Tag Archives: New Delhi

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QUESTIONS RAISES BY BRAHMOS OFFICIALS

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Some Missing Links….

Why brahmos.com website is down for 48 hours? What data they want to erase from it? Is it some recruitment data or contract data for some particular RFP? 

If you search company info of 

CIN: U58201TS2026PTC212473

The Corporate Identification Number (CIN) U58201TS2026PTC212473 belongs to VISHRA DEFENCE AND AEROSPACE PRIVATE LIMITED. 

Key Company Details:

  • Company Name: Vishra Defence and Aerospace Private Limited
  • Date of Incorporation: March 9, 2026
  • Company Class / Type: Private Company
  • Current Status: Active
  • Registered Office / Jurisdiction: RoC – Hyderabad, Telangana
  • Registered Address: 17th FL B1702 6-3-654/1-9, Pranava One Hyderabad, Nampally, Hyderabad, Telangana – 500082 

Registered Directors:

As per official Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) filings, the company was incorporated with the following directors:

  • Nuka Venkata Sai Tarun (Appointed on March 9, 2026)
  • Chandra Sekhar Regonda (Appointed on March 9, 2026) 

Who is in BrahMos is related to Director Nuka Venkata Sai Tarun

Can you guess ?

What allegations have been there in the letter addressed to NSA Sir regarding wrongdoings in BrahMos?

Why a key portfolio of Naval design and Army Custoner is being assigned to a rookie scientist E on deputation which is going to vacant due to tenure completion of Director Design who is ex DG R&M, although as per earlier succesion planning, a much more efficient retired Commodore was recruited one year back as Chief General Manager.

Why the Management suddenly change the promotion policy just before Appraisal this year.

What is J R Joshi is putting in his next Board Meeting Agenda? 

Time will answer these…

Jai hind Jai Bharat

Drdo

“Why Now? J.R. Joshi’s Sudden Media Interview Amid Col.  Bishnu Allegations Raises Questions Over BrahMos”

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Why did J.R. Joshi, reportedly with the assistance of journalists trusted by BrahMos, suddenly choose to give an interview making sweeping claims while leveraging the significance of Operation Sindoor—a mission witnessed by the entire nation and the world?

Why “matter under investigation” is showing some intresting facts of removal of Chairmen and a member alongwith alleged involvement of JR Joshi’s old aides like Ex BDL Director Finance Mr. Nukka Shrivastava??? it is alleged that their companies like Vishra Defence and another company of Ex empolyee of BrahMos Mr. Rajat Verma (connected with Gp Capt Malay Srivastava) has some linkage into it??

While the government and the public have duly acknowledged BrahMos’s contributions, J.R. Joshi conspicuously failed to mention any of his own contributions in that interview.

Furthermore, the issues raised concerning production costs pertain to a period before Joshi joined the organisation in 2024.

A detailed account of Joshi’s actions following his arrival in 2024 was submitted by his colleague, Col. B

ishnu Ram, to Additional Secretary Mr. Amit Negi, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), and National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval on September 29, 2026.

Recognising the gravity of the allegations, the officials forwarded the matter to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for investigation.

However, amid concerns over the apparent institutional overlap between the MoD and DRDO, instead of constituting an independent inquiry committee, the matter was reportedly referred back to BrahMos itself.

In the interview conducted on October 22, the significance and achievements of BrahMos were extensively highlighted. Yet Joshi once again refrained from mentioning any of his own achievements—raising legitimate questions about the purpose and timing of the interview.

On October 23, Group Captain Srivastava, described as a key lieutenant of J.R. Joshi, reportedly brought Col. Bishnu Ram to BrahMos and, in Joshi’s presence, pressured him into signing an undertaking acknowledging that he had not written that letter while signature on the letter is correct.

The sequence of events raises serious concerns about the handling of the matter and whether the process is intended to establish the facts or simply to bring the controversy to a quiet conclusion.

If these developments are substantiated, they would warrant serious scrutiny. The apparent attempt to resolve the matter internally, rather than through an independent investigation, risks undermining confidence in the process and raises questions about institutional accountability.

