundations. General Deepak Kapoor must realise that even modest hopes of filling his 11,000 officer vacancies will quickly evaporate.

Absolute realities don’t die easily. So, it is important that the truths on offer not just look, but are, complete.

Even a depressing first brush with the dark side of the defence forces eight years ago wasn’t enough to scrub my reality.

In consternation, I watched a neat patch of green — called the Field Marshall Cariappa Park, no less — being demolished in Mumbai’s Colaba military area in collusion with a builder. All manner of law was sidestepped and ill-considered permissions granted by an unholy confluence of army officers, bureaucrats and politicians. Not surprisingly, representatives of all three branches of government got flats. My colleague Shailesh Gaikwad (now bureau chief at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai) and I reported the dark deal as it unfolded. The apartment block was delayed, but it was built, and even as I wrote it, I kept asking myself, “Have we got it wrong? How could army and navy officers be a part of this?”

So, I was less disbelieving but still crestfallen when news broke last year that four top army generals helped reverse an army objection to the transfer of 70 acres of land near an army base in West Bengal to a dubious educational trust run by a real-estate developer called Dilip Agarwal, a friend of Military Secretary Lt. Gen. Avadhesh Prakash, an officer who the Eastern Army Commander says must be dismissed. That may still happen, but why has he been spared a court martial, under which all army officers accused of wrongdoing, except murder and rape, are tried? As embittered junior officers point out, many have been court martialled for less: fake allegations of sexual harassment and pilfering the odd shipment of supplies.
Only one of the generals, Lt. Gen. P.K. Rath (once slated to be Deputy Chief of Army Staff, now thankfully dropped from consideration), faces a general court martial. The others, Gen. Prakash, 11 Corps Commander Lt. Gen Ramesh Halgali and Major General P. Sen, have been asked to explain their actions. The Eastern Army Commander said last month in an internal inquiry that Lt. Gens. Rath and Sen should face a court martial.

It is certainly true that these officers have not been proven guilty. But the Indian Army’s summary court martials, introduced after the Indian mutiny of 1856, don’t require counsel, detailed judgement or evidence.

In trying to find out why their regular army units had rebelled when the Punjab Irregular Force (PIF) — its origins in the old Sikh army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh — had not, the British found that a PIF commanding officer also served as judge and civil authority, feared and respected by his men. The army chief’s actions presently invoke no fear among his officers or respect in the young nation beyond the cantonments. Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan will see a greater erosion of faith, a process accelerated in his tenure, unless he starts doing the right thing quickly. As a three-judge bench of the Delhi High Court — an institution that has been a particularly strong votary for justice and truth this past year — said on Tuesday: “A judge must keep himself absolutely above suspicion.” If Justice Balakrishnan appeals this judgement in his own court, the suspicion that he has something to hide will stay.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

1997 BATCH IPS GET INTO GP 8700 IN RAJASTHAN...

IMPORTANT : 1997 BATCH FAUJI's STILL IN GP OF 6600..............


As many as 11 IPS officers of the 1997 batch have been elevated to the selection grade by the Rajasthan government. They are: Vishal Bansal SP A.C.B. Jaipur, Vijay Kumar Singh A.D.C. to Governor Rajasthan, Hawa Singh Ghumaria SP Inlelligence Jaipur, S. Sengathir SP CBI S.C.B. Chennai, Gurcharan Rai SP Karauli, Dr. Girraj Lal Meena SP Chittorgarh, Gajanand Verma SP CID CB Jaipur, Girdhari Lal Sharma SP Kota Rural Kota, Mohan Singh Nitharwal SP Hanumangarh , Devendra Singh SP Dausa & Ravi Kant Mittal SP Pratapgarh .

Antony: CRPF to control J-K highways from Jan 15

THE TRIBUNE
 

With an improved situation on the terror front in the state, the Army’s visibility would be far less from January 15 onwards, as Defence Minister AK Antony today announced that the CRPF would take control of the highways and the police would have a greater role in urban areas.

Besides, the Defence Minister said his ministry had written to the Home Ministry to give instructions to the security forces to discontinue the use of “combat” uniform to ensure their lesser visibility. The minister said this while addressing the top brass of various security forces and agencies at the Unified Headquarters in Jammu today.

He disclosed that on the request of the Defence Ministry, the Home Ministry had issued instructions to the CRPF to take over the entire responsibility of the opening of roads on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway-1A from January 15. “This has been done to reduce the visibility of the Army, without in any way, diluting our counter-terrorist grid,” he added.

Antony said a request had also been sent to the MHA to issue instructions for the discontinuation of the use of combat uniform by all central police organisations and the state police.

