Political parties in India who have delivered high economic growth have lost elections in the past. Economist Arvind Panagariya on how the state of the economy impacts voting behaviour in the country.
India shop front
India has recorded high economic growth in recent years
Predicting election outcomes in India is a hazardous activity; inferring them from economic performance is even more hazardous.
Going by per-capita income growth, one would predict a resounding victory for the ruling Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
At 7.4%, per-capita income growth during the first four years of the UPA rule has been by far the highest of any four-year period in India's post-independence history.
Yet, if the electorate goes by the contribution the present government has made to the accelerated growth in incomes, it would hand the latter its worst defeat.
The UPA government has perhaps done the least of all governments since the 1991 Narasimha Rao-led Congress administration to advance economic reforms.
At the outset, it committed itself to not reforming India's archaic labour laws. Sadly, it also failed to deliver in areas it had assigned high priority.
Unclear answers
Early in its tenure, the UPA had identified pension reform, further opening of the insurance sector and rapid build-up of the country's infrastructure as high-priority areas.
More than four years later, legislation to set up a pension regulatory authority and raising the share of foreign investors from 26% to 49% are languishing in parliament.
In the entirely uncontroversial area of infrastructure, the government lost the momentum its predecessor, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, had achieved.
If the voters this time around vote on the basis of improvements in their lives, the UPA stands an excellent chance of returning to power
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Even trade liberalisation, which greatly accelerated under the NDA government and was initially continued by the UPA, has come to a standstill in the past two budgets.
A costly National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, some additional opening up to foreign investment in the telecommunications sector, construction of new airports in Bangalore and Hyderabad, and the setting up of a Food Safety and Standards Authority and Competition Commission after four arduous years remain the main achievements of the government.
Will the excellent performance of the economy benefit the UPA? Or will its near paralysis in carrying forward the reforms hurt it?
Protests against economic reforms
Critics say growth has been inequitable
At least the past experience does not offer an affirmative answer in clear terms.
The government of Mr Rao, which came to power in June 1991, is credited with launching the most far-reaching and systematic economic reforms.
The reforms not only stabilised the economy following the 1991 balance of payments crisis, they also delivered the hefty 6.5% per annum growth during the last three years of his tenure.
Yet, he lost the 1996 election.
In a similar vein, led by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the BJP-led NDA government undertook massive reforms in virtually all areas of economic activity during its tenure from 1998 to 2004.
Those reforms made a significant contribution to the shift in India's growth rate to the current 8% to 9% growth trajectory. In the last fiscal year of the NDA government, 2003-04, the economy grew 8.5%.
Yet, the NDA government lost power to the UPA.
The popular view is that the NDA lost the election because its reforms, highlighted via its "India Shining"' slogan during the election campaign, mainly benefited the urbanised, industrialised India and left the rural poor behind.
But this view scarcely stands up to close scrutiny: according to the available evidence, the proportion of the poor below the poverty line significantly fell in both rural and urban areas during Mr Vajpayee's rule.
Indian state highway
Infrastructure development has lost its momentum
Regional inequalities and the rural-urban divide did rise, as has happened in every country experiencing rapid growth at low levels of development, for the simple reason that rapid growth concentrates in a handful of urban agglomerations.
But that did not drive the election outcome either: there was neither an urban-rural nor a regional divide in the voting pattern.
The BJP-led NDA lost in richer states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu while winning in the poorer states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
In the former group of states, it lost in both rural and urban areas while in the latter group it won in both.
In recent elections, two factors seem to have critically influenced the eventual outcome: coalition formation and anti-incumbency at state level.
Today, Congress has only 153 of the 272 seats it needs for a majority in parliament. The UPA consists of 11 parties and still needs the outside support of half a dozen other parties to achieve a majority.
A dramatic example of the importance of coalition politics is provided by the role played by the southern regional party, the DMK, in 2004.
It had been with the NDA in the 1999 election but switched allegiance to the UPA in the 2004 election. Its 16 seats, subtracted from the NDA and added to the UPA, provided the balance of votes the UPA needed to from the government.
In recent years, voters have returned state governments to power only when the latter have provided decisively good management and delivered perceptible improvement in living standards.
Therefore, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat represent a handful of the cases in which the electorate returned the incumbent governments back to power.
Excellent chance
In most cases, the electorate has handed punishing defeats to incumbents even if it has meant replacing them with another equally incompetent government.
India farmer
Farming employs the majority of India's workforce
In turn, the anti-incumbency factor at state level has spilled over to parliamentary elections. That factor substantially contributed to the losses the BJP, the dominant partner in the NDA, suffered in the 2004 election.
If the voters this time around vote on the basis of improvements in their lives, the UPA stands an excellent chance of returning to power.
Growth in agriculture, which employs 60% of India's workforce, has been 4% in the past four years. Prosperity in rural areas is also apparent from the spread of phones. Rural tele-density today is more than 13%.
Making the conservative assumption that each household has four members, this figure implies every other household in rural India now has a cell phone.
Even the sales of motorbikes and automobiles in rural areas are now on the rise. As for urban India, some slowdown in the economy due to the crisis notwithstanding, its face has been dramatically transformed in the past four years.
Why have the average or worse performing incumbents fallen out of favour with the voters?
After all until the 1980s, the electorate had routinely returned the incumbent governments to power. In a Wall Street Journal article in 2004, Jagdish Bhagwati and I hypothesised that the key factor behind the change in voter attitude was the "revolution of rising expectations" unleashed by the reforms and the resulting growth acceleration.
As long as India took the Hindu rate of growth, the voter remained in the grip of fatalism: kya karen, bhagwan ki marzi hai (What can we do, this is God's will!).
But once reforms showed him that change was possible and that poverty was not God's will, he became more demanding: If the incumbent won't deliver fast enough, he would try someone else.
In concluding, let me raise a slightly different question. Between the UPA and the NDA, the major contenders, who will provide a better government in the next five years?
Reform advocates who are also social liberals face a dilemma in answering this question.
The UPA is bound to interpret a victory as vindication of its current policies, which would seal the fate of reforms for another five years.
The NDA is more likely to return to the reforms it had vigorously promoted during its previous stint.
But alas, the NDA's prime ministerial candidate LK Advani, who lacks the moderation of his predecessor when it comes to Hindu-Muslim relations, leads it.
The author is Professor of Economics and Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy at Columbia University and Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. His book India: The Emerging Giant was recently published by the Oxford University Press, New York.
Here is a selection of your comments.
This report claims decline in poverty since 2003. But all other reports on India points to ineffectiveness of high GDP growth rate on widespread poverty. According to a recent UN report, 44% of India's children are malnourished, a rate worse than sub Sahara countries. Who is correct?
Rajesh, USA
The author has not done a good job in his analysis. While he touched on the importance of coalition, he completely ignored a new coalition made of a number of national and state-based parties is under formation and may determine the fate of UPA (and perhaps that of NDA as well). The analysis seemed a little biased towards UPA!
Tony D'Silva, United States
'Good management and perceptible improvements in living standards' did not return the parties of Chandrababu Naidu and SM Krishna in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. One of the reasons floated was the undue concentration of both the above gentlemen on urban development. I think it is caste politics and promotion and cultivation of vote banks is the probable answer. Do you agree?
NS Chinnappa, India
In no other country, politicians would have got away scot-free after the suicide of thousands of farmers. On top of that government wasted millions of dollars on loan waiverment to farmers, which rarely reached the affected people. The country also witnessed many terror attacks and inflation is running out of control. The unfortunate part is, India still lacks the critical mass of either middle class or educated people to put fear in the minds of politicians, who are mired in corruption and well known for bad governance.
Sid, India
Thanks goodness the reforms were slowed (and I hope shelved now.) The mess would have been deeper had our insurance companies and pensions been allowed more control by the foreign companies.
Cavery, India
I think the author has failed to read recent articles in the news media which indicate that the NREGA scheme has lead to substantial rural development and is now paying off in the broader economy. He also fails to analyse why the rural economy has grown by 4 % despite bad monsoons. He also missed the all important RTI Act passed by the government, which has became a key tool to fight the pervasive corruption in the country.
Vikram, Austin, US
South Asian voters, vote for anticipated benefits, and not for actually received benefits! A Sri Lanka PM candidate offered rice free, and won resoundingly! When in power she actually legally banned consumption of rice on certain days of the week. Consider Chandrababu Naidu's current promise of free colour television sets !
Charitha, Sri Lanka
Indian voters who cast votes in most of the elections constitute mainly scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, Muslims, farm labourers, lower class from urban and metro towns. most upper class including well educated from urban and metro towns do not cast votes. If about 99 million youth voters now eligible to vote including educated and upper middle class from cities cast their votes there is likelihood that BJP can make come back. It is high time India must amend its constitution and Election policy on lines of Germany and USA.
Dr Amrit Patel,
Kill corruption and everything else will shine in India.
Chandru Narayan, USA
i had been in India during NDA rule. there was more communal harmony than in previous congress run governments. the NDA govt laid the foundation for widespread growth during their tenure. the present NDA candidate for PM had been deputy PM and senior most leader next only to Mr. Vajpayee- the pm. any PM can never run the govt. with communal mind. it is absurd to think that way. only congress party leaders and supporters can think and propagate in that manner. Advani is a very experienced national leader. he is in federal politics for more than four decades. if his party succeeds in winning the election and able to form the govt., Advani will provide the same efficient steady governance his predecessor has given. people know this but media distorts the political picture. media is not free from prejudices.
Rajendra Domadia, USA
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
India scraps attack helicopter tender: official
NEW DELHI (AFP) – India said Tuesday it had scrapped a tender for 22 attack helicopters as three international firms vying for the multi-million-dollar deal had been unable to meet the military's requirements.
"The request for the proposal (RFP) was cancelled last week after the three companies could not meet the qualitative requirements," Indian defence ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar told AFP.
"A fresh RFP will be floated shortly," Kar added, without specifying when the global tender would be issued.
A ministry source said the attack helicopter tender, floated last year, was worth nearly 550 million dollars.
The three companies which were in the race for the contract were Russia's Kamov, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) company and Italian-British group Agusta Westland, spokesman Kar said.
The source added EADS, which owns the world's largest helicopter-maker Eurocopter, was ready to bid again for the 22 high-altitude machines India needs for its troops patrolling Kashmir's mountain borders with Pakistan.
India has emerged as the biggest buyer of military products with plans to spend up to 30 billion dollars on defence purchases by 2012.
The ministry source said five companies were initially in the race for the attack helicopter deal.
"Two bowed out before the RFP was floated last year," the source told AFP.
US media reports had named the two companies which quit the race as US-based Boeing and Bell, a unit of Textron.
EADS, meanwhile, has also expressed interest in collaborating with India in producing a trainer version of an indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA) which now is under field trials.
"EADS has shown interest in the LCA trainer," India's chief military scientist M. Natarajan told reporters separately on Tuesday.
India scrapped a 600-million-dollar deal in 2007 for 197 helicopters awarded to Eurocopter after allegations of corruption in the bidding process.
Media reports said that the deal was scrapped because of the involvement of brokers.
India banned middlemen in military deals following allegations of bribery in a multi-billion-dollar artillery deal in the 1980s with Swedish firm Bofors.
That scandal led to the downfall of the government of Congress prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1989.
Eurocopter denied the Indian media allegations of the involvement of middlemen.
New Delhi says it will soon float a separate tender for 312 helicopters in a deal estimated to be worth more than one billion dollars.
India's million-plus army also wants to buy 285 heavy- and medium-lift helicopters to replace part of its fleet of 500 Soviet-era machines.
Also, India is expected soon to name the company from which it will buy 126 fighter jets worth 12 billion dollars.
Govt cancels tenders for 22 IAF attack helicopters
NEW DELHI : Tenders for purchase of 22 attack helicopters for the Indian Air Force (IAF), issued in May last, has been cancelled, Defence Ministry
sources said on Fresh tenders for the helicopters will be issued soon, the sources said.
"The Request for Proposals (RFP) for the 22 attack helicopters have been cancelled, as the three offers received from foreign defence companies did not meet the Staff Qualitative Requirements set by the government. We will issue fresh RFP for the platform soon," the sources said.
With this, the IAF's plans to operationalise the 22 attack helicopters beginning 2010 would be hit considerably and could be delayed beyond 2012, they said.
The Defence Ministry had issued an RFP to buy the 22 attack helicopters at a cost of USD 25 million per platform, including weapons, to boost the IAF's surveillance and combat capabilities.
The RFP was sent to AgustaWestland, Boeing, Eurocopter, Khazan and Bell Helicopter. However, the government received replies from only three companies for the 2.5 tonne twin-engine helicopter.
sources said on Fresh tenders for the helicopters will be issued soon, the sources said.
"The Request for Proposals (RFP) for the 22 attack helicopters have been cancelled, as the three offers received from foreign defence companies did not meet the Staff Qualitative Requirements set by the government. We will issue fresh RFP for the platform soon," the sources said.
With this, the IAF's plans to operationalise the 22 attack helicopters beginning 2010 would be hit considerably and could be delayed beyond 2012, they said.
The Defence Ministry had issued an RFP to buy the 22 attack helicopters at a cost of USD 25 million per platform, including weapons, to boost the IAF's surveillance and combat capabilities.
The RFP was sent to AgustaWestland, Boeing, Eurocopter, Khazan and Bell Helicopter. However, the government received replies from only three companies for the 2.5 tonne twin-engine helicopter.
Monday, March 23, 2009
India, Iran, Russia mull ways to take on Taliban
NEW DELHI: It's still part of conversations, but old partners, India, Iran and Russia, are dusting out an old mechanism to take on the Taliban
in Afghanistan.
All three countries are still at an exploratory stage, but some articulated realities and possibilities are spurring on these discussions. First, the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan is giving the Taliban and other Pakistan-sponsored jihadists a growing space. Second, a fear that the US and NATO, in their eagerness to craft out an exit strategy in Afghanistan, might fall for a Pakistan-assisted scheme to put some Taliban elements dressed up as "moderate" in charge of governing Afghanistan.
