Space war: Rocket scientists ground Government

Space War: Facing scientists’ fury, govt yields ground
FP Staff Jan 29, 2012
Facing enormous backlash from a galaxy of space scientists over its blacklisting of four scientists, including former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair in a satellite spectrum deal that has since been scrapped, the government appears to be reviewing its punitive action.

The Telegraph reports that the government had signalled its willingness to reconsider the punishment, and quotes V Narayanasamy, minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office, as saying that “nothing is final”. The government, he added, “has an open mind. If the scientists feel that their views have not been adequately represented, we are willing to look into this again.”

On Saturday, scientists came out swinging against the government decision to blackball the four scientists for their alleged role in the satellite spectrum deal. Madhavan Nair was head of Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian space establishment, when it decided to lease out transponders of two of its satellites to the US-based Devas Multimedia.

The action against the four former ISRO scientists is a drag on scientists' morale. Prof CNR Rao, who heads the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, said the government had “thrown out like garbage” the four scientists who had served the country and ISRO with distinction for years (reports PTI)

“They have not treated corrupt persons in politics, in public life like that. Why have scientists been picked up?” wondered Rao. “Is this the way to treat anybody? Nobody will work for these (government) organisations if this is the way they are treated.”

Rao specifically criticised Narayanasamy for his reported comments that the government had taken punitive action against the four scientists in order to send “a strong message” to the scientific community that no wrongdoing would be tolerated.

Rao said this was no way to talk about scientists. “I don’t know where he (Narayanasamy) got his basic education. I am shocked by the way he was on TV and talking like this about scientists in general.”

Also on Saturday, another former ISRO chairman, UR Rao, said the government’s action against the four scientists – and the public and over-the-top criticism of the scientific community – would impair space scientists’ morale.

Acknowledging that he did not have the full facts of the case, and that he was not keen to get entangled in the controversy, UR Rao nevertheless said that the manner in which it had been handled, with public outbursts against scientists, was ill-advised.

“Whatever is happening is not good for the country,” UR Rao said. “It will affect the morale of all the people. The organisation gets affected. After all, one feels proud of an organisation. If morale goes, it does hamper work.”

Recalling iconic photographs of satellite parts being ferried on bicycles or on bullock carts, UR Rao said that ISRO had a track record of catapulting India, literally, from the “bullock cart age to the space age.” Whereas on average it took 25 years to build a satellite, ISRO scientists had abridged that time to just two-plus years.

Former Knowledge Commission chairman Dr P M Bhargav has also written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, expressing displeasure over the blacklisting of Madhavan Nair, saying it reflected a “dictatorial” attitude without any accountability. He wanted the government decision to be put on hold until the committee reports on the satellite spectrum deal were made public.

On Saturday, Madhavan Nair stepped down as chairman of the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Technology-Patna, saying he was morally bound to give up all government positions following the punitive action
Space War: Facing scientists’ fury, govt yields ground

War Veteran passes away

MHOW (M.P.): War veteran Prithvi Raj, who headed the 12th Infantry division under the command of which the Pokhran nuclear test was conducted in 1974, died here on Tuesday due to old age-related problems.

The 87-year-old retired Major-General, who commanded an infantry brigade in the Shankargarh sector during the 1971 India-Pakistan war, was cremated with full military honours here in the presence of Army officers and jawans.

The illustrious officer is survived by son Lt Gen Deepak Raj, commandant of Army War College. — PTI
War Veteran passes away

