Monthly Archives: August 2018

Neither France nor India knew about the sub data leak till Monday afternoon. Reuters file photo

New Delhi, August 26

The ‘whistleblower’ behind the Scorpene document leak will hand over the disk containing thousands of pages of data detailing the Indian submarine’s stealth and warfare capabilities to the Australian government on Monday, The Australian newspaper on Saturday said.

It said that the identity of the unnamed whistleblower is already known to the Australian authorities.

The weekend edition of the newspaper said that neither France nor India knew about the leak till Monday afternoon when it sought a comment from French firm DCNS.

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The paper said whistleblower wants Australia to know that its future submarine partner, France, has already lost control over secret data on India’s new submarines.

His hope is that this will spur the Turnbull government and DCNS to step up security to ensure Australia’s 50 billion dollar submarine project does not suffer the same fate, it said.

“He has not broken any law and the authorities know who he is. He plans to surrender the disk to the government on Monday,” the newspaper said.

The newspaper said the story behind this leak may be more of incompetence than espionage, more Austin Powers than James Bond.

The Weekend Australian has been told by sources that the data was removed from DCNS in Paris in 2011 by a former French Navy officer who quit the service in the early 1970s and worked for French defence companies for more than 30 years before becoming a subcontractor to DCNS.

Sources say they believe this subcontractor somehow copied the sensitive data from DCNS in France and, along with a French colleague, took it to a Southeast Asian country.

If so, he broke the law and may face prosecution, the paper said.

The two men worked in that Southeast Asian country carrying out unclassified naval defence work.

The speculation is that the data on Scorpene was removed to serve as a reference guide for the former naval officer’s new job, but it is unclear why anyone would risk breaking the law by taking classified data for such a purpose.

The two men are then said to have the fallen out with their employer, a private company run by a Western businessman.

They were sacked and refused re-entry to their building.

At least one of the men asked to retrieve the data on Scorpene but they were refused and the company — possibly not knowing the significance of the data — held on to it, the newspaper said.

The secret data was then sent to the company’s head office in Singapore, where the company’s IT chief — again probably not knowing its significance — tried to load it on an Internet server for the person in Sydney who was slated to replace the two sacked French workers.

The data was placed on a server on April 18, 2013, and it was then that it was dangerously vulnerable to hacking or interception by a foreign intelligence service.

It is not known whether the data stayed on this server for a few days or for a year. It is not known if any foreign intelligence service obtained it during this time, the paper said.

Unable to send such a large file over the net and not knowing the significance of the data, the Singapore company sent it on a data disk by regular post to Sydney.

When the recipient, who was experienced in defence issues, opened the file on his home computer he was stunned.

He was expecting to read notes on a low-level naval programme, but before him lay the secret capabilities of the new Indian submarine fleet, the report said.

The data was not encrypted so he transferred it to an encrypted disk. That evening the man wiped the old disk with special software, grabbed a hammer and smashed it to pieces in his backyard.

He placed the new encrypted disk in a locked filing cabinet in his office and there it remained for more than two years, before he decided to show it to the The Australian, the report said. — PTI

Army officers pay tributes to Lance Havildar Davinder Singh at Dakoha village in Jalandhar Cantt on Saturday. Tribune photo

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 20

Lance Havildar Davinder Singh (38) of 17 Sikh, who got injured in a fierce gunfight in the Machhil sector of Jammu and Kashmir on August 8, succumbed to his injuries yesterday.The Non-Commissioned Officer had received three gunshot wounds and was under treatment at the Army’s Referral and Research Hospital, New Delhi.Davinder Singh’s last rites were performed with full military and state honours here today. Major General Deepak Dhanda, Chief of Staff, Vajra Corps, KK Yadav, Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar, other senior military, civil dignitaries and leaders from various political parties paid tributes to the martyr.He was part of the operation launched near the Line of Control following information about presence of militants in the area in which three Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and one militant were killed and two Army personnel were injured. Davinder is survived by his wife Satwinder Kaur and 13-year-old son Jobanpreet. He was a native of Gurdaspur.

