Monthly Archives: October 2022

Our Correspondent

Tarn Taran, February 14

Activists of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha on Sunday paid tributes tributes to the security personnel killed in the terrorist attack in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019. Farmers, mazdoors, employees and other trade unionists organized a candlelight march in the town. Pritihipal Singh Marimegha, Baldev Singh Pandori, Tara Singh Khehra and Gurpreet Gandiwind, representatives of mass organizations, condemned the government for allegedly using the martyrs name for political motives.

Meanwhile, workers of the Kisan Mazdoor Sanghrsh Committee,Punjab, also paid tributes to the martyrs at Manochahal Kalan village. Satnam Singh Manochahal said they paid the highest sacrifice to save the integrity of the country. He also condemned the Central Government for not redressing the grievances of the agitating farmers. He called upon the farmers to intensify their agitation till the Centre withdrew the three farm laws.

Tribune News Service

Palwal/Ambala, February 14

Seeking dismissal of Haryana Agriculture Minister JP Dalal for his alleged controversial statement over the death of farmers during the ongoing agitation, activists of 52 khap panchayats (Pal) staged a dharna at Antoha village of Palwal today. They passed a resolution condemning his ‘statement’ and sought his removal from the state Cabinet.

Swami Shradhanand Saraswati, head of the committee carrying on the agitation in the district under the banner of 52 khap panchayats, said that the protesters held a meeting here today to adopt a resolution to condemn the reported statement of JP Dalal.

They termed it to be an insult to the farmers and farming community of the country. He said the resolution adopted by the protesters has demanded his sacking from the Haryana Cabinet even though he may have tendered an apology.

Saraswati said the 52 khaps would not only boycott his programmes in the district, but would also oppose him if he makes a visit here in his official capacity.

In Ambala, Congress workers led by Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee treasurer Rohit Jain held a demonstration at Inco Chowk in Ambala City against state Agriculture Minister JP Dalal’s statement.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 14

FASTag will be mandatory from February 15 midnight and any vehicle not fitted with it will be charged double the toll at toll plazas.

A government order said all lanes at electronic toll plazas on national highways will be declared “FASTag lanes” with effect from February 15 midnight.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said the aim was to promote fee payment through digital mode, reduce waiting time and fuel consumption and provide for a seamless passage.

New Delhi, February 14

All central government employees have been asked to attend office on working days, according to a Personnel Ministry order.

The decision comes amid a significant decline in the number of active COVID-19 cases in the country, including in the national capital.

However, all officers and staff residing in containment zones shall be exempted from coming to office till their containment zone is de-notified, the statement said.

Until now, officers of the level of Under Secretary and above were only attending office due to the coronavirus-induced restrictions imposed in March.

The Centre had in May asked 50 per cent of its employees below the level of Deputy Secretary to work from their offices, while implementing different time slots in its effort to further check the spread of the coronavirus.

The officers/staff shall follow staggered timings to avoid over-crowding in offices/workplaces as decided by the heads of department, it said.

“The government servants at all levels are to attend office on all working days without any exemption to any category of employees,” said the order issued late Saturday to all the central government departments.

Biometric attendance shall continue to be suspended until further orders, it said.

The officers and staff who are residing in the containment zone shall work from home and shall be available on telephone and electronic means of communications at all times, it said.

Meetings, as far as possible, may continue to be conducted with video-conferencing and personal meetings with visitors, unless absolutely necessary in public interest, are to be avoided, the order said.

The Personnel Ministry, in another order, said that “all departmental canteens may be opened”.

According to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday, the COVID-19 active caseload remains below 1.5 lakh.

In Delhi, the active case tally on Saturday dropped to 1,041 from 1,053 the previous day. PTI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 14

Former Defence Minister AK Antony today alleged that the terms of disengagement in both Galwan valley and Pangong Tso areas and the creation of a buffer zone was a “surrender” of India’s interests. He accused the Centre of appeasing China by “agreeing to dis-engagment on China’s terms”.

Addressing a press conference, he said, “Please understand the gravity of the situation, disengagement is good but it cannot be at the cost of national security.” He asked the government to disclose its plan to restore status quo ante as on April 2020 along the LAC.

“The government is not realising the danger of creating such buffer zones,” he said. The Army had occupied Kailash range in south of Pangong Tso. “In negotiations, we have agreed to withdraw from there. It could have been a bargaining chip,” he said.

“The area between Finger 4 and Finger 8 was disputed and both armies used to patrol it. There had been incidents of jostling among troops of both countries, but India always maintained it claim up to Finger 8,” he said.

Quoting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement in Parliament, he said, “Now, we have agreed to come back to Finger 3.”

“Our Army has a post at Finger 4, why has that been vacated and why has the right to patrol up to Finger 8 been surrendered,” he said.

“Galwan was never a point of dispute. It was always a part and parcel of India. For the first time, a buffer zone has been created there,” he said.

