January 24, 2008: Fill & Download for Free

Q. Did the Vietnamese boat people in Israel marry along other Vietnamese people or marry Jews and Arabs?A. . 35 years on, where are Israel’s Vietnamese refugees? (Times of Israel)Children of Vietnamese Refugees enlist in the IDF (The Mike Report)Israeli-Vietnamese woman serves in the Israel Defense ForcesVietnam: Israel’s closest ASEAN partner - New MandalaA. TL;DR: From 1977 to 1979, then prime minister Menachem Begin welcomed about 360 Vietnamese boat people fleeing for their lives from the Communist takeover of their country. Israel granted them citizenship, full rights and government-subsidized apartments.There are 150-200 refugees and their descendants still living in Israel. More than half of the original Vietnamese refugees have left Israel, mostly for Europe and North America, where they were reunited with their extended families.The first generation of Vietnamese refugees socialize mostly with each other and their sabra, or native-born, children have Israeli friends and switch back and forth between Vietnamese and Hebrew.The second generation with Vietnamese names are deeply integrated into Israeli society. Most communicate on their walls (facebook) in Hebrew, have a majority of Israeli friends, attended Israeli high schools and appear to have served in the IDF. One works for the police. Of those who are married, many have Israeli spouses.File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Vietnamese refugees at Ben GurionDuki Dror’s Documentory 2005 film (downloaded here) documents heartbreak of immigrant parents watching their children grow up with foreign ideas, habits and aspirations. At the same time, the children feel torn between embracing the new culture and feeling rejected by it, while wanting to reject it in return out of loyalty to their parents.Among second-generation Vietnamese Israelis, there are various coping strategies: some assimilate, some emigrate and a minority express loyalty to their Vietnamese roots by marrying spouses from Vietnam and speaking Vietnamese at home.But when a community is so small, assimilation is almost inevitable.(23 Oct 1979) Vietnamese refugees arrive in Israel and go to new homes in Tel Aviv.35 years on, where are Israel’s Vietnamese refugees? (Times of Israel)Amid Israel's debate over absorbing Syrian refugees, focus turns to the integration of the boat people from Vietnam who arrived in the 1970sBy SIMONA WEINGLASS 20 September 2015, 3:13 pmNewly arrived refugees from Vietnam ride the bus to the Ben Gurion Airport arrivals terminal, June 26, 1977 (Moshe Milner/GPO)As hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers risk their lives to reach Europe, Israeli political and religious leaders have called on the government to take in Syrian refugees. But opponents, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, argue that Israel is too small, or that Israel should not accept migrants from an enemy state.Amid the debate, attention has once again turned to the time in history when Israel did accept refugees from a faraway conflict. From 1977 to 1979, then prime minister Menachem Begin welcomed about 360 Vietnamese boat people fleeing for their lives from the Communist takeover of their country. Israel granted them citizenship, full rights and government-subsidized apartments.How did these refugees fare in the Promised Land? Are they still living in Israel? Can their circumstances shed light on the current debate over refugees?If you Google “Vietnamese refugees Israel,” one of the first names that comes up is that of Vaan Nguyen, a poet and actress in her early 30s who was the subject of a tear-jerking 2005 documentary, “The Journey of Vaan Nguyen,” about the Israeli-born daughter of Vietnamese refugees growing up between two cultures.Newly arrived refugees being greeted at Ben Gurion Airport by fellow Vietnamese already in Israel, January 24, 1979 (Moshe Milner/GPO)Vaan Nguyen says she would be happy to be interviewed when her book of poetry is translated from Hebrew into English but declines an interview on the subject of Vietnamese refugees.“I’ve gotten tons of requests for interviews,” she writes with a note of weariness. “You can look at my list of Facebook friends and write to the Vietnamese ones. Most of them are children of refugees.”Vaan Nguyen in a still from the 2005 film “The Journey of Vaan Nguyen” (Courtesy: Duki Dror)The Times of Israel sent messages to about 15 of Vaan Nguyen’s Facebook friends as well as to an additional five Vietnamese Israelis found from other sources. Only one of these 20 people replied, writing, “Hi! I’m not interested, thanks.”Dr. Sabine Huynh is an accomplished translator and author who fled Vietnam for France as a child in 1976. She has lived in Israel for the last 15 years and although she is not one of the refugees taken in by Israel, she has ties to the community.Sabine Huynh - WikipediaHuynh says she has been contacted by journalists looking to talk about Vietnamese refugees but prefers not to get involved.But Huynh does mention that she wrote a sociological research project about the Vietnamese-Israeli refugees in 2008, one that was never published even though people told her it should be. She also recommends watching Duki Dror’s 2005 film (which can be downloaded here) to better understand the community.Vietnamese sabrasWriting in 2008, Huynh describes the tension between a first generation of Vietnamese refugees who socialize mostly with each other and their sabra, or native-born, children who have Israeli friends and who switch back and forth between Vietnamese and Hebrew.A perusal of some of their Facebook profiles reveals a second generation with Vietnamese names who are deeply integrated into Israeli society. Most communicate on their walls in Hebrew, have a majority of Israeli friends, attended Israeli high schools and appear to have served in the IDF. One works for the police. Of those who are married, many have Israeli spouses.“Using the Vietnamese vernacular is a symbol of adherence to the old established Vietnamese community,” Huynh says. “Showing vernacular loyalty is equivalent to showing community loyalty.”In “The Journey of Vaan Nguyen,” 21-year-old Vaan’s father, Hoi May Nguyen, speaks to her in Vietnamese and she often answers him in Hebrew. On a visit to Vietnam her uncle admonishes her, “You have to nurture your Vietnamese characteristics. Otherwise, you’ll be a foreigner and your kids will be foreign.”File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Vietnamese refugees walking to the waiting room at the Ben Gurion Air Terminal January 24, 1979Vaan describes how growing up, when her friends asked if she was fasting on Yom Kippur, she would often say yes, because it was easier.