Obituary of Mr. K. P. Singh by Siddharth Shriram. Business Standard, May 17, 2011
The recently deceased KP Singh of Mawana Sugars combined a ready wit with extraordinary relationship building, based on integrity, openness and logic, to become the most respected Corporate Affairs Director in Delhi. For Full Document Click Here
Obituary on Mr. K. P. Singh by Dilip Cherian, May 1, 2011
The passing away of a dear old friend, K.P. Singh, in Delhi last week was significant in the lives of many senior babus. Though many of his best and senior babu buddies have passed away before Singh, his memorial service was replete with the real heaven-born who were still around. Though never a bureaucrat himself, Singh will be remembered by a slew of babus in key positions across the capital and even more in Uttar Pradesh. He strode the vast bureaucratic plains in a manner that today’s weak shadows of lobbyists could never dream of or even hope to aspire. Though he worked even long stints for the Birlas, then ITC, and finally the Shrirams, he never really felt or sounded like somebody who was carrying out any master’s orders.
Singh was a great analyst of policymaking and surrounded himself with people, ideas, debates and discussions and even politicians. A small private cabal, in typical Singh’s understated style that called itself modestly the Politburo, would meet at his house and discussions would ensue on how the country was being governed and what needed to be done. His passing away leaves a huge hole in the informal power network that Delhi babus had long relied on. His warmth, his concern for the individual and his family and his ability to create new networks and share them freely were refined characteristics that made the man truly a colossus of his time.
The Delhi Policy Group is saddened by the demise of its Trustee, Mr. K.P. Singh [18.10.1936-20.04.2011].
He joined the DCM Group of Companies after a distinguished career in Birla Group and ITC Ltd. for 27 years as Resident Representative. In the DCM, he was instrumental in conceputalising and developing the Group Corporate Affairs Department. He played a significant role in managing the impact of DCM's restructuring into three companies. He was also instrumental in decision making with regard to growth and diversification plans for SIEL Limited,now Mawana Sugars Ltd.
5th Afghanistan-India-Pakistan Trialogue:
The 5th Afghanistan-India-Pakistan Trialogue was a two day conference held in Goa on the 27th – 28th of December 2010. The conference was attended by 17 participants from the region: five from India, eight from Afghanistan and four from Pakistan. The participants included government officials, Members of Parliament, retired generals, former ambassadors and diplomats and policy analysts from each of the three countries.
The conference began with an exploration of perceptions towards the current peace process before moving on to a more in-depth discussion of anticipated developments between the present day and 2014. Issues discussed included the transfer of all responsibility to an Afghan government following US withdrawal in 2014, the need for good governance and state-building initiatives in Afghanistan, the need for regional consensus building, US strategic interest in Afghanistan post 2014, escalating ethnic tensions and its potential aftermath and the role of a UN mandated peacekeeping force.
Finally, the Trialogue explored areas for greater regional cooperation such as economic development projects and state-building initiatives. It also debated the possibility and scope for developing and operationalising a regional compact dedicated to the cause.
4th Afghanistan-India-Pakistan Trialogue:
The 4th Afghanistan-India-Pakistan Trialogue was held in Kabul, 11 and 12 December, 2010. The conference was attended by 45 people (21 from Afghanistan, 13 from Pakistan and 11 from India). The participants included officials, Members of Parliament, retired generals, former ambassadors, media and civil society experts from all three countries.
The 4th Trialogue started with a review of recent peacemaking developments. Attendees of the conference discussed the London conference, May Peace Jirga and the July Kabul Process. Unlike the previous trialogues the Kabul meeting witnessed a major shift in policy focus, concentrating more substantially on the situation in Afghanistan.
Moreover there was a conference on the 13th of December, 2010, organized by the Centre for Strategic Studies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul. The seminar was attended by 100 people (76 from Afghanistan, 13 from Pakistan and 11 from India). Central aspects of this conference dealt with mapping the region’s socio-political Environment, integrating relations between Afghanistan-Pakistan-India and strengthening international & regional cooperation.
Delhi Policy Group holds Kashmir Conference 22-23rd September 2010
As a result of the terrible clashes of the past four months the Delhi Policy Group organized a conference of political representatives and civil society from Jammu and Kashmir in New Delhi in September 2010 to discuss both immediate steps for peace and longer term steps towards a settlement of the conflict.
It is with a deep sense of loss the Delhi Policy Group mourns the death of its Trustee, Mr. Gopi K. Arora [1933-2009]. 2009-03-16 Gopi Arora was a close aide of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who wielded enormous power and authority in the 1980. He was 76. Arora joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1957. He was special secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) before becoming secretary in the information and broadcasting ministry. Arora was also finance secretary in 1989-90, serving the government for over 35 years in several prestigious positions.
Delhi Policy Group is saddened by the news 2009-03-16
Delhi
Policy Group is saddened by the news of the death of Sir Michael
Quinlan on 26th February ’09, at the age of 78. He was the leading
civilian thinker within the British government on defence policy,
particularly nuclear issues, and a strong believer in the value of
deterrence. After his retirement from the civil service, he maintained
his interest in these issues and developed his reputation as a
commentator. He worked closely with the International Institute of
Strategic Studies, London. He was admired in India and abroad for the
quality of his analysis expressed in a unique style. His last
publication, Thinking About Nuclear Weapons: Principles, Problems,
Prospects (2009), will remain relevant to policymakers.
Sir
Michael Quinlan had visited the Delhi Policy Group on several
occasions, and addressed audiences in the DPG and also in its seminars.
