Fire and Fury Corps personnel perform yoga at a forward location on Tuesday. A Tribune Photo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 21

International Yoga Day was celebrated by the Army’s Fire and Fury Corps today at Siachen Glacier, Leh, Kargil and other forward locations along the border.Apart from giving an impetus to physical fitness, the event aimed to popularise yoga and spread awareness on its benefits among the soldiers.Giving details, defence spokesperson SD Goswami said that the Army had incorporated yoga ‘asanas’ into the daily routine of the soldier in high altitude areas deployed in harsh climatic conditions. “Practice of yoga by soldiers in such environment helps them to combat various diseases such as high altitude sickness, hypoxia, pulmonary odema and psychological stress of isolation and fatigue. The respiratory adaptations of ‘pranayama’ help the soldiers to better adapt to the low oxygen environment in high altitude areas,” he said.Goswami added, “A positive, well-relaxed and de-stressed body and mind is the most significant benefit of yoga which in turn assists the soldiers to operate successfully, in such a challenging environment. The yoga sessions at all locations were organised by trained instructors who explained and demonstrated the correct postures for various ‘asanas’ while explaining their benefits.

Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar sits inside the cockpit during the inaugural flight of India”s indigenous basic training aircraft at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited airport in Bengaluru on Friday. PTI

Bengaluru, June 17

Public sector aerospace and defence major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Friday inaugurated indigenous Basic Trainer Aircraft (BTA) HTT-40 here in the presence of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

“The indigenous content on HTT-40 is close to 80 per cent. Almost 50 per cent of the components on HTT-40 are manufactured by private players of the Indian aerospace ecosystem,” said Parrikar, congratulating HAL on the achievement.

He highlighted that the role of private players and nedium and small enterprises (MSMEs) has been significant in producing the parts for HTT-40 and said the Indian Air Force (IAF) is feeling positive with all these developments.

Parrikar said commercial production of the trainer aircraft can generate nearly Rs 3,000-4,000 crore. While the IAF will procure 70 HTT-40, it may also go up to 200, based on demand.

Talking about the inaugural flight demonstrated by Group Vaptains C. Subramaniam and Venugopal, HAL CMD T. Suvarna Raju described it as flawless.

“It is remarkable feat that the aircraft in its inaugural flight carried out low speed pass, a series of turns, high speed pass and short-landing using reverse thrust which is a unique feature available on this engine-propeller combination,” said Raju.

He added that the project will go full throttle to get the BTA certified in 2018, to be achieved by the manufacture of three prototypes and two static test specimens.

It only took one year for the company to fly the first prototype after launching the detailed design of the aircraft by earmarking internal resources only in August 2013 and completing the detailed design phase by May 2015.

Digital Mock Up (DMU), real time systems clash analysis, laser tracking of assembly jigs, six degree of freedom, mathematical model and complete glass cockpit are among the many first initiatives of the project.

According to HAL, HTT-40 has been designed to meet the current requirement of the IAF with the provision for role expansion to attach weapons to the trainer aircraft. — IANS

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. File photo

Hyderabad, June 10

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will attend the commissioning ceremony of three women officers as fighter pilots for the first time in the IAF history on June 18 at Air Force Academy in Dundigal near here.On the occasion, Parrikar will review the Passing out Parade and confer the “President’s Commission” to 129 graduating trainees of various branches including 22 women trainees.The graduation parade, which will be held as part of successful completion of the pre-commissioning training by the flight cadets of various branches of Indian Air Force will be a landmark event in the history of IAF, as the first three women pilots will be commissioned in the fighter stream of the flying branch, a defence release stated.The women to be inducted as fighter pilots are Bhavana Kant, Mohana Singh and Avani Chaturvedi.They will go to Bidar in Karnataka for their stage-III training for a year on Hawk advanced jet trainers, before they get to fly supersonic warplanes.Six female cadets were competing to become fighter pilots after the government, in a landmark move, approved an IAF plan in October to induct them as fighter pilots.However, only three female trainees were selected for the fighter stream.Parrikar will also present the “wings and brevets” to the newly-commissioned officers of the flying branch and to the officers from sister services i.e. Navy and Coast Guard who have successfully undergone the flying training.The reviewing officer will present the President’s Plaque and the Sword of Honour to the flight cadet standing first in the order of merit in ‘flying branch’ who will have the privilege of commanding the parade, stated the release.The reviewing officer will also award the President’s Plaque to the toppers (first in overall merit) in the navigation and ground duty branches of the graduating course. — PT

