Thinkstock photo for representation only.

Bikaner, August 30

A sahayak of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was found dead under mysterious circumstances near his barrack in Naal Air Force station area of Bikaner district, the police said on Wednesday.The body of Sukhdev Singh (47), who hailed from Aakalgarh in Punjab, was found by Rajpal Singh Rajput, the warrant officer of the Air Force Station, yesterday, they said.The body was handed over to his family members after post-mortem, SHO of Naal police station Dharam Punia said.The matter has been registered under Section 174 of the CrPc and further investigation is on, the officer said. — PTI

Washington, August 24

The US has asked India and Pakistan to continue to engage in direct talks aimed at reducing tensions between the two countries.

“I think one of the things that we would do is ask or encourage India and Pakistan to sit down together and engage in direct dialogue that is aimed at reducing tensions between both of those countries,” State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters on Wednesday.

She was responding to a question on the statement made by the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson a day earlier in which he sought some steps of rapprochement on issues with Pakistan.

“What was he referring to in terms of the steps India could take?” Nauert was asked at her daily news conference.

“Well, I think going up to 30,000 feet, we view the whole strategy and handling Afghanistan as being a regional strategy, and that, of course, incorporates India as well as Pakistan, so incorporating all the nations in that region who we believe can help assist and help make Afghanistan a stable place where you’ll never have a terror group that will take root in that country again and can launch attacks on other countries,” Nauert replied when asked if Tillerson was linking, a solution to Kashmir with Pakistan-Afghanistan.

“In terms of Kashmir, our policy on that has not changed.

“We continue to encourage the sides to sit down and talk together about that,” the spokesperson said. — PTI

NCC cadets take part in the Thal Sainik Camp in Nagrota on Monday. Tribune Photo: Inderjeet Singh

Tribune News Service/PTI

Jammu, August 21

As they made it to the NCC camp here, leaving behind stones-scattered streets and youths raising azadi slogans, the girl cadets echoed one message – “Shun stone-throwing, sloganeering and enjoy the ‘real azadi’ in India”.As many as 500 cadets, including 147 girls, are undergoing training at a National Cadet Corps (NCC) camp at Sainik school, Nagrota, on the outskirts of Jammu city.They are participating in the 10-day camp to select a 40-member J&K Directorate Thal Sainik team, which will take part in a national-level camp in New Delhi soon. Aneesa of the first J&K Battalion, Srinagar, and a student of Government Women’s Degree College in Anantnag, said she was the only girl representing her college at the camp. “Most of the girls wanted to come. But were not allowed by their parents, citing the prevailing situation in south Kashmir,” she said. Addressing those advocating ‘azadi’ and taking the path of violent protests, the cadets asked them to “taste the freedom enjoyed by them outside Kashmir”.“I would like to appeal to the youth studying in schools and colleges across the Valley to come forward and join the NCC. It is only through the NCC that we have been able to visit different parts of the country and got acquainted with cultures and traditions after interacting with other NCC cadets from different states,” she added. Another cadet Syed Rabia, a Class X student of Army Goodwill Higher Secondary School at Uri in Baramulla district of north Kashmir, said she along with two other girls from the same school had come to attend the camp.“We are lucky to be part of the NCC because we are not only learning discipline and unity here, but it is also helping us in our overall development,” she added.Rabia said: “Earlier, we were unaware about the NCC activities at school level and there was no enrolment of girls for such camps. It was only after the matter was taken up with the school principal the girls started taking part in the NCC camps.”Another cadet from Ladakh Sonum Angu said she belongs to the first J&K pro-company and was accompanied by 12 other cadets. “I am feeling proud to be part of this camp. We get a lot of experience here and the confidence reaches new heights. All girls are requested to join this camp,” she added. Meanwhile, Lt Col Ravindra Singh, Commanding Officer, Second J&K Independent Company, NCC, Bhaderwah, said this was the first phase of the Thal Sainik camp, which was being run by his unit. “The second and third phase will also be organised. In the third phase, the final J&K Directorate Thal Sainik team will be selected, which will take part in the national competition in Delhi later,” he said. The camp will conclude on August 27.

