life's lessons from Sachin Tendulkar and Amitabh Bachchan

In popular Indian culture, there are only two heroes: Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar. Their appeal goes beyond borders; they are, in fact, India’s best soft power ambassadors. They also have a surprisingly lot in common.

Both are unconventional. In sports, height is an advantage, but Tendulkar is not tall; in  Hindi movies, being lanky was not accepted, yet Bachchan made it big. Both men are intense, almost possessed, as if they know nothing but that deep-driven desire. Years after they were well past the ‘legend’ status, both could be seen on the sets or at the nets, up early practising their respective arts. For them, every day is a new start to play, and to act.

Focus is the other thing. Both epitomise the Mahabharat hero Arjun. In their skills, they are twins. For that one eye is cross-haired on the inverted fishbowl. Perfection, nothing less, will do.

In Bachchan, you see it in his delivery that lends a certain seamlessness between the script, the act and onto even the man himself. In Tendulkar, you witness this in his classic strokes — be it the punch off the back foot or just a leave outside the offstump, telling the bowler he is wasting his time.

Some of the things that they do quite obviously are gifts given by god. But to make use of those gifts is a hard grind. You can be this real talent but perfection is a lonely pursuit. It needs you to draw deep.  You have to go above and beyond whatever gifts you may have been given. This is impossibly difficult. It’s yogic. There is a reason why we have so many good actors and cricketers and so few — so very few —great ones. 

That reason is sweat — and sweat is what you do not see.

Upbringing, what we conventionally call ‘values’, also matters. Both Bachchan and Tendulkar had academics as parents. You will be surprised by how much this counts. When one’s parents are in the thinking business, one is ‘secure’ in a way that is difficult to explain. It allows you to to imagine that you too can think big — and if it does not happen, you have the choice of doing other things. Campus life offers a sheltered, almost cocooned, existence. It lets you believe that dreams can be fitfully dreamt and things impossible pursued with your skills.

Also, both have had — in fact, Bachchan continues to have — a long inning. That takes persistence. One cannot let go off the hunger to do more, to do better. The passion can all wane and become a routine; one may forget that this is all they wanted to do in their  lives. A deadly lull has finished many a career. Yet, for both Bachchan and Tendulkar, it is a debut shot every time.

It is almost certain that in the two personalities we have the last pair that straddles three generations in terms of popular culture. The formats are changing in cricket, specialisation is in, and it will cut careers. In films, technology is bringing about dramatic change. So, in that sense, both these people are precious to a legion of people.

The health and physical aspect is also imperative. At the top, fitness becomes an issue even for super heroes.  Bachchan has had his share of bad health — his life once famously hung in the balance. An accident during the shoot of Coolie, left him clinically dead for two minutes.

As for Tendulkar, he hardly has a body part that has not been hurt during his marathon innings. He has endured pain in the back and the ankle, a tennis elbow which required him to go under the knife, and later, a bad shoulder. There was also a broken knee, a groin injury and innumerable instances of pulled hamstrings. Almost anything that can be hurt has been hurt. Yet, both have displayed an iron will and ensured that the show was on, regardless of everything.

Another striking similarity between the two legends is that both are apolitical. It is true that Bachchan did enter the political arena, but he withdrew as soon as he got hot under the collar. Both men have also shied away from taking a stand on controversial issues. They believe that they are not here to change the world.

This is sad, especially for the country. It reflects on our our democracy and its limitations. It also leaves the public discourse empty and robs it of its vibrancy. Neither men will throw away that hard-won award for a cause. It’s just not them — it’s not us either.

Both superstars have handled their fame with dignity and a grace that is uncommon. Both are constantly in the public eye. Normal life, as we know it, is not an option for them. You cannot suddenly go for a dinner or walk in the rain — there will be fans swarming. Still, both have done an excellent job of being in the lime-light.

