4 ms·

In his defense his father was in the Air force, he retired at the rank of Air Vice marshal and I would guess at the time when he claims to have heard from his f

In his defense his father was in the Air force, he retired at the rank of Air Vice marshal and I would guess at the time when he claims to have heard from his father of the incident his father was the rank of Air commodore. On "Air commodore" from wikipedia "Air commodore (Air Cdre in the RAF and IAF, AIRCDRE in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly A/C in the RCAF) is a one-star rank and the most junior of the air-officer ranks". Note air-officer ranks are fairly high and take a number of years of service to achieve. However these ranks are fairly low when it comes to procuring equipment. "Air Vice marshal" is one rank higher. I do think he believes what he claims in his comments, I am just pointing out that his beliefs are vastly exaggerated. His father was likely asked about his recommendations of the aircraft but is unlikely to have any knowledge beyond that about the reason that a particular aircraft was procured. Everything else that he has heard is hear say. Far more relevant is that the defense ministry has been headed by A.K. Antony since 2006. Antony is known for his incorruptible record and simple personal life, wikipedia has about 10+ references on where this claim originates from. Antony like wise has a very low profile and is rarely in the news. For anyone following Indian politics it is fairly well know that there are a handful of non-corruptible politicians across all affiliations in India. Antony has always been included amongst those.

ashray 14y ago
Well, I would have rather not shared all this information but at the time my father was an AVM (i.e. a two star general) and was also the head of the air wing of the border security force. As head of an entire fleet, he pretty much had the authority to decide and recommend what he pleased. Also, his recommendations were of paramount importance, especially concerning new purchases. Obviously he wasn't happy when he was asked to recommend something in particular - and he didn't, that's probably why the deal failed. So no, my beliefs are not highly exaggerated. They are just based on whatever was going on at the time. Take it as hearsay, take it as whatever you want. I do however request that you remove/edit your post as it is personally identifiable and I will delete this post as well. I'd rather not have an online archive of all these things directly related to my father.
- oftenwrong 14y ago
  >I do however request that you remove/edit your post as it is personally identifiable and I will delete this post as well. I'd rather not have an online archive of all these things directly related to my father. It would have been smarter to not post any information that could be linked to your identity in the first place.
  - ashray 14y ago
    Yes, but I wasn't being specific for that very reason. It's one thing to say "My dad was a senior official and had so and so experience" and it's another to have other people post personally identifiable information. But in retrospect, it's probably not worth it because I'm not as invested in the argument as the other side. It was just to share an interesting story and nothing more.
    - rikacomet 14y ago
      I will apologize right now, of my free accord, if I doubted you wrongly. I'm going to be less of a skeptical person, and accept that yes he is what you said. But I do want to make a note, that the opinion stating, that corruption is like bonfire in India, is wrong, it is not that rampant, it appears large, because of recent wave of it getting much media and public attention. Its like mud, it shouldn't be tossed in the air so it can fall on those who are not corrupt. Its too easy to say everyone is corrupt, hard to recognize who is corrupt and who is not. Plus point (D) above was something, I was not able to put in more clear words myself. It is not a good behavior, something, a lot of people in armed forces and alike avoid.
      - TheMagicHorsey 14y ago
        Are you joking? I travel to India frequently for business. I can assure you corruption is rampant at all levels I've had the misfortune of being in contact with (which is not very high level at all). You need to bribe everyone in Indian govt. to get them to do their jobs, for which they already get a salary.

ashray 14y ago

Well, I would have rather not shared all this information but at the time my father was an AVM (i.e. a two star general) and was also the head of the air wing of the border security force. As head of an entire fleet, he pretty much had the authority to decide and recommend what he pleased. Also, his recommendations were of paramount importance, especially concerning new purchases. Obviously he wasn't happy when he was asked to recommend something in particular - and he didn't, that's probably why the deal failed. So no, my beliefs are not highly exaggerated. They are just based on whatever was going on at the time. Take it as hearsay, take it as whatever you want. I do however request that you remove/edit your post as it is personally identifiable and I will delete this post as well. I'd rather not have an online archive of all these things directly related to my father.

oftenwrong 14y ago
>I do however request that you remove/edit your post as it is personally identifiable and I will delete this post as well. I'd rather not have an online archive of all these things directly related to my father. It would have been smarter to not post any information that could be linked to your identity in the first place.
- ashray 14y ago
  Yes, but I wasn't being specific for that very reason. It's one thing to say "My dad was a senior official and had so and so experience" and it's another to have other people post personally identifiable information. But in retrospect, it's probably not worth it because I'm not as invested in the argument as the other side. It was just to share an interesting story and nothing more.
  - rikacomet 14y ago
    I will apologize right now, of my free accord, if I doubted you wrongly. I'm going to be less of a skeptical person, and accept that yes he is what you said. But I do want to make a note, that the opinion stating, that corruption is like bonfire in India, is wrong, it is not that rampant, it appears large, because of recent wave of it getting much media and public attention. Its like mud, it shouldn't be tossed in the air so it can fall on those who are not corrupt. Its too easy to say everyone is corrupt, hard to recognize who is corrupt and who is not. Plus point (D) above was something, I was not able to put in more clear words myself. It is not a good behavior, something, a lot of people in armed forces and alike avoid.
    - TheMagicHorsey 14y ago
      Are you joking? I travel to India frequently for business. I can assure you corruption is rampant at all levels I've had the misfortune of being in contact with (which is not very high level at all). You need to bribe everyone in Indian govt. to get them to do their jobs, for which they already get a salary.