Monthly Archives: August 2018

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 8

A 10-bedded palliative care ward has been operationalised at Military Hospital, Jalandhar Cantt, by Lt-Gen Arvind Dutta, Corps Cdr, Vajra Corps.

Officials said it would take care of patients who were in coma and in a vegetative condition due to stroke or advanced cancer and requires palliative and supportive care.

He also opened a state-of-the-art ‘Modular Operation Theatre’ where all types of joint replacement surgeries will be conducted

Many patients of Punjab, Himachal and J&K will be benefitted by these new facilities, the officials said.

Islamabad, April 6

Pakistan has said it will not accept the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution in Kashmir, saying it would be a violation of UN resolutions.

Article 370 is a “temporary provision” with respect to Jammu and Kashmir and restricts the applicability of various provisions of the Constitution by “curtailing” the power of Parliament to make laws on subjects which fall under the Union and Concurrent lists.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal, addressing the media in Islamabad, made the comments on the issue of abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, saying it would be in violation of the UN resolutions.

Senior BJP leaders have repeatedly emphasised the party’s commitment to abrogate Article 370 from the state. According to media reports, BJP president Amit Shah said they remained committal to removing the Article from the state but their lack of majority in Rajya Sabha was the reason why it had not been done yet.

Shah’s comments were met with some sharp criticism from political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir.

National Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said when the country got Independence, a Constitution was created in which certain provisions were kept by which the state’s identity could be safeguarded.

“It included Article 370 and Article 35A. Unfortunately, some of our leaders made Article 370 hollow for their personal gains,” he said.

His father and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah had said the relationship between New Delhi and the state would be over if Article 370 was repealed. — PTI

Will violate UN resolutions

“The abrogation of Article 370 of Indian Constitution is in violation of UN resolutions. We will not accept it under any circumstances and the Kashmiris will also not accept it.” Mohammad Faisal, Pak foreign office spokesman

Imran slams BJP

Truth always prevails and is always the best policy. BJP’s attempt to win elections through whipping up war hysteria and false claims of downing a Pak F-16 has backfired.

File photo of Christian Michel. Reuters

New Delhi, April 6

A Delhi court on Saturday issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate on plea of Christian Michel, alleged middleman arrested in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case, alleging the agency of politicising the case by leaking the chargesheet copy to the media.

The agency, on the other hand, sought an inquiry as to how the copy of the chargesheet was leaked to the media and asked for issuance of notice to a news organisation asking to explain how they accessed the document.

Special judge Arvind Kumar issued notice to the agency and directed it to file a reply on Michel’s plea, which had stated that he had not named anybody in connection with the deal during investigation by the ED and that even though the court has not taken cognisance over the documents filed before it, in order to make the entire case a sensation again in the media, the agency had leaked the chargesheet.

The court will take up the matter of leaking of the chargesheet copy on April 11.

The court also issued summons to Michel’s business partner and middleman David Nigel John Syms as accused in the case. Syms, named as accused in the chargesheet, will have to appear before court on May 9. PTI

There’s rush to meet target, even by defence public sector undertakings

Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd)
ADDL Director General, Centre for air power studies, New Delhi

The 31st of March has great significance for any manufacturing company. If a civil commercial company meets its sales target by this last day of the financial year, it is a feather in the cap of its head, who gets a good evaluation from his boss. This pressure of meeting the deadline percolates down, as he evaluates the second tier of officers who, in turn, do this for the next level, and so on. If it is a question of a company making soaps and shampoos or any commercial product, a sales shortfall affects its revenues — and people lose their jobs. This is true of the private industry, but unheard of in the public sector — certainly not in defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs), because here it is the production target that is set! And, there

is a big difference between sales and production.

Let us take Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) — the only aviation company of India in which the IAF has great stakes. On March 25 this year, a tweet from HAL announced that ‘HAL has produced 16th LCA of IOC Contract as per the target till March 31, 2019. The customer flights are expected soon (emphasis added).’ The tweet was marked to people in the Ministry of Defence (MoD), conveying to the bosses that the company’s target had been met. 

The Secretary of Defence Production would surely inform the Defence Minister and earn her accolade. As an old fogey, who has dealt with tricks that DPSUs play with the gullible public at large, may I request her to hold back her appreciation till HAL confirms when the 16th aircraft is accepted by the IAF for squadron service?

That event, which corresponds to a sale, should be the yardstick by which the efficiency of every DPSU should be judged. The Defence Minister  should also ask for comparative figures of overtime paid to employees per quarter. Why? Please read on.

