In July last year, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), in a report tabled in Parliament, said a stock of only 61 types of ammunition out of 152 varieties was available, and these would only last for 10 days in the event of a war.The sources indicated the broad contours of the project were discussed at a conference of the Army’s top commanders here in April. Faucets premier flexible tube The initiative is seen as the first serious attempt by the government to address growing concerns voiced over the last many years by defence forces over the fast dwindling stockpile of key ammunition when China has been significantly ramping up its military capability, an issue that has been discussed by successive governments..New Delhi: After years of deliberations, the Army has finalised a mega Rs 15,000-crore project under which a range of ammunition for its critical weapons and tanks will be produced indigenously to overcome long delays in imports and address the problem of a dwindling stockpile.

Last year, the government had empowered the Army to directly procure ammunition and spares for 10 types of weapon systems and equipment after an internal review found the optimum level of “war stores” was not being maintained.Considering the Army’s demand, the government has already finalised one of the biggest procurement plans for infantry modernisation under which large numbers of light machine guns, battle carbines and assault rifles are being purchased at a غير مجاز مي باشدt of nearly Rs 40,000 crore. “The indigenisation of the ammunition project will be biggest such programme in decades,” said the official.Initially, ammunition for a range of rockets, air defence system, artillery guns, infantry combat vehicles, grenade launchers and various other field weapons would be produced under “strict timelines”, a source said. The production targets would be revised based on the result of the first phase of the implementation of the programme.According to laid down security protocol, the stockpile should be adequate for a month-long war.

The immediate aim of the closely guarded project — said to be the biggest ever initiative for the indigenisation of ammunition — is to create an inventory for all major weapons to enable the forces to fight a 30-day war while the long-term objective is to cut dependence on imports. The sources said long delays in negotiations and subsequent procedural hurdles in the import of ammunition had adversely impacted the country’s defence preparedness and that was why the indigenisation programme had been initiated.Official sources told PTI that 11 private firms would be involved in the ambitious project, the implementation of which is being monitored by the top brass of the Army and the defence ministry.Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has been pushing for fast tracking the procurement of weapons and ammunition for the world’s second largest standing Army, considering the evolving security threats in the region.“The overall غير مجاز مي باشدt of the project has been pegged at Rs 15,000 crore and we have set a specific target for the next 10 years in terms of the volume of ammunition to be produced,” a senior government official involved in the project said, refusing to elaborate further

Further investigations are underway,” the statement had said. While it is learnt that NSA Ajit Doval strongly took up the issue with his Pakistani counterpart soon after the Pathankot terror seige, there is no official word on what has been the followup of those talks and sharing of information by the Indian security brass. A Pakistan PMO statement, issued a few days after the Pathankot attack, had said, “Considerable progress has been made in the investigations being carried out against terrorist elements reportedly linked to the Pathankot incident. However, a month has passed and New Delhi is still awaiting a response from Islamabad on whether they have found out the actual owners of the mobile numbers which were used by the handlers of the six terrorists who stormed the airbase in Punjab. It is not yet known whether the Pakistani SIT has collected evidence of how the conspiracy for the attack was hatched in that country, sources said.

Reports from Islamabad reveal that it is business is “as usual” for JeM leaders who were allowed to “roam freely”.In the spirit of the cooperative approach, the Pakistani PMO statement had said, it was also decided that in order to carry the process forward, additional information would be required for which the government of Pakistan is considering sending a SIT to Pathankot in consultation with the government of India. In fact, New Delhi had welcomed Pakistan’s keenness to bring to book the Pathankot attackers and also decided to give Islamabad a chance to act.. There is also no information about when would the Pakistani SIT come to India to probe the assault. Official sources here said there is no information on whether any criminal case was registered against the outfit, its chief Maulana Masood Azhar or others responsible for the January 2 terror attack on the strategic airbase.More than a month after the terror attack on the strategic IAF base in Pathankot on January 2, Pakistan has not yet informed India whether it Flexible universal neck for kitchen Manufacturers has taken any action against Jaish-e-Mohammed, believed to be responsible for the terror attack, on the basis of vital leads shared by New Delhi with Islamabad.

The offices of the organisation are also being traced and sealed.However, sources said, as per the information gathered by Indian agencies, business is as usual for JeM, a month after the Pathankot terror attack and the outfit’s leaders and other activists were roaming freely in Pakistan.”“Based on initial investigations in Pakistan, and the information provided, several individuals belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad have been apprehended.Sources said Pakistan tried to wash off its hand by saying the mobile numbers were unregistered and had been procured on fake identities.Tapped conversations between the terrorists and their Pakistani handlers were also shared with that country, security officials said, adding the government there should take the probe forward by registering a criminal case. “We have not heard from Pakistan since then on its SIT,” sources said

Being an inter-governmental counter-terrorist alliance of Islamic countries, it was essentially forged (on December 15, 2016) by Saudi defence minister Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud for military intervention against the Islamic State (ISIS) and for other counter-terror actions.It does seem to this writer that the entire idea of IMAFT, in the guise of an International Islamic Army, is bound to be self-defeating and suicidal. Second, this certainly didn’t go well with the serving top brass of the Pakistan Army.The key question here is — how will the “objective” to “protect Muslim countries from all terrorist groups and organisations” be achieved? If one sees the reports emanating from the Muslim countries themselves, a grim scenario emerges as at least 12 (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Yemen) of the 41 nations have serious internal and cross-border terrorism issues.