The first time this will be discussed more fully will be during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's ministerial meeting in Moscow on March 27. Both Iran and India will attend the SCO meet. Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki was in Mazar-e-Sharif last weekend to meet officials from Afghanistan and Tajikistan. India has been much more quiet. But Russia, in its capacity as SCO chairman, is taking a more hands-on position.
It has indicated that Iran might be more comfortable working with Russia and India under the SCO rubric than the US-led effort. The US and Nato are organizing a "big tent" meeting in The Hague on March 31, also on Afghanistan.
Iran has a lot of clout inside Afghanistan due to its ethnic and religious connections with the ethnic Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras. India has steadily built up a lot of equity with its relentless commitment in the developmental field.
Russia has recently entered the Afghanistan equation, and has reportedly allowed the US to transport weaponry through its territory to reach Afghanistan. Currently, the US uses Pakistan, which comes under regular Taliban fire. Interestingly, among the other possibilities, the US is also looking at using the India-built Zaranj-Delaram road from Chahbahar port to enter Afghanistan from Iran. Iran, therefore, is emerging as a key player yet again in the Afghan sweepstakes.
The tri-nation strategy is not yet clear, apart from the fact that the Taliban have to be roundly defeated. This time, there is no Northern Alliance that ensured the defeat of the Taliban in 2001. So for an alternate strategy to work, a different structure would have to be cobbled together.
What is not yet clear is whether there can be some kind of coordination between Afghanistan's neighbours and the Nato-US initiative. Nevertheless, the great game is now fully joined.
in Afghanistan.
All three countries are still at an exploratory stage, but some articulated realities and possibilities are spurring on these discussions. First, the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan is giving the Taliban and other Pakistan-sponsored jihadists a growing space. Second, a fear that the US and NATO, in their eagerness to craft out an exit strategy in Afghanistan, might fall for a Pakistan-assisted scheme to put some Taliban elements dressed up as "moderate" in charge of governing Afghanistan.
The first time this will be discussed more fully will be during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's ministerial meeting in Moscow on March 27. Both Iran and India will attend the SCO meet. Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki was in Mazar-e-Sharif last weekend to meet officials from Afghanistan and Tajikistan. India has been much more quiet. But Russia, in its capacity as SCO chairman, is taking a more hands-on position.
It has indicated that Iran might be more comfortable working with Russia and India under the SCO rubric than the US-led effort. The US and Nato are organizing a "big tent" meeting in The Hague on March 31, also on Afghanistan.
Iran has a lot of clout inside Afghanistan due to its ethnic and religious connections with the ethnic Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras. India has steadily built up a lot of equity with its relentless commitment in the developmental field.
Russia has recently entered the Afghanistan equation, and has reportedly allowed the US to transport weaponry through its territory to reach Afghanistan. Currently, the US uses Pakistan, which comes under regular Taliban fire. Interestingly, among the other possibilities, the US is also looking at using the India-built Zaranj-Delaram road from Chahbahar port to enter Afghanistan from Iran. Iran, therefore, is emerging as a key player yet again in the Afghan sweepstakes.
The tri-nation strategy is not yet clear, apart from the fact that the Taliban have to be roundly defeated. This time, there is no Northern Alliance that ensured the defeat of the Taliban in 2001. So for an alternate strategy to work, a different structure would have to be cobbled together.
What is not yet clear is whether there can be some kind of coordination between Afghanistan's neighbours and the Nato-US initiative. Nevertheless, the great game is now fully joined.
US allows GE to work on Indian warship
India’s new stealth warship, the INS Shivalik, is back on track. On March 12, 2009, the US government gave General Electric (GE) the green signal for resuming work on the two LM 2500 gas turbines that power the Shivalik. On March 6, 2009, Business Standard had reported that the stealth frigate was being delayed by “stop all work” instructions to GE from the US State Department.
Vice-Admiral HS Malhi, the chairman and managing director of Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL), which is building the INS Shivalik, has confirmed to Business Standard: “The issue has been resolved. GE has communicated to us that they have been given permission to go ahead. Earlier, GE had indicted that the permission could take 3-4 months in coming; but now (the US State Department) has cleared it.
The US State Department’s complex defence export procedures appear to be behind this delay. US industry sources explain that the LM 2500 gas turbines are dual-use power plants — they have commercial as well as military uses. For that reason, they are not listed on the US Munitions List and do not require an export licence from the State Department’s Directorate of Defence Trade Controls (DDTC). However, for fitting these dual-use turbines on a warship, that is, for providing a “military service”, a Technical Assistance Agreement (TAA) is needed from State Department. This was only received on March 12, after which GE resumed work on the Shivalik.
Nikhil Khanna of the US-India Business Council (USIBC) confirms: “GE needed to apply for a TAA from the Political-Military Bureau at the State Dept, which they did…. Simple procedures needed to be completed according to US technology release policies and we’re confident and proud that GE’s LM2500 engines will power India’s cutting-edge stealth warships.”
GE has confirmed to defence industry publication, Jane’s: “GE continues to provide the Indian Navy with LM2500 gas turbines for its ship programs… with no export licence required. This week GE obtained a licence from the US Department of State, to authorise the delivery of all shipboard services being requested.”
Partly as a result of this delay, MDL is racing to try and complete work on the Shivalik before the monsoons make sea trials difficult. Vice-Admiral Malhi says: “What time was lost cannot be regained now. We wanted the gas turbines in mid-January; we are now looking at end-March. So, we have lost about two months. I hope GE is able to crash it (work on an accelerated basis) and reduce the time that has been lost.”
The US industry is bitter about “undue attention” on the Shivalik delay. Says an industry source: “This is when we should be celebrating recent successes, such as the Lockheed C-130J sale, Boeing VVIP jets and, recently, the largest-ever deal between the US and India, that of the $2.2 billion Boeing P-8i (maritime reconnaissance aircraft) sale to the Indian Navy, (which will be) the first international customer for the P-8i, a huge step forward in the growing strategic relationship between our countries.”
Vice-Admiral HS Malhi, the chairman and managing director of Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL), which is building the INS Shivalik, has confirmed to Business Standard: “The issue has been resolved. GE has communicated to us that they have been given permission to go ahead. Earlier, GE had indicted that the permission could take 3-4 months in coming; but now (the US State Department) has cleared it.
The US State Department’s complex defence export procedures appear to be behind this delay. US industry sources explain that the LM 2500 gas turbines are dual-use power plants — they have commercial as well as military uses. For that reason, they are not listed on the US Munitions List and do not require an export licence from the State Department’s Directorate of Defence Trade Controls (DDTC). However, for fitting these dual-use turbines on a warship, that is, for providing a “military service”, a Technical Assistance Agreement (TAA) is needed from State Department. This was only received on March 12, after which GE resumed work on the Shivalik.
Nikhil Khanna of the US-India Business Council (USIBC) confirms: “GE needed to apply for a TAA from the Political-Military Bureau at the State Dept, which they did…. Simple procedures needed to be completed according to US technology release policies and we’re confident and proud that GE’s LM2500 engines will power India’s cutting-edge stealth warships.”
GE has confirmed to defence industry publication, Jane’s: “GE continues to provide the Indian Navy with LM2500 gas turbines for its ship programs… with no export licence required. This week GE obtained a licence from the US Department of State, to authorise the delivery of all shipboard services being requested.”
Partly as a result of this delay, MDL is racing to try and complete work on the Shivalik before the monsoons make sea trials difficult. Vice-Admiral Malhi says: “What time was lost cannot be regained now. We wanted the gas turbines in mid-January; we are now looking at end-March. So, we have lost about two months. I hope GE is able to crash it (work on an accelerated basis) and reduce the time that has been lost.”
The US industry is bitter about “undue attention” on the Shivalik delay. Says an industry source: “This is when we should be celebrating recent successes, such as the Lockheed C-130J sale, Boeing VVIP jets and, recently, the largest-ever deal between the US and India, that of the $2.2 billion Boeing P-8i (maritime reconnaissance aircraft) sale to the Indian Navy, (which will be) the first international customer for the P-8i, a huge step forward in the growing strategic relationship between our countries.”
India-US 'move beyond' nuclear row -- for now
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States and India have "moved beyond" bitter differences on nuclear weapons, a senior US official said, but more feuds could be on the horizon as President Barack Obama takes a harder anti-nuclear stance.
The world's two largest democracies both say they are ready for a deeper alliance, eyeing coordination on top priorities for Obama such as battling climate change and bringing stability to Afghanistan.
Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, delivering the Obama administration's first substantive remarks on relations with India, said Monday the United States sought a "third stage of rapprochement."
The two countries had uneasy relations during the Cold War and later came to loggerheads over India's decision in 1998 to test an atom bomb and gatecrash the elite club of nuclear weapons states.
But relations started warming in the late 1990s. Obama's predecessor George W. Bush later pushed a landmark deal giving India access to civilian nuclear technology despite its refusal to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Steinberg said India and the United States should work together for a "strengthened" NPT. He signalled there was no turning back on Bush's nuclear deal -- criticized by some members of Obama's Democratic Party as sending a bad signal to nation such as Iran accused of pursuing nuclear weapons.
"The agreement not only provides a concrete platform for economic and technological cooperation between our two countries but also offers a basis for moving beyond one of our most serious barriers to political cooperation -- the status of India's nuclear program," Steinberg told the Brookings Institution.
He said the United States welcomed Indian input in its new strategy to fight extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan -- a position that could trigger unease in Islamabad which historically sees New Delhi as the enemy.
Shyam Saran, India's special envoy on nuclear issues, told the same forum that the success pushing through the nuclear deal with the United States gave New Delhi "a welcome sense of vindication."
But he issued a pre-emptive warning to Obama that India would not accept the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). In his campaign, Obama said he would push the US Senate to ratify it and encourage other nations to do likewise.
The CTBT would ban all nuclear explosions for any purpose. It cannot come into effect as nuclear powers such as the United States and China have not ratified it or, in the case of India and Pakistan, even signed it.
Saran said India opposed the CTBT because it "was not explicitly linked to the goal of nuclear disarmament."
"For India, this was crucial since it was not acceptable to legitimize, in any way, a permanent division between nuclear weapons states and non-nuclear weapons states," he said.
Obama has also said he aspired to an eventual abolition of nuclear weapons.
His comments have brought cheers to anti-nuclear activists including aging survivors of the world's only atomic attacks in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
Saran urged Obama to pursue the abolition idea, proposing that India and the United States start a working group at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva to chart the path.
"If the world moves categorically towards nuclear disarmament in a credible time-frame, the Indo-US differences over the CTBT would probably recede into the background," Saran said.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
India warships to join Chinese fleet review in April
New Delhi, Mar 20 (PTI) In a sign of growing defence ties between the two Asian giants, India will send two of its naval ships to China to participate in the International Fleet Review at its port-town of Quingdao this April.
This will be the second occasion in the last two years that India's naval ships would visit a Chinese port.
"Indian warships will be participating in the Chinese fleet review to be held between April 20 and 24. The Navy ships would also carry out a passage exercise with the Chinese navy vessels in the South China sea during the visit," a senior Navy source said here today.
Pakistan too would be joining the fleet review with its Type-21 frigate and another unnamed warship, sources said.
The visit to China would be part of Navy's annual deployment of its warships of the eastern fleet in the Pacific Ocean beginning today and extending up to May 19.
Among the Navy's eastern fleet, Delhi-class guided missile Destroyer INS Mumbai, Rajput-class Destroyer INS Ranvijay, Khukri-class missile Corvette INS Khanjar and Fleet Replenishment Ship INS Jyoti would be part of the deployment in the Pacific, the sources said.
Of these, INS Jyoti and another warship would take part in the fleet review. India had earlier sent its warships to China in early 2007 for a passage exercise. PTI
This will be the second occasion in the last two years that India's naval ships would visit a Chinese port.
"Indian warships will be participating in the Chinese fleet review to be held between April 20 and 24. The Navy ships would also carry out a passage exercise with the Chinese navy vessels in the South China sea during the visit," a senior Navy source said here today.
Pakistan too would be joining the fleet review with its Type-21 frigate and another unnamed warship, sources said.
The visit to China would be part of Navy's annual deployment of its warships of the eastern fleet in the Pacific Ocean beginning today and extending up to May 19.
Among the Navy's eastern fleet, Delhi-class guided missile Destroyer INS Mumbai, Rajput-class Destroyer INS Ranvijay, Khukri-class missile Corvette INS Khanjar and Fleet Replenishment Ship INS Jyoti would be part of the deployment in the Pacific, the sources said.
Of these, INS Jyoti and another warship would take part in the fleet review. India had earlier sent its warships to China in early 2007 for a passage exercise. PTI
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Balloon radars, night-vision guns, Net monitors: purchase fast-tracked
NEW DELHI: With the Mumbai Terror attacks sending a rude reminder to better equip security forces and raise their level of preparedness, the Government has fast-tracked purchase of Aerostat air-defence radars from Israel, fast-interception vessels for the Navy, high-end internet monitoring systems for major cities and an array of arms and equipment, ranging from machine guns with night vision to under barrel grenade launchers to remote detonating devices, for its commando units.
On March 17, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) cleared urgent acquisition of a variety of arms and equipment, the bulk of which will be used by the Ghatak commandos attached to every infantry battalion. While vendors who supplied identical equipment in the past are expecting repeat orders, the MoD is said to be looking at the US government’s FMS route (foreign military sales) to equip the commando units.
In the purchase list are several items which security experts said the NSG commandos lacked while battling the 26/11 terrorists. The MoD has given the go-ahead for general purpose machine guns (with night sight and ammunition), under barrel grenade launchers, 2,724 night sight, 6,908 reflex sight, 612 radio-controlled detonators, 372 remote detonating devices (including receivers, transmitters) and 93 guided parafoil air delivery systems.
Vendors contacted by The Indian Express said the Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine gun remains the favourite of forces like the SPG and NSG which are already using the weapon. Heckler and Koch entered into a joint venture with H K System India Pvt Ltd a year ago and one of its officials said “after NSG commandos demonstrated the capability of the MP5 during the Mumbai operations, we have received a spate of inquiries and given out umpteen quotations”.
