Tribune News Service,Chandigarh, January 25

As many as 15 distinguished service medals have been conferred on officers and men serving the Army’s Western Command on the occasion of the 67th Republic Day. In addition, 23 persons have been awarded Chief of the Army Staff’s Commendation Cards.General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lt Gen KJ Singh, and Chief of Staff, Western Command, Lt Gen Gurdeep Singh have been decorated with the Param Vishisht Seva Medal. Lt Gen Amarjeet Singh, General Officer Commanding 2 Corps and Lt Gen Rajeev Tiwari, General Officer Commanding 9 Corps, have been awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.Lt Gen R Ravindran, General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area, which is part of the Western Command, and Maj Gen AK Pant, posted at HQ Western Command, have been awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal. The Western Army Commander also awarded GOC-in-C Commendation Card to 280 persons and the Western Command Unit Citation to 19 units for their performance.

Braveheart who killed 10 ultras in 11 days

Tribune News Service,Jammu, January 25

Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami’s life is a saga of guts and glory of a soldier, who eliminated 10 terrorists in 11 days before laying down his life in the line of duty. He embodied soldiering; stood for it; stood by it-while he lived, and even in his death.The martyrdom and indeed selfless gallantry of late Lance Naik Mohan of the elite 9 Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) received a deserving recognition from a proud nation when he was posthumously conferred with the Ashok Chakra-country’s highest peacetime gallantry award on the occasion of the 67th Republic Day, said a Defence spokesperson.Lance Naik Goswami truly lived to a military quote that reads: “If I die in combat zone, box me up and send me home. Pin my medals to my chest and tell my mom I did my best.” An intrepid and indefatigable commando, Goswami was a natural choice of his commanders for any challenging mission and he was ever too willing to oblige.On September 2 last year, he was engaged in a fierce encounter with terrorists hiding in the Haphruda forest in Kupwara of North Kashmir. As the encounter raged, two of Goswami’s comrades were wounded.Undeterred by the intense volley of fire, he immediately rushed to rescue them and in the act, despite getting grievously wounded himself, he not only eliminated two terrorists, but also saved the lives of his comrades.Goswami succumbed to his injuries and made the supreme sacrifice in the highest traditions of the Army.As if to embrace danger and challenge, Goswami, who is fondly and proudly remembered by his comrades as one who could inspire and ignite patriotic fervour by his sheer presence alone, would volunteer for all risky missions.And within the preceding 10 days of the fateful day of September 2, he had been part of two more major operations in which 10 terrorists were eliminated in the Valley.

Five books on war heroes launched

• New Delhi: Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani on Monday launched the first batch of five books on lives of five Param Veer Chakra awardees. The “Veer-Gatha” series of illustrated books for children has been published by the National Book Trust. The minister has asked the CBSE and the NCERT to include these books as additional reading material for school students. TNS

9 Para hero gets Ashok Chakra

Lance Naik Mohan Goswami killed 10 ultras in 11 days

Tribune News Service,New Delhi, January 25

President Pranab Mukherjee has approved 365 gallantry awards and other defence decorations to the armed forces personnel and others on the eve of the 67th Republic Day. The nation’s highest peacetime gallantry award, Ashoka Chakra, has been awarded posthumously to Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami of 9 Para (Special Forces) posted in the 6th Battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles for his acts of most conspicuous gallantry. On the intervening night of September 2 and September 3, 2015 Lance Naik Goswami killed two terrorists  in Haphruda forest at Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. Colonel Santosh Mahadik of 41 RR (Maratha Light Infantry) has been awarded Shaurya Chakra posthumously. A dynamic officer, Col Mahadik was commanding 41 Rashtriya Rifles and laid down his life in the line of duty combating Pakistani terrorists in Manigah Forest of Kupwara district on November 17 last year.The awardees include four Kirti Chakras, 11 Shaurya Chakras, one Bar to Sena Medal (Gallantry), 48 Sena Medal (Gallantry), four Nao Sena Medal (Gallantry), two Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry), 29 Param Vishisht Seva Medal, five Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, four Bar to Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, 49 Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, 20 Yudh Seva Medal, three Bar to Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), 37 Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), eight Nao Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), 16 Vayu Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), five Bar to Vishisht Seva Medal and 118 Vishisht Seva Medal.

