Aberforth said:
I made the comparison for you because from your words, it appeared you were unable to make the distinction between the roles of attack fighters and MRCA fighters. I know military aviation through and through to be aware of the difference, my work deals in a field that requires extensive understanding of military and their role in geopolitics.
The point was, if India is doing the right thing in putting her eggs in the US basket and if it would "hamper our national security." We surely don't have your "extensive understanding of military", but some of us are aware of geo-socio-eco politics.
The distinction was irrelevant, because, the point stands irrespective of the type of, lets say, combat aircraft. Yes India did not buy F-15s, but she has not yet dismissed her options on other US jets and if accepted, then these jets would form the backbone of Indian Air Force. And since you have "extensive understanding of military", you do realise what that would mean. Also, remember, the AWACS', that India is getting from Isreal, are because of a US nod. Not to mention, the Prat & Whitney engines, that India uses to power up her indigenous LCA, named
Tejas, or the electronics, that will be purchased from Isreal, all some way or the other require a nod of the Big Brother.
Aberforth said:
Its a calculation I did where the fuel price, heavy water price, waste disposal, risk insurance and employee costs of Kalapakkam nuclear facility is divided by the electricity output for a period of 30 years. I would have posted the specifics, if only I had the time and space.
Space, my dear friend, you have in plenty. Time, is of course, at a premium. However, being professionally trained in this field of determining costs etc. you have my full attention.
Can you please first refer me to any on-line database from where you got your cost references.Then, if you have time, answer these questions, because Mr Google is telling me a different story than you are:
- How do know the effective capacity of the yet to be built nuclear power plants ?
- How do you know at what price, India is going to acquire the unenriched fuel ?
- How did you arrive at the price of heavy water, waste disposal etc.? Did you take into consideration, the expected change in market scenerio due to the new contract ? If so, how and on what basis ?
- How did you arrive at the cost of risk insurance ?
- Did you take into consideration, the dismantling cost, terminal value etc. ?
- Why did you take 30 year as over all life ? Why not 50 yrs ? And while taking the life cycle, did you consider the potential of increasing the life after repairing, extension etc. ?
There are many other questions I have on mind. May be later.
Aberforth said:
BJP is a party that is more nationalist than the Congress, not one which has stronger political will. Political will represents the ability of a ruling government or opposition to have something done despite strong opposition and it isn't the forte of any Indian political party. The BJP authorised the Shakti tests to make a political statement and fulfill its nationalist agenda, which turned out to be beneficial for Indians in the long run, if the India's position at the geopolitical arena is of any concern. The only time any Indian party had a strong political will, it was Indira Gandhi's INC when she was in power.
Since your field involves geo-politics, I guess you know that overt nationalism leads to fascism. Can you please mention, which of the "something' did BJP do, other than revision of histroy, "despite strong opposition".
I do not know how Shakti benefited India in the long run, because, if I remember correctly, hundreds of important civilian projects got delayed because of the mass ban, which was lead, not by US, but by Japan. Yes, we do have a proper nuke, but other than that, what else did we achieve ?
Yes, why not, lets have another Indira Gandhi and another dictator. After all its nationalism that matters. Everything else can go to hell