If You Want to Join The CIA, Be Careful What You Post on Your Facebook Page

Jose Pagliery

March 12, 2015

Want to be a CIA spy? Be careful on Facebook.

Oversharing on Facebook is posing a unique challenge for the CIA’s recruitment of future spies.

Every year, the agency has to drop five or six stellar candidates because of things they said on social media networks like Facebook (FB, Tech30), Twitter (TWTR, Tech30) and LinkedIn (LNKD, Tech30), the CIA’s top recruiter said in an exclusive interview with CNNMoney.

That’s a tiny fraction of the 20,000 applicants who make it into the final phases of the interview process. But the CIA has rescinded job offers because of their social media posts.

“Obviously, secrecy and social media are at odds with each other,” said CIA hiring chief Ron Patrick, who keeps a vague LinkedIn account — and has Facebook and Twitter accounts under a different name.

Want to work at the CIA? Here’s Patrick’s advice.

Don’t like us on Facebook.

“Once we’ve expressed some serious interest in their application we say: Don’t follow us, don’t like us. And if they have, we asked them to back off a bit,” Patrick said.

It’s all right to express interest publicly — at first. But you might be an undercover CIA operative in a war zone someday. Don’t keep broadcasting your interest in spying to the world.

However, do have a presence on social media.

Secret agents aren’t antisocial or technophobic.

JUST HOW DANGEROUS IS IT REALLY?

Frank Hoffman

March 17, 2015

Christopher A. Preble and John Mueller, eds., A Dangerous World?: Threat Perception and U.S. National Security (CATO Institute, 2014)

In his recent Congressional testimony, the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Marine Lt. Gen. Vince Stewart provided a worldwide threat assessment that noted “A confluence of global political, military, social, and technological developments, which, taken in aggregate, have created security challenges more diverse and complex than those we have experienced in our lifetimes.”

This judgment runs directly counter to the arguments in a new book with a question as its title: A Dangerous World? The central theme of this anthology is that perceptions of the threats the United States faces are unrealistic or manifestly exaggerated. The contributors to this anthology are commendably consistent on these points, to a fault. They want the country and the Pentagon to confront real threats rather than preferred demons and warn the reader to be leery about accepting the “revealed wisdom” about the dangers the people of the United States face. In that regard, this book is a healthy (but not entirely convincing) exercise in challenging longstanding threat perceptions.

The 16 chapters of this tightly edited volume are penned by an impressive array of American academics. One of the early chapters comes from the co-editor, Professor John Mueller, a member of the Hall of Fame of Congenital Contrarians. He has thrown a lot of cold water in his career on hyperbolic threat prognosticators. His essay on proliferation and terrorism is soundly presented but is limited to nuclear threats. Professor Mueller’s perspective on the implications of proliferation comes off as too narrow and far too optimistic. He is correct that the pace of nuclear proliferation has been slower than feared, but of course, this decrease did not happen organically. Rather it was the product of active policy measures to increase pressure on states. Mueller fails to give credit to the establishment of these norms or the explicit pressures placed on proliferating states. He is probably right that “the consequences of proliferation that has taken place have been substantially benign.” But I disagree that proliferation by North Korea or Iran is quite as benign as say India and Israel. Many analysts believe that strategic stability in the Second Nuclear Age is weakening, generating more rather than less danger.

USSOCOM Seeks Unconventional Technology

By Howard Altman,Tribune Staff

March 16, 2015

http://fortunascorner.com/2015/03/17/ussocom-seeks-unconventional-technology/

Always looking to give commandos an edge in combat, U.S. Special Operations Command has put out its latest technology and capabilities wish list, calling for, among other things, a see-through-the-wall device, equipment that can disable vehicles without harming occupants and technology that can remotely gauge an individual’s credibility through physical characteristics.

Several times a year, the command, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, puts out requests for information for a variety of goods and services it feels would serve commandos. This latest request is for research and development organizations, private industry and academia that might have technologies to display during an upcoming Technical Experimentation Collaboration event in June.

Being held at the Atterbrury-Muscatatuck Center for Complex Operations in Indiana from June 16-19, the event is geared to highlighting technologies supporting urban and unconventional warfare, according to the request.

Unconventional warfare, a core activity for Army commandos, is described as “activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt, or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary, and guerrilla force in a denied area, according to the military’s Joint Publication 3-05.

To that end, Socom wants to “explore emerging technology solutions and revolutionary improvements in relevant technologies,” according to the request, posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website.

The command is seeking candidates who can provide potential solutions in a number of areas, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, communications, target engagement, unmanned systems and scalable effect weapons.

Among the specific solutions Socom wants are:

BY THOMAS E. RICKS

MARCH 13, 2015

For those who are interested in keeping up-to-date on various goings-on in the cybersecurity realm, here’s a non-exhaustive list of interesting resources. Please post additional outlets in the comments, as I and many others are always looking for new sources. 

Everyone needs a network: 

Crucially important are the 1-on-1s that span from industry, government and other establishment sources, to activists, hackers, and whistleblowers.

