Monthly Archives: August 2018

Tribune News Service

Hisar, February 5

A ‘kisan mahapanchayat’ today honoured INLD leader Abhay Chautala, who has resigned from the Assembly in support of the farmers’ protest, with the “Kisan Kesari Samman”.

“For me, there is no post bigger than the farmers’ cause. I will be back in the Assembly with people’s blessings in the byelections,” Abhay said while addressing farmers at Nathusari Chopta in Sirsa.

He further said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured farmers of waiving their loans and implementing the Swaminathan Commission recommendations. But under pressure from the corporate sector, the Centre took an about-turn. It took steps which will leave farmers at the mercy of corporate houses.”

The former Ellenabad MLA hit out at leaders, who claimed to follow in the footsteps of late Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal. “They have shut themselves in their homes, fearing backlash of farmers.”

Abhay urged farmers to participate in tomorrow’s “chakka jam” announced by the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha.

Wedged between China and Pakistan, both hostile neighbours, India has been maintaining a high level of military preparedness, especially after the Galwan valley clash in June last year. The importance of state-of-the-art weaponry in fortifying the country’s borders can’t be overestimated. Though the hike in the overall defence budget for 2021-22 is only around 1.4 per cent, the capital outlay for military modernisation has been raised by about

Rs 22,000 crore (nearly 19 per cent). This is a welcome proposal, in tune with the government’s plan to spend $130 billion (more than Rs 9 lakh crore) on defence modernisation in the next seven to eight years.

India continues to figure among the world’s biggest arms importers – this fact sticks out like a sore thumb whenever the government talks about achieving self-reliance in the defence sector. What has come as a much-needed shot in the arm for the ‘Make in India’ initiative is the recent sealing of a Rs 48,000-crore deal to procure 83 Tejas light combat aircraft from state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. Large-scale indigenisation, however, can’t happen overnight. It requires an overhaul and reorientation of the defence PSUs along with the active involvement of the private sector, leading technocrats, and top institutes of science and technology, as recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence.

Reducing dependence on foreign vendors is easier said than done. The armed forces can’t keep waiting for domestic equivalents during an exigency. For the record, an unbudgeted amount of Rs 20,776 crore was spent to buy military hardware amid the border standoff with China. In September last year, the government had eased FDI norms in this sector so as to attract more overseas investors. The focus, as of now, should be on facilitating collaboration between international manufacturers and Indian firms, while ensuring a level playing field that precludes favouritism. Transfer of technology by foreign players can not only help in making India self-reliant on the defence front but also boost the nation’s potential to cater to the global market through cutting-edge research and innovation.

Chakka Jam: Internet suspended at Ghazipur, Singhu & Tikri border

Chandigarh, February 6, 2021: On the day when farmers are carrying out the nation-wide Chakka Jam, the government has again suspended internet facility at Ghazipur, Tikri, and Singhu borders which will reportedly remain in place till the end of the day.

Earlier the government has suspended the internet services at the Delhi border on Republic Day when violence broke out in many parts of Delh

Brigadier Hamir Singh (Retd), who was a young captain during the 1971 war against Pakistan, was honoured as part of India’s celebrations to mark 50 years of the victory.

New Delhi: On 14 December 1971, in the final days of the 13-day war for Bangladesh’s liberation, a young Army captain named Hamir Singh was captured by Pakistan during the battle of Daruchhian in Jammu and Kashmir. At the time, he had a severe bullet injury in his arm.

The war ended two days later with Pakistan’s surrender. But it would be nearly a year before the Army officer would make his way back to India.

After his return, Hamir Singh served the Army for two decades before retiring as Brigadier in September 1992.

On Thursday, the Vir Chakra recipient, now 82, found himself travelling back to his exploits in the war as he received the ‘Vijay Mashaal’ — a symbolic torch meant to honour his role — as part of India’s Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrations to mark 50 years of the victory against Pakistan in 1971.

The year-long commemorations for the war’s golden jubilee began on 16 December last year as Prime Minister Narendra Modi lit the ‘Swarnim Vijay Mashaal’ from the eternal flame of the National War Memorial.

Talking to ThePrint over the phone from Jaipur, the former Army officer said he was highly honoured to receive the Vijay Mashaal.

“Honestly, I didn’t know that I would live to get this honour, 50 years since then,” he said.

Also Read: Indian Army had a ‘Ghost Regiment’. It spooked Pakistanis in 1971 and earned their praise

A third-generation Army officer, Brig. Singh was commissioned into the Grenadiers Regiment in December 1962.

His grandfather, Lt Phool Singh, was an officer in the erstwhile Jodhpur Lancers and served in the First World War. His father Maj. Gen. Kalyan Singh was an artillery officer commissioned in the second field regiment and participated in the 1962 India-China war.

