Thursday, May 11, 2023
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Brigadier Furdoon Siavax Byramji Mehta: Pioneer of Indian Army Aviation Corps
Brigadier Furdoon Siavax Byramji Mehta: Pioneer of Indian Army Aviation Corps, not averse to risk
Named ‘Duck’ Mehta by his fellow officers after the fish Bombay Duck, the Brigadier who passed away in Mumbai on March 3, on his birthday, at the age of 101 years, had many firsts to his credit.
Not many would be able to keep their head and keep maneuvering an aircraft especially after an enemy bullet slices through their cap, taking with it a chunk of hair. For Brigadier Furdoon Siavax Byramji Mehta (retd), however, it was just another day at the front during the Second World War and something that couldn’t deter him from flying into enemy territory again.
Named ‘Duck’ Mehta by his fellow officers after the fish Bombay Duck, the Brigadier who passed away in Mumbai on March 3, on his birthday, at the age of 101 years, had many firsts to his credit.
He was the first Indian Artillery officer to wear the wings of the Air Observation Post (Air OP), now known as Army Aviation Corps. He was the only Indian Artillery officer to have served with the 656 Air OP Squadron of Royal Air Force (RAF) in Burma and Malaya in Second World War. He was also the first Indian Commanding Officer of 9 Parachute Field Regiment, a command which he took over in 1947 at the age of just 27 years.
Born on March 3, 1920, Mehta joined the Indian Military Academy in 1938 and graduated in April 1940. He was commissioned in the Regiment of Artillery and participated in the Second World War between 1942 to 1945, both in the traditional artillery role and in Air OP pilot’s role.
As a Captain, he trained as a pilot at the No 2 Elementary Flying and Training School (EFTS) at Jodhpur, which was established by then Maharaja of Jodhpur, Umaid Singh. Mehta was posted to the 656 Air Op Squadron RAF in Arakans, Burma, and later on the central front, which comprised Imphal plains in India.
Not averse to taking risks, it was in 1944 in Burma during the Second World War that Mehta narrowly escaped getting shot while flying too low on a recce to locate the position of Japanese soldiers. The bullets went through his cap, taking away a tuft of hair.
He also lost his way once, in February 1945, in the thick jungles trying to help an armoured regiment’s Colonel reconnoiter and risked crashing because he was flying without a compass. He decided to land an on airstrip, which still was still embedded with Japanese landmines marked with white crosses, because he needed fuel and a bearing to get back to an Advanced Landing Ground. Recounting the day in an article in the magazine ‘Freedom First’ some years ago, Brig Mehta said, “The Colonel asked me what the white crosses meant, so I said they were only mines and said I was going in for a landing. You should have seen his face!”.
Brig Mehta had a distinguished 29 year long career during which he also served as the Military Attache in Washington, USA from 1967 to 1969.
His military career saw him graduate from the Staff College in Quetta, now in Pakistan, in 1947, command a Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, becoming the Chief Instructor in Indian Military Academy in 1953, attending the Long Gunnery Staff Course (LGSC) at Larkhill Salisbury UK from 1955 to 1956, commanding 25 Artillery Brigade Rajouri in 1957 and 27 Artillery Brigade in Jalandhar in 1958, among other achievements.
The last wish of Brigadier FSB Mehta was that an Indian Army bugler should play ‘The Last Post’ at his funeral. A wish that was honoured by the Army’s Southern Command.
Wreaths were laid on behalf of the GOC-in-C Southern Command, GOC-in-C Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa (MG&G) Area, Commanding Officer 9 Para Field Regiment and the Ex-Services Association Mumbai where he served as Vice Chairman for over 40 years.
Thursday, April 13, 2023
Monday, April 3, 2023
Learn to keep maunvrat. -- Shiv Kunal Verma on (Siachin war-front)
Learn to master the ancient Indian art of maunvrat.
Rinderpest is also more commonly known as the “foot and mouth” disease and in the past, it has swept through the subcontinent with catastrophic results. In the last ten-odd days since the tragic loss of 20 Indian soldiers in the icy region of the Galwan Valley to Chinese machinations, one can only watch in mind-numbing amazement as many of our countrymen, some of whom have once donned the uniform and served, have suddenly taken leave of their senses.
