Governor Acharya Devvrat honours a senior journalist during the inauguration of a campaign against drug addiction organised by the Press Club in Shimla on Wednesday. Photo: Amit Kanwar

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 15

Governor Acharya Devvrat today stressed the need for launching a mass movement to combat the drug menace which, he said, was the biggest threat to any society as drugs had gripped the younger generation.The Governor was speaking at the launch of a campaign organised by the Shimla Press Club against drug addiction. “The easiest way to destroy any nation is to get its youth addicted to drugs, which is so visible in states like Mizoram and Punjab,” he said.He said every section of society would have to join hands to save the youth from drugs as all forms of narcotics were being pumped into the country.He said he had seen many families being devastated with their children becoming drug victims. “Each one of us needs to make a resolve to ensure that the menace does not grip the youth of Himachal,” he said. The energy of the youth need to be channelised towards healthy living, including yoga and physical activity.He regretted the situation in Punjab was so alarming that it was getting difficult to find the youth who were physically fit to join the Army. “Punjab, which sent the most well-built and valiant soldiers to fight the enemies on the borders, is grappling with drug menace with many youth having lost their lives after getting addicted to drugs,” he said.There were some social evils like foeticide which also need to be eradicated. “A society, which does not respect its women and worst of all resorts to female foeticide, can never progress. So we need to change the mindset of the people,” he stressed.The Governor also emphasised the need for promoting organic farming which would help save people from the ill-effects of harmful chemicals found in pesticides and insecticides. The Governor honoured senior journalists on the occasion.

Devvrat on drug menace

• The easiest way to destroy any nation is to get its youth addicted to drugs, which is so visible in states like Mizoram and Punjab
• The situation in Punjab is so alarming that it is getting difficult to find the youth who are physically fit to join the Army
• Punjab, which sent the most well-built and valiant soldiers to fight the enemies on the borders, is grappling with drug menace with many youth having lost their lives after getting addicted to drugs

The Army pays tributes to the two slain soldiers in Srinagar on Monday. Tribune Photo: Amin War

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 13

The Army today paid rich tributes to the two jawans who were killed in an encounter with militants in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Sunday.A defence spokesman said the Army paid homage to gallant soldiers Lance Naik Bhandoriya Gopal Sinh Munimsinh and Sepoy Raghubeer Singh at Badami Bagh Cantonment in Srinagar.“Major General KK Pant, Chief of Staff, Chinar Corps, laid wreaths on behalf of the Commander and all ranks of the Corps,” he said, adding that tributes were also paid by officials from the civil administration and other security agencies.The spokesman said the two jawans showed raw courage during the operation. “It called for raw courage to approach the house when it had been confirmed that terrorists were hiding there —- even more so when the response had to be very guarded given the fact that the terrorists had held a hostage in that house. Lance Naik B Gopal and Sepoy Raghubeer Singh epitomised just that form of selfless courage as they were leading the team that launched the operation in Frisal, Kulgam, yesterday in which four terrorists were eliminated. The duo embraced martyrdom while fighting the terrorists who opened indiscriminate fire as the security forces closed in on the suspect house,” the spokesman said.The 33-year-old Lance Naik B Gopal from Gokulchand Chali Chamanpura village in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, is survived by his wife B Hemavati. Sepoy Raghubeer Singh (31) belonged to Makholi village in Chamoli, Uttarakhand, and is survived by his wife Rekha and a six-year-old son.“The Army salutes the sacrifice of the martyrs and stands in solidarity with the bereaved families and it will forever remain the Army’s responsibility to ensure that they lead a life of dignity and pride,” the spokesman said.The mortal remains of the jawans are being taken to their native places for the last rites, he said.

Displayed raw courage

• It called for raw courage to approach the house when it had been confirmed that terrorists were hiding there — even more so when the response had to be very guarded given the fact that the terrorists had held a hostage in that house. Lance Naik B Gopal and Sepoy Raghubeer Singh epitomised just that form of selfless courage as they were leading the team that launched the operation in Frisal, Kulgam, on Sunday in which four terrorists were eliminated. —Army spokesman

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar showing his indelible ink marked finger after casting his vote at a polling booth in Goa on Saturday. PTI