“I was embarrassed by my parents and then I would apologize for them and hate the white, condescending society. I became angry and rude and ended up hating myself, looking for ways to reconcile everyone. I was ungrateful to my family, the state [of Israel], community of any kind,” she says.Her parents, meanwhile, while grateful to have been taken in, are consumed with longing for Vietnam and the idea of returning there. The problem is the Communists confiscated the family’s lands and have no intention of returning them, as becomes clear in the course of the film.“There is nothing for me here,” says Vaan’s mother to Vaan’s younger sister, Hong Wa, in the documentary. “I want to go back and be with your grandmother. I will take you with me. None of my girls learned how to write. You can learn the Vietnamese alphabet so that when your father and I die you can write to the family.”But Hong Wa bursts into tears. I want to stay in Israel, she says.The minority who stayedAccording to a spokesman for the Vietnamese Embassy in Tel Aviv, there are 150-200 refugees and their descendants still living in Israel. Huynh adds that more than half of the original Vietnamese refugees have left Israel, mostly for Europe and North America, where they were reunited with their extended families.Prime minister Menachem Begin greets Vietnamese refugees who were absorbed in Afula, June 26, 1980 (Herman Chanania/GPO)One of the most famous emigres is Dao Wong, who headed Bank Hapoalim’s operations in Singapore and now resides in Switzerland.“I think the main motivation for leaving was to connect to a bigger community in Paris, Los Angeles and San Francisco,” Duki Dror, the film’s director, tells The Times of Israel. “They would like to preserve their cultural continuity and here it’s hard to do.”Of the refugees who stayed in Israel, most live in or near Jaffa and Bat Yam.Sabine Huynh (Vietnamese: Sabine Huynh; born 1972) is a Vietnamese-born French–Israeli writer, poet, translator, and literary critic, who has lived in Israel since 2001.As part of her research, Huynh approached 32 families — over 150 people — with a request to fill out the questionnaire she had designed; only 34 agreed. Eight of 25 second-generation refugees Huynh interviewed said they worked in the food preparation industry, many at Asian-themed restaurants, while others worked in factories and some first-generation women worked as hotel chambermaids.Out of 34 people surveyed (both first- and second-generation), 14 had only primary education, while 13 also had some secondary education and five attended college (three in Israel and two in Vietnam). Sixteen were Buddhist, seven were Catholic, 10 claimed to follow no religion and one had converted to Judaism.In a recent article in Ynet, Vaan Nguyen said she herself is undergoing a Reform conversion to Judaism.Forgotten, yet all too visibleOne scene in Duki Dror’s film shows the kind of attention Vietnamese-Israelis attract even when they are behaving like everyone else. Here, Vaan accompanies her family to the IDF induction center where her 18-year-old sister, Tihu, is about to join the army. Hundreds of tearful parents are sending off their children and the Nguyen family is no exception.“Where are you from? “ the induction soldier asks Tihu.“From Vietnam,” she says in unaccented Hebrew.“You must have made aliyah [immigrated] a long time ago?”“Aliyah? I was born here.”“Are you the first Vietnamese person to join the army?“No, there have been others.”Then Tihu asks sheepishly, “Can I change my name?”Israeli poet Vaan Nguyen has served in the army and feels Israeli - except for her looks. (Sivan Tzadok)Sabine Huynh is all too familiar with the feeling of extra scrutiny in a country where people of East Asian descent comprise a tiny percentage of the population.“People constantly mistake me for a Filipino, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Korean…(sigh).”In the film, Vaan Nguyen describes the ordeal a simple trip to the grocery store could be.“I want to go to the grocery store without people invading my privacy. Stop asking me questions because something about me is suspicious or because you think I’m fascinating,” she declares.“Enough with the interrogations and the expectation that I will politely respond that I was born in Israel, that my parents came as Vietnamese refugees in 1979 when the late Menachem Begin, as a humanitarian gesture, decided to absorb some boat people out of a historical Jewish identification with the conditions of persecution and exile.”She goes on: “No, I am not Jewish. No, I don’t know if I’ll convert or if my children will be circumcised. Yes, I am equally sorry for every human being that died in the last intifada. I don’t deny the Holocaust…I have no idea how to tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Korean people. No, I don’t think my eyes are slanted because I ate rice every day as a child…No, I am not related to Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan.”“Now will you please just let me live in peace?”In service of Israeli Armed ForcesIn her paper, Huynh writes that the Vietnamese refugee community has mixed feelings about attention from the broader society.“Their existence here was born from an Israeli prime minister’s initiative, but [the community’s] people, after receiving Israeli citizenship, were almost completely forgotten, to the point that they are now constantly mistaken for foreign workers from Asia. Moreover, since they have mixed feelings about that, they do not want any attention drawn to themselves. ‘If they forgot us, then let it be, let us be forgotten for good,’ was a sentence I heard often.”An encounter in a Chinese restaurantDetermined to interview Vietnamese refugees, this reporter discovered a restaurant in Bat Yam that was described on the Internet as “the best Chinese restaurant you’ve never heard of,” owned by a husband-and-wife team of Vietnamese refugees.Bat Yam is as shabby as Tel Aviv is fashionable but the Pek-Hai Chinese restaurant, located near the beach, has retro-1980s decor and a hipster clientele.Asked if he could be interviewed, a 50-ish Vietnamese man smoking outside said, “No, I am just a cook, go inside and talk to the management.”Inside the Peh-Hai Chinese Restaurant (Simona Weinglass/Times of Israel)Inside, a woman who appeared to be his wife, said in fluent Hebrew, “No, my Hebrew is not good enough.”Why do you think people in the Vietnamese community are so reluctant to be interviewed?The woman smiles and shrugs.Is it because you want to be left in peace?The woman nods, a glint of assent in her eye, then looks away. The conversation is over.A peaceful lifeIn Dror’s film, archival footage shows a Jewish Agency teacher lecturing the refugees on their new life in Israel“I ask a question,” he says in Yiddish-inflected English. “What can you do here? If you want to be honest citizens and you want to join us in our peaceful life here, you have to learn maybe new ways of living, new ways of behavior. And try to work honestly wherever it is possible, to enable your families a good, peaceful life.”Vietnamese arrivals at Ben Gurion Airport, January 24, 1979 (Sa’ar Ya’acov/GPO)Working hard and living peacefully is more or less what the refugees did.According to Huynh, the refugees she met worked an average of 10 hours a day, six days a week. Vaan Nguyen describes how her parents spent a lot of time working while she was growing up.