Indian Army: News and Discussion

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[wild goose]

Interesting read.

http://frontierindia.net/more-glory-battle-honours-for-the-3rd-gorkha-rifles-pirkanthi-hathimatha

 

[youngindian]

India Digs Under Top of the World to Match Rival.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/world/asia/01pass.html?_r=2&hp

 

[Pintu]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Women-man-border-outposts/articleshow/6246074.cms

Women man border outposts
Yudhvir Rana, TNN, Aug 2, 2010, 03.03am IST

AMRITSAR: The women cadets in Border Security Force (BSF) are raising the bar. At a time when women are still waiting for permanent commission in the Army despite a government notification, they were recently made part of Beating the Retreat ceremony at Wagah. And now, they have been put on night vigil at our border outposts — after months of non-combat duty.

Considered the country's second line of defence, border outposts are barely a couple of hundred feet inside the international border. It may not be long before BSF women recruits begin patrolling the international border round-the-clock.

During a visit to a border outpost near the Indo-Pak border in Amritsar district, TOI observed a young female constable on night duty. Fully alert and not displaying even a speck of fear, the young sentinel stated matter of factly, "What is there to fear? I am a trained soldier and always ready to challenge any miscreants or infiltrators from Pakistan."

Undertaking regular exercises and drills along with their male colleagues during daytime, these women are ready to take on any kind of duty. Although assigned separate boarding, they share the mess with others. Initially, the duties of these gun-wielding female constables were limited only to frisking the womenfolk going beyond the border fence to till their fields. Not any more.

BSF, which came into being on December 1, 1965, took almost five decades to induct women in its ranks. The first batch was included in the force last September.

 

[Ray]

Manning border outpost during peace is not an issue.

In war, when captured and a PW, things are different.

If the Indian public is ready to accept atrocities on women soldiers, then surely they should be allowed to be frontline soldiers. There should be no frenzy and tears as it was during the Kandahar hijack!

Also, the women's physical standards should be the same as that of the men. Can't have weaklings at the front, just to appease the gender correctness that is the result of aping the West and for no other reason.

Women in the civvy street should also be allowed in profession of heavy physical duty and stress as wielding the jackhammer, doing foundry work in steel works etc. There should be a public outcry there too!

 

[nitesh]

Permanent commission for women in Army soon

 

[nitesh]

http://frontierindia.net/indian-army-t-72-tanks-now-have-night-vision

The Indian Defence Minister yestrday stated in the parliament that the T-72 tank fleet is being optimally used and is the mainstay of the present tank fleet. The entire fleet of this tank is fully battle worthy with high mission and operational reliability. A part of the T-72 fleet is already equipped with high end technology night vision device which has been fully integrated and exploited. Further, the process of upgrading the night fighting capabilities with the state-of-the-art thermal imaging is an ongoing process.

 

[nitesh]

sad

Our soldiers being fed substandard food: CAG

Jawans at borders get stale food: CAG

 

[Ray]

Permanent commission for women in Army soon

The idea of gender equality is misplaced. Women cannot be inducted in the combat arms since the India psyche will not accept women soldiers being despoiled as PsW by enemy soldiers. Even the US does not have women in combat arms.

Even today, though, the official policy of the Army and Marine Corps excludes women from combat which precludes 12 percent of skilled positions and 39 percent of the total positions (GAO Report, July 1996).

May also see this link:
Women in the Military

sad

Our soldiers being fed substandard food: CAG

Jawans at borders get stale food: CAG

The tender for rations as per the govt norms is rock bottom and then the Controller of Defence Accounts representation plays a major role to ensure that proper rates are not admissible as it will cause a loss to the exchequer. If you give rock bottom rates, then you get the worst of foodstuff. It is pertinent to read the report of one of the Professors of the Punjab Agriculture University, who had undertaken a survey of rations in the Army. The Survey was commissioned by the late Gen Vaidya.

Technically, the report stated that the Indian Army gets the second best rations in the world (at least on paper). However, owing to various reasons, only half of what is issued can be eaten. Inedible by standard as also through bad and indifferent cooking. The cooks in the IA are today called chefs (possibly to be political correct), but what they dish up would be an insult to even the worst dhaba/ tea shop on the highway.

