LONDON: Seven Indian companies are among those from 20 countries named in a list whose components were used by the ISIS to make explosives, a EU-mandated study said, suggesting that more work needs to be done to track the flow of chemicals and other items to the terror group.
The study by Conflict Armament Research (CAR) showed that 51 companies from 20 countries such as Turkey, India, Brazil, and the US produced, sold or received the over 700 components used by ISIS to build improv ..
Jammu, September 20
Family members of Uri martyrs, who belong to the Jammu region, have demanded that the families of soldiers should be given ex gratia at par with neighbouring states like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.Raj Kumar, brother of Uri martyr Havildar Ravi Pal, sought to draw attention of the state government towards the ex gratia announced by the neighbouring states. He said apart from enhancing the ex gratia, the J&K Government must provide job to at least a kin of the martyrs. Geeta Devi, wife of martyr havildar, has also applied for a government job, but no action had been taken so far.The Uttar Pradesh government had sanctioned Rs 20 lakh for Uri martyrs, Jharkhand Rs 11 lakh, Odisha Rs 10 lakh plus pension, Maharashtra and Bihar Rs 15 lakh each and the J&K Government has sanctioned Rs 5 lakh.Though the martyrs’ families have received Rs 5 lakh, they were of the view that the amount had been sanctioned by the Army not by the state government. However, the Army made it clear that the amount was sanctioned by the J&K Government, but handed over to the martyrs’ family through the Defence authorities. — TNS
We are alive to all your concerns and we will ensure that all issues related to the welfare of defence personnel, and their families, are taken care of. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, defence minster
KASAULI: The Indian Army will soon be cleaning up various high-altitude tourists locations in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the Northeastern states, which face environmental threats as tourists dump their non-biodegradable refuses in the open.
Defence minster Nirmala Sitharaman said this during a programme in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, on Saturday.
She was here to felicitate officers and civilians of eight cantonments under the Western Command for their efforts in maintaining cleanliness.
The minister also awarded open defecation-free (ODF) certificates to officials from cantonments in Kasauli, Dagshai, Subathu, Jutogh, Dalhousie, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ferozepur.
She said, the remaining five cantonments under the Western Command, namely, Delhi, Ambala, Bakloh, Khasyol and Jammu,arealsoontheirwayof being declared ODF. Following the declaration of the Swachh Bharat campaign on October 2, 2014, the director general of defence estates had directed all its six principal directorates to achieve the goals of the said campaign and declare each cantonment ODF.
In her speech, the minister categorically appreciated the role of children who worked as “swachhta doot” (ambassadors of cleanliness).
Speaking on the welfare of the defence personnel, Sitharaman said, “We are alive to all of your concerns and we will ensure that all issues related to welfare of defence personnel, and their families, are taken care of. We are a listening government and responding government with a positive approach.”
The programme was attended by director general of defence estates, Jojneswar Sharma; principal director of defence estates, SC Kaushaik, and Lt Gen Surinder Singh, general officer commanding in chief, Western Command, among others. ₹15 CRORE FOR PARKING LOT IN KASAULI The defence minister also announced ₹15 crore for the construction of a multi-storey parking space near Kasauli bus stand.
“I have accepted the demand for a multi-storey parking facility, adjacent to the bus stand, and have released ₹15 crore for the project,” Sitharaman said.
