Monthly Archives: August 2018

ribune News Service

AMBALA, OCTOBER 22

Capt Inderjeet Singh of the Army’s 22 Mahar Regiment died in Guwahati, where he was posted, on Monday, the Army said here today.

The 32-year-old Army man suffered septic shock with multi-organ disorders, officials said. He is survived by wife Harmeet Kaur (30) and son Ishmeet Singh (6). His body is being flown to his native Babyal village in this district where his cremation will take place tomorrow morning.

Singh was born on November 23, 1986 and was commissioned in the Indian Army as Captain on June 10, 2017.

Earlier, he served as sepoy in the pre-commission service from April 29, 2006, to July 2, 2016.

New Delhi, October 22

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said the Navy has maintained vigilance to ensure that 26/11 is not repeated.

“India has never been the aggressor but its armed forces are capable of giving a befitting reply to those who cast evil eyes on us,” the minister added while addressing the media at the Naval Commanders conference.

Responding to Pakistan’s unprovoked firing, the Indian Army on Sunday launched heavy artillery attacks targeting at least four terror camps and several Pakistani military positions opposite the Tangadhar sector along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. — PTI 

Indian Navy’s bid to acquire state-of-the-art Naval Multi-Role Helicopters (NMRH), to deal with security challenges in the Indian Ocean Region, has assumed urgency after China displayed its indigenously developed Z-20 choppers earlier this October.

Defence experts said, there also occurs a net deficit in terms of numbers of multi-role helicopters in India to guard surface ships which are being delivered with great frequency now by our indigenous ship-building industry. Without the requisite integral air elements in the form of multi-role choppers, surface ships are exposed to submarine attacks which are the real threats in Naval warfare.

The UK-made Seaking choppers, inducted into Indian Navy around 40 years ago for purposes of anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface vessel warfare, are ageing, besides the fact that they never underwent upgrades after induction. The Sea Harriers, designed for reconnaissance and fighter roles too, have been decommissioned leaving Indian Navy to just one frontline squadron of Seaking helicopters based at INS, Shikra in Mumbai.
As per experts, the urgency of acquiring the NMRH should not be lost even though it is for the decision-makers to decide whether the acquisition should be made through imports or through indigenous manufacturing.

The Navy has been using the maritime patrol aircraft, the US-made P8I, for surveillance purposes since 2013. As per reports, a deal has been finalized by India with the US in September to acquire 10 more of the long-range anti-submarine warfare platform P8I.

“The P8I, though a formidable platform in its own capacity, cannot deliver the functions of a multi-role helicopter. A multi-role helicopter, for instance, can operate from ship decks out at sea, perform anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface vessel warfare, electronic intelligence, surveillance tasks, carry out urgent attacks, operate independent of shore bases for extended duration and act as the along arm of the fleet’. The multi-role helicopter can deploy sono buoys, which are basically high-fidelity alistening devices’ in water, just like the P8I does. In addition, dunking sonars can be lowered underwater using cables – role only a multi-role helicopter can fill. Remember, a submarine has no weapon against a helicopter,” retired Commander KP Sanjeev Kumar, a former navy test pilot, told IANS.

Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on October 10 that China’s new indigenously developed Z-20 chopper made a demo flight during a four-day helicopter exposition that was held in Tianjin city. As per sources, the Z-20 is a clone of the US-made Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk helicopter, which China has built by acquiring technology through ‘reverse engineering’.

Sources said the Hindustan Aeronautics LimitedNSE -2.19 % (HAL) is conducting an internally funded study for the NMRH, a project which is still on the drawing board. In August 2017, the Indian Navy had floated a global Request for Information (RFI) for 123 Naval Multi-Role Helicopters. But a deal is yet to be closed despite the shortfall in numbers. A multi-billion dollar deal is further in process to procure 23 multi-role MH-60R Seahawk choppers, which are produced by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation of the US.

“But 23 choppers will not suffice for the needs of the Indian Navy. It was decided that the 123 NMRH will be developed in India under the strategic partnership model. If import has to be ruled out, the strategic partner, that is, the original equipment manufacturer has to be identified first. The urgency of acquiring the NMRH should not be lost in the corridors of the defence ministry,” said a former Navy official on the condition of anonymity.

Lucknow, October 18

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has banned the use of mobile phones in colleges and universities in the state.

A circular to this effect has been issued by the Directorate of Higher Education in Uttar Pradesh.

The circular mentions a blanket ban on the use of mobile phones inside universities and colleges.

Students will no longer be allowed to take or use mobile phones inside universities and colleges. The ban is also applicable to teachers across all universities and colleges in the state.

The ban on the use of mobile phones is also applicable to teaching faculty of all UP universities and colleges.

The Directorate of Higher Education issued the circular to ensure a ‘better teaching environment for students across all colleges and universities in the state’.

The government observed that a large number of students and teachers were spending their valuable time on mobile phones during the college hours.

It may be noted that Yogi Adityanath has already banned the use of mobile phones during his official meetings, including Cabinet meetings.

The decision was taken after some ministers and officers were found to be busy reading messages on WhatsApp during important meetings. IANS

New Delhi: “Killing someone with an intention of self-defence is a convenient methodology used by the security forces as an arbitrary way of working with zero accountability in the garb of national security…”

These were the words of a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officer at a debate organised last month by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).

However, the event made headlines this week solely due to a controversial speech by a Central Reserve Police Force (CPRF) constable, Khushboo Chauhan, who asked Indians “to pierce (former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader) Kanhaiya Kumar’s chest with the national flag”.

Assistant Commandant (Executive) Mayank Bhati, the CISF officer quoted above, certainly didn’t agree with Chauhan on this.

“Not a single day goes by when in some parts of the country or the other an alleged gangster or terrorist is shot down, detained or mercilessly tortured without proof that the amount of force used was compelled by the action of the accused…”

And neither did most of the 15 other participants at the NHRC debate who spoke for or against the subject at hand — ‘Terrorism & militancy in the country can be tackled effectively while observing human rights’.

The annual event that has been organised by NHRC’s investigation division for the last 23 years saw 16 finalists this time from eight CAPF teams — two each from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Assam Rifles and CISF, and one each from the National Security Guard and CRPF.

The winner was from the CISF.

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 10

Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, visited Kashmir Valley today and reviewed the prevailing security situation in the region.

The GOC-in-C accompanied by the Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen KJS Dhillon, visited formations in the frontier districts along the Line of Control and also hinterland, Srinagar-based defence spokesman said.

“He was briefed by the commanders on ground about the current situation as also the recent counter infiltration and counter terrorist operations. The General Officer complimented the formations and units for their sincere efforts towards reaching out to the local population, especially in far-flung areas through Sadbhavana initiatives such as in the field of education, special coaching programmes, health, sports and during humanitarian assistance and disaster relief situations,” he said.

The GOC-in-C extolled the troops for their relentless efforts in thwarting the adversary’s designs and maintaining constant vigil in the harshest of terrain and weather conditions.

“The Army Commander reinforced the need to be fully prepared for the emerging security challenges and lauded the exemplary synergy amongst all security forces,” he added.

Our Correspondent

Jammu, October 8

The Indian Air Force (IAF) paid rich tributes to martyrs on 87th foundation day on Tuesday at the Jammu Air Force Station.

Air Commodore, Ajay Singh Pathania, Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station Jammu, paid tributes to the martyrs in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Station War Memorial.

The event was attended by IAF officials and air veterans. The week-long celebrations included conduct of a number of events promoting health awareness and welfare of the personnel and their families. Air veterans are also invited to various functions in recognition of their yeoman service rendered to the nation.

Meanwhile, eight kilometres, three kilometres and 1.6 km run were also organised for the station personnel, families and children respectively.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. AFP file

Islamabad, October 7

Pakistan faces high risks of money laundering and terror financing and has complied with just one of the 40 recommendations set by the Financial Action Task Force at the time of the country’s inclusion in its grey list, according to a report by the Asia Pacific Group (APG).

The APG released its much-awaited 228-page ‘Mutual Evaluation Report’ on Saturday, ten days ahead of the key Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) plenary meeting which will give its decision on Pakistan’s ‘grey list’ status.

Pakistan was placed on the grey list in June last year and given a plan of action to complete it by October 2019 or face the risk of being placed on the black list with Iran and North Korea.

The cut-off date for Pakistan to show improvement to APG was October 2018 and the Pakistani authorities insisted that they made a lot of progress during the past year.

According to the report, out of FATF’s 40 recommendations on curbing money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, Pakistan was fully compliant only on one. It was largely compliant on nine, partially compliant on 26 and non-compliant on four recommendations, The Express Tribune reported.

Pakistan faces high risks of money laundering and terror financing and it needs to improve the understanding of these risks that are also animating from various terrorist groups operating in the country, the report said.

“After the APG report, chances are high that Pakistan would be retained on the grey list during the FATF plenary meetings from October 13 to 18 in Paris,” according to the APG report.

On the level of effectiveness of Pakistan’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), Pakistan was found moderately effective only on one benchmark while on the remaining nine its effectiveness was declared as low as of October 2018 cut-off date, the report said.

“Due to these adverse findings, the APG has already decided to place Pakistan on its Expedited Enhanced Follow up reporting list,” the APG report said.

The report underlined that Pakistan’s regulators — the State Bank of Pakistan and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan — have very limited understating of the money laundering and terror financing regimes.

The report has not agreed with Pakistan’s assessment that it faces “medium” category risks of money laundering and terrorism financing.

In its National Risk Assessment report, Pakistan did not believe that money laundering and terrorism financing were high-risk category areas.

Contrary to the assessment by Pakistan that its overall terror financing risk assessment is “medium”, Pakistan faces significant risk of terror financing both from legitimate and illegitimate sources as well as weak or no, regulation and supervision of certain sectors such as hawala/hundi, NPOs (Non-Profit Organisation) and DNFBPs (Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions) and porous borders, according to the report.

“The terror financing cases are identified by a number of mechanisms but not via financial intelligence,” the report said.

The terrorist groups operating in Pakistan are reported to include but not limited to ISIS-Khorasan, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Quetta Shura Taliban, Haqqani Network and Lashkar-e-Toiba (including its affiliates Jamaat ud Dawa and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation), which raise funds through a variety of means, including direct support, public fundraising, abuse of NPOs and though criminal activities, the report added.

It stated that corruption, drug trafficking, fraud, tax evasion, smuggling, human trafficking and organised crime were major predicate offences to money laundering and areas of high risk.

The report also said that Pakistan official and institutions lack capacity to understand the issues of money laundering and its threats.

“Competent authorities have varying levels of understanding of the country’s money laundering and terror financing risks, and the private sector has a mixed understanding of risks,” the report said.

While Pakistan established a multi-agency approach to implementing its AML/CFT regime, it was not implementing a comprehensive and coordinated risk-based approach to combating money laundering and terror financing, it said.

There are no measures in place to address the money laundering and terror financing risks posed by trusts, including foreign trusts, and waqfs in Pakistan, the report said.

The APG report, however, applauded Pakistan’s efforts to combat corruption.

“Corruption is endemic across Pakistan’s economy, although Pakistan is to be commended for its recent initiatives to prevent and detect corruption,” it said.

The report advised that Pakistan should significantly enhance the use of financial intelligence in money laundering, terror financing, and predicate crime cases, particularly the use of financial intelligence to target terrorist groups and higher- risk predicate crimes.

It also sought improvement in asset confiscation that should commensurate with Pakistan’s money laundering and terror financing risks, including cross-border currency. PTI