New Delhi, February 7Overruling claims of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar that his election speech in Goa made in Konkani was incorrectly translated, the Election Commission on Tuesday served him with a fresh notice on his reported bribery remarks and asked him to respond by Thursday.In its latest notice to the senior BJP leader, the Commission said the “CD (of his speech made on January 29 in Chimbel) has not been tampered with in any manner whatsoever”.The Commission also said the entire speech has been again written and translated by a three-member committee.The fresh transcript quotes Parrikar as saying that “…you vote him by taking Rs 2000 from someone. It is okay, somebody will hold a rally, there is no objection, someone roams there with Rs 500. But vote shall be for lotus…”   A senior Commission official had on February 4 said following Parrikar’s claim that the interpretation of his speech was not correct, the poll panel had asked the Chief Electoral Officer of Goa for his comments.The EC had earlier sent a notice to the former Goa Chief Minister and had sought his reply by February 3. While seeking more time, the Defence Minister had said that what he had actually said was lost in translation.Now, he has to send his final reply by 3 pm on February 9. — PTI

After showing solidarity with Congress in Punjab, an organisation of retired armed personnel on Saturday extended its support to the Harish Rawat-led ruling party in Uttarakhand.

Disappointed with discrepancies in ‘One Rank, One Pension’ (OROP), the United Front of Ex-Servicemen of India, which also has widows of defence personnel among its members, extended its support to the Harish Rawat government in Uttarakhand too.

In the presence of Congress chief and party candidate from Sahaspur Kishore Upadhyay, the front declared to support the party which has promised better pensions for retired personnel and their families.

At a conference here, Maj Gen (retd) Satbeer Singh claimed how ex-servicemen were protesting at Jantar Mantar for last 601 days for their demand. “There are four main points showing discrepancies in the OROP notification issued by the Centre. The pensions aren’t provided as per recommendations of the Koshyari Committee. Revision of pensions will be done in five years and not after every two years. Low pensions to widows, no extension of the facility to reservists, discrepancies in disability pension and others,” Singh said.

In Uttarakhand, Congress has promised various sops, including a separate ministry and a minister for the retired defence personnel, hike in pensions to widows, filling up vacant posts and to effectively work for the welfare of personnel and their families.

Nayak Uday Singh Rawat, who hails from Chamoli, claimed BJP got 100 additional seats and formed the government in 2014 in Delhi after it garnered support of defence fraternity. “But, the OROP ‘lollipop’ given to us will prove disastrous for BJP in the poll-bound states. The front has already extended support to Congress in Punjab. It will be supporting Congress in all five poll-bound states,” Rawat said.

 

 

BADHA TERA BADHA ::::KEJRIWAL

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 2

Weighed down by rising establishment costs as well as salaries and pensions, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has decided to seek formal comments of the Army, Air Force and the Navy on “right-sizing” the services and also explore cutting costs from within. Right-sizing has been suggested by the high-powered Lt Gen DB Shekatkar Committee and its report was submitted to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on December 21 last year.The cost of just salaries and pensions of the three services and civilian employees under them is Rs 1,93,670 crore, which is about 53.81 per cent of the entire spend of Rs 3,59,854 crore. This includes Rs 2,74,114 crore as budget and Rs 85,740 crore as pensions. The cost of running the establishment is further enhanced when some other components are added namely salaries of research scientists (Rs 3,126 crore), establishment costs of smaller wings within the MoD (Rs 8,040 crore) and salaries of ordnance factories (Rs 6,582 crore).The Budget includes a capital outlay of Rs 86,488, which works out to be 24 per cent of the overall spend. This money is meant for new equipment, weapons, aircraft, naval warships and Army vehicles.Amit Cowshish, who retired from defence finance wing, says “reduction in manpower is directly proportional to infusion of new technology”.The Shekatkar committee was appointed by the government to enhance the combat potential of the armed forces and re-balance defence expenditure. It has recommended a series of measures to trim, redeploy and integrate manpower under the MoD to have an effective military.The committee has laid down a path to reduce expenses by Rs 25,000 crore over the next five-years. It has suggested redeployment of manpower from the organisations under the MoD and said it should be across the board.The Seventh Pay Commission, which is yet to be implemented in totality in the forces, will subsume the hike of 5.8 per cent in defence budget announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday.

File photo

Shillong, February 24

The BSF have proposed to set up shows similar to that performed at the Wagah border along the Indo-Pak border, albeit, a more friendly one with the BGB of Bangladesh at two BOPs in Meghalaya, an official said.

Two border out posts (BOPs) along the Indo-Bangla border have been identified and a proposal of Rs 2 crore was sent to the Tourism ministry, Meghalaya Frontier BSF IG P.K. Dubey said.

