Time Armed Forces cleaned up their act

The Rediff News last week carried an article titled "The worrying rot in Indian armed forces" by Ajai Shukla which takes a hard look at the deteriorating standards of armed forces leadership in recent years. All armed forces officers and men, both serving and retired, should take a hard look at the article.

There is an urgent need to make the traditional 'holy cows of army' - the generals at the top - more accountable. I totally agree with the views of attributed to General Afsar Karim in the article. The functioning and accountability of two army welfare organisations the AWWA (Army Wives Welfare Organisation) and the AWHO (Army Welfare Housing Organisation) have come under strong criticism in recent years from serving and retired servicemen. They have refused to share their basic information under the cloak they are not a government body but independent societies.

Armed forces have a culture of not airing their dirty linen in public. So servicemen and veterans generally keep mum despite knowing the truth. I think it is time we moved away from the 18th century mindset. It is essential we start introspecting on the reasons for the rot that is setting in within the armed forces. The increasing cases of corruption, 
insubordination, cronyism, violation of laws, and scams in defence procurement need to be ruthlessly handled regardless of the rank of the culprits. Otherwise the quality of leadership will be irrepairably damaged and armed forces will be reduced to the level of a paramilitary or police. And they would lose the esteem they enjoy among the public forever.

Ajai Shukla's hardhitting article of December 14 is reproduced here, courtesy Rediffnews.

The worrying rot in Indian armed forces

On April 27, 2007, while a dazed United States military was being battered by the resurgent insurgency in Iraq, a mid-ranking US Army officer, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling, published a brutally frank assessment of the failures in American generalship that had led to the bloodying of the world's most powerful military machine.

Writing in the Armed Forces Journal, a private magazine focused on defence, Yingling urged the US Congress to fix accountability for the debacle in Iraq, lamenting that, "As matters stand now, a private who loses a rifle suffers far greater consequences than a general who loses a war."

Yingling's article raced across army chat rooms, combat bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, and military seminar halls. Hard-hitting, incisive, and loaded with statements like, "The intellectual and moral failures common to America's general officer corps in Vietnam and Iraq constitute a crisis in American generalship," the analysis pushed America's senior military leadership towards acknowledging, confronting and acting to fix the problem.
India's armed forces, alas, have neither a Paul Yingling nor a culture of interrogating and addressing serious internal problems.

With revelation after damaging revelation -- including financial misappropriation, sexual misconduct, fake encounters and influence-peddling -- placing troubling question marks over the internal health of India's best-respected institution, not a single serving officer has thrown out a Yingling-style challenge.

Rot at the top?
This silence has endured even through the recent revelations about the improper allocation of multi-crore apartments in Mumbai's tony Colaba area to a bevy of generals and admirals.

The Adarsh Housing Society affair, which has riveted the country's attention, is not just about the apparent abandonment of ethics by three service chiefs and five officers of three-star rank.

Worse, it is about the alleged subversion of army postings to keep Major General Tej Kishen Kaul in Mumbai so that he could keep the file moving while a succession of key military commanders in Mumbai and Pune were handed out flats, allegedly in exchange for their silence.
"Corruption exists mainly within the senior ranks," avers Major General Afsir Karim, a retired paratrooper with a reputation for probity.

"Bad apples manage to get into the organisation after all, the (military's) selection system has no psychological check for integrity. As the officers rise and start getting opportunities to make money, they surround themselves with a coterie of staff officers and subordinates who are quickly subverted the corrupt pull each other up within the system. And from them the rot spreads to other parts of the military."

Echoing this assessment is a former army commander, well-known for his honesty, who ran afoul of his boss after instituting an inquiry into evidently corrupt purchases of equipment.

He describes the insidious disillusionment of idealistic young officers who gradually realise that the values that were catechised during their training are hardly reflected in day-to-day unit life.

In their training academies, officer cadets are indoctrinated with Field Marshal Chetwode's motto: "The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time. The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next. Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time."
On being commissioned into their units, however, these young lieutenants often encounter a different reality.

An increasing number of units in peace stations focus less on training than on "career-enhancing" activities like officers' mess parties and ladies' club functions, which commanding officers believe would please their bosses or, even better, their bosses' wives.

Meanwhile, youngsters who are posted to the field, or to counter-insurgency operations, come up against a pressure-cooker insistence on success at all costs; after all, the promotions of bosses all the way up the line hinge on operational accomplishment.