Add to this the mushrooming crop of self-styled defence experts and analysts. Just as the Pakistanis at Longewala in 1971 were intercepted, radioing for help as IAF Hawker Hunters decimated their tanks, “ek jata hai toh ek aata hai aur bees-bees minute ooper nachta hai” (as one goes, the other comes and dances around above us for 20 to 40 minutes) we watch equally helplessly as we evolve into a country of professional blabber mouths. From a channel even describing the intake of a certain type of fighter aircraft that had landed at Leh and speculating on what sort of armament it could carry, another was showing satellite maps and pointing out where our tanks were harboured. The presenter was in so much of a breathless hurry to spill even more beans that he was actually running from screen to screen.
In matters relating to national security, the standard response across the globe is “we neither confirm or deny”, and the media by and large self regulates and does not give out any information that can compromise the safety of your own troops, or your own larger interests. However, for Indian journalists, schooled in the desperate need to get “breaking news” and blurting out whatever information they may have, the threat from the Chinese is today secondary to ratings.
This then has been having a cascading effect, getting worse day by day. Soldiers on the ground watch in amazement as their frontlines and assets are being discussed by didactic anchors sitting in far-away studios. Unfortunately, these “reports” fuel a piranha-like frenzy, and more and more teams armed with cameras descend on the area. Those who cannot somehow get to where the action is, then start putting out “human interest” stories, which more often than not, add to the confusion.
If only the same zeal of our reporters could be exported and applied to the Chinese or Pakistani side of the border. Then not only would we know which troops, battalions, companies of the PLA were deployed when and where, we would even soon know the dietary preferences of their previous commanding officers. And since they are the aggressors here, we would have had their plans as soon as they were hatched—though it’s a different matter that we may have still not acted on it. In this cacophony of opinions, it doesn’t take long for the pressure to start building on the entire system. And pressure situations, especially in a democracy like ours, invariably lead to the abandonment of cold reasoning and logic. Statements once made, like the waters of the Galwan or any other river, cannot flow backwards.
Unlike Doklam, in all probability, Galwan is not necessarily the critical point of conflict and may well have been a feint for consolidation in the Pangong Tso or maybe even the Depsang Valley. For that matter, the incidents in Ladakh may all together be an even bigger smokescreen for yet something else. Unfortunately, the Chinese media has not as yet told us what President for Life Xi Jinping or his Communist buddies are thinking. Our intelligence agencies, most of them reporting directly to the highest office in this land, also obviously had no clue. That Military Intelligence had been defanged around 2012 is also one of the strange quirks that ails India, but therein lies another tale.
The Chinese have been intruding, pushing and probing for the last four years. That they are today in the Pangong Tso area, the Galwan River Valley and the Depsang Plains is not something new and these events in the past have been handled by the ITBP and sometimes by the Army. What is interesting this time, apart from the numbers, is the selective playing up of the intrusions by a certain journalist, whose information, though accurate on the ground, seemed aimed at stirring up a hornets’ nest. Given the fact that this person had served in the Army and was extremely well connected through marriages, it has been presumed he got his information from “highly placed inside sources”. Smokescreens are wonderful things—ask any tank man and he’ll tell you how well it works. With all the sophisticated equipment at NTRO’s disposal, it would indeed be interesting to know who his real sources were.
‘SIACHEN HAND OUT’
It is not the fact that the intrusions were brought out that is bothering in this case—it is how and at what level it was done. The same person, this time around perhaps acting on behalf of himself or other puppeteers had ironically played a major role just eight years ago in what was then termed as the “Siachen Hand Out”. It is perhaps worth recounting briefly just what happened then.
The United States was fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan and at that time Pakistan needed sops to keep it honest. It was speculated that the highest office was offered a Nobel Peace Prize if indeed he could “disengage” the troops from the glacier and withdraw to the Shyok River. Talks between India and Pakistan had been going on for a while, but they were not making any headway. The Indian side in the natural flow of discussions, saw the talks falter. The Army, on its part, was extremely vocal about any disengagement, but had there been a settlement, they would have had no choice. Commanding 14 Corps in 2005, Lieutenant General Milan Naidu, bluntly told the Prime Minister that if ordered to pull out so be it, but do not ask us ever again to recapture the area. General J.J. Singh, the COAS, had told the PM a withdrawal was “doable”. As DGMO he had even worked out a plan to “hold the heights”
The lowest ranking member in the Indian delegation was a well-connected-former-Army-cum-journalist. In 2012, when the PM finally decided that all the bases were covered and it was time to implement the “Siachen Sellout”, fortunately Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch, who had commanded the Siachen brigade, got wind of what was happening. However, the PMO, monitoring and shepherding the “deal” ensured no television channel or paper would expose what was going on. Katoch, by then joined by M.G. Devasahayam and me then briefed General V.K. Singh, who had just retired as the chief.
