Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 17
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley today said the Indian Army was fully prepared to meet any challenges and assured the Lok Sabha that defence budget will never be compromised.Intervening in the discussion on the outlays for the defence sector in LS today, Jaitley said 147 new contracts valued at Rs2,957.66 crore, for enhancing defence preparedness, had been concluded.”Rockets, radars, missiles will be supplied under these contracts. These include 155 mm ultralight Howitzer, Brahmos missile, ballistic helmets, Donear helicopters, Rafale fighter aircraft, Apache attack helicopters among other equipment,” Jaitley said after Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia accused the government of inadequate defence budgeting.Scindia rued that the defence budget had for the first time since 1962 fallen below 1.5 per cent of the GDP. The Congress and earlier the Trinamool Congress also expressed concerns over an aggressive China on India’s eastern border and an incorrigible Pakistan on the western sector.”There are concerns around preparedness of the Army in the event of a two-front war, especially with China and Pakistan working in tandem,” Scindia said, flagging inadequate war wastage reserve levels recently noted by CAG.Jaitley allayed opposition’s fears admonishing them against giving an impression that the Army lacked preparedness. “The Army is fully prepared,” he said, rejecting the Congress of inadequate self reliance in defence production despite the PM promising to reduce imports. He said 134 cases of procurement had been approved and of these 100 pertained to buy and make in India.
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 15
With Capt Amarinder Singh all set to take oath as the next Chief Minister along with his nine ministers, portfolios have also been reportedly decided by the CM-designate, it’s learnt.The list of portfolios was being sent to the Punjab Governor for final approval and the formal notification is expected after the oath-taking ceremony.Though senior party leaders denied having decided the portfolios, it is learnt that Capt Amarinder Singh is expected to retain some prominent department like Home, Personnel, Housing and Urban Development.Former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal is expected to get the Finance and Excise and Taxation portfolio as he played an important role in drafting the party manifesto. Crickter-turned -politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, is expected to get Local Bodies Department. Others departments such as Health and Family Welfare, Agriculture, Social Welfare and Education are expected to be given to Brahm Mohindra, Rana Gurjit, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, and Chaaranjit Singh Channi, respectively.However, there could be certain changes in case Sidhu is given other prominent departments, said sources.
Poor battery life of hand-held thermal imagers (HHTI) is restricting the army’s ability to conduct night operations in Jammu and Kashmir.
Reduced battery life of HHTI was hampering operations during poor visibility conditions and affecting the morale of soldiers, a new army report has revealed.
“Also, as most of the infiltrations along the Line of Control take place during night/ poor visibility conditions, limited life of HHTI hampers the operations,” said a report prepared by the Army Design Bureau (ADB), headed by deputy army chief Lieutenant General Subrata Saha. The report has highlighted 28 problems that the army wants to fix swiftly with the help of the private sector.
The report said the battery was supposed to last three to four hours but had a life of barely 20 minutes due to extensive use by soldiers.
“The problem is further compounded due to extreme climatic conditions, it said. The men rely heavily on H HT I for carrying out operations in poor visibility conditions and night.
The report said soldiers were forced to carry additional batteries during operations, adding to their load and reducing efficiency.The army is looking at finding indigenous solution stoat least 78 problem areas – 28 listed in the new report and another 50 spelt out in an earlier volume.
Improving the situational awareness of tank commanders during night has also been identified at a priority in the report. “While manoeuvring on the battlefield, veryoften, tankshaveto move with their cupolas closed down.
Under such conditions and especially at night, the tank commander find sit very difficult to observe all around and can lose orientation rapidly,” the report said. It highlighted the need to provide commanders with 360degree panoramic viewing devices for improved situational awareness.