New Delhi, February 13

The Delhi Police Crime Branch, probing the Red Fort violence on Republic Day, took the arrested accused Deep Sidhu and Iqbal Singh to Red Fort on Saturday to recreate the crime scene.

The Crime Branch is studying the route taken by Sidhu and Iqbal to reach Red Fort when the violence broke out on January 26 during the farmers’ tractor rally. The Crime Branch is probing if it was part of a larger conspiracy.

Also read: ‘Youth arrested for R-Day violence joined farm protest only on January 28’

Forty-five-year-old Iqbal Singh hails from Ludhiana. He, along with Punjabi actor-activist Deep Sidhu and others, was part of the tractor rally that changed course and created chaos in the national capital. His videos went viral on social media where he was purportedly heard threatening cops on duty and inciting protesters to go on a rampage.

Following the violence, Delhi Police announced cash reward of Rs 1 lakh each for Deep Sidhu, Jugraj Singh, Gurjot Singh and Gurjant Singh, and Rs 50,000 each for Jagbir Singh, Buta Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Iqbal Singh for their alleged involvement in the violence that saw at least one person die and several injured, including policemen.

Sidhu and Iqbal Singh are in police remand and the Crime Branch is probing all angles to the violence and also who else aided them on January 26 and sheltered them when they were on the run. — IANS

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 12

On November 22, 1963, the day the former US President John F Kennedy was assassinated, a numbing incident also unfolded here in India. A copter crash at Poonch in Jammu consumed five senior commanders of the Indian Army and the Air Force.

Lieutenant General Daulat Singh, General Officer Commanding In Chief, Western Command, Lieutenant General Bikram Singh, General Officer Commanding, 15 Corps, Air Vice-Marshal Erlic Wilmot Pinto, Air Officer Commanding, Western Command, Major General Nalin Kumar Dhirajlal Nanavati, Military Cross, General Officer Commanding 25 Infantry Division, Brigadier SR Oberoi, Military Cross, Commander 93 Infantry Brigade and Flight Lieutenant SS Sodhi were the victims.

The generals were en route a reconnaissance mission and the accident impacted a protocol change wherein senior generals of the army were banned from traveling together in future. “This was the first major accident in which Indian Army and Air Force officers lost their lives,” Brig (retd) Onkar Singh Goraya says.

A native of the Kahma village in Nawanshahr, Lt Gen Bikram Singh, also famous as the ‘hero of Ladakh’ is all set to get a memorial at his ancestral village (Nanka pind) of Siana (in Nawanshahr). Last year on November 22, Finance Minister of Punjab Manpreet Badal unveiled a statue and laid the foundation stone of a library and museum in his memory there.

“In think in the crash we lost a future army chief. He was a hero. The government of Punjab thinks people ought to have a sense of history to get a sense of destiny. We want the future generations to remember him. The government is installing a statue and setting up a library in his memory. We are open to contributions of documents and other memorabilia from the Rajput Regiment and his family as well for the memorial,” the minister says.

Lost in obscurity, this revival of his legacy has triggered nostalgia among people. In Jammu and Ladakh, his portraits can still be found in houses, while grocers, dhabas and paan walahs don’t charge money, as a token of respect, from the family whenever they visit and a Jammu committee still fights to get his statue shifted to a more prominent location of the town. A gurdwara at Bikram Chowk (named after him) in Jammu is also graced by his portrait.

Brig (retd) Goraya, tells, “The general perception among people was that he saved Ladakh. I was posted as a second lieutenant in the early 60s. The first time I travelled to Kashmir Bikram Singh was the Corps Commander at the headquarters in Udhampur. He was worshipped by most of the Kashmiris because he maintained peace and was apolitical. They were very happy with him and many households had his photographs hung.”

Lt Gen HS Panag talks about his departed counterpart. “Bikram Singh had a sterling reputation as a general in Ladakh. People were quite happy to see him. There is no doubt that Ladakh was a much better battle than the one fought in NEFA. However, the withdrawal from Chushul remained controversial.”

Twin committees keep him alive

• Two separate committees – Lieutenant General Bikram Singh Society at Kahma village and the Lieutenant General Bikram Singh Yadgaar Committee in Jammu – hold ceremonies, akhand paths, blood donation camps among other events to remember him.
• Lalita Sharma, chairperson of the Shaheed General Bikram Singh Yadgaar Committee, Jammu, says: “His statue is at the Bikram Chowk by the Tavi. We had asked the govt in 2007-08 to shift his statue to a more prominent place. We made the committee 20-25 years ago. Now, they have made a chowk here. Every family has people he has helped. His cremation was also held at Bikram Chowk because locals wanted to conduct his last rites here. His mother herself approved of the ceremony because people loved him.”
• Rs 4 lakh was spent by the Kahma village committee for the museum and statue at Kahma village. Jaswinder Singh, a resident of village, shares, “In 2007 and 2008, we started camps and memorial ceremonies. In 2011, we held his 100th birth anniversary. Siana is his ancestral village. He was born here and we would hear his stories as kids.