As Tendulkar’s innings come to an end and Bachchan enjoys the last phase of his career, let us be happy that, like our grandparents, we too will have the opportunity to tell tales about Big B and Jersey#10 to our grandchildren. These are tales to hang on to in this ephemeral world.  

They loiter, they spy, they spot, some rain hell on their targets. While expensive, they do not have a human cost attached. The United States is the top dog in this game but India is slowly getting the drone act together. Drone wars are now a part of India’s military capability - and their role will only grow. While actual numbers are classified, India may have an upward of 200 drones already. The Indian armed forces will induct “suicide drones” that can be turned into missiles this year. India has also shown interest in hand held drones for its army. The Home ministry also operates drones for counter insurgency. Killer drones are also on the Menu. India is testing drones that can carry smart bombs. Here is why Drones are important for India (a Picture of heron1drone vs. a Mig 21) Drones in India’s inventory can keep aloft for up to 40 hours at a high of over 30,000 feet, silent and small thus tougher to detect for the enemy. For many tasks such as surveillance it is just silly to risk a pilot’s life Almost one third of India’s fighter aircrafts are old and cannot do optimum sorties, the drone fleet is much younger. Drones are evolving, for new roles every day. India is working ondrones that can fire precision weapons up to a range of 100 kilometers. Drones will help Indian armed forces to overcome the pilot shortage India has critical pilot shortage drones do not need pilots. Training a pilot is costly. It costs over $2 million to train just one pilot. (Pic of trainer aircraft the Pilatus) India’s geography and topography makes the Drones an obvious choice India has a coastline of 7517 kilometers when you add 200 sq kilometers of the exclusive economic zone this becomes a vast spatial area to protect. 70 per cent of the high Himalayas fall in India much of it facing Pakistan and China. The average high of the Indian Himalayas is 6000 meters. The great Thar Desert on the Indian side covers some 80,000 square kilometers to look over. This geography makes human presence over most of it impossible The drones come marching in – here is what the Indian fleet looks like The searcher series (pic of searcher II) India started its drone deployment in 1996 with the Searcher I from Israel India operates newer versions of this drone, the searcher MK II This bird spies at 200 kilometers an hour and can loiter for up to 16 hours above 20,000 feet That is Ideal over the LOC and the deserts and the high seas India has an estimated 75 of these birds The problem is they need to be mounted on the controversial Tetra trucks which are hard to take up the mountain terrain So actual deployment is less then optimum Heron 1 This is the mainstay of the Indian armed forces in Drone warfare This drone can go up to 3200 feet at 200 kilometers an hour and over 300 kilometers from launch It has multi sensor capability can track targets as well as provide visual engagement It is valuable in tracking cross border intrusions as well as providing real time theater awareness for troops on the ground Here comes a drone that is also a missile This year the Indian armed forces are inducting the Israeli made HAROP It has cost India upward of $1 billion to acquire HAROP is special because it has a war head and can fly on a one way ticket It can become a missile on command It can loiter for hours a 1000 kilometer away after launch It was showcased at the aero Asian at Bangalore in 2009 It has cutting edge electro optical sensors This means it can “see” any pre launch activity from behind enemy lines The Rustom It is an Indian made drone named after the Late Rustom Damania who conceptualized it It can travel at 225 kilometers an hour and can climb to up to 30,000 feet India is also planning Rustom II its first test flight is in 2014 DRDO plans to make the Rustom II into an armed drone It is however at least five years away from entering service in meaningful numbers. The Aura This is the most ambitious Indian stealth Drone project It looks like a flying wing and has stealth features which make the dronedifficult to detect on enemy radars It is designed to defend itself as well as attack targets with smart munitions and missiles India may use its home made kaveri engine for this drone That engine has been twenty years in development but is not good enough for a fighter jet While an ambitious idea this drone is at least a decade away from induction in the forces.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Why India does not make arms

