'If you are a professional journalist, don't ever think that your work is going to bring in revolution or that you are going to change the world. That job is best left to the revolutionaries,' M V Kamath, the legendary journalist who passed away on October 9, told Nitin Gokhale.
A preliminary internal assessment has concluded that the three-member suicide squad had chosen the Samba-based armoured unit with deliberate care, since a Cavalry or armoured unit is normally not as adept at counter-insurgency operations as an infantry unit, reports RS Chauhan.
India won't pay more than $7 billion for 36 Rafale aircraft. The French want $11 billion.
'The government, supposedly manned by wise and experienced officers, was all at sea, unable to act cohesively, and with restraint. Each agency was out to score brownie points.'
For a PM who hasn't completed even one term yet, the ability to spark a publishing trend single-handed is a remarkable achievement, writes Kanika Datta.
Those advocating a similar raid in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, for instance, need to have a reality check on the applicability of the same template on other borders, says Nitin Gokhale.
'The necessity of a Mountain Strike Corps is well understood. The problem is in implementing the intention.'
Prime Minister Modi felt there were too many silos with no arrangement to take a comprehensive view on national security. The PM has entrusted NSA Ajit Doval to evolve a comprehensive roadmap and get it implemented, reveals Nitin Gokhale, Editor-in-Chief, Strategic News International.
Four things Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said that would make every India proud of its armed forces and India.
For the very first time, India's Raksha Mantri, Manohar Parrikar, a senior member of Narendra Modi's Cabinet, has openly said that the people who took the political decisions of conducting the September 29 surgical strikes should reap the profits of that decision.
'During his stint as MoS in the Narasimha Rao PMO, Matang Sinh developed contacts in the bureaucracy which stood him in good stead even when out of power.'
As the island heads for elections, two major factors worry Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. One is the division in the Sinhala vote and the other is the prospect of the Tamils and Muslims voting heavily against him.
New Delhi is quietly reclaiming its space in Asia by forging alliances with China's neighbours. In a way, India is converting its much-talked about Act East Policy to Engage East practice.
'The Pathankot episode shows that the security forces handled the attack well after the initial setback, although there is no denying that there are shortcomings in India's security grid that need urgent correction,' says national security expert Nitin Gokhale, founder, BharatShakti.in
It would perhaps have been better for Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh to have been elevated to the top post by the new government, notes R S Chauhan.
By jettisoning the seniority principle, the government has sent a strong signal that only merit and suitability will count in occupying posts in the higher echelons of the military, writes national security expert Nitin Gokhale.
As the Cabinet approves the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets, Nitin Gokhale/Bharatshakti.in reveals how India brought down the price of the Rafale deal.
Nitin Gokhale reports on how quick decisions saved a repeat of a Mumbai-like carnage at the key Punjab air force base.
The success of Anil Ambani's ambitious defence plan will depend partly on whether he can persuade government officials and international partners that he can build sophisticated equipment and partly on whether the PM can get India's notoriously slow procurement process to work, say Paritosh Bansal, Sanjeev Miglani and Promit Mukherjee.
'The sad truth is our news managers know much more about Houston and Boston than Kohima and Kokrajhar...' 'Many worthies will travel to the US and Europe to report on Prime Minister Modi's foreign sojourns, but will cite the difficulties of logistics when asked why they don't cover Modi's forays into Arunachal Pradesh, a state China lays claim to.'
On available evidence, it is still not clear if India was the target or if the occupants on destroyed boat were assigned to carry out any terrorist attack. What is clear however is the boat was no ordinary fishing vessel, says Nitin Gokhale.
'In my hospital, there must be at least 150, 200 Indian nurses. There are other hospitals nearby, and my calculation is that there may be at least 600, 700 Indian nurses working there.' 'All of us are worried. I want the Indian government to help us get out of here,' says an Indian nurse working at a maternity hospital in the Saudi Arabian city of Najran which was shelled early this week by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militants.
'A couple of hours before the H-Hour, the Kupwara division opened small arms and mortar fire on posts opposite its area of operation.' 'This was a diversionary tactic.' 'As Pakistani forces began to react to the firing, special forces teams began to slowly cross the LoC into PoK.' Nitin Gokhale reveals how planning for the surgical strikes began hours after the Uri attack.
'The provisions of the AFSPA must remain on the statute books given the increasingly violent and uncertain times.'
The average Indian soldier remains as hardy as before but he is certainly confused with the pace of change occurring all around him. It is here that the leaders -- the officers -- will have to adapt themselves to the new reality, says Nikhil Gokhale
'Patriotism is like love: When it has to be enforced, it isn't real.' 'And the enforcement of a homogeneous view of love for the country is a particularly divisive feature that has ripped apart societies throughout history.'
'One can be sure that General Rawat will have all-round support and that the Indian Army will have a strong chief,' says Rear Admiral Sudarshan Shrikhande (retd).
As Japan beefs up its defences against China, both New Delhi and Tokyo seem to have decided to re-energise their relationship to ensure a strategic balance in Asia. It is a clear signal that they may be ready to work together in containing if not confronting China, says Nitin Gokhale.
Nitin Gokhale, national security expert and founder BharatShakti.in, tells us what the controversy is all about.
A Few Good Men and the Angry Sea: 2004 Tsunami, the IAF Story, is the incredible story of survival, guts, resilience and indomitable spirit of the air warriors and their families, civilians and the government's efforts in rebuilding the strategically important military Car Nicobar air base.
'At an altitude of 5,000 metres, the levels of oxygen in the blood of a healthy soldier would be similar to that of a patient with a severe lung disorder at sea level.' 'While such patients are admitted to ICUs, confined to bed and treated with continuous oxygen therapy, the soldier at 5,000 metres with similar levels of oxygen in his blood performs intense physical activity and fights the enemy!' BharatShakti.in founder Nitin Gokhale reveals the ordeals that await soldiers when they are posted to the Siachen glacier.
'IAF is expanding at a rapid pace'
'The armed forces have been given clear indication that they have to give priority to Make in India and indigenisation and dependence on foreign source should be reduced.' 'Almost Rs 90,000 crores contracts have been signed during my tenure. Another almost Rs 70,000 crores are in the pipeline.'
In spite of being wounded in battle, Lieutenant Colonel A B Tarapore fought for six days before meeting a hero's death on the battlefield in the 1965 war. A legend in the Indian Army, he is the highest ranking officer to be awarded the Param Vir Chakra.
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