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 19

With growing demand and shrinking open areas in the vicinity of cities and towns, there has been a progressive increase in encroachments and unauthorised constructions on defence land over the past few years.From 296 cases across the country in 2014, the number went up to 653 and 671 over the next two years. Till June 30 this year, 129 new cases were reported, involving a total area of 188.83 acres over the past four years.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)In Punjab, only a single case of encroachment had come to the notice of authorities concerned in 2014. In 2016, this figure rose to 13, according to officially available figures. In the past three years, there have been a total of 19 cases involving 55.39 acres of land. While Haryana had just two cases in 2015, there have already been 20 cases so far this year, bringing the area encroached upon in the past three year to 99.4 acres. In 2014, the number had been 53, the third highest among all states in the country. The hill state of Himachal is also witnessing a similar phenomenon, although the area of land involved is relatively small at just 0.2 acres. With no case being reported in 2014, the number went up to two in 2015 and five in 2016.More than 14,000 acres of defence land has been encroached upon since Independence and the issue had also reached the Supreme Court in the form of a public interest litigation seeking remedial steps by the government. In the past four years, the government has managed to free 478 acres in 3,025 cases. The reasons cited for encroachments and unauthorised constructions include vast spread of defence land, increased pressure on land, title disputes and continued occupation of the land leased for agriculture or commercial activity even after the expiry of leases. Difficulties have been faced in the timely renewal of leases on account of absence of renewal application with full documents, violation of leased terms or non-mutation due to disputes. The defaulters include not only private players but even central and state government agencies.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat (extreme left) pays tributes to martyr Narendra Singh Bisht at Selaqui in Dehradun on Thursday. Tribune photo

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 17

The mortal remains of martyr Hawaldar Narendra Singh Bisht, who attained martyrdom in a Pakistani ceasefire violation in the Uri Sector of Jammu and Kashmir, were consigned to flames in Haridwar today.The last rites were conducted with full military honours and in presence of a large gathering. Earlier, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat himself visited Selaqui residence of the martyr in Dehradun and laid a floral wreath on his body. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Vikasnagar MLA Munna Singh Chauhan, Sahaspur MLA Sahdev Singh Pundir and other BJP leaders. Uttarakhand Congress president Pritam Singh too reached the martyr’s residence and offered his tributes. Bisht, who sustained bullet injuries in the ceasefire violation in the Uri Sector  on August 7, was undergoing treatment at the Jammu Military Hospital, where he succumbed to injuries yesterday. Martyr Narendra Singh Bisht was to retire next year and had only come to his house on a 10 day leave in July. Bisht leaves behind his wife Asha and two daughters Neha and Nikita, who were in a state of shock. Bisht belongs to Chamoli Garhwal.

Havildar Bisht succumbs to injuries

Havildar Narendra Singh Bisht

Dehradun, August 16

Havildar Narendra Singh Bisht of 4th Garhwal Rifles, who was injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan Army in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir on August 7, succumbed to injuries at Military Hospital in Jammu today. He belonged to Narayanbagad in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The martyr’s mortal remains are expected to arrive at his residence in Selaqui, Dehradun, today.CM Trivendra Singh Rawat and Finance Minister Prakash Pant have expressed grief over the demise of Havildar Narendra Singh Bisht and prayed for the peace of the departed soul.Havildar Narendra Bisht’s martyrdom comes days after Major Kamlesh Pandey of Haldwani died fighting militants in Shopian region of Jammu and Kashmir. — TNS

Troops of the Sikh Regiment click a selfie with Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh during his visit to the Tibri Cantonment in Gurdaspur district on Monday. Tribune photo

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 14

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today announced several development projects worth Rs 556.9 crore for the holy city. These included construction of roads, ROBs, railway under-bridges and a flyover.The Chief Minister also finalised Rs 3,000-crore World Bank-aided project to fulfil the rising demand for potable water in the city. The surface water scheme will replace the existing groundwater-based supply scheme. The project will address a serious concern of the region, which is facing severe depletion of the groundwater. Besides, the region is witnessing a surge in vector-borne diseases.The establishment of a Directorate of Fire Services at the state level in Amritsar, with 50 per cent reservation for women, is also the cards.Addressing a press conference here, the CM said the homeless would soon be given houses in both rural and urban areas. He said shamlat land in villages would be used for raising dwellings and pockets of lands in urban areas were being identified.

‘Major industries coming’

On the government’s promise of providing jobs to youth, he said 20 major industrial houses would soon kick off the process to set up industries in the state. The government would assist them in providing land and a job fest would also be held. He said a Chinese firm and Mahindra & Mahindra would soon establish electric car manufacturing units in the state.He was accompanied by Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, MP Gurjit Singh Aujla and leaders OP Soni, Raj Kumar Verka, Sunil Dutti, Harminder Singh Gill and Sukhwinder Singh Danny Bandala.‘SAD to blame for farm crisis’On suicide by farmers, Amarinder expressed regret and held the previous SAD-BJP government responsible for farm distress in the state. Amarinder claimed that about 7,000 farmers committed suicide during the 10-year rule of the previous government.The Chief Minister said there was a need to break the vicious paddy- wheat cycle to rescue the state’s farmers. “To achieve the objective, constant efforts are being made to learn techniques and technologies from Israel,” he said.