Union Minister for Defense AK Antony has spoken of reorienting defense acquisition priorities from foreign vendors to domestic capacity-building as an urgent priority. This is a noble sentiment but unlikely to happen. Deep structural impediments prevent India from developing its own weapon systems in the near to medium term. There is at the outset the issue of strategic direction. The Defense Research and Development Organization is a behemoth with over 50 research labs producing everything from fruit juice — they gave us the Leh berry to Intercontinental ballistic missiles. The delivery of the latter has been promised at a future date; meanwhile you can sip the juice. India imports everything from bullets to aircraft carriers. According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a think-tank that monitors international defense trade, India’s annual arms imports doubled from $1.04 billion in 2005 to $2.1 billion in 2009. It doubled again between 2009 and 2012. India imported an estimated four billion dollars worth of weaponry in 2012, making it the world’s largest importer of defense equipment. While big-ticket items, such as a nuclear submarine leased from Russia or fighter aircraft Rafale under negotiation from France, get all the airtime, the shocking truth is that India is a big importer of mundane items like bullets and even socks and underwear for high altitude regions. What accounts for such utter dependence 60 years after independence? The answer is straightforward. The system for military production and the procedure for procurement have been untouched by reforms. Public-sector firms such as the DRDO and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited are in a time warp, with an unfettered and unchecked mandate for making weaponry in India. The results have been a disaster. Often, technology transfers are not absorbed as these firms lack the necessary capability to do so. Time over-runs are routine and cost over-runs are a scandal. To take just one example, India’s efforts to develop an anti-tank missile called Nag started with a budget of Rs 380 crore, which ballooned to Rs 1,700 crore. Yet the missile did not pass muster in field trials, with three of the four missiles fired missing their targets in extreme heat conditions. The same pattern repeats from the Kaveri engine which has a cost overrun of 800 per cent and will never fly a jet fighter to the Tejas fighter aircraft (with American engines) that has had more deadlines missed then sorties flown. There is almost no oversight save the Comptroller and Auditor-General’s reports concerning India’s defense production. The conflict of interest is so stark that the chief of DRDO is traditionally the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister. Thus, he is in charge of both production and oversight. With that being the case, it is no wonder that defense production in India gets very little by the way of a serious review of its flaws. The failure of Tejas is the most glaring example. Successive DRDO heads backed the aircraft it was supposed to replace — the ageing MIG 21s. But it has yet to be certified. Meanwhile, India has lost precious lives of pilots to technical faults of aging fighters. This blasé attitude of the country’s apex defense production organisation has cost India both blood and money. The reason the Union Defense Minister sounds hollow on developing Indian capacity in armament manufacturing is a report gathering dust since 2007 in the innards of the magnificent citadel of South Block. Named the Rama Rao Committee report, it called for greater participation of the private sector in defense and urged the Government to involve clients — the Armed Forces much more closely while undertaking research and development of weapons. Why this report has not been implemented, is a question only Mr Antony can answer. The recent move to allow 49 per cent foreign direct investment has proved to be a tentative step. The Government has developed cold feet and decided to peruse this policy only on a case-by-case basis. What is more, it has added the role of foreign investment promotion board along with the Defense Ministry. This will only add red tape and discourage investments. It is no wonder that total foreign direct investment in defense in India since 2000 has been only Rs 25 crore. Private Indian firms have acquired critical mass and shown interest in defense manufacturing. Firms such as L&T, involved in India’s nuclear submarine project, the Tatas, Reliance and others are interested in the defense sector. What they lack is proprietary technology. One way of channeling that to India is to allow 74 per cent FDI in the sector. That will reassure global firms to trust India with its technology. Doing so will bring down Indian costs and develop Indian capability. This should be undertaken at the earliest. It’s time the country’s defense sector truly opened up.

PM's China visit let China set the agenda , failed.

