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DRDO scientist was faculty member of Tripoli varsity

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EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
Posted: Mon May 05 1997 IST

HYDERABAD, May 4: Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist Srinivasulu, who was nabbed by Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials and city police here on Thursday night, was found to be working as a faculty member in the Tripoli University in Libya.

IB officials, acting on a tip off, sought the assistance of city police, who arrested the B-grade defence scientist at the Rajiv Gandhi International airport when he was about to board the Dubai-bound Air-India flight.

According to sources, Srinivasulu neither submitted his resignation nor obtained permission from the DRDO

authorities for working in Libya. He obtained a passport without the knowledge of DRDO which is statutory. He left for Libya an year-and-half back and joined as a faculty member in the university at Tripoli.

During interrogation, Srinivasulu reportedly confessed before IB officials that he was taking some secret documents with him and one of his colleagues at Tripoli university, Kumar, was also involved in the spying.

Sources added that Srinivasulu has planned to go to Sharjah by the Dubai-bound Indian Airlines flight and then to Malta Islands in Africa by air. From there he was to catch a ship for Tripoli.

 

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The Missile that Cannot Fire – Long delays, cost escalation damage DRDO’s reputation

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Amarnath K, Menon and  Gaurav C. Sawant – April 13, 2012 – India Today 

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was set up in 1958 with a vision to “provide our defence services a decisive edge by equipping them with internationally competitive systems and solutions”. The DRDO has clearly failed in its mission.

There is no bigger indictment of India‘s premier organisation for research and development in military hardware than the fact that 54 years after its establishment, India still imports 70 per cent of its equipment requirements. In 1997, India best known defence bureaucrat and the then scientific adviser to defence minister, APJ Abdul Kalam, had said that India should bring the hare of imports in defence equipment purchases down to 30 per cent by 2005. No progress has been made. The percentage is still 70-30 in favour of imports.

DRDO`s list of successes is short-primarily the Agni and Prithvi missiles. Its list of failures is much longer.The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project, which was commissioned in 2001, is running late by four years. The costs have gone up from an original estimate of around Rs 3,300 crore to over Rs 5,780 crore. The Kaveri Engine for LCA is running late by 16 years and the cost has escalated by around 800 per cent.
In 2011, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) put a serious question mark on drdo’s capabilities. “The organisation, which has a history of its projects suffering endemic time and cost overruns, needs to sanction projects and decide on a probable date of completion on the basis of a conservative assessment of technology available and a realistic costing system,” its report stated.

The CAG report also revealed that not all technologies developed by DRDO were suitable for use by the armed forces. The three services have rejected 70 per cent of the products developed at the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune, in the last 15 years costing Rs 320 crore because the products did not meet their standard and requirement, The CAG report stated that in order to form a fair and balanced view of the success of the projects undertaken by drdo, 46 completed and nine ongoing projects worth Rs 387.35 crore were scrutinised in February 2011. Of the 46 completed and closed projects, only 13 closed projects, wrapped up at a cost of Rs 68 crore, underwent production. “Without close synergy between the users and the technology development agency, much of the development efforts would go in vain, as the success rate of projects in ARDE amply demonstrates,” the report said.

The army is not impressed by DRDO`s performance either. Says Major-General S.V. Thapliyal, a former deputy director-general for perspective planning at army headquarters in Delhi, “DRDO promises to manufacture. It nixes our plans to acquire from abroad; It does not meet the deadline. Worse, it does not maintain quality either. The soldier, the end user, is the worst sufferer.”

General V.P. Malik, who was chief of army staff during the Kargil War, has an interesting incident to narrate in his book Kargil From Surprise to Victory. In 1997, the army finalized plans to acquire the AN/TPQ-37 Fire finder radars from the US. Prices were negotiated and just before purchase, drdo offered to manufacture them at half the price and within two years. The government shot down the army’s plans to buy these radars. In 1999, during the Kargil War, the radars were desperately needed. Neither had DRDO manufactured them nor could they be procured from the US (post-1998 Pokhran tests there was an arms embargo). Several lives were lost in Pakistani shelling. Wlien Indo-US relations improved, India did buy these radars in 2003, but at almost twice the initial price. “The problem with drdo is that it is big on promise and small on delivery. There is no accountability in the system,” says Malik.

DRDO continues to mislead. On April 4, it claimed it had achieved a major milestone on an “indigenous” programme to develop a sophisticated radar to monitor the Indian airspace. The aircraft on which the radar is mounted—a modified Embraer EMB 1451-is imported from Brazil. drdo had to resort to the Embraer aircraft because its own efforts at producing an indigenous carrier had ended in disaster. Project Guardian Airawat was stalled in 1999 when its HS-748 turboprop aircraft crashed, killing eight crew members-engineers, scientists and Indian Air Force (IAF) officers-on board.
Under a Rs 1,050 crore agreement, Brazil’s Embraer will now act as the pverall systems integrator for the “indigenous” project, supplying the three jets, mounting the radar and electronics onto the plane’s fuselage and ensuring that the altered jets retain acceptable flight performance.

According to its original 2004 timeline, this project was to be completed by 2011. Now the delivery of the remaining two modified Embraer aircraft is only expected by mid-2013. The project will not be complete until 2014. Even then there are serious flaws in the project. IAF has pointed out that the Embraer EMB 1451 cannot fly above 4 0,000 ft and therefore is only of limited use in surveillance. “DRDO has a history of claiming foreign designs as its own, like the Arjun tank which is a derivative of the German Leopard,” says a source in the agency. ~
The technology development agency is also largely responsible for the fact highlighted by General V.K. Singh that 97 per cent of the army’s air defence is obsolete. The CAG report lists seven requirements of the army for air defence guns and the project status report. CAG notes the end result: “Even though three R&D projects and one staff project were undertaken, the air defence gun system could not be developed by DRDO to satisfy the frequently revised requirement of the user.”

Army air defence sources say DRDO is tinkering with World War II equipment instead of working on cutting-edge technology. “The chief downplayed the state of affairs. It is in dire straits,” says a top-ranking air defence officer.

“The air defence is in a very-sorry condition,” says Air Marshal A.K. Singh, former air officer commanding-in-chief, Western Air Command. “DRDO is not able to service the equipment. Even if systems are acquired from abroad and DRDO or Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is meant to service it, it fails.This leaves critical gaps in national defence,” he says.

