In episode 683 of 'Cut the Clutter', Shekhar Gupta narrates a story from the messy world of spying in the Himalayas, one which entails espionage during the Cold War.
Despite 31 Supreme Court hearings and 3 government committee reports, a clear policy on hydroelectricity projects (HEPs) in Uttarakhand has remained elusive.
Security forces & administration have set up ways to get people & supplies across Rishi Ganga & Dhauliganga rivers, such as a temporary bridge and a ropeway.
A 5-member team from Dehradun-based Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology was deployed by the central govt to examine what led to the floods that struck Uttarakhand Sunday.
Around 25-35 people have been trapped in the tunnel for over four days in the wake of the Chamoli glacier disaster in Uttarakhand, with agencies racing against time to rescue them.
The scar is what remains after chunks of ice and rock broke off a wall of ice in a rock slope failure from a glacier on the shoulder of Nanda Ghunti peak, satellite images show.
The workers have been trapped ever since a flash flood battered villages and hydro-power projects in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district Sunday, claiming 34 lives, while 170 remain missing.
Finance ministry says the proposed revamp will focus on structural reforms, rate rationalisation & ease of living, & will be deliberated upon in the coming weeks.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Standing up to America is usually not a personal risk for a leader in India. Any suggestions of foreign pressure unites India behind who they see as leading them in that fight.
If the reason behind the flood or landslide in Uttarakhand is due to the failed operation in 1980s then it raises a concern on defence related decisions taken by any party for that matter. Actions or failures of today sometimes doesn’t affect us immediately but at a very later point in time. It might be a point in time where none of the person responsible for the actions would not be even Alive. Politicians of today should be entrusted with higher accountabilities for their decisions. Success and Failures in every decisions needs to measured in both long and short term.
Spy operations are dangerous – especially if your surname is not Bond.
Spying has been part of statecraft from time immemorial. It provides valuable information which can win battles and wars – including the diplomatic types. The Arthashastra (I trust readers as familiar with the name, in the least) mentions using artists as spies to target another state. An extensive spy system is mandated by Chanakya (Kautilya) to maintain peace, law and order internally; and the use of clandestine services to create confusion within enemies and win wars against them. The secret agents were everywhere, both internally and externally; inside houses, in the city, in the countryside, forests, frontiers etc. They adopted a cover which was appropriate to the circumstances; 29 different types with 50 subtypes of covers have been mentioned in the Arthashastra. As a mark of Chanakya’s precision, the exact cover to be used is specified in more than a hundred places in the text.
Such activities carried potential dangers. But, of course, we can never be complacent.
A story that leads nowhere!@
Americans will always do the right thing, only after they have tried everything else-
Churchill
If the reason behind the flood or landslide in Uttarakhand is due to the failed operation in 1980s then it raises a concern on defence related decisions taken by any party for that matter. Actions or failures of today sometimes doesn’t affect us immediately but at a very later point in time. It might be a point in time where none of the person responsible for the actions would not be even Alive. Politicians of today should be entrusted with higher accountabilities for their decisions. Success and Failures in every decisions needs to measured in both long and short term.
Spy operations are dangerous – especially if your surname is not Bond.
Spying has been part of statecraft from time immemorial. It provides valuable information which can win battles and wars – including the diplomatic types. The Arthashastra (I trust readers as familiar with the name, in the least) mentions using artists as spies to target another state. An extensive spy system is mandated by Chanakya (Kautilya) to maintain peace, law and order internally; and the use of clandestine services to create confusion within enemies and win wars against them. The secret agents were everywhere, both internally and externally; inside houses, in the city, in the countryside, forests, frontiers etc. They adopted a cover which was appropriate to the circumstances; 29 different types with 50 subtypes of covers have been mentioned in the Arthashastra. As a mark of Chanakya’s precision, the exact cover to be used is specified in more than a hundred places in the text.
Such activities carried potential dangers. But, of course, we can never be complacent.