Indian Defence Forum http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/ Indian Defence Forum is a leading board to discuss Indian Army, Air Force, Navy and Strategic, Social and Political Issues pertaining to India en Sat, 19 May 2012 01:34:54 GMT vBulletin 60 http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/images/misc/rss.png Indian Defence Forum http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/ Wal-Mart to enter Gujarat via Anand http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/economy-infrastructure/36475-wal-mart-enter-gujarat-via-anand.html Fri, 18 May 2012 22:58:54 GMT *_Wal-Mart to enter Gujarat via Anand - The Times of India... Wal-Mart to enter Gujarat via Anand - The Times of India

VADODARA: World's largest retailer Wal-Mart plans to enter Gujarat through the NRG-rich belt of Gujarat - Anand, also India's milk capital.

Wal-Mart, through its Indian joint venture Bharti Wal-Mart Pvt Ltd, has kicked off work on the project on Anand-Sojitra Road. This will be its first mall in Gujarat in the wholesale format. Like in other states, the mall in Anand will operate under the 'Best Price Modern Wholesale' name.

The 50,000 sq feet mall is coming up on three acres of land, which as per present jantri rates costs Rs 4.37 crore. Construction at the site for the single floor mall started since March-end and is likely to get over by July-end , sources said.

A Bharti Wal-Mart spokesperson told TOI that as a policy, the company does not comment on specific real estate properties.

"We plan to open 12-15 new Best Price Modern Wholesale stores in 2012, mainly in south and west India," the spokesperson said in response to an emailed query. Wal-Mart's next venture in Gujarat is likely to be in Ahmedabad, probably on Ahmedabad-Bagodara highway

The firm has already begun recruitments for its scheduled launch. The campus interviews where management graduates from a couple of Anand-Vallabh Vidyanagar based MBA colleges were invited were held a fortnight ago.

"A total of 20 students from our college had appeared for the interviews before a fortnight . We are yet to get any offers though," K S Prasad, associate professor and placement officer at the G H Patel P G Institute of Business Management, affiliated to Sardar Patel University , told TOI.

Last year, amid the row over foreign direct investment ( FDI) in retail in the country, Bharti Wal-Mart had started scouting for land in Vadodara and was close to sealing a deal for a huge piece of land in Manjalpur.

The company was also in talks with an Ahmedabad based realtor for a 20,000 square yard land along SG Road. But, for some reasons, the deals were not struck. ]]> ejazr http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/economy-infrastructure/36475-wal-mart-enter-gujarat-via-anand.html <![CDATA[Aakar Patel: Congress standard-bearer for "Ashokan secularism"]]> http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/politics-society/36474-aakar-patel-congress-standard-bearer-ashokan-secularism.html Fri, 18 May 2012 22:51:41 GMT Ashoka :troll: ---------- Some extracts: * Why the Congress represents Indian values best* ---Quote---]]> Sonia Gandhi > Ashoka :troll:

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Some extracts:


Why the Congress represents Indian values best

Quote:
The flexibility has kept India democratic, and it is a Congress trait. The party also represents the middle-class consensus which views India as a great civilizing force, and seeks a nurturing of India’s cultural aesthetic
Quote:
We are a Congress-minded nation.

In saying this, I don’t mean we’re a nation of Congress voters, though that also is not inaccurate. Other than in one election, 1977, Indians have always voted for the Congress more than for any other party.

What I mean is that Indian values are best, and I would even say, only represented by the Congress. These values are religious accommodation, comfort with racial and linguistic diversity, acceptance of caste in politics, comfort in dynasty and a preference for compromise over principle. This flexibility has kept India democratic, and it is a Congress trait. The party also represents the middle-class consensus which views India as a great civilizing force, and seeks a nurturing of India’s cultural aesthetic.

In Pakistan’s The Express Tribune, Khaled Ahmed wrote on 8 April: “The Indian Constitution informs the attitude of the Indian middle class, which is tolerant of secularism.” This is true, and as an idea it is owned by the Congress.
Quote:
It is only under Sonia Gandhi that the party has again become the standard-bearer for Ashokan secularism. She will go down in history as the finest Congress leader along with Nehru.

full article: Why the Congress represents Indian values best - Columns - livemint.com ]]> LurkerBaba http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/politics-society/36474-aakar-patel-congress-standard-bearer-ashokan-secularism.html NASA trains astronauts to land on asteroid http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/americas/36473-nasa-trains-astronauts-land-asteroid.html Fri, 18 May 2012 21:40:57 GMT NASA trains astronauts to land on asteroid (http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_trains_astronauts_to_land_on_asteroid_999.html) NASA wants... NASA trains astronauts to land on asteroid

NASA wants humans to make contact with an asteroid up to three million miles away by the end of the next decade, something far beyond the scope of Earth-Moon space flight in 1969.

Travelling at around 80,000 kmph around the Sun with almost non-existent gravity due to their small size, landing safely on these space rocks will present a significant challenge, the Telegraph reported.

Among the team of astronauts preparing for the mission is Major Tim Peake, former British Army helicopter test pilot, who is now the first official British astronaut with the European Space Agency.

Major Peake said: 'With the technology we have available and are developing today, an asteroid mission of up to a year is definitely achievable.'

A training programme will teach them how to operate vehicles, conduct spacewalks and gather samples on the surface of an asteroid, said Peake.

While the primary goal of a mission to an asteroid will be scientific to learn more about their hostile environments, the skills needed to work on their surface could also prove invaluable should scientists discover one on a collision course with Earth.