If these documents and allegations eventually come into the public domain, how will the Defence Secretary and Mr. Amit Negi answer to the nation?

The nation deserves transparency, accountability, and an impartial investigation—particularly when documentary evidence is reportedly available to support the allegations.

The central question remains: Will the authorities pursue the facts independently, or will this matter be allowed to disappear behind closed doors?

Jai Hind!

Drdo

BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited is operating like a private or arbitrarily run business, disregarding its vision, mission, and national security interests.

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BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited is presently being operated like a private or arbitrarily run business, disregarding its vision, mission, and national security interests. As I raised in my recent information blog wherein I placed proofs of Board of Directors meeting agenda to remove DG MSS from Board.

News has just emerged that BDL has appointed Dr. Jagannath Nayak as a Government Nominee on its Board of Directors. This appointment reflects the Government’s policy to ensure the missile-related production units can access the infrastructure and expertise of the DRDO missile complex and continue to receive strategic guidance from the missile complex scientific community through DG (MSS).

Meanwhile, recently by removing the DG (MSS) from the Board of Directors at BrahMos, what exactly is J.R. Joshi trying to prove? J R Joshi has actually hit the very basic premises of genesis of Brahmos from its foundation itself. The Brahmos was raised with his strong R&D pillars as DRDO from Indian side and NPOM from Russian side which has created so many versions of Brahmos over last 25 years. For the same purpose of having DRDO missile complex by its side, visionaries like Dr. Kalam and Dr. A S Pillai has kept DG MSS in Board of Directors. Now by removing DG MSS, does J R Joshi want to prove that he is having bigger vision than of Dr. Kalam or Dr. Pillai, or he just doesn’t bother for. Or he is having an only objection to derail Brahmos program in coming years??

Is he genuinely committed to making BrahMos more productive and strengthening its strategic capabilities, or is he steering the organisation towards institutional decline? Such actions raise serious questions about whose interests J.R. Joshi is actually serving and whether those interests align with India’s national interests.

Evidence of ever-increasing corruption during his tenure spanning multiple locations, from Lucknow BrahMos to Hyderabad, Nagpur, Pilani, and the Philippines—will soon come to light. We remain confident that swift and decisive action will be taken regarding the information that has reached the PMO.

We firmly believe that the PMO is closely monitoring the alleged nexus operating within the Ministry of Defence and BrahMos, involving certain DRDO corporate directors. The gravity of these concerns demands transparency, accountability, and an impartial investigation to safeguard the integrity of India’s defence establishment and its strategic missile programmes.

Jai Hind!

Drdo

“93 Days of Decline: Inside DRDO’s Battle Between Scientific Merit and Internal Power”

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Without a Head, What Happens to an Organization?

 The ecosystem starts becoming derailed, and if it is not looked into timely, it may collapse one fine day.

Since the last 93 days, DRDO has been nose-diving day by day.

Every day, an incompetent group of corporate DGs is making their own rules and raising files for their own benefits.

When they see an opportunity for a DS post, they direct it to the Director, RAC, Mr. RP Pandey, who was planted by DG HR. How did he manage to ensure that the 8th-ranked seniority officer, Parteek Kishor, became the Chairman of the selection committee for Director RAC and selected Pande from his own cluster while avoiding Atul Dev, who was waiting in the queue for Director RAC.

The whole DRDO knows about these manipulations. This happened because the entire match-fixing was done by the same manipulation-oriented group.

This parachuted RAC Director raised a file for four DS posts and, interestingly, without knowing the meaning of DS (Distinguished Scientist)—an elite researcher who is widely recognized for major career achievements, leadership, and groundbreaking discoveries in their academic or industrial field.

Out of four:

1. Mayank Diwedi, DG HR MSc, 56% in Organic Chemistry, with no criteria matching the above definition. No major international papers, and even the experience certificates were reportedly not verified at the time of his mysterious selection as Scientist C in RCI.

31 number in the DS seniority list.

2. J. R. Joshi, DG BrahMos His selection is also entangled in a legal case and is serving under a High Court stay. His claims of being a “best scientist” have already been nullified by the CAT, and his plea was quashed. His other qualities also do not appear to fit the definition of a Distinguished Scientist.