The visit by the Prime Minister to China has been a disappointment. India went out of its way not to raise its core concerns and signed yet other confidence-building measure in the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement. If one goes by the media hype, the BDCA will seem like a magic wand that will make the border suddenly much easier to manage. It is nothing of the sort. Both sides have already put in place three such agreements. These were signed in 1993, 1996, and 2003. The latest agreement will not be able to prevent face-offs on the Line of Actual Control, as mistakenly reported by a large section of the media. Those face-offs happen because China has become more aggressive as part of a well thought out policy to demonstrate to India its ability to patrol this vast border and stake ownership on occasions. There are three reasons why the LAC will remain volatile even after this agreement. The first is cartographic and is central to the India-China border issue. Along a large section of the Line of Actual Control, the actual ground position of troops is not defined by the two sides. China has always delayed such definition despite endless rounds of talks since 2005. The second reason why the border will continue to see disputes and transgression is in its topography. At some places the border is situated on ridges and salients that are above 18,000 feet. In such topography, without a mutual understanding of where the border stands, it is impossible to stop transgression. In a stunning reversal for India, the agreement forbids tailing of soldiers in case of cross-border transgressions. By agreeing to this, India has given China a free-run on the LAC. How can a commander on the ground determine where his Chinese counterparts are moving, planning to camp, or staying within India-held areas, without tailing them? This is even more relevant given the fact that on the LAC, the Chinese have a significant advantage of being on higher ground. There is much unhappiness in the Indian Army about this provision. It also shows a dangerous disconnect the decision-makers in the Prime Minister’s Office, the Union Ministry of Defence and their disregard for military input. No military in the world will commit to a situation where its forces cannot do aggressive tailing and border patrols. Without these, it is next to impossible to be warned about any intrusion, let alone undertake counter-measures. The memorandum of understanding on water- sharing also has little substance. It is merely a promise by China to share data with India in the flooding season. The fact that China is building one of the world’s largest dams on the Brahmaputra is left unexplained. In a startling omission, the word ‘dam’ is not mentioned in the entire document. This leaves India high and dry, as there are no means for New Delhi to determine if these dams are run-of-the-river projects or they divert river flow to reservoirs and other water bodies. The visit also failed in a strategic sense. It has allowed China to set the agenda. India was unable or unwilling to even raise issues of core concern. For example, Chinese activities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were not taken up. Neither did India flag its concerns regarding China’s brazen disregard for the norms of the Nuclear Suppliers Group which underline its decision to supply two new nuclear reactors to Pakistan. Nor did India take up the issue of trade deficit, which is pegged at nearly $40 billion with China. India has expressed interest for China to invest in the infrastructure sector. This is just talk. There are too many security concerns especially given the proximity of many Chinese firms to Beijing for any meaningful investment to materialise in the Indian infrastructure sector. While some may take satisfaction in the fact that a freer visa regime was held back by India, the Chinese don’t seem to care much. They believe that the Indian side is just delaying the visa regime and does not have the holding power to fold it up. The Chinese may just be right. Indications are that the Union Ministry of External Affairs is already having second thoughts and will sign on the dotted line once things cool down. This visit thus sets a template. It's not pleasant reading that template. China has conveyed to India that this bilateral relationship is set on its own terms. Therefore, what China decides will be discussed and what it finds inconvenient will not be mentioned. India’s foreign office has been exposed as timid and unable to secure Indian interest in summit meetings. When dealing with China, clarity of action is paramount. China knows that it already holds Aksai Chin. It believes that if push comes to shove, it can destabilise India by arming Pakistan. It is also confident that its military superiority across the border from Arunachal Pradesh is a formidable hedge. It has about 3,00,000 soldiers and nuclear missiles as well as 11 landing grounds in Tibet's Chengdu region. The People’s Liberation Army believes a short war can force India’s hand, if negotiating tactics do not work. Hard power is needed to correct this Chinese perception. Time for that is running out. India will do better to look beyond incremental confidence-building measures and concentrate on boosting its military capabilities in case Chinese intentions change over time.

a tribute to Sardar Patel Vidyalaya .....