Listservs -- from public (e.g.: Libtech, CyberTelecom, Baller-Herbst List, Benton Headlines, cryptography@randombit, messaging@moderncrypto, Full Disclosure) to private groups (often composed of a heterogeneous users and participants of off-the-record convenings, initiatives and response groups, etc.), and the more personal heads-up from trusted friends and allies (not to mention their blogs and suggested resources -- from Bruce Schneier (https://www.schneier.com) to Marcy Wheeler (https://www.emptywheel.net) and locales likehttps://www.imperialviolet.org/, http://golang.org/, andhttps://en.greatfire.org/, the cypherpunks list, gsmmap.org, the CCC weblog, etc. Whatever other folks say is breaking as a new resource -- I probably add 1-2/month and remove a group every few months. 

as well as old standbys like Slashdot and Hacker News. 

IRC (Internet Relay Chat): Circumvention tech projects like Commotion, Tor, FreedomBox, etc. Hanging with developers often helps interconnect resources (for the projects) and incredibly timely information (for example, when security flaws are first uncovered). 

Government proceedings & funding: FCC, FTC, DoE, NIST -- and looking at the project pages for initiatives that are currently being funded by the Open Technology Fund, State Department, DARPA, NSF, etc. 

Deconstructing what’s new (from Etsy to BitTorrent’s Maelstrom -- see:http://blog.bittorrent.com/2014/12/10/project-maelstrom-the-internet-we-build-next/) to allies working on Circumvention Tech), which often has huge implications for current/upcoming tech policy debates. 

DHS Report Indicates Highest Number of Cyber Attacks on U.S. Companies Focused on the Energy Sector

Jeremy Cowan

March 17, 2015

http://www.matthewaid.com/post/113872812646/dhs-report-indicates-highest-number-of-cyber

Energy sector tops list of US industries under cyber attack, says Homeland Security report

Washington, DC. March 12, 2015 — A report issued today by the US Department for Homeland Security says that in 2014 the Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) responded to 245 incidents reported by asset owners and industry partners.

The energy sector, says Jeremy Cowan, led all others again in 2014 with 79 reported incidents, followed by manufacturing at 65 and worryingly healthcare at 15 reported incidents. ICS-CERT’s continuing partnership with the Energy sector reportedly provides many opportunities to share information and collaborate on incident response efforts.

Also noteworthy in 2014 were the incidents reported by the Critical Manufacturing sector, some of which were from control systems equipment manufacturers. The ICS vendor community may be a target for sophisticated threat actors for a variety of reasons, including economic espionage and reconnaissance. Of the total number of incidents reported to ICS-CERT, roughly 55% involved advanced persistent threats (APT) or sophisticated actors.

Other actor types included hacktivists, insider threats, and criminals. In many cases, the threat actors were unknown due to a lack of attributional data, says the US Department. The scope of incidents encompassed a vast range of threats and observed methods for attempting to gain access to both business and control systems infrastructure, including but not limited to the following: 

Unauthorised access and exploitation of Internet facing ICS/Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) devices 

Exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities in control system devices and software 

Malware infections within air-gapped control system networks 

SQL injection via exploitation of web application vulnerabilities 

Network scanning and probing 

Lateral movement between network zones 

Targeted spear-phishing campaigns 

Strategic web site compromises (a.k.a., watering hole attacks.) 

The Kennan-MacArthur Meeting and the Future of Japan

By Francis P. Sempa

March 17, 2015

General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur signs the surrender as Supreme Commander Allied Powers on board USS MISSOURI.

A meeting by two 20th century giants had profound implications for Occupied Japan. 

Sixty-seven years ago, two of America’s 20th century giants met in Tokyo to discuss the future of Japan and its role in U.S. postwar foreign policy. George F. Kennan, the director of the Policy Planning Staff of the State Department, arrived at the Dai-ichi Insurance building on March 1, 1948, later recalling that his mission “was like nothing more than that of an envoy charged with opening up communications and arranging the establishment of diplomatic relations with a hostile and suspicious foreign government.” Kennan was referring not to Japanese officials, but rather to General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of Allied Powers (SCAP).

Kennan had been sent by Secretary of State George Marshall to reign in MacArthur, whom Washington viewed as too independent of its control. According to Seymour Morris Jr., in his new book Supreme Commander: MacArthur’s Triumph in Japan, Marshall told Kennan that he would be meeting a “very difficult man with a colossal ego,” who is also “smarter than you are.” “Listen carefully,” Marshall advised, “be sure to flatter him, and ignore his satraps . . .”

They were two very different men. Douglas MacArthur graduated first in his class at West Point in 1903, and shortly thereafter toured much of Asia with his father, General Arthur MacArthur. Douglas saw action with the army in Mexico and later served bravely in the First World War as deputy commander and commander of the famous Rainbow Division. After the war, MacArthur served as superintendent at West Point, commanded troops in the Philippines, and was later appointed U.S. Army chief of staff by President Herbert Hoover. MacArthur served in the Philippines from the mid-1930s until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After retreating from the Philippines, MacArthur was named Supreme Commander of U.S. forces in the Southwest Pacific, and from his base in Australia waged a brilliant combined arms effort to bypass and clear Japanese forces from New Guinea and retake the Philippines. After the Japanese surrender, MacArthur headed U.S. occupation forces in Japan. MacArthur was brash, egotistical, brilliant, imperious, and confident of his own abilities and authority.