40 number in the DS seniority list.

3. Ravindra Singh, DG (R&M) He is a DRDO Facebook guy.

Why is it that if you search for any DRDO scientist, their name is associated with IITs, universities, research papers, conferences, etc.? This man has Facebook posts or DRDO Twitter posts, with several occasions involving political presence. So, you can imagine his frog-like growth in DRDO.

34 number in the DS seniority list.

4th name is a senior scientist from the list of first 8 names in the seniority list, apparently only to justify that their corporate group has left 25% for the real scientists while they are willing to get the remaining “butter” with the help of bureaucrats and political allies. Sitting in Delhi, they can easily bluff them by portraying achievements that actually came from various DRDO Labs.

The GOI constituted the Raghavan Committee to restructure DRDO and make it more productive. Unfortunately, even before the committee’s recommendations could be implemented, a group of corporate-minded DGs and directors appears to be building strongholds within DRDO, enabling them to run the organization in their own way.

Hope DS List will be recommended from MoD, ACC in the basis of Scientific Contribution and achievements.

The time has come for the responsible authorities to look beyond files, designations, and internal networks and ask the most important question:

Are we rewarding scientific excellence—or rewarding proximity to power?

DRDO cannot afford to lose its scientific soul.

India needs a DRDO where merit speaks louder than influence, science speaks louder than politics, and national interest stands above every individual interest.

JAI HIND

PMO

Pilatus aircraft deal: CBI has fugitive arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, bureaucrats in its crosshairs

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Yatish Yadav Jun 22, 2019 16:10:17 IST First Post
New Delhi: A few days after the conclusion of Aero India Show at Bengaluru from 6 to 10 February in 2013, a six-page intelligence note landed at the desk of then chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) detailing unusual activities of certain companies owned by fugitive arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari. The note purportedly provided the first solid evidence against Bhandari, who at that point of time, was allegedly using four firms registered in India to influence a majority of defence contracts.
Bhandari allegedly had a battery of retired defence public sector undertakings officials on his payroll. Firstpost on 9 April reported that two senior officers of Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL) who joined Bhandari’s firm after retirement, were under the scanner of investigating agencies in the basic trainer aircraft deal. The note highlighted crores spent at the Aero India Show by Bhandari’s firm AVAANA and warned about his links into procurement of 75 basic trainer aircraft for which India inked a Rs 2,859 crore deal in May 2012 with Switzerland-based Pilatus Aircrafts.

File image of arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari. CNN-News18

A year later, the Income Tax Department launched a probe and almost three years after the first warning against Bhandari, a preliminary inquiry was launched by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which culminated in an FIR against the arms dealer, his firms, close aides and the Swiss company.

The CBI tracked down the alleged kickbacks paid to Bhandari’s firms under the garb of consultancy fees. The CBI said after Request for Proposal (RFP) was floated by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in December 2009, Pilatus Aircrafts, Switzerland, dishonestly and fraudulently signed a service provide agreement with Bhandari’s firm Offset India Solutions Private Limited. This pact between the two firms in a bid to obtain the contract for supply of 75 basic trainer aircrafts to the IAF, was in violation of the defence procurement procedure, the agency stated.

“In furtherance of the said criminal conspiracy, Pilatus Aircrafts Limited made payment of 10,00,000 Swiss Franc (in 2010, 1 Swiss Franc was equal to approximately Rs 47) in account No. 52105058250 of M/S Offset India Solution Private Limited with Standard Chartered Bank, New Delhi in two tranches during August & October 2010 and also transferred huge funds, i.e. 49887900 Swiss Franc (Approximately Rs. 350 Crores) during 2011 to 2011 in the bank accounts of Dubai based company namely M/S Offset India Solutions FZC belonging to Sanjay Bhandari to obtain the contract for 75 basic trainer aircrafts. It is revealed that M/S Pilatus Aircrafts Limited dishonestly and fraudulently signed a pre contract integrity pact on 12.11.2010 with Ministry of Defence, deliberately concealing the facts about signing the aforesaid service provider agreement with Sanjay Bhandari,” the CBI said.

