From ibiblio.org

India-Burma
2 April 1942–28 January 1945

“We got a hell of a beating,” Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell told the crowd of reporters in the Indian capital of New Delhi. It was May 1942, and the American general, who had only recently arrived in the Far East to assume the position of chief of staff to Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek, was chafing at failure in his first command in the field. Following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor the previous December, the Japanese had won victory after victory, extending their empire from Wake Island in the Pacific to Malaya and Singapore in Southeast Asia. When Stilwell had arrived in the embattled Chinese capital of Chungking in March, the Japanese were already driving into Burma, capturing the capital of Rangoon on 6 March. The American general took command of two Chinese divisions and, in cooperation with the British and Indians, tried to stem the Japanese onslaught. Defeated, he and his staff endured a rugged, 140-mile hike over jungle-covered mountains to India. By occupying Burma, the Japanese had not only gained access to vast resources of teak and rubber, but they had dosed the Burma Road, 700 miles of dirt highway that represented China’s last overland link with the outside world. The reopening of an overland route to China would be the major American goal, indeed obsession, in the theater throughout the campaign.

A colleague at work bought some currency from pre-colonial India. His Dad (an American Soldier-not related to the extract above) had been in India during the second world war, stationed as an aircraft spotter around the time when Japan was officially into Burma – which was also a British colony.

Here are some  pictures of what I saw today would like to share -

Uber Coin

Pre-colonial Indian currency (flip side of above pic)

Burmese Rupee in 1942, issued by the Japanese.

The language on the coins is fascinating, I can identify Hindi, Urdu and Telugu (apart from English) on the coins – the fourth is somewhat confusing for me, could be Gujarati or Punjabi. Some of the shapes, the four sided 1/2 anna and the wavy circle shaped 1 anna are very similar to 5 paisa and 10 paisa coins that I was used to in late 80’s. They soon lost any real monetary value and I haven’t seen them in a long long time. The donut shaped 1 pice is a unique shape though.Also growing up, the terms like charana (char-4 anna ~ 25 paisa), attana (aat-8 anna ~ 50 paisa) and barana (barah-12 anna ~75paisa) were quite common, when that amount of currency actually could get you something, like a bunch of fresh cilantro, or a couple of pani puris on the road side.

Almost all coins are either King George V or VI, a more detailed history of King George V and King George VI coins can be found here and here, for the numismatists among you.

And here is the Rupee, just after the amount of silver in the alloy used to make it was reduced (source: from links above)

One Rupee in 1944

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Tired of insurgency, terrorism and border intrusions, the Indian Army decided to think out of the box. They went out and procured nearly two dozen “silent reconnaissance vehicles for missions beyond enemy lines” worth Rs. 1 crore (approx $210,000). And just to be extra conspicuous they disguised these “silent reconnaissance vehicles” as ………. golf carts. [TimesOnline UK] (tip Sandeep via email)

The scandal emerged in a scathing audit of the military’s recent spending by India’s civil servants after army chiefs were given powers over their expanding budgets to combat terrorism.

Nothing fools the terrorists like golf carts on the Al-Mujahideen golf course.

Of course, some sacrifices had to be made to procure these vital recon vehicles.

The report details how the army bought Dhruv helicopters that can fly to a height of only 5,000 metres (16,400ft) — well short of the 6,500 metres required to patrol the Himalayan battlefields. Thousands of Russian-made heavy artillery shells that do not fire were bought and the Northern Command, which oversees Kashmir, bought stretchers that were unsuitable for evacuating combat casualties.

And like the late king of infomercials would’ve said: “But wait! There’s more”.

An additional five golf buggies, worth 1.5 million rupees, were bought by the Western Command. It was claimed that the electric multi-utility vehicles were to be used to transport patients in military hospitals. Several actually went to courses in Ambala and Jalandhar.

No truth to the rumor that Jeev Milkha Singh has been appointed Minister of Defense.

The US army has ordered two Sikh men, a doctor and a dentist to get rid of their turbans and shave off their hair and beard when they report for active duty.[CNN]

The irony?

They will recruite for your language skills if you speak Punjabi.

Uncle Sam: “No turbans”

(CNN) — For Capt. Kamaljit Singh Kalsi, a doctor, and 2nd Lt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan, a dentist, this is a hill worth fighting for.
These two U.S. military recruits of the Sikh faith are challenging an Army order that they remove their turbans and cut their unshorn hair and beards when they report for active duty in July.

