The Indian Army, which has built a pontoon bridge on the Yamuna for the Art of Living Foundation’s upcoming World Culture Festival, is likely to build one more to ease movement of lakhs of people who are expected to attend the controversy-ridden mega event.

The development came even as there was criticism from some quarters, including the social media, about using the army to build the floating bridge for such an event.

“Lakhs of people are expected to turn up. There is a question of law and order and also fears of stampede. Permission has been granted by concerned authorities to host the event. If a permission has been given, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure everything is run smoothly,” a defence official told PTI.

Read: President Pranab Mukherjee not to attend Art of Living event in Delhi

They said the organisers had approached the defence ministry seeking six such bridges but the army was asked to erect only one. A second bridge has been erected by the PWD.

“The Delhi Police has now given a report saying that there are fears of stampede and hence the army might build another bridge,” the sources said, adding that a minister from the Delhi government has also written to the ministry highlighting the need for such bridges.

The source said defence minister Manohar Parrikar had asked the defence secretary to look into the issue. During his interaction with the army, the force wondered whether their personnel should be used to help a “private event”.

“The minister was of the view that since permission has been granted, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure everything was fine. The army, which has the expertise, was asked to step in keeping the larger good of people in mind,” the sources said.

Read: Art of Living event along Yamuna’s floodplain creates controversy

They added that the army has been used during Kumbh Mela and even the Commonwealth Games.

Told that the event has come under the scanner of the National Green Tribunal, which looks after the environmental issues, sources said the army is only helping people and it is up to the concerned authorities to grant permission or withdraw it.

President Pranab Mukherjee will not attend the festival in the wake of controversy over holding the three-day cultural function on the Yamuna flood plains beginning Friday.

Mukherjee had earlier agreed to attend the valedictory ceremony on Sunday.

While the organisers of the function expect lakhs of people to attend the function, concerns have been raised by experts about the damage to the environment that may be caused as the three-day event was being held on flood plains of the river in east Delhi.

Read: Art of Living didn’t inform about scale of event at Yamuna plains: DDA

The National Green Tribunal is hearing a petition which has claimed that the organisers will release ‘enzymes’ into 17 drains that flow into Yamuna for cleaning the river. A judgment is expected on Tuesday.

Parents of the late Lt Col Bikramjit Singh break down at the Municipal Corporation function held for honouring martyrs at the Terraced Garden in Sector 33, Chandigarh, on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Parvesh Chauhan

Tribune News service

Chandigarh, March 23

UT(Chandigarh) Member Parliament Kirron Kher, and Mayor Arun Sood today laid a wreath at the Martyr’s Pillar at the Terraced Garden in Sector 33 and paid homage to Shaheed-e-Azam S Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev on the martyrdom anniversary and the martyrs from the defence forces, who belonged to Chandigarh and made supreme sacrifices in various wars or in other military operations for safeguarding the unity, integrity and sovereignty of the nation.Various patriotic songs and dances were presented by little girls from the city and a skit “Bhediya” was staged by students of GCG-II, Chandigarh. The chief guest and Mayor honoured the veer naaris from the Army, Chandigarh Police, Fire and Emergency, Department, MC, prominent amongst others who were present on the occasion included Hardeep Singh, Deputy Mayor, Rajesh Gupta, area councillor, Maj DS Sandhu, councillor, Rajiv Gupta, Joint Commissioner, Poonam Sharma, former Mayor, Harjinder Kaur, former Mayor, Pardeep Chhabra, former Mayor, Harphool Chander Kalyan, former Mayor, Gurbax Rawat, former Deputy Mayor and other prominent persons,and senioer officers from the city and the Municipal Corporation, respectively.

Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag along with his wife Namita Suhag at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Sunday. Tribune photo

GS Paul

Tribune News Service,Amritsar, March 6

The Chief of Army Staff, General Dalbir Singh Suhag, has assured to intervene in the matter related to “missing” rare Sikh manuscripts, books and artifacts seized by the Indian Army from the Golden Temple complex during Operation Bluestar in June 1984.This was confirmed by SGPC chief secretary Harcharan Singh who interacted with the Army Chief during the latter’s visit to the Golden Temple with his family today.The rare documents, which even included some centuries-old manuscripts signed by some Sikh gurus and original texts of Sikh scholars of medieval periods, were kept in the Sikh reference library in the Golden Temple till June 7, 1984.On June 7, during the Operation Bluestar the Army allegedly took away all documents from the library and around 25,000 books, which were subsequently passed on to the Indian security agencies.While the government claimed that most of documents in the library were burnt after it caught fire during exchange of fire, the Sikh leadership since then has been claiming that manuscripts and books were taken away by the Indian security forces.Harcharan Singh said, “We discussed with the Army chief about the missing rare manuscripts and books. He in turn assured to examine it thoroughly and will communicate us back about his findings. We are also appealing to the state government to take up the matter with the Defence Minister.”The Army Chief is in Amritsar to present the Standard to 18 Cavalry, a frontline Armoured Regiment of the Indian Army, currently operating along the western borders on behalf of the President. 

Rare documents

• The rare documents, which even included some centuries-old manuscripts signed by some Sikh gurus and original texts of Sikh scholars of medieval periods, were kept in the Sikh reference library in the Golden Temple till June 7, 1984.

SGPC seeks return of missing Golden Temple manuscripts

Skydivers of the Akash Ganga team of the Air Force make a formation in Jammu on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Amarjeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 22

The ‘Akash Ganga’ team of the Indian Air Force and Air Warriors’ symphony orchestra stole IAF Mela at the MA Stadium here today.Led by Wing Commander AK Yadav, 11 skydivers of the Akash Ganga team jumped off IAF flying machines from an altitude of 8,000 feet and formed various formations before touching the ground amid applause from the audience.It was the Akash Ganga skydiving team’s maiden display in Jammu.Though the “drill to thrill” — display of weapon handling skills by nicely attired Air Force personnel, martial arts presentation by the Garud Commando Force of the IAF and gravity-defying maneuvers on the skyline by three UAV’s (unmanned aerial vehicles) — drew applause, renditions by Air Warriors’ symphony orchestra stole the show.Air Officer Commanding, Jammu Air Force Station, Air Commodore Ashutosh Lal; former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah; Nagrota MLA Devinder Singh Rana; state BJP president and sitting MLA Sat Sharma; and BJP legislator Rajesh Gupta were present at the event.

Supporters of Mumtaz Qadri (inset) shower rose petals on the ambulance carrying his body for the funeral in Rawalpindi. Reuters