The Government had constituted a committee for the first-ever external review of the agency in February 2007. The committee chaired by P. Rama Rao, ex‘secreta1y, Department of Science and Technology and former director, Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad, suggested that DRDO be restructured to make it a leaner organisation. It also recommended the setting up of a commercial arm of the organisation to make it a profitable entity, besides cutting back on delays in completing projects. “Delivery delayed is delivery denied,” said
Defence Minister A.K. Antony on delays in DRDO projects. But little progress has been made in the last five years on implementing the committee’s suggestions.

DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat is eager to put his house in order. He has called for the setting up of a Defence Technology DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat is eager to put his house in order. He has called for the setting up of a Defence Technology Commission as well as a bigger role for DRDO in picking production partners for products developed by the agency. Instead of the current practice of the Ministry of Defence arbitrarily nominating a defence public sector undertaking or an ordnance factory to build the product, usually when development is almost complete, DRDO would be able to select a capable partner company from the outset, from the private sector if necessary.

The defence organisation, which has an annual budget of over Rs 10,000 crore, now has no choice but to reinvent itself. The agency‘s research has drifted away from its core competence in recent times. It has been accused of “wasting time and precious resources” being engaged in research and development of technique for detection of pesticides in fruits, technology for dengue control, dental implants, foldable stretchers and berry juice.
The moribund agency is also suffering from employee attrition. Over the past five years, while the report of the Rama Rao Committee has languished, around 1,700 of its 7,900 engineers and scientists have left for better opportunities in private companies. The depletion of talent will be the last stage in what cynical insiders say is the process of converting DRDO into a dodo.

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Agni V ballistic missile test successful

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Congratulations – Agni – 5 Team

Great Job

www.corruptionindrdo.com

Agni V ballistic missile test successful – Times of India
19 Apr 2012, 0839 hrs IST, AGENCIES
India on Thursday (April 19) conducted the maiden test of it’s indigenously developed nuclear capable “Agni V” ballistic missile with a strike range of over 5,000 km, from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast near Dhamara, Orissa. The three stage, solid propellant missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher from the launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at about 0805 hours, defence sources said.

Soon after the maiden launch took place, Agni V witnessed a smooth and perfect vertical lift-off from the launcher and analysis was done to assess its health parameters after retrieval of date from all the sophisticated wide range of communication network systems, they said. The test-fire of the first of its kind missile, which was originally scheduled for yesterday, had to be postponed at the last moment due to bad weather marked by rains and heavy lightning, the sources said.

The trial of Agni V, considered to be of the category of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), demonstrates giant strides taken by India in its integrated missile development programme. Only the United States, Russia, France and China possess the capability to operate an ICBM at present. “The sleek missile, within a few seconds of its blast-off from the Island launch pad roared majestically into the sky leaving behind it’s trajectory, a trail of thin orange and white smoke before disappearing,” said an eyewitness to the launch, conducted amid light drizzle.

The surface-to-surface Agni V is capable of striking a target more than 5,000 km away. It is about 17 meter long and two metre wide with launch weight of around 50 tonnes. The sophisticated missile can carry a nuclear warhead of more than one tonne. After achieving successful results from the first development trial of Agni IV, which has a strike range of more than 3,500 km, from the same launch pad on November 15, 2011, preparation for Agni V test had gathered momentum.

Scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) associated with this project were busy for a couple of years to test launch the new missile in a possible suitable time. Unlike other missiles of indigenously built Agni series, the latest one- Agni V- is the most advanced version having several new technologies incorporated in it in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine.

India has at present in its armoury of Agni series, Agni 1 with 700 km range, Agni 2 with 2,000 km range, Agni 3 and Agni 4, with 2,500 km to more than 3,500 km range. Today’s trial was aimed at putting India into an exclusive club of nations possessing such long-range ballistic missile technologies. DRDO Chief V K Saraswat had recently said the missile was being integrated at various facilities for the test launch.

The maiden test-fire was witnessed by military officials, scientists and other agencies which participated in its development. DRDO plans to conduct more such tests of the missile over the next one year after studying and analysing the parameters achieved in each subsequent trial. On the timeline fixed for fully developing Agni V, Saraswat had said another year of testing would be involved.

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The Lab Optimists

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Open Magazine – feature

BY Madhavankutty Pillai 31st March 2012

From battle tanks to mosquito repellents to dosas in space, the DRDO is a laboratory of sweeping ideas, many of which will take a lifetime to execute.

Last year, the Indian Air Force got a taste of something they didn’t much like. The newspaper DNA reported that IAF officials had been to the Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) in Mysore, where they were shown a tube from which food could be squeezed out. It might sound odd that anyone would eat like that but this was a necessity stemming from the IAF’s induction of long-range aircraft into its fleet—the pilot would have to be fed if he was going to be in air for hours. But the tube-food wasn’t what they expected. It wasn’t a paste or even semi-liquid; it was solid. Negotiating it would not only mess up the cockpit, it would be a minor battle in itself. The IAF rejected it and the DFRL went back to the lab to make it pastier. The same laboratory is also working on something equally unusual—what to feed Indian astronauts when they eventually go up in space. The lab director was quoted as saying that they were exploring all options—from north Indian chapatis to south Indian dosas, albeit in bits and bites.

The DFRL is part of what is known as the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), an umbrella for over 50 laboratories that make everything from tube-food to tanks to combat aircraft to mosquito repellents. Even toilets. In his recent Railway Budget speech, former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi announced that from next year, 2,500 rail coaches would have what he called green toilets to replace the holes that now exist in train latrines. These ‘bio-toilets’ have been developed by the DRDO. The DRDO’s mandate, however, is not to cater to the Railways or India’s space programme. It is to make India self-reliant in defence systems and equipment. Stated ends and realities do not always meet. The main criticism of the DRDO—and it comes mainly from its primary clients, the armed forces—is that its scientists are a bunch of optimists. This is why we hear announcements from them that seem fantastic. Consider this public statement by DRDO Director General VK Saraswat just a few months ago: “We are working on building soldier robots that can work like a human soldier. Such a robot needs a database and artificial intelligence to carry out its activities and the DRDO is planning to build such a robot.” Is he talking of the Terminator? In the same exchange with reporters, Saraswat also talked about robotic mules, which then leads to the question: why would anyone need robotic mules? If the purpose is to transport cargo, won’t a suitable vehicle do?