Islamabad, June 8

Pakistan has failed to take concrete action to keep a lid on banned militant outfits such as Hafiz Saeed-led Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, which continuously resurface under new names challenging the government’s authority, a media report said today.Under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997, it is the job of the Interior Ministry to determine whether any group is to be banned, but it should also keep tabs on such organisations and prevent them from re-emerging, the report said.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook and Twitter @thetribunechd)However, the ministry has failed to take concrete action to restrain actions of groups beyond adding their name to a central list, the daily said.“The ministry presented a list of banned organisations to the Senate in December 2015 with 61 names on it. That list has not been updated since nor has it been made available to the public,” it said.The daily said one of the organisations which circumvented the government’s restrictions was LeT, led by 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Saeed, which was banned in 2002. “The group and Saeed were able to reinvent themselves under the banner of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and expand their operations into a vast charity network,” the daily said. It said despite being sanctioned by the UN, the government had only kept the outfit on “observation” while its chief “Saeed continued to headline events”. — PTI

India’s missile test may complicate issues: Aziz

• India’s recent test-firing of an anti-ballistic missile system may give it a ‘false sense’ of security but could lead to ‘unexpected complications’, Pakistan’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has warned
• Concerned over the May 15 successful test-firing of indigenously developed supersonic interceptor missile capable of destroying any incoming ballistic missile from a test range off Odisha coast, Aziz said such actions were contrary to India’s policy of a friendly neighbourhood

Pak’ll stop India’s NSG bid: Aziz

Islamabad: Pakistan is lobbying “effectively and pro-actively” in all member countries of the NSG over India’s efforts to join the 48-member exclusive club, Pakistan’s top foreign affairs adviser has said. The adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, told the Senate that Pakistan’s “efforts towards non-discriminatory approach will pay off”. IANS

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 3

To protect civilians living in border areas of Jammu, where 16 civilians were killed and another 71 injured in 222 incidents of cross-border shelling and firing by Pakistan in 2015, the Union Ministry of Home affairs has approved the construction of 60 community bunkers under a pilot project.This was revealed today by the J&K Government in the state Assembly. A pilot project worth Rs 300 lakh has been sanctioned for the purpose and the work on the concrete community bunkers is already in progress.Legislator Gagan Bhagat in his question had sought information and the status of the proposal with regard to the allotment of “5 marla plots” to border residents to help them escape the firing and shelling by the Pakistani troops from across the border.In a written reply by the Chief Minister, who also holds the charge of state Home Affairs, the Lower House was today informed that pursuant to the recommendations by the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee, the Ministry of Home Affairs had sought a proposal from the state government for providing financial support for provision of alternative safe shelters to the inhabitants of border areas of Jammu.Accordingly, a resolution was passed by the State Legislative Council on April 9, 2015, for allotment of 5 marlas to the persons living near the international border and the Line of Control in J&K.However, during subsequent discussions with the MHA, it was felt that the construction of community bunkers would be safer than providing land for alternative shelters at safer places as it would have lead to depopulation of the border areas, which would not be in the interest of the state and the nation, the reply further revealed.“Accordingly, a proposal was submitted to the MHA for construction of 20,125 community bunkers for an amount of Rs 1006.25 core in the border districts of the Jammu division,” the Chief Minister stated in her written reply.“The MHA has approved the construction of 60 concrete community-type bunkers in border blocks of Jammu district for an amount of Rs 300 lakh as a pilot project. The work on the construction of these bunkers is in progress,” the reply read.

The plea came up before a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath which ordered that the matter be listed before another bench on Thursday. –Delhi High Court premises

A PIL for a public hearing on ex- servicemen’s grievances by the one-member judicial commission on OROP was on Wednesday moved before the Delhi High Court which is likely to hear the matter on Thursday.

The plea, which has also sought directions to the government to extend the duration of the commission headed by Justice (retired) L Narasimha Reddy, came up before a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath which ordered that the matter be listed before another bench on Thursday.

The petition, filed by ex-serviceman S P Singh through advocates Vijender Mahndiyan and Satya Rajan Swain, has sought directions to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the commission “to give an effective public hearing to those affected or aggrieved by implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP)”.According to the petition, as per an MoD letter dated April 13, 2016, “Defence Forces pensioners/family pensioners, Defence Pensioners’ Associations can submit their representation, suggestions/views on the revised pension as notified, to the MoD, through post or by email within 15 days i.e. by April 29, 2016”. The petitioner has contended that this information was not published in the newspapers and, therefore, people were not informed and added that even the time limit given to forward the representations was “very short”. He has also contended that asking those aggrieved to forward their grievances to MoD was “unfair and violative of principles of natural justice” as representations would be against the government. “…the basic lacuna in the whole mechanism is that the representations will go to the One-Member Judicial Commission through the Ministry of Defence; therefore, it is not fair as the representations will be against the Ministry only. Secondly, the affected persons will be hesitant to send their grievances through the ministry,” the petition has said. It had also said that since mechanism adopted for consultation was written representations alone and no oral representation was allowed, it is “violative of the basic concept of effective hearing”. Another grievance raised in the plea was that the government has not shared the correspondence address or contact details of the commission despite making several requests. The petitioner has claimed that “due to non-availability of correspondence address, the aggrieved persons have not been able to share their concerns with the judicial commission, which is expected to finalise its report by mid June 2016”. – See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/pil-in-delhi-hc-for-public-hearing-before-orop-commission-2828925/#sthash.erMdR395.dpuf

