Vishnu Som Profile picture
NDTV veteran. Group Executive Editor. Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism. Commonwealth Award, Editor's pick, Global Investigative Journalism Network
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Oct 20 4 tweets 1 min read
1/4 My father was Dy High Commissioner, Ottawa, between 91 and 94 - both my University degrees are from Carleton U. I had RCMP protection as a school student in Ottawa in 1991! This absurd situation of Canada harbouring terrorists has gone on for too long. 2/4 I share no truck with those reporters named by Canada as being a part of an Indian influence operation. The question, though, must be asked - how frequently and comprehensively did Canadian media report the threat of Khalistani terrorists to India in the last 3 decades?
Oct 2, 2023 14 tweets 2 min read
1. (thread) 6.5 hours after we stood in queue at Heathrow's Terminal 2 to fly back to India on @TurkishAirlines, we have finally been able to check into a @VirginAtlantic flight after being reassigned by Turkish. They weren't doing us any favour - as I shall explain here. 2. This was a rare situation where an Indian passport actually HELPED in a Western country. With no valid Turkish visa on our passports, and facing the prospect of us being stuck in Istanbul Airport for 24 hours till the next connecting flight to Delhi ...
Apr 23, 2023 11 tweets 2 min read
1/ (thread): Fighting ferocious winds that tore his sail days back & ruptured a key wire attached to the mast, India's Abhilash Tomy continues to race towards the finish at the world's toughest endurance race - a circumnavigation of the Earth on a tiny sail boat. (more) 2. This is a non-stop race. He has now been alone - out at sea, without any electronic aid for navigation for 230 days. Read that again. 230 days - alone. In the middle of the ocean. On a tiny sail boat. (more)
Dec 29, 2022 8 tweets 2 min read
1. THREAD The Incident report on the Thai Smile aircraft (where passengers were seeing in a fist-fight) indicates that the incident took place in Bangkok before take-off, despite which none of the passengers were offloaded. @THAISmileIndia (MORE) 2. The passenger in seat 37C refused to make his seat upright before take off, other passengers complained, the crew told the Captain and the flight was delayed for a short period. (more)
Dec 14, 2022 11 tweets 2 min read
1. The release of the viral video showing a 2021 India-China skirmish has ended up convincing countless citizens that this was the Dec 9 incident - it isn't and accounts of exactly what happened on Dec 09 this year have ended up being caught in a fog of disinformation. (more) 2. We have seen reports that say 600 Chinese soldiers came in, 200 Chinese soldiers came in, 34 Indian injuries, minor Indian injuries - everything under the sun. In this situation - important to stick to the facts - only what we know. (more)
Jan 24, 2022 11 tweets 2 min read
1. (thread) Ambassador, that I should get you quoting Nehru is an achievement!😀My tweets were on the role & legacy of our forces during the Great Wars, quite separate from the views of any political leaders at the time. (more) 2. But seeing that we are now cherry-picking quotes of political leaders, do share your thoughts on Savarkar who, in Dec 1940, encouraged Hindu men to join various branches of the British Armed forces en masse. Do you believe Savarkar endorsed `mercenary' Indian soldiers?
Jan 23, 2022 4 tweets 1 min read
1/3. Per France24, the Indian Army, as guests of honour at Bastille Day in Paris, 2009, ''were in uniforms inspired by those of the former British Empire.'' (more) 2/3 Meanwhile, Vice President Naidu visited a war memorial in France in 2018 honouring Indian soldiers and said, ''The war memorial is a testimony to the valour and sacrifice of Indian soldiers.'' Clearly no effort at whitewashing the role of Indians in World War-1 (more).
Jan 23, 2022 14 tweets 2 min read
1. India's fight against fascism in WW-2 was a battle against a genocidal force that represented the greatest evil known to humanity. The cause was an international one in which 87,000+ Indians were killed in an effort endorsed by our freedom fighters. 2. India fielded the largest volunteer force in history - men who returned 4000 war decorations and 18 Victoria Crosses for gallantry. To simply refer to these men as cannon fodder without looking at their spectacular military successes is unfair.
Jan 21, 2022 6 tweets 2 min read
1.Ignorant to pass off India Gate & the names inscribed as merely `a symbol of our colonial past.' More than 74,000 Indians were killed in WW-1, one of the largest volunteer forces in history. The legacy of the Indian Army, one of the greatest anywhere, stems from its past. 2. The bedrock of the Indian Army are its traditions. Its regiments have a strong colonial past - they are seeped in tradition. To ignore that past, & to simplify this proud legacy to Indians in WW-1 having fought `someone else's war' is crude revisionism.
