Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria took charge as the 26th chief of the Indian Air Force. Image: Twitter/@IAF_MCC

New Delhi, September 30

Hours after taking charge as the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Monday said his force is monitoring the evolving “developments” in the region and is fully prepared to deal with any “contingency”.

The IAF chief also said induction of Rafale aircraft into the force will enhance combat capabilities of IAF over India’s adversaries.

“We are monitoring the developments and I reassure the country that we are ready to deal with any situation where our services are required by the nation. We are always vigilant and are fully prepared to deal with any contingency,” Bhadauria told PTI.

Asked about Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat’s recent comments that the Balakot terrorist training camp in Pakistan has been reactivated, the Air Chief Marshal said, “We are prepared for any eventuality and will carry out any mission as directed by the government.”

Earlier, Bhadauria took charge as the 26^th chief of the Indian Air Force. He succeeds Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, who retired after 41 years of service in the IAF.

Air Marshal Bhadauria was commissioned in the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in June 1980, and has held various command, staff and instructional positions.

An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Bhadauria was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF in June 1980 and won the coveted ‘Sword of Honour’ for standing first in the overall order of merit.

During his nearly four-decade career, Bhadauria commanded a Jaguar squadron and a premier Air Force Station.

He devised a method for carrying bombing from the Jaguar aircraft using the Global Positioning System (GPS). This was especially relevant for the bombing role of Jaguar aircraft in Operation Safed Sagar in 1999.

Bhadauria also has 4,250 hours of flying experience on 26 types of fighters and transport aircraft.

Indian Air Force✔@IAF_MCC

Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, took over as 26th Chief of the Indian Air Force today.
He was commissioned into the fighter stream of IAF in Jun 1980.

Bhadauria is one of the few Air Force pilots to fly a Rafale jet. In July, during Exercise Garuda between the Air Forces of India and France, Bhadauria had flown the Rafale aircraft.

He was the Air Attache at the Indian Embassy in Moscow, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Projects), Commandant of the National Defence Academy, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff at Air Head Quarter and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Air Command. —PTI

Our Correspondent
Palampur, September 28

The mortal remains of Lieutenant-Colonel Rajneesh Parmar of the Army Aviation Corps, who died in a copter crash in Bhutan, could not reach here till this afternoon.

Official sources said because of certain formalities at the Army headquarters, the arrival of the body of Col Parmar was delayed. It is likely to reach late today and the cremation will take place tomorrow morning. Col Parmar was imparting training to pilots of the Bhutanese army.

Ved Parmar, his uncle, expressed disappointment over the delay in replacing the obsolete helicopters. “We will appeal to the government to replace these. My nephew will never come back, but the lives of others can be saved with the introduction of new choppers,” said he. It was his birthday yesterday. His father called him up in the morning but he was busy. He just said, “Thanks Papa, I will speak to you in the evening,” said the father of Rajneesh.

His father said 42-year-old Rajneesh had left behind his wife and a 12-year-old child, who studies in Army school at Bikaner. Rajneesh lost his life when an Army chopper ‘Cheetah’ crashed near Yongphulla in Bhutan.

Home to the largest number of defence personnel, Rewari is seeking increased representation of the fraternity in the government.

In a letter to the state BJP, the community has sought allotment of at least five tickets in the Haryana Assembly elections. Col (retd) Mahavir Yadav, president of The Martyrs’ Welfare Foundation, put forth the demand saying this was required to change the face of Ahirwal.

“Ahirwal has maximum defence families who have some specific expectations and requirements. An ex-serviceman will be able to understand and connect better with our issues and voice them. The BJP has done a lot for us but much is still required to be done,” he said.

He said the southern region of Ahirwal had contributed significantly to the nation and also supported the BJP in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It was high time that it got due representation to voice the welfare concerns of defence personnel.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 31

Lt Gen Surinder Singh relinquished the charge of the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, on his superannuation today after having rendered about 40 years of service.

Lt Gen RP Singh, presently General Officer Commanding 21 Corps in Bhopal, will take over as the GOC-in-C, Western Command.

A ceremonial send-off was given to Lt Gen Singh by officers and men at Chandimandir. He laid a wreath at the Veer Smriti to pay homage to martyrs and inspected a guard of honour.

Commissioned into the 2nd Battalion of Brigade of The Guards in 1979, he later commanded the same unit. Besides commanding a division in Strike Corps and an operationally committed Corps in the Eastern Command, he has served in the Military Operations Directorate and the Perspective Planning Directorate at the Army Headquarters.

A recipient of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Bar to Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished services, he was also the Colonel of the Brigade of The Guards.

During his tenure as GOC-in-C, Western Command, Lt Gen Surinder Singh was closely involved in formulating futuristic operational concepts in offensive and defensive employments and also paved the roadmap for restructuring and modernisation. He also ensured improvement in the functioning of various Army institutions like Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre, Mohali, the Army Institute of Law, Veteran Sahayata Kendra and Army Placement Node.

When Manmohan Singh, who opened the new era of economic liberalisation back in 1991 during his tenure as Finance Minister, calls the current slowdown a man-made crisis, the NDA government can’t afford to dismiss his concerns as an opposition leader’s rant. The renowned economist has appealed to the powers that be to put aside vendetta politics and reach out to the ‘sane voices and thinking minds’ to revitalise the economy. Though the oblique reference to the contentious case of fellow Congress leader P Chidambaram could have been avoided, the former PM deserves to be heard, laying bare the malaise afflicting the economic ecosystem.

