An Army team performs during the Vijay Diwas celebrations in Drass on Wednesday. Amin War
Tribune News Service
Drass (Kargil), July 24
The 20th anniversary commemoration of the Kargil war victory that will continue for three days began in the highway town of Drass on Wednesday with the Army hosting a series of events.
The celebratory events to mark the 1999 Kargil win kicked off in the Drass sector — the ground zero of fighting two decades ago and also the home to some of the famous battles of the war.
The events on the first day included a training demonstration at Kargil Battle School, display of artillery equipment and showcasing of sports and cultural events.
The Army is hosting more events over the next two days to mark the victory. Several events are also scheduled at the Kargil War Memorial, built outside Drass town to celebrate the win in the war when the Pakistan army and irregulars were evicted from the hills overlooking the strategic Srinagar-Leh highway.
The 20th anniversary is being commemorated on a large scale. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the war memorial last week and paid homage to the fallen soldiers.
In the run up to the celebrations, the Army had organised commemorative treks, by the battalions which fought in the war, to the mountain tops in several parts of Kargil district.
In the past weeks, a commemorative trek was undertaken by 1/11 Gorkha Rifles to Khalubar in Batalik Sector at 17,000 feet to celebrate the battalion’s triumph in the war.
Another commemorative trek was undertaken to the symbolic Tiger Hill by 18 Grenadiers. Treks were also undertaken by 13 JAKRIF to Point 4875 and by 2 Raj Rif to Tololing Top.
Over 16,000 cases pending in Armed Forces Tribunal
The Tribunal was set up in 2009 according to provisions of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007, to adjudicate cases pertaining to commissioning, appointments, enrolment, and service conditions of military personnel. File photo
New Delhi, July 21
The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) meant to provide justice to the aggrieved forces personnel is severely affected due to non-functional benches. The pending cases in the AFT, set up only 10 years ago as dedicated courts in the three services, have spiralled to 16,000.
With only three of the 11 Benches functional, it is a long wait for justice for the litigants. The Benches located in Chandigarh and Srinagar are the only ones functional apart from the Principal Bench in Delhi, which is headed by the Tribunal’s Chairperson. The Principal Bench alone has around 4,500 pending cases with most litigants making a beeline to it.
The Tribunal was set up in 2009 according to provisions of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007, to adjudicate cases pertaining to commissioning, appointments, enrolment, and service conditions of military personnel.
According to the Act, only a retired judge of a high court below 65 years of age is eligible to be appointed as a judicial member. Each Bench must consist of a judicial member apart from an administrative member.
Sources in the Defence Ministry, under which the Tribunal functions, said eight names—four for the post of judicial members and four for administrative members—have been shortlisted. These appointments are likely to be made in August following final clearance.
The last judicial member to be appointed to the Tribunal was in the year 2017. Justice Sunita Gupta who had retired as a judge from Delhi High Court had been appointed as judicial member to the principal bench in Delhi.
In September 2016, the Armed Forces Tribunal Bar Association had filed a complaint with then chief justice of India demanding immediate appointment of judicial members for swift disposal of cases. The Supreme Court had taken cognisance of the case and admitted it as a Public Interest Litigation.
However, the apex court is yet to deliver a final verdict in the case. The last time hearing was ever conducted in the matter was more than a year ago on February 23, 2018.
“The Tribunal lacks contempt powers. It has no power to ensure that its judgements are effectively executed. The Tribunal should be provided with the power of judicial review in order to give it more teeth. This issue has also been raised in the PIL,” said Bar Association President AK Trivedi.
The other Benches of the Tribunal are located in Lucknow, Kolkata, Guwahati, Mumbai, Kochi, Chennai, Jaipur and Jabalpur. — IANS
Survey Of Burning Issues Faced By Military Families; 3Rd Quarter
Survey Of Burning Issues Faced By Military Families; 3Rd Quarter
This Quarterly Survey is an initiative of Fauji Reporter to map problems and issues concerning ex-servicemen and their families ( PLEASE NOTE THIS SURVEY IS NOT FOR SERVING PERSONALS)
Objective of survey is to collect inputs from all stake holders and feed these to decisions makers for good governance.
Survey Results will be shared with Cabinet Committee on Security through Cabinet Sectt. A memorandum will be send accordingly with CC to all stake holders. The idea is to assist govt in bringing building an effective support system for ex-servicemen and their families.