There is a sub-text to the surprise elevation of the hardline Hindutva icon, Yogi Adityanath, to the post of Chief Minister of UP after the BJP’s sweep in the assembly election. The RSS, the party’s mentor, is spreading its wings in the country on the strength of it providing the sinews in the shape of foot soldiers in the mechanics of winning elections.So far, it has planted RSS men first in Haryana and now in Uttarakhand and UP in chief ministerial posts. If PM Narendra Modi seeks to follow pragmatic policies in achieving his objectives, he has had to accept defeat. Of course, we must not forget that the Union Cabinet is full of RSS men and Mr Modi himself was baptised in the RSS. The difference between him and the Sangh is the pace at which the country is to be Hinduised. The verdict thus far is what he could achieve by sidelining the RSS in Gujarat he cannot repeat at the national level.What is clear beyond doubt is that the BJP will fight the 2019 general election by playing the Hindu card in the country’s most populous state in 2019, as elsewhere in the country. If Mr Modi had planned to Hinduise and saffronise the country at a slower pace, he has been overruled by the RSS leadership. It must however be said for the record that the PM made his contribution to keep the communal pot boiling by references to providing a place for Hindu death rituals as well as graveyards for Muslims and asking for adequate electricity supplies for Diwali as for Ramzan. Whatever the veracity of his claims, he was at the same time hitting at the alleged pro-Muslim bias of the state’s ruling Samajwadi Party.How the BJP won UP is now for psephologists and historians to decipher. The important point is how it will determine Mr Modi’s rule in the remaining two years of his present term and the stresses and travails of governing a country of great diversity and substantial minorities. His administration can gain a few brownie points in taking up the case of two Muslim clerics gone missing in Pakistan with the authorities there, but Muslims in particular are living nervously as they await new assaults on their religious-affiliated lives.Assuming that Mr Modi has lost out if he thought differently about the pace of Hinduising the country, where does he draw the line to convince the RSS to slow down its zeal for saffronisation? There are good grounds for pragmatism in setting aside RSS myths for governance. Is the PM gathering his forces to live to fight another day because it is not in his nature to accept defeat early?There is one factor helping the rightward swing in India combined with religious fervour: the turmoil in the West exemplified by the rise of populism in Europe and the election of Mr Donald Trump as US President. In Europe, prosperity having given way to recession for a time, there is widespread attack on multiculturalism with an overlay of Islamophobia and in the US Mr Trump is seeking to abandon its post-World War II role as the protector of liberal values to emphasising “America First”.Mr Modi cannot get rid of the country’s Muslim population, the second largest in the world, even if he would want to, but he must find comfort in Mr Trump’s Muslim-bashing philosophy because to a certain extent the two are sailing in the same boat. The RSS has warned him that he cannot repeat the Gujarat tactic at the national level because the stakes are simply too high and the RSS leadership feels that creating the India of its dreams is suddenly within its grasp.The RSS has been laying the groundwork for some time, in particular since the BJP’s 2014 general election victory. It has placed key men in historical and research organisations because the organisation sets much store on its version of history and therefore feels the compulsion to rewrite history, a habit even adopted by the PM in his early days in office. The ridicule his flights of fancy invited forced him to take down a portion of a speech he gave in opening a hospital wing in Mumbai and he has refrained from repeating the RSS version of history since then.So what can we expect from Mr Modi and his government in the next two years? There will be much talk of development with shades of Hindutva, continuation of pro-poor programmes taking the mantra of Indira Gandhi in new and varied forms. The Hindu motif will be dominant with its symbols and although Mr Modi will on occasion give solace to Muslims, the RSS will continue to hold the key.The Opposition parties are still trying to figure out how to respond to the BJP tsunami. The former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid must be complimented for making a brave attempt to put a gloss on his leader Rajiv Gandhi’s humiliating UP defeat, but apart from Punjab, Goa and Manipur, the Congress is a minor player in national politics and it would be up to other parties to take the baton.The Opposition, of course, is not in the pink of health. Tamil Nadu is still embroiled in succession politics after the death of Jayalalithaa. Ms Mamata Banerjee is vociferously fighting from her corner but lacks national appeal and Bihar’s Nitish Kumar has lost some of his sheen in the state’s present coalition arrangement. Uttar Pradesh’s Akhilesh Yadav has youth and dynamism on his side but remains handicapped by a difficult father and an ambitious uncle in the party’s less than salutary clan politics.The Opposition will to an extent go along with seeking Hindu votes but must evolve an appealing version of secularism for young voters. Clearly, the RSS goal is to bury Nehru’s secularism. The young do not know what it really was. It is the Opposition’s task to make it come alive.