NASA is currently monitoring more than 400 objects with potential to hit the Earth, although most are considered to be low risk. ]]> Americas LETHALFORCE http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/americas/36473-nasa-trains-astronauts-land-asteroid.html <![CDATA[India's dam plans anger Pakistan, symbolise global water woes]]> http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/internal-security/36472-indias-dam-plans-anger-pakistan-symbolise-global-water-woes.html Fri, 18 May 2012 21:30:02 GMT India's dam plans anger Pakistan, symbolise global water woes

ITS three great basins - the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra - are the most densely populated area in the world. The Ganges alone supports half a billion people.

Seventy per cent of South Asia's 1.5 billion people live in farming families, and depend on the water of those basins for their survival. That number grows by 25 million every year.

For generations the rivers have watered the bread basket of the Punjab, the cotton plants and fruit trees of the Sindh, and the rice paddies of Bangladesh, and grown this region faster than anywhere else.

But South Asia's water supply is unpredictable, and increasingly unmanageable. Lashed annually by monsoons, and regularly by devastating floods, between, there are severe and prolonged droughts across the region.
Even when the rain falls in moderation, there is little infrastructure to preserve it for leaner times. Across all three basins, there is less water, and ever more people.

The issue of water in this part of the world is back in the spotlight with a case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration this week between Pakistan and India.

Pakistan claims a new hydroelectric plant India is building on the Kishanganga River (known as the Neelum River in Pakistan) in Kashmir will rob it of water that rightfully belongs to it.

This is the political reality of this water-short century. Water is becoming a powerful weapon of diplomacy, even of coercion, and a new point of dispute. And South Asia's geography, demography and climate portend a global problem.

A security report from the US Director of National Intelligence released this year says that over the next decade ''many countries … will experience water problems - shortages, poor water quality, or floods - that will risk instability and state failure''.

''As a result of demographic and economic development pressures, North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia will face major challenges coping with water problems.''

Disputes are likely between countries, between states within countries, and even between cities and communities. Water shortages will probably drive nation states towards diplomatic solutions and to sharing agreements, the report says, but extremists will ''almost certainly'' target vulnerable water infrastructure.

''Beyond the next 10 years, water in shared basins will increasingly be used as leverage, the use of water as a weapon or to further terrorist objectives also will become more likely.''

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told her department: ''These threats are real.''
Already, water has become part of the terrorist call-to-arms. Alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks Hafiz Saeed has railed often against India for it's so-called ''water terrorism'', threatening ''water flows or blood''.

Lashkar-e-Taiba, an outlawed terror group, regularly threatens to blow up India's dams, and violent condemnation of India's water policies is cheered on by a growing hard line.

Last year, Pakistani newspaper Nawa-i-Waqt urged the government: ''Pakistan should convey to India that a war is possible on the issue of water and this time war will be a nuclear one.''

Most experts argue a declared war between nations in the near future is unlikely, but as pressure grows, smaller conflicts will flare across the region.

The Strategic Foresight Group has postulated the idea of an ''arc of hydro insecurity'', stretching from Vietnam through China, South Asia, to Iran, Iraq and other Middle East countries, through to Egypt and Kenya in East Africa.
Scarce water will drive up food prices, destabilise governments and spark mass migrations.

A Dutch study found that by the middle of this century, shrinking glaciers will reduce the flow of water to the Indus by 8 per cent.
A Princeton study published in Science magazine last year found ''the observed precipitation decrease can be attributed mainly to human-influenced aerosols emissions''.

Demographics are changing too. As India develops, a wealthier population will eat more meat, requiring more energy and water-intensive agriculture.

Environmental author B. G. Verghese told The Age : ''Water, and the energy that comes from water, affects every household. If you have a 12-hour blackout, children cannot do their homework, factories cannot operate. If the well is empty and the women have to walk to the next village for water, mini water-wars break out between villages, fighting over the last bucket.

''More people will be killed by insanitary water than by all the sum total of all the wars and all the insurgencies that might be fought.''
Mr Verghese said while water will lead to disagreements between countries, and could spur a deterioration in diplomatic relationships, ''I don't think it will lead to war''.

''The only country that could go to war on this question is Pakistan, and Pakistan simply has no case.''
The current Pakistan-India water dispute is the sharp relief of a still-hazy problem. And it is a test of a decades-old water-sharing agreement that has withstood three wars, constant territorial disputes, nuclear tests and terrorist attacks.
The Indus Water Treaty, signed in 1960, gives Pakistan rights over the Indus Valley's three western rivers. India controls the three rivers to the east.

The treaty is important, in particular to Pakistan, which is downstream from India, and relies on its neighbour's adherence to it for survival.

But the treaty is beginning to crack under new pressures, and Pakistan's increasing anxiety about its neighbour's activities on its watercourses.

India has no fewer than 45 dams or power stations completed, planned or proposed on Pakistan's western rivers, which Islamabad believes will give Delhi control over how much water flows over the border, and the ability to destroy Pakistan's agriculture, starve its people and ruin its economy.

India dismisses Pakistan's fears as paranoid and without scientific basis. It says it has adhered to the treaty and dams do not affect its neighbour.

But after 15 rounds of bilateral talks the parties are back in the Permanent Court of Arbitration next week.
But India, too, feels vulnerable. There are rumours China might attempt to change the course of the Tsangpo/Brahmaputra River in Tibet.

China has denied such a plan, but the idea worries India.


