Defence

Even as the centre mulls over abolishing cantonments, the fact is that they have played a crucial role in securing the country against enemies and terrorists and should be guarded at all costs.

The government is falling short of money and eyeing unused land of various departments and ministries. But before it can sell these, it will have to get its records updated and remove trespassers there.

The national euphoria during a time when the media is gagging on Covid news is understandable. But the induction of these jets should also help focus national attention on the huge task that still lies ahead in order to equip our armed services with state of the art tools of warfare.

The centre has cleared the purchase of fighter planes, ammunition and missiles in the face of the stand-off in Ladakh. But can we learn from China which has been innovating in defence manufacturing?

It was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a Russian novelist and philosopher, who on arrest asked the question: “Me? What for?” This has been retold in the opening page of his chronicle, The Gulag Archipelago. Solzhenitsyn suffered eight years’ hard labour in a Soviet prison during the Stalinist era

A key role has been play...

By Dilip Bobb Christma...

Above: The three service ...

Above: Police arrest Cong...

Above: Indian Army jawans...