PRESIDENT Mahinda Rajapakse of Sri Lanka evidently believed that China was a 21st century incarnation of Santa Claus. He turned to China to convert his constituency into a ‘South Asian Singapore’ by encouraging the Chinese to invest heavily in projects ranging from the Hambantota Port to a power plant, an airport, a cricket stadium, and a sports complex, while later demanding land for an industrial park. As things turned out, hardly any ships visited Hambantota. Hardly any aircraft landed at the airport. The stadium and sports complex remained unused. There were hardly any consumers for the power generated. The Sri Lankan government also faced riots while seeking to acquire land for a Chinese industrial park to produce Chinese products for export!Unable to repay its debts to China, Sri Lanka is handing over the power plant, Hambantota Port and possibly the airport to Chinese control in a debt/equity swap. China would then achieve a major objective in its One-Belt One-Road project, of having a strategic presence on Sri Lankan soil, through its professions of offering ‘economic aid’ with no strings attached. Thanks largely to such Chinese ‘aid’, Sri Lanka now spends 90 per cent of all government revenues to service debts. If Sri Lanka was ecstatic about the prospects for future prosperity when the Hambantota Port project was announced, Pakistan’s two centres of power — the army and the government — have created euphoria and great expectations of accelerated growth and prosperity through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).The CPEC is to be undertaken exclusively by Chinese companies and banks, with an estimated investment of $55 billion. The plan is to construct Chinese-funded infrastructure projects including the Gwadar Port, road and rail communications networks, energy, industrial and military projects designed to showcase Beijing’s commitment to long-term economic and strategic engagement with Pakistan. The CPEC has a definite military component. A secure fibre-optic link connecting Kashgar in the Xinjiang/Uighur Autonomous Region with the Pakistan army’s GHQ in Rawalpindi is being laid at a cost of $44 million. The CPEC simultaneously seeks to economically and strategically bind Pakistan to China. Power generation, transport, commerce, R&D and the defence of Pakistan, all will be increasingly tied to Chinese investment, supplies and interests. The Pakistan army has raised a 10,000-strong division for the security of Chinese personnel working on the project. The entire project is premised on the belief that the Chinese-built Gwadar Port on the Makran Coast of Balochistan will emerge as a major industrial hub and naval base. Given the realities in and surrounding Pakistan, Gwadar will almost exclusively be a strategic naval base for China and Pakistan astride the Straits of Hormuz, with limited prospects of commercial use. The initial euphoria in Pakistan created by the armed forces was because they see the project as setting the stage for receiving more missiles, fighter aircraft, submarines and frigates. The besieged Nawaz Sharif government saw the project as a political godsend. It claimed that it would lead Pakistan to immediate progress and prosperity. This is now leading to doubts about the project, with a total lack of transparency and realism about the terms and conditions. Inter-provincial rivalries have also risen, with concerns that the prime beneficiary of the project will be the dominant Punjab province, with little or no economic benefit for the already alienated people of Balochistan.Studies by Pakistani analysts have led to some startling conclusions. With a substantial portion of the Chinese investments focused on power projects, the viability has been examined based on interest rates charged by China Development Bank and China EXIM Bank. Official documents have revealed that with an estimated debt-equity ratio of 75-25 per cent, the cost of borrowings could surge to 13 per cent by including insurance costs, as the China Export and Credit Organisation charges 7 per cent fee on insurance for power projects. Interestingly, China is providing concessional finance for only 3-5 per cent of the project. The entire Chinese approach, as always, is crassly mercantilist. Pakistan government sources from its Planning Commission, which oversees CPEC projects, have averred that only Chinese investors would be allowed to invest in special economic zones under the CPEC. There is no provision to protect Pakistani business interests. Moreover, there are no assurances that the Chinese would utilise Pakistani labour in any meaningful manner in these projects. The chairman of the Pakistan senate’s committee on the CPEC, Senator Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, has observed that he is not clear what benefits Pakistan derives from the CPEC, adding: ‘China is our brother but business is business.’ Referring to the absence of clarity on benefits for Pakistani labour and business, he noted: ‘Where will the benefit be for Pakistan? Will the Chinese give us some share of the profit? We are informed that Chinese banks charge us more interest than any other international bank.’India has already made its objections to the CPEC clear. It is a project that enters Pakistan through the PoK, disregarding the fact that New Delhi considers this as part of its territory. One has, however, to analyse China’s economic compulsions in building such a vast road, rail and maritime network across the Eurasian landmass. Over the past four decades, China has undertaken construction activities of buildings, roads, rail lines, bridges, ports and dams, at a pace unprecedented in history. That activity is now slowing down, resulting in the country being left with a surplus labour force and unusable machinery. What better way to use these surplus capacities in a commercially viable manner than undertaking projects like Silk Road Economic Belt that links China with Central Asia, PoK, Persian Gulf States, Russia and the Baltic states. Moreover, Beijing’s 21st century Maritime Silk Route, in turn, extends from China’s coast to Europe, through the Indian Ocean. China is simultaneously building ports across the Indian Ocean, in Asia and Africa.Despite these developments, Pakistani friends one met recently appeared convinced that given its strategic compulsions, China would agree to write off Pakistan’s debts. What impact such a write-off would have on similar Chinese loans elsewhere remains to be seen.