All this would not be so suspect if the DRDO did not have a reputation for routinely shooting off its mouth. We asked a former Chief of Army and a former Chief of Navy whether it was true that the DRDO was quick with announcements and slow with execution. Says former Army Chief General VP Malik: “I tend to agree with critics who say that. The track record of the DRDO so far, primarily on account of delayed/non-delivery of weapons and equipment promised to the armed forces, does not inspire confidence.”

And this was former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Arun Prakash: “That impression is correct. They are very optimistic and don’t live up to their time schedules, cost schedules, etc. They don’t consult the armed forces enough. They spend the budget the way they think best.”

The Navy, ironically, is the institution that has managed to get the maximum benefit (relatively speaking) from the DRDO and that’s because it made a practice of embedding naval officers into DRDO projects. Admiral Prakash said, “Whenever there’s a naval project going on, there are always naval officers associated with it. Even otherwise the Navy makes available some of its bright officers to the DRDO.”

The two projects for which the DRDO has got the most brickbats are connected to the Air Force and Army—the main battle tank Arjun and light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas. The Arjun project took off in 1972. In 1974, Rs 15 crore was set aside for its development. The project, which finally cost around Rs 350 crore, got delayed by decades and even now many of its components are imported. The DRDO had initially hoped to make 2,000 tanks and, after about 40 years, has 124 operational. The Army is not happy with these and is pinning its hopes on the impending upgrade, the Arjun Mark II. Similar delays have plagued the LCA Tejas. It has been in the making for just under 30 years and is yet to become operational. Its second phase is now scheduled for completion by December 2012. The indigenous engine, Kaveri, for the LCA didn’t live up to standards and an imported engine is being used.

The problem, according to one view, stems from the DRDO wanting to reinvent the wheel. It was a patriotic thing to build everything from scratch, but, as everyone now recognises, it didn’t have the capability in most areas. This can have consequences. General Malik was Chief of Army when the Kargil war happened. In 2009, when he said in a television interview that Kargil casualties could have been lower if the DRDO had delivered on time, it instantly led to a furore. He elaborated on it in an email interview, ‘I was referring specifically to the non-availability of weapons-locating radars, which were required to engage Pakistani artillery and mortars quickly and effectively during the Kargil war. This would have reduced the effectiveness of Pakistani artillery and mortars. In 1997, after long negotiations with a manufacturer, some of these radars were about to be purchased. At the last moment, the DRDO caused this deal to be scuttled, with a promise that it would develop and produce these radars in the next two years; a promise that was never fulfilled. Incidentally, these very radars were purchased from the same manufacturer in 2003.’

There are areas in which the DRDO has been successful, like the missile programme. In the development of naval sonars, weapons avionics and torpedoes too, it is recognised to have done useful work. There is the counter-view that it is unfair to blame it for everything and that the DRDO has become a favourite punching bag. Wing Commander Ajay Lele, a weapons expert and Research Fellow with the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, says the gestation period in military technology is always long. The Lockheed Martin-developed F22 Raptor aircraft went to the drawing board in the Cold War era in the early 70s, but it formally entered the US air force in 2005. “Also, components for defence technology are not easy to come by. The DRDO cannot create everything on its own. It needs industrial back-up and our country lacks in that,” he says.

There is no clear accessible overview of the research DRDO does because there is no proper audit of it. A cloud called ‘Classified’ hangs over it. Prabhu Dandriyal, who worked in the DRDO from 1982 to 2003, is a whistleblower. After being forced into retirement when he started to expose corruption in the institution, he has been on a relentless mission. He says it has reached a stage where he is now called to assist the CBI and IB in corruption cases in DRDO labs because they don’t understand engineering concepts. He filed an RTI application asking how many technical papers DRDO scientists had published in international scientific journals between 1990 and 2010. He didn’t get it until the Chief Information Commissioner passed an order in his favour. “What is the surest way of showing that fundamental research is on? Publishing papers. The reply I finally got was ‘nil’. There had not been a single published paper. All these announcements they make, not one thing happens. All they do is talk,” he says.

Another criticism of the DRDO is that it expends time, money and focus on things that should not really be in its ambit. One journalist who went to a DRDO laboratory 15 years ago as a student was shown a banana that had been reduced to a tenth of its normal weight, the size reduced by 20 per cent. There are high altitude barfis for soldiers to partake of during festivals. There is a medicine for leucoderma. There are cockroach-killing tablets, instant idlis, betel leaf juice and chickenpav bhajis. A fungus found on a caterpillar has been cultured, which among other things is supposedly beneficial in the treatment of impotence. And so on goes the vast and bewildering list.

But, according to Ajay Lele, there is method to this madness. “The armed forces have set requirements. Until and unless the Government tells private industry ‘you provide us an alternative, this is the money, put it into R&D and give us the returns over a period of time’, the DRDO will have to make these things. Take the mosquito repellent. Anyone who is aware of conditions in the Northeast will tell you that the mosquitoes there are very different. Battle casualties are far lower than casualties from malaria. Good Knight [the repellent brand] is not going to develop such a mosquito repellent unless there’s some incentive for it,” he says.

The DRDO is now spinning these technologies commercially. Since 2008, it has a tie-up with Ficci to market products they think have demand. It goes by DRDO-FICCI Accelerated Technology Assessment and Commer- cialisation. Says Shyam Sunder, Deputy Director at Ficci’s Centre for Technology Commercialisation, “The DRDO has nominated more than 200 technologies to this programme. We shortlist them based on our assessment. We then contact Indian companies to introduce these technologies for manufacture or licensing. The response has been very good.”

Nearly everyone save the DRDO itself agrees that the institution has to be reinvented. A committee headed by P Rama Rao, former secretary, department of science and technology, made a number of recommendations. The main thrust of the recommendations was that the DRDO should focus on key areas like missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare and so on. Its laboratories should be restructured and those not central to the new mandate must be hived off to civilian scientific bodies. The report is yet to be implemented because of opposition from the DRDO.

Another way to reinvent the DRDO, say some, is to make it like DARPA in the US, which does no research but instead mediates between the armed forces and the private sector. Unless the DRDO is remodelled, there will inevitably be situations in which the kit for the soldier in Siachen has to be imported while the DRDO works on a robotic mule.

