The defence minister has 20 months to learn the military's ethos, culture and to publicly bat for an organisation that feels increasingly marginalised and underappreciated.
There are a lot of very bad men out there. And Syed Asif Ibrahim is the best officer to deal with them. Aditi Phadnis reports
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unveiled a statue of late former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam to mark his 84th birth anniversary.
Naval warship INS Kochi, the stealth guided missile destroyers, has been commissioned by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.
Among the programmes suffering from this lack of leadership is the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft project.
"A mere 5-6 per cent of defence budget for R&D is inadequate to meet the aspirations of India's defence needs especially when China spends about 20 per cent of their defence budget for R&D," said the DRDO chief.
Seconds into the test, the anti-ballistic missile deviated from its planned path and it quickly became clear that it would not hit the target.
Accusing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of having "reaped benefits" of communal polarisation in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress on Wednesday said the government should now focus on good governance and deliver on promises.
Soldiers fighting the enemy will receive state-of-the-art assault rifles, other soldiers will get 'Make in India' rifles.
'More needs to be done in less time,' says Vivek Gumaste. 'A sense of urgency is crucial if the BJP wishes to fulfil its promise of tough, no-nonsense, governance in matters of security.'
The outgoing Tejas chief said the aircraft will join the IAF fleet by 2021-22.
Modi's Vietnam visit is timely and crucial for several reasons. First, Vietnam lies at the heart of India's vision for Southeast Asia as also its 'Act East' policy. India also wants to boost its defence exports to friendly countries. And it is looking to increase trade between the two countries will now is only $7.83 billion, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
DRDO says it is working with the navy to fit the Rustom-1 with an Automatic Identification System that will identify Indian fishing vessels along the maritime boundary
'She has to get the funds, cut through bureaucratic flab, speed up modernisation, ensure planned acquisitions stick to timelines, make organisational changes and ensure the military is capable of performing the task that it is given,' says Brigadier S K Chatterjee (retd).
The end goal of defence procurement should be not import or indeginisation but securing the country through able and ready armed forces, says Air Marshal P V Athawale (retd)
The Central bureau of Investigation on Tuesday filed a closure report in a seven-year-old case of alleged bribery in the Rs.1,150 crore Barak missile deal in which former Defence Minister George Fernandes and the then Naval Chief Admiral Sushil Kumar were accused.
The Akash weapon system, which will be deployed facing the western borders, employs command to line of sight guidance and relies on sophisticated radars and control systems to guide the missile to its targets.
This visa issue had gotten so embarrassing that former Defence Secretary William Cohen, now a member of the US-India Business Council's board of directors, who was presiding along with Ambassador Nirupama Rao at the launch, had to prevail upon Secretary of State John F Kerry and get the visas okayed.
Kalam, who received seveeral prestigious awards including Bharat Ratna, played a crucial role when India tested its nuclear weapons at Pokhran in 1998 when the Vajpayee government was in power.
Some officials, despite repeated warnings, continue to browse the Internet and visit social networking sites from the very same computer in which classified information is stored, says Vicky Nanjappa
Against the backdrop of delays in several of its major projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesdau told Defence Research and Development Organisation to speed up and complete its programmes in time as the world will not wait for it.
'Let us remember that Make in India for defence must not be our goal.' 'The goal is to have a strong military to help the nation protect its identity and assert its will.'
In the light of India's increasingly 'darkening' threat environment and the convergence of strategic interests between China and Pakistan, the IAF's declining combat capabilities are a cause for concern, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'The defence minister needs to focus on human resources-related issues at the same pace in 2017 as he did on acquisitions in 2016,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
APJ Abdul Kalam was passionate about everything he did. He was perfect, says Aditi Phadnis
By removing Avinash Chander last week, the government has chosen to sacrifice the organisation's most potent symbol of success
India Inc is automating and squeezing more output from its workers and so needs fewer of them, finds out IndiaSpend Team.
In the years to come, India's space assets will play a much bigger role if and when hostilities break out on our borders, says Pallava Bagla.
'We should build a military with the capability to fight today's war on priority -- balancing it with the requirements of the future,' says Lieutenant General Anil Chait, one of the Indian Army's most cerebral thinkers who recently retired as chief of the Integrated Defence Staff, in his agenda for the new defence minister.
India's enemies be warned: The Rafale deal will bring a sea change in India's defence preparedness.
SAAB's Sea Gripen constitutes a new option as the INS Vikrant's light fighter
Sujatha Singh is the third senior official to have been dismissed by NDA.
'Even if the national security framework is to be threat-based, then the division of security threats between Pakistan and China is absurd. The two threats are one.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Tanzania where he held talks with Tanzanian President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli.
The Goa chief minister does not fit the paradigm of a standard politician yet he can be relied on to add a new dynamic to proceedings at the Centre, Aditi Phadnis reports
'When I read page number 50 of Transcendence, second paragraph, there he writes, "No more manoeuvres are required any more, as I am placed in my final position in eternity".' 'And within a month of that. he was no more.'
Only 2.3% of the Indian workforce has undergone formal skill training, as compared to 68% in UK and 52% in the US
Sanjeev Nayar offers some ideas on how Indians can help in improving the lives of those living in border areas and in the process help the Indian Army.
The BBC documentary, depicting the aftermath of the brutal gang rape and murder of Nirbhaya in 2012, has premiered in the United States with Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep, Frieda Pinto and actor-director Farhan Akhtar in attendance as a show of support for the film banned in India.
An ill-informed public narrative centres on expensive weapons platforms instead of the little things that would improve capability.
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