India's Research and Analysis Wing chief C. D. Sahay and counter-intelligence head Amar Bhushan have both retired following the release of a report from National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan that criticizes the intelligence agency over the defection last spring of spy Rabinder Singh to the United States. The report explicitly blames RAW's counter-intelligence wing, which failed to apprehend Singh despite tailing him, for the debacle. Even more embarrassing, Singh escaped to the United States around the same time Sahay was visiting the country. Former Intelligence Bureau chief Narayanan wrote that RAW's counter-intelligence wing let Singh elude them, adding RAW did not bother to alert other agencies. While RAW officials were in Amritsar last April hoping to catch Singh as he "made a drop" to his U.S. paymasters, he instead emerged in Nepal four days later. In Kathmandu, U.S. operatives gave Singh a U.S. passport and he subsequently flew to the United States via Vienna.

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Yet more fallout from the devastating Dec. 26 tsunami. Thai geologists have added Bangkok and its neighboring provinces to the national map of quake-prone areas, fearing more violent seismic spasms in the tsunami's aftermath. (So far, an unprecedented 500-plus aftershocks of more than five on the Richter scale have been recorded, and they are still coming.) While Bangkok previously was classified as being at low risk from earthquakes, geologists worry that the Dec. 26 earthquake may have activated fault lines in western Thailand. While previously only 10 provinces in Thailand's northern and western regions were believed vulnerable to tremors, being listed as "red zones," geologists believe the recent quake required a rewrite of the map of quake-prone areas. The new map places Bangkok and neighboring provinces like Samut Prakan, one of the country's most industrialized areas, at higher risk of a future quake. Somsak Potisat, chief of the Mineral Resources Department, said, "Bangkok soil is, by nature, soft clay, which can amplify quake magnitudes by two or three times." The Mineral Resources Department is a whirlwind of activity; besides releasing its updated map, it hosted a two-day international seminar on establishing a tsunami early warning system and will press for new laws requiring stronger building codes.

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While the image most people have of the Navy is an aircraft carrier hurling fighters into the wild blue yonder, it is actively investigating other types of craft. On Feb. 5 at the Nichols Bros. Boat Builders, Whidbey Island, Wash. the Navy will take delivery of its first experimental X-Craft "Sea Fighter," designating it as its first "Fast Sea Frame." Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, will deliver the principal address while his wife, Lynne, will break a bottle of champagne across the bow to formally christen the ship "Sea Fighter." According to a Navy news release, "The high-speed, experimental vessel will test a variety of technologies that will allow the Navy to operate more effectively in littoral, or near-shore, waters. Sea Fighter will be used to evaluate the hydrodynamic performance, structural behavior, mission flexibility, and propulsion system efficiency of high-speed vessels, and will also serve as a test bed for developmental mission packages." Construction of the 262-foot, 950-ton high-tech aluminum catamaran began in June 2003. The vessel's two gas turbine engines, two propulsion diesels and two waterjets will rocket the boat's 26 crew to speeds reaching 50 knots.

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Amidst the Bush administration's hoopla about the Iraqi elections, it is worth recalling that a century ago the philosopher George Santayana wrote: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Consider the following blast from the past in the light of the latest reporting on the Iraq elections results. On Sept. 4, 1967, The New York Times writer Peter Gross penned from Saigon his observations of another election: "U.S. officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of the turnout in the South Vietnam presidential election despite a Vietcong Terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting. According to reports from Saigon, 85 percent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong. The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation's election based on the incomplete results reaching here."

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