“My parents weren’t at home a lot and so what I got from my childhood was Israeliness. As much as they tried to make me Vietnamese, they didn’t succeed. Well, maybe a bit.”There is a thread of sadness that runs through the documentary, the heartbreak of immigrant parents watching their children grow up with foreign ideas, habits and aspirations. At the same time, the children feel torn between embracing the new culture and feeling rejected by it, while wanting to reject it in return out of loyalty to their parents.Vaan Nguyen with her father (Courtesy: Duki Dror)In fact, the State of Israel was founded by people who faced a dilemma similar to Vaan Nguyen’s. Modern Hebrew writers like Micha Yosef Berdichevsky and Yosef Chaim Brenner had left the shtetl but couldn’t feel at home in Israel either.Berdichevsky wrote, “If God [leads a person] to wander far from the city of their birth, the land of their forefathers into exile, they will open their eyes in the new place and look around but in their heart they will always carry the memory of their father and mother for the rest of their life. Whatever happens to them, the air of their homeland will rest in the secret places of their soul, like the light of a new moon..and whoever is not this way, who can easily throw off the majestic feelings of their youth, is not a creature of God.”Duki Dror (via Facebook)Among second-generation Vietnamese Israelis, writes Huynh, there are various coping strategies: some assimilate, some emigrate and a minority express loyalty to their Vietnamese roots by marrying spouses from Vietnam and speaking Vietnamese at home.But when a community is so small, assimilation is almost inevitable. That’s why Begin’s absorption of a mere 360 Vietnamese refugees (out of a total of 2 million worldwide) may or may not be a test case for welcoming future asylum seekers. Assimilation is painful, perhaps not for the host culture, but for the people pressured to give up a way of life passed down for generations.In the meantime, Israel’s tiny Vietnamese minority is not keen on talking to reporters.“I think the Vietnamese community aren’t publicity hounds,” Duki Dror, the film’s director tells the Times of Israel. “They’re low-key. Also, they feel more and more Israeli, so they don’t all of a sudden want to talk about how they are different. Refugees are an issue that is controversial. On the one hand they would probably say, ‘Of course [they should be let in], that’s how millions of Vietnamese were saved and we contribute to society.’ On the other hand they don’t want to take a position against the state or the people who are opposed to bringing Syrian refugees here.”As for the community itself, a handful have given interviews to Hebrew media. Vaan Nguyen herself gave an indication of her feelings in a recent article she wrote in Ynet.“Whenever there is a humanitarian crisis somewhere, I get calls from various media outlets asking to interview me about the refugee experience. I don’t feel like a refugee. I’m the daughter of refugees.”Nevertheless, she writes, “compassion has no race and Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] will only enhance his resume if he absorbs a few hundred refugees who will not change Israel’s demographic balance one iota. My family is not thriving here, but they have hope and a future. It’s all relative: at least we’re alive.Vietnamese Boat People in Israel (Jewish Virtual Library)Vietnamese 'boat people' become Israeli (jpost.com)Children of Vietnamese Refugees enlist in the IDF (The Mike Report)May 6, 2013In the summer of 1977 thousands of leaking, untrustworthy rafts and boats bobbed in the vast open waters of the South China Sea. Each of the frail vessels was crowded with frightened, parched refugees, embracing the likely death of the ocean waters over the certain death of remaining in Vietnam. While some found safe harbor the passengers of one particular leaky fishing boat crossed paths with an Israeli cargo ship and by so doing found a home. The Times of Israel tells the story of that particular group of survivors which you can read at this LINK.The children and grandchildren of these once stateless souls have grown up as Israelis in the Jewish state. They speak Hebrew fluently, are ever grateful for their adopted homeland and even serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Watch the video link below to view the emotional moment when an Israeli-Vietnamese family accompany their children to their enlistment in the IDF.Vietnamese Sabras Join IDFFor Israel’s female soldiers, a delicate balance between equality and military realitiesFrom left to right, Staff Sgt. Maya, Sgt. Noam and Brigadier General (Res.) Gila Klifi-Amir at a Friends of the Israel Defense Forces program April 3 in New York City. Credit: Shiryn Ghermezian.Gender is not the only issue these soldiers grapple with. Sgt. Noam, 19, who was born in Vietnam and adopted as an infant by an IDF soldier’s widow, discussed the challenge of training medical personnel in reserve units and getting the trainees to respect her because of her youth.“Most of the people are 40-years-old or 35, and I’m so young,” she said. “A doctor who has so much experience, how can I tell him what to do? It’s challenging. How can I teach him from the beginning? Because the medical material [learned] in a civilian’s life is not the same as in the army. And some operations done in the civilian world are much harder [to perform in the army].”Her Vietnamese background has attracted some unwanted attention from Israelis. Due to Israel’s relatively low East Asian-born population, she said, people probe her about her family and physical appearance, and wonder how she can speak Hebrew so well.