CHANDIGARH : A taxi driver who defeated an Akali heavyweight, a photographer, an art teacher who turned to social work, a sacked lineman, and a former news reporter — they are among the aam aadmis (common people) elected to power in the Punjab assembly elections that saw a third front, Aam Aadmi Party, emerge as the principal opposi- tion.
THE GIANT KILLER
Amarjit Singh Sandoa, 39, who defeated Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) heavyweight Daljit Singh Cheema, who was an incumbent minister, from Rupnagar, says he had never dreamt of joining politics, leave alone becoming an MLA, when he was driving a taxi in Delhi on a meagre monthly salary of Rs 2,800 in 1998. “I simply wanted to work hard, and earn an honest living.” That he certainly did, buying his first taxi on loan in 2003. Today he owns a fleet.
When Anna Hazare started his movement in 2011, he was quick to join it. “That was the time I was drawn to Arvind Kejriwal and his team,” recalls Sandoa, who laid the foundations of the AAP in Rupnagar and was among the first to get the party ticket. Illegal mining, he says, is the biggest issue in his constituency besides unemployment. And he plans to tackle both.
THE JOB-CHASER
Unemployment is the prime issue that drove Pirmal Singh Dhaula, 36, to victory from Bhadaur. The tawny-eyed youngster, who has been heading an agitation of electricity linemen for jobs, defeated Balvir Singh Ghunas, two-time Akali MLA, by over 20,000 votes. “I remember staging a dharna in front of Capt Amarinder Singh’s palace in 2003, and getting lathicharged,” he smiles. Amarinder is the chief minister in the Congress regime.
The SAD-BJP government gave him a lineman’s job in 2011 only to fire him on charges of provoking protests. Jailed five times, he is now looking forward to his stint in the assembly. “Pehlan main road te bolda si, hun Vidhan Sabha vich bolunga (I used to speak on the road; now I will speak in the legislative assembly).
THE PHOTO-FINISHER
Jai Krishan Singh Rodi, 33, the AAP winner from Garhshankar, who defeated two-time Congress MLA Luv Kumar Goldy among others, is also eagerly awaiting the assembly session so that he can raise the traffic issue. “Politics was never on my agenda,” says Rodi, a photographer who set up his studio at the age of 17. “Growing up, I just wanted to become financially independent. Since government jobs were scarce, I learnt photography,” he recalls. The AAP gave him a platform to mobilise the youth and the seat was his.
Rodi says today his conscience-keeper is his son Sukh Dilman Singh, a Class-2 student, who was also his star campaigner. “It’s a heavy responsibility,” he smiles.
FROM PEN TO POLLS
Manjit Singh, 40, a journalistturned-politician from Nihalsinghwala who defeated the sitting Congress MLA by over 27,000 votes, agrees. He says he was always a keen commentator on social evils besides being a member of a dozen social welfare clubs. “But over time I realised that writings don’t change things.”
Newly-minted AAP leaders spoke his language of social reform. Manjit, who was working with the Punjabi daily Ajit, clandestinely helped the party for a while until he got an ultimatum from his employers in May 2016. “I decided to throw my lot with the AAP,” says Manjit, who has no reasons to regret his decision. He is not worried about being in opposition. “So what? Assi poora raula pawange (we will create enough noise), will create awareness among people,” says Manjit, who rues that there are hardly any teachers or doctors in his constituency.
ART OF THE POSSIBLE
Jagtar Singh Jagga Hissowal, 42, who wrested Raikot, once the stronghold of the Talwandi family, also complains about bad roads and poor bus service to villages. The seat is a dream come true for this former art teacher, who is also a part-time painter and film actor besides being a fulltime social worker. Hissowal, who was with the Sehajdhari Sikh Federation, says he joined the AAP because he saw a future with the party.
Though in opposition, these winners say their party has already made an impact. Dhaula points to the simple swearing-in ceremony. “The CM is also talking of doing away with the VIP culture,” he says. So, no hooters or gunmen for these MLAs? “I am a simple taxi driver, and that is how I intend to remain,” Sandoa signs off.
