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Poonch, December 16

Muhammad Arif (18), who hails from Gali Pindi village in Poonch district, had lost his eyesight 12 years ago when lightning struck his house. He has recovered his vision now. The Army unit deployed in the area has made it possible for him to get back his vision.The news that Arif could get back his vision had brought joy to his family. However, doctors had declared that he could not get back his vision.Arif said, “I remember that I was in Class III when I lost my eyesight. A bright spark of lightning struck my house and I lost eyesight. My parents visited almost all hospitals in the state to get my eyes treated. All doctors refused, saying my eyes could not be treated.”“When my parents heard that the 12 Jat Regiment would organise a free eye camp at Sekloo village in Mandi tehsil last month, it again gave a ray hope to us,” Arif said.“I do not know how, but they did it. I thank the Army for the valuable help. I try to recognise my family members and friends from their voices, which I have been hearing for the past 12 years. I am very happy now,” Arif said.Arif’s sister Shamim Akhter said, “He was in Class III when he lost his eyesight. We used to help him do his daily activities as he was unable to do anything on his own.”“The 12 Jat unit has extended a helping hand and helped us get back his vision. He does everything on his own now and is more enthusiastic to take admission in school as a regular student. We are thankful to the 12 Jat Regiment,” Shamim said.Maj Arnav explained that they took Arif to the Army Hospital in Rajouri and consulted doctors there. He said they went in for eye surgery and succeeded in getting back his vision. Maj Arnav said, “We just did our job and are happy that the Army did it.”

Tribune News Service,Patiala, December 12

In an attempt to garner support and create awareness regarding the ongoing struggle of the ex-servicemen for the one rank, one pension (OROP), former Army man Harjinder Singh undertook an extensive motorbike ride across Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir  where he collected the soil of the places that hold significance for the defense forces. He started his campaign on December 5 and travelled along the Indo-Pak border and went to many important places such as Asal Utar. He even visited the national memorial dedicated to Shahid Bhagat Singh. He will now carry the soil to New Delhi to participate in the maha rally organised by the ex-servicemen in support of the cause. Kuldip Singh Grewal, president of the State Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association (SEWA), said they had already rejected the truncated OROP.

NEW DELHI: The government is now examining whether it should slightly relax the norms for denial of one rank, one pension (OROP) benefits to all military personnel who seek premature retirement (PMR).

Though the final decision will be taken after defence ministerManohar Parrikar returns from his ongoing visit to the US on December 12, sources said the “thought process” was that OROP could be granted to superseded officers who take PMR after continuing in service for four additional years.

Similarly, jawans and junior commissioned officers will get OROP if they have served three additional years after being overlooked for promotions. “But officers who opt for PMR without being passed over for promotions will not be eligible for OROP,” said a source.
According to the notification issued by the defence ministry on November 7, all military officers and jawans opting for PMR from now onwards — without exception – will not be eligible for OROP benefits. This has led to tremendous unease in the armed forces, who bank upon hundreds of officers and thousands of jawans taking PMR every year to keep themselves young and fighting fit.

“The entire cadre management of the forces, which have a steeply-pyramidal promotional structure, is dependent on these officers and jawans taking PMR after finishing their pensionable service. This ensures recruitment of young and fresh blood,” said a senior officer.

“If the superseded officers and jawans stay on in service to ensure they get OROP, they will block vacancies and reverse all the measures being implemented to reduce the age profile of the forces,” he added.

The government was earlier also forced to clarify that military personnel who had in the past opted for PMR would get OROP but fresh cases would be kept out of its ambit. In other words, it would be effective only prospectively.

Incidentally, it will cost the government an additional Rs 8,000-10,000 crore every year to implement OROP for the over 24 lakh ex-servicemen and six lakh widows around the country, as was reported by TOI earlier.

KV Prasad
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 6
India and Pakistan today broke ice through a meeting of the National Security Advisers in Bangkok, a move aimed at improving the atmosphere ahead of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Pakistan this week.
Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met Lt General Naseer Khan Janjua (retd) in the Thai capital. The meeting was kept under wraps.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and three others were in the delegation that met the Pakistan team away from the media glare to take forward the brief meeting Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan had in Paris recently.
“Discussions were held in a candid, cordial and constructive atmosphere. They were guided by the vision of the two leaders for a peaceful, stable and prosperous South Asia. Discussions covered peace and security, terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, and other issues, including tranquility along the Line of Control. It was agreed to carry forward the constructive engagement,” a joint press release issued at the end of the meeting said.
By holding the talks at a neutral venue, both sides managed to keep it secret, away from the media glare and Pakistan could do without insisting on having a word with the Hurriyat, a move that became a spoiler on two earlier occasions.
In August 2014, India pulled out of the Foreign Secretary-level talks after Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit met separatist leaders.
Sources here suggested the discussions went on for about four hours and all issues of concern, including India’s accent on the need to tackle terror by Pakistan, figured.
Besides Doval and Jaishankar, the delegation included former IB chief Asif Ibrahim, currently Modi’s special envoy on counter-terrorism, joint secretaries in PMO Javed Ashraf and Vinay Kwatra.
This is the first meeting between the NSAs of India and Pakistan since the scheduled talks during August were called off after acrimonious war of words over the agenda with Islamabad insisting on taking up Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi preferring to go by the Ufa statement focusing on terror.
In August, it could have been Sartaj Aziz, then holding twin charge as Foreign Affairs and National Security Adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. However, during October Pakistan appointed Lt General Janjua as the NSA.
After the Ufa meeting in July, both Prime Ministers agreed the two NSAs will meet and discuss terror to be followed by one between the Directors General of Military Operations and Heads of Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers. Of this, only the last engagement went as scheduled.
That the NSA talks happened ahead of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Pakistan for the Heart of Asia conference on Afghanistan being hosted there on Wednesday should also open the door for a meeting with Aziz.
BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said the statement at Bangkok “clearly shows that it is continuum. Substantive issues of the spirit of Ufa statement are well reflected”, while former Union Minister Manish Tewari sought to know what changed between September and December for this meeting to take place.