With so much at stake, fake encounters and false reports are desperate options for creating an illusory world of success.

'Five-star' culture
Old-school generals say that this new environment of flexible morals and professional dishonesty has inevitably spilled over into the handling of money. Traditionally indifferent, even disdainful, towards money, senior officers are now developing a yen for what the military has always disparaged as the "five-star culture".
"The military had a culture of its own and never felt the need to imitate civilian lifestyles," says General Karim.

"You met civilians, even socialised with them, but you always came back to your mess life. Today, many senior officers want a lifestyle that cannot be supported by military pay and allowances."

Rising alongside the appetite for money, has been the opportunity to gather it illegally.

"The money that an officer handles rises exponentially as he is promoted up the chain," explains a former army commander who prefers to remain unnamed.

"With defence budgets boosted by a growing economy, each of the six field army commanders oversees budgets today that are in the hundreds of crores.
Take the example of the Udhampur-headquartered Northern Command, where the commander, a lieutenant general, controls an annual budget of Rs 2,500-2,700 crore.

Large chunks of this are spent at his sole discretion, including "special financial powers" for Rs 100 crore, and another Rs 15-16 crore for obtaining intelligence about militants.

"I could simply order my staff to give me Rs 20 lakh to pay a political source for important intelligence," says the former army commander. "I wouldn't need to provide proof that I had handed over the money to anyone. I could justify the expenditure simply by stating that I needed a political perspective."

Such opportunities for corruption abound. Northern Command's budget for rations is about Rs 700 crore per year, with another Rs 100 crore allocated for hiring civil transport.

The budget for operational works, constructing bunkers, lighting and temporary housing, is over Rs 250 crore.

And, inexplicably, Northern Command has retained with itself -- despite several attempts to transfer this responsibility to New Delhi -- the job of buying rations for troops deployed on the Siachen Glacier, an annual expenditure of some Rs 40 crore.
Other formations handle smaller budgets. But all these contracts come loaded with the potential to explode into public scandals.

Lieutenant General R K Nanavatty, who headed Northern Command at the start of this decade and was feared and respected for his unwavering rectitude, says that he could see the current crisis coming: "I have always said that the biggest danger for our army was the gradual degradation of moral values. I could see morality eroding and this worried me because trust is the basis of military functioning."

Time for action
A key concern among soldiers, serving and retired, has been the military's lame defence in the face of credible allegations of wrongdoing like those around the Sukhna land scam and the Adarsh scam.

Many believe that frankly acknowledging the problem and taking exemplary action against corruption would protect, perhaps even enhance, the military's public image.
"Why should we wait for the civilian agencies to prove criminal guilt?" asks former army deputy chief, Lieutenant General G D Singh, widely respected for his integrity.

"We have our own code of conduct, which does not rest on court orders or judgements. When an officer is clearly corrupt, we should ostracise him from our community; none of his peers should even speak to him; he should be treated as a pariah."

Considering that officers who were commissioned in the mid-1970s are generals, admirals and air marshals today, it is a paradox that the military often blames the changed background of those who now join as officers for the decline in values and standards.

Far more likely, say the more discerning observers, is the "osmosis of values" that stems from increased interaction -- across all ranks -- with society in general. This takes place in many ways: cantonments, earlier located well outside towns and cities, are now almost indistinguishable from the rapidly expanding civilian colonies that have surrounded them.

The army's growing counter-insurgency commitments bring soldiers into close contact with civilians, and with the institutions of governance.
Meanwhile, the growing reach and intensity of the electronic media beams the civilian world into the remotest military outposts.

Most officers today are keenly aware of the world outside the barracks and are deeply cynical about the declining mores of civilian institutions.

Officers, and even soldiers, ask: With the political class, the bureaucracy, the judiciary, the police and even the media deeply compromised, how can they point a finger at the military, an institution synonymous with honour and sacrifice? But underlying that question is a more troubling one: With corruption everywhere, is it possible for the military to remain unaffected?

The current army chief, General V K Singh, publicly declared while assuming office last April that restoring the army's "internal health" would be his focus. The general has his task cut out for him.

Igniting the ‘COLD START’ doctrine

Despite strategies on paper, our capability to face battle on two fronts is far from being achieved.