Vikramdeep Johal
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 11
“Saragarhi: The True Story”, a documentary by UK-based journalist-filmmaker Jay Singh-Sohal, will be screened at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire tomorrow to mark the 120th anniversary of the epic frontier battle.It features footage from the site that falls within Pakistan’s unruly tribal region. The day shooting took place on the Samana mountain range, the Pakistan Army was fighting Islamic State militants 40km away at Rajgal. Filming also took place in the UK and India.Jay Singh-Sohal says: “It’s been a long but fulfilling journey to research, film and promote for the first time the bravery of the Sikhs at Saragarhi. It’s a personal endeavour; I’ve myself been inspired by it because it speaks to the shared history and values that make me proud to be both British and Sikh, and I know many others in my community feel the same.”On September 12, 1897, 21 Sikh soldiers of the 36th Regiment of Bengal Infantry had fought to the last man against 10,000-odd tribesmen during an uprising on the North West Frontier between colonial India and Afghanistan.According to the filmmaker, who has also penned a book on the battle, the Sikhs who fought for Britain on the frontier were “rightly rewarded and honoured” for their bravery and devotion to duty. “Today, we must continue to remember the sacrifices they and others made in such conflicts which might not be so well known, but are vitally important,” he adds.Gurinder Singh Mann, a historian and head of the Sikh Museum Initiative, says, “After the Anglo Sikh Wars (1840s) and the annexation of Punjab, many Sikhs were looking for employment. As a result, several regiments were formed in the British Indian Army over the subsequent decades. The battle at Saragarhi stresses the importance of the role the Sikhs played as part of the Empire.”The heroic tale is also the subject of two delayed Bollywood projects, one an Ajay Devgn production and the other being handled by veteran director Rajkumar Santoshi. In the latter, the lead role of Havildar Ishar Singh is being played by Randeep Hooda.
Lt Swati Mahadik with her children at the passing-out parade. PTI
Chennai, September 9
In an inspiring example of grit and courage, the wife of Col Santosh Mahadik, who was killed fighting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir nearly two years back, today joined the Army as an officer after 11 months of gruelling training.Swati Mahadik, 38, a mother of two, was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Army Ordnance Corps.Her husband Col Mahadik, a recipient of the Sena Medal for gallantry, was killed in an anti-terror operation in Kupwara in north Kashmir in November 2015.An officer from the elite 21 Para Special Forces, he was known for always leading from the front. Col Mahadik was the Commanding Officer of 41 Rashtriya Rifles.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Following in her husband’s footsteps, Swati had joined the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in October last year.Present at the passing-out parade were her proud family members — daughter Kartikee, 12, son Swaraj, 7, mother-in-law Kalindi Ghorpade, father Babanrao Shedge and her mother.Swati had already crossed the upper age limit for joining the Army and it was only after the Army and Ministry of Defence specially relaxed the age limit for her that she could initiate her new career goals.Later, she told mediapersons how she had silently resolved to join the Indian Army at the funeral of her husband in November 2015. She sent both her children to boarding schools and then appeared for the Staff Selection Board (SSB), which she cleared.After undergoing several rounds of physical fitness and medical examinations as part of the five-tiered selection process, she was selected to join the OTA.Also at the passing-out parade was Lt Nidhi Dubey, the widow of another soldier, the late Naik Mukesh Dubey.Welcoming two such gritty widows to the armed forces, the Indian Army said in a tweet: “Salute the spirit. Both Lt Swati Mahadik and Lt Nidhi Dubey have strived hard to become officers today after their husbands passed away. Both of them have made all of us proud.” Agencies
‘Uniform was his first love, now mine’I wanted to be close to him (Col Mahadik) by joining the Army. Uniform was his first love and that is why I have decided to join the Army so that I can wear the uniform. I want to give a way of life to my children which he would have given to them. —Lt Swati Mahadik
Our Correspondent
Palampur September 7
A veteran outreach/interaction programme was organised at the Palampur Military Station today. The basic objective behind the programme was to reach out to the veterans, honour and resolve the problems of ex-servicemen, which they usually face after retirement and also to commemorate a mark of respect and recognition of their services rendered for the security and integrity of the nation.Brig SK Verma (retd), Director, Directorate of Sainik Welfare, HP, gave an insight into various welfare schemes and entitlements of veterans and projects being undertaken by the Centre and the state government.Maj-Gen VS Ranade, General Officer Commanding, Dah Division, addressed the veterans and stressed the facilities available to the veterans at local station, state and Central government levels. During the event, several information counters were established to make the veterans aware about various ongoing and upcoming projects in the field of job placements, education facilities, resettlement, pension entitlement and other veteran-related issues.Online Jeevan Praman Registration and Aadhaar card registration were made available to the veterans.The event witnessed attendance of veterans from Palampur tehsil and nearby areas. Station Commander, Palampur Military Station, Brig Charandeep Singh, SM & officer in-charge, ECHS Polyclinic, were also present.