“We have selected two BOPs – Dawki in West Jaintia Hills and Kilapara in West Garo Hills for border tourism in Meghalaya,” he said.

A proposal of Rs 1 crore each for developing these two BOPs along the Indo-Bangla border as tourist spots have been submitted and approval is awaited, he said.

The BSF here has plans to develop a similar show of that at the Wagah border but in a more friendly way.

“We will try some joint retreat ceremony in the evening where flag hoisting will be done jointly by the border security force (BSF) and border guards of Bangladesh (BGB),” Dubey said.

“The idea is to showcase the BOPs where tourists can visit and have first-hand information about the border,” he said.

Photo exhibition, arms display and documentary are on the cards, he said adding that they have also proposed new items like games on the border.

A war memorial at Kilapara was built as a tribute to nine BSF soldiers who lost their lives during the 1971 Indo- Pak war.

The BSF IG, who had just returned from the BSF-BGB meet at Dhaka, also informed that a proposal was put forth for a expedition – cycling, rock climbing besides joint training for better coordination between the BSF and BGB.

“BGB personnel can be trained here in border management so that they also understand the problem of Indo – Bangla border. Courses will be conducted for them here in Shillong or Siliguri,” he said.

With regards to the border haats, he said that four border haats have been approved by the government but they are yet to be constructed by the state.

“The MoU on this has expired and now it is expected to be signed once after the PM visit and they (border haats) will be activated in the next one year,” Dubey added.

He further informed that Indian government has decided to provide medical facilities in case of emergency to BGB in places where their medical facility does not exist.

“The MHA has approved this and whatever medical facility we are having on the border will be extended to BGB personnel in case of emergency,” he said. — PTI

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 20

India has once again emerged as the world’s largest importer of weapons and military equipment, accounting for 13 per cent of all such international imports. Saudi Arabia, United Arab  Emirates,  China  and Algeria  are the next four biggest global importers.These trends have emerged from a report released by the Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) today. The assessment was done for a five-year period (2012-2016).(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Titled “Trends in international arms transfers-2016”, the report says, “India was the largest importer of major arms in 2012-16, accounting for 13 per cent of the global total.”Comparing two five years blocks — 2007-11 and 2012-16 — the report says, “India’s imports increased by 43 per cent and were far greater than those of its regional rivals, China and Pakistan, in the most recent period.”The SIPRI report said a major reason for the high level of imports is that the Indian arms industry has failed to produce competitive indigenously designed weapons. The USA had 14 per cent and Israel 7.2 per cent share in the Indian market, it said. “Based on existing orders and weapons, Russia will remain, by far, the main supplier of major arms to India for the foreseeable future,” the report said. Russia accounts for some 68 per cent of all military equipment supplies to India.However, the report said India expects increasing deliveries due to several major orders from France (another traditional supplier), the US, South Korea and Spain— which recently became arms suppliers to India.During the period studied by SIPRI, India procured fighter jets, a sea-borne  aircraft  carrier and  Mi-17 V5 helicopters from Russia; specialised transport planes, the C-130J Super Hercules and the C-17 Globemaster along with maritime surveillance planes Boeing P-8I from the US; UAVs and radars from Israel.

IndiA – the Arms importing Behemoth

In 2012-2016, India continued to dominate the world as the largest importer of major arms, according to the latest report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 17

Observing that prima facie there were discrepancies in the vigilance policies governing promotion and postings of officers, the Chandigarh Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal has restrained the Ministry of Defence from filing the post of Chief Engineer (CE), Delhi Zone, in the Military Engineer Service (MES).In his petition, Dev Raj, Joint Director General (Personnel and Training), Western Command, said when he was promoted as CE in June 2016, he was considered to be cleared from the vigilance, but when his case for posting as CE of a zone came up, he was not considered on the ground that he hadn’t got the vigilance clearance. Dev Raj, an Indian Defence Service of Engineers cadre officer, averred that an officer junior to him was posted as CE Delhi. The Delhi Zone CE oversees construction and maintenance of all Army official and residential buildings in the NCR.Dev Raj claimed he was implicated in a case related to procurement of pipes in 1995. Though vigilance gave him a clean chit at the initial stage, inquiry was ordered many years later and he was held blameworthy. The MoD said  vigilance criteria for promotion and posting to a sensitive appointment are different.However, observing that the MoD used same facts to promote and deny the officer the posting, the CAT said: “The act of creating this artificial distinction between these two situations does not appear logical or even legal.”