Time was fast running out and at that time we only had the broader picture. I had written the story based on what we had pieced together and fortunately at that time, Anil Tyagi, the enterprising editor of G-Files, decided to cock a snook at the PMO and run the article. The Hindi edition of Outlook then followed suit with a two-page write-up where I asked just one simple question—if we withdraw from Siachen, where will the new defensive line be? As expected there was no answer to that question.
At the time we had no idea that the journalist was the kingpin in the deal. Furious that the deal had been exposed and scuttled, he then wrote three e-mails in the space of two hours—first to Katoch, then Devasahayam and finally to me. Apart from the profanity and personal attacks (he also called me fat), in the first mail to Katoch, like a petulant child who hadn’t got what he wanted, he wrote saying “you are jealous because you didn’t get the goodies”, which others on the Track 2 team got. In 2013, in a formal complaint to the Press Council and the Ministry of Home Affairs, General V.K. Singh had filed a complaint for treason against not just this person, but also an editor of a daily who had made up and perpetuated the coup story. Needless to say nothing happened.
NO MORE LEAKS
With this background, let us return our attention to Ladakh while keeping an eye on the entire 3,500 km-long border extending up to Kibithu. The Chinese have declared their intent, and though we might engage them diplomatically or otherwise, we have to make sure there are no more leaks in INS India. Taunting the PM saying “at least Nehru fought in 1962” and trying to whip up fear hysteria, clearly show what the person’s agenda was as the Galwan talks were on. India is in for a long haul—the Chinese haven’t built up in Ladakh to have a picnic—and it is imperative that the commanders on the ground have the country’s full trust and support. Even in 1962 our men were rock solid, but they were ordered to withdraw, sometimes even from a position of strength. The bulk of our people were shot in the back by the PLA after the ceasefire—that is something we must never forget.
Government after government on our side of the Himalayas has been playing merry hell with our own security apparatus over the years. It wasn’t just Chacha Nehru who tampered with the structure and acted as if we didn’t need an Army. The similarities with what happened in the build-up to 1962 and many things that are happening now are all too obvious. With the dragon at the door, even now there is time to try and repair some of those horrendous cracks. For a start, the government should pass a whip saying no one, especially retired service personnel, should comment on the China situation. Like in the case of the Kargil War, keep the public informed through official briefings for a lack of information can also be extremely counter-productive.