His contribution to thinking on nuclear matters in the Indian strategic
community was significant. Sir Michael Quinlan was a much admired
friend of Lt. Gen. (Retd.) V. R. Raghavan, Director, Delhi Policy
Group. His expertise will be widely missed by the international
strategic community.
When The Worm Turns 2009-01-09
The
government has finally put security reforms on a fast track. They have
announced a Bill to set up a National Investigating Agency, a new
coastal command, amending the CISF Act to protect private facilities
and a slew of other measures. How far will these help to prevent the
security lapses Mumbai made so painfully clear?
The three key areas for reform are: intelligence gathering
and communication, specialist training and equipment and coordination
between the federal and state ministries concerned.
Say never again to terror 2009-01-09
Mumbai
has been the target of terrorism since the Dawood Ibrahim financed
attacks of 1993, which killed over 250. The next attack was in 2003
when 50 people died; then in 2006 a string of bombings in local trains
killed 200. And now these attacks,which has turned south Mumbai into a
place of horror.
Intelligence reports have warned since early this year that an attack
on Mumbai was likely. The home ministry had warned that there was a
high likelihood of terrorists using coastal routes to strike Indian
targets.
Plug The Security Holes 2009-01-09
The
government has finally put security reforms on a fast track. They have
announced a Bill to set up a National Investigating Agency, a new
coastal command, amending the CISF Act to protect private facilities
and a slew of other measures. How far will these help to prevent the
security lapses Mumbai made so painfully
The three key areas for reform are: intelligence gathering
and communication, specialist training and equipment and coordination
between the federal and state ministries concerned. The first of these
areas has received the greatest attention. In September, the Moily
commission on administrative reforms suggested the creation of a
federal investigative authority which could be set up by ordinance or
through a constitutional amendment to the National Security Act of
1980.
The Economic Times -Terror attacks: Only a security failure? 2008-08-06
Let
me begin with the question. Terrorist attacks — which is what the bomb
blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad were — are obviously not the result
of security failures alone. There is a political context, which has
unfortunately a plethora of roots, from familial problems to religious
and communal grievances, to the global “war on terrorism”.
Terror attacks: Only a security failure?
5 Aug, 2008, 0038 hrs IST,
Radha Kumar, Professor Jamia Millia Islamia Let me begin with the
question. Terrorist attacks — which is what the bomb blasts in
Bangalore and Ahmedabad were — are obviously not the result of security
failures alone. There is a political context, which has unfortunately a
plethora of roots, from familial problems to religious and communal
grievances, to the global “war on terrorism”.
A world of difference in Kabul : Dr Radha Kumar 2008-06-11
There’s a new class in Kabul: those with security. The most privileged among them, the foreigners
There’s
a new class in Kabul: those with security. The most privileged among
them, the foreigners In Kabul for the first time, I had an eerie sense
of having been here before, a nagging memory of Sarajevo during the
brief cease-fire interlude of 1994, when the city hovered between no
war and no peace. Just like Sarajevo was then, Kabul is today divided
into heavily militarised zones where the internationals are located —
from the NATO-led security mission to the UN to the embassies — and the
rest of the city, where little security is visible and people appear to
move about relatively freely.
Pakistan’s new government frames its position on issues vital to India’s interests 2008-06-05
As
Pakistan’s new government frames its position on issues vital to
India’s interests, how can India not be involved in the policy debate
next door, asks Radha Kumar
The new government in Pakistan is
less than a month old, but there are already doubts about its policies
in relation to the NWFP, Afghanistan and Kashmir. True, these doubts
have been raised by its leaders’ confusing and sometimes contradictory
pronouncements, but the fact that they speak in many voices may not, in
itself, indicate doublespeak (even though this is an art that many
Pakistani leaders have mastered). Given that it is early days yet, a
better way to interpret the present statements is as a debate on which
policies to adopt. In other words, what is before us is Pakistani
policy in the making, and the question is — should we participate in
the process or should we wait till the new leaders decide their
policies, even when these are on issues that are vital to us? more...
Paper written by Dr. Radha Kumar for CEPS 2008-05-16
This
paper analyses India's behaviour as a foreign policy actor by looking
at india's changing relations over the past decade with the
EU,US,China,Japan,Myanmar,Pakistan,Nepal and in historical
departure,the former princely state of sikkim.
This paper
analyses India's behaviour as a foreign policy actor by looking at
india's changing relations over the past decade with the
EU,US,China,Japan,Myanmar,Pakistan,Nepal and in historical
departure,the former princely state of sikkim.It arques that though
India has almost always been a normative actor,Indian foreign policy is
today transisting from abstract and frequently'unrealpolitik',views of
what constitutes normative behaviour.india,s look East Policy has been
the cornerstone of this transition,indicating that economic
growth,maritime capability and peace &stability in its
neighbourhood are key goals of india,s present behaviour as a normative
foreigh policy actor
Book release on 25 april 2008-04-23
Ambassador K.S. Bajpai, Chairman , National Security Advisory Board will launch the book on 25 April , 2008 in IIC, India
Ambassador K.S. Bajpai, Chairman , National Security Advisory Board will launch the book on 25 April , 2008 in IIC, India
Gopi Arora was a close aide of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who wielded enormous power and authority in the 1980. He was 76. Arora joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1957. He was special secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) before becoming secretary in the information and broadcasting ministry. Arora was also finance secretary in 1989-90, serving the government for over 35 years in several prestigious positions.