AAP candidate Balbir slams Gen JJ Singh for grilling voters

Tribune News Service

Patiala, February 8

After Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Capt Amarinder Singh took a dig at Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate from Patiala (Urban) General JJ Singh for grilling the voters of Jai Jawan Colony, now Aam Aadmi Party candidate Dr Balbir Singh too has slammed the General for his behaviour.After holding a meeting with the voters of Jai Jawan Colony for supporting him, Dr Balbir Singh said voting was one’s personal right and no candidate should be offended if a person does not vote for him.“I am surprised that the General took the matter personally. As a responsible leader, our duty is to take care of each and every resident of our constituency irrespective of whether they have voted for us or not,” he said.Dr Balbir said he would always be grateful for the love and support he was given by Patiala residents and promised to stand by them in every thick and thin.“The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is committed towards transforming Punjab completely and restoring its lost glory. If voted to power, the party will immediately initiate development works in the constituency to make Patiala a smart city,” said Dr Balbir.

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 7

The Opposition in the Rajya Sabha today targeted Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar for his remarks on surgical strikes where he had credited the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideology, instead of the soldiers.The issue was raised during the zero hour by Congress member Shantaram Naik who said the Defence Minister, in a statement, had credited the RSS ideology for the surgical strikes instead of the brave soldiers, while in another statement the minister said India had never carried out surgical strikes before. Naik also urged the minister not to make policy statements outside Parliament.The Congress leader suggested that the minister should not “ridicule” the country by making statements which could be construed to be “in a bad taste”.He also referred to the statement made by the minister on nuclear doctrine at a recent book launch. Naik said Parrikar had then “articulated a personal view which is contrary to India’s ‘no first use’ of nuclear weapons. This doctrine has come for adverse comments from many strategists”.“If the Defence Minister is making an aggressive posture, how the government had failed to ensure reciprocal visit (to Pakistan) after it permitted a Pakistani delegation to visit sensitive areas in Pathankot,” he asked.Naik’s views received support from other members, including JD-U leader Sharad Yadav and Anand Sharma of the Congress. As Opposition members sought the minister’s reply, Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said he could not ask the minister to respond.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Centre’s decision to sack two senior naval officers — Commander Vijendra Rana and Commander V K Jha — for alleged involvement in the Navy war room leak case.

The officers were removed from service after a board of inquiry (BoI) held that they were involved in providing sensitive information regarding defence forces to outside agencies. The 2005 case involved leak of over 7,000 pages of sensitive defence information from the Navy War Room and the Air Headquarters, with a direct bearing on national security.

The leak of sensitive information came to light in May 2005 when an officer was found in possession of an unauthorised pen drive containing secrets of defence forces. An informal inquiry was held and Rana and Jha were found to be likely conduits. An BoI was convened and it was held that the officers had become undesirable and their sacking was recommended. The Centre accepted the recommendation and dismissed them on October 26, 2005.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra, A M Khanwilkar and M M Shantanagoudar, however, found no merit in their petition and upheld the Centre’s decision.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 23

State Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh today warned of a serious law and order problem in the “old Naxalite and hardliners’ belt of southern Punjab” if the SYL canal was completed without taking into account the ground realities. Pointing to the huge infrastructural cost involved in the construction, which would all come to naught if there was no water found subsequently to share with the neighbouring states, Amarinder urged the Supreme Court to take cognisance of the situation in terms of water availability and quantum in Punjab. Reacting to Abhay Chautala’s threat not to allow any Punjab leader to enter Haryana, Amarinder termed it a desperate bid to revive the INLD following today’s “flop show”.He welcomed the apex court’s directive on maintaining law and order.

SYL march ends in symbolic dig

20 INLD lawmakers held after border halt by Punjab cops, sent to Patiala jai

INLD workers taking up symbolic digging of a road near the Shambhu barrier on Thursday. Manoj Mahajan