Jammu, August 14

The Army’s Northern Command chief Lt Gen DS Hooda today reviewed the security situation in Kashmir during his visit to the Awantipur-based Victor Force.Lt General Hooda was briefed by Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen Satish Dua and all General Officers Commanding of the LC formations and the Rashtriya Rifles on the security situation prevailing in the Valley.He also reviewed the measures taken for restoring calm and normalcy in coordination with all security and other government agencies.Expressing satisfaction over the synergised functioning of the entire security apparatus, Lt Gen Hooda stressed on the need to take necessary steps to ensure adequate domination and security of the lines of communication so as to keep them open for the public.He further stressed that free movement was necessary for providing essential services to the people. — TNS

ਸਿਆਚਿਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਫੌਜੀਆਂ ਦੀ ਜਾਨ ਨੂੰ ਖ਼ਤਰਾ ਬਣੀ ਤਪਸ਼

ਸਿਆਚਿਨ, 14 ਅਗਸਤ

ਵਾਤਾਵਰਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਆ ਰਹੀ ਤਬਦੀਲੀ ਨਾਲ ਸਿਆਚਿਨ ਗਲੇਸ਼ੀਅਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਤਾਇਨਾਤ ਜਵਾਨਾਂ ਲਈ ਜਿਥੇ ਹਾਲਾਤ ਦਿਨ-ਬ-ਦਿਨ ਔਖੇ ਤੋਂ ਔਖੇ ਹੁੰਦੇ ਜਾ ਰਹੇ ਹਨ ਉਥੇ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੀ ਜ਼ਿੰਦਗੀ ਵੀ ਖਤਰੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਹੈ। ਸਿਆਚਿਨ ਬੈਟਲ ਸਕੂਲ ਦੇ ਕਮਾਂਡੈਂਟ ਲੈਫਟੀਨੈਟ ਕਰਨਲ ਐਸ. ਸੇਨਗੁਪਤਾ ਨੇ ਦੱਸਿਆ ਕਿ ਸਿਆਚਿਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਮੌਸਮ ਦੀ ਖ਼ਰਾਬੀ ਕਾਰਨ ਜਿੰਨੇ ਜਵਾਨਾਂ ਦੀ ਮੌਤ ਹੋਈ ਹੈ ਓਨੀ ਦੁਸ਼ਮਣ ਦੀਆਂ ਗੋਲੀਆਂ ਨਾਲ ਨਹੀਂ ਹੋਈ।
ਇਸ ਬਾਰੇ ਇਸਰੋ, ਵਾਡੀਆ ਇੰਸਟੀਚਿਊਟ ਆਫ ਹਿਮਾਲੀਅਨ ਜਿਓਲੋਜੀ ਅਤੇ ਹੋਰ ਸੰਸਥਾਵਾਂ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਕੀਤੇ ਅਧਿਐਨ ਮੁਤਾਬਕ ਗਲੋਬਲ ਵਾਰਮਿੰਗ ਕਾਰਨ ਗਲੇਸ਼ੀਅਰ ਹਰ ਸਾਲ 5-20 ਮੀਟਰ ਪਿਘਲ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ। ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੱਸਿਆ ਕਿ ਇਥੇ ਬਰਫ ਦੇ ਤੋਦੇ ਡਿੱਗਣਾ ਵਾਤਾਵਰਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਆ ਰਹੀ ਤਬਦੀਲੀ ਦਾ ਹੀ ਨਤੀਜਾ ਹਨ। ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੱਸਿਆ ਕਿ ਵਾਤਾਵਰਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਵੱਧ ਰਹੀ ਗਰਮੀ ਕਾਰਨ ਗਲੇਸ਼ੀਅਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਤਰੇੜਾਂ ਪੈ ਜਾਂਦੀਆਂ ਹਨ ਜਿਸ ਕਾਰਨ ਬਰਫ਼ ਖਿਸਕਣੀ ਸ਼ੁਰੂ ਹੋ ਜਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ ਤੇ ਬਰਫ਼ ਦੇ ਤੋਦੇ ਡਿੱਗਣ ਲੱਗਦੇ ਹਨ। ਇਸ ਖਤਰੇ ਦੇ ਮੱਦੇਨਜ਼ਰ ਥਲ ਸੈਨਾ ਨੇ ਸਿਆਚਿਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਆਪਣੀ ਰਣਨੀਤੀ ਬਣਾਈ ਹੈ ਤੇ ਕਈ ਚੌਕੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਹਟਾ ਕੇ ਨਵੀਂ ਥਾਂ ’ਤੇ ਬਣਾ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਹੈ। ਇਸ ਦੇ ਨਾਲ ਬਰਫ਼ ਦੇ ਤੋਦਿਆਂ ਬਾਰੇ ਜਾਣਕਾਰੀ ਹਾਸਲ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ ਵਿਸ਼ੇਸ਼ ਰਾਡਾਰ ਪ੍ਰਣਾਲੀ ਵੀ ਸਥਾਪਤ ਕੀਤੀ ਗਈ ਹੈ। ਸਿਆਚਿਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਾਲ 2013 ਤੋਂ ਹੁਣ ਤੱਕ ਬਰਫ਼ ਦੇ ਤੋਦਿਆਂ ਕਾਰਨ ਭਾਰਤ ਦੇ 41 ਜਵਾਨਾਂ ਦੀ ਜਾਨ ਜਾ ਚੁੱਕੀ ਹੈ ਜਦ ਕਿ ਸਾਲ 2003 ਤੋਂ ਭਾਰਤ ਤੇ ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ ਦਰਮਿਆਨ ਹੋਈ ਗੋਲੀਬੰਦੀ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਇਥੇ ਇਕ ਵੀ ਗੋਲੀ ਨਹੀਂ ਚੱਲੀ। 1984 ਤੋਂ ਇਥੇ ਭਾਰਤ ਦੇ 1013 ਜਵਾਨ ਮਾਰੇ ਜਾ ਚੁੱਕੇ ਹਨ।