Ex-Servicemen and their family members are requested to participate in this survey actively. Please also share the survey link with other ex-servicemen and their family members.
It is a multiple choice survey. You can vote on all or key issues which you feel deserve attention.
In case, you feel any issue has been missed, Please add same and vote.
It is an open survey. Civilians may also vote to endorse their support.
YOU CAN REVOTE IF YOU WISH TO CHANGE YOUR MIND
Please do not add an objectionable, political and illegal issue. Same will be deleted.
You may also use comments to record your any other opinion
Quarterly Survey of Burning Issues Faced By Ex-Servicemen & Families (Vote & You Can Also Add Any Other Problem Not Listed Here) – Multiple 5 Choices
A bridge connecting nearby villages at Taipu village, 25 km from Siliguri, washed away in floods, which have affected nearly 8.7 lakh persons across 21 districts in Assam
The state government has sought the Army’s assistance as six persons have been killed and more than 400,000 in 740 villages marooned due to the flooding.
A bridge connecting nearby villages at Taipu village, 25 km from Siliguri, washed away in floods, which have affected nearly 8.7 lakh persons across 21 districts in Assam. — AFP
Rafale, Sukhoi Su-30MKI a Deadly Fighter Jet Combo for Pakistan Warns IAF Vice Chief – Watch Video
On the sidelines of the Indo-French joint Air Exercise Garuda-VI, Indian Air Force Vice Chief Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria warned enemies, including Pakistan of deadly combination of Sukhoi Su-30MKI and Rafale MMRCA fighter jets. Speaking to ANI, Bhadauria said in case Pakistan dares a February 27-type attack on India, the neighbouring country will suffer bigger losses than ever.
“Once the Su-30MKI and the Rafale start operating together, it will be a potent combination against our adversaries, be it Pakistan or anybody else. It will be a potent capability. Any adversary would be worried about such a combination,” said Bhadauria during the Garuda exercise.
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The IAF Vice Chief also performed a sortie in the Rafale jet at the French Air Force base. Bhadauria was the head of the Indian team that negotiated with France for the deal to acquire 36 Rafale jets in 2016. The Indian Air Force and Armée de l’Air (French Air Force) are currenlty participating in a bilateral air exercise Garuda-VI at Mont de Marsan in France.
The exercise, scheduled to take place from July to July 12, 2019, see the most potent fighter aircraft of the two countries going head-to-head to validate the latest defence strategies and fine-tune their waging capabilities.
While the Indian Air Force (IAF) contingent comprises of 120 air-warriors and four Sukhoi Su-30MKI along with an IL-78 flight refuelling aircraft, French Air Force units will comprise the likes of Rafale, Alpha Jet, Mirage 2000, C135, E3F, C130, and Casa.
“For any such (February 27-type) operation by Pakistan, they would have losses much more. We would have larger weapons and we would have better weapons. The attrition that we will inflict would be very very high,” Vice Chief added.
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The Dassault-made French fighter jet Rafale, which is set to join the IAF’s fleet by September performed a joint friendly exercise with Soviet made IAF’s Sukhoi Su-30MKI, India’s most advanced jets as of now.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also said that Rafale could have inflicted more damage on the terror camps had Rafale been in the force. In March, he took on the opposition over the issue of air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan, saying that the entire country is feeling the absence of Rafale fighter jet aircraft.
Speaking at a media event, PM Modi said, “The country is feeling the absence of Rafale. The entire country is saying in one voice today, what all could have happened if we had Rafale. The country has suffered a lot due to selfish interests earlier and now politics over Rafale.”
Two more CH-47F (I) Chinook helicopters join Indian Air Force
Two new CH-47F (I) Chinook helicopters joined the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Monday. India has bought 15 Chinook and 22 AH-64E Apache helicopters from the United States of America’s defence and aviation major Boeing. India is also purchasing six AH-64 Apaches for the Army.
The first four CH-47F (I) Chinooks had landed at Gujarat’s Mundra airport on February 10, 2019. IAF will receive a massive boost in its strategic airlift capability with the advanced multi-mission Chinooks joining its fleet. Chinooks will be based at IAF’s Chandigarh air base to take care of the supply line to Siachen glacier and the Line of Actual Control with China in Ladakh.
