India on Thursday tested a nuclear capable intermediate range ballistic missile, named Agni-III, which is 85 per cent indigenously developed.
Indian scientists would now work on squeezing in a third stage into the missile system so that the range was increased from the 3,000 km plus (achieved on Thursday) to 5,000 km [which is the range for an ICBM] over the next three years, says The Hindu.
Now the question: Why India is showing its nuclear muscle? Who will be its main target? Will this lead to nuclear race in this part of the world or elsewhere?
These questions have been answered in detail by Gwynne Dyer in The Hamilton Spectator.
“India is just doing what great powers do. It wants to play with the Big Five, and playing the great-power game means you end up playing the nuclear-war game, too.”
But no one seems to be complaining…including India’s next door neighbours – Pakistan and China. Why?
Please click here to read it all…
Excerpts: “The Agni-III missile failed its first flight test last July, but this one seems to have gone off very well. The missile, which reportedly can carry a 300-kiloton nuclear warhead, was not tested at its full range of more than 3,000 km on this occasion, but that is the number that gets people’s attention.
“India’s main potential enemy is Pakistan, which is right next door, and it already has missiles that can strike anywhere there. The Agni-III gives India the range to strike the Middle East (but it has no enemies there) or southern Russia and Central Asia (likewise) — or China….”
The Times of India has a related story about the progress (or the lack of it) of US-India nuclear deal.
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.