The investigating agency claimed Pilatus Aircrafts concealed the first payment of 10,00,000 Swiss Francs made to Offset India Solutions Private Limited and subsequent payments made to Bhandari in Dubai. The agency suspects the money paid to Bhandari was to influence the public servants of IAF and Ministry of Defence associated with the procurement process. After the deal was signed between Pilatus and Ministry of Defence in May 2012, a huge cash amount was moved by Bhandari from one company to another and even in the account of his wife in order to layer the transactions.

CBI said: “Offset India Solutions Private Limited and other Indian companies of Sanjay Bhandari namely OIS Advanced Technology Private Limited , AVAANA Software & Services Private Limited, SB Hospitality & Services Private Limited, Himalayan Helicorp Private Limited, Santech Investment Private Limited, Micromet ATI India Private Limited and Sonia Bhandari wife of Sanjay Bhandari, received Rs 25.5 crore during June 2012-March 2015 in lieu of cash provided by Sanjay Bhandari from various companies of Deepak Aggarwal, namley, Arti Securities & Services Limited, Hare Krishna Garments Private Limited, I-Tech Insurance Brockers Private Limited, Mysore Finlease Limited, Sperryn Gas Products Limited, Jaguar Equity Limited and Tyagi Portfolio Limited.”

In a bid to further channelise the alleged kickbacks in legitimate financial deals, Bhandari acquired five companies from Himanshu Verma, who has also been named in the FIR. These companies are: Greenpower Marketing and Advertising Private Limited, Bhayana Housing Private Limited (now VRG Housing Private Limited), Bhayana Reality Private Limited (now Stercon Private Limited), Beats Events & Advertising Private Limited and Efficacy Interiors Private Limited. Bhandari subsequently deposited Rs 39.36 crore in the accounts of these five companies with the help of Deepak Aggarwal. Of Rs 39.36 crore, Rs. 5.4 crore was transferred to a company called Saran Savdha LLP owned by Bimal Sareen. Sareen, who has been named in the CBI FIR, is also a director in Bhandari’s firm Offset India Solutions Private Limited.

“There is strong suspicion that the aforementioned cash amount was part of the commission amount paid by the Pilatus Aircrafts to Sanjay Bhandari to obtain the contract from IAF, Ministry of Defence for supply of 75 basic trainer aircraft,” the central investigating agency claimed.

Now, returning to the genesis of probe against Bhandari and Pilatus basic trainer aircraft, the six-page note indicated that the arms dealer’s involvement may not be limited to allegedly swinging the basic trainer aircraft deal in favour of the Swiss company, but may also extend to other deals. It said: “Crores have been spent in these three-day sojourn, specifically companies like AVAANA (owned by Sanjay Bhandari) which is engaged in mission critical system systems and software solutions, development and integration. Its portfolio includes UAVs and asset tracking solutions.” The note also named Bhandari’s Offset India Solutions Private Limited, Micromet-ATI and AVAANA, further adding that under the garb of offset contracts, large amount of commission have been paid via fictitious billing.

Bhandari fled the country in December 2016 and Indian law enforcement agencies believe he is hiding in London. His extradition to India may not only unravel possible links with the then establishment, but also other unholy defence deals he might have orchestrated in connivance with bureaucrats at the helm.

Drdo

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pulls up DRDO, asks it to focus more on research and development

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“I would like to see equal fervour among innovators, among startups, among those who want to do something for defence related activities,” Sitharaman said | Photo Credit: ANI

 Nov 27, 2018 | 21:26 IST | ANI =TIMESNOWNEWS.COM
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Nirmala Sitharaman opined that there is keenness among a lot of young minds to come back to India from abroad owing to the growth of startups in the country.
New Delhi: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday pulled up the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and asked it to focus more on Research and Development (R&D) and exploit the opportunity and support being extended by the central government. Speaking at the launch of the Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti, which aims at increasing intellectual property right (IPR) to reduce the transfer of technology and dependence on foreign companies, the defence minister said, “DRDO should focus, in fact, refocus on R&D and it should be on toes to make themselves nimble to innovations.”