Major Satish Dahiya

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Mahendragarh, February 15

The two-year deputation of Major Satish Dahiya (32), who sacrificed his life while fighting terrorists during a special operation in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir yesterday, was about to end this month and his family members were expecting his next posting in Jaipur (Rajasthan).They also got his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter – Priyansa – enrolled in a play school in Jaipur recently, but the destiny had another plan for Major Dahiya. The braveheart had returned to his posting station on January 2 after spending 20 days in the village.“Since Jaipur was believed to be his new posting station, a rented accommodation was already taken for him. Even, his wife had started residing there after getting their daughter enrolled in a school,” said Sunil Kumar, cousin of Major Dahiya.Major Dahiya was the only child of Anchal Singh who runs a brick-kiln in partnership with his two brothers in the village. Major Dahiya had joined the Army Supply Corps (ASC) in 2009 and the Rashtriya Rifles in 2015 on deputation for two years.“Major Dahiya had led several operations successfully during his career. He was also the part of the teams which conducted surgical strikes in Pakistan last year,” said Major Naveen Phoghat who was here to console the bereaved family.Earlier, a pall of gloom descended on the village as soon as the tragic news of his death reached here last evening.“A large number of villagers spent sleepless night at Major Dahiya’s house yesterday as they had lost their brave son,” said Ishwar Singh, a villager.Shocked father Anchal Singh and mother Anita Devi were unable to speak and they responded to relatives and co-villagers merely by shaking their heads.Major Dahiya’s wife Sujata Choudhary said she was proud of her husband who made the supreme sacrifice for the motherland. “I will send my daughter to the Army to serve the nation,” she added.Bhup Singh, uncle of Major Dahiya, said that he talked to him over phone when he was about to launch the operation yesterday. “Major Dahiya told me that he himself will call back after the operation,” he added.Sarpanch Nihal Singh said that Major Dahiya had not only made the village proud by attaining martyrdom, but also set an example of patriotism for the youth of the village.“More than 50 youths from the village are serving in the Army and the paramilitary forces, but Satish is the first who sacrificed his life for the country,” he added.

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 13

On Sunday when a fierce gunfight was underway in south Kashmir, youth from the area made a desperate attempt to help the local militants escape. The locals threw stones not only on security personnel laying the cordon but also on the operation teams engaging militants.The tendency of helping out militants which started last year, especially in the four districts of south Kashmir, continues to be “worrisome” for the forces, which have stepped up anti-militancy operations.This year, at least 15 militants, 10 of them locals, have been killed in various gunfights. During most of these operations, local youth in an attempt to show support to the militants threw stones to distract the security forces engaged in the operations and helped militants escape the cordon.“In a few places militants succeeded in escaping, taking advantage of the law and order situation,” an Army officer said. “In Sunday’s encounter in Kulgam, the locals helped three militants flee, even as their four associates were killed.”Director General of Police Shesh Paul Vaid said stone-throwing during encounters was a “difficult situation”. “It is a difficult situation. We have been advising people not to come out of their homes during gunfights and allow the security forces to do their job. There are clear directions to avoid civilian casualties,” Vaid told The Tribune.The forces have been regularly asking people to stay away from encounter sites and in fact restrictions are usually put in place by the District Magistrate of the districts on the movement of people under Section 144, CrPC, around the encounter site, but it does not seem to yield any result.“No one seems to pay heed to the advisory during encounters,” admits a police officer in south Kashmir. “We have a law and order component ready at encounter sites to stop stone-throwers. The stone-throwing is carried out by vested interests who to try to shift the focus of the forces from neutralising the militants.”Earlier this month, when a newly recruited local Lashkar-e-Toiba militant was arrested from a mosque in the volatile Pulwama after he was persuaded to give up arms, forces had to face a tough law and order situation.“Whenever a cordon is laid, announcements are made from mosques, requesting people not to come out,” said CRPF spokesman Rajesh Yadav. The CRPF is engaged in the dual roles of fighting militants as well as handling the law and order situation in Kashmir.Last year two persons, including a college student, were killed in firing by the security forces after a crowd tried to break the security cordon in Pulwama.

Stone-throwing by youth

• This year, at least 15 militants, 10 of them locals, have been killed in various gunfights. During most of these operations, local youth in an attempt to show support to the militants threw stones to distract the security forces engaged in the operations and helped militants escape the cordon.
• The forces have been regularly asking people to stay away from encounter sites and in fact restrictions are usually put in place around the encounter site, but it does not seem to yield any result.