ARE we ready for a 21st-century war? The Army chief, General Deepak Kapoor’s reported comment on the revision of India’s “cold start” military doctrine to achieve the capability to take on China and Pakistan on two fronts at the same time might tempt us to answer in the affirmative to the above question.

But, as a nation of dreamers, our record in translating ideas into action has not been a happy one. Our well-crafted plans often remain just fine print on paper. Even in matters of national security, we have been lagging in giving life to our strategic concepts.

The Cold Start Doctrine was drawn up in 2004 when the bitter experience of Kargil was fresh in military planners’ minds. The war had laid bare our weaknesses in fighting wars in which terrorism and conventional operations are seamlessly interwoven. It also drove home the real possibility of a confrontation with Pakistan turning into a nuclear one.

The Doctrine focused on multiple offensive strikes against Pakistan, using battle groups of mechanized forces. The Doctrine was designed to cut down mobilization time after the hiccups during Op Parakrama in the wake of the terrorist attack on Parliament.

For any offensive doctrine to succeed, close air support, greater density of mechanized forces, heavier artillery firepower and high mobility are key elements. Most important, a forward-thinking political leadership with the mental strength to give a green signal is the fundamental requirement for pro-active offensive strategy.
Since 2004, the Army and Air Force have carried out a number of joint exercises with troops to test the doctrine. Similar joint exercises with the Navy have also been held. So the three services were on the ball in implementing the Cold Start strategy.

Sadly, the political leadership appeared to be cold to the Cold Start. Either it is not conscious of the key role it has to play in making a success of the doctrine or it is indifferent to the strategic requirements. It is difficult to understand Defence Minister AK Antony’s readiness to apologetically proclaim India’s peaceful intentions instead of chastizing the Pakistani Army for belligerently commenting on the two-front strategy. It was left to Pakistani columnist Ayaz Amir to do that. He said, “If an Indian Army chief were not to envisage the possibility of a two-front war, and mull over the means of waging it, he would deserve to be sacked.”

The Minister’s response brings home the truth that the leadership’s political priorities would always outweigh national security considerations. If the government had been serious about its role as per the 2004 doctrine, the three services would not be having huge backlogs today in their basic tools of trade. They are in bad shape for no fault of their making. In the words of veteran journalist Shekhar Gupta, “The larger state of our armed forces has begun to resemble 1962.”

The complacency seems to be all-pervasive. It is typical of the national attitude to security that it was left to the Comptroller and Auditor General to critically comment about the battle-worthiness of the armed forces!

Though as many as 12 well known defence manufacturers have been blacklisted for corrupt practices, not more than a handful at home have been indicted. Therein hangs a sordid tale of defence procurement. This is taking a toll of our combat readiness more than any strategic plans of adversaries.

The Army is still in the quest for tanks. Its missiles are not even of late 20th-Century vintage. Since 1987, new guns for the artillery have not been procured. Both the projects to manufacture 155 mm ammunition as well as buying 155 mm guns are in limbo. As a result, by 2008 the Army had to make do with just 400 plus Bofors guns as against its long-term plan for 3,600 artillery guns by 2025.We seem to be endlessly short listing weapons for procurement and not going beyond that. Then there is the manpower shortage with nearly 25 per cent deficiency in officers.

In spite of all the hype about the increasing Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean, the Navy is not in happy shape. More than half of India’s submarines are not battle-ready. The CAG says 63 per cent of the submarine fleet would be ready for phase-out by 2012. The radars are too old and too few to provide any credible defence against an air attack. Submarine procurement and production are facing perpetual hiccups. And overall naval strength is at an alarming low of 135 ships!

The Air Force fares no better; from a 45-squadron force it is down to 32 squadrons. It is deficient of 136 fighters. The IAF’s radar acquisition plans have not been cleared due to repeated delays in the tendering process and objections by the CVC on the purchase of Israeli radars has led to a lowering of air defence capabilities. The Air Force’s story of woes seems endless.

The last straw was the report by a group of 13 scientists about the failure of the fusion test (H-bomb) during the Pokhran-II nuclear tests of 1998, contrary to official claims. This has cast grave doubts about our nuclear bomb capabilities. Even the service chiefs have expressed their concern on this.

Defence research and public sector responsible for manufacture of weapons and ammunition have been holy cows of successive governments. It is high time these cows are tethered and milked for accountability and productivity.

The two-front strategy is to handle an emerging strategic scene in which China is increasing its strategic reach in our neighbourhood in Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. And the Pakistani Army is being modernized with American cash with obscurantism having come to stay.