Terror, J&K on agenda

The meeting between National Security Advisers Ajit Doval and Lt General Naseer Khan Janjua (retd) in Bangkok was kept under wraps
The two sides discussed peace and security, terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, besides tranquility along the LoC
The meeting follows discussions between PMs Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of climate talks in Paris on November 30
n The previous engagement between the NSAs in August was called off after Pakistan insisted on discussing J-K

Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, December 4

A soldier of the Army’s elite counter-insurgency unit and two unidentified militants were killed in a firefight in north Kashmir’s frontier Kupwara district on Friday. The slain soldier has been identified as Naik Satish Kumar of Bhiwani, Haryana.
The firefight broke out in the Bawan Rajwar forest area in Handwara, nearly 90 km from here, after a joint party of the Army and the police were combing the thick forest area after information about the presence of four or five Lashkar-e-Toiba militants.
A search operation was jointly launched by 21 Rashtriya Rifles Battalion, Special Operations Group of the J&K Police and elite para commandos to track the group which had been on the run in the forest for the past nearly two weeks.
“As the combing was going on, militants this afternoon opened fire, which was retaliated by the forces. In the ensuing gunfight, two unidentified militants were killed and two soldiers of 21 Rashtriya Rifles were injured. One of the injured soldiers later succumbed to his injuries,” a police officer said.
Defence spokesman Col NN Joshi said: “The firefight has stopped, but the combing operation is underway. We have recovered two AK rifles, one under barrel grenade launcher, two radio sets and other war-like stores from the encounter site.”
Sources said the same group of militants had a brief contact with security forces on the evening of November 21 in the same area. The militants at that time, however, managed to escape. Today’s combing was an extension of the operation that was launched on November 21.
The firefight in Handwara forests comes at a time when a massive search operation continues in the adjoining Manigam forest of Kupwara for the past three weeks. In the Manigam operation, Commanding Officer of 21 Rashtriya Rifles Col Santosh Mahadik was killed and the second in Command of 160 Territorial Army Lt Col K S Natt was critically wounded and is battling for his life in a Delhi hospital.

Combing operation
A search operation was jointly launched by 21 Rashtriya Rifles Battalion, Special Operations Group of the J&K Police and elite para commandos to track the militant group which had been on the run in the Handwara forest for the past nearly two weeks.The firefight in Handwara forests comes at a time when a massive search operation continues in the adjoining Manigam forest of Kupwara for the past three weeks. In the Manigam operation, Commanding Officer of 21 Rashtriya Rifles Col Santosh Mahadik was killed

International media calls it ‘sign of thawing’ ties | BJP hopes to create ‘Akhand Bharat’ | Cong tells PM to be cautious

Washington, December 26

Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise visit to Lahore as a significant development in the ties between India and Pakistan, mainstream American media today said it was likely to add momentum to a tentative reconciliation process between them.“Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to Pakistan on Friday — a significant sign the icy relationship between the two neighbours is thawing,” CNN said. The Washington Post said Modi had “pressed the reset button on the blow-hot-blow-cold relationship” between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, paving the way for official dialogue to resume next month.The Wall Street Journal said Modi’s surprise move was “likely to add momentum to a tentative reconciliation process” between the nuclear-armed neighbours, while The Chicago Tribune noted it as “potential sign of thawing” relations.It is “the biggest surprise of all” of Modi’s diplomatic moves since he came to power on May 26, 2014, for which he had invited leaders of the South Asian countries, the Time magazine wrote.“It’s the first trip to the country by an Indian head of state in a decade — and could be a sign of improving relations between the two neighbours,” the popular National Public Radio said. According to The Los Angeles Times, with his Lahore visit Modi “breathed new life into a long troubled” relationship. The New York Times, which quite often has been critical of the Prime Minister, while underscoring the significance of Modi’s impromptu trip to Lahore said the Indian leader in the past had moved from one policy to the other and described it as “a diplomatic dance”.Twitter – where the Prime Minister first informed the world about his visit to Lahore – was abuzz with his decision to meet Sharif. All major American news outlets took to Twitter and other modes including SMS and emails to inform their readers about the breaking news from South Asia. Even on a Christmas Day, a number of think-tank experts and academicians expressed their views about Modi’s Lahore visit on the social media.“Unexpected but welcome visit” by Modi to Lahore, said Richard N Hass, president, Council on Foreign Relations, a top US think-tank. There is “need to make high-level” India-Pak “diplomacy routine”, he wrote on Twitter.Injecting an element of drama into the see-saw Indo-Pak ties, Modi took the world by surprise with a stopover in Lahore on his way back home from Kabul to meet Sharif and attend a family weeding. — PTI