“My favorite question is, ‘What are you?’ So sometimes I just answer that I’m an alien and that you should take me to your leader,” Noam said.Israeli-Vietnamese woman serves in the Israel Defense ForcesIn 1977, an Israeli cargo ship off the coast of Japan spotted a leaking boat crammed with 66 Vietnamese refugees.Despite SOS signals, the refugees, who were out of food and water, had been ignored by passing ships from East Germany, Norway, Japan and Panama.The Israeli ship rescued the refugees and took them to Israel.In keeping with the humanistic culture of Israel, all the refugees were immediately granted Israeli citizenship (as had earlier groups of Vietnamese refugees), Hebrew courses and full absorption benefits.Today, Israelis of Vietnamese descent became the same as anyone else and are in the army.'Miraculous' Vietnamese community of Israel'Vietnam: Israel’s closest ASEAN partner - New MandalaGrowing ties could help narrow Vietnam’s development gap.Israel’s relations with ASEAN countries have not received a great deal of attention. In reality, however, there is an increasing tendency of Israel to benefit from the growing economies of Southeast Asia.Relations between Israel and Vietnam typify this trend. While many countries in the region have been reluctant, or at least careful, in pursuing relationship with the Jewish state, Vietnam enjoys a relatively strong relationship with Israel.Even though contacts between Israel and Vietnam can be traced back to the 1970s, when a large number of Vietnamese migrated to Israel to escape prosecution and torture, formal bilateral cooperation between the two countries was established in mid-1993.Since then, Hanoi and Tel Aviv have witnessed remarkable developments in their relationship with reciprocal visits at various levels and the establishment of diplomatic representative offices.Interestingly, an important part of cooperation between Israel and Vietnam is the military. Even though Israel’s arms overtures to Vietnam have only recently increased, it has a long rooted history of military contacts with Hanoi, particularly with the presence of people of Vietnamese descent serving in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).The most important development in Israeli-Vietnamese military cooperation was the 2012 visit by Israel’s Ministry of Defense general director Udi Shani and representatives from SIBAT Defense Export and Defense Cooperation to see potential prospects in Vietnam.A plan was subsequently made by Israel Weapon Industries Ltd to open a light-arms plant with an investment of over $100 million. The plant helps to manufacture and to supply Israel’s AS advanced version of the Galil infantry rifle.The most recent development took place early this year when the Vietnamese government purchased an air defense missile system to enhance its air defense capacity. What is also remarkable is that Israel’s Air Defense and Air Force Service conducted an English course for its units assigned to receive, manage, and exploit these new weapons and equipment in Hanoi in April this year.Given Vietnam’s large military and obsolete weapons systems, Israel could be expected to play a considerable role in upgrading the country’s defense systems and its technologies. Thus it is not surprising that last year the two countries signed an MoU on defense cooperation and Israel has opened a defense attaché in Vietnam.Economic relations have sharply increased in recent years, especially after the signing of a bilateral economic and trade agreement in 2004. This was further strengthened in 2009 when both governments inked an agreement on double tax avoidance, creating a transparent and healthy legal environment for their businesses to increase transactions.Recent reports suggest that the trade volume between the two countries is expected to be more than $1 billion, with Israeli exports jumping by 120 per cent. Vietnam mainly exports agricultural products, garments, and electronic equipment while it imports fertilizer, machinery, equipment, as well as electronic parts from Israel. There are hundreds of Israeli companies, such as Iscar, that have made their way to Vietnam.In 2011, Israel and Vietnam also signed a $250 million agreement involving financial protocol and maritime development. The deal came on the heel of increasing demand in Vietnam for Israeli products, especially agricultural products and technologies. This economic cooperation is expected to flourish in the coming years as both governments recently agreed on a free-trade agreement.Israel has been a considerable partner in Vietnam’s agricultural and dairy industries. Israeli firm SAE Afikim, for instance, has been running the $500 million project to supply 300 million liters of milk every year, produced by imported cows at 12 state-of-the-art mega dairies and a milk processing plants – all built with Israeli equipment and expertise.It was reported that the project is the largest of its kind in the world and the biggest ever undertaken by an Israeli firm. Additionally, a group of Israeli experts have also conducted courses on agriculture in Vietnam. There are also plans to expand cooperation into the fields of aquaculture and other fishery-related spheres.People-to-people exchanges have also contributed to the strengthening of the relationship. Besides a large number of Vietnamese workers in Israel, there are frequent meetings between politicians, businessmen, and academics.Both countries have also exerted efforts to promote their tourism to each other. To ease air connectivity, Air Vietnam has also opened a representative office in the Jewish state.In more recent years, Israel’s ties with Vietnam have expanded into different realms. Even though not widely reported, education has become an important element in Israel-Vietnam relations. It is reported that there are approximately 2,000 Vietnamese students studying agriculture in Israel. Other exchanges are taking place in the realms of culture, biotech, information technology, and communications.Relations have also been strengthened by humanitarian aid. In 2006 and 2007, for example, a team of 54 doctors and nurses from Israel headed out to nine remote areas of Vietnam to provide desperately needed medical care to Vietnamese.Besides providing medical care as well as distributed foods and clothing, the teams also provided a farm animal to every household in these areas to offer a long-term economic base to the impoverished villagers.Looking forward, Vietnam will continue to be Israel’s closest ally in