Chandigarh, April 7

In Punjab as family members have been staying away from performing the last rites of suspected or confirmed coronavirus cases, it is government functionaries who have been coming forth and doing rituals religiously.

Out of 79 patients, in seven coronavirus deaths, there were three such instances.

In the latest instance on April 5, the last rites of a woman were performed by officials in Ludhiana city as the family refused to cremate the body fearing transmission of virus.

In another case, the cremation was performed by the revenue staff as the entire family was in quarantine.

In the third incident in Amritsar district last week, people did not allow a place in their village for cremating Nirmal Singh Khalsa, former Hazoori Raagi of the Golden Temple.

“The (last rites) document may be comprehensive but the real trouble lies when nobody, including the sons and daughters as well as staff at the cremation ground, are willing to touch the body,” Special Chief Secretary KBS Sidhu, who is in-charge to monitor state-wide coronavirus cases, informed in a tweet.

“It is here that field revenue agency, with tehsildars and naib tehsildars at the forefront, does the job.”

Stressing the need to recognise and encourage the officers and officials who went above and beyond the call of duty, Sidhu quoted the case of Harbhajan Singh, who died of Covid-19 on March 29 at Moranwali village in Hoshiarpur district.

“His entire family was in isolation ward as they had tested positive. Nobody from the village came forward to assist in performing the last rites,” he said.

Patwari Jagir Singh of Moranwali was assigned the task of arranging the cremation. He performed his duty without any hesitation.

“Jagir Singh, along with many others from his fraternity, is quietly doing their duty in these exceedingly difficult times. They deserve our applause and appreciation,” said Sidhu.

He applauded Hoshiarpur Deputy Commissioner Apneet Riyait for honouring Jagir Singh for his noble gesture.

In the latest case, officials of local administration performed the last rites of Ludhiana resident Surinder Kaur, 69, on April 5 as her family refused to own her body and asked the administration that it was their duty to perform her cremation.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Iqbal Singh Sandhu through a video said the family reached the cremation ground but preferred to remain seated in the car that was parked 100 m away from where the body was consigned to the flames.

He said the entire ritual was performed by Duty Magistrate Jasbir Singh.

Now the district administration would hold her bhog in a local gurdwara on April 11 by pooling money.

Regarding the cremation of former Hazoori Raagi of the Golden Temple, Nirmal Singh Khalsa, paranoid locals of Verka village located on the periphery of Amritsar city protested for hours and even locked the cremation ground gate to prevent the local administration from the cremation, fearing it would spread the coronavirus and endanger lives.

After hours of persuasion, the locals agreed and offered a secluded common land for his last rites that was held late in the evening amid the presence of government functionaries and the son of the deceased.

Condemning the incident, Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal said the state government should have taken steps to ensure the mortal remains of the great ‘ragi’ were not disrespected.

Khalsa’s aunt, son, grandson, his associate and associate’s wife have tested positive for coronavirus after his death.

Terming as unfortunate the delay in Khalsa’s cremation on April 2 due to “unfounded fears”, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said this was because of misinformation and issued directives that no such incident takes place in future.

He said he had asked the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police to ensure proper compliance of the government instructions by all health and other officials at the district level.

“Every deceased person deserv es proper cremation and there is a laid down health protocol on handling the body of a deceased COVID patient. This must be duly followed,” an official statement quoting the Chief Minister said. IANS

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A navy sailor has died in an accident onboard one of Indian Navy’s under-construction nuclear submarines. Considering the secrecy of the project, the Navy has not divulged the name of the submarine.

The Incident happened at Navy’s Vizag-based eastern naval command ship building centre jetty on April 1. Four Arihant class nuclear submarines are based at Vizag, while the first submarine INS Arihant was commissioned in August 2016. In 2017, the second boat of the Arihant class—the bigger, improved and better-armed INS Arighat—was launched and presently undergoing sea-trials. Remaining two submarines of the class are under construction. Naval sources expect that all four Arihant class submarines can be commissioned by 2023.