Big-ticket purchases are also being made by the Coast Guard and Navy after lack of an integrated surveillance capability was blamed for the manner in which the terrorist vessel slipped in. With the 26/11 terrorists striking close to its Western Command headquarters, the Navy is turning to a 1,000-strong Sagar Prahari Bal specialised force to protect its assets. The Government has cleared the induction of 80 fast-interception craft. So urgent is the need that the Navy has been told to even hire or lease the craft on priority for the time being.
The Navy is also acquiring two Aerostat radars — the total requirement is five — from Israel on fast-track basis. The balloon-mounted air defence radars, with a detection range of over 500 km and capability to track low-flying aircraft, were always on the Navy wishlist but have now got the go-ahead.
On March 17, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) cleared urgent acquisition of a variety of arms and equipment, the bulk of which will be used by the Ghatak commandos attached to every infantry battalion. While vendors who supplied identical equipment in the past are expecting repeat orders, the MoD is said to be looking at the US government’s FMS route (foreign military sales) to equip the commando units.
In the purchase list are several items which security experts said the NSG commandos lacked while battling the 26/11 terrorists. The MoD has given the go-ahead for general purpose machine guns (with night sight and ammunition), under barrel grenade launchers, 2,724 night sight, 6,908 reflex sight, 612 radio-controlled detonators, 372 remote detonating devices (including receivers, transmitters) and 93 guided parafoil air delivery systems.
Vendors contacted by The Indian Express said the Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine gun remains the favourite of forces like the SPG and NSG which are already using the weapon. Heckler and Koch entered into a joint venture with H K System India Pvt Ltd a year ago and one of its officials said “after NSG commandos demonstrated the capability of the MP5 during the Mumbai operations, we have received a spate of inquiries and given out umpteen quotations”.
Big-ticket purchases are also being made by the Coast Guard and Navy after lack of an integrated surveillance capability was blamed for the manner in which the terrorist vessel slipped in. With the 26/11 terrorists striking close to its Western Command headquarters, the Navy is turning to a 1,000-strong Sagar Prahari Bal specialised force to protect its assets. The Government has cleared the induction of 80 fast-interception craft. So urgent is the need that the Navy has been told to even hire or lease the craft on priority for the time being.
The Navy is also acquiring two Aerostat radars — the total requirement is five — from Israel on fast-track basis. The balloon-mounted air defence radars, with a detection range of over 500 km and capability to track low-flying aircraft, were always on the Navy wishlist but have now got the go-ahead.
India acquires Israeli spy satellite
India has acquired an Israeli satellite that has day and night viewing capability. A bird can keep a watch over India's hostile neighbours even when the landmass is covered by a thick cloud cover, this capability puts the satellite in the class of what are often called `spy satellites'.
The Indian security
forces have been seeking such capability for a long time and the need to procure one quickly was precipitated after the Mumbai attacks. India's existing satellites get blinded at night and in the monsoon season. The satellite will also provide India the capability to track incoming hostile ballistic missiles.
In a few weeks this satellite called a Radar Satellite (RISAT-2) will be launched using the Indian rocket the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The 300 kilogram satellite is the first of its kind for India and is in the process of being integrated with the Indian rocket at India's space port Sriharikota.
ISRO has been developing its very own RadarSat at a cost of almost Rs 400 crores but since that was taking time India went in for a hurried purchase from Israel. India's own RadarSat will launched later in 2009 which will give India a constellation of spy satellites.
Indo-Israeli relations in space are at a new high ever since in January 2008 India launched Israel's very own spy satellite called TecSAR it had a resolution of almost 10 centimetres, meaning it could read car number plates from the sky.
The Indian security
forces have been seeking such capability for a long time and the need to procure one quickly was precipitated after the Mumbai attacks. India's existing satellites get blinded at night and in the monsoon season. The satellite will also provide India the capability to track incoming hostile ballistic missiles.
In a few weeks this satellite called a Radar Satellite (RISAT-2) will be launched using the Indian rocket the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The 300 kilogram satellite is the first of its kind for India and is in the process of being integrated with the Indian rocket at India's space port Sriharikota.
ISRO has been developing its very own RadarSat at a cost of almost Rs 400 crores but since that was taking time India went in for a hurried purchase from Israel. India's own RadarSat will launched later in 2009 which will give India a constellation of spy satellites.
Indo-Israeli relations in space are at a new high ever since in January 2008 India launched Israel's very own spy satellite called TecSAR it had a resolution of almost 10 centimetres, meaning it could read car number plates from the sky.
IAF likely to get first Phalcon radar in May
JERUSALEM: In a big boost to India's surveillance capability, the Indian Air Force is likely to receive the first of the three Israeli Phalcon
Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) in the second half of May this year, almost a year and a half behind schedule.
"Indian Air Force officials have been regularly checking the system and final details are being worked out which will enable the delivery of the system by second half of May", defence sources here said.
"The remaining two deliveries are likely to come through by middle of next year or by the third quarter of 2010 if everything works out on schedule", they said.
The Phalcons will be mounted on Russia delivered Ilyushin-76 aircraft. The technical difficulties involved in integrating the whole system is said to have contributed the delay in its delivery.
As per the deal inked in March 2004 at a whopping cost of $1.1 billion, all the three 'eye in the sky' airborne radar systems should have delivered by the end of this month.
The system will provide the IAF with intelligence inputs, helping it to maintain air superiority, improve strike capabilities and conduct tactical surveillance deep into neighbouring countries without violating their airspace.
Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) in the second half of May this year, almost a year and a half behind schedule.
"Indian Air Force officials have been regularly checking the system and final details are being worked out which will enable the delivery of the system by second half of May", defence sources here said.
"The remaining two deliveries are likely to come through by middle of next year or by the third quarter of 2010 if everything works out on schedule", they said.
The Phalcons will be mounted on Russia delivered Ilyushin-76 aircraft. The technical difficulties involved in integrating the whole system is said to have contributed the delay in its delivery.
As per the deal inked in March 2004 at a whopping cost of $1.1 billion, all the three 'eye in the sky' airborne radar systems should have delivered by the end of this month.
The system will provide the IAF with intelligence inputs, helping it to maintain air superiority, improve strike capabilities and conduct tactical surveillance deep into neighbouring countries without violating their airspace.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
PM's office in sky from April 1
NEW DELHI: The spanking new, highly-secure office in the sky is now finally ready for 'inauguration' after some delay. Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh may well get a whiff or two of the plush environs but it will really be the new PM who will enjoy the smooth ride after taking over in May-June.
The three wide-bodied VVIP Boeing Business Jets, ordered in October 2005 at a total cost of Rs 937 crore, are likely to be formally inducted into IAF on April 1. Equipped as they are with high-tech self-protection suites (SPS) to guard against missiles, encrypted satellite communication facilities and advanced navigation aids, the highly-customized aircraft will ensure the PM as well as President travel in fully secure comfort like never before.
"The first flight by President Pratibha Patil on one of the jets on probably April 1 will mark their formal inauguration," said a senior defence ministry officer.
Asked whether the PM would take one of these jets if he goes for the G-20 summit in London, on April 2, the officer said, "The scheduling process for the first VVIP flight is still being tied-up. I have no information about subsequent flights." If the PM does indeed take the aircraft to the summit, also being attended by US President Barack Obama, he will have his own desi version of the American 'Air Force One' to brandish about. However, some heat and dust has already been generated over whether US inspectors will be allowed to inspect the three Indian VVIP jets, as reported by TOI earlier.
India has signed a specific end-use monitoring agreement with US for the three VVIP jets, which is required under American domestic laws. Being a government-to-government deal, the contract is governed by Pentagon's 'Golden Sentry' EUMA programme, which focuses on 'cradle-to-grave' verifications. The defence ministry is yet to come clean on whether or not India has got around the conditionality of physical verifications. Though the first of three jets had touched down in India last August, with the other two following subsequently, it's only now that the extensive aircraft trials and intensive crew training has been completed. Even the initial delivery of the jets was somewhat delayed due to Washington's insistence on proper safeguards for the hush-hush security equipment fitted on them.
Be that as it may, they are now part of the Palam-based IAF's elite Communication Squadron, which ferries the President, PM and other top dignitaries. "They will replace the existing Boeing 737-200s, inducted in 1983, in the Communication Squadron. The inaugural VVIP flight on them has been delayed since the aircraft and crew had to be cleared for certification," said an officer.
Though not as technically sophisticated as Obama's Air Force One, the Indian planes do have a quite potent system to tackle incoming "hostile" missiles or other airborne threats. While the three VVIP jets in themselves came for Rs 734 crore, another Rs 202.93 crore was spent on equipping them with SPS ordered directly through the US government.
The SPS includes 'radar warning receivers' to alert the plane that a hostile radar has 'painted' it and a missile may be headed its way. The 'missile-approach warning systems' and 'counter-measure systems' will then help the planes take automatic evasive action by shooting metal chaff to 'fool' radar-guided missiles and flares to throw heat-seeking missiles off the track. There are also enough advanced electronic counter-measures on board to jam hostile radars.
Singh may well get a whiff or two of the plush environs but it will really be the new PM who will enjoy the smooth ride after taking over in May-June.
The three wide-bodied VVIP Boeing Business Jets, ordered in October 2005 at a total cost of Rs 937 crore, are likely to be formally inducted into IAF on April 1. Equipped as they are with high-tech self-protection suites (SPS) to guard against missiles, encrypted satellite communication facilities and advanced navigation aids, the highly-customized aircraft will ensure the PM as well as President travel in fully secure comfort like never before.
"The first flight by President Pratibha Patil on one of the jets on probably April 1 will mark their formal inauguration," said a senior defence ministry officer.
Asked whether the PM would take one of these jets if he goes for the G-20 summit in London, on April 2, the officer said, "The scheduling process for the first VVIP flight is still being tied-up. I have no information about subsequent flights." If the PM does indeed take the aircraft to the summit, also being attended by US President Barack Obama, he will have his own desi version of the American 'Air Force One' to brandish about. However, some heat and dust has already been generated over whether US inspectors will be allowed to inspect the three Indian VVIP jets, as reported by TOI earlier.
India has signed a specific end-use monitoring agreement with US for the three VVIP jets, which is required under American domestic laws. Being a government-to-government deal, the contract is governed by Pentagon's 'Golden Sentry' EUMA programme, which focuses on 'cradle-to-grave' verifications. The defence ministry is yet to come clean on whether or not India has got around the conditionality of physical verifications. Though the first of three jets had touched down in India last August, with the other two following subsequently, it's only now that the extensive aircraft trials and intensive crew training has been completed. Even the initial delivery of the jets was somewhat delayed due to Washington's insistence on proper safeguards for the hush-hush security equipment fitted on them.
Be that as it may, they are now part of the Palam-based IAF's elite Communication Squadron, which ferries the President, PM and other top dignitaries. "They will replace the existing Boeing 737-200s, inducted in 1983, in the Communication Squadron. The inaugural VVIP flight on them has been delayed since the aircraft and crew had to be cleared for certification," said an officer.
Though not as technically sophisticated as Obama's Air Force One, the Indian planes do have a quite potent system to tackle incoming "hostile" missiles or other airborne threats. While the three VVIP jets in themselves came for Rs 734 crore, another Rs 202.93 crore was spent on equipping them with SPS ordered directly through the US government.
The SPS includes 'radar warning receivers' to alert the plane that a hostile radar has 'painted' it and a missile may be headed its way. The 'missile-approach warning systems' and 'counter-measure systems' will then help the planes take automatic evasive action by shooting metal chaff to 'fool' radar-guided missiles and flares to throw heat-seeking missiles off the track. There are also enough advanced electronic counter-measures on board to jam hostile radars.
Navy's frigate induction plan hit by US ban on engine supply
New Delhi (PTI): India's plan to induct newly built Shivalik stealth frigate in the Navy this year may be hit with the US Administration halting the warship's gas turbine engines supplier from operationalising the contract.
Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) built the warship fitted with two LM 2500 gas turbine engines and was readying it for sea trials in a couple of months when the bad news from General Electric (GE) came as a shocker for the Indian Public Sector Undertaking shipyard, Navy sources said here on Monday.
Interestingly, LM 2500 is the engine Navy chose for its Indigenous Aircraft Carrier currently under construction in Cochin Shipyard and for which the keel laying was done by Defence Minister A K Antony in the last week of February this year.
The GE communication, sources said, indicated that it could take up to three months for the matter to be resolved with the new Obama dispensation, which was currently reviewing its military relations with several countries.
Not just with India, GE was instructed to halt work with even US allies such as United Kingdom and Australia, sources said.
However, the Navy's top brass, putting up a brave face, claimed the US ban would not impact its Shivalik project, codenamed P-17, under which a series of three guided missile frigates are to be built, with the other two being named Sahayadri and Satpura.
Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) built the warship fitted with two LM 2500 gas turbine engines and was readying it for sea trials in a couple of months when the bad news from General Electric (GE) came as a shocker for the Indian Public Sector Undertaking shipyard, Navy sources said here on Monday.
Interestingly, LM 2500 is the engine Navy chose for its Indigenous Aircraft Carrier currently under construction in Cochin Shipyard and for which the keel laying was done by Defence Minister A K Antony in the last week of February this year.
The GE communication, sources said, indicated that it could take up to three months for the matter to be resolved with the new Obama dispensation, which was currently reviewing its military relations with several countries.
Not just with India, GE was instructed to halt work with even US allies such as United Kingdom and Australia, sources said.
However, the Navy's top brass, putting up a brave face, claimed the US ban would not impact its Shivalik project, codenamed P-17, under which a series of three guided missile frigates are to be built, with the other two being named Sahayadri and Satpura.
Indian Navy to get four new destroyers
New Delhi: To bolster the Navy's combat capability, the government has approved building of four new power-packed destroyer warships.
Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) would soon get the "follow-on orders" for building the new destroyers of the 'Kolkata' class, top Navy sources said here on Tuesday.
"The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has last month given in-principle approval to the Navy's proposal for construction of four new Kolkata class destroyers," they said.
The construction of the sophisticated ships under "Project 15B" would begin soon after the MDL completes building of the first three destroyers of the Kolkata class under "Project 15A".
These would be indigenous combat vessels built with advanced stealth features and would have land attack capabilities.
"In all, the Navy proposes to have seven Kolkata class destroyers," the sources said.
Currently, the Navy has three Delhi class and five Rajput class destroyers among its fleet strength of about 140 warships that are in service. The Kolkata class destroyers are expected to join the Navy one each every year beginning with 2010.
The MDL had begun construction of the Kolkata class ships in September 2003.
With a 6,800-tonne displacement, the Kolkata class of warship could achieve speeds of 30-plus knots.
Mounted with 'Nagin' active towed array sonar and 'Humsa-NG' hull-mounted radar, the warships would be armed with Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos cruise missiles and the Israeli Barak surface-to-air missiles.
On the Navy's other future project, the sources said the building of four new guided missile stealth frigates, as a follow-on of the Shivalik class being built at MDL, has been approved and their construction would also be launched soon, taking the number in this class of warships to seven.
The first three Shivalik class frigates are scheduled to become fully operational by 2012 and later the next lot of four warships in this class would then be built, the sources said.
The Navy would also receive the first of the four anti- submarine warfare corvettes beginning 2012 from Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) and their delivery would be completed in 2014, they said.
"The new corvettes would be comparable or even better than the French navy's La Fayette class of combat vessels," they said.
Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) would soon get the "follow-on orders" for building the new destroyers of the 'Kolkata' class, top Navy sources said here on Tuesday.
"The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has last month given in-principle approval to the Navy's proposal for construction of four new Kolkata class destroyers," they said.
The construction of the sophisticated ships under "Project 15B" would begin soon after the MDL completes building of the first three destroyers of the Kolkata class under "Project 15A".
These would be indigenous combat vessels built with advanced stealth features and would have land attack capabilities.
"In all, the Navy proposes to have seven Kolkata class destroyers," the sources said.
Currently, the Navy has three Delhi class and five Rajput class destroyers among its fleet strength of about 140 warships that are in service. The Kolkata class destroyers are expected to join the Navy one each every year beginning with 2010.
The MDL had begun construction of the Kolkata class ships in September 2003.
With a 6,800-tonne displacement, the Kolkata class of warship could achieve speeds of 30-plus knots.
Mounted with 'Nagin' active towed array sonar and 'Humsa-NG' hull-mounted radar, the warships would be armed with Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos cruise missiles and the Israeli Barak surface-to-air missiles.
On the Navy's other future project, the sources said the building of four new guided missile stealth frigates, as a follow-on of the Shivalik class being built at MDL, has been approved and their construction would also be launched soon, taking the number in this class of warships to seven.
The first three Shivalik class frigates are scheduled to become fully operational by 2012 and later the next lot of four warships in this class would then be built, the sources said.
The Navy would also receive the first of the four anti- submarine warfare corvettes beginning 2012 from Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) and their delivery would be completed in 2014, they said.
"The new corvettes would be comparable or even better than the French navy's La Fayette class of combat vessels," they said.
US clears $2.1bn sale of maritime recce aircraft to India ne
Washington: The Obama administration has cleared a $2.1 billion sale to India of eight Boeing manufactured P-8I maritime patrol aircraft. The deal overtakes an earlier $1 billion Lockheed sale of six C-130J Super Hercules military transport planes to the Indian Air Force to become the largest US arms sale to India to date.
The news would have cheered Boeing, a Chicago-headquartered company, the hometown and political cradle of president Barack Obama. The hurried clearance comes even as the Obama administration conducts a ''review'' of military sales to a number of countries, including India.
Even as it seeks to conduct a ''review'' the Obama adminstration has deemed it fit to bar US company General Electric from operationalising two gas turbine engines it has supplied to the Indian Navy for installation on its latest Shivalik-class frigates. The ban is for an indefinite period, leaving a time-bound, critical Indian Navy programme stranded.
In a 12 March notice to the US Congress the State Department has said that it will license the direct commercial sale having factored in "political, military, economic, human rights and arms control considerations."
The Indian navy is Boeing's first international customer for the P-8, a long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft. A derivative of the Boeing's commercial 737 airframe, the P-8I, which is the Indian Navy version, is similar to the P-8A Poseidon being developed for the US Navy.
The aircraft had won out over European and Russian offerings, including EADS Airbus A319 and the Russian Ilyushin-38 platforms.
The aircraft can operate effectively over land or water while performing anti-submarine warfare; search and rescue; maritime interdiction; and long-range intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance missions, according to company statements.
Under terms agreed upon, Boeing will deliver the first P-8I within 48 months of signing the contract, and the remaining seven by 2015.
Boeing's P-8I contract includes associated support equipment, spares, training and logistical support through June 2019, the State Department said in its notice.
The sale would come under the purview of the Indian ministry of defence ''offset'' conditions. These "offsets" were expected to include engineering service, manufacturing and integrated logistics-support projects totaling $641.3 million.
Lockheed and Boeing, the top two defence contractors to the Pentagon by sales, are also in the race to supply 126 new multi-role fighters to India in a deal potentially worth more than $11 billion. Boeing is in the race with its F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, while Lockheed is touting its F-16.
The sale can potentially run still be grounded because of a lack of end-user agreements between India and the US. Such agreements, though a routine part of US government-to-government arms sales, still have to receive clearance from New Delhi, which holds reservations over aspects of these agreements.
IAF plans for additional Hawks jet trainers shelved
New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) Upset over problems relating to spares supply for British 'Hawks' Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs), India has shelved plans to place follow-on orders for the aircraft and instead floated new tenders to supplement its trainer fleet.
Indian Air Force (IAF) sources said here today that the new tenders -- Request for Proposals (RFP) in Defence parlance -- were issued about a month ago to six global aircraft manufacturers.
Surprisingly, United Kingdom-based Hawks manufacturer BAE Systems finds a place among the six companies which had received the fresh tenders. But it was being approached for an upgraded version of the AJTs, sources said.
Others trainers that the IAF has shown interest in and sent the tender papers to were Italy's Alenia for the M-346, Korean T-50s, the Chez L-159, Russian YAK-130 and MiG AT Trainer, sources said.
After a procurement process that lasted nearly 20 years, India finally entered a contract for the delivery of 66 Hawks trainers with BAE in 2004. The contract had an in-built provision for a follow-on order for 40 more aircraft.
But the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) had been finding it difficult to maintain the production lines for the aircraft at its facility due to considerable delays in spares supplies, sources said.
The move of the IAF to go in for a new brand of trainer aircraft came as a surprise, as it had originally planned to have a single type of trainers in the fleet to train future fighter pilots. PTI
Indian Air Force (IAF) sources said here today that the new tenders -- Request for Proposals (RFP) in Defence parlance -- were issued about a month ago to six global aircraft manufacturers.
Surprisingly, United Kingdom-based Hawks manufacturer BAE Systems finds a place among the six companies which had received the fresh tenders. But it was being approached for an upgraded version of the AJTs, sources said.
Others trainers that the IAF has shown interest in and sent the tender papers to were Italy's Alenia for the M-346, Korean T-50s, the Chez L-159, Russian YAK-130 and MiG AT Trainer, sources said.
After a procurement process that lasted nearly 20 years, India finally entered a contract for the delivery of 66 Hawks trainers with BAE in 2004. The contract had an in-built provision for a follow-on order for 40 more aircraft.
But the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) had been finding it difficult to maintain the production lines for the aircraft at its facility due to considerable delays in spares supplies, sources said.
The move of the IAF to go in for a new brand of trainer aircraft came as a surprise, as it had originally planned to have a single type of trainers in the fleet to train future fighter pilots. PTI
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Designer armour arrives in India
India is about to get a glimpse of what some call the "Armani of armour".
A special range of light-weight bullet-proof clothing that can not only protect you from a would-be assassin but also make you look good.
It is the creation of Miguel Caballero, a Colombian designer, who first developed his bespoke range of clothing 16 years ago back home.
Not surprisingly, they were a big draw across Latin America among heads of state and businessmen facing the wrath of drug cartels.
'Being discreet'
"Some of our clients include President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Alvaro Uribe of Colombia and the Hollywood actor Steven Seagal," says Mr Caballero who is in Delhi to launch his collection here.
Congress party billboard
It is thought that politicians may need better protection ahead of elections
There are even reports suggesting that Barack Obama wore one of his specially designed suits at his inauguration, something that Mr Caballero is understandably tight-lipped about.
"It's all about being discreet," he says.
That's probably why the Indian range is marketed under the name, Discreet Inners.
His latest catalogue, on the other hand, could easily stand alongside leading international brands.
The glossy production showcases his Black Collection - leather jackets, slim-line Italian business suits and polo shirts.
But the Colombian couturier is presenting Indians with an entirely local look, special lightweight kurta-pyjamas - typical Indian cotton pants and tops worn by men and the high-collar Nehru jacket, favoured by politicians across the country.
And they're a far cry from the traditional, bulky body armour favoured by police and military forces the world over, as well as politicians and journalists operating in dangerous areas.
Secret buyers
The traditional suits have Kevlar plates built-in which can weigh up to 7kg, so they are quite heavy and uncomfortable.
Mr Caballero's range of clothes
The clothes are trendy and a trifle bulky
Not to mention completely unstylish.
Although Mr Caballero will not disclose what his body armour is made of, he says they have been tested against a range of ballistic weapons, from revolvers to Uzi submachine guns.
With just weeks to go for the Indian general election, he thinks he has timed his visit perfectly.
A number of Indian politicians have signed up, he tells me smiling, but of course he can't tell me who they are.
Of course.
It is all very discreet - so you cannot really order online or pick it off the rack from a high-street retail store. Potential buyers are contacted directly and their identity kept secret.
At prices ranging between $4,000 to $8,000, these clothes are not exactly cheap.
"But what is the cost of your life?" Mr Caballero asks throwing up his hands.
Indeed.
A special range of light-weight bullet-proof clothing that can not only protect you from a would-be assassin but also make you look good.
It is the creation of Miguel Caballero, a Colombian designer, who first developed his bespoke range of clothing 16 years ago back home.
Not surprisingly, they were a big draw across Latin America among heads of state and businessmen facing the wrath of drug cartels.
'Being discreet'
"Some of our clients include President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Alvaro Uribe of Colombia and the Hollywood actor Steven Seagal," says Mr Caballero who is in Delhi to launch his collection here.
Congress party billboard
It is thought that politicians may need better protection ahead of elections
There are even reports suggesting that Barack Obama wore one of his specially designed suits at his inauguration, something that Mr Caballero is understandably tight-lipped about.
"It's all about being discreet," he says.
That's probably why the Indian range is marketed under the name, Discreet Inners.
His latest catalogue, on the other hand, could easily stand alongside leading international brands.
The glossy production showcases his Black Collection - leather jackets, slim-line Italian business suits and polo shirts.
But the Colombian couturier is presenting Indians with an entirely local look, special lightweight kurta-pyjamas - typical Indian cotton pants and tops worn by men and the high-collar Nehru jacket, favoured by politicians across the country.
And they're a far cry from the traditional, bulky body armour favoured by police and military forces the world over, as well as politicians and journalists operating in dangerous areas.
Secret buyers
The traditional suits have Kevlar plates built-in which can weigh up to 7kg, so they are quite heavy and uncomfortable.
Mr Caballero's range of clothes
The clothes are trendy and a trifle bulky
Not to mention completely unstylish.
Although Mr Caballero will not disclose what his body armour is made of, he says they have been tested against a range of ballistic weapons, from revolvers to Uzi submachine guns.
With just weeks to go for the Indian general election, he thinks he has timed his visit perfectly.
A number of Indian politicians have signed up, he tells me smiling, but of course he can't tell me who they are.
Of course.
It is all very discreet - so you cannot really order online or pick it off the rack from a high-street retail store. Potential buyers are contacted directly and their identity kept secret.
At prices ranging between $4,000 to $8,000, these clothes are not exactly cheap.
"But what is the cost of your life?" Mr Caballero asks throwing up his hands.
Indeed.
Israeli Rafael's Indian promo
The Israeli arms firm Rafael displayed this Bollywood dance number-based marketing video at the recently held Aero India 2009 in Bangalore.
OMG this is hilarious ... i spilled my coffee hahahhahaa hahahaha.
dinga dinga dinga . dinga dinga dinga deeeeeee
The marketting companey that made this sucks and should stick to the B-Grade movies thay make . can't imagine Rafale making this :)
Either the firm's Indian hosts will have found the video so funny that they fell off their chairs laughing and awarded the contract to Rafael out of sympathy - or, one imagines, the firm will only have succeeded in offending those that they meant to impress.
Stick to arms dealing, guys. But thanks for giving us all a good laugh...
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Defensive Aid Systems for Arjun MBT Ready: DRDO
The DRDO's Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) in Avadi, has taken up the development of a Defensive Aids System for armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs).
This is to enhance the survivability of tanks against anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) threats and to reduce the probability of detection by target acquisition systems.
Under this project, two major systems -- an Advanced Laser Warning and Countermeasure System (ALWCS) and Mobile Camouflage System (MCS) are being developed. MCS is to provide multispectral signature management of the vehicle to reduce the vehicle signature against all known sensors and smart munitions.
MCS system has been developed in collaboration with Barracuda Camouflage Ltd, Gurgaon. The system has been integrated on MBT Arjun and the performance evaluation trials have been successfully completed. The methodology and the technologies can be adopted for any AFV platform.
ALWCS system comprises laser warning system, IR jammer, and aerosol smoke grenade system. This is being developed jointly with Elbit Systems Ltd, Israel. The system will be integrated on MBT Arjun and performance evaluation trials are expected during summer 2009.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
India's richest men lose billions
Indian businessman Anil Ambani has been revealed as the biggest loser on the 2009 Forbes World Billionaire list, losing $31.9bn over the past 12 months.
