Daily pill of Defence - 25 March 2008

Focus now on Agni-III launch in April
T.S. Subramanian, The Hindu

After the successful firing of Agni-1 missile on Sunday, the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile on March 5 and the K-15 (Sagarika) missile from a submerged pontoon on February 26, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will set its sight on launching the Agni-III ballistic missile in April 2008. (read more)

Also: Hindu Business Line

LeT divisional commander killed in J&K
Mufti Islah, CNN-IBN

Jammu and Kashmir police shot a man dead who they claim is a high-profile terrorist, a Lashkar-e-Toiba divisional commander in Srinagar. A senior police officer was severely injured while four security personnel were killed during the encounter. A second terrorist managed to escape. (read more)

Also: News Blaze

Govt. rejects MPs' suggestion on DRDO
The Hindu, PTI Report

The government on Wednesday rejected recommendation by a Parliamentary committee that the Defence Research and Development Organisation be barred from carrying out research in life sciences. (read more)

Private sector woes in defence production
Ajai Shukla, Business Standard

The private sector is playing a growing role in defence production, even though the playing field — when compared with Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) — remains far from level. The gap between rhetoric and reality has proved difficult to bridge. The story of a military assault bridge, ironically, best illustrates the private sector’s challenges. (read more)

Flashing steel at China
Ajai Shukla, Business Standard, Broadsword

As a young captain in the Indian Army, I experienced first hand the dynamics of a Chinese power play. One autumn day in 1987, near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, almost exactly where the 1962 war sparked off, a group of Chinese soldiers crossed the rugged Line of Actual Control (LAC) and sat themselves down in a grazing ground called Wangdung. For days, while India launched diplomatic protests, more Chinese soldiers trickled across; before long, a 100-man company from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had established itself in Wangdung. The Chinese expected little more; but the Indian Army had long buried the ghost of 1962. (read more)

Allocation for N-programme cut sharply
Subodh Varma, ToI

Is the UPA government stifling the country's nuclear programme? In the Budget for 2008-09, allocations for the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) are Rs 1,333 crore less than last year's allocations. This appears strange at a time when the government is projecting nuclear power as the answer to India's future energy needs. (read more)