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Tatra trucks are fine, says DRDO Chief

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Surinder Jeet (USA)
01 Apr, 2012 02:03 AM
V K Saraswat has not answered the general’s allegations. The general has said that Tatra is too expensive. DRDO has not disputed it. That Tatra is delivering the service is like saying Bofors Guns are firing. They should. Can Tatra or similar truck be bought from other suupliers? Will they give more for the same money or will they cost less. DRDO would be wise not to drag itself into lime light. As it is it is in trouble for its own scandals and poor performance. My question now is,”why did they enter the fray?. What is their interest”?

jk (delhi)
01 Apr, 2012 01:48 AM
Everybody is trying to cover their as***, DRDO is a joke, even after many decades what indeginious product has come out of their stable?, even if there is one or two, are they being mass produced and are they world class that they are being exported?. This and other public sectors are a drain on the economy. I have a feeling DRDO’s palm has been greased and money exchanged to go for these trucks.

RAhul (Delhi)
01 Apr, 2012 01:35 AM
DRDO is scinetists are just feeding on tax payers money.If we need to procure defense equipment from pverseas suppliers…Why not close down DRDO.

subhash (h.pur)
01 Apr, 2012 01:23 AM
Mr. VK Sarasvat, The strength of the elephant is not under the clot but the cost.We are paying the price of 5 elephant to get only 3 . Kickback; corruption and nazrana ,whatever you call is the issue.

aks (USA)
31 Mar, 2012 11:43 PM
EXcept one or two divisions in DRDO all others are either doing nothing or are useless for nation, the so called scientists go to office to search internet play computer games and to gossip… I have tonnes of friends in DRDO and what I am saying here is there daily routine Most of the things made by DRDO is either obselete or useless for army and airforce… therefore we have to go for an MMRCA or BARHMOS as DRDO is incapable ….even the engine for LCA has still to come …DRDO is a political agency , where people know how to make comments like our incapable , despicable politicians

dkddn2 (delhi)
31 Mar, 2012 11:35 PM
Saraswat should be ashamed of heading of an organisation that cannot create anything but rebrand the foreign products. Is he not ashamed of the fact that DRDO had not been able to identify an Indian manufacturer for these missiles ? DRDO is infact a middleman now.

Abihshek (India) replies to dkddn2
01 Apr, 2012 12:29 AM
I don’t know about now but atleast in 2005, even to sit for an interview with DRDO/ISRO, the candidate had to be among the top 3 or 5 of his class. It was dream to work for them but I couldn’t even sit for the interview. And I’m sure everybody knows what kind of people are USUALLY among the top 3, especially in India. So a majority of people who work for these organizations are rote-learners who can memorize and score in exams but are not creative. I’m now working abroad in an Aerospace company who were happy to accept me. There would be thousands like me who would be dying to work for these organizations but can’t due their stupid recruitment policies.

Arif (India)
31 Mar, 2012 11:28 PM
That shows intelligence of DRDO chief. Either he is on drugs or does not understand issue. Issue is about :(1) Bribe (2) Middleman (violation of rule) (3) When Tata and Ashok Leland can produce better trucks then why Tatra?

 

Drdo

DRDO contradicts Army chief, says Tatra trucks ‘outstanding’

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PTI | Mar 31, 2012, 08.18PM IST

NEW DELHI: Contradicting Army Chief General V K Singh, DRDO chief V K Saraswat on Saturday said Tatra trucks were “outstanding” and there was nothing substandard about the vehicles used as base for launching all important missiles like Prithvi and Agni.

“Tatra truck is an outstanding truck… They have a very good cross country capability and can move at good speeds,” Saraswat said at a press conference at Defence Expo here.

He was responding when asked about the performance of Tatra trucks in view of the Army Chief’s contention that these vehicles were substandard.

Noting that the launchers of all important missiles like the Prithvi and Agni are based on these trucks, the DRDO chief said the performance of these vehicles “has been good in armed forces and we have no complaints about it.”

Saraswat said “we will have more of them” if there was any further requirement of these trucks. However, if the government gives direction against using them, the premier research organization will stop doing so.

Asked to comment on the perceived tussle between defence minister A K Antony and the Army Chief, he said both were good people and should handle their differences, if any, with more caution.

“The harmony within the defence ministry with respect to our functioning and image is very important. I give my advise on technical issues but as a citizen of this country, I would say that I have known both the defence minister and the Army Chief and both of them are very good people.

Readers’ opinions (274)

sunny (Paris)
4 hrs ago (06:27 AM)
DRDO Chief is not a automobile engineer but a rocket propulsion scientist. Nice certificate for a truck, mate.

Joseph Stanis (India)
5 hrs ago (05:10 AM)
Hello DRDO Chief, Is it not your duty to also ensure that the price is right.The Internet price of a Tatra truck is about Rs 40 Lakhs but we are shelling out a Crore of Rs. Does it mean you will pay for a good item the moon? We are talking about cost effective defence equipment.The best for the least price. All these great defence organizations of the Nehruvian area are taking the nation for one BIG ride.

FREETHINKER (Switzerland)
8 hrs ago (02:10 AM)
IF THE DRDO THINKS TATRA TRUCKS ARE OUSTANDING THEN THERE IS SOMETHING RADICALLY WRONG WITH THEIR LEVEL OF STANDARDS. THIS IS THE SAME ORGANISATION THAT HAS MADE SEVERAL LOUSY PRODUCTS FOR THE ARMED FORCES STARTING FROM THE INFANTRY RIFLE TO ARJUN TANKS. NOT TO MENTION THAT ALL THAT HAS BEEN PRODUCED HAS NEVER BEEN ON TIME. THE DRDO SHOULD SHUT UP LIKE THEY HAVE BEEN ASKING THE ARMY TO DO SO THROUGH POLITICIANS.

Surinder Jeet (USA)
8 hrs ago (02:03 AM)
V K Saraswat has not answered the general’s allegations. The general has said that Tatra is too expensive. DRDO has not disputed it. That Tatra is delivering the service is like saying Bofors Guns are firing. They should. Can Tatra or similar truck be bought from other suupliers? Will they give more for the same money or will they cost less. DRDO would be wise not to drag itself into lime light. As it is it is in trouble for its own scandals and poor performance. My question now is,”why did they enter the fray?. What is their interest”?

jk (delhi)
9 hrs ago (01:48 AM)
Everybody is trying to cover their as***, DRDO is a joke, even after many decades what indeginious product has come out of their stable?, even if there is one or two, are they being mass produced and are they world class that they are being exported?. This and other public sectors are a drain on the economy. I have a feeling DRDO’s palm has been greased and money exchanged to go for these trucks.