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After India signed the deal with the US for Chinooks, four IAF helicopter pilots and a similar number of flight engineers sent to Delaware, USA for training by Boeing for operating them. The first Chinook was officially handed over to India on February 2, 2019, during the ‘India-Chinook Transfer Ceremony’ at Boeing’s facility in Philadelphia.
According to Boeing, the CH-47F (I) Chinook will give the IAF “unmatched strategic airlift capability across the full spectrum of combat and humanitarian missions”. “The Chinook has unsurpassed ability to deliver heavy payloads to high altitudes and is eminently suitable for operations in the high Himalayas. The aircraft has been battle-tested in diverse, extreme conditions throughout the world, and has proven capability to operate in the wide range of conditions that typify the Indian subcontinent,” Boeing said after the helicopter was handed over to India early in 2019.
The first flight of the CH-47F (I) Chinook and AH-64E Apache attack helicopter ordered by India took place on July 27, 2018. “We look forward to delivering this phenomenal capability to India,” said David Koopersmith, vice president and general manager, Boeing Vertical Lift. “From coastal operations to high-altitude mountainous missions, these aircraft will play vital roles with the Indian armed forces.”
The notification created an uproar among veterans who called it against the interests of the armed forces personnel.
Written by Sushant Singh | New Delhi | Published: July 4, 2019 1:13:54 am
The Opposition raised the matter in Lok Sabha on June 28, where Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the government would look into these changes.The controversy over the Finance Ministry’s decision to tax the disability pension of armed forces personnel, which had been criticised by veterans, took a surprising turn on Tuesday when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made public an unsigned note that showed it was done on the recommendation of Army Headquarters. The Army note was put out on Twitter by her office, along with a message from her calling it the “response of the Armed Forces on the issue of taxability of disability pension”.
What govt notified
In a notification dated June 24, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) under the Finance Ministry had said that “such tax exemption will be available only to armed forces personnel who have been invalidated from service on account of bodily disability attributable to or aggravated by such service and not to personnel who have been retired on superannuation or otherwise”.
This created an uproar among veterans who called it against the interests of the armed forces personnel. The Opposition raised the matter in Lok Sabha on June 28, where Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the government would look into these changes.
It eventually led to the posting of the Army note by Sitharaman. The note says certain “unscrupulous personnel” have found leverage in the existing system for seeking financial gains through their disabilities. The Army, it says, is concerned about personnel who are boarded out because of disability and need additional financial support. It states that the broad-banding and higher compensation awarded for disability with tax exemption has over the years led to rise in personnel seeking disability, even for lifestyle diseases.
“There should be no segregation amongst genuinely disabled personnel. At the same time, those who have found the leverages in the existing system for seeking financial gains through their disabilities, need to be scrutinised and taken to task, wherever necessitated,” the note added.
Arguing that remuneration alone cannot compensate for the disabilities of those injured in battle, the note said the service must continue to provide them necessary support during service and after superannuation. “This aspect is being exploited by unscrupulous personnel, who have gained from disability benefits provided to disabled soldiers,” the note said. The note ends stating that the trend “if not checked at this stage, is a cause for worry”, as the Army cannot have large number of personnel with “medical disabilities in the rank and file, when the security challenge to the nation are on the rise”.
The other kind of disability
Disability benefits are of two kinds, both permissible under the rules: war injury pension attributable to operational service, and normal disability pension for any disability. The latter includes the so-called ‘lifestyle diseases’ which can be attributable to or aggravated by stress and strain of service, as entitled under the rules.
While the Army note dismisses the latter as not being favourable to the service, the effect of the stress of military service on a soldier’s health is a universally recognised phenomenon. Lawyer and expert in veteran affairs, Navdeep Singh, says that “disability rules in India and other democracies are balanced and work on the presumption of a military service-disability connection”.
His contention is based on peer-reviewed research in other democracies that have shown a direct linkage between military service and so-called lifestyle diseases. These include hypertension, cardiovascular problems and diabetes; these militaries seek to make the lives of their troops more comfortable — as seen in rising payouts for their loss of health. Research also shows a connection between military service and PTSD.
Singh, author of Maimed by the System and a member of the expert committee formed on veterans’ issues by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, wrote on Twitter that the Army’s note “not only berates persons with disabilities but is also contrary to rules on the subject, contemptuous to Court rulings, disrespectful of Commissions and Committees which have examined this and against the stated position of the government”. He argued that the government should not have taken cognisance of the note as “it unnecessarily creates doubts in the minds of well-meaning personalities”.
