Indian Defence: My Review For The Army - I

I do not know if I can classify 2013 as a good or a bad year for the Indian Defence, but for one thing, It sure has been an extreme year. One on hand lie the magnificent achievements like activation of the miniature nuclear reactor of INS Arihant, launch of the indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and approval or the all new Mountain Strike Corps, and on the other hand there were unfortunate events like blast and subsequent sinking of INS Sindhurakshak and crashing of Mi 17 V5 chopper during Uttaranchal flood relief operation. All these developments combined with the increased incursions and aggressions at the LAC and LOC make this a good time for a solid review of the Indian security scenario. 

M777 ultralight Howitzer

What's happened, has happened. It's time to look into the future. Army is getting the brand new Mountain Strike corps,going to get its critically low tank fired munitions replenished with the BDL making Invar missiles for T 90, testing the mk 2 version of Arjun tanks and Naag missiles, all set to receive the 145 ultra light howitzers and...well, this is quite a list. It looks all good to go but if you were to take a closer look, its not all that rosy. To start with, 145 M777s will not really give us any edge. LAC is 4000 Kilo meters long and the Chinese have a massive build up near the border both in terms or men and infrastructure. How much area can 145 howitzers protect with a range of 40-45 Kilo meters? Army ordered these guns just to fill the most crucial pockets the LAC. They will merely be tactical deterrents, and by no means will be able to add teeth to the offensive capabilities. Next, the decision to procure Invar ammunition for the T 90 tanks also doesn't seem to be very impressive. Invar is a 2nd generation missile and its range is limited. It may not b

e very effective against enemy tanks like the Al-Khalid from a long distance. I'm no expert, and correct me if you must, but something on the lines of LAHAT missile would have been a better choice.  And once again, we are only filling the gaps which should have not been there anyway, by buying these missiles. They are nothing new, nothing extra. They don't improve the army over what it was in any way. 

          LAHAT                                                Invar

Arjun, I must say is a very commendable tank as far as the theory goes, and the story of improved Naag anti tank missiles also looks good, but then they are merely in the testing phase. With every defence project being entangled in the red tape and clearances, who knows when they will actually reach the production line, and history tells us better than to have faith in DRDO deadlines. Same goes the story with the cherished new Mountain strike corps. What should have been done a decade ago is being done now and much has changed in these ten years. Although it is a welcomed move and will surely make the Indian presence on LAC underscored, let it be known that even after the formation of the corps, the Indian men will still be outnumbered in the ratio of 1:3 by the Chinese side in the event of an aggression. The Chinese have rail networks very close to the LAC, and we hardly have anything in the name of roads. And things in India take a long time to change. In a nutshell, most of the procurements are not enhancing the Army further, but simply filling gaps left in the past.

The new meaner look of the MARCOS in 2013 (Left).
Right: Old Look. Note the difference in the guns.

Not all is bad though, there are indeed a few things we can be happy about. Not very highlighted, but not any less important has been the quick induction of the Israeli Tavor 21 rifles with the special forces. And this brings the focus on how the Indian special forces have been modernized in recent years. With NSG and Marcos already taking the lead in adopting more sophisticated weapons, outfit and warfare techniques, it sure looks that at least the covert operations capability will be in place. Another positive development has been the nod from defence ministry to the army to raise its own air strike corps and just at the right time as the HAL Rudra is already set to join the Army now. Agni 5's second test launch is only days away now. One may criticize DRDO for any other project but when it comes to missiles, they are simply unmatched. Akash SAM, Prithvi air defence, Astra AAM - they are all doing amazingly well. 

So as with any road to development, there have been ups and down, some decisions have been delayed, while some have turned out to be just fine. Numbers aside, in war you never know if one man will take down five or if even ten men will be able take down one.                

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Hotels You Ought To Be At: The Top 5 List

Here's a list of hotels which you ought to be at. Not that these are the most luxurious hotels, or unique either, but each one of them has something different to offer. If you were to visit all five of these hotels, they'll leave on your mind very pleasant, and yet very different memories. Each of these hotels have different view, hospitality and  culture to offer. A picture is worth a thousand words, have a look. 

