Monthly Archives: August 2018

An Ashoka Chakra awardee will be paid Rs 12,000 a month, up from Rs 6,000. Ashoka Chakra is the highest peace-time gallantry award. PTI file

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 6

In an important decision, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has doubled the honorarium for gallantry awardees. The monies will be admissible from August 1.A notification of the MoD signed on December 4 says the highest war-time gallantry awardee of the Paramvir Chakra, will get Rs 20,000 per month, up from Rs 10,000 being paid as of now.An Ashoka Chakra awardee will be paid Rs 12,000 a month, up from Rs 6,000. Ashoka Chakra is the highest peace-time gallantry award.

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New honorarium for Maha Vir Chakra and Kirti Chakra will be Rs 10,000 and Rs 9,000, respectively. This has also been doubled. A Vir Chakra awardee will be getting Rs 7,000, a Shaurya Chakra awardee Rs 6,000 while a Sena medal, Nao Sena medal and Vayu Sena medal awardee will get Rs 2,000 per month.The award will be dispensed to the widow of the awardee in case the awardee is dead. In case the awardee was a bachelor, the award will be paid to the father and mother.The previous enhancement was made in 2012.On the other hand, the MoD is reconsidering the cap it imposed on the fees paid for children of martyrs. The MoD had imposed a cap of Rs 10,000 per month and this would have impacted 3,200 children studying in various stages of their education, including in professional colleges. 

Chinas domestically developed AG600, the worlds largest amphibious aircraft. — Reuters.

Beijing, December 24

China’s domestically developed AG600, the world’s largest amphibious aircraft, performed its maiden flight on Sunday from an airport on the shores of the South China Sea, the latest step in a military modernisation programme.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)China has stepped up research on advanced military equipment as it adopts a more muscular approach to territorial disputes in places such as the disputed South China Sea, rattling nerves in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States.State television showed live images of the AG600 lifting off from Zhuhai airport in the southern province of Guangdong, which sits on the South China Sea coast.It returned about an hour later and taxied to its stand accompanied by martial music and greeted by crowds waving Chinese flags.Xinhua news agency said the aircraft was the “protector spirit of the sea, islands and reefs”.It had previously been scheduled to make its first flight earlier this year but it is unclear why it was delayed after ground tests took place in April.State-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) has spent almost eight years developing the aircraft, which is roughly the size of a Boeing Co 737 and is designed to carry out marine rescues and battle forest fires.However, state media has also noted its potential use in the South China Sea, where China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Brunei all have overlapping claims.The AG600’s chief designer, Huang Lingcai, was quoted in the official China Daily earlier this month as saying it can make round trips without refuelling from the southern island province of Hainan to James Shoal, claimed by China but which is located close to Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo.Powered by four turboprop engines, the AG600 can carry 50 people during maritime search-and-rescue missions, and can scoop up 12 metric tons of water within 20 seconds for fire fighting trips, according to state media.The aircraft has received 17 orders so far from Chinese government departments and Chinese companies. It has a maximum flight range of 4,500 km (2,800 miles) and a maximum take-off weight of 53.5 tonnes.It can use conventional airports and also land and take-off from the sea.China is in the midst of a massive military modernisation programme, ranging from testing anti-satellite missiles to building stealth fighters and the country’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, to add to an existing one bought from Ukraine. — Reuters.

Jammu: Lt Gen D Anbu, GOC-in-C, Northern Command, awarded 18 teachers of various Army Goodwill Schools of the state at an award ceremony held in Udhampur on Tuesday. These teachers were selected after a stringent process based on their teaching ability and use of modern teaching aids. The awards were sponsored by the Satya Bharti Foundation and included cash prize, trophy and a certificate. Muhammad Ashraf Magrey of Army Goodwill School, Ziran, won the first prize in the senior secondary-level category thanked the Army for providing a platform for the teachers to showcase their teaching abilities and making a positive contribution in improving the education scenario of the state. tns

New Delhi, December 17

Work has begun to integrate the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile on 40 Sukhoi combat aircraft, which is expected to fulfil critical needs of the Indian Air Force in the wake of evolving security dynamics in the region.The air-launched variant of the BrahMos, the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile, was successfully test-fired from a Sukhoi-30 combat jet on November 22, marking a major milestone to enhance the precision-strike capability of the Air Force.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The work to integrate the BrahMos missile on 40 Sukhoi combat aircraft has begun. A timeline for the project is being set, official sources said without elaborating.  It is learnt that the project is expected to be completed by 2020. The fleet of 40 Sukhoi jet will undergo structural modifications at the state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for integration of the missile on them. The 2.5-tonne missile flies almost three times the speed of sound at Mach 2.8 and has a range of 290 km. The range of the missile, an Indo-Russia joint venture, can be extended up to 400 km as certain technical restrictions were lifted after India became a full member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) last year.“It is a very important project considering IAF’s evolving requirement to boost air power when the possibility of a two-front war cannot be ruled out,” said an official.After the test firing of the air-launched version, the IAF had said the missile coupled with the superlative performance of the Su-30 aircraft will give the force a strategic reach and will allow it to dominate the ocean and the battlefields. The integration of the missile on Sukhoi aircraft is a very complex process involving mechanical, electrical and software modifications of the Su-30 jet. BrahMos is a joint venture between DRDO of India and NPO Mashinostroyenia of Russia. — PTIHeaviest weapon on Sukhoi-30

