"Indian Army chief says forces are unfit to fight a war" Washington Post, March 29, 2012
NEW DELHI - India’s battle tanks do not have enough shells to fire, its air defenses are obsolete, and its ill-equipped infantry cannot fight at night, the chief of the Indian Army told the prime minister in a letter that was leaked Wednesday.
All that tax loot.... wasted.
Excerpts from the letter, which General V.K. Singh sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this month, were published in the newspaper Daily News & Analysis, based in Mumbai.
That
prompted condemnation of both the government and the army by lawmakers,
who demanded Singh’s immediate dismissal over the leak and other
incidents and accused the government of neglecting national security.
The general’s letter called the state of the army’s major fighting arms “alarming.’’
In October, India’s weekly magazine India Today ran a story titled “Not Ready for War,’’ quoting from government meetings and saying that accumulated neglect has rendered the army unfit to fight a war.
“Every army in the world faces shortages, but how did a classified letter of this kind come into the public domain is a matter of great worry and needs to be investigated,’’ said General Ved Prakash Malik. A retired army chief, Malik led the Indian Army in a limited border war with Pakistan in 1999.
He was angry about the leak, but agreed with V.K. Singh’s summary....
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What do you do if you can't fight and win a war?
"India to test nuclear missile that can hit Beijing" Associated Press, April 19, 2012
NEW DELHI—India announced Thursday that it had successfully test launched a new nuclear-capable missile that would give it, for the first time, the capability of striking the major Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai.
Yeah, who needs armies when you can liquidate and poison the planet over crock of crap lies upon which all wars are based?
Of course, Korea fires off a flop failure and the globe-kickers are besides themselves with alarm.
Un-frikkin'-real!
The government has hailed the Agni-V missile, with a range of 3,100 miles, as a major boost to its efforts to counter China’s regional dominance and become an Asian power in its own right.
Ah, you SEE the OPPOSING SIDES and FRONT LINES -- such as they will be -- of WORLD WAR III coming into view thanks to the mind preparation media propaganda.
China is far ahead of India in the missile race, with intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching anywhere in India.
India and China fought a war in 1962 and continue to nurse a border dispute. India has also been suspicious of Beijing’s efforts to increase its influence in the Indian Ocean in recent years.
The head of India’s Defense Research and Development Organization, Vijay Saraswat, said, ‘‘India has emerged from this launch as a major missile power.’’
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"India launches long-range missile; Action heightens fear of arms race" by Hari Kumar and Heather Timmons | New York Times, April 20, 2012
NEW DELHI - India said Thursday it had successfully launched a missile with nuclear capability and a range of 3,100 miles, giving it the ability to strike Beijing and Shanghai and heightening fears of an Asian arms race.
Gee, who gonna be making $ome dough over that, huh?
With the launching of the missile, called the Agni 5, India joins a small group of countries with long-range nuclear missile capability, including China, Britain, France, Russia, Israel, and the United States. Agni is the Hindi word for fire.
I didn't see Iran or Pakistan on the list there, and that's always the big booga-booga in my paper. And I'm surprised Israel is mentioned in such a matter-of-fact and casual way. Cat's out the bag.
The launching comes amid growing international apprehension about the
militarization of Asia and a stepped-up strategic rivalry there between
the United States and China. In March, Beijing announced a double-digit
increase in military spending, and India recently became the world’s
top arms buyer, displacing China, in part because China has increased
its domestic production of weapons.
The empire still spends more than the rest of the world combined, and most of them are non-adversaries. This whole deal is about patrolling the planet, Americans. You can junk the self-delusional and jingoistic ideas about all this.
And Thursday, South Korea tested a
missile capable of hitting anywhere in North Korea, less than a week
after North Korea launched a rocket that failed minutes after takeoff.
Quite a disparity there, and yet all the threat talk in my paper is from the North.
Related: Push For War in Korea Falls Apart
But that's okay because they are on our side.
The missile launching in India “increases the perception of an arms race, and the reality of an arms race, in East Asia, particularly between China and India,’’ said Graeme P. Herd, head of the international security program at the Geneva Center for Security Policy, which trains diplomats on peace and security issues.
The timing may be seen as particularly provocative, he said, coming as China’s government deals with a scandal involving one of its top officials and after the United States has stepped up its military presence in the Pacific.
That was my first impression, yeah.
“All of this, from the Chinese perspective, looks like a movement from balancing China to containing China,’’ Herd said, and it could inspire Beijing to strengthen its weapons stockpile and forge closer ties with Pakistan and Central Asian countries.
Sort of already have. It's WWIII, folks.