Parrikar being briefed by the Navy. ANI file

New Delhi, August 12There are “unlikely” to be any survivors on board the AN-32 aircraft that went missing over the Bay of Bengal on July 22, the government said in the Lok Sabha on Friday.This is perhaps the first categorical statement by the government on the fate of the 29 people on board the IAF plane.Minister of State for Defence Subhash Ramrao Bhamre said during Question Hour that it is “unlikely” that there are any survivors after so many days of the incident.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)He was responding to a question by Deputy Speaker M Thambi Durai, also an AIADMK member, who insisted that the search for the missing transport aircraft would not stop till its wreckage was found.The Minister said a variety of aircraft, including helicopters of the Air Force and Coast Guard, had been pressed into service to locate the plane. Merchant vessels and the fishermen community have also been requested to look for debris.As many as 30 floating objects were located but no “concrete” evidence has yet been found.The complete wreckage of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370, which had disappeared on March 8, 2014, had not been found so far, while the wreckage of a French airliner was found over a year after it had gone missing, Bhambre said, explaining the difficulties in finding the missing planes.He said the wreckage and remains of the crew of a Coast Guard Dornier aircraft were also found after several days.He said on the fateful day, the radars tracking the aircraft had found a “thunder cloud bad patch” but the plane was equipped with the device to avoid such a disturbance.The AN-32 had taken off on a routine courier flight to Port Blair from Tambaram air base near Chennai on July 22 at 8.30 am with six crew and 23 personnel, but never arrived at the destination. It was last seen on the radars at 9 am.Responding to a supplementary, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said that in the past 24 months, no life had been lost in an air crash involving Air Force planes, barring the case of the AN-32 incident.He clarified that the Dornier aircraft which went down last year belonged to the Coast Guard.In his written reply, Parrikar said the Air Force had lost seven aircraft in crashes in 2013-14 and 10 in 2014-15. In 2015-16, the number was six and up to August 9, four planes had crashed.“Upgradation, modernisation and replacement of military aircraft depend on the national security/threat perception, strategic objectives and operational requirements of the defence forces and are reviewed by the government from time to time. This is a continuous process,” he said.Former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi (TMC) wanted to ask a supplementary on the issue, but was apparently not allowed by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. “You never allow me to ask…what is the point sitting in the House,” he complained. PTI

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 1

The Controller-General of Defence Accounts, Delhi, will organise the 142nd defence pension adalat on August 26 and 27 at the Hayde auditorium in the Amritsar cantonment area.According to a press note issued here, pension-related grievances of defence pensioners and their families would be attended by officers from the PCDA (pension), Allahabad, also.Stating this, Santokh Raj, defence-pension disbursing officer, said efforts would be made to settle complaints on the spot. He said all defence pensioners were invited to attend the adalat in case they had any questions regarding their pension or were seeking any information thereof. He said ex-servicemen and their families having any pension-related grievance could obtain blank application forms from the office of Defence Pension Disbursing Office (DPDO), Amritsar, Zila Sainik Welfare Office, Amritsar, ECHS Polyclinic, Ex-servicemen Sahayata Kendra, Amritsar, CSD canteens and submit these in triplicate to the Nodal Officer, DPA Cell, DPDO, Amritsar office, up to August 19.