• BrahMos will be the heaviest weapon to be fitted on India’s Su-30 fighter aircraft
• The fleet will undergo structural modifications at state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd
• With this, IAF capability to strike from large stand-off ranges on any target on sea or land will rise manifold
• BrahMos is named after two rivers: Brahmaputra and Moskva (flowing in western Russia)

290 km the missile’s range — extendable up to 400 km as certain technical restrictions were lifted after India became a full member of the Missile Technology Control Regime in 20162.5 tonne the missile’s weight, which flies almost three times the speed of sound at Mach 2.82020 year by which the missile- Sukhoi integration project is expected to be completed

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh speaks at Military Literature Festival in Chandigarh on Friday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR

IAF attack at Longewala was massive

• The IAF attack on Pakistan army tank column at Longewala during the 1971 war was important as it destroyed a large number of tanks, recollected Air Marshal Vinod Patney (retd). In the audience sat Brig Kuldip Singh Chandpuri (retd), who as a Major led a company of the 23 Punjab Battalion, to prevent tanks from coming. The IAF had taken over at first light and destroyed 28 tanks. “There were a large number of tanks and we had only four hunter aircraft that launched an attack in streams. Twenty-eight tanks were hit,” said Air Marshal Patney, speaking at a session “Use of air power in 1971 war”. This was done using atechnique last used in the World War-II (1939-45), he said

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 8

The Kashmir valley was saved in 1947 due to military action stemming from a strong advice given by a Subedar of the 1st Sikh battalion of the Indian Army to his officer.On realising that it was impossible to defend just the Srinagar airfield from the Pakistan army-backed armed raiders, the Subedar suggested to his boss Lt Col Dewan Ranjit Rai: “Sahib let’s go find the enemy rather than wait for them to arrive.”Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, a noted historian, narrated this anecdote at a session on the first Indo-Pak war (1947-48) on the opening day of the Military Literature Festival here this morning.Col Rai heeded the advice and moved his troops towards Baramulla, some 34 miles north-west of Srinagar. That, Capt Amarinder said, changed the course of the fight. In all, 462 marauders were killed. In the meantime, the troops of the 1st Patiala moved up to Zoji La and held onto the pass for the six months, stopping the ingress of the raiders from the eastern flank. The two — 1st Sikh and 1st Patiala (now rechristened 15 Punjab) — secured a total of 27 gallantry awards among themselves, including 1 PVC, the highest war-time gallantry award.Capt Amarinder said on October 25, when VP Menon, the then secretary of states, led a delegation to Srinagar, “there was panic”.Dr Harish Khare, Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune Group of Newspapers, said: “Who did what to whom remains a matter of subjective interpretation even after 70 years. We have an Indian version, a Pakistan version and rather mischievous British version.”“Many questions remain unanswered. What was the role of British leadership? Could things be different had an Indian General been given command of the Army (a British was the commander then). Could there have been a better timing for accepting a ceasefire? Many of the present narratives flow from the mistakes we made, not made, or presumed to be made,” said Dr Khare.Lt Gen AK Mukherjee (retd) narrated how a company of 13 Field Regiment wore the uniform of 1st Sikh and when artillery guns arrived they reverted to being gunners (their original role). They fought a very decisive battle to save Uri.Brig IS Gakhal (retd), who is from the Sikh Regiment, narrated interesting anecdotes on role of the 1st Sikh. Brig MS Gill (retd) listed the surprise caused by tanks at Zoji La that led to the advance towards Drass and Kargil. Maj Gen Shivdev Singh (retd) suggested that the battles of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh could not be seen in isolation when studying the war.

DS Sandhu and Jaikanta Sandhu, parents of late Rajeev Sandhu, second lieutenant of the Assam regiment, whose statue was unveiled at his alma mater, St John’s High School, in Sector 26, Chandigarh, on Wednesday.

Indian troops guarding the LoC retaliated effectively. Tribune file

Jammu, December 24

Pakistani troops on Sunday resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, a day after a similar incident took the lives of four Army personnel in nearby Rajouri district.

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The Pakistani troops started firing from heavy and light weapons from across the border, targeting forward posts and villages in Shahpur sector around 12.55 pm, a police official said.

Read: Major, 3 jawans killed in Rajouri LoC attack

He said the Indian troops guarding the LoC retaliated effectively and that the firing between the two sides was going on when the last reports came.

However, there is no immediate report of any casualty in the skirmishes, the official said.

The latest ceasefire violation comes a day after the Pakistani troops killed an Army Major and three jawans and injured another in Keri sector of nearby Rajouri district.

Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a total of 881 ceasefire violations this year, highest in the past seven years, along the LoC and the International Border (IB), resulting in the death of 34 persons.

According to officials, Pakistan has violated ceasefire along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir 771 times till December 10, and 110 times along the IB till November-end this year.

Thirty persons — 14 Army personnel, 12 civilians and four BSF personnel — were killed in such incidents.

The truce between India and Pakistan along the International Border, Line of Control and the Actual Ground Position Line in Jammu and Kashmir came into force in November, 2003.

India shares a 3,323-km-long border with Pakistan, of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.

In 2016, there were 449 incidents of ceasefire violations wherein 13 civilians and 13 government forces personnel were killed and 83 civilians and 99 security personnel were injured.

In 2014, there were 583 incidents of ceasefire violation in which 14 civilians and three security personnel were killed and 101 civilians and 28 security personnel were injured.

In 2015, the number of ceasefire violations was 405; 347 in 2013, 114 in 2012, 62 in 2011 and 70 in 2010. PTI