Why it doesn’t matter if an F-16 or JF-17 ‘downed’ Abhinandan’s MiG 21 Bison
It doesn’t matter if a US F-16 or the Chinese JF-17 ‘downed’ the MiG 21 Bison piloted by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varathaman, writes Pervez Hoodbhoy, arguing that sars of the future, particularly aerial wars, will be entirely hero-less and fundamentally technology driven.
The number of recruits for the civil services has fallen from 1,236 in 2014 to 759 in 2018. Sanya Dhingra reports on the dwindling numbers even as the government struggles to fill IAS-IPS vacancies.
RAW needs to become more like CIA
Shibani Mehta argues that the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) should open its recruitment avenues and engage individuals from different backgrounds with diverse skills and education and not confine itself to IAS, IPS officers.
Among lateral entry specialists, IIT, IIM and Oxford alumni
Amrita Nayak Dutta and Kritika Sharma profile a few of the lateral entry specialists who have now been appointed as joint secretaries in various ministries. The list includes IIT, IIM and Oxford University alumni.
To ‘save reputation’, Dehradun school force fed gangrape victim with papaya, chillies
Authorities at the Dehradun school, where a 14-year-old girl was gang-raped by four of her seniors in August last year, attempted to induce an abortion by confining her to a room and force-feeding her a concoction of herbs, chillies and papaya. Ananya Bhardwaj has the details.
Army ‘regiments’ with more than just caste on their side
The Samajwadi Party has promised to form an Ahir Infantry Regiment if elected to power. Dilip Mandal cites the Ahirs’ valour in 1962 war to Chamar regiment’s honour in WW2, to state that caste-based regiments’ celebration provide ground for their inclusion in the Army.