New Delhi, November 13

The sensitive pricing details of the 36 Rafale fighter jets, submitted by the Centre in a sealed cover, is scheduled to be examined by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph will hold a crucial hearing in the case during which the petitioners, who have sought a court-monitored investigation into the deal, will also make submissions.

The Centre had on Monday handed over a 14-page document titled “Details of the steps in the decision making process leading to the award of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft order” to the petitioners in the case.

The government had also filed in the court in a sealed cover the pricing details of the Rafale jets.

The petitioners are likely to respond to the contents of the documents in which it has been stated by the government that the deal for 36 Rafale jets were negotiated on “better terms” and the Defence Procurement Procedure laid out in 2013 were “completely followed”.

The Centre has also said the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approval was secured before the deal was inked with France.

The details of the decision-making process and pricing were placed in the court in compliance with its October 31 order.

India signed an agreement with France for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in a fly-away condition as part of the upgrading process of the Indian Air Force equipment. The estimated cost of the deal is Rs 58,000 crore.

The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation.

The petitions seeking the probe in the Rafale deal were first filed by advocates Manohar Lal Sharma and Vineet Dhanda.

Later, AAP MP Sanjay Singh had also filed a petition.

Former union ministers Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan had also filed a joint petition in the apex court. – PTI

Suhail A Shah

Anantnag, November 6

Two militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen, one of them an Army deserter, were killed in a pre-dawn encounter on Tuesday in Shopian district of south Kashmir, some 60 km from Srinagar.

The slain militants have been identified as Muhammad Idrees Sultan, a resident of Safnagri village in Shopian district, and Amir Hussain Rather, a resident of Awneera village in the district.

Idrees deserted his Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) unit in Bihar in April this year to join the proscribed outfit, while Amir joined the outfit in May.

The cordon and search operation (CASO) in Safnagri village of Shopian district was launched by a joint team of the Army, CRPF and the police around 3 am on Tuesday morning.

“There were specific inputs regarding the presence of militants in the area,” a senior police officer from the district said.

He said the militants dashed out of a residential house they were holed up in as the cordon was being tightened and tried to flee the spot using indiscriminate fire as cover.

“The fire was retaliated and in the brief shootout both of them were gunned down, right outside the house. By 4 am, both were killed,” the police officer said.

The operation was declared over by 6 am. There were no clashes around the site of the encounter. Internet services were snapped across Shopian district when the CASO was being laid but was restored later in the morning.

The bodies of the militants were handed over to the families following which funerals were held at their respective villages. Thousands attended the funeral prayers.

Meanwhile, a complete shutdown was observed across Shopian district following the killing of the militants.

NEW DELHI: In a blow to short-service commission (SSC) officers of the armed forces, the government seems to have backtracked on a promise to provide them post-retirement medical benefits, with the defence ministry putting it in writing that this would not be possible due to “stressed” resources.

SSC officers serve for limited tenures of up to 14 years at a young age to meet a shortage faced by the servicesNSE 0.97 %, with the idea being that a greater proportion of the officer cadre wo ..

To keep the industry solvent, as well as competitive, all global defence companies have to find markets outside the home. But an imaginary fear has gripped the Indian government regarding exporting defence equipment. While certain defence exports do have geopolitical implications, most are essentially commercial activities.

A heartbreaking photograph of an army officer consoling the father of Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, the terrorist-turned-soldier who was martyred on Sunday, has moved thousands who have chanced upon it on social media.

Wani was killed on Sunday, following a heavy gun-battle with a group of militants from Hizbul Mujahedeen and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Shopian district.

Wani has been the recipient of the Sena medal on two occasions – once in 2007 and the other last year – for displaying indomitable courage while fighting terrorists in the valley. He surrendered before the Indian Army when he realised that violence in the valley was futile.

Floral tributes were paid to Wani in a solemn ceremony at 15 corps headquarters at Badami Bagh Cantonment here on Monday. Leading the nation to pay homage was Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen AK Bhatt. In a show of solidarity, representatives from other security agencies also joined in to pay their last respects to the martyr.

“The 38-year-old martyr had joined the Army in 2004. He is survived by his wife and two children,” said Colonel Rajesh Kalia, defence spokesperson at Srinagar.

The mortal remains of the martyr were taken for last rites to his native place. “In this hour of grief, the Army stands in solidarity with the bereaved family of the martyr and remains committed to their dignity and well-being”, said Colonel Kalia

Azhar Qadri
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, November 28

With a focus to minimise civilian protests and casualties that had become a major obstacle in counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir, security forces have changed strategy: preferring pre-dawn hours to carry out raids against militants.

The change in tactics — cordoning off militant hideouts during pre-dawn hours and attempting to finish the operation in early morning hours — has come into effect during the past two months as the security forces launched a renewed campaign against militants, sources in the police said.

The latest operation began around 6 am in Budgam district and ended with the killing of two militants, including a senior commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba Naveed Jatt. The Wednesday morning gunfight was the sixth pre-dawn operation launched by security forces within a week and tenth in this month.

The sources said a “tactical decision” had been made to launch “pin-point and intelligence-driven” counter-insurgency raids with a focus to “go in and finish fast” before the civilian population in neighbourhoods and villages surrounding the encounter site gather and disrupt the operation. The change in timing has provided efficient results for the security forces as most ant-militancy operations over the last two months concluded without civilian casualties and minimal disruptions, a drastic change as the security forces over the past few years had to battle militants as well as civilian protesters who were keen on rescuing militants.

Inspector General of Police, Kashmir zone, Swayam Prakash Pani, told The Tribune that the security forces were “planning operations in a manner where they can tackle operations and post-operation scenarios in an effective manner”.

The security forces launched a major campaign in early October, marking an end to an unstated halt in counter-insurgency operations that had followed the officially-announced ceasefire during Ramzan in May-June this year. Nearly all counter-insurgency operations since early October have been launched in pre-dawn hours, including the first major encounter in which a high-profile Hizbul Mujahideen militant, Manan Wani, was killed in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 21

Claiming to have cracked the Amritsar Nirankari Bhavan grenade attack case within 72 hours, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said one person has been arrested while the hunt is on for another.

“One Bikramjit Singh has been arrested and search for another accused, Avtar Singh, is on,” Amarinder told the media here.

Pakistan’s ISI very active to cause trouble in Punjab, Amarinder Singh said, adding, “The grenades were dumped from across the fence by Pakistan’s ISI. These were made by Pakistan ordnance factory.”

Ruling out any communal angle behind the attack, the CM said it was just an act of terror.

Maintaining that the state police have busted 17 terror modules since March 2017, Capt Amarinder said, “Harmeet Phd is just a tout like others of the ISI. Harmeet was said to be the handler,” Amarinder said. Harmeet alias Happy Phd is a Pakistan-based Khalistan Zindabad Force militant. Last month, the Punjab police had busted a terror module allegedly being operated by Harmeet Phd.

Three people including a preacher were killed and over 20 injured when two-motorcycle borne men threw a grenade on a religious congregation on the outskirts of Amritsar on Sunday.

Amritsar blast: Posters of Zakir Musa put up at railway station

LUDHIANA : As intelligence agencies are linking the recent Amritsar blast with Zakir Musa, chief commander of the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind terror outfit, the Government Railway Police (GRP) have pasted posters of the terrorist at the railway station here. Posters have been pasted at the main entrance to platform number 1 for the notice of a maximum number of people coming to the station.

HT PHOTO■ A poster of terrorist Zakir Musa pasted at the railway station in Ludhiana on Tuesday.