Awards for Pathankot hero, Kashmir braveheart

Charging battery-operated vehicles to be a tedious task, experts say efficacy less in colder climes

Pratibha Chauhan,Tribune News Service,Shimla, January 24

The Himachal government will run both the CNG as well as battery-operated electric vehicles on the 51-km stretch between Manali and Rohtang. But the setting up of the mother and daughter CNG filling stations in Una and Manali may take time.The Transport Department has decided to ply about 50 big CNG buses and 25 small battery-operated vehicles likely to cost about Rs 55 crore in the ecologically fragile stretch between Manali and Rohtang. However, there is uncertainty whether the state government will be able to have these eco-friendly vehicles in place by the start of the tourist season in April.“We will be procuring 50 big CNG buses on a 75:25 fund sharing basis and 25 small electric buses on 90:10 fund sharing basis so that these can be pressed into service,” informed Ajay Mittal, Additional Chief Secretary, Transport. He, however, added that the plying of CNG buses would be subject to the setting up of the CNG Mother Station in Una district and the Daughter Station at Manali.Perturbed over the delay in spelling out options that Himachal government was exploring, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had directed the authorities to apprise it of the progress in this regard. The NGT has banned plying of diesel and petrol vehicles between the popular tourist destination of Manali-Rohtang to save it from environmental degradation. With CNG supply being available only up to Sonepat, a CNG station will be set up by Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) in Una for which land transfer case has already been sent to the Revenue Department. A sum of Rs 12 crore is likely to be incurred on the setting up of the Daughter Station while the amount for the Mother Station will be more.The Union Ministry of Heavy Industries will provide a major share of the cost of the CNG and electric vehicles but despite having had trial run of CNG buses till Rohtang everyone is skeptical about the success of the experiment. In case of electric vehicles the situation is no different as these are being imported from the United Kingdom as these are not manufactured in India.The state government conducted trial runs for CNG buses in July last year after hiring a CNG bus from the Delhi Transport Corporation. The trial run for the electric vehicles was undertaken in December last year as the government had tied up with Mahindra and Mahindra. Maxi cabs were run in three different topographies of Shimla, Solan and Una to test their suitability.The issue of setting up of charging stations would be another task before the state government as a fully charged battery would be able to cover only a distance of about 110 km. While the time to fully charge a battery is about eight to nine hours, experts have suggested that the effectiveness of a fully charged battery is reduced by almost 40 per cent in colder climes.

Ravi Dhaliwal,Tribune News Service,Gurdaspur, January 21

A team of the National Investigation Team (NIA), probing the role of SP Salwinder Singh and his two acquaintances in the Pathankot airbase attack, raided the residences of all three here today.A senior officer said the raids were conducted after a lie-detector test was done on Salwinder Singh. He said all three were not being treated as “witnesses” but were being looked at as “accused”.The 24-member NIA team divided itself into four groups and started conducting searches around 6 am at the Civil Lines residence of Salwinder, Rori Mohalla house of cook Madan Gopal and the Onkar Nagar residence of Rajesh Verma. Around 10.30 am, a separate team raided and sealed Verma’s shop at Kazanchia Mohalla in the busy Sadar Bazaar.The raids were still on at the time of filing of the report. A search was also conducted at the SP’s Amritsar residence.Sources claimed the team members were looking for documents regarding assets accumulated by the three in the recent past. They said the search was necessitated because the statements of all three did not match when they were questioned together.SSP Gurpreet Singh Toor confirmed that the team had asked the Gurdaspur police to provide security. He said the investigators shared no information with the state police.Salwinder Singh had on Tuesday undergone a lie detector test in connection with the probe. He is at present posted as Assistant Commandant, 75th Punjab Armed Police, Jalandhar, after being shunted out as SP (Headquarters), Gurdaspur, following a departmental inquiry.