The minister, however, did not make any statement on troop withdrawal from the state, which was the main demand of the state government. He asked the security agencies not to be complacent and work towards consolidating the gains achieved in the last couple of years.

Antony said year 2010 may prove to be crucial as forces inimical to stability and peace in the state would make all-out efforts to neutralise the gains of 2008 and 2009, when the state witnessed considerable improvement in the security situation.

“The incidents of the first week of January in the valley are indicative of the shape of things to come,” the Defence Minister said in reference to the terrorist attack in the Lal Chowk area of Srinagar.Antony said time had now come for the state police to shoulder far greater responsibility, particularly in major towns, in tackling the threat of terrorism. However, the handing over of the responsibility must be meticulously planned and undertaken in a gradual, phased manner,” he said.

Taking part in the deliberations, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah requested the Defence Minister to explore the possibility of recruiting more youth from the state in the three armed forces.

Revealed: What army won’t say about Bengal land scam






 THE TELEGRAPH



New Delhi, Jan. 12: Yesterday’s scam is today’s strategic blunder. But Fort William came in between.
An investigation by the Eastern Command of the Indian Army has found that senior officers, including the top aide to the army chief, overrode national security concerns to strike a deal with a realtor in north Bengal’s Siliguri Corridor, the strategic “Chicken’s Neck” that runs between three international boundaries and connects the Northeast with the rest of the country.
On Monday, army headquarters issued showcause notices for administrative action against military secretary Lt Gen. Avadhesh Prakash, Lt Gen. Ramesh Halgali and Maj. Gen. P. Sen and disciplinary proceedings (that may lead to a court martial) against Lt Gen. P.K. Rath.
Meagre information that trickled out on the “Sukna land scam” from army headquarters has so far painted a story of corruption. Even today, sources in army headquarters insisted that there was no “scam”, a view that reflects the opinion of the realtor, Dilip Agarwal, too.
That might as well be true. The investigation has found much more than hands in the till. The findings and the opinion of the court of inquiry that was convened by the Eastern Army commander, Lt Gen. V.K. Singh, in Fort William invest far greater strategic importance in the case.
It has found that the 33 Corps, headquartered in Sukna, was facilitating underhand commerce in a corridor it is tasked to protect militarily. The area of responsibility of the 33 Corps is on the China front and includes territory in Sikkim, north Bengal and Bhutan.
But officers commanding it and the military secretary, in charge of posting the officers and troops, not only ignored security concerns in allowing a commercial project on land adjacent to its headquarters but also actively facilitated Agarwal’s venture.
They bent rules, altered policies, escorted the realtor, ignored the higher (Eastern) command, tailored formal agreements to suit the deal and put pressure on juniors to hurry it through while they kept suppressing evidence, the court of inquiry has found. All the while, the military secretary was in constant touch with Agarwal.
Lt Gen. Prakash introduced Agarwal to the 33 Corps commander and deputy chief-designate (now the appointment has been cancelled), Lt Gen. Rath, as a family friend, the court of inquiry says in its report forwarded to army headquarters.
Agarwal used to visit the military secretary in his house in Delhi. Agarwal and Lt Gen. Prakash were likely to have met when the military secretary served as commander of the Indian Military Training Team (Imtrat) in Bhutan, within the 33 Corps’ area of responsibility.
Agarwal issued a media release in Siliguri on December 31 in which he said: “The question of an ‘army land scam’ does not arise. The land never belonged to the army and the controversy is unnecessary.”
Today, a day after the showcause notices were issued, an army headquarters source said he did not know why the Eastern Army commander had recommended such strong action (“termination of service”) against the military secretary because “we never owned the land and, therefore, there is no scam”.
What army headquarters’ spin meisters are conveniently ignoring is that the force was actually in the process of acquiring the land from the Bengal government because of security concerns. The Bengal government appreciated these concerns and had conveyed to the army that it was “favourably disposed” towards transferring the land.
The controversy relates to a “tea tourism” project to build villas and malls in an estate surrounded by army units. When construction was stopped, an “education” project was proposed to get around the ban.
The court of inquiry found that Agarwal had floated the Geetanjali Education Trust registered in Ghaziabad in 2001. “It has not functioned in a true sense and has constructed no school or college so far,” the report said. Agarwal was “reluctant to part with information regarding his companies”.
Yet, the 33 Corps headquarters entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with him after deleting “Paragraph 17” of the draft. The report describes this clause as “the most potent” paragraph because it gave rights to the army to terminate the MoU “on security grounds”.
In their review of the case, the investigators reported that the Chumta Tea Estate spread over 2,711 acres was on a 33-year lease from the Bengal government. It is inside the Sukna military station and is surrounded by army units.
Of this land, nearly 72 acres were barren and was handed over to the Bengal government. The Bengal government in turn offered it on lease to four firms (Mata Vaishnodevi Mercantile Pvt Ltd, Sheetla Vyapaar Pvt Ltd, Akshara Vanijya Pvt Ltd and JF Low and Co Ltd) represented by S. Bajoria.
“The barren portion of 71.55 acres is enclosed like a lobe within the tea garden, with one side literally bordering the (33) Corps Headquarters,” the report said and pointed out that “the sensitivities of the Siliguri Corridor also necessitated that no civil construction be permitted in the close proximity of the Corps Headquarters”.
In February 2008, the army discovered in newspaper reports that the barren land was being developed for “tea tourism” and would include a film city, villas and malls. Then 33 Corps commander, Lt Gen. Deepak Raj, informed the Eastern Army commander and told the Bengal government’s chief secretary that all construction on the land must be stopped. The Bengal government agreed and gave the orders accordingly.
“The army’s objections to civilian construction on Chumta Tea Estate were based on security implications, arising out of proximity of the site to corps headquarters and Ascon (the army’s dedicated telecommunications network) node,” the report said.
In July-August 2008, Agarwal went to Bajoria and with him proposed building a girls’ school at the site.
On December 29, 2008, Lt Gen. Rath, who was then the 33 Corps commander, received a request for a “no-objection certificate” to establish a residential school with a franchise of Mayo College.
The next month, Agarwal and Bajoria met Rath. Rath forwarded the proposal from Agarwal with a note “Please examine — a new angle project we may consider” to the administration in charge, Brigadier (now Maj. Gen.) Sen.
In between, in October 2008, military secretary Prakash visited Sukna on an official trip and met Agarwal. He introduced Agarwal to Rath and Lt Gen. Ramesh Halgali, who was chief of staff of the corps, as a friend. In July 2008, Prakash and Agarwal were said to have met Gaj Singh of Jodhpur.
That set the ball rolling till the MoU was signed in talks between March 18 and 20, 2009. In those three days, Agarwal and Lt Gen. Prakash were in constant touch, according to telephone records called by the investigators who describe this connection as the “influencing factor”.
The Eastern Army commander, Lt Gen. V.K. Singh, grew suspicious and called off the deal. He convened the court of inquiry on September 30.