Pak nuclear card limits Indian anti-terror options

Dear Colleagues,
You all would have heard the news of K Subramanyam’s sad demise on 2 Feb 2011. Born in 1929, he was the most well known strategic analyst who wielded considerable influence in India’s security policy formation. Founding Director of our Institute of Defence Studies, he also chaired many committees and commissions of inquiry. This included one on the Kargil War.
He had argued in favour of our military intervention in East Pakistan in 1971. This had attracted criticism from several quarters including from our then Army Chief Sam Manekshaw.
Subramanyam was a major advocate of the 2007 Indo-US Nuclear Deal, thus adding strong support to the Manmohan Singh government that was facing still opposition on the issue. In fact he might have also played a formal role in helping the deal come through.
He was one of the few eminent Indian strategists who pushed hard for a pre-emptive strike on Pakistan's Kahuta nuclear complex in early 1980s when news broke that Pakistan was in advanced stage of developing a bomb. He must have foreseen the coming Pakistani nuclear blackmail, of which General Harwant has spoken eloquently in his Tribune article today click here. Views may differ but there is no denying the fact that India is still paying the price for missing that opportunity. Pakistan's support to Punjab militancy and the initiation of a jihad in Kashmir, not to speak of Mumbai and other terrorist attacks, would perhaps never have happened had India paid heed to Subrahmanyam's advice.
In K Subramanyam’s passing away we have lost a great thinking mind.
Best regards,
Lt Gen (Emeritus) Raj Kadyan, PVSM, AVSM, VSM
Chairman IESM

K Subrahmanyam (1929 - 2011), the strategic guru for most Indian security analysts who passed away on Feb 2 after a long struggle with diabetes and cancer combined the finest qualities of head and heart. A civil servant who shunned the trappings of power in a hierarchy obsessed society - he opted for the monk like austerity of the think-tank.
K Subrahmanyam - Strategic Guru: Read more

IDSA ranks Asia's top ten think- tank

Ties with China of "Great Importance" to US: Antony
PIB Thursday, November 11, 2010 17:29 IST
The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony has said that India attaches great importance to its relations with China. Addressing a function here today after presenting the K. Subrahmanyam Award to Dr. Srikant Kondapalli, a noted scholar on Chinese Studies, Shri Antony hoped the award would encourage others to undertake intensive research on the rise of China as a superpower. Following is the text of the address delivered by Shri Antony on the occasion, to mark the 45th Foundation day of the Institute for defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA): -

“It is a real pleasure to be in your midst for the 45th Foundation Day of IDSA. I express my warm greetings to all of you on the occasion. Our gratitude is also due to Professor Kaushik Basu, a renowned economist, for delivering the Foundation Day address today. I hope that the ideas expressed in his address will generate greater interest among our scholars on various issues and also in using other disciplines in their research. His ideas are thought-provoking. They will be useful to all of us.

One problem plaguing our institutes, think-tanks and universities is that they often work within the narrow confines of their respective disciplines. Real life problems, as complex as security and its various dimensions require a multi-disciplinary approach. It calls for a thorough understanding of a wide array of disciplines like Political Science, Economics, Sociology, Geography, History, Psychology and Natural Sciences. The security challenges of today are far more complex than at any time in the past. These challenges are both - global and local and nearly always, interlinked. Mankind needs to grasp facts clearly and understand issues in the proper perspective to facilitate better and quicker policy making. In this context, Indian think-tanks will have to discharge an important responsibility by way of rigorous policy research to support more-informed policy making.

I also take this opportunity to heartily congratulate Dr. Srikant Kondapalli for winning this year’s K. Subrahmanyam Award. This is the fourth award in the series and its conferment recognizes Dr. Kondapalli’s outstanding work on China, especially, its Armed Forces. We attach great importance to our relations with China. I hope that this award will provide impetus to other researchers to go in for more intensive research work on China. I also wish to compliment the winners of this year’s President Awards for their noteworthy contributions in journals of repute. I wish to strongly urge the younger scholars of IDSA to draw inspiration from such researchers and excel in their fields of study.

I am told that for the third year in succession, IDSA has been ranked amongst Asia’s top ten and the world’s top fifty think-tanks. In fact, IDSA is the only think-tank from India to have been included in this list. That way it is a satisfactory thing. You should not be satisfied with the 10th rank. You must aim to become No. 1, if not No. 1, then No 2. Even at the recent Commonwealth Games, India stood at No 2. So, IDSA too should aim to become at least No. 2. Coupled with the rising popularity of the Institute’s Visiting Scholars’ Programme, this reflects its growing national and international stature.

