Transport Issues of the Aam Admi

Transport Problems faced by the Mango (aam) Junta:

Not sure how much it will strike a resonance amongst fellow travellers but I have noted down a few basic transport issues that I face while commuting daily from home to office and back in Bangalore previously fondly referred to as the “Garden City” Of India.

Clamp down on Errant Autos:

Instead of behaving like pot belied louts going only after private owned

Cars why cannot the god fearing transport cops go after the autos who ply without meter fares.

Example: There are dedicated auto stands in Electronic City police station one

Near Wipro Bus stop where the autos charge passengers as per their whims and fancies

with the so called police station hardly 1 km away.

One needs to wonder how much hafta is paid by the errant auto drivers to the cops to

the detriment of the amm junta. Yet these so called protectors of justice only flag down 2 wheelers and private owned cars (they do not touch taxis) to have a mid-afternoon "chat" on national issues such as to why the Driving Licence has been issued in a different state, forgetting that we do live in the same country, salute only one flag and travel internationally under only one passport (unless we are Nirav Modi!!)

Get those steel barriers off the road:

For a country obsessed with building and maintain autobahns we sure love those steel barriers to prevent the odd car from driving at mach1 speed.

Apart from slowing down traffic and causing traffic congestion in an already poorly managed traffic system i cannot fathom in my wild imagination as to how those rusty steel barriers can actually help in reducing accidents.

Get Tough on those Tempo Travellers:

The spotless clean no nonsense incorruptible RTO/Government/Police/ needs to  ensure not just having speed governators and in built speed caps, but also need to clamp down on sound pollution especially for those #@$$! Tempo travellers who seem to own the roads of Bangalore.

BMTC bus conductors please CHANGE:

Request to all those BMTC conductors who think that the amm junta traveling in their 1st class transportation owns their own mini RBI approved mint to churn out pocket change, You need to keep change ready, do not expect the customer to give you the change (no this is not tips for the great service that you guys provide to us).

Seems most busses have yet to have the cash less facility of swiping available (who would forsake the opportunity of having his chai gutka funds blocked by a machine which provides cash less facility)

Trust some of the issues highlighted above are acted upon to make the life of the less than ordinary folks who work hard and pay taxes a tad easier.

Jai Hind !

Fictional Indian War Scenario: Skirmishes over the Arabian Sea - Part 1

Location: Somewhere over the Arabia Sea

Time: 03:00Hrs

 4 pair of 8 PAF F16 Block 52’s are streking over the Arabian Sea, their target the Jamnagar petrochemical refinery located in the state of Gujarat. Cruising at just below Mach 1 the ETA to target is 1 hour and 45 mins.

Code named Operation Zarb e Hind the plan of the Pakistan armed forces and Intelligence agency the ISI Directorate was to attack India’s industrial and military infrastructure with a series of coordinated simultaneous strikes.

Code Named operation Strike Eagle one such plan was to attack and destroy the gigantic petrochemical plant at Jamnagar, Gujarat, causing economic damages worth billions of dollars and more importantly show casing the ability of the Pakistani armed forces to inflict damages to their arch enemy at the time of their choosing.

The F16 Block 52’s+ (Advance) were the most advanced fighter jets in the PAF’s inventory .Decades of poor economic growth and faced with a tribal insurrection at their western border which sapped their defence budget the Pakistan Arm Forces were dependent mainly on Chinese and America aid. Chinese aid was in the form of subsidised equipment and the American aid was in the form of “Coalition Support Fund” which on paper was for reimbursing the cost incurred by Pakistan for conducting counter terrorism operations.

In addition to the CSF funding from the USA Pakistan had also continued to receive subsidised and sophisticated defence equipment from the US Government in the guise of fighting terrorists.

Part of the deal to help the US fight terrorists in Afghanistan and capture Al Qaida operatives in Pakistan was to get the advanced version of the F16 fighters that the PAF came to love and which the IAF came to respect.

As part of Peace Drive 1 the US Government provided 12 F16C and 6 F16D (Block 52+) fighters from 2010.

Now after a decade of being in service with the PAF, the F16’s were finally being put to use against their intended adversary.

At an altitude of 15000 ft. above ground, Squadron leader Bashir Ahmed of the 5^th Squadron, 39^th Tactical Air Wing of the PAF looked over from the bubble canopy of his F16 Block 52+ C, nicknamed Khyber, to check on his wingman, young flight lieutenant Sajid Khan fresh out of the elite Combat Commander School based out of the sprawling PAF Sargodha.  Bashir Ahmed need not have worried  ,at 27 Sajid was one of the youngest Flight Lieutenants in the PAF , known for his cool head under pressure and aggressiveness  at all situations Sajid had topped the CCS course the year before and had won plaudits from the Turks and Americans in joint exercises. Bashir whistled softly to himself while he checked on the Fuel meter in the Multi-Function Display after having topped off by the hulking IL78 Tanker over the Arabian Sea. All seems to be going smoothly as Bashir mused as they approached the final phase of Operation Strike Eagle.

What instead should have troubled Bashir was the lurking presence of the 7000+tonne INS Visakhapatnam, 1^st of its class of ships of Project 15B series of destroyers of the Indian Navy .Bashir and the planners in PAF HQ had failed to factor in the presence of the highly sophisticated and heavily armed destroyer in their air war plans. Unknown to the PAF the INS Visakhapatnam was going through the routine exercises required by the Indian Navy before her official commissioning into the Indian Naval Fleet. Part of the exercise included shooting down enemy aircraft and missiles with the help of the Israeli MF STAR AESA+ Barak8 NG combination.

10Kms ahead and on the left was Flt. Lieutenant Akram Khan. Information between PAF F16’s were being exchanged through the secure data link-“Link 16” that the F16 block 52’s possessed.

The superb AN/APG 68 radar was turned off for the time being to ensure no radar waves were transmitted to be picked up by the Indian radar battery operated out of Bhuj AF base as the flight approached the Indian coast line in total radio silence.

The Plan as to fly close to the sea surface to confuse enemy radar and take advantage of the sea clutter and bypass the radars installed in IAF Station Bhuj. Additionally once over Bhuj the F16 would turn on the ALQ-211 EW system to defeat the Indian radar network specifically the Akash NG and the Sypder SAM combination that might exist as per latest Intelligence reports. Bhuj was also home of the IAF’s No15 Squadron the Flying Lancers which were equipped with the superb Su30MKI fighter. 2  Su 30 fighters were assumed to be part of the Quick Reaction Force with additional 4 on operational readiness mode but the Air Planners at Sargodha hoped that with the IAF radars “tricked” the Su30’s would be a danger only after the mission was accomplished.

In addition to AF Station Bhuj, the IAF noting the strategic importance of Jamnagar had commissioned an air base at Jamnagar which currently was home to the No 28 Squadron: The First Supersonics equipped with the IAF Mig 29’s know world over as one of the best dog fighter. Legend has it that during the Kargil War when the Mig 29’s or Baaz as its fondly referred to in the IAF flew top cover as the Mirages were bombing the life out of the hapless Pakistani intruders, an F16 A (early version of the F16) was locked on by the Mig 29 radar, the Baaz followed the Governments ill advised dikkat of not engaging beyond the LOC let its prey go!

To be continued……