...S P V !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Le chal pagle majhdhar mujhe Lehero ke takrnae se aata reh reh ke pyar mujhe Dede ab patwar mujhe Lehro ke takarane se aata reh reh ke pyar mujhe Sardar patel Vidyalaya has been like a womb to me. A womb in which my personality was conceived. As I grew up from those tiny baby steps in the care of Maduri aunty I discovered that this unique and special place was a universe within. There are too many memories to recount, but one abiding lesson was in the Vidyalaya's tradition of not giving anyone a first in a race. The joy of participation, the old cricket saying, "Stick around this could be fun" inculcated early in our school was the one lesson I took with me when I step out to the outside world. It is this that gives us Patelians that characteristic edge. We are not here to win. We are talking a walk, smelling the flowers, admiring the painting and while we are at it doing our job. It just turns out that we have been nurtured such that the job is well done, always. We are trained to look at the bigger picture to find our individual gifts and to work on ways that perfect these. The thing about our school is in its unique ability to ensure that the ethos of our motherland with all its diversity is steeped into each and every one of us. From the love for music to the unique bilingual medium onto the little things like art camps and nurturing Mandi gaon. Each of these seeming unconnected steps led to the creation of a rootedness so critical in a fast globalising world. Today the elite private school education creates that dreaded creature the resident non-Indian, we at SPV on the other hand, know our roots and have an essential comprehension that can only come from an involved passionate consideration of what it means to be an Indian. The School's greatest strength is in the Holy trinity of teachers, friends and the support staff. I felt right through the 14 years I spend in the school (they could easily have been 16 or 17 but for re tests and the god sent CBSE policy of lowering pass marks from 40 to 33!) that it was tailor made just for me. All my friends felt the same. I remember (with much dread back then) that Mrs. Parthsarthy knew the name of each and every kid. If I needed to learn management - I had no need to go to the Harvard business school. Peter Druker the distinguished management theorists, invented the terms managing by walking around, well our principal has been walking the talk for an entire generation of grateful students. All my teacher, Madame Banerjee the strict yet loving guide friend and philosopher to us, Mamta maam with her great throw of the notebook into the dustbin to put the fear of god in us, Arunkant maam with her story telling skills, Mrs. Subramiam who made history interesting and empires come alive, Vijaya maam who crossed our t's and q's or Singh sir on the morning parade, to each I owe an abiding debt. Thank you, all the teachers from a student who did not realize he was learning so very much! I very much miss late Mrs grace and Sharma sir who put the school on the cricket pitch. May god rest their soul and may it be remembered that in our hearts and deeds they live on. And of course late Patakh bhai taught us how to get things done without making any noise. He will be remembered as the walking real life super computer which got every thing down to the last detail done perfectly, every time. As for friends well this is not the correct forum for me to go into regrets and confessions! The old line from the west comes to mind. We were all "friends for years, legends for life and tough guys forever." There was a Dill Chahta hai type bonding you meet after years and man it way like yesterday once more. Today with associations going back 20 years I need neither orkut nor facebook to connect. We have that extraordinary bond of being Patelians just reach out and you can touch anyone of these old and very dear friends. As for the support staff from Balan sir to all the rest including the superb lab assistants one can only say that what is often the weakest link of an Indian hierarchy was the strongest tie at SPV. As a family of Patelians is strong because of this core functionaries who were tireless committed and always on call to help. Finally the building itself is a fond memory. The green and the trees, the wide corridors and the principal's room ( with which I was well acquainted having spent a majority of my growing up years standing just outside) . The building is big but the rooms cozy, there is a large ground but lovely familiar old nooks. So was there nothing bad about the school, you may ask? There must have been but I guess I was way too much fun to notice! I am privileged that not only can I look back with satisfaction and nostalgia - I can also look forward with hope. In this the fiftieth year, my child Sharvil has taken the first tiny steps with Chitra maam as his teacher. I am sure a wondrous journey of self-discovery, music , quite confidence, art and color awaits him. Let us hope that like him the school flourishes as it goes back to the future.

