Monthly Archives: August 2018

Smoke billowing from a section of ordnance factory in Jabalpur on Saturday. — ANI

Bhopal, March 25

A fire broke out at Ordnance Factory, Khamaria, in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday evening, setting off a series of explosion.District Collector Mahesh Choudhary said that 25 fire tenders were pressed into service, and the blaze was put out by 9.30 pm, three hours after it started.The explosions too have stopped, the Collector said.The fire started at around 6.20 pm, when the factory workers had left, hence there were no casualties, said Choudhary, who visited the spot.Cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, he said. — PTI

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Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 24

While the delegated financial powers enjoyed by the civilian leadership in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to clear capital acquisitions have been sharply hiked, the three Service headquarters have been left out.Financial powers are delegated by the government to the Armed Forces Headquarters and subordinate authorities under them to streamline and fasten the procurement of goods and services required by them to meet routine administrative as well as urgent operational and technical requirements. In the Armed Forces headquarters, these powers are exercised by the respective Vice-Chiefs.According to a communiqué issued by the MoD’s Finance Division to various establishments a few days ago, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has approved the delegation of financial powers to the Defence Secretary, while enhancing the powers of the Defence Minister and the Finance Minister for sanction of proposals under the Services Capital Annual Acquisition Plans.Under the new structure, proposals between Rs 150 crore and Rs 300 crore can now be approved by the Defence Secretary, while those between Rs 300 crore and Rs 2,000 crore can be signed by the Defence Minister. Proposals between Rs 2,000 crore and Rs 3,000 crore will come under the Finance Minister’s purview while those above this limit will have to be placed before the CCS. Earlier, the Defence Minister’s limit was Rs 1,000 crore, sources said.The existing delegated powers of Vice-Chief of Army Staff, Vice- Chief of Air Staff, Vice-Chief of Navy Staff, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff and the Director General, Coast Guard, who can sanction proposals up to Rs 150 crore, remain unchanged, the communiqué states. The sanctioning power of the service headquarters was last revised in 2013, when it was just Rs 50 crore. During the time or prior revisions, the limit had been Rs 30 crore and Rs 10 crore.While capital procurements are expected to get a fillip with increase in sanctioning limits, the existing delegation of power for land acquisition and works, development projects and Defence Research and Development Organisation proposals and Ordnance Factory indents will remain unchanged. Delegation of powers for revenue proposal is separate

Cabinet panel decision

• The Cabinet Committee on Security has approved delegation of financial powers to the Defence Secretary, while enhancing the powers of the Defence Minister and the Finance Minister for sanction of proposals
• However, the existing delegated powers of Vice-Chief of Army Staff, Vice- Chief of Air Staff, Vice-Chief of Navy Staff, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff and the Director General, Coast Guard, remain unchanged

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 23

A veteran’s homage journey’ has entered Punjab through Bathinda, the 155th location, after traversing through most states of the country before moving up North and finally to conclude the pilgrimage at ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’ (War Memorial), New Delhi, on April 19. Punjab is the 27th state that General Jha is journeying through on the saddle, as part of the 12,000 kilometers of the homage journey.This homage journey is a personal quest of Major General Somnath Jha (retd), a third generation soldier who gave the best of life to the honorable service of the Indian Army for over 37 years and hung his boots at the age of 58 last year.As a soldier he witnessed loss of many brethren who could not make it to their retirement day and sacrificed themselves for the nation. This personal loss of friends and peers inspired this Army veteran to take upon himself, this mission of bicycling solo, down the entire length and breadth of the country, paying homage to the fallen heroes, over 20,600 of them since the Independence. As he cycles two minutes for every fallen hero, he also carries with him the message of ‘One Nation’ and ‘Love’.A journey that began as a personal quest, today has more than a thousand citizens following it on the social media and countless people who have connected with it at locations which have been visited by him; hundreds of villages, small towns and districts in the past five months. A seven-month-long journey that rekindles the spirit of being one as a nation, and lights up so many hearts everyday, is not just about the number of hours he has spent on and off road, nor the number of homes that have been visited but a story of courage, perseverance and above all love; the only intention.‘Behind every successful man and his story is a woman who has faith in him’. Chitra Jha, wife of Major General Jha, is this pillar of strength and a writer of international acclaim herself with four successful books to her credit in the past few years.