The two-front doctrine is the strategic expression of India’s aspirations as a regional power graduating to a global power status. It envisages short and swift operations. As analyst Subhash Kapila says, “With a nuclear overhang with both Pakistan and China, the Indian military operations to neutralize the Chinese and Pakistani threats has to be fast-paced, facilitated by a high degree of synergy” between the Army, Navy and Air Force. That is why the Army chief has emphasized technology-oriented inputs of C4I2 (this is military acronym for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, and information technology) for activating the new doctrine.

Twenty-first Century military technology has compressed to minuscule proportions our reaction time in readiness for war. In a nuclear setting, even to survive, nations have much more to do in much less time. We have already wasted too much time; as a result, our two-front strategy is starting with its feet hobbled by outdated mindsets and methodologies, and indifferent political leadership.

But the silver lining is the increasing public awareness on these issues thanks to the media reach and hype. Our battles are here and now with ourselves to give the wherewithal to the armed forces to deliver what they promise.

German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said, “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident.” It is time we accepted the truth and got ready.
Couresy: GFiles magazine, February 2010, Vol 3, Issue 11
URL http://gfilesindia.com/title.aspx?title_id=80

Forgotten Signalmen of Jabalpur

Recently Raghu, one my readers, had drawn my attention to an article (“Radioactive Rebels” in Outlook magazine, April 20, 2009) of an unrecognized revolt by some Signalmen in the Signals Training Centre, Jabalpur February 26, 1946, against the British Raj.

According to the article 120 men of the 'J' company of the Signals Training Centre (STC), Jabalpur, defied their British superiors a broke free from their barracks. Part of a radio signalling unit, they were angry at the abuse heaped on them by their British counterparts. They were also upset at the incarceration of two Indian National Army (INA) officers at Red Fort in Delhi. The ranks of the mutineers swelled to 1,700 men, armed with nothing more than Congress and Muslim League flags. The protest was peaceful till they were bayonet charged by the Somerset Light Infantry to break up the revolt. Eighty men were court-martialled and dismissed without pay and pension and 41 others were sent to prison.

According to the article, the British hushed up the whole incident and destroyed most of the records. However, Forty-one others were sent to prison. But the incident was quickly hushed up. The British officers stationed in Jabalpur were replaced by Indian officers and most of the records destroyed. This part of unwritten role of armed forces in Indian freedom would have remained so till Maj Gen VK Singh (retd.) chanced upon the information while collating material for the third volume of the official history of the Corps of Signals.


He has included the details of the Jabalpur mutiny his recent book “The Contribution of the Indian Armed Forces to the Freedom Movement.”

He chanced upon the few remaining records of the Jabalpur mutiny while working on the official history of the Corps of Signals. He has already published the second volume of the corps's history and is busy collating material for the third and final volume. According to Maj Gen VK Singh, the Jabalpur mutiny so soon after the Naval mutiny became a matter of grave concern to the British colonial rulers. .
Of course, the men who took part in the revolt for the cause of Indian freedom were forgotten after independence.

This was not the only mutiny during the last days of the Raj. Writing in the Mainstream, (Vol XLVI No 41 October 1, 2008), the author Ajeet Jawed says “between March 1942 and the beginning of 1946 there were 19 uprisings in the Royal Indian Navy alone.” The most important and tragic was the Royal Indian Naval revolt that started with a strike in Bombay by naval ratings of HMIS Talwar February 18, 1946, just a week earlier than the army mutiny at Jabalpur. Like the naval army men the naval ratings were also protesting against the racist behaviour of Royal Navy personnel towards Indian sailors and against the prosecution of two INA officers in Delhi. The mutiny evoked widespread public support and Bombay observed a general strike in sympathy on February 19. It was suppressed with British troops with casualties on both sides.

According to Ajeet Jawed, the naval ratings strike spread within 48 hours to “almost all the ships at anchor and on the sea and establishments ashore in India and abroad. Even the units at far-flung Aden and Bahrain did not remain unaffected. In all 74 ships, four flotillas and 20 shore establishments (including three major naval bases) joined the strike. The ratings pulled down the Union Jack and raised the tricolour (Congress), crescent (Muslim League) and hammer-sickle (Communist Party) flags on the mastheads of the rebel ships.”

