The Supreme Court is presently hearing a PIL on supposed extra-judicial killings during the peak of insurgency in Manipur. It has been pressurizing the CBI, presently investigating some of the cases, to speed up its processes. In the last hearing on 30th July the court summoned the head of CBI and left him with the option of arresting those security […]
Whenever elections appear close, political parties seek to subdue or discredit the opposition by re-raising corruption cases. With the announcement of results, the cases again move into the cupboard to be extracted when fresh elections are due. In recent times, defence deals have increasingly come under the scanner. For years it was the Bofors, which was exploited to the hilt […]
As per press reports, the army is mulling the closure of cantonments and converting military areas within them into military stations. It has presently ordered a study into the same expected to be completed by the end of the year, though the MoD has denied any immediate actions in a tweet. The first cantonment was established by the British in […]
Nirmala Sitharaman, the defence minister announced over the weekend, in a press conference, the setting up of a commercial negotiations committee to inquire into the high price quoted by HAL for the manufacture of Tejas 1A fighter aircraft. The HAL is seeking Rs 463 Crores for each fighter aircraft, which is almost 100 Crore over the cost of the present […]
The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) announced the successful launch of the NAG missile last week after firing it against two targets in desert conditions. It issued a statement stating, ‘With this, the development trials of the missile have been completed and it is now ready for induction.’ The army has made no comment on this announcement. It is […]
On 20th May, Nirmala Sitharaman issued directions for the opening of all cantonment roads across the country. Her claims of the army being taken on board appear to have been misleading as despite the army chief defending her statement, all roads have not been opened, as reports from Secunderabad indicate. Had the army been taken into confidence and agreed with […]
The latest in the list of issues enhancing the divide between the bureaucracy and the military and impacting the status of the armed forces is the sanctioning of additional vacancies and improving promotional prospects of the AFHQ-CS (Armed Forces HQ Civil Service) in their cadre review. The cabinet had sanctioned additional posts of seven new Principal Directors (four are already […]
The government last week issued an advertisement inviting talented and motivated citizens in specific fields to join in direct recruitment as Joint Secretaries (JS) in the government of India. They would be on initial contract for a period of three years, extendable to five. The fields chosen were financial services, economic affairs, agriculture, cooperation and farmers’ welfare, road transport and […]
On a debate on News 18 on 08 Jun, in which I was a participant, the anchor thanked the BJP spokesperson for agreeing to come for the debate. She claimed that many spokespersons of the party whom the channel approached, stated that the topic being very sensitive, they were wary of participating. The topic was the last announcement by the […]
In a press conference two days ago, the army chief General Bipin Rawat supported the opening of cantonment roads. He stated, ‘If a road is being planned for a particular civil area, should we close it and think we are above everyone else’. He quoted two examples. The first example he gave was of walking plaza’s which exist in select […]