Let us stop this jamboree of a Republic Day Parade.
Even if there is no fog on this 26th January, Delhi will still come to a standstill. Blame it on the Republic Day celebrations. As this news report suggests, the state seems to be taking a kind of perverse pride in converting the national capital [...]
Some essential readings on the first anniversary of Mumbai terror attacks.
Amidst the plethora of articles, blogposts, columns and news-items written in the print and the electronic media on the first anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, here is my selection of eminently read-worthy material from the lot.
Pratap Bhanu Mehta in the Indian Express and Nitin [...]
India versus Pakistan, tit for tat says Mahabharata.
Gurcharan Das educates us on the lessons from the Mahabharata for Indo-Pak relations.
It’s hugely empowering that in the Mahabharata no one appeals to God. The epic doesn’t trust the Vedas, or the wise [...]
Just one thought.
Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases; neither is it merely the opportunity to choose between set alternatives. Freedom is, first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices, to argue over them — and then, the opportunity to choose. ~C. Wright Mills
Andrew F. Cooper, writing in the latest issue of the Public Diplomacy magazine, contends that India — along with other BRIC nations — has moved on from being a middle power to an emerging power.
In economic terms, middle powers have been overtaken by the big emerging powers. These economies are garnering significant attention from the [...]
From Peter and Dilbert.
The Peter Principle:
In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence.
And its modern day variation, The Dilbert Principle:
Leadership is nature’s way of removing morons from the productive flow.
Now is the time to remember them because Rowan Manahan reminds us that it has been 40 years since that little [...]
From the Afghan ambassador’s memo.
Cribbing to Kabul about inadequate funding for hiring lobbyists in Washington to further Afghan interests in the US Congress and administration, Afghanistan’s ambassador to the US, Said Tayeb Jawad gives out the details of his competitors, embassies of Pakistan and India. Here is the list of India’s lobbyists in Washington from [...]
A literal concatenation.
An interesting bit of information about the starting officer rank in the Indian army from the OUP blog:
…the word lieutenant. The word arrived in English from French in 1375 and within 100 years the English were pronouncing it “left-tenant” as if there were a “right-tenant” as well. Yet the spelling that influences Americans [...]
Larger issues of the IPL-elections debate.
Coaches have to watch for what they don’t want to see and listen for what they don’t want to hear. ~John Madden
If the choice is between sport and democracy, then the answer is obvious — democracy. In the debate over holding IPL alongside the general elections in the prevailing security [...]
It has to be a part of a comprehensive reform process.
One can only agree with the spirit and the underlying argument behind my fellow blogger at INI, Rohit’s counter-counter-blogpost to my counter-blogpost about his questioning the award of Ashok Chakra to Hemant Karkare.
…gallantry award recipients should be chosen for just that–true bravery.
How does one define “true bravery” [...]
…and strengthens the case for reforming the Indian armed forces.
First it was the Army Welfare Housing Organisation [AWHO], which the army conveniently declared as a private body outside the ambit of the RTI. The next in line was Army Welfare Education Society [AWES], which met the same fate. Now comes the real big one — [...]
Go no further. First take a look at the website of the Indian military’s Directorate General Resettlement. Then scour the home page of the British military’s resettlement service and their civilian partner agency.
One talks about starting the process of career transition two years before leaving and continuing for two years after leaving the military. [...]
In an article for Dainik Jagran of Februaray 3, 2008, venerated defence analyst and head of the Kargil Review Committee, Krishnaswamy Subrahmanyam had asked for a Blue Ribbon Commission for the Indian armed forces .
While the politicians and the Government have been paying lip service to the armed forces in the last sixty years since [...]
In the recent past, the Indian media has had a field day covering the shenanigans of Booze Brigadiers and Ketchup Colonels (incidentally the Army tried to reinstate him some time back) in gory detail. These kerfuffles, from Tehelka to fake encounters, referred to individual transgressions and were dismissed by many military officers and veterans as [...]
Even the best of Hollywood scriptwriters will fail to match the plot and sub-plots in the drama playing in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia. If this NYT report [HT: Nitin]is something to go by, the plot includes:
Somali pirates… Ukrainian arms… originally a load of cars for Syria… Weapons destined for southern Sudan [...]
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
The Indian Express is at it again. It has published a front page story suggesting that the Army headquarters had also written a Signal message, similar to the one written by the Navy Chief. [...]
Michael Wade, one of my favourite bloggers, had listed the ten ways that organisations encourage unethical behaviour. The succinct and pithy list goes as:
Shooting bearers of bad news.
Labeling dissenters as incompetents and malcontents.
Letting the end justify the means.
Aiming solely for legal compliance instead of ethical behavior.
Seeking to be right instead of doing right.
Justifying questionable behavior [...]
Previous post on the subject – Indian Army: Image & reality
While the Indian army continues to label its soldiers apathetically as PBOR (Personnel Below Officers Rank), the IAF has rechristened them as Air Warriors. Robert Bateman explains the concept of a warrior and why professional soldiers can not be warriors.
The bottom line is that a [...]
Delivering the Thirteenth Field Marshal KM Cariappa Memorial Lecture, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram spoke on “Emerging India – Economic and Security Perspectives”. He covered a wide gamut of issues concerning the economic and security landscape of the country. However the insistent theme in his narrative was of actively seeking transformation while resisting calls for [...]
As soon as you are complicated, you are ineffectual.
Blake, Common Man, Trusty, Davy Jones, orange dragon, menon, Pure Spam, gs and all other commenters….
Here’s some space for all the readers to share their thoughts, ideas and any other views they would like to share with the PE community. This is also THE place for off-topic [...]
Visitants annotate…