The official excuse:

But the U.S. military says there are times when the military cannot accommodate certain religious practices, “such as when those religious observations would interfere with the wear of proper military headgear or protective clothing or equipment.”

That would be a valid reason, except for the little fact that these men were recruited with assurances that their religious needs would be accommodated.

The Sikh Coalition said Kalsi and Rattan had been assured that when they were recruited to join the Army’s Health Professions Scholarship that their unshorn hair and turbans “would not be a problem.”

“Both men were both recruited and commissioned — with their Sikh articles of faith — during their respective first years of medical and dental school (2001 and 2006) through the Army’s Health Professions Scholarship Program.

Kalsi and Rattan are fighting this ruling.

There is another irony to this story. The guy in the picture that the US army uses for recruiting a.k.a Uncle Sam, has a beard, unshorn locks and headgear. Maybe Uncle Sam should start with himself?

Israeli arms-maker Rafael takes the route of torture. How else can you describe this music video that is supposed to resemble a Bollywood number? [Wired] (Anantha via email)
Warning: the following video contains a weird combo of a dude that somehow reminds us of Kishan Kumar, Israeli women in Indian costumes, a leading lady who looks like she really wants to be somewhere else, really bad English lyrics (how do I know its English, read the subtitles) and an even worse tune that goes “Dinga dinga, dinga dinga, dinga dinga, dinga dinga dee”.
Well actually it’s not that bad after a couple of times. In fact it’s quite catchy, everybody throw your hands up in the air and go “Dinga dinga, dinga dinga, dinga dinga, dinga dinga dee”. Also an FYI to the protest everything Hindu consortium, photos of Hindu gods Durga and Hanuman combined with sitar heavy background music.
Why don’t they just bribe the officials, good old Bofors style and be done with it?

Amid the stock market crashes, bailout plans and elections tamashaa, a significant piece of news that was pushed to the background is the passage of the India-US nuclear deal a.k.a the 123 Agreement. Madhur Singh at TIME magazine explains why this deal is significant to India, and in a way also to the U.S.A. [TIME]

1. The deal signals the true end of any cold war sentiments between Washington and New Delhi. Anyone familiar with the history of Indu-US politics is well aware of the cold war era history with India on the side of the USSR and the US siding with Pakistani to balance out South Asia. Even during the Clinton -era when relationships between the thaw started to thaw, the Clinton administration slapped India with sanctions for its 1998 nuclear tests. To this day, this sentiment lingers among various quarters in either country. The passage of the 123 Agreement has in a way signaled the end of this era.

In addition to reversing 34 years of U.S. policy opposing nuclear cooperation with India — a nuclear weapons state that continues to refuse to sign the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty — the deal wins acceptance for India’s de facto nuclear weapons state status at the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the international cartel that controls trade in nuclear weapons, fuel and technology.

2. India joins the elite cartel of powers that can deal in nuclear technology which significantly increases its international clout.

That recognition will finally allow India to take part in international nuclear commerce and its scientists to participate in international nuclear research activities. For India, the approval is a ringing endorsement of its increasing weight in international affairs, and an acknowledgement of its growing intimacy with the world’s only remaining superpower.

3. At level with China and other recognized nuclear powers.

India “could boast of our bomb, our BPO prowess, economic growth, invites to the G-8 meetings and candidacy for the UN Security Council seat But we were firmly at a different level from, say, China. They could import powerful computers, uranium, sensitive machine tools, software and components for satellites that were denied to us.” Today, that changed, as did the international community’s policy of equating India and Pakistan as nuclear weapons states.

4. And the last but most important, a clear differentiation from Pakistan.

As Indian and U.S. officials have repeatedly pointed out, the deal has “de-hyphenated” India from Pakistan. “For decades India has chafed at the world’s tendency to lock India into a bipolar South Asian framework with Pakistan,” says Joshi. “Now, decisively, the rules have been changed for India, and pointedly not for Pakistan.” The deal also has a bearing on the regional balance of power, making clear the U.S.’s proclivity to India and sending a signal to Beijing that it has other options in the Asian region.

Read the entire TIME magazine article on the passage of the 123 Agreement.