Although both wars were essentially started and fought by, and between, Christians and Christians, they never got the stamp of “religious” or “terror” conflict.In this context, the two World Wars of 1914-1919 and 1939-1945 come to mind. How does IMAFT deal with this? Individually or collectively?Declaring open war or through clandestine or some other means? Can it afford to go for a sustained operation or will it be a one-off or sporadic “quick reaction team” op by specialised “shock troops”?Also, what could be the possible political fallout of IMAFT deployment or action in the internal affairs of sovereign nations notwithstanding their religious bond? Can a war on terror waged by an “International Islamic Army” on Islamic states turn into a civil war-type scenario as it happened in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria in the aftermath of the US-led international security assistance force deployment and devastation? Will IMAFT go the Western way, leaving a trail of havoc, panic, destruction and a state of permanent war in the guise of fighting terrorism and terrorists to save Islamic states? Do the present Islamic states sincerely believe the best way to tackle terrorist and terrorism is the Western way? By the combined might of the military?

Should not they realise that Wholesale brass faucet aerator Manufacturers whereas the Western-led coalition forces tend to fight their wars (far) away from their home bases, the proposed IMAFT will fight, if they fight at all, as they are likely to be fighting against their own shadow, deep inside their own Islamic territory, they will be inflicting more misery, thereby aggravating and hastening more penury and poverty.Seen from every, angle Raheel Sharif has failed to fulfil his wishes. Hence a religious colour to violence and mayhem-combat organisation would always constitute a serious internal challenge to the heterogeneous command, control, communications and operations room of a force like IMAFT.This extraordinary statement by an incumbent PM about a retired Army chief understandably creates several realistic scenarios. It was simply war. They must have signalled the civilian PM to rein in his comrades-in-arms, and the Prime Minister had no choice but to succumb, and do as the Army brass wished

Are these anti-Romeo squads good for society, both in the short and long term? Yes, say a majority of women. The vigilante groups, drawn from the pathetic China Brass faucet accessories Manufacturers boys who member organisations like the Bajrang Dal, now have a new avenue of “goonda-ism” and extortion in the name of religion and cultural purity. These squads are expected to monitor activities of men in areas and at events where the presence of girls is large in number. Gujarat had such squads in the late 1990s for about two or three years.Several people appreciate this action and claim that due to this action the state also improved in controlling crimes against women. The “anti-Romeo” squads are somewhat like the famed encounter squads that roam in our cities. The encounter squads eliminate suspected or known mafia and these squads turn mere association of two genders into a viable space for their encounter!The obvious then is happening. This is the “Indian Taliban”. These goonda groups shall now roam the streets preventing crimes that are not happening.

If a man is caught eve-teasing or passing lewd comments, the police will call his parents and give a warning.The police say that they are experienced enough to identify Romeos by just looking into their eyes, faces, or the way they stand. Police squads are turning into harassment and extortion rackets, as happens in all parks and corners of India — where boys and girls come together. However, what are they actually doing? From television reportage it appears that vigilante groups from so-called “Hindu” organisations are searching streets, parks, etc. It has been made clear that no action should be taken by the police if boys and girls are consensually hanging out together.The concept of anti-Romeo squads is not new to India.If anyone believes that, except momentarily, harassment of women and violent crimes against them shall reduce is in a fool’s paradise.That women students are harassed is a harsh reality and the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to give official sanction to these anti-Romeo squads is aimed at making the police force more accountable and preventing them from violating human rights in the name of ensuring the safety of women.

For these squads do not intervene at a hint or suspicion of trouble, they intervene at the hint of “cultural pollution”, when a girl and a boy are together in public.Police teams comprising of males and females move around schools, colleges and markets. The progress in last few years of women taking their place of equality in society, and doing what they wish, including social interaction, will regress, pushing them into the purdah of patriarchal and uniformed closets.The state government has instructed senior law enforcement officials to issue clear guidelines to these anti-Romeo squads to ensure both fair assessment and action. They are supposedly saving women from the evil designs of the men around them without any call for support from women. So when they see a couple, it doesn’t matter whether something was happening or not, their mere togetherness is polluting society, hence it’s a crime!