India's snake man Romulus Whitaker

Romulus Whitaker is famous in India as the “snake man” this devoted conservation specialist is India’s foremost expert on reptiles. He is a man of many parts having worked, among other things, with the US Army. He has survived many poisonous snake bites and has discovered on the way that he is allergic to anti venom treatment! He has received the Whitley Fund for Nature award in 2005, and a Rolex Award for Enterprise in November 2008. He spoke to Ninad D Sheth. It has been a long association with India and her wildlife..... Yes! Ever since 1957, I have been involved with Snakes crocodiles and other reptiles in India. On the way there have been many memorable movements and I have been able to witness firsthand the good news and the bad news in India's environment. . What is the research agenda of the rain forest centre? The Agumbe Rainforest Research Station was created as a base for research, conservation and education to do with rainforests. We are creating a biodiversity data base for Agumbe and carrying out a telemetric study on the ecology of the king cobra. We are also encouraging researchers in all natural history disciplines, from frogs to flying foxes, to use ARRS as their base. The aim is simple to document and highlight the bio diversity some of which is unique to the Western Ghats and then to build on solutions for the protection of this area. 2. How critical is the fact that only 200 pairs of garial are now in the wild? The gharial is now listed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered, it is the most endangered large animal on the Indian subcontinent and because our rivers are in deep trouble from pollution, overuse, dams and barrages, interlinking and climate change everything that lives in them: otters, mahseer, turtles, river dolphins and gharial are under threat for their very survival. This is a time when political will has to be forced by a people's movement to save our rivers, literally to save ourselves! The problem is not in the media glare but it is real. These magnificent creatures as we all know have been with us since the time of the dinosaurs and it would be a great pity should they now disappear. Captive breeding can augment some numbers but without proper habitat and cleaner rivers it is not going to be a sustainable way to protect the Ghariyal. 3. Which states in your experience have been more sensitive towards investing in preserving their wildlife? Right now we have collaborative projects with the Forest Departments in UP, MP, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and the Andaman and Nicobars. It is very much up to the officers in the Forest Departments as to whether interest and action takes place. Some of them are visionaries with a strong desire to do the right thing and understand that partnerships with NGOs such as our Madras Crocodile Bank and Agumbe station will reap benefits both for wildlife and habitats as well as for local people in the long run. They have their expertise and we have ours, put the two together and we are able to make considerable strides in species and habitat conservation. 4. You have pointed out that the larger picture esp. that relating to the water sources of the Western Ghats? We treat our water sources as sewers and dumping grounds in India. This MUST STOP! Our precious water sources need maximum protection and rehabilitation if we are to have enough water to sustain our children and grandchildren. Everyone must be urged to be part of the solution to our increasing water problems, it can be done and it has to be now, without delay. 5. How would you classify the king cobra in India in terms of its numbers reviving n the near future? Are you an optimist on the king cobra’s future in India? King cobras are dependent on the sanctity of the rainforests in the Western Ghats and in the Northeast. We have already done away with up to 80% of Indias rainforests, thanks to the creation of tea and coffee estates over the past 150 years and the massive deforestation for settlement, agriculture, dam projects and the like, much of it in the past 50 years. We still have some quite large contiguous chunks of protected forests, such as the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and the Agumbe Rainforest Complex, but there are greedy eyes out there, totally ignorant of the priceless value of these forests as water sources and only interested in squeezing whatever profits can be made from mining, electricity production, timber and other forest produce. The king cobra and all the denizens of the rainforest can survive if we allow their habitat to survive. It's an uphill struggle and the only way to remain optimistic is to be part of this struggle to make sure we win.  