Army and ISI exert a controlling influence over most of Pakistan’s core state policies, says Markey. Reuters file photo

Washington, March 23

The “controlling influence” of Pakistan Army and intelligence services on Islamabad’s “core state policies” is unlikely to allow any strategic shift in its ties with India, a top expert on South Asia has suggested.

“US policymakers, for their part, have come to terms with the reality of Pakistan’s deep state. As a practical matter, they find it nearly impossible to get anything important done on security issues without working through the Pakistani military and intelligence services,” Daniel Markey, from the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in an op-ed piece in The Cipher Brief.

This, he said, has been especially frustrating for Americans who would have opted to use their influence to tip the scales in favour of a more transparent, accountable system grounded in the constitutional rule of law in Pakistan.

“US policymakers also cite the controlling influence of Pakistan’s military, often complemented by a permanent establishment, as a reason to doubt prospects for any sort of ‘strategic shift’ by Pakistan on ties with militant proxies, relations with India, and expanding the nuclear programme,” he said.

Markey said academic and policy analysts generally agree that Pakistan’s army and directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), exert a controlling influence over most of Pakistan’s core state policies.

“This entrenched, unelected, and opaque ‘deep state’ is complemented by a near-permanent ‘establishment’ comprised of a relatively small cadre of politicians, senior bureaucrats, and well-connected business families who have led, managed, and owned most of the country since its independence in 1947,” he wrote.

Markey said questions plague any discussion of Pakistan’s foreign and defence policies. “Why is it that even when Pakistan’s top military and civilian leaders profess to be fighting terrorism in all its forms, their own intelligence institutions continue to support and provide a safe haven for anti-Indian and anti-Afghan terrorists, like Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Haqqani network?”

“Why have Pakistani diplomats repeatedly failed to ink trade deals with their Indian counterparts, even when civilian leaders in Islamabad claim to favor them? Why wasn’t Pakistan’s elected president (Asif Ali Zardari) free to reassess Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine despite his 2008 claim to be doing precisely that?” Markey asked. — PTI

Abdul Basit

PAKISTAN High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit made a sensible and timely observation: important as the terrorism issue is to bilateral ties, there are other matters of equal importance that deserve to be focused on. Dialogue needs to be revived at the earliest. The High Commissioner’s remarks came on a day that the BJP shocked India with its nomination of a controversial, hard-line Hindu priest to the post of Chief Minister of UP. The reaffirmation of a message of constructive dialogue on Pakistan’s part at a time when India may be lurching further to the political right is necessary; the stakes are too high to drift into era of turbulent relations. Basit’s remarks are a welcome reminder that right-thinking individuals in both countries continue to dwell on the need for dialogue and not jettison the shared experience of the past seven decades. It has proved while dialogue is difficult to initiate, even harder to sustain but is the only realistic option. Consider the so-called low-hanging fruit that Basit referred to: Sir Creek and Siachen. Sir Creek was once regarded as an agreement within reach —a border and maritime dispute that can be resolved by technical teams, if political will exists. The mindless stand-off in Siachen, more than three decades old and a growing environmental concern, could be resolved in a manner that satisfies both the military and political leaderships in both countries. The freezing of dialogue has stalled all progress. In the case of Siachen, there is a sense that the intransigence of the Indian military and its growing influence in the national security and foreign policy domains have effectively cancelled the low-hanging-fruit status of the Siachen dispute. Unhappily, the absence of dialogue is allowing other factors to intervene and make historical and already-complicated disputes even more complex. Revival of political will to engage in dialogue is the obvious starting point. Having established his party as the dominant political force in India, PM Narendra Modi has an opportunity to pivot and return to the path of dialogue with Pakistan. He also now has the benefit of greater experience. Unexpected return to dialogue and the unveiling of the so-called comprehensive dialogue process with additional baskets in late 2015 was a commendable effort, but was not adequately militancy-proofed. The subsequent Pathankot attack caused a rupture. Experienced and committed dialogue partners may have found a way to sustain the process. An year and a half later, with Pakistan having taken a few steps against India-centric militant groups and large-scale counterterrorism operations under way across Pakistan, the dialogue process can be restarted in a more conducive environment.  — Editorial in the Dawn