Naveen S Garewal & Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 23

The Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) attempt to dig the defunct Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal ended in the arrest of two party MPs, 18 MLAs and 73 workers as they tried to cross over into Punjab via the Shambhu barrier today.The “Jal Yudh Sammelan”, planned for over a month, ended without any violence with half-a-dozen INLD workers performing symbolic digging at the Punjab-Haryana border (instead of the canal), after the Punjab Police effectively sealed all routes to the canal.Following a Supreme Court directive to both states to maintain law and order, the security agencies in Haryana repeatedly announced on loudspeakers asking INLD workers not to breach the law and return.Unwilling to relent, the INLD workers broke three cordons, manned by a handful of personnel, of the Haryana Police. They were, however, stopped in their tracks by the Punjab Police before they could cross the barricading.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)To prevent any untoward incident, the Punjab Police told Haryana Leader of the Opposition Abhay Chautala, INLD chief Ashok Arora and other leaders to cooperate.The police told the INLD rank and file that unless they vacated the area within 10 minutes, they would be arrested as failure to leave the area would amount to violation of Section 144 (prohibiting assembly of five or more at one place) of the Criminal Procedure Code.All through it was apparent the Shiromani Akali Dal-led coalition government in Punjab had instructed the state police not to use force.The Punjab Police personnel offered bottled drinking water to the protesters even as they minded them not to get close to the sharp iron barricading.The INLD first held a rally at the Sabzi Mandi in Ambala and then marched towards the Shambhu barrier, 2 km east of the rally site. On the way, the Haryana Police had set up three lines of defence. Each was easily breached by the protesters, though warnings were issued by the civil administration of Ambala. The protesters stopped only when they reached Punjab’s first line of defence. Punjab Police asked the protesters to leave the area within 10 minutes or face arrest.Chautala, while addressing supporters in front of the barricading, asked them to turn away after symbolic digging with spades. He soon made a U-turn and requested the Punjab Police to let them march into the neighbouring territory peacefully. He asked his party workers to climb down from the barricading. While some workers turned around, Chautala persisted with his request for allowing senior party leaders to enter Punjab peacefully.The police then arrested 93 protesters — two party MPs, 18 MLAs and 73 workers — and made arrangements for early resumption of traffic on the Ludhiana-Ambala highway. Traffic remained suspended on the highway for around 12 hours. While traffic was diverted, many stranded commuters were seen walking across the Ghaggar bridge carrying their luggage.Those arrested were taken away in two private buses and produced in the court of Rajpura Sub-Divisional Magistrate, who remanded them in judicial custody till February 27. All those arrested have been sent to the Patiala Central Jail.The Punjab Police monitored the situation using modern equipment, including drones fitted with cameras. Aerial surveillance was conducted every few minutes. Besides, 10 companies of paramilitary forces and nearly 5,000 policemen were deployed.The dispute between Punjab and Haryana is currently pending adjudication in the Supreme Court, which has directed both states and the Government of India to ensure peace. Punjab has been maintaining it has no water to spare.Traffic hit for 12 hrsTraffic remained suspended on the Ludhiana-Ambala stretch of the national highway for around 12 hours. The movement of traffic was restored around 9 pm after remaining suspended since 9 am. While traffic was diverted to alternative routes, many commuters were seen walking across the Ghaggar bridge, carrying their luggage over to the other side 

Avoid confrontation

SYL requires a cooling down and rethink

The immediate challenge before the governments in Punjab and Haryana is to maintain law and order in view of the INLD’s call for a march to the Punjab border to dig the controversial SYL link canal. The Supreme Court has asserted that the canal cannot be delayed further. The INLD posturing is political, aimed at preserving its shrinking political base with the Chautala father-son duo in jail. The Punjab Police has wisely averted a possible showdown by not letting All-India Sikh Student Federation activists reach the site of the INLD protest. Though the Haryana government has allowed Chautala men to gather and stage their political drama, it cannot afford to let them cross the line for a peaceful democratic protest.The more difficult challenge is for Punjab to implement the stern Supreme Court directive: build the canal whether or not there is water to carry. There is almost a political consensus in the state as was reflected in the Assembly resolution and the Congress resignations that Punjab has not a drop of additional river water to spare for Haryana. Over the years all the ruling political parties have failed to put up a convincing case for the state either in court or outside. A politically acceptable and saleable solution was possible with the BJP in power at the Centre, in Haryana and in a coalition with the Akali Dal but electorally milking the water issue seemed more important than finding a lasting solution.  The past aggressive political posturing on the SYL would make the new government in Punjab less flexible and possibly pit it against the apex court. Already the Centre has taken a pro-Haryana stance in the Supreme Court and it is expected to be less cooperative if Punjab gets a non-Akali Dal government. Punjab will have to rebuild and reposition its case, based on sound legal facts rather than adopt the path of confrontation or cry victimhood. Courts or tribunals rule on the issue at hand on the basis of legal arguments backed by evidence. In the long run the larger issue for both states is how to cut waste and manage efficiently the existing water resources.

