A day after registering a case in the Adarsh housing society scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday carried out searches at various premises in Maharashtra and Bihar that belong to the three main accused named in the FIR. The searches were conducted at the residences and other places of the society's general secretary R C Thakur, retired Brigadier M M Wanchoo and Congress leader K L Gidwani in various parts of Maharashtra and Bihar.
'We all expected Modi with the majority to tame the bureaucracy, but it is the bureaucracy that tamed him.'
'The bottom line is that disproportionate losses should be avoided at all cost and terrorists should be denied tactical successes that act as opium for them to become bold to achieve perceived victory.' 'This is a long war and instead of rushing to achieve quick success, the objective should be not to give any success to the terrorists in terms of casualties and freedom of movement.' 'Every soldier martyred by terrorists in combat is a moral victory for them,' says Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
Sri Lankan authorities are questioning 37 persons, including a brigadier, a colonel and some army deserters, detained for their alleged role in a plot to assassinate President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Nepal cannot continue to drift. The volatility shimmering in the mountain kingdom can barely withstand more turmoil. It is in our and Nepalese interests to address the fundamental problems in that state, keeping Nepalese sensitivities at the core, writes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Umar Khatab was killed and an army jawan wounded in a fierce gun-battle in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Sunday. Khatab was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Bhatti-Dar area at Mendhar early on Sunday morning, said Brigadier General Staff (16 Coprs) S Dua. Acting on specific information that some militants were hiding in Bhatti-Dar area, Rashtriya Rifles troops and the police launched a search-and-cordon operation.
'The redrawing of the map with the inclusion of Kalapani area by Nepal and endorsement from the House of Representatives shows the KP Oli government's move to gain cheap popularity in the name of nationalism'
Violating the ceasefire again, Pakistani troops targeted forward Indian posts along the Line of Control with rockets, mortars and resorted to heavy firing in Poonch district in the wee hours on Thursday.
'Attempts at long-term rapprochement have been rather feeble from both sides. The primary cause of the lack of progress is that these efforts do not appear to have the support of the Pakistan army,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
In a deteriorating neighbourhood, only Bangladesh offers a ray of hope, writes Brigadier (retd) S K Chatterji.
Tawang is very much a part of India, and if the present Dalai Lama decides one day to take rebirth in Tawang, the Indian government will openly welcome him and support him, notes Claude Arpi.
The ministry said "local designations" assigned to both service and civilian officers in Service Headquarters/ Inter Service Organisations is also withdrawn.
Faced with a no win situation, elements in Pakistan have so far been, and would continue to calibrate the situation in such a way that a state of stalemate protracts. And, as such a game is played out, the Americans will be permitted to fly their unmanned aerial vehicles and target at their discretion.
A peace caravan to Gaza travels through the middle-east to a rousing reception. The caravan is part of an effort to lift the two-year blockade of Gaza by Israel.
In fresh revelations of provocative actions, Canada has denied visas to a member of the Armed Forces Tribunal, three serving Brigadiers, a retired Lt General and a former senior Intelligence Bureau official on the grounds that their organisations have been engaging in violence.
The jihadis use stone throwing to draw fire from the security forces and cause casualties so that Kashmir is on the boil for a little longer. The solution to the turmoil is not concessions, but good governance.
Indian Army on Monday lodged a strong protest with its Pakistan counterpart over unprovoked firing from across the border on Indian posts along the Line of Control in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir which left a jawan critically injured.
In yet another ceasefire violation, Pakistani troops on Sunday opened fire on six Indian forward posts in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistani troops violated ceasefire by indulging in firing on six Indian posts from 9 am on Sunday along the Line of Control in Krishnaghati area, 210 kms from Jammu, Brigadier Gurdeep Singh, (16 Corps) said. He said that firing was going on intermittently after Indian troops retaliated.
A regional power struggle between India and China, however muted be it, will be more and more evident as China pushes the envelope to be a greater global player. India must prepare for it, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The shrill politically-driven rhetoric demanding that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act be repealed, if allowed to hold sway, may drive us deeper into the dark world of both Islamist terror and the Maoist insurgency, warns Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Irrespective of SAARC's banal performance audit, it would be at South Asia's peril to accept the idea that SAARC as a framework has little to offer, especially to its poorer members, writes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Gaurav Negi, in his quest to meet the brave men who put their lives on the line to defend India, tracked down Brigadier Kuldip Singh Chandpuri. Chandpuri is the real-life hero who inspired Sunny Deol's character in the acclaimed film Border.
To get back into reckoning and ensure India's interests are given their due in Afghanistan, we need to evaluate a new mix of soft and hard options, writes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'China has made rapid advances into Myanmar.... Radars have been reported to have been erected on Myanmar's west coast to monitor Indian missile tests.'
Contradicting the Centre's announcement that 35,000 troops were sent out of the border state, the Army on Monday said personnel were only relocated as per security demands and that there was no major pullout.
Violating the ceasefire, Pakistani troops fired rockets and used heavy machine guns on Indian posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The global jihadi network is under pressure but it needs a long-term strategy to keep it in control, writes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan's Paktika and Khost provinces, thereby allowing militants to escape or seek reinforcement from the other side of the Pakistan border clearly exposes the US intentions, says a security expert.
As it stands now, the ChonAn incident will perhaps come to pass without a major fallout. However, as and when young Kim Jong Un ascends to power in North Korea a period of greater assertiveness may be anticipated in the North's nuclear agenda, writes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Pakistani troops fired 15 under-barrel grenade launcher rockets on five Indian forward defence locations from its eight border posts along the LoC in Krishna Gati sub-sector of Poonch district at around 1815 hours on Saturday night, Brigadier General Staff, 16 Corps, Brig Gurdeep Singh told PTI on Sunday.
Taliban terrorists have on Saturday night held 10-15 hostages, including security personnel, hours after launching an audacious attack on Pakistan Army's headquarters in nearby Rawalpindi that sparked a fierce gun battle in which a Brigadier and five other armymen were killed.
After being indicted by the Armed Forces Tribunal for showing bias against a Brigadier and falsifying the accounts of the Kargil war, Lt Gen Kishan Pal on Thursday said he had "not fudged any war reports" and whatever he wrote about the battle was "unbiased".
With the Armed Forces Tribunal indicting a top officer for falsifying Kargil war reports and showing bias towards a brigadier, the army said it will take action on the issue after analysing the verdict.
Pakistan intelligence agencies have warned that militants may use an explosives laden vehicle to target the US Embassy in Islamabad. According to an intelligence report, two stolen vehicles, one of an army officer and the other owned by the Pakistan Navy, are likely to be used in the terror attack.
Brigadier Sultan Amir Tarar, a former operative of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, has said that the US must directly talk to Afghan Taliban chief and his protg Mullah Omar to resolve the political situation in Afghanistan.
'In the absence of any further testing of nuclear warheads, it is essential to focus upon the associated structures of nuclear defence.'
In the Middle East, which is already coping with the Qatar-Saudi Arabia tensions, comes another pressure point.
In yet another violation of the ceasefire, Pakistani troops fired nearly 135 rounds on Indian positions in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Sunday night, but there were no casualties.
The best course of action for India remains to work within the space it has created in Myanmar and not make the junta too apprehensive, while still trying to nudge for greater political reforms, writes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd)
With Maoist insurgents offering more lethal battles, police battalions will need a transformation to standards very close to infantry units. Even with the best equipment and training, they will not succeed if they do not have a dynamic leadership, writes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
