Interesting Article that i Happened to go through

Nightmare 2012: Chinese Special Forces cut off Siliguri corridor

2010-04-17 17:47:11 Last Updated: 2010-04-18 20:13:48

Bharat Verma India has the potential to be to Asia what America is to the world - a symbol of hope, liberty and freedom. Closed societies like China or Pakistan do not fit the bill. Due to authoritarian regimes in Beijing and Islamabad, in times to come they will remain preoccupied with growing internal societal turmoil. Therefore, they will naturally tend to threaten democratic India, militarily and with the help of their irregular forces to divert attention from the brewing internal storm. Also because on one hand, the Indian democracy negates their authoritarian philosophy, and on the other, the Union is perceived as a soft target to be conquered or ruptured. But technology driven 21st century cannot be China’s century in Asia as is being touted by its proxy Pakistan or the Chinese themselves. Simply because these are very brittle, regressive and perpetually paranoid societies. Societies that cannot sustain such enlarged influence and get into an over reach. While the People’s Liberation Army, the largest in the world, consists of 3.5 million soldiers to project power, Beijing employs whopping 21 million to police internal dissent. Military threat from such dictatorial regimes to free societies like India will increase as the western democracies retreat from Asia. There already exists a severe trust deficit between China and the small countries in the region. Editor’s Pick Unprepared and Unwilling The killers’ mace of the dark visitors ‘Is war around the corner?’ Bows, Arrows and Nuclear Weapons India is the perhaps the only country in Asia that can boast of the potential to occupy the strategic high ground gradually being vacated by the retreating western forces, provided it develops offensive orientation at the political level. Unlike China, its soft power increasingly impacts on Asia. The young demographic profile will continue to propel Indian economy to greater heights at least till end of 2050. China’s ageing profile shows trends that it will, first grow old then rich, unlike Japan, which grew rich then old. India if governed fairly well, will grow rich and then old like Japan. India’s multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society is the melting pot in Asia that benefits from rich diversity and open society. However, it is not as fortunate to be situated geographically in a safe haven like America, which is surrounded by nations with similar values. THE HISTORICAL THREAT Historically, the direction of demographic flow for centuries saw invasions from Central Asia to capture Delhi. Every fifty to hundred years, the subcontinent due to the genius of natives tends to generate wealth. From time immemorial this attracted hordes of invaders from Central Asia. Delhi Durbar was unable to defend itself as it neglected its military. Time and again, the rulers in Delhi were subjugated, as their incompetence in wielding the military was pathological. Once again India is generating vast wealth. Once again it refuses to defend it! Despite historical lessons of defeat at the hands of marauding armies, Delhi Durbar’s incompetence and ignorance in equipping the excellent military machine inherited from the British is again on display. Today the danger of disruption to the Union is much higher than in the previous centuries. Worse, the lack of offensive orientation in political thinking degrades the ability of the military to defend the Union from the extraordinary threat developing on its borders. The level of danger continues to creep north from “orange” to “red” on our land borders primarily on two counts. First, as a deception plan Pakistan on its birth professed to be secular, while in reality the leaders wanted a purely Islamic state. As a result the minority Hindu population of more than thirteen percent in a population of 76 million in 1947 got reduced to barely two percent even as the population of Pakistan increased in 2004 to 156 million. After refusing to share power with the Bengalis in the East and breaking up their country, the Pakistani Sunnis, not satisfied with this calibrated purge, now want to eliminate the Shias and expel the Ahmadiyas from Islam. In its devious journey towards fundamentalist Islam, it also wants to lock the women folk inside their homes under Taliban diktat, thus negating fifty percent of its population. This dangerous religious philosophy based on extreme form of imported Wahabi Islam is intolerant of worldview of others, wields nuclear weapons, nurtures a Talibanised army that runs a large irregular guerrilla force solely motivated by Islamic fundamentalism, and partners with China. The ideology of Pakistan is in direct confrontation with the values cherished by India. Worse, Pakistan’s financial bankruptcy exacerbates the internal instability. This in turn provides cheap human resource, to be used as cannon fodder, by the Jihad Factory run by the ISI. One feeds on the other. Islamic fundamentalism occupies Pakistan’s political space that in turn negates Indian influence, which wisely extended up to Afghanistan during British rule. It was the British Indian Army that kept a check on the repeat of a history of invasions from Central Asia. Ironically, instead of consolidating and integrating Kashmir, pacifist New Delhi is permitting the birth of a similar pocket of influence with extreme philosophy in the valley that will come back to haunt India in the near future. THE THREAT FROM NORTH Second, to add to the woes of New Delhi, a bigger threat in addition to the existing one is posed by communist China. While too much ‘god’ motivates Pakistan, China pretends to be a ‘godless’ state. Unlike nations that boast of an army, in Pakistan the army owns the state. On the other hand, in China the People’s Liberation Army is loyal to the Chinese Communist Party and not the state. Dissent in both is a ‘no-no’ in varying degrees. Both, Pakistan and China, unlike India are paranoid about open societies. Thus, Beijing and Islamabad share commonality of purpose and together direct their energies to upstage India in international forums, on the borders and by fomenting internal