Mr Ambani, who runs the telecoms and finance arms of the former Reliance Group, had been 2008's biggest gainer.
India's billionaires saw massive falls, with Mr Ambani's brother Mukesh and steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal both seeing over half their net worth wiped out.
The 793 people listed lost 23% of total wealth on average over the past year.
The impact of the global economic downturn on people's fortunes was apparent, with 332 names from last year's list not making the cut.
Anil Ambani's losses saw him drop to number 34 on the list, from number six last year.
Mukesh Ambani, who heads Reliance Industries, saw his fortune shrink from $43bn last year to $19.5bn.
However, despite slipping two places to number seven on the list, he overtook Lakshmi Mittal, boss of steelmaker Arcelor Mittal, as India's richest man.
Mr Mittal's wealth has plummeted from $45bn to $19.3bn, according to Forbes. He fell from number four to number eight on the list.
Indian Ballistic Missile better than American: DRDO scientist
New Delhi, March 09: Terming the Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC) III anti-missile system as "outdated", top DRDO scientist V K Saraswat said the Indian Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) shield was better than the American system.
"PAC III is an outdated system. Our Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile is 30 percent superior in terms of range and capability. AAD intercepts at much higher ranges and altitudes compared to PAC III as it has only 15km range for BMD," he told a press conference on the successful test of BMD system on March 6.
On the role of foreign countries in the Air Defence (AD) programme, Saraswat said Russia, Israel and France have provided assistance in areas where DRDO needed help for "bridging technology gap and accelerating technology development."
Russia has helped India develop the new Radio Frequency Seeker for the interceptor missile, Israel provided help in developing the 'Swordfish' long-range tracking radar and the French have given the Fire Control System for the BMD.
Saraswat said the new warhead weighed only around 30 kg but was able to generate the impact that a 150 kg omni-directional warhead could make.
He said the new guidance system in the missile allowed it to tackle the maneuvers of enemy's incoming missile and could be used against the Russian Topol M class of missiles, which move in a zig-zag manner.
The DRDO official also said the system was "fully automated" and did not require human intervention in activating it in case of an attack by ballistic missiles.
"Under the present system, the interceptor missiles are on 'Hot Stand-by mode' and can take-off within 120 seconds of the detection of the incoming missile by the tracking radars," he said.
Saraswat also said the current missile is 30 per cent more powerful than the missile used in the December 2006 test of the endo-atmospheric interceptor.
He said during the flight of the interceptor missile towards the ballistic missile, the interceptor is constantly updated about the position of its target by the ground-based radars.
During a war, unlike the demonstration phase, a volley of interceptor missiles would be launched against enemy ballistic missiles to improve the hit probability, he said.
Commenting on the possibility of the interceptor being jammed by enemy missiles, Saraswat said with the missile having only one link with the ground, it was "very difficult" to jam it as various counter measures were in place to stop such an effort.
He said work on developing a new interceptor 'PDV' for phase-I programme was also going on.
The official said to tackle missiles with a striking range of over 6,000 km, hypersonic interceptor missiles will have to be developed for the phase 2 of the air defence programme.
"Phase 2 interceptors will have speeds of 6-7 Mach and they will be hypersonic. Missiles will have lesser time to intercept and our guidance systems have to be far more energetic and quick responsive," he said.
In the previous two trials, DRDO had successfully tested the BMD system in November 2006 outside the atmosphere at a 48-km altitude and inside atmosphere at an altitude of 15-km in December 2007.
DRDO has developed a two-tier system with the PAD missiles intercepting ballistic missiles at altitudes between 50-80 km and the Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile destroying them at heights between 15-30 km.
"PAC III is an outdated system. Our Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile is 30 percent superior in terms of range and capability. AAD intercepts at much higher ranges and altitudes compared to PAC III as it has only 15km range for BMD," he told a press conference on the successful test of BMD system on March 6.
On the role of foreign countries in the Air Defence (AD) programme, Saraswat said Russia, Israel and France have provided assistance in areas where DRDO needed help for "bridging technology gap and accelerating technology development."
Russia has helped India develop the new Radio Frequency Seeker for the interceptor missile, Israel provided help in developing the 'Swordfish' long-range tracking radar and the French have given the Fire Control System for the BMD.
Saraswat said the new warhead weighed only around 30 kg but was able to generate the impact that a 150 kg omni-directional warhead could make.
He said the new guidance system in the missile allowed it to tackle the maneuvers of enemy's incoming missile and could be used against the Russian Topol M class of missiles, which move in a zig-zag manner.
The DRDO official also said the system was "fully automated" and did not require human intervention in activating it in case of an attack by ballistic missiles.
"Under the present system, the interceptor missiles are on 'Hot Stand-by mode' and can take-off within 120 seconds of the detection of the incoming missile by the tracking radars," he said.
Saraswat also said the current missile is 30 per cent more powerful than the missile used in the December 2006 test of the endo-atmospheric interceptor.
He said during the flight of the interceptor missile towards the ballistic missile, the interceptor is constantly updated about the position of its target by the ground-based radars.
During a war, unlike the demonstration phase, a volley of interceptor missiles would be launched against enemy ballistic missiles to improve the hit probability, he said.
Commenting on the possibility of the interceptor being jammed by enemy missiles, Saraswat said with the missile having only one link with the ground, it was "very difficult" to jam it as various counter measures were in place to stop such an effort.
He said work on developing a new interceptor 'PDV' for phase-I programme was also going on.
The official said to tackle missiles with a striking range of over 6,000 km, hypersonic interceptor missiles will have to be developed for the phase 2 of the air defence programme.
"Phase 2 interceptors will have speeds of 6-7 Mach and they will be hypersonic. Missiles will have lesser time to intercept and our guidance systems have to be far more energetic and quick responsive," he said.
In the previous two trials, DRDO had successfully tested the BMD system in November 2006 outside the atmosphere at a 48-km altitude and inside atmosphere at an altitude of 15-km in December 2007.
DRDO has developed a two-tier system with the PAD missiles intercepting ballistic missiles at altitudes between 50-80 km and the Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile destroying them at heights between 15-30 km.
India kicks off work on advanced missile defence shield
NEW DELHI: Buoyed by the successful testing of its fledgling ballistic missile defence, India is pushing ahead with an ambitious version of the
star wars project capable of shooting down incoming ICBMs in the 5,000 km range.
The phase-II of the BMD systems, likely to be deployed by 2014, will be an important part of India's defence as both China
and Pakistan possess nuclear capable missiles. Once the BMD is in place it will place India in a fairly exclusive club alongside US, Russia and Israel.
India will be playing catch up with China which stunned the world by shooting down a weather satellite with a missile in January 2007. Putting in place a system capable of intercepting inter-continental ballistic missiles would enhance India's strategic prowess.
While a BMD system can be overwhelmed by a flurry of missiles or a low-flying cruise, it would be a important part of India's defence against the danger of ballistic missiles.
If the ongoing Phase-I BMD system is geared to tackling enemy missiles with a 2,000-km range, Phase-II is enhance capacities significantly. Plans are also afoot to have space-based surveillance systems to ensure a hostile threat can be detected even earlier than the present long-range tracking radars (LRTRs) used in the BMD system, which track the `enemy' missile as well as guide the `interceptor' missile in destroying it.
Sources said DRDO has told the government that while the Phase-I systems can be deployed from 2012 onwards, the Phase-II systems will come into operational play only from 2014 onwards at the earliest.
There will be another interesting spin-off from the indigenous two-tier BMD system, capable of tracking and destroying hostile missiles both inside (endo) and outside (exo) the earth's atmosphere. It will give India a potent anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon since technology required for "neutralisation'' of a ballistic missile or a satellite is somewhat similar.
India, of course, has received presentations from the three countries which have operational BMD or anti-ballistic missile systems -- US (Patriot Advanced Capability-3), Russia (S-300V) and Israel (Arrow-2) -- as of now.
Though all three are hawking their systems to India, New Delhi
has decided to go in for its own "home-grown'' BMD system specifically designed to meet its security needs. Moreover, there are financial and feasibility concerns about importing foreign systems.
"We are cooperating with countries to bridge our technology gaps. US, for instance, has a different threat profile. Its systems will not be suitable for us. Our system has to cater for our own threat profile,'' DRDO chief controller for missiles, Dr V K Saraswat, said on Monday.
Dismissing PAC-3 as "an outdated system'', the scientist said India's BMD system was "20-30% more capable'' than it. He, however, acknowledged the BMD system had received some help from countries like Israel (LRTRs), France
(fire-control radars) and Russia (seekers).
DRDO, of course, often promises more than it can deliver. This time, however, it sounds quite confident, especially after the third test of the Phase-I BMD system on March 6, when a two-stage exo-atmospheric interceptor missile intercepted an `enemy' missile at an 80-km altitude.
In the earlier tests, in November 2006 and December 2007, the enemy missiles had been "killed'' at altitudes of 48-km and 15-km respectively. The next test, with both exo and endo interceptor missiles in an integrated mode, is slated for September.
"We will complete all our tests for Phase-I by 2010-2011. All BMD building blocks like long-range radars, communication network, mission control centre and launch control centre are in place,'' said Saraswat.
"What we are now perfecting are Phase-I interceptor missiles, which fly at 4.5 Mach high-supersonic speeds. We are already working on Phase-II interceptors, which will have hypersonic speeds of 6-7 Mach,'' he added.
star wars project capable of shooting down incoming ICBMs in the 5,000 km range.
The phase-II of the BMD systems, likely to be deployed by 2014, will be an important part of India's defence as both China
and Pakistan possess nuclear capable missiles. Once the BMD is in place it will place India in a fairly exclusive club alongside US, Russia and Israel.
India will be playing catch up with China which stunned the world by shooting down a weather satellite with a missile in January 2007. Putting in place a system capable of intercepting inter-continental ballistic missiles would enhance India's strategic prowess.
While a BMD system can be overwhelmed by a flurry of missiles or a low-flying cruise, it would be a important part of India's defence against the danger of ballistic missiles.
If the ongoing Phase-I BMD system is geared to tackling enemy missiles with a 2,000-km range, Phase-II is enhance capacities significantly. Plans are also afoot to have space-based surveillance systems to ensure a hostile threat can be detected even earlier than the present long-range tracking radars (LRTRs) used in the BMD system, which track the `enemy' missile as well as guide the `interceptor' missile in destroying it.
Sources said DRDO has told the government that while the Phase-I systems can be deployed from 2012 onwards, the Phase-II systems will come into operational play only from 2014 onwards at the earliest.
There will be another interesting spin-off from the indigenous two-tier BMD system, capable of tracking and destroying hostile missiles both inside (endo) and outside (exo) the earth's atmosphere. It will give India a potent anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon since technology required for "neutralisation'' of a ballistic missile or a satellite is somewhat similar.
India, of course, has received presentations from the three countries which have operational BMD or anti-ballistic missile systems -- US (Patriot Advanced Capability-3), Russia (S-300V) and Israel (Arrow-2) -- as of now.
Though all three are hawking their systems to India, New Delhi
has decided to go in for its own "home-grown'' BMD system specifically designed to meet its security needs. Moreover, there are financial and feasibility concerns about importing foreign systems.
"We are cooperating with countries to bridge our technology gaps. US, for instance, has a different threat profile. Its systems will not be suitable for us. Our system has to cater for our own threat profile,'' DRDO chief controller for missiles, Dr V K Saraswat, said on Monday.
Dismissing PAC-3 as "an outdated system'', the scientist said India's BMD system was "20-30% more capable'' than it. He, however, acknowledged the BMD system had received some help from countries like Israel (LRTRs), France
(fire-control radars) and Russia (seekers).
DRDO, of course, often promises more than it can deliver. This time, however, it sounds quite confident, especially after the third test of the Phase-I BMD system on March 6, when a two-stage exo-atmospheric interceptor missile intercepted an `enemy' missile at an 80-km altitude.
In the earlier tests, in November 2006 and December 2007, the enemy missiles had been "killed'' at altitudes of 48-km and 15-km respectively. The next test, with both exo and endo interceptor missiles in an integrated mode, is slated for September.
"We will complete all our tests for Phase-I by 2010-2011. All BMD building blocks like long-range radars, communication network, mission control centre and launch control centre are in place,'' said Saraswat.
"What we are now perfecting are Phase-I interceptor missiles, which fly at 4.5 Mach high-supersonic speeds. We are already working on Phase-II interceptors, which will have hypersonic speeds of 6-7 Mach,'' he added.
A film to highlight IAF’s prowess in sky
Kolkata: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is all set to screen its latest film in the city on the capabilities of the country’s air defence.
Aakash Yodha, a 45-minute film is the updated version of an earlier film released with the same name in 2003. The film provides an insight into various aircrafts and supporting equipment that the IAF uses under diverse conditions.
More importantly, the film is the first one commissioned by the IAF that includes a glimpse of the indigenously-developed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.
The Tejas is being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and has given rise to much scepticism in the IAF during its development stage. Predictably, the Tejas features at the very end of the film for a short duration as compared to the already-inducted fighter planes like Mirage 2000H, MiG 29 and MiG21bis.
A senior IAF officer said: “We don’t want to be saddled with outdated technology in the name of indigenous development. Developing a world-class fighter aircraft in India is very important and welcome. Importing foreign-made aircraft is hugely expensive, both to the national exchequer as well as the IAF budget. But the Tejas or any other indigenously developed fighter plane must use world-class technology.”
When contacted about the minimal exposure to the Tejas LCA in the film, CPRO (MOD) Kolkata Gp Capt R K Das said that the Tejas had not yet been inducted into the IAF. “Tests are still being conducted. It is in the developmental stage. It’s not a part of the IAF’s fighting force as yet,” Das said.
Also featuring in the film is Russian-made Sukhoi 30, currently based at the Air Force base in Lohegaon, Pune. After a number of episodes on the IAF shot by the National Geographic channel last year, Aakash Yodha hopes to reach out to the youth and educate them on the prowess and progress made by the IAF.