RAhul (Delhi)
9 hrs ago (01:35 AM)
DRDO is scinetists are just feeding on tax payers money.If we need to procure defense equipment from pverseas suppliers…Why not close down DRDO.

mahe (india)
9 hrs ago (01:09 AM)
I thought DRDO is a Reasearch and Development organisations, only now I understand they procure equipments and review the procurements..

ajay (delhi)
10 hrs ago (12:53 AM)
precisely, that is why we have outstanding things being manufactured by DRDO after being allocated huge budgets! its a shame that DRDO has failed to match with or come at par with other countries R& D wings!

D. Shaw (UK)
10 hrs ago (12:40 AM)
Mr. Sarsvat, isn’t a shame that India has to depend on import of major requirement of weapons and army equipment from abroad? Isn’t a shame for the scientists and technicals experts of DRDO that after fifty years’ in existence it cannot meet the Indian military’s major weapons requirements? How is that a small country like Israel without any major resources invents and manufactures most sophisticated weapons and a country of 1.2 billion people has to import such weapons from Israel inspite of the fact the India spends millions of dollars on its research organizations like DRDO? Obviously, there is something rotten in working of these government research organziations which work like any other government organization. They are managed by corrupt and third rate bureaucrats appointed by corrupt politicians. Even the Almighty creator cannot save India unless the corrupt and criminal politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen are prosecuted and hanged in public.
“If they have any differences, they should be handled with most cautious approach,” he added.

jyoti (up) replies to D. Shaw 
8 hrs ago (02:37 AM)
last year i did my summer training at drdo. there what i found, most employees come to office for time pass and chip food.

DRDO (Jeopardy ) replies to D. Shaw
9 hrs ago (01:25 AM)
Pity, these so called scientists from DRDO cann’t even reverse engineer the imported arms. Chinese are way ahead of these wannabe resaerch organization.

Suv (US/Mum) replies to D. Shaw
9 hrs ago (01:18 AM)
congress already cleaned the honest heads from DRDO.. (the resignation of scientists).. the ones that remains now are congress puppets.. can’t expect anything more from DRDO… wait few mroe days.. new Army cheif (Congress puupet) will say everythign is better thn expected..

Ram (Doha, Qatar) 
10 hrs ago (12:36 AM)
DRDO took more than 30 years to develop one missile with 1000s of staff ‘working’. It is yet another white elephant to the the state’s exchequer and most corrupt. The DRDO Chief seems to be in a hurry to cover up DRDOs role in supporting these trucks.

krishan (Pune.)
10 hrs ago (12:34 AM)
Now DRDO chief Saraswat is backing the Govt. just trying to be a ‘Chamcha’ of the govt. Or received a big kickbag few crore rupees.Now, every body knows that Gen.Singh is retiring and his opinion is not important. This is a bad Luck of India that good people are never appreciated only thing is appreciated. In India always is important money…money..monnneeey.

raja (india) replies to Vijay Veer

tatra trucks may be good, but the problem is they are not supplying the trucks, instead it was sold as CKD(completely knocked down kit) by the vectra group (ravi rishi- broker) to BEML inturn they assemble the trucks and supply it to army… the main problem is even a new truck supplied by BEML has fault spare parts such as old battery, old tyres, the life of the spares is very low, it takes two years to replace a spares and it costs ten times more than that of other trucks…..

aks (USA)
11 hrs ago (11:43 PM)
EXcept one or two divisions in DRDO all others are either doing nothing or are useless for nation, the so called scientists go to office to search internet play computer games and to gossip… I have tonnes of friends in DRDO and what I am saying here is there daily routine Most of the things made by DRDO is either obselete or useless for army and airforce… therefore we have to go for an MMRCA or BARHMOS as DRDO is incapable ….even the engine for LCA has still to come …DRDO is a political agency , where people know how to make comments like our incapable , despicable politicians

dkddn2 (delhi)
11 hrs ago (11:35 PM)
Saraswat should be ashamed of heading of an organisation that cannot create anything but rebrand the foreign products. Is he not ashamed of the fact that DRDO had not been able to identify an Indian manufacturer for these missiles ? DRDO is infact a middleman now.

Arif (India)
11 hrs ago (11:28 PM)
That shows intelligence of DRDO chief. Either he is on drugs or does not understand issue. Issue is about :(1) Bribe (2) Middleman (violation of rule) (3) When Tata and Ashok Leland can produce better trucks then why Tatra?

kumar (delhi)
11 hrs ago (11:06 PM)
This DRDO never completed one project on time , project which needs to complete in 5 years , they are taking 15 years and now this crook is saying about performance and quality. Definitely for DRDO its good truck . In DRDO scientists are preparing for engineering services examination or doing some private work . They are not developing any thing and they are even not scientists , they are clerk managing imported missiles and equipment files. performance

sambhav (gurgoan)
11 hrs ago (11:04 PM)
DRDO waalon ki ek goli bananey ki toh aukat hai nahin….yeh toh choro ki sabsey badi organization hai

Love my Country (Austin,TX)
12 hrs ago (10:56 PM)
Corrupt societies produces such institution [DRDO] , to support its’ onslaught without any responsibility. Just wanted to give my personal experience, for the Cost of Guns .. I had been to my Arms show [ very common in Texas] and there show guns of all kinds and first time in my life I saw guns so accessible and so very in-expensive. Semi-automatic , AKs , krinkov , Rugers and many Guns which were in range of 500$-1200$. I bought one at 780$ [AK56 of Bulgarian made] .So the question is I can procure this gun at the price I told, so how is Govt. [ which buys thing in bulk] cannot get at the price said. Its’ anyone’s guess How much these guns would have been bought by Raksha Mantralaya. So, people Enough is Enough… Throw this system out …

Surinder (Delhi)
12 hrs ago (10:55 PM)
So we are supposed to believe the word of a DRDO babu who has reached the top by just being a sycophant instead of an army general who is fighting a corrupt congie govt.

DRDO Sux (India)
12 hrs ago (10:51 PM)
incompetent agencies like DRDO is responsible for our pathetic situation for trillion dollar Arms imports. They are the one to speak about quality.

Noname (India)
12 hrs ago (10:49 PM)
V.K. Sarswat’s bank account should be checked now to find out how much he has been paid to give such a generous certificate!