The Seventh Pay Commission has recommended One Rank, One Pension (OROP) for all civilian employees.

Seventh Pay Commission chairman Justice (Retd.) A K Mathur on Wednesday said it appears that the report has been accepted in toto.

He said the One Rank, One Pension is one of the peculiar recommendations made to the government which has not been given so far.

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“Though the army employees used to get the One Rank, One Pension, but the civilians will also get the same One Rank, One Pension. This is a very peculiar feature. No pay commission gave that,” he added.

READ | 7th Pay Commission: Govt ‘by and large’ accepts recommendations, minimum pay now Rs 18,000

Justice (Retd.) Mathur said the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission will involve an additional expenditure for the government in terms of 1, 02,100 crores.

“That will include the increase in the pay structure, allowances as well as the pension for the retired employees. The peculiar feature of this report is that we have done away with the grade pay and given an open metric system,” said Justice (Retd.) Mathur.

“It will be a very transparent system. The people will know where they stand. We have given them the entire manner in which they can find out their place in the metrics and after that they can determine their pay,” he added.

Justice (Retd.) Mathur further said there are various allowances including house rent, transport, children’s education.

“A person who enters in the government service can reasonably expect to get about Rs 24,000 per month. We have also recommended that the government employees should be covered by health insurance for everybody,” he said.

“We have also made a recommendation that the educational allowance should also be increased. We have also made a recommendation for very good allowances and perks for the army personnel. We have also given all paramilitary forces almost identical benefits as are given to the defence personnel,” he added.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the recommendations will be implemented from 1st January this year. He said, the Pay Commission covers 47 lakh government employees and 53 lakh pensioners.

The Minister said the entry level salary for government employees will be Rs 18,000 against the existing Rs 7,000 per month.

Jaitley said based on minimum pay, fitment factor of 2.57 has been approved for revising pay of all employees uniformly across all levels.

The Minister informed that Seventh Pay Commission recommendations on Allowances will be referred to a Committee headed by the Finance Secretary.

Beijing, June 27

China has said the vexed border dispute with India and some “emerging new issues” pose a “major challenge” to the development of bilateral ties.“As the two neighbouring countries, China and India have historical issues such as the border dispute and also some emerging new issues with the development of the relations between the two countries. How to deal with these issues is a major challenge for the relationship between the two countries,” Chinese Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Li Huilai said.“The two sides have agreed to strengthen communication and dialogue, and to seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution through friendly consultations, and to manage and control these issues,” he said. —PTI

PM Narendra Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tashkent. PTI

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23

India made the final push for its entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tashkent today. While Modi asked Jinping to “make a fair and objective assessment of India’s application”, the news coming from Seoul, where a special session of the NSG is being held to discuss India’s membership, was not that positive.Apart from China, which has been vocal about its opposition, Brazil, New Zealand, Ireland and Turkey were also not welcoming about India’s induction into the elite nuclear club. Most of these nations have expressed reservations about India not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The special session of the NSG, which began post-dinner in Seoul, concluded without reaching any decision on India’s membership. The discussions will continue tomorrow when a final call on India’s candidature can be expected.Meanwhile, Pakistan made sure that it was not left behind in the game for the NSG membership and its President Mamnoon Hussain also met Jinping in Tashkent today. According to a press note issued by the Pakistan foreign ministry, both leaders discussed the issue of Pakistan’s entry into the NSG.Pakistan has been consistently saying if an exception can be made for India, it should also be allowed to join the NSG. Both India and Pakistan have not signed the NPT. Hussain told Jinping that “any exception given for NSG membership could disturb strategic stability in South Asia”.The meeting between Modi and Jinping lasted for about 45 minutes. The Ministry of External Affairs said most of the meeting was devoted to this issue and Modi told Jinping that “China should contribute to the emerging consensus in Seoul”. The Chinese side did not come out with any details of the meeting and made no comments on what had been the response of Jinping to the Modi’s request.Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar led a team of officials in Seoul, lobbying for India’s candidature. Despite the US, the UK, France and Switzerland backing the India’s bid, the going has been tough for India.While China’s opposition was always known, what might come as a shock to many here is the resistance being put up by smaller countries. India, in a bid to woo many of these nations, had sent senior diplomats of the foreign ministry to these countries so as to address their concerns.For now, the suspense continues as discussion will resume in Seoul tomorrow morning on India’s bid for the NSG membership. The final outcome will then seal the deal for India—one way or the other.