She also called upon all stakeholders to step up, as more was “needed to be done to nurture innovation in Defence, which could be translated into a commercially viable solution.” Sitharaman further said that the present ministry hierarchy should break the traditional barriers to identify, motivate and support people who are “capable to innovate, fabricate and manufacture in-house.”

Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Sitharaman opined that there is keenness among a lot of young minds to come back to India from abroad owing to the growth of startups in the country. “I would like to see equal fervour among innovators, among startups, among those who want to do something for defence related activities,” she said. Crediting Secretary of Defence Production Dr Ajay Kumar for the mission Raksha Gyan Shakti, Sitharaman observed that this operation is giving the “impetus needed for moving towards innovating for defence.”

“Defence is always seen as a very difficult area to come in with a commercialised product in hand. Defence is seen as an area in which probably much transparency doesn’t prevail when you want to buy a thing when you want to procure it for the purpose of defence. We need technical requirement for defence, be it of quality, be it of certain standards for performance or be it a necessity for use,” she explained. Sitharaman also stressed on the hesitancy of innovators to approach the Defence Ministry for the commercialisation of their products.

“Anyone who wants to innovate or anyone who wants do anything towards commercialising some product, which is patented hesitates to approach defiance related sectors. They would rather go to food industry due to preconceived notion that it is very difficult to even break in and then have a dialogue and then see that there is a possibility of commercially producing something that the defence might need,” Sitharaman added.

“Each time an innovation is patented the innovator may not be interested in producing it. You need to find somebody to produce it on a commercial scale. We make sure to facilitate it, make finances available and find a market for it,” the defence minister said.

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DRDO scientist arrested over spying handled by same Pakistan ISI agent who honey-trapped BSF jawan A N Mishra

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Oct 09, 2018 | 12:32 IST | Times Now Digital

DRDO BrahMos lab scientist Nishant Agarwal and BSF jawan Achyutanand Mishra, both arrested for alleged spying on behalf of Pakistan’s ISI, were handled by the same agent- the UP ATS has said.
New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh ATS, in its report to the Ministry of Home Affairs, has said that the scientist Nishant Agarwal arrested from a Nagpur DRDO lab, could have the same handler as that of the BSF man Achyutanand Mishra, who was allegedly honey-trapped by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Sources told Times Now news channel, that the modus operandi in the two cases is similar. The revelations, which have been submitted to the Union Home Ministry also strengthen the ATS’ claims that a Pakistan spy-ring is at work in engaging Indian security officials in extracting sensitive data about India’s defence establishments and plans.

Meanwhile, the Nagpur sessions court on Tuesday granted three days transit remand of Agarwal to Uttar Pradesh ATS. He was produced at the sessions court on Tuesday morning. Mishra, a BSF jawan posted in Delhi-NCR was apprehended by UP ATS in September, for allegedly passing on sensitive information to his Pakistani handler, who posed as a woman defence reporter on Facebook. He had reportedly shared details of his unit’s location, photographs of the training facility and other such classified information.
Agarwal, on the other hand, was arrested from the BrahMos facility in DRDO Nagpur. A junior engineer, the police had stumbled upon the case when investigations were underway for the BSF jawan’s activities. He had allegedly shared information with two fake IDs — believed to be handlers — over chat “In the on-going investigation of the arrested BSF constable, two fake IDs in the name of women being operated from Pakistan were spotted. It was discovered that engineer Nishant Agarwal who worked at a defence institution (DRDO’s BrahMos production facility) in Nagpur had chat histories with the two fake IDs,” UP Police said in an official statement released Monday

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Army whistleblower alleges harassment

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Prateek Goyal – Saturday, May 26, 2018, 8:12 PM Sakal Times

“According to sources in Army, Dubey was shunted for reporting the security breach to Army Headquarters and CBI”

Pune: In a classic case of harassment of a whistleblower, who had exposed a security breach, the office of an Army officer was sealed on the orders of a high ranking Army official.
Earlier, on March 13, 2018 Sakal Times had carried a report that said the CBI was going to probe a Major General’s role in a security breach at VRDE.