TN (india)
12 hrs ago (10:39 PM)
Looks like this DRDO chief has some vested interest in this deal. Why this idiot is trying to divert the attention from the main subject. Its not the question of quality here ( that needs lots of testing and confirmation) its the question of bribe.Some one please tell this idiot not to poke his nose and try to defend a corrupt retired General. Please tell this DRDO chief to look after the inefficient and corrupt white elephant – DRDO

harimohan (India)
12 hrs ago (10:22 PM)
DRDO scientists are jack of all but masters of none. DRDO has done nothing to produce the the defence Equipments indigenously. They are simply functioning as inspectors and certifying agents for the equipments being imported . yes, they have successfully produced the half cooked packed food items for soldiers but to be produced by private industry. All the claims of DRDO are bungus and Untrue. If by any chance some thing is assembled in DRDO LAB , it the just variant of imported item with zero reliability. Basically DRDO creats the the employment opportunity for the under qualified and low IQ children of politicians and the babus of various ministries because there is no accountability and efficiency criteria for service and promotion. The real scientists feel suffocated in DRDO and that is why the brilliant scientists just get away after some years and join foreign or private industry. The claim of DRDO CHIEF for the best vehicle as heavy transporter for tanks etc is false and misleading a DRDO HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SUITABILTY of TATRA in the hand of user ie ARMY. DRDO CHIEF – please do no mislead the nation. Had DRDO BEEN EFFICIENT, INDIA SOULD HAVE PRODUCE SERVICE WORTHY ARJUNA TANKS AND DEPENDENCY ON RUSSIAN TANKS SHOULT HAVE BEEN ZERO and TATRA like vehicles should have been produced by now.

peetee (delhi) replies to harimohan
12 hrs ago (10:45 PM)
Basically DRDO Scientist are from mediocre institutions,and not from IIT,S,as such. Which is the biggest drawback in totality. When we count the achievement of an individual as well as the institution of reckon,we definitely go by the standards,which can deliver and prepare its product to prove beyond doubt,thus DRDO HAS EVEN FAILED TO PRODUCE OR DEVELOP TRUCKS LIKE TATRA FOR ARMY FORGET TANKS AND ANY OTHER HARD METALLURGY AND ITS AVIONICS…………..?????????????

BOLD TONGUED (Chennai) replies to peetee 
11 hrs ago (11:40 PM)
perhaps iitians will come to drdo if its core objective of maximum employment (for mantri sabs’ and babus’ beta betis) is given up in terms of time bound programmes with enough money for all resources for trial and error R&D, and provided all those wasters who made entry with dubious merit, due to influence, were kicked out with a two month pay as compensation to open pan bidi shops, and keeping only the unfortunate few with zeal and merit wrongly strayed into DRDO.

A CONCERNED CITIZEN OF INDIA (Mumbai)
12 hrs ago (10:21 PM)
Dear Sir, DRDO’s certificate about Tatra Truck is very surprising. The Army Chief’s remarks are contradictory and confusing.. A thorough enquiry needs to be undertaken to find out the truth. No substandard material must be tolerated at any time.

Rahul (Raipur)
12 hrs ago (10:20 PM)
The credibility of DRDO and their Men can be well known from the fact that inspite of spending billions of dollars to develop a homemade defence system ,We are world’s largest importer of arms and Ammunitions and import nearly 95 % of the weapons … Tanta commission must be shared among DRDO ..& MOD as a bonus for non performance…

Deepak (India)
12 hrs ago (10:12 PM)
It a shame for DRDO that we are buying trucks from a czech republic with population less than Mumbai alone and GDP of $ 218 billion (India is $1.8 trillion economy) Building such trucks is not rocket science. And yes, we already are experts in rocket science and IT. Then WTF is DRDO doing?. As per news Rishi(Tatra’s promoter) misused his position in the board of Tatra Czech [the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of Tatra trucks] to enable Tatra Sipox (UK) Ltd, a company Rishi’s Vectra Group incorporated in 1994 and now owns, to buy knock down trucks from Tatra Czech at below production cost. Tatra Sipox then sold the trucks to India’s BEML at a profit, causing huge losses to Tatra Czech since profits from the sale were being made by Rishi’s company, Does DRDO not understand that Tatra trucks are brought below production cost and sold at inflated cost to BEML. Sab chor mile huwe hai.

gd (india)
12 hrs ago (10:09 PM)
Have these jokers in DRDO and BEML ever heard of a company called Oshkosh?Just imagine the guts of BEML MD when he says Tetra technology is the best in the world! Do these clowns think that others have dropped from the sky yesterday!Disgusting!

Prof. D P Misra (IITK)
12 hrs ago (10:06 PM)
Sarasvat is one of the most incompetant people around to head DRDO. He has done nothing except delivering some failed missiles to India, which can blast in the Barrel and never hit the target, if they fly. DRDO has never been able to deliver any successful product which is useful for Nation and its army therefore a white elephant. His integrity is obviously doubtful because he is giving certificate to Truck, where he doesnt not possess any domain knowledge. May god help India, where people like him call all the shots in various spheres of science and engineering.’

MP (US)
12 hrs ago (10:02 PM)
The whole world knows that the Indian politicians and bureaucrats are corrupt from head to toe. Any substandard hardware not sold anywhere else in the world is easily dumped in India, and at a higher price. Tatra Trucks are good only in name, those supplied to India are handicapped lacking in specifications and quality, with very poor maintenance facilities.Gen. VK Singh is right; he knows better than the sycophant DRDO Chief. They are trying to protect their corrupt deal. It has always happened in the Army since no previous Army Chief had the courage to blow the whistle as Gen. VK Singh had done. Hope the succeeding Army Chiefs will maintain this tradition of honesty.

S Rajendran (Chennai)
13 hrs ago (09:37 PM)
VK Saraswat , the DRDO Chief must be investigated on his connections with Tatra organisation. I have heard employees of BEML opining that the Tatra Trucks is a con job and made over to the Army on an understanding reached between Ravi Rishi, owner of Vectra, the shell company that promotes Tatra to the Indian Army and makes the pay-offs.

venkat (dubai)
13 hrs ago (09:20 PM)
DRDO chief is lying as DRDO is specialised in missile technology and not automobile technology. It is like a sattelite technologist giving certificate to the booster Wrocket manufacturer which have separate technologies.DRDO , DMRL,DRDL which comes under MOD are white elephants.When DRDO chief gets salary from MOD he has to side with MOD and not the Army.

spati (noida)
13 hrs ago (09:18 PM)
Because of DRDO our country is not self sufficient. You 1st explain why DRDO is not able to produced these types of trucks which is a basic transport for defense after thousands of crores spend in the name of research?? Who are you to say about the quality? Only the arm-force who are actually using it can comment. So we can trust the army chief not a DRDO official. Those officials satisfy 10 janpath are appointed there.