Read more: India's dam plans anger Pakistan, symbolise global water woes ]]> Internal Security LETHALFORCE http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/internal-security/36472-indias-dam-plans-anger-pakistan-symbolise-global-water-woes.html Romesh Wadwani pledges most of his wealth to philanthropy http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/politics-society/36471-romesh-wadwani-pledges-most-his-wealth-philanthropy.html Fri, 18 May 2012 19:20:10 GMT NEW DELHI: He's the archetypal Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur, having created and sold three companies in 30 years. But for the 65-year-old Romesh Wadhwani, his philanthropic foundation is as important as his companies, and he drives it with all the passion that he puts into his $2.5 billion Symphony Technology Group.

"I'm from an Indian family of professionals and my parents had to go through hardships themselves to send me to IIT-Mumbai. And having got the best of education myself, I firmly believe it is my personal obligation to give back to the community," he says. As for his family, wife Kathy and daughter Melina, he believes that they should have only that much of wealth as is needed to keep them comfortable. "Leaving too much for one's children will take away their own entrepreneurial skills," he says.

Wadhwani featured at Number 212 on the Forbes 400 list last year, but it all started with Canteen Corp at IIT-Mumbai's Hostel 2 in 1964, which he set up along with a fellow students. "We created a supply chain to provide snacks and beverages to the students at IIT-Mumbai and ran a profitable venture before it was shut down," he says proudly.

And Wadhwani finds it not at all surprising that it's usually the IITians who make it to rich lists in America. "For most Indians in America, wealth is not inherited. Neither do we make it as heads of large hedge funds and private equity funds. For us to make it to the top, we have to use our knowhow to create great new technology products and build high-tech companies," he says. And that's where the IIT education comes in as a big asset, according to him.

In 2000, Wadhwani's e-commerce start-up Aspect Development Inc was acquired by i2 Technologies, another Indian-owned company, in a historic deal which was the largest in US software industry that year. "The i2-Aspect deal - which was valued at a whopping $9 billion - gave me the financial freedom to do what I wanted. I wasn't interested in buying yachts; instead I wanted to carry on the entrepreneurial journey," he says. And Wadhwani Foundation is run by him with as much of passion and time as his private investment firm, which is the umbrella for his portfolio of global software and services companies.

"A philanthropic venture requires all the energy, knowledge and money from its founder that a company requires from the leadership team. I set up the foundation early so that I could give it my best years and I plan to give away at 80% of my net worth in my own lifetime," he says. At least 25% of his time goes into the foundation which is focused on becoming an economic accelerator in emerging countries such as India.

"For me, the philanthropic capital and ideas will help accelerate the Indian government's initiatives in strengthening entrepreneurship around the country," he says. Wadhwani Foundation has already spent around $25 million on its different initiatives in India which include a skills development project with the human resources ministry and two major biosciences and biotechnology research centres at IIT-Mumbai and the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore.

In his assessment of Indian NGOs, Wadhwani firmly believes that they need to scale up their operations to deliver services to a much larger target group of people, and for that Indian philanthropists have to provide larger funding. Starting the National Entrepreneurship Network in India seven years back, was for him, the beginning.

"Through the NEN network we helped create mentorship programmes at various colleges and universities in India and could train thousands of students on the principles of entrepreneurship," he says.

His Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurial Development at the Indian School of Business, on the other hand, is focussed on broad-based policy research. And going forward, Wadhwani is looking at funding a policy framework to strengthen economic development both in India and America.

The Wadhwani chairs at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington DC and the Indian Council for Research and International Economic Relations ( ICRIER), Delhi, have been set up with this broad goal in mind.

Indian American millionaire Romesh Wadwani pledges most of his wealth to philanthropy - The Economic Times ]]> nrj http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/politics-society/36471-romesh-wadwani-pledges-most-his-wealth-philanthropy.html Chinese Torture Atrocities . http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/china/36470-chinese-torture-atrocities.html Fri, 18 May 2012 19:04:49 GMT Chinese Torture Atrocities: Beheadings Death by a 1000 Cuts. Tank Man - Tiananmen Square Massacre (http://BrainMind.com/Tiananmen.html) Chinese... Chinese Torture Atrocities: Beheadings Death by a 1000 Cuts.

Tank Man - Tiananmen Square Massacre Chinese Torture & Atrocities: Beheadings & Death by a 1000 Cuts. Death by a 1000 cuts was utilized in China as punishment for over 1000 years until outlawed in 1905. Beheadings were commonplace for 4000 years.

The pictures of "death from a thousand cuts" are all from China, during the early 1900s. The beheadings are also from China, during this same time period. There is one photograph of a beheading at the very end of the film whose origins or perpetrators are disputed; some claim he is Japanese--though he is wearing a Chinese police officers cap which was still in fashion during the 1980s in Beijing, China.

This video is taken from a much longer film, by Dr. Joseph, that covers the history of China during the 1900s and ends with the Tiananmen Massacre.

Although death by 1000 cuts was outlawed, the communists in China under Mao committed horrible atrocities and torture. Mao's wife recommended "death by a 1000" for the president of Communist China and the co-chairman of the Communist party. It is for this reason that we included the footage from the cultural revolution--she recommended death by a thousand cuts and it fit into the topic of the film. Some complain we are being unfair to the communists by including this; this criticism is ridiculous.

In today's China, torture is commonplace, and a form of death by a 1000 cuts is practiced, i.e. in China's organ donation industry, where hearts, lungs, livers, eyes, are cut from the living bodies of unwilling victims, and then sold to the rich to be implanted in their wasted bodies. Many of the victims are kept alive for days until each organ is needed and then harvested for implantation.

Numerous sources confirm Mao and his communists committed horrible atrocities which continued after his death.

As recently as the 1970s Red Guards burned people alive, cut off heads, and ate living flesh cut from their victims, killing and torturing millions of innocent Chinese. These are the people who now rule China.