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 22

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) today issued bailable warrants against the Engineer-in-Chief (EIC) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), New Delhi, for not implementing it order of releasing consequential benefits of arrears of an executive engineer and re-fixing his salary on a par with his two juniors.The administrative tribunal stated that if the order was not implemented till April 7, the next date of hearing, then Engineer-in-Chief Sanjeev Talwar should be arrested and presented before the administrative tribunal.The Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Mohan Kumar, was also made the party in the case but the warrant was not issued against him.According to the execution plea filed by applicant Khaili Ram, a native of Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, the Central Administrative Tribunal on February 10 last year ordered that his all consequential benefits be released with interest and re-fix his salary within three months of the order.However, the department did not fulfil the order of the tribunal even after several months. The applicant was posted as the Executive Engineer at the office the Engineer-in-Chief in Ministry of Defence in Chandigarh.In his plea, he sought his salary be raised on par with Dharam Singh and Chhitar Singh, posted in the same wing.He contended he deserved to get the same salary they were drawing, the court had found his contention right and had directed the authorities concerned to give him same with allowance and interest from September 1, 2008.

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 21

Brigadier JPS Randhawa (retd), who was decorated with the Vir Chakra for gallantry during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, passed away here today at the age of 90. He was also a recipient of the Sena Medal.Born in Amritsar in 1927, he was commissioned into the Army in 1952 and belonged to the Eighth Gorkha Rifles. After retirement, he chose to settle in Chandigarh.In the 1971 war, his battalion had been deployed in the Western Sector, when on December 12, his defensive position was attacked by the enemy with heavy artillery support. He mustered and led the battalion’s commando platoon in a surprise counter attack that turned the tide of the battle and routed the attacking force, according to his citation.

The Chief Minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh, seems on course and has not put a foot wrong — so far. Not a single good step that he takes will go unappreciated Also, he is too seasoned a leader to make the mistake of writing the Akalis off.

Captain Amarinder Singh’s in his second innings is a more seasoned administrator and has selected a cracker of a team.

PUNJAB has just been through what I consider potentially the most significant poll since August 1985.  Never before, with the possible exceptions of 1966 (communal aftermath of the linguistic partition) and 1984 (Operation Blue Star and anti-Sikh massacre), has the state seethed so much for so long with   subterranean discontent, anger, cynicism and a crouching sulk as we saw in the lead-up to these elections. No one in particular should be blamed for that. Neither the government nor the opposition put the state above themselves.

I am relieved that the start of the second tenure of Captain Amarinder Singh is  significantly different  from the one in 2002. He has said nothing that does not behove his stature as the Chief Minister. I must give him credit for steering clear of ugly and confrontationist posturing that had come to disfigure his previous tenure.

One must not forget that Amarinder was a youthful 60  in 2002 and he is a ripe 75 – or thereabout – now. He has seen a lot of life in government and also 10 long years in opposition – both from us and from within his own party. I am focusing on Amarinder because to me the poll triumph as well as the new dispensation is more the Captain’s, rather than the achievement of the Congress.

I know he would like to give credit for this to his party and its high command and that’s sweet of him. But Punjab knows better. I must concede that this time Amarinder has hit the ground running. His choice of officers so far has been impeccable and indicates a willingness to transcend inheritance of ugly confrontation  and deliver on what he has promised. True, he will surprise me if he is able to fulfill all or even most of his major political promises. And I will be happy to be proved wrong. But there is no doubt that he has surrounded himself with all the right kind of people. Continuing with Suresh Arora as the police chief  clearly meant that the old songs of vendetta have been muffled, at least for the hour. The suave Karan A Singh, an upright and efficient  professional, as  head of the Civil Service in Punjab means (one hopes) that merit shall determine postings – a huge plus.

Karan is humble and has no swagger, no loud stentorian bass, no heavy-weight  authoritarian aura, which in bureaucracy is often a camouflage for self doubt, ignorance and incompetence.

The appointment of  Tejvir Singh as the new Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary is a soft pronouncement of loud intent: sobriety, conciliation and consensus could be the keys to conflict resolution in the days to come. To me, Tejvir is the best of the lot around the CM. How effective he will be allowed to remain is another matter. But by far the most significant decision  – exceptionally brave and unprecedented –   has been  to put  Suresh Kumar at the peak of the administrative pyramid  as Chief Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister in the emoluments  (perhaps not the rank) of Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India. I am no great fan of this “out-of-box” arrangement  and it might create some confusion about the effectiveness and role of the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and even the Chief Secretary, but the advantages too will  be significant.