The revolt in Bombay also triggered sympathetic vibrations in distant Karachi, Morvi and Manora as well. He says, about 1200 airmen of the Royal Indian Air Force also went on a procession in support of their strike on Februray 20. Indian officers of the RIAF refused to fly out troops, and the transport units refused to carry British troops to fight the naval ratings and the Indian officers refused to pilot planes to bomb the ships.

The mutiny was called off following after senior Congress leader Vallabh Bhai Patel met the strike committee leaders and requested them to end it. The Muslim League chief Mohammed Ali Jinnah also made similar call. Of course, politicians did not help the mutineers from being court-martialled and dismissed from service. And after independence in India and Pakistan they were never reinstated. They were either incarcerated or rendered jobless.

Their struggle was not recognized for a long time after independence. The Congress government of the time probably wanted to ignore this important chapter in India’s freedom struggle because there were many Communist sympathisers among the naval mutineers. However, they were later accorded the status of freedom fighters.

But all the army men who revolted in Jabalpur have not been accorded this recognition so far. According to the Outlook article Lance Naik Neelakantan Nair, one of the survivors of the mutiny appealed to the Kerala High Court seeking redress. Though the court directed the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Kerala government to look into the matter nothing came of it. The MHA in a letter dated February 14, 2003 (No 8/2/2003-FF-P), stated that the issue of granting freedom fighter status to the mutineers had been "considered and it has been decided at the level of the home minister that they cannot be treated as freedom fighters."

What is more important in the current political context when BJP has come out in strong support of the armed forces demands its election manifesto, is the then Home minister and BJP’s present prime ministerial aspirant L.K. Advani did not find “the mutiny and its impact adequate enough to club it with the freedom struggle.” However, thanks to the efforts of the Corps of Signals the signals corps 41, out of over 1,700 mutineers, were granted the freedom fighters meagre pension. The others were ignored since official records showed that they had been "discharged on administrative grounds," although the discharge certificates showed they were discharged for taking part in the "Jubalpore STC mutiny".

This simple incident of forgotten history of a few hundred soldiers point to two home truths: veterans must be cautious in putting too much faith in BJP politicians’ electoral promises becoming a reality. Firstly, politicians suffer from a peculiar ailment: post-election amnesia. Secondly, even if they want to do something, the roadblocks of Babudom have to be overcome.

I have first hand experience of the mysterious ways of “Babudom blocks.” this. After independence, my father was recognized as a freedom fighter because he was imprisoned for a year during the individual satyagraha. For nearly 30 years he enjoyed the nation’s recognition as a freedom fighter more than the small pension that went with the official stamp of approval. When he passed away, my mother as the spouse of the freedom fighter was eligible for a smaller pension. However, her application was rejected as the officials of MHA wanted a copy of my father’s original prison discharge certificate after 80 years - half a century of imprisonment and 30 years of receiving the pension! My efforts when I was posted in Army Headquarters on this count were in vain. I gave up the struggle in disgust as the watchdogs of government would not relent. My mother died without ever getting the pension that was her due.

The moral of the story: it is Babus who rule India. During the British rule it was British Babudom that held the sway. The only change after independence is the change in the colour of its skin. So veterans should be prepared for a long haul for OROP to come through even if the political heads nod in agreement, unless the mandarins of Babudom will it.

India: Military Snippets-6

India -Malaysia defence ties

News report, New Delhi18 August 2008: India-Malaysia defence ties got a boost recently when the Indian Air Force ( IAF ) began to train Malaysian pilots to fly Russian-made Sukhoi fighters. IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major left for Malaysia on August 16 to discuss bilateral defence cooperation. He will be meeting with the Malaysian defence minister and Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) chief on ways to bolster defence ties. He will also visit the Gong Kedak airbase, where a team of IAF pilots and technicians are now stationed...

Israeli missile system for IAF

Media report New Delhi18 August 2008: The government will be giving the go ahead for long-delayed IAF plans to procure SpyDer low-level quick-reaction air defence missile systems from Israel. News reports quoting sources said the deal costing over Rs 1,800 crore for the 18 SpyDer systems would be inked within a few weeks after being approved by the Defence Acquisitions Council. The deal was stalled so far as Israeli Aerospace Industries and Rafael were named by the CBI in the case of kickbacks in the Rs 1,160 crore Barak-I deal.