‘Minorities safe’

Amarinder refused to endorse the statement of former Vice-President Hamid Ansari that the minorities were unsafe in the country. He said minorities were not insecure either in Punjab or in the rest of the country.State holiday on Saragarhi DayGurdaspur: The state has declared a holiday on the occasion of Saragarhi Day on September 12 to commemorate the Battle of Saragarhi. This was announced by the CM while addressing troops of the 3rd battalion of the Sikh Regiment at Tibri Cantonment. Amarinder had dinner with the jawans. Earlier, the CM witnessed a pipe band display, bhangra and “gatka” performance and battalion presentation. He is in the city to participate in the state-level Independence Day celebrations on Tuesday. TNSFocus on holy city 

• The projects announced included the construction of roads from Amritsar-Bhikhiwind-Khem Karan Road and Mata Ganga Ji Marg connecting Amritsar-Jhabhal Road to Gurdwara Baba Budha
• An ROB at level crossing on the Amritsar-Mehta road at Vallah; ROB/RUB at Amritsar-Attari level line crossing from Putligar Chowk towards Pakistan; ROB/under bridge at Jaura railway crossing; flyover from Batala road to Majitha road at 4S Chowk; a unified tourism information and facilitation centre and multipurpose sports and recreation facility.
• Public toilets at 17 places, beautification works around the Sri Durgiana temple and construction of slip roads and redesigning of congested roundabouts are among other works.

Sandeep Dikshit

Tribune News Service

Beijing, August 7

China has assumed an air of perplexity over the border standoff by claiming there should have been “other reasons” for the “ingress” by Indian troops in Doklam because it had twice notified the South Block about its intention to build a road, but received no response.China claims it first notified India of its intention to build a road on March 18, a day after an Indian military delegation visited the 3rd Garrison Division of the People’s Liberation Army on the outskirts of Beijing, as a goodwill gesture. It again told India a fortnight before PLA troops arrived with bulldozers, but did not get a reply from the Indian side, Senior Colonel of the PLA Ren Guo Qiang told a select group of Indian journalists here today. It is rare for the PLA to host Indian journalists at a time when it is confronting Indian troops.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Senior Colonel Ren as well as his counterpart at the 3rd Garrison Division were firm in their demand that India must unilaterally pull out its troops while refusing to acknowledge that the site of the standoff was a disputed territory and hence required talks to sort out the issue.The burden of the Chinese argument is that India should not have jumped into the fray when the party complaining about a developing security headache should be Bhutan. The Chinese officials dismissed the concerns raised by Bhutan’s Parliament and a statement by its Foreign Office as an outcome of arm-twisting by India.Asked why China notified India about its intention to construct the road when it claims the matter is between Thimphu and Beijing, Senior Colonel Ren said this was done out of a gesture of goodwill.They were also unwilling to accept that India’s security concerns could have dictated the standoff when both sides arrived at the same spot with bulldozers and armed soldiers. India is unwilling to let the Chinese build a road up to a ridge that overlooks, just like Kargil, a vulnerable corridor connecting the mainland of the country to its North-East.The Chinese military officers emphasised the seriousness of the current standoff as compared to the earlier ones in Demchok and Chumar, both in the eastern sector of Ladakh.In the earlier cases, cartographic confusion had led to the confrontation between the two armies. In this case, Tibet’s border with Sikkim, from where the Indian troops descended to confront the Chinese, was delineated by a 1890 treaty that had held for 127 years.Dismissing India’s argument that it was trying to safeguard its own and Bhutan’s security, the Chinese want to ask why Indian troops crossed a boundary whose sanctity had been observed for over a century.The officers also reiterated the earlier statements from the Chinese foreign and defence ministries that talked of its army’s resolve to undo the “territorial violation of its territory”. But they dismissed the shrill pitch by their strategic experts and online sites and pointed out that it is the official statements that count.

A jinxed life: Duleep Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s youngest son yearned for an “authentic existence”.