ASEAN. While the bloc’s majority Muslim countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia face pressures and oppositions from inside, Vietnam does not have a similar challenge.In tandem with the forthcoming ASEAN Economic Community, Vietnam offers Israel not only a gateway to large investment opportunities, but also provides a way to expand to the wider ASEAN region. With no sign to an end to the instability in the Middle East, it is not surprising that Israel sees the growing economies of Southeast Asia as prudent alternatives.Meanwhile from Vietnam’s view, Israel’s growing presence is welcome.Israel’s top-notch renewable and farming technologies are fundamental to realising its agricultural abilities. Tel Aviv could also offer an access to untapped consumer markets and perhaps a hub for expansion in the wider Middle East.Simultaneously, Israel’s ventures are waited as the country is in need of billions of dollars in investment to revamp its economy and bring down unemployment.All in all, this expanding relationship could help minimise the developmental gap between Vietnam and other ASEAN countries.Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat is a PhD scholar at the University of Manchester.

1. First book on Verilog was co authored by BITSian Mr. Yatin Trivedi, Director, Industry Partnership Programmes, Magma Design Automation, USA.2. Internet Protocol Version 6(IPv6) Testbed was developed at BITS Pilani.[Source for 1 & 2 : Unattended vintage file in Educational Development & Sponsored Research and Consulting Division Office, BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus]3. BITSians developed India's first fully developed indigenous humanoid. It was India's only entry to Robogames 2008, world's largest open Robot Competition according Guinness Book of World Records.[Source: Page on Acyut]Samay Kohli Can be contacted for further information on Acyut. He is the brains behind Acyut.Non BITSians, Brace yourself before reading this,The Person below in white without a blazer, Mr. Alam Ali Khan, a proud BITSian, has an interesting story tagged. He dropped out of college at 21 and returned back at 51, (Yes, after 30 long years) to complete his Bachelors in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from BITS Pilani.[In this Pic, From your left : Prof. R.K.Mittal, Prof. L.K. Maheshwari, Mr. Alam Ali Khan, Prof. B.R. Natarajan]The US universities have the academic regulations and flexibilities such as modular approach, credit based curriculum, continuous internal evaluation, choice of electives, interdisciplinary approach, substitution as well as withdrawal from courses combined with well-maintained easily retrievable student records etc built in the system to facilitate such things to happen. Reading the above, one might conclude that such things happening in India and Indian University is unthinkable.Alam Ali Kayam Khan a topper from Rajasthan Board joined BITS Pilani in 1977 to do his B.E. (Hons) Electrical & Electronics (EEE) which was of five year duration then. Due to personal and pressing family problems, he took the decision to discontinue from the degree and went into oblivion. His batch mates who had joined with him graduated in 1982 and ended up being dreamers, performers and achievers in many walks of life. Year 2007 being the silver jubilee year of graduation, for the reunion to be held in October 2007 at Pilani organized by the BITS Alumni Association – BITSAA, Alam Ali’s friends located him in Ranasar village in Churu district of Rajasthan teaching in a school, science and mathematics to kids and brought him to join the reunion.Pushed by his batch mates and his own burning desire to complete the degree from BITS Pilani, in November 2007, Alam Ali applied for readmission and appealed to reinstate him. BITS Pilani brought back his records, worked out the balance of curriculum to be completed in four semesters to enable Alam Ali become eligible for the award of the degree.From January 2008 for the next two years, Alam Ali stayed in the hostel with students who were close to the age of his eldest daughter, ate in the mess, attended classes, wrote examinations, spent night outs in the All Night Canteen (ANC) and the famous Sarath Babu FoodKing restaurant etc. First day when he entered the class, other students thought that the faculty had come to deliver the lecture and were pleasantly shocked when they found him sitting along with them. He was referred as Sir by his classmates even though he was one among them.On November 24, 2009, in the farewell tea party for graduating students, Alam Ali broke his long silence and gave an emotional and inspirational speech.Alam Ali was emphatic in stating that BITSians are destined to achieve the impossible and he was proud in joining the worldwide community of BITS Alumni.Those who know Alam Ali close enough will vouch for the fact about his intimate knowledge of Vishnu Purana, Upanishads and believe it or not Vedas as well as Buddhism.If anyone thought that after all these years, Alam Ali must have come out of BITS Pilani as Five Point Someone, you will be surprised to know that he has cleared his B.E.(Hons) EEE with a First Division and he is not one among 3 Idiots who may be found here and there.[Source: The Hindu : Other States]BITSAA International and 9/11 StoryPendyala Vamsikrishna, a BITSian, was one among several passengers on the ill-fated American Airlines flight 11 that slammed into the North Tower of WTC on Sept 11, 2001. Unable to cope up with the this, his wife Kalahasthi Prasanna, hung herself from her husband's Nautilus exercise equipment, just 37 days after her husband’s death.Soon after the tragedy Venu Palaparthi who, like Vamsi, was an alumnus of BITS-Pilani, brought together a group of people to endow a fund in his memory. Finding that they were not qualified to collect funds, the group put together the BITS Alumni Association.Vamsi's death made the BITS alumni realize the fragility of friendships. They decided to meet more often to preserve their memories. They turned from a close-knit group of BITSians into an international organization.And today, the BITSAA International is a network with 30 chapters worldwide, with 21,301 registered BITS alumni, taking up unparalleled initiatives for the benefit of students and constantly inspiring every BITSian to give back to the alma mater.Being a BITSian myself, I can confidently say that, BITSAA International is one of those key things that sets BITSians apart in both professional and social lives.To know more about BITSAA International, refer [BITSAA International][Further Reading: He died. She killed herself'His death brought us closer'Our History and Genesis ]I always hated the tagline "BITS Pilani-It's Magic".But, you know, sometimes it just is.Picture Credits Sandeep Verma