Who said what

• A significant sign the icy relationship between the two neighbours is thawing. CNN
• Modi has pressed the reset button on the blow-hot-blow-cold relationship between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. The Washington Post
• Modi’s surprise move is likely to add momentum to a tentative reconciliation process between the two nations.The Wall Street Journal
• It is the biggest surprise of all of Modi’s diplomatic moves since he came to power. Time magazine
• The Indian leader in the past had moved from one policy to the other. It’s a diplomatic dance. The New York Times

A plot of land for India to build its first naval base in the Indian Ocean region has been allocated by the Seychelles government in the Assumption Island.

Lifting the veil of secrecy around the planned project, President James Michel of the Seychelles told The Hindu: “This is a joint project between India and Seychelles involving our two Defence Forces in enhancing our mutual security along our western seaboard. Seychelles is absolutely committed to the project.”

Seychelles is expecting India’s evaluation team to visit the spot soon, President Michel said. The project has acquired significance following China acquiring its first African naval base in Djibouti in November. Once ready, the naval base to be built by the defence forces of India, and Seychelles will help India exercise greater control over the Indian Ocean’s western region all the way to the piracy-prone eastern African coastline.

The base will be one of the major staging posts for a large maritime security network that India is setting up with the help of the various Indian Ocean region partner countries.

Apart from the naval base, India is set to acquire a fully operational coastal radar system (CRS) based in Seychelles from March 2016, Mr. Michel said. The CRS will provide India with the ability to gather intelligence and assist in surveillance operations of the vital energy lanes near Seychelles.

“The Maritime Radar Project is a major development for Seychelles’ and India’s mutual desire for security in the field of maritime security,” said President Michel, who was sworn in for a third term on December 20.

Fighting piracy

Security operation in the Indian Ocean region will also be helped by the leadership role that Seychelles has secured for itself in the Contact Group for Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS), which will hold its first meeting in Mumbai on January 31, 2016. “Both India and Seychelles have a vested interest in securitising the Western Indian Ocean. We have forged a partnership that has gone a fair distance in eradicating the scourge of Somalia-based piracy as well as other maritime security issues.”

Mr. Michel acknowledged that India has been steadily increasing its maritime and security cooperation with Seychelles and that a new patrol vessel from India will be handed over to Seychelles in mid-January 2016.

“These initiatives have greatly helped our security environment,” said the President who visited New Delhi in August. He had been persistent in building a security network to prevent piracy, arms trafficking and financial fraud in the banks of the Indian Ocean region islands.

India, with its strong intelligence network, will also be helpful in maritime law enforcement by Seychelles, he added. While declaring support for India’s maritime security plans, President Michel pointed out that small nations are equally important in the contemporary world order and need to be taken seriously for the sake of preserving the security and order.

Tribune News Service,Mandi, December 21

A three-member Border Roads Organisation (BRO) team from Manali today examined the strata of a hill near Thalout where a massive landslide had blocked the Manali-Chandigarh National Highway-21 in the district on December 7.The team include Col KP Rajendra Kumar, Commander, 38 Border Road Task Force (BRTF), Executive Engineer Anuj Jain and Junior Engineer Prakash.The Commander said they had inspected the spot and initially suggested the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to only remove the loose strata from the hill. He said the hill was still stable and the entire structure should not be disturbed. The NHAI took several days to remove the debris from the road. After the landslide, stones kept on rolling down the hill. The administration erected warning boards on both sides of the roads. The police had diverted the all vehicles from Mandi to Kullu and Kullu to Mandi via Katola in the district.Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kadam had sought the help of technical experts to examine the strata of the hill to avoid mishap in the future.Nearly 50 metre of the stretch of the highway was damaged in the landslide.

The Army and the nation on Wednesday observed Vijay Diwas and paid tributes to the soldiers who laid down their lives for the country in the 1971 India-Pakistan War.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi saluted the courage and indomitable spirit of the Indian Armed Forces.

“Today, on Vijay Diwas, we salute the courage and indomitable spirit of our armed forces. Their service to India is unparalleled”, Modi tweeted.

Vijay Diwas marks India’s victory over Pakistan in the war.
Read more at http://www.thestatesman.com/news/latest-headlines/pm-salutes-courage-of-indian-armed-forces-on-vijay-diwas/110881.html#cBkBR0A0idQIL0JE.99