Among the many interesting outcomes of the recent elections was the rout of General (retired) JJ Singh, who contested on an Akali Dal ticket in Punjab. The former army chief’s decision to take on Amarinder Singh was a reckless move—spurred perhaps by the brusque superiority with which most generals tend to regard captains. On the campaign trail, JJ Singh courted controversy owing to his graceless and abusive references to his opponent. The general has got his comeuppance and lost his deposit. With the election out of the way, it is time to consider the pernicious consequences of senior military officers entering politics.
At the outset, it bears emphasising that the problem is with senior officers, especially former chiefs, in politics. While we have always had some politicians with military backgrounds—Amarinder Singh himself is a case in point— the trend of senior retired officers entering politics is more recent. And it is deeply problematic.
The suggestion that former generals should steer clear of politics tends to invite a series of retorts. As citizens don’t they have the right to contest elections? When retired senior bureaucrats and judges can enter politics why should we ask former military officers to stay away? If retired senior officers feel that they have more to contribute to their country why should they be stopped?
Underlying this cluster of questions is a lack of recognition of the military’s peculiar institutional place in a democratic polity. If the State is supposed to exercise a monopoly over the legitimate use of force, then the military is the ultimate instrument through which this monopoly is asserted. The extraordinary coercive power invested in this institution leads to the problem of how to guard ourselves against the guardians. There is no comparable challenge with the bureaucracy, the police or the judiciary.
To ensure democratic control of the military, states rely on a range of institutional mechanisms: systems of monitoring and accountability, reward and punishment, checks and balances, and above all, norms and values. The last is particularly important because the inculcation and reinforcement of norms and values such as professionalism and constitutional patriotism creates a distinct institutional identity for the military: As a sterile instrument of the State. Politicisation of the military is problematic because it dilutes this identity and turns it into a less reliable instrument of the State.
The military is a community with close ties between serving and retired soldiers. Politicisation of the latter will inevitably affect the former. Over the past few years, we have seen politicisation of the military taking place in both directions. The BJP’s 2014 campaign was notable for its attempt to co-opt groups of ex-servicemen with the promise of one-rank one-pension. Further, the party gave a ticket to a former Army chief, General VK Singh, who had openly taken on the previous government and also rewarded him a ministerial berth.
The military should reflect on the consequences of this trend. The OROP episode amply underscored the danger of the military being treated as a special interest group by politicians. The coddling of the military by any political party will invariably lead others to follow suit or to look at it with suspicion. This will also colour public perceptions of the military as an institution.
Politicians too should ponder its implications. If generals start espousing partisan stances and if political parties embrace them for that reason, then our institutional set-up of civil-military relations will be grievously harmed. It won’t be long before senior military officers are promoted on the basis on political affiliation rather than professional standing. Which prime minister would want to be advised by a military chief who may end up denouncing his government in public a couple of years down the line? Conversely, if a service chief is interested in a post-retirement political career will he really be non-partisan in office?
While senior military officers have a right to run for office they are under no obligation to exercise that right: Quite the contrary. Just because former chief election commissioners or chief justices have been ministers or members of Parliament, it doesn’t follow that service chiefs should aim to follow suit. The military is very different from other institutions and the costs of its politicisation will be very high. Our politics is lamentably peopled with many unsavoury characters, but it is not for soldiers to try and reform it. And if senior military officers feel they have more service left in them, they should deploy their talents outside of politics.
Now that the generals have been called out of retirement, perhaps it is naïve to hope that they will stay out. Still, let’s hope JJ Singh’s disastrous foray will serve as a deterrent to any general, air marshal or admiral eyeing politics.
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 14
The Command Hospital, Chandimandir, has undertaken a rare surgical procedure, successfully operating on a 55-day-old extreme preterm and low weight male baby, who was affected by patent ductus arteriosus (PDA).The PDA is a heart condition where a key blood vessel does not close soon after birth as required, resulting in irregular transmission of blood, increased breathing effort and poor weight gain.The procedure was performed in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) under the guidance of a team, led by the hospital commandant, Maj Gen Mukti Sharma, herself an eminent paediatric cardiologist.The baby has made an excellent recovery and has started gaining weight, according to a statement issued here today. The baby had been on ventilator.The PDA is present in all babies before birth and the mother’s placenta provides oxygen to a baby. After birth, lungs expand and the PDA closes spontaneously in the first few days of life in most babies.Most babies with a hemodynamically significant PDA are managed medically, with surgery reserved for those that fail medical management.