Before we dwell into comparison between INS Arihant and INS Chakra, one needs to get accustomed to some basic Submarine Terminologies.We all must be knowing, there are widely two types of Submarine, one being Diesel Powered and other being Nuclear Powered. Now Nuclear powered submarine we have further two classification Submersible Ship Ballistic Missile Nuclear - SSBN and Submersible Ship Nuclear - SSN,based on one’s attack capability,The SSBN is solely used in strategic attacks. On a regular basis, the submarine goes into the waters and takes an undetected position in state of a nuclear attack. Usually, two crew members are placed in the operation of the submarine, where one member takes it into the waters and the other member is situated at the ports.It is considered to be the ‘killer’ in the submarine world. It does go under water for a long period of time i.e. nearly half a year. During its time in the sea, the submarine avoids all contact and being detected by any other submarines or surface ships.The ballistic missile submarines differ in their purpose to attack other submarines and cruise missile submarines. They specialize in combat with other naval vessels, which include enemy submarines and merchant shipping. They are also designed to attack large warships and tactical targets on land. The primary mission of the ballistic missile is nuclear detection and the mission profile of this submarine is to remain undetected. They are designed for stealth, many use sound-reducing design features, to have propulsion systems, and have machinery mounted on the vibration damping mounts.The SSN are designed to track down and defeat both, the SSBN and the enemy aggression. They can also very easily detect any surface warheads with the help of the cruise missiles. These submarines also are used in the attack of particular targets on land by the launch of the fast missiles by use of the torpedo tubes.The Submersible Ship Nuclear carries the cruise missile with explosives which are used to attack the assailants within the shores. The other purpose of the submarine ship is to conduct surveillance, perform and complete intelligence missions, so they can offer aid in highly classified operations. The size of this ship is moderately big. The SSN is used to make attacks to assailants in the nearby distance. It is considered war prone and looks for enemy ships to destroy them.Comparison between SSBN and SSNNow, Coming to Indian Submarine Fleet,INS Arihant is a SSBN, while INS Chakra is a SSN.INS ArihantINS Arihant, is still one of the most secret projects of India. Starting from it’s design phase till it’s commissioning, it has always kept new’s channel on slow track. Unknown to many commissioning of INS Arihant, didn’t took place with media presence as normally is the tradition, but it was done in utmost secrecy. It was only in October 2016, some media houses reported the commissioning of INS Arihant, but till now there is no Official Statement from Indian Navy or Ministry of Defence.INS Arihant is to be the first of the expected five in the class of submarines designed and constructed as a part of the Indian Navy's secretive Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project. The Arihant-class submarines are reported to be based on the Akula-class submarine. Their crew will have the opportunity to train on INS Chakra, an Akula-class submarine, which the Indian Navy leased from Russia.Arihant will be more of "a technology demonstrator", rather than a fully operational SSBN according to Admiral Nirmal Verma.The vessel will be powered by an 83 megawatts (111,305 hp) pressurised light-water reactor with enriched uranium fuel.A land-based prototype of the reactor was first built at Kalpakkam and made operational in September 2006. Successful operation over a period of three years yielded the data that enabled the production version for Arihant.It was reported that an 80 MW nuclear reactor was integrated into the hull of the ATV in January 2008Talking in comparison , INS Arihant is meant for completing Nuclear Triad of Indian Defence System.INS Arihant is the first of a class of ballistic missile submarines for the Indian Navy. Undoubtedly built with extensive Russian design assistance, she is all the same an indigenous product incorporating many Indian systems and of course Indian ballistic missiles. In fact the use of Russian submarine design assistance and nuclear power-plant design assistance was something of a risk reduction exercise.India has experience of operating nuclear submarines but has never built one until now. The Indian Navy leased a Project-670 CHARLIE-I class SSGN from 1987 to 1991 and currently leases a Project-971I Improved-AKULA class SSN from Russia. The prioritization of SSBNs over SSNs is natural and mirrors all nations who have developed nuclear submarines to date. It is particularly similar to France who joined the nuclear club slightly later than US, USSR and UK and so consequently at a time when SSBNs were already the norm and went straight for an SSBN without building a simpler SSN first. SSNs did not join the French Navy until eight years after the first SSBN. India has strong military ties France and Germany for submarine building, but Russia won out when it came to assisting India in her indigenous SSBN program. It's not the first time one country has helped another in this endeavor; the US Navy provided assistance to the Royal Navy with Polaris, and the USSR gave assistance to China (that back fired!). But in the modern context this level of assistance is unparalleled.Observations:From the couple of decent photographs of the boat with both show the starboard quarter (front right), we can deduce that the forward section of the hull is based directly upon the Russian KILO Class diesel attack submarine. India operates 9 Soviet built Project-877EKM KILO as the Sindhughosh Class. The upper sonar casing and torpedo tube arrangement look to be identical. The sail is also essentially similar although necessarily raised slightly because the casing gets deeper as it goes aft to accommodate the main missile silos. The forward hydroplanes are remounted on the sail rather than on the forward casing, which also entails minor rearrangements, but overall the sail can be said to be the same hat of the KILO. It features an open bridge at the top, a bad-weather bridge with windows and a sonar array