Pakistan up to something big, Army informs Antony

ECONOMIC TIMES
 

SRINAGAR: Defence minister A K Antony has asked for ‘intensive operations’ against militants and stepping up of vigilance on the Line of Control to ensure development process in Jammu and Kashmir does not fall prey to militant activities.

Chief minister Omar Abdullah requested Mr Antony to consider more recruitment of the youth from border belts in defence services and using choppers to address the winter isolation of these areas.

During his day-long visit to Jammu, Mr Antony was briefed about the repeated infiltration bids from Pakistan and the status of the counter-insurgency operations. Border Security Forces gave the visiting minister a detailed presentation about the recent bid to infiltrate, using dynamite to destroy the fence on the international border.

Militants who returned after over 40 minutes of firing on BSF positions, according to the presentation, had used cordex wire to blast an IED that destroyed a vast portion of fencing including cobra wire and seven wires of concertina . The incident took place between Pillar Nos. 621 and 627 near Alfa Machail post in Gho Manasan area between Domana and Kanachak sectors.

The Army informed the minister about the ongoing operations against militants. They referred to the encounter in a Pulwama village in which one militant was killed. Reports said another militant who was besieged had actually fled. Reports from Jammu suggested that a senior Army officer in the unified headquarters meeting told the defence minister that “Pakistan is up to something big” and “we need to know what it is” .

“Outside forces inimical to the country are making several attempts to infiltrate borders, therefore, there is need to heighten vigilance,” Mr Antony told the meeting. He complemented J&K Police and security forces for efficiently handling incidents in Lal Chowk, Khrew, Pulwama and Reasi and hoped such incidents would be handled with same efficiency. He informed the meeting that the Army had vacated all hospitals and school buildings in the state.

Mr Antony asked the defence forces to mount pressure on militants to neutralise them at every level. He said the current situation called for intensive operations against militants in the state, and also put an effective mechanism in place along the LoC and international border to check infiltration.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

I AM TOUCHED BY THIS STORY.........

 SOURCE : EMAIL FROM A DEAR FRIEND......