The launching was largely celebrated in India, where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called it “another milestone in our quest to add to the credibility of our security and preparedness and to continuously explore the frontiers of science.’’
The United States, which led the criticism of North Korea last week, appeared to warily endorse India’s missile launching.
Un-frikkin'-real. The double-standards....
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I'm sure someone else has something to say on the matter:
"Pakistan reports successful test-firing of ballistic missile" by Salman Masood | New York Times, April 26, 2012
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan successfully tested an improved intermediate-range ballistic missile Wednesday, according to a statement by the Pakistani military.
The test launch came six days after India, the country’s regional archrival, test-fired an Agni 5, a long-range ballistic missile that is also capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Pakistani military and defense analysts said their missile test was not in response to India’s, which was seen as focused on China. The Agni 5 tested last week was capable of reaching Beijing and Shanghai.
Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, a retired lieutenant general who leads the
Pakistani military’s strategic plans division, said the improved version
of the missile, which can carry a nuclear warhead, would “further
strengthen and consolidate Pakistan’s deterrence capabilities.’’
Mansoor Ahmed, a defense analyst in Islamabad, said Wednesday’s launching appeared to be of an improved intermediate-range missile, with a possible range of 466 to 620 miles. The missile could be equipped with warheads designed to evade missile defense systems, he added.
“The test signifies Pakistan’s resolve and capability to modernize its nuclear delivery systems,’’ Ahmed said.
“Pakistan is only concerned with maintaining a minimum credible deterrent capability vis-a-vis India and does not harbor regional or global ambitions,’’ he said.
At the time of its test last week, Indian officials said their missile could be launched from a mobile platform, a claim that raised immediate concerns with Pakistan. Foreign ministry officials in Islamabad said they had been notified in advance of the test by India, and made no further comments last week.
Last year, US intelligence assessments concluded that Pakistan has expanded its nuclear arsenal in recent years, putting it on a path to overtake Britain as the world’s fifth largest nuclear weapons power.
Wednesday’s test came as Pakistan braced for a fresh round of political uncertainty. The country’s highest court is expected to deliver a verdict Thursday on contempt charges against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
If the Supreme Court verdict is guilty, Parliament would have to pick a new prime minister.
Gilani has resisted demands by the court that he press authorities in Switzerland to pursue corruption charges against President Asif Ali Zardari over his ties to a Swiss company in the 1990s.
Gilani, a steadfast ally of Zardari, has long insisted that the president enjoys immunity in a foreign country.
A seven-member court panel, headed by Justice Nasir-ul Mulk of the Supreme Court, is expected to announce the verdict Thursday and lawyers and political analysts here say that an acquittal of Gilani is unlikely.
According to Aitzaz Ahsan, the lawyer for Gilani, the prime minister could be sentenced to six months in prison and disqualified from public office.
Gilani, who chaired a session of the Cabinet on Wednesday, tried to appear upbeat as Cabinet members expressed solidarity.
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Also see: Pakistan court convicts prime minister of contempt
Feeding the Indian war machine?
"Exxon Valdez sold, likely destined for scrap heap
NEW DELHI—The notorious Exxon Valdez tanker, responsible for one of the worst oil spills in U.S. history two decades ago, has been bought by an Indian company almost certainly to be scrapped for its steel and spare parts....
On March 24, 1989, millions of gallons of crude oil spewed into Alaska's ecologically sensitive Prince William Sound when the Exxon Valdez dashed against rocks, coating the shoreline with petroleum sludge and killing nearly 40,000 birds. The spill caused incalculable environmental damage and demolished the fishing industry in the area.
But the Gulf of Mexico is back to normal (or so we are told).
Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp., spent $900 million in restitution in a 1991 settlement and is battling more litigation from the spill.
The tanker moved on, with five name changes since the spill and ownership changing repeatedly, apparently to keep the ship in use while distancing it from the disaster....
India has one of the world's largest industries for breaking down old ships and oil tankers....
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Related: India said to lose $210b in coal deals
Asia’s largest solar field switched on in India
I wonder how much they will be losing on that.
And what was it Ike said, every dollar on armaments is a mouthful of food taken from a kid's mouth?
"India sets goal for major jump in health care spending; Critics say system needs overhaul, not more funds" by Rama Lakshmi | Washington Post, March 25, 2012
NEW DELHI - With its health care system increasingly eclipsed by rivals, India has a plan to nearly double public spending on health during the next five years, with the long-term goal of making medical care free for all citizens.
India is going to single payer?
It is an ambitious goal, and the kind of investment many experts have been advocating for decades. But already critics are wondering whether the government will live up to its promise, or if throwing money at the problem without reforming the health care delivery system from top to bottom will make much of a difference.