As per the latest development, Lt Colonel NK Dubey found his office at the Ahmednagar-based DRDO’s Vehicle Research & Development Establishment (VRDE) sealed at around 5.30 pm on Tuesday evening. A letter was issued to him half an hour later, stating that Major General Ajay Gupta, Director of VRDE, has transferred him to the National Centre for Automotive Testing.

Despite the ongoing CBI inquiry against Gupta in the security breach matter, he was recently given an extension after completing two years at VRDE through an order issued by Secretary DD R&D and Chairman of DRDO Dr S Christopher on May 18, 2018. Surprisingly, within a two working days of this order, Gupta shunted Dubey out of his office.

According to sources in Army, Dubey was shunted for reporting the security breach to Army Headquarters and CBI. Dubey reported about a 30 minute meeting conducted by Gupta on February 15, 2018 with two foreign nationals and a non-resident Indian, along with officials of a private company, without taking clearance from the Directorate of Vigilance and Security, New Delhi, as is mandatory for DRDO officials.

Earlier, Dubey reported the security lapses at VRDE, including inadequate guard posts, unavailability of QRT vehicle, unavailability of routes to do perimeter patrolling, inadequate boundary lights, etc. to DRDO, after which a letter dated May 22, 2017 was written by Gupta to Army HQ to transfer Dubey. The Army headquarters, however, refused to do so. (Army HQ letter available with Sakal Times)

A source said, “Lt Colonel Dubey have been targeted for exposing corruption and corrupt practices. Previously also, in 2017, Major General Gupta kept him out of office for around two months despite Army HQ refraining him from doing so.” Source added that Gupta had received the letter on June 12 from Army HQ, but he sat on it till August as it was demi-official (person to person). Source said that due to this, Dubey could join back only in August after being informed by Army HQ about the letter. Sealing the office of Dubey and posting him out is an act of revenge against him for being a whistleblower in a number of previous cases against Gupta.

It is significant to note that in 2015, dozens of complaints were reported against Gupta for his deliberate acts and omissions of misconducts under CCS (Conduct) Rules 1964 and under the Army Act, criminal misconduct amounting to corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and criminal offences under IPC to then defence minister Manohar Parrikar. Gupta, then the Director of Vigilance and Security, DRDO HQ, New Delhi, was removed from his post and transferred to the office of Director General, Aeronmautical Systems, Bengaluru.

When questioned, Gupta said, “He (Dubey) is being relieved because there is an investigation against him for leakage of information which he was holding and gave to an unauthorised person outside the lab. Somebody has asked us to conduct an inquiry. He may influence the investigation and hence, he is being posted out.”

Responding to questions that Gupta sat on the Army HQ’s order overruling his decision to transfer Dubey, Gupta said, “DRDO is not under Army, DRDO is an independent organisation, which runs on the basis of its own rules and regulations. If the Army has posted him here, then there is a particular procedure which has to be followed as per DRDO rules. Even DRDO has written to the Army to post him back, I don’t know why the Army is not posting him back.”

When questioned about the VRDE security breach and complaint to CBI, Gupta replied, “I don’t know what you are talking about. I don’t want to talk further.”

 

 

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ALL IS NOT WELL WITH DRDO FUNCTIONING

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Wednesday, 09 May 2018 | PNS | Dehradun 
In a big goof up which puts up a question mark over the functioning of country’s premier institute involved in research in the field of defence, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), an official posted as Estate Manager in Dehradun has been transferred to a position which doesn’t even exits. In an order dated April 27, the directorate of personnel, DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi transferred Estate Manager, Maintenance, Dehradun, D P Singh to Project office, Dehradun along with 12 other officials. As per the order his place in Dehradun would be taken over by the Estate Manager, Hyderabad, William Paul. The transfer order bears signature of personnel director Gopal Bhushan.

The order clearly states that the transfers would be applicable from May 1 and the transferred personnel should take new charge assigned to them within 30 days of the issue of the order. The order has however created a piquant situation in Dehradun as there is no project office here as depicted in the order. When contacted the Director ITM,(DRDO) Sanjay Tandon said, “ The order has come from headquarters so one should inquire about it from there only. It could be a typographical error or there could be a plan to set up new office here.”