Jammu, July 31

Two soldiers were killed during a land mine blast in the Kargil sector along the LoC during a routine patrol duty, the Army said on Sunday.”The soldiers were martyred on July 29 while patrolling when they were caught in a mine blast,” Udhampur-based defence spokesman Col S D Goswami said.He said due to the effect of the blast Subedar Basappa Patil, who was the patrol leader and Sepoy Hasansab Khudavand, the leading scout, suffered injuries which proved to be fatal.Army today paid homage to the two soldiers, both hailing from Karnataka, in a wreath laying ceremony held at Leh, he said.”The bravehearts were honoured by all ranks of the 14 Corps. The mortal remains of the two are being flown to their native places where they will be accorded military funerals with full ceremonial honours,” Goswami said.Subedar Patil is survived by his wife a daughter and a son.”Sepoy Hasansab is survived by his mother, father, a younger sister and brother,” he said. — PTI

Maj Gen Satbir Singh,Chairman IESM(JM) write to Brig Indermohan ,President IESL Punjab unit on Whats App Groups::

A war of Words read at Voice of Ex-Servicemen Blog.Click link

http://voiceofesmpunjab.blogspot.in/

comments can be sent to Sanjha Morcha  sanjhamorcha303@gmail.com

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 13

After witnessing a consecutive decline in the number of premature retirements since 2013, the number of officers who opted to hang up their boots before reaching the age of superannuation has gone up in all three services this year.The reversal of trend, which some officers opine could be temporary, comes in the backdrop of the Armed Forces facing a continuing shortage of officers, which is about 17 per cent for the Army, 13 per cent for the Navy and minuscule for the Air Force.According to the Ministry of Defence, the number of premature retirements in the Army was 221 in 2013, 120 in 2014 and 62 in 2015. This figure till the end of May this year is 64.In the Navy, the retirements from 2013-15 were 96, 91 and 68, which went up to 89 in July this year. The corresponding figures for the Air Force are 131, 108 and 59, with the number of officers opting out early this year shooting up to 109 till the beginning of this month.Service conditions and monetary benefits remain the prime reason for officers leaving early.Sources said one reason for the downward trend in premature retirements in the recent past was the Seventh Pay Commission, for which officers were waiting in the hope to get a better pension package. “While there is an all-round hike in the salaries, and consequently the pension, the general perception in the services is that the pay commission has given them a raw deal and further eroded their status and equation vis-à-vis other Central Government services. Several anomalies and demands pertaining to the earlier pay commissions have also not been addressed,” an officer said.The Army has an authorised strength of 49,833 officers but currently has 41,162 officers, having to make do with a shortfall of 8,671 officers mostly at the junior level, which is operationally critical.With a shortage of 1,518 officers, the Navy has 9,866 officers against the authorised strength of 11,384. The Air Force, which reported no deficiency of officers last year, is now short of 29.

Sushma Swaraj with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. PTI

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 13

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today to discuss issues of mutual interest and to prepare for Modi’s China visit in September.India at the meetings, it is learnt, raised the issue of China blocking its Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership and also of China preventing Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar from being designated a terrorist by the United Nations. Sources in the government maintained that China did not bring up the issue of the South China Sea.Sources said Wang met Modi for about 20 minutes and briefed the PM on the G20 Summit to be held in China. Wang and Swaraj held three-hour discussions, including over lunch, where sources said a discussion was held on India’s NSG membership. It is learnt that India has offered to discuss any technical issues China may have. “It was agreed that the Directors-General of Disarmament of the two countries would meet soon.”India raised the issue of China’s technical hold on listing of Masood Azhar in the UN Security Council. Swaraj also expressed concern over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Sources said the two sides decided to set up a new mechanism at the level of the foreign secretaries to discuss ties.Wang arrived in the capital after his stopover in Goa where he visited the premises where the BRICS Summit will be hosted by India in October. Chinese President Xi Jinping will be among the world leaders who will attend the Summit and Wang’s visit to Goa was to oversee the preparations. Sources maintain it’s unusual for a foreign minister to oversee Summit’s preparations, but the Ministry of External Affairs shrugged it off as normal.Meanwhile, a commentary in Global Times made two points: India has “wrongly” blamed China for blocking its entry into NSG and that the door to NSG entry for India “is not tightly closed”.

Talks only on relevant issues: India to Pak

• New Delhi: A day after Pakistan said it wanted to have an exclusive dialogue with India on Jammu and Kashmir, the Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday said it was ready for talks but only on “contemporary and relevant” issues, including stoppage of Pakistan’s support to cross-border terrorism and infiltration of terrorists like Bahadur Ali”. PTI