The tell-tale signs are too alarming to be ignored. India is no longer the fastest growing major economy in the world; according to India Today, it has been overtaken by China, Vietnam, Egypt and Indonesia. The GDP growth rate has dropped to a six-year low of 5 per cent for the April-June quarter; the rate was as high as 8 per cent in the corresponding period of the 2018-19 financial year. Pushed to the brink, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has reversed some of her budgetary proposals in a bid to allay the industry’s apprehensions. Rather than trying to defend the indefensible, she is coming up with corrective steps and reaching out to the stakeholders. However, there is a general perception that the government has taken too long to come out of the self-congratulatory mode after the landslide victory in the 2019 General Election.

The massive mandate that the BJP received — despite the widespread upheaval caused by demonetisation and GST— led to complacency that fuelled $5-trillion dreams. The rank failure of the Opposition to regroup also emboldened the ruling party to have visions of invincibility. The rampaging BJP might be expanding its footprint across the country, but the economic mess has well and truly cut short its honeymoon. Desperate measures like making the RBI part with

Rs 1.76 lakh crore won’t be of much help in the long run. Now that her mentor Arun Jaitley is not around, Sitharaman must pay heed to the voices that count, even if these emanate from the rival camp.

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 29

Soon, you will be able to post pictures of violations on the Municipal Corporation’s WhatsApp number and in return get rewarded too.

The civic body has decided to start a WhatsApp complaint number where residents will not only be able to post pictures of their grievances, but also of violations. MC Commissioner KK Yadav today asked officials to make arrangements and come up with a contact number and plan for the purpose.

Images of violations, including littering, dumping plastic waste, water wastage, sewerage issue, kundi connection from street lights and temporary encroachments, can be posted on the number.

Residents will be asked to post real-time picture, in which the date, time and place is mentioned, so that genuine pictures are posted on the WhatsApp number. If any violation is found at that place, officials will issue a challan and reward the person who has posted it. However, the reward amount is yet to be finalised.

With regard to grievances, a time frame will be fixed to resolve the problem. If the issue is not fixed by the official concerned in the given period, an explanation will be sought from him. “Everything will be online. If some issue is not being resolved or there is some inherent reason behind it, then the official himself has to state the reason,” shared an official.

MC officials said the number will later be merged with the service app to be started under the Smart City Mission. The app will have all 14 services, including water, birth/death certificate and property tax, being offered by the MC. All other departments falling under the UT Administration will also be there. Residents will be able to complain from this common app to all departments in the city.

The traffic police already run such a WhatApp number and Facebook page in the city, from where challans are issued on the basis of violation pictures posted on these by the general public.

How it will work

• The MC has decided to start a WhatsApp number where residents will not only be able to post pictures of their grievances, but also of violations in civic matters.
• If any violation is found at that place, officials will issue a challan and reward the person who has posted it. However, the reward amount is yet to be finalised.

Latest rules say Lt Colonels will not be promoted as ‘time-scale Colonels’ by the Army if their mental health is impacted by alcoholism or any form of substance abuse.

New Delhi: Lieutenant Colonels who are not in the best of psychological health because of alcoholism or any form of substance abuse will no longer be promoted as ‘time-scale Colonels’ by the Army, no matter how exceptionally they perform, ThePrint has learnt.

Time-scale Colonels are those Army officers who are given the rank after completing 26 years in service. Lt Colonels are eligible for promotion as Colonels after 16-18 years in service, but often miss the bus owing to a lack of vacancies or because they fail to clear the promotion board. These candidates are promoted as time-scale Colonels after 26 years.

Time-scale Colonels write the letters ‘TS’ against their rank.

The amended promotion rules were issued by the Personnel and Services Department of the Army last month.

The bar on promotions, a top Army source told ThePrint, will not apply if the cause of psychological issues is determined to be something else, like a stressful home situation, the loss of a loved one, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The psychological scale

The mental health of Army officers is determined through a five-point scale that runs from S1 to S5, where S1 constitutes the fittest one can be. These are ascertained by military psychiatrists. Qualification as S5, Army officials explained, leads to disqualification.

According to the Army’s tweaked promotion rules, Lt Colonels found to be in the “S2” category of psychological or mental health because of alcoholism or substance abuse will not be eligible for promotion, even if they have good Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs), which document a candidate’s performance, and are medically fit otherwise (vision, hearing, overall physiology, etc).

A steep pyramid

Colonels constitute the fifth rung of the hierarchy among Army officers, after Lieutenant, Captain, Major and Lieutenant Colonel.

The first four ranks are determined by the time personnel spend in the force: They are commissioned as Lieutenants, become Captains after two years of service, Majors after six years, and Lieutenant Colonels after 13 years.

After that, the hierarchy becomes steep, and promotion is incumbent on vacancies — when a Colonel is promoted as Brigadier or retires.

Lt Colonels thus get two kinds of promotions: One is ‘selection grade’ promotion, which takes place after a candidate completes 16 to 18 years of commissioned service. Candidates at this stage have to appear before a promotion board. As many as 50 per cent of Lt Colonels are not promoted as Colonels after the promotion board.

Those who are not empanelled as Colonels at this time are promoted as time-scale Colonels after 26 years of commissioned service, subject to consistently high ACRs and medical fitness.

So far, promotion as time-scale colonels was considered relatively more relaxed.

Another senior Army official said the measure was meant to put emphasis on the health of Army personnel.

“Most Lt Colonels miss being empanelled not because of reasons under their control, but because of lack of vacancies,” the official said. “This move will keep them motivated to take care of their health and fitness.”

Psychological health remains an important concern for armed forces personnel, who work under extreme work conditions and stress. This also reflects in the number of suicides involving military personnel in India.

Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said in a written reply to Parliament this year that 104 military personnel committed suicide in 2018.