Other military veterans have a more emotional response, terming the Army note “unbelievable” and “utterly shocking”. They argue that if there is a misuse of certain provision, the Army is entitled to take suitable action to prevent that, including disciplinary action against those faking disability instead of punishing everyone
Funds shrinking, Army wants Budget 2019 to make special allowance for GST, customs duties
All three services have to currently pay customs duty as well as GST on defence imports.
New Delhi: As the second Modi government prepares to present its first Budget Friday, the Army has asked the Ministry of Defence to factor in taxes on arms and equipment imports, as well as its expenses on salaries and pensions before presenting its demands to the finance ministry which will decide the outlay.
The Army has told the ministry that these expenses eat into its budget outlay, shrinking the corpus to procure arms and equipment crucial to modernisation efforts and maintaining existing assets, sources told ThePrint.
All the three services have to currently pay customs duty as well as GST on defence imports. While the landmark tax reform, introduced in July 2017, subsumed several taxes, it doesn’t cover basic customs duty.
According to the sources, the Army has argued that the additional integrated GST (IGST, applicable on inter-state purchases and imports/exports) component has further affected its procurement budgets. An Army officer told ThePrint that GST comprised about 12 per cent of the force’s capital budget (for purchases), totalling around Rs 7,000 crore-8,000 crore annually.
The defence ministry, they said, had also been asked to factor in the expenses borne by the Army on initiatives such as the Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), which was launched in 2003 for all three services and is estimated to run up a tab of Rs 5,000 crore this year alone.
“The Army has sought the ministry’s attention on these aspects. A lot of the defence budget for revenue and capital outlay goes into the extra taxes and in the ECHS, leaving the forces with little money for fresh acquisitions and maintenance,” a top Army official told ThePrint.
“Even the ECHS turns out to be a huge amount considering the number of officers, who also come through the short service commission,” the official added.
The defence budget is categorised under four heads — defence pensions, capital outlay (for arms and other acquisitions), revenue (for salaries and schemes like the ECHS), and miscellaneous (including administrative expenses).
Sources said that the finance ministry could either give the Army an exemption, a rate reduction or refund on the two different taxes being paid, or just put these expenses under a separate head.
Lt Gen. Satish Dua, who handled Budget matters closely as the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff before retiring in October last year, said defence equipment should be exempt from taxes as they were bought for national security.
“A few years ago, (only) customs duty was imposed on defence purchases. Then, the GST was added,” he told ThePrint. “The armed forces are not business houses or individuals, so these taxes should ideally not be levied by the government on defence equipment purchased by them,” he said.
“These taxes form a big chunk of the defence budget and hit the armed forces when it comes to fresh acquisitions or their modernisation, thus affecting the country’s preparedness,” he added.
Former defence secretary Shashikant Sharma, who retired in 2013, long before the GST kicked in, said most additional costs and duties were usually factored in when budgets were made.
“It is true that the defence budget as percentage of the GDP has gone down,” he added. “But if the GDP has grown, the growth in (defence) budget may not (always) be commensurate.”
Another senior Army official told ThePrint that the defence outlay, which stood at 1.5 per cent of the GDP in 2018-19, should be gradually increased to 2 per cent over a period of five years.
“While an increase in the defence budget in terms of absolute numbers is a welcome move, the budget still does not satisfy the minimum requirements of a modern military,” the official said. “Inflation and rupee depreciation more than neutralise the increased allocations.”
According to the official, the lack of funds hinders the progress of proposals, keeping the Army from addressing deficiencies, maintaining its assets, and modernising.
With higher manpower, Army most affected
The interim budget for 2019-20, announced this February, allocated nearly Rs 3.02 lakh crore for defence services’ capital and revenue expenditure. This alone formed 10 per cent of the total budget outlay of Rs 27.84 lakh crore. In 2018-19, Rs 2.87 lakh crore was spent on defence revenue and capital outlay.
This total excludes two components of the defence budget: Pensions, which comprise about 25 per cent of the defence budget, and miscellaneous expenses.
Army sources said they had the biggest bite taken out of their budget on account of revenue expenses since they had many more personnel than the Navy and the Air Force. While the Army has around 13 lakh personnel, the IAF has nearly 1.5 lakh and the Navy around 50,000.
