Experts Speak
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April 19, 2019
Operational Control of Assam Rifles
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Media reports of April 15, 2019, state that Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has conveyed to the Delhi High Court that it, along with the Ministry of Defence (MoD), will abide by any decision of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on the dual control over Assam Rifles.
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April 19, 2019
Lateral Entry in Govt Service - and MoD Dumped
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)There was extensive media coverage when in June 2018 government announced it would seek lateral entry from the civil into the government services at joint secretary level.
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April 8, 2019
Mission Shakti - advantage India and more
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)March 27, 2019, was a historic day for India when it successfully shot down a satellite, enabling the country to join an elite club of countries with anti-satellite (ASAT) capabilities; the U.S., Russia and China.
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April 8, 2019
Special Operations Division
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)On August 8, 2012, the Naresh Chandra Committee on national security submitted its report to the government, its recommendations including establishment of a Special Operations Command (SOC).
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April 8, 2019
EMISAT launched - more Military Satellites in offing
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)On April 1, 2019, ISRO successfully launched India's electronic intelligence satellite EMISAT in another hallmark achievement, the PSLV-C45 also carrying 28 international customer satellites from four countries -- Lithuania, Spain...
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April 8, 2019
Women Defence Attachés
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)In what is being described as a brilliant move championed by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Army, Navy and Air Force were asked to single out women officers who were appropriate for posting to Indian missions abroad as defence attachés.
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April 8, 2019
MH-60R Seahawk Helicopters for Navy
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The US has approved the sale of 24 multi-role MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, armed with Hellfire missiles, MK-54 torpedoes and precision-kill rockets to India at estimated cost of $2.6 billion, the Trump administration has notified the Congress.
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April 8, 2019
The AFSPA Debate
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The Congress Manifesto for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 asking for a review of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has created a ruckus.
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March 28, 2019
India's A-SAT test an exercise in deterrence
By Air Marshal SBP Sinha (Retd)'Mission Shakti' demonstrates India's capability to safeguard its growing space-based assets and deter adversaries from creating trouble in a new battlefield
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March 27, 2019
Corporate-funded R&D could make India a global player in Defence production
By Lt. General Anil Kapoor, DGISExtension of Corporate Social Responsibility concept to Security needed to generate the funds and efforts for a tech leap in the Military
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March 22, 2019
Takeaways from Balakot
By General Deepak Kapoor (Retd)The Indian Air Force (IAF) needs to be complimented for a well planned, coordinated and meticulously executed strike on a crucial Jaish terror hub at Balakot, located in Khyber Pakhtoonwa province of Pakistan.
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March 18, 2019
China Protects Masood Azhar at UN
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)China has blocked for the fourth time in a row Masood Azhar from being branded terrorist at the UN. With this the euphoria built up in India of being poised for a massive diplomatic victory at the global stage has been reduced to a damp squib.
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March 18, 2019
Pak Military Goes After Baloch Riches
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Concurrent to the genocide in Baluchistan, ignored by the world including India, the Pakistani military is going after the riches of the Baluchistan Province.
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March 18, 2019
HR and Vigilance in Army
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Two surprises emerged in media recently with reports that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approved the plan of 'Reorganization of the Army Headquarters'.
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March 18, 2019
Restructuring Army Headquarters
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has approved the first batch of reforms in the Army which include relocation of 229 officers from the Army Headquarters and creation of a new post of Deputy Chief of Army Staff Strategy, or DCOAS (Strategy)...
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March 18, 2019
Operation 'Sunrise' – Joint Indo-Myanmar Operation
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Going by news reports of March 14-15, India has conducted a 'Third Surgical Strike' in Myanmar; Operation 'Sunrise' jointly with the Myanmar Army (Tatmadaw).
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March 18, 2019
Terror Attack on New Zealand Mosques
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The ghastly terror attacks on the two mosques of Al Noor and Linwood in New Zealand on March 15, 2019, during Friday prayers has shattered the peace of this country and proved that no place on earth is safe from the specter of terror.
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March 6, 2019
Imran's Nobel Peace Prize - joke of the decade?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The resolution submitted in Pakistan's Parliament on March 2, 2019 to grant the Nobel Peace Prize to Prime Minister Imran Khan for having taken the decision of releasing Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman of Indian Air Force (IAF) in a bid to de-escalate tensions between India and Pakistan...
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March 6, 2019
MiG-21 Bison versus F-16
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The downing of a Pakistani F-16 by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman flying a MiG-21 on February 27 has been talk of the world.
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March 6, 2019
Required - Regional Counter Terrorism (CT) 'Action' against Pakistan
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Post the truck bombing in Kabul on August 7, 2015, killing 15 and wounding 400, Afghan clerics had declared jihad against Pakistan, saying, "Afghan people are Muslims and Jihad is eligible against Pakistan's military intelligence – Inter Service Intelligence and Punjabi military; the country's army and intelligence is directly...
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March 6, 2019
BECA - and Indo-US Relations
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)News is in the air that India is likely to sign the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA) with the US.
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March 6, 2019
Mama Mia - MIA AK-203
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)On March 3, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the AK-203 rifle manufacturing unit in Amethi; Indo-Russia Rifles Limited plant at Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) Korwa in Amethi.
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March 6, 2019
Kulbhushan Jadhav - in Psycho Pakistan
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)News coverage about the recent hearing of the case relating to Kulbhushan Jadhav in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) went off the radar in the Indian media because of the February 14 Pakistan-sponsored car bombing at Pulwama...
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February 27, 2019
Indian Strikes Pakistani Terror Camps
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The significance of the strikes is the strong signal sent to Pakistan that Pakistan continuing to raise the level of terrorism will not be tolerated by India.
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February 21, 2019
Pulwama Terror Attack - Deadliest Ever in J&K
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)It is said if you surrender to terror, the future would be horrendous. Nothing can confirm it more than India's capitulation in 2008 during hijack of Indian Airlines flight IC-184 from Kathmandu to Delhi.
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February 21, 2019
Bogey - that Pakistan will collapse economically
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)There is jubilation in a cross-section in India over Pakistan being in an economic mess. Even Prime Minister Modi said in a recent public rally that Pakistan is roaming around with its begging bowl but not getting help from the world, which drew applause from the crowd.
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February 21, 2019
Assault Rifles
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Finally, there is some more news about assault rifles for the Indian Army, or shall we say part of the Army because when it comes to equipping soldiers at the cutting edge, where battle is being fought every day and night, we start counting pennies...
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February 21, 2019
Russian MiG-29 Offer
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)According to media reports, Russia has offered the Indian Air Force (IAF) 21 MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter aircraft airframes that have been 'stored' for decades but not used.