NEWDELHI: For India, the RussiaChina-Pakistan trilateral on Afghanistan was an uncomfortable proposition for some time.

But after joining the format along with Afghanistan, Iran, New Delhi has found a forum to highlight its concerns.

“We had certain concerns and wanted Afghanistan on the talking table and it did happen. What was agreed upon was also to our satisfaction,” said a source. Officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, China and India attended the discussion on Afghanistan on February 15. Sources said regional powers need to focus on “terrorism getting sustenance” from Pakistan.“The proper regional representation is good to have a frank discussion on the issue. There can be no two voices on fighting terrorism and no one accepts that violence will have to continue even as efforts are being made ,” sources said.

http://

New Delhi, February 13

The National Security Guard (NSG) has ordered scrapping of the practice of holding separate induction courses for trainee commandos from the Army and the paramilitary to raise a more lethal and “composite” squad of elite soldiers.The NSG, acronymed the “black cats” and raised in 1984, will also now see trainees from the two forces sweating and dining together during the gruelling training sessions to forge a better camaraderie while on task. Till now, the officers and men from the two forces used to have separate three-month induction courses upon joining, even lodging and meals done separately.“If they (commandos) can work together, they can be trained together as well. Indeed that would be a step in the right direction,” NSG DG SP Singh reasoned in a communication sent to all his strike formations (hubs) and force commanders.  “I do not see any cogent and convincing reason for holding the Commando Conversion Course for Army and CAPFs personnel separately.”— PTI

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 10

Almost 17 years after the Kargil Review Committee (KRC) spoke about integration of the armed forces personnel with the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the ministry now wants subject experts from the three services on crucial posts presently manned by the bureaucracy.This is part of the ongoing integration-cum-restructuring exercise in the MoD. The exercise has four clear dimensions—right-sizing of manpower to cut down growing costs of salaries and pensions; integrating the services with the MoD; speeding up procurement of new weapons and balancing the budget to provide more for firepower.Sources said an internal committee of the MoD today submitted its observations on what all could be implemented towards right-sizing suggested by the high-powered Lt Gen DB Committee. A report of the Shekatkar committee was submitted to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on December 21 last year. It talks about enhancing the combat potential of the armed forces and re-balancing the 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.For integration of the services, the MoD has identified several posts at the middle level in the ministry that can be manned by officers from the three armed forces—the Army, the IAF and the Navy. “These people will be subject and domain experts on equipment,” said a senior functionary.On speeding up procurement, yesterday a committee headed by Dr Pritam Singh (former Director IIM-Lucknow) submitted its report on setting up of a defence procurement organisation. This will shorten the lengthy procurement process that takes years to identify what all is needed. 

Capt Tushar Mahajan

Deepanker Gupta

Udhampur, February 9

Thousands of residents today paid tributes to Captain Tushar Mahajan on his first death anniversary. His family members, however, said all promises made by the authorities after their son’s death remained unfulfilled till date.A year ago, Captain Tushar Mahajan of the Army’s 10 Para (Special Forces) had laid down his life fighting three to five holed up terrorists at Pampore where he attained martyrdom.Several promises, including renaming of Udhampur railway station by his name, installation of statue of the Shaurya Chakra awardee in Udhampur city and constructing a mountain park in his name were announced by political leaders at the time of his death but none has turned into reality till date.Tushar’s father Dev Raj Gupta said, “It is a matter of pride for my family that our son gave up his life for the nation. Before my son’s martyrdom, I was known as a retired lecturer but after his sacrifice, I am proud to be called Tushar’s father. Today, after a year, as thousands have come to pay their tributes, all of them are proud of my son.”He said, “We know that renaming of the railway station and installation of my son’s statue will not bring him back but it will help in keeping his story alive. We still hope that political leaders will soon fulfil their promises. It is sad that the state government was reluctant to write a letter to the Ministry of Railways recommending that the Udhampur railway station be renamed as Capt Tushar Mahajan Railway Station.”