Despite these satisfactory developments, we cannot afford to relax and be complacent. There is still a lot of hard work ahead for all of us, if we really want to fructify the vision of becoming a ‘centre of excellence’. As I have said on earlier occasions, IDSA has to intensify its efforts to make the Institute’s work more relevant and useful to the policy-makers. You must be able to foresee the future challenges the country faces. You must strive tirelessly to continuously improve the quality and quantity of research work. IDSA scholars particularly need to increasingly tap the primary sources and field visits to add quality to your work. Original sources alone will provide new insights that are in touch with the ground reality. Last but not the least, research must not remain confined to being published in journals. You must make your research work more transparent and accessible to our policy makers, parliamentarians, the media, and to the general people. IDSA scholars need to reach out to as wide cross-section of the society, as possible. The ideas and findings need to be communicated in a substantial measure.

Let me share some thoughts on the issues that in my view the Institute needs to focus on. You must utilize the available human resources to turn the focus on key areas for deeper research, rather than scattering them on a large number of issues. You must focus only on key issues.

Among other things, your research work must factor in the rapidly changing geopolitical equations, geo-strategic developments and their implications for India’s security. You must pay special, critical attention to the developments in our immediate neighbourhood and beyond.

Today, the security scenario is constantly evolving due to the changing nature of conflicts. You must focus your energy on the strategy and force structures needed to face these unconventional threats and asymmetric conflicts. There are other issues that merit attention like defence reforms focusing on jointness, acquisition, offsets, development of India’s defence industrial base, terrorism, climate change and energy security. The challenge lies in producing original, high quality research studies with in a form that is useful for the policy makers.

Before I conclude, I wish to strongly emphasise the urgent need for high quality, analytical research work capable of anticipating threats, arriving at better-informed policy decisions and for defending India’s vital security interests.

Five years from now, IDSA will be celebrating the 50th Foundation Day. You must set your sights on becoming not only the best in Asia, but also in the world by 2015. I assure you my full support to your endeavours and hope that you will take IDSA to even greater heights." PK/SK
Ties with China of "Great Importance" to US: Antony
Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

China wooing Dictators and Islamic Fundamentalists

Why China is wooing the jihadis, and what India should do
BHARAT VERMA
The spread of two authoritarian streams, Chinese communism and Islamic fundamentalism, in combination or otherwise, threaten the survival of democracies in Asia.

First, Beijing deftly sucked in most of the democracies in its economic orbit by making China a very cheap manufacturing destination of the world. This simultaneously created gigantic hard currency reserves and vast political influence.

Second, from the inflow of foreign direct investments, a modern lethal military machine was forged.

Third, Beijing skillfully invested in dictatorial or Islamic fundamentalist regimes in Asia like North Korea, Pakistan, and Myanmar.

On one hand, this boosts Pakistan and North Korea's capability to tie down democracies like India, South Korea and Japan without the necessity of China being involved overtly. On the other, by transferring sensitive technologies to these countries, China deflects the attention of major powers from itself and conveniently shifts the debate to the rogue nations clandestinely supported by it.
Click here to read the full analysis

Consequences of Pakistan racing towards a failed state

Murder on the Khyber Pass express
President Joe Biden, India, China and Iran. They are all terrified of facing a failed state with nuclear weapons, and prefer a functioning but treacherous one.

The released papers - described as one of the biggest leaks in US military history - detail military operations between 2004 and 2009.

The "everybody" involved in this case seems to exclude whomever actually leaked the documents, presumably some element of the US military, which has to absorb the effect of Pakistan's double game in the region in the form of body bags for enlisted men and shattered reputations for commanders. Like the Rolling Stone magazine interviews that led to the firing of General Stanley McChrystal, the America commander in Afghanistan, the WikiLeaks documents suggest a degree of disaffection of the American military with civilian leaders deeper than anything in living memory.