Those in the BJP and the government who are speaking up for Demonetisation can be counted on the fingers of one hand, but are principally just two — finance minister Arun Jaitley and BJP president Amit Shah who, along with PM Modi, make up the trio that are running the show, as was derisively pointed out by Arun Shourie, a writer and former journalist who commanded much respect in the (Atal Behari) Vajpayee period. His party colleagues tend to give him a wide berth. Now people know better.With a mood such as this within the BJP, how could Mr Modi have summoned the nerve to allow a proper discussion on Demonetisation in Parliament? And not inviting a debate on the most important economic policy measure in decades is a scornful rejection of the democratic process. People are finding it difficult to buy food even if they have some money in the bank as they can’t withdraw their own money. In private, they roundly condemn it, and deeply worry for their political future. The finance minister has indeed found a clever way. He inspires fear, not affection; he tells his party ranks to take the mesغير مجاز مي باشدe of the government to the people instead of complaining and malingering. But he is careful not to elaborate his thoughts on the positive features of Demonetisation. The difference between the two episodes is, however, stark. The RSS, which makes or breaks BJP leaders, is said to be dissatisfied. Enough indications are now becoming available to suggest that clever tricks to favour the rich start not at banks but at the government security presses, where new currency notes are being printed — for example, wads of fresh notes of the Rs 2,000 denomination are marked as wads of Rs 10 notes and spirited out.This is why the BJP’s MPs and MLAs, specially from poll-bound states like UP and Punjab, are deeply disturbed. He speaks ad nauseam about digital cash and plastic money but remains completely quiet about how to address the bread and butter issues of the people.Their everyday miseries are being compounded in a variety of ways, and the prospect of the economy regaining its verve in the foreseeable future seems not even a distant possibility at the moment.

His Demonetisation is being likened to the Emergency in that it has taken away the liberty of the people to work by creating such a devastating condition of absence of cash that the hirer is deterred from offering daily-wage employment, although there is work to be done.Unlike the case of the Emergency, senior people in the Modi government and the BJP are not ready to speak up in defence of Demonetisation. They’ve anyway been unhappy for long as the Modi government has done so little for the farming community.It wasn’t just that the banks were denying the public their own hard-earned cash while they were stealthily serving their high-end customers. But when confronted by him they dare not contradict him to his face, and prefer to stay mum.But even Mr Jaitley and Mr Shah are careful how they put across their thoughts. How will the poor behave? Shakespeare cautioned us long ago: “Beware the fury of a patient man!”Mr Modi must have been made more aware of this last Friday when he addressed the BJP Parliamentary Party.. Images of the event on television showed there was a sullen silence.A vastly experienced outfit like the RSS can see the writing on the wall. Initially, many among the poorer classes did appear to be satisfied. Although its top brass have shown restraint in their speech, they know India has been struck a body blow by Demonetisation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not so blessed.Indeed, it was planned as a gigantic PR exercise to boost Mr Modi’s image with ordinary people for the purpose of gaining their confidence, first for the Uttar Pradesh and Punjab polls in February, 2017 and then the Lok Sabha poll of 2019, since the government’s track record is otherwise thin.In short, Brass faucet accessories Manufacturers the people are deriving the mesغير مجاز مي باشدe of Demonetisation through their own experience, not through the channels of the party machinery or the widespread RSS network. The Prince of Gujarat was walking the razor’s edge and his feet were bleeding.

In conditions like these, it is likely to be exploring fallback options to prepare for a scenario in which the Modi motif has been taken off the shelf. It aimed to excite the poor man’s inner anger with the rich and leave behind the subliminal thought that Prime Minister Modi was on their side and intended to get even with the rich on their behalf.In this respect, it was like the “surgical strike”, which turned out to have no military value but it did catch the public imagination initially.The BJP president, on the other hand, has the image of a bully.The thought is inescapable that Demonetisation was a political move, not a well-considered economic one (or it would have been much more expertly handled).Barring a clutch of the so-called “Young Turks”, an energetic but minor woolly socialism-oriented faction in the Congress, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s party stuck by her through the Emergency, although it was becoming plain, as the days wore on, that this method of fighting political opponents was going to boomerang badly.But his audience remained unmoved. They grew vicarious pleasure — and solace — from the thought that Demonetisation was intended to be a blow struck at the heart of the fatcat, and of big business. But those who saw him thus seemed to feel no pity. The Prime Minister himself looked haggard and distraught, not his usual confident, crack-the-whip self.Demonetisation has been such a resounding disaster for the people and the country that the term is likely to enter our political lexicon with a capital “D”, much like “E” for Emergency. He pulled out scrappy lines from a book written by a long-ago bureaucrat to condemn Indira Gandhi and quoted from sundry speeches of Indira-baiters to slam her. But the hoax has now been found out.The list of other negatives is long and well-known, and is reminiscent of the Great Depression of the 1930s, though we are not quite there yet