George Kennan graduated from Princeton in 1924, and subsequently entered the U.S. Foreign Service. His diplomatic career took him to Geneva, Berlin, Riga, Tallinn, Moscow, Prague, Berlin again, and Moscow again, from where he wrote his famous “Long Telegram” in February 1946 to warn Washington about Soviet postwar intentions. In 1947, as head of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, he wrote “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” under the pseudonym “X” in Foreign Affairs, which explained the policy of containment. Kennan was shy, introspective, bookish, and scholarly.

Is Japan's Militarization Normal?

By Van Jackson

March 18, 2015

What Japan is doing is clear. Why it is doing it is much more complex. 

Is Japan striving for military “normalcy,” hedging against uncertainty, or balancing a more assertive China? Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan has increased defense spending, reinterpreted Article Nine of its once-pacifist constitution, strengthened its alliance with the United States, relaxed constraints on its defense industry, and increased its security ties in Southeast Asia. It has even expressed interest in using its military resources to conduct maritime patrols in the South China Sea, where it has no direct stake in extant territorial disputes. Why? What motivates all these moves in the defense domain, and how “on trend” is it with the rest of the region?

The answer matters for our ability to accurately generalize about the character of the region, but it matters even more for how we understand Japan’s trajectory as a military power in Asia. Any debate about the sustainability of the relative peace Asia has known for the past generation depends on what we are willing to assume about the region’s largest military powers.

A number of Asia scholars (this author included) have observed that Asian states are neither balancing against nor bandwagoning with a rising China, but instead pursuing hedging strategies. The evidence is there, whether diversifying military ties in the region, building up military capacity without aiming it at anyone in particular, or simultaneously moving closer to the United States (on security issues) and China (on economic issues).

There are several practical implications that logically follow from this characterization of the region. It suggests, for one, that the United States should not take its centrality in the region for granted; we cannot expect the region — or even allies — to simply go along with U.S. preferences in an environment where alternatives may exist. It also means smaller states are unlikely to gleefully embrace Chinese hegemony anytime soon, and if there is anything inherently “Asian” about Asian international relations (as some scholars argue), it is not necessarily that China has a rightful place at the center of regional life. But if hedging is as pervasive as many claim, it also implies that the most pessimistic expectations about Asia’s fate — that China is hell bent onexpansionism or that the region is “ripe for rivalry” — are not necessarily accurate either, at least not according to the judgment of the region’s middle powers.

Exposed: Singapore's Aircraft Carrier in Disguise

Koh Swee Lean CollinBernard Fook Weng Loo

March 18, 2015 

Many are speculating about the role of Singapore’s Joint Multi-Mission Ship (JMMS).

Ever since the Defense Minister of Singapore, Dr, Ng Eng Hen talked about theprospect of acquiring what is called a Joint Multi-Mission Ship (JMMS) in late June last year, speculations about the true nature of this vessel—allegedly an aircraft carrier in disguise—have been swirling.

Most recently, writing for DefenceAviation, Marvin Diaz noted, “it doesn’t take an expert to look beyond the pretentious façade of the vessel.” But perhaps Singapore is not trying to be pretentious at all.

Beyond Physical Characteristics

The International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) defines an aircraft carrier as a ship “with a flight deck that extends beyond two-thirds of the vessel’s length.” Yet there is no accepted standard definition of what constitutes an aircraft carrier. Countries that acquire carriers may categorize them as whatever is politically expedient.

For example, the Soviets called their Kiev-class aircraft carriers “large aviation-carrying cruisers” to circumvent the Montreux Convention so as to be able to sail through the Bosporus Strait. The Japanese called their Hyuga and larger follow-up Izumo classes “helicopter destroyers” in order to avoid misperceptions.

WOMEN IN COMBAT ARMS: BRASS TACKS ON PHYSICALITY

Katey van Dam

March 17, 2015

Editor’s Note: This is the second article in a short series on the debate over women serving in combat arms in the U.S. military. Read the first article, “Women in Combat Arms: Just Good Business.”

Let’s get to the sticking point of the gender integration issue — physical capability. There are countless discussions and online comment threads that are part of the general consternation over whether women are physically capable of succeeding in combat arms. Many critics argue that women will not succeed in combat arms because none of the 26 lieutenants who have volunteered for the Marine Corps’ Infantry Officer Course (IOC) have passed — yet. Stating a feat is impossible because it has yet to be accomplished is the dying rallying cry of opponents clutching to the status quo. Opponents to integration would accept as obvious that women are physically capable of flying combat aircraft. They would accept as equally obvious that despite the fact that black Americans make up less than 2% of the Navy SEAL community, this lack of “critical mass” should be no obstacle to these brave young men being afforded the opportunity to try out at BUD/S. The critics simultaneously fail to acknowledge that what they now consider to be totally apparent was formerly considered highly controversial and unsupported by science. In other words, their arguments are ahistorical, unscientific, and reactionary.

Can They Hack It?