Mukesh Ranjan,Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 16Home Minister Rajnath Singh today met the top brass of intelligence and investigative agencies and also police chiefs of 13 states and discussed with them the threat perception mounted by the ever-growing influence of Islamic State (IS) among Indian youth, particularly through social media.The daylong meeting, attended by Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and Special Secretary (Internal Security) Ashok Prasad, discussed the situation arising out of some youths getting attracted towards the IS and the measures to deal with the emerging challenge.“The issues that were discussed included misuse of social media, sources of impetus that attract persons, specially youth, to Daesh (referred to Islamic State), the growth of Daesh influence in India’s neighbourhood and the best possible law enforcement response,” official sources in the MHA said.Noting that there is need for appropriate welfare schemes for minorities and fresh strategies to deal with new emerging social media trend, participants in the meeting felt that state governments should work on “capacity building” especially in the field of information technology.Reiterating India’s traditions and family values will triumph over the evil influence of IS, the Home Minister said while the traction that Daesh has “got in India is extremely limited, and almost insignificant relative to other countries”, there is still a need to “keep up vigil on all fronts” and not let down “the guard in any manner”.Singh said a large number of people and most Muslim organisations in India had come out against both Daesh and other forms of terrorism.The 13 states and Union Territory, which attended the interaction, are Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra.According to intelligence agencies, a total of 23 Indians have so far joined the IS of which six were reportedly killed in different incidents. Around 150 Indians are under surveillance for their alleged online links with ISIS, the MHA officials had said.

India celebrated its 68^th Army Day. India’s Army Day 2016 was celebrated on January 15, 2016 which also the 68^th Army Day of India. On this occassion, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Army Chief Genral Dalbir Singh, Navy Chief Admiral Robin Dhowan and Air Force Chief Arup Raha paid homage to the martyrs at Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate, New Delhi. At the same time, soldiers who sacrificed their life for India in 2015 as well as soldiers who showed courage in the line of duty were awarded on January 15, 2016 (Army Day 2016).

Army Day in India is celebrated in the remembrance of Lieutenant General (later Field Marshal) Kodandera Madappa Cariappa who took over as the first Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) of Indian Army ( of Independent India) from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) of British Indian Army, on January 15, 1949.

Kodandera Madappa Cariappa

Field Marshal Kodandera “Kipper” Madappa Cariappa was first Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) of Indian Army (of Independent India). He took the charge as Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) of Indian Army on January 15, 1949 from Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) of British Indian Army General Sir Francis Robert Roy Bucher. Kodandera Madappa Cariappa was succeeded by General Rajendrasinhji Jadeja as Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) of Indian Army.  He was also the one who headed the Indian Army on the Western Front during Indo-Pakistan War of 1947.

Born on January 28, 1899 Kodandera Madappa Cariappa was a native of Sanivarsanthe, Coorg Province (now in Karnataka) during British rule in India. He was among the two Indian Army officers to hold the highest rank of Field Marshal in Indian until present (the other Indian Army Officer to become Field Marshal was Sam Manekshaw). He retired from Indian Army in 1953. After his retirement, he was served as the High Commissioner to Australia and High Commissioner to New Zealand.

On May 15, 1993, Field Marshal Cariappa passed away in Bangalore, India. He was honoured with Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Vijay Mohan,Tribune News Service,Chandigarh, January 11

While holding that participation in adventure activities, when detailed for the same, was bona fide service duty, the Armed Force Tribunal (AFT) has termed as “perverse” and “malafide” Defence Accounts Department officials’ move to reject ex gratia benefits to the widow of an Air Force officer who had died during an expedition to Mt Everest 10 years ago.“Without applying the mind to the provisions, the case of the petitioner has been rejected. We hope that the government will take appropriate action against the delinquent officials for sitting over the issue for so long,” the AFT said.While descending after successfully summiting the Everest, the officer, Squadron Leader SS Chaitanya, had died in May 2005 due to a heavy storm. His wife had sought ex gratia.The Air Force had recommended ex gratia in accordance with the Rules of Casualty Pensionary Awards to Armed Forces Personnel, which state that mountaineering expeditions organised by the service authorities, with the approval of the Service Headquarters would be deemed to be ‘on duty’.The detailment orders issued for the officer by the Air Headquarters and the government sanction letter for the expedition were also produced on court record.An officer of the level of Joint Controller of Defence Accounts (JCDA), however, refused to grant ex gratia. The AFT said the respondent department had not filed reply as to why the payment has not been made and that the stand of the JCDA was that there was no casual connection in the occurrence of the death and the service rendered by the officer.Ruling that there was no dispute that the victim was on official duty, the AFT said it was pained to note that the matter was treated with utmost callousness without understanding the plight of the officer’s wife. It directed the authorities to release ex gratia within two months along with interest at the rate of 18 per cent per annum from the date of the officer’s death.