Tejwant Singh Gill

THESE days, the film, The Black Prince, is being hailed a lot.  The offspring of Muslim migrants to Pakistan, Hindus and Sikh refugees from there and Sikh families settled abroad, speak highly of the film that tells the pathetic the tale of Duleep Singh. He was the youngest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Ill-luck, beset with false reward, chased him till his death. Marred by ill-health, he felt like the sailor of a sinking ship. On the throne under the supervision of his all-caring mother, Rani Jindan, he felt somewhat confident.  After she was put behind bars, he  felt a royal beggar and became a plaything in the hands of the colonialists managing the affairs of his kingdom. He was dethroned, made to forsake his native faith and embrace an alien religion. To add to it, he was taken to faraway England.  The comforts, benevolently promised but malevolently provided, enabled him to spend life in extravagant ways. Afterward, this life too ceased to interest him and a disconsolate state got the better of his being.  He disclaimed all comforts, went into exile and like a wounded bird flapped his wings to win back his kingdom. Rebuffed both by the Russian Dragon and the landed gentry of his erstwhile kingdom, he died in Paris with a concierge by his side. His death was of a martyr glorified in Sikhism and penitence hailed in   Christianity.     The film has generated wide interest. Was it because the he was impelled to luxuriate in a delusion of grandeur? Even those who believe that the past never repeats itself, cannot avoid it.  Helpful in pondering over the thematic content, this attitude is marked by several consonances and dissonances. The reason for this could be traced to the nature of the sources at hand for preparing the script. Mainly, they were of the polemical sort. In the first instance, Duleep Singh’s letters to the Viceroy, edited by Ganda Singh, the eminent historian, carried the impress of Duleep Singh’s wayward attitude towards life.  In the second instance, two or three historicist studies, with focus on his milieu, paid only lip-service to his impulses and feelings. To fill this lag, literary works, jangnamas, composed then and plays written after a century should have been used as source material. Sadly enough, they have played no role. The former depicted momentous events that happened in the wider world, with brief glances into the minds of the rivals. After the demise of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, things had begun to fall apart. In his memorable work, Jangnama Singhan te Frangian, later named Jangnama Hind te Punjab, Shah Mohammad had believed that during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Punjabis had a shared culture. After his death, it began to vanish fast without hope of return. Strangely enough, Shah Mohammad, a devout Muslim, was 80 years old when he composed this jangnama. This commonly shared culture rose above the constraints of religious segregations. With the crumbling of this dream, half-realised during the reign of Ranjit Singh, Punjab ended up as a kite without strings, sure to be torn into shreds.After his death, the polity lost no time in realising its nefarious design. Again a devout Muslim, Matak, composed his own jangnama, of less literary merit but more bitter in tone and tenor. He dared to blame Lal Singh, the prime minister and Teja Singh, the commander, for the debacle. Laloo di lali gai/ teju da gia tej.  It was not the polity only that split into fragments, society too was bereft of coherence. Failing Shah Mohammad’s noble intention, it had only a semblance of cohesion that too was fast eroding. Some sort of a converging parallelism had come to prevail between Ranjit Singh’s bodily senility and his weakening authority. In his heart of hearts, its foreboding inclined him to feel that English suzerainty was sure to overwhelm Punjab. All this was poignantly portrayed by Sant Singh Sekhon in the two plays he wrote in the 1950s of the previous century. These plays drew their titles from the Gurbani, Bera bandh na Sakio (The fleet could not be anchored) from Sheikh Farid and Moian Saar na Kai (the dead weren’t aware) from Guru Nanak. They were both apostles of unity, equality and fraternity. The first play portrayed how blind animosity pervaded every nook and corner of the court, with one successor after another getting killed without any care and concern. Though nij bal, as Guru Gobind Singh had stressed, brought freedom but at this stage, there was no nij bal favouring this truth. The second play portrayed Duleep Singh from the time he arrived in England to his pathetic death in Paris. His enchantment with life in England, discontent with inauthentic living, adoption of Sikhism  turning it into the authentic mode, the futile effort to get back the kingdom, were all portrayed with rare insight. While he lay on death-bed, his second wife revealed that she married not to own his wealth but to launch him on the path of winning his right. It was left to his son Victor to explain how this could be possible by launching a struggle consonant with the spirit of the age. Consonant with the spirit of the age were democratic and republican forms of political struggle. The correct path for Duleep Singh was what Ghadarites strove to achieve quarter of a century later. No wonder, Duleep Singh could strive to win in the battle-field what his mother exhorted him to achieve posthumously from the death-bed.  Satinder Sartaj and Shabana Azmi, enact their roles creditably enough. Their union of wills enacted through roles is so consonant. Dissonance sets in as Punjab’s liberation is replaced by India’s war of freedom. Thereby, a shadow falls between illusion and reality. The film was to trudge in polyphonic domain but it proceeds only in a monophonic way.    The writer, the former Chairperson, Department of English, GNDU, Amritsar, is at present the Editor of “museindia” —an Internet journal.