In the early 1990s, the subject of whether or not women had the physical ability to pilot high performance combat aircraft was hotly debated. It was widely accepted at the time that the pure physical demands of this occupational specialty were beyond the ability of women; furthermore, even if women could handle the physical demands, it did not mean that they could simultaneously apply highly complex piloting skills under those same physical conditions in combat. Consider the following:

I just really object to the news or whatever coming out and saying, ‘Oh, they’re already doing that job.’ That’s not true. Yes, they are flying F-18s. They’re not flying combat mission F-18s, you know, and to put them in the same role is just ludicrous.

It’s Time To Make General Military Training More Relevant For Service Members

Ben Kohlmann

March 16, 2015

It shouldn’t take a literal act of Congress to get relevant, engaging training to our service members.

The chief of naval operations, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, preaches “Warfighting First” as his primary tenet, and nearly every flag officer echoes this sentiment in some way during public and private remarks. Yet, one would hardly know this by looking at the Navy’s annual mandated training schedule.

As a sailor, I am required to complete the following general military training modules each year (forgive me if I miss one): suicide awareness and prevention, records management, information assurance training, prevention of sexual harassment, equal opportunity and sexual harassment grievance procedures, hazing policy and prevention, stress management, anti-terrorism / force protection, combating trafficking in persons, alcohol abuse prevention, recreation and off-duty safety, personally identifying information, personal financial management, and counter-intelligence training.

Even if all of the above are arguably necessary, the only ones that truly apply to warfighting are anti-terrorism / force protection and counter-intelligence. While critical, they are mostly defensive and ancillary to the conduct of direct military operations. Most of these courses are mind-numbingly boring.

Beijing unravelling

Dhruva Jaishankar

March 18, 2015 

David Shambaugh, a noted China expert, set off a firestorm earlier this month when he wrote in the Wall Street Journal that the “endgame of communist rule in China has begun” and that it was “unlikely to end quietly”. Shambaugh is hardly the first veteran China-watcher to suggest that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might implode or simply lose its hold on power. Lawyer-turned-writer Gordon Chang has made a cottage industry of such prognostications, while my German Marshall Fund colleague, Minxin Pei, has long pointed out the party’s inherent, and possibly fatal, flaws. Yet Shambaugh’s standing among China analysts, the high regard in which he is held in China, and his past work on the CCP’s adaptability have lent his opinions particular weight, and have generated debate and inspired fierce criticism in both the US and China.

Shambaugh’s arguments are not entirely convincing, particularly when viewed through a purely political lens. The increased political repression that is presently taking place in China under President Xi Jinping is not, in and of itself, a clear indicator of imminent collapse, though it may be indicative of the insecurities of party leaders. Factionalism has also long plagued the CCP — even under Mao Zedong’s leadership. And it should hardly be surprising that party representatives are often cynical about official dogma, as Shambaugh observes. Many of their predecessors were too, including during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s.

But Shambaugh makes a more compelling case when it comes to the implications of China’s economic failure. An economic crisis threatens to fundamentally undermine the compromise that has developed between the CCP and Chinese citizens since the late 1970s: improvements in material wellbeing in exchange for unquestioned single-party rule. This compromise has been tested before, most notably during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. But what Chinese politics might look like under sustained adverse economic conditions is entirely unknown, and possibly unknowable. When coupled with the effects of Xi’s wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign, the systemic slowdown of the Chinese economy that is currently underway could undermine the People’s Republic.

Talking to the generals

Vivek Katju

March 18, 2015 

India called off former Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh’s visit to Islamabad last August as it was no longer willing for Pakistan to project the Hurriyat as a “party” in the bilateral dialogue. The implication: Pakistan should not consult Hurriyat leaders before bilateral engagements or brief them afterwards. Pakistani officials did not meet Hurriyat leaders before Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar’s visit to Islamabad earlier this month. However, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit called on Syed Ali Shah Geelani in Delhi a few days after Jaishankar’s trip and apparently briefed him on the discussions in Islamabad. It is obvious that Basit wanted to project the impression that his country’s approach to the Hurriyat had not changed.

Previous Indian governments had adopted a laissez faire attitude to Pakistan’s continuing Hurriyat provocation, which was against all international conventions on official inter-state interaction — states do not publicly engage with separatists before a dialogue. Besides, the Simla Agreement mandates that all India-Pakistan issues be resolved bilaterally. There is simply no place for a reference to the “will of the Kashmiri people”. It is to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s credit that he stood up against this. But now that Pakistan has crossed the red line again, what will he do? If this provocation is allowed to pass, Pakistani generals, who actually control the country’s India policy, will get the impression that Modi is a paper tiger, no different from the UPA leadership. On the other hand, if he adopts a firm position, he puts at risk the process begun with Jaishankar’s trip to Pakistan.

After the cancellation of Sujatha Singh’s visit, Pakistan had said that since India had called off the talks, it was for New Delhi to take steps to resume them. Modi called up Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in February to inform him of Jaishankar’s Saarc yatra. Pakistan naturally considered this as vindication of its stand — though it was careful not to rub it in. At the same time, through the visit of its army chief, General Raheel Sharif, to the border areas on the eve of Jaishankar’s trip, it sought to project that it would stand up to any Indian action along the International Border and the Line of Control. Raheel Sharif said, “let there be no doubt that any provocation along the LoC and the Working Boundary will meet a befitting response”.