Punjab SP has been ‘less than truthful’ during interrogation, suspects NIA

Mukesh Ranjan,Tribune News Service,New Delhi, January 11

Questioning of Punjab SP Salwinder Singh by the National Investigation Agency today remained inconclusive as investigators suspected him of being “less than truthful”. His questioning will continue tomorrow.Singh and his two accomplices — Rajesh Verma and Madan Gopal — were abducted by terrorists involved in the Pathankot attack on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1 when they were returning from a shrine.Sources in the Punjab Police say the NIA would ask Salwinder Singh to explain what he had been doing for three hours, from the time he visited the dera till he was kidnapped. The distance between the dera and the site where he was abducted is about 5 km. The officer has been unable to explain what he was doing on this stretch for three hours.A separate NIA team continued to question Verma and Gopal in Pathankot. Sources said Gopal would be called to the NIA headquarters in Delhi and the date of his questioning would be intimated soon.Sources in the anti-terror probe agency said the NIA would soon ask Interpol to issue Black Corner Notice for establishing identity of the terrorists killed by security forces in the Pathankot air base.Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs said the NIA would review the answers of Salwinder and his two accomplices to decide whether they would be made accused or witness in the case.Singh reached the NIA headquarters at 10.45 am on Monday after being summoned by the anti-terror agency in connection with its investigation into the Pathankot attack. The police officer didn’t speak while entering the NIA office.Sources in the NIA said several discrepancies had been found in the versions of Salwinder and his two accomplices and thus the possibility of subjecting them to a lie detector test was not being ruled out.Meanwhile, since NIA has taken over the case, during its own searches in the air base complex, the investigators have found one AK-47 magazine and a mobile handset, besides several guns and huge quantity of explosives and aluminium powder handed over to it by security forces involved in the operation.The NIA has registered three cases in connection with the terror strike at the Pathankot IAF base. The first case pertains to abduction and the second to the killing of a taxi driver. The third case relates to the terrorist attack on the air base.

While holding that participation in adventure activities, when detailed for the same, was bona fide service duty, the Armed Force Tribunal (AFT) has termed as “perverse” and “malafide” Defence Accounts Department officials’ move to reject ex gratia benefits to the widow of an Air Force officer who had died during an expedition to Mt Everest 10 years ago.“Without applying the mind to the provisions, the case of the petitioner has been rejected. We hope that the government will take appropriate action against the delinquent officials for sitting over the issue for so long,” the AFT said.While descending after successfully summiting the Everest, the officer, Squadron Leader SS Chaitanya, had died in May 2005 due to a heavy storm. His wife had sought ex gratia.The Air Force had recommended ex gratia in accordance with the Rules of Casualty Pensionary Awards to Armed Forces Personnel, which state that mountaineering expeditions organised by the service authorities, with the approval of the Service Headquarters would be deemed to be ‘on duty’.The detailment orders issued for the officer by the Air Headquarters and the government sanction letter for the expedition were also produced on court record.An officer of the level of Joint Controller of Defence Accounts (JCDA), however, refused to grant ex gratia. The AFT said the respondent department had not filed reply as to why the payment has not been made and that the stand of the JCDA was that there was no casual connection in the occurrence of the death and the service rendered by the officer.Ruling that there was no dispute that the victim was on official duty, the AFT said it was pained to note that the matter was treated with utmost callousness without understanding the plight of the officer’s wife. It directed the authorities to release ex gratia within two months along with interest at the rate of 18 per cent per annum from the date of the officer’s death.

His accomplice will be summoned to Delhi

• A separate NIA team on Monday continued to question Punjab SP Salwinder Singh’s (pic) two accomplices — Rajesh Verma and Madan Gopal in Pathankot
• Sources say Gopal will be called to the NIA headquarters in Delhi and the date of his questioning will be announced soon
• Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs said the NIA would review the answers of the trio to decide whether they would be made accused or witness in the case