KMR (Overseas)
13 hrs ago (09:05 PM)
This DRDO chief V K Saraswat (or BEML chief) making statement to fool the public with a spin as usual without touching the sale price of truck which is more than double, ie. cheating. These guys are un-trustable, probably he in the loop of beneficiaries and it’s evident from timing of his statement that he in support of top crooks ……. Now I really doubt this Prithvi and Agni what he is talking about is fire-crackers or missiles!

spati (noida)
13 hrs ago (09:03 PM)
Can the DRDO answer why truck like TATRA cant not be produced after 30-40 yeras even though a technology transfer agreement is in place? Why the tatra trucks are still left handed drive? Why the company selling it around 1 crore to indian army while anybody can purchase it around 40 lakh on open market? Can he informed us how many trucks are dumped because of shortrage of spare parts? If the trucks are so efficient then why they are offering bribe? We all know the credibility of DRDO. Just shot your mouth. The truth is out dont try to cover it. We all are with general v.k.sing.

Shirish (Mumbai)
13 hrs ago (08:58 PM)
This DRDO officer is doing chaplusi of the corrupt Defence ministry officals…..DRDO is one of the laziest organisation in India……this idiot has been told by Govt. to speak against General V.K Singh!!

RAJA (CHENNAI)
13 hrs ago (08:58 PM)
DRDO dont certificate other countries sub-standard product…, your duty is to improve innovation and improvement in indian defence technology….., let CBI investigate DRDO chief V K Saraswat first………… why every officer in BEML and now DRDO is certifying the czech trucks??????? i think TATA and ashok leyland are paying to low to these officers( increase the bribe amount)………………….

 

Drdo

Tatra trucks have performed well for Indian Army: DRDO chief

2 Comments

ANI | Mar 31, 2012, 04.54PM IST

NEW DELHI: Defence Research Development Organisation ( DRDO) chief V. K. Saraswat on Saturday defended the use of Tatra trucks in the Indian Army, saying the vehicles had performed rather well.

Describing the Tatra trucks as “outstanding” and not at all of sub-standard quality, Saraswat said the trucks have been used to launch missiles like the Prithvi and the Agni.

“Tatra truck is an outstanding truck… They have a very good cross country capability and can move at good speeds,” Saraswat told media at Defence Expo here.

“The performance of these vehicles has been good in the armed forces and we have no complaints about it. We will have more of them if there was any further requirement of these trucks. However, if the government gives direction against using them, the premier research organization will stop doing so,”Saraswat said.

He also described Defence Minister A K Antony and Chief of Army Staff General V.K.Singh as good people who should handle their differences, if any, with more caution.

Readers’ opinions

Victor (Hyderabad) 
16 hrs ago (06:11 PM)
Please investigate Saraswat. His son-in-law, joined a company making missile components under contract from DRDO and the company went from BIFR status to over 100 crores. Dont trust his statements.

Drdo

DRDO passes its expertise to NTRO – I

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All the stalwarts of DRDO who were master of manipulating government funds, misinterpretation of government rules having expertise in inculcating a negative attitude towards self reliance and always planning commission and omission through bulk purchases were shifted to NTRO an agency established by the government after KARGIL debacle. The modus operandi of DRDO & NTRO experts/bosses are twin in appearance, if CBI enquires in depth the enquiry will reveal that the entire procurement/ recruitment system are identical.

Deccan Herald

Under veil of secrecy, elint outfit gobbles funds

Chandan Nandy, Bangalore, Mar 20, 2012, DHNS:

Less spying and more misuse of resources in elite security set-up

Eight years after its creation, the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), which was established on the lines of Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and America’s National Security Agency (NSA), is in a mess. 

 Far from performing the responsibilities it was entrusted with after it was found that the country’s security establishment lacked effective technical/communications intelligence capabilities, the NTRO is battling serious allegations of corruption.And the lid has been blown off from within: a former NTRO scientist, V K Mittal, has been able to fight his way through the webs of secrecy and official pressure and intimidation to force the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to institute a special audit which the Supreme Court is now seized of.According to one estimate, misappropriation of funds in the NTRO is to the tune of Rs 800 crore, which was alloted Rs 9,832 crore in the 2011-12 financial year. The organisation spends approximately 62 per cent of the money on purchase of equipment and maintains a secret service fund of about Rs 36 crore. Most of the procurements were through single tenders.According to a February 29, 2012 CAG reply to Mittal’s RTI application, the audit body “noticed lack of transparency and non-compliance of rules and procedures in procurement of systems/stores/equipment and deficient procurement management, resulting in cases of excess payment/wasteful expenditure/loss to the exchequer.”Investigations by Deccan Herald revealed that despite objections from the chief of communications intelligence, senior NTRO officers procured satellite communication terminals worth Rs 18 crore in early 2009 from a blacklisted company, Singapore Technology.

The previous year (May 2008), Mittal, as head of NTRO’s Centre for Communications Applications (CCA) wrote to the then NTRO chairman K V S S Prasad Rao claiming that the use of satellite communication (SATCOM) equipment on board unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) was “never a part of the original request for proposal (RFP) or tender” and “hence no technical evaluation was carried out” at any stage by his division.

Although the SATCOM equipment were to be procured from two Israeli companies, Israeli Aerospace Industry (IAI) and ELTA, visits by CCA officers to these firms in Israel yielded little. “In all meetings (at least four times in Tel Aviv) CCA has been requesting IAA/ELTA to give details of the antenna and other systems associated with SATCOM onboard the UAV. Despite our concerted efforts and repeated demands, IAI/ELTA have refused to part with necessary information,” documents in possession of Deccan Herald say.

Alarmingly, the trials of the SATCOM for UAVs, instead of being carried out in India were undertaken in Australia despite strong objections on the ground that the tests should be carried out in Indian conditions. “The offer of trials outside India was firmly turned down by CCA due to various technical reasons in July-August 2007. Hence the rationale for trials oustide India, despite our strong opposition is not clear to us,” the document of May 9, 2008 says.

The main reason why trials (which were to be witnessed by representatives of the Army, Air Force and the Navy) in Australia were not considered feasible was the IAI/ELTA had provided incomplete information about the antenna proposed for SATCOM onboard UAVs. Besides, it was found that the antenna was “suboptimal” and “did not meet the requisite standard of radiation”, and that power amplifiers required modifications “to be able to meet digital modulation requirements.”