To exit the Afghan quagmire in a less than humiliating fashion, the United States requires Pakistani help to persuade the Taliban not to take immediate advantage of the American departure and evoke Vietnam-era scenes of helicopters on the American Embassy roof. The politicians in Washington know they have lost and have conceded to the Taliban a role in a post-American Afghanistan. They can only hope that once the country plunges into chaos, the public will have moved onto other themes, much as it did after the Bill Clinton administration put Kosovo into the hands of a gang of dubious Albanians in 1998.

India does not want America to call Pakistan to account. In the worst case, Pakistan might choose to support the Taliban and other terrorist organizations - including Kashmiri irredentists - openly rather than covertly. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, of whom the Economist on July 25 wrote "the strength of his coalition depends largely on how weak he is as Prime Minister", does not want to confront Pakistan. If Pakistan's support for anti-Indian terrorism became undeniable, India would have to act, and action is the last thing the Congress party-led coalition in New Delhi wants to consider.

China has no interest in destabilization in Pakistan; on the contrary, Beijing lives in fear that radical Islamists in Pakistan might infect its own restive Uyghurs. And Iran, which shares the fractious Balochis with Pakistan on their common border, lives in terror that a destabilized Pakistan would free the Balochis to make trouble.

Balochis comprise little over 2% of Iran's population, but they have demonstrated their talent at bomb-making on several recent occasions, including the bombing this month of a Shi'ite mosque in southeastern Iran in which 28 people were killed and hundreds wounded. Iran has accused Pakistan of sponsoring Balochi terror attacks, but intelligence community sources in Washington insist that the Pakistanis would never be so reckless as to put bombs into Balochi hands.

With 170 million people - more than Russia - and a nuclear arsenal, Pakistan is too big to fail, that is, too big to fail without traumatic consequences for its neighbors. Whether it can be kept from failure is questionable. Half its people live on less than a dollar day, and half are illiterate. It is riven by religious differences - a seventh of Pakistanis are Shi'ite - as well as ethnic ones.
Read more:
Murder on the Khyber Pass express: courtesy Asia Times Online
By Spengler

National Security: Media Musings

American 21st century with caveats
By Dr. Subhash Kapila
Strategically, the 20th Century was decidedly an American Century. United States strategic, military, political and economic predominance was global and undisputed. In the bi-polar global power structure comprising the United States and the Former Soviet Union it was the United States which globally prevailed. Read more...
21st Century: Strategically a second American century with caveats

Indo- Pak and Indo- China Relations
21 June 2010: The confusing responses emanating from the government on the China-Pak nuclear deal reveal a deeper crisis. Which is that India but particularly the Manmohan Singh government is unable to manage the external realm in any incrementally meaningful way. Read more...
Countering China

Failing India
A softened Congress and BJP are unable to contain the terrorism of Pakistan, says N.V.Subramanian.
25 June 2010: Whereas India's political responses to Pakistan have made dramatic transformations since their common Independence, Islamabad's approach to Delhi has hardened in a peculiar way. And for all the exertions of the Manmohan Singh government, there appears absolutely no Indo-Pak meeting point, and the situation will worsen till Pakistan becomes an irretrievable failed state partly driven to that situation by the monstrous burden of the terroristic military-intelligence establishment. Read more...
The absence of a political PM is hurting India's foreign interests, says N.V.Subramanian

Flight of the Falcon
Pakistani Pilots did missions against USSR and China on behalf of US. A book by S. Sajad Haider. Read review and commentary...
Flight of the Falcon

National Security: Facing Pakistan's Nuclear Dragon

Wednesday, June 23, 2010 Newsinsight.net: Facing the dragon
India should prepare for the worst consequences of opposing the China-Pak nuclear deal, says N.V.Subramanian.