GURDASPUR:Leader of opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Thursday accused SAD-BJP candidate Swaran Salaria of having “an immoral track record” and indulging in corrupt practices to run the Chintpurni Medical College in Pathankot, owned by Salaria.
Taking a dig at Salaria, Khaira said in December 2014, Salaria was booked under rape charges at Vakola police station in Mumbai, following allegations by an air hostess. The case has now been closed. “Salaria may have silenced the aggrieved woman with his money power but the case has brought out a villainous character of the BJP candidate,” Khaira said.
The AAP leader also accused Salaria of “spoiling” careers of “hundreds of youth” from Gurdaspur at his Chintpurni Medical College and Hospital. “The future of students from this college is hanging fire since 2011 after the Medical Council of India (MCI) refused to allow its operations, citing anomalies in its functioning.”
He added that despite the MCI’s observation, Salaria continued to admit students in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The Punjab and Haryana high court has recently ordered that these students should be shifted to other medical colleges in the state, Khaira said.
“With this, Salaria has not only embezzled crores from the students by offering them medical seats, but has also indulged in corrupt practices by cheating his own electorate,” he said.
Challenging Salaria for an open debate with Khajuria, Khaira said its difficult to understand how the people of Gurdaspur can trust a man with such “nefarious track record”.
Speaking on the Centre’s taxation policy, Khaira said the BJP must be taught a lesson for “discriminating against” the state’s industry.
He said that, “at the cost of Punjab”, the Modi government has extended the industrial tax holiday by 10 years for hill states like Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
He claimed that more than 30,000 small and medium scale industrial units have either closed down or shifted out of Punjab because of the differential tax policies of successive central governments.
Meanwhile, he also took a dig at Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar and said after being rejected from Abohar assembly seat and Ferozpur Lok Sabha seat, he is aiming at his “political rehabilitation” through the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha byelection.
CHANDIGARH: The Congress was never united in Gurdaspur. The rivalry among its political dynasties runs deep, from fathers to sons.
The Lok Sabha bypoll has once again redrawn the battle lines between Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa, who is also former Gurdaspur MP, and state rural development minister Tript Rajinder Bajwa; and Dera Baba Nanak MLA Sukhjinder Randhawa, a contender for a ministerial berth. The fathers of all three too were regional satraps of the Congress and the turf war is part of the legacy.
But as the six-month-old Captain Amarinder Singh government faces a daunting bypoll test, the absence of Partap Bajwa from the campaign scene may give the Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar’s camp some anxious moments.
Dovetailing compulsion with strategy, Jakhar’s campaign managers are projecting Bajwa’s younger brother, Fateh Jang, literally in the driver’s seat. Fateh drove Jakhar to file nomination papers and was one of the faces in the photo op along with Jakhar and the CM. Fateh is also campaigning for Jakhar in Qadian, the seat he now represents after Bajwa’s wife, Charanjit, made way for him in the February polls.
But as the campaign scene hots up at Gurdaspur, Bajwa is in New Delhi to meet top leadership of the party. The Rajya Sabha MP says he will join the campaign on October 1.
The BJP, which has been attacking Jakhar as an “outsider”, is also trying to cash in on the “lack of unity” in the Congress. State BJP chief Vijay Sampla on Thursday said Kavita (Vinod Khanna’s wife) was by the side of party’s candidate, Swaran Singh Salaria, when he filed the nomination papers and also at the rally. “But where is Congress former Gurdaspur MP Partap Bajwa. The Congress is still fighting over the candidate,” he said while talking to reporters in Pathankot. Kavita too had staked her claim for ticket to the Lok Sabha seat after her husband’s death in April.
