Monthly Archives: August 2018

Sumedha Sharma,Tribune news Service,Gurgaon, March 12

Retired Wing Commander CK Sharma was placed in judicial custody till March 25 by a city court today for alleged financial irregularities committed in an organisation for defence veterans and their widows.Sharma was booked under Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of IPC and was arrested on Thursday night from his Palam Vihar residence. Sharma’s daughter Daughter Nisha Sharma took to Facebook to seek support for him claiming his arrest to be an outcome of political vendetta.“My father has fought both the wars for India and also led the OROP movement at Jantar mantar. He has never stolen Rs 1 all his life. The way he was arrested was shameful. Five policemen barged into my parents house, threw his phones away. He was just picked up from his bed (he has been hospitalised and sick for the last 2 weeks). And he is spending the night with diabetes, hyper tension and a heart condition. The police are not telling us where he is and what is his condition. The charges are fake and inspired by political vendetta please support the man who supported countless widows and armed forced personnel” read the post.Major General (Retd) Satbir Singh, who’s leading the OROP movement, tweeted, “this is utter high headedness of the Police against all norms in violation of Court orders. Please releas imdt. (sic)

”The police had booked Sharma along with Major General (retd.) Satbir Singh and Group Capt (retd) V K Gandhi on complaint of Lietenant General (retd) Raj Kadiyan, the chairman of Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM).

Not too long back, Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had asked the Congress-led government to stop writing “love letters” to Pakistan seeking its cooperation in terror probes. Mr Modi had sneered at the dissonance in the Congress-led government over tackling terrorism and counselled it to stop complaining to US President Barack Obama about Pakistan’s perfidy in promoting terrorism in India. Not to be left behind, senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, now the External Affairs Minister, ridiculed the Congress-led government for its pusillanimity. Had her side been in power, Swaraj suggested, the government would have avenged every Indian death from Pakistani machinations with at least 10 on the other side of the border.The vocabulary used at that time to weaken the then government’s attempt to persuade Pakistan to abandon terror as an instrument of foreign policy is coming back to haunt the BJP-led government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now banking on a Pakistani “love letter” in permitting its probe team access to the Pathankot air base. The Ministry of External Affairs is low key on the episode. The usually forthcoming Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, having smelt the unease among Army officers, has kept his counsel. Is it any wonder that the political forces at the receiving end of the BJP’s taunts and ridicule for the past decade are paying it back in the same currency?As it was with the Congress and other secular parties, there is a major political risk in permitting the Pakistani team to conduct its investigations without any signs of reciprocity. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, playing the lone hand for the government, might have missed out in failing to insist on an Indian team’s visit to Hafiz Saeed’s lair, the source of two mobile signals when the attack was carried out last January. Thus there is no fall back if the Pakistani team, on its return, reports that the access provided by India was insufficient for it to reach any conclusion. The Opposition will then give no leeway to a government that prides itself for giving a pass to consensus-driven politics.

Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 28

On the pattern of Punjab, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation is set to exempt defence personnel (serving and retired) from paying house tax. The agenda in this regard will come up for discussion in the MC House meeting on March 30. The agenda was proposed by nominated councillor Maj DS Sandhu (retd). Last year, the UT Administration had partially exempted defence personnel (serving and retired) from paying house tax. Those owning land up to 300 sq yards were exempted from paying the tax. Besides, the relief was not available for the portion, which was rented out. Sandhu said the defence personnel should be given complete exemption from house tax on the pattern of Punjab. In Punjab, there are no such conditions like exemption up to 300 sq yards and no relief on rented property so in Chandigarh too such conditions should be removed, he said. In 2014, the MC in its House meeting had approved an agenda for the exemption of house and property tax for 12,000 families of defence personnel settled in the city.But thereafter, the MC’s tax branch in its letter to the Secretary, Local Government Department, UT Administration, stated there was no provision to exempt defence personnel (serving or retired and their families) from payment of house and property tax on residential lands and buildings. Partial relief meant for only 1 % defence personnal Nominated councillor Maj DS Sandhu (retd) said the partial relief granted by the UT Administration only benefitted 1 per cent defence personnal of the city. A majority of them were not benefitted because of two conditions—no relief for rented portion of the house and exemption up to 300 sq yards are not in interst of the majority. Cong, BJP likely to support agenda during MC House meetingEyeing the next MC elections in December this year, both the Congress and the BJP are likely to support the agenda of complete exemption of house tax for defence personnel. Therefore, the agenda is likely to be passed in the MC House meeting.