Uploaded by Sarastarlight on Jan 6, 2008
You Tube . ]]> China Casper http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/china/36470-chinese-torture-atrocities.html Yudh Abhyas Past 2010?? http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/indian-army/36468-yudh-abhyas-past-2010-a.html Fri, 18 May 2012 18:48:10 GMT All - Have there been any Yudh Abhyas exercises since 2010? They started back in 2004 (I understand) and should have occured in 2012??? When they... All - Have there been any Yudh Abhyas exercises since 2010? They started back in 2004 (I understand) and should have occured in 2012???

When they be scheduled next?

Charles Phillips
Houston, Texas ]]> Indian Army CharlesInTexas http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/indian-army/36468-yudh-abhyas-past-2010-a.html <![CDATA[It's Congress, not allies,opposed to reforms : Swapan Dasgupta]]> http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/politics-society/36467-congress-not-allies-opposed-reforms-swapan-dasgupta.html Fri, 18 May 2012 18:46:43 GMT Must read === Speaking to a TV channel from Washington DC last Friday, the Government’s Chief Economic Adviser Kaushik Basu expressed his... Must read

===


Speaking to a TV channel from Washington DC last Friday, the Government’s Chief Economic Adviser Kaushik Basu expressed his bewilderment that his “mandane” comments on the Indian economy to a Carnegie Endowment-organised meeting had triggered a huge controversy. He wondered if he had unwittingly stumbled into a dull news day and helped keep the ticker rolling.

A part of Basu’s consternation is understandable. He will not be the first public figure to be concerned about what one senior politician once described to me in private as the “media illiteracy” on economic subjects. His erudite proffering on the likelihood of a European banking crisis in 2014, quite understandably, attracted little attention. However, since the talk was on “India’s Economy and the Looming Crisis Global Economic Crisis of 2014” and he occupies the post of Chief Economic Adviser, it is hardly surprising that the media reportage was focussed on what he had to say about India.

If Basu had decided to don the mantle of the Deputy Chairman of the Planning and act as the permanent defence counsel for the Government he is serving, he could have escaped unscathed. He could well have set intellectual honesty to one side and argued that India remains reform obsessed and that it all depends on what we mean by reforms. He could conceivably have taken a cue from Minister of State Jyotiraditya Scindia who haughtily told a TV channel that it was India which was complaining and that Bharat was delighting in the entitlement-based policies of the UPA.

Fortunately Basu has not been too long in sarkari service to completely disregard his formidable reputation as an economist and a man of letters. If media reports are correct, he told the gathering in Washington three things. First, that decision-making in a coalition had taken the steam out of reforms. Secondly, that it was unlikely that there would be any big-ticket reforms before 2014, the Goods and Services Tax being the only possible exception. And finally, he expressed the hope that a return of one-party government could be the biggest fillip to reform.

It is not necessary to be either a UPA-hater or a Congress lover to admit that what Basu said is conventional wisdom. Yet, what he said was only half the story. For reasons of tact, Basu left many things unsaid.

A closer scrutiny of what is meant by coalitional constraints is revealing. The fact that Mamata Banerjee has proved a very difficult coalition partner, preventing much-needed fare hikes in the Railways and helping to derail the opening up of the retail sector as a whole to foreign direct investment, is well known. It is also a subject that Congress loyalists aren’t wary of addressing in private and even in public. What the Government is, however, less enthusiastic about admitting is the fact that the opposition to reforms doesn’t come from obstreperous coalition partners and a cussed opposition alone. The Congress is split down the middle over the priority to be accorded to reforms.

It is worthwhile recalling that what clinched the roll-back of the retail sector reforms earlier this year was not merely the opposition of the Trinamool Congress and DMK, but the quiet but determined opposition from the Congress’ own backbenches. The average Congress MP, brought up on a diet of Nehruvian socialism where the state sector propels change, was suspicious of the very idea that large corporations (with foreign capital) can usher efficiency in agricultural change. To them, that initiative rests with bodies such as the Food Corporation of India and NAFED. The Congress is inherently statist in its orientation and will be unenthusiastic about reforms that involve opening up sectors to all-round, including global, competition. This explains its foot-dragging in reforms connected to pensions, insurance and banking. It even explains why a stupendous amount of public money is being expended on keeping a vanity public sector airline afloat.

Manmohan Singh succeeded in pushing through a large measure of deregulation between 1992 and 1995 for two reasons. First, because in 1991 India was confronted with an economic crisis that forced a change of direction. Secondly, he had the full backing of Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao who extended full political support to him.

Today, the feeling in the Government is that the GDP growth is healthy enough to not be coerced into doing things that go against the instincts of the party. Secondly, it would not be an exaggeration to say that neither Sonia Gandhi nor her successor see reforms as the priority. Their stress is creating a welfare state based on entitlements and they are least concerned with issues of affordability. The most discredited facets of the post-War European experience are being sought to be imported into India.

In 1992, India charted a new course with an entrepreneur-driven trajectory of growth. In the past seven years, an attempt has been made to turn the clock back and revert to state-driven stagnation.

The Government of Manmohan Singh is confronted with political schizophrenia. A minusculity wants to keep the faith of 1992 but the political forces that drive the regime would rather go back to the regime of high taxes, high interest rates, deficit financing and high government spending—bound together by the repudiation of the federal ethos. It is not the Manmohan spirit that is prevailing but the Sonia consensus.

Why are men of integrity like Kaushik Basu wasting their time on such a self-destructive venture?

