Monthly Archives: August 2018

Bhanu P Lohumi,Tribune News Service,Shimla, February 7

Shimla and its surrounding areas experienced the season’s first heavy snowfall today. It has been snowing in the tribal areas and other hills since morning.The state capital received 18 cm of snow. Showers accompanied by strong winds lashed the city in the morning while it started snowing towards the evening.Vehicular movement towards upper Shimla remained affected as the snow blocked the Hindustan-Tibet National Highway, state highways and link roads in the interiors.Rampur-bound buses were diverted through Basantpur and Kingal as the national highway was blocked at Fagu, Kufri and Narkanda. The Shimla-Rohroo and Shimla Chopal roads were also blocked.Shimla, donning a white mantle, looked fascinating. The area between Kufri and Fagu experienced 35 cm of snow.The Dhauladhar Range in Kangra district received less than 45 to 50 cm of snow while Rohtang, Kunzam, Saach and Chansel Passes have been receiving continuous snowfall since morning.Mercury dropped from 16 degree Celsius to 5.2 degree Celsius in Shimla, which experienced the warmest day on February 5, with the maximum temperature soaring to 21.8 degree Celsius. Keylong and Kalpa received 35 cm and 30 cm of snow.Power connections have been snapped in Lahaul due to heavy snowfall.Dharamsala received 50 mm rain, Manali 30 mm, Chamba, Sundernagar and Kalatop 23 mm each, Bhuntar and Bajaura 20 mm, Gaggal 19 mm, Jogindernagar 17 mm, Sarkaghat 15 mm and Baijnath 13 mm.The Met Department has predicted rain and snow in the higher hills on February 8, 9 and rain and snow in low, mid and high hills from February 10 to 13. Director of the department Manmohan Singh said the rain deficit of the season was now 70 per cent.Snow brings cheers to residents, tourists

Ravi Dhaliwal,Tribune News Service,Pathankot, February 2

The Army nabbed a labourer, Irshad Ahmed, working inside the Mamoon cantonment on charges of spying for Pakistan. He was handed over to the Punjab Police. After interrogation by the police and intelligence agencies, a case under the Officials Secret Act was filed against him.A top official said that for the past several days, agencies had been keeping a watch on his activities.They were alerted by intelligence sources in New Delhi last evening that he had been regularly making calls to Pakistan. RK Bakshi, Pathankot SSP, confirmed Ahmed’s arrest.Investigators are trying to ascertain if Ahmed had provided logistic help to the six terrorists who entered the Pathankot air base on January 2. An officer said Ahmed was an ISI agent who collected “sensitive information on Indian military bases for his handler Sajjad.” Intelligence officials have recovered photos of military installations from Ahmed’s cellphone. Sajjad, who was recently arrested in Jammu, will now be questioned on the basis of Ahmed’s confessions.The Pathankot Cantonment is one of the biggest and most sensitive military bases of the Indian Army. Likewise, the Air Force station located nearby, has sophisticated fighter planes, helicopters and high-end assets.

Panaji: Pakistan and China do not feature in the list of 117 countries invited to participate in the Defence Expo which would be held in Goa in March, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday said.

“We have not invited Pakistan and China to exhibit their technology at the event. The delegation from China would be arriving, but they cannot be called participants of the Defence Expo,” Parrikar said.

“We have not invited Pakistan and China to exhibit their technology at the event. The delegation from China would be arriving, but they cannot be called participants of the Defence Expo,” Parrikar said

“Pakistan is neither participating nor is their delegation allowed. Even if they intend to come and witness the expo, that too is not permitted,” he added.

Of the 117 countries invited to exhibit their wares at the exhibition, 44 had confirmed the presence, he said. As many as 881 companies had confirmed their participation, Parrikar said.

The event is slated to take place at Betul in south Goa from March 28 to 31. Goa is hosting the Defence Expo for the first time. Aero Show, to take place next year, would be held at Yelahanka near Bangalore, he said, ruling out Goa as a venue.

“To host the Aero Show you need an airport and Goa does not have that facility. We can’t have it till the new airport is in place,” said the former Goa Chief Minister.

The Defence Expo is facing opposition from a section of locals and some politicians who allege that land would be acquired permanently on the pretext of Expo. But the state government has said that structures put up for the exhibition would be temporary.

New Delhi, February 15

The Supreme Court approved Indian Army’s promotions under ‘command and exit’ model, subject to creation of additional posts for the affected divisions, on Monday.

Under the policy the Army’s infantry and artillery officers were given priority while giving promotions.

The Central Government had appealed an order by Armed Forces Tribunal order in which quashed the policy in May 2015.