Conversation stopper - The downside of mobile telephony and the internet

March 18 , 2015

COMMENTARAO: S.L. RAO

In my column some weeks back, I had written about the new revolution that is upon us as a result of the transformation in communications. Mobile telephony has made Indians well connected to one another. Information on anything is available to anyone almost instantaneously through the internet. The farmer knows the ruling prices in differentmandis. Remote manipulation of household equipment is becoming common. So is the remote control over machines and equipment. Factories and offices have all the data they need at any time, without making any special effort. Organizations have eliminated a layer of middle management because enterprise resource planning analyses and presents up-to-date information to top management at any time. Manufacturing complex products can now be scattered and without the volumes that were required once. 3D printing, a technique now in its early days, enables smaller volumes and will diffuse manufacturing geographically. This could make pastoral living a reality for many. Election campaigns and raising funds for them are changing with the use of the internet. Technology is transforming lives in many ways.

There are negative aspects to this transformative process. My argument here has been bolstered by the same technology that gives me the ability to get different views on any subject instantly. Expertise is available at the touch of a computer keyboard.

The internet and the mobile phone have made human interchange much easier. Are they also reducing people's personal and physical interactions through meetings and letters? This diminution of social interchange is a growing feature of societies experiencing this revolution. What will it do to societies that have been based on such interactions?

Many parents are aware of the deleterious effects of these technologies, particularly on children. So apparently was Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Inc, who famously said that he did not permit his children to use the computer, iPod, iPad, iPhone, on which he made his fortune. Unless strictly rationed, there is a fear that children will lose the habit of personal interactions and even the capacity for play and sport.

Grace under fire

GUNJAN VEDA

March 18, 2015

AP“In Pakistan, even under the shadow of the gun, people treat outsiders with grace and warmth.” Picture shows policemen standing guard as a health worker gives a child a polio vaccine in Karachi, Pakistan.

Pakistan is a complex nation but ten days are enough to find that while politics, religion and life itself have changed, its people haven’t

It’s been a little over seven years since I was here last. As the car moves from Wagah to Lahore, I see few vehicles on the road.

“It’s the fuel crisis,” Kamran, a strapping Lahori, explains. “The Pakistan State Oil only had reserves for three days. They say it was because of [a] lack of planning.” Whatever the reason, Lahore had little fuel left. People had stopped going to offices, public transport was off the roads, and queues at a few petrol pumps stretched for miles. The CNG rickshaws were still plying, but with LPG cylinders.

Worse still is the electricity situation. In Gulberg, one of Lahore’s most affluent areas, load shedding is over 11-12 hours every day. In Karachi, it is 5-8 hours and in Larkana, 14 hours. The incessant hum of fuel-guzzling generators is one’s faithful companion in Pakistan.

Lahore looks much as it did seven years ago. The wide, tree-lined streets, the hustle and bustle of Ichra (a local bazaar), the haggling … I could have been in Sarojini Nagar, Delhi, but for the difference in the dresses and the tehjeeb. Everywhere I went, people spoke with utmost graciousness. The poorest shopkeeper, the seemingly illiterate bus driver, the fearsome security guard — I saw no one cursing, shouting or being even remotely rude. If there is eye contact, a ready smile and an asalaam waalekumcome your way. And if they figure out that you are a foreigner, you become their guest.

All-pervasive fear

No clarity on Army promotions policy after Tribunal judgment

Source Link

On March 2, the AFT upheld a petition filed by 30 Army officers against the 2009 policy based on the Command Exit Model, which gave infantry and artillery more Colonels than other arms and services.

The AFT had asked Army Headquarters to consider afresh the cases of all officers affected by the 2009 policy, and ordered the Army to distribute vacancies of Colonels in a pro rata manner, i.e., the number of Colonels in each arm and service should be proportional to the strength of Lt Colonels in each arm and service, the way it was done before 2009.

The AFT judgment necessitates the holding of fresh promotion boards for all officers who have been impacted by the 2009 policy. Army Headquarters will have to issue a fresh distribution of vacancies in various arms and services, and a fresh schedule of promotion boards to implement the AFT order.

The judgment has far-reaching consequences, as the number of Brigadiers, Major Generals and Lt Generals among various arms are decided on a pro rata basis from thenumber of Colonels held by each arm. Implementation of the AFT order, which will reduce the number of Colonels from the Infantry and Artillery, can subsequently reduce the number of Brigadiers, Major Generals and Lt Generals from these arms.

The AFT order also affects the current schedule of promotion boards where thenumber of Colonels to be promoted in each arm is decided by the 2009 Command Exit Policy.

As reported by The Indian Express, the promotion board for Air Defence, Engineers, Signals, EME and ASC was scheduled to be held from March 10-14, but has not been held. No intimation of its postponement or cancellation has been received by the officers from the Military Secretary (MS) branch of Army Headquarters, which dealswith the promotions and postings of Army officers.

The lack of clarity has given rise to concerns among the affected officers that the MS branch might be planning to approach the Supreme Court with a Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the AFT judgment.