18 June 2010: If what a section of the press reports is true, India then has taken a very significant and consequential step in diplomatically conveying to the Chinese its reservations about China's prospective nuclear deal with Pakistan. The United States has indicated opposing the deal at the coming NSG meeting after having equivocated on it, and it is not clear if the Indian hardness follows the American decision.

When pointedly asked about the nuclear deal, Manmohan Singh, who had obtained one previously from the United States, said he had no objection. This writer in a commentary two days ago felt the prime minister should judiciously have said "no comments" which would have expressed his disapproval. Now from a position of "no objection" to taking umbrage at the deal, if media reports are to be believed, reveals a flippancy and a lack of serious application to so serious a matter as a potentially proliferative nuclear arrangement between China and Pakistan, which is inexcusable.

N.V.Subramanian is Editor, www.NewsInsight.net, and writes internationally on strategic affairs. He has authored two novels, University of Love (Writers Workshop, Calcutta) and Courtesan of Storms (Har-Anand, Delhi).
Read the full commentary
Facing the dragon- India should prepare for the worst consequences of opposing the China-Pak nuclear deal

National Security: Pakistan-China N-deal upsets India

18/06/2010
Pakistan-China N-deal upsets India, Beijing cautioned
New Delhi: As Pakistan Army chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani steps up pressure on the Chinese leadership to formalise a nuclear deal similar to the Indo-US civil nuclear initiative, the UPA government has cautioned Beijing about the negative fall-out of such a move on Sino-Indian relations. Such a move, which could be announced this week during Gen Kayani's visit to China or held back for a later date, is bound to set back the current efforts by Delhi and Beijing to normalise bilateral relations.

In the last few weeks, there has been a steady stream of reports that China is about to clinch a new deal to sell two nuclear power reactors to Pakistan in violation of the current rules of international nuclear commerce.

While it deliberately chose to avoid a public spat with China on its proposed expansion of nuclear cooperation with Pakistan, Delhi has left Beijing in no doubt about its strong reservations that were conveyed through diplomatic channels in the last few days.
Source: The Indian Express
Read the full account: Pakistan-China N-deal upsets India, Beijing cautioned

NPT members agree to take early steps on nuclear- free Mideast

AP, May 29, 2010, 03.47am IST
UNITED NATIONS: The 189 member nations of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty on Friday adopted a detailed plan of small steps down a long road toward nuclear disarmament, including a sharply debated proposal to move toward banning doomsday arms from the Middle East.

The 28-page Final Declaration was approved by consensus on the last day of the monthlong conference, convened every five years to review and advance the objectives of the 40-year-old NPT.

Under its action plan, the five recognized nuclear-weapon states - the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China - commit to speed up arms reductions, take other steps to diminish the importance of atomic weapons, and report back on progress by 2014.

The final document also calls for convening a conference in 2012 "on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction."

This Arab idea of a WMD-free zone is designed to pressure Israel to give up its undeclared nuclear arsenal. Despite the decision here, U.S. officials questioned whether Israel could be persuaded to attend the conference.

Iran and Syria had dissented loudly on various points in the final hours, but no objections were raised in the concluding session. After the declaration's approval, Iran's chief delegate Ali Asghar Soltanieh joined with the others in hearty applause beneath the U.N. General Assembly hall's soaring dome.

"All eyes the world over are watching us," the conference president, Libran Cabactulan of the Philippines, said before gaveling the final document into the record.

The decision was "an important step forward towards the realization of the goals and objectives of the treaty," Egypt's Maged Abedelaziz said afterward, speaking for the 118-nation Nonaligned Movement of mainly developing countries.

"The final document this conference adopted today advances President Obama's vision" of a world without nuclear weapons, Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher told the assembled delegates.

