Can Pakistan defend Saudi Arabia against Iran?
- Islamic Nato or paper tiger: Can the Mecca pact survive its Iran test?
- Chandra says goodbye: Noel era begins at Tatas
- High in the sky: Why drug testing pilots is complicated
- What’s in a name? On the China border, quite a lot
Mecca, Munir and missiles: Can Pakistan defend Saudi Arabia against Iran?
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have signed a Nato-like defence pact: An attack on one would be considered an attack on all. The pact was signed in Mecca, the holiest city in Islam. No surprises why many observers are calling it an Islamic or Sunni Nato.
Mecca sent out another signal too. It’s Saudi Arabia which holds the key to this alliance. Turkey has developed a competitive drone industry and Saudi Arabia could be a lucrative market for it. Pakistan has always needed Saudi money to keep its economy floating.
‘Paper agreement’
Can Pakistan and Turkey defend Saudi Arabia against Iran, if the US is unable to do so? “Saudis must know that a paper agreement with Turkey and Pakistan will not bring them security, just as years of one-sided nursing to the Americans did not bring them security,” Iranian politician Ebrahim Rezaei wrote on X.
Munir’s impossible choice
But the most important question is: Can Pakistan army chief Asim Munir afford to go to war for Saudi Arabia against Iran? Pakistan has 15-20% Shia population. This is one of the reasons why Pakistani politicians have been reluctant to take sides in the ongoing war.
Then, Pakistan is already in an on-off war with Taliban. It’s fighting against TTP and BLA too. It’s struggling to contain protests in PoK despite killing at least 90 protesters. In such a deteriorating domestic security environment, Pakistan is unlikely to open a front against Iran.
Read more:
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Examining Mecca pact impact on national security, will protect interests, says MEA
Can India still pull off another Operation Sindoor? What Saudi-Pak-Turkey Mecca defence deal means
A Tata with a twist: The Chandra era ends, the Noel era begins
One of the evergreen lessons in investing is: Keep it simple. Pick a good company and continue with it for a long period. Time and magic of compounding will do the trick for you. The career of Natarajan Chandrasekaran, commonly known as Chandra, is a living example of this.
Chandra’s journey at the Tata group began as a trainee at TCS in 1987. Four decades later, he is preparing to leave as chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company at the centre of India’s largest conglomerate.
Why Chandra is leaving
Chandra’s exit is a classic boardroom soap opera. As per Chandra’s exit letter: A board member didn’t support the proposal for his renewal. He didn’t name names, but everyone in Bombay House knows he means Noel Tata.
“This is very much the beginning of the Noel Tata era,” Saurabh Mukherjea, founder of Mumbai-based Marcellus Investment Managers, told FT.
Who takes over?
Noel cannot simply take the chair himself. A 2022 amendment bars the Tata Trusts chairman from simultaneously serving as Tata Sons chairman.
Tata Steel managing director T V Narendran is already being discussed as a possible successor. A Tata veteran since 1988, Narendran has run Tata Steel since 2013 and is seen as a low-profile insider with a strong operating record.
What’s next
The succession comes as Tata Sons fights to avoid a stock-market listing under RBI rules for large NBFCs. A listing could unlock value for minority shareholders but would also bring greater scrutiny and potentially dilute the freedom with which Tata Sons makes long-term investments.
Read more:
Standoff with Noel Tata: What led to N Chandrasekaran’s exit as Tata Sons chairman
From trainee to Tata chairman: The remarkable rise of Ratan Tata’s pick N Chandrasekaran
Chandra asks Air India staff to control costs, improve services
Cannabis in cockpit: What happens when a pilot flies on a ‘high’
Thanks to advances in technology, flying has become one of the safest modes of travel. But what would happen if a pilot takes to the skies on a “high”?
What happened
The Airbus A320neo, carrying 137 passengers and eight crew members, suddenly lost around 300 feet while cruising over Odisha on August 4. Several passengers and crew members were injured, but the younger co-pilot steadied the aircraft before it landed safely in Delhi. The cabin crew has separately complained to the airline about the captain’s onboard behaviour.
The rule in the air
India requires scheduled airlines and air-navigation providers to test at least 10% of flight crew members and air traffic controllers annually.
A confirmed positive result can lead to grounding, de-addiction treatment and medical evaluation before a pilot returns to duty. The second offence can lead to suspension of licence for 3 years. The third one leads to termination of the licence.
Why drug test is complicated
Alcohol is comparatively simple. A breath analyser can show whether a crew member is above the permitted limit shortly before operating a flight.
Drugs are messier. Some medicines can also trigger preliminary results: Codeine-based painkillers may show up as opiates. That is why DGCA rules require a confirmatory laboratory test and a review to rule out legitimate therapeutic or innocuous sources.
Legalisation complicates matters further. Marijuana may be available legally in destinations such as Thailand, Canada and parts of the US, but legality on the ground does not translate into fitness to fly.
Test vs trust
The obvious response is more random testing. But testing alone cannot solve addiction, fatigue or the fear among pilots that admitting a problem could destroy their careers.
Airlines must make it difficult to fly after drug use, but easier to seek help before somebody enters a cockpit on a “high”.
Read more:
Phuket-Delhi Air India pilot fails 2nd dope test, was high on marijuana
Air India begins dope test on all its 5,000 pilots
‘PIC sat on floor, tried to smoke, couldn’t walk properly’: What happened on Phuket-Delhi AI flight
Roads, tunnels, names: How India is holding the line in Arunachal
“The state of the border affairs will reflect on the state of our larger bilateral ties,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said while replying to a query on reports about fresh border tensions with China. “Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India, and this is a self-evident fact. Nothing can change this indisputable reality,” Jaiswal added.
Catch up quick
China has spent a decade renaming chunks of Arunachal: Bridges, rivers and mountain peaks. India finally hit back this month, formally notifying standard Indian names for 27 locations on its official map.
The updated Survey of India map formally identifies 27 locations in Arunachal Pradesh: 21 land areas, four mountain passes, a high-altitude glacial lake and a memorial. The government says the exercise will ensure accurate recognition and improve public awareness.
Why these 27 places matter
The list is not merely a collection of obscure geographical features. Several of these sites are linked to the India-China conflict. “These places are already marked on Indian military maps, even those of 1962 vintage. Identifying them on Survey of India map is a bold counter to China,” a source told TOI.
Roads and tunnels
Naming matters but the bigger story is infra. The Sela Tunnel, opened by PM Modi in 2024, provides all-weather access to Tawang. However, the real game-changer is still under construction. Once completed, the Arunachal Frontier Highway will link three existing highways so troops and supplies can move fast along the entire frontier.
Read more:
‘China stopped our army from patrolling several places in Arunachal’: Rahul Gandhi slams Centre
‘Arunachal is integral part of India, nothing can change this’: MEA on China’s fresh ‘objections’
No Chinese encroachment in Arunachal, social media claims ‘attention-seeking ploy’: Report
China says India border ‘generally stable’ amid tensions in Arunachal
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Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