According to naval sources, 26-year-old sailor Paramajit Singh was on duty when accident happened in the boat.
“An incident of material failure happened onboard at Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. A sailor was grievously injured and taken to hospital. subsequently, he succumbed to the injuries,” said a naval official. Later on, his body was handed over to the family. Since he died while performing duty, he was given full military honour funeral at his home town.

Meanwhile, a Board of Inquiry has been ordered by the Navy to investigate the cause of the incident.

Arihant class submarine, the nuclear-powered submarines with ballistic nuclear missiles (SSBNs), are meant for deterrence with its long legs. Naval experts believe that SSBNs are not meant for fighting wars, but to prevent wars and we need to have at least four of such submarines to have a 24×7 deterrence. However, India’s plan to build six SSNs (attack submarine) with a displacement capacity of 6,000 tonnes is underway.

In 2017, dedicating the boat to the nation as a Diwali gift, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said: “Arihant is an open warning to enemies of India and enemies of peace” and a “fitting response to nuclear blackmail”. With that, India joined another club where the same big five— the US, Russia, Britain, France and China—have been sitting.

INS Arihant, an SSBN category submarine, is both nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed. She is armed with 750km range K15 Sagarika nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles. In future, she will get 3,500km (intermediate range) K4 ballistic missiles.

Three of its sister ships of same class are getting ready in the Navy’s secret yard at Visakhapatnam as follow-on ships. And all of which will move around the depths of the waters close to China’s and Pakistan’s coast.

Navy’s fleet of attack submarines, all diesel-powered, has dwindled from an awesome 21 in the 1980s to just 14 at present. Worse still, at least half of the 15 available boats are old and creaking, and undergoing mid-life upgrade. It means India has just seven-eight submarines that are battle-ready at any given time, against 65 of the Chinese navy.

Ideally, the Navy needs at least 24 submarines to meet its 30-year submarine building plan, which was approved by the cabinet committee on security in 1999, months after the Kargil conflict. The plan was to induct 12 diesel subs by 2012 and another 12 submarines by 2030, but repeated delays forced the Navy to rejig the plan.

Now, the plan is to have 18 diesel-powered submarines and six SSNs. The SSNs will be constructed in Visakhapatnam. Meanwhile, to develop skills and drills for operating SSNs, the Navy has got one Akula-class SSN on lease from Russia.

Chandigarh, April 4

When their husbands are in the field to fight coronavirus, the better halves are ensuring free food distribution to cater to the poor in Punjab’s Ropar district.

Also, the wives of policemen are making masks at home to handle the pandemic.

Over 33,000 meals of dry ration along with 800 masks have been prepared by family members of police officials in last one week at their homes and community centres, said Senior Superintendent of Police of Ropar, Swapan Sharma.

The ration packets have been distributed in slum areas, while the masks at every check point by mobile patrolling teams, he said.

“Together we stand stronger is the message that families of the Ropar policemen are out to convey,” Sharma said, adding each family has contributed Rs 500 towards the fight against deadly virus.

Women and children have taken upon themselves to make masks and pack ration packets.

With policemen on duty for 14-16 hours a day since the lockdown that came into effect on March 23, their families are showing all their support.

Out of 100 families that stay in police quarters, about 30 of them have come forward to help. By stitching masks at home, they are doing their bit to ensure safety and health.

Spouses, children and even parents are enthusiastically participating to ease the burden on the policemen by making packs out of ration donated by the NGOs and the public, he said.

“We couldn’t think of anything better than making masks to keep our men in khaki safe in these tough times,” said Sukhwinder Kaur, 48, wife of Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Jagtar Singh.

Shruti, 16, daughter of ASI Chandermohan with the help of her elder and younger sisters is making use of her sewing skills in making masks.

ASI Vinod Kumar’s wife Praveen Kaur has enlisted the help of her three children to make ration packs for the less fortunate.

“Lending a helping hand even if little means huge in this time of uncertainty. Also, our children imbibe value of standing with everyone in difficult times with doing as much as they can,” she said.

Lovepreet Kaur, daughter of ASI Jagir Singh, added: “Making ration packs may not mean much in ordinary times but at moments like these when policemen are overworked each little help counts. I am glad that we are taking off a little of the burden off the shoulders of forces by making use of the time.” — IANS

Quarantine centres run by the armed forces in Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and other places, are already up and running. Several thousand people, mostly Indians who have flown in from abroad, are there. Now, the defence ministry in order to ensure more efficient functioning has issued special guidelines— or Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)— relating to COVID-19 related work.