What India Needs to Learn from China

By Samir Nazareth

March 15, 2015

In his upcoming visit to China, PM Modi should be prepared to learn a few lessons. 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is planning to visit China before the end of May. Modi has been to China before, as chief minister of Gujarat, when he sought to attract business and learn from China’s socio-economic model. He should be aiming to do something similar this time. Besides discussions on the China-India border issues, reopening the overland Silk Road, and creating a maritime version, Modi should take time to study the Chinese model of resettlement and pollution control.

These issues have only grown in importance as New Delhi steps up its efforts to achieve economic growth. Take for example the six industrial corridors that are being planned. These are five more than the UPA government had envisaged. The Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), built to facilitate movement through the six major states of India (Uttar Pradesh, the National Capital Region, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra) will cover 1483 square kilometers and will have 11 investment regions and 13 industrial areas. The official DMIC website states that around 180 million people, or 14 percent of the population, will be affected. The Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES) points out that at least 350,000 hectares will be allocated for the DMIC project. To put these corridors in place many thousands of hectares of land will need to be acquired, displacing a large population. India’s efforts at resettling those whose land has been acquired leave much to be desired.

Now the BJP government has upped the ante and plans 100 smart cities in these six corridors. The government will need to design cities that are economically, environmentally and socially sustainable and that permit social equity for their residents.

Delhi Wakes Up to an Air Pollution Problem It Cannot Ignore

By GARDINER HARRIS

Source Link

NEW DELHI — For years, this sprawling city on the Yamuna River had the dirtiest air in the world, but few who lived here seemed conscious of the problem or worried about its consequences.

Now, suddenly, that has begun to change. Some among New Delhi’s Indian and foreign elites have started to wear the white surgical masks so common in Beijing. The United States Embassy purchased 1,800 high-end air purifiers in recent months for staff members’ homes, with many other major embassies following suit.

Some embassies, including Norway’s, have begun telling diplomats with children to reconsider moving to the city, and officials have quietly reported a surge in diplomats choosing to curtail their tours. Indian companies have begun ordering filtration systems for their office buildings.

“My business has just taken off,” said Barun Aggarwal, director of BreatheEasy, a Delhi-based air filtration company. “It started in the diplomatic community, but it’s spread to the high-level Indian community, too.”

The levels of harmful fine particulate matter, called PM2.5, are significantly higher in Delhi during the winter months than they are in Beijing. 

The increased awareness of the depth of India’s air problems even led Indian diplomats, who had long expressed little interest in climate and pollution discussions with United States officials, to suddenly ask the Americans for help in cleaning India’s air late last year, according to participants in the talks. So when President Obama left Delhi after a visit last month, he could point to a series of pollution agreements, including one to bring the United States system for measuring pollution levels to many Indian cities and another to help study ways to reduce exhaust from trucks, a major source of urban pollution.

India emerges as world's largest arms importer, yet again

March 16, 2015

Source Link

India has yet again emerged as the world’s largest buyer of weapons and military equipment, accounting for some 15 per cent of all such international imports, while Russia, despite losing monopoly over the Indian defence market, continues to hold a dominant position as the largest supplier for New Delhi. 

India has yet again emerged as the world’s largest buyer of weapons and military equipment, accounting for some 15 per cent of all such international imports, while Russia, despite losing monopoly over the Indian defence market, continues to hold a dominant position as the largest supplier for New Delhi.

Saudi Arabia, China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan, are the next four biggest global importers.

These trends have emerged from a report released on Monday by the Sweden-based think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The assessment was done for a five-year period (2010-2014).

Titled ‘Trends in international arms transfers’, it says India’s share in global imports has increased by 140 per cent over the previous five-year bloc, 2005–2009, indicating that New Delhi’s attempts to be self-reliant were not enough as more and more sophisticated planes, warships and radars are procured from outside

“India’s imports were three times larger than those of either of its regional rivals China and Pakistan. This contrasts with 2005–2009 when India’s imports were 23 per cent below China’s and just over double those of Pakistan,” The SIPRI report said

In the period 2010–14, which is the basis of the latest report, Russia supplied 70 per cent of India’s arms imports, the USA 12 per cent and Israel 7 per cent. Acquisitions from the US are a break with the recent past. During the period studied by SIPRI, India procured fighter jets and Mi-17-V5 helicopters from Russia; specialised transport planes, the C-130-J Super Hercules and the C-17 Globemaster from the US; UAV’s and radars from Israel.

Splinter Militant Groups Reunite with Taliban for 2015

By Ankit Panda

March 16, 2015

It looks like the Pakistani Taliban are consolidating their presence across Pakistan’s tribal belt. 

The Pakistani army’s military offensive against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and related domestic militant groups is beginning to cause a stir. Late last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that at least three militant groups in Pakistan have joined forces with the Taliban, leading to a greater consolidation of militants under the umbrella of the TTP. At the center of this consolidation is a reconciliation between Khalid Khorasani’s Jamaat-ul-Ahrar splinter group and Mullah Fazlullah — the two split over Fazlullah’s promotion to the top of the TTP last fall. Khorasani used to lead the TTP’s Mohmand wing. Another militant group, known as Tehreek-e-Lashkar-e-Islam, led by an independent warlord, Mangal Bagh, also joined the Taliban.