The conference is convened twice a decade to review and advance the objectives of the 40-year-old NPT, under which nations without nuclear weapons committed not to acquire them; those with them committed to move toward their elimination; and all endorsed everyone's right to develop peaceful nuclear energy.
NPT members agree to take early steps on nuclear- free Mideast

Middle East: Iran, Sun Tzu and the dominatrix

THE ROVING EYE May 22, 2010
Iran, Sun Tzu and the dominatrix By Pepe Escobar
Let's face it: Hillary Clinton is one hell of a dominatrix.
At first the United States Secretary of State said the Brazil-Turkey mediation to get Iran to accept a nuclear fuel swap was destined to fail. Then the US State Department said it was the "last chance" for an agreement without sanctions. And finally, less than 24 hours after a successful agreement in Tehran, Hillary whips the UN Security Council into submission and triumphantly proclaims to the world a draft resolution for a fourth UN round of sanctions against Iran has been reached.
Read more: Iran, Sun Tzu and the dominatrix By Pepe Escobar

Defence Preparedness: Ten challenges that needs to be tackled

Given the security situation in the peninsula, it is but natural that India's defence preparedness levels will keep haunting both policy makers and the man on the street. After all, we have fought as many as five wars with our neighbors since 1947, four of them being against Pakistan.

Though non-proliferation experts believe that future wars would be fought without weapons and on the strength of economic muscle, India has enough on its plate by way of fidgety neighbours and internal trouble makers, for us to constantly monitor our military might.

In the subsequent pages, we have attempted to list out the top-10 challenges we believe is adversely impacting India's defence...

Strategic Incoherence

Inadequate Defence Research

Corruption in Arms Deals

A Farewell to Sophisticated Arms

Technological Obsolescence

Effective External Defence

Fidgety Neighbours

Internal Security Threat

Unclear Nuclear Strategy

Tactical shortcomings
Read the full article:
Defence Preparedness: Ten top challenges

Comments
Asish Mittra Tuesday, 20 April 2010 22:14:53
It is hard to believe our forebearers were the Guptas and the Mauryas. What happened to our political and administrative might? Even the politicians (such as they are) and bureaucrats of Pakistan look better!! Do we believe in India or are we just passing the time till we get that overseas visa? I sincerely hope that the younger generation can come out of the shadows of the dwarfs that inherited the political leadership of post-independence India. Only a deep seated faith in the destiny of Bharat can produce a new direction and purpose, political and military.

Challenges before the new Army Chief

General V.K. Singh has taken over as the 26th Army Chief in an environment full of challenges. Nearly half the army is committed in fighting various insurgencies and a proxy war. The combat potential of the army is at an all-time low of nearly 50 per cent.
There has been little modernisation in the last decade or so. The budget for the army gets reduced every year in real terms. The deteriorating civil-military relations do not bode well for the safety and security of the nation. And the regional security environment is cause for concern.
The status of army personnel is dwindling continuously, adversely affecting the morale of the rank and file. The shortage of officers is again at a precariously high level. The veterans’ resentment consequent to the dragging of feet by the government on their long-pending demand for one rank one pension (OROP) threatens to boil over.
The situation reminds this writer of the battlefield message sent by a General to his Emperor: “Am surrounded both sides. My centre cannot hold. Situation excellent. I shall attack.” Will the new Army Chief, who had cut his professional teeth in a proud and valorous regiment, replicate this by being proactive? The citizens, who have a great affection for the army, do expect it from him.
Lt-Gen Vijay Oberoi (Retd)
The writer is a former Vice-Chief of the Indian Army
Click link below to read the full account
Challenges before the new Army Chief by Lt-Gen Vijay Oberoi (retd)

The Eye in the Sky killer satellites

EYE ON THE SKIES: An artist's rendition of a satellite in orbit. India is currently developing a new weapon, to be tested soon, which can take out enemy satellites. File photo
Special Correspondent
DRDO Chief V.K. Saraswat announced at the 97th Science Congress that India was developing a weapon that can destroy enemy satellites in low-earth orbit and polar orbit, denying enemy access to India's space assets.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is building the technology blocks needed to “neutralise” hostile satellites in low earth and polar orbits, according to V.K. Saraswat, DRDO Director-General and Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister.