in the forward part of the sail. The distance from the bow to the sail is also the same as on he KILO, another telling observation.So the forward hull is essentially that of the KILO design. There are six torpedo tubes which have to be reloaded through the top two from a platform which extends out of the forward hull. The torpedo room will be on the upper deck immediately behind the torpedo tubes and in front of the sail. Following the KILO layout, the top two tubes are likely configured for wire guided torpedoes (e.g. TEST-71ME-NK) and the lower four for self-guiding rounds (e.g. 53-65K). The lower tubes are reloaded using a fast automated reloading system. Eighteen torpedoes can be carried in total, although patrols probably occur with fewer. Although conceivably possible, it is unlikely that Arihant is equipped to fire KLUB cruise missiles or other exotic weapons through her torpedo tubes. As a nuclear deterrent she would not be utilized to launch conventional cruise missile attacks during a war and would only carry torpedoes as a means of self defense.Beneath the torpedo tubes is a large sonar dome designed for a circular sonar such as the CIM-400E "Rubicon-M" (SHARK TEETH) fitted the Sindhughosh Class. Behind this the main pressure hull starts, which is divided onto three floors. Like other Russian designs the KILO is a double-hull design which means the pressure hull is encased in an outer hull. This allows the reinforcing frames to be on the outside of the pressure hull. Beneath the sail is the control room.Pocket boomerArihant is about 30% longer than the KILO with a reported length of 110m. The reason is that there are two additional sections inserted behind the sail, the first being the missile section for Submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBNs). It has to be at least 11m from keel to the top of the casing to accommodate the 10m long ballistic missiles. The depth of the missiles necessitates the hunchback appearance which is characteristic to SSBNs. This section is also likely to include maintenance space and ballast tanks to take in water to compensate for the weight of the missiles when they are fired. Behind this is the second additional section containing the reactor. This section requires control stations and heavy lead radiation shielding so it is probably a 'plug in' hull section with only a tunnel connecting the forward compartments with the extreme aft just like on Western nuclear submarines. We can also guess that this section would have a large water intake mounted beside it to allow the secondary cooling loop to operate without pumps within certain performance envelopes. Behind it will be the steam turbine, electric motors and auxiliary diesels. The tail of the boat is open to speculation but most depictions show a conventional cruciform tail rather than the KILO's distinctive rudder arrangement which has a large fin underneath and no vertical fin on top. I have illustrated the aft fin configuration on relatively recent Russian designs including a towed array tube built in to the upper fin. The result is a very long boat which is much bigger than the diesel-electric attack submarines in Indian service, and similar in length to the much heavier Akula Class boat loaned from Russia.Compared to other SSBNs however she is considerably smaller and thus more lightly armed. The standard fit is either:•12 x K-15 Sagarika SLBNs (700km range, 1,400km with reduced warhead) < Nuclear capable Or/•4 x K-4 SLBNs (3,500km range) < Assumed nuclear equippedOnly four can be carried however, which again is many fewer than other active SSBNs:•Type-092 Class, China 12 x JL-1A SLBNs(2,500km range) (Considered obsolete)•Type-094 Class, China 12 x JL-2 SLBNs(8 to 14,000km range)•Triomphant Class, France 16 x M51 SLBNs(8 to 10,000km range)•Borei Class, Russia 16 x RSM-56 Bulava SLBNs (10,000km range)•DELTA-III Class, Russia 16 x SS-N-18 STINGRAY SLBNs (6,500km range)•DELTA-IV Class, Russia 16 x SS-N-23 SKIFF SLBNs (9,300km)•Vanguard Class, UK 16 x Trident-II D5 SLBNs (7,000 to 12,000km range)•Typhoon Class, Russia 20 x RSM-56 Bulava SLBNs (10,000km range)•Ohio Class, USA 24 x Trident-II D5 SLBNs (7,000 to 12,000km range) All range stats require a pinch of saltMaybe the Indian Navy has done something very clever indeed by sacrificing the number of missiles carried. There is a school of thought that nuclear wars can be won, and that the country who lobs the most missiles wins. There is another school of thought that nuclear war is mad and cannot be won, but in order to ensure this is true a deterrence must be sufficiently weighty to convince a crazy enemy that the war is unwinnable. By either school of thought Arihant is at a disadvantage. But Arihant's deterrent isn't pointed at USA or Russia, it is pointed at Pakistan and to an extent China and possibly any middle eastern countries who might tool-up in the near future. The bulk of India's nuclear deterrent is land based (as is China's and Pakistan's) so the Arihant is merely a diversification of capabilities which supplements the main force. In addition to this, nuclear bombs are expensive and slow to produce so, combined with the need to test technologies it is economical to only fit four tubes. More than enough to guarantee the destruction of several cities.The reduction in war load also allowed the use of the smaller KILO class hull which again was a risk reduction. The question will be how many more Arihants will enter service? At least four will be required to maintain a constant at-sea vigilance. But if India wants to switch it up to 'full capability' SSBNs they'll need to start building a completely new design with all the costs and delays that is likely to entail.INS ChakraIt is Akula Class Submarine, highly regarded in US Naval Circles for its stealth in the water. INS Chakra is more of a Shark in Underwater.INS Chakra is a Russia-made, nuclear-propelled, hunter-killer submarine of Indian Navy. It is a 8140 tonne Akula Class nuclear Powered Attack submarine launched in 2008 and commissioned by the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony at a ceremony in Visakhapatnam on the morning of 04 Apr 12.Unlike conventional submarines that India operates which need to surface to charge their batteries often – sometimes as frequently as 24 hours-INS Chakra can stay under water as long as it wants.Its ability to stay underwater is restrained only by human endurance to Stay Underwater. INS Chakra has been taken on lease from Russia for 10 years and would provide the Navy the opportunity to train personnel and operate such nuclear-powered