TRY and remember the last time you saw a crowd in Liaquat Bagh as large as the one we just saw on Tuesday. That ill-fated park, which has seen two prime ministers assassinated, has hosted political gatherings since the earliest days of Pakistan, but you will have to travel more than two decades back in time to find a gathering as large as this one.  Try and remember the day Salmaan Taseer was assassinated by Qadri, whose funeral has taken on such historic qualities. Can you recall what the various political parties were doing on that day? In the days leading up to the assassination, the PPP was struggling to keep its hold on power as the MQM had left the coalition. On the day of the murder, the MQM was threatening to also withdraw from the Sindh government. And only minutes before the bullets flew, Nawaz Sharif had issued an ultimatum to the government to implement a 10-point agenda dictated by his party or face eviction from the Punjab government, where the parties were coalition partners. He gave the government three days to respond. When news of the assassination was flashed all over the country the PML-N spokesman, graciously decided to extend the deadline by another three days. The next day the PML-Q, little more than a memory itself now, announced that it would support a no-confidence motion in Parliament if Nawaz Sharif were to introduce one. Even before the bloodstains were cleansed from the site of the gruesome murder, it was business as usual for the political leadership. It would be worth pausing here to note the irony behind Nawaz Sharif having to bear the consequences of hanging the murderer of his own arch-enemy. Remember also that Mumtaz Qadri was a member of the Elite Force of Punjab. The New York Times reported he had been “removed from a special police branch several years ago because of his extremist religious views”, and reinducted in 2008, when Shahbaz Sharif became the chief minister of Punjab. This paper carried a report saying “the IG of Special Branch, Mr Nasir Durrani, had released a report last year in which it had been pointed out that Mumtaz Qadri and 10 other policemen had some nexus with religious extremists and it was suggested that they should not be deployed on VIP duty.”It was also reported that three days prior to the assassination, Qadri had organised a ‘religious ceremony’ at home, which according to other police officials quoted in the same report, ought to have flagged him for observation by the Intelligence Bureau and the Special Branch. Recall also that Shahbaz Sharif, who bravely begged the Taliban to spare Punjab from their ferocious bombing campaign around the country, did not attend the funeral of the assassinated governor of the very province of which he was the sitting chief minister.  Over the years, we have whistled casually past all the milestones that announce the spread of extremist mindsets in our society. Lal Masjid was one such milestone. The assassination of Salmaan Taseer was another. What lessons were learned from these episodes, and where do we see the impact of these lessons? The last milestone has been the tragedy at Army Public School last year. We have finally woken up to the threat posed by the spread of violent extremism. Good, but just look at the sights from the funeral to see what we have woken up to. In local government elections last November several banners erected by PTI candidates carried large pictures of Mumtaz Qadri. When it was pointed out, Naeem ul Haque, the party’s central information secretary, tweeted that “PTI wishes to dissociate completely from certain posters in Karachi LB campaign glorifying convicted killers”. Dissociate from certain posters? What about your coalition partners whose head has just led the funeral prayers for one of these “convicted killers”? All political forces need to say it loud and clear: Convicted murderers will receive the punishment the law says they should receive. They should collectively put out a message that the only road forward for Pakistan is an inclusive and a progressive one. Many countries realised decades ago that the death penalty does not work as an instrument to fight violent crime. It is even more ineffective in fighting religiously inspired militancy. It is crucial that the memory of Qadri does not morph into a legend to inspire future generations. Islamabad must loudly proclaim what kind of Pakistan it is committed to building. Rawalpindi must visibly bury its history of using religious militancy as a tool in foreign adventures.We must climb down the pole of denial that we climbed up, unless we want to wake up yet again in a Pakistan where the picture of Quaid-i-Azam has been replaced with that of a garlanded Mumtaz Qadri in government offices across the country. By arrangement with the Dawn.

Sandeep Dikshit,Tribune News Service,Chandigarh, February 29

The course correction in Narendra Modi’s government’s emphasis on the political economy that began after the setback of the Bihar elections found full reflection in Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s budget speech today. Union Budget in graphicsThe entire address was an exercise in front-loading the government’s empathy with the rural sector and the less privileged urban dweller, while consciously backpedalling initiatives to promote the pro-business and liberalisation sentiment. Was it any wonder that Jaitley gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet Smart City theme a pass? While Jaitley mentioned farmer and agriculture over 50 times, he spelt out the industry-friendly measures only once in the first 70 paras of the Budget speech. Despite his upbeat projections, question marks remain on some major farm sector initiatives. With banks in trouble and food credit slipping, does the Government have enough left to extend the farm credit of Rs 9 lakh crore this fiscal? Saved from the blushes due to a massive inflow of revenues from the oil and the telecom sectors, Jaitley managed to calm fears about the government overshooting the limit for overspending by sticking to the targets.This bonanza helped Jaitley withstand the pressure from outgoes on the one rank, one pension (OROP) scheme and the Seventh Pay Commission, and helped him extend direct relief to a section of the salaried class and pensioners, step up the allocation for infrastructure, especially roads, highways and power and announce several farm-friendly proposals.The disappointment over the taxing of Provident Fund withdrawals was explained away as bringing parity in the tax treatment of long-term retirement products.As the outlay remained generous for rural employment, crop insurance, village roads and irrigation, Jaitley was careful to ensure that the industry was taken care of. The Budget and its Finance Bill gave ample space to measures to reduce litigation in infrastructure-related construction, simplify taxation for the industry and propose changes in insurance and pension, asset reconstruction companies, stock exchanges and SEBI. The Budget itself is being reformed and the distinction between Plan and non-Plan will be completely eliminated in the next Budget.More industry-friendly measures flowed in the latter part of the speech though several were couched in a language assuring universal payback. Among them were leveraging India’s maritime outreach by incentivising deep-sea gas discovery and exploration, undertaking important banking sector reforms and several changes in the FDI policy.While Jaitley has banked on borrowings, an ambitious uptick in the economy and extra service tax for funding farm-friendly proposals, the macroeconomic situation remained on the edge. The Make-in-India and Startup India seem to be at the gestation stage because instead of manufacturing, services sector has gained according to the Budget figures. The tax base was also heavily dependent on corporate tax and service tax receipts while little lip service was paid to the continuous deceleration in exports. This precariousness of the financial situation would have compelled Jaitley to tap every taxable avenue, from a 1-4 per cent cess on automobiles to the doubling of clean energy cess.