Indian Navy sails into the future

The new Chief of Naval Staff Admiral D. K. Joshi takes command at a time of extraordinary expansion for the Indian Navy. He has also gone on to say that the Indian Navy — the fifth largest in the world — is ready to protect the country’s economic interests in the South China Sea, particularly the oil blocks off the coast of Vietnam being explored by ONGC. The Indian Army and the Indian Air force are accustomed to fast growth, but the Navy, after a brief spurt in the mid-80s, suddenly came to a halt. It, however, appears to be back in full steam mode. However, the Navy’s place within strategic thinking in India, a country with a predominantly landlocked mindset, is uncertain. The Royal navy legacy According to the Defence Ministry, the Navy has added as many as fifteen ships over the last three years. This includes a leased nuclear submarine from Russia, the Akulla II class. It will soon take delivery of the much-delayed Russian aircraft carrier retrofitted for Indian use, the INS Vikramaditya. Other ships include three “stealth” frigates of the Shivalik class, resupply tankers and fast attack boats. The plan is to add five more ships every year for the next five years. The Navy has received a major boost in its surveillance capability with the acquisition of the US-made P8i aircraft, armed with Harpoon missiles. These aircraft will replace an aging fleet of Tu142 and IL38 aircraft of the 80s. The aircraft carrier group and the nuclear submarine are capabilities, that could, over time, restore Indian maritime primacy in the Indian Ocean waters. The imperial Navy that India inherited from the British controlled seas from Aden to Singapore. That sea control included an outreach capability over the three critical “chokepoints”— Bandar Abbas in the Persian Gulf, the straits south of Sri Lanka and the Malacca straits in the Singapore littoral. More bases Besides these impressive strides in hardware, the Indian Navy has also developed two critical bases, at an estimated cost of $3 billion. On the Western Seaboard, the INS Dweeprakshak on the Lakshadweep Island will handle surveillance and base larger war ships. With this base, India has will acquire a robust sea control capability. On the Eastern Sea Board similarly, India has opened a new base, the naval air station, Baaz. This base will be under the tri-command in the Campbell bay, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Significantly, it is nearer to the Malacca strait than to India. The two bases are complemented by India’s longest runway at the INS Rajali in Tamil Nadu that will base the P81 spy aircraft. The Navy has also gone digital with all ships in the process of being linked to a command and control apparatus. Strategic Centrestage With its ability to remain underwater without refuelling for long periods, the nuclear submarine is the ‘Alpha’ asset. It is virtually impossible to detect and can have several nuclear weapons aboard depending on the configuration. What is more, the nuclear submarine can be far, really far, out at sea. The Navy is unique in its ability to project power beyond the constraints of national boundaries. After twelve nautical miles, the world is your oyster. Neither the Army nor the Air Force enjoy a similar advantage. For India, the submarine combined with the aircraft carrier battle group provides a critical edge. It is a pity that the Indian mindset is landlocked. The strategic planners need a complete reorientation from brown and white lands of Rajasthan and the Himalayas to the endless oceans. The Navy, to be truly a strategic force, will require two critical changes in India’s way of war. First, India will have to move away from prioritising the million-plus army and allocate bandwidth and funds for the Navy in strategy. Time overruns Second, the Defence Ministry and the Navy with the myriad defence public sector undertakings that they control, need to get their act together. Although Indian-made warships cost a quarter of similar class ships in the West and Japan, the time overruns are very high. The Navy has a staggering delayed delivery schedule. This constrains the force with only about six submarines at any given point at sea. The Indian Navy needs robust oversight and a bold decision — allowing private players in warship building. Some of this is already happening. The hull of Arihant, India’s own nuclear submarine due for sea trials this year, was built by L&T, a private firm. Such participation can accelerate if India allows majority investment by foreign players in shipbuilding and taps the potential of defence offsets. Partnership is the way forward. India’s state-owned shipyards are in a growth dilemma — choked with orders they cannot fulfil for lack of technology and funds. The ocean is too large to be anybody’s playground. Technology, with cruise missiles and potential anti-aircraft carrier missile defence, has shrunk geography. India shares with democratic countries the maritime advantage — all of them have robust navies. Working with the democracies of the US, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia will be to its advantage. This will need diplomatic innovation and a strategic re-jig. Without it, floating assets, even hefty ones, will count for little. Lastly, the Defence Ministry will need to control leaks on its mother ship. With a nuclear submarine, potentially armed with nuclear weapons out at sea, another such leak could lead to an unthinkable catastrophe. Securing ships is the vital challenge for the Indian Navy in the years ahead.

