2006 has been quite an eventful year for the United Service Institution of India. The number of activities it conducts has grown as also the content. Details will be with our members shortly in the form of the President's Report submitted to the annual meeting of the Council held on 22nd December 2006. Besides regular talks, seminars and discussions in-house on various subjects, we have had a number of bilateral dialogues with counterparts from Russia China, Vietnam, Japan, etc., round table discussions with dignitaries, officials and research scholars from a number of countries, and so on. The Institution has more or less become an inescapable port of call for visiting delegations from foreign staff colleges, national defence colleges (or equivalent) and national defence universities.

At the recent entrance examination for the Defence Services Staff College, 19 of the 20 officers who secured competitive vacancies had taken the USI Correspondence Course. Other results are also satisfying. The Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping continues to do sterling work in preparing our personnel for deployment in UN missions. Our assistance in the training of personnel from friendly foreign countries is well received and very favourably commented on in international circles. The CUNPK now provides the secretariat for the International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centres (IAPTC). The Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research has more or less come of age and is being called upon to undertake research projects into the history of the Armed Forces. Some of the works that have been published in the recent past include "A Brief History of the Indian Army" (of which the first edition has been sold out and the second brought out) and "The Eagle Strikes: History of the Royal Indian Air Force 1932-1950".

The Centre for Strategic Studies and Simulation that was set up last year under the authority of the Council has taken firm root and research scholars taken on board are applying themselves in all earnestness to the selected areas of study. A number of scenario exercises have been conducted by teams under the Deputy Director (Research) at the National Defence College, Army War College and the National Academy of Administration. A couple of projects we have been asked to undertake by Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff and Army Training Command are under way, and no doubt more will follow.

On the negative side, I wish to bring to the notice of our readers that an article authored by Major General Vinod Saighal VSM (Retd) on “Why the War on Global Terrorism Is Not Being Won" of which Part One was published in the July to September 2006 issue of the Journal, has drawn unfavourable comment from some sections of our membership. I accept responsibility for not having exercised adequate oversight and wish to assure members that remedial measures are being instituted. This particular issue was placed before the Council at its meeting on Friday 22nd December 2006 and a decision taken that Part Two of the article will not be published.

My very best wishes for a Happy and Rewarding New Year to all members and their families.

New Delhi
December 2006

                                                                 Satish Nambiar