Australia reiterates support on NSG

Harinder Sidhu

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23

Australia today reiterated its strong support to India joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group, maintaining that Canberra feels the NSG should remain open for any country based on merit and willing to go through the process.“Australia has been very, very supportive of India joining the NSG. We think it is an absolutely good thing, we genuinely welcome India’s interests in the NSG and in the other non-proliferation regimes too (Wassenar and Australia group). It demonstrates to us India’s seriousness of intent of being a responsible nuclear actor. And we think India can make a solid contribution to the NSG,” new Australian High Commissioner Harinder Sidhu told The Tribune in an exclusive interview, her first here.Full interview: ‘I always had a strong sense of my Punjabi roots’Asked whether India had reached out to Australia to impress upon New Zealand, which has reservations over New Delhi’s admission to NSG, she said while Canberra has spoken to Wellington about its position, as an independent and sovereign country, New Zealand will make its own decisions.With “both sides of her parents born in Punjab”, the envoy said her focus was to take forward the bilateral relations on a higher plane.Australia, she said, is streamlining the process for Indian students who can apply online for travel permits. The number of students from India studying in Australia crossed the 50,000-mark last year and this year some 70,000 are applying.

U-TURN Beijing mutes opposition a day after saying India’s application not on Seoul agenda; US reinforces support

BEIJING: Hours after Washington reiterated its support for New Delhi’s bid to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, China toned down on Tuesday its opposition to India’s admission to the elite club, saying members were open to discussing the inclusion of countries that are still to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a nuclear arms control pact.

The position adopted by China marked a shift from its assertion on Monday that India’s application to join the 48-nation NSG was not on the agenda of the organisation’s plenary in Seoul on June 23-24.

“The door is still open within the NSG for non-NPT members to join,” foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said. “There is always room for discussion.”

“We did not target any country, India or Pakistan. We only care about the non-proliferation treaty,” she said, suggesting that the topic of including non-NPT countries in the NSG could “probably” come up during the plenary.

China, which is perceived to be acting at the behest of its “all weather ally” Pakistan, has blocked India’s bid by linking it to the NPT. Neither India nor Pakistan has signed the NPT. Days after India applied, Pakistan responded with a bid of its own to join the NSG. Indian sources said they were making every effort to get into the club, making realistic assessments of hurdles and devising means to overcome them.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi too will take up the issue with Chinese President Xi Jingping on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Tashkent on June 23.

As the Americans and the Japanese continued to work the phone lines to drum up support for India, reports suggested foreign secretary S Jaishankar is likely to travel to Seoul to marshal Indian efforts to get membership of the NSG. But the sources admitted that while China remained the biggest challenge, there were some other countries, including Austria and Ireland, which have reservations about a non-NPT member being admitted to the exclusive club.

“We are working the phone lines, convincing members about our impeccable non-proliferation credentials and remain hopeful of becoming a member of the NSG. Of course, such negotiations go down to the wire,” a source said. The NSG functions by consensus and opposition from even one member will mean that India will not be able to gain entry. The NPT is the “cornerstone” of the NSG and the nonproliferation regime, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua said. “The NSG members should focus on whether the criteria (of admitting new members) should be changed,” she said, underlining fears that such a move could have implications for the Iran nuclear deal and the situation in North Korea.

The US, she said, was the country which made the rule that non-NPT countries should not be allowed to join the NSG.

But on Monday, the US again called on NSG members to back India’s application in Seoul. “We believe, and this has been US policy for some time, that India is ready for membership and the US calls on participating governments to support India’s application,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

India enjoys most of the benefits of membership under a 2008 exemption to NSG rules granted to support its nuclear cooperation deal with Washington.

Other than China, no other nation is openly backing Pakistan because of its track record. The father of its nuclear weapons programme ran an illicit network for years that sold nuclear secrets to countries, including North Korea and Iran.

An op-ed in the Chinese state-run Global Times tried to downplay Islamabad’s role in the proliferation of nuclear secrets. “Actually, the proliferation carried out by Pakistan was done by Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan’s chief nuclear scientist, and was not an official policy of the Pakistani government,” it said.