These blocks are the kill vehicle that will bring down the adversarial satellites, long-range radars, communication systems, laser-based systems and imaging infra-red seekers which will give a complete picture of the satellite. They will be generated as part of the DRDO’s Ballistic Missile Defence Programme, which will reach “maturity in totality” in 2014, Dr. Saraswat said. He was addressing a press conference here on Sunday.
DRDO builds technology blocks to kill enemy satellites

Veterans assist review Indian Military doctrine

Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 30
The Army’s military doctrine is being reviewed and it will now include an added thrust in five key areas that will propel the doctrine. This includes wars in faraway lands, besides strategy on how to face future challenges posed by China and Pakistan.The key areas include preparation for a two-pronged war with China and Pakistan. Both countries will have to be looked at separately and also collectively. The nature of conflict, if ever, with both countries will vary greatly in terms of terrain and use of weapons and firepower.

The Army, which is involved in fighting insurgency in J&K and the North-East, is also looking to optimise capabilities to fight asymmetric war waged by both state and non-state actors such as terror attacks and proxy wars. This will include cyber and electronic warfare.

The doctrine will look at ways to enhance the strategic reach of the Army and joint operations with the Navy and the Air Force. Countries like the USA already have airborne division while China displayed its might a couple of months ago by showing rapid induction of troops. The reviewed doctrine will also touch upon space-based capability and methods to achieve technological edge over the enemy. The doctrine is reviewed every five years by the Army’s Shimla-based Training Command. The two-day closed-door review ended here today.

Among those who have contributed with their opinions were retired officers like Lt-Gen SS Mehta, Lt-Gen Vijay Oberoi, Lt-Gen Satish Nambiar, Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, Maj-Gen GD Bakshi and Brig Gurmeet Kanwal. Former High Commissioner to Pakistan G Parthasarthy was also among those who addressed the meeting.

The Training Command had already begun reworking on the doctrine to include the new developments in different areas of warfare.
Army doctrine being reviewed

ISRO Chief spills the beans about Higher Education in India

Bangalore: ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair, who is to retire by this month-end after an illustrious career at the space agency, feels that the country’s higher education system is not up to the mark, churning out graduates only for routine jobs.

Mr. Nair, also Secretary in the Department of Space, called for improving quality to produce high-class technologists and scientists.

‘Not up to the mark’
“The level of education and knowledge being imparted by many colleges... they are not up to the mark. Instead of concentrating on quantity, these institutions should concentrate on quality,” Mr. Nair told PTI in an interview.

"I am not happy with the education system in the country. The bulk of applicants (who applied for scientific and engineering jobs at ISRO this year)... they are not able to get even 50 per cent marks in our entrance tests."

Nair said if the quality level is not up to the mark, then one would only get people for clerical or routine jobs. If real technologists for manufacturing and scientific research were to be produced, the quality had to be far better.

Appointed as ISRO chairman, Nair's tenure saw realisation of 27 space missions, of which 25 were successful, with India's maiden moon mission Chandrayaan-1 being the pinnacle of glory for the country's space agency. Nair got two extensions in 2005 and 2007.- PTI
ISRO chief to retire by month-end

Fake degrees
Compounding the problems of poor quality of Higher education is the Fake Degrees, where detection and conviction is almost negligible. The Courts and Judiciary which have pending and backlog cases for the next 450 years is likely to enhance rapidly Fake Degrees in India and its export to other nations. Are we producing Scientists, Technocrats, Engineers for research or Bureaucrats and clerks for routine white collar jobs?

Why India is not a great nation?

Major General Mrinal Suman, AVSM, VSM, PhD, commanded an Engineer Regiment on the Siachen Glacier, the most hostile battlefield in the world. A highly qualified officer (B Tech, MA (Public Administration), MSc (Defence Studies) and a Doctorate in Public Administration) he was also the Task Force Commander at Pokhran and was responsible for designing and sinking shafts for the nuclear tests of May 1998.