Usual Suspects: Congress, not allies,opposed to reforms ]]> Singh http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/politics-society/36467-congress-not-allies-opposed-reforms-swapan-dasgupta.html <![CDATA[RAW's strategic blunder or ISI's duplicity ? The Red Herring Dealers of Lahore]]> http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/defence-strategic-issues/36466-raws-strategic-blunder-isis-duplicity-red-herring-dealers-lahore.html Fri, 18 May 2012 18:20:52 GMT *Nitin Pai believes there’s more to the Mumbai terror alert than meets the eye* Yesterday, reports in the media indicated that a terror alert... Nitin Pai believes there’s more to the Mumbai terror alert than meets the eye

Yesterday, reports in the media indicated that a terror alert had been sounded in Mumbai and across many Indian airports: five terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Taiba had entered the country and planned to target petrochemical installations in Mumbai using the sea routes. These reports were similar to those a couple of days earlier, concerning Gujarat, where coastal police tightened watch over offshore islands and the petrochemical complex at Jamnagar.

Reports in today’s Pakistani newspapers reveal that three of the five alleged LeT terrorists are shopkeepers and a security guard from Lahore, who have sought police protection in the light of the Indian terror alert.

It’s easy to dismiss this as a goof-up by Indian intelligence authorities, citing Occam’s & Hanlon’s razors. To do so would be to ignore the little known fact that the Lashkar-e-Taiba has, in the past, used red herrings to befuddle and embarrass India’s intelligence agencies, including during one of the biggest terrorist attacks in recent times. It would also be to ignore the alacrity with which the three gentlemen from Lahore discovered their photographs, sought police protection and, according to one popular website that peddles a ‘nationalist’ line, were to address a press conference. All this within hours of the photographs appearing in the Indian media. Things do happen pretty fast in the internet age, but a mere three six hours to mobilise all this should raise eyebrows. (Gujarat police had put up the photographs across the state as early as May 6th). [See update below]

So what, other than incompetence, are the possibilities?

The first is that real terrorists used fake identities to enter India. If they have entered India, it means they are still around and might use the lowering of guard caused by this episode to strike. Also, the alerts indicated five terrorists. It is important, therefore, for the authorities and the media to treat the threat as ongoing and serious, and not drift into complacency.

Second, this was an information operation designed to embarrass India and the United States, and use it to show that India always makes false accusations against Pakistan. By implication, Hafiz Saeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba were victims of a ‘false flag’ operation by India (and the United States) to implicate Pakistan. The best time for this would have been when Hillary Clinton was on Indian soil. However, by accident, inefficiency or design, the terror alert was sounded after she left the country. In the event the grand expose in Lahore turned out to be a damp squib.

Be that as it may, the myth-making machines of Pakistan will turn this episode into a narrative of how Hafiz Saeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba are unfairly blamed by India and the United States. Even if its for domestic consumption, it’s still an effort that didn’t go waste.

We must, of course, consider the Occam & Hanlon razors. Did India’s intelligence agencies goof up? They could have erred in terms of the existence of the threat, the presence of terrorists and their identities. Each of these is a separate issue. That said, at this stage, we are better off if they raise an alert at the risk of looking red-faced rather than let the fear of embarrassment cause them to less on the ball.

Tailpiece: There’s also a chance that the Indian media put up the wrong pictures. How and why they’d end up publishing photographs of the three gentlemen from Lahore is a mystery.

Update: May 11th, 2012 Praveen Swami & Mohammad Ali report “late on Wednesday, shopkeeper Mahtab Butt said he had on a whim used Google to search for the word ‘India.’ The search led him to an India Today group site. There, he discovered a photo of himself, fellow storeowner Atif Butt and night guard Muhammad Babar, illustrating a story on the alleged Mumbai terror plot. Mr. Butt said he immediately called Pakistani television show host Mubashir Lucman — a controversial figure known for his dogged support of the religious right — with the news…Later that evening though, both Mr. Butt and Mr. Atif Butt provided The Hindu with a quite different version of events. The two men said they had learned of the report from a common friend, whom they identified as Khubaab.”

This increases the likelihood that India’s intelligence agencies were fed misinformation to either divert or embarrass them. We can only speculate the reasons for this. Embarrassing India during Mrs Clinton’s visit is enough of a motive. While it is unlikely that the ISI would wish to escalate tensions with India at a time when Pakistan’s relations with the US are close to breaking down, it would be inappropriate to dismiss the risk of a terrorist attack.

The Red Herring Dealers of Lahore | The Acorn ]]> Singh http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/defence-strategic-issues/36466-raws-strategic-blunder-isis-duplicity-red-herring-dealers-lahore.html Missiles that Cannot Fire – Long delays, cost escalation damage DRDO’s reputation http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/defence-strategic-issues/36465-missiles-cannot-fire-long-delays-cost-escalation-damage-drdo-s-reputation.html Fri, 18 May 2012 18:15:46 GMT A truly shocking analysis == The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was set up in 1958 with a vision to “provide our... A truly shocking analysis

==

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was set up in 1958 with a vision to “provide our defence services a decisive edge by equipping them with internationally competitive systems and solutions”. The DRDO has clearly failed in its mission.

There is no bigger indictment of India‘s premier organisation for research and development in military hardware than the fact that 54 years after its establishment, India still imports 70 per cent of its equipment requirements. In 1997, India best known defence bureaucrat and the then scientific adviser to defence minister, APJ Abdul Kalam, had said that India should bring the hare of imports in defence equipment purchases down to 30 per cent by 2005. No progress has been made. The percentage is still 70-30 in favour of imports.