China has played its hand and the fireworks have only just begun. Given our centralized way of functioning, the fuse has to be in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s absolute control. He has to read the tea leaves carefully and take every decision far from the glare of publicity. Those advisors who have already failed him must go and more competent people brought in. Just remember, in War there is no place for the loser.
Shiv Kunal Verma is the author of the highly acclaimed “1962: The War That Wasn’t” and “The Long Road to Siachen: The Question Why”.
Friday, March 31, 2023
The aryabhatta-nilakanta-samanta evolution Book by Kosla Vepa and other books 01-04-2023
These books NOT disposed till 01-04-2023
The aryabhatta-nilakanta-samanta evolution
Published by-indic study foundation
Address-948 happy valley road Pleasanton, CA 94566
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solid waste management
Published by-ranjeet s.chavan
Address-Sthanikraj bhavan c.d.barfiwala marg, andheri (west) Mumbai-400058
Email - alisg@bom3.vsnl.net.in
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Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Monday, March 6, 2023
गोवा अंतर्राष्ट्रीय पर्यटन विश्वविद्यालय -- प्रस्ताव व सुझाव
गोवा अंतर्राष्ट्रीय पर्यटन विश्वविद्यालय -- प्रस्ताव व सुझाव
गोवा सरकार तथा केंद्र सरकार के विचारार्थ
यथावकाश इसे संस्कारित कर यूएन आदि अंतर्राष्ट्रीय संस्थाओंमे भेजा जा सकता है।
खण्ड - १
प्रारंभिक भैतिक सुविधाएँ जो गोवा सरकार की ओर से दी जाएगी -
१. १०० हेक्टर जमिन
२. निर्माण हेतू हर वर्ष १० करोड का प्रावधान ५ वर्षों तक।
३. निर्माण हेतू गोवा इण्डस्ट्रीयल डेव्हलपमेंट कार्पोरेशन पर उत्तरदायित्व सौंपा जाए।
४. पहले एक वर्ष तक ओएसडी के नेतृत्व मे एक दस व्यक्तियोंकी टीम जो प्रारंभिक सुविधाएँ उपलब्घ होने के लिये काम करेगी। (यही टिम महामहिम को रिपोर्ट किया करेगी)
खण्ड - २
अंतराष्ट्रीय पर्यटन विश्वविद्यालय की आवश्यकता-
सद्यकाल में पर्यटन एक आवश्यक तथा उभरते हुए व्यापार का मुद्दा बन गया है। जिस प्रकार उत्पादक व्यवसायोंमे व्यवस्थापन विशेषज्ञों की आवश्यक्ता को ध्यान में रखकर IIM जैसी संस्थाएँ बनी या फिर बँकिंग क्षेत्र की आवश्यक्ताओं के लिए बँक ट्रेनिंग संस्थाएँ बनीं, उस प्रकार इस पर्यटन क्षेत्रकी आवश्यक्ता के लिए विशेष शिक्षा तथा समर्पक कोर्स की रचना आवश्यक है। ऐसी शिक्षा प्राप्त व्यक्ति पर्यटनके क्षेत्रको नई दिशाओंमे फैलाकर इस व्यवसाय मे नई क्रांती ला सकते हैं और नये नये प्रयोग कर सकते हैं।
विश्वविद्यालय को अंतराष्ट्रीय बनानेकी क्या आवश्यक्ता है - यह प्रश्न भी पूछा जा सकता है। वैसे तो विश्वविद्यालय शब्दमें ही विश्व निहित है। फिर भी प्रस्तावित विश्वविद्यालय को विशेष रूप से आंतर्राष्ट्रीय बनानेके लिए कारण भी है कि यह विश्वविद्यालय दूर दूर देशों से विद्यार्थी आकृष्ट कर सके और इस प्रकार सही अर्थ में वैश्विक स्तर पर इसकी ख्याति फैले।
औचित्यका मुद्दा इस मुद्देके साथ भी जुडता है कि ऐसा विश्वविद्यालय में भारत में क्यों और गोवा में क्यों ? इसका कारण है। मानव जाती की उत्पत्ति, बौद्धिक विकास और भौतिक प्रगती के इतिहास को देखें तो उत्पत्ति काल करीब एक करोड वर्षका माना जा सकता है। बौद्धिक विकास का काल ३०००० से ४०००० वर्ष का माना जा सकका है। जिस कालमें कई एक संस्कृतियों का उदय हुआ अंत भी। एक भारतीय संस्कृती है जो टिकी हुई है। रामायण महाभारत जैसे ग्रंथों से उनका इतिहास पाँच सातसे दस हजार वर्ष पूर्व ज्ञात होता है, जबकी भारतमें बौद्धिक संस्कृती कमसे कम दस हजार वर्ष पूर्व की है। पर्यटन की दृष्टी से अति महत्वपूर्ण मुद्दा है कि समय का यह विस्तृत रंगमंच भारत भरमें अपने चिह्न और छाप छोड गया है। गोवा में भी वे सारे वर्तमान है। इस प्रकार गोवा को भी एक ऐतिहासिकता प्राप्त है, दूसरी ओर आधुनिकता भी योग्य और पर्याप्त मात्रामें गोवा के पास है। भौगोलिक वातावरण भी अनुकूल है। इसलिए विश्वविद्यालय आंतर्राष्ट्रीय हो, भारतमें हो और गोवामें हो यह औचित्यपूर्ण है।