dissent. In a unique ‘jointmanship,’ Islamabad clandestinely transfers sensitive defence technology it receives from the west to Beijing on ‘barter basis’ as there is ban on transfer to China! The concurrent rise of China and India pits them against each other, as they compete for the same resources, but one with an authoritarian regime that is scared of the Dalai Lama and Google, and the other with a free society that revels in religion, Dalai Lama and Google. The threat from China was evident from its maps in 1946. Mao with the help of these maps described Tibet as the palm of a hand with its five fingers - Ladakh, Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan and NEFA as Chinese territories that needed to be liberated. Tibet was liberated by force while New Delhi slept. Nepal found India’s refusal to defend Tibet as a sign of an unreliable ally and thought it prudent to open communications with Beijing. Today India stands encircled by China. THE THREAT PERCEPTION To be supreme in Asia, and impelled by the necessity to divert the attention from the growing internal turmoil, Beijing is likely to design a limited but visible military victory in a joint strategy with Islamabad. Pakistan under severe threat of fragmentation would be more than a willing ally. With Afghanistan being abandoned by the West, beginning July 2011, Islamabad will craft a strategy to take over Kabul with the help of Islamic fundamentalist groups. The irony is that in the aftermath of the exit of the West, the Taliban will occupy the Parliament being built by India in Kabul and connive disruption from there of the Indian Union. These groups will not target the West immediately since the latter retains the ability to re-intervene once inaction is deemed as ‘suicidal’. The Taliban will initially concentrate on unraveling a soft target like India in concert with Beijing -Islamabad -Kabul or Chinese Communists- Pakistan Army- Irregular Forces axis. The physical threat to India will materialize in 2012, after the exit of the American forces from Afghanistan. Earlier India had to contend with a single threat from its West/Central Asia. Now another threat posed from the North under a joint strategy between China and Pakistan has emerged. The developing scenario suggests that henceforth GHQ Rawalpindi will further orchestrate provocation against India to regain lost ground in J&K by way of rallies in PoK or Lahore and through military machinations on our borders. It will provide fillip to terrorist attacks, export of fake currency, inserting terrorists in India through Nepal, activation of sleeper cells, and raising controversy on non-issues like water. Beijing, while talking ambiguously up to the 2012 buildup, will continue to support the Maoists in Nepal and step up training and funding to Maoists in India. The intensity of Cyber War will meanwhile increase. In nutshell, the objective will be to keep India off balance. THE STRATEGY By 2012, to unravel India, Beijing is likely to para-drop a division of its Special Forces inside the Siliguri Corridor to sever the Northeast. There will be simultaneous attacks in other parts of the border and linkup with the Special Forces holding the Siliguri Corridor will be effected. All these will take place under the nuclear overhang. In concert, Islamabad will activate the second front to unhook Kashmir by making offensive moves across the IB in the plains and the desert to divide Indian reaction capability. Meanwhile the fifth columnists supporting these external forces will unleash mayhem inside. Two key question for New Delhi: 1. Will India go nuclear if its territorial integrity is threatened? France’s stated policy is that it will use the nuclear option, if Germany is attacked. Germany is not likely to face a nuclear adversary, yet France will use nuclear option if it is attacked. India faces threat from two nuclear powers in its vicinity. Will India shift its stated position of second strike to first strike, if the territorial integrity of the Union is under threat? 2. Will New Delhi have the gumption to order the Navy to retaliate and stop the flow of cargo in the Indian Ocean being freighted to China? Or will it order the Air Force to conduct offensive and decisive strategic strikes inside Tibet? New Delhi requires to develop offensive orientation in its thinking for the answers to be in affirmative. India has produced more than its share of great thinkers in civil affairs. However, being a pacifist society, it does not boast of a single military thinker of repute. Therefore, we should not hesitate to import knowledge from the best military thinkers to create an assertive society, just as we need to import the best defence technologies to set up the most modern defence industry hub that ensures expansion of democratic space in Asia. The ideal opportunity for China to dismember India is between 2011 and 2014 on multiple counts. People who read this also read: Nervous China may attack India by 2012' Exclusive:Pakistan Terror Map Time to divide Pakistan? Why Pak-China will win First, to divert attention from the growing dissent within. Second, beyond this period, Pakistan as a fragmented nation may not exist to support the Chinese. Third, the change of generation by 2015 will witness an assertive India. Fourth, the new Indian assertiveness will ensure rapid modernization of the Armed Forces with robust military capabilities. And last but not the least, given the fact it does not pose threat to any country, India will create strong international alliances. It is in a unique position, and gets along well with the West, as well as countries like Russia and others. In fact, the international opinion will decisively tilt in favour of India if it shrewdly deals with the powerful geo-economic card held in the arsenal. The answer to the outlined nightmare stares India on its face. India simply needs to take out the cost-benefit ratio from the game plan of the opponent by rapidly acquiring the requisite military muscle that outguns and outclasses the adversary. War is akin to business. If there is no cost-benefit ratio, it cannot be imposed! Such assertive actions will also naturally propel India in Asia as the most influential player and arrest the slide of retreating democracie