DRDO`s list of successes is short-primarily the Agni and Prithvi missiles. Its list of failures is much longer.The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project, which was commissioned in 2001, is running late by four years. The costs have gone up from an original estimate of around Rs 3,300 crore to over Rs 5,780 crore. The Kaveri Engine for LCA is running late by 16 years and the cost has escalated by around 800 per cent.
In 2011, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) put a serious question mark on drdo’s capabilities. “The organisation, which has a history of its projects suffering endemic time and cost overruns, needs to sanction projects and decide on a probable date of completion on the basis of a conservative assessment of technology available and a realistic costing system,” its report stated.

The CAG report also revealed that not all technologies developed by DRDO were suitable for use by the armed forces. The three services have rejected 70 per cent of the products developed at the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune, in the last 15 years costing Rs 320 crore because the products did not meet their standard and requirement, The CAG report stated that in order to form a fair and balanced view of the success of the projects undertaken by drdo, 46 completed and nine ongoing projects worth Rs 387.35 crore were scrutinised in February 2011. Of the 46 completed and closed projects, only 13 closed projects, wrapped up at a cost of Rs 68 crore, underwent production. “Without close synergy between the users and the technology development agency, much of the development efforts would go in vain, as the success rate of projects in ARDE amply demonstrates,” the report said.

The army is not impressed by DRDO`s performance either. Says Major-General S.V. Thapliyal, a former deputy director-general for perspective planning at army headquarters in Delhi, “DRDO promises to manufacture. It nixes our plans to acquire from abroad; It does not meet the deadline. Worse, it does not maintain quality either. The soldier, the end user, is the worst sufferer.”

General V.P. Malik, who was chief of army staff during the Kargil War, has an interesting incident to narrate in his book Kargil From Surprise to Victory. In 1997, the army finalized plans to acquire the AN/TPQ-37 Fire finder radars from the US. Prices were negotiated and just before purchase, drdo offered to manufacture them at half the price and within two years. The government shot down the army’s plans to buy these radars. In 1999, during the Kargil War, the radars were desperately needed. Neither had DRDO manufactured them nor could they be procured from the US (post-1998 Pokhran tests there was an arms embargo). Several lives were lost in Pakistani shelling. Wlien Indo-US relations improved, India did buy these radars in 2003, but at almost twice the initial price. “The problem with drdo is that it is big on promise and small on delivery. There is no accountability in the system,” says Malik.

DRDO continues to mislead. On April 4, it claimed it had achieved a major milestone on an “indigenous” programme to develop a sophisticated radar to monitor the Indian airspace. The aircraft on which the radar is mounted—a modified Embraer EMB 1451-is imported from Brazil. drdo had to resort to the Embraer aircraft because its own efforts at producing an indigenous carrier had ended in disaster. Project Guardian Airawat was stalled in 1999 when its HS-748 turboprop aircraft crashed, killing eight crew members-engineers, scientists and Indian Air Force (IAF) officers-on board.
Under a Rs 1,050 crore agreement, Brazil’s Embraer will now act as the pverall systems integrator for the “indigenous” project, supplying the three jets, mounting the radar and electronics onto the plane’s fuselage and ensuring that the altered jets retain acceptable flight performance.

According to its original 2004 timeline, this project was to be completed by 2011. Now the delivery of the remaining two modified Embraer aircraft is only expected by mid-2013. The project will not be complete until 2014. Even then there are serious flaws in the project. IAF has pointed out that the Embraer EMB 1451 cannot fly above 4 0,000 ft and therefore is only of limited use in surveillance. “DRDO has a history of claiming foreign designs as its own, like the Arjun tank which is a derivative of the German Leopard,” says a source in the agency. ~
The technology development agency is also largely responsible for the fact highlighted by General V.K. Singh that 97 per cent of the army’s air defence is obsolete. The CAG report lists seven requirements of the army for air defence guns and the project status report. CAG notes the end result: “Even though three R&D projects and one staff project were undertaken, the air defence gun system could not be developed by DRDO to satisfy the frequently revised requirement of the user.”

Army air defence sources say DRDO is tinkering with World War II equipment instead of working on cutting-edge technology. “The chief downplayed the state of affairs. It is in dire straits,” says a top-ranking air defence officer.

“The air defence is in a very-sorry condition,” says Air Marshal A.K. Singh, former air officer commanding-in-chief, Western Air Command. “DRDO is not able to service the equipment. Even if systems are acquired from abroad and DRDO or Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is meant to service it, it fails.This leaves critical gaps in national defence,” he says.

The Government had constituted a committee for the first-ever external review of the agency in February 2007. The committee chaired by P. Rama Rao, ex‘secreta1y, Department of Science and Technology and former director, Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad, suggested that DRDO be restructured to make it a leaner organisation. It also recommended the setting up of a commercial arm of the organisation to make it a profitable entity, besides cutting back on delays in completing projects. “Delivery delayed is delivery denied,” said
Defence Minister A.K. Antony on delays in DRDO projects. But little progress has been made in the last five years on implementing the committee’s suggestions.

DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat is eager to put his house in order. He has called for the setting up of a Defence Technology DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat is eager to put his house in order. He has called for the setting up of a Defence Technology Commission as well as a bigger role for DRDO in picking production partners for products developed by the agency. Instead of the current practice of the Ministry of Defence arbitrarily nominating a defence public sector undertaking or an ordnance factory to build the product, usually when development is almost complete, DRDO would be able to select a capable partner company from the outset, from the private sector if necessary.

The defence organisation, which has an annual budget of over Rs 10,000 crore, now has no choice but to reinvent itself. The agency‘s research has drifted away from its core competence in recent times. It has been accused of “wasting time and precious resources” being engaged in research and development of technique for detection of pesticides in fruits, technology for dengue control, dental implants, foldable stretchers and berry juice.
The moribund agency is also suffering from employee attrition. Over the past five years, while the report of the Rama Rao Committee has languished, around 1,700 of its 7,900 engineers and scientists have left for better opportunities in private companies. The depletion of talent will be the last stage in what cynical insiders say is the process of converting DRDO into a dodo.