Kolkata, March 28

A team of 14 pilots of the Indian Air Force has created a new national record by completing a 10,000-km-long paramotor adventure expedition.“It is a no mean feat considering that the pilots flew in an open cockpit remaining unprotected from the vagaries of weather and other elements while traversing through varying terrain ranging from mountains, coasts, forests and desert,” an Air Force spokesperson said.The IAF expedition ‘Pradakshina’ had set out on a 10,000-km-long flight on February 1 from IAF’s Kalaikunda airbase in West Bengal and came back to a rousing welcome this Saturday.The feat by the ‘Skyriders’ team of 14 Air Warriors led by Wg Cdr MPS Solanki surpassed the existing national record of 9,132 km. The team undertook circumnavigation of India along the periphery. The team followed the eastern coast to Kanyakumari before turning northwards along the western coast till Gujarat. — PTI

https://youtu.be/dC8nC3zdZoU

A spectacular display of the Indian Air Force’s combat and firepower capabilities began Friday in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Manohar Parrikar at the firing range here in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district.

http://

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 22

In a sign of diplomatic dexterity to signal a thaw in India’s relations with Pakistan and China, the Ministry of Defence has not directly named the two neighbours in an assessment about threats faced by the country.The assessment titled “security environment” is part of the ministry’s annual report released today. Other than small-clubbed references with Afghanistan, the word “Pakistan” is not mentioned in the assessment of security in the 238-page report that details out various activities of the ministry.It says: “The Af-Pak region in India’s neighbourhood continues to be the epicentre of international terrorism. There is continuing concern over terrorist threats emanating from India’s neighbourhood.”In another reference to Pakistan without naming it, the report says “…Challenges to internal security includes cross-border terrorism. The developments in J&K and Punjab have been a cause of concern, especially cross-border terror attacks and trafficking of arms and narcotics.”The report also does not name China but in an obvious reference to the dispute of navigation through the South China Sea and India’s interests, it says “India has major strategic interests as well as economic and commercial stakes in the Asia Pacific region…India supports freedom of navigation in international waters”.In the last year’s annual report, Pakistan and China had been named directly and even threats from these two countries had been elaborated upon. New Delhi’s military doctrine and war preparedness are geared at a collusive two-front war waged simultaneously by Pakistan to the west and China to the north.The last year’s report devoted ample references on Pakistan and China.

Panaji, March 21

In a significant disclosure, Goa Police have said 45-year-old chartered accountant Samir Sardana, a former army officer’s son who was arrested by the state anti-terrorism squad (ATS), is allegedly linked to the 2008 terror incidents in India.According to documents tabled during the recently concluded monsoon session of the Goa legislative assembly, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, quoting a summary of the police investigation, has said that Sardana, son of a retired Major General of the Indian Army, had as many as 35 e-mail IDs and of them only six have been examined by the investigating agencies so far.Parsekar’s written reply to a question raised by an opposition legislator, does not elaborate on the nature of the 2008 terror incidents. But Parsekar also categorically added that thus far “the suspected person could not be linked directly to any banned terror outfit beyond pre-operational level”.After his release on bail on February 11, Sardana had denied all the allegations and claimed he was harassed by the police because of his interest in Islam. “There was physical torture, racial taunts. They asked me: Why do you want to become a Muslim? What do you see in Islam? They used abusive language. They (police) said I have converted to Islam… No. I am a student of Islam, its meta-physics and such things,” he maintained.Police claim that Sardana has worked as a consultant for multi-national companies abroad. He was arrested by the ATS on February 1 from the Vasco railway station, 35 km from Panaji. — IANS