   The Ladera Resort in St. Lucia, West Indies

    

An intensely blue Caribbean Sea dashing against the volcanic Piton Mountains and faintly scented tropical breeze cooling your skin is what you can expect here. The makers have tried their best to leave the nature undisturbed so you can enjoy a panoramic view sitting on a comfortable chair in your room. By the way, that is a 1200 feet above the mean sea level. 

    

Conrad Rangali Island Resort, Maldives

   

 The beauty and awe of  this underwater bedroom is self evident. There is absolutely nothing that I need to write to describe how  amazing this hotel  it. You have slept under the stars plenty, now try sleeping under the fish. This 12-seat restaurant - hotel, which sits 16 feet below mean sea level of the Indian Ocean, was converted into a private bedroom suite for two, complete with  a private champagne dinner and breakfast     in bed.

The Samling Hotel, Windermere, England

    

This one is my personal favourite  If you think this hotel is too mainstream to be getting into the top ten list, trust me you are underestimating the value of a good English morning. The hotel does everything to make you feel you're in England. There's something very classy about  this  place, and solitude, if you're looking      for it. Set in 67 acres of land, the Samling Hotel in Lake District, UK, looks onto Lake Windermere.

The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra, India

    

Wake up to a quiet Indian morning, and enjoy your tea with the view of Taj Mahal. I belong to India, so I know that quiet mornings are not something you would like to take for granted. The Oberois' are famous for their traditional Indian hospitality, so that's one more thing you should be looking forward to if you are planning to stay here. 

   

 The Chalet Zermatt Peak, Switzerland

    

                         

   Of course there are many resorts amid snow capped mountains in the world. But this one stands apart. For    one thing, it is in Switzerland, which has some of the most awe inspiring white peaks, and for the other, this hotel offers you an uninterrupted view of the mountains all around you, no matter which room you choose.    Imagine lying on that bed in the picture and looking at the glimmering peaks. O yeah. 

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Know Your DNA: Ten amazing facts

Some of our readers who take excessive pleasure in studying those slimy squishy things under a lens (bio-specialists) must already be aware of what a DNA is and how amazing it is! But for many others like me, a DNA is like a computer chip, which contains codes about how a program is to be developed. Or, we can say that a DNA is like a map, which contains the information necessary to build a house. A DNA, analogically, contains 'codes' which is used to make a human being! So if you ever wondered how come a single cell in mommy's tummy evolves into a full fledged baby, DNA is your partial answer. It is the DNA which has all the information about how the cells should split, which things should join together, so on and so forth. Note that a DNA is very very small. Only 2.5 nano meters! Following ten facts will tell you how weird this little molecule is.  

1. 99% of the DNA sequence of entire human population is same!

2. If you put all the DNA molecules in your body end to end, the DNA would reach from the Earth to the Sun and back over 600 times. Trust me even I don't believe it but I have cross checked this information from multiple sources. 

3.  Sigh!...98% of our DNA resembles with that of Chimpanzee. 

4.  How about storing your super-secret files in a DNA? A little too far fetched at this moment, but scientists are working on this. So, why in DNA? why not a CD or a drive? Because sooner or later, they will get  damaged. DNA, on the other hand, is almost indestructible. It can keep the information stored in it undisturbed for millions of years! 

5. You share 99.5% of your DNA with your parents. Were it not for this difference of 0.5%, we'd all look exactly like our mom and dad.

6.  Okay here's the big one. Each tiny molecule of DNA contains about 1.5 GB of information. So...given that a human body has about 100 trillion cells, the total amount of information stored in a human body is 150 trillion GB!! No offence to our engineers but I don't think any computer on Earth has that much capacity. 

7.  On October 12, 2008, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft flew a mission to the International Space Station orbiting around earth. On board, it carried a small memory device with the digitized DNA sequences of various (questionably) important people, including comedian Stephen Colbert, physicist Stephen Hawking, Jo Garcia, and shamed pro cyclist Lance Armstrong. The purpose of the drive is to provide the building blocks to resurrect humanity should an apocalyptic event destroy the planet. Oh the humanities...

8.  It would take a person typing 60 words per minute, eight hours a day, around 50 years to type the human genome.
   
9. The draft of map of the human DNA code was completed for the first time only recently in 2003.

10. Our genetic code is so long that it can fill 200  telephone directory sized books with 1000 pages each. And yet, scientists have not been able to tell the function of about 85% of the DNA sequence. They discard it as "junk".   

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