UNION BUDGET 2016-17
Arun Kumar

Pretending to be pro-poor, little change over UPA

While giving concessions worth Rs1,000 crore in the direct taxes paid by the rich, the government plans to net an extra Rs 19,000 crore in indirect taxes, which are contributed by all. This reveals a regressive intent.

Like all Union budgets, this one also is long on promises but hides the real dynamics, namely, how the resources are to be raised for the promised very substantial expenditures. The budget is targeting more than Rs 19 lakh crore of expenditures. This is enough to give small amounts to almost every section of Indian society. Based on this increase the Finance Minister has claimed a budget that is pro-farmer and pro other marginalised sections of society. But, what is also clear is that these schemes often do not require budgetary allocations and can be financed through bank loans. Also some are mere policy announcements with little budgetary implications.In this respect, the budget indicates that the government is more or less continuing with the policies of the UPA regime. That is what it had done last year as well. The one important lesson that the NDA government learnt last year was that its political losses were due to its image of being anti-poor and pro-business – Rahul Gandhi’s ‘suit boot ki sarkar’. The budget attempts to correct that image. The UPA had also tried the same in its last few budgets. No wonder, the government has made many pro-poor announcements. Arun Jaitley likes the number 9, since he has listed nine points of ‘transformative agenda’ and as many of ‘tax reform’.The government has given direct tax concessions and will forego almost Rs 1,000 crore in direct taxes while hoping to collect Rs 19,000 crore additional from indirect taxes. This reveals the real intent of the government. Direct taxes are paid by the well-off (only 4 per cent of Indians pay direct taxes, and these are the well-off) while indirect taxes are paid by everyone and tend to cascade into increased prices via consumption for the poor. Thus, a decline in the share of direct taxes is an indication of a regressive scheme of things.The Economic Survey had indicated that India has one of the lowest tax/GDP and direct tax/GDP ratios. The Survey hinted that taxes on the rich may be raised and their subsidies cut. However, apart from some tinkering, the overall reduction in direct taxes indicates that the rich are not likely to bear any major increase in taxation. This author has been proposing since the late 1980s an increase in wealth taxation and estate duty to reduce inequities but this is nowhere in sight. Mr. Picketty has also argued for these measures and the Economic Survey raised expectations that these policies may be finally introduced.The black money schemes if effectively implemented could have increased direct taxes’ collection substantially. However, the NDA government has not been successful in tackling the black economy in spite of the various schemes it has introduced since it came to power. For instance, little has been declared out of the hoards of black wealth held abroad. The gold monetisation scheme has also not been successful. The new schemes in this budget which give concessions from penalties and prosecution amount to an amnesty to those who have not declared their incomes in the past. However, the government cannot call it that since it gave an undertaking to the Supreme Court in 1997 that in the future it will not introduce any voluntary disclosure schemes. These schemes cannot succeed unless the government is willing to be tough but that would send an anti-business signal and the NDA regime does not wish to do that.The Finance Minister announced proudly that in 2015-16 the Plan expenditures have not been cut to attain the fiscal deficit target and he is correct in this. In the preceding five years there have been massive cuts in this. This year’s good performance has been possible because the tax collections have been on target. This is due to the decline in the petroleum goods prices and the non-passing of that decrease to the public by raising excise duties. Excise duty collection has gone up by approximately Rs 50,000 crore over the budget estimates. This has compensated for the decrease in direct taxes by around Rs 50,000 crore. Non-tax revenue has gone up by Rs 37,000 crore over the budget estimates with the net result that the total revenue collection has gone up. States’ share has gone down by about Rs 17,000 crore, thus leading to an increase in the Centre’s share of revenue.The implication is that the revenue buoyancy of direct taxes has been less than that assumed last year. What it also suggests is that the economy is not growing at around 7 per cent, as assumed in the budget. This is also apparent from the repeated attempts of the Ministry of Finance to improve demand in the economy. Businesses are also repeatedly asking for interest rate cuts to boost demand.Assuming a 7 per cent rate of growth for the coming year may also lead to miscalculations. This year’s budget has been drafted in an uncertain environment emanating from both the internal and external situations. The Finance Minister has flagged this. The implication is that there is need to be cautious rather than ambitious. The external sector can short-circuit the growth of the Indian economy and make the budgetary calculations go wrong. Unless the correct figures are used for growth and the rate of inflation, errors can get multiplied in case of any exogenous shock.Finally, the Union Budget is first an instrument of macro-economic policy and then of micro-economic policies. If the calculus of the former is incorrect then the latter are likely to fail. Given the international situation of declining commodity prices and likely shortfall in growth, the package for farmers and for the marginalised sections — the highlight of the budget — is likely to also yield partial results.The writer is retired Professor, JNU.