Released selectively, the film has been screened at certain engineering and management colleges in Bengal. The film’s public screening will be organised at the Nicco Park in the coming week, Das said.
The film also touches on the role of the IAF in the Kargil war and the threat of terrorism in the Kashmir valley. In the film, Pakistan has been described as “a devoutly religious state”, which has “encouraged religious fundamentalism”. It goes on to say that India has been “sucked into a proxy war” and that the situation “suits Pakistan”.
Aakash Yodha, a 45-minute film is the updated version of an earlier film released with the same name in 2003. The film provides an insight into various aircrafts and supporting equipment that the IAF uses under diverse conditions.
More importantly, the film is the first one commissioned by the IAF that includes a glimpse of the indigenously-developed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.
The Tejas is being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and has given rise to much scepticism in the IAF during its development stage. Predictably, the Tejas features at the very end of the film for a short duration as compared to the already-inducted fighter planes like Mirage 2000H, MiG 29 and MiG21bis.
A senior IAF officer said: “We don’t want to be saddled with outdated technology in the name of indigenous development. Developing a world-class fighter aircraft in India is very important and welcome. Importing foreign-made aircraft is hugely expensive, both to the national exchequer as well as the IAF budget. But the Tejas or any other indigenously developed fighter plane must use world-class technology.”
When contacted about the minimal exposure to the Tejas LCA in the film, CPRO (MOD) Kolkata Gp Capt R K Das said that the Tejas had not yet been inducted into the IAF. “Tests are still being conducted. It is in the developmental stage. It’s not a part of the IAF’s fighting force as yet,” Das said.
Also featuring in the film is Russian-made Sukhoi 30, currently based at the Air Force base in Lohegaon, Pune. After a number of episodes on the IAF shot by the National Geographic channel last year, Aakash Yodha hopes to reach out to the youth and educate them on the prowess and progress made by the IAF.
Released selectively, the film has been screened at certain engineering and management colleges in Bengal. The film’s public screening will be organised at the Nicco Park in the coming week, Das said.
The film also touches on the role of the IAF in the Kargil war and the threat of terrorism in the Kashmir valley. In the film, Pakistan has been described as “a devoutly religious state”, which has “encouraged religious fundamentalism”. It goes on to say that India has been “sucked into a proxy war” and that the situation “suits Pakistan”.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Indian contest for rupee symbol
The Indian finance ministry has begun a public competition to select a design for the symbol of the rupee.
Unlike the major currencies of the world like the dollar, the pound, the yen and the euro, the rupee does not have a globally recognised symbol.
The new symbol would be the "identity of the Indian currency," a finance ministry official told the BBC.
The contest, which closes on 15 April, is open only to resident Indians, a release on the ministry website says.
'Ethos of India'
The rupee is generally shortened to Rs or sometimes the currency is described as INR (Indian rupee).
But, the government says, these are not symbols, they are mere abbreviations for rupee.
To get an internationally-accepted symbol, the finance ministry has invited entries from the public.
"The symbol should represent the historical and cultural ethos of India," the deputy secretary in the finance ministry's coin and currency department, BS Rawat, told the BBC.
"The entries can be in any of the Indian languages. They can even be in English which is also an accepted language of use by the government," Mr Rawat said.
Each entry has to be accompanied by a fee of 500 rupees ($10) and a participant can send a maximum of two entries.
The rules also say that the "symbol should be applicable to the standard [computer] keyboard".
Officials say the winning entry will be chosen by a seven-member jury of experts drawn from various art institutes, the government and India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India.
Five shortlisted entries for the final selection will be awarded a prize of 25,000 rupees ($500) and the winner will take 250,000 rupees ($5,000).
"The final selected symbol will become the property of the government and the designer will have no rights over it any more," Mr Rawat said.
Experts say implementing a new currency symbol can be an expensive exercise.
According to one estimate, when the euro was introduced in 1999 it cost Europe's biggest companies more than $50bn to update their computer systems to deal with the changeover.
"We have not thought about the costs yet," Mr Rawat said. "First, we'll select a symbol and then we'll do the costing," he added.
The contest closes on 15 April at 1300 local time (0730G).
Detailed guidelines on how to prepare the entries have been put up on the finance ministry's website.
Nepal's neighbours vie for influence
China is slowly building up its influence in Nepal - and its gain there is India's loss.
That is the assessment in some quarters in India after a spate of diplomatic activity by Beijing in the Maoist-led Himalayan nation, which is struggling to complete a peace process started more than two years ago.
Recent months have seen a flurry of visits by Chinese political and military figures to Kathmandu to discuss bolstering ties.
These include plans to strengthen road links and a railway line between China and Nepal, to help the Nepalese with military training and to re-negotiate a friendship treaty between the two countries, according to reports in the Nepalese and Indian press.
'Substantial concern'
To cap it all, the Nepalese Prime Minister and Maoist leader - Prachanda is expected to visit Beijing in April to finalise some of these projects.
Nepal is linked far too closely to India at multiple levels
Nepalese journalist Sanjay Upadhya
And the Chinese have not just limited their contacts to the Maoist rulers in Kathmandu.
Visiting delegations from Beijing have met Nepalese leaders from across the political spectrum, including a coalition of Madhesi groups from the restive Terai region of southern Nepal, along the border with India.
It's all been too much for the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in India, which raised the issue in India's parliament last month, alleging the government was ignoring the growing Chinese role in Nepal.
"There is a substantial amount of concern among the Indian establishment," says Abanti Bhattacharya of Delhi's Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis. "The Chinese are making inroads across South Asia."
There is an obvious explanation for the increased attention the Chinese leadership has been paying to Nepal.
With the 50th anniversary of the exile of the Dalai Lama rapidly approaching, China wants to avoid a repeat of the protests by Tibetan exiles in Nepal that followed the Chinese crackdown in Tibet last year.
"This is very important, and a core issue for China," says Ma Jiali of the China Institute of International Relations in Beijing. He also dismisses the idea that China is in a competition with India for influence in Nepal and that China's gain is India's loss.
China card
But could China ever supplant Indian influence in Nepal even if it wanted to?
"Nepal is linked far too closely to India at multiple levels," says Nepalese journalist Sanjay Upadhya, who has written extensively on relations between India, China and Nepal.
Protest by Tibetans in nepal in 2008
China is wary of Nepal's exiled Tibetan community
The prohibitively high costs of transport from China mean India would remain the main economic partner.
And Beijing retains a residual suspicion of top Maoist leaders, given the close links some of them developed with India after many years of exile during the decade-long insurgency against the Nepalese monarchy.
There are advantages for the Nepalese government in seeking to play the China card.
It may give them added leverage when it comes to re-negotiating the more than 50-year-old friendship treaty with India, a long-standing demand of the Maoists who have condemned it as "unequal".
Sanjay Upadhya says cultivating China is also popular with some sections of opinion in Nepal. "Proximity to China allows the leadership to bolster its nationalist credentials among the Maoist cadres," he says.
It also helps to remind India that it has to tread carefully given the acute sensitivity of the Nepalese about Indian influence over their country.
Comments by Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee in January about how India "persuaded" the Maoists to give up violence and join mainstream politics reportedly did not go down well in Kathmandu.
"Such statements can be seen to belittle the Maoist struggle," says Indian analyst Abanti Bhattacharya.
The Indian government does not at the moment seem unduly concerned about China's wooing of Nepal.
On a brief visit to Kathmandu last month, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon declared that Nepal was a sovereign country and Delhi had no problem with its bilateral relationship with others.
But as Beijing uses the opportunity offered by the uncertain political situation in Nepal to develop its ties there, it is clear that its every move will be scrutinised very closely in Delhi.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
India says Pakistan risks becoming 'failed state:' report
NEW DELHI (AFP) – India has said neighbouring Pakistan could become a "failed state", with doubts emerging about who is in control of the country, a report said Saturday.
The government also warned no part of the world would be safe from what Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee called the "flames being ignited there," the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported.
The government's assessment came from Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram and Mukherjee at two separate events on Friday.
"It (Pakistan) is not a failed state, but it's threatening to become one," Chidambaram told a seminar in India's financial hub Mumbai.
"A great concern is weighing on our our minds. In Pakistan, with regret, I would say we don't know who is in control there," he said.
"Whether it is the army or the president or the government... We are in a difficult situation (as Pakistan's neighbours)."
His statements come after a brazen commando attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team earlier in the week in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, near the Indian border.
Eight Pakistanis were killed and seven Sri Lankan players and an assistant coach, as well as a Pakistani umpire, were wounded when they were ambushed by gunmen firing automatic weapons, grenades and a rocket launcher.
The attack has subjected nuclear-armed Pakistan, teetering on political and economic crisis, to mounting international concern about its ability to combat Taliban- and Al-Qaeda-linked militants holed up in its tribal areas.
New Delhi has blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the Mumbai attacks last November in which 165 people died and has said Pakistan must step up efforts to clamp down on extremist activity on its soil.
Lashkar has denied involvement in the carnage in Mumbai.
Chidambaram told Pakistan it must fully dismantle "the terror infrastructure" in the country, saying large swathes of Pakistan were under Taliban control.
Mukherjee meanwhile appealed to the world community to ensure the threat emanating from Pakistan was "eliminated on an urgent basis."
"Otherwise, no part of the world will remain immune to the flames being ignited there," Mukherjee told a conference in New Delhi on Friday.
The government also warned no part of the world would be safe from what Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee called the "flames being ignited there," the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported.
The government's assessment came from Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram and Mukherjee at two separate events on Friday.
"It (Pakistan) is not a failed state, but it's threatening to become one," Chidambaram told a seminar in India's financial hub Mumbai.
"A great concern is weighing on our our minds. In Pakistan, with regret, I would say we don't know who is in control there," he said.
"Whether it is the army or the president or the government... We are in a difficult situation (as Pakistan's neighbours)."
His statements come after a brazen commando attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team earlier in the week in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, near the Indian border.
Eight Pakistanis were killed and seven Sri Lankan players and an assistant coach, as well as a Pakistani umpire, were wounded when they were ambushed by gunmen firing automatic weapons, grenades and a rocket launcher.
The attack has subjected nuclear-armed Pakistan, teetering on political and economic crisis, to mounting international concern about its ability to combat Taliban- and Al-Qaeda-linked militants holed up in its tribal areas.
New Delhi has blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the Mumbai attacks last November in which 165 people died and has said Pakistan must step up efforts to clamp down on extremist activity on its soil.
Lashkar has denied involvement in the carnage in Mumbai.
Chidambaram told Pakistan it must fully dismantle "the terror infrastructure" in the country, saying large swathes of Pakistan were under Taliban control.
Mukherjee meanwhile appealed to the world community to ensure the threat emanating from Pakistan was "eliminated on an urgent basis."
"Otherwise, no part of the world will remain immune to the flames being ignited there," Mukherjee told a conference in New Delhi on Friday.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Gandhi's possessions sold for 2-mln-dollar grand total
before a controversial auction of Mahatma Gandhi's memorabilia in New York City on …
NEW YORK (AFP) – Mahatma Gandhi's meager possessions were sold for 2.096 million dollars, commission included, at a New York auction, Antiquorum Auctioneers said Friday.
Indian liquor and airline baron Vijay Mallya won the auction with a huge 1.8-million-dollar bid, commission excluded, for the revered independence leader's round glasses, worn leather sandals, pocket watch, plate and bowl.
Tony Bedi, who acted on Mallya's behalf, said his client was "bidding for the country" and would take the items back to India.
"Antiquorum is pleased that the objects attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, one of the greatest spiritual and political leaders of the 20th century, will be returning to India. We know that this was the hope of the Indian people," Antiquorum chairman Robert Maron said in a statement.
"Our commitment to this process and our reputation as auctioneers has insured a fair, and we believe, positive outcome."
India had bitterly opposed the auction by the owner, California-based pacifist James Otis, insisting that Gandhi's belongings were part of the country's national heritage and that their sale was an insult to the memory of a man who rejected material wealth.
The auction house, which specializes in the sale of watches and clocks, said it had made total sales of 8.7 million dollars Thursday and Friday.
"Despite continued global economic concern, we have achieved tremendous results for our first auction of 2009," said Antiquorum president and CEO Evan Zimmermann.
Among the other lots sold Thursday was a watch that once belonged to US president John F. Kennedy and that Jacqueline Kennedy later gave to her second husband, Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.
The watch, which was knocked down for 120,000 dollars, had two inscriptions.
One, on the back of the watch, read "To President John F. Kennedy from the Evangelines, 1963" a reference to Evangeline and David Bruce who gave it to the president the year he was assassinated.
The other, inscribed on the edge of the watch, consists of the four letters, which the auction house said stand for "For Ari, love, Jacky."
"The 'Kennedy Onassis' watch is the only known item connecting JFK, Jacqueline Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis," Antiquorum said.
India tests interceptor missile
BHUBANESWAR, India (AFP) – India staged a missile intercept test Friday as part of a plan to build a defence system against incoming ballistic missiles by 2010, officials said.
Military engineers said the test was a success as a "hostile" missile was destroyed in mid-air over the Bay of Bengal off India's eastern Orissa state.
Friday's test was the third successful trial since 2007 of an air defence system capable of detecting, intercepting and destroying medium- and long-range ballistic missiles, officials said in Orissa capital Bhubaneswar.
The shield will be capable of high-speed interceptions of missiles launched 5,000 kilometres (3,000 miles) away, they added.
On Wednesday, India also test-fired a supersonic cruise missile it has jointly developed with Russia since 2001. The latest test near rival Pakistan's borders involved a modified BrahMos with a range of 290 kilometres.
The Indian army has already acquired the missile, which carries conventional warheads but can be fired from mobile launchers.
India, which has also built an array of nuclear-capable missiles, hopes to test-fire an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) before the end of next year. The Agni-V will have an ICBM range in excess of 5,000 kilometres.
The shorter range Agni-I and Agni-II ballistic missiles are being introduced into India's arsenal, although they are not fully operational.