I think the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister should be the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister alone. Period. For the first time, the head of the Civil Service in the state would report to someone other than the Chief Minister – a de facto Chief Minister. How good that is, only time will tell.The best thing, and perhaps the only good thing, about this arrangement is the person chosen to man it. Suresh is not only vastly experienced but has an unimpeachable reputation for uprightness. Few in this government can beat him in  elocution and making impressive presentations.  Beyond that, I have my reservations.To me, the arrangement  smacks  of Governor’s rule, with an advisor to boot. How relevant will the people’s representatives remain? That is a test for Suresh to pass.

I know the Chief Minister’s team is handpicked by Suresh and that will ensure harmony. Yet, the arrangement itself is too untested to inspire faith. One hears that K R Lakhanpal —sharp, outspoken and a  functioning visionary — is also being inducted into the system at a key position. That will make it one cracker of a team for the new Chief Minister. I am also watching with interest who his advisor on information will be and how much will he be allowed to breathe by a zealous bureaucracy.The message from the government’s first few decisions has created a positive impact. But sweet as these  decisions sound: “Drug addicts will be treated with compassion !” – Captain Singh would be the first to agree that most of these “decisions” are anything but “decisions.”  These are mere declarations of intent. Nothing practical has so far been announced on any of his key promises, like employment to 30 lakh youth, waiver of farmers debt etc. I am very suspicious of the move to hide inaction behind  Committees. If they had wanted to, they could simply have taken a cabinet decision on waiver and filling of vacancies and then left its implementation to officers and experts. All the data they needed on farmers’ debt and on unemployment is already available with Suresh himself. They are going about it the other way round. Not impressed. But one could argue that the government is not even a week old yet and it is not fair to judge  its performance this early. And that’s a fair argument. All in all, I would say Captain seems on course and has not put a foot wrong – so far. I assure him that not a single good step he takes will go unappreciated. He is too seasoned a leader to make the mistake of writing Akalis off. One also hopes he wouldn’t be hyper in his responses to well-meaning criticism. The initial signs from the palace are not bad. But it is early days yet.The writer, a freelance journalist, has served as Adviser on National Affairs to the former Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal.  These are his personal views.

A ‘summer storm’ has gone, leaving in its wake an enduring army of the hopefuls. The political ‘storm’ was perceived to be serious as the three contenders — the Congress, AAP and SAD-BJP — came out in full battle gear in the battle of the ballot. The AAP was threatening to sweep the other two off their feet. One man stood his ground, believing in himself and the people he trusted. At the end of the day, Captain Amarinder Singh won, keeping his word he gave to The Tribune in these columns on January 29 this year. “We’ll win at least 70 seats,” he had told this newspaper. The Congress has won seven more. A triumphant Captain smilingly said of his rival: ‘Arvind Kejriwal is like a summer storm which came and has gone.” The victory marked the second innings for the Maharaja of Patiala. How did he pull it off, how did his war machine work and who are the men the new Chief Minister trusts the most? The Tribune takes you through to the inner circle — the ‘magnificent five’ of the CM, who calls them by their first name and leans on them through thick and thin. 

Suresh Kumar

A 1983-batch IAS officer. Kumar has been appointed Chief Principal Secretary to the CM. He has known the Captain for 30 years. A post-graduate in Commerce from Delhi University, Kumar was posted as SDM at Talwandi Saboo in the mid-1980s when the Captain contested Assembly elections from there and won to become a minister in the Barnala government.Known as an effective administrator, Kumar retired as additional chief secretary (development) in April, 2016. His colleagues recall him as a man who quickly cleared official files. Kumar worked as Principal Secretary for about three years during Captain’s first term (2002-2007). Suresh Kumar is an open-minded officer and takes his team along. Though known as a hard taskmaster, he does not believe in confrontation. When the Congress government in its previous tenure faced criticism because of lackadaisical functioning of the Chief Minister’s office, the Captain made him his Principal Secretary. Kumar is said to have stabilized the system and run the CMO virtually singlehandedly.