IAF short of 400 pilots: Air Chief

News report, New Delhi20 August 2008: The chief of Indian Air Force (IAF) Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major has said the IAF was facing a shortage of 400 pilots. According to him it would take five years to make up the shortage. It takes 6-8 years of operational training before an IAF pilot can become fully operational in his role. The Air Chief said "They have to be trained over a period of time and there are not shortcuts. We are short of about 400 pilots but with the measures we are taking, we will make good the shortage in the next five years.”

Progress in India’s defence cooperation with Russia

News report, New Delhi 20 August 2008: At a two-day meeting of the Inter Governmental Commission on military cooperation held here on August 18, India and Russia seem to have resolved the bottleneck over transfer of key technology for the T90 S Main Battle Tank (MBT). The issue had slowed down the production rate of the Russian tank in India. Russia has promised to share the specifications of the gun barrel and will transfer all relevant documents by the end of the year under a new agreement.

Both sides also exchanged views on the progress of other joint projects like missile systems, shipbuilding, and aviation sector projects like the fifth generation fighter aircraft and multi role transport aircraft. They agreed to take steps for their successful implementation.

India: Military Snippets-5

Singapore Army to train at Indian Army firing ranges

Media report New Delhi Aug 13, 2008: India has signed another agreement with Singapore permitting the Singapore Army to use of Babina and Deolali firing ranges for armour and artillery exercises. India’s Defence Secretary Vijay Singh and Singapore’s Permanent Secretary (Defence) Chiang Chie Foo signed the agreement in New Delhi allowing Singapore the use of firing ranges to train its ground forces for the next five years. In the past Singapore Air Force was allowed to use IAF's Kalaikunda airbase and nearby firing ranges to train its pilots.

IAF finalises QR for new trainer aircraft pilot

Media report Bangalore Aug 13, 2008: Indian Air Force has finalised the qualitative requirements for a new trainer aircraft to be manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The IAF had been using the HAL manufactured piston HPT-32 aircraft since 1984. Trainees at the Air Force flying academies first fly this aircraft for 65 hours before they are separated into the fighter, helicopter and transport streams. Of the 65 hours, pilot trainees fly 44 hours solo.

India: Military Snippets - 1

1. India successfully test fires third generation anti tank missile

On two successive days on August 6 and 7, Indian missile scientists successfully test fired the third generation hit-to-kill anti-tank missile, Nag, at Pokhran test range in Rajasthan, India. Media reports say on the first day the weapon system damaged the target, a stationary tank four km away. According to the Nag project director S.S. Mishra the missile achieved the maximum range and was on the target. The test-firing was preceded in the last few days by pre-launch transportation trials in the desert terrain "with full combat load"...

On the second day the third generation missile was successfully test fired on a "moving target.".Launched from the dedicated missile carrier, Namica, the fire-and-forget missile hit the specially-designed target, which was moving on rails at an intermediate range of two km.

2. Breaking the glass ceiling in the armed forces

A New Delhi report of August 6 says that the three secrvices of the Armed Forces have given in principle approval for the induction of women as permanent commissioned officers in non-combat streams. The Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) is expected to formally approve the proposal within the next month. According to media reports women granted permanent commission in all three forces are likely to be in position by 2013. So far women officers were given only short service commission. Short service officers cannot aspire for promotion to senior ranks. Grant of permanent commission will be a major shift in the staffing of Indian armed forces which are male dominated, with women holding senior positions only in the Army Medical Corps ann the Military Nursing Service. Perhaps the huge deficiencies in the officer cadre of the army induced the change over in policy on this aspect.

The Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major, is reported to have said on August 7 that there could come a time in future when women could fly the IAF fighter aircraft. He was replying a reporter in New Delhi whether women could ever be fighter pilots in the IAF. The IAF chief quipped, "It may happen in future, why not. The women in IAF are doing a good job.". But the he added that there was no proposal as of now to induct women as fighter pilots. "No proposal is under consideration right now. We will have to give a lot of thought on it"...So the ceiling might be cracking but the lid is on the cookie jars.

3. IAF sets up aerospace control base

The Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal F.H. Major announced on August 8 that the IAF had set up a "dedicated space sub-branch" to coordinate all its activities on aerospace. The air chief said that the IAF had embarked on "a series of progressive steps to integrate assets in space into its operational plans". This was to synergise the capability that space provides along with the traditional systems in the IAF. "Military application (in space) is only beginning to find a foothold in this country," he added