Documents in Deccan Herald’s possession suggest that the Israeli companies failed to demonstrate any SATCOM specialisation for the equipments, including electronic intelligence payload for the UAVs, a project that cost Rs 40 crore.

It was after Mittal was served a memo by the then NTRO adviser (in the rank of additional secretary) M S Vijayaraghavan for objecting to the SATCOM equipment deal that he quit the NTRO and blew the whistle on the goings-on in the country’s communications intelligence organisation. Subsequent internal inquiries and special audits by the CAG in January 2010 (the NTRO was outside the purview of any government audit when it was formed) led to the chargesheeting of seven officers.

A retired senior intelligence officer blamed “those in control of the country’s security apparatus” for NTRO’s “miserable condition.”

Under the scanner

* Internet monitoring system (Rs 30 cr)
* Information processing software (Rs 5 cr)
* Satellite communication monitoring system (Rs 30 cr)
* Civil works contract in Dehradun (Rs 40 cr)        
* Electronic intelligence payload (Rs 30 cr)

Drdo

Making Quite A Bomb

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http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?279925

Making Quite A Bomb

How workers without intel clearance get into an explosives lab

A Defence Lab Breached?

  • The High Energy Materials Research Lab (HEMRL), Pune, has outsourced the production of TATB, an explosive, to a private firm, Viswaat, with which an ex-director of HEMRL is associated
  • The firm does not have a licence to manufacture explosives
  • Worse, the workforce—which does not have intelligence clearance—enters the HEMRL facility to carry out the work
  • Local auditors have questioned payments, attendance records etc
  • Based on anonymous complaints and these audits, the CBI is investigating all work undertaken by Viswaat Chemicals

What Is TATB

  • TATB (or triamino trinitro benzene) is an explosive yellow powder
  • Being extremely stable, it’s called for in high-risk situations
  • One use of TATB is as a primer in nuclear warheads
  • Mixed with fuel oil or other binders, it can be used for bomb-making by terrorists When the CBI begins to investigate a premier defence research institute, the findings can be explosive. Quite literally so, in this case. Imagine the production of a restricted explosive substance being outsourced by a specialised government lab—that too to an unlicensed private firm. It’s just such a flagrant security lapse that was involved when the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), Pune, run by the venerable Defence Research & Development Organisation, parcelled out a production contract for the explosive triamino trinitro benzene (TATB) to Viswaat Chemicals. The storyline is by now familiar from other scams: a former director of HEMRL, Dr Haridwar Singh, is associated with Viswaat. The CBI probe began on anonymous complaints and local audits citing the conflict of interest. But especially worrisome is the security angle. One, Viswaat allegedly does not yet have a licence for producing explosives; and two, the workforce it provides does not have intelligence clearance.TATB may be a relatively lesser known one in the roster of explosive acronyms, but it packs quite a punch: it weighs in under rdx on the impact scale, but above TNT. Maj Gen G.D. Bakshi (retd), an explosives expert, says, “In the current scenario—take Monday’s terror attack in a high-security zone in Delhi—substances used to make explosives must always be guarded. If anyone manages to smuggle TATB out of the factory, it can be used for any purpose. The purpose of intelligence checks is to prevent free accessibility. Also, untrained personnel may, without knowing the implications, sell the stuff, leading to disastrous consequences.”Viswaat is said to have applied for the relevant manufacturing licence to the Union industries ministry’s chief controller of explosives, headquartered in Nagpur. (It issues licences under laws governing the manufacture, use and transport of explosives, petroleum products and flammable substances.) The non-issuance of a licence may well be attributed to procedural delay. But it’s the fact of the workforce supplied by the firm not having intelligence clearance that experts cite as a serious internal security threat. In such circumstances, uncleared employees—or anyone claiming connections to Viswaat, for that matter—could gain access to the high-security HEMRL facility.Vidya Krishnan, an SP with the Pune branch of CBI, which is in charge of the probe, confirmed the firm and the lab were being investigated but said “revealing anything beyond this wouldn’t be possible at this stage”. However, sources said Viswaat has been working with DRDO since 2000 on what are known as government-owned, company-operated (GOCO) projects, taking on assignments outsourced by the Advanced Centre for Energetic Materials (ACEM), Nasik, and the Advanced Systems Laboratory, Jagdalpur. Those close to the investigation said all contracts obtained by the firm are now under the scanner. The amount isn’t comparable, say, to the Devas–Antrix deal—it’s no more than Rs 15 crore—but the security angle, given that explosives are involved, helps it take on immense gravity.Before the CBI took on the case, local-level government auditors had in 2009-10 raised serious objections to the contracts, pointing to discrepancies in allocation of work and the bill claims made for the workforce. One report, for example, says: “Please intimate the costing formula adopted for fixing the price of TATB at Rs 11,000 per kg and whether any concurrence has been obtained from audit authorities”. They had also sought inspection of documentary proof of raw material being brought into HEMRL by the contractor for producing TATB and the roster of employees deployed for production schedules, saying there was no uniform system for maintaining attendance records. That is a security gap even accounts auditors homed in on, though they were looking at it only from the payments angle: records say Viswaat had provided less manpower in Jan-Feb 2010, but payments made to it weren’t calculated accordingly. Similarly, there were no records of the entry and exits of vehicles the contractor was supposed to provide; again, the auditors looked at it from the payments angle, but the security angle looms large.
  • Dr Singh put on a brave face when asked to comment. “I am aware of the CBI inquiry against Viswaat—these days an inquiry can be initiated against anyone,” he said. “But I know I’ll come out clean.” And although investigators believe he heads Viswaat, Dr Singh maintains his role is that of independent director, and hence “very limited”, which is why he doesn’t know much about the contracts obtained by the company. About the explosives licence, he says, “I think the company was not into explosives earlier, and then started working in the field, so it had to apply for one. I’m not involved with the company directly, so I wouldn’t be part of the process. They requested me after retirement to join them, so I did, as an independent director.”

    As for the DRDO, its public interface director, Ravi Gupta, was circumspect: “The contract related to production of TATB was awarded after following duly laid down procedures. It won’t be appropriate to make any further comments as the matter pertains to sensitive defence projects.” That really seems to be the whole point. Should a sensitive issue like this be handled in such a fancy-free manner?