An Agni-III with a 1.5-tonne payload capacity and a range of 3,500 kilometres -- enabling it to strike targets deep inside China -- has been tested successfully three times.
India has fought three wars with Pakistan and one with China since independence from British rule in 1947.
Military engineers said the test was a success as a "hostile" missile was destroyed in mid-air over the Bay of Bengal off India's eastern Orissa state.
Friday's test was the third successful trial since 2007 of an air defence system capable of detecting, intercepting and destroying medium- and long-range ballistic missiles, officials said in Orissa capital Bhubaneswar.
The shield will be capable of high-speed interceptions of missiles launched 5,000 kilometres (3,000 miles) away, they added.
On Wednesday, India also test-fired a supersonic cruise missile it has jointly developed with Russia since 2001. The latest test near rival Pakistan's borders involved a modified BrahMos with a range of 290 kilometres.
The Indian army has already acquired the missile, which carries conventional warheads but can be fired from mobile launchers.
India, which has also built an array of nuclear-capable missiles, hopes to test-fire an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) before the end of next year. The Agni-V will have an ICBM range in excess of 5,000 kilometres.
The shorter range Agni-I and Agni-II ballistic missiles are being introduced into India's arsenal, although they are not fully operational.
An Agni-III with a 1.5-tonne payload capacity and a range of 3,500 kilometres -- enabling it to strike targets deep inside China -- has been tested successfully three times.
India has fought three wars with Pakistan and one with China since independence from British rule in 1947.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Pakistan stunned by Lahore attack
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani police hunted on Wednesday for gunmen who mounted the bold attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team in Lahore and officials scrambled to figure out who was behind it.
The attack that killed eight people, six of them Pakistani police, plunged Pakistan into a "state of war," Rehman Malik, the prime minister's interior adviser, said.
"Be patient, we will flush all these terrorists out of the country," he added.
Six members of the Sri Lankan team and a British coach were wounded in the daylight attack as their bus approached the cricket stadium. None was so seriously hurt they had to be left behind when the squad departed for Colombo on Tuesday night.
The Sri Lanka cricketers were reunited with their families early on Wednesday. "It's great to be back in Sri Lanka with our families and loved ones," Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene told Reuters after the team's arrival home.
Five players and assistant coach Paul Farbrace were sent to Nawaloka hospital in central Colombo for checks on their injuries.
In New Zealand, cricket officials said they expect to cancel this year's scheduled tour of Pakistan and play the series in a neutral venue in the wake of the attack.
"We are not going. I think that's pretty clear. I don't see any international team will be going to Pakistan in the foreseeable future," New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan told local radio on Wednesday.
Shortly after, Vaughan released a statement partly backtracking, saying no official decision had yet been made.
Vaughan said the tour was unlikely to go ahead but New Zealand officials needed to consult with the Pakistan Cricket Board and international cricket officials.
Separately New Zealand Football announced cancellation of the Indonesian leg of its national team's upcoming tour of Southeeast Asia> It said the decision was over security concerns but unrelated to the Pakistan cricket attack.
Pakistan has reeled under a wave of bomb and gun attacks in recent years, mostly carried out by Islamist militants linked to the Taliban or al Qaeda, but arch nationalists would relish a link being found between rival India and the Lahore attack.
The incident had echoes of an attack on the Indian city of Mumbai last November in which around 170 people were killed and which led to the Indian cricket team cancelling its planned tour of Pakistan, and a Sri Lankan team taking its place.
The group blamed by India for the Mumbai attacks, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) came from Pakistan's Punjab province whose capital is Lahore.
The police chief in Punjab province announced some arrests, without saying if any gunmen were among those picked up.
Journalists were shown weapons found at the scene and at other locations, including 10 AK-47 rifles, two rocket grenade launchers, 32 hand grenades and plastic explosives.
FOCUS ON TERRORISM
The United States wants Pakistan focused on fighting terrorism, but there are worries President Asif Ali Zardari's civilian government could be engulfed by multiple crises less than a year after taking power.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will consult NATO allies in Brussels next week as part of a strategy review on Afghanistan and Pakistan ordered by Obama, his office said on Tuesday.
Aside from militancy radiating across the northwest from the borders with Afghanistan, Pakistan desperately needs billions of dollars of aid to supplement a bail out by the International Monetary Fund last November.
Pakistan has arrested a few LeT members. India and other governments are watching to see how forcefully Pakistan follows through on its investigation as LeT has had close ties with Pakistani intelligence agencies in the past.
Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province, initially said the same people who carried out the attack on Mumbai were responsible for the latest in Lahore, but was more circumspect addressing a news conference late on Tuesday.
"We are not blaming anybody or holding anybody responsible like India did," Taseer said.
A former Pakistani spy chief with Islamist sympathies speculated the attack could have been carried out by Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebels backed by Indian intelligence as a payback for what happened in Mumbai.
"It's all too obvious that it is the handiwork of the Indian intelligence," retired general Hamid Gul said.
Punjab Governor Taseer called for people to unite, but the country is anything but united.
Elections to parliament's upper house, the Senate, will be held on Wednesday under the shadow of a crisis that gripped Pakistan for the past week and sent share prices tumbling.
Zardari dismissed the provincial government in Punjab led by his arch rival, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, after the Supreme Court decided Sharif and his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif were disqualified from holding elective office.
The Sharifs say Zardari was behind the court decision and their party has begun street agitation in cities across Punjab.
The attack that killed eight people, six of them Pakistani police, plunged Pakistan into a "state of war," Rehman Malik, the prime minister's interior adviser, said.
"Be patient, we will flush all these terrorists out of the country," he added.
Six members of the Sri Lankan team and a British coach were wounded in the daylight attack as their bus approached the cricket stadium. None was so seriously hurt they had to be left behind when the squad departed for Colombo on Tuesday night.
The Sri Lanka cricketers were reunited with their families early on Wednesday. "It's great to be back in Sri Lanka with our families and loved ones," Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene told Reuters after the team's arrival home.
Five players and assistant coach Paul Farbrace were sent to Nawaloka hospital in central Colombo for checks on their injuries.
In New Zealand, cricket officials said they expect to cancel this year's scheduled tour of Pakistan and play the series in a neutral venue in the wake of the attack.
"We are not going. I think that's pretty clear. I don't see any international team will be going to Pakistan in the foreseeable future," New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan told local radio on Wednesday.
Shortly after, Vaughan released a statement partly backtracking, saying no official decision had yet been made.
Vaughan said the tour was unlikely to go ahead but New Zealand officials needed to consult with the Pakistan Cricket Board and international cricket officials.
Separately New Zealand Football announced cancellation of the Indonesian leg of its national team's upcoming tour of Southeeast Asia> It said the decision was over security concerns but unrelated to the Pakistan cricket attack.
Pakistan has reeled under a wave of bomb and gun attacks in recent years, mostly carried out by Islamist militants linked to the Taliban or al Qaeda, but arch nationalists would relish a link being found between rival India and the Lahore attack.
The incident had echoes of an attack on the Indian city of Mumbai last November in which around 170 people were killed and which led to the Indian cricket team cancelling its planned tour of Pakistan, and a Sri Lankan team taking its place.
The group blamed by India for the Mumbai attacks, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) came from Pakistan's Punjab province whose capital is Lahore.
The police chief in Punjab province announced some arrests, without saying if any gunmen were among those picked up.
Journalists were shown weapons found at the scene and at other locations, including 10 AK-47 rifles, two rocket grenade launchers, 32 hand grenades and plastic explosives.
FOCUS ON TERRORISM
The United States wants Pakistan focused on fighting terrorism, but there are worries President Asif Ali Zardari's civilian government could be engulfed by multiple crises less than a year after taking power.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will consult NATO allies in Brussels next week as part of a strategy review on Afghanistan and Pakistan ordered by Obama, his office said on Tuesday.
Aside from militancy radiating across the northwest from the borders with Afghanistan, Pakistan desperately needs billions of dollars of aid to supplement a bail out by the International Monetary Fund last November.
Pakistan has arrested a few LeT members. India and other governments are watching to see how forcefully Pakistan follows through on its investigation as LeT has had close ties with Pakistani intelligence agencies in the past.
Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province, initially said the same people who carried out the attack on Mumbai were responsible for the latest in Lahore, but was more circumspect addressing a news conference late on Tuesday.
"We are not blaming anybody or holding anybody responsible like India did," Taseer said.
A former Pakistani spy chief with Islamist sympathies speculated the attack could have been carried out by Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebels backed by Indian intelligence as a payback for what happened in Mumbai.
"It's all too obvious that it is the handiwork of the Indian intelligence," retired general Hamid Gul said.
Punjab Governor Taseer called for people to unite, but the country is anything but united.
Elections to parliament's upper house, the Senate, will be held on Wednesday under the shadow of a crisis that gripped Pakistan for the past week and sent share prices tumbling.
Zardari dismissed the provincial government in Punjab led by his arch rival, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, after the Supreme Court decided Sharif and his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif were disqualified from holding elective office.
The Sharifs say Zardari was behind the court decision and their party has begun street agitation in cities across Punjab.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
81st Annual Academy Award
BEST PICTURE
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“Frost/Nixon”
“The Reader”
“Milk”
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins (”The Visitor”)
Frank Langella (”Frost/Nixon”)
Sean Penn (”Milk”)
Brad Pitt (”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”)
Mickey Rourke (”The Wrestler”)
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway (”Rachel Getting Married”)
Angelina Jolie (”Changeling”)
Melissa Leo (”Frozen River”)
Meryl Streep (”Doubt”)
Kate Winslet (”The Reader”)
DIRECTING
David Fincher (”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”)
Ron Howard (”Frost/Nixon”)
Gus Van Sant (”Milk”)
Stephen Daldry (”The Reader”)
Danny Boyle (”Slumdog Millionaire)
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin (”Milk”)
Robert Downey Jr. (”Tropic Thunder”)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (”Doubt”)
Heath Ledger (”The Dark Knight”)
Michael Shannon (”Revolutionary Road”)
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams (”Doubt”)
Penelope Cruz (”Vicky Cristina Barcelona”)
Viola Davis (”Doubt”)
Taraji P. Henson (”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”)
Marisa Tomei (”The Wrestler”)
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Baader Meinhoff Complex
Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz With Bashir
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“Bolt”
“Kung Fu Panda”
“Wall-E”
SCREENPLAY (Adapted)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Doubt”
“Frost/Nixon”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
SCREENPLAY (Original)
“Frozen River”
“Happy-Go-Lucky”
“In Bruges”
“Milk”
“Wall-E”
ART DIRECTION
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Duchess”
“Revolutionary Road”
CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
COSTUME DESIGN
“Australia”
”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
”The Duchess”
”Milk”
”Revolutionary Road”
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
”Encounters at the End of the World”
”The Garden”
”Man on Wire”
”Trouble the Water”
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
“The Conscience of Nhem En”
”The Final Inch”
”Smile Pinki”
”The Witness — From the Balcony of Room 306″
FILM EDITING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
MAKEUP
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
”The Dark Knight”
”Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
MUSIC (SCORE)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Alexandre Desplat
“Defiance” James Newton Howard
“Milk” Danny Elfman
“Slumdog Millionaire” A.R. Rahman
“WALL-E” Thomas Newman”
MUSIC (SONG)
“Down to Earth” from “WALL-E”
“Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire”
“O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire”
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
“La Maison en Petits Cubes”
”Lavatory — Lovestory”
”Oktapodi”
”Presto”
”This Way Up”
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
“Auf der Strecke (On the Line)”
”Manon on the Asphalt”
”New Boy”
”The Pig”
”Spielzeugland (Toyland)”
SOUND EDITING
“The Dark Knight”
“Iron Man”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“WALL-E”
“Wanted”
SOUND MIXING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“‘WALL-E”
“Wanted”
VISUAL EFFECTS
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
The Dark Knight”
“Iron Man”
JEAN HERSHOLT HUMANITARIAN AWARD
Jerry Lewis
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“Frost/Nixon”
“The Reader”
“Milk”
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins (”The Visitor”)
Frank Langella (”Frost/Nixon”)
Sean Penn (”Milk”)
Brad Pitt (”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”)
Mickey Rourke (”The Wrestler”)
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway (”Rachel Getting Married”)
Angelina Jolie (”Changeling”)
Melissa Leo (”Frozen River”)
Meryl Streep (”Doubt”)
Kate Winslet (”The Reader”)
DIRECTING
David Fincher (”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”)
Ron Howard (”Frost/Nixon”)
Gus Van Sant (”Milk”)
Stephen Daldry (”The Reader”)
Danny Boyle (”Slumdog Millionaire)
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin (”Milk”)
Robert Downey Jr. (”Tropic Thunder”)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (”Doubt”)
Heath Ledger (”The Dark Knight”)
Michael Shannon (”Revolutionary Road”)
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams (”Doubt”)
Penelope Cruz (”Vicky Cristina Barcelona”)
Viola Davis (”Doubt”)
Taraji P. Henson (”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”)
Marisa Tomei (”The Wrestler”)
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Baader Meinhoff Complex
Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz With Bashir
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“Bolt”
“Kung Fu Panda”
“Wall-E”
SCREENPLAY (Adapted)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Doubt”
“Frost/Nixon”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
SCREENPLAY (Original)
“Frozen River”
“Happy-Go-Lucky”
“In Bruges”
“Milk”
“Wall-E”
ART DIRECTION
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Duchess”
“Revolutionary Road”
CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
COSTUME DESIGN
“Australia”
”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
”The Duchess”
”Milk”
”Revolutionary Road”
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
”Encounters at the End of the World”
”The Garden”
”Man on Wire”
”Trouble the Water”
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
“The Conscience of Nhem En”
”The Final Inch”
”Smile Pinki”
”The Witness — From the Balcony of Room 306″
FILM EDITING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
MAKEUP
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
”The Dark Knight”
”Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
MUSIC (SCORE)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Alexandre Desplat
“Defiance” James Newton Howard
“Milk” Danny Elfman
“Slumdog Millionaire” A.R. Rahman
“WALL-E” Thomas Newman”
MUSIC (SONG)
“Down to Earth” from “WALL-E”
“Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire”
“O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire”
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
“La Maison en Petits Cubes”
”Lavatory — Lovestory”
”Oktapodi”
”Presto”
”This Way Up”
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
“Auf der Strecke (On the Line)”
”Manon on the Asphalt”
”New Boy”
”The Pig”
”Spielzeugland (Toyland)”
SOUND EDITING
“The Dark Knight”
“Iron Man”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“WALL-E”
“Wanted”
SOUND MIXING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“‘WALL-E”
“Wanted”
VISUAL EFFECTS
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
The Dark Knight”
“Iron Man”
JEAN HERSHOLT HUMANITARIAN AWARD
Jerry Lewis
India details plans for indigenous medium combat aircraft
India's Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) has begun talks with the Indian air force to involve the service in the design for its proposed medium combat aircraft (MCA), and hopes to put forward a plan in a few years to secure government funding for detailed studies.
