Since the announcement by the defence and railway ministers on the army being tasked to construct the Foot Over Bridges (FOB) at Elphinstone railway station in Mumbai and two other places, there has been a flurry of criticism for the government’s decision. The Elphinstone FOB, is being constructed where a recent stampede claimed over twenty-three lives and left scores injured. […]
War, ethnic cleansing and droughts create refugee movements, compelling hordes of suffering humans to move from their permanent residence seeking shelter, food and security to life. In reality, no one desires to leave his place of residence and become a refugee in an alien land, irrespective of present difficulties or benefits it may provide in the future. However, wars and […]
The recent upsurge in violence in Haryana had the army deployed in panic by the state government, even before it had run out of central resources. It ensured an early return to normalcy. The police and other Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) were a dismal failure. Anibhav Kumar, an IPS officer on deputation with CAPFs, wrote in the Indian Express […]
As early as 1967-68, Mr V Shankar, the defence secretary had stated, ‘In the absence of a single head at the top of defence forces organizations today, the ultimate burden of coordination, superior direction and working out of policies, of evolving weapon concepts suitable to defence policy and strategy and of settling inter-service rivalries or competing demands largely falls on […]
The Rohingya issue has begun taking a political turn, with leaders cutting across party lines, projecting their views, which in many ways is contrary to that of the government and against the national interest. Omar Abdullah stated that there were no reports of Rohingya’s being a security threat till 2014, when he was the Chief Minister. Mamta Banerjee, through whose […]
The Rohingya’s forced migration from Myanmar into Bangladesh has been in the headlines in the recent past. There are controversies surrounding this forced migration. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNCHR), US and many other nations have blamed the Myanmar army for ethnic cleansing. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UNHCR, went on the state that this is clearly a […]
The PMO passed directions to the defence ministry to task the army to clean up tourist spots in high altitude areas of the muck deposited by tourists over the years. In the last two years, the army has laid mats for the Yoga day celebrations, a responsibility of the state government, as also of constructing two pontoon bridges for Sri […]
Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s second woman defence minister, Indira Gandhi being the first, assumes her appointment with immediate effect. Like all her predecessors, she would have limited knowledge on the functioning of the military. The three service chiefs and the defence secretary would spend time, slowly taking her through the paces, enabling her to comprehend the complexities of military power and […]
Friday 25th Aug, a black day, when the Haryana government writ collapsed in the state. It was the day, when Ram Rahim, a self-styled godman was to be sentenced for alleged rape in the Panchkula CBI courts. For a week, Lakhs of his supporters had been entering the city, jamming sidewalks and parks, creating confusion amongst residents, conveying the message […]
Chidambaram’s recent article in the Financial Express entitled, “Centre has taken a maximalist position on Kashmir like militants”, is seeking to defend the failures of the UPA and deflect its faulty policies to the present government. Further, a weak opposition is always scared when the government in power adopts a different approach, which may succeed. Every approach must be given […]