In recent years, India has watched with alarm as countries such as China, Egypt, Mexico, and Brazil raced ahead, and as its performance on child health and infant mortality was overtaken even by much of sub-Saharan Africa....
Had Gandhi not been cremated his corpse would be crying.
With a rapidly growing young population, India urgently needs to harness the energy of its youth by creating jobs and improving their health care, or it will squander the gains of its recent economic boom, analysts say.
That all go to the top class like here?
A newborn baby dies every 20 seconds in India and four out of 10 children are malnourished. Last month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the state of the health care system a “national shame.’’
Yup.
“In the years to come, these children will join our workforce as scientists, farmers, teachers, data operators, artisans, and service providers,’’ Singh said, releasing a report by the health advocacy group Hungama. “We cannot hope for a healthy future for our country with a large number of malnourished children.’’
Actually, they probably won't be joining the workforce, etc, etc. They will be lucky(?) to still be alive.
***********************************
Critics say Singh’s government has a habit of throwing money at problems without reforming basic delivery systems to ensure that the money reaches those it is meant for. India spends $7.8 billion every year on one of the largest rural job guarantee programs in the world. It is also planning a $20 billion program to make food accessible to millions of poor. Much of the money ends up in the pockets of local officials or is lost in poor implementation.
How much did that missile cost?
“If spending public money could alleviate poverty, improve health care, provide education, then by now India should have been a garden of Eden,’’ said Barun Mitra, who heads the free-market economic group Liberty Institute. “Allocation is not equal to outcome.’’
Corruption happens, 'eh?
With India’s economic growth slowing down to 6.1 percent in the last quarter of 2011 against mounting fiscal deficit, some say that spending at the levels Singh is proposing may either be unsustainable or may create new avenues for corruption.
That is what governments seem to do be$t!
Other analysts who have blamed poor investment in health care for the crippling shortages welcome the hike....
India has committed to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of bringing down its infant mortality rate by two-thirds of the current level by 2015. To achieve this, India needs an additional 2.6 million trained health workers, says the child care advocacy group Save the Children UK.
The shortage is most apparent in rural areas. A government-run rural health center in a district subcenter called Bihiya in Bihar has only three doctors but needs eight. Rather than nine nurses, it has only two. There is no anesthetist or obstetrician. A filing clerk doubles as a pharmacist, and an office boy stitches and dresses wounds.
Pregnant women are often forced to deliver babies on the cold floor of the center because there are too few beds. Village nurses are overworked and are not able to meet immunization targets.
But the government says it will embark on a massive project to train villagers and create an army of frontline community health workers.
And I say if it's good enough for Indians....!!!!
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Sounds like they (cough, cough) need it:
"Activists cite India for TB problems" Associated Press, March 24, 2012
NEW DELHI - India’s inadequate government-run tuberculosis treatment programs and a lack of regulation of the sale of drugs that fight it are responsible for the spiraling number of drug-resistant cases that are difficult to treat, health activists said.
India adds an estimated 99,000 cases of drug-resistant TB every year, but only a fraction of those infected get the proper drugs to treat the stubborn disease through a government-funded program. Saturday marks World Tuberculosis Day.
The original form of the disease can be easily cured by taking antibiotics for six to nine months. But if that treatment is interrupted or the dose is cut, the bacteria battle back by mutating into a tougher strain that can no longer be killed by standard drugs making it harder and more expensive to treat.
The easy availability of TB drugs in the private market and casual over-the-counter sale of antibiotics is fueling the development of drug resistance, said Piero Gandini, head of Doctors Without Borders in India.
“There is an urgent need for regulatory control of sale and administration of TB drugs in the private sector,’’ he said.
Patients also turn to private doctors who often do not know how to properly treat TB.
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At least you can get a good ejerkashun over there:
"India’s education crisis tied to unaccredited universities" by Rama Lakshmi | The Washington Post, April 01, 2012
ALIGARH, India - After studying for two years to be a teacher, Anam Naqvi found out that the degree her school offers is worthless.
Took me five.
Now, instead of attending classes and finishing a mandatory internship, she and her classmates protest daily outside the university gate in the northern city of Aligarh.
It is a story being replayed across Indian cities. Poorly regulated, unaccredited, and often entirely fake colleges have sprung up as demand for higher education accelerates, driven by rising aspirations and a bulging youth population....
The higher education commission recently released a list of 21 “fake universities,’’ many of them no more than a mailing address or signboard hanging over a shop, temple, or hole-in-the-wall office space....
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Also see: Indian government says gay sex is legal
That should fix everything.