His capture

Brig. Singh was part of the 1971 war as a company commander with 14 Grenadiers.

His sons — now serving Major Generals in the Army — were just five and seven years old at the time, Brig Singh said.

For the next six months, the Army officer was to stay in a Rawalpindi hospital undergoing multiple surgeries. The subsequent months were spent in a small space he shared with multiple other Indian prisoners of war (PoWs).

“Honestly, I lost dates after that, but for nearly six months, I stayed at a hospital undergoing surgeries,” he said.

In June 1972, he heard that some PoWs were being sent back to India. While two of his colleagues were sent back, he was left at the hospital, all alone.

He then conveyed to the Red Cross staff that he wanted to be shifted to the camp where the remaining PoWs were lodged, citing the fact that his treatment was over.

He stayed at the camp until 1 December 1972 when he and the other PoWs were repatriated.

His role in the war earned him a Vir Chakra, which is awarded for acts of gallantry in the presence of enemy.

As part of the 1971 war Golden Jubilee celebrations, the government is honouring the role of Indian soldiers. Among other things, four ‘Victory Mashaals (flaming torches)’ will be lit from the eternal flame at the National War Memorial and carried to various parts of the country, including villages of Param Vir Chakra and Maha Vir Chakra awardees of the war.

Additionally, soil from these villages and areas where major battles were fought is being brought to the memorial. Various commemorative events are scheduled to be held around India at which war veterans will be felicitated.

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, February 6

A video of a Canadian dancer doing Bhangra during heavy snowfall has gone viral.

The dancer, Gurdeep Pandher, shared a short clip of his Bhangra session with a few people on the microblogging website.

This session was at Yukon, a territory in northwest Canada.

Gurdeep Pandher conducts outdoor bhangra classes. In the two-minute clip, Gurdeep taught Bhangra steps to four people of the French community in a snow-covered area.

The people looked equally excited to learn, and seemed absolutely unfazed by the snowfall.

“Outdoor winter Bhangra class in the Yukon. When it was -20 degree C (feeling like -30 degree C with windchill) and the pandemic on top of that, these friends from the Yukon’s French community joined me for a “physically-distanced and pandemic-safe” bhangra class for joy, exercise and positivity,” read Gurdeep Pandher’s caption.

Gurdeep Pandher’s video has gone viral with over one lakh views and collected 4,000 likes.

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Ghaziabad, February 5 

For all the global uproar the farmers’ movement against the new agri laws has caused, the man at its centre seems oblivious of the celebrity support he has been getting.

Rakesh Tikait, the 51-year-old Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader from the hinterlands of Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh, welcomed the support from international artistes and activists, including Rihanna and Greta Thunberg, but acknowledged that he did not know them.

Talking to the media at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border on Thursday, Tikait, who is credited with reviving the agitation that appeared to be flagging after the January 26 violence in Delhi, sought to know who these people were.

Also read: Upset with Tendulkar, scores of Malayalee netizens regret 2015 criticism of Sharapova for not knowing him

“Who are these foreign artistes?” Tikait said showing unawareness when asked about the foreigners supporting the farmers’ movement.

When informed about American pop-singer Rihanna, adult star Mia Khalifa and Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, the Sisauli-born Tikait responded: “They may have supported us, but I don’t know them.”

“If some foreigner is supporting the movement, then what is the problem. They are not giving us or taking anything away from us,” he said.

Also read: Opposition MPs demand repeal of farm laws in Rajya Sabha

Commenting on the futile attempt by 15 members of Parliament to reach Ghazipur and meet protesters on Thursday, the BKU national spokesperson said the MPs should have sat on the ground on the other side of the barricades where they were stopped by Delhi Police.

“A barricading has been set up here. They had to come, but they should have sat down there itself. They would have been on the other side and we on this side (of the barricade),” he said.

Tikait said he did not have any talk with the 15 MPs who had tried to come to Ghazipur to meet the protesters. They were also not allowed to speak to the protesters, he added.

The 15 MPs from 10 Opposition parties, including the SAD, the DMK, the NCP and the Trinamool Congress, wanted to meet the protesters at Ghazipur. Members of the National Conference, the RSP and the IUML were also part of the delegation.

MP and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who coordinated the visit, said the leaders were not allowed to cross the barricades and reach the protest site, where thousands of farmers are camping since November with a demand that the government repeal the new agri-marketing laws enacted last September.

The farmers’ protest at Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu at Delhi borders has now attained global spotlight with prominent international celebrities and rights activists talking about the stir.

In its pushback, the government said the facts on the issue must be ascertained before rushing to comment on it, and asserted that the “temptation” of sensationalist social media hashtags and views is “neither accurate nor responsible”. PTI