It is pertinent to mention here that D P Singh has been working on the post of Estate Manager from last 12 years. He was looking after the task of appointment of contract workers in all three institutes of DRDO in Dehradun, the Defence Electronic Application Laboratory (DEAL), Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE) and Institute of Technology Management (IMT).

The transfer of D P Singh was long overdue and the way he was transferred from one office in Dehradun to another nonexistent office in Dehradun only has raised many an eyebrow in all three offices of DRDO located here.

 

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CBI to probe Major Gen’s role in security breach at VRDE

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Prateek Goyal
Tuesday, 13 March 2018
‌An official at the CBI office, Pune, requesting anonymity, said, “Initially we are going to conduct an inquiry and if there is any substantial proof, we are going to register a complaint and conduct an open inquiry.”
PUNE: A complaint was submitted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Pune office, on Sunday against the Director of Vehicle Research & Development Establishment (VRDE), Ahmednagar, Maj Gen Ajay Gupta, for allegedly compromising the safety and security of the defence establishment.

He was accused of conducting a 30-minute meeting on February 15 with two foreign nationals and a non-resident Indian, along with officials of a private company, without taking security clearance from the Directorate of Vigilance and Security, New Delhi, a mandatory rule for all DRDO officials prior to meeting any foreign national in any capacity.

VRDE, Ahmednagar is a laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which deals with research, design, development of specialist defence vehicles and is considered to be a highly restricted zone.

An official at the CBI office, Pune, requesting anonymity, said, “Initially we are going to conduct an inquiry and if there is any substantial proof, we are going to register a complaint and conduct an open inquiry.”

THE COMPLAINT
The complaint was initiated  by the security officer to VRDE, appointed by Army Headquarters in New Delhi.

According to the copy of the complaint letter available with Sakal Times, on February 15, at 10 am, the security officer, who is also an army officer, received a call from the security staff at Daund Gate of VRDE, informing him that two foreigners had arrived with representatives of a private company.  The caller stated they were asked by the personal assistant (PA) of the Director to be allowed to enter the complex.

However, the security officer refused to allow them in as they didn’t have the necessary clearance from the office of Directorate Vigilance and Security HQ, New Delhi. Though Gupta pressurised the security staff through his PA, he couldn’t succeed.

The complaint states that at 10.30 am, Gupta compromised the security of VRDE and went outside Daund Gate, where he conducted a half-an-hour meeting with the visitors, which is a security breach and violation of instructions promulgated by the handbook of instructions on Vigilance and Security and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).

When contacted, Maj Gen Gupta said, “I did not conduct any meeting with those foreign nationals. They came to VRDE without any clearance, which is why I went to the gate to turn them back.”

VIOLATION OF RULE
A source in DRDO said, “Maj Gen Gupta didn’t follow the SOP. Details of foreigners, including their passport copies, are required for clearance. Even if you are meeting foreigners at their hotel or residence, prior permission is required. A DRDO official cannot meet a foreigner in any capacity without permission, because we deal with the research and development of weapons, as well as other products for our armed forces, and divulging any such information can compromise our national security.”

KK Mishra, retired Joint Director, VRDE, said, “Gupta himself was once director of Vigilance and Security, how can he commit a mistake like this? VRDE does research work on secret projects and there are possibilities that the foreigners you are meeting can be spies, that is why such strict measures are taken.”

A DRDO official, requesting anonymity, said , “Why did the director have to go to gate to turn back any foreign national and why did he spend half an hour over there? It is the duty of security officer or guard on duty to inform visitors to leave the gate area, and not of the Director.”

WHAT THE RULEBOOK SAYS
– According to the handbook of instructions on Vigilance and Security and Standard Operating Procedures, DRDO officials cannot meet any foreigner in any capacity without permission of Directorate of Vigilance and Security.
– Application for security clearance in respect of foreign nationals of prior reference countries should be forwarded to the Directorate at least six weeks before their visit, whereas for foreign nationals of all countries, it should reach the Directorate at least 10 days ahead.
– Meeting with foreign nationals in DRDO establishments can be held only after obtaining security clearance from DRDO HQ. Interaction/ meeting should be avoided at DRDO guest house/ transit facilities.
– No foreign national is allowed to stay at DRDO guest house.