vessels.Design and Development-Lease to IndiaThe construction of Submarine started in 1993,but suspended due to lack of funding. The Indian Navy sponsored the building and sea trials of the submarine provided it was given to the Indian Navy on lease for 10 years. It was launched as K-152 Nerpa in October 2008 and entered service with the Russian Navy in late 2009. The submarine was leased to the Indian Navy in 2011 at the cost of $900 million after extensive trials, and was formally commissioned into service as INS Chakra at a ceremony in Visakhapatnam on 4 April 2012.INS Chakra was expected to be inducted into Indian Navy a couple of years ago, but after an on-board accident in 2008, in which several Russian sailors died, the delivery schedule was changed.INS Chakra formally joined the Indian Navy on April 4,2012. It was commissioned by Defence Minister AK Antony at the Ship Building Complex in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. “INS Chakra will ensure security and sovereignty of the country,” the minister has said. When asked if INS Chakra’s induction will lead to arms race in the region, Defence Minister AK Antony told reporters, “India does not believe in arms race. We are not a confrontationist nation. We are a peace loving nation….but, at the same time, the armed forces will be strengthened to meet any challenge.”The induction of the nuclear-powered submarine clearly indicates India’s intentions in the Indian Ocean Region and South East Asia which has recently seen increasing assertive Chinese presence in the last few months. It will also a send a strong reassuring message to south east Asian nations like Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia who want India to play a more active role in the region to counter the assertiveness of China in the area.Key Features of INS Chakra-Nuclear Powered Attack Submarine,Indian NavyThe Submarine has a length of 108-111.7 m ,Beam of 13.5 m and Draught of 9.6 m. It has a displacement of 8140 tonnes at surface and 12,770 tons when submerged. It can do over at the speed of 20 knots at surface and 35 knots when submerged. It can go up to a depth of 600 metres. It is one of the quietest nuclear submarines around, with noise levels next to zero.The INS Chakra tagged as deadliest submarine. It features a double hull with considerable distance between outer and inner hulls to reduce the possible damage to the inner hull,and a distinctive high aft fin.The Submarine has about 80 crew members on board with 31 officers.The en tire crew of INS Chakra has been trained in Russia for over a year.Crew are provided with many facilities which include a large recreation area,a gymnasium and a sauna as well.The INS Chakra is powered by 190 MW OK-650M pressurized water nuclear reactor, steam turbine with 43,000 hp,2 auxiliary electric engines capable of producing 410 hp each and 2 auxiliary diesel engines capable of producing 750 hp each.it has endurance of 100 days.ArmamentsThe Akula Class submarine will carry conventional weapons. The vessel is armed with four 533mm torpedo tubes and four x 650mm torpedo tubes.The submarine has capable of storing up to 40 more torpedoes/mines/missiles which includes the Klub-S family of tactical missiles – 3M14E land-attack cruise missile, 3M-54E anti-ship, and 91RE1 anti-submarine variants. It will be used to hunt and kill enemy ships.Naval Fact File:-If the hostile entry of the U.S. Navy’s 7th fleet in the crucial stage of the 1971 war for the liberation of Bangladesh sent a shiver down the spine of Indian military commanders, events at the Malabar 2015 in October gave the latter some relief.An operation under the high-profile naval exercise Malabar, between the navies of India, the U.S. and Japan, featured a simulated battle to hunt and destroy each other’s submarines.Locked in this battle were two prowlers, the INS Sindhudhvaj (S56), a Soviet-designed EKM class of conventional submarine, and the USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN705), a nuclear-powered attack submarine that functions like a fighter plane — scrambles and destroys enemy submarines and ships.An operation under the naval exercise Malabar, between the navies of India, the U.S. and Japan, featured a simulated battle to hunt down and destroy each other’s submarinesCrew of both the vessels was asked to hunt the other down in a general area of the Bay of Bengal, based on the ‘available Intel’.Hours later, as they still searched, the Americans were informed that the game was over already.Unknown, they had been marked, tailed and suitably ‘annihilated’ by the 533mm torpedoes ‘fired’ by their Indian counterpart from on board the INS Sindhudhvaj.What came as a clincher to the Indian side was the tool which detected the USS Corpus Christi — the ‘Made in India’ Ushus SONAR (Sound Navigation and Ranging) which was recently installed.“The way it happened is that the Sindhudhvaj recorded the Hydrophonic Effect (HE) — simply put, underwater noise — of the N-powered submarine and managed to positively identify it before locking on to it."Being an exercise what did not happen was the firing,” explained a naval officer.The HE, thus captured, can easily slide into the elaborate database that any Navy maintains for classifying and identifying foreign submarines.A U.S. embassy spokesperson said, “We have no information on the results to share.”India has nine such submarines besides four German-designed Shishumar class ones.After years of disallowing its presence in any exercise involving foreign navies — attributed to the desire to not let HE be recorded by a foreign player — this was the first time the IN allowed an EKM to take part.For many super intellectuals it may be a case of exaggeration, but for exaggeration too you need some event. Same of the case here. Incident was not exaggerated, but was more of technology demonstration, as our underwater sonar did work successfully.But the basic facts are that the Kilo is an extremely quiet and very capable submarine owing to its diesel-electric propulsion system. Running on electrical power while submerged, diesel-electric boats have been described as “a hole in the water” and are a vexing problem for the U.S. Navy.Sources:-INS Chakra joins Indian Navy, Govt considers lease of 2nd submarineSubmarine Mattershttp://indpaedia.com/ind/index.php/Submarines:_IndiaThe Russia-India submarine tango will blindside the US NavySSBN strategic nuclear submarinesAkula-class submarine - WikipediaIn Malabar submarine battle, India trumps U.S.Russian submarine Nerpa (K-152) - WikipediaDifference between SSN and SSBNThank You.!