MP Singh

Associated with the CM since 2002. During his first term as CM, MP Singh remained his secretary. He is now Officer on Special Duty(OSD). A retired PCS officer, Singh also remained Additional Private Secretary to Preneet Kaur when she was minister of state for external affairs in the Manmohan Singh government. Post retirement, he has been working with the Captain and Preneet Kaur at their camp office at New Moti Bagh Palace.“Working with the royals has been a very pleasant experience. They are a wonderful people and yet ‘uncommonly common’ — very generous and always helpful. I have given them my 100 per cent and got back much more,” says Singh. He belongs to Dhanula village in Barnala district. He is a post-graduate in English Literature from Panjab University. Singh was the first one to be appointed as OSD even before the Captain assumed office on March 16. As a government officer, he worked first with Giani Zail Singh in the early 1970s and then with 14 governors from 1983 to 1993. He was elevated to the PCS cadre from the ministerial staff in 1997 by then chief secretary RS Mann. When the Akali Government took over in 2007, he was posted at Ferozepur, where as SDM, he handled charge of more than a dozen offices.“Whenever Rajmata (mother of Capt Amarinder Singh) comes to Moti Bagh Palace, she always invites me for lunch. She is a great soul,” he says. “They trust you and it is for you to be worthy of it.” 

Karanpal Sekhon

A third generation loyalist of the erstwhile Patiala royal family. Karan has been with the Captain since 1992. He studied at Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, and later at the Government College Chandigarh.  He was an OSD to the Captain during his first term as Chief Minister. “Our family has personal relations with the royal family,” says Karan, who originally belongs to Kal Banjara village in Sangrur district. Karan’s grandfather Ishar Singh was a Nazim in the Patiala state. His father was in the IIIrd Regiment of Patiala State and was absorbed in the Army post Independence.Karan served for about seven years in a corporate house in Delhi. He has been accompanying the Captain to almost all places and has also been attending family functions. He is in-charge of liaison work for the CM. 

Capt Sandeep Sandhu

He first studied at PPS Nabha and later at the Government College, Chandigarh, and has been associated with the CM as a member of his personal team. “A school friend who was posted as IPS in Delhi once took me to the Captain’s residence there. That was the beginning of my association with him,” says Capt Sandhu. He quit Merchant Navy in 2003.Capt Sandhu comes from Bhag Singh Wala village near Faridkot. He managed Amarinder’s election war room during Lok Sabha elections in 2014, when he defeated BJP’s Arun Jaitley at Amritsar with a big margin. That election marked the political return of Amarinder Singh. When he became state Congress chief replacing Partap Singh Bajwa, he made Capt Sandhu general secretary of the party and also gave him charge of the Congress office in Chandigarh. “As a member of the personal team, my job was to give all the required feedback, which I got from party leaders and others to Amarinder and arrange his visits to rural areas for campaigning,” says Sandhu.

Major Amardeep Singh

The retired Army officer served in the same Sikh Regiment of which Capt Amarinder Singh was a part in the 1960s. He is from Manepur village in Gurdaspur. He served for a while in the CMO during the previous tenure of Capt Amarinder Singh. 

New Delhi, March 17

A 46-year-old Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian Army allegedly committed suicide outside his house in southwest Delhi’s Dwarka area on Friday morning.

His family members told the police that he was stressed that he might be court-martialed soon. A case of misappropriation of funds was going on against him in Siliguri, Assam.

No suicide note has been found so far but prima facie it appears to be a case of suicide, said DCP (Southwest) Surender Kumar.

“A PCR call was received from Salaria Apartments in sector 20 today around 7 am. We were informed that Lt Col Jagdish Prakash was found hanging from the grill near the stairs leading to his house,” he said.

Prakash had been living with his wife and two children in this sector for the last seven years.

His wife told the police that he had been depressed for the past few weeks because of the issue.

She said he was having a disturbed sleep pattern and would step out of the house at 3 an and then return.

Today he stepped out at the same time but did not return. When she woke up, she tried to reach him on his cellphone but he had left his phone at home.

After sometime, she stepped out and saw her husband hanging outside the house. She raised an alarm and her neighbours informed the police.

Prakash was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead.

He was serving in Corps of Engineers and was posted at the Kashmir House on the Rajaji Marg here and belonged to Kerala.

Inquest proceedings are underway, the police said. — PTI