Jan 18, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
1/4 [Thread with images] Putting images of the new Chinese bridge across the Pangong through some filters/adjustments. First, the original images. 📸: @Maxar Image 2. Long shot of the location ... 📸: @Maxar Image
Jan 5, 2022 6 tweets 1 min read
1. SOURCES: Chopper crash of Gen Bipin Rawat was the result of Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) in cloudy weather conditions. (CFIT is defined in aviation as being caused by pilot error.) IATA definition in next tweet: 2. IATA (International Air Transport Association) - CFIT refers to accidents in which there was an in-flight collision with terrain, water, or obstacle, without indication of loss of control. (MORE)
Jan 3, 2022 9 tweets 1 min read
1. THREAD: Dr.NK Arora, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) to India: '75% OF CASES IN METROS ARE OMICRON' #Covid_19 2. 'India is clearly in the third wave of COVID.'
Jan 2, 2022 8 tweets 2 min read
1. THREAD: Multiple reports, with fragments of detail on the CDS chopper crash, skirt the possibility of pilot error. This report says ''CFIT [Controlled Flight into Terrain] means the helicopter was airworthy and the pilot was not at fault.'' Really?
indianexpress.com/article/india/… 2. - How exactly do you fly into terrain in a controlled manner without there being gross pilot error? Why would any pilot get into this situation at all? Its crucial for the @IAF_MCC to be transparent about what happened.
Jan 2, 2022 5 tweets 1 min read
1. The Vikramaditya and presumably the Vikrant are fitted with a host of very specific, closed-looping landing and navigation aids specific to the MiG-29K aircraft. This includes the LUNA optical landing system. 2. The Russian Resistor-E air-traffic control system is interfaced with the MiG-29K and provides landing and navigation to just 30 metres short of flight deck. Again, I assume this would be the basis of MiG ops on the Vikrant.
Nov 30, 2021 5 tweets 1 min read
1. Sources tell me it will take between 4 and 6 hours at Delhi airport from Dec 1 to get results of an RT-PCR test before one is allowed to exit or take a connecting flight. They will process 400-500 PCR tests per hour. Lets do the math on what this will mean for passengers. 2. An average Europe to Delhi direct flight takes 8.5 hours. Add 2 hours at the airport prior to the flight (minimum). 6 hours at Delhi airport. 1 more hour minimum to clear customs and immigration and pick up your luggage. That's 17 hours minimum as you leave Delhi airport.
Nov 30, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
1. Lancet study on Covishield effectiveness: Vaccine effectiveness in moderate to severe disease is 81% . #COVISHIELD #COVID19 2.Lancet study on Covishield effectiveness: vaccine remained effective against moderate-to-severe COVID-19, even during a surge that was dominated by the highly transmissible delta variant of SARS-CoV-2.
Nov 29, 2021 5 tweets 1 min read
1. Unless our big international airports wake up to the new norms for international arrivals from the 14+ 'at risk' nations from December 1, there will be out and out chaos at our airports as thousands line up for RT-PCR tests and wait for the result before exiting.@JM_Scindia 2. Absolutely essential for our airports to massively ramp up RT-PCR testing facilities while working to deliver results for all passengers within a specified number of hours.
Nov 9, 2021 10 tweets 2 min read
1. Not quite. This 100 home village, construction of which qualitatively changes the status quo in the region, WAS constructed in `a short time.' On the left, an image from Aug 2019: No village. On the right, an image from Nov 2020: Village complete. 📸: @planet 2. By constructing a village on Indian territory that it claims (India considers this an illegal occupation), China categorically violates Article VII of the 2005 bilateral agreement between India and China. How? Read on.
Nov 7, 2021 11 tweets 2 min read
1. Never be fooled by apologists for Chinese expansion in Arunachal who will deflect, obfuscate, allege motives and draw false equivalences to `manage perception.' This thread lists key quotes from experts with immense credibility, decades of experience. 2. Renowned Tibetologist Claude Arpi: ''The village is well South of the McMahon [Line] and the Indian perception of the Line of Actual Control.''
Nov 7, 2021 6 tweets 2 min read
1. Local BJP leaders, concerned with continuing Chinese construction activity in the Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal had shared these pics of the region. Widely reported. This is well south of the village being discussed and deeper into our territory. (more) 2. The military garrison shown in the last image is clearly identifiable in both Google Earth and satellite images in the original ndtv report - ndtv.com/india-news/chi…
Nov 5, 2021 6 tweets 2 min read
1. (Thread) Over the last year, @ndtv has highlighted Chinese `salami slicing' of territory in the Himalayas through detailed satellite imagery. While the attention of the world has been on Ladakh, China's territorial ambitions in the Eastern frontier have been more insidious. 2. This report on the construction of a Chinese village, near the 2017 Doklam faceoff site shows how Beijing violated the territorial integrity of Bhutan, bypassed Indian defences and continued construction towards the vulnerable Siliguri corridor.

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