- April 13th India Today ]]> Singh http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/defence-strategic-issues/36465-missiles-cannot-fire-long-delays-cost-escalation-damage-drdo-s-reputation.html Antony : Pakistan formally proposed Siachen pullback http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/internal-security/36464-antony-pakistan-formally-proposed-siachen-pullback.html Fri, 18 May 2012 18:13:47 GMT Accede that Siachen belongs to us... == By Ajai Shukla Business Standard, 8th May 12 Pakistani president, Asif Zardari, had formally... Accede that Siachen belongs to us...

==

By Ajai Shukla
Business Standard, 8th May 12

Pakistani president, Asif Zardari, had formally appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a mutual withdrawal of troops from the Siachen Glacier sector. Defence Minister, AK Antony says the request was made on April 8 in New Delhi, a day after an avalanche buried 129 Pakistani soldiers and 11 civilians at Gyari, the headquarters of a Pakistani battalion near Skardu in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK).

While several Pakistani decision-makers, including the army chief, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) chief, Nawaz Sharif, have issued media calls for a mutual withdrawal, only now has it emerged that Pakistan officially broached this proposal with New Delhi.

On Monday, Antony told the Lok Sabha, “In view of the recent avalanche resulting in heavy casualties at Siachen, Pakistan has requested India for withdrawal of their respective troops from the region.”

In his written reply to a parliamentary question, Antony further stated “The President of Pakistan, during his meeting with Prime Minister on April 8, 2012, pointed out the need for all issues in the bilateral relationship including Sir Creek, Siachen, and Jammu & Kashmir to be addressed. Both leaders felt need to move forward step by step and find pragmatic and mutually acceptable solutions to all those issues.”

A range of Pakistani leaders have supported General Kayani and Nawaz Sharif in calling for a mutual withdrawal from “the Siachen Glacier.” For the Pakistan Army --- say Indian experts like Lt Gen PC Katoch, former commander of the Siachen Brigade --- an early withdrawal would mask the stinging defeat they suffered here after the Indian Army established itself atop the towering Saltoro Ridge that gives India complete domination over the Siachen Glacier.

“The Pakistan Army has been badly beaten on the Siachen Glacier, but they hide that from their public. Kayani, like his predecessors, wants to demilitarise the glacier and end the dispute quickly so that the Pakistani people never get to know,” says Katoch.

Meanwhile the Siachen dialogue makes little headway. Through 12 rounds of talks, the most recent last May, New Delhi has insisted that it will pull back troops only after joint “authentication” of the frontline along the 109-kilometre Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL), as the de facto border is called. The AGPL has never been marked on the ground or on any document accepted by both sides. If Pakistan violated a demilitarisation treaty, says the Indian Army, it would enjoy easier geographical access to Siachen, leaving India at a serious disadvantage.

Pakistan resists “authentication” as a pre-requisite to demilitarisation, ostensibly because that would legitimise the AGPL, and India’s alleged “violation of the Simla Agreement” which restrains both sides from altering the status quo on the border. Pakistan wants demilitarisation, withdrawal and authentication to proceed simultaneously. Last month, after General Kayani’s call for a mutual withdrawal, Islamabad announced that it would stick to its traditional position.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, however, has earlier been willing to accommodate Pakistan in a Siachen settlement. In 2005, during a visit to Siachen, he stated that he would like to convert Siachen into “a mountain of peace.”

The Siachen became a military flashpoint in April 1984, when the Indian Army occupied Bilafond La, a pass above Siachen, narrowly beating a planned Pakistani occupation of the same pass. Although there has been a ceasefire in place since 2003, most casualties in the 16,000-21,000 foot battleground take place due to weather.

Broadsword: Pak formally proposed Siachen pullback, says Antony ]]> Internal Security Singh http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/internal-security/36464-antony-pakistan-formally-proposed-siachen-pullback.html Vice Admiral Sushil to retire on 31st May ; Change of guard Southern Naval Command http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/indian-navy/36463-vice-admiral-sushil-retire-31st-may-change-guard-southern-naval-command.html Fri, 18 May 2012 18:07:28 GMT Today, Vice Admiral KN Sushil, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Southern Naval Command spent time with his sea going units, the last time he will do... Today, Vice Admiral KN Sushil, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Southern Naval Command spent time with his sea going units, the last time he will do so before retiring from service on 31st May. A proud submariner, Admiral Sushil was among those who inducted the Shishumar Class (HDW) submarines into the Indian Navy. As the first Inspector General Nuclear Safety of Indian Navy, Admiral Sushil did the ground work for inducting advanced nuclear submarines like INS Chakra into the navy.

In the maneuvers held off the Kochi coast today, eight ships from the Southern Naval Command participated. INS Tir, from the Kochi-based 1st Training Squadron was the FOC-in-C's flag ship. Dorniers, Seakings, Chetaks and Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters from INS Garuda also participated. The admiral exhorted the men on board to keep the Naval Ensign flying high and remain sharp and ready to defend the interests of the nation.