The SOPs relate to emergency powers— mostly financial—to deal with COVID-19. The government document says: “The emergency powers are to expedite the procurement/ repairs for establishing and running quarantine/isolation facilities by the Indian armed forces”.

The powers relate to purchases of “stores, rations, hygiene and chemicals, medicines and transportation.”
An emergency of this magnitude demands immediate action; what is required is required right now and has to be readied almost by yesterday. Normal procedures do not allow for that. If something is required and particularly, large amounts of it, in the age of global short supply in this ‘sellers’ market’ differences in specifications and quality variations, have to be set aside, given the unprecedented emergency.

Which means if masks have to be bought, anything between outstanding to good in terms of quality is acceptable. Purchase from a number of vendors is allowed owing to supply problems because of closed factories or transportation breakdowns even if there are differences in price. Basically, pay more if you have to, but buy something you really need.

Cutting red tape, paperwork and the necessary world of tenders and bid can be avoided right now. It can always be done later. It is a seller’s market, and also, there are considerable logistical challenges.If it is necessary to pay a 100 percent advance, unprecedented in normal circumstances, it can be given to a public sector firm. For the private sector, an advance can be considered, if it is felt necessary. And at this point, additional time-consuming measures like discussions on bank guarantees need not happen.

Also, as these are forbiddingly difficult times, a “post-audit system of accounting” can be followed. Cash transactions are also acceptable. The new guidelines will apply when it comes to the purchase of medical equipment, medicines and other essentials required to establish new quarantine centres and run the ones already in place.

With bureaucratic restrictions on the back burner, patients and all those under quarantine can receive the best possible treatment and importantly, quickly. Lives matter and worldwide, 65,000 people have died and a staggering 900,000 are ill, about 45,000 critically.

Kabul, April 5

Afghanistan’s intelligence has arrested an ISI-linked Pakistani Islamic State (IS) militant who was the mastermind behind the attack on a Kabul gurdwara last month that left 27 persons, including an Indian citizen, dead.

Abdullah Orakzai, alias Aslam Farooqi, a key leader of IS’ Khorasan branch, was arrested with his 19 associates during a “complex operation” by the National Directorate of Security (NDS) in the country’s southern province of Kandahar on Saturday.

A native of Pakistan’s restive northwestern Orakzai agency, he was “enjoying close relations” with Pakistan-based terror groups such as the Haqqani network and the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), the NDS said in a statement.

Farooqi was appointed IS’ shadow governor in Afghanistan after the killing of Abu Saeed Bajawri. He was operating as the commander of ISIS’ military wing in Peshawar and was deployed in Abdul Khel valley of Achin district of Nangarhar, it said. — PTI

Pakistan just appointed its first Hindu Major in the Pakistan Army. It is historic but it is also eye-opening as to the opportunities afforded to the minorities. With not much representation and support for them into the mainstream, incidents like this are still making news after more than 70 years since the birth of Pakistan.

After graduation from Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences , he got selected as a Captain in the Pakistan Army.

He is the first Hindu officer of the Pakistan Army to get selected for the Emergency Medicine course in University Hospital Birmingham.
Dr. Kelash has represented Pakistan in Uganda, Egypt, Dubai, Spain, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland and won a Tamgha-e-Dafa (a medallion given to personnel posted at Siachen) for staying 36 days in Baltoro Sector near K2, which is the world’s highest post saddle, and a major tension point between India and Pakistan.

Dr Kelash has served Pakistan by participating in Operation Aimeezan in Waziristan and Operation Rah-e-Nijat in Swat.

He presented a study on the civilization of Indus valley and won a UN medal. He has also served as a Senior Pakistani Army Officer (SPAO) in a United Nation peacekeeping mission.

Currently, Dr. Kelash is posted in Quetta in the 86 Medical Battalion of Pakistan Army as in charge of health services delivery.

