Word: menon
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India rejoiced last week in two victories: the Chinese were thrown back in a local action on the embattled mountain border; former Defense Minister Krishna Menon, long a virulently anti-Western appeaser of Communism, was thrown out of Nehru's Cabinet...
...India. Chief blame for the nation's unreadiness continued to be placed on Menon, who as Defense Minister since 1957 was reluctant to buy arms abroad and, in his socialist suspicion of free enterprise, would not let private firms bid on defense contracts. Military orders were funneled into state-run arsenals that were supposed to turn out everything from jet fighters to harness straps for army mules. Most of Menon's arsenals are still in the blueprint stage...
Hunched & Silent. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who sees qualities in Menon invisible to others, was reluctant to fire his friend of 30 years. At first he tried to pacify critics by taking over the Defense Ministry himself and downgrading Menon to Minister of Defense Production. Nehru's task was not made any easier when Menon arrogantly told newsmen, "I am still a member of the Cabinet and still sitting in the Defense Ministry." Army officers, the press, politicians and delegations from Nehru's ruling Congress Party all joined in demanding that Menon...
Though it was obvious that Menon was through, he still refused to resign. Finally, Nehru abruptly took over the Defense portfolio, which now makes him Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Defense Minister and Chairman of Commissions for Planning, Atomic Energy and Scientific and Industrial Research. As adviser on military matters, Nehru will probably rely on former Commander in Chief, General K. S. Thimayya, 56, a bluff, hearty, polo-playing officer with unrivaled popularity among the soldiers, who resigned from the Indian army in 1959 because of clashes with Menon. The present army chief of staff, General Pran N. Thapar...
Though fired as Defense Minister, Krishna Menon was shunted to the face-saving obscurity of a newly created Ministry for Defense Production and allowed to keep his old offices. With typical glibness, Menon described the change as "merely a move to bring more strength into the administration," added complacently: "Nothing is changed. I am still a member of the Cabinet and still sitting in the Defense Ministry...