A man was polishing his new car.
His 4yr old son picked up a stone and scratched on the side of the car.
In anger, the furious Man took his child's hand & hit it many times,
not realizing he was using a wrench.
At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures.

When the child saw his father, with painful eyes he asked
'Dad when will my fingers grow back?'
The man was so hurt and speechless.
He went back to the car and kicked it many times.
Devastated by his own actions, sitting in front of the car he looked
at the scratches,
His son had written 'LOVE YOU DAD'.
Next day that man committed suicide.

Remember, Anger and Love have no limits....

Always remember.... .
"Things are to be used and people are to be loved"

But the problem in today's world is....
"People are being USED & Things are being LOVED"

Befriending China

 DECCAN HERALD



Two centuries ago the share of India and China in the world economy was 25 and 33 per cent respectively. This declined in the colonial period and their share was reduced to about one and two per cent after the Second World War.

The last two decades have seen some improvement and presently their shares have increased to about two and six per cent, respectively. China is moving faster than us. Our laggard position is visible in the nature of our mutual trade as well. We are mainly exporting raw materials like iron ore while importing manufactured goods like toys and bulbs from China. This is the same pattern of trade that the British made with colonial India leading to our severe impoverishment: we exported raw cotton and imported finished cloth. The main reason is that we are not cooperating with each other in remolding the world economic order that is stacked against us.

Both countries are deprived of global leadership by the US but refuse to cooperate with each other. We see each other as enemies. Just as the British conquered and impoverished India — using the policy of ‘divide and rule’ — America is forging an anti-India, anti-China global consensus in global fora because India and China are bickering.

The share of the western countries in the world economy today is about 75 per cent while the combined share of India and China is about eight per cent. It is necessary that incomes of the developed countries should decline for us to regain our historical stature.
Some experts believe that instead of opposing the western countries we must cooperate with them and focus on increase in our incomes within the present world economic order. I am not convinced of this. We have been able to secure a paltry one per cent increase in the share of the world economy in 60 years of cooperation with the western countries.
The three power centres of the world today are India, China and America. India and China want to become No 1 while America wants to retain its position. All three see each other as competitors, if not as enemy. America is ruling the world because India and China are fighting each other.

At Copenhagen, for example, America was able to throw out the Kyoto Protocol because India and China did not make a joint strategy during the early negotiations. They can jointly try to remove the patent laws from the WTO and deprive the West of huge royalties which are a major source of their wealth and our deprivation today.
The roots of this mutual distrust appear to lie in our historical experiences. But the responsibility of crafting a new policy in this changed circumstance is with India because it is falling behind in the race for power. It is for us to take the first steps to be friends with China and jointly challenge the American might. Otherwise, America will rule the world just as the clever cat ate away the bread taking advantage of the fight between two monkeys.

The forward policy
The main impediment to such cooperation comes from the 1962 war. In his book ‘India’s China War’, Neville Maxwell had provided a wealth of data establishing the fact that the war was triggered by then defence minister Krishna Menon’s reckless ‘forward policy’.
The Indian Army made various uncalled for incursions into areas traditionally controlled by China. Real Admiral (Retd) Raja Menon says: “The Chinese have a saying called ‘teaching a lesson’. It is a part of their strategic vocabulary. As far as they are concerned, 1962 was not about grabbing territory but it was about teaching India a lesson.” We should accept our folly of 1962 and move ahead otherwise the America-China combine will crush us. Great powers should have the humility to accept their mistakes.

This atmosphere of mutual distrust pervades the actions of both sides. China is regularly advancing help to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan with the intent to weaken India’s influence in her backyard. It is opposing India’s membership of the UN Security Council. China condemned India’s 1998 Pokhran nuclear explosions. Ninety per cent of the arms sold by China are reportedly going to countries around the Indian Ocean. On the other hand India has consistently given protection to the Dalai Lama. She has also repeatedly broken ranks with China and other developing countries and toed American diktats as in Copenhagen. Our conflicts have provided a free run to the US to play one against the other.

We must take a lesson from the European countries. Germany had done much worse to France than China has done to India. Yet, the two countries are major players in the European Union. They have understood that holding on to old problems will impair their joint future. They have joined hands to strengthen their economic and political muscle. India and China should similarly let go of old disputes and focus on jointly defeating US machinations.

India and China should set aside their lingering border disputes when the United States is strangulating their economies. They must first together make sure that American supremacy is put to an end and then settle their claims. The US will continue to come up with new stratagems to keep us backward. The decision to kill Kyoto at Copenhagen is an indicator of the things to come. Both India and China will be deprived of their claims to global leadership and there will remain nothing much to fight about if they continue their infighting and do not rise against the United States together.