Bajwa has claimed that he got tickets for six out of nine assembly candidates in Gurdaspur Lok Sabha (barring Sukhjinder, Tript and minister Aruna Chaudhary who represents Dinanagar seat), of whom five won. But with his once bête noire Amarinder as the CM, none of the sitting MLAs except his brother, Fateh, have openly supported the candidature of his wife.
While the Jakhar camp sees no alarm bells in Bajwa’s absence from the poll scene as all the seven Congress MLAs, including Fateh, are campaigning for the party nominee, Bajwa loyalists contend he cannot be overlooked on his home turf, as he has earlier secured wins for himself, wife, brother and some other MLAs and the 2014 Lok Sabha defeat was an exception to his winning spree.
Both the defeated candidates too, Bajwa claims, had pledged their support to Charanjit for the Lok Sabha contest of 2019.
How can Sukhbir call Jakhar outsider, he contested polls from Jalalabad but lives in Bathinda. Jakhar is the only candidate capable of winning Gurdaspur bypolls.
RANA GURJIT SINGH, state power and irrigation minister
KAPURTHALA: The power and irrigation minister Rana Gurjit Singh on Thursday said that the state government will continue to provide free power supply to the farmers here.
He clarified that the government is planning to install electricity meters on the tubewells, installed at farm houses by the people who are not farming using the tubewells.
The minister said many affluent people are misusing the facility meant for needy farmers.
The government will issue bills to the people who have installed pump sets at their farm houses and are not paying the bills, he said.
Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur, September 28
Politicians have started raking up personal issues with state BJP chief Vijay Sampla claiming that Sunil Jakhar is “a true outsider as his wife belongs to Switzerland and people would have to travel to that country to get their work done since he spends maximum time there”.Jakhar was quick to react and claimed that “the outsider debate is irrational as somebody has to come from somewhere”.He said: “If Capt Amarinder Singh, who was tagged as an outsider when he contested the 2014 parliamentary poll from Amritsar, could beat Arun Jaitley by more than 1 lakh votes, what is stopping me from doing so? Indian politics is replete with innumerable such examples. Sampla should check his words carefully before speaking in public.”On the personal front, Sampla went a step ahead by drawing parallels between the in-laws of Swaran Salaria and Jakhar’s. “Salaria’s in-laws are in Tanda Urmur village on the border of Gurdaspur and Pathankot, while Jakhar has his in-laws in Switzerland. It is a known fact that he spends a lot of time there,” he claimed.AAP leader Sukhpal Khaira, too, launched a personal attack at Salaria by issuing a press note in which he made a reference to a Mumbai airhostess who had filed a case against the BJP candidate a few years ago. He also made a reference to Chintpurni Medical College and Hospital, which is owned by Salaria.
Mumbai, September 26
The Bombay High Court today granted bail to Army Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retd), an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, on the ground of parity.Since the other prime accused in the case have been granted bail by the high court and the apex court, a Bench of justices Ranjit More and Sadhna Jadhav granted Upadhyay bail against a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and two sureties each of the same amount. While National Investigating Agency (NIA) counsel Sandesh Patil opposed the bail plea, the Bench said its hands were tied in view of the apex court’s directions on the grounds of parity.The court also asked if Upadhyay’s role in the blast was larger than that of prime accused Lt Col Shrikant Purohit, who was granted bail by the apex court in August. Upadhyay’s counsel denied it and told the court about Purohit having been granted bail. He also told the court that on September 19, a trial court had granted bail to two other accused in the case — Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi — on grounds of parity.“Upadhyay played a role in hatching the conspiracy for the blasts. He attended several meetings of the Abhinav Bharat group and we have video recordings to prove his presence in some of such meetings,” Patil said. “However, while the high court recorded our opposition to the bail plea, it took cognisance of the fact that several other accused were already out on bail,” he said.Last November, the trial court had denied bail to Upadhyay following which he had filed an appeal in the high court challenging the order. — PTI