खंड-३
पर्यटन की परिकल्पना
पर्यटन एवं घुमक्कडी मनुष्य का स्वभाव भी है और प्रगती के लिये आवश्यक भी। श्री चरक जैसे विद्वान ने बताया कि मनुष्य का व्यक्तित्व चार प्रकार से बनता है- जन्मगत वांशिक तथ्य, पालन-पोषन के दौरान पाये गये संस्कार, स्वबुद्धि का विकास तथा पर्यटन।
आज पर्यटन एक फलता- फूलता व्यवसाय बन गया है। दुनिया सिमट गई है - यातायात की सुविधाएँ पर्याप्त है और ज्ञानलालसा का तो कोई अन्त ही नही। इस कारण विश्वभरमें पर्यटन के लिये आने-जाने वाले पर्यटकों की संख्या में वृद्धि हे रही है। छ़ः साढे छः अरबकी जनसंख्या वाले विश्व में हर वर्ष करीब १ अरब (१०० करोड) आबादी पर्यटन करती है। भारत में प्रतिवर्ष आनेवाले पर्यटकों की संख्या करोडोंमें है, और गोवा मे आने वाले पर्यटकोंकी संख्या भी कई करोड है। इनका थोडासा विश्लेषण आवश्य़क है, क्योंकि उसीसे हमारी प्रस्तावित विश्वविद्यालयके शिक्षा प्रणालीकी रूपरेषा तय होगी।
विश्लेशण के मुद्दे- (हर मुद्दे पर थो़डा विस्तार आवश्यक है)
१. भारतीय और बाहरी
२. समय की उपलब्धी - ४ दिन या ४० दिन अर्थात् अल्पकालिक या दीर्घकालीक
३. सुविधाओ कीं उपलब्धि
४. उद्देश- विश्राम, सैरसपाटे, खाओ पिओ मौज करो, कँसिनो- बार-डान्स-शराब, समुद्र तट, सृष्टी सौदर्य, जलवायु की मौज, प्राचीनता, मंदिर-चर्च, स्थापत्य, खानपान-विशेषता लिया हुआ हर एक प्रांत का खानपान का चलन
५. बच्चोंके हेतु पर्याप्त रूचिपूर्ण क्रियाकलाप जैसे एस्सेल वर्ल्ड - तारांगण - म्युझियम - आदि
६. बच्चों हेतु बहुउद्देशीय शिबिर, युवाओंके शिबिर, विभिन्न विषयों को समर्पित राष्ट्रीय व आंतर्राष्ट्रीय शिबिर
७. इव्हेंट मँनेजमेंट - उत्सव-व्यवस्थापन - जैसे जत्रा, कार्निवल, शिगमो, नरकासुर-ध्वंस, गिरि-भ्रमण, सांस्कृतिक शोध, पुरातत्व तथा आनुवांशिकता विचार – आर्कियाँलाँजी व अन्थ्रोपोलाँजी
८. लोक कलाएँ -- संगीत, कथा, नाट्य, नृत्य, शिल्प, चित्र, इत्यादि. भाषाएँ - बोली भाषाएँ, लिपी
९. व्रत-तौहार, पारिवारिक व समाजिक प्रसंगोकी शैली, वैज्ञानिकता, भविष्यकालीन दृष्टी एवं विनिर्देश
उपर्युक्त चार विश्लेशण- प्रकारोंपर आधारित और खासकर उद्देशोंपर आधारित पर्यटन व्यवस्थापन कैसे किया जा सकता है- इस मुद्दे को कोर्स सिलँबस के गठन में प्राथमिकता दी जाएगी।
कोर्स के गठन इस प्रकार होंगे-
१. १० वी के आगे डिप्लोमा, स्नातक और स्नातकोत्तर
२. अल्पकालिक कोर्स - १ सप्ताह, २ सप्ताह, १ मास, ३ मास, ६ मास -- साथ ही अलग अलग व्यवसायोँ से जुडे किंतु पर्यटनके लिए आवश्यक व्यवसायोंके साथ (यथा हाँटेल, ट्रान्सपोर्ट, हस्तकला, लोकमंच इत्यादि ) इंटरडिसिप्लिनरी कोर्सेस ३ से ६ मास की अवधी के।
खण्ड ४
रोड मँप-
१. गोवा एवं केंद्र सरकार को प्रस्ताव भेजना
२. गोवा सरकार द्वारा आरंभिक सुविधाए देने की स्वीकृती, कँबिनेट तथा विधानसभा स्तरपर
३. ओ एस डी एवं उनकी टीम का गठन, कार्यालय, बजेट, वाहन व्यवस्था की सुविधा
४. टीम द्वारा भौतिक सुविधाओंका चयन
५. टीम द्वारा कुलपती एवं अन्य प्राध्यापकोंका चयन
६. कोर्स डिझायनिंग
७. GIDC द्वारा विश्वविद्यालय की वास्तू का निर्माण
८. कोर्सेस की संरचना
९. विद्यार्थी रजिस्ट्रेशन
१०. आर्थिक एवं प्रशासकीय ढाँचा तैयार करना
११. प्रत्यक्षतः कोर्सेस का आरंभ
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