Google has removed an app accused of spying on the Indian Army from its official PlayStore. According to CNN-IBN, the app – called Smesh — was allegedly being used by Pakistan Intelligence agencies to monitor the movement of troops and to acquire crucial information related to the army and its counter terrorism operations.

The app which was seen till late Monday night was immediately removed after investigation revealed it to be a spyware app. The Indian Army has blacklisted the app.

The investigation revealed the involvement of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) behind this cyber threat. According to reports, ISI was using the app to spy on the army through the smartphone of military personnel.

SmeshApp was found stealing information including one’s movements, phone calls, messages and even photographs. The information collected was saved on a server located in Germany and hosted by an unknown person based out of Karachi.

The investigation showed that this app was also used during the Pathankot Terror Attack in January 2016 by Pakistani handlers to procure vital information. These handlers reportedly lured soldiers through fake Facebook profiles. It was also revealed that several Indian military officials were unknowingly in touch with Pakistani handlers through these fake profiles on Facebook.

According to the reports, the app was aimed at all the three services of the armed forces — Army, Navy and Air Force. Army had issued new guidelines post-Pathankot attack for using messaging app WhatsApp. As per the new norms any Army man can access WhatsApp account in their individual name without revealing their original identity.  Mention of rank and posting is strictly prohibited. Also, only personal messages should be shared in the messages even with family

Soldiers scan the area along the LoC fence for landmines. A Tribune Photo

Shyam Sood

Rajouri, March 13

No major firing incident and infiltration attempt has been reported since the Brigadier-level flag meeting between India and Pakistan in September in Poonch after more than 20 days of heavy firing and mortar shelling.“Since the Brigadier-level flag meeting between both countries, no major incidents, including ceasefire violations and infiltration attempts, have been reported in our area of operation or at other places. However, our troops are ready to meet any challenge from across the border,” said Colonel MS Garewal, Commanding Officer of the Punjab Regiment.A senior Army officer deployed along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district said: “Pakistan can’t be trusted for taking forward the confidence-building measures agreed at the Brigadier-level flag meeting, including maintaining truce, return of civilians who cross the border inadvertently, air space violations and construction activities close to the Line of Control.”He said: “Our troops are guarding the LoC and the fence round the clock and are ready to foil any nefarious design of Pakistan.”The work to install new fence, equipped with sensitive night vision surveillance instruments and other modern gadgets, is also in progress in both frontier districts of Poonch and Rajouri and will ensure zero infiltration in future.