Infographic by Arindam Mukherjee | ThePrint
For instance, the Army was allocated Rs 1.38 lakh crore under the revenue head in the 2019-20 interim budget, against a capital outlay of Rs 0.29 lakh crore.
The ratio of revenue and capital expenditure, meanwhile, is more proportionate for the Navy and the Air Force. The revenue outlay carved out for the Navy in the interim budget stood at Rs 0.22 lakh crore and the capital outlay at Rs 0.23 lakh crore. For the IAF, the revenue outlay was Rs 0.29 lakh crore and the capital outlay is Rs 0.39 lakh crore.
“The allocation on capital outlay for the Army thus turns out to be meagre and can barely cater to the committed liabilities as well as all planned new schemes,” the second official quoted above said, adding that a non-lapsable defence capital fund account is “the need of the hour”.
WAR HEROES They were men who dared to take on the enemy and return home after being captured by them
From page 01 CHANDIGARH: The moment reports of IAF wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s capture by Pakistan after an aerial dogfight surfaced friends and colleagues began swapping gruesome tales, each more stomach-churning than the next, of what happened to those who survived combat only to become prisoners of war.
■ MEN OF VALOUR: Brig Pritam Singh (second from left) and Air Commodore ‘Baba’ Mehar Singh to his left during the first landing of Poonch in 1947.
Trapped in enemy territory, unsure of their fate, prisoners of war have had dramatic tales to tell. Is it any wonder then that Faith Johnston’s Four Miles of Freedom: Escape from a Pakistani PoW Camp is in demand?
Ajay Arora, proprietor, of Capital Book Depot, in Sector 17, says the book is must-read for those interested in the subject.
The novel is a riveting account of Flight Lieutenant Dilip Parulkar’s attempt to escape from a POW camp in Rawalpindi in 1972. Parulkar, who was shot down over Pakistan during the 1971 Indo-Pak war incredibly tried to return to India along with Malvinder Singh Grewal and Harish Sinhji.
Proprietor of the Browser recommends Brigadier Jasbir Singh’s Escape from Singapore. The novel is another nail-biting account of his father Capt (later Brig) Balbir Singh’s escape from a Japanese PoW camp in Singapore during World War II along with Capt (later Brig) Pritam Singhand Capt (later Col) GS Parab. The intrepid officers, weak with disease and exhaustion, meticulously planned their escape and made their way to India through Malaysia, Thailand and Burma (now Myanmar) over a span of six months. Many of their comrades died in the camp due to torture and bayoneting.
Straying a bit far from home, The Great Escape by Paul Brickhill, is among the most legendary escape story, which provides an intriguing account of the mass breakout from a German prisoner of war camp in 1944. It is a moving tale of how 600 men work as one in the faced with torture and death. Another take on the mass escape is provided by Eric Williams in the The Wooden Horse.
In The Railway Man, Eric Lomax, provides an account of being forced to build the Thai-Burma Railway for the Japanese. The story brings out the resilience of the human spirit that even when faced with starvation and ‘waterboarding’ did not break.
1,248 cases of ceasefire violations so far this year: Rajnath Singh
The Army reported 1,248 cases of ceasefire violations (CFVs) and four casualties along the Line of Control this year, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday.
he Army reported 1,248 cases of ceasefire violations (CFVs) and four casualties along the Line of Control this year, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday.
In a written response to a question in Rajya Sabha, Singh said January saw 203 cases of CFVs, followed by 215 in February.
There were 267 cases of CFVs in March and the Army reported three casualties. April and May reported 234 and 221 cases of CFVs, respectively.
June recorded 108 cases of CFVs with one battle casualty.
Appropriate retaliation to the ceasefire violations, as required, has been carried out by the Indian Army, Singh said.
“Also all violations of ceasefire and infiltration are taken up with Pakistani authorities at the appropriate level through the established mechanism of hotlines, flag meeting, directorate generals of military operations talks as well as diplomatic channels between the two countries,” the defence minister said.
In response to a separate question, the Army said it sustained 34 fatal casualties in its counter-terrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir from 2016 to June 2019.
Twelve casualties were reported by Assam Rifles/Army from 2016 to June 2019 during counter-insurgency operations in northeast India.
Replying to another question, Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik said during the last two years (2017 and 2018), 36 members of Parliament had applied to purchase Army’s disposal vehicle.
The vehicles were made available to all the members who had applied.