There is no doubt that there is leeway for the corrupt too. It is an eyeopener that tour companies are also ration suppliers! Extraordinary that there is only one vendor at times.

it is true that tinned food repeatedly and as routine are given an extended shelf life by the Central Food Laboratories. And the tinned food issued is horrid to say the least.

However, lets see the flip side. If the Station Commander rejects fresh supplies, which he can, the Board of Officers has to get that day's rate from the Govt Food Marketing Officer without which one cannot purchase from the open market at the risk and expense of the Contractor. The Contractor 'ensures' that the man is missing and hence no supply or buys up the market of that commodity and the contractors have a cartel which also ensure the bidding process at the time of the contract!

CAG itself is a 'bai khata' lot of bureaucrats. It has commented that the MOD must investigate the variation in rates. To be fair, variation in rates will occur depending upon the geographical location of the country and if the product is a local produce, or is being transported from elsewhere and the season. With such a remark from CAG, everyone will play safe and accept the lowest bid even if the supplies are sub standard, so that no blame as far as money and corruption can be levelled on them.

In short, it is a damned or be damned syndrome!

 

[nitesh]

Agree with you sir the L1 clause is more of a problem we have faced this issue often with every government purchase, they simply accept the lowest bid without even looking in to other benefits if they buy the L2 products. Some times the difference between the L1 and L2 is one rupee. For this situation to change the tendering process has to be revamped which alas don't seem possible at this moment

 

[Yatharth Singh]

33 soldiers feared swept away to PoK

33 soldiers feared swept away to PoK
Ajay Banerjee/TNS

New Delhi, August 7
The eyeball-to-eyeball deployment of well armed forces of India and Pakistan along the Line of Control notwithstanding, the Indian Army has sounded its arch rival for some "help".

This one is for concern over 33 of Indian soldiers who have been washed away in the mudslide and floods in Leh and it is feared that they may end up in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). These soldiers - 3 JCO's and 30 jawans - of the 15 Bihar infantry were posted near Turtok. Their posts were on the banks of the river Shyok. The river meanders into PoK and the area where the incident occurred is close to the LoC.

The river is in spate and the rains have made it unusually ferocious, sources said while quoting reports from field formations.

The Indian Army has launched a search operation for its jawans. However, optimism is dying down "..there is little hope"¦. the boys are so well trained that they may have showed up by now .. Pakistan has also not informed of any sighting so far", sources said.

The Army fears that the river which has narrow gorges and is strewn with boulders will be tough to negotiate even for the highly skilled and trained jawans. Some of the personal belongings of the jawans have been traced, leading to fears for the worst. These are areas where the mountains are 15,000 feet to 18,000 feet high and this is where the two armies fought a very bloody battle in 1999.

Normally, if a Pakistan Army soldier spots an Indian soldier into their territory their commander is informed. The same is true when an Indian soldier spots an enemy soldier. Under normal circumstances any soldiers who meanders across accidentally is told to back off. This may be an unusual case.

Lt Col Kedar Gokhale from the Engineers, along with two jawans, was on his way to Karu some 42 kms from Leh when he encountered horror en route around 12.30 am yesterday.

Col Gokhale has reported back to his bosses that the entire town of Choglumsar was ploughed down under a wave of mud and slush along with boulders as big as small cars.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100808/main2.htm

 

[nitesh]

Timely warning saved over 100 Armymen

Future jawans to face psychological test

 

[bhramos]

India's arms factory plan hits snags

NEW DELHI, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- India's military has been on a spending spree over the last few years. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's 2009 report noted that for the period 2005-09 India was the world's second-biggest arms buyer, importing 7 percent of the world's arms exports, exceed only by China with 9 percent.

New Delhi's attempts to foster an indigenous arms industry haven't been so smooth as purchasing off-the-shelf foreign weapons systems. India's comptroller and auditor general has criticized the Defense Ministry's "hasty" plans, which have left the army short of guns, the Deccan Herald reported Tuesday.

A further issue noted by the CAG was the Defense Ministry's decision to establish the armaments factory in Amethi, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's constituency.