"In India, we have a fighter aircraft design team that comprises officials from various departments. It was formed to work on the Tejas light combat aircraft, and it makes sense for them to move on to a new fighter design after completing that," says P S Subramanyam, programme director (combat aircraft) at the ADA, which oversees design and development of the Tejas. "We are engaging the air force on the MCA and finding out about their requirements."
The agency, which displayed a windtunnel testing model of the MCA at the Aero India 2009 show in Bangalore in February, believes it will take 10 years to develop the aircraft. It also released further details on the twin-engine design, which will incorporate stealth features.
Siva Govindasamy/Flight International
© Siva Govindasamy/Flight International
Primarily, the MCA will have air-to-ground and air-to-air capabilities and be able to perform suppression of enemy air defence, precision strike and close combat missions, the ADA says. The 20t design will also have a low radar cross-section, "serpentine-shaped" air intakes, internal weapons bays and advanced radomes to increase its stealth features. Radar-absorbing composites and paints will supplement the design, and there will also be an on-board micro-electro-mechanical system.
The MCA will use an advanced version of the indigenous Gas Turbine Research Establishment Kaveri engine, which is still under development, and is projected to deliver "supercruise" performance, thrust-vectoring control and low infrared capabilities, and a projected top speed of Mach 1.6.
It will also include integrated modular architecture avionics and data fusion sensor capabilities, plus a decision support system, advanced sensors, flush/body conformal antennas and pods, and advanced communication and net-centric warfare capabilities, the ADA adds.
The aircraft will further have the capability for internal weapon release in supersonic flight, high asymmetry control, and a reconfigurable flight-control system.
Subramanyam says that the MCA will not compete with the fighter that India selects for its medium multirole combat aircraft (MMRCA) competition. New Delhi is holding a tender to select 126 fighters for the requirement, with a selection projected to take place in 2010 and deliveries scheduled to begin from 2013. Contenders are the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin F-16, RSK MiG-35 and Saab Gripen.
"The MMRCA aircraft are fourth-generation fighters that are already in production and incorporating technology that is already available. The MCA will replace the air force's existing MiG-29s and [Dassault] Mirages when those are retired over a decade from now," Subramanyam says. "It is being conceptualised now to use technology that will be available only 10 years from now, and so will be very different and have superior capabilities to the current generation of fighters."
"In India, we have a fighter aircraft design team that comprises officials from various departments. It was formed to work on the Tejas light combat aircraft, and it makes sense for them to move on to a new fighter design after completing that," says P S Subramanyam, programme director (combat aircraft) at the ADA, which oversees design and development of the Tejas. "We are engaging the air force on the MCA and finding out about their requirements."
The agency, which displayed a windtunnel testing model of the MCA at the Aero India 2009 show in Bangalore in February, believes it will take 10 years to develop the aircraft. It also released further details on the twin-engine design, which will incorporate stealth features.
Siva Govindasamy/Flight International
© Siva Govindasamy/Flight International
Primarily, the MCA will have air-to-ground and air-to-air capabilities and be able to perform suppression of enemy air defence, precision strike and close combat missions, the ADA says. The 20t design will also have a low radar cross-section, "serpentine-shaped" air intakes, internal weapons bays and advanced radomes to increase its stealth features. Radar-absorbing composites and paints will supplement the design, and there will also be an on-board micro-electro-mechanical system.
The MCA will use an advanced version of the indigenous Gas Turbine Research Establishment Kaveri engine, which is still under development, and is projected to deliver "supercruise" performance, thrust-vectoring control and low infrared capabilities, and a projected top speed of Mach 1.6.
It will also include integrated modular architecture avionics and data fusion sensor capabilities, plus a decision support system, advanced sensors, flush/body conformal antennas and pods, and advanced communication and net-centric warfare capabilities, the ADA adds.
The aircraft will further have the capability for internal weapon release in supersonic flight, high asymmetry control, and a reconfigurable flight-control system.
Subramanyam says that the MCA will not compete with the fighter that India selects for its medium multirole combat aircraft (MMRCA) competition. New Delhi is holding a tender to select 126 fighters for the requirement, with a selection projected to take place in 2010 and deliveries scheduled to begin from 2013. Contenders are the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin F-16, RSK MiG-35 and Saab Gripen.
"The MMRCA aircraft are fourth-generation fighters that are already in production and incorporating technology that is already available. The MCA will replace the air force's existing MiG-29s and [Dassault] Mirages when those are retired over a decade from now," Subramanyam says. "It is being conceptualised now to use technology that will be available only 10 years from now, and so will be very different and have superior capabilities to the current generation of fighters."
Born-again Arjun raring for battlefield
The Army had said after the 2007 winter trials that the Arjun had “failed” in several parameters. Following trials in 2008 summer, the Army’s evaluation of the Arjun has changed, says Jayakumar. “The tanks covered 8,000 km and over 800 rounds were fired during the latest trials without any hitches.”
“It is a misconception that the Arjun has overshot its budget. Till November 1985, only Rs 15 crore were allocated for competence-building and technology. Based on the results, the project was sanctioned that year and an additional Rs 305 crore were allocated. In March 2000, we got the go-ahead to begin production and delivered 15 prototypes for evaluation,” Jayakumar says.
Malhotra adds initial order of 124 Arjuns should not be seen as a cap on acquisition. “The comparative trials would dictate the number of Arjun tanks acquired by the Army in the future.”
The Army continues to be guarded on the issue. “We’re neither categorically accepting or rejecting the Arjun MBT. Any comment will be made after the trials this summer,” said Group Captain R K Das, CPRO (MoD) Kolkata.
“It is a misconception that the Arjun has overshot its budget. Till November 1985, only Rs 15 crore were allocated for competence-building and technology. Based on the results, the project was sanctioned that year and an additional Rs 305 crore were allocated. In March 2000, we got the go-ahead to begin production and delivered 15 prototypes for evaluation,” Jayakumar says.
Malhotra adds initial order of 124 Arjuns should not be seen as a cap on acquisition. “The comparative trials would dictate the number of Arjun tanks acquired by the Army in the future.”
The Army continues to be guarded on the issue. “We’re neither categorically accepting or rejecting the Arjun MBT. Any comment will be made after the trials this summer,” said Group Captain R K Das, CPRO (MoD) Kolkata.
PAK-FA - Full Speed Ahead
Maxim Pyadushkin writes: It looks like the Indian Air Force will initially get the same PAK FA fifth-generation fighter as their Russian colleagues. Sukhoi general director Mikhail Pogosyan said Thursday that he would seek to unify the Russian and Indian requirements for the new aircraft. “The basic version of the fighter will be common”, he explained. “The difference will be only in software”.
India agreed to join the PAK FA program in 2007. According to the bilateral agreement, the development of the modification for the Indian Air Force will be split 50:50 between Sukhoi and India’s HAL. But now it looks like Pogosyan doesn’t want to waste efforts and time by developing a special Indian version at this stage, but to focus on rolling out the first prototype by August this year, as already promised by top Russian government and military officials.
Pogosyan also mentioned that the airframe is almost ready, while more time is needed to finish the radar. This supports the idea that the first PAK FA will be a very basic prototype, and more time will be required to define and test the production configuration.
As Pogosyan said, the Indian requirements can be taken into account later, while HAL’s 50% share in the development of the IAF modification can be realized in the more distant future – including the creation of two-seat and ship-based variants.
India agreed to join the PAK FA program in 2007. According to the bilateral agreement, the development of the modification for the Indian Air Force will be split 50:50 between Sukhoi and India’s HAL. But now it looks like Pogosyan doesn’t want to waste efforts and time by developing a special Indian version at this stage, but to focus on rolling out the first prototype by August this year, as already promised by top Russian government and military officials.
Pogosyan also mentioned that the airframe is almost ready, while more time is needed to finish the radar. This supports the idea that the first PAK FA will be a very basic prototype, and more time will be required to define and test the production configuration.
As Pogosyan said, the Indian requirements can be taken into account later, while HAL’s 50% share in the development of the IAF modification can be realized in the more distant future – including the creation of two-seat and ship-based variants.
Hypersonic missiles likely to be ready by 2013
CHENNAI: Dr A Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Controller of Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), said that the Brahmos Aerospace is working on hypersonic missile project, Brahmos II, which is expected to be ready by 2013.
Talking on the sidelines after inaugurating a combat vehicles and engineering exhibition, organised as part of the DRDO’s golden jubilee celebrations, Pillai, who is also the CEO and the managing director of Brahmos Aerospace, Thiruvavanthapuram, said that the missile will have a speed between Mach 5 and Mach 7. He also claimed that the Brahmos cruise missile at Mach 2.8 is the fastest in the world.
Asked about the failure of the Brahmos missile’s land attack version, which was tested some time ago, he said the reasons for the failures have been identified and efforts on rectifying the “problem with the software” was on.
He revealed that work on the development of a universal missile launcher has started at the Brahmos Aerospace in Thiruvananthapuram.
Speaking at the inaugural function of the Exhibition, Sivathanu Pillai, while explaining the changing dimensions of war theatre, said that the future wars would be fought with minimum people, but with maximum weapons. “It will be network centric and will be fought with intelligent and autonomous systems,” he said, adding that the “cyber warfare and robotic systems will dominate the battlefield.” Pillai, who began his career with ISRO, said nanotechnology and biotechnology would change the perspective of future wars. “The Bio- Nano revolution will change every applications in the battlefield,” he said.
Sivathanu Pillai said the development of precision robotic systems and manipulators will help to use it in nuclear reactors and in heath care systems also.
The BrahMos chief executive said Helium 3 gas, available in Moon, could become the future energy source for the world.
Talking on the sidelines after inaugurating a combat vehicles and engineering exhibition, organised as part of the DRDO’s golden jubilee celebrations, Pillai, who is also the CEO and the managing director of Brahmos Aerospace, Thiruvavanthapuram, said that the missile will have a speed between Mach 5 and Mach 7. He also claimed that the Brahmos cruise missile at Mach 2.8 is the fastest in the world.
Asked about the failure of the Brahmos missile’s land attack version, which was tested some time ago, he said the reasons for the failures have been identified and efforts on rectifying the “problem with the software” was on.
He revealed that work on the development of a universal missile launcher has started at the Brahmos Aerospace in Thiruvananthapuram.
Speaking at the inaugural function of the Exhibition, Sivathanu Pillai, while explaining the changing dimensions of war theatre, said that the future wars would be fought with minimum people, but with maximum weapons. “It will be network centric and will be fought with intelligent and autonomous systems,” he said, adding that the “cyber warfare and robotic systems will dominate the battlefield.” Pillai, who began his career with ISRO, said nanotechnology and biotechnology would change the perspective of future wars. “The Bio- Nano revolution will change every applications in the battlefield,” he said.
Sivathanu Pillai said the development of precision robotic systems and manipulators will help to use it in nuclear reactors and in heath care systems also.
The BrahMos chief executive said Helium 3 gas, available in Moon, could become the future energy source for the world.
Navy to head Indian maritime security: Antony
The Indian Navy will be responsible for the overall maritime security of the country, including coastal and off-shore security, Defence Minister AK Antony announced on Saturday.
Speaking at a function in Kochi, Antony said the Navy would be assisted by the Coast Guard, the state marine police and other central and state agencies for the coastal defence.
Joint operation centres would be set up at Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Port Blair, to be manned and operated by the navy and Coast Guard with inputs from other agencies, he said.
The announcement follows stepped up security measures in the wake of the November attack on Mumbai by terrorists who New Delhi says were Pakistanis and reached India by sea. The attack left some 170 people dead.
Speaking at a function in Kochi, Antony said the Navy would be assisted by the Coast Guard, the state marine police and other central and state agencies for the coastal defence.
Joint operation centres would be set up at Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Port Blair, to be manned and operated by the navy and Coast Guard with inputs from other agencies, he said.
The announcement follows stepped up security measures in the wake of the November attack on Mumbai by terrorists who New Delhi says were Pakistanis and reached India by sea. The attack left some 170 people dead.
Cochin Shipyard Begins Vikrant Class Aircraft Carrier Construction
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Joining an elite club of nations capable of building large warships, India began the construction of its first indigenous aircraft carrier at the Cochin Shipyard here and will go in for 2 to 3 more carriers in the heavier class.
Pressing a remote to lower the keel -- the ship's backbone -- into the construction dock of the shipyard, Defence Minister A K Antony said, "The Navy's carrier will showcase India's technological prowess and warships' building capabilities to the world. It will be the largest ever warship to be built in India." The 40,000-tonne carrier will operate nearly 30 aircraft including the Russian MiG-29Ks fighters, Kamov-31 helicopters and the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
"This is a crucial milestone and an occasion to cherish in the shipbuilding traditions and maritime history of the nation. The culmination of this prestigious project, sometime in 2014, will transform India into an aircraft-building nation," Antony said.
He said that India will certainly produce more indigenous aircraft carrier, but in the heavier class category to meet the future challenges and needs of maritime security. "We hope to operate two to three aircraft carriers simultaneously in the not too distant future," Antony said
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