As India celebrates 62 years of Independence, one tends to wonder: what makes nations great? Why is the US an undisputed world power? Why has Britain remained undefeated for centuries? Why has India succumbed to foreign rule so often? Why is India still struggling with internal dissensions and fissiparous forces? What does India lack?
Click link below for answers
Why India is not a great nation? click me

A bang and a fizzle: Nuclear yield not quantified remains a secret?

Admiral Sureesh Mehta, the chairman of the chiefs of staff committee, stated in his farewell press conference, “The tests were adequate. We believe whatever the scientists tell us. The scientists said the tests were enough and tested. We believe the scientists, as they provide us with nuclear capability.” Clearly, he accepted no responsibility for these weapon systems. This is uncharacteristic of military ethos where any weapons system that the services induct, whether imported or indigenous, is put by them through rigorous testing before acceptance. They are then accountable for the achievement of results. The services did not take the word of DRDO scientists in the case of the Trishul missile, which was finally rejected.

General Ved Malik, who was the army chief at the time of Pokhran-II, termed the recent revelations shocking and said that it affects the armed forces, because when they plan the task given to them they have to know what kind of yield each nuclear weapon has.

Unsaid in these comments by two former service chiefs is that they bear no responsibility for the reliability, safety and operational potential of these weapons systems. That is to be borne by the scientists — who, we see, have their differences. While this leaves India’s nuclear deterrence between two stools, the armed forces by their meek acceptance must also share responsibility.
Extract from:
A BANG AND A FIZZLE- Doubts about India’s nuclear deterrence may be well-founded- Brijesh D Jayal

Al-Qaeda seeking nuclear secrets from Pakistan: Holbrooke

Posted: Wednesday, Sep 16, 2009 at 1748 hrs

Washington: Richard Holbrooke has said that Al-Qaeda may be seeking nuclear secrets from Pakistan
Al-Qaeda is trying to seek nuclear secrets from Pakistan and it remains as dangerous as ever, Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke said on Wednesday.

"Al-Qaeda is still there in the region, ever dangerous and publicly asking people to attack the US and publicly asking nuclear engineers to give them nuclear secrets from Pakistan," Holbrooke said at a reception hosted by the Congressional Caucus on Afghanistan at the Capitol Hill.

Holbrooke? the point man of the Obama Administration for Afghanistan and Pakistan- said the US is not in Afghanistan to support the elections, but it is there for its own national interest and security. "We are not in Afghanistan for the election."
Al-Qaeda seeking nuclear secrets from Pakistan: Holbrooke
More Reading
Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues
PLAYING IT CRISP- Is the Indian political class maturing in its dealings with the US? The Telegraph

China continues to outmanoeuvre India

In an article published in the Telegraph newspaper on September 1, 2009, former Indian Foreign Secretary, Kanwal Sibal had warned about "strengthening suspicions that China will do everything possible to thwart India’s rise as a rival power," "its propensity to disregard agreements arbitrarily," and with India’s "diffident diplomacy", "China continues to outmanoeuvre India" politically: click me.

Two insightful essays have been published in the Far Eastern Economic Review of September 4, 2009 which focus on the deteriorating relations between India and China. One is by Brahma Chellaney, Professor of Strategic Studies at the privately funded Center for Policy Research in New Delhi. Titled, "India’s Growing China Angst": click me, it draws attention to the need for the world to take notice of authoritarian China’s aggressive intentions toward democratic India.

His concluding remarks sum up the gravity of the situation thus:
India can expect no respite from Chinese pressure. Whether Beijing actually sets out to teach India “the final lesson” by launching a 1962-style surprise war will depend on several calculations, including India’s defense preparedness to repel such an attack, domestic factors within China and the availability of a propitious international timing of the type the Cuban missile crisis provided 47 years ago. But if India is not to be caught napping again, it has to inject greater realism into its China policy by shedding self-deluding shibboleths, shoring up its deterrent capabilities and putting premium on leveraged diplomacy.
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