Broadsword: Impending change of guard at Southern Naval Command... Vice Admiral KN Sushil to retire on 31st May ]]> Indian Navy Singh http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/indian-navy/36463-vice-admiral-sushil-retire-31st-may-change-guard-southern-naval-command.html Wings of Russia: Helicopters. Soldiers and Workers. http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/military-multimedia/36462-wings-russia-helicopters-soldiers-workers.html Fri, 18 May 2012 18:05:55 GMT

This is a documentary of "Wings of Russia" studio about history of development of Russian Aviation. It contains a lot of unique video footage. The documentary speaks about creation and development of fighters, bombers, helicopters, reconnaissance planes, hydro-planes, planes of civilian Aviation and also about sport and training Aviation, in the USSR and Russia ]]> Military Multimedia Kunal Biswas http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/military-multimedia/36462-wings-russia-helicopters-soldiers-workers.html Spy satellite launched from Russia on Soyuz booster http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/military-aviation/36461-spy-satellite-launched-russia-soyuz-booster.html Fri, 18 May 2012 18:05:44 GMT Nice. === Russia launched a Soyuz rocket Thursday with a clandestine photo surveillance satellite designed to collect intelligence on strategic... Nice.

===

Russia launched a Soyuz rocket Thursday with a clandestine photo surveillance satellite designed to collect intelligence on strategic sites around the world for defense purposes.

The Soyuz-U launcher lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 1405 GMT (10:05 a.m. EDT), 6:05 p.m. Moscow time. The Plesetsk launch site is a military-run facility in Arkhangelsk oblast.

According to Russia's Novosti news agency, Thursday's mission marked the last flight of a Soyuz-U rocket from Plesetsk, which typically hosts launches of satellites headed for polar orbits.

The rocket flew north from Plesetsk to reach a high-inclination orbit carrying its payload over the poles, an orbit in which the satellite will observe nearly all of the planet.

The payload was likely a Kobalt M reconnaissance satellite carrying an optical camera to snap photos of military installations, troop movements and other sites of interest around the world.

Kobalt satellites orbit between 150 miles and 300 miles above Earth.

High-resolution cameras on Kobalt satellites capture images of locations around the world. Kobalt spacecraft reportedly carry canisters to return film to Earth during the satellite's mission, which will last at least several months.

The payload will be named Kosmos 2472 in the Russian military's nomenclature for defense spacecraft.

Thursday's Soyuz launch was the first of three space missions due to blast off in a span of about five hours.

A Japanese H-2A rocket was in the final countdown at the time of the Soyuz launch. It will deliver four satellites into orbit, including a research craft to probe the link between water and climate change.

A commercial International Launch Services Proton booster was on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the Nimiq 6 telecommunications satellite to serve Telesat, an operator based in Ottawa, Canada.

Spaceflight Now &#0124; Breaking News &#0124; Spy satellite launched from Russia on Soyuz booster ]]> Military Aviation Singh http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/military-aviation/36461-spy-satellite-launched-russia-soyuz-booster.html Indian, Arabic cultures influenced our country, moot told http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/pakistan/36460-indian-arabic-cultures-influenced-our-country-moot-told.html Fri, 18 May 2012 15:37:21 GMT Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan (http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012/05/18/story_18-5-2012_pg12_1) * Media asked to... Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

* Media asked to portray Pakistani culture and its values

* Need stressed to bring balance between media and culture

KARACHI: Vice Chancellor Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU) Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh has said that the powerful Indian and Arabic cultures have influenced our region/country since many centuries, as it is located between these two civilizations. Despite that people of our country have upheld their own culture and sub-cultures in every age of the history.

Speaking as chief guest at a seminar organised by the students of BS Media Studies of SMIU on ‘Portrayal of Pakistani Culture by Pakistani Media’ at Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto Auditorium on Thursday, Dr Shaikh said like other countries Pakistan has its own dynamic culture, with blend of its sub-cultures.

He was of the view that Sindh Madressatul Islam (SMI) had maintained its unique culture and traditions since the last 117 years. Besides, SMI has played a major role in changing the culture of the region by promoting ideology of tolerance inherited it from Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

He said, “We are Pakistani nation and we have to make it beautiful by promoting our culture, values and traditions.” He further said that Quaid-e-Azam had bequeathed one third of his property to his alma mater, SMI, through his last will and that was is why the students of SMIU are heirs of the Quaid and have more responsibility to work for Pakistan than the students of other institutions.

Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister on Media Sharmila Farooqui said that she had always felt pride and honour to visit Sindh Madressah, because this great institution happens to be an alma mater of Quaid -e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

She said the media must portray Pakistani culture and its values because these are our identification. She was of the opinion that a section of media promotes signalisation in their talk shows and other programmes rather than discussing on real issues of the people.

Paying rich tribute to Sindhi, Balochi, Punjabi and Pashto print and electronic media, she said these are displaying very beautiful cultures of their regions that help the world to understand the culture of Pakistan.

Farooqui also said the corporate culture of media is trying to sale out negativity as they consider their programmes a commodity. “By this way we couldn’t serve our nation and country, she said.

She appreciated the research papers presented by the students of SMIU on various aspects of media and culture. She also congratulated Dr Shaikh on receiving university status for Sindh Madressatul Islam.

Dean of SZABIST Dr Fozia Khan said the principles and ethic are lacking in our media. She also asserted that there is a need to bring about a balance between media and culture. She said a negative portrayal of our culture is damaging our ideology and values.

Chairperson of Mass Communication, Department of Karachi University, Raffia Taj said digital media is negatively affecting thoughts of our young generation, as a result they are going away from book culture and are mostly relying on only internet for their research work. Talking about SMIU, she said the SMIU is a great legacy of our nation, hence its students must promote SMIU culture and legacy in their future life.

Earlier, the students of BS Media Studies Faraz Ahmed, Quratul Ain, Zargoona Khan and others presented their research papers on various aspects of media and culture. staff report ]]> Pakistan nitesh http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/pakistan/36460-indian-arabic-cultures-influenced-our-country-moot-told.html