This broader consolidation will mean that the TTP’s central command committee will effectively have the authority to stage attacks across a larger swathe of Pakistan’s tribal belt — according to the WSJ, “Mohmand, Bajaur and Khyber regions” as well as “the bordering eastern Afghan provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar and Nuristan” will be affected. The newly consolidated militants will ostensibly report to Fazlullah, the TTP’s primary leader, who is suspected to currently reside in eastern Afghanistan. Notably, this consolidation could represent a major organizational resurgence for the Pakistan Taliban following the death of senior TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud in a U.S. drone strike last year.

The Pakistani Taliban’s announcement comes not too long after the Islamic State declared the creation of a ‘Khorasan Shura,‘ or a council of leaders for its Afghanistan-Pakistan presence. The shura comprises several former Pakistani Taliban leaders, including Hafez Saeed Khan. While the Taliban continues to enjoy considerably more territorial influence and control within Pakistani borders than the Islamic State, competition between the two groups could escalate this year.

ISIS Is Destroying Priceless Artifacts. Here's How to Stop Them.

By Thiago Velozo and Lucas Bento

March 17, 2015

The Islamic States’ desecration of Iraq’s cultural heritage can not be allowed to continue. 

Two weeks ago, ISIS destroyed the remains of the ancient Iraqi city of Hatra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Hatra is a testament to the region’s resilience, having withstood repeated foreign attacks throughout its 2,000 year history. Once a major trading center, it now rests as a symbol of what was a cosmopolitan hub populated by a mixture of peoples. Its blend of Roman and Hellenistic architecture with Arab features is a vivid reminder of the region’s rich cultural history and a flicker of hope of what it could have become.

UNESCO, the UN’s cultural agency, and IESEC, its Islamic counterpart, denounced the city’s destruction as a “war crime” and a “turning point in the cultural cleansing” of Iraq. Others around the world, such as the Arab League, have condemned the attacks.

But ISIS’s iconoclastic crusade is nothing new.

Last July, ISIS demolished shrines cherished by Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike, such as the tomb of the Prophet Jonah in Mosul and the shrine of Prophet Seth, considered to be Adam and Eve’s third son. A couple of weeks ago, the deplorable scenes of ISIS militants toppling and smashing statues and carvings in Mosul’s museum sent shock waves throughout the international community, providing insightful evidence of ISIS’s complete disregard for cultural property. A few days later, ISIS fighters bulldozed an archaeological site dating back to 900 B.C. at the city of Nimrud, an ancient capital of the Assyrian Empire.

These are not sporadic attacks; they are part of a systematic campaign to wipe out humanity’s cultural legacy.

How can the international community prevent these egregious acts of cultural violence? Despite public denouncements, no concrete action has so far been taken by any government or intergovernmental organization.

Fiza Farhan: A Pakistani Change-Maker

By Sonya Rehman

March 16, 2015

A young entrepreneur is empowering rural Pakistan with microfinance and energy projects 

For 28-year-old Fiza Farhan, being caught up in a 9-5 job was hardly appealing. Rather than just another cog in the corporate machine, she always wanted to make an impact on Pakistani society.

Working as the CEO and Co-Founder of a local microfinance institution, the Buksh Foundation, and the Director of Buksh Energy (an offshoot of the foundation), Farhan’s work focuses mainly on clean energy projects for the country’s rural and underprivileged areas, areas that are often overlooked by the public sector.

This year, Farhan made it to Forbes’ international list of 30 Under 30 social entrepreneurs– quite an achievement for a young Pakistani. Last year, the young entrepreneur was also selected as a “Future Energy Leader” at the World Energy Council.

“We were very different in our approach from day one,” says Farhan earnestly, “Our microfinance challenged the conventional norms of micro finance society; for example, in microfinance you’d be giving loans of a small amount which means nothing to set up an enterprise – loans are given out to anyone who has a national ID card. So the due diligence is zero. When you’re not checking the creditworthiness of the client, how can you expect the financial mechanism to be sustainable? There is bound to be a collapse. It’s very easy to give money, people will take it, but the difficult mechanism is to collect the money back. We challenged these norms; we wanted to create enterprises, not clients. It’s very nice to say; oh yes I have a 1,000 clients, but what are they doing with their lives, you know?”

For Farhan, if an individual takes a loan once without coming back for a second one, the institution is doing something right: sustainable, economic agents are being created to make big impacts on their respective communities. “I found it very funny when people in the microfinance industry used to say very proudly; oh this client is coming to us for the third time, they’re so loyal. I feel if someone’s coming to you for the third time that means you’re not alleviating his poverty. That means you’re not making him sustainable. How is that a matter of pride?”

So how does Farhan’s foundation make sure they take on good, reliable clients? An extensive interview process, the development of a credit evaluation, in addition to a thorough psychological evaluation of the client. “We call it the ‘willingness to pay analysis;’ this has led us to a default rate of less than one percent!”

