In response to a question in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said that the Army has the maximum shortage of 7,791 officers followed by 1,557 in the Indian Navy and 572 in the Indian Air Force.
Ninety-seven people, including nine children, were killed and two passengers miraculously survived the fiery crash when the PIA flight PK-8303 with 99 travellers on board plunged into a densely populated residential area near the airport here.
The status of the current submarine force level is alarming and we need to address the threat perceptions expeditiously. Critical decisions pertaining to national security cannot be delayed any further due to the rapidly changing maritime threat perceptions and growing strategic importance of the Indian Ocean region, asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The inquiry teams had started their work on the very next day the incident took place. The statements are being recorded and in one or two cases, some people have changed their account of the incidents, they said.
Dad had sneaked into East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh) well before the war had started for reconnaissance of the terrain on the other side. He had disguised himself as a driver of a truck laden with goods and traveled into East Pakistan to be received by the underground fighters of the Mukti Bahini.
The PIA plane PK-661 with 48 people, including famous pop singer-turned-Islamic preacher Junaid Jamshed, his wife and Deputy Commissioner Chitral Osama Warraich, on board crashed on Wednesday in Saddha Batolni village near Havelian while en route to Islamabad from Chitral in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
India will need to watch carefully and understand the new round of instability and uncertainty in Pakistan, while charting the course of its future diplomatic initiatives, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The armed forces continue to be upset with the government over a defence ministry circular regarding rank parity vis-a-vis their civilian counterparts at the Service headquarters even though the ministry issued a statement on Thursday, saying no downgradation had been done.
The Indian Navy has a big role to play in support of our strategic objectives in the Indian Ocean. The increasing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean is a matter of concern and need to be factored. Hence, the requirement of an Aircraft Carrier is a foregone conclusion, asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Theresa May's visit to a Bengaluru aerospace systems supplier is seen as the UK's strategy to pursue new defence deals.
'China would rather tie us down; and bleed us as much as it can so that we aren't able to lift our heads to face them.'
The IAF plea has claimed that the 'information so sought includes details related to the entire entourage, names of Special Protection Group personnel accompanying the Prime Minister of India on foreign tours for his personal safety, and the same, if disclosed, can potentially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State'.
'I realised what a great leader he was by the way he took decisions to undertake the most-risky of missions.'
The key airbase at Panagarh in West Bengal has been renamed as 'Air Force Station Arjan Singh' in honour of the Marshal of the Air Force, who turned 97 on Friday.
With the Indian Navy's requirement of conventional submarines standing at 24, there is critical need to expedite the planned acquisition of six more conventional submarines.
Sometimes it is the man behind the machine who makes mistakes, sometimes it is the machine which does so, and sometimes it is a combination of both and some other factors that leads to an accident, notes Helicopter pilot IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe.
'I am only asking about his travel bills and expenditure.'
"I do not want India to be an economic superpower. I want India to be a happy country." - JRD Tata
Arjan Singh, the Marshal of the Indian Air Force, was a fearless and exceptional pilot and remained a source of inspiration to all personnel of the Armed Forces through the years.
Designed and built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC), the frigate was delivered to the Pakistan Navy in a commissioning ceremony in Shanghai, according to Global Times.
Disciplinary action is being taken against two officers in the shooting down of the chopper.
Pakistan on Wednesday suspended a top commander of the country's major naval air base, three days after a brazen attack by Taliban militants, which killed 10 navy personnel and destroyed two spy planes in the port city Karachi, television channels reported.
'It is time we Indians stop our internal bickering and present a united front to Chinese machinations,' advises Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
On Air Force Day, a salute to a fighter pilot, who was an example in life and in death. Air Commodore Nitin Sathe pays tribute to an extraordinary officer and a gentleman.
One can only imagine how it is at the receiving end of the bomb. The sound is deafening, splinters and rocks fly like missiles and the blast sucks in the air around asphyxiating everyone. The shock waves can be felt for miles around.
Air India had stopped the practice of issuing tickets on credit to government agencies for the travel of their officials in December last year because of accruing pending bills.
It was Soni Somarajan's biggest dream -- to see himself as a proud member of the Indian Armed Forces. When Life brutally shattered that dream, he wove a new one.
On a journey to recreate history, and to script a new one, British aviator Tracey Curtis Taylor, on a stopover in Delhi on her way to Australia to relive a flight made 85 years ago, said her mission is to inspire young girls to strive to achieve their dreams.
'The Indian Navy has sufficient combat power in areas of interest to India that can quickly scale up operations if the need arises.' 'This includes all the choke points leading into the Indian Ocean as also areas within.'
'At this point, neither the army or the IAF has that immediate, punitive deterrent power against Pakistan.' 'Forget a three-week war; on the LoC, where the action is, Pakistan has until now fielded better infantry weapons, body armour, sniper rifles, and matching artillery' points out Shekhar Gupta.
Mere shuffling of resources or cosmetic changes to prove a point would be counterproductive in the long run, observes Commodore Venugoptal Menon (retd).
Before migrating into the theatre command concept, it would be worthwhile to study the shortfalls experienced by the Tri Services Command in the Andaman and Nicobar islands and make good the deficiencies, suggests Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'Unlike Dr Manmohan Singh, who quailed and turned away because the darkness was too frightening, Modi has taken a leap to the other side. He deserves applause for this fearlessness,' says Aditi Phadnis.
India has the ability in all respects to be a great power and address our security challenges in the best national interests, says Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'Rafales can play an important role in doing DEAD (Destruction of Enemy Air Defence) on the Surface-to-Air Missiles that the Chinese have put on Tibet'
This was the very same house from which two nervous women were dramatically winched up to safety by a brave Navy commando.
The ministry of defence has unwisely decided to build just two squadrons of the already developed aircraft -- Tejas Mark I -- and to start developing an even more capable Tejas Mark II. This is an enormous blunder, says Ajai Shukla
The data gathered by activist Commodore (Retd) Lokesh Batra through his RTI application, show that till June 2016, Indian Air Force aircraft were used for the prime minister's visits to 11 countries -- Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Qatar, Australia, Pakistan, Russia, Iran, Fiji and Singapore.
'What has changed is the desperation of Pakistan proxies and the separatists in their failure to foment violence and civilian casualties in Kashmir.'
'It is a testing time for our foreign policy which may involve a certain element of taking risks, assessing costs, and expecting failures,' asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances