Monthly Archives: August 2018

Issue of disability pension also raised

In the last two years, 36 Members of Parliament purchased vehicles disposed off by the Army, the Ministry of Defence informed Parliament on Monday.

n the last two years, 36 Members of Parliament purchased vehicles disposed off by the Army, the Ministry of Defence informed Parliament on Monday.

The vehicles were made available to all the members who had applied. Eleven MPs were allotted vehicles from Vehicle Sub Depot Meerut, 15 from Ordnance Depot Avadi, three from Central Ordnance Depot Chheoki, two from Central Ordnance Depot Mumbai, two from Central Armoured Fighting Vehicle Depot Kirkee, and one MP each was allotted vehicles from 224 ABOD Jodhpur, Northern Command Vehicle Depot Udhampur and Vehicle Depot Panagarh,” the MoD said.

The Army has a policy of discarding old vehicles that are sent to depots almost as junk as they go past their prime. Army vehicles face heavy wear and tear as they are used in hilly regions with tough terrain and poor roads.

All the Members of Parliament got the vehicle from the same depot from where they had asked for.

This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Shripad Naik in a written reply to Shri Ajay Pratap Singh in Rajya Sabha on Monday.

• Security tax? The 15^th Finance Commission (which will decide the distribution of tax revenues between Centre and states) is expected to create a defence and internal security fund by setting aside money from gross tax revenues of the central government. This would mean less money for sharing with states. While the Centre wants states to share the financial burden of maintaining and upgrading its security apparatus, states fear that they may be left with less funds at a time when developmental demands on them are rising. The defence budget for 2019-20, at Rs 3.05 lakh crore, is 1.45% of GDP of which just a little over a third is capital expenditure.
• But then… Defence is in the Centre’s remit in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, which sets out the responsibilities respectively, of the Centre, the states and jointly of both. While Article 280 of the Constitution empowers the commission to decide how taxes are distributed, Article 266 says that the Consolidated Fund of India is a shared pool for all national priorities. Creating a fund outside this structure is against the Constitutional principle, some experts have said. The finance ministry had earlier rejected the idea of a non-lapsable defence fund on two grounds: unspent monies represent opportunities forgone in other vital areas (such funds are often idly parked instead of being used to pay off urgent bills) and once started for defence, such funds would proliferate.
• Shrinking kitty: The actual devolution of the revenues of the Centre to the states is much less than the 42% recommended by the 14^th Finance Commission, thanks to a sizeable chunk of the Centre’s collections being in the form of cesses and surcharges that are not shareable with the states. While the share of taxes in the divisible pool has grown, their share in the overall tax revenue has fallen because of the faster growth of the non-divisible pool of cesses and surcharges.

1. CM GIVES DOUBLE PROMOTION TO ‘FORGOTTEN’ KARGIL WAR HERO VIR CHAKRA AWARDEE WAS MANNING TRAFFIC IN SANGRUR AS SENIOR CONSTABLE
2. AMARINDER PAYS TRIBUTES TO MARTYRS OF KARGIL CONFLICT
3. CHIEFS OF ARMED FORCES PAY TRIBUTE
4. WAR HERO RUNS LAST LEG WITH ‘VICTORY FLAME’
5. VETERANS SUGGESTED TO OPEN DEFENCE SALARY PACKAGE /PENSION ACCOUNT WITH STATE BANK OF INDIA FOR BETTER BENEFITS
6. OF 527 KARGIL MARTYRS, 13 FROM HOSHIARPUR
7. BAN ON ‘ARMY’, ‘POLICE’, ‘VIP’ STICKERS ON VEHICLES

8. RICH TRIBUTES PAID TO MARTYRS, 35 FAMILIES FROM 14 DISTS HONOURED

     

9. COMMEMORATING WAR HEROES 500 EX-SERVICEMEN, INCLUDING OFFICERS, JCOS, OTHER RANK OFFICIALS, SERVING SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES ATTEND THE EVENT

   10.KARGIL: ‘IZZAT’ AND HONOUR FOR THE SOLDIER, AFTER THE HEADLINES FADE

     

   11. THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR IS A GOOD TIME TO INTERNALISE ISSUES THAT HAVE ALIENATED THE MILITARY

   12. REMEMBERING KARGIL 20 YEARS AFTER

     

   ACCUSES NEIGHBOURING COUNTRY OF TRYING TO KEEP KASHMIR ISSUE ALIVE

   WAR-DISABLED ARMY MEN SHARE THEIR TALES

   KARGIL VIJAY DIWAS: 27 FAMILIES HONOURED

   PARENTS LIVE ON BRAVEHEART’S BELONGINGS

   VEER NARIS REMEMBER GREAT SACRIFICES

   MY PROUDEST MOMENT, SAYS RIFLEMAN JAMMU’S KULDEEP SINGH SERVED 13 JAKRIF THAT CAPTURED THE TOLOLING PEAK

   BOOK ON PSYCHOLOGY FOR SOLDIERS’ SPOUSES

   20 YEARS ON, WOUNDS OF MARTYR’S FAMILY YET TO HEAL NO ACTION TAKEN TO DELIVER JUSTICE, SAYS SAURABH’S FATHER

   GUNS WILL LEAD TO GRAVE: GEN RAWAT WARNS MILITANTS AND PAK OF ‘BLOODIER NOSE’

    

Azhar Qadri
Tribune News Service
Drass (Kargil), July 25

The desolate highway town of Drass, which made headlines during the 1999 Kargil war and is home to some of the well-known battle sites like Tiger Hill and Tololing, is witnessing small but significant changes of modernity.

For the first time, this frontier town is receiving round-the-clock electricity and mobile Internet services. The road connectivity has improved and a college is also being constructed.

It is a remarkable progress for Drass, which had remained cloaked in isolation due to geographic and climatic limitations. Located at an altitude of nearly 11,000 feet and also distinct for being the second coldest inhabited place on earth, Drass remains cut off from Kashmir valley for around six months every year. The shutdown of the highway for half a year means dormancy as regards economic activity. The war of 1999, however, brought Drass on the map of tourism. The hills surrounding the town, which were battlefields during the war, are now attracting tourists and veterans.

As the 20th anniversary of the war is being celebrated by the Army, which is holding all main events in Drass, the town is bustling with activity and its hotels are fully packed.

“Lots of tourists now stop at Drass and visit the places,” a motel owner said in Drass. “There is a huge potential for this place, but it needs proper connectivity,” he said.

It all can change once the Zojilla tunnel, which will be a major construction marvel that will ease the travel between Kashmir valley and Drass town, is completed.

The highway town also receives war veterans. Major DP Singh (retd), Kargil war veteran famously known as Indian Blade Runner who has run marathons despite being an amputee, is on a visit to Drass to mark the war’s anniversary. He visited the Kargil war memorial, which has become a must stopover for tourists on way to Leh and for veterans who pay their homage.

“The flag flutters so beautifully not just because the wind blows, but also because someone secured the area to let this happen by sacrificing their lives,” the former officer wrote on Twitter yesterday

Government has already given in-principle approval

Tribune News Service

Drass (Kargil), July 24

The 20th anniversary commemoration of the Kargil war victory that will continue for three days began in the highway town of Drass on Wednesday with the Army hosting a series of events.

The celebratory events to mark the 1999 Kargil win kicked off in the Drass sector — the ground zero of fighting two decades ago and also the home to some of the famous battles of the war.

The events on the first day included a training demonstration at Kargil Battle School, display of artillery equipment and showcasing of sports and cultural events.

The Army is hosting more events over the next two days to mark the victory. Several events are also scheduled at the Kargil War Memorial, built outside Drass town to celebrate the win in the war when the Pakistan army and irregulars were evicted from the hills overlooking the strategic Srinagar-Leh highway.

The 20th anniversary is being commemorated on a large scale. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the war memorial last week and paid homage to the fallen soldiers.

In the run up to the celebrations, the Army had organised commemorative treks, by the battalions which fought in the war, to the mountain tops in several parts of Kargil district.

In the past weeks, a commemorative trek was undertaken by 1/11 Gorkha Rifles to Khalubar in Batalik Sector at 17,000 feet to celebrate the battalion’s triumph in the war.

Another commemorative trek was undertaken to the symbolic Tiger Hill by 18 Grenadiers. Treks were also undertaken by 13 JAKRIF to Point 4875 and by 2 Raj Rif to Tololing Top.

The Tribunal was set up in 2009 according to provisions of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007, to adjudicate cases pertaining to commissioning, appointments, enrolment, and service conditions of military personnel. File photo

New Delhi, July 21

The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) meant to provide justice to the aggrieved forces personnel is severely affected due to non-functional benches. The pending cases in the AFT, set up only 10 years ago as dedicated courts in the three services, have spiralled to 16,000.

With only three of the 11 Benches functional, it is a long wait for justice for the litigants. The Benches located in Chandigarh and Srinagar are the only ones functional apart from the Principal Bench in Delhi, which is headed by the Tribunal’s Chairperson. The Principal Bench alone has around 4,500 pending cases with most litigants making a beeline to it.

The Tribunal was set up in 2009 according to provisions of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007, to adjudicate cases pertaining to commissioning, appointments, enrolment, and service conditions of military personnel.

According to the Act, only a retired judge of a high court below 65 years of age is eligible to be appointed as a judicial member. Each Bench must consist of a judicial member apart from an administrative member.

Sources in the Defence Ministry, under which the Tribunal functions, said eight names—four for the post of judicial members and four for administrative members—have been shortlisted. These appointments are likely to be made in August following final clearance.

The last judicial member to be appointed to the Tribunal was in the year 2017. Justice Sunita Gupta who had retired as a judge from Delhi High Court had been appointed as judicial member to the principal bench in Delhi.

In September 2016, the Armed Forces Tribunal Bar Association had filed a complaint with then chief justice of India demanding immediate appointment of judicial members for swift disposal of cases. The Supreme Court had taken cognisance of the case and admitted it as a Public Interest Litigation.

However, the apex court is yet to deliver a final verdict in the case. The last time hearing was ever conducted in the matter was more than a year ago on February 23, 2018.

“The Tribunal lacks contempt powers. It has no power to ensure that its judgements are effectively executed. The Tribunal should be provided with the power of judicial review in order to give it more teeth. This issue has also been raised in the PIL,” said Bar Association President AK Trivedi.

The other Benches of the Tribunal are located in Lucknow, Kolkata, Guwahati, Mumbai, Kochi, Chennai, Jaipur and Jabalpur. — IANS