Armageddon Parlaya kayamat Nuclear weapons in Pakistan

The command and control of nuclear weapons in the Islamic State of Pakistan are of great concern for the outside world. The news on the ground is bad and it is getting worse. Pakistan has one of the five largest nuclear arsenals in the world. According to last year’s Global Fissile Material Report, it is thought to have 90 to 110 nuclear warheads. But the security of the nuclear weapons is not the sole concern. The very fabric of the State itself is mutating towards Islamic extremism. With every passing day, the danger of nuclear weapons, fissile material and even scientists finding their way to terror groups increases. Pakistan’s polity — where radical Islam is creeping into everyday life — is now riddled with frequent attacks on sites that are thought to store the country’s nuclear weapons. These combine to produce a perilous instability. Even more dangerously, the Pakistani military establishment may have elements within itself that are allied with the Taliban. In such a scenario, an attack of the kind on the Minhas airbase in Kamra could become frighteningly successful. That attack was not the first. Earlier in 2011, an assault was mounted on another facility at the largest Pakistan navy base in Karachi, also believed to house nuclear weapons. In 2009, the nerve centre of Pakistan’s army — its general head quarters in Rawalpindi — came under attack. It is as if terror groups can pick and choose their targets at will in Pakistan. None of these assaults was a small-time attempt. They were commando operations with rocket launchers and machine guns. Tellingly, they took out at least as many soldiers as terrorists. Pakistan has refused to sign the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty. With its new nuclear reactor at Khushab, Pakistan will add more nuclear bombs to its already massive nuclear arsenal. The terror architecture has robust foundations in the Islamic republic. Pakistan is the laboratory of terror groups that have probably been nurtured by the State over the last four decades. Some of these terror groups have now turned on the State. They demand the formation of a puritan regime in Pakistan with sharia law. This is not a political demand. These are radical extremists armed to the teeth, and having a mass base amongst the population. But the looming threat has not stopped Pakistan from continuing to nurture terror groups. The Pakistani army and its ‘secret service’, the Inter-Services Intelligence, still see profit in the terror option. The fact that Osama bin Laden was just outside Pakistan’s most important military training establishment in Abbotabad underlined this dramatically. Pakistan is hooked to the low cost-high returns proxy wars, which are against America. In many countries, democracy mitigates extremism. In Pakistan, however, the exact opposite is at play. The party widely tipped as the next winner in Pakistan’s elections is lead by the cricketer-turned-politician, Imran Khan. It is believed to be very close to the current army leadership. The party has General Hamid Gul in a mentor’s role. Gul was the chief of the ISI who fast-tracked extremist militia groupings as a proxy war tactic for Pakistan. Should Khan’s party make it in the general elections, the possibility of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists could come one step closer. Given the possibility — some futurists will say the certainty — of terrorists laying their hands on nuclear material through an attack on one of Pakistan’s nuclear plants, the international community has to seriously consider its options. The options are few and fraught with danger. At a minimum, Pakistan must be a party to the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty. Diplomatic efforts round the world need to stress the removal of the opacity from the Pakistani nuclear stance. Any new reactors must come under this regime. The other option which occasionally crops up — of America or Israel ‘taking out’ the nuclear weapons — can be tried but will probably have an unpredictable outcome. Pakistan is playing a dangerous game with unforeseeable circumstances. The more the international community vacillates, the greater the danger. Pakistan insists that the command structure of its nuclear weapons is foolproof — it’s relevant to ask who controls them. Diplomatic efforts must focus on ensuring that the next 9\11 — if it happens — is not under a mushroom cloud.