Lockheed and Sweden”s Saab are in a two horse-race to equip the Indian military with at least 100 single-engine jets that have to be produced locally under Prime Minister Narendra Modi”s ”Make-in-India” plan. Reuters file photo

New Delhi, August 29

Lockheed Martin is closing in on an international deal for F-16 fighter planes, and has offered to eventually build all the jets at a proposed plant in India if it wins a bigger order to supply the Indian Air Force, a top executive said.

The US defence giant and Sweden’s Saab are in a two horse-race to equip the Indian military with at least 100 single-engine jets that have to be produced locally under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make-in-India’ plan.

Randall L. Howard, who leads F-16 business development, said Lockheed is offering to make India the sole F-16 production centre, so eventually it will make the planes not just for India, but also for other countries.

Lockheed is closing its F-16 production line at Forth Worth, Texas, and will supply new orders from a new facility at Greenville, South Carolina. But the plan was to eventually build the planes in India, Howard told Reuters.

“Our next customer, which we believe to be very soon … we will produce those aircraft out of that (Greenville) facility,” he said. “As you look beyond that, the opportunity for India is to then move all of that into India and that’s what’s being proposed … to have a single production line in India that would service the new production requirements of global demand, the global market.”

India’s government is set to issue a formal request to Lockheed and Saab over the next few days to provide information about their plans to design, develop and produce combat jets in India, a government official said.

The planes will be produced under a new ‘strategic partnership’ policy under which the foreign aircraft maker will collaborate with an Indian firm to develop a world-class indigenous aeronautical base that India has struggled to build for decades.

Lockheed has picked Tata Advanced Systems as its local partner, while Saab has not yet announced its Indian collaborator to produce the Gripen E aircraft that it has offered to the air force.

Howard said the plan to relocate the F-16 plant to India enjoyed the support of the US government after initial concerns it would conflict with President Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ campaign under which he has pressed for companies to invest in the United States and create jobs.

Howard said winning the Indian contract worth billions of dollars would protect thousands of jobs at Lockheed in the United States as well as at dozens of components suppliers, since the Indian facility will come up gradually.

“We will start with an assembly, you can’t go from ground zero, from a standing stop to full production in a week. You have to phase it in.”

India’s Air Force is running short of hundreds of aircraft as its indigenous Light Combat Aircraft programme is dogged by delays and quality issues.

Modi’s government last year cleared the purchase of 36 Rafale combat jets from France’s Dassault Aviation, scaling back a plan to buy 126 planes, leaving the Air Force scrambling for replacements. Reuters

Thinkstock photo for representation only.

New Delhi, August 24How does marriage affect one’s ability to become an officer in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) service, the legal arm of the Indian Army, the Delhi High Court asked on Thursday.The query was posed to the Centre after it submitted before a Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal that now even married men are barred from being recruited in the Army.The submission came after the court on August 10 had questioned the non-recruitment of married women in the JAG and observed that such acts amount to “hostile and 100 per cent discrimination”.It had made the observation while hearing a PIL by lawyer Kush Kalra claiming there was institutionalised discrimination against married women by not inducting them in JAG service.The government today contended before the Bench that since married men are also barred from being recruited in the Army, after a recent amendment in its recruitment rules, the PIL has become infructuous.The court, however, did not agree with the contention and questioned the rationale behind barring married individuals from getting recruited in the Army.“Suppose one gets married and then wants to join JAG service? One can get married at the age of 18 years. How does marriage affect someone’s ability to become a JAG officer?“Right to family is recognised as a part of right to life under Article 21. Apply your mind. There can be no other rationale here, other than somebody’s whim. Somebody has got something in their mind against marriage,” the Bench said.It said the impact of the change in recruitment rules was that a person should either be unmarried or get divorced if they want to join the Army.The court did not pass any order and adjourned the matter to November 9 to be heard by the regular Bench which was hearing the plea along with another PIL by Kalra on the issue of only gainfully employed men being recruited in the Territorial Army (TA), the second line of defence after the regular Army.The TA is an organisation of volunteers who receive military training in order to be mobilised for the country’s defence in case of an emergency. — PTI