In the previous hearing, the Central Government had proposed creating 141 additional vacancies for promotion of the officers of combat support units to also accommodate officers aggrieved by the Army’s 2009 promotion policy, which gave preference to those posted in Artillery and Infantry divisions

The command exit policy was framed in 2009 on the recommendations of AV Singh committee for reducing the age of colonels in combat units in line with the practice in Pakistan, China and Japan. — Agencies/ TNS

Chandigarh, February 25

To bestow due honour and accord to the sacrifice of gallantry award winners of the Army, the rail underbridge at the Chandimandir Military Station has been dedicated to Lt Col AB Tarapore, who was decorated posthumously with the Param Vir Chakra, the highest award for gallantry.The bridge has now been christened ‘Tarapore Setu’. Key milestones in the history of the Western Command have been pictorially depicted along the parapets of the bridge.Lt Col Tarapore, the Commanding Officer of 17 Horse, laid down his life while capturing Phillora on the western frontier on September 16 during the 1965 Indo-Pak War.Lt Gen KJ Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, said the bridge, now named in the war hero’s memory, would continue to inspire future generations to dedicate their lives towards nation building. — TNS

Tribune News Service,Amritsar, February 13

The Cantonment police station has booked six unidentified persons on the charge of attempt to murder. They allegedly attacked an ex-serviceman, deputed as a gunman with an owner of an eatery joint in the Gate Hakima area here.Sukhdev Singh, the complainant and a resident of the Kot Khalsa area, stated to the police that he was returning home late last night when the accused, armed with sharp-edged and blunt weapons, came on motorbikes and suddenly attacked him. He said he fell down from his motorcycle while the accused ran away after snatching his .12-bore rifle with two cartridges.Manjit Singh, investigating officer, said a case under Sections 307, 323, 379, 148 and 149, IPC, has been registered in this regard. He said efforts were being made to identify the culprits while no arrest has been made so far.

Questions must be asked, errors pin-pointed and those conducting counter-terrorist operations held responsible. Neutralising a handful of terrorists, with heavy casualties of the Security Forces is not professional. Why do we not draw lessons from the actions taken recently in France and earlier in US?

The mother of Captain Tushar Mahajan, killed in a gun battle with militants at Pampore, breaks down near her son’s coffin. PTI

Repeatedly, one witnesses counter-terrorist operations resulting in undue casualties to our troops, be it Pathankot and now at Pampore, Srinagar. The earlier instances of Samba and elsewhere notwithstanding. What is most striking is that the casualties suffered by our security forces in such operations are always a multiple of that suffered by the terrorists. Let us compare this to the operations of Americans and other armies in Afghanistan. They too were faced with such a situation to begin with, but very quickly they reoriented their method of engagement with better intelligence, inducted better technology such as the extensive use of drones and pin-point  targeting weapons, and above all providing high-end fatigue and personal gear to the soldiers. Through such efforts they have reduced their casualties to a very low percentage. On the other hand, even after more than 25 years of operations in Jammu and Kashmir, and an even larger background experience in India, we have still not refined our response mechanism, equipment or intelligence-gathering methods to an adequate degree. Ironically, we have the advantage of conducting an operation within our territory, thus have the opportunity of freedom and speed of movement and flexibility in such operations. We are also familiar with the terrain and language, help of the local administration is easily available and the Government and the command-and-control structure is our own. Add to this, decades of hands-on experience. A negative factor that is affecting our anti-terrorist operations is the easy and unaccounted availability of funds. Our intelligence-gathering has degenerated to purchasing intelligence through informers, thus the delay and inaccuracies. An additional factor is the lack of appropriate and adequate equipment with the troops engaged in actual anti-terrorist operations.  The close combat weapons used by our troops in such operations are more akin to military operations as against anti-terrorist operations. An example is how our troops still use a very old version of rocket launchers to engage militants in a building or a hideout. It not only hampers the quick movement of troops, but gives away their position easily and can at best only punch a hole in the structure. It cannot incapacitate or blind the occupants, to facilitate further operations. The methods of engagement are as they were years back. Better equipment and engagement methods thus require upgradation. In the absence of such upgradation, casualties will continue to be high and frequent surprises due to the lack of accurate and updated intelligence will result in improper as well as inadequate response. These inadequacies are covered by shouting nationalistic slogans and the glorification of frequent cremations. First and foremost, the tendency to resort to a graduated response in a given terrorist operation is the first pitfall.  We saw it recently at Pathankot. It was first left to the Garuds of the IAF to neutralise the militants who had achieved total surprise in the first place. Once they were overwhelmed and casualties resulted, cordoning off by the police was considered adequate with a special forces team flown in. In such a manner, ultimately a much larger force got engaged, there were higher casualties and the command and control went out of hand. There was a similar situation at Pampore recently. In the given operation at Pampore, a pertinent question is: How can a trained military mind think of a few special forces’ persons storming a five-storey building (like the one in question at Pampore) , without first pinning down or incapacitating the terrorists. As a result, there were high casualties and the subsequent very familiar glorification of cremation. It is only thereafter that higher commanders in charge of the operation come on camera to say that time will not be a constraint, but a very deliberate operation will be undertaken to minimise casualties.  There are already high casualties and a number of days have been exhausted with no definite information about the terrorists. Are young lives in India so cheap?It is time questions were asked, errors pin-pointed and those conducting these operations held responsible. Neutralising a handful of terrorists, with heavy casualties of the security forces is no professional work. Above all, why do we not draw lessons from the actions taken very recently in France and earlier in the US, by constantly tracking a militant outfit and pre-empting its actions, so that they cannot resort to the luxury of undetected movement and surprise the security forces by mounting an attack as audacious as the one at Pathankot. It is time to set our house in order. Public sentiment must be targeted towards high casualties and not limited to a glorified funeral of these brave young men, which begins and ends as quickly with nationalistic slogans. Accountability, both political and at the level of operation, will hopefully be the outcome.

Jammu, February 11

A soldier allegedly shot himself dead with his service rifle at a forward post on the Line of Control in Poonch district today.The deceased has been identified as Naik Krishan Kumar of the 12 Jat Regiment.— TNS