Hindus have been allowed to join the Pakistan Defence Forces, and many have joined and served the country, rising to top-posts like Air Commodores and Naval Commanders in the Air Force but this is allegedly the first high-ranking Army appointment from the community.

In the wake of the tensions in Kashmir, this news is a breath of fresh air and a positive towards acceptance and diversity by Pakistan.

Melbourne, April 4

The Sikh community in Australia is working tirelessly to deliver free meals daily and groceries to people struggling with self-isolation and financial hardship amid the coronavirus crisis.

In a recent facebook post, the Sikh Volunteers Australia (SVA) has called upon families in Victoria to reach out to the group for free meal deliveries.

From soup and pasta to rice and curries on the menu, the group, which has over a dozen of delivery vans and only 20 volunteers, deliver more than 800 meals a day.

“The initiative was started three years ago in South East part of Melbourne and we have been serving free food packs to those in need, like elderly, single parent or people in self isolation,” SVA member Manpreet Singh said on Saturday.

“We have also started a new service for international students now and we expect the deliveries to go up,” he said, adding that the group follows all the rules, put in place in the wake of the pandemic, while preparing the food, packing and loading it in vans.

Another organisation named the United Sikhs has also come forward to help the needy by providing free meals and basic food supplies.

They are also providing basic over-the-counter medicines to overseas students, senior citizens, low income families, disabled and self-isolated people.

According to Gurvinder Singh, a member of the United Sikhs, the group cooks 100-200 meals twice a day for the needy and then delivers the food at their doorstep.

“We are also helping them with over-the-counter medication and basic food supplies like milk, canned food, flour, rice and lentils. We are working with the local councils and the state and federal governments to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

Pritam Singh Gill of Gurdwara Sahib Tarniet said he provides close to 70 meals a day in his personal capacity and almost 30-40 meals are collected from the gurdwara premises everyday for international students living in the area.

“We are giving free meals and even groceries,” he said.

The Sikh community in Australia is well known for their community services during crisis situations. They have earned accolades and praises for their selfless services.

In a “thank you” note to Sikh Volunteers Australia, Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews recently said the volunteers “fed countless Victorians during the bushfires” and this time they “hit the road again — delivering hundreds of home cooked meals to isolated people across Melbourne’s south east”. PTI

Besides the brigadier, a former lieutenant general, who held crucial positions like Director General of Military Operations, is serving a 14-year jail sentence.

New Delhi: The Pakistan Army Saturday hanged Brig. Raja Rizwan (retd) after he was convicted of spying for a foreign intelligence agency, social media posts indicated.

“We have received reports about the hanging. Currently, there is no confirmation,” a source in the Indian security establishment told ThePrint.

Pakistani journalists said they were awaiting official word from the ISPR. No Pakistani mainstream media has reported about the hanging.

ThePrint had reported in June that the Brigadier, along with Pakistan’s former Director General of Military Operations, Lieutenant General Javed Iqbal (Retd), were accused of spying for American Intelligence Agency CIA during the infamous Raymond Davis saga in 2011.

Court case led to information getting out

Brig. Rizwan was sentenced to death alongside Wasim Akram, a civilian doctor employed by an army organisation. Lt Gen. Iqbal, meanwhile, was sentenced to 14 years in jail.

ISPR chief Major General Asif Ghafoor had confirmed the arrests of the senior officers in a press conference on 22 February.

At the time, he had said that the two cases were not linked to each other, and there was no network of spies as such, a claim that sources in the Indian establishment said was completely untrue.

The case came to light in October 2018 after the Brigadier’s son Ali Rizwan filed a habeas corpus petition in the Islamabad High Court, saying his father had gone missing on 10 October near a shopping centre in the capital city.

Justice Aamer Farooq, who heard the petition, had sought a report from the authorities, and the Pakistani military was forced to admit that the officers were in their custody.

While Lt Gen. Iqbal retired in 2015, Brig. Rizwan, who was the Pakistani defence attaché in Germany, retired in 2014.

It is believed that both officers were recruited by the CIA earlier in their careers and were used by the Americans to get information on the country’s nuclear programme and the Army’s plans and support to jihadi groups.

Also read: This Pakistani General had seen everything by age of 4. He now wants you to read his doctrine