Currently, Buksh Energy, a renewable energy company, has provided solar lanterns to approximately 140 villages across the country. “In 2012 we wanted to do something for the underprivileged communities in Pakistan, in villages that were forgotten,” Farhan says, “The poorest of the poor communities are those where there is no infrastructure, no electricity. We then developed the ‘Lighting a Million Lives’ project; it was in collaboration with an Indian entity [TERI] which has been working on similar projects for the last 8-10 years. Taking the basic framework from them, we developed it into the Pakistani scenario.”

Officials: U.S. to keep higher troop level in Afghanistan

By Lolita C. Baldor

March 14, 2015 

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is abandoning plans to cut the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to 5,500 by year's end, bowing to military leaders who want to keep more troops, including many into the 2016 fighting season, U.S. officials say.

While no final decision on numbers has been made, the officials said the administration is poised to slow withdrawal plans and probably will allow many of the 9,800 American troops to remain well into next year.

There also are discussions about keeping a steady number of counterterrorism troops into 2015, including options under which some would remain in the country or be nearby beyond 2016.

Currently, about 2,000 U.S. troops are conducting counterterrorism missions, and military leaders have argued that they will need to continue pursuing the remnants of al-Qaida and to monitor Islamic State militants looking to recruit in Afghanistan.

Officials say President Obama probably will use a Washington visit by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani this month as the time to announce his decision on a new withdrawal timeline.

U.S. officials familiar with the debate said it's not clear yet whether the White House will agree to a small, symbolic decrease by the end of this year or insist on a larger cut. They note that there is some stiff opposition to any change, largely from national security adviser Susan Rice.

Pakistan Announces That Its New BURRAQ Drone Has Successfully Fired a Missile at a Ground Target

Farhan Bokhari and James Hardy

March 16, 2015

Pakistan successfully fires missile from indigenous UAV

The Pakistan Army announced on 13 March that it had for the first time successfully fired a missile from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said that the successful test launch of the indigenous Barq laser-guided missile from the NESCOM Barruq UAV would “multiply the capability against terrorists”.

It is a “force multiplier in our anti-terror campaign,” said the ISPR, which also released footage of the test along with that of it being watched by General Raheel Sharif, the army’s chief of staff.

The Barruq and another unarmed UAV called the Shahpar entered service with the army and air force respectively in late November 2013. Few details on the Barq missile are available, although it is likely that it was produced by NECOM’s Air Weapons Complex (AWC).

News of the successful test follows earlier reports that Pakistan had unsuccessfully sought to buy armed UAVs from foreign sources including the United States. Pakistan’s UAV programmes have previously consisted mainly of reconnaissance platforms.

Retired Taiwan Admiral Gets 14 Month Prison Sentence for Spying for China

March 16. 2015

Retired navy brass to serve 14 months in jail for espionage

Taipei, March 16 (CNA) Retired Navy Vice Admiral Ko Cheng-sheng (柯政盛) is to serve a 14-month jail term for spying for China after the Supreme Court overturned his appeal and upheld a ruling and sentence imposed by a lower court.

The Supreme Court retained the verdict of the High Court Monday that found Ko guilty in late September last year of espionage.

As a high-ranking naval officer, Ko “disregarded national security, introducing other high-ranking military officers of the country to China, offering them an opportunity of which they could take advantage,” the Supreme Court said in its ruling.

"Ko has violated the highest belief that soldiers should be loyal to their country," the court said.

It also upheld a ruling on Ko’s friend, Shen Ping-kang (沈秉康), a businessman, who was found guilty of enticing Ko into spying for China. He received a sentence of 12 months in jail.

Shen invited Ko and his family to tour Australia and visit Beijing many times during the period between 1998 and 2007, during which time he introduced Ko to Chinese intelligence officials, the ruling said.

After his retirement, Ko arranged meetings between two senior Taiwanese naval officers and Chinese officials in a failed attempt to recruit them into spying for China.

China and America's Coming Battle for Southeast Asia

Peter Chalk

March 16, 2015 

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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has declared its intent to establish a fully integrated Community that extends across the economic, political, security and social realms by the end of 2015. Such a regional arrangement would, for the first time, provide the countries of Southeast Asia with a single regime of intergovernmental collaboration that can be used to draft, implement and refine joint policies and courses of action. That would greatly facilitate future proactive planning and aid the development of comprehensive and codified forms of supranational cooperation and governance.

The main aim of those changes is to better situate ASEAN to achieve its core goal of “centrality”—a term coined to emphasize how internal cohesion can be leveraged to both advance economic progress and manage the Association’s relations with external partners.

One external variable that’s likely to bear heavily on the trajectory of the proposed ASEAN community is the influence of an increasingly assertive People’s Republic of China (PRC). The country is now the pre-eminent power in the Asia-Pacific and its ties with the Association have grown substantially over the past 25 years. Both factors imbue Beijing with a real potential to sway the future course of ASEAN integration.

In economic terms, the PRC’s overall impact is likely to be largely positive. Since the signing of a strategic partnership agreement in 2003, bilateral fiscal and commerce relations have boomed and over the past decade the two-way flow of goods and services has increased more than six-fold—topping $400 million in 2013. The growth and prosperity of ASEAN and China will be highly contingent on further expanding that mutually beneficial economic partnership, something the two sides no doubt fully appreciate.