The CAG has requested that the Defense Ministry make a "pragmatic decision," a subtle suggestion to scrap the entire scheme.

The CAG blamed poor site selection, defective planning and hasty decision making in the Indian army's 2005 plan projected an operational need to acquire 200,000 carbines and 160,000 close quarter battle carbines. By 2006 the Defense Ministry decided both to import carbines from foreign companies willing to implement technology transfer and to manufacture carbines indigenously.

A Ministry of Defense panel shortlisted Kanpur's Field Gun Factory and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd Korwa facility at Amethi out of 12 sites it had inspected. Despite the availability of more land in Kanpur, the panel chose Amethi, which has traditionally been the Nehru-Gandhi family's constituency.

The CAG reported to Parliament last week that the designs for the carbines had yet to be finalized despite the project's approval, while OFB-DRDO carbine trials had been unsuccessful.

India continues to import rather than build its defense equipment.

Russia has traditionally been India's major arms supplier, with recent imports include 82 Sukhoi-30MKI fighters and T-90 tanks, along with the purchase of the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov and an attendant air wing of 30 Russian Mig-29K fighters.

India has also increased its arms purchases from Israel, including a A-50/Phalcon Airborne Early Warning system.

The United States, currently India's sixth-biggest arms supplier, will see its arms sales increase amid the growing closeness between New Delhi and Washington. India has recently committed to purchasing of C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft for $1.1 billion along with $2 billion of P8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft. India has also submitted procurement requests to the Obama administration for 10 C-17 Globemaster airlifters, worth $2.4 billion and for 145 M777 ultra-light howitzers worth about $647 million.

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Se...s-factory-plan-hits-snags/UPI-12071281463867/

 

[Rebelkid]

Imagine if your GF or wife was in the army ?... better not piss her off....

 

[youngindian]

When seven Nepal brothers served the India Army


http://sify.com/news/when-seven-nep...ndia-army-news-international-kinnEdcifjj.html

 

[youngindian]

Army got night vision devices after 2001

http://idrw.org/?p=354

 

[bhramos]

India restores road links to Ladakh

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hbxycoePbsWRicJVprMmKclkmvSQ

 

[nitesh]

brave lady

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/in-a-first-woman-officer-gets-award-for-bravery-overseas/660739/0
In a first, woman officer gets award for bravery overseas

Major Madhumita, of the Army Education Corps, was the first officer to reach the Indian guesthouse that came under attack by suicide bombers on February 26. The officer was staying at a nearby guesthouse when she got information that the Indian facility had come under attack by a number of suicide bombers.

Though unarmed, she literally ran close to 2 km to reach the spot and rescued her colleagues who were trapped beneath the debris. Even though the encounter was on and shots were being fired as the attackers were in the area, the officer reached the Noor guesthouse that had been destroyed by a vehicle borne suicide bomb within minutes of the explosion._=..i2-=

While two Indian Army officers died on the spot, Major Madhumita personally extricated several officers of the Army training team who were buried beneath the rubble and rushed them to hospital. Regardless of her own safety, she pulled out several officers from the burning guesthouse and directed rescue operations on the ground.

The Noor guest house, in which doctors as well as Army officers of the training team were staying, was one of the main targets hit by suicide attackers in the February attack that was directed at Indian citizens working in Kabul. Three officers, all of the rank of Major, were killed in the attack. Major Laishram Jyotin Singh, who tacked a suicide bomber to save his colleagues, has been awarded the Ashok Chakra posthumously...=i+

Major Madhumita, who spoke to The Indian Express days after the attack, said that her biggest concern was to get the injured officers to the nearby hospital and save as many lives as possible. Her only regret was that one the officers who has been taken to hospital with 40 per cent burns, Major Nitesh Roy, succumbed to his injuries in a Delhi hospital.

 

[youngindian]

Army, IAF to have base in Chhattisgarh


Army, IAF to have base in Chhattisgarh

 

[nitesh]

this is a significant win, kudos to supreme court, it's tight slap on those m0r0ns living there who are against a war memorial

War memorial in City gets SC approval