Big B on Mohan Lal - http://bigb.bigadda.com/?p=5139

Big B on Mohanl lal (http://bigb.bigadda.com/?p=5139)


So yes, a number of assignments are being finalized now and I believe that when they shall hit the studios and the floors, I shall be in a position to talk about them. Its always better to do that. But yes MohanLal, that great exponent of his art and craft, one of the finest actors of the country, from Kerala and Malayalam cinema had come over to finalize dates and schedules for the film he is making directed by Capt Ravi. If you remember he had met me during my short visit to Kerala, when I had gone there to attend the honor ceremony for Resul Pukutty, on winning an Oscar. Its all in order now. Its a small guest appearance and I had agreed. They had come over to officially sign me on and make payments etc.. Ha..!! Payments ? Fees ? Remuneration ? For a guest appearance of 3 days ? With MohanLal who has always had my greatest admiration ? No way !! I don’t charge money for such acts. And told them so. I shall just gloat in the honor that I shall derive by working in a Malayalam film and that too with the exceptional MohanLal !! Respectfully declined their offer, gave them some home made tea, shook hands, embraced and saw them off. It will probably be shot in Ooty, the picturesque and quaint hill station in the beautiful Nilgiri Range of mountains down south.

I just loved this !!

MY Sahara Medical Centre Experience

Struggling with tonsillitis and fever for a few days, I decided to visit a doctor yesterday. Being a Friday, most medical centers were closed, and my prior appointment didn’t work out. So, I headed to Sahara Medical Center near my flat. It was around 7 PM, and only two other patients were waiting. I approached the receptionist and requested an appointment with a General Physician (GP). After waiting for 15 minutes without any update, I decided to leave. As I stood up to leave with my colleagues, the receptionist called us back just as I stepped outside. My colleague convinced me to return and complete the registration process, which cost AED 50—covering the consultation fee as well. The next wait was about 10 minutes. During that time, I noticed a couple speaking with the doctor. What caught my attention was the wife saying, "We can't afford it," followed by a bill of AED 350—I couldn't help but feel like I had walked into one of those hospitals straight out of a movie! Soon, my name was called. A Malayalee nurse (not particularly friendly or good-looking) asked, "Vat is ur name?" followed by, "Are you married?"—a question that seemed irrelevant. I jokingly asked her if that mattered, and she struggled to respond. (In hindsight, I should've realized she was just trying to build rapport.) She then took my temperature and blood pressure, which seemed routine, but asking me to check my weight caught me off guard—though, to be fair, it reminded me that I need to lose a few pounds! Next, a Filipino doctor (again, not very warm or approachable) entered and asked about my symptoms. After I explained my throat pain, ear discomfort, and fever, she examined my mouth and immediately made a sad face. Concerned, I asked what was wrong, and she replied gravely, "It’s very serious. You need an injection." Knowing in advance that the injection cost AED 75, I asked her to explain its purpose. She left the room and returned with a senior Indian doctor—the same one who had been speaking with the couple earlier. The senior doctor asked why I was refusing the injection, and I simply said, "I don’t want it." When I pressed for more details, she admitted it was just an antibiotic. I told her I preferred oral medication instead. Judging by the disappointment on her face, I couldn’t help but feel like she was more concerned about missing out on the AED 75 than my well-being. The conversation then shifted unexpectedly to my weight. Despite mentioning that I was already working on it, they enthusiastically pitched Ayurveda slimming treatments at a special offer. I played along and asked for a brochure. If that wasn’t enough, they also offered a full body check-up for a minimal fee of AED 350—none of which had anything to do with why I was there! After reminding them (again) about my actual health concern, they finally handed me a prescription—which cost another AED 125. For the first time in my life, I refused an injection—not because I was afraid, but because I genuinely felt it was unnecessary and just another way to extract money. As I left, I couldn’t stop thinking about the poor laborers who might visit this center, only to be taken advantage of. Thank goodness I didn’t mention my sinus issues—who knows how much that would have cost me! Clearly, I need to find a more trustworthy medical center soon.