Media reports have highlighted how the IAF has repeatedly pointed out to the MoD the below-par work of HAL many a time in servicing of aircraft to meet production targets. Ask any IAF pilot who has gone to HAL to accept an aircraft rolled out by it, and the litany of unserviceabilities and snags necessitating repeated air tests before final acceptance will flow; and this is true not only for overhauled aircraft, but also brand-new ones. The delay in acceptance sometimes extends eight to nine months, necessitating many more flights (sometimes 10 plus) than only two or three, which should suffice if the workmanship is as per standards.

There are three reasons for this. First, a lack of accountability in the first three quarters to meet quarterly production figures. No one is punished for the delay. Second, the resultant increased workload in the last quarter, especially as March 31 approaches, coupled with flexible work ethics results in overtime work — and payment of course!

So, substandard work ensues, else why the repeated and enhanced number of acceptance flights? And last, but more importantly, a degradation in ethics and morals to claim kudos for a job not well done and not on time; when such scruples are scuppered in an aviation company, we are asking for trouble. An example should explain this.

As the Assistant Chief of Air Staff looking after helicopters, I was to accept the first three Cheetal helicopters on behalf of the IAF — it was the month of March 2009! On reaching Barrackpore a day prior to the handing over, I saw tents, streamers, banners et al, all set for a festive official handing-over ceremony to the IAF, with the media invited for sure. A casual question on how the three helicopters were performing drew an answer that none were serviceable, and ‘Sir, after your acceptance they would be rectified.’

This was blasphemous to a service officer’s ethics and on my threat to take the next day’s morning flight back to Delhi, HAL worked late hours to bring one aircraft on line. Remember, all was set for a publicity blitz, and the management would have had to face the flak. So, one aircraft was taken over amidst much clapping and photographs; the second one took a few more months and the first ferry to Leh happened in August, a delay of five months! Par for the course, one can say, and would continue to be so if the MoD does not demand and check honesty in work ethics.

So, in the case of the Tejas claim (of the production target of 16 aircraft having been met), the Raksha Mantri may please reserve her kudos, as also change the yearly output efficiency benchmark of every DPSU from production to acceptance by the Services. Else, it would be overtime, as usual, every 31st March.

IN what lends an impressive patina to the progressiveness of our defence forces, the Army has decided to unlock its glorious doors to allow women in the role of a jawan in select non-combat streams, like the Corps of Military Police. The Navy, too, will follow along by recruiting them in the ‘Provost’ wing and its band, hitherto a male preserve. In December, Army Chief Bipin Rawat had indicated that the forces were keen to expand the induction of women into other cadres, and take them in as cyber specialists, interpreters, and in accounts and audit services and information warfare domain.

Traditionally, women in the armed forces were confined to the medical services and auxiliary branches. It changed in 1992, when the Army made way for women officers beyond medical roles such as Judge Advocate General (legal), education and engineering wings. In 2015, the Air Force charted a fresh course by giving a leg-up to women officers from the humble helicopter cockpit to the mean fighter jet. At every stage since, the women have established their professional acumen and proved themselves worthy of the confidence placed in them. The Navy inducts women as officers into logistics, architecture, armament inspectorate and as reconnaissance pilots. Recently, the six-member all-women crew of INSV Tarini demonstrated its mettle by triumphantly circumnavigating the globe.

In step with the times, the move constitutes a welcome advance on the older order of things and negates any proclivity to assume women in inferior, less-challenging roles. While they are posted in forward areas, combat duties remain out of bounds, not because they won’t shine here too, but due to the ruthless realities of hardcore warfare. The Army, long known for its brotherhood and institutional integrity, has embraced sisterhood at its core. It is obligatory for the forces to keep high the confidence of the women, who have chosen a life less ordinary. Safe working conditions must be ensured to them, as they march together with men, as one, shoulder to shoulder, to defend the country’s borders.

New Delhi, April 6

Pakistan has opened one of its 11 air routes for west-bound flights from India and Air India has started using it, said a senior government official today.

“Pakistan has been opening its airspace in tranches. On Thursday, it opened one of the 11 routes for west-bound flights. Therefore, airlines such as Air India and Turkish Airlines have started using it,” he said.

Though route P518 was opened on Thursday, American airline company United Airlines said on Friday that its flight connecting Newark and Delhi has been suspended for two weeks.

Pakistan had kept its airspace fully closed after an IAF strike in Balakot on February 26. On March 27, Pakistan opened its airspace for all flights except for Bangkok, Delhi and Kuala Lumpur. “Since the route P518, that has been opened, passes over south Pakistan, the air travel time for west-bound flights from Delhi won’t decrease substantially,” the official clarified. — PTI

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 6

The first vote of the country for the 2019 General Election has been cast by service voters posted in Arunachal Pradesh. A remote Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) unit located in the eastern tip of the north-eastern state started the service voting through secret postal ballot at Lohitpur, Arunachal Pradesh, more than 2,600 km away from New Delhi.

The first vote was cast by ITBP Deputy Inspector General Sudhakar Natarajan, the head of the force’s Animal Training School (ATS).

Votes through postal ballots have been cast from Lohitpur for many constituencies in India. Ballot papers have been dispatched to Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Bengaluru, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana, UP and several other states.

Apart from the ATS, 30 personnel from other ITBP units deployed in the state also cast their votes through postal ballot. Nearly 5,000 personnel from the security forces have voted from other parts of the country, out of which close to 1,000 were from the ITBP alone, a senior officer said.

This year, the Election Commission has taken several steps to add more and more service voters in the process. Awareness campaigns through electronic, social, print and other media were given due attention since last year. There are about 30 lakh defence, paramilitary and other government employees registered as service voters. In many cases they are residing with families at their duty stations and will cast their vote through service voter facility.

Postal ballot is one of the options available to government employees posted away from their home constituencies. They can also get themselves registered as general voters at their place of posting.

Some ex-servicemen associations have been taking up the issue of registering defence personnel as voters at their place of posting for which constitutional and statutory provisions exist. They have been claiming that these provisions are not implemented by the authorities concerned due to which many defence personnel are unable to exercise their right to franchise.

Kicking it off

• First vote was cast by ITBP DIG General Sudhakar Natarajan at Lohitpur in Arunachal
• Nearly 5,000 security personnel have cast their vote in various parts of the country
• About 30 lakh security and other government employees are registered as service voters and can vote through postal ballot

Raipur, April 5

A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan was killed and another injured in an encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh on Friday, police said.

The skirmish took place in the forest near Chameda village in Dhamtari district when a joint team of CRPF’s 211 battalion and District Force (DF) was out on an anti-Naxal operation, a police official told PTI.

He said the patrolling team, comprising around 50 personnel of the CRPF and 10 of the DF, had launched the operation on April 3 in the interiors of Khallari and Borai police station areas.

On Friday morning, when security forces were advancing through Chameda, around 150 km from Raipur, a group of Naxals opened fire on them, leading to a gunfight, the official said.

He said the Naxals fled when security forces retaliated.

“Head Constable Harish Chand was killed in the incident while Sudhir Kumar got injured,” the official said.

Reinforcement had been rushed to the spot and efforts were on to evacuate the body and the injured personnel, he added.

The incident occurred a day after the Naxals ambushed a team of security forces, killing four BSF personnel and injuring two others in Kanker district of the state. PTI

Pakistan is back to its old crafty ways of playing divisive communal politics with India. The grand announcement of the Kartarpur corridor proposal and subsequent talks have seen Pakistan haggle over the number of pilgrims, mode of entry, and who actually qualifies as a pilgrim. Wanting to have complete control over entry, Pakistan is keen only on Sikhs, ignoring the reverence Hindus, too, have for the Sikh Guru; is opposed to foot-crossing; and wants to deny access to people of Indian origin with the PIO/OCI card. In the latest, and one that raises grave doubts over its intentions, it has come to India’s knowledge that Pakistan has on its 10-member Kartarpur panel ‘Khalistani elements’. Piqued, and rightly so, India has objected to their nomination to the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Pakistan’s ‘move’ does nothing to address the yawning trust deficit.

Known better as ISI stooges, these mischievous elements have no personal or institutional integrity or credibility. They are learnt to have made inflammatory statements against India from time to time, including the advocacy of violence against it. This is sure to rile any sovereign country. Kartarpur is an emotionally loaded subject for Punjab. If Pakistan is truly sincere about its efforts, it must prove so beyond any measure of doubt. Cooking its goose by stoking the communal fire will be counterproductive for any meaningful going-forward.

PM Imran Khan’s corridor offer was, irrefutably, a welcome departure from the standard script. Sensitive to the religious sentiments of Sikhs, India took up the offer — even in a charged atmosphere post Uri — albeit with guarded enthusiasm, because it was ‘open-ended’, with a promise of easy round-the-year entry. But the fact that Pakistan is unwilling to accommodate India’s requests and address its security concerns gives credence to the sneaking suspicion about its real agenda